Monday 28 February 2011

Black African migrants targeted in Libya: a personal insult to all Black Africans!

There are reports of Libyans mass killing black Africans accusing them of being mercenaries fighting with Gaddafi. Libyans know there were up to 1.5 million Africans from Sub-Sahara Africa working in Libya doing the low-paid back-breaking work few other people would do. Most of these workers have been left to face the music when the Europeans, Middle East, Asian, white African (from country north of the Sahara desert) migrant workers were whisked out of harm’s way when the protests in Libya began.

How many mercenaries did Gaddafi get from Black Africa and how does that compare with the 1.5 million labourers? Are Libyans going to murder hundreds, or thousands of defenceless Black Africans for the sake of revenging the murderous activities of a handful of misguided individuals? Is this some collective punishment?

If Libyan were to allow this mindless killing of innocent people it will be a very sad and tragic start to the country’s hope for democracy and reason. And those responsible for the heinous crime must stand trial and punished.

There are many Libyans in Sub-Sahara Africa and whose lives would be put at risk by the madness of a few back in Libya.

Libyan must not forget that Gaddafi’s repressive rule reached far beyond the boarders of Libya. Black Africa has more than its fair share of tyrants and dictators and over the years Gaddafi’s played a prominent roll in propping them.

The relationship between White Africans and Black Africans has not been a good one – look at Sudan.

Libyans must be careful that they do not vent the 41 years of pended up anger against Gaddafi on innocent and helpless Black Africans. Millions of Black Africans have cheers the fall of every tyrant and dictator in North Africa and the Arab countries and our hearts have gone out to all the protestors killed along the way. Why; because we thought we were fellow travellers in the search for freedom and human dignity. The murder of innocent blacks – even the mercenaries deserve to be brought before a court of law and not lynched – will mean only one thing that Libyans DO NOT consider Black Africans as humans!

Soldiers fighting with Gaddafi must do the right thing for Libya: desert the Dictator!

There can be no doubt now that Colonel Gaddafi is a “lunatic” “out of touch with reality”. So Libya’s ambassador to South Africa, Ambassador Alzubedi’s appeal for Gaddafi to “do the right thing for the people of Libya," is a waste of breath.

Gaddafi, like many other dictators, has committed so many crimes against the people – enough to be hanged a thousand times over - whatever crimes he commits now is not going to make much difference. Instead of facing the hangman he and his cronies have opted to go with their guns blazing- just like in Western Gangster Movies!

The ambassador should be appealing to the hundreds of thousands innocent Libyans who have been co-opted to fight with the dictator. They were as much victims of the repressive regime as the rest of the Libyans now demanding freedom and liberty and they too stand to benefit from living in a free and liberated Libya as the rest.

The 1945/46 Nuremberg trials at the end of the Second World War established one universal truth that even a private soldier will be accountable for his/her actions. To say “I was following orders!” is no excuse for shooting unarmed civilians or committing any other war crimes!

To the Commanding Officers, Generals, down to the Private Soldiers; do the right thing for the people of Libya and stop fighting for a lost and unjust cause!

Sunday 27 February 2011

The grim choice Gaddafi is offering: "I will rule you or kill you!"

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely; we in Egypt, Libya, Zimbabwe and many other countries who have had the great misfortune of being ruled by a dictator know this to be true. When you have enjoyed absolute power for three decades – Mubarak and Mugabe – and four decades –Muammar Gaddafi – giving it up is simply inconceivable. When you exercise absolute power; whatever you want you get and whatever you say goes – regardless criminal waste of resources and the tragic misery and deaths caused on the overwhelming majority of the people. These dictators become gods ruling from up on high. The dictator’s life of unparalleled power and luxuries is far removed from that of the voiceless and suffering masses; there is a chasm that can not be bridged. Even with those in his inner most circle, dictators can not bide the thought of anyone else being considered their equal even in just one small band across the whole spectrum. Just to ensure he is not proven wrong; no one else is ever given the opportunity. Indeed the first thing those in the inner circle learn is that being considered a rising star in the sky dominated by the sun, the dictator himself, is the kiss of death!

It is not just the life of unquestioned power and unimagined comfort that dictators stand to lose if they gave up power. They also do not want the full truth and extend of their years of corruption and oppressive rule known. The dictator and his ruling elite’s fabulous wealth is mind boggling in its own right, competing as they do with any other multi-millionaires. However unlike the Henry Fords and Bill Gates of the world who have the equally staggering cars and computers productions to justify their wealth; the dictator and his cronies produced nothing. Their wealth was from decades of corruption and looting and the crippled national economy and millions of destitute people are the monuments of their criminal activities.

