The Zimbabwean

By Gift Phiri

Monday, 24 January 2011

HARARE – Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara has been demoted by the powerful 24-member MDC Standing Committee, which has assigned Professor Welshman Ncube to take up his post as the new Deputy Prime Minister.

Mutambara has been deployed to the ministry of Regional Intergration and International Cooperation, previously held by the new secretary general Priscilla Misihairabwi Mushonga, who replaces Ncube as minister of Industry and Commerce. Announcing the reshuffle after a marathon Standing Committee meeting held at the Holiday Inn in Harare Sunday, Ncube said his party has also recalled him from the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee, JOMIC, and from COPAC, where he was co chair to concentrate on his new post as Deputy Prime Minister.

“Prof Mutambara will be redeployed to the ministry of Regional Intergration and International Cooperation. I will be

deployed to the office of the deputy Prime Minister,” Ncube told the news conference Sunday. “Those are the decisions of the Standing Committee which have been communicated to the persons who are concerned and affected. As you know the prerogative of the Standing Committee is to deploy people as it has always done  in the past. So that’s basically what we have done in today’s meeting.”

Ncube declined to say how Mutambara had received the latest plan, but authoritative party sources said he was taking it very hard and that the robotics professor was apoplectic with fury. Mutambara was not immediately available for comment. But Ncube said: “Yes we have informed Prof Mutambara on the decision of the Standing Commitee. We hope that he, together with all the affected persons, will accept that position. He has been informed.

If you want further comment you can contact him. But we have done our part as a party in informing him.” Asked how Mutambara had reacted, Ncube retorted: “We didn’t have to take any reaction.” Asked if Mutambara accepted the demotion to the new position, Ncube said: “You have to ask him that question. The party deployed people and all loyal cadres get told by the party what assignment they have been given.” Ncube clarified that he was not yet DPM of Zimbabwe.

“You become the Deputy Prime Minister when you are properly sworn in into that position. All we are saying is that those

are the deployments that the party has made. Obviously we have to follow the adminstrative procedures to ensure that those decision are implemented. Needless to say the President is the one who does all the adminstrative procedures. We will of course inform his office in due course.”

Ncube declined to say whet he would do when “Mugabe performed a Bennett” on him. Mugabe has refused to accept the MDC T deployee Roy Bennett as deputy Agriculture minister. Ncube said: “We will have to wait until we cross that bridge.”

Ncube told the news conference that the Standing Committee was the first executive meeting after congress, and it naturally reviewed the persons that the party deployed two years ago to government.  “The standing committee decided that we will redeploy our government team as follows: first the deputy ministers will remain as they are with Makula remaining the deputy minister for Foreign Affairs with Tapela remaining the deputy minister of Higher Education and the deputy secretary general Moses Mzila-Ndlovu will remain deployed as minister of State in the Organ on National Healing and Reconciliation.”

President Mugabe in December adminstered the oath of office on the former deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mzila-Ndlovu, as a Minister of National Healing and Reconciliation to replace the late MDC Vice President Gibson Sibanda, and also swore into office Rabson Robert Makula, to replace Mzila-Ndlovu as the new Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“Minister Mushonga will be redeployed to the ministry of Industry and Commerce,” Ncube said, adding David Coltart stays as Education minister.

“He has done a very good job there there will be absolutely no reason for him to be reassigned. So he remains as Education minister.” Ncube announced further changes in deployees to other quasi-government functions: “Some of the decisions that we took are the following: as you know myself as the President, I also in my capacity as secretary general represented the party as one of the co-chairpersons at JOMIC.

The standing committee has decided that we should reassign that function to someone else and therefore Qubani Moyo, the national organising secretary will go to JOMIC as a member of JOMIC,” Ncube told reporters.

“The secretary general, minister Mushonga will become the co-chairperson at JOMIC. Then at COPAC, in the management committee of COPAC where I was one of the three co-chairpersons of COPAC, again the Standing Committee decided that I should be recalled, to use your term, from COPAC back to the party and that in my place Moses Mzila Ndlovu the deputy secretary general should be deployed in my position at COPAC and that again the secretary general who is already a member will take over and be one of the co-chairpersons at COPAC.”

