Air Zimbabwe - An Opinion

Air Zimbabwe is the national airline for Zimbabwe. It is 100% owned by the government and has Harare International Airport as its hub. The airline flies to over 10 destinations on a weekly basis. It most popular route is Harare-London and Harare-Johannesburg.

Most Zimbabweans in Zimbabwe and abroad use Air Zimbabwe for reasons that essentially have nothing to do with patriotism. Air Zim (as it is also known in short) has generally had lower and competitive fares as compared to others such as South African Airways (SAA) for the same routes. During the days of the
Zimbabwe currency were business used only Zimbabwe dollars, Air Zim still accepted local currency which was difficult for many Zimbabweans to access. This made it popular.

The airline has enjoyed little peace during Zimbabwe's problems in the last 10 years of 2000 to 2010. It has consistently suffered losses running into millions of United States Dollars on an annual basis. In fact many times Air Zimbabwe has entered a business coma only to be saved by the government through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe which for many was obsessed with quasi-fiscal policy implementation.

The government of Zimbabwe jealously guards the airline. It is viewed in political circles as a strategic national investment. Discussions for its privatisation have been on and off for many years but all in all this has led nowhere. The office of the President of Zimbabwe makes frequent use of the airline. It is believed for security reasons the president does not fly in a private jet. He does not have one. This indeed is more for security than economic reasons judging by other reckless expenses incurred by government every year. In fact in 2009 the government spent US$26 million on foreign travel.

To the disappointment of the general traveling pubic the President has often commandeered the airline laden with private passengers to destinations they had not planned before proceeding to their destination. This has had a serious negative impact on the reputation of Air Zimbabwe. To this day the airline is associated with frequent flight cancellations, anytime anywhere.

Generally speaking the airline has a very questionable and poor strategic vision. In the last few years most of the MA60 aircraft [pictured] purchased from China were grounded due to ongoing technical problems. Most of its aircraft are aged and need immediate replacement. The current sanctions on Zimbabwe in the form of
access to credit lines due to a "high risk factor" have not helped the situation.

Despite all this Air Zimbabwe has an amazing outstanding safety record. Since 1980 the year of national independence in Zimbabwe from Britain, the Air Zim has not had any major accident. It has however experienced a number of turn-backs due to malfunctioning equipment. The most recent in 2009 was the accident that occurred on take-off of an MA60 flight to Bulawayo which ploughed into a head on wild pigs on the runway. As a side note, Harare International Airport has been in the media for animals on the runway, poor and sometimes malfunctioning runway lights at night. Twice SAA returned to Johannesburg after
failing to land due to bad lighting. The airport is run and managed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ).

Air Zim is a member of IATA and now issues only e-tickets to the traveling public. Due to Zimbabwe's economic situation in the last ten years the airline has not been able to establish meaningful partnerships with other airlines. Instead it has been working on surviving and recently sought to cut staff by up to 700 including pilots.

Air Zimbabwe will need to invest in modern well known aircraft brands such as Boeing and Airbus. The pursuit for Asian and Russian made aircraft will not improve the company's competitiveness on an increasingly sensitive air travel market. Consumers are increasingly aware of which aircraft manufacturers tick and safety comes fight for most travellers.

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City of Harare Overview

Harare is the capital of Zimbabwe, a city with an estimated population of nearly 2 million people. It has also been known for many years as the sunshine city and was once rated the cleanest city in the world. The second largest city in Zimbabwe is Bulawayo.

The sunshine city is a commercial hub for Zimbabwe. It is where the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is found and international brands of banks such as Standard Chartered Bank, Barclays Bank and Stanbic Bank. There are other local indigenous banks such as Kingdom Bank, BanABC and MBCA amongst others.

Traveling to the sunshine city is possible by road and by air. There are a number of airlines that fly to Harare. This would include Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airways, South African Airways, Air Malawi, Air Botswana and Air Zimbabwe. British Airways used to fly to Harare before abruptly pulling out. Recently it announced its intention to return to Zimbabwe in March/April 2010.

The most popular and busy route of flying into Harare is via Johannesburg, South Africa. South African Airways has daily flights into Harare in the morning, afternoon and evening. Air Zimbabwe also runs daily flight between the two cities.

Traveling to Harare from neighboring countries by road is possible via public luxury coaches that originate from Botswana, South Africa, Malawi and Zambia. Backpackers to Zimbabwe also find hitchhiking convenient. Rail travel to Harare is available from other cities within Zimbabwe but is highly unreliable due to infrastructural decay of years of Zimbabwe economic decline.

The sunshine city has many places to stay including top hotels such as Meikles Hotel, Crown Plaza Monomutapa, Rainbow Towers Hotel, Holiday Inn and others. There are numerous B&B facilities within the city many of which are close to the city's CBD. Harare Hotel reviews are available here.

The city is run and managed by the City Of Harare council mostly composed of opposition MDC councilors from Morgan Tsvangirai party. Utility supplies in Harare are still largely erratic yet better than many other cities in Zimbabwe such as Kwekwe and Gweru. However, hotel facilities have stable supplies of both water and electricity.

Harare's infrastructure shows great signs of decay due to many years of economic decline and unprecedented Zimbabwe currency inflation. Most of the city's roads are covered in pot-holes making them very dangerous and absolutely damaging to vehicles.

Other city services will include public taxes that run on a daily basis transporting workers to and from work every morning and evening respectively. Private taxes are also available in Harare to take visitors from one point to another under a private paid arrangement. Car hire services such as Avis and Europcar are also available in Harare.

In terms of crime, the city is possibly one amongst the safest cities in Africa and the world compared to Johannesburg or Nairobi. Visitors will however need to ensure they are generally safe especially during night hours as they can become easy targets to petty thieves. The general trend of crime in Zimbabwe unlike other cities is that victims are rarely physically harmed in an attack.


