Friday January 30 2009 is a sad day for Zimbabwe. For on this day Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai, capitulated and agreed to join Mugabe to form a Government of National Unity.
The BBC described the political union as “a marriage made in Hell!” And that is exactly what it is.
MDC won the majority seats in parliament in the March 2008 elections but in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe that counted for nothing. Mugabe has continued to run the show.
In the presidential race Tsvangirai had won the 29 March vote by 51% of the cast votes according to MDC. The Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) said he did beat Mugabe with but did not get the 50% plus one required to avoid a run-off. It took ZEC five weeks to announce this result; they need the time to “cook” the figures and the delay certainly worked to Mugabe’s advantage. MDC’s bungling did not help their own case; the party first claimed Tsvangirai had over 60% of the votes initially only to revise the figure downward not once but twice.
In the run-off Mugabe “declared war on the people”, as Tsvangirai rightly said. Zanu PF thugs backed by the Police and Army mounted a brutal and ruthless campaign of terror, rape and murder against all those known to have voted for MDC in March. At least half a million people were beaten raped and/or had their property destroyed. 200 (some belief ten times as many) people were murdered. Tsvangirai withdraw from the race and Mugabe went on to win the one horse-race and reclaimed his President of Zimbabwe price!
All the election observers including SADC and AU’s observers, known for being dumb, deaf, mute and blind, condemned the election as sham. So why would anyone want to join and form a unity government with a brute like that?
“I find it as difficult as the next person to even begin to trust these processes,” Roy Bennett, MDC’s National Treasurer explained soon after the party had announced its decision to join. “But there has to be a starting point of moving this forward on the basis that people are suffering and on the basis that SADC has guaranteed this process.”
Bennett was driven off his commercial farm in Eastern Zimbabwe and has been on the run from the Mugabe regime. He certainly should know better and not to trust Mugabe.
For Bennett to say he trusted Mugabe “on the basis that SADC has guaranteed this process” is laughable and should be dismissed with the contempt it rightly deserve. The power sharing agreement was signed five months ago and it has taken this long to be implemented because Mugabe wanted all power to himself in fragrant violation of the agreement.
MDC appealed to SADC in the hope they would force Mugabe to honour the initial agreement. Again and again SADC has done nothing; if anything they have turned the pressure on MDC to accept whatever Mugabe offered. It was SADC’s unfettered support of Mugabe that has given him the confidence to treat MDC and Tsvangirai throughout with nothing but contempt. Mugabe knows SADC’s guarantee is worthless and so does everyone else except MDC.
Bennett please educate me; what is it exactly has SADC guaranteed? What is it exactly do you expect SADC to do if Mugabe continues to act in total disregard to the word and spirit of the power sharing agreement? These are the questions MDC did not want asked because they all know deep in their heart that the honest answer to both these question has to be “Nothing!”
So Bennett please do not insult our intelligent with this nonsense of SADC guarantee, we have enough to endure without you spitting in our face!
So MDC went into this marriage end the people’s suffering; more nonsense!
The whole country has been brought to ruin causing untold hardships and deaths to our people because the many ugly faces within Zanu PF and PF Zapu all conspired to let Mugabe have his way. Knowing fully well that Mugabe was a ruthless and brutal tyrant hungry for power and would stop at nothing to get it.
Some day, soon I hope, these ugly faces will be called to account. No doubt they will say they were naïve to think by letting him have his way he would be content and allow the nation to live in peace and harmony. They will have to explain when was it exactly they realised they were naïve - three decades in a long time to be hoodwinked – and, more pointedly, what did they do to rein him in. Nothing, of course!
To understand why these ugly faces have done nothing to end Mugabe’s madness; one has to look at the privileged life they have enjoyed all these years. Mugabe has provided lavishly for the ruling elite onto having spending millions US$ buying new cars for them whilst hospitals and schools close for lack of funds and doctors and teachers are paid US$5 or less a month.
Say what else you chose about Mugabe but when it comes to paying for blind loyalty – “Vhara muromo” as we call it in Shona - you will be hard pushed to find a more generous dictator! Mrs Margret Dongo MP, a former Zanu PF ugly face herself, described the blind loyalty of her former colleagues as Mugabe’s concubines – “Vakadzi vaMugabe”. Mugabe has treated his Zanu PF politburo members, cabinet members and senior party member, parliamentarians, etc. as if they are all imbeciles – he treats lesser mortals no better than dogs. So everything considered Mrs Dongo was not wide off the mark! No doubt Mugabe beamed with egotistic pride when he heard about it!
Mugabe’s generosity to those privileged to be his ruling elite could not have gone unnoticed by Tsvangirai, Bennett and the rest of the MDC’s top leadership. Tsvangirai made up his mind to join the harem long before he even signed September 15 the power sharing agreement. All these months he has played hard ball in the hope that he would not be just another one of Mugabe’s concubines.
Mugabe refused to give an inch; after all he has other concubines to consider. So Tsvangirai has finally relented and he will soon settle down into his new role.
Tsvangirai was going to end the people’s suffering if the nation’s wealth now being spent lavishly of the ruling elite could be used to rebuild the country’s shattered health and education system. If key resources like land, now in the hands of Mugabe’s cronies, can be given to those who can put them into productive use. As just another concubine, he will not have the political power to force through any such changes.
Mugabe would certainly not want his political power base destroyed and that was why he did not want Tsvangirai to have any political power. In fact it is not just his political base Mugabe is concerned about; he has many, many skeletons a Tsvangirai with clout may divulge!
For five months Tsvangirai has loitered with intend at Hell’s gate. He has finally decided to go in and has dragged the whole nation with him. The violence against MDC supporters will stop but not against human rights activists or those critical of the new political dispensation.
Tsvangirai and his fellow MDC leadership will start to enjoy the luxurous lives of the ruling elite, no expenses will be spared to make them welcome – there enough wealth for the ruling elite. As for the rest of us we will have to make do with the few crumbs we get as before. The next four years, the term of the GNU, will be a tough time for Zimbabwe – after all we are in hell!
Saturday 31 January 2009
Wednesday 28 January 2009
PART 2: PRESIDENT OBAMA AFRICA CAN HAVE GOOD GOVERNANCE: GIVE US A CHANCE!
Dear President Barak Obama
I am a son of Africa and behalf of all my fellow Africans I would like to state that we, Africans, are capable of self rule. Yes we can!
Right across the length and breadth of Africa, from Cairo to Cape Town and from Mogadishu to Dakar, it is one tragic story of one failed state after another. Africa has more than her fair share of tyrants and dictators and I know it is the duty of every citizen to fight for justice, liberty and freedom. My contention is that it has not been a fair fight not so much because the dictators fight dirty – some like Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, are shockingly ruthless and brutal even for a dictator - but because those one would expect to be on the side of justice are instead betting abetting the dictators.
The West, led by your country Mr President, has been propping up some of Africa’s tyrants and dictators with disastrous consequences to the ordinary people and to the continent as a whole. America’s role in Zaire during Mobutu’s reign of terror is the root cause of the continued instability, sufferings and deaths in that country. Egypt is one of the cradles of civilizations but its all in the past. That nation will never rise again as long as it is ruled by little men of little vision; whose tenure is secured by American backing.
