Detained activists said they were tortured and threatened with rape

Originally published on Global Voices

Screenshot of the arrested activists from YouTube video, ‘Zimbabwe Arrests | Activists spend weekend in jail‘ by SABC News. Fair use.

In Zimbabwe, four pro-democracy activists — Robson Chere, Samuel Gwenzi, Vusumuzi Moyo, and Namatai Kwekweza — are facing prosecution on disorderly conduct charges following their arrest on July 31, 2024, for participating in a protest against imprisonment of other activists  in late June. They are also alleging torture and threats of rape while in jail as reported by Gambakwe Media and other sources.

Initially detained at Robert Mugabe International Airport in Harare, the activists were forcibly removed from a plane bound for a pan-African civil society conference in Victoria Falls.

The International Federation on Human Rights reported that the four activists “appeared before the Harare Magistrates Court weakened and suffering, and according to their lawyers, they were subjected to torture in the form of physical assault, as well as mental and psychological torture during their detention.”

They endured an eight-hour detention before being transferred to police custody. The Kofi Annan Foundation has condemned the harassment, intimidation, and persecution of these human rights and democracy defenders, urging authorities to uphold due process of law.

We are deeply concerned about reports that Kofi Annan NextGen Democracy Prize winner @namataik_ has been detained by security services in Harare. We call on the Zimbabwean authorities to confirm her whereabouts and explain what charges are being brought against her. Without… pic.twitter.com/5UYnarO45H

— Kofi Annan Foundation (@KofiAnnanFdn) July 31, 2024 

The Kofi Annan Foundation expressed deep concerns in a post on X (formerly Twitter) about this case, particularly because Namatai Kwekweza is a Kofi Annan NextGen Democracy Prize winner. They demanded the Zimbabwean authorities to reveal her whereabouts and clarify the charges against her. If no charges are filed, they insist that Namatai should be released immediately. 

The South African media outlet SABC News reported that Zimbabwe Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Kazembe Kazembe responded to the reactions following the detention:

Let me categorically disabuse those missing misguided perception that the presence of international community in the country presents them an opportunity to inflict reputational damage on the country without consequence. The security cluster is aware of the secret meetings being held locally and outside the country by those seeking to unleash civil disobedience. We already know the personalities and the institutions which they front; we are also aware of those giving them logistical and financial support and have established their modus operandi.

Dr. Musa Kika, a human rights and constitutional lawyer who previously served as Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, explained to Global Voices in a WhatsApp interview that “Zimbabwe is a repressive smokescreen democracy and that it is usual that opposition and civil society organizations are repressed for their actions.”

Dr. Kika also said that President Emmerson Mnangagwa is “paranoid” about the opposition’s actions critical of the regime and advocating for democracy so these four activists are a symbol for the young, vocal and vibrant pro-democracy campaigners. “The state has deep paranoia and thinks by arresting and charging these young leaders, they send a message to others,” he said. 

Zimbabwe's current political situation is marked by human rights violations, electoral fraud, and repression against dissenting voices. Mnangagwa assumed power in November 2017 following the military coup that ousted long-time independence leader and President Robert Mugabe. Mnangagwa is the third president in the 44 years since the country gained independence. Although people fought against the Mugabe regime, Mnangagwa's leadership has not brought the improvements many had hoped for. His government has faced criticism for economic mismanagement, corruption, and human rights abuses.

Despite promises of reform, the economic situation remains dire, with high inflation, unemployment, and widespread poverty. Political tensions persist, particularly between the ruling ZANU-PF party and the opposition MDC Alliance, with allegations of electoral irregularities and suppression of dissent.

According to Dr. Kika, part of the international community continues to watch Zimbabwe closely, urging democratic reforms and respect for human rights. However, Zimbabwe's allies, including  China, Russia, Iran, South Africa, and Belarus, continue to support arms supply , surveillance equipment, and political legitimacy. In return, the regime grants these nations benefits in their extractive industries.

Dr. Kika said state institutions, such as parliament, the judiciary and the security establishment find themselves captured and under subservient service to executive interests:

 This explains why intelligence agents can easily act as they did on Namatai Kwekweza and others with impunity, and the justice system can be ordered to prosecute criminal cases we all know have no merit.  

As reported by AP news, a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)  summit will be hosted in Harare on August 17. During this summit, Zimbabwe is set to assume the chairmanship of the regional bloc SADC.

In this context, Dr. Kika raises the concern about “many political prisoners, including top opposition leaders, undergoing trials and having been denied bail in ways legal experts think unjustifiable.” He continued to explain that public disorder charges (the charge against the four activists recently imprisoned) are among a group of charges that the Zimbabwean regime uses in an abusive way. Others are public nuisance, communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the state, and holding unsanctioned gatherings.  He adds:

Usually the trials are then prolonged in order to be costly, and they lead to no convictions, if they ever start at all. The intention of the state is not really to convict per se, but to simply punish activists through unwarranted detention. Others have been convicted and forced to launch appeal processes which then overturn the convictions.

Diplomatic missions in Zimbabwe and certain United Nations special mandate holders, such as the Special Rapporteur on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, have condemned this arrest and now prosecution. As Dr. Kika notes:

“We are likely correct to say both the local and international pressure contributed to their release after eight hours into the hands of the police. In the past, activists have disappeared in such a manner, never to be found again, or to be found dead.”

The Purple Door Initiative provides safe havens to GBV victims

Originally published on Global Voices

Illustration by Minority Africa, used with permission.

This story was written by Regina Pasipanodya and originally published by Minority Africa, and an edited version is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.

On a November night in 2023, Mercy Matovera escaped from the relentless brutality within the walls of her own home. For far too long, she had endured her husband’s frequent fits of rage, with physical blows that came two or three times a week.

But on this fateful night, Matovera reached her breaking point. Desperate to shield herself and her nine-month-old baby girl strapped to her back, she embarked on a perilous journey in search of sanctuary. As she stumbled along the dusty path, her heart raced with adrenaline.

“When I saw the light of a lantern through the window of one of the houses that were close to the pathway, I quickly stopped and walked towards the house,” Matovera recounted.

She knocked on the door, hoping to find shelter, but the house owner refused to open the door to “strangers.” Instead, she urged Matovera to seek help elsewhere, to try another door; maybe she would find someone willing to help her.

Luckily, Matovera found that house. It was a house with a purple door. “Behind this (purple) door, I found a middle-aged lady who, without any hesitation, asked me to come inside and offered me a cup of water to drink,” Matovera recalled. “She told me that her name was Melody Nyakudanga, one of the elderly in the community.”

Nyakudanga, 65, is one of the senior citizens in Epworth, a peri-urban community about 17 km (10.5 miles) from the Harare central business district in Zimbabwe. She gave Matovera something to eat and a place to sleep. “She assured me that everything was going to be okay,” Matovera narrated.

In Zimbabwe, gender-based violence (GBV), which encompasses three main categories— intimate partner violence (IPV), sexual abuse, and child marriage — remains a silent epidemic, particularly affecting married women. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), approximately 1 in 3 women in Zimbabwe aged 15 to 49 have experienced physical violence, while 1 in 4 have faced sexual violence since adolescence.

The statistics indicate that GBV cases in Zimbabwe have been on the rise; 5,717 and 8,069 rape cases were reported in 2013 and 2016, respectively.

ZimStat reports revealed that more than 8,907 cases of domestic abuse were recorded across the country between January and December 2023.

National Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi urged communities to continue giving credence to the issues of peace and tranquility in families, as violence has resulted in the loss of life, with some women resorting to suicide because of lack of support.

“When couples have challenges, only engagement and discussions can solve the differences, and in those circles that we live, let us help each other and solve matters without any violence,” he told Minority Africa.

Chipo Tsitsi Mlambo of the RhoNaFlo Foundation — a facility-based safe and quality childbirth — is a pioneer of the Purple Door community initiative and believes societal norms play a significant role in perpetuating GBV.

“According to our African belief, girls are raised to believe that they should not question or challenge any form of behaviour of their husbands,” Mlambo said. “They are taught and encouraged to endure pain in silence to protect marital bonds, making it taboo and disrespectful to report abusive partners to the police,” she added.

Rooted in cultural norms and social structures, gender-based violence, especially IPV, is often used by men to maintain control over women within marriages, and usually, survivors bear not only physical scars but also emotional wounds that persist throughout their lives.

In 2022, to break this cycle of silence, Mlambo, working with older women in Epworth who for years have seen and lived with this kind of pain, established the Purple Door Initiative, where they identify strong and warm individuals to provide safe havens to desperate women and girls suffering gender-based abuse.

According to her, the colour purple signifies a safe space for any woman who needs support in desperate times of abuse. 

“For me, Epworth is a community where young girls are getting married at a young age due to poverty. If you ask that young girl today if they can report any form of abuse to the police if need be, they say no, they cannot because most of them fear the police, maybe due to age; they are kids,” she explained.

“Working with the community, we decided to train community-based advocates to become the first port of call during the time of need of abused women, and we are looking forward to introducing this initiative in other areas across the country,” she added.

Alous Nyamazana, a director of Fathers Against Abuse, an organisation working to combat abuse by involving fathers and young men, said that gender-based violence issues require collective action and awareness, and he applauded the pioneers of the Purple Door Initiative.

“It’s time to empower survivors and challenge harmful norms, fostering a safer environment for all,” he said.

Nyakudanga concurs, saying, “As someone who has been living in this community for more than 30 years now, I have seen the worst where women lead a miserable life at the hands of their husbands. Most of the women are dependent; they cannot fend for themselves, considering that they get married before they can even finish school.”

Nyakudanga further explains that the situation was so bad that when Mlambo discussed the idea for the Purple Door Initiative, the elders of the community immediately agreed and painted their doors purple, to symbolize a safe space.

“Now, most people in my area know that behind every purple door, there is someone ready to assist them when facing any form of abuse,” she added.

According to Mlambo, once victims get to the respite (home with a purple door), they get a place to live for a maximum of seven days, receiving counselling from trained advocates. If necessary, advocates will accompany them to report their cases to the Victim Friendly Units at the police station.

“However, a challenge that we have been facing is when victims are supposed to report the matter to the police, the women hesitate, saying they cannot get their husbands arrested,” Nyakudanga explained. “In such a scenario, we engage both the couple's parents and try to get their issues settled so that they can live with each other in peace,” she said.

Nyakudanga adds that this approach has saved many marriages, and she has witnessed some husbands change their ways. 

In Matovera’s case, she is now back with her husband. “We have been going for counselling sessions at Nyakudanga’s house, and I can see the changes in his behaviour. This is something promising,” she said. 

Some names have been changed to protect identities.

The campaigners want the outdated Disabled Persons Act of 1992 to be repealed

Originally published on Global Voices

Participants of the Equal Zimbabawe campaign launch in a group photo. Photo by Sightsavers, used with permission.