Places to visit whilst in the capital include Lion and Cheetah Park and the Snake Park.

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Zimbabwe Politics

Zimbabwe politics is characterized by extreme polarization from the time of the entry of the labor backed MDC onto the political arena in 1999. The Zimbabwean political landscape has for nearly two decades from the time of independence in 1980 been dominated by one political party - ZANU PF- led by Robert Mugabe.

For many years until about 1990 the ZANU PF led government in Zimbabwe had attempted to create a one party state. This plan essentially failed due to fierce resistance from the student movement at the University of Zimbabwe. From 1990 to 1998 before the emergence of Morgan Tsvangirai leading the MDC, Robert Mugabe had absolute powers of governance in Zimbabwe using a sophisticated yet effective patronage system.

Since 2000, the ZANU PF party has received a run for its money receiving a serious challenge at the national election. Many political analysts agree that the intensity of opposition to Robert Mugabe has deepened the political divide in Zimbabwe characterized by severe political violence around the time of election.

Today in Zimbabwean politics there are essentially two main political contenders. Professor Arthur Mutambara of the smaller MDC party has created some form of balancing act in the current inclusive government. However his party has little or no chance in an election against the party of Morgan Tsvangirai of the bigger MDC party.

Zimbabwe politics has for a long time been characterized by brutality towards opponents. Disappearances and false accusations are key tactics used by the government towards the opposition. The state controlled media such as The Herald and Zimbabwe TV are extensively used to miss-inform and deceive the general public. To this day it has been extremely difficult for independent private media companies to enter the fray. Licenses are never issued an the process painfully slow.

Politics in Zimbabwe essentially run and operate on a patronage system which is obviously more visible and pronounced in ZANU PF party. In reality patronage also exists even in opposition parties.

Parties in Zimbabwe receive funding from government. According to Zimbabwean law only the two biggest parties qualify for government support. Towards election time in Zimbabwe numerous political parties mushroom everywhere. Many of them fizzle out as soon as election time is over only to reappear again at next election. This has raised a lot of suspicion on the Zimbabwe political scene that the government of the day is behind the multiplicity of opposition parties to divide votes.

In Zimbabwe politics elections are done for the local government councilors, MPs, Senators and the President. Elections are held combined at the same time for these four offices. According to the current amended so called Lancaster Constitution ministers can not become ministers in government without being elected MP or senator or appointed by the president a senator.

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How Matopos Zimbabwe is Outstanding

In terms of location, Matopos is situated some 30-35km from Bulawayo the second largest of cities in Zimbabwe. It is an area of great national significance some 474 km (294 miles) from the capital of Zimbabwe, Harare. The area covers a total of 3100 square kilometres and is the oldest park in Zimbabwe which was established in 1926. Matopo Hills as it is also known was in 2003 declared a World Heritage site.

In essence Matopos is a vast area of granite scenery. The boulders found across the park were exposed from underneath by thousands of years of geographic activity that ultimately exposed the rocks underneath the surface. The area is popular with tourists from all parts of the world and contains rock and cave paintings of the San people. Visitors enjoy sunrises and sunsets including wildlfe such as the black eagle. Amazing sites of balancing rocks inspired the pictures used on the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe logo and many other currency bills that were printed before and during Zimbabwe's problems involving the Zimbabwe currency.

From a social and cultural perspective the Matopos park is very important to the people of Zimbabwe especially the Ndebele people in the southern part of Zimbabwe were the park is located. It represents cultural and religious significance to the indigenous people in the Matebelenad region. The ancestral founding father of the Ndebele people in Zimbabwe, Mzilikazi, personally named the area Matopo meaning bald heads. The colonizer Cecil John Rhodes who arrived later after the indigenous people had since discovered Matopos, was buried here. To this day, his grave forms part of the tourist attraction to the park.

The President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe a fierce critic of Britain and the west in general once mocked the dead Rhodes that his grave has been kept there by the government to help continue attracting tourists and help earn tourism money for Zimbabwe even if he didn't deserve to be there.

Travelling to Matopos from outside of Zimbabwe would require a consideration of various available Bulawayo flights and then once in Bulawayo travel by road to the park. From Bulawayo to the park, the road is well tarred permitting use of almost any type of vehicle. It is also possible to drive from Harare to Matopos passing through Kwekwe, Gweru and Bulawayo. Some visitors to the park prefer to take day trips whilst staying in Bulawayo where there are various hotels and B&B facilities. Most visitors to Matopos also visit the Victoria Falls some 891 km from Bulawayo. It is possible to travel to Victoria Falls by road and by air.

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University of Zimbabwe Review

The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is located in Harare the capital of Zimbabwe in the up-market Mount Pleasant suburb of northern Harare. The University was established back during the days of Rhodesia before the country became known as Zimbabwe. In 1980 at Zimbabwe's political independence the name of the University was changed.

UZ has an enrolment of over 10 000 students covering both undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Over the last 20 years the university became one of the most popular and respected universities in Africa and Zimbabwe. The political problems that started in Zimbabwe in 2000 and followed by a weakening Zimbabwe currency saw the University sharply deteriorating in standards and outrightly shunned by international students.

During its hey days the University of Zimbabwe attracted students and academics from Europe and America who benefited from vast exchange programs in almost every faculty. Amongst its top products are current Zimbabwe's political leaders such as Vice Prime Minister Professor Arthur Mutambara and Tendai Biti the Finance Minister in the new coalition government in Zimbabwe.

The University was known to promote academic freedoms and human rights until the government successfully weakened a once vibrant students union that led demonstrations against national policy initiatives deemed poor by the students. For many years university students were a thorn in the side of the government of the President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF Party.