America’s foreign policy in Africa was based on the need to keep the Russians and Chinese out, its own economic interests, etc., etc. America threw aid money to ease Africa’s unnecessary human suffering and lose of live instead of addressing the root cause- bad governance. The native Africans aspiration for peace, freedom and liberty was at the very bottom of America’s foreign policy.
When Africa emerged from white colonial rule and oppression it faced a very sceptical and patronising world. The independent African states were expected to fail and so confirm the white supremacists’ racist claim that blacks are incapable of self government.
It is Africa’s fervent hope, Mr President that you will give Africa a fair chance in its search for freedom and liberty by putting good governance at the very top of your Africa policy.
Mr President, congratulation on election as President of the USA. It was a remarkable achievement and a source of great pride and inspiration to many, especially us in Africa. On behalf of all the Africans, especially those in the back waters who will never hear of you, I wish you, your family and administration well.
Yours truly,
Wilbert Mukori.
I am a son of Africa and behalf of all my fellow Africans I would like to state that we, Africans, are capable of self rule. Yes we can!
Right across the length and breadth of Africa, from Cairo to Cape Town and from Mogadishu to Dakar, it is one tragic story of one failed state after another. Africa has more than her fair share of tyrants and dictators and I know it is the duty of every citizen to fight for justice, liberty and freedom. My contention is that it has not been a fair fight not so much because the dictators fight dirty – some like Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, are shockingly ruthless and brutal even for a dictator - but because those one would expect to be on the side of justice are instead betting abetting the dictators.
The West, led by your country Mr President, has been propping up some of Africa’s tyrants and dictators with disastrous consequences to the ordinary people and to the continent as a whole. America’s role in Zaire during Mobutu’s reign of terror is the root cause of the continued instability, sufferings and deaths in that country. Egypt is one of the cradles of civilizations but its all in the past. That nation will never rise again as long as it is ruled by little men of little vision; whose tenure is secured by American backing.
America’s foreign policy in Africa was based on the need to keep the Russians and Chinese out, its own economic interests, etc., etc. America threw aid money to ease Africa’s unnecessary human suffering and lose of live instead of addressing the root cause- bad governance. The native Africans aspiration for peace, freedom and liberty was at the very bottom of America’s foreign policy.
When Africa emerged from white colonial rule and oppression it faced a very sceptical and patronising world. The independent African states were expected to fail and so confirm the white supremacists’ racist claim that blacks are incapable of self government.
It is Africa’s fervent hope, Mr President that you will give Africa a fair chance in its search for freedom and liberty by putting good governance at the very top of your Africa policy.
Mr President, congratulation on election as President of the USA. It was a remarkable achievement and a source of great pride and inspiration to many, especially us in Africa. On behalf of all the Africans, especially those in the back waters who will never hear of you, I wish you, your family and administration well.
Yours truly,
Wilbert Mukori.
Monday 26 January 2009
PART 1: 20 JANUARY 2009 HISTORIC DAY FOR BLAC AMERICANS: END OF MATCH FROM SLAVERY TO US PRESIDENT
20 January 2009 was a historic day for the African Americans. It was the day President Barak Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44 th President of the United States of America. The swearing in of each US President from the first, George Washington, is a historic occasion by its own right because of what USA is – a giant among nations. But the swearing in of the 44th was extra special; Obama is not just another American; he is an African American from the slave class.
At the time of George Washington, Obama’s kind were slaves- the lowest of the low; they owned nothing instead they were the white man’s property.
At the birth of the new nation, the United States of America, in 1774 the founding fathers gave birth to a system of government that has saved America well to this day. A “noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness,” as President Obama said. These noble ideals were extended to all except the slaves they continued to suffer and die in damn anguish.
It was to take nearly another hundred years before the institution of slavery was finally abolished. America was divided over slavery, the Union was broken and there was a bitter civil war. The same individual who a generation earlier had risk all to seek freedom and liberty were now ready to shed innocent blood and risk their own lives in a war to deny another human being the same freedom and liberty. They were all God –fearing and all subscribed to “Love thou neighbour and you love yourself!” But such is the freckle nature of mankind.
At the end of the Civil War those fighting to retain slavery were defeated. It is strange that the nation saw it fit and proper to compensate the slave owners for the loss of the slaves but not those who had endured the hardships and toil of slavery. This was warning to the freed black slaves of the torturous days ahead; the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the American Constitution were guaranteed for the white folks but not the blacks- they had to fight for them
The road that blacks have had to travel has been hard and hardships of the discrimination and abuse have been many. Many whites considered themselves a superior race to blacks and therefore considered it a personal affront that they should be treated as equals with blacks. Their avowed position was to humiliate and belittle blacks whenever possible and to deny blacks all the basic rights including the right to life. Many blacks were lynched for no other reason other than the colour of their skin was black. To this day there are still KKK hoods stored away whose owners hope they will a chance to wear them again. Many blacks still have the mental and physical scars of white discrimination.
Generations of blacks have had to fight racism head on and have done much to end it.
There is still white racism, of course. In the present economic melt down; blacks will be the first to lose their jobs and they will be the last to be employed after the ression. Still, on this historic day the black Americans did put all this aside so that they can celebrate this significant milestone in their history.
“In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned,” President Obama told his audience – a sea of mainly black faces. The blacks knew exactly what he was talking about; they came a long, long way from being a slave to becoming the President.
Even if President Obama should turn out to be no better or no worse than some of the other men who have held this illustrious Office that will be immaterial. However that he has already shown the qualities of a great leader are a bonus.
Within the first week in Office President Obama has already taken steps to close Guantanamo Bay and banned the use of torture to obtain confession- corner stones in former President George Bush’s “War on terror”. The practices were in direct violation of rule of international law and the values America claimed to champion.
“As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals,” asserted President Obama in his inaugural speech. America was “ready to lead once more” he promised. President Obama has four years in office; it is hard to say with any certainty what kind of leader he will be after only a few weeks in Office. Still he has had a great start; already he has left his mark. Sometimes it is enough to know a lion has passed just from the paw print!
At the time of George Washington, Obama’s kind were slaves- the lowest of the low; they owned nothing instead they were the white man’s property.
At the birth of the new nation, the United States of America, in 1774 the founding fathers gave birth to a system of government that has saved America well to this day. A “noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness,” as President Obama said. These noble ideals were extended to all except the slaves they continued to suffer and die in damn anguish.
It was to take nearly another hundred years before the institution of slavery was finally abolished. America was divided over slavery, the Union was broken and there was a bitter civil war. The same individual who a generation earlier had risk all to seek freedom and liberty were now ready to shed innocent blood and risk their own lives in a war to deny another human being the same freedom and liberty. They were all God –fearing and all subscribed to “Love thou neighbour and you love yourself!” But such is the freckle nature of mankind.
At the end of the Civil War those fighting to retain slavery were defeated. It is strange that the nation saw it fit and proper to compensate the slave owners for the loss of the slaves but not those who had endured the hardships and toil of slavery. This was warning to the freed black slaves of the torturous days ahead; the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the American Constitution were guaranteed for the white folks but not the blacks- they had to fight for them
The road that blacks have had to travel has been hard and hardships of the discrimination and abuse have been many. Many whites considered themselves a superior race to blacks and therefore considered it a personal affront that they should be treated as equals with blacks. Their avowed position was to humiliate and belittle blacks whenever possible and to deny blacks all the basic rights including the right to life. Many blacks were lynched for no other reason other than the colour of their skin was black. To this day there are still KKK hoods stored away whose owners hope they will a chance to wear them again. Many blacks still have the mental and physical scars of white discrimination.