The ruling elite in a dictatorship are filthy rich in every sense of the word considering that their riches are from the shameless looting from where they never sowed and from stealing from the most needy and helpless in society. The dictators’ ill got wealth assumes gigantic proportions when viewed through the eyes of the destitute millions who have lost hope. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God!” Jesus must have been thinking of the Gaddafi, Mubarak and Mugabe of this world.

For dictators like Mugabe with the blood tens of thousands of innocent murdered in the course of establishing and maintaining the de facto one-man dictatorship he has even more to fear. The day Mugabe leaves State House, other than in a coffin, he knows he be heading for the Court House to account for all the blood in his hands.

A dictator rule from a gold and diamond encrusted throne elevated to such nauseating height above his inner circle so that giving up power to a hand picked successor or even a son will mean a monumental climb down, it is simply unthinkable. To be forced to give up power as a result of regime change following democratic reforms will force the dictator and his ruling elite to descend to the depth of hell where the had confined the rest of the populous – that is something the dictatorship will simply risk all to resist.

“You either let me continue to rule or I will kill all those who dare challenge me!” is how a Libyan Diplomatic summed up the grim choice Colonel Muammar Gaddafi presented the people of Libya clamouring for freedom, justice and rule of law in their country. This is the instinctive reaction of all dictators.

Egyptian dictator Mubarak tried the use of brute force to silence the masses demanding an end to his autocratic rule using the riot police and then his party thugs. They all proved to be no match against a determined public. Mubarak would have solely wanted the Army to shoot to kill and clear Tahrir Square. As State President, Mubarak was the Command in Chief of Egypt’s Armed Services; yet it was clear the Army was not going to obey orders to shoot the protesters. The Egyptian Army had received orders from the American paymaster NOT to shoot. Since Egypt signed its peace agreement with Israel the American have rewarded the country with US$2 billion in aid a year and 80% plus of the aid went to the Army. Many members of the Armed Services, at least the to brass, were certainly part and parcel of Egypt’s ruling elite in that they benefited from the corruption of Mubarak’s rule. The low ranking officers may not have benefited from the corruption but they were, at the very least, protected from the full consequences of the misrule by the billions of dollars of US aid money.

Moammar Gaddafi was luckier than Mubarak in that the Libya Army had no other paymaster other than the dictator himself. But that also meant that most of the low ranking Officers were not protected from the rigors of the economic hardship brought on by the misrule. So a big swab of the Libya Army, particularly in the East of the country, defected after a few days of public protests to joint those demanding political change. Still with the remaining forces plus mercenaries Gaddafi has set out to kill those who have dare challenge his continued rule.

Colonel Gaddafi has taken Libya on a dangerous path; the people of Libya have the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country, to freedom and liberty and to a rule of law, they protest is an irresistible force. After 42 years of autocratic rule Gaddafi now believes he has a divine right to be President for Life, he is the immovable object. This is a nightmare scenario, something has to give. Already over 2 000 people have been killed in the clash between Gaddafi loyalists and protestors. Who know how this will end!

Many Zimbabweans and outsiders have asked whether there could be similar protests to end Mugabe’s autocratic rule. And if there were such protests, would Mugabe too kill the protestors and will he have the manpower to carryout the murderous acts?

To answer the second question first; yes Mugabe will not hesitate to use brute force to silence the protestors. And yes he will have the Army, Police, the Militia and the War Vets to do the dirty work for him. Mugabe has done this already in 2008 when he needed to force the electorate to vote for him after losing the first round to Tsvangirai. Faced with a murderous regime, Zimbabwe would certainly need to think twice before mounted any protest. But the main reason why Zimbabweans will not want to take Mugabe on has to do with the sheer incompetency of the main opposition party MDC. The 2008 elections should have by right delivered regime change in Zimbabwe were it not for Tsvangirai and MDC who handed power back to Mugabe in a silver platter. As long as MDC remains the only viable alternative to Mugabe’s Zanu PF the people not have any confidence of any meaningful political change in Zimbabwe. So why would anyone want to risk their lives for that!

Friday 25 February 2011

MDC is hunting with the hounds and running with the hare!