By Tessa Pope

On a sunny day in central Harare, as representatives of disability organisations from across the country took a break from meetings to relax on the terrace of their hotel, Loveness Sibanda found that her wheelchair would not fit through the terrace doors. No alternative exit was offered by the staff, and it was only because her husband was able to carry her that she could join her colleagues enjoying the sunshine.

This incident was a small but clear illustration of the myriad of barriers to equality that people with disabilities face every day in Zimbabwe. 

Loveness, a member of the Disabled Women's Support Organisation, is one of a coalition of campaigners representing 20 organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) who had come together to launch Equal Zimbabwe. This campaign is calling on the government to create and implement new legislation that will guarantee disability rights in the country. There are estimated to be more than 1.4 million people with disabilities in Zimbabwe. Due to outdated laws, inaccessible environments, and discriminatory attitudes, many have limited access to basic human rights, such as work, healthcare, or education.

As Florence Mudzingwa, who is the director of Hope Resurrect Trust and part of the campaign’s steering committee, explains to me in an interview, “Persons with disabilities in Zimbabwe are considered second-class. We face barriers in infrastructure, environment, and transportation. For example, many buildings do not have lifts and only staircases, or are difficult to navigate. We also experience attitudinal and physical discrimination, as well as internalised oppression.” 

Leonard Maranga is the national director of the Federation of Organisations of Disabled People in Zimbabwe (FODPZ) and is now also chairperson of the Equal Zimbabwe Steering Committee. In my conversation with him, he outlined the role that deep-seated stigma and discrimination often play in holding people with disabilities back: “It was very tough growing up with my disability as I had to contend with all the negative stereotypical perceptions that exist. My community, including my family, did not quite appreciate my condition, and they felt that I was less than a human being; I was treated as subhuman. I was not given the same opportunities to participate equally or on an equal basis with others. It was very difficult.”

These challenges are not unique to Zimbabwe, but what is admirable at this moment is the willingness of so many different OPDs in Zimbabwe, who represent a range of people and regions, to come together to call for major policy change.

The key demand of Equal Zimbabwe is for the outdated Disabled Persons Act of 1992 to be repealed and for a new Persons with Disabilities Act to be adopted. This new Act would bring the country’s laws in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), to which the country signed in 2013, and with the nation’s more recently adopted Disability Policy of 2021. Though many disability activists believe the policy is a relevant and useful document, it is just a plan and cannot be enforced. The new Persons with Disabilities Act would be legally enforceable.

The current Disabled Persons Act was created before the UNCRPD and so does not reflect the modern-day understanding of disability rights. For example, the act focuses mainly on physical access to buildings and public transportation but does not cover wider rights, such as the needs of people with mental health disabilities or inclusive education. It is based on a medical model of disability, not a human rights-based approach.

One example is that the Disability Policy includes the need for an inclusive education policy to be in place, but there is currently no law that can compel the government to do this. At present, children with disabilities, especially girls, are still far more likely to be out of school than other children.

Leonard adds, “The government of Zimbabwe has made some really commendable progress on disability rights, but there is still a long way to go.”

The Equal Zimbabwe campaign is coordinated in partnership with Sightsavers, an NGO that has experience in supporting grassroots organisations that campaign on disability rights throughout Africa and Asia. The campaign initially brought disability leaders from across Zimbabwe together to come up with the key challenge preventing people with disabilities from realising their equal human rights. 

Sightsavers Zimbabwe’s Campaign Lead, Isaacs Mwale explains: “Together we concluded that it was the lack of a new, updated disability act that has been plaguing the disability sector for a very long time. It’s something they have been advocating for over the last 15 years — but they were losing hope. This campaign is renewing that hope.”

This goes hand in hand with a call for increased awareness of disability rights in society and to challenge the ableism which so many people face. 

Pedzisai Mangayi is the headmaster of a rural primary school and founder of Hope in Motion, which is part of the campaign. He says, “Besides the issue of the new disability bill going through, we still need to fight for equality in terms of access to services, in terms of empowerment of people with disabilities. The society we live in is too backwards. We still need to change perceptions”.

Florence adds: “The campaign, I believe, will raise more awareness in terms of disability: the challenges that persons face in their daily lives, in their workplaces, in any sphere or level of society. And as we are working together with other policymakers and disability organizations, together with one voice, so much can be achieved. It is going to revitalize the perception of disability in our nation.”

In only its first few days, the campaign has already been effective in getting disability rights back on politicians’ agendas. The Parliament of Zimbabwe gazetted the Persons with Disabilities Bill barely two days after the Equal Zimbabwe launch event. This means it has been officially announced and made public and will soon be up for debate, a tangible example of the power of united grassroots campaigning. 

In response to this success, Mercy Maunganidze, director of the Zimbabwe Albino Association and an Equal Zimbabwe steering committee member, expressed her joy, “We are on the right path; we are going in the right direction to see persons with disabilities live a better life in future.”

The only thing Lukashenka gained officially so far is a stuffed lion

Originally published on Global Voices

Belarus and Zimbabwe signed a package of documents. Screenshot of YouTube video from ONT YouTube channel (the channel is Belarusian government sponsored). Fair use

At the start of 2023, Belarus's leader  Alyaksandr Lukashenka, (who been the president of Belarus since the office's establishment on July 20, 1994) embraced and promoted Belarus’ relations with Zimbabwe. He visited the African country on a three-day state visit and promised a breakthrough in cooperation, offering the government more tractors and combine harvesters as part of a farm mechanization program, which cost around USD 66 million. 

After Lukashenka returned to Minsk, the Belarusian capital, it was announced that as a result of his visit to Zimbabwe, contracts worth USD 200 million were finalized. As the independent Belarusian media house UDF (which stands for ‘Unity, Democracy, Freedom’) explained, nothing much had changed since January 2023 with regard to economic relations between the two countries.

The UDF described a timeline of official visits and documents being signed almost every month. In March 2023, Zimbabwe's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Frederick Shava visited Minsk, where he communicated with Lukashenka.

In April, Zimbabwe's First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa also went to Minsk. The official purpose of her visit was purportedly based on her interest in the Belarusian healthcare system, assistance to children, and the production of baby food. Zimbabwe's independent media criticized the visit, saying it was not within the provisions of Zimbabwe's law for the president's spouse to conduct state visits. 

They also mentioned that she was accompanied by ‘controversial’ businessman Aleksander Zingman, who was appointed honorary consul for Zimbabwe by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2019 and was described by journalists studying the Pandora Papers (11.9 million leaked documents that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published beginning on October 3, 2021) as one of the co-owners of a joint venture which mined gold in Zimbabwe under a shadow deal.

Lukashenka meeting Zimbabwe's first lady. Screenshot of YouTube video from Pervyi natsionallyi canal Belorusskogo radio YouTube channel (the channel is sponsored by the Belarusian government). Fair use

When meeting with Lukashenko, the first lady of Zimbabwe called him not only “the father of the country but also the mother.” In August 2023, the newly appointed Ambassador of Zimbabwe to Belarus, Ignatius Graham, arrived in Minsk.

Even after finalizing deals at the start of the year, officials have signed a range of documents, including a directive from Lukashenko to set up a cooperative joint commission in May 2023, education ministers putting pen to paper on a strategic plan for higher education and science from 2023–2025, and the House of Representatives endorsing a pact between Belarus and Zimbabwe to prevent double taxation.

However, as UDF highlighted, no practical results were seen from all these agreements. In open sources, the only available information is a message from August 2023: the state news agency BelTA reported that 3,575 tractors are slated for delivery to Zimbabwe between 2023–2024, and their shipment has already commenced. From this data, it appears that since the start of the year, there has been little progress on the matter. Earlier, Lukashenka had announced that Belarus would provide 3,700 tractors.

A few months ago, Belarus donated 23 fire engines to Zimbabwe. 

UDF quotes Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko saying that in foreign trade relations with African countries, “the accumulated political capital has not yet been adequately converted into successful trade and economic projects.”

Thus, UDF reports, almost the only thing that the Belarusian side was able to receive over the past year was a stuffed lion, gifted to Lukashenka during his visit to the African country.

A gift to Lukashenka in Zimbabwe- stuffed lion. Screenshot of YouTube video from RBR Info YouTube channel. Fair use

As UDF highlights,  Lukashenka’s attempts to establish cooperation with Zimbabwe can be explained by two possible reasons: either moves to subvert Western sanctions or an attempt to build a corruption scheme under the guise of interstate cooperation.

However, the situation seems to develop further. Independent Belarusian and African media noticed that Lukashenka’s special envoy, Viktor Sheimanre, recently visited Zimbabwe, where he met with the country’s head Mnangagwa and Foreign Minister Shava, on October 30, 2023. As The Zimbabwean reported, the arrival of Belarusian army general Viktor Sheiman has sparked concerns. Sheiman, facing sanctions from both the European Union and the United States, had already traveled to Zimbabwe before to discuss private business arrangements in 2018.  

Reportedly, during that period, he brokered business agreements representing the Belarusian government, including plans to mine minerals such as gold, platinum, and rare earths through a collaborative mining project. However, the later Pandora papers leak discovered that instead, the mining gold company was owned by Sheiman's son Sergei and Belarusian businessman Alexander Zingman. 

Viktor Sheiman has been a steadfast supporter of Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka for many years. He is sanctioned by both the EU and the US regarding human rights violations and the disappearance of Lukashenka's critics before and during his position as Belarus’ prosecutor-general in 2004.

Music is a reflection of Zimbabwe's people, traditions, and ever-evolving society 

Originally published on Global Voices

Screenshot of a man playing an mbira from YouTube video, ‘Mbira Music: Professor brings the music of Zimbabwe to Mizzou‘ by Mizzou. Fair use.

Zimbabwe, a land of cultural richness and diversity, is proud of its musical heritage that runs deep through its history. Music in Zimbabwe is a reflection of its people, traditions, and the ever-evolving society. 

Zimbabwean music has its roots deeply embedded in the ancient cultures and traditions of its diverse ethnic groups. These traditions have been passed down through generations, forming the foundation upon which modern Zimbabwean music is built. Indigenous instruments like the mbira, hosho, and ngoma play a significant role in the traditional music of Zimbabwe.

