Tomi Ahonen at Communities Dominate Brands, has written a nice post, suitable for Thanksgiving Weekend.
As many of you will know Zimbabwe is in terrible trouble with inflation currently running at 15,000% per month as the economy collapses. The tragedy is that, not so long ago, the country was known as “The Breadbasket of Africa” before the corrupt and incompetent President, Robert Mugabe, finally went insane and kicked the white farmers off their land and gave the farms to his cronies and political, army and judicial allies. Of course, farming is a skill, not a perk, and productivity promptly plummeted.
Even if land reform was needed (and maybe it was), it’s hard so imagine a more ridiculous way of achieving it than de-skilling the whole driver of their economy. It’s also very seldom in politics that we can point to such a clear cause and effect case.
Poor Zimbabwe has other problems too. Life expectancy is the lowest in the world – 37 for men and 34 for women. Compare this to 1990 when male life expectancy was a more hopeful 60.
Like all dictators, Mugabe crushes opposition ruthlessly and all media are government controlled. If there was ever a case for the West triggering regime change, this must be it – I wonder why we don’t? Note to self; I wonder if they have any oil?
Anyway, enough ranting – I think I’ve made my point that they’re in dire straights.
One little spark of light though is SW Radio Africa, aka “the independent voice of Zimbabwe” which broadcasts news into the country on shortwave radio. It’s the only way the people of Zimbabwe can learn what’s really going on – their only link with unbias news. Bear in mind that PC penetration would be negligible too.
Of course, Mugabe blocks the broadcasts, as you might expect.
But the one thing they can’t block is sms – or they haven’t found a way to yet – and Zimbabwe has a reasonable penetration of mobiles, although heaven knows how people afford to pay their bills with that kind of inflation. So SW Radio Africa sends out the news to subscribers, free. Word is slowly spreading and about 100 people a day are signing up – 8,000 so far.
The thing is, the station needs to pay for these sms transmissions and thus they need sponsors. Can you help?
Go to their website right now and make a difference http://www.swradioafrica.com/
Not only will you be helping keep the people informed – which seems to me to be a basic right of every individual – but this could help start the pebble of regime change rolling down the hill of destiny.
It wouldn’t be the first time that the humble sms has brought down a government and it won’t be the last either.
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