Today the university has dismally lost its status mainly due to a poor national economy that saw untold brain drain of experienced and outstanding lecturers. The University of Zimbabwe administration also failed to keep the university infrastructure in good standing. Student hostels were run down without any form of maintenance let alone repair to an extent they became inhabitable forcing the government to close residence halls.

Due to demonstrations by students for better learning conditions the university constantly closed down and missed academic schedules and exam deadlines. At one point the University of Zimbabwe failed to open for an entire year resulting in failure to enrol a new freshman class. Its lime light was lost to other better performing universities in Zimbabwe such as Africa University and National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo.
UZ was also seriously plagued by water problems which also made it very difficult for students to live on campus. As a result an international humanitarian agency - UNDP- installed water tanks and drilled water wells as those found in rural Zimbabwe to help students access water.

As of 2010, as the Zimbabwe economy shows signs of recovery, the university is also working hard to retain its international once sought after status. This will however obviously take many years to restore. Without further political interference at the top executives of the university the recovery could be sooner than later. President Robert Mugabe is the Chancellor of the University and has executive control over its most important decisions. All these are factors that will influence the university's road to recovery

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City of Bulawayo Overview.

Bulawayo is the second largest city amongst all the cities in Zimbabwe. It is located some 439km south of Harare and is the commercial hub of the Matebeland region. It is home to the Ndebele speaking people of Zimbabwe. The closest borders to Bulawayo which is also known as the City of Kings are that of South Africa and Botswana.

The city of Kings is a tourist hub serving visitors coming to Zimbabwe to view the Matopos, Khami Ruins and the Victoria Falls. The city is served by an efficient and road, rail and air network. Visitors to the city may use airlines such as Air Zimbabwe and South African Airways which service the city on a daily basis connecting it to other cities such as Harare the capital of Zimbabwe and Johannesburg in South Africa. See flights and travel on how to get to this city.

Places to stay in Bulawayo will include Holiday Inn Hotel, Rainbow Hotel and other numerous B&B facilities which are suitable for overnight stays and short stays. The city is run and managed by the Bulawayo City Council and is known for its wide streets designed in the Victorian times to fit horse drawn carts. Like Harare, there are many Jacaranda trees in the streets of the city.

Many of the city's streets are named after local and national political leaders who fought against British occupation during the lebaration struggle. The city of Kings has the second state house which is the home of the President of Zimbabwe when he visits.

A key event organised in the city of Kings is the annual Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF). This attracts business people from all over the world who come to buy and sell technology, products and services. However due to the recent poor performance of the Zimbabwe economy and the Zimbabwe currency, the fair had been dismally performing. It is now coming up again as Zimbabwe slowly comes out of a decade long recession.

Other major attractions in Bulawayo will include the following;

1. Mzilikazi Arts and Crafts Centre
2. Mazwi Nature Reserve
3. Chipangali wildlife orphanage
4. Bulawayo Art gallery

The city has a perennial water problem which makes it an offense to use tape water for heavy duty jobs such as gardening. Politically, due to a feeling of development marginalization the people of the city have repeatedly rejected  ZANU PF party led by Robert Mugabe at the national polls. The city is an opposition strong-hold.

In terms of security, the city is generally secure like the rest of Zimbabwe but visitors are encouraged to exercise caution especially when venturing out during the night. Knowing the nearest police station will be an added advantage in case of an emergency.

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Zimbabwe Statistics Summary

The following Zimbabwe statistics give a summarised overview of  interesting facts and figures for Zimbabwe. The statistics maybe outdated with the passage of time. The Zimbabwe government has a poor approach to statistical information. Generally speaking government finds certain statistical information sensitive therefore very difficult for the public to access. Take for instance the blanket blackout on Zimbabwe inflation figures before the introduction of multi-currencies in late 2008.  This was at the height of Zimbabwe economic decline

Zimbabwe Statistics - Health

1. Number of people who died of Cholera in Zimbabwe - 3000
2. Number of people living with HIV 2007 - 1.3 million
3. Life expectancy at birth - 43 years
4. % of population with access to improved drinking water sources - 81%
5. Physicians per 1000 people (2002) - 0.06
6. Health expenditure - 7.9% of GDP
7. Polio vaccination rate - 75%
8. Measles vaccination rate - 70%

Zimbabwe Statistics - Zimbabwe Economy

1. Population below poverty line - 80%
2. Public Debt - 218.2% of GDP
3. Inflation rate in 1998 - 32%
4. Inflation rate in November 2007 - 26000%
5. Manufacturing industry capacity utilisation December 2009 - under 30%

Zimbabwe statistics - Education

1. Average schooling years for adults - 4.5 years
2. Primary school children out of school - 429275
3. Duration of compulsory education (grade 1 to 7) - 7 years
4. Education spending - 4.7% of GDP
5. Pupil teacher ratio at primary school level - 38.56
6. Tertiary enrollment - 3.9%

Immigration statistics

1. Immigrants as % of population - 3.928%
2. Number of immigrants - 511000
3. Net migration - -50 000
4. Zimbabwean US visa lottery winners - 168

Harare Flights Overview

Harare flights are moderately easy to find and organise. About six different airlines fly into Harare on a weekly basis. However all six airlines are African airlines. Most European airlines pulled out of Harare during Zimbabwe's economic decline and political problems.

The most frequent airline to fly into Harare is South African Airways (SAA) which has four flights in the morning, afternoon, evening and night. SAA flies into Zimbabwe directly on a 1 hour 50 minutes flight from Johannesburg, South Africa. Amongst the six airlines, it has the best and highest standards and is the member of the Star Alliance.