The mbira, in particular, is an essential instrument in Shona music, and has spiritual and healing significance, often associated with ancestral worship and cultural gatherings. The intricate polyrhythms produced by the mbira are a hallmark of traditional Zimbabwean music. Once believed to summon the spirits of dead ancestors, the mbira was traditionally played only by men; however, in contemporary times, there are prominent female performers as well, for instance, Diana Samkange, a 29-year-old mbira player. Several other Shona women performers of mbira were interviewed by scholar Claire Jones as part of her ethnomusicology research project. Here is an informational video on the mbira, demonstrated by a professor of folklore:

Although mbira is undoubtedly Zimbabwe's most iconic instrument, ngoma is the most commonly performed traditional musical instrument in Zimbabwe today, with a rich history across Southern Africa. At a basic level, ngoma simply means “drum.” At the same time, it is also commonly used to refer to specific musical styles that combine drumming, dance, and song. These drums, which share similar construction techniques, are crafted from cylindrical wooden bodies carved from whole tree trunks, and feature cow-skin heads secured firmly in place by a series of wooden pegs. To adjust the pitch of the drums, since the skin's tension isn't easily modifiable, ngoma are typically tuned before each performance by heating the drum head. They can be played using sticks, hands, or a combination of both techniques.

Ngoma drums vary in size and shape, ranging from tall, slender instruments played in a standing position to wide, short drums that produce resonant bass tones. They can be played individually or in pairs. Remarkably, within Zimbabwe, these drums bear a multitude of names that vary depending on the region, size, and musical genre. Here is a video of some Zimbabwe folklore drummers playing different kinds of ngomas:

Some genres of Zimbabwe music

In the 1960s and 1970s, Zimbabwe — then under colonial rule and known as Rhodesia — witnessed the birth of imbube, a captivating a cappella musical genre primarily composed of male voices. This style of singing originated from the mines in neighboring South Africa, where many Zimbabweans sought employment, and where there were no instruments to accompany the voices. These songs were composed by miners and provided entertainment and, later, contained social justice messages. To accompany the imbube singing, the men would stamp their feet in dance patterns wearing their rubber boots in what became known as gumboot dancing.

Chimurenga is a highly popular music style among the Shona people of Zimbabwe, pioneered by Thomas Mapfumo in the 1980s. This genre is deeply rooted in the sound of the mbira. The term ‘Chimurenga’ translates to ‘liberation struggle music,’ referring to the music's pivotal role during Zimbabwe's struggle for independence from colonial rule. This music served as a powerful tool in the nation's battle for freedom and empowerment, as it was one of the only weapons they had available to fight back with. These songs often narrated the hardships endured by the people and passionately called for resistance against the colonial oppressors, giving voice to the collective spirit of defiance and hope.

Zimbabwe jit, also known as “Harare beat,” is a vibrant music genre that combines various African influences, resulting in a pulsating rhythm reminiscent of South African township jive and Trinidadian soca, as highlighted in this article by All Around this World. Jit incorporates elements such as Tanzanian guitar, Congolese rhumba, and chimurenga mbira-guitar, creating a unique and energetic sound.
This musical style can be experienced through performances by renowned artists like the Bhundu Boys, Chazezesa Challengers and The Four Brothers,  who have contributed to the popularity and development of Zimbabwe jit and its related genre, “tuku music.”

Reggae music gained popularity in Zimbabwe during the 1980s after Bob Marley's visit. Marley performed the song “Zimbabwe” from his Survival album at Zimbabwe's independence celebration in 1980, immediately following the official declaration of the country's independence.  This song became an anthem for those who had fought for Zimbabwe's freedom, providing a sense of unity, motivation, and hope during their most challenging times. It serves as a reminder of the power of music in inspiring social and political change. Following Bob Marley, Misty in Roots, a UK-based reggae band, also played a pivotal role in popularizing reggae music in Zimbabwe, paving the way for numerous other reggae musicians to visit and perform in the country.

Evolution of Zimbabwean music

Over the years, Zimbabwean music has evolved, incorporating influences from various sources while preserving its traditional essence. The arrival of Europeans in Zimbabwe added new elements and instruments to the music. The fusion of Indigenous sounds with elements of Western, Afro-jazz, reggae, and gospel has given birth to a diverse and captivating musical landscape. 

Artists like Thomas Mapfumo, Oliver Mtukudzi, and Stella Chiweshe have been instrumental in shaping the modern Zimbabwean music scene. They blended traditional rhythms with modern instruments and contemporary themes, appealing to a broader audience both within and beyond Zimbabwe.

The sounds of today

Contemporary Zimbabwean music is a dynamic blend of styles, reflecting the nation's multicultural society and the global influence on the arts. Genres such as Sungura, Zimdancehall, and Afro-jazz have gained immense popularity.

Sungura, a genre that emerged in the late 1980s, is characterized by its upbeat rhythms and poetic lyrics, often exploring social and political themes. Some notable Sungura musicians include Ephraim Joe and his band Sungura Boys, the Khiama Boys. Zimdancehall, on the other hand, is a vibrant and energetic genre with roots in Jamaican dancehall music. This music resonates strongly with the youth, addressing their realities and aspirations. Some notable Zimdancehall musicians are Freeman HKD, Judgement Yard, Killer T, Winky D, Soul Jah Love, Tocky Vibes and Levels Chillspot.

From its ancient roots to the contemporary sounds of today, music in Zimbabwe continues to be a vital part of the nation's identity, connecting people across generations and borders, carrying echoes of the past and the hopes of the future.

Find a playlist highlighting Zimbabwean music below, and for a full assortment of eclectic music from around the world, see Global Voices’ Spotify profile.

Truth commission's failures show ‘a lack of political will and acknowledgment of past atrocities’

Originally published on Global Voices

Illustration by Rex Opara on Minority Africa, used with permission.

This story was originally published by Minority Africa and a shortened version is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing partnership agreement.

As the 10-year term of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) in Zimbabwe, aimed at bringing peace and healing to survivors and families affected by past atrocities, approaches its end, a pervasive sense of disillusionment fills those who had placed their hopes in this process.

The commission, established in 2013 under a new constitution, was initially hailed as a beacon of hope, promising truth and closure for the victims and their families but many do not feel it has fulfilled that promise.

“To me, the NPRC is just a circus,” Duncan Maseko, 51, told Minority Africa. His father was among the victims who were abducted 30 years ago. “My only wish is to have full information on the remains of our loved ones.”

Gukurahundi genocide

In the early 1980s, Zimbabwe witnessed a brutal armed conflict stemming from political tensions between ZANU-PF and PF-ZAPU, two former liberation movements, led by Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo, respectively. The government, under then Prime Minister Mugabe, deployed a specialized army unit known as the Fifth Brigade to the western parts of the country — strongholds of the opposition PF-ZAPU. This resulted in a devastating genocide during the period 1982 to 1987 known as Gukurahundi (a Shona language term broadly meaning “the early rain that washes away the chaff before the spring rains”). Over 20,000 people were killed, and many suffered horrific atrocities, including abduction, torture, and rape.

Maseko's father, Sam, was a former Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), combatant during the armed struggle that resulted in Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980. He was abducted from his home in Bulawayo, the country’s second-largest city, on February 11, 1984, by state security agents and, just like thousands of others, was never seen again by his loved ones.

Most of those so rounded up ended up at Bhalagwe, a Nazi-style detention camp 100 km (100 miles) south of Bulawayo, where they were gruesomely tortured — many of them to their deaths.

By the time a cold peace was established through a lopsided Unity Accord of December 1987, a full-blown genocide had taken place against the Ndebele tribal minority.

The struggle for closure

Since the signing of the Unity Accord, efforts by survivors and families of the victims of the Gukurahundi genocide to get closure have been resisted for more than three decades by successive governments of Zimbabwe.

Former President Robert Mugabe acknowledged the atrocities as a “moment of madness” but resisted calls for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission similar to the one in post-apartheid South Africa. President Emmerson Mnangagwa, accused of involvement in the atrocities, held consultative meetings, but suspicions regarding the government's commitment persisted, particularly because of attempts to exhume mass graves without full accountability. Some family members and human rights groups accused the government of trying to prevent a more thorough historical accounting of the genocide.

Organisations like Ibhetshu LikaZulu, which had three memorial plaques erected for Gukurahundi victims at Bhalagwe blown up by suspected security agents, vehemently oppose any government involvement in the healing process.

In a statement, the group’s coordinator, Mbuso Fuzwayo said in a statement: “Under no circumstances should there be any government-controlled exhumations and reburials of Gukurahundi genocide victims.”

NPRC: An unfulfilled promise

The NPRC, though initially seen as a ray of hope, struggled throughout its existence because of a lack of resources and political will. Its formation was protracted and contentious, and it has operated for only five out of its intended 10 years. In 2019, Concilia Chinanzvavana, an opposition legislator, applied to the Harare High Court for the extension of the duration of the NPRC to 2028 to recover the five years lost before it was instituted. However, the government appealed to the Supreme Court and got the judgment reversed, as reported by the African Human Rights Yearbook.

The Supreme Court’s decision not to extend the NPRC’s tenure has left survivors disillusioned, asserting that virtually nothing has been achieved in terms of healing and closure for the victims of Gukurahundi and other political brutalities.

The NPRC's inability to bring closure to Gukurahundi victims reflects a larger issue of lack of political will and acknowledgment of past atrocities in Zimbabwe. Survivors and advocates are calling for international intervention and investigation to address the historical injustices and pave the way for genuine healing and reconciliation. Despite local efforts, the struggle for truth, justice, and reconciliation in Zimbabwe continues, and the wounds of the past remain open for many.

In conclusion, as highlighted in the book “Unspeakable Truths: Transitional Justice and the Challenge of Truth Commissions” by Prof Priscilla Hayner, an expert in transitional justice, no country in the world has ever moved on when injustices of the past have not been genuinely addressed.

Calls mount for the international community to speak out

Originally published on Global Voices

Screenshot from YouTube video,’Zimbabweans Living in South Africa Protest Election Outcome‘ on VOA Africa. Fair use.

By Njabulo Ncube  

Zimbabwe has re-elected President Emmerson Mnangagwa in yet another disputed presidential election, the aftermath of which has sparked claims of state retribution against perceived opponents. 

Critics say the ongoing post-election retribution is reminiscent of the reign of Mnangagwa’s former leader, the late president, Robert Mugabe, who after failing to gain the majority vote in the 2008 presidential election resorted to violence targeting supporters of the opposition leader Morgan Tavangirai‘s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Tsvangirai had allegedly outpolled Mugabe's  Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) . Mugabe then turned to state security agents, the military and veterans of Zimbabwe's war of liberation who unleashed untold violence against opposition supporters. 

An estimated 500 opposition supporters are said to have been killed, forcing the African Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to broker a power-sharing deal between Mugabe and Tsvangirai. Through this deal, Mugabe remained as president, Tsvangirai became prime minister, their parties shared control of the state police (MDC) and army (ZANU-PF) and the breakaway MDC-M's leader became deputy prime minister.

Mnangagwa replaced Mugabe in a military-assisted coup in November 2017 and then, controversially, went on to win the presidential election against Nelson Chamisa of the coalition of parties then called the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance in July 2018.

However, just 72 hours following an underwhelming inauguration on September 4, attended by only a few heads of state, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission contentiously declared Mnangagwa the winner over Chamisa of the newly named Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC). Soon after, reports of violence against human rights defenders, lawyers, and opposition supporters began surfacing in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital.