Generations of blacks have had to fight racism head on and have done much to end it.
There is still white racism, of course. In the present economic melt down; blacks will be the first to lose their jobs and they will be the last to be employed after the ression. Still, on this historic day the black Americans did put all this aside so that they can celebrate this significant milestone in their history.
“In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned,” President Obama told his audience – a sea of mainly black faces. The blacks knew exactly what he was talking about; they came a long, long way from being a slave to becoming the President.
Even if President Obama should turn out to be no better or no worse than some of the other men who have held this illustrious Office that will be immaterial. However that he has already shown the qualities of a great leader are a bonus.
Within the first week in Office President Obama has already taken steps to close Guantanamo Bay and banned the use of torture to obtain confession- corner stones in former President George Bush’s “War on terror”. The practices were in direct violation of rule of international law and the values America claimed to champion.
“As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals,” asserted President Obama in his inaugural speech. America was “ready to lead once more” he promised. President Obama has four years in office; it is hard to say with any certainty what kind of leader he will be after only a few weeks in Office. Still he has had a great start; already he has left his mark. Sometimes it is enough to know a lion has passed just from the paw print!
Saturday 17 January 2009
MDC FACING AN AGONISING CHOICE: COMMON SENSE VS GREED
December 19 2008
Tsvangirai tells the world that MDC will suspend all the power sharing negotiations with Mugabe unless all abductions of human rights activists and MDC supporters stopped. The 41 already abducted were to be either be charged or realised. Tsvangirai gave Mugabe until the 1 st January 2009 to meet his demands.
(The truth is talks had actually stalled over the sharing of key ministerial positions, governorships and host of other things. Meanwhile Mugabe had proceeded to make some key appointments; appointed all the new Governors, AG and Reserve Bank Governor – all staunch Zanu PF supporters- without consulting or sharing these positions with MDC as agreed in the spirit of GPA.)
December 23 2008
Some of the people abducted are charged of banditry or recruiting other for training – charges that carry death penalty. Some of the abducted individuals were reportedly tortured whilst in custody.
December 29 2008
Media report that Tsvangirai has been writing to President Kgalema Motlanthe of SA asking him (over the head of former President Thembo Mbeki who is still the official mediator) to set up a meeting between Mugabe and himself to discuss outstanding power issues.
(The move left observers wondering whether Tsvangirai had already forgotten that he threatened to end the talks. Or was the MDC-T leader trying to get the stalled talks going again. So that come 1St January, and his condition had not been met, he would have talks to walkout of. What a clever a trap! Of course there were no takers.)
January 1 2009
Tsvangirai deadline; 19 out of the 41 the abducted people have been charged and the where-about of the remaining 12 are not known.
Those waiting to hear from Tsvangirai were to be disappointed; not a word from Tsvangirai.
(People hold on to the hope that the 12 will all turn up at some Police Station, but with each passing day the fear that they were murdered increases.)
January 9 2009
Tsvangirai tells the world that the key leaders within his party would join him in SA to discuss the party’s next move.
(The media is awash with rumours that MDC-T was splitting up. Given Tsvangirai’s poor performance as party leader; a split was not be a bad thing. If the party had been truly democratic as they claim to be, then it would not have made so many blunders. One can only hope that the party had learnt something from their past mistakes and a change of guard will be the best opportunity to take on board the learnt lessons.)
January 15 2009
State produce three out of the 12 abducted persons who were still missing.
MDC announces that the party’s leadership would be returning to Zimbabwe and on Sunday the party’s leader, Tsvangirai, will chair the party’s National Executive, the party’s decision making body. The NE would decide on the vexing question of whether or not to join the GNU.
(Common sense dictates that a GNU with Zanu PF as a junior partner would have been a headache. But one in which Zanu PF was the major partner in control of key positions would be unworkable. And to have Mugabe leading the GNU was a definite no!
Ever since the launch of MDC many of the top leadership had dreamt of the day they will in power and can enjoy the luxuries so far enjoyed by Mugabe and his cronies. Now tens years latter these men and women can not wait another day, they are itching to be Prime Minister, Minister, etc. At present GNU offers them the best chance yet.
Common sense tells them the GNU would not work but greed is having the upper hand. They know Mugabe will deny them any real power but they also know when it comes to bribing the ruling elite his generosity knows no bounds.
Indeed Tsvangirai’s hand was forced to make the demand after growing public criticism that he was ignoring the abductions. Having made the demand he was under pressure to stand firm and not dither as he did on numerous occasions in the past.
At the time MDC signed the GPA the party faced the same clear choices and greed won the day then. But after four months of meaningless arguing, confirming the very things common sense had said would happen and worse, it is a lot more difficult now to pretend the GNU has anything to offer.
Tsvangirai has spent weeks agonising over whether or not to kill off GNU not because the choices before him are not clear. After four months of bickering over nothing it is clear the GNU is a lead balloon that would never ever rise, he does not have the guts to admit it. Besides he is eyeing the Prime Minister post with beady eyes. He is also aware that the public are watching him very closely another stupid decision from him and he would have to fall on his own sword! So instead of making the decision himself he called on the top leadership in his own party to make the call.
Like Tsvangirai, MDC’s top brass too can not wait to join the ruling elite. They argued Tsvangirai to sign the GPA and have been egging him all along. When the power sharing began to falter many of the top brass took the backseat leaving Tsvangirai to carry the bag on his own. They wanted Tsvangirai to continue with the GNU but and should it fail to take off they would blame Tsvangirai. They would knife him in the back and take over.
By asking the party’s top brass to make the decision Tsvangirai has forced those seating on the fence to come out in the open. So those plotting a palace coup found themselves the victim of a coup de grace!
January 18 2009
There are three options before the MDC NE and the whole world is waiting to see which one the party will pick:
a) Greed option- Join GNU, Tsvangirai will become PM at long last and almost all MDC NE members are assured of some position and so they will all enjoy the spoils of power. Mugabe will not allow MDC members to exercise any really power but will not begrudge them the ministerial car, etc.
The price to be paid for greed: GNU will achieve nothing. Mugabe has long abandoned any pretence of serving public interest- he lost public support a long time ago. He is in power because he has kept the ruling elite happy and it is their interests he now serves. The ruling elite not only own key resources like land, they are the ones benefiting from the country’s mineral wealth and whatever else the regime can lay its fingers on.
The country’s key public institutions such as hospitals and schools have closed because of lack of funds, for example. And yet the regime has continued to spend millions of US dollars buying luxury cars for Judges, Ministers, etc.
Rest assured Mugabe will not want anything done to threaten his political power base. On the other hand there will be NO meaningful economic recovery as long as key resources like land remain in unproductive hands and the little wealth the nation has is wasted on luxuries.
With all the best will in the world, no outsiders are going to throw good money after bad financing Mugabe’s corruption. The GNU will be have all the appearance of MDC but in fact will remain Mugabe through and through. No one will be fooled by the whitewashed appearance.
