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When the Mugabes Become a Sexual Joke in Zimbabwe

Alice Chimora

Frustrated Zimbabweans seem to have discovered a new hobby as they ridicule their aging president, Robert Mugabe and his young wife, Grace.

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Two men from the border town of Plumtree, a gateway to Botswana, had the audacity of drawing caricatures of Zimbabwe’s extravagant first lady, Grace Mugabe cuddling his long suspected lover’s private parts, Reserve Bank Governor, Gideon Gono.

The pair – Blessed Gay Phiri, a former police officer, and Mxolisi Tshabalala were arrested for possessing subversive material which court records reveal they had received in the form of bank notes from an unknown suspect.

Several bank notes depicted the aging Mugabe standing with his young wife, Grace, and Gono, Mugabe’s personal banker, while Grace was depicted in the cartoon holding Gono’s private parts with a wide smile.

Surprisingly, Phiri, who was nabbed on 18 January while showing off the notes to a group of friends was not formally charged with undermining the authority or insulting president or his immediate family when he appeared in court last Friday (February 4).

The two men are currently out on a $50 bail each and scheduled to appear on March 2.

A controversial history

A number of Zimbabweans have been arrested over the past few years for insulting Mugabe whom they blame for ruining what was once one of Africa’s success stories with common insults ranging from idiot, goblin, moron to crazy old man.

Nonetheless it is an offence under Zimbabwe’s tough security laws to undermine or insult Mugabe, the only ruler Zimbabweans have ever known since the country’s independence from Britain 30 years ago.

Grace Mugabe who is Robert Mugabe’s second official wife and who is 41 years his junior, has since 2005 been romantically linked with controversial Reserve Bank chief, Gono and is also believed to have had a string of lovers in the past, some of who have died or disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

Two of the most known names include, Peter Pamire, a budding young businessman died in a bizarre car accident some years back, and James Makamba, one of Zimbabwe’s richest businessmen and a top-ranking Zanu-PF official who is believed to have been forced into exile when the cover was blown over his affair with Grace.

But Mugabe’s current union with Grace was founded on an adulterous relationship which shocked many Zimbabweans at the time.

Grace, who used to be a junior secretary in the typing pool in Mugabe’s office, was married to an air force officer when she began having an affair with the president.

Robert Mugabe had two children with Grace while Mugabe’s first wife, Sally, a Ghanaian national, was alive.

After Sally Mugabe’s death in 1996, Robert Mugabe officially married Grace.[ad#Adsense-200by200sq]

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Nigeria’s Adamu Bent on Clearing His Name

Nigerian official Amos Adamu says he is more desperate to clear his name than to re-enter the top echelons of Fifa.

Last week, world football’s governing body rejected Adamu’s appeal against his three-year ban for breaching Fifa’s Code of Ethics.

The 58-year-old confirmed on Monday that he will take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

“I’m desperate to prove my innocence on these corruption charges,” Adamu told BBC Sport.

“I am not desperate to be in either Fifa or the Confederation of African Football (Caf).”

The former Executive Committee member was suspended by Fifa in November after claims he had asked for money in exchange for his 2018 and 2022 World Cup votes.

The Appeals Committee’s announcement on Friday upheld the ban, prompting Adamu to hint that football politics lie behind the decision.

“I can’t say much at the moment [for legal reasons] but I can say there is more to it than meets the eye,” the Nigerian told BBC Sport.

Furthermore, Adamu claims his quotes were taken out of context by the Sunday Times, the British newspaper that conducted the investigation.

“They edited it to make it look as though I said send money to me directly,” the Nigerian explained.

One of the key points of the Sunday Times’ reports surrounded the claim that Adamu had asked for US$800,000 to be directed into his bank account to pay for four pitches in Nigeria.

However, Adamu says he later expressed a preference for the undercover reporters, posing as lobbyists for the United States bid, to ship grass for the pitches to Nigeria themselves – rather than transfer money to any account.