Human rights defenders immediately called on the international community to speak out on the violence being carried out in towns and rural areas where people perceived to have voted against Mnangagwa and the ZANU-PF were being targeted. The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum and the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) roundly condemned the alleged retribution.

The ZLHR named Wimberaiishe Nhende, CCC councillor-elect in Harare and Sanele Mukuhlani, an opposition supporter, as the two latest victims of the ZANU-PF campaign of violence. The pair have been left hospitalized after they were tortured by some as yet unidentified people, who abducted them on September 2, two days before Mnangagwa’s inauguration. 

According to the ZLHR’s statement, Nhende, the councillor-elect for Ward 26 in the Glen Norah suburb, and Mukuhlani, were abducted from the Milton Park suburb in the capital, Harare. The men were bundled out of their vehicle by armed assailants who smashed their vehicle windows before taking them to a location in Mapinga in Mashonaland West province, about 70 km (43 miles) from Harare, where they were later dumped.

“Along the way, the duo, which was handcuffed, was tasered by their assailants in a bid to incapacitate them. They were also tortured by being whipped with sjamboks all over their body and were also beaten with truncheons,” said ZLHR in a statement soon after the incident, adding that the attackers also injected an unknown substance into Nhende and Mukuhlani before they dumped them about 100 metres from the Gwebi River.

Their mobile phones, clothes, shoes and watches were taken during the ordeal, according to Tonderai Bhatasara of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights who is assisting Nhende and Mukuhlani. 

Chamisa, the leader of the CCC who is disputing Mnangagwa’s victory, visited the two badly injured supporters at a private hospital on Monday while the ZANU-PF leader attended his choreographed inauguration in front of thousands of bussed supporters mainly from rural areas, Zanu-PF’s perceived strongholds.

Chamisa told a local independent daily newspaper soon after emerging from visiting the men at a private hospital, that his supporters were, indeed, under siege. He claimed that Zanu-PF and state security agents were harassing his supporters and demanding to know what he was planning after disputing the election results, adding: 

We are going to take this matter up with the relevant authorities, the police, to make sure that investigations are done and we are going to raise the issue internationally and with the region to say this is unacceptable.

Chamisa has refused to go to court to challenge the presidential outcome, adamant the Zimbabwe judicial system is compromised. A statement by CCC accused Mnaganga of bribing the judges with houses and loans of USD 500,000 on the eve of the elections.   

Douglas Coltart and Tapiwa Muchinepiri, lawyers representing Nhende and Mukuhlani, were also arrested on Mnangagwa’s inauguration day after they reportedly objected to their clients being interviewed by police.  

David Coltart, the father of Douglas Colart, told Global Voices that his son and his colleague, Muchinepiri, were arrested on spurious charges of obstructing justice after informing the police that because of the current mental and physical condition of the victims they were in no fit state to record a statement, a position the former cabinet minister said was backed by doctors in attendance:   

Doug and his fellow lawyer Tapiwa were called out to help two CCC members who were abducted on Saturday night and badly tortured — and hospitalized. One gave an interview from his hospital bed Monday morning which revealed shocking injuries. The police arrived at their hospital to “interview” them in the evening which led to Doug being called. Doug told the police his clients were in no condition to be interviewed, a position backed by doctors and nurses. The police then got aggressive and detained Doug and his colleague for “obstructing justice.” They are currently held in the “Law and Order” section, the political wing of the police. 

He added:

Of greater concern are reports of widespread threats and abductions of low-ranking CCC members countrywide. A human rights doctor told me this morning they have 200 cases of abuse and there is a marked rise in incidents. Regrettably, this follows a familiar pattern — whenever ZANU loses an election they do this. The last time it happened in 2008 we had over 40 youth leaders assassinated. I fear Mnangagwa is in such a corner that he will engage in similar retribution. Violence has always been Zanu PF’s default, despite what they actually say. 

Coltart senior, who is due to be installed as the CCC mayor in Bulawayo after winning the local government elections in Zimbabwe’s second-largest city, said the international community has a duty to protect innocent people and to speak out against this abuse.

“Certain regional leaders, particularly South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, who back the Zanu-PF regime, are in danger of being held responsible for these serious abuses of human rights taking place under their noses,” he said.

We’ve investigated the narratives behind the country’s national elections

Originally published on Global Voices

Official portrait of Emmerson Mnangagwa edited by Giovana Fleck/Global Voices, used with permission.

Welcome to Undertones, your source for in-depth insights into global events and trends that shape our world. At the Civic Media Observatory, we turned our focus to Zimbabwe and the intricate dynamics surrounding its elections. As the nation was preparing for a pivotal moment, we delved into the strategies, narratives, and challenges that are shaping the political landscape.

What kinda legacy are we to leave for the coming generation?

Yes, I hope to see a better life, but it's an imagination

They talk about Democracy, mi look all I just see is hypocrisy

The dialogue is turning into a fallacy 

The verses above are from the song Dzimba Dzemabwe, sung by the Zimbabwe reggae artist Wallace Chirimuko, also known as Winky D. This song opens his new album Eureka Eureka. Since its release, authorities have issued a stern warning against playing certain of Winky D’s tracks. 

“I have been warned. I have been cautioned and they said if you sing that particular song there is going to be (a) disaster”, said the artist in an interview to the publication New Zimbabwe. 

The regime’s censorship of Winky D’s music is not unique. As noted by our Civic Media Observatory researcher, it is one example of authoritarianism coming from the country’s leading party, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU PF). Emmerson Mnangagwa, the party’s leader, was re-elected as president in an election that ended on Saturday, August 26. Nelson Chamisa, of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party, was Mnangagwa’s main opposition and has accused the government of “blatant and massive fraud”.

The ruling party has been in power since the country's independence in 1980 and has never supported multi-party democracy. The ZANU PF, which has close cultural and political ties to the Chinese Communist Party, is a fervent believer in one-party control. 

Late Wednesday, hours after voting should have ended, vote sheets were still being printed. At the same time, police reports came out stating that over 40 workers of monitoring organizations such as the Zimbabwe Elections Support Network and the Election Resource Center were arrested. 

Zimbabwe's political scene is characterized by a tense power struggle, with the ruling party employing various tactics to maintain its grip on authority. Banning opposition rallies, suppressing political activists, and reports of brutal violence paint a grim picture of the pre-election environment.

“Patriotism” and Political Manipulation 

A surprising element in Zimbabwe's political landscape involves the government's manipulation of cultural expressions to promote its agenda. Musicians like Winky D are censored or coerced to endorse the ruling party. Music is seen as a tool for political influence, as the government seeks to appeal to the youth demographic. 

Subtext: The tweet implies that Winky D faces potential unpatriotic labeling if he continues singing anti-ZANU PF regime songs. President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed the Patriotic Act, criminalizing activities that undermine sovereignty and national interests. The item suggests that artists should sing patriotic songs, interpreted as support for the ruling party, rather than exposing corruption and oppression. Asserted narrative: “Criticizing the government and ZANU PF is anti-patriotic and must be punished” See the full analysis here.

Those practices are justified under the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Amendment Act of 2022, popularly known as the Patriotic Act. This legislation employs overly broad provisions, including criminalizing attendance at meetings where sanctions and military operations are discussed or planned with the intention to undermine, disturb, topple, and overwhelm civil society. On December 23, 2022, the Act was initially published as a Bill in the Government Gazette. The Bill was approved by the National Assembly's lower house on May 31, 2023, and by the Senate on May 7, 2023. On July 14, 2023, the President signed it. 

As noted by our researcher: “Mnangagwa's regime is bent on closing down civic space and crushing any form of dissent. Punishments provided for by the Act include striking off one's citizenship, being denied the right to vote, and the death penalty”. 

By conducting analysis on civic discourse on X (formerly Twitter), we found posts pushing the idea that “Criticizing the government and ZANU PF is anti-patriotic and must be punished”, and “Following the ZANU PF party's ideology is the only way to be patriotic”. 

The same type of discourse was found across different ZANU PF supporters and party members, such as Mavis Gumbo. Gumbo, who once served as group public relations executive to the Premier Service Medical Society, defends that schools should hold ZANU PF Ideology courses. At the time of the post, she was attending a workshop at Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology – ZANU PF’s party school in the Midlands Provincial city of Gweru. 

Behind this tweet are months of strategy elaborated by ZANU PF to prepare for elections and regain influence among younger generations. Independent news reports show internal fissures within the party structure, with some youthful candidates becoming too politically ambitious. According to our researcher, the indoctrination seminars are intended to stymie the excessively ambitious members of the party and spread their notion of patriotism. 

Subtext: The tweet accuses education rights activist Obert Masaraure of being a traitor to Zimbabwe due to his association with US embassy officials. The Zimbabwean government, ZANU PF, opposes US officials’ interaction, claiming they are enemies. The tweet calls for the Patriot Act to silence opposition and provoke violence against Masaraure, a trait the ruling party is known for. Asserted narrative:  “Criticizing the government and ZANU PF is anti-patriotic and must be punished” Note on civic impact: The item promotes hate speech and fear-mongering within opposition parties and civil society communities. The content and form of the message are designed to incite overzealous ruling party youths to act in unspecified ways against what the author calls sellouts. See the full analysis here.

The tweet above carries multiple significances; from the patriotic perspective, it accuses activists invested in promoting education in rural areas of betraying the nation. But it justifies it by using an anti-West narrative. The ruling party's anti-Western stance serves as a core idea, with the West being blamed for Zimbabwe's troubles. Opposition parties are portrayed as Western puppets, fueling tensions that could escalate into a civil war. Relations with Russia, forged during the struggle for independence, play a pivotal role in influencing the country's political and economic landscape. 

Subtext: ZANU PF's political commissar Mike Bimha claims the ruling party is well-organized and ready for the August 2023 elections. He criticizes Western sanctions and highlights the country's success in overcoming high unemployment, with over half of its population living in extreme poverty. Context: Due to high unemployment, according to the UN, more than half of the population of 14 million people lives in extreme poverty, earning less than USD1.90 a day. Asserted narratives:  “Following the ZANU PF party's ideology is the only way to be patriotic” and “Sanctions are the primary cause of Zimbabwe’s problems” Note on civic impact: The item is a reflection of the ruling party leadership's denial that the country is almost in an economic comatose state, and most participants in the conversation express views contrary to the ruling party's line of thought.  See the full analysis here.

Economic woes, including fluctuating prices, unemployment, and chronic power outages, have left Zimbabweans disillusioned. The ruling party attempts to counterbalance these challenges by promoting relations with Russia and China, but discontent with failed promises continues to shape public perception. 