The GNU is set to last another four years – four years of the same criminal waste of resources and repression. After all the nation has gone through, surely Zimbabwe deserve better. As for MDC’s leadership they will lose all credibility with the people and their stay in office will be a very short one.
b) Common sense option – end all the pretence that the GNU was ever going to work.
The price for making the right choice: win-win for MDC and the nation. Tsvangirai has good reasons to break off the talks; the failure to charge or realise all the 41 abducted people should be considered the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Mugabe has failed to honour the word and spirit of the GPA repeatedly in the past.
Besides, Tsvangirai should have never signed the GPA on the 15 September 2008; it was the biggest blunder so far of his entire political career. Here now has the chance of redeeming himself and put things right. He would be foolish not to seize this unique opportunity to do just that. He would be crazy to compound his first blunder by joining the GNU.
Mugabe will probably form the GNU with MDC-Mutambara. That will have no effect on Mugabe’s set goals or the regime’s performance. MDC-T’s set objective will then be to ensure this GNU does not go the four-year distance.
The party can disrupt the rub-stamping parliament from passing the 19 Amendment which is now before the house. The party can later resign on-mass and field the same individuals in the bye-elections that follow.
Mugabe had his hands serious burnt because of the naked acts of intimidation, violence and murder he was forced to resort to “win” the presidential run-off on 27 June 2008. He would be loathed to resort to that again. If he did he will be back in the dog-house and this time Tsvangirai will not be there to bail him out. And without violence Mugabe knows no one remotely associated with him will ever win a free and fair election in Zimbabwe!
The sooner the country can hold fresh election the sooner the nation can see the back of Mugabe and his reign of terror and criminal waste of the country’s materials and human resources.
c) Third option is for the party to post-pone making its decision on whether they will join the GNU or not.
MDC will shy away from making the tough choice now and seek to put this off to some date in the future or let others make the decision for them.
The party top brass can call for nationwide rallies to “Consult the People!” and at the end of the sham exercise announces the decision they wanted all along. Or they can send yet another petition to SADC and AU asking them to address the party’s outstanding concerns.
This option would appeal to Tsvangirai; it has all the pretence of being him being tough and decisive when in fact the opposite is true. And when the party finally decide to join the GNU, which is what the leadership really want, they can blame the people or SADC for having forced that decision on them.
No one is going to be fooled by the dithering; we will all know MDC will join the GNU it is just angling for some face-saving excuse before it joins. The ultimate price for the nation is exactly the same as b) above.
The world will know soon enough what Tsvangirai and his party are up to next. The fact that the party leader himself and now the top brass have all agonised for months over such a clear cut issue in bad omen. If they have to agonise over a common sense decision how will they manage over the more difficult and complex challenges ahead? If after all the agonising, they still make the wrong decision then God help Zimbabwe. Because we will need all the heavenly help in the months ahead, the nightmare has only just began!
Tsvangirai tells the world that MDC will suspend all the power sharing negotiations with Mugabe unless all abductions of human rights activists and MDC supporters stopped. The 41 already abducted were to be either be charged or realised. Tsvangirai gave Mugabe until the 1 st January 2009 to meet his demands.
(The truth is talks had actually stalled over the sharing of key ministerial positions, governorships and host of other things. Meanwhile Mugabe had proceeded to make some key appointments; appointed all the new Governors, AG and Reserve Bank Governor – all staunch Zanu PF supporters- without consulting or sharing these positions with MDC as agreed in the spirit of GPA.)
December 23 2008
Some of the people abducted are charged of banditry or recruiting other for training – charges that carry death penalty. Some of the abducted individuals were reportedly tortured whilst in custody.
December 29 2008
Media report that Tsvangirai has been writing to President Kgalema Motlanthe of SA asking him (over the head of former President Thembo Mbeki who is still the official mediator) to set up a meeting between Mugabe and himself to discuss outstanding power issues.
(The move left observers wondering whether Tsvangirai had already forgotten that he threatened to end the talks. Or was the MDC-T leader trying to get the stalled talks going again. So that come 1St January, and his condition had not been met, he would have talks to walkout of. What a clever a trap! Of course there were no takers.)
January 1 2009
Tsvangirai deadline; 19 out of the 41 the abducted people have been charged and the where-about of the remaining 12 are not known.
Those waiting to hear from Tsvangirai were to be disappointed; not a word from Tsvangirai.
(People hold on to the hope that the 12 will all turn up at some Police Station, but with each passing day the fear that they were murdered increases.)
January 9 2009
Tsvangirai tells the world that the key leaders within his party would join him in SA to discuss the party’s next move.
(The media is awash with rumours that MDC-T was splitting up. Given Tsvangirai’s poor performance as party leader; a split was not be a bad thing. If the party had been truly democratic as they claim to be, then it would not have made so many blunders. One can only hope that the party had learnt something from their past mistakes and a change of guard will be the best opportunity to take on board the learnt lessons.)
January 15 2009
State produce three out of the 12 abducted persons who were still missing.
MDC announces that the party’s leadership would be returning to Zimbabwe and on Sunday the party’s leader, Tsvangirai, will chair the party’s National Executive, the party’s decision making body. The NE would decide on the vexing question of whether or not to join the GNU.
(Common sense dictates that a GNU with Zanu PF as a junior partner would have been a headache. But one in which Zanu PF was the major partner in control of key positions would be unworkable. And to have Mugabe leading the GNU was a definite no!
Ever since the launch of MDC many of the top leadership had dreamt of the day they will in power and can enjoy the luxuries so far enjoyed by Mugabe and his cronies. Now tens years latter these men and women can not wait another day, they are itching to be Prime Minister, Minister, etc. At present GNU offers them the best chance yet.
Common sense tells them the GNU would not work but greed is having the upper hand. They know Mugabe will deny them any real power but they also know when it comes to bribing the ruling elite his generosity knows no bounds.
Indeed Tsvangirai’s hand was forced to make the demand after growing public criticism that he was ignoring the abductions. Having made the demand he was under pressure to stand firm and not dither as he did on numerous occasions in the past.
At the time MDC signed the GPA the party faced the same clear choices and greed won the day then. But after four months of meaningless arguing, confirming the very things common sense had said would happen and worse, it is a lot more difficult now to pretend the GNU has anything to offer.
Tsvangirai has spent weeks agonising over whether or not to kill off GNU not because the choices before him are not clear. After four months of bickering over nothing it is clear the GNU is a lead balloon that would never ever rise, he does not have the guts to admit it. Besides he is eyeing the Prime Minister post with beady eyes. He is also aware that the public are watching him very closely another stupid decision from him and he would have to fall on his own sword! So instead of making the decision himself he called on the top leadership in his own party to make the call.
Like Tsvangirai, MDC’s top brass too can not wait to join the ruling elite. They argued Tsvangirai to sign the GPA and have been egging him all along. When the power sharing began to falter many of the top brass took the backseat leaving Tsvangirai to carry the bag on his own. They wanted Tsvangirai to continue with the GNU but and should it fail to take off they would blame Tsvangirai. They would knife him in the back and take over.
By asking the party’s top brass to make the decision Tsvangirai has forced those seating on the fence to come out in the open. So those plotting a palace coup found themselves the victim of a coup de grace!
