Kate Bridges

Zimbabwean Scot. Cultural hybrid. Listening and learning. Sporadically tweeting on #governance, #politics, #faith and #adaptdev in the region.

[Kate Bridges @K8bridges]

The greatest act of revolution against a tyranny might be to insist on our common value and human connection, since such undergirds any ability to act as a collective force. The tyrant, realising this, will always seek to isolate and divide the people.
#powerandpolitics

[Monavale Wetland #SaveMonavaleVlei @MonavaleWetland]

WORK HARD PLAY HARD 💃🏽🕺🏽

Nothing beats a pumping Silent Disco 🎧 as the sun sets over the stunningly beautiful @MonavaleWetland 🌅 after a hard afternoon’s work showing some love for our wetland, our city, our planet, and each other! 💚

HAPPY WORLD WETLANDS DAY!!

[Monavale Wetland #SaveMonavaleVlei @MonavaleWetland]

For decades, the Conservation Society of Monavale (COSMO), @birdlifezim & the whole community have diligently protected & conserved @MonavaleWetland—turning it into the world-renowned Ramsar Site it is today.

Now they’re being shut out by developers’ fences.😩 #SaveMonavaleVlei

[Monavale Wetland #SaveMonavaleVlei @MonavaleWetland]

“YOU CAN’T DRINK CEMENT!”

Did you know that @MonavaleWetland is one of Harare’s primary sources of clean water?🚰

The wetland stores water, cleans water, prevents flooding downstream, and slowly releases water into Lake Chivero all year round—for all of us!

#SaveMonavaleVlei

[Monavale Wetland #SaveMonavaleVlei @MonavaleWetland]

Who can spot the @ReserveBankZIM Building? 👀 🧐 🔭

The Monavale Wetland Ramsar Site is less than 5 km from the heart of Harare’s Central Business District. 🏙️ It is a lung for the city, a source of its water, and a refuge for its people. #WetlandsMatter #SaveMonavaleVlei

[Kate Bridges @K8bridges]

"journalism is not a crime, but I have been jailed for it"

Powerful words from @bbmhlanga

[ZimNewsUpdates @ZimNewsUpdates]

Watch @bbmhlanga tears drops soon after release from prison as Lawyer @DougColtart speaks out while he reads his emotional letter

[Kate Bridges @K8bridges]

"SADC, AU, South Africa...they are failing Zimbabweans." - Malema

[Hopewell Chin’ono @daddyhope]

South African opposition leader, Julius Malema, who leads the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), spoke out tonight against the Zimbabwean tyrant, crookED Emmerson, and called on Zimbabwean youths to rise up against the tyrannical rule in their country.

Malema added that South Africa and SADC are failing Zimbabweans due to their mutual egos and self-interest.

He stated that crookED Emmerson has nothing to offer Zimbabweans and that his vice president, General Chiwenga, is a spent force.
He emphasised that Zimbabweans should know that he and like-minded individuals stand with them.

Malema condemned crookED Emmerson’s rampage, which includes ordering his secret service agents to abduct, torture, and imprison opposition voices, amid silence from SADC and ambassadors compromised by their close ties to crookED Emmerson’s family.

The silence of SADC and compromised ambassadors only serves to embolden those in power and perpetuate the cycle of abuse and corruption.
There are almost 100 political activists in jail in Zimbabwe accused of frivolous charges, all of them were arrested in June and last week.

One of them is living with a one-year-old child in prison since June 16 this year.

[Kate Bridges @K8bridges]

The Church is salt and light or it is nothing.
There isn't room for debate:

“God’s truth stands on the side of the weak, the poor, and the excluded.” - Walter Brueggemann

#faithandpolitics

[World Council of Churches (WCC) @Oikoumene]

🇿🇼 WCC urges release of detainees, respect for human dignity in Zimbabwe https://t.co/8QWA26cftb #Zimbabwe

[Fadzayi Mahere🇿🇼 @advocatemahere]

🟣When any one of us is imprisoned unjustly, none of us is free. My heart goes out to all our brave hearts.

This is a far cry from the Zimbabwean Dream we were promised in 1980 and have been hoping for ever since.

These citizens are not criminals. They are innocent.

#FreeThemAll

We need new leaders.🇿🇼

[Simbarashe Rambiyawo🇿🇼 @Simbarasherambs]

Today again Robson Chere, Samuel Gwenzi and Namatai mukwekwezi appear in court, for a crime they didn't commit they are victims of torture and abduction. We call upon the all members of the democratic family to attend in solidarity as we put an end to tyranny.

