TRUTH
WHEN YOU STRETCH THE TRUTH,
WATCH OUT FOR THE SNAPBACK !
African Film Festival Deaths.
The opening of the pan-African film festival Fespaco has been marred by the deaths of two people in a crush.
Witnesses said as stadium gates were opened in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkino Faso, there was almost a stampede towards the more shaded areas. The festival director requested silence in memory of those who had died. At least ten other people were injured. Film makers, critics and fans from across Africa are expected at the week-long festival. Twenty films are competing for the top award, the Stallion of Yennenga, covering some of the biggest challenges facing Africa - including Aids, poverty and genocide.
Posted by: Mara at February 28, 2005 17:31 |
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africa
PRIDE
SWALLOW YOUR PRIDE OCCASIONALLY - IT'S NON FATTENING !
Cathy Buckle's latest letter.
Dear Family and Friends,
I am writing this letter on a grey, overcast and very sticky and humid
Marondera day. According to the state television, all roads are leading to
Marondera today because President Mugabe's 81st birthday party is being
held in the town. An enormous white tent has been erected on the local
football field and all week the town has been filling up with government
dignitaries, entertainers, scores of police, security officials, youth
brigade members and men in dark glasses and big hats. As I write this
letter the birthday celebrations are underway and being broadcast live on
television. Many thousands of people are in the tent: children in school
uniform holding little flags, ministers and government dignitaries wearing
red sashes and the usual large number of people who find it appropriate to
wear clothes with President Mugabe's face printed on the fabric. Lines of
teenage girls, in youth brigade uniforms and with shaven heads started the
day off with displays of karate kicks and punches and were later followed
by speaker after speaker who came forward to praise the President and
condemn anyone and everyone who is seen as an enemy. As a Marondera
resident I couldn't help but smile as I watched all the VIP's and even
local Marondera government officials, drinking bottled water. I guess they
must have heard that our water has been very off for the last couple of
weeks, often being distinctly discoloured and almost every day smelling
and tasting foul.
When the party had been going on for four hours and after all the speeches
had been made, the birthday cake emerged. Slices were cut and handed out
to members of the family and then the television commentator made the most
amazing statement. She said: "As you can see, Robert junior is actually
eating the cake now whilst I am still hungry but it looks very delicious."
The words of the commentator would undoubtedly have been echoed by many of
the thousands of people in the tent. There had been no sign of any
refreshments being available for the spectators or children during the
long hot morning and by this time it was obviously very hot as scores of
people were fanning themselves with their little Zimbabwean flags.
According to the government media, donations to the value of one billion
dollars were raised for the Marondera birthday party. I needed a
dictionary to check how many zeros there are in a billion dollars and then
my twelve year old son to show me how to use the calculator in my computer
as a normal calculator cannot accommodate all those zeroes. We worked out
that the money spent on the Presidential birthday party could have bought
285 thousand loaves of bread which would have been enough to give 6 slices
of bread to every man, woman and child in Marondera. Oh well I guess we'll
just have to dream of delicious birthday cake. Until next week, love cathy
Copyright cathy buckle 26th February 2005
http://africantears.netfirms.com
My books on the Zimbabwean crisis, "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are
available outside Africa from: orders@africabookcentre.com ;
www.africabookcentre.com ; www.amazon.co.uk ; in Australia and New Zealand:
johnmreed@johnreedbooks.com.au ; Africa: www.kalahari.net
www.exclusivebooks.com
HOPE
HOPE NEVER ABANDONS YOU - YOU ABANDON IT !
AMBUSH IN CONGO
Congo ambush kills nine UN troops |
| Nine United Nations peacekeepers from Bangladesh have been killed in an armed ambush in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN says. The attack happened on Friday morning in the north-eastern Ituri region, where 4,800 peacekeepers are deployed. A UN spokesman said the troops were ambushed by "unidentified armed elements" while they were on patrol. The UN force in Ituri also includes peacekeeping troops from Pakistan, Morocco and Nepal. |
Posted by: Mara at February 25, 2005 17:36 |
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africa
MONEY
MONEY BUYS EVERYTHING EXCEPT
LOVE, PERSONALITY, FREEDOM AND IMMORALITY.