Alternative flights to Harare come direct from London. This route is flown by Air Zimbabwe on a daily basis. The flight is just about 10 hours to Harare. Even though Air Zimbabwe has competitive fares if falls far short when it comes to professionalism and general consistency with flight schedules. It is not uncommon for the airline to abruptly cancel flights leaving passengers least catered for.

Air Zimbabwe has other routes it services such as to Malawi, Johannesburg, Lusaka, Dubai and China. There are also weekly Harare flights serviced by Air Botswana direct from Gaborone. Air Botswana flies 3 times a week to Harare. Kenya Airways also flies direct to Harare from Nairobi at least once a week.Visitors coming from Malawi to Zimbabwe may also fly on Air Malawi or Air Zimbabwe direct.
Harare flights can be reserved online using websites such as Expedia.com

In Harare there are numerous travel agents who can facilitate any further changes to your reservation should you require it. According to IATA regulations, all airlines under its membership as of a deadline of 31 May 2008 are using e-tickets.

Within Zimbabwe, internal flights are available on Air Zimbabwe to Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. The airline had introduced flights to Kariba and Masvingo as a tourism revival plan before abruptly suspending them due to a dismal failure of the strategy.

Chartered flights are available in Harare to specific destinations within Zimbabwe and outside of Zimbabwe. Light aircraft can be chartered to fly to places such as Victoria Falls, Kariba and Nyanga in Zimbabwe. A smaller airport in Harare, Zimbabwe called Charles Prince Airport operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) handles private landings and take-offs, training schools, and chartered flights.

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Troutbeck Inn Review.

Troutbeck Inn is a holiday resort located in Nyanga in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe. The hotel is owned and operated by African Sun Hotels a Zimbabwe based hospitality concern whose head office is in the capital of Zimbabwe, Harare.

Troutbeck Resort as it is also known is famous with holiday makers and honeymooners. The Eastern Highlands where the hotel is located naturally provide a different yet refreshing environment with breadth taking views of the mountainous landscape stretching all the way into Mozambique. The area enjoys a cool breeze coming from the Indian Ocean in Mozambique.

Troutbeck Inn is has a scenery resonate of the Scottish Highlands as shown in the pictures. Guests to the resort are treated to wild growing apples and bananas during the right season. The troutbeck fish is also associated with the resort were guests can go fishing and have the catch prepared for them for a meal.

Troutbeck is easily accessible from Harare by road. The roads are well maintained and a typical drive may take anything between 1 hour 30 minutes to 3 hours depending on preferred speed.

The facility itself includes some conference rooms for seminars and conferences, 70 rooms, a 9-hole golf course and a well stoked troutbeck lake. At the entrance to the Inn is a fire on a fire-place that has been burning for 45 years continuous since the opening of the resort. What is further outstanding about Troutbeck Inn is the level of hospitality and friendly service of the staff.

Day trips can be organised from the Inn to Mount Inyangani the highest peak in Zimbabwe. This is a major attraction for most visitors to the Eastern Highlands. Also nearby within Nyanga is Nyangombe Falls, a small but attractive water fall. Close to the Inn is a Spar convenience store which stocks basic supplies such as toiletries, snacks and beverages.

Reservations for Troutbeck Resort can be made from Harare at Crown Plaza Monomutapa Hotel where the African Sun Central Reservations is also located. Bookings can also be done online on the company's website.
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The Chronicle Zimbabwe Review

The Chronicle Zimbabwe is a national state controlled daily paper published by Zimpapers. Zimpapers is a Zimbabwe stock Exchange listed company whose majority control is in the government of Zimbabwe. Even though the paper is available in other cities in Zimbabwe it is predominantly designed to report on news in the Matebeland region in the southern part of Zimbabwe.

The offices of the paper are based in Bulawayo the second largest city in Zimbabwe. The paper is a sister publication to the Herald published in Harare the capital of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's history and respected for the aspirations of the people of Zimbabwe necessitated the establishment of the Chronicle Zimbabwe. The paper creates a balance in news reportage as the Herald is viewed as a Harare paper even though its has a national appeal.

Like the Herald and all other Zimpapers publications the Chronicle is controlled by government through the ministry of information and is an effective tool used by the same government to communicate its position and aspirations. For this reason, the paper has equally fallen prey to government manipulation as a tool for mass propaganda especially beginning year 2000 when the ruling party was effectively politically challenged for the first time by the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai.

Business, civil society and the general public in Bulawayo and Matebeland in general read the daily publication to gauge the mood of the government and its thinking. The Chronicle Zimbabwe is indeed an effective mouth piece of the government in the absence of any meaningful competing daily voice. Even TV  stations are controlled by government as illustrated by Zimbabwe TV. The media landscape in Zimbabwe is desperately biased with absolutely no private owned daily newspapers and TV and radio stations

The Zimbabwe Chronicle focuses its news reports on social, business, sports and opinion and analysis issues apart from political issues. Over 90% of its headlines have a political inclination. The paper runs an online version which is not as advanced as other online publications. It is essentially a replica of news stories available in the daily print version.

The Chronicle does not publish on Sundays. Instead its sister paper also based in Bulawayo called the Sunday News publishes. This is similar to the Sunday Mail published in Harare instead of the Herald on Sundays. In a shock turn of events in 2009, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) arrested the editor and journalist of the Chronicle Zimbabwe and pressed defamation charges over a story that accused police of corruption. It has hardly occurred previously for the police to arrest a journalist from state controlled media such as the Chronicle. The two institutions are considered to be on the same side.

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Fingaz - Who is Behind It?

Fingaz is short for Financial Gazette a privately controlled weekly newspaper in Zimbabwe. The paper is published every Thursday and is also known as the pink paper because of its pink color. For many years the pink paper has been an iconic representation of a business paper in Zimbabwe.

