The Rise of the Real Civil Society [Vol 2. Edition3]

Submitted by Editor on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 15:32

Published in

Zimbabwe in Pictures newsletter

Ed 3 Header

FROM THE ashes of the strife of a decade something is emerging that is still not perceptible and celebrated. It is the emergence of real people-driven initiatives. The Zimbabwe in Pictures team had the good fortune of witnessing this phenomenon in December 2009 in Dangamvura, a township in the eastern border city of Mutare (265 kilometres from Harare).

In mid-December the Dangamvura Residents Association arranged a public meeting with the state electricity company, Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission Company (ZETCO). Everyone refers to this company by its former name – ZESA (Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority). It is a company that is generally loathed and the Dangamvura residents had very specific grievances. They converged at the Dangamvura Community Centre that December afternoon and raised the following issues with the senior ZETCO officials present:

Why was there no published schedule on the “load-shedding” i.e. deliberate power rationing cuts?

Why was the power utility sending bills to people based on estimates and in ridiculous ranges of up to USD700 per month for certain individuals?

For small struggling enterprises why was “ZESA” taking away electricity metre boxes if they defaulted on payments?

Was “ZESA” aware of the damage they had caused to the environment by forcing people to use firewood to do their cooking?

What could pensioners, the disabled, orphans and other vulnerable groups do to access electricity when they had no means of paying?

The responses to these questions are not the gist of this editorial. What was remarkable about the meeting was that the community has taken the lead in its organization without computers, 4 x 4s and per diems. There is some value in our myriad intellectual meetings at the Meikles and Crowne Plaza Hotels but there is greater value when the people who vote and bear the brunt of lack of service delivery organize and engage to reclaim their voices and rights.

The residents association is but one of many examples we saw of community organization. One group of people decided that they had enough of the deforestation and planted a flower garden right at the foot of one mountain. It may not be enough but it was a beautiful symbolic gesture. Another group ensured the equitable distribution of water buckets to many households across Dangamvura. To cap it on Christmas Eve a truck pulled alongside a main road in the same township. Out jumped eight young men and they started to repair potholes. They were not municipal workers. A local councilor and residents were doing this.

We salute the unsung she-roes and he-roes of our country.

Chris Kabwato

Publisher

(chris@digitalartsafrica.org)

Ed 3 Footer