AIDS DRUGS HELP
Nigeria expands Aids drugs help |
 Some 4m Nigerians are estimated to be HIV positive |
Nigeria plans a drastic increase in the number of people living with HIV and Aids that receive anti-retroviral drugs, the health minister says. Currently 14,000 Nigerian get subsided drugs but this year the number will rise to 100,000, Eyitayo Lambo said. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, began providing anti-retrovirals in 2002, through 25 treatment centres. But they still only meet the needs of a small fraction of the estimated four million HIV-positive Nigerians. Mr Lambo said he hopes the increased provision will be partly funded by the UN's Global Fund and the World Health Organization (WHO). "Council today decided that we should scale up the treatment [...] to 100,000 HIV-positive patients this year," Mr Lambo said. Under the programme, the state subsidises the cost of generic versions of the drugs, made in India, reducing the monthly cost of treatment to about $7 per patient. Mr Lambo said that by 2007 Nigeria hopes to have 350,000 people on the programme. Last year the country unveiled its first plant to manufacture affordable generic anti-retroviral drugs, built with funds from Nigerian expats living in the US. |
Posted by: Mara at February 24, 2005 18:12 |
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africa
THE GAME OF THE GODS
Zimbabwe shifts the posts |
Steve Vickers
BBC Sport, Harare |
  Several goalposts have been wrongly constructed |
An inspection team in Zimbabwe has discovered that the goalposts at most of the country's football stadiums have incorrect dimensions. With the new season starting next month, some grounds risk bans after officials unearthed some alarming errors. At Maglas stadium in the town of Zvishavane, the crossbar at the southern end was found to be 10 centimetres too low. The posts at that end had sunk further into the ground each rainy season. All five stadiums visited so far by referees and officials from the Premier Soccer League (PSL) have been declared unfit for top-flight football. The grounds all have wrong-sized goalposts, and some of them also require building renovations. "We're trying to bring professionalism to football and we need to take some bold decisions," said PSL secretary Chris Sambo. When the posts were measured at Barbourfields stadium in Bulawayo, one goal was found to be 10cm too wide and the other too big by a gaping 14cm. In other words, if a goal is scored there with the ball going in off the post, it really shouldn't count at all. "We measured the posts at Barbourfields towards the end of last year and decided to allow them to continue up to the end of the season," said Zimbabwe Soccer Referees Association chairman Gladmore Muzambi. "But they must be adjusted before the start of this season." Stadiums in Harare will be checked this coming weekend, but there has already been one extremely disturbing error in the capital. The crossbar at the National Sports Stadium, the venue of most of the national team's matches, was 10cm too low ever since the stadium's construction in the early 1980s. The error was discovered after a World Cup qualifier last June, when the visiting Algerians queried the dimensions, and has now been corrected. "The distance was wrongly measured from the outside of the bar to the ground, rather than the inside," explained Muzambi. If the bar had been the correct height, some international matches would certainly have had different results. According to Fifa regulations, goalposts should be 7.32 metres wide and 2.44 metres high. When the league gets underway next month, the goalposts will quite literally have been shifted in Zimbabwean football. |
Posted by: Mara at February 23, 2005 19:50 |
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WHICH ONE
A HALF TRUTH IS A WHOLE LIE.
Posted by: Mara at February 23, 2005 19:38 |
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BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL AWARD.
South African film wins at Berlin |
 Actors were recruited from talent in the townships |
A South African reworking of the opera Carmen has won the top award at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival. U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha, which moved Georges Bizet's story to a township and translated the lyrics into Xhosa, was a surprise winner of the Golden Bear. Based on a theatre show, it is the first feature film from British opera director Mark Dornford-May. Lou Taylor Pucci won best actor for Thumbsucker while Julia Jentsch was named best actress for Sophie Scholl. The awards will be handed out on Saturday at a ceremony that will bring the 10-day festival - one of the most prestigious after Cannes - to a close. |
Posted by: Mara at February 22, 2005 21:07 |
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africa
SPARK
A SPARK IN SOMEONE SPECIAL IN MY LIFE HAS DIMMED, AND I DO HOPE A GENTLE BREEZE WILL SOON COME ALONG, AND BRING BACK ALL THE FIRE IN HER. LIKE THE AFRICAN PLAINS ONCE SCORCHED, SHE WILL COME BACK IN FULL FORCE AND WILL BE EVEN BETTER THAN BEFORE.
Posted by: Mara at February 22, 2005 21:00 |
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africa
DAYS
INSTEAD OF COUNTING YOUR DAYS
MAKE YOUR DAYS COUNT.
Posted by: Mara at February 21, 2005 23:13 |
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SANCTIONS
Europe renews Zimbabwe sanctions |
 Zanu-PF is widely expected to win the forthcoming polls |
European Union foreign ministers have renewed sanctions against Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe for another year. However, they said the measures - a response to the political and human rights situation - could be re-examined after next month's parliamentary poll. The extension, which came on the day Mr Mugabe celebrated his 81st birthday, was passed unanimously without debate. The sanctions include a ban on Mr Mugabe and other government officials from travelling to EU countries. They were first implemented three years ago. Foreign critics have said President Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF rigged parliamentary elections in 2000 and the 2002 presidential poll, and accuse the government of widespread human rights abuses. The sanctions apply to all senior Zimbabwean officials "who commit human rights violations and restrict freedom of opinion, association and peaceful protest", according to an EU resolution. Last year, the ban was extended from 79 to 95 people. Other sanctions include a ban on arms sales and the freezing of Zimbabwean assets in European banks. |
Posted by: Mara at February 21, 2005 23:07 |
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africa
Cathy Buckle
I would like to mention that Cathy has been writing her weekly letters now for over 4 years, and in that time she has been intimidated, had her emails intercepted, her Password and IPS tampered with at least 3 times, and even prevented accesses a few times. However she has managed so far to get around all the obstacles. Cathy writes in her letters what she sees and so far is still alive to tell the tale - Long may it continue.