[ZimLive @zimlive]

Tortured activist Chere yet to be treated as court delays bail hearing

▪️Lawyers accuse prosecutors of delaying bail proceedings to prolong the suffering of their clients
https://t.co/5Q4INaY62b

[Fadzayi Mahere🇿🇼 @advocatemahere]

🟣DAY 45.

The continued unconstitutional detention without trial of Senator @JamesonTimba and the #Avondale78 is a shameless example of the continued weaponisation of the legal system by ZANU PF to silence opponents. It’s not a crime to allow young people to have a private barbecue at your private residence to commemorate the Soweto Uprising.

Bail is a constitutional entitlement. They have not committed any crime but even if they had, they’d be entitled to the presumption of innocence and to be tried while residing at home.

Freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and the right to liberty are constitutionally-protected.

We must all speak out against this affront to our Constitution. We’ve seen this script over and over and it’s the best evidence of a regime that’s declared war on its people.

Is this the liberation that our forefathers and mothers died for? Why use colonial tactics against the very people for whom a war of freedom was fought? Why deem any person who disagrees a “dissident”?

The jailed young people should be in work, studying or making a living for their families yet they’re caged up in intolerable conditions because those at the top are afraid of shadows. Everyone of these political prisoners is innocent.

Every progressive Zimbabwean has a duty to speak out until they’re freed.

We need new leaders.🇿🇼

[Magamba Network @MagambaNetwork]

Namatai, Vusumuzi, Robson, Samuel, and 14 activists in Kariba were unjustly detained yesterday. Let’s raise our voices and demand their immediate release!
#FreeNamatai
#FreeRobson
#FreeVusumuzi
#FreeSamuel

[ZimLive @zimlive]

📹 Surrounded by police commanders, home affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe says police will crush any protests during the SADC summit on August 17. He claims “historically, the opposition has never held a peaceful demonstration” and alleges opposition plot to “stir civil unrest”

[Kate Bridges @K8bridges]

Tomorrow my constituency votes again.

Except turnout will be abyssmally low.
Zimbabweans appear tired of the farce.
And the few politicians worth voting for refuse to participate in a rigged game. @advocatemahere

In a #counterfeitdemocracy integrity sits outside the system.

[ERC Africa @ercafrica]

Pre-Election Survey
(ERC survey conducted in Mount Pleasant ahead of the 27 April by-election)

Among various reasons, 21.2% of those not voting indicated support for @advocatemahere as their reasons for not voting in the by-election.

Full Analysis Here https://t.co/a6gYdlNpj6

[Fadzayi Mahere🇿🇼 @advocatemahere]

🟣Dear @ReserveBankZIM,

1. Please hire a Comms team asap.

2. Part of fostering confidence is having timely, reliable and accessible means of informing the public in advance of key developments. Use official RBZ channels for updates. Don’t bury key information in a random link. Don’t let polarizing social media trolls be first with important news.

3. Your sensitisation efforts have been inadequate. The public are confused. Day 1 of the currency that you said would come into effect immediately and banks, payment platforms, mobile networks and businesses are a flurry of confusion. You need to step up.

4. Use all languages. Make adverts. Address stakeholders. Get a social media manager. Remember that over 61% of the population live in rural areas. Persons with disabilities must also be catered for. Include everyone.

5. Make sure all addresses by the Governor and live-streamed on your channels and key news houses. Make sure your presentations are also aired on the public broadcaster and on radio.

6. Use infographics. Most people won’t read 100 pages. Summarize your key points in simple lay language that ordinary people understand. Avoid jargon in public communication.

7. Use technology. Set up a WhatsApp bot to address frequently asked questions, give updates and give access to key documents and legislation.

8. Don’t be defensive. Most people are curious and have questions. Respond to concerns. Don’t avoid or gaslight. Set up professional platforms for engagement.

9. Manage your optics. It’s not a good look to have the Governor’s first speaking engagement charged in USD when it’s meant to explain and promote a new currency.

10. Be inclusive. Charging USD100 to unpack a monetary policy statement that has wide ramifications for every person, rich or poor, is not a good look. Take explanations to the public.

11. Avoid ambush. Give fair notice. Engage stakeholders before making policy. Get feedback on realistic timelines for implementation so that you’re not changing timeframes a day after announcement.

All the best.🙏🏽

[Open Parly ZW @OpenParlyZw]

Reserve Bank Governor John Mushayavanhu has introduced a new currency Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200. There will be ZiG coins in the denominations of ½ ZiG, and ¼ ZiG.

[Kate Bridges @K8bridges]

"Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal."

Thank you J.K. for the unrelenting bravery on this.