"It’s even worse if you try the police in the town of Nyanga, because the fence surrounding the station has posters of ZANU PF and Mugabe. People have lost confidence in the partisan police,’ said Pishai Muchauraya. This is the typical example of the answers the nation has come to expect from MDC!

There really is no difference between Zanu PF leaders and MDC leaders; for 30 years the former have done nothing to stop Mugabe's madness because the dictator allowed them a cut of the loot, now MDC are doing the same. Whilst MDC admit they are totally ineffective they have nonetheless remained in government because they too are enjoying the benefits of being PM, Minister, etc. This has done nothing but embolden Mugabe to do as he please!

Zimbabweans must demand that MDC should walkout of this GNU now; they can not hunt with the hound and run with the hare!

Tuesday 15 February 2011

Removing Mugabe is the first step in a 1000 mile; we not prepared for the later!

Events in Egypt have renewed Zimbabweans' optimism; everyone now thinks that removing Mugabe will usher in freedom, peace, economic prosperity, etc. There was the same euphoria in 1980 and then in 2008 but of course that did not happen. Instead we had the dictatorship after 1980 and after 2008 we had the GNU which was in fact the same dictatorship in all but name. Until we have a serious no-holds-barred look at why we failed dismally in delivering the democratic Zimbabwe we had all hope for we are likely to fail again and again.

Mugabe had no democratic credentials and Zimbabweans knew he would not stop the civil war if he lost the elections. In 1980 Zimbabweans voted for Zanu PF to end the civil war; period! At the time the all important first step was ending white colonial rule and having achieved that Zimbabweans expected everything else to fall in place. Surprise, surprise we got the worst nightmare.

Tsvangirai is a “flawed and indecisive figure” said former US Ambassador, Chris Dell; even after repeated blunders, it seems Zimbabweans still can not see it. In 2008 Zimbabweans risked life and limp voting for Tsvangirai only for him to bring the dictator back into government through the back door.

Zimbabweans are now looking at staging Egyptian style public protests to drive Mugabe out of office. And who do we have waiting in the wings to be President – Tsvangirai?! Removing Mugabe would be the first step, the first step in a thousand mile journey. But having a flawed man to lead the nation from there on is recklessly irresponsible. It seems we have learnt nothing from the failures of the past!

Sunday 13 February 2011

Good governance is the Holy Grail without it everything else is dust: that is what Egyptians are after!

The road to economic prosperity, peace, freedom and human dignity is a tough and long. Or as we would say in Shona “Rendo rurefu runoda manyatere!” It looks like this is something the protesters in Egypt understand.

Egyptians protesters say they will not leave Tahrir Square until they are certain the country’s democratic path is set in stone. Egypt has lost billions of dollars in lost production and damaged properties, thousands were injured and 300 killed during the 18 days of street protests; to say nothing of the fortunes, the miseries and bottled up anguish the nation has lost over the decades of successive dictatorial rule. It is tempting for the protesters to bag the achievement of getting Mubarak to finally resign and pack their make-shift tents and vacate Tahrir Square.

It would have been foolish to trust Mubarak to preside over the important task of charting a democratic future for Egypt – Mubarak a tyrant to champion freedom, justice and liberty; a tail order. So getting Mubarak to resign was a necessary and critical first step but a first step of a thousand mile journey.

There is a second and equally important second step the protesters are asking the Military, to who Mubarak handed over power, to take before they would leave Tahrir Square. The Military must lift the country’s State of Emergency (the embodiment of the past’s lawlessness and repression), dissolve the Mubarak Parliament born of rigged elections and state a clear road map of how power will be transferred back to civilian hands. The Military’s last statement is silent on the first two requirements and too vague on the third. The statement merely promises to hand over power to the civilians. It does not say when or who else besides the Military would be involved in writing the new constitution, preparing for fresh elections, etc.

The people of Egypt are right to be suspicious of the Military. Whilst it is true that the army could have step in to drive the protester off the streets of Egypt when the regime’s first two lines of brutal repression – the much hated Police and party thugs - failed to do. Still it can not be deny that the Army has been an integral part of the Mubarak regime, Mubarak himself was an Army Officer in a civilian position, and was one of the chief beneficiaries of the corrupt practises rampant in Egypt under this dictatorship. Besides there is something inherently rot with the arrangement of handing over power to the Military – none of them are democratically accountable to the people.

