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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Zimbabwe's Elections 2013 - Index of Articles
Crisis Report Issue 201
Crisis
in Zimbabwe Coalition
July 19, 2013
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Feya
Feya features at Book Café
Feya Feya, a
campaign for free and fair elections, on Wednesday July 17, took
ventured into the arts world when it co-hosted a ‘Teaser Party’
in partnership with the Magamba Network where a comic news bulletin,
from Season 2 of the Zambezi News show was screened at the Book
Café.
Sam “Comrade
Fatso” Monro said the purpose of Zambezi News, a comical and
satirical news project, was to create alternative narratives, promote
plural voices and encourage free expression without censorship or
the threat of incarceration. “As we go into this important
period we need to take humor on our side,” he said, adding
that Zimbabwe had many divisive issues such as “race”
and “land reform”.
Comrade Fatso
said Zimbabweans were entitled to participate in the elections “but
to do it with a healthy dose of sarcasm and humor” while reiterating
that free speech should not be criminalized to allow citizens to
freely critique their politicians.
The Zambezi
News teaser screened at the event is Episode 5 of a series with
six episodes that satirizes Zimbabwe’s
elections season in a cheeky tongue-in-cheek manner, but one
that raises important questions about the meaning, nature and tragic
things associated with Zimbabwean electoral processes.
Subjects explored
in the viewed episode include the lies peddled by politicians in
their promises ahead of every election, the rigging of elections
by means of stuffing ballots and the restrictive nature of the requirements
for voter registration.
The show is
a witty take on the political idiosyncrasies that have become a
norm in our elections and as such, the viewer can easily relate
to the hard-hitting comedy show which is a daring artistic reflection
of the situation witnessed by Zimbabweans ahead of the July 31 poll.
In one of the
viewed clips, a visibly drunk and young character who is a voter
boosts that “power is in the hands of the beer holder”
hinting who he will vote for and highlighting the susceptibility
of youths to vote buying owing to their financial desperation.
Incidentally,
the issue of vote buying and coercion one that speaks to the concerns
raised by one the 11 Feya Feya principles, namely principle number
5 which states that free and fair elections require, “That
free formation of voter preferences takes place without coercion,
manipulation or intimidation and the insulation of this choice through
effective secrecy of the ballot”.
Sam Farai “Cde
Fatso” Monro and Michael “Michael Kay” Kudakwashe
who are part of the cultural activist outfit, Magamba Network, promised
the audience drawn from civil society, artistes, journalists and
members of the public that the entire six Zambezi News Episodes
would be ready for viewing soon.
The teaser party
ended with the screening of a catchy musical video by Even Mo Lil
Swaggery Boys called ‘Ballots in the Box’, which calls
for Zimbabweans to exercise their right to vote to achieve democratic
society while emphasizing that they must do so in peace.
Meanwhile, Crisis
in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) Information Officer Delta Ndou read
out a mock speech on Feya Feya campaign written by a democratic
activist, Vivid Gwede, to the audience.
“Regardless
of which way we look at our national politics we must feel the same
comfort to reveal our standing and have the same freedom of speech.
“We must
have a vote that weighs the same for each citizen,” were part
of the words in the mock speech.
The venue was
packed and those who attended the event walked away with free DVDs
of the news bulletin and some feya feya paraphernalia.
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