“What was pushed out to the public was heavily edited,” ,” says the head of the West African Football Union (Wafu).

“Of course they wanted to give me money. I said ‘no, if you want to invest in pitches in Nigeria, you buy them and send them to Nigeria yourself’. They cannot put grass into my bank account.

“I’m certainly not a corrupt football administrator.

“Just look at my work with Wafu. Up till now, I still pay the salary of the workers there myself without receiving any money in return.”

Adamu, who maintains his innocence, is still unclear why Fifa’s Appeals Committee rejected his attempt at overturning his ban last week.

The decision means the Caf vice-president cannot re-contest his position on the Executive Committees for both Fifa and Caf when the latter holds its General Assembly on 23 February.

With his administrative career on the ropes, the Nigerian is concentrating his efforts on clearing his name.

“This is a hard time and a long process but the end will justify the means.

“Sometimes it takes a long time for the truth to come out. When the truth comes out, people will know I meant well for football.”

Meanwhile, the Sunday Times has told the BBC that they stand by the story they wrote and feel vindicated by both Fifa and its Appeals Committee.

(credit BBC sports)
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Zimbabwe: Army will crush any Egyptian-style uprising

By Nkosana Dlamini, Harare

Zimbabwe‘s defence minister has said the army will crush any Egyptian-style uprising led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. The latter said last week that there is nothing wrong with people demanding their rights, including in Zimbabwe.

“We in Zanu PF (Mugabe’s party, ed.) are determined to make sure that there is peace,” defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa said to military commanders in the weekend.

“Those who may want to emulate what happened in Tunisia or what is happening in Egypt will regret it because we will not allow any chaos in this country,” Mnangagwa said.

Dislodging dictators
Tsvangirai, leader of Zimbabwe’s largest opposition party (MDC) currently in a transitional government with Zanu-PF, riled his opponents last week when he said street protests were genuine methods of dislodging dictators.

“To me, when people take their rights, and start demanding more rights, there is nothing wrong with that, including in Zimbabwe. That was the whole purpose of our struggle for the last 10 years,” he told FoxNews in Davos last week.

In the past decade, Tsvangirai organised several mass protests against Mugabe’s rule.

But the protests, which were mainly concentrated in the country’s cities, were ruthlessly crushed by the country’s security forces which have voiced open support for Zimbabwe’s strongman.

Resurfaced violence
Widespread political violence mostly blamed on Mugabe’s militant supporters has resurfaced countrywide. This follows Mugabe’s announcement that Zimbabwe is heading for fresh polls later this year.

Agitated by police’s inaction, youths from Tsvangirai’s party have vowed revenge. “They must be prepared to receive as much as they dish out if this lawlessness continues,” youth leader Thamsanqa Mahlangu said last week.

Although organised protests are seen as a remote possibility in Zimbabwe at the moment due to perceived fear and poor technological infrastructure to fire the protests, authorities fear the threats can provide a spark among crisis-weary Zimbabweans.

Mugabe, who does not hesitate to unleash the military to defend his rule, has put his trust in his long time military advisor Mnangagwa to handle this matter.

Mastermind
A veteran of Zimbabwe’s war of liberation, Mnangagwa has been in Mugabe’s cabinet for almost three decades. As security minister, he was among security chiefs who crushed the 1982 uprisings in the country’s western provinces of Matabeleland where 20 000 civilians from the ethnic Ndebele were killed.

Matabeleland was then a stronghold for the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo’s Zapu party which merged with Mugabe’s party in 1987.

Mnangagwa is also accused of having masterminded in 2008 the killing of over 200 Tsvangirai supporters during a violent military operation that sought to restore Mugabe’s rule.

Mugabe was outpolled by Tsvangirai in Zimbabwe’s inconclusive first round poll. Last year, Mnangagwa vowed that Tsvangirai will never rule the country even if he wins elections.

“If you don’t vote for us in the next election, this country is huge, we will rule even if you don’t want it,” he said.