The street protests were a cry by the people for a meaningful say in the governance of the country and handing over power from a tyrant to a military junta is not exactly what the people had hoped for. By refusing to leave Tahrir Square the Egyptian public are reminding the Military that their main wish is yet to be fulfilled. It is the public’s only way of holding their new democratically unaccountable rulers accountable!

Zimbabweans have themselves greatly suffered for thirty years under a corrupt and ruthless dictatorship of Robert Mugabe will be wondering whether they too can topple Mugabe. The simple answer to that is, yes they too can rid themselves of Mugabe. What is doubtful is whether or not the nation will finally be on course for the calm waters of peace, liberty and human dignity.

Zimbabweans, unlike the Egyptians of Tahrir Square, are interested in the here and now. We are concerned about today; tomorrow is another day and we should not concern ourselves about it. We had our first chance to chart a democratic path for the nation in 1980. Professor Jonathan Moyo was right to say the 1980 elections were a vote “to end the civil war”. Good governance, justice, liberty, etc. were not important. In 2008 we had our second bite of the cherry, but again failed to make it count. In 2008 the nation voted to get rid of Mugabe and paid no attention to the man the nation was voting to replace him. So at great risk to limp and life Zimbabweans voted for regime change in 2008 only for Tsvangirai to bring back the dictator through the back door! End the civil war in 1980 and getting rid of Mugabe in 2008 were but the first step in a thousand mile journey it is little wonder then that we did not get very far each time.

Getting rid of Mugabe still remains the nation’s principle objective but, sadly, it seems the only objective. Even with hindsight of what a flawed character Tsvangirai is the nation still has not started the search for a more competent leader.

Whatever peace “at all cost” we thought we bought in 1980 did not last long given the mass murder of the Gukurahundi years and the political murders that have now become a permanent feature of Zimbabwe politics. Tsvangirai keeps talking of the shops full of goods as if that was a price worth paying for his betrayal in signing the GPA with Mugabe. Whilst that was a welcome development the nation has since realised that without restoring law and order and the economic mismanagement and corruption – things MDC was powerless to do because the party had failed to secure good governance on which they revolve – the national economy would never recover. So without good governance what ever gains the nation has made they have proved to be shorted lived.

Good governance is the magic lamp in Aladdin and The Magic Lamp, the Holy Grail, without all the other political and economic gains will turn to dust as the rest of the treasure in the Cave of wonders! The Egyptian protesters have so far shown an iron determination to get the magic lamp and not to be side tracked. Zimbabweans, on the other hand are like the monkey, we find the treasure irresistible!

Thursday 10 February 2011

ZIMBABWEANS MUST DEMAND QUALITY LEADERS BEFORE EGYPTIAN STYLE MASS PROTESTS!

Whilst one would acknowledge that there is some truth in Professor Stan Mukasa’s call that the people of Zimbabwe should be “ashamed” for not demanding an end to Mugabe’s tyrannical rule just as is happening in Egypt. (S W Radio Africa Monday 7 February 2011 Letter from America programme.) Still, to heap all the blame on the “masses” for Zimbabwe’s door for the country’s political nightmare is simplistic and dangerous.

The people of Zimbabwe have not done NOTHING to end Mugabe’s repressive rule; the risked everything - life and limp - to vote for MDC in 2008, did they!? They knew well enough the penalty for voting for anyone other than Mugabe and Zanu PF. And since March 2008, my God, Mugabe has made the people pay for it, particularly in the period the 27 June 2008 run-off vote.

The people made great sacrifices to give Tsvangirai and MDC the democratic mandate to say “We represent the people!” That is the priceless pearl! Sadly it was a pearl presented to a swine to trample into the dirty. Tsvangirai traded in the one chance to end Mugabe’s dictatorial rule for the office of Prime Minister – an office with no real meaningful or authority.

MDC said repeatedly before joining the GNU that if Mugabe failed to honour his promise of meaningful power sharing they will walkout. Of course Mugabe did not honour his promise – it has taken years for MDC to even acknowledge that fact - and yet MDC have stayed in the GNU. Indeed it is MDC who are fighting tooth and nail to extend the life of this GNU!

In causing up with Mugabe and granting him all his dictatorial powers for selfish person gains Tsvangirai and his MDC friends betrayed the people of Zimbabwe and sacrifices the whole nation had made over the last three decades for freedom, liberty and human dignity.