The Fingaz was established in the 60s and has a wide readership in government and private sector. Its current circulation is at about 40 000 and readership at about 400 000. It is an undisputed newsleader in Zimbabwe.

In terms of ownership, the paper has been dodged with unresolved controversy. Credible sources confirm that the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Dr Gideon Gono is the controlling investor in the paper. Mr Gono is strongly aligned with the Zanu PF party under President Mugabe and is also heavily blamed for Zimbabwe's problems involving the economy and the Zimbabwe currency.

The paper has little to no government harassment which for many seem to confirm its closeness to the ZANU PF party. In The midst of all this, it would appear to a large extent the Fingaz has managed to maintain its editorial independence. This is a clear reason why so many of Zimbabwe's decision makers and public sector authorities have maintained their loyalty to the pink paper.

Zimbabweans are politically very sensitive people especially in urban areas where Zanu PF is extremely resented. They cannot tolerate publications that promotes Zanu PF's hegemony in Zimbabwe's politics. For this reason Zimpapers the holding company of the Zimbabwe Herald has had its shares on the Zimbabwe Stock exchange largely suppressed due to government interference in newspaper publications.

Clearly the Fingaz enjoys government tolerance because of the politically connected investors behind it. Some of the paper's former employees have gone on to become publishers of their own newspapers such as Trevor Ncube the owner and publisher of  the Mail and Guardian in South Africa. He is also the publisher of The Zimbabwe Independent and the Standard both competitors of the Fingaz.

The online version of the paper is found on www.fingaz.co.zw and is run and managed by WebDev a Zimbabwe internet company. From the online perspective, the paper is still behind. The online version of the Fingaz is largely updated on weekly basis, is not dynamic and lacks many functions in line with multi-media and social networking functions.

The future of the pink paper looks bright as long as it maintains an independent editorial policy regardless of its backers. Only time will tell if the Fingaz will 100% uphold that independence. Often in Zimbabwe during election seasons, the political temperature against ZANU PF gets very hot forcing the party to use all might to make it through. All those who support the party are most likely to be called to use all they have to secure the party's political future.

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The Zimbabwe Times Review

The Zimbabwe Times is one amongst the leading independent online publications on Zimbabwe. The paper publishes online from the United States of America. It is critical of the government of Zimbabwe led by Robert Mugabe. Most of the paper's stories expose the government of Zimbabwe specifically targeting the ZANU PF side of government in the coalition power sharing government.

 Apart from reporting on political news, the online publication also carries stories on sports, health and business in addition to public opinion via a vibrant team of bloggers. The Zimbabwe Times tag line is "News without fear or favour" perhaps revealing the character of its founder and managing editor Mr Geoffrey Nyarota [pictured].

Geoff as his is affectionately known in Zimbabwe and across the journalism world ironically once worked for Zimpapers with the Herald in Zimbabwe in the early 1980s before becoming the editor of the Chronicle in Bulawayo where he was eventually fired for unearthing what became known in Zimbabwe as the Willogate. This involved corruption in government at the highest level involving cars assembled by the state owned Willovale Motors in Harare.

 A few years before launching The Zimbabwe Times in 2006, Nyarota also worked for the first independent daily paper in Zimbabwe called The Daily News. He was the founding editor and was arrested several times by the government. Geoff once published a story which was later found to be untrue about a beheading at the height of Zimbabwe's land inversions violence. The Daily News was subsequently closed before he fled to the United States were the online publication was started.

 The online publication is run by a dedicated team of technicians and sub-editors and receives one of the highest levels of traffic on the Internet on Zimbabwe news related content. No statistics are available to the public about the site's actual traffic, it also lacks any Alexa data which makes real traffic estimates very difficult. However judging by the levels of participation via comments on stories, The Zimbabwe Times receives significant amount of traffic daily. The paper has also claimed attacks on its website by suspected Zimbabwe government agents even though some of the technical problems facing the site have been legitimate.

The following are some of the headlines that have appeared on the paper.

• MDC has joined conspiracy of silence
• Tsvangirai speaks as if fearful of Mugabe
• Gutu magistrate cleared of corruption
• Embattled cleric denies supporting gays
• Soldier jailed 35 years for arms theft

The Zimbabwe Times is amongst online publications such as New Zimbabwe.com and Zimdaily.com that the government of Zimbabwe considers illegal papers. However, controlling them is virtually impossible as Internet access in Zimbabwe is not regulated as obtains in China even though the government once drafted a law along these lines.

The Zimbabwe Independent Review

The Zimbabwe Independent newspaper is one of the few remaining privately owned and controlled newspapers in Zimbabwe. It is a weekly publication that operates from Harare the capital of Zimbabwe. It is owned by Mr Trevor Ncube a South African based Zimbabwean who is also the publisher of the Mail and Guardian newspaper in South Africa.

The history of the Independent goes back as far as Britain. In fact in the UK today there is a newspaper called The Independent with the same logo as the local Independent in Zimbabwe. This has to do with Zimbabwe's history were Britian was generally mirrored across Zimbabwean life.

The newspaper's editor in Zimbabwe is Mr Vincent Kahiya. The Zimbabwe Independent has a sister paper in The Standard published on Sundays. The Independent is published every Friday in Harare and circulates in most cities in Zimbabwe. The newspaper was not spared by the economic problems in Zimbabwe which saw its advertiser base dwindle and circulation sharply reduced to as little as 2000 copies per week.

Mr Trevor Ncube is known for his non-interference in the editorial policy of his newspapers. He also confirmed this in a CNN interview under the African Voices program in 2009. The paper's editorial policy has been sharply critical of government exposing government inadequacies, corruption and human rights abuses.

For this reason, the paper has largely been an enemy of the state during the 10 years of Zimbabwe's political problems.