Zimbabwe's cyberpunk cities fueled by China

Questioning corruption, despite news desertification 

A concerning trend has emerged in Zimbabwe's rural areas, where a blockade of mass media communications has isolated communities from crucial information. According to NetBlocks, the quality of internet connection deteriorated on August 22, harming millions of people who rely on the internet to get information.

Despite this and the implementation of the “Patriotic Act”, opposition voices have managed to expose their ideas. Citizens themselves have played a role, using social media platforms such as Twitter to share video clips that document intimidation and threats. 

While platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram thrive in urban centers, WhatsApp remains a nationwide staple. The messaging platform, however, is not immune to government interference. Citizens had reported being spammed with text messages and disinformation in support of Mnangagwa just before the election, after months of unsolicited SMS messages reaching registered voters’ inboxes. WhatsApp groups with specific political affiliations have become essential for sharing information, but infiltration and consequences loom large.

Subtext: The item's language implies that the ZANU PF regime is responsible for causing the country's political and economic challenges. The author also implies that the authorities will naturally leave the allegations without further investigation as ZANU PF is part of the problem. Asserted narrative:  “Corruption practiced by ZANU PF is the cause of Zimbabwe's problems” Note on civic impact: This item is a good chatting point pertaining to discussions about the causes of the country's challenges. It generated a lot of debate and attracted a number of views; hence it provides more scope and depth of discourse surrounding issues about sanctions and corruption. See the full analysis here.

As living standards degrade, citizens are more engaged in debate and discussion about the country's economic problems. Ambulances, functional medical equipment, and medication are in short supply at hospitals and clinics. The majority of inhabitants labor in the informal sector, while teachers, physicians, and nurses flee to richer pastures. A predatory political class is siphoning precious materials such as gold and diamonds out of the country. At the same time, government officials receive state-of-the-art SUVs and multi-million dollar house loans.

Subtext: The writer implies that the ruling party chooses political expediency in its favour rather than Zimbabwean citizens’ interests. This is evident in the photograph showing the president gleefully smiling at the political donation of the brand new cars. The writer insinuates that voters need to be careful about their political choices as they head for elections in August 2023. Patriotism thus becomes a secondary issue in the country's national interests as Mnangagwa seeks to consolidate his power. Context: Ever since the days of colonialism in Rhodesia, the government sought to exploit traditional chiefs for political mileage. Traditional chiefs were always given preferential treatment to help the government in controlling and subjugating the African rural population. The donation referred to pertains to a historical 2018 recollection about Mnangagwa's bribing of chiefs with vehicles in the context of the 2018 elections at the time.  Asserted narratives:  “Zimbabwe's government is exploiting the notion of patriotism” See the full analysis here.

As noted by our researcher, questioning the government's corruption seems to be one of the main avenues of civic engagement in the country. With Mnangagwa’s reelection and the execution of the Patriotic Act, resilience will be even more challenged in Zimbabwe.

The findings from Advox research into digital authoritarianism

Originally published on Global Voices

Image by Global Voices

Authoritarian regimes have long had a complicated relationship with media and communications technologies, using them to advance their messaging and propaganda goals while restricting access for others in order to shape and warp reality, conceal abuses, and maintain power. The Unfreedom Monitor is a Global Voices Advox research initiative examining the growing phenomenon of networked or digital authoritarianism. This extract is the executive summary of the final report on our findings over 18 months and 20 countries. You can read the full report here, and you can read other reports and stories from the project here.

The Unfreedom Monitor is a project to analyse, document, and report on the growing phenomenon of the use of digital communications technology to advance authoritarian practices. The initial phase of the project tracks and documents key developments in digital authoritarianism in select countries. The project also articulates the technological and regulatory scaffolding that underpins authoritarianism, which restricts access to rights and narrows space for freedoms.

The Unfreedom Monitor aims to provide a foundation for understanding how authoritarian entities employ information technologies in real life. The research focuses on four main themes — data governance, speech, access, and information — all of which involve the shaping and control of information ecosystems to restrict freedoms and rights, limit privacy, and erode people’s ability to participate meaningfully in civic life. We look at countries in context, and also examine how they are related to similar practices in other countries. Notably, we explore the reliance of many countries on transnational access to technologies, observing similar approaches and justifications in different contexts.

We examine the tools and methods used to restrict freedoms, target opposition movements, activists, journalists, and artists, and repress the universal rights of citizens at a mass scale, and the claims states make to persuade people to accept those restrictions. We explore, in depth, the narratives that authoritarian powers promote to justify their actions in the restricted information spaces these actions create, as well as narratives of resistance that opponents use to counter authoritarian claims.

The logic of the Unfreedom Monitor’s approach is based on the insight that understanding narratives and illuminating the cognitive frames states use to justify restricting freedoms allows us to move beyond a piecemeal and atomised analysis of disinformation and misinformation. We use a method of analysis rooted in a taxonomy that helps researchers generate detailed descriptions and explanations of authoritarian incidents. This ensures a standardised approach to all incidents, facilitating impartial analysis and providing a basis for comparison.

Our research shows that technological approaches to the shaping of information ecosystems are not limited to censorship or regulatory restrictions. Authoritarians are investing in technologies of control and surveillance, from spyware that tracks the online behaviour of individuals, to mass online surveillance through deep packet inspection and similar technologies, to AI-based technologies such as facial recognition that allow states to engage in comprehensive surveillance of public spaces. Such technologies allow states to identify and follow individuals across both real-world and digital spaces, buttressing those technological choices with regulatory approaches that make resistance difficult.

Many states are also pursuing a range of information operations and campaigns, flooding information ecosystems with misinformation and disinformation and propaganda at scale to push narratives designed to persuade people that authoritarian practices serve their interests. A comparative examination of these narratives demonstrates a persistent effort to justify authoritarian acts in terms of public safety, national security, public health, and other claimed benefits, as well as mobilising populist narratives that define in-groups and demonise enemies. Furthermore, information operations are themselves often defended by states with the deceptive argument that they should be protected as free expression.

Due to the complex, multisectoral nature of state use of technology, strategies for countering digital authoritarianism are not simple. They require expertise in multiple domains of knowledge, from international trade regulations to corporate governance of social media platforms, from international freedom of expression mechanisms to national-level implementation of media regulations, from an understanding of telecommunications infrastructure to user behaviour of mobile internet at national and local levels, as well as an understanding of national politics and how they intersect with international communications networks.

The Unfreedom Monitor foregrounds the study of narratives that underpin authoritarian practices. This emphasis helps communities at local, regional and global levels to identify when authoritarian practices are on the rise, and could inform strategies of resistance, as well as advocacy and policy responses. This publicly available research may also be used by various civil society actors such as journalists and academics to bolster their work. The study:

• Offers a language and taxonomy that facilitates analysis as a precursor to policy responses
• Identifies common approaches many states have taken to restrict freedoms
• Recognises that policy responses are often siloed by subject, initiative, technology, and legal jurisdiction
• Underscores the need to develop comprehensive policy responses that can address all vectors of repression
• Suggests that advocacy to restrain digital authoritarianism needs to include local, regional and international stakeholders

This report summarises the findings of the project after 18 months of research, and provides a roadmap for using the project’s dataset. It should be read alongside the project’s other key outputs, including a briefing note, country and topic studies, published stories, and a comprehensive dataset of incidents, media items, themes and narrative frames.

You can read the full report here.

Stakeholders argue that the digital version is vulnerable to manipulation

Originally published on Global Voices

Image courtesy Ameya Nagarajan

This piece was written as part of  Advox's partnership with the Small Media Foundation to bring you the UPROAR initiative, a collection of essays highlighting challenges in digital rights in countries undergoing the UN's Universal Periodic Review process.

As Zimbabwe heads for elections in August this year, electoral watchdogs continue to implore the government to implement meaningful electoral reforms such as availing the digital version of the voters’ roll.

However, the body charged with election administration, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is firmly resisting these calls citing the need to comply with the Cyber and Data Protection Act 2021. In the interests of transparency and public interest, the conduct of electoral officials has only served to impugn the credibility and integrity of the whole electoral process. Earlier this year, voters received unsolicited text messages from the ruling ZANU PF party, which has been in power for 43 years, highlighting significant information security breaches.

Of cyber law and public interest

Although physical copies of the voters’ roll can be accessed at the ZEC offices, stakeholders argue that the digital version is vulnerable to manipulation by political actors with an interest in determining the electoral outcome. In April this year, ZEC chairperson Priscilla Chigumba told parliament that releasing the electronic version of the voters’ roll, as demanded by opposition political parties, would violate the Cyber and Data Protection Act. Chigumba said that the cyber law has placed additional responsibilities on the commission in terms of the format in which data should be disseminated to the public, in order to protect voters’ personal data.

She added that there is need to ensure that the Electoral Act be aligned with the Cyber and Data Protection Act in the interests of ensuring that voters have ready access to the voters roll while guarding the public from identity theft. Her remarks to parliament come shortly after the High Court rejected a lawsuit by Harare North member of parliament Allan Markham, of the main opposition party Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), seeking to compel ZEC to release the electronic version of the voters’ roll for inspection and audit. In a ruling, Justice Never Katiyo concurred with ZEC that releasing the digital version of the roll would compromise the security of its database. Markham has since taken the matter to the Supreme Court.

However, civil society groups accuse the election management body of deliberately violating the constitution, under the guise of complying with the cyber law. Section 11 (5) (h) of the Cyber and Data Protection Act provides that a Data Controller, in this instance ZEC, shall process sensitive data if the processing of data is authorised by a law or any regulation for any other reason constituting substantial public interest. Furthermore, Section 21 (3) of Zimbabwe’s Electoral Act authorises ZEC to “…within a reasonable period of time provide any person who requests it, and who pays the prescribed fee a copy of any voters’ roll either in printed or in electronic form as the person may request.”

However, the ZEC has a consistent track record of denying opposition parties and the public access to the voters’ roll. In a statement, independent watchdog, the Election Resource Centre (ERC) argued that ZEC is legally obligated by both laws to avail voters roll data as it constitutes substantial public interest, and its availability is necessary for electoral participation and the realisation of political rights.

“The continued denial of the voters roll especially to persons with a legitimate interest in the voters roll and free and fair elections…under the guise of data protection is unlawful and detrimental to the credibility of the 2023 harmonised elections,” the ERC said.

In emailed responses to a Global Voices enquiry, human rights lawyer Nompilo Simanje pointed out that the feedback from ZEC as represented by Chigumba highlights a critical legal issue that there is a need for harmonisation of laws. “While access to the voters’ roll is provided for in terms of the Electoral laws, ZEC indeed also has obligations in terms of the Cyber and Data Protection Act which places obligations on the use, transmission and dissemination of data,” she said.

Simanje said that this is an issue where a balance has to be found between promoting access to information and promoting the right to privacy.