Although Mugabe has deliberately not been grooming any successor for fear of dividing his party, Mnangagwa is seen as one of the top contenders for his job.

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African Leaders Must Learn to Accept Change

Change is often referred to as the only constant thing in life. How prepared are we as individuals, families, nations and the global community to accept change? If you would recollect, it was the need for change that brought paved the way for Barrack Obama to emerge as the 44th president of the United States of America in 2008. Change as a natural phenomenon usually takes it course regardless of whether a society is prepared to accept change or not. Humans experience changes in parts of the body whether they are prepared for it or not . ‘Day’ and ‘Night’ are natural phenomenal changes we experience.

The crisis rocking Egypt calls to question if African leaders, as demonstrated so far by President Hosni Mubarak,  are agents of change and are always ready to submit to change when needed. The uprising broke out last week as the public grew frustrated with corruption, oppression and economic hardship under Mubarak. More than 100 people have been reported dead in the ongoing protest taking place in various centers in Egypt. Mubarak has ruled for a period of 30 years marred largely by indiscipline and abuse of power.

[ad#Adsense-200by200sq]Recently, supporters of President Hosni Mubarak attacked protesters with fists, stones and clubs in Cairo as the Egyptian government rejects calls for Mubarak to end his 30-year-rule now, Reuters reports. Anti-Mubarak protesters were seen hurling stones back and claimed the attackers were police disguised in plain clothes. The attack caused chaotic scenes in central Tahrir square, some of the Mubarak supporters rode into the crowd on horses, wielding whips and sticks. Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel peace laureate, has called the army to intervene to stop the crisis.

Interestingly, the uprising in Egypt is seen to have triggered other neighboring Arab nations protesting for a change. Algeria and Yemen are replicating Egyptian struggle for change. Protesters are often seen with placards displaying various messages such as ”change we need” to the government. The development in Egypt is of interest to the global community especially Africans. Of interest to me is what I describe as the ‘slow and diplomatic approach” of the west to the ongoing crisis in Egypt. U.S President Barrack Obama has been reported to have telephoned the 82-year- old to say Washington wanted him to move faster on political transition.

” What is clear and what I indicated tonight to president Mubarak is my belief that an orderly transition must be meaningful, it must begin now,” Obama said.

In the same vein, British prime Minister, David Cameron speaking recently with the United Nations secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said that the political transition to a new broad-based government in Egypt needed ”to be accelerated and to happen quickly”.

In my view, the West’s slow diplomatic approach to a national crisis that have resulted in the loss of lives of Egyptians and journalists only lend credence to the claim that Hosni Mubarak is a strong ally of the west especially the United States. Some political observers have identified Mubarak as a tool used by the west to stabilize their relationship politically and otherwise with the Arabians.

Mr. Mubarak must not easily forget history even of his own country. Historically, Egypt under a monarch named Pharaoh (the great) emerged as the first world power. However, as change would have its course, Egypt was succeeded by Assyria (extinct). Assyria was succeeded Babylon (extinct), Babylon by Medo-Persian (extinct), Medo-Persia by Greece, Greece by Rome, and Rome was eventually succeeded by the mighty Anglo-America world power of our time. When Alexander the Great of Greece was in power, he never believed like his predecessors that his regime can be overthrown by another because of the power he exercised. Same also applies to Rome when it was the world power. Her kingdom and influence spread to far corners of the earth. However, the only constant thing in life, ‘CHANGE’, also brought down the Roman empire overtaken by the British which formed ally with the United States as Anglo-America ally.

President Barrack Obama’s emergence as president of the United States was largely facilitated by Change; a need for Change by the Americans. It was the reason the Democrats adopted ‘CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN’ as their party’s slogan which psychologically met the yearnings and aspirations of an average American. Hence, it is pertinent that President Obama, David Cameron and other western leaders who secured the mandate of the electorates on this premise equally respect and recognize the plight of the Egyptians for a Change in their country. President Mubarak must come to terms with the reality that the bloodshed, pain and agony experienced by his people under this two weeks of what has been described as an ‘unprecedented” struggle for rights, justice and good leadership must be honored.