Reacting to the legal challenge to the congess that installed him as party president, Ncube, a professor of law, said his party was glad the 13 individuals have decidede to petition the High Court “over what they think are anomalies” in the manner in which the June 8 congress was called.

“It was decided that we will vigorously oppose that application and indeed that we are happy that they have decided to make this a legal case rather than a political case because as a legal case it is very easy to resolve and we know we are on firm ground,” Ncube said. “We hope there will be decision soon which shows that everything around congress was done scrupulously in accordnace with the Constitution of the party and that that Constitution was followed.”

Newsday

By Mernat Mafirakurewa

January 24 2011

Embattled Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara was on Sunday redeployed to a less glamorous portfolio at the Ministry of Regional Integration and International Co-operation, paving way for newly-elected MDC president Welshman Ncube’s ascendancy to the position of Deputy Premier.

The recalling of Mutambara comes after concerted denials by Ncube, who assumed leadership of the party two weeks ago, that he was set to replace him as DPM.

“Professor Mutambara will continue to be the Deputy Prime Minister. We have agreed that we are not going to redeploy him, as we want to continue tapping from his skills,” said Ncube two weeks ago.

“We know that he has now become an ordinary card-carrying member of the party, but we still want to work with him as he will be taking instructions from the party and representing us in the GPA government.”

But, addressing a press conference in Harare yesterday after the meeting of the party’s National Standing Committee, MDC president Ncube said following extensive deliberations, the party had seen it fit to redeploy Mutambara and other senior party members.

“The feeling of the committee was that the office of the DPM should be occupied by the party’s most senior official,” said Ncube.

“This should not be viewed as a demotion. It’s only that we are new to democracy. It happens in a democracy. If at one time you lead, the next you follow.”

Regional Integration and International Co-operation minister Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga takes over from Ncube as the Minister of Industry and Commerce.

Misihairabwi-Mushonga also becomes the lead negotiator for the party in the GPA together with Qhubani Moyo, the party’s national organising secretary.

Minister of Education, Arts, Sports and Culture David Coltart and the Co-Minister in the Organ on National Healing, Moses Ndlovu, retained their portfolios.

The redeployments however only become effective after the officials have been sworn-in by President Robert Mugabe.

Quizzed on how Mutambara had reacted upon receiving the news of the redeployment, Ncube said: “We have informed Mutambara and we hope he can accept the decision.

“The party deploys and it is hoped that all loyal cadres follow instructions of the party.”

Efforts to get a comment from Mutambara were fruitless at the time of going to print as his mobile phone was not reachable.

Ncube said he had initially objected to the proposal by the National Standing Committee given the concerns around the lifespan of the inclusive government.

“I had actually objected to the proposal but the party was of the view that even if I become a DPM for one day that should be the way it is,” he said.

A political party can recall any of its leaders from government if a resolution is passed to that effect.

The recall of former South African President Thabo Mbeki by the African National Congress is a case in point.

Mutambara was invited by party secretary-general Ncube to lead MDC-M in February 2006 following the split of the MDC in 2005 over participation in that year’s senate election called by Zanu PF.

Ncube said what was left was for the party to notify President Mugabe of the changes and they did not see any reason why he would refuse to accept the changes.