Popular Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono tweeted that without a voters’ roll, the election is already rigged in favour of the ruling party ZANU PF.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe announced that Zimbabwe’s elections will be held in August.
The constitution says it must be held before 26 August.

It means the opposition has only 2 months to have its candidates ready, have its polling agents ready and have its… pic.twitter.com/Tmkat78nRl

— Hopewell Chin’ono (@daddyhope) May 13, 2023

When political capital trumps data protection

The stakes remain very high for the ZANU PF government, as elections slated for August draw closer. A state security affiliate known as Forever Associates Zimbabwe (FAZ) headed by Central Intelligence Organization Co-deputy Director Brigadier General (Rtd.) Walter Tapfumaneyi is reportedly working with ZEC to manage the polls in favour of incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa. FAZ has been allocated USD 10 million to prepare for the elections, although the arrangement is not constitutional.

In April this year, a number of eligible voters received accurately targeted campaign SMS messages from the ruling party, with details such as voters’ full names and where message recipients had registered to vote. Several citizens raised concerns about how they had received these targeted campaign text messages from the ruling party, inferring that this data was obtained from ZEC’s servers. Data analysis group, Team Pachedu tweeted that voters in new constituencies were receiving unsolicited messages from the ruling party ZANU PF.

ZEC has illegally leaked the new voters roll with phone numbers to ZANU-PF.

Voters are now receiving unsolicited ZANU-PF messages including those in new constituencies.

The Data Protection Act and multiple laws have been violated.

We demand an explanation!@ZECzim @Potraz_zw pic.twitter.com/2eCXPyfpes

— Team Pachedu (@PacheduZW) April 3, 2023

These personal data breaches, being administered under a biometric voting system, pose a substantial threat to citizens’ freedom of expression, privacy and political association rights.

The group also alleges that ZEC is deliberately refusing to avail the digital version of the voters’ roll for auditing in order to manipulate the electoral outcome. In the tweet, the group alleges that ZANU PF political operatives are moving voters en masse from rural areas to urban areas, where the opposition has always held strong political support.

Rigging alert in Chitungwiza!

ZANU-PF is mass-moving voters from rural constituencies to urban constituencies to gain an illegal and unfair advantage over the opposition.

This is why ZEC is refusing to release the voters roll for auditing.

We demand an explanation!@ZECzim pic.twitter.com/w0EWvDbUAX

— Team Pachedu (@PacheduZW) May 12, 2023

These data breaches are not new on Zimbabwe’s electoral stage. In the run-up to the country’s 2018 elections, the then main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance, raised concern over significant data security breaches in relation to the election. These ranged from selective access to voters’ personal data, voters receiving bulk campaign SMS texts from the ruling party, the integrity of voters’ biometric data, and the failure of ZEC to fully divulge the ballot paper’s hidden technological capabilities and security features.

In a research paper titled “Dynamic data obfuscation ahead of Zimbabwe’s elections” technology and law expert Arthur Gwagwa posits that, in the case of Zimbabwe, a pattern is emerging where the country is gradually acquiring outsourced biometric based technologies, often from China, sometimes to control when such information can be accessed and under which conditions. He notes that the government may encrypt or use similar technologies to hide information that gives it an advantage, while it uses information security doctrine and rule by law to cement its position.

The ruling party's seeks to dominate online discourse

Originally published on Global Voices

Image by Heinz Schmitz from Pixabay. Free to use under a Pixabay license.

When news broke that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) had appointed the daughter of Kembo Mohadi, the vice president of the ruling party, as a commissioner, a number of Zimbabwean citizens expressed outrage on social media. Abigail Ambrose’s appointment raised heated debate on the independence and impartiality of the ZEC as citizens queried her appointment with regard to the timing of the 2023 elections. Government spokesperson Nick Mangwana quickly defended her appointment, arguing that children and relatives of high-profile people have the same right to employment and service to their country as everyone else. “That’s why it’s called, ‘Equal Opportunities,'” said Mangwana.

The ensuing discourse on the issue ultimately reflected a high level of polarisation between dissenting voices and the government on political issues, as propaganda and disinformation have continued to hog the country’s social media landscape.

As Zimbabwe heads towards elections in 2023, the political environment has become a hotly contested battleground for accepted narratives between the state and alternative voices. An incursion into the country’s political history shows that citizens remain susceptible to persuasion through coordinated inauthentic behaviour campaigns online by key political actors, as the latter group aims to gain mileage and entry to political office.

Ever since the coup that deposed the late strongman Robert Mugabe in November 2017, Zimbabwe has been experiencing an economic freefall precipitated by increased international isolation over human rights abuses by the regime and institutionalised corruption. The state narrative is therefore inclined towards churning out information that casts the regime in a positive light, regardless of the authenticity or truthfulness of the information.

The Ministry of Media Information and Broadcasting Services has taken propaganda and information manipulation to a higher level as the government seeks to justify its behaviour. This is evident in government spokesperson Mangwana’s argument that there was nothing untoward or irregular about the appointment of Mohadi’s daughter to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. This is also evident in the spokesperson's justification of ill-gotten wealth by the ruling party elite.

The human rights situation in the country has continued to deteriorate, while civic space has continued to shrink, as the regime seeks to consolidate political power. President Mnangagwa has previously accused what he termed “government detractors” of using social media to incite citizens into anti-government protests, in a bid to remove him from power through regime change. This has led to a form of hybrid technology-driven warfare as a new era of disinformation and propaganda has taken root in Zimbabwe’s social media ecosystem.

The role of technology in the politics of the country

Before the November 2017 coup that removed Mugabe from office, the ruling party and the army tolerated social media mobilisation to take to the streets against Mugabe. Propaganda was effectively used to convince the masses that Mugabe had to go, on both state television and social media platforms.

The current leadership under President Mnangagwa knew the power of social media in implementing revolution. A few years later, the new government is cracking down on social media and arresting voices of dissent who disagree with the official state narrative on alleged regime change agendas by foreign detractors and unjustified sanctions. Yet, it becomes more important to understand the dynamic interplay between digital technology and strategic information dissemination.

In an interview with Advox, African Centre for Media Excellence Online Content Producer Clare Muhindo points out that there is a distinct difference between disinformation and propaganda. “Disinformation is patently false information that is deliberately peddled to spread falsehoods and cause harm. Someone decides to spread false information, most times with an agenda. However, propaganda is also a subset of disinformation laden with malice and negative connotations,” Muhindo told Advox.

Asked about the role of digital technology, Muhindo said digital technology has made the work of agents who spread disinformation easier. “Digital technology has played a huge role in spreading propaganda and disinformation because these offer a huge platform, which appeals to a large number of people. This has also provided agents of disinformation with the tools to make the dissemination of propaganda easier,” she said.

Muhindo further added that digital platforms have at best served to exacerbate the pre-existing problem of the spread of false information, and this is strongly influenced by the culture and values of a people.

A propaganda war has continued to play out in Zimbabwe as the ruling party seeks dominance over national discourse. For instance, ruling party stalwart and advisor to President Mnangagwa, Chris Mutsvangwa, previously argued that Western sanctions were not the cause of the nation’s troubles, but that it was rather economic mismanagement by the Mugabe regime. However, in 2020, Mutsvangwa pushed the narrative that sanctions were designed to undermine Zimbabwe’s confidence. This is evident in the value which the ruling party places on mass communication to justify its continued stay in power, including using digital platforms to achieve persuasion objectives.

In another interview with Advox, Namibia Media Trust Director Zoe Titus explained that the digital age has made people think differently about information and how it is shared. “Propaganda is designed with particular intentions, deliberate and aimed at swaying public opinion with the objective of achieving a particular outcome,” she said.

Titus pointed out that a key factor influencing how digital technology is roped into the information dissemination matrix is largely dependent on the business models that social media platforms use. “Information is a matter of life and death. Social media platforms have to assume a level of responsibility because these platforms are unregulated,” she said.

Disinformation and free expression

The government values social media platforms as important areas for spreading its propaganda as it remains aware of the high number of internet users in the country. However, the war for dominance over narrative space between voices of dissent and the state remains a conflict area with substantial repercussions on free speech on social media platforms. The development and growth of propaganda and disinformation by the state using online platforms has led to the consolidation of authoritarian rule and democratic regression.

Please visit the project page for more pieces from the Unfreedom Monitor.

Interrogating the narratives behind Zimbabwe’s smart cities

Originally published on Global Voices

Illustration by Global Voices using illustrated images of Zimbabwe's new capital, Zim Cyber City

This story is part of Undertones, Global Voices’ Civic Media Observatory‘s newsletter. Subscribe to Undertones.

Welcome back to Undertones, your source for thoughtful analysis of media narratives from around the world. In this edition, we're delving into the intricate issue of digital authoritarianism in Zimbabwe, as part of our ongoing project, the Unfreedom Monitor.

Zimbabwe is set to become Africa’s first country with a “smart” capital city built from scratch. Just outside the present-day capital, New Harare or Zim Cyber City is slated to become a state-of-the-art artificially intelligent city with interconnected government buildings, smooth traffic, round-the-clock security, prime real estate, and top-notch malls. At least, that’s what the government is promising. 

For many concerned citizens, New Harare’s plans for omnipresent facial recognition tech combined with AI will usher Zimbabwe into a dystopian era. The technology will be able to match a person’s live images with centralized databases and alert law enforcement when a suspected criminal is detected. 

In Zimbabwe, where freedoms are harshly curtailed by the regime of President Emerson Mnangagwa, there are also politically-motivated ulterior motives for this technology. In fact, CCTV (Closed-circuit television) cameras are already being placed in Zimbabwe’s cities where opposition movements are strong.

The tenders for Zimbabwe’s digital ambitions mainly go to Chinese surveillance giants, such as Huawei, Hikvision, and CloudWalk, which are backed by their government’s loans. New Harare’s parliament building has been funded by China. All these projects are part of China’s Digital Silk Road and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a mega infrastructure project. Our researchers previously investigated BRI narratives, compiled in our “Framing China's Belt and Road Initiative” report. 

Deals for facial recognition technology in Zim Cyber City have also been made with Dubai-based Mulk International. Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa is developing relations with Belarussian leaders at digital security events. Zimbabwe’s government has also reportedly used targeted surveillance in the form of Pegasus spyware on politicians’ and journalists’ phones.

As Zimbabwe’s general elections are expected for July 2023, Mnangagwa’s government is promoting positive narratives about these multimillion-dollar investments. Zimbabwe citizens, however, are not convinced. “There is talk on social media, although not prominent, about the government's misplaced priorities in a faltering economy,” says our Zimbabwean researcher, who remains anonymous for safety reasons.

Screenshot from Africanews/Youtube

“Chinese money is necessary for modernization”

Pro-governmental voices argue that importing Chinese technology will propel Zimbabwe’s security, development, and economic growth. In a nutshell, they say that “China is exporting technology to help countries advance technologically.”

