Why digitilization of Harare passport office may not bring better service

For decades now, the process of obtaining or renewing a passport has been a soul-destroying struggle and example of so much of what is wrong with the way Zimbabwe's public services interact with their public. Long queues just to obtain the passport application forms were the earliest sign of the deeply dysfunctional process, and also of the attitude of the institution about its 'customers.' Now the application forms can be filled in online, in theory potentially making the whole process much more efficient and much less traumatic. Here is why that hoped for result may not be achieved in the short term.

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A change is not gonna come

Chido Makunike

Many Zimbabweans hope that there will soon be a fundamental change in how the country's politics are conducted. Whatever change to a more 'free and democratic' dispensation takes place will likely be small and incremental, rather than revolutionary. Here's why.

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The missing links in Zimbabwe’s drive for a successful China-like State capitalism

by Chido Makunike

Today’s China is perhaps the most successful example of ‘State capitalism.’ There are those who caution that the model is not all it seems, and that it is not sustainable. Even if that were the case, there is no doubt that China has become a dynamic global economic power under a type of controlled free market economy largely run by the State. Why has China’s model of State capitalism worked, while those of countries like Zimbabwe flounder?

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A characterization of Uganda that sounds a lot like Zimbabwe

An article in a Ugandan publication serves as a useful reminder that none of the problems that Zimbabweans are grappling with are unique to their country. The exact nature and extent of the problems may differ, but there is a surprising same-ness to the issues, their causes and the sense of leaders whose concerns are very distant from those of ordinary citizens.

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ZANU-PF’ ‘empowerment, MDC’s ‘more investment’ need not be seen as contradictory

ZANU-PF and the MDC will start 2012 with a heightened awareness that a crucial election for them and for the country is not far away, whatever the final dates will be. As the parties sell themselves to the voters, it has become clear that their visions of how to bring about an economically prosperous Zimbabwe are starkly different. But are ‘empowerment’ and ‘attracting investment’ best thought of as opposing philosophies, or as two sides of the same coin?

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An alternative interpretation of Harare Christmas police traffic crackdown

Police caused a lot of commotion in downtown Harare in the days just before Christmas 2011 with their clampdown on the city’s public transit mini-bus drivers. Ostensibly designed to bring order out of the downtown traffic mess, the police action caused even more chaos than the usually undisciplined, disruptive drivers usually do. In the great inconvenience caused to members of the public, many people asked why the police had to choose the busiest time of the year to carry out the crackdown. Could causing maximum commotion, confusion and public misery be part of the very reason for the timing of the action, rather than merely the unfortunate and unintended results?

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How Mugabe interpreted Gaddafi's fall

After Mummar Gaddafi’s ignominious end in Libya, attention focused on who in Africa might be next to lose power disgracefully. It was inevitable that Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe would be on the short list of long-serving presidents who many speculated, and some hoped, would exit power in similar fashion. That
may have been naïve and simple minded, but it is interesting to know how Mugabe saw the demise of Gaddafi, and whether he saw any lessons for himself in it.

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Perhaps Zimbabwe’s real problem is of dysfunctional values needing change, not just bad politics

by Chido Makunike

It is understandable that many Zimbabweans look to the political arena for the big answers to the many problems that plague their country. Many hope a pivotal election in the next year or so will be clean and decisive enough to set a clear direction and provide certainty for the country in a way it seems to lack now. Could this reposing of trust in the political process be misplaced?

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Militias and the privatization of ZANU-PF, MDC political violence

The leaders of ZANU-PF and the MDC recently made a big show of a joint appeal for the end of political violence between and amongst their supporters. However, the culture of political violence has become so entrenched in Zimbabwe that there are actors aligned to but outside the direct control of the political parties and their leaders who have their own interests in continuing to sponsor violence.

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Like Zimbabwe’s government, Israeli government suspicious of foreign-funded NGOs

Ideologically poles apart, neither the Israeli nor the Zimbabwe government would find it flattering to be said to have much in common with each other. But they do display a similar deep suspicion of foreign-funded human rights organization.

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Is '13th cheque' bonus a net positive or negative for Zimbabwe?

The end of the calendar year is when many formally employed Zimbabweans, especially civil servants, expect to be paid a bonus in the form of a ‘thirteenth cheque.’ Can the country still afford this popular, deeply entrenched entitlement?

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Ministry of Agriculture hasn't updated its website in more than a year

If Zimbabwe's decade of deep economic problems meant that it fell behind many other countries in its development of an internet culture, in the last couple of years the country has begun to catch up. There is therefore absolutely no excuse for the Ministry of Agriculture to have last updated its website way back in 2010.

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