Sunday Mail

23 January 2011

FRESH allegations implicating Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart in a plot to smuggle Western ideology into the country have emerged amid revelations that he has dumped key secondary textbooks for publications that contain dodgy political undertones.
It emerged last week that Senator Coltart intends to sideline Zimbabwean and African history to pave way for books that vaunt the exploits of the West.
It is understood he has also side-lined his Deputy, Cde Lazarus Dokora, and Permanent Secretary Dr Stephen Mahere in the procurement of the literature, which is scheduled to be distributed later this year.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Sen Coltart denied the allegations.
He said some subjects had been left out of the latest procurement because of inadequate funds.
“The money we got from the donors allowed us to purchase books for five core subjects. As a ministry, we agreed to purchase mathematics, science, indigenous languages, geography and English.
“However, history textbooks will be procured by Government funds which were availed in the National Budget by the Finance Minister.”
Sources told The Sunday Mail that he intends to clandestinely change the secondary school history syllabus by incorporating chapters that
glorify the “great role” that white settlers supposedly played in developing the country.
The sources said the exclusion of priority history and social studies books from the latest batch of literature was a clear indication of his motive.
It is understood the minister has been running the programme with an “inner clique” without the knowledge of his lieutenants. He first announced intentions to purchase new books for the country’s schools last year.
Senior officials in the ministry had agreed to purchase books for seven subjects. However, history and social studies were surreptitiously withdrawn from the list with fingers being pointed at the minister who later cited inadequate funding from the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), the donor.

Unicef insiders last week refuted this claim, insisting the funds they had made available were sufficient for the programme. A senior official in the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture said the minister sidelined a local publishing house, Zimbabwe Publishing House (ZPH), to clear the way for the implementation of his plan.
“The whole procurement exercise was carried out by Senator Coltart and three other officials close to him who are in the ministry without the
knowledge of his deputy, Mr Lazarus Dokora. “His ideology is to change the country’s historical background, and information at hand is that Senator Coltart is already proposing another History textbook written by an author in Central Africa, which he has been featuring on his website.”

Since Independence in 1980, secondary schools have always taught History based on the African Heritage and People Making History textbooks.

Newsday

By Ropafadzo Mapimhidze

January 23 2011

It is almost a rhythmic pattern that every day, a school child is beaten by their teacher somewhere around Zimbabwe. Some are beaten so severely they have to seek medical attention.

Although no figures are yet available to substantiate the extent of this violence, media reports have shown that corporal punishment is still being meted out on pupils in violation of standing rules over the matter.

Children are beaten with sticks, whips, rulers, boards and many other objects from pre-school right up to high school.

Corporal punishment has been repeatedly shown to be ineffective with disastrous consequences.

A former Bernard Mizeki High School pupil who is now a lecturer at a local university said he was a victim of severe beatings by some of his teachers, a matter that still bothers him 15 years on.

“I was beaten for not polishing my shoes, unkempt hair or just being slow in doing my work. The beatings were so bad that I sometimes could not sit in my chair in class because of swollen buttocks,” he said.

“Those teachers are still around though not at that school anymore, but I dread to imagine what they are doing at the various schools that they were posted to. Parents should be made aware that child abuse in schools especially in boarding is rife.”

The lecturer fell short of divulging homosexual activities at boys only schools.

“That is something I don’t want to think about. It did happen,” he said.

In Mwenezi, a headmaster assaulted a schoolboy because he was found out of bounds and the child is in hospital with serious brain damage.

In another incident, a Chinhoyi High School student, Moreblessing Musiiwa, died after he was allegedly struck with a cricket bat by the school’s sports director, Joseph Mpala, while the caretaker, Lameck Katungunde, held him.

Recently, parents of a new grade one pupil at a school in Avondale complained that their child was assaulted by a teacher.

Reports from the school indicate that the woman involved was so frustrated with her work life, and her actions towards these innocent children was a way of venting out her anger.

A teacher from Dzivaresekwa in Harare who preferred to remain anonymous said most teachers were experiencing serious financial problems hence vented out their frustrations on schoolchildren.

“A parent once came to me and shouted at me for not marking her daughter’s homework. You see, I earn such little pay and I have lost all the desire for this work. I told her that if she was not happy with me, she would have to approach the school head about changing classes,” a teacher said.

“Most teachers are not happy about the incentives being offered because of the discrepancies across all schools in Zimbabwe. That is a fact that everybody should be made aware of.”

Education minister David Coltart said in a telephone interview recently he would soon be engaging the three teachers’ unions in a bid to abolish incentives when salary scales improve.