Zimbabwe’s trust in China’s goodwill goes back decades. China (as well as Russia) supported Zimbabwe’s struggle for independence from British colonial rule throughout the 1960s and ’70s. State narratives pit China’s ‘benevolent influence’ against “imperialistic” Western powers who exercise double standards, especially when it comes to human rights. 

Human rights are seen as a fallacy crafted by the West to undermine the governments of the Global South. This narrative is also found in Rwanda, China, Cameroon, and countless other non-Western countries.

An editor from Herald, a state-owned local newspaper, wrote, for example, that the “U.S. lacks moral authority to lecture [Zimbabwe]” in response to a human rights report drafted by the United States’ embassy in Harare last year. He argued that the U.S. has a poor track record of human rights in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, refused to cooperate with the United Nations in 2019, and supplies arms to the Middle East.

But human rights are indeed at risk in Zimbabwe. Our research in the Unfreedom Monitor shows that Zimbabwe’s citizens are met with punitive measures when they exercise their rights, including freedom of expression and assembly.

“Considering the regime’s penchant for cracking down on dissenting voices as a tactic of power retention, the government’s adoption of surveillance technology bodes badly for opposition parties, activists, NGOs, and civil society,” our researcher says.  “Surveillance technology in Smart City projects will make it easier for the State to clamp down on dissenting voices using laws that go against freedom of assembly and expression.”

Few, but clear, opposing voices

Despite the risks, some critics voice their concern about their government’s plans to make cities “smarter”. Not only do they fear more censorship and a more efficient crackdown on dissidents and journalists through mass and targeted surveillance, but they also argue that China will have access to Zimbabweans’ biometric and communication data as part of a deal between the two countries to hone facial recognition AI for African people’s features. One of the leading voices for data and privacy rights is the Zimbabwean chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, as well as niche defense publications.

The rest of the population, however, is less vocal in its opposition, and wary of reprisal. “There is a great level of fear in the population because they know the repercussions of speaking out against the government,” our Zimbabwean researcher says. “There is a lot of voter apathy, they won’t speak out about these things. There is a sense of disillusionment.”

Chinese tech companies enable this expensive and advanced surveillance machine

Originally published on Global Voices

Image courtesy Ameya Nagarajan

Ever since the November 2017 coup, which ousted the late strongman Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe has been experiencing democratic regression. Civic space previously had a veneer of state-acknowledged existence and tolerance by the government; however, under the stewardship of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the country’s civic space is shrinking both online and offline as the regime employs a raft of legal and extra-legal measures to thwart dissent. This process has been enabled by the use of expensive and advanced foreign surveillance technology, with most of it coming from Beijing under its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI.) Research from the Unfreedom Monitor shows that the Zimbabwean government stands at the intersection of the security establishment and ruling party interests. This setup, aided by pervasive surveillance, helps the governing regime to maintain a tight grip on political power.

Dawn of a visual era

On July 20, 2022, President Mnangagwa broke ground for the official launch of a USD 500 million Cybercity project to be built by an external entity. The project, about which Mnangagwa was visibly excited, is to be funded by one Shaji Ul Mulk, the chairperson of the multinational manufacturing company Mulk International from the United Arab Emirates. The blueprint of the project shows that the envisaged city will be surrounded by surveillance cameras for purposes of security and that similar initiatives will be rolled out in the rest of the country over the next few years.

The Mulk International project is only one among many others that the government is already eager to construct. The concept of Smart Cities is part of the government’s agenda to create a new society with industrial, commercial, and residential areas, driven by digital technology and the internet of things. The government has already approved the development of a Smart City in Melfort, located in Goromonzi, between the capital city Harare and the town of Marondera in the east. The idea behind this is to reduce the distance to the Robert Mugabe International Airport for investors and traffic from the east of the country. Other Smart Cities are expected to be built in the southern provinces of the country.

However, civil society members and activists fear that the deployment and use of surveillance cameras in the country means that Mnangagwa’s regime can quickly identify and eliminate dissenting voices who pose a risk to his political establishment. Interestingly, the Chinese government is already supporting Smart City initiatives through direct technological exchanges with Zimbabwe, hence the securing of such interests would include setting up a pervasive surveillance state modelled along the lines of the Chinese state. China’s provision of surveillance equipment and the infrastructure upon which local telecommunications networks rest remains a recurrent issue, because the government of Zimbabwe prioritises telecommunications projects from Chinese companies over Western countries deemed hostile in their foreign policies towards Mnangagwa's government.

Chinese companies such as Huawei and Hikvision have taken the lead in rolling out facial recognition cameras in the main cities which creates a pervasive surveillance state. For example, the police installed CCTV cameras in opposition party stronghold cities of Harare and Bulawayo. Both cities are usually troublesome hotspots for the police as anti-government protests usually break out in these areas. Furthermore, Zimbabwe has been identified as a client of Israeli-manufactured invasive digital spyware, Pegasus, which is an effective weapon for clamping down on voices of dissent. The government has denied the allegation.

Tracing the surveillance cash trail

Zimbabwe’s economy is imploding due to poor governance, institutionalised corruption, and hyperinflation. However, this has not deterred the state from pursuing surveillance initiatives as investors from China and the Middle East with deep pockets remain eager to roll out their technologies in the country.

In 2017, state-owned telecom operator TelOne launched two data centers with cloud facilities in Harare and Mazowe (38 km from Harare) at a cost of USD 1.6 million. The launch was part of a USD 98 million network upgrade project implemented with Chinese firm Huawei, funded by a loan from the Export-Import Bank of China. Another state-owned mobile network operator NetOne is in a USD 71 million partnership with Huawei for the rollout of 260 base stations, to improve network coverage including rural areas. Under the project, the base stations are being upgraded to 4G and 5G.

More importantly, Zimbabwe’s major network operators have used Chinese-backed loans to build and upgrade their telecommunications infrastructure. On February 26, 2021, President Mnangagwa commissioned the National Data Center (NDC) in Harare. The facility, which will be linked to databases with information from “key economic players and state institutions” is meant to digitise government services. It was also completed in partnership with the Chinese government. Mnangagwa’s regime is already using facial recognition technology from Chinese firm Hikvision at airports and international border posts. Hikvision software is being integrated with locally developed technology to drive an Artificial Intelligence (AI) and a national facial recognition system in Zimbabwe.

The deployment of surveillance technologies in Zimbabwe has outpaced democratic control. With the use of digital spyware, a few state security officers can trace, with precision, a vast number of citizens, and capture and store their data without any controls. The majority of media items used for research in the monitor revealed that the secretive nature of surveillance in Zimbabwe creates the risk of abuse by political actors. In 2020, Mnangagwa’s government spent USD 20 million (the first tranche of a USD 100 million contract set to end in 2025) on an initial phase of a mass police state surveillance grid in collaboration with Huawei. Under the deal, CloudWalk Technology and Hikvision will supply facial recognition technology, with the former company already harvesting the data of millions of Zimbabweans under biometric voter registration for storage and processing in China. Part of CloudWalk Technologies’s demands in the partnership included the establishment of strong and stable data communication networks as well as extensive camera deployment. This would mark the next step in the AI partnership with the government of Zimbabwe as the rollout of a facial recognition camera system vastly depends on reliable internet protocols.

Journalist Amy Hawkins notes in Foreign Policy that China’s intentions go beyond providing infrastructure and that Beijing is striving to export its ideology — especially around surveillance and control — to African countries through the BRI initiative.

Why does this all matter?

The majority of citizens remain indifferent to the creation of a surveillance state that intrudes on privacy and other critical human rights, under the conviction that they are immune to the government’s excesses as long as they are not rights activists, political actors, or journalists. This belief that the infringement of human and digital rights does not concern them at all has created fertile ground for the emergence of pervasive surveillance in Zimbabwe.

The rollout of surveillance technologies in Zimbabwe is not about ensuring the safety of citizens or moving towards a modernised state as government narratives suggest. Rather, these technologies are highly useful for espionage and social influence through controlling narratives and shaping the way people should think about the ruling regime. A senior government official quoted in local media confirms that the government of Zimbabwe has, for years, been constructing an AI database of citizens using Chinese technologies.

Section 57 of Zimbabwe’s constitution provides for the right to privacy, yet this provision is being blatantly violated by the government of Zimbabwe as it spies on citizens, stores their information under the guise of biometric voter registration, and likely uses that data for political ends. Though Zimbabwe has a Data Protection Act, it is criticized by human rights advocates as a piece of legislation meant to criminalize free expression online and crack down on civic space, rather than help this situation. Surveillance encourages self-censorship on online platforms and also serves to undermine rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association, encapsulated in the constitution under Section 61 and Section 58 respectively.

Please visit the project page for more pieces from the Unfreedom Monitor.

The boundaries of sportswear are being pushed to the limits

Originally published on Global Voices

A Siko republik model advertising their gym wear. Image Source; Siko Republik's Facebook page

For a continent that has consistently produced the world’s best long-distance runners and where football is the most popular sport, few homegrown sportswear brands would have dared before to challenge the local dominance of Nike, Adidas, Puma, and Under Armor — the most recognised and revered sportswear brands. Never before have the boundaries of what sportswear ought to look like been so pushed as they have been in recent years by a new generation of culturally conscious fashion designers. Whilst striving to have an Afro-centric offering, these entrepreneurs are heralding another sportswear revolution that is bold, brightly coloured, symbolically patterned and inspired by their heritage.

And the COVID-19 pandemic had everything to do with it.

In 2020, the apparel trade was one of the worst-hit industries. Considered a lifestyle sector, a freeze on all shipments led to a slump in the international apparel trade. At the same time, more individuals became more health conscious with many turning to walking, running or working out at home. This shift in consumer behaviour due to nationwide lockdowns, coupled with a decline in purchase power as businesses closed down and a spike in unemployment rates saw a shift in consumer tastes. This accelerated the pervasive wear of a recent fashion trend: Athleisure (a fashion trend of casual clothing designed to be worn both for exercising and general use).

The global athleisure market is anticipated to be worth USD 662.56 billion by 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Bringing this closer home, the Africa and Middle East sports apparel market is expected to reach $23190.43 million USD by 2029 according to an Industry Trends and Forecast report by Data Bridget market research.

Similarly, the global athletic footwear market size was worth $71.18 billion in 2021 and grew to $76.72 billion in 2022 according to Athletic Footwear Global Market Report 2022 published in August. 

African sportswear brands have been around since the mid-nineties.  They have just not been as boldly colourful and culturally conscious as they are now.

Sportswear that is more bold, patterned and colourful

It all began with the Ankara fabric.

In the mid -20oo’s, an Ankara fabric ripple began. Previously known in the East African region as the Kitenge, the Ankara is one of the most enduring and widespread clothing materials from West and Central Africa: a distinctively colourful and elaborately designed 100 percent cotton fabric commonly referred to as the “wax hollandaise.” 

