On Tuesday 11 November i was shocked to see a headline that said that Kwekwe Central Legislator,Blessing Chebundo was found guilty of raping a 13 year old minor.The story went on to say that Magistrate William Bhila cleared him of the charges after the complainant was found to have been an unreliable witness in the case.The reason for his acquital was because the young girl took 5 months to report the matter to the police.Chebundo dismissed the rape charges saying that they had been "manufactured" by his political opponents.This whole drama that transpired forces one question the efficiency of our judiciary system today.The fact of the matter however is Chebundo slept with someone young enough to be his own daughter.That alone is a form of abuse since the girl is way below the age of 18.This same incident also makes one want to question the role of Non governmental Organisations that deal with women and chidren's rights.I thought the following morning,i was going to see a furore over the injustice that had prevailed but there was surreal silence.For once,satire has disappeared from these organisations that claim to deal issues that affect vulnerable children and women.These organisations become so vocal when it is just gender issues.When you claim to serve the interest of girls it is not only confined to equal rights.Sexual abuse is also a serious issue to advocate for even if it means challenging court rulings.Chebundo took advantage of this minor in the sense that he might have used his position or money to lure the girl.Either way it was a violation of the rights of girl in question.NGO's that deal with children must not just be vocal when it comes to politics and gender issues but they should adhere to their core business of protecting children's rights.Girl Child Network where are you?Should you not have at least condemned the ruling or challenged it.Which girl child are you protecting?Should you neglect your duties while you are being paid hefty salaries?This injustice in our judiciary is going to encourage more men to sexually abuse young girls because they know that stiffer penalties have not been put in place.Our own judiciary noew is in a serious state of confusion and a lot of people have since stopped taking their cases to court because failure to get a lawyer will result in them loosing the case.Does that mean that the rich or privileged in society can now pounce on the poor just because they can get lawyers who can argue their cases out?What manner of injustice is this?There are a lot of stories that i have seen in newspapers especially the Herald where one person is granted bail or acquited even if he committed a crime just because he has enough money to hire a lawyer to defend him.Organisations that deal with women issues,you have let the "girl child" down.Whose interests are you serving or should i say which girls and women are you protecting?
By Rawlings Magede My visit to one of the Genocide memorials During the past weeks I was holed up in Rwanda visiting memorial sites and villages in a quest to learn more on how the country has recovered years after the 1994 genocide that left more than 800,000 civilians dead. The genocide lasted for hundred days and engulfed the country into a turmoil as organised killings and massacres of the Tutsi escalated. The colonial practice of ethnic profiling on identity documents aided in the easy identification of Tutsi minorities during roadblocks and targeted searches. Churches that had since time immemorial been credited for speaking truth to power become complicit in the killings and often deceitfully offered “safe” refuge to Tutsis but only alerted the Interahamwe’s ( Hutu militias) who massacred hundreds of thousands in cold blood. The snail’s pace by the international community to intervene and stop the killings further aided the killers and saw the killings stretching up to hund