“Towards end of last year, we said we would wait and see whether the salary allocations would translate into substantial income and abolish incentives,” Coltart said.

“The sooner I can abolish incentives, the better but I can only do so when teachers have started receiving reasonable salaries.”

School authorities have been demanding the most absurd fees for various functions, a situation that has been created to ensure staff gets more incentives. But this has since become an extortion kind of game.

“When a parent fails to meet those obligations, the child suffers through either being sent back home or verbal assaults.

The school environment is no longer the place we thought was second to home in terms of safety.

School areas are no longer child friendly and we call on government to take action as a matter of urgency,” said another parent from Dzivaresekwa.

A schoolchild described recently how his teacher made him stand in the blazing sun for four hours because he had made noise in class.

“He told me to face directly into the sun and that really hurt. He went on to say I was one of the many children whose parents had not paid the extra amounts demanded to cushion teachers,” said Tawanda from a school in Highfield.

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child found that “corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment are forms of violence and states must take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to eliminate them”.

Coltart said there is a statutory instrument that sets out when corporal punishment can be implemented and this is done in limited circumstances. He said anything done outside those parameters is illegal.

“Corporal punishment can only be done when a child has committed a very serious offence and corporal punishment is then implemented by certain authorities,” he said, adding that it is inexcusable for teachers to vent their anger on pupils.

Corporal punishment is violent and unnecessary as it may lower self-esteem. It is also liable to instill hostility and rage.

Research suggests that corporal punishment has no positive long-term effects. It instead introduces a whole mess of other complications including increased dropout rates.

Zimbabwe may be in violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which Zimbabwe ratified on October 11, 1990. This convention abhors corporal punishment which now forms part of local statutes.

“Beating a child is a violation of human rights. That abuse haunts and hurts them forever. They grow up to be either aggressive or passive adults,” said a local psychologist.

A female teacher also noted: “I have never beaten any child. My eyes and voice do the job and I have successfully taught disciplined children who are leaders in their own right. They are our next generation heroes. ”

Efforts to get official comment from Secretary for Education Stephen Mahere were unsuccessful despite having sent the questions as per his request last Monday.

Times Live

January 22, 2011

By Vladimir Mzaca

Henry Bala, a Bachelor of Arts graduate from a United Kingdom university, is back in the job market.

Bala, having served as an educationist for more than 20 years, retired from civil service in the mid 1990s.

“When I retired things were not bad economically. I was comfortable to go to my rural home in Plumtree,” he said.

Bala’s return to teaching came after a public plea by the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture to try to revive the teaching profession.

In 2009 the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe said about 20 000 teachers had migrated to neighbouring states.

When David Coltart took over the ministry in 2009 he offered amnesty to all teachers who had left the country. The move was to get them back into the system to rekindle the education sector.

“We gave amnesty to teachers who had left. Some of them had even left teaching totally but we had to start somewhere. This has helped in at least giving life to the sector,” said Coltart.

In the past two years the ministry managed to get a few thousand teachers back into the profession.

However, there are still 21000 vacancies, and rural schools are still under- staffed as working conditions and remunerations are not enticing.

In light of this the ministry has started calling back from retirement teachers such as Bala.

“We are engaging teachers from the old school. Retired teachers have been approached and they are free to approach us.

”They can teach for as many years as they want. The response is huge,” said Coltart.

“It is better than doing nothing at home. Our pensions were eroded during the Zimbabwean-dollar era,” said Bala.

SW Radio Africa

20 January 2011

The president of the revived Zimbabwe African People’s Party (ZAPU) Dumiso Dabengwa (Pictured) has said the kidnapping and later disappearance of MDC polling agent Patrick Nabanyama in June 2000 still worries him to this day.

In a wide ranging interview on SW Radio Africa’s Question Time, Dabengwa said ‘much as I want to find a solution to the disappearance of Nabanyama, it happened in actual fact when I was Minister of Home Affairs and I think I did everything possible to find out what actually happened. I was not able; the police were not able to come up with any solution.’