He should humbly submit himself to the call for a CHANGE NOW in Egypt.

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When Ideas Have Sex….

R. Ayité Okyne

I love sex. Don’t you? Sex is one of those things that brings people together in a particularly intimate way, exchanging tactile, olfactory, aural and oral pleasure. Sometimes the result is another living organism.

So what happens when ideas have sex? This was food for thought as I watched Matt Ridley’s talk on TED.com. He posited that throughout history, the acceleration of development has been fueled by the coming together of different ideas and perspectives, resulting in a new and better idea.

Harsh Sethia a nanotechnology blogger, seems to share this idea on his blog To The Power Minus 9. He describes how when you share an idea with others, you can get variety of sperm ideas to fertilize your ova of an idea that could result in the next big thing. Maybe the next Barak Obama or the next Sarah Palin. What is exciting is that it is not the first sperm idea that does the honors, but the most attractive sperm idea. Sometimes multiple sex acts with multiple people is needed to develop that idea.

Looking back on my own experiences, I realize my ideas have been so polyamorous it’s laughable. My ideas and my outlook on life have been shaped by interacting with so many different people and ideas. My ideas have not only gotten better by sharing or bouncing them off of others, but I have evolved in the process as well! In that sense, I have had thousands of orgasms with just as many ideas, and conceived and birthed almost as many. Of course, sometimes the sex isn’t that good, but other times it’s earth-shattering, gobsmacking terrific! Sometimes blanks are fired, or there’s a miscarriage, or even a stillbirth; but sometimes you conceive an adonis of an idea it makes you want to “slap yo’ mama!”

I encourage you to let your ideas have sex. Lots of it. See what happens when your ideas copulate with others’. The result might blow your mind, or maybe not. Either way, enjoy the process while you’re at it. Keep an open mind and explore anything and everything. As Matt Ridley puts it: “It is our habit of trade, idea-sharing and specialization that has created the collective brain which set human living standards on a rising trend.” And it’s all because “ideas are having sex with each other as never before.”

Go ahead. Have some sex.

R. Ayité Okyne is The Lifestyle Maven™ and an advocate for living the life you love and loving the life you live. He is an adventurer, foodie, style connoisseur and cultural ambassador. He is very passionate about social justice and is a social commentator. Ayite has lived in Switzerland, Russia, the UK, Ghana, and now lives in Los Angeles in the United States
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Female Circumcision or Better, Female Genital Mutilation: It’s not That Sexy

Since the last time we posted a news article from Uganda about female circumcision, there have been 63 visitors to this website from search engines (google, yahoo, bing) searching for information on the practice. I therefore decided to tackle it in detail.

What is Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)?

Female circumcision embraces a host of procedures relating to the partial or or sometimes complete removal of the external female genitalia. Other terms that may be used to mean the same procedure include female genital cutting and female genital mutilation. Clitoridectomy is also used though it is normally used when the procedure specifically refers to the removal of the clitoris, which is almost analogous to the male circumcision. There are about five forms of classification of FGM depending on which parts of the genitalia are removed but such classification is beyond the scope of this essay.

The use of the term mutilation was adopted internationally by the WHO in 1991 after the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (IAC) in Addis Ababa.

In adopting the term mutilation, the UN said

The extensive literature on the subject, the support of international organizations, and the emergence of local groups working against the continuation practices appear to suggest that an international consensus has been reached. The terminology used to refer to these surgeries has changed, and the clearly disapproving and powerfully evocative expression of “female genital mutilation” has now all but replaced the possibly inaccurate, but less value-laden term of “female circumcision”.

Why is FGM Practiced?

