Lazarus Sauti

Beaven Tapureta Bookshelf Lazarus Sauti belongs to a growing family of Zimbabwean journalists who are displaying their distinctive gifts in different literary genres like poetry and fiction. His new anthology of Shona stories and poems titled “Nei?” (2017, Royalty Books) will enchant the reader with its power of linguistic style and ideas. The anthology is imbued with twenty seven poems and five stories. Sauti is a Zimbabwean journalist now not only identified as a journalist but a poet and short story writer. “Nei?”, edited by fellow journalist and Shona novelist Tinashe Muchuri, hit the shelves this month and adds some ‘seasoning salt’ to the end-of-year reading euphoria as more new books by Zimbabwean writers based in and outside the country continue to be published. The last few weeks have seen new books coming, almost filling up Bookshelf’s cavity of most recent releases which now include “Perfect Imperfections” (2017, DarlingKind Publishing) by Prosper W Maka...

Reviewed by Phillip Chidavaenzi AFTER reading classics in the Shona literary pantheon such as Charles Mungoshi’s Kunyarara Hakusi Kutaura? (1980), Aaron Chiundura Moyo’s Ndabva Zera (1992) or Mapenzi (1999) by Ignatius Mabasa, one is often tempted to wonder if the Shona creative writing tradition will be able to stand the test of time. Title: Nei? Author: Lazarus Sauti Publisher: Royalty Books (2017) But, as we have learnt particularly from Mungoshi and Mabasa, innovative writers continue to re-invent the language to suit the shifting framework of literature in indigenous languages. One such new writer is Lazarus Sauti, who has just published his debut literary offering in Shona, Nei? (Why?). To his credit, Sauti has even extended the boundary of innovation by packaging both short stories and poems in one collection, offering variety to the reader. Sauti does not flatter to deceive. His book demonstrates that the first cut, indeed, can be the deepest. What ...

Lazarus Sauti NAMIBIA and Zimbabwe are blessed with a variety of wild animals such as buffaloes, elephants, leopards, lions, Lichtenstein’s hartebeests, rhinoceros, antelopes, zebras, pangolins, roan antelopes, the painted dogs (also known as wild dogs) and giraffes. These and other wild animals are a gift of nature to the countries, as they provide a wide range of ecological, economic and cultural importance in relation to the human existence. Sadly, the future of wild animals in Namibia and Zimbabwe is under serious threat, thanks to increased poaching, corruption, illegal trans-border trade of live animals, poverty, poor funding, poisoning of waterholes with cyanide and human impact on their homes. In Namibia, increased incidents of poaching and smuggling of wildlife products has increased to calls for stiffer penalties for offenders. The elephant population in Zimbabwe, for instance, and as per the African Wildlife Foundation – which is on zero tolerance agains...

Lazarus Sauti Gwanda – More than a century after Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, most villagers in Zimbabwe and other southern African countries are still living without electricity. This sad development even on a regional scale was recently noted by the SADC chairperson, King Mswati III of Swaziland during the SADC Energy Investment Forum in Swaziland when he said: “Access to electricity in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is still below 20 percent and over 190 million people in the region live without power.” A newly released survey by Afrobarometer also buttresses the fact that more than 60 percent of Zimbabwe’s population live in zones served by an electric grid, but the households do not have electricity. To those who are lucky to be connected, power outages are the order of the day and the cost to businesses is huge. Gwanda, a province so famous for its mopani, isinanga (acacia), umgangu (marula), umkhomo (boabab) trees and other sh...

Lazarus Sauti A number of teachers in Zimbabwe and other African countries are unwilling to take teaching posts in rural areas because most schools do not have access to electricity, a fact supported by data from the United Nations (UN), which estimates that only 20 to 30 percent of schools in Africa have access to electricity. Afrobarometer, a pan-African, non partisan research network, recently released a report, which also notes that power shortages in Africa, especially the southern region are hindering socio-economic transformation and have strong repercussions for health and education – sacrosanct human rights. “Without reliable connections to electricity,” notes the report, “it is unlikely that socio-economic development projects and public investments, like schools, can attain their proposed targets. “Further, the extension of technology initiatives such as the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), as well as access to e-services in schools ...

Lazarus Sauti A policy is simply a declaration of an intention and for every nation to have a direction there is need for clarity on policy, as well as governance issues , says development analyst, Tinashe Muzamhindo. “ No investor is willing to part or partner with anyone without clarity on policy matters,” he declares, adding that one of the weakest points that the Zimbabwean government has is policy clarification. True to his assertion, there is no policy consistency for the country’s dilapidated roads which are significantly contributing to road carnage and claiming at least five lives per day, according to figures from the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ). At least 80 percent of the country’s 97 000-kilometre road network requires a major overhaul, according to Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister, Dr. Jorum Gumbo, who adds that a total of US$5 billion is required to rehabilitate the decaying road network. “Due to this lack of policy cons...