Despite Ankara’s controversial origins as not a ‘truly’ African fabric, it has come to be that colour, look and feel that is instantly recognisable as ‘African.’  The late 2000s saw a revival of these bold, wildly colourful and symbolic Ankara-patterned fabrics whose designs are now stitched on every aspect of fashion from apparel to furniture across the globe.  

Although the first African sportswear brand — Capestorm, a South African-based sports apparel firm focusing mainly on outdoor wear and sportswear — was started in the 90s, it was not until the mid 200os that companies began popping up from South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Botswana with unique bold patterned and vibrant coloured apparel, sneakers and trainers, inspired not just by the Ankara fabric but also by Nguni from South Africa, Kente from Ghana and the Mud Cloth from Mali — all distinctly unique fabrics with their own set of colours, patterns and texture that are quickly becoming a preferred alternative by local consumers to global brands.

These are some of the brands shaking up the athleisure industry by adding their own cultural touch.

Lornah Sports African Sportswear: When former Kenyan World Cross Country champion Lornah Kiplagat launched her female sports brand Lornah seven years ago, she became the first African sports personality to achieve such a feat. The company, founded in 2015, focuses on authentic and unique African-inspired sports apparel appealing to women with a keen interest in sportswear, including shorts, shirts, sports bras, tights, jackets and running dresses. The names of the clothing items on her catalogue sold through her online shop and distributed globally such as ‘twiga tights,’ Barika Sports Bras, Kito Capris, and Mumbi long sleeves, are inspired by names from various Kenyan names and Kiswahili.

 

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A post shared by Lornah Sports (@lornah_sports)

Enda: The country’s first running shoe company was founded in 2016 by Navalayo Osembo and Weldon Kennedy. The company has its eyes set on the global sports shoe brand market. Their catalogue includes the Lapatet — a Kalenjin name that means “running,” and Iten — the name of a town in Kenya where the best long-distance runners in the world are trained.

 

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A post shared by Enda – Run Kenyan (@endasportswear)

Kicks Sportswear: This South African-based brand specialises in sports clothes, sneakers/trainers and accessories.  Their catalogue includes their flagship brand Kicks and the very colourful Kokohva sneakers.

 

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A post shared by KICKS (@kickssports_sa)

AFA Sports: This company was founded in  2017 by former college athlete and NBA agent Ugo Udezue, AFA Sports (AFA means Africa For Africa) is a Nigerian company that designs, develops and manufactures sports merchandise and apparel. 

While speaking to Al Jazeera in 2021, Udezue spoke of how ‘stumbled’ into “to pioneer the first and only African sports apparel company to officially outfit a team at the Olympic Games in Japan this year.”

“I came back to Africa with the idea of starting a continental league that would match the NBA. When we started the league I noticed that the basketballs were very slippery because they were made for air-conditioned gyms and we all know that there aren’t too many of those in Africa,” Udezue explained,”so I went to China and developed a ball that absorbs sweat and immediately we witnessed less turnovers in the game as a result.”

AFA sports ships to 20 countries and has received endorsements from some of the well-known homegrown celebrities. In 2020, AFA Sports became the first African-based brand to sponsor and kit a national team at the Olympics, after securing the opportunity for the Nigerian women’s basketball team. 

 

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A post shared by AFASPORTS (@afasports)

RuvaAfricaWear: This lifestyle brand has been operational since 2015 in Zimbabwe to ‘celebrate African history and heritage through everyday functional clothing. It incorporates prints from different African countries. The acronym RUVA stands for Responsibility, Unity, Value Creation and Appreciation. Another meaning of the word ‘ruva’ is ‘flower’ in Shona, one of Zimbabwe’s local languages. The founder Sylvester Ndhlovu chose the name to symbolize beauty, compassion, friendship, humility, and passion. and other positive symbolisms associated with Africa. 

 

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A post shared by RuvaAfricWear (@ruva_afric_wear)

CultureFitClothing: The company was founded in 2017 by a group of entrepreneur friends of West African and black descent who, brought together by their heritage, their love for travel and their interest in wellness, set out to create what they considered “a high-performance activewear for the culturally conscious woman.” Their vivid prints stand out in their catalogue of yoga mats, leggings, and sports bras.

 

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A post shared by CultureFit® Clothing (@culturefitclothing)

Zawadi Sports: This fitness brand specializes in unique African-printed Athleisurewear, activewear and swimwear whose prints are inspired by the Ghanian Kente, the Malian mud cloth as well as the Maasai shuka.

 

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A post shared by ZAWADI | ATHLETIC WEAR (@zawadisport)

Pfeka: Though not inspired by the Ankara but instead by African wild animal prints, this is a Zimbabwean clothing brand that was founded in 2018 by Eglet Nyabvure. A former engineer and a strong supporter of being authentic and true to self, Nyabvure, who now is now living in the Netherlands, is looking to give everyday clothing value by embedding African prints, and patterns. The Pfeka trademark black and white jerseys have become a symbol of national pride. They were worn by professional tennis players Benjamin and Courtney Lock during their winning match at the Drácula Open 2022 doubles in Puerto Cabello.

 

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A post shared by Pfeka (@pfeka_bv)

Siko Republik: Just like Pfeka, this company equally draws its inspiration from its founder’s heritage — the Nguni print from Zululand. Founded by Jabulile Gwala in 2018 as a proudly South African athleisure wear, it was borne out of frustration.

While speaking to True Love magazine in 2020, Gwala said,

“At the time, I was enjoying the gym and loved dressing up for it. But, I was struggling to find clothes that were comfortable, with a Nguni print on them. So, I decided to create something that was tailored for African bodies with a print that represented my tribe.”

 

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Richard Wanjohi contributed to this article

Several have faced physical harm for doing their jobs

Originally published on Global Voices

Image courtesy Ameya Nagarajan

Global Voices Advox research reveals mounting tension between government narratives of press freedom and closing space for press freedom in Zimbabwe. Inevitably, independent media journalists are increasingly getting caught up in the struggle for dominance over national discourse. According to the World Press Freedom rankings, Zimbabwe’s position went down 7 points to 137 in 2022, as compared to 2021.

Toe the line or abandon ship

Section 61 of Zimbabwe’s constitution provides for freedom of expression and freedom of the media, while Section 44 imposes an obligation on the state and every agency of the government to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights and freedoms set out in the charter. However, current events, particularly relating to the treatment of the press and alternative voices, show that constitutional adherence is low. The country’s political environment is increasingly becoming toxic for journalists as both the state and opposition parties have acted as predators of press freedom. Journalists are caught up in the crosshairs of a strategic battle to churn out narratives acceptable to either the state or opposition parties. The existence of a vibrant social media landscape has not made the situation any easier, leaving the press in a precarious position.

Following his election into office in 2018, President Emmerson Mnangagwa promised a departure from the totalitarian politics of the late Robert Mugabe, including sweeping institutional and media reforms. This process was supposed to involve strict adherence to the constitution, as well as state and legislative reforms as part of the new “Zimbabwe is Open for Business” mantra. Yet journalists from the public media have been threatened after attending opposition party rallies, while at the same time a few incidents have been reported of opposition party Citizen’s Coalition for Change leaders’ security assaulting journalists at some of these rallies.

In an email interview with Global Voices, World Politics Professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies Professor Stephan Chan points out that there is significant tension ahead of the 2023 elections and the government is aware its economic policies are not working. “The opposition is very wary of playing its hand too soon and both sides are suspicious of, in particular investigative journalism,” he said. With a relatively high internet penetration rate, where 30.6 percent of the population had internet access as at January 2022, the government remains alert to the fact that more people have access to news and information via digital platforms. Chan argues that the government knows that it cannot curtail such access all the time, which is why it resorts to surveillance of journalists. “So, its surveillance is very much centred on those journalists who attract a following. In this sense, although there is widespread surveillance, targeting is highly specific,” he said.

Tracing an ambiguous trend: The Civic Media Observatory

The Civic Media Observatory (CMO) is an investigative research method used to identify and track crucial narrative frames and themes that develop with regard to events and trends, taking into account the context and subtext of media. Evidence gathered from the Zimbabwe CMO data suggests that state affiliated actors are the biggest perpetrators of press freedom violations, ranging from arbitrary arrests, detention over frivolous charges to, at times, physical assault.

On August 17, 2021, Gweru based journalist Elizabeth Mashiri had a nasty run in with police after filming clashes between street vendors and law enforcement in the Midlands city. Similarly, on July 7, 2022 journalist Anyway Yotamu, was assaulted by police for filming altercations between police and vendors on the streets of Harare, arrested and detained. Finally, on  June 4, 2022, freelance journalist Simbarashe Sithole was threatened with assault by a political activist after he published two articles about alleged corruption in Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe’s constituency. On June 24, 2020, two journalists, Leopold Munhende and Munashe Chokodza were stopped and brutally assaulted by some six soldiers for apparently violating COVID-19 movement regulations.

These attacks, among a series of other incidents, reveal the press walks a precarious line between national security and the professional obligation to report truthfully on issues that happen in Zimbabwe. This is juxtaposed with the narrative of peace and prosperity that the government wants journalists operating in the country to propagate, as the Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa has previously called on journalists to promote the country’s image.

A requiem for the media?

In an interview, political analyst Vivid Gwede told Global Voices that the upsurge in attacks on the press are indicative of a generalised trend of closure of the democratic space since the 2018 elections.

“There has been an attack on freedom of speech and assembly including banning of protest in order to silence dissenting voices especially as economic challenges, such as hyperinflation, mount as the 2023 elections approach. Because the press is key to holding the government accountable, it is being targeted,” he said.

Gwede notes that, since online spaces are generally recognised as having the potential to threaten stability and security all over the world, Zimbabwe has used security and stability narratives to restrict constitutional rights such as freedom of expression and freedom of the media. He posits that restricting press freedom will affect the quality of elections in the country, and low media freedom rankings have a negative impact on good governance.

“This is because the press should be able to freely report and inform society on key issues such as human rights and corruption which have a bearing on good governance, accountability and democracy,” Gwede affirmed.

A key research question is whether it is just the use of digital platforms in news delivery and mass communication that now poses an existential threat to traditional state narratives or whether there are other factors that researchers should be thinking about.

Gwede argues that digital technology has disrupted the state’s traditional monopoly over information and this has meant that the state’s narratives about society are increasingly being challenged and disputed through the digital space.

“In fact, citizens and the media now have a greater ability to shape new narratives and counter narratives about society, or revisit marginalised views in competition with or outside the state apparatus,” he said.

For now, journalists in Zimbabwe have to endure the complex and pervasive dangerous terrain of news reporting in the country.

Please visit the project page for more pieces from the Unfreedom Monitor.