The Zimbabwe Independent has also survived the Zimbabwe government's media hangman's noose which saw the demise of the Daily News, the Tribune and others. At the time that the Daily News was closed  never to reopen for refusing to register with government even though the law was unconstitutional, the Independent chose to register anyway and challenge the law after registering. This saw it survive a blitz on private newspapers by government.

The paper is viewed "favourably" by government in two main ways. It's existence is often used by government to prove media plurality in Zimbabwe. Secondly, the paper comes out only on Fridays, (one a week) which makes it easy to counter whatever it reports by using government controlled daily newspapers such as the Zimbabwe Herald and The Chronicle based in Bulawayo. On numerous occassions state owned daily newspapers have carried headlines directly challenging The Independent assertions leaving no opportunity for the paper to immediately respond.

[Pictured in dark jacket is Vincent Kahiya Editor of the Independent]

In recent months the Group that owns the paper has announced the arrival of an independent daily called News Day. However, this has failed to take off and is still awaiting government license to operate.

The critics of the paper have accused it of peddling foreign interests by constantly attacking government policy. However, the paper argues moral responsibility to expose government corruption.

The Zimbabwe Independent journalists have won numerous awards for outstanding journalism. Many of them also write for other international publications and newspapers. Mr Vincent Kahiya, the editor, has himself participated in numerous human rights seminars, conferences and workshops as an expert resource person.

The contribution of the Zimbabwe Independent to Zimbabwe's democratic struggle has been immense. It's absence (or of a similar publication) could have admittedly caused a different landscape in Zimbabwe.

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Zimbabwe Crisis

Zimbabwe crisis essentially refers to the untold political and economic difficulties that occurred in Zimbabwe from the year 2000 until about 2010. It was an entire decade of growing and unprecedented isolation of a country which once stood as a promising economic and democratic beacon in otherwise war and coup raged Africa.

The trigger to the crisis in Zimbabwe was the inversion of the commercial farmers that were largely controlled and owned by white Zimbabweans. As to what triggered the actual inversion in the first place is still a subject of debate even to this day. Two key theories are dominant.

Critics of Zimbabwe President, Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF party sense that the party was cornered by a coming revolution propelled by the labour movement and had to find a scapegoat to retain power through anarchy. Indeed for many years in Zimbabwe after the government sanctioned farm inversions of 2000 and 2001, there was continued speculation and rumours of the President declaring a state of emergency.

The second theory about the start of the Zimbabwe crisis which appears to appease the government of Zimbabwe of the day and ZANU PF in particular is that the government was running out of patience with white farmers who refused to share land with landless black indigenous people. It therefore allowed the rural villagers who were later joined by the war of liberation veterans to take the law into their own hands.

The people of Zimbabwe are naturally reserved and careful of controversy and anarchy. What characterized the 10 years of problems in Zimbabwe was outright barbarism and anarchy driven by a few political thugs many of whom have clear links with ZANU PF party.

In response to government sanctioned lawlessness in Zimbabwe, the European Union and the United States immediately slapped Zimbabwe with sanctions initially targeted at the ZANU PF leaders. Clearly, on the ground the sanctions affected even ordinary people. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe was forced to print Zimbabwe dollars which in turn led to serious inflationary pressures on the Zimbabwe currency and the economy in general. Inflation is thought by independent analysts to have reached levels of one billion percent.

Due to the intensifying and ongoing lack of foreign reserves, the government went into full gear printing money to finance government projects and election campaigns. The central bank in Zimbabwe became a dominant player in the Zimbabwe crisis. For many, government administration was temporarily shifted to the central bank with the Governor Mr Gideon Gono literally and nicknamed the Prime Minister of the country.

The Zimbabwe crisis was characterized by severe food and fuel shortages. Endless lines were the order of the day across cities in Zimbabwe the worst hit being Harare and Bulawayo. People literally fought for goods and services. Even passports ran out for thousands of Zimbabweans desperate to leave. The boarder between South Africa and Zimbabwe became a hive of criminality as Zimbabweans without papers crossed crocodile infested Limpopo river into South Africa by night and many others through bribery of boarder control.

Education and medical facilities such as hospitals became dysfunctional. Teachers, doctors and nurses left the country in hordes and many people unnecessarily lost their lives due to lack of medical attention at under-stuffed hospitals and clinics.

A new phenomenon never experienced in the history of Zimbabwe emerged overnight. Goods and services began to be available at the parallel market. Shop shelves were wiped empty through government sanctioned weeks of rampage forcing shops to cut prices by up to 70%. Thugs, criminals and corrupt government officers extolled money and goods from shop owners and many businesses collapsed overnight.

What followed in a Zimbabwe hit by a crisis were months of hunger were meat, fish and other products were sold from street corners and car boots people playing hid and seek with authorities desperate to put inflation under control by arresting sellers.

The Zimbabwe crisis was a long and painful ten years of election results disputes between MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai and ZANU PF. Each election was characterized by untold violence to the degree of crimes against humanity. There were reports of people being buried alive and many others having their limps cut off in rural areas for supporting western backed enemies of the state. For many villagers the wish was for election to be banned as they brought nothing but misery and suffering.

Things seemed to take a new turn in 2009 when a new government between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in after nearly 5 years of secret negotiations. Today Zimbabwe has a new multi-currency system which has stabilised the economy and entered Zimbabwe into a period of deflation.

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Zimbabwe Life Overview

To many people Zimbabwe life has not been easy in the 10 painful years of the Zimbabwe crisis. The Zimbabwe economy deteriorated from year 2000 non-stop to about 2010 with many Zimbabwe people losing their jobs. The overall result has been increasing poverty, lack of education and very poor living standards.

