{"id":1880,"date":"2018-04-03T07:40:55","date_gmt":"2018-04-03T07:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wozazim.org\/?p=1880"},"modified":"2018-04-03T08:44:32","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T08:44:32","slug":"may-woza-moya-newsletter-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/?p=1880","title":{"rendered":"May Woza Moya newsletter \u2013 English"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n

100 Days of the Government of National Unity \u2013 an analysis of priorities<\/strong><\/p>\n

10 months have passed since the Global Political Agreement was signed. They promised to \u201cbuild a democratic and just, inclusive society free of fear, violence, patronage, corruption and to ensure a better life for all Zimbabweans\u201d. They promised to \u201carrest the fall in living standards and reverse the decline of our economy\u201d, and \u201can end to violence, respect for human rights and freedoms of expression and assembly, economic and social justice, security sector reform, constitutional reforms and national healing.\u201d<\/p>\n

On 11 February this year, Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as Prime Minister and a few days\u2019 later ministers and deputy ministers were sworn in. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said in his speech, \u201cFor too long our people\u2019s hopes for a bright and prosperous future have been betrayed. Instead of hope their days have been filled with starvation, disease and fear. A culture of entitlement and impunity has brought our nation to the brink of a dark abyss. This must end today.\u201d He promised \u201cjobs for those who wish to work, food is available for those who are hungry, and where we are united by our respect for the rights and dignity of our fellow citizens. This is the debt we owe to our liberation heroes and our democratic movement heroes who paid the ultimate price so we could all live together free from fear, hunger, and poverty.\u201d He said he would restore a free media, the rule of law and Zimbabwe\u2019s devastated agricultural sector. He promised to open a \u201cnew chapter for our country\u201d and told us he had three priorities: 1.Democratisation 2. Ending the humanitarian crisis 3. Stabilising the economy<\/p>\n

SO WHERE ARE WE NOW? WOZA heard them talk and reminded each other that \u2013 actions speak louder than words. We continued to encourage each other to Qhubeka<\/strong>\/ Take the Step<\/strong> \/Yendera Mberi<\/strong>. We continued to demand respect for human rights and social justice through non-violent protest. We waited to see what they would do during the first 100 days. We know that our country has been destroyed and cannot be fixed overnight BUT we also cannot just sit and watch and do nothing. The 100 days has come and gone. Now we have to remind politicians we are impatient for a better life \u2013 we deserved it yesterday and want it TODAY. We march today to demand concrete progress on the promises made.<\/p>\n

WOZA consulted members in Bulawayo on what they thought the power-sharing government should have prioritised in their first 100 days in office. They responded to this question:
\nIf you were President or Prime Minister or even Minister of Finance or Education and you had 20 days left what 20 things would you concentrate on first?
\nWe then selected the top five answers out of 20 and compiled this list of priorities. 6,520 members completed the petition and below is a summary of contributions.<\/p>\n

1. Fix the education system: <\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0We want free or affordable better quality education, with resources for our children and teachers who are motivated by descent salaries.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Teachers still look at parents as their employer while the real employer, government, looks on helplessly.
2. Urgent reforms to stabilize the economy: <\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Reintroduce local currency as soon as possible because not everyone can access foreign currency and afford to use it. Find a way to bring back a stable Zimbabwe dollar currency.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Audit finances at RBZ and Gono should be investigated for corruption and either be fired or resign.
3. Restore the healthcare system:<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0We need affordable fees for clinics and hospitals and enough affordable medicines.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Pregnancy no longer means celebrating a birth but pain and suffering due to high costs; demands for bribes and bad service. Nurses and doctors must be told to treat patients with respect. They must also earn a living wage that dignifies them.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Please allow people a dignified death \u2013 buy more storage fridges and clean up mortuaries.
4. Better quality, affordable and efficient service delivery from ZESA, City Councils and Tel One: <\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0They keep increasing their tariffs but at the same time they decrease their service. Make sure people are getting a clean supply of water. Reduce telephone tariffs and improve service.
5. Create employment and opportunities: <\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0We want jobs for all and those with jobs require a living wage that enables them to afford to get to work and eat three meals a day.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Offer civil servants a decent salary.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Allow people to get trading licenses and tell police to stop treating vendors like criminals.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Encourage informal and cross-border trading by capacitating ordinary people with self-help projects and training so that they will be able to create more business on a small scale, which will automatically boost industry.
6. Restore the rule of law: <\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Enforce the rule of law and respect for property rights.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Police corruption is steadily increasing; weed out corrupt police officers. We demand an end to the public looting of vendors\u2019 goods by police. Citizens need to be protected against indiscriminate harassment. Implement the deal points about training of police.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0End the violence by police on citizens. There is too much police brutality.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Withdraw trumped up charges against prisoners.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Repeal the sections in law (POSA sections) that violates civil rights immediately.
7. Basic commodities \u2013 food for all:<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Food needs to be affordable and available. Reduce prices on a par with regional prices to stop profiteering
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Free and unhindered access to food aid for those who cannot feed themselves.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Adequate food for prisoners.
8. Fix transport infrastructure: <\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Repair roads. Improve transport for the easier movement of goods and passengers.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Make fuel more affordable and accessible.
9. Housing:<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0There needs to be affordable housing for all \u2013 make rents reasonable and build more houses.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0A special compensation programme of housing for Murambatsvina victims.
10. Resuscitation of industry: <\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Inject funds into industry.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Encourage investment to get our economy back on its feet.
11. Provide social welfare:<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0A decent pension for elderly, care and support for orphans and the disabled must be catered for.
12. Start a national healing process:<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Make the President apologise to the nation.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0There should be an investigation into human rights abuses and crimes against humanity and those guilty should be removed.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0We need peace and an immediate end to violence. We need to feel safe in our own country and own homes.
13. Have media freedom:<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Fair and equal coverage of all government officials. We want to hear them speak on ZBC and not have voice-overs telling us what they are saying. We want the truth from our media.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0We want more independent media \u2013 newspapers, radio and television.
14. Write a new constitution followed by elections:<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Speed up the process for a new people-driven constitution. No president can hold more than 2 terms of office.
15. Equality for all: <\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Stop discrimination. Equal allocation of resources to all provinces and people.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Support gender equality programmes to gain women\u2019s participation in all aspects of life \u2013 business, leadership.
16. Improve international relations:<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Restore international relations \u2013 not only East or West, but all. Make sure that we have good (and equitable) trade relationships with regional and international countries.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0We would like to thank our neighbours and the international community for helping us in our time of need. Please keep it up.
17. Re-establish agriculture and initiate a genuine land-reform programme: <\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Stop selective distribution of land. Stop illegal invasions. Be serious about agriculture because our country depends on farming. Give land to productive people.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Fair distribution of inputs. Biased distribution means starvation.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Compensation for those who had their farms taken.
If I was the Minister of Home Affairs:<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Remove Police Commissioner Chihuri who allows officers to abuse peoples\u2019 rights and loot their goods.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Reduce the cost of passports.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Allow people to get birth certificates and identity documents at regional offices and make it easy for them.<\/p>\n

\t\t \n\t<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

100 Days of the Government of National Unity \u2013 an analysis of priorities 10 months have passed since the Global Political Agreement was signed. They promised to \u201cbuild a democratic and just, inclusive society free of fear, violence, patronage, corruption and to ensure a better life for all Zimbabweans\u201d. They promised to \u201carrest the … Continue reading May Woza Moya newsletter \u2013 English<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1880"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1968,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1880\/revisions\/1968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}