Cathy's Letter from Zimbabwe.
Dear Family and Friends,
With less than six weeks to go before parliamentary elections, the
situation is heating up dramatically in Zimbabwe. In an early Valentine's
Day walk last Saturday, 500 WOZA women carried roses and spread the
message "Choose the power of love rather than the love of power". They
were obviously seen as a threat because 40 of the women were arrested by
police in Bulawayo.
Three days later and with just six weeks to go before elections, the MDC
were holding a training session for their 120 parliamentary candidates at
the Sheraton Hotel in Harare. The police said the meeting was illegal
under POSA and proceeded to apprehend the MDC's election director Ian
Makone and warn everyone else to leave immediately or they would also be
arrested.
On Thursday 200 NCA protestors took to the streets in Harare distributing
flyers and carrying placards calling for free and fair elections. This
demonstration was also broken up by police, this time in riot gear, and
the day ended with seven people in clinics being treated for assault and
fourteen others being arrested.
On Friday a three man delegation from South Africa's official opposition
party, the Democratic Alliance, came on a fact finding mission to
Zimbabwe. Like COSATU a couple of weeks ago, the DA didn't get very far
and were denied entry and turned back at Harare Airport.
You would think that with so much going on the Zimbabwean television would
have been full of news stories about these happenings. But day after day
our news bulletins were not about women being arrested for carrying
flowers, or men assaulted and arrested for calling for free elections, our
news bulletins were about computers. Night after night President Mugabe
has been headline news, handing out computers to remote rural schools. At
one such school the President revealed the shocking examination figures
which illustrate better than anything else the diabolical state of
Zimbabwe's education system. Speaking at a school in Shurugwi he said: "In
Silobela they had a 3% pass rate. Here there was a pass rate of 8%. In
other areas it is 6%."
This week the South African Foreign Minister said she was satisfied that
Zimbabwe was taking steps to ensure free and fair elections. For those of
us that are living here and seeing computers if we support Zanu PF or
arrests and prison cells if we don't, the Ministers words are insulting
and nauseating. I don't know why, but because she is a woman, I had hoped
for more from Mrs Dlamini Zuma. I wonder if she would be brave enough to
face arrest for carrying a rose, to be assaulted for asking for a free
election or even to send her child to a school here where the pass rate is
just 3%. Mrs Dlamini Zuma could have given hope and inspiration had she
been brave enough to just highlight even one of the things that happened
this week in Zimbabwe. What shame on her. Until next week, with love,
cathy. Copyright cathy buckle 19th February 2005.
http://africantears.netfirms.com
My books on the Zimbabwean crisis, "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are
available from: orders@africabookcentre.com ; www.africabookcentre.com ; in
Australia and New Zealand: johnmreed@johnreedbooks.com.au ; Africa:
www.kalahari.net www.exclusivebooks.com
A FREE ZIMBABWE !!!
Another item has been crossed off the list 'to do' in the run up to the elections by Mugabe.This week has seen 3 Newpaper Journalist's being hounded out by Mugabe's thugs. Colleagues Angus Shaw, Jan Raath and Brian Latham have all fled Zimbabwe, and for two of them leaving everything they hold dear and including their love of their country, before they were rounded up and put in prison, for doing their job from their offices known as The Old Gentleman's News Co-operative in trying to report what was going on in Zimbabwe. They had hoped to stay to cover up to and covering the elections at the end of March, but they had been tipped off that they were to be closed down by any means. So much for the freedom of the press, far less free speech for the people as well.
Posted by: Mara at February 20, 2005 15:49 |
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africa
ONLY IN AFRICA -PART 2
In a Zimbabwean restaurant:
"Customers who find our waitresses rude ought to see the manager."
A sign seen on a hand dryer in a Lesotho public toilet:
"Risk of electric shock - Do not activate with wet hands."
In a Botswana jewellery shop:
"Ears pierced while you wait."
On one of the buildings of a Sierra Leonne hospital:
"Mental Health Prevention Centre."
In a maternity ward of a clinic in Tanzania:
"No children allowed!"
In a cemetery in Uganda:
"Persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves".
In a Malawi hotel:
"It is forbidden to steal towels, please. If you are not a person to do such a thing, please don't read this notice."
A sign posted in an Algerian tourist camping park:
"It is strictly forbidden on our camping site that people of different sex, for instance a man and woman, live together in one tent unless they are married to each other for that purpose."
In a Namibian nightclub:
"Ladies are not allowed to have children in the bar."
In a photo studio in Chitungwiza (Zimbabwe):
"Photos taken while you wait"
Posted by: Mara at February 19, 2005 21:35 |
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africa
EXTRA
GO THE EXTRA MILE - IT IS NEVER CROWDED.
ON THIS DAY
SNOW FELL, ON THIS DAY, IN THE SAHARA DESERT IN 1979.
Posted by: Mara at February 18, 2005 18:13 |
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