Different geographic regions undertake or embrace the manipulation of  the female genital organs for diverse reason. These can be cultural, religious or other reasons. Some of the common reasons are listed below:

  • In some communities, FGM is often motivated by expectations of what is considered proper sexual behavior. When virginity is essential before marriage, FGM is believed to reduce a woman’s sexual desire, and hence help her avoid sex before marriage. Again, when the vaginal opening is covered or narrowed as happens in some forms of FGM, the women may often hold the fear of pain at the opening the vagina and may therefore stay away from ‘illegitimate’sex, especially when she’s scared of making that fear known to the man for fear of ridicule.
  • In some societies, what others refer to as FGM is the social convention. Therefore not conforming to it is rather the exception. In this case, even if a group that does not practice the exercise moves into a society that embrace it as a convention, the latter may tend to practice it as well.
  • Moreover, other societies consider FGM as a necessary part of raising a girl appropriately, and essential role in preparing her for maturity and marriage.
  • Then there are cases when FGM is associated with cultural ideals of femininity and humility. These will imply the perception that girls are clean and fully women after removal of body parts that are considered “male” or “unclean”. It is even recorded that in some communities, girls who have not been circumcised will not be permitted to handle food or water that is meant for consumption by  ‘normal people’.
  • The role in religion is propagating this practice is not straight forward. Some argue that FGM is a social custom, not a religious practice. However, in Muslim countries where FGM is practice, some do justify it by a controversial saying ascribed to the Prophet Mohammed that seem to favor sunna circumcision involving minor cutting of the clitoris.  These sayings have not been authoritatively validated. In fact other muslim scholars see other passages in the Quran which imply that the sole purpose of the clitoris is to promote sexual pleasure and hence oppose FGM.

Age at which Procedure is Carried out:

The age the procedure is carried out varies from case to case. In some cases, it is carried out after birth while in other situation it is done some time during the first pregnancy. The majority of cases, however, occur between the ages of four and eight.

Where is FGM practiced?

Even though FGC has been reported in South American and part of Australia, it is predominantly practiced in Africa, parts of the Near East and Southeast Asia. Some literatures suggest the FGM actually started in Africa over 2000 years ago. In Africa 85% of FGM cases consist of Clitoridectomy and 15% of cases consist of infibulations (surgical closure of the labia majora (outer lips of the vulva) by sewing them together to partially seal the vagina, leaving only a small hole for the passage of urine and menstrual blood.

Female circumcision being carried Out on a young girl

The disturbing aspect of the exercise is that the tools used by the ‘mid-wives’ to carry out the procedure usually are not sterilized before or after usage. After the part of the genitalia targeted is removed, in some cases, the child is stitched up and her legs are bound for up to 40 days. The tools used can include any of the following items; broken glass, a tin lid, razor blades, knives, scissors or any other sharp object.

In my next article, I will discuss the prevalence of female genital mutilation, the side effects of the procedure and the international efforts under way to curb the practice.

By the way, would you like to know my views on the procedure? The simple answer is I rather use the term ‘Mutilation’ than ‘Circumcision’. I trust and dream of the day where our societies will leave the clitoris alone.

References:

  • Infidel”, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, 2007, pps 112-113,143, Free Press, ISBN 978-0-7432-8968-9
  • “Infibulation in the Horn of Africa”, Guy Pieters, M.D. and Albert B. Lowenfels, M.D., F.A.C.S., New York State Journal of Medicine, Volume 77, Number 6: Pages 729-31, April 1977. Hosted on Circumcision Information and Resource Pages, cirp.org. Retrieved on May 16, 2007.
  • Al-Qaradawi, Y. (2004, February 7). Islamic ruling on female circumcision. Retrieved March 29, 2006.
  • Green, Fiona J. (2005). “From clitoridectomies to ‘designer vaginas’: The medical construction of heteronormative female bodies and sexuality through female genital cutting”. Sexualities, Evolution & Gender 7: 153. doi:10.1080/14616660500200223.
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Pregnancy, Cigarettes and Alcohol

Pregnancy is a risky time when the slightest deviation from a healthy lifestyle can cause a lot of damage to the unborn child’s future.

