Becoming The Muse

If you were having coffee with me, I would be glad you paid a visit to these, my tangle of words. Its suppose to be winter but some days we experience all the seasons in a day, icy winter mornings that graduate into hot scorching afternoons tempering into chilly evenings and even colder nights. What in the Swinter is this?  To keep the cold at bay, let me offer you a place to warm yourself by the fire…

But first, we need a fire of course. Someone was making fun of my handiwork in building a temporary fire pit… Apparently I was channeling my inner Great Zimbabwe building skills because instead of simply stacking the bricks together, well, I kinda went “all artsy” … I was asked if I was an artist by any chance…. am I? 😂

Also thank whoever invented firelighters, they make the task of starting a fire so much easier. They also bring out the pyromaniac in me, might be related to the fact that my totem is Fire.. yes it is.. FIRE… Not a day goes by I wish that gave me some sort of super powers like I could throw fireballs at people I didn’t like, they would die but at least they would be warm for the rest of their lives!

When you feel cold, do you think to yourself, "Hmmm should I put on a jersey and socks and sit by the fire or maybe I could always set myself on fire…."

Then proceed to make the unanimous decision to set yourself on fire. #vss pic.twitter.com/3WtNx4NjXj

— ~B 🇿🇼 (@Beatonm5) January 24, 2022

If you were having coffee with me, I would ask if you arent glad that I am not tasked with ensuring the fate of people I don’t like in particular and people in general. I like to think I am fair and would give reasonable judgements after listening to both sides of the story… but just like the illogical weather which can be freezing cold one minute and sweltering hot the next… things happen… fireballs are a sort permanent commitment and offer no second chances, unlike the justice system.

Prisons have started releasing 4,270 prison inmates who were granted amnesty by President Emmerson Mnangagwa as per his announcement on Independence Day in April. Zimbabwe last had a prisoner amnesty in 2020, when the president said it was necessary to decongest prisons during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

The move has been received with mixed feelings as amongst some of those are sexual predators who have barely served a year of their sentence. You can probably imagine how it would be a triggering time for victims of crimes to learn of this. Not to mention that according to the Amnesty instrument it had been proposed that there some crimes that are excluded from receiving general amnesty and so of course there is a lot of public outrage.

If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that in the past couple of weeks the local currency has lost a lot of ground to the green back currency and the prices of basic commodities have been increasing… more than usual.

Part of the increase in the basic goods is because the more formal retailers are forced to use the official bank rate and so they markup the local currency price to compete with black market rate.. Its also seems plausible that some retailers and wholesalers supply goods to the informal vendors on the streets where some commodities can be freely bought for the much sort after USD.

What time does Harare sleep? Was out and about downtown Robert Mugabe Road after dark and it was busier than during the day.
Pavements and streets filled with vendors hustling all sorts of wares…
Do they go home or they sleep in the streets of the city that never sleeps https://t.co/yKiGbK9Cu1 pic.twitter.com/UpoV5JDscj

— ~B 🇿🇼 (@Beatonm5) May 9, 2023

The Minister of Finance issued stern warnings that there will be a crackdown on businesses that delight in the misery of the majority and urged a return to ethical business practices.

‘Have you heard of the word schadenfreude? It is a German word that means taking delight from the misery of others. In English, they call it epicaricacy. That is what you ‘re practising. It is not good.”

Mthuli Ncube

Meanwhile an economist says that the honourable minister needs to go back to school to learn the basics of economics after the way the Zim dollar has been peforming of late.

If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you I that I suspect going back to school might not yield the desired results. The education sector is on the cusp of a crisis.

While it may be commendable that the education system has a syllabus that is designed to drive young impressionable minds but when delivered by disgruntled teachers who are always on the verge of an industrial action and then outsourced to parents ill-equipped to handle learners, what you have is a crisis…..

The Ministry Of Education is currently conducting outreach on its Continuous Assessment Learning Activities (CALA) which have caused quite the noise, with parents calling for CALA to be scrapped. From the impression I got while trying to help out the kids do their CALA assignments the teachers themselves don’t seem to know what they are doing or rather are not willing to be bothered unless you pay an “incentive” which is illegal of course, but such is life.

They say internet is not required to do the assignments but if you have ever tried to help someone do their CALA homework you will realise there’s information you wont be able to access unless you have internet… for those without the privilege of internet and smart devices, education goes further out of reach. The government says parents and stakeholders are misinformed about CALA and while they wont scrap the program, they will work on reducing the learners workload.

Whats been happening in your neck of the woods?

~B