Life in Zimbabwe for many people has been one without much to look forward to due to the general despair associated with bad politics. For many people much hope had been pinned upon the opposition political party MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai to bring change to Zimbabwe. However, the ten years of continued economic and political turmoil with no end in sight brought complete mistrust and a lack of hope that Zimbabwe life would ever improve.

The majority of Zimbabweans for many years has been used to living below the poverty datum line. In fact most people in Zimbabwe especially in rural Zimbabwe live on less than US$1.00 per day. There is hardly any money to send children to school or take care of the medical needs of the family.

With high unemployment levels exceeding 80% most Zimbabweans have found refuge in neighbouring countries such as Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique and even Malawi. An estimated 3.5 million people are said to be living in the diaspora. These numbers vary. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe gave a number of about 1.3 million in the diaspora. This would also include the UK and the United States of America.

The shaky political settlement of 2009 brought some relief to most Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe life greatly improved with the easy availability of food-stuffs in shops. The removal of the Zimbabwe currency in favour of multi-currency system also reduced inflation and in fact threw Zimbabwe into a period of deflation as everything is now being sold in United States Dollars or the South Africa Rand.

From that perspective standard of life has generally improved in Zimbabwe. A significant number of people can now access goods and services and education is showing signs of renewed hope once again. However, the continued contradictions in the new government of Zimbabwe which is a coalition of leading political parties remains a great worry for many people in Zimbabwe. Across cities in Zimbabwe the memories of the period 2000 to 2009 are are clear nightmare that many dare not about reliving.

What Zimbabweans do with their time

Zimbabweans are an easy going people. They value family and working hard for their families. A Monday to Friday week in Zimbabwe is a working week. People go to work and many others run their informal business such as selling wares amongst other things. Saturday and Sunday are essentially rest days. Only service providers are open the morning half of a Saturday most closing at 1 pm.

Weekends are also an opportunity to visit family and friends within the cities. Friends also take time to be with one another during weekends. Many people go to church on Sunday as generally most Zimbabweans are Christians. Some also believe in the traditional religion such that for a huge percentage the two are mixed.

It is part of Zimbabwe life to go and watch a soccer match on a Sunday afternoon. Zimbabweans are generally soccer lovers who follow local and international soccer fixtures and tournaments with a passion especially amongst the men. Soccer is therefore an important aspect of life in Zimbabwe. Other sports are important in Zimbabwe but clearly fail to command the same type of following as soccer.

The younger modern westernised generation of Zimbabweans like to spend time at shopping malls hanging out with friends. Parting is also popular with young more affluent Zimbabweans. House parties are organised during weekends and at special holidays. The younger generations of Zimbabweans pursue life in Zimbabwe the American way imitating what comes out in movies, satellite TV, music videos and the Internet.

Zimdaily Review

Zimdaily is one of Zimbabwe focused most visited digital media sites.The paper is owned by Zimbabweans in the diaspora and publishes news on Zimbabwe on a daily basis. The paper has been online for some years and attracts the interests of thousands of Zimbabweans in Zimbabwe and abroad.

In 2008 a fugitive, according to the government of Zimbabwe, acquired 50% of Zimdaily from Mr Munamato Maisva a Zimbabwean also based abroad. Mr Gilbert Muponda the so called fugitive fled Zimbabwe for the United States at the height of bank closures by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. he and another co-founder were accused by government of swindling customers millions of United States Dollars through their now defunct company ENG Capital.

Today the paper is owned by 3MG Media. In terms of news coverage, Zimdaily appears to have serious vitriol against the government of Zimbabwe especially ZANU PF and President Robert Mugabe in particular. This type of news coverage on Zimbabwe is not limited only to this paper but to the generality of Zimbabwe independent Internet publications. The Internet has become a viable and effective method of Zimbabweans to protest against the brutality and human rights abuses of their government.

The online edition of the paper has a dedicated team of sub-editors who publish stories on a day to day basis. Just as most online independent publications on Zimbabwe do, Zimdaily also relies on undercover journalists scattered across the cities and country side of Zimbabwe. Some of the journalists used by private online publications in fact work for state media operated by Zimpapers. Due to meagre salaries earned, they supplement their income by writing in opposition too their own stories in the state owned papers such as the Herald and the Chronicle.

Even though overall the publication carries newsworthy articles, excessive advertising on the site is often annoying to some readers.The publication belongs to a plethora of Internet real estate such as Zim Net Radio a radio station run by 3MG Capital as well as Zimface an imitation of Facebook but exclusive to Zimbabweans.

In 2009 Zimdaily introduced a print version of the paper. The paper is not yet widely available on the streets of Harare, Zimbabwe's capital and other cities in Zimbabwe. However it stands a chance for a good readership in a country were independent daily news is extremely scare due to severe media restrictions on new players. It however remains to be seen of the government will accept the distribution of the paper on Zimbabwe's streets.

Zimbabwe Education Review

Zimbabwe education is essentially modelled around the British education system. It is managed and administered by the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture. In fact the history of Zimbabwe shows that at independence in 1980 the new government of Zimbabwe led by Robert Mugabe inherited the British approach to education.

Education in Zimbabwe starts with primary school Grade 1 to Grade 7. At Grade 7 pupils write national exit exams at the end of 7 years which take them to the next cycle of academic learning known as secondary school. This comprises of Form 1 to Form 4 which are four years of intermediate learning. The next level of academic learning is called advanced level learning. This comprises of two years of advanced secondary level learning of Form 5 and Form 6. This level is optional but many students aim to go through it for greater future opportunities.

Students who advance to Form 5 and 6 will write a national compulsory exist exam which will eventually lead to first year at University. Some companies recruit advanced level students to train them for what are known as accounting articles.