January 18 2009
There are three options before the MDC NE and the whole world is waiting to see which one the party will pick:
a) Greed option- Join GNU, Tsvangirai will become PM at long last and almost all MDC NE members are assured of some position and so they will all enjoy the spoils of power. Mugabe will not allow MDC members to exercise any really power but will not begrudge them the ministerial car, etc.
The price to be paid for greed: GNU will achieve nothing. Mugabe has long abandoned any pretence of serving public interest- he lost public support a long time ago. He is in power because he has kept the ruling elite happy and it is their interests he now serves. The ruling elite not only own key resources like land, they are the ones benefiting from the country’s mineral wealth and whatever else the regime can lay its fingers on.
The country’s key public institutions such as hospitals and schools have closed because of lack of funds, for example. And yet the regime has continued to spend millions of US dollars buying luxury cars for Judges, Ministers, etc.
Rest assured Mugabe will not want anything done to threaten his political power base. On the other hand there will be NO meaningful economic recovery as long as key resources like land remain in unproductive hands and the little wealth the nation has is wasted on luxuries.
With all the best will in the world, no outsiders are going to throw good money after bad financing Mugabe’s corruption. The GNU will be have all the appearance of MDC but in fact will remain Mugabe through and through. No one will be fooled by the whitewashed appearance.
The GNU is set to last another four years – four years of the same criminal waste of resources and repression. After all the nation has gone through, surely Zimbabwe deserve better. As for MDC’s leadership they will lose all credibility with the people and their stay in office will be a very short one.
b) Common sense option – end all the pretence that the GNU was ever going to work.
The price for making the right choice: win-win for MDC and the nation. Tsvangirai has good reasons to break off the talks; the failure to charge or realise all the 41 abducted people should be considered the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Mugabe has failed to honour the word and spirit of the GPA repeatedly in the past.
Besides, Tsvangirai should have never signed the GPA on the 15 September 2008; it was the biggest blunder so far of his entire political career. Here now has the chance of redeeming himself and put things right. He would be foolish not to seize this unique opportunity to do just that. He would be crazy to compound his first blunder by joining the GNU.
Mugabe will probably form the GNU with MDC-Mutambara. That will have no effect on Mugabe’s set goals or the regime’s performance. MDC-T’s set objective will then be to ensure this GNU does not go the four-year distance.
The party can disrupt the rub-stamping parliament from passing the 19 Amendment which is now before the house. The party can later resign on-mass and field the same individuals in the bye-elections that follow.
Mugabe had his hands serious burnt because of the naked acts of intimidation, violence and murder he was forced to resort to “win” the presidential run-off on 27 June 2008. He would be loathed to resort to that again. If he did he will be back in the dog-house and this time Tsvangirai will not be there to bail him out. And without violence Mugabe knows no one remotely associated with him will ever win a free and fair election in Zimbabwe!
The sooner the country can hold fresh election the sooner the nation can see the back of Mugabe and his reign of terror and criminal waste of the country’s materials and human resources.
c) Third option is for the party to post-pone making its decision on whether they will join the GNU or not.
MDC will shy away from making the tough choice now and seek to put this off to some date in the future or let others make the decision for them.
The party top brass can call for nationwide rallies to “Consult the People!” and at the end of the sham exercise announces the decision they wanted all along. Or they can send yet another petition to SADC and AU asking them to address the party’s outstanding concerns.
This option would appeal to Tsvangirai; it has all the pretence of being him being tough and decisive when in fact the opposite is true. And when the party finally decide to join the GNU, which is what the leadership really want, they can blame the people or SADC for having forced that decision on them.
No one is going to be fooled by the dithering; we will all know MDC will join the GNU it is just angling for some face-saving excuse before it joins. The ultimate price for the nation is exactly the same as b) above.
The world will know soon enough what Tsvangirai and his party are up to next. The fact that the party leader himself and now the top brass have all agonised for months over such a clear cut issue in bad omen. If they have to agonise over a common sense decision how will they manage over the more difficult and complex challenges ahead? If after all the agonising, they still make the wrong decision then God help Zimbabwe. Because we will need all the heavenly help in the months ahead, the nightmare has only just began!
Friday 9 January 2009
SPLIT OF MDC IS A HEALTHY THING PARTICULARLY IF TSVANGIRAI GOES
There is talk of a rift within the MDC-T leadership that could slip the party. Great news, if you ask me. There is a lot of dead wood in MDC-T and a root and branch purge is what the party needed to go forward lean, strong and focused.
When Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments he found some of the people worshiping idols. He did not fudge the unit the Children of Israel by allowing those who wanted to worship the false gods do so. He would have violated the very first Commandment; what was there to stop rubbishing the rest! Moses had the vision and strength of character to let idol worshipers go their way and the nation was purged..
We are obsessed about quantity when should be obsessed about quality. Mugabe can boost about having a united party, he has kept Zanu together ever since it broke away Zapu. Indeed he can even boost of bringing- after his own murderous fashion- the two parties again in 1987. He obvious thought it a very great and significant achievement; there is now a national holiday to celebrate the signing of the Zanu PF and PF Zapu Unity Accords. And until a few weeks ago the two parties have remained united.
But united over what? As it turned out; over the death and destruction of the country, of course!
Zimbabwe’s economy is in the sewage gutter because for years the nation has pursued economic policies that simply defy common sense. What kind of nation would spend the little the nation has left buying luxuries for a few ruling elite when children are dying for lack of the most basic drugs. In Zimbabwe it is not just the political thugs who intimidate and murder innocent civilians for political gain; the Police, Army and other State Security Agents are the ones leading and directing the charge. We are a nation with a moral compass that does NOT point North!
Of course there were Zimbabweans, ordinary people and people in positions of power and authority, with the common sense to see the nation was be led to economic ruin and the morals be horrified at the wholesale spilling of innocent blood. They all said and did nothing.
Over the years Zanu PF cabinet has had some of Zimbabwe’s best intellectuals, the late Edson Zvobgo, the late Bernard Chidzero Simba Makoni to name but a few. Yet they were all gagged into silence for fear of disrupting the party’s unity – which translates to fear of Mugabe. Margret Dongo, after years of grovelling to Mugabe and getting nowhere, denounced the rest of the Zanu PF leaders as Mugabe’s “wives”. She was stating the obvious, but she will be remembered for that for generations!
MDC has been drifting listlessly and committing one blunder after another ever since the party was launched nearly ten years ago now. It was at this formative stage that the party had to be careful.
The Forum Party, remember it? I was involved at the very inception of the Forum. The idea was to have a lose formation that would promote debate; later, much later a political party can be formed. The lose formation will give people the opportunity to know each other and to the individual’s abilities. Unfortunately that did not happen; the party was launched pre-maturely and the rest is history.
The Forum had the great misfortune of having a group of individuals who had just been kicked out of ZUM, they were like chickens that had been out in the rain and were desperate for shelter. They wanted a political party, yesterday. They to bring the party idea through the front door it was slammed shut in their faces. They tried the back door, the windows, and the chimney; all to no avail. Judging from the mud in their faces, they dug a tunnel.
