By Kenneth Matimaire -MUTARE – Ruffcut$ clothing and entertainment empire boss, Marco Machona stars as a gun-trotting gangster in an action packed Nollywood movie titled “Love in 72 Hours.” Machona plays the character of Tony – a ruthless, gun waving and trigger pulling muscle man who did anything to protect his boss. The brand executive also made use of his personal Ruffcut$ Ride – a 1955 Ford Mercury, which was hired in the movie. The Nollywood production is about a crazy, hyper young man (Tony’s Boss) with enough loot and clout to have bodyguards fighting over a chick. The whole... Continue Reading
By Yolanda Ndlovu – Harare, July 18, 2012: Despite being vulnerable to rape and other forms of sexual abuse, disabled people are often overlooked in national HIV prevention strategies because policy makers do not perceive them as sexually active, representatives of disabled groups said on Tuesday. “If we look at the current National Aids Strategic Plan for 2008 to 2015, it fails to mention people living with disabilities and they are not deliberately targeted in the national response,” Hamida Ismail of the Disability, HIV and AIDS Trust (DHAT) told audiences at a Food for Thought discussion session held at the... Continue Reading
KINSHASA, 13 July 2012 (IRIN) – Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have assured leaders of the Tutsi community they are working to protect Tutsis across the country amid rising resentment sparked by a mutiny led mainly by Tutsi soldiers in the east. Minister of Security and Internal Affairs Charles Muyej said he had given instructions to this effect to governors across the vast country. “I think we have to realize that we are one people with many components. This diversity is an asset for our country. We insist that this is not the time to discriminate because... Continue Reading
JOHANNESBURG, 9 July 2012 (IRIN) – As a gay man living in Tanzania, Cassim Mustapha could have faced imprisonment, but prosecutions under the country’s Sexual Offences Act are rare, and the bigger threat came from his own community. After one of his neighbours attacked him with an axe leaving a deep wound in his head, Mustapha fled and applied for asylum in Malawi, the first country he reached. Persecution relating to an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity is increasingly recognized by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and in refugee law as grounds for claiming asylum. Most such claims are... Continue Reading
Harare, July 6, 2012: Over 40 young people from the United States and Zimbabwe on Tuesday discussed youth activism and participation in politics at a Food for Thought discussion in the U.S. Embassy auditorium at Eastgate Mall. Leading the discussion were two American graduate students currently working as summer interns at the Embassy. The Americans highlighted the growing influence of information and communication technologies in recent U.S. elections and noted social media’s growing popularity in Zimbabwe’s context. “It is important for youth throughout the world to get out and vote for candidates. Our votes will be considerably different than the... Continue Reading