Nabanyama was an election agent for current Education Minister Senator David Coltart and was abducted from his home. Stanley Ncube, Ephraim Moyo, Julius Sibanda and Simon Rwodzi were initially charged with kidnapping. The four allegedly took him to the home of war veteran Cain Nkala and he was never seen again. Nkala was later murdered amid reports he wanted to come clean on the case.

‘I think those that are responsible were smart enough to ensure that they did not have leave any marks because they could not be traced,’ Dabengwa said. Because Nabanyama’s body has still not been found, it was also not possible to charge the four with murder. In their defence the four accused said they only took Nabanyama to the home of Cain Nkala and what happened to him after that they did not know.

Last year Senator Coltart told the Newsday newspaper that “the problem that we face in this case is that the accused persons were never charged with kidnapping as that offence was covered by the amnesty pronounced by President Robert Mugabe in 2001. Despite the fact that the kidnapping case was rock solid, they evaded prosecution because of the amnesty, which as far as I know is still in place.”

On Thursday Dabengwa told us he met one of the people accused of murdering Nabanyama and they repeated the same position that they didn’t know what happened to him after they handed him to Nkala. Asked if the state had a hand in the murders and this being the reason why no one has been pursued seriously Dabengwa said “it’s possible and one would be led to conclude that way.”

Because Nabanyama’s body has not been found for more than 7 years a Bulawayo provincial magistrate last year in October declared him dead. His widow Patricia is still fighting to have the abductors charged with murder. Although the Attorney General Johannes Tomana has declined to prosecute he is still refusing to issue a certificate that will allow lawyers to carry out a private prosecution.

Don’t miss the full interview with Dumiso Dabengwa to be broadcast Wednesday 26/01/11 on Question Time. Lance questions him on working with Mugabe, seized ZAPU properties, any possible alliances with Tsvangirai, targeted sanctions, land redistribution, war vets leader Jabulani Sibanda and his campaign of terror, his remarks in 2000 that the MDC would win an election even if they fielded a donkey as a candidate and many other questions from listeners.

Zimbabwean

By Paul Ndlovu

19 January 2011

HARARE – The launch of Academies of Excellence might take longer than expected due to alleged financial constraints.

In November last year, the government identified 20 schools that were to be turned into Academies of Excellence starting from January this year. Each province had two schools chosen for the programme, which is expected to run from January 2011 until 2017. Eveline Girls High School and Milton Boys High Schools were chosen as Academies of Excellence in Bulawayo.

In Matabeleland South, the academy for boys will be at Plumtree High while JZ Moyo will house another group. In Matabeleland North, Binga Secondary and Fatima High will be co-education facilities with boys and girls. The same concept of co-education will apply in the Midlands, Masvingo, Mashonaland West, and Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland East provinces.

Harare will have boys at Churchill and girls at Girls High, with Manicaland having boys at Mutare Boys High and girls at Mutare Girls High schools. The programme has not yet started at the targeted schools in Bulawayo and Matabeleland North.

Eveline High School head, Rosemary Moyo, said the school was still waiting for the Government to fulfil its promise.

“The programme has not yet started, but we are waiting for the government to fulfil what it promised,” said Moyo. “The infrastructure in the school is dilapidated and we need money for rehabilitation. However, as a school we have started doing activities to try and revamp our facilities. For instance we have started painting the school. We are also glad that former Eveline pupils in the Diaspora are chipping in to assist us.”

Bulawayo provincial education director (PED), Dan Moyo, declined to comment and referred all questions to the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart.

“That is the Minister’s project, you can talk to him for finer details. What I can only say is that the programme has not started,” said Moyo.

The overall goal of the Academies of Excellence is to ensure rapid and sustainable recovery and development of the education system. The programme seeks to curtail loss of educational opportunities, especially among disadvantaged students.

Newsday

18 January 2011

By Khanyile Mlotshwa

The federalist-oriented Matabeleland-based opposition party, Patriotic Union of Matabeleland (Puma), has challenged the Ministry of Education to re-look at its teacher deployment policy to avoid a situation where teachers who could not speak local languages were deployed to teach infants in the region.

