Crispen Ndlovu to launch book

Crispen Ndlovu to launch novel. 

by Mthokozisi Maseko

An upcoming Bulawayo writer  will be launching his first novel Guveya on the 6th of December at Cilla's Conference Centre in Bulawayo from 1700hrs to 1900hrs. The copy of the book will be sold for $6 and admission to the launch is free.

The book tackles issues of democracy, governance, gukurahundi, marginalisation, 2002-2008 election violence. It tries to bring out challenges of typical African governance systems and how they affect the day to day lives of ordinary civilians.

Ndlovu has been published twice in the through the Radio, audio anthology by Radio Dialogue in 2008 and Izibongo zikaJoshua Nkomo lamanye amaqhawe by College Press in 2012. He was also a member of Budding Writers Association and Zimbabwe Writers Union.

 When asked about his source of inspiration and what the book is set to achieve Crispen had this to say."Well it took me some time to come up with this book. My main source of inspiration is pain. The pain that comes from seeing how ordinary civilians in African states suffer because of political greed. I also look at the issues of tribal clashed and marginalisation. As Africans we purport to support democratic ideologies but yet we practise the opposite. Guveya is a name for a political traitor coined form the word which means two headed snake." Ndlovu said.

Divine Word Newsletter

New Xenophobic attacks in Harare...as nigerians live in fear

John Muringami (Harare correspondent)
A spate of new Xenophobia attack has gripped Harare with an operation targeting Nigerians. The operation code named "Oga go home" came about as a misintepretation and misrepresentation of the Economic Empowerment and Indegenisation bill of which some entrepreneurs mistook for an elimination of foreigners. This has seen several marketeers in Harare closing down shops owned by Nigerians an threatening them to go home.
A political analyst Prof Jonathan Moyo was yesterday quoted by the state media as saying that there is nothing wrong with having foreigners in Zimbabwe and also reminded the Zimbabweans of the 2009 South African Xenophobia attacks as they were and are still labelled as Makwerekwere especially in South Africa and Botswana.
Prof Moyo's statement seemed to be a contradiction to the next News item about the appointment of Telecel Zimbabwe Managing Director John Swaim. Swaim a Swedish national has got the Affirmative Action Group  (AAG) up in arms arguing that there was no better Zimbabwean to take the same post. 
Is it a matter of nationality or of qualification? all the law knows but I think serious public education has to be done so as to enlighten the public more on the indegenisation bill.  

a crowded street in Harare

Watch out Friday the 13th around the corner...

Friday the 13th occurs when the thirteenth day of a month falls on a Friday, which superstition holds to be a day of bad luck. In the Gregorian calendar, this day occurs at least once, but at most three times a year. Any month's 13th day will fall on a Friday if the month starts on a Sunday.

The fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia (Frigga being the name of the Norse goddess for whom "Friday" is named and triskaidekaphobia meaning fear of the number thirteen), or paraskevidekatriaphobia a concatenation of the Greek words Paraskeví (Παρασκευή, meaning "Friday"), and dekatreís (δεκατρείς, meaning "thirteen") attached to phobía (φοβία, from phóbos, φόβος, meaning "fear"). The latter word was derived in 1911  and first appeared in a mainstream source in 1953.

In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock, twelve gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, the 12 Descendants of Muhammad Imams, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.

• Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales,and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects. Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s. It has also been suggested that Friday has been considered an unlucky day because, according to Christian scripture and tradition, Jesus was crucified on a Friday.
• One author, noting that references are all but nonexistent before 1907 but frequently seen thereafter, has argued that its popularity derives from the publication that year of Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth, in which an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday

January Disease: a painful reality...

Back in the days when we were growing up we used to hear the monotonous routine of the only once a year song," January Disease". To us it meant reduced money for lunch at school, delays in payment of school fees, change in the house menu to probably to Kapenta and the less economic Chomolia and Rape. This time used be the darkest just soon after the jovial celebratory mood of Christmas.

These were the times when we were still dependent on our our guardians but now its our time to experience the so called disease. When i came into Zimbabwe i found people shopping as if there was no tomorrow and this year was special because people for the first time got meaningful bonuses.
January disease has struck again because of two reasons
    1. its January and its so obvious that this disease has to come because of the nature of its name.
    2. we have just come out of the festive season and any normal human being has the right to be broke, I mean its only acceptable only during this time of the year not any other.

So folks enjoy your disease and remember that i have the cure and you can always pay latter but ofcourse with interest on top....
i leave you with fooone from the Zambian Diva- Kay

http://youtu.be/ToHqjk0ENS4

Gender equality should also consider abolishing lobola

Today i had an insight when i was talking to one lady in the surbub of eMganwini in Bulawayo. She is a middle age woman who works as an administrator at one of the Law firms in the city. The woman is married to a soldier. We were seated together on the bus to Emganwini and after a few interesting general topics we ended up jumping to Gender equality and domestic violence. Personally i have no problem with gender equality and emancipation of women but my problem is the process the women are going to use to be at par with man. All these women lobby groups and women pressure groups want to encourage women to go up the ladder by bringing down men. This woman had a different view, she claimed that these days women are equally educated as men and are also equally paid, they take up responsibilities which were previously reserved for men and likewise men are also taking previously women occupations like saloon work (braiding and platting hair) and taking care of children. Women can now have the chance to negotiate for safe sex and use of contraceptives.
We really had a heated debate till we reached the point where i proposed that if men and women are equal then women can pay lobola for men and there she declined claiming that it is in our culture that men pay lobola for women and that a man is responsible for the woman as the head of the family and she was quick to realize the trap of contradiction that she had got herself into. In our generation only a few people can afford to pay lobola especially with traditional families who charge their lobola in cattle value of which a person can be charged 6 beasts each one at a value of US$400 money enough to get a Japanese make car.
Women have argued that abolishing lobola may make them loose their dignity and worth as African women and one wonders how long can dignity based on materialistic ideas like lobola can last. Women in the modern world are viewed as sexual objects with many appearing on commercials of which most have nothing to do with femininity like Tyre and chocolate commercials. They also became culprits in their own so called oppression when they choose to do pornography.

This should be an issue to taken into consideration and not just women taking issues from our culture that are to their advantage but that are logical and strive to fight for equality with men.


 

housing office party