Drinking alcohol when you’re pregnant can lead to foetal alcohol syndrome. And smoking too poses a threat to the unborn child.

Women who smoke are in fact twice as likely to have an extra-uterine pregnancy and three times as likely to suffer a miscarriage.

Causing facial abnormalities, delayed growth, malformations of the cranium and the brain, foetal alcohol syndrome can result in serious damage to the nervous system which in turn leads to delayed intellectual development.

The risk of premature birth is also greatly increased if a pregnant woman drinks alcohol.

Smoking too is harmful to the unborn child. The placenta transmits almost everything the mother consumes to the foetus and the mother’s blood will be loaded with carbon monoxide and nicotine.

Carbon monoxide is particularly toxic and slows down foetal development. Nicotine also acts as an intoxicant on the unborn child who, once born, is likely to suffer from withdrawal syndrome.

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Egyptian Riot Grrls: Finding the Feminine Face of Fury

Beenish Ahmed

Much has been aflutter on twitter about the very visible presence of women among the protests that have taken Egypt by storm over the last few weeks, but images of them have remained sparse amid the digital slideshows strung together by major media outlets, portraying mainly dense crowds of the manly.

What falls within these frames does not necessarily paint a full picture, since as Egyptian Organization for Human Rights activist Ghada Shahbandar claims, the crowd in downtown Cairo is up to 20 percent female. Others have put the number much higher, at 50 percent.

Although they are less prevalent, some efforts have been made to depict the role of women this popular uprising. The Global Post put together a slideshow on the Women of Egypt among the March of Millions in Tahrir Square, and a compilation of photographs from various sources can be found on sawt al niswa, a self-described “feminist webspace.”

A quick look through the reels of these images reveals the feminine side of fury and eliminates any remaining shred of doubt that the issues of unemployment and corruption that are widely cited as the primary causes for this unrest effect only men.

Whether the faces of these women are framed by tightly wrapped black scarves pinned neatly to billowing abayas, or by an unruly sweep of curls, it is striking that these women have found the very streets where sexual harassment and relentless stalking once ran rampant suddenly transformed into safe havens, even amid the recent violence that has broken out.

While public demonstrations in Egypt have brought about brutality against women in the past, many note that the current protests bear too heavily on the future to fall to the brutish side of man. This has led Mike Giglio, a correspondent for The Daily Beast, to dub this latest round of civil uprising in Egypt the Purity Protests.

Rallying a cry against riot police, a young Egyptian woman in a bright pink headscarf puts Nancy Sinatra to shame by leading a call and response that booms, “What does Mubarak want anyways? All Egyptians to kiss his feet? No Mubarak! We will not! Tomorrow we’ll trample you with our shoes!” And although “the bravest girl in Egypt” stands out with her brightly colored ensemble and resounding voice, she is not the only Egyptian girl taking a stand against a paternalistic regime in a patriarchic society.

Aside from making a push strictly for political reform, these protests appear to bode well for the future of women within Egyptian civil society. To be sure, it was 27-year-old human resource specialist Esraa Abdel Fattah who was largely credited with organizing the April 6 Movement in 2008 which quickly developed into a 70,000-strong strike that spanned the nation. Catalyzed by textile workers in state-owned factories in El-Mahalla El-Kubra around the issues of low wages and rising food costs, the effective use of social media technologies by Abdel Fattah to promote the cause earned her the nickname “the Facebook Girl”—as well as three weeks in Cairo’s Al Kanater prison.

While some might write off their efforts as the exception or else aestheticize them beyond any real import, the fact remains that Egyptian women have decided to take back their streets—proving they are as much a part of the protests as the men who once made them wary to step out into them.

– Beenish Ahmed recently received an MPhil in Modern South Asian Studies while studying at the University of Cambridge as a Fulbright Scholar to the United Kingdom. She is an award-winning writer and activist.

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