Chronicle
26 February 2010
By Busani Ncube and Discent Bajila
THE Zimbabwean Government was fully formed on 13 February 2009 after the signing of the historic Global Political Agreement and the swearing in of 32 Cabinet ministers charged with a duty of serving the interests of the people of Zimbabwe at policy creation, implementation and fundraising matters.
Three months after our Government was formed, the new President of South Africa Mr Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, announced and swore in his Cabinet. Like any other in the world, the cabinets of South Africa and Zimbabwe were welcomed with great expectations and the world of today revolves around information dissemination and moistly via internet.
One of the key duties of the Cabinet is to keep the electorate well informed about the goings on in their various ministries and this they do via publications. One means of publicity used and encouraged for 21st century leaders is internet and one critical area of focus is the use of websites which contain many details that can be posted and managed at any time of the day or night.
A thorough search of all websites of ministries in Zimbabwe have revealed that something is indeed NOT right in information management at Cabinet level and some people must be fired for incompetence – hereunder we detail the worrying facts of only five examples.
To begin with, the ministry of Information and Publicity which is led by Honourable Nelson Chamisa who recently made an interesting announcement that his ministry is committed to seeing a development in the ICTs nationwide has failed, neglected and or chosen not to create manage its website, contrally to the performance grandstanding and posturing that Hon Chamisa is known for. Hoe does Hon Chamisa or any of his information cops justify the absence of a website of such a central ministry in the 21st century communications.
A factual old adage goes the fish rots from the head and if this ministry which is espoused with a duty of championing electronic governance in our fatherland has failed for more than 365 days to establish its own website, what then are others expected to do?
Secondly there is the very interesting website of the Ministry of Science and technology whose minister is Professor Heneri Dzinotyiwei.
One of the key things from page One of that website that is striking is that it wrongly indicate that the minister of Science and Technology is still Dr Olivia Muchena the now minister of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development.
The same website is infested with many old press statements of the former minister, most of which still have Government policies and positions that have long changed. This may suggest that information officers in the said ministry are either unaware who is their minister or are ignorant of the fact that their website is a powerful form of communication and nation branding. Or they do not know that it exists.
Thirdly there is the website of the ministry of Education Sports Arts and Culture. This website shows Cde Annias Chigwedere as the minister instead of Hon Senator David Coltart. Again one wonders whether the press officers or whoever manages the ministry s website is unaware of who his or her boss is or of the fact that Cde Chigwedere is now a headman in Wedza, Mashonaland East and no longer a minister, let alone a parliamentarian.
How his name is still there and face still features in the website truly will confuse many innocent school kids out there, for reasons we do not understand. One cannot doubt the individual capacity of Senator Coltart in information dissemination because his personal website (http://www.facebook.com/l/3df43;www.davidcoltart.com ) is running and well updated far much better than that of his ministry. So is not working?
Fourthly is one of the most interesting website, which falls under the ambit of co-ministers of Cde Kembo Mohadi and Giles Mutsekwa the website of the Ministry of Home Affairs. If one follows links that appear in the main Government website, which is better managed, to join the ministry of Home Affairs, it shows that the website is inactive. However, if one looks for the Department of National Archives in the same main Government website, they find everything about the ministry of Home Affairs.
This then suggests that in the knowledge of certain information officers in Government, the Ministry of Home Affairs is either a sub-department in the department of national archives or an obsolete part of our important national history.
Furthermore the same website informs the unsuspecting world that in present Government of Zimbabwe there is just one Minister of Home Affairs by the name Kembo Mohadi who is deputized by Cde Reuben Marumahoko.
This information seized to be true more than 365 days ago and we wonder what whoever is in charge of updating these websites does every day of the week at work. It puzzles any inquisitive mind how such information officers justify the daily presence of Hon Giles Mutsekwa at the ministry s headquarters and the daily absence of Cde Reuben Marumahoko at the same building and offices.
A comparison of the South African case with ours becomes further justification that heads must roll in Harare. We are a nation whose main project for now is a public relations one in line with our international relations and national brand positioning.
However the shoddy and no job being done by information officers in Harare compared with their counterparts in Tshwane (Pretoria) and elsewhere in the world is intolerable in this day and age of information dissemination.
This is worsened by the fact that the Ministries of Regional Integration and International Cooperation, Media Information and Publicity and Tourism and Hospitality Management which are Government s public relations organs have absolutely no websites and the ministers in charge are Hon Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, Cde Webster Shamu and Cde Walter Muzembi respectively.
Also interesting to note is that the websites of the Ministries of Mining, Industry and Commerce, Water and Transport last had their websites updated between 2007 and 2008. Two years of idleness of information officers at these ministries at the expense of the tax payer is surely intolerable and a waste of national resources.
It is pleasing to note that some people are not wasting tax payers money and are doing their job as information officers as evidenced by their working websites. Information officers at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs deserve specific mention and congratulations in this regard. The website clearly shows its two present leaders, Minister Cde Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and his deputy Hon Moses Mzila Ndlovu.
Physical addresses of all Zimbabwe embassies world over are clearly shown together with emails and phone numbers and the website is well updated in all respects. Other key people in Zimbabwe s diplomatic relations are the Head of State and Government President Robert Mugabe and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Joey Bimha and the roles and responsibilities of these office holders are clearly stated ion the website.
We call upon the respective ministers to reign on their information officers as they depict a false image of our nation, its history, present and future. Our children, who are doing research, should never be exposed to this kind of misinformation and no information at all, at times and indeed this is bad.
The Holy Bible clearly says that where there is no knowledge, people perish. Our nation is at the brink of perishing at the hands of some idle information officers, if not misinformation officers. Even soccer clubs like Manchester United and Kaizer Chiefs have better, active and up to date websites.
Sadly in our country, this trend of idle information officers seems to have cascaded to soccer teams like Highlanders and some companies whose websites are moribund. We implore those responsible to do their job or leave for those who know and understand the important of a working website in information dissemination and marketing. The rot must stop.
Busani Ncube is a freelance journalist whereas Discent Bajila is an analyst. They both work at the National Youth Development Trust.
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