In an interview on Monday, the party’s president, Bancinyane Ndiweni, said it was important that the ministry deployed teachers who could speak Ndebele to primary schools in Bulawayo and other Matabeleland regions.

“Education is the pot where children are cooked,” Ndiweni said. “It is worrying that 75% of the teachers are not from the region and even colleges here are flooded with students from other areas.

“We have a problem in terms of the recruitment and deployment of teachers in our primary schools here in Bulawayo and other Matabeleland regions. They can’t speak IsiNdebele,”

Contacted for comment on the issue, the Bulawayo Provincial Education director Dan Moyo said he was unaware there were primary school teachers who could not speak Ndebele in charge of schools in the province.

During the constitutional reform exercise a lot of people in Matabeleland were concerned about the development of local languages, most of which are deemed minority languages.

They called for provisions in the constitution to protect them, together with their cultures, especially in school and in the media.

In the early years of independence, Kalanga and Tonga, which are regarded as minority languages, were taught up to Grade Three.

The ministry is currently working on improving that and has printed a number of textbooks in the languages for primary schools.

Education minister David Coltart has repeatedly expressed his ministry’s commitment to “minority” languages.

Ndiweni said Coltart should walk the talk even in the recruitment of teachers.

“Our children speak Ndebele as the first language and a teacher who understands and can speak that language will be very helpful in their development,” he said.

Over the years there has been increasing concern at the number of non-Ndebele speaking teachers in Matabeleland’s primary schools, a situation activists have said endangered the teaching of the language.

VOA

By Gibbs Dube

17 January 2011

Sources familiar with a ministry concept paper said the program was to be implemented in all schools next month and would be supervised by officials of the Youth Ministry and trained youth based at the ward level

Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenization and Empowerment has circulated a proposal to introduce national service training to schools from pre-school university bringing liberation war veterans aboard as instructors, sources said.

Sources familiar with a concept paper drafted by the ministry said the program was to be implemented in all schools next month and would be supervised by officials of the Youth Ministry and trained youth based at the local ward level.

The sources said the ministry paper proposed to train at least 300,000 students from pre-school to university level each year. At the pre-school level, instruction would focus on the national flag and anthem, cultural dances and role-playing.

Pupils in primary school would focus on the nation’s liberation struggle, physical fitness and national development studies, according to the concept paper, sources said.

The ministry was keen to see liberation war veterans being integrated into the national program at all levels, the sources said.

But Education Minister David Coltart told VOA that such a program is unacceptable. “Any national service program has to start once a child completes school and therefore anything introduced before that will disrupt a child’s education,” said Coltart.

He said the Youth Ministry did not consult him in crafting the proposed national service training program and that thge Cabinet has not yet deliberated on the issue.

Former freedom fighter Max Mnkandla said the national youth program being mooted by ZANU-PF is designed to brainwash young Zimbabweans.

National Youth Development Trust Director Liberty Bhebhe said young people should not be engaged in paramilitary programs. “The youth service program is some kind of paramilitary exercise and we believe that it is structured in such a way that there is a high risk of indoctrination,” Bhebhe told VOA.

Youth Minister Saviour Kasukuwere could not be reached for comment.

The national service program is best known for its so-called Border Gezi training schools which turned out youth militia closely associated with ZANU-PF who have been accused of committing many atrocities during the turbulent 2008 elections.

Standard

16 January 2011

By Nqaba Matshazi

WHEN Barack Obama waltzed his way to the American presidency a little more than two years ago, it was regarded as a victory for internet social networks, where he had been quite prominent.

Minus the oratory, Obama made extensive use of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to get his message across.

At one time, his groundbreaking speech, “A more perfect union”, where he addressed racial differences in America, was one of the most viewed videos on video-sharing site YouTube.

Probably taking a cue, but on a lesser scale, a number of Zimbabwean politicians have taken to social networking in the hope of gaining an extra edge over their rivals.