Once in, they ZUM group moved quickly to launch the Forum Party. They promised to bring in hundreds of thousands of supporters, who never materialised. What they really wanted is to be elected into party positions, which some of us had guessed. And once in, they were like ticks, it was near impossible to remove them.
MDC has more than its fair share of dead wood. Indeed some of them have migrated from Zanu PF, PF Zapu, ANC, ZUM, Forum Party; they have everywhere. The temptation of forming MDC around ZCTU was obvious enough- the party will tape into the Union’s membership start away. The price the new party had to pay was being saddled with the ZCTU leadership.
Face it the ZCTU has always been one of those national organisations with great potential but has always never achieved anything. Remember the Worker’s Day of the 1980s parades followed by been the long speeches full of sound and fury. Tsvangirai then was a Socialist and would have been offended to be referred to anything else other than Comrade. Thank God all that has since been quietly dropped but sadly the mediocrity was to remain.
Tsvangirai and his “Kitchen Cabinet” have failed to unseat Mugabe in spite the country’s economic meltdown. On the economic front MDC have had a field day and yet the party is all over the place; they do not seem to know the front from the back.
On the political front, Tsvangirai’s performance has been more than disappointing; it was one disaster after another. In the first few days after the 29 March elections, for example, Mugabe would have conceded defeat if Tsvangirai had seized the initiative and mobilised public support. Mugabe was “drip feeding” the election results to see what Tsvangirai would do and once he was sure Tsvangirai was not going to do anything he had the confidence to launch “Operation Mavhotera papi!” and retained all political power.
Tsvangirai did not have to sign the GPA; Mugabe was on the hook after the sham elections. Everyone could see that of course, everyone that is except Tsvangirai. He signed and Mugabe was off the hook. Tsvangirai got absolutely nothing out of the deal; Mugabe has continued to treat him with the same contempt and disdain. And for his part Tsvangirai always seem to have his tail between his legs and his head bowed so far he could bit it.
Of course this would not be split in MDC, the party did split to form the Tsvangirai and Mutambara factions. The split did not rid either faction of deadwood; there were competent people on each side overwhelmed by the incompetent people. History has a habit of repeating itself. Still, if the MDC-T split was to rid themselves of Tsvangirai, he is a total embarrassment to the party and the Zimbabwe people everywhere, then that would be the best day’s work the lot of them have done in ten years!
When Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments he found some of the people worshiping idols. He did not fudge the unit the Children of Israel by allowing those who wanted to worship the false gods do so. He would have violated the very first Commandment; what was there to stop rubbishing the rest! Moses had the vision and strength of character to let idol worshipers go their way and the nation was purged..
We are obsessed about quantity when should be obsessed about quality. Mugabe can boost about having a united party, he has kept Zanu together ever since it broke away Zapu. Indeed he can even boost of bringing- after his own murderous fashion- the two parties again in 1987. He obvious thought it a very great and significant achievement; there is now a national holiday to celebrate the signing of the Zanu PF and PF Zapu Unity Accords. And until a few weeks ago the two parties have remained united.
But united over what? As it turned out; over the death and destruction of the country, of course!
Zimbabwe’s economy is in the sewage gutter because for years the nation has pursued economic policies that simply defy common sense. What kind of nation would spend the little the nation has left buying luxuries for a few ruling elite when children are dying for lack of the most basic drugs. In Zimbabwe it is not just the political thugs who intimidate and murder innocent civilians for political gain; the Police, Army and other State Security Agents are the ones leading and directing the charge. We are a nation with a moral compass that does NOT point North!
Of course there were Zimbabweans, ordinary people and people in positions of power and authority, with the common sense to see the nation was be led to economic ruin and the morals be horrified at the wholesale spilling of innocent blood. They all said and did nothing.
Over the years Zanu PF cabinet has had some of Zimbabwe’s best intellectuals, the late Edson Zvobgo, the late Bernard Chidzero Simba Makoni to name but a few. Yet they were all gagged into silence for fear of disrupting the party’s unity – which translates to fear of Mugabe. Margret Dongo, after years of grovelling to Mugabe and getting nowhere, denounced the rest of the Zanu PF leaders as Mugabe’s “wives”. She was stating the obvious, but she will be remembered for that for generations!
MDC has been drifting listlessly and committing one blunder after another ever since the party was launched nearly ten years ago now. It was at this formative stage that the party had to be careful.
The Forum Party, remember it? I was involved at the very inception of the Forum. The idea was to have a lose formation that would promote debate; later, much later a political party can be formed. The lose formation will give people the opportunity to know each other and to the individual’s abilities. Unfortunately that did not happen; the party was launched pre-maturely and the rest is history.
The Forum had the great misfortune of having a group of individuals who had just been kicked out of ZUM, they were like chickens that had been out in the rain and were desperate for shelter. They wanted a political party, yesterday. They to bring the party idea through the front door it was slammed shut in their faces. They tried the back door, the windows, and the chimney; all to no avail. Judging from the mud in their faces, they dug a tunnel.
Once in, they ZUM group moved quickly to launch the Forum Party. They promised to bring in hundreds of thousands of supporters, who never materialised. What they really wanted is to be elected into party positions, which some of us had guessed. And once in, they were like ticks, it was near impossible to remove them.
MDC has more than its fair share of dead wood. Indeed some of them have migrated from Zanu PF, PF Zapu, ANC, ZUM, Forum Party; they have everywhere. The temptation of forming MDC around ZCTU was obvious enough- the party will tape into the Union’s membership start away. The price the new party had to pay was being saddled with the ZCTU leadership.
Face it the ZCTU has always been one of those national organisations with great potential but has always never achieved anything. Remember the Worker’s Day of the 1980s parades followed by been the long speeches full of sound and fury. Tsvangirai then was a Socialist and would have been offended to be referred to anything else other than Comrade. Thank God all that has since been quietly dropped but sadly the mediocrity was to remain.
Tsvangirai and his “Kitchen Cabinet” have failed to unseat Mugabe in spite the country’s economic meltdown. On the economic front MDC have had a field day and yet the party is all over the place; they do not seem to know the front from the back.
On the political front, Tsvangirai’s performance has been more than disappointing; it was one disaster after another. In the first few days after the 29 March elections, for example, Mugabe would have conceded defeat if Tsvangirai had seized the initiative and mobilised public support. Mugabe was “drip feeding” the election results to see what Tsvangirai would do and once he was sure Tsvangirai was not going to do anything he had the confidence to launch “Operation Mavhotera papi!” and retained all political power.
Tsvangirai did not have to sign the GPA; Mugabe was on the hook after the sham elections. Everyone could see that of course, everyone that is except Tsvangirai. He signed and Mugabe was off the hook. Tsvangirai got absolutely nothing out of the deal; Mugabe has continued to treat him with the same contempt and disdain. And for his part Tsvangirai always seem to have his tail between his legs and his head bowed so far he could bit it.
Of course this would not be split in MDC, the party did split to form the Tsvangirai and Mutambara factions. The split did not rid either faction of deadwood; there were competent people on each side overwhelmed by the incompetent people. History has a habit of repeating itself. Still, if the MDC-T split was to rid themselves of Tsvangirai, he is a total embarrassment to the party and the Zimbabwe people everywhere, then that would be the best day’s work the lot of them have done in ten years!