#sexmatters

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

🎉🌼🌸April Fools! 🌸🌼🎉

Only kidding. Obviously, the people mentioned in the above tweets aren't women at all, but men, every last one of them.

In passing the Scottish Hate Crime Act, Scottish lawmakers seem to have placed higher value on the feelings of men performing their idea of femaleness, however misogynistically or opportunistically, than on the rights and freedoms of actual women and girls. The new legislation is wide open to abuse by activists who wish to silence those of us speaking out about the dangers of eliminating women's and girls’ single-sex spaces, the nonsense made of crime data if violent and sexual assaults committed by men are recorded as female crimes, the grotesque unfairness of allowing males to compete in female sports, the injustice of women’s jobs, honours and opportunities being taken by trans-identified men, and the reality and immutability of biological sex.

For several years now, Scottish women have been pressured by their government and members of the police force to deny the evidence of their eyes and ears, repudiate biological facts and embrace a neo-religious concept of gender that is unprovable and untestable. The re-definition of 'woman' to include every man who declares himself one has already had serious consequences for women's and girls’ rights and safety in Scotland, with the strongest impact felt, as ever, by the most vulnerable, including female prisoners and rape survivors.

It is impossible to accurately describe or tackle the reality of violence and sexual violence committed against women and girls, or address the current assault on women’s and girls’ rights, unless we are allowed to call a man a man. Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal.

I'm currently out of the country, but if what I've written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.

If you agree with the views set out in this tweet, please retweet it.

#ArrestMe #AprilFools #HateCrimeActScotland

11/X

[Maya Forstater @MForstater]

Rosie Duffield & the women who refuse to be silenced!

Happy #InternationalWomensDay2024 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇮🇪

with @RosieDuffield1 @K_IngalaSmith @JackMerched @HeatherB_WRN @HJoyceGender @EmmaBatemanGPW @DerryBanShee @SonyaDouglas Sally Wainwright @WDI_Scotland

https://t.co/pyx4OOxPAn

[Kate Bridges @K8bridges]

@GandangaJena Agreed. It's become painfully clear that "opposition as the solution" is a flawed strategy. Playing the formal political game means playing a rigged game. The incumbent wins each time. Change strategies have to go beyond the formal structures of politics. This is not a democracy.

[Kate Bridges @K8bridges]

Zimbabwe's #counterfeitdemocracy revealed in all its ugliness.

What now for the engaged, the reform-minded, the true democrats? For so long opposition seats have been seen as the surest route to change in Zim.

Perhaps now, other, more creative routes get to be explored.

[Fadzayi Mahere🇿🇼 @advocatemahere]

🟣If yesterday’s swearing in of Sengezo Tshabangu and his goons as parliamentarians doesn’t disgust you, nothing else will.

The world unanimously condemned last year’s election that ushered in Zimbabwe’s current administration. The election was marred by irregularities, rigging and violence that led to all observers concluding that the election fell far below the Constitutional standard.

Despite their best rigging display, they failed to get a two thirds majority in Parliament. When you’re that unpopular, rigging can only take you so far. Two thirds in Parliament would enable them to amend the Constitutional two term limit for presidential aspirants.

They want their guy to come back as “president” in 2028.

So they hatched up a plan to use a willing impostor, Tshabangu, to sponsor and front their third term agenda.

They threw every state institution, willing political tool, social media influencer and payable journalist to drive the agenda.

History will judge harshly the state institutions and regime apparatchiks who made this fraud on democracy possible.

With the direct assistance of the state, Tshabangu falsified documents that led to the illegal recall of opposition MPs. He then caused most of those MPs to be banned again from running.

He spat on the will of the people.

He enabled the replacement of duly elected opposition MPs with Zanu PF criminals and mafia lords who had been rejected by the masses in August 2023.

An opposition community organizer was abducted, tortured and killed during the by-election campaign period as a direct consequence of his conduct.

Zanu PF illegally gifted him an unelected seat in Senate. They ignored correspondence from duly authorized opposition representatives regarding submission of party lists.

The opposition have never been allowed to wear yellow. We were told that the colour is too “political”. That ruling is extant so why was newly sworn in Zanu PF Senator Tshabangu allowed to break the rule?

You’re not allowed to approach the Chair save through the Chief Whip. Why was he allowed to do so in breach of procedure?

Since when does the Senate President bow to a Senator?

Whenever an opposition senator stands up, Zanu PF senators heckle. Why are they heard cheering for him?

Parliament has been tainted by the illegitimacy crisis that plagues the entire 2023 electoral sham. What they stole in August 2023 wasn’t enough so they had to steal even more.

The House that is meant to be the sacred voice of the people has been reduced to a den of thieves.

We need new leaders.🇿🇼