With the growth of internet penetration and the advent of mobile internet access in Zimbabwe, observers maintain that social networking may one day define the next Zimbabwean leader.

As with the American situation, it is argued that there is a growth in the number of young voters who have regular access to social networking sites.

The country’s sole mobile service provider, Econet claims to have at least 400 000 subscribers on its broadband platform, while internet penetration, rated at more than 14% is said to be among the highest in Africa.

MDC politicians like David Coltart, Nelson Chamisa, Obert Gutu, Gorden Moyo, Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti and Jameson Timba are among a host of politicians with Facebook pages, while Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai has a fan page.

From Zanu PF, Tourism and Hospitality Industry minister Walter Mzembi and Youth Development, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment minister Saviour Kasukuwere are the only ones who maintain regular presence on the world’s largest social networking site.

Ncube and Coltart are the only politicians who regularly post comments on Twitter, while a number of videos have been posted on YouTube.

Renowned Zimbabwean blogger, Chris Kabwato reckons that social networking is a great avenue for politicians, considering the number of people who have access to the internet.

“They are an educated lower to middle class urban population,” he said of the demographics of people who have access to the internet.

This is a group who influence the main ideas in society.”

While acknowledging the power of social networks, Kabwato advised that an online strategy could not supplant the strategy of mobilising people through rallies and other media.

“You need to use a strategy that uses all forms of media from word-of-mouth to print,” he said.

But Thamu Dube, a social media trends analyst, begged to differ, arguing that despite the popularity of social networking sites their worth as an electoral strategy was still distant.

“The level of internet penetration is not just the issue, there is also the issue of slow user adoption as most people do not see the benefits of the use of social networks,” he argued.

“So the dual effect of the lack of a reliable internet infrastructure and a small user footprint on the greater social networking landscape by Zimbabweans impacts greatly on the effectiveness of the politicians’ presence on their chosen platform.”

Amanda Atwood, who runs popular website Kubatana concurred, saying any internet-using communication tactic in Zimbabwe had to be measured within the context of Zimbabweans’ limited internet access.

“It is essential that you look at a communications strategy holistically, so if you are talking about how Zimbabwean politicians use social networking tools, you also have to ask how they are using other ICTs, and also traditional media, to communicate with their constituents,” she said.

On the other hand the analysts observed that the presence of Zimbabweans on Facebook, for example, may be deceptive in the sense that most of them were in the Diaspora and when it came to elections might not have a say in the final result.

But Dube was optimistic, saying that it was not a lost cause and advised ambitious politicians to continue using the platforms, as this strategy would bear fruit in the future.

“Used as a part of a well planned strategy of engagement, politicians can for instance use a social network site like Facebook as a point of contact by publicising it through traditional methods of information,” he said.

Dube noted that Diaspora was a severely fragmented environment whose interests were not homogenous, whereas the local population of internet users could easily be targeted.

Kabwato said Zimbabwe’s internet infrastructure was growing and with people now being able to access Twitter and Facebook on their mobile phones, social networking will prove to have a priceless contribution in Zimbabwean politics.

“So social networking by any politician is not in vain as long as that person has a clear communication strategy,” he said.

Atwood added that it was important for Zimbabwean politicians to recognise the importance of communication, with the internet audience being a key constituency, as it was well resourced.

“Politicians could take advantage of these more resourced constituents and leverage them to be volunteers, influence shapers or opinion makers in their campaigns,” she said.

“But to do so they first have to stop seeing Zimbabweans as voters and start seeing them as the people who employ them.

“They need to start valuing individual opinions, energy, contributions, feedback and time.”

Ever so optimistic about the intrinsic value of the social networking in Zimbabwe, Dube said the work done by the government and the private sector in creating a robust telecommunications infrastructure will be telling for future generations.

“Political strategists will become aware of the need to shift emphasis to energising and engaging an increasingly younger electorate through these technologies,” he said.

The social media analyst advised that the secret of the success of social networking, however, lies in understanding its place in people’s lives and applying discretion in its use,  especially for politicians where they might run the risk of appearing to ‘try too hard’.