Tuesday 6 January 2009
ZIMBABWE'S OPPOSITION LEADERS MUST OPEN THEIR EYES BUT EVEN MORE IMPORTANT US, THE PEOPLE, WE MUST OPEN OUR EYES!
I have just been reading an excellent article in the Zimbabwe Times by Tendai Dumbutshena entitled “Wake up, smell the coffee, Mutambara”. Tendai raises some really important issues, issues I have raised myself on this page. What worried me is the shallowness of those who commented on the article.
There have been 8 comments, starting with Chenai Chipikiri at 9.29 am to Tatari Muzavazi at 1.42 pm. They all, except for Siti Chikati, took turns to pour scorn on Mutambara – and it is early yet, the denigrating had only just begun! The bottom line, sadly, is that they all missed the thrust of Tendai’s article.
“Wow! I can’t believe there are Zimbabweans out there who still believe that the mess that obtains in Zimbabwe today has nothing to do with the West,” wrote Siti Chikati. Well such ranting should be dismissed with the contempt it rightly deserve. However when someone like Mutambara, a prospective Deputy Prime Minister, too say the same nonsense repeatedly then he deserves all the scorn we can throw at him.
I do not care a hoot about the up-start Mutambara; what I am concerned about is that in the excitement to pour scorn on Mutambara people lose sight of the very important point Tendai brought up in this excellent article.
Tendai made it very clear that the GPA that both Tsvangirai and Mutambara signed was folly. “The MDC factions should stop pretending that the GPA offers a solution,” wrote Tendai. “On the contrary it only prolongs and legitimizes Mugabe’s rule. They should have the humility to admit that the country is living with the consequences of their folly”
So the GPA and now the continued effort by both Tsvangirai and Mutambara to make it work are the root cause of the deepening economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe. Yes, Tendai also wrote about Mutambara’s foolish blubbering and anti-West rhetoric but that was only a side issue. That most of the readers should be commenting on Mutambara’s rhetoric to the exclusion of everything else showed just how shallow they are. When the house is on fire it is hardly the time to be swatting the flies!
None of the readers poured scorn on Mutambara for signing the GPA, for all the time wasted trying to make it work and now for the real possibility of a Mugabe led regime for the next four years. To do so; they would have had to pour scorn on Tsvangirai too- that, for them, would be an act of sacrilege. A few years ago the same individuals would lynch you to even suggest that Mugabe could do anything wrong - if the truth be told (and it must) myself included in the lynch mob!
Many people may dismiss Siti Chikati for living in his/her own dream world. The sad reality is there are still many Zimbabweans who themselves still live in their own cloud cuckoo land in to say anything critical of Tsvangirai is simply unthinkable.
It is not just Mutambara who should open his eyes and smell the coffee, Mutambarai is small fish, Tsvangirai too should open his eyes (Tendai did not want to say that probably because he did not want to annoy his readers – or was it sacrilege to him too) and above all it is us, the people, who must open our eyes!
The destiny of Zimbabwe is not in Mugabe’s hands; much less in Tsvangirai’s and even less Mutambara’s but in our own hands. Mugabe has ridden rough-shod over us all these years because we, the people, let him. And now Tsvangirai and Mutambara believe it is their turn to have a go, and unless we stop them, they too will ride rough-shod over us.
There have been 8 comments, starting with Chenai Chipikiri at 9.29 am to Tatari Muzavazi at 1.42 pm. They all, except for Siti Chikati, took turns to pour scorn on Mutambara – and it is early yet, the denigrating had only just begun! The bottom line, sadly, is that they all missed the thrust of Tendai’s article.
“Wow! I can’t believe there are Zimbabweans out there who still believe that the mess that obtains in Zimbabwe today has nothing to do with the West,” wrote Siti Chikati. Well such ranting should be dismissed with the contempt it rightly deserve. However when someone like Mutambara, a prospective Deputy Prime Minister, too say the same nonsense repeatedly then he deserves all the scorn we can throw at him.
I do not care a hoot about the up-start Mutambara; what I am concerned about is that in the excitement to pour scorn on Mutambara people lose sight of the very important point Tendai brought up in this excellent article.
Tendai made it very clear that the GPA that both Tsvangirai and Mutambara signed was folly. “The MDC factions should stop pretending that the GPA offers a solution,” wrote Tendai. “On the contrary it only prolongs and legitimizes Mugabe’s rule. They should have the humility to admit that the country is living with the consequences of their folly”
So the GPA and now the continued effort by both Tsvangirai and Mutambara to make it work are the root cause of the deepening economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe. Yes, Tendai also wrote about Mutambara’s foolish blubbering and anti-West rhetoric but that was only a side issue. That most of the readers should be commenting on Mutambara’s rhetoric to the exclusion of everything else showed just how shallow they are. When the house is on fire it is hardly the time to be swatting the flies!
None of the readers poured scorn on Mutambara for signing the GPA, for all the time wasted trying to make it work and now for the real possibility of a Mugabe led regime for the next four years. To do so; they would have had to pour scorn on Tsvangirai too- that, for them, would be an act of sacrilege. A few years ago the same individuals would lynch you to even suggest that Mugabe could do anything wrong - if the truth be told (and it must) myself included in the lynch mob!
Many people may dismiss Siti Chikati for living in his/her own dream world. The sad reality is there are still many Zimbabweans who themselves still live in their own cloud cuckoo land in to say anything critical of Tsvangirai is simply unthinkable.
It is not just Mutambara who should open his eyes and smell the coffee, Mutambarai is small fish, Tsvangirai too should open his eyes (Tendai did not want to say that probably because he did not want to annoy his readers – or was it sacrilege to him too) and above all it is us, the people, who must open our eyes!
The destiny of Zimbabwe is not in Mugabe’s hands; much less in Tsvangirai’s and even less Mutambara’s but in our own hands. Mugabe has ridden rough-shod over us all these years because we, the people, let him. And now Tsvangirai and Mutambara believe it is their turn to have a go, and unless we stop them, they too will ride rough-shod over us.
Sunday 4 January 2009
THE CONDITION FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST: END THE HUMILIATION OF THE PALESTIANS.
That the Palestinians should consider throwing stones at a tank "fighting back" shows just how desperately helpless and angry they feel. They are crying out for hope and some human dignity.
Israel defeated the Palestinians again and again. Instead of extending the hand of peace and reconciliation Israel saw each victory as an opportunity to grab land, to humiliate and dominate the Palestinians.
Israel must give up enough land for a viable Palestinian State, something successive Israeli governments have made near impossible now because they allowed Jewish settlement on occupied Palestinian lands.
The said viable Palestinian State is to enjoy all the rights of economic growth and prosperity and to have a well equipped army if it so wished. The prospect of a prosperous and well armed Palestinian regime, capable of delivery the same savagery Israel is inflicting on Gaza, has always frightened Israel
Years ago, Israel opted to maintain her position to humiliate and total dominate the Palestinians. The present military operations in Gaza are nothing but just another graphic reminder of Israel’s overwhelming military mighty over the Palestinians and will serve to increase the latter’s sense of helplessness. Even if the Israeli could find every one of the home-made rockets and destroy them, the Palestinians will be throwing stones at Israeli tanks – the home made rockets will follow soon enough.
Israel defeated the Palestinians again and again. Instead of extending the hand of peace and reconciliation Israel saw each victory as an opportunity to grab land, to humiliate and dominate the Palestinians.
Israel must give up enough land for a viable Palestinian State, something successive Israeli governments have made near impossible now because they allowed Jewish settlement on occupied Palestinian lands.
The said viable Palestinian State is to enjoy all the rights of economic growth and prosperity and to have a well equipped army if it so wished. The prospect of a prosperous and well armed Palestinian regime, capable of delivery the same savagery Israel is inflicting on Gaza, has always frightened Israel
Years ago, Israel opted to maintain her position to humiliate and total dominate the Palestinians. The present military operations in Gaza are nothing but just another graphic reminder of Israel’s overwhelming military mighty over the Palestinians and will serve to increase the latter’s sense of helplessness. Even if the Israeli could find every one of the home-made rockets and destroy them, the Palestinians will be throwing stones at Israeli tanks – the home made rockets will follow soon enough.
Friday 2 January 2009
MY WISH FOR ZIMBABWEANS IN 2009: THAT WE FINALLY TAKE OFF THE LENS CAPS TO OUR INTELLECT!
“Ask and whatever you ask shall be granted to you,” the Bible says. What would YOU ask for? I know exactly what I would ask for.
I would ask that my mother was alive. It is more a wish really; for she passed away in the small hours of 22 nd August 2008. Death, any death, is hard to accept for us mortal because of its finalistic nature. What makes her death that much more difficult for me is that if Zimbabwe’s health service had not completely collapsed she could well be alive!
She was admitted in a private Hospital unconscious and she had fought for her live for five days. In her state, in this day and age she should have had a whole battery of equipment to monitor and, if necessary, assist her vital organs. The only help she had was a drip. She is not the only; there are hundreds of thousands of other Zimbabweans who have suffered and died unnecessarily.
Death and suffering are the daily companions of every Zimbabwean young or old, peasant or ruling elite- not even the Chefs, have escaped untouched that has befallen our country, Zimbabwe. If the clock can be turned back to April 1980; collective “YES PLEASE!” would be heard in Heaven itself!
If the clock was turned back to April 1980; what is there to stop the country going down exactly the same path and ending up exactly where we are today? Or to put differently; do we understand what we did wrong in the last thirty years landing us in this mess? Even with the benefit of hindsight, we still do not understand the simple a b c d of what we have done to land us here. Just because we are at the coal face of this human tragedy does not necessary mean we understand the cause and effect behind the tragedy. A cow dying of thirst would understand her need for water but not associate her situation with breaking the water trough herself.
The farmer will not only to replace the water trough but to build a barrier round it to stop the cow breaking the trough again. The Lord gave us a beautiful country with its fair share of natural wealth and, like every other human in all the other countries, with the intellect to choice what is wrong and right for ourselves. For the last thirty years we choice the ruinous path out of our own free will. The Lord did NOT going to build a barrier to stop us going down this path nor will He build one now.
Mugabe made the whole nation take leave of its human intellect faculties. He used the carrot and stick but now that all his bribes have turned to ash all the suffering he could inflect has turned to flea-bit compared to the nightmare Zimbabweans are facing today. If the nation had learnt anything at all then this whole sorry story would never lasted so long – thirty years – and the whole nation dragged to such depth of depravity!
Even now, in the dying days of the Mugabe dictatorship, we have not learnt anything from the tragic years of Mugabe. Yes of course, the nation has stopped giving Mugabe the same blind and unquestioning support it did in back in 1980s and before. We stopped giving it to Mugabe only to give the same blind and unquestioning loyalty to Morgan Tsvangirai. MDC’s sheer incompetency is as much responsible for the Zimbabweans’ continued in the last year as Mugabe himself. MDC is responsible for letting Mugabe off the hook by signing the power sharing deal and letting Mugabe drag out the whole process for his own selfish again. Very few Zimbabweans have had nothing else but praise for Tsvangirai. To them, he is infallible – here we go again!
My wish for 2009 is: to my mother and the hundreds and thousands of all the Zimbabweans who passed away in 2008- many of whose suffering and death could have been prevented- may you all rest in peace. And as for living, may the Lord help us see the sense of taking off the lens caps to our minds which we have collectively kept firmly screwed on!
I would ask that my mother was alive. It is more a wish really; for she passed away in the small hours of 22 nd August 2008. Death, any death, is hard to accept for us mortal because of its finalistic nature. What makes her death that much more difficult for me is that if Zimbabwe’s health service had not completely collapsed she could well be alive!
She was admitted in a private Hospital unconscious and she had fought for her live for five days. In her state, in this day and age she should have had a whole battery of equipment to monitor and, if necessary, assist her vital organs. The only help she had was a drip. She is not the only; there are hundreds of thousands of other Zimbabweans who have suffered and died unnecessarily.
Death and suffering are the daily companions of every Zimbabwean young or old, peasant or ruling elite- not even the Chefs, have escaped untouched that has befallen our country, Zimbabwe. If the clock can be turned back to April 1980; collective “YES PLEASE!” would be heard in Heaven itself!
If the clock was turned back to April 1980; what is there to stop the country going down exactly the same path and ending up exactly where we are today? Or to put differently; do we understand what we did wrong in the last thirty years landing us in this mess? Even with the benefit of hindsight, we still do not understand the simple a b c d of what we have done to land us here. Just because we are at the coal face of this human tragedy does not necessary mean we understand the cause and effect behind the tragedy. A cow dying of thirst would understand her need for water but not associate her situation with breaking the water trough herself.
The farmer will not only to replace the water trough but to build a barrier round it to stop the cow breaking the trough again. The Lord gave us a beautiful country with its fair share of natural wealth and, like every other human in all the other countries, with the intellect to choice what is wrong and right for ourselves. For the last thirty years we choice the ruinous path out of our own free will. The Lord did NOT going to build a barrier to stop us going down this path nor will He build one now.
Mugabe made the whole nation take leave of its human intellect faculties. He used the carrot and stick but now that all his bribes have turned to ash all the suffering he could inflect has turned to flea-bit compared to the nightmare Zimbabweans are facing today. If the nation had learnt anything at all then this whole sorry story would never lasted so long – thirty years – and the whole nation dragged to such depth of depravity!
Even now, in the dying days of the Mugabe dictatorship, we have not learnt anything from the tragic years of Mugabe. Yes of course, the nation has stopped giving Mugabe the same blind and unquestioning support it did in back in 1980s and before. We stopped giving it to Mugabe only to give the same blind and unquestioning loyalty to Morgan Tsvangirai. MDC’s sheer incompetency is as much responsible for the Zimbabweans’ continued in the last year as Mugabe himself. MDC is responsible for letting Mugabe off the hook by signing the power sharing deal and letting Mugabe drag out the whole process for his own selfish again. Very few Zimbabweans have had nothing else but praise for Tsvangirai. To them, he is infallible – here we go again!
My wish for 2009 is: to my mother and the hundreds and thousands of all the Zimbabweans who passed away in 2008- many of whose suffering and death could have been prevented- may you all rest in peace. And as for living, may the Lord help us see the sense of taking off the lens caps to our minds which we have collectively kept firmly screwed on!
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