The people made many sacrifices for Zimbabwe’s independence; you would not think so to listen to Mugabe about Zimbabwe’s armed struggle, national heroes, etc. But of course Mugabe was to betray the whole nation for selfish gain just as Tsvangirai has done. Tsvangirai, Biti and all the other MDC leaders have done what Simba Makoni, Dumiso Dabegwa, Emmerson Mnangagwa, etc. in Zanu PF and of course Mugabe himself have done call for freedom, peace, justice, etc. only forget all these once they were elected into office.

Professor Mukasa you have been quick, and rightly so too, to condemn Mugabe repressive rule in many of your “Letter from America” broadcasts but slow in criticising MDC. Indeed sometimes you have even taken it upon yourself to be Tsvangirai and MDC’s apologist.

The people of Zimbabwe have good cause to want to see the back of Mugabe; they are at the cutting edge, they have suffered the consequence of the economic melt down caused by the decades of mismanagement and corruption and it is their lives Zanu PF thugs have made a living hell. But for one to risk all and stand up against a tyrant, of course it is not enough to have a cause. One must also have the confidence that at the end of the mass protest, there will be REAL and LASTING change. If there is anything for Zimbabweans to be ashamed of then it must be for having believed for a moment that any of the country’s multitude of self-seeking leaders cared about justice and freedom.

As for Zimbabwe’s crop of leaders; they should hang their collective heads in shame for betraying the nation. Those among them with the blood of so many of our people; they must be tried and if found guilty, hanged!

The challenge before the people of Zimbabwe is how to get men and women of quality and with a vision to lead them and not the rubbish leading them now. “Kwete ungoti makudo namazvere!” as one would say in Shona.

EGYPTIANS PUBLIC LINE HOLDING FIRM OVER DEMANDS FOR AN END TO DICTATORIAL RULE: GOOD FOR YOU!

I am really pleased to see that the Egyptian public really understand the importance of the Mubarak dictatorship being dismantled first before they can seat down and talk. What Mubarak is failing to understand is that his dictatorial powers are at the very heart of this uprising. Not only does Mubarak want to dictate when the people should leave Tahrir Square but more significantly he will also dictate the nature of the reforms during the coming transition and formative months ahead. One will have to be very naïve to think that a dictator like him will be pushing for freedom, democracy and human dignity!

Some people have argued that the public should trust those now meeting with the Mubarak regime to negotiate what role Mubarak and the rest of his regime will have in the coming months. The very fact that Mubarak and anyone else for that matter believe Mubarak’s dictatorial powers are negotiable means they do not believe they are excessive in the first place. Indeed if any of the negotiators have any common sense, they tell the regime that dismantling the dictatorship is not negotiable!

In a way, the Egyptian public are maintaining pressure on those send out to negotiate with the Mubarak regime not to sell out. As a Zimbabwean, I know just easily those supposedly championing democratic change can betray the people. Mugabe dangled the PM and a few Ministerial positions (none of them with any real power to change a sausage) to Tsvangirai and his MDC friends and, glory be, how quickly they forgot and forgave Mugabe. Not only did MDC allow Mugabe to keep and exercise all his dictatorial power they never tired of singing the dictator’s praise. Mugabe is a “great national hero” said Prime Minister Tsvangirai. Mugabe is a “Victorian gentleman who should be knighted!” said Minister Tendai Biti!

Zimbabweans’ hope and yarning for freedom and liberty was betrayed by Tsvangirai in 2008 just as readily as Mugabe had done in 1980. No doubt the people of Egypt have been similarly betrayed in the past and therefore the more reason they must not that happen again; not this time!

Sunday 6 February 2011

EGYPTIANS MUST KNOW THAT DEMOCRACY CAN NEVER BE A PRODUCT OF A TYRANT'S DICTATE!

Brain Katulis, a security expert at the Centre for American Progress, a Washington think-tank, is absolutely right it is “disparity of power” between the all powerful ruling elite and the people that makes the demonstrators’ demand for Mubarak’s resignation none negotiable. Mubarak is the very embodiment of this all powerful ruling elite who have ruled Egypt with an iron fist. The tyrant and his parrot Vice President, Ministers, etc. never tire of telling the whole world that Mubarak must stay because “he is the only one” who will stop Egypt sliding into chaos! The ONLY ONE!?

What the people of Egypt want is a new Egypt in which there is peace, freedom human dignity for all and economic prosperity. The task before them now is formulating a new political order that will be able to deliver that. What Mubarak and his gangs of thugs want is ensure their own selfish interests are considered even though these interests run against the grain of the democratic values the nation is seeking!

For Egypt to stand a chance of emerging out of this