The government of Zimbabwe recognised level of education in Ordinary level achieved after four years (form 1 to Form 4) of secondary school learning. Students must earn what are known as 5 ordinary level subject passes which must be inclusive of English language in order to participate in vocational training or even seek formal employment.

This thorough approach to education earned Zimbabwe education the title of one of the best in the world. After political independence in 1980, the Zimbabwe government continued with a policy of building schools and training more teachers to ensure as many Zimbabweans as possible deprived of learning during the liberation era would get an opportunity for education in Zimbabwe.

Sadly the Zimbabwe crisis which began in 2000 for the following 10 years ripped apart the legacy of Zimbabwe education the country had carefully built in the past 20 years of nation building. Most teachers deserted schools for greener pastures and government funding for public schools dropped sharply at the back-drop of the falling Zimbabwe currency and deteriorating economy.

Largely thought to be as a result of anti-imperialism strategies, the Zimbabwe government disbanded the internationally recognised Cambridge examinations that had made so much room for Zimbabweans abroad in favour of the locally administered Zimsec ( Zimbabwe School Examination Council). Zimsec has been a disaster. From mixing student results to entirely losing them not to mention the repeated delays and confusion and leaks in examination papers.

Consequently, most students in Zimbabwe today opt for privately sponsored Cambridge examination sitting. These have however become expensive as the government no-longer subsidises them as was the case before. In general mny donors have taken interest in supporting Zimbabwe's public education since 2009. Some of the donors have included UNICEF giving up to 42 million Pounds to increase access to education.

Private schools are rife in the Zimbabwe education sector as parents create an ongoing demand for them running away from poorly funded and managed public schools administered by the government. The Zimbabwe International School is amongst the favorites for well to do Zimbabwean parents. Even though the concept behind it is to create an educational environment that will be compatible with changing environments for diplomats, many Zimbabweans are now opting for the international school.

Zimbabwe education especially public schools will certainly take much longer to recover than initially anticipated. Without external support the teachers in public schools will remain largely demotivated at US$175 or less monthly salary hardly enough to live by. The Zimsec administered certificates are proving very difficult for students to present in overseas Universities.

The near collapse of the University of Zimbabwe also deprived many young people a chance to attend University. Consequently, thousands of Zimbabweans have found university places to study in Malaysia, Singapore and Australia.

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Zimbabwe Tourism Situation

The history of Zimbabwe tourism is one of great prosperity in the last 20 years of the country's independence history to about year 2000. Zimbabwe has been one of the most visited countries in southern Africa through the 80s and 90s because of the leading tourist attractions such as Nyanga in the Eastern Highlands, the Victoria Falls and Great Zimbabwe Monument in Masvingo, central Zimbabwe.

The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) is in charge of promoting tourism in Zimbabwe.

In fact tourism for a long time contributed a significant amount to national income that could be counted on. 1.4 million tourists visited Zimbabwe in 1999. This marked the end of peak numbers in visitors. A constant and terrible decline followed in late 2000 right through to 2009 with the start of Zimbabwe's problems as a result of the violent government sanctioned land inversions.

The Zimbabwe tourism sector shed thousands of staff due to the shrinking market. The pull-out of international airlines from Zimbabwe such as Austrian Airlines, KLM, Qantas and others further strained the tourism sector in terms of easy access to the Zimbabwean market as well as being a vote of no confidence in overall state of affairs in Zimbabwean. Zimbabwe's neighbours such as Botswana, South Africa and Zambia naturally heavily capitalised on this development. They began marketing zimbabwean resorts such as teh Victoria Falls under South African or Zambia packages. this generally gave an impression to many would be tourists that Victoria Falls or Kariba was not in Zimbabwe.

Some tourists continued to visit Zimbabwe especially those from other countries other than Britain and the United States. The government of Zimbabwe openly considered Britain and the US enemies of the "revolution". In response most western countries issued travel warnings on Zimbabwe also as a result of intensifying political violence against opponents of President Mugabe and his ZANU PF party.

In 2003 as a counter strategy to dwindling western investment and increasing isolation the government coined what they called the Look East Policy that sought to entice Asian investors deemed friendly to come to Zimbabwe. This also included tourists from Asia especially China. To further prop this strategy government through the tourism department invested time and money in teaching Chinese recipes in restaurants and hotels.

There was a trickle of Asian tourists in the following few years. However unlike western tourists, the spending patterns of Asian tourists are far less appreciated as compared to their western counterparts by tour operators. Further even the ordinary tourism resort workers felt a difference in terms of the usually free flow of service tips usually experienced when dealing with western tourists. Largely everybody was unhappy.

In the following years the ZTA had a new strategy of promoting Zimbabwe through facilitating and paying for concerts and visits by international celebrities such as reggage superstars and hip-hop artists amongst others. Most of the tourists left speaking positively about Zimbabwe. The real results are yet to be experienced. It remains to be seen if the followers of these artists who are naturally not tourists will finally gain the courage   and the resources to visit Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe tourism is not easy to fix. It is almost impossible to fix without any major political improvements. The world needs to agree that the Zimbabwe crisis is over if tourism is to completely rebound. It would appear even Asian tourists listen to the American and European travel warnings when making decisions to which countries to visit. The Lonely Planet website is for everyone!

Efforts by the Zimbabwe government to set-up international tourism booths promoting the country appear to have had little to absolutely no overwhelming success. Certainly today the Internet speaks louder than any government propaganda initiatives. Tourists first scan the Internet on a particular destination before ever considering to visit.

The developments in Zimbabwe in 2009 of an inclusive government born out of political negotiations have been reported to have had a positive impact o the overall tourism outlook. More needs to be done as the world is watching the continuing contradictionns and open disharmony within the government. Zimbabwe tourism has great potential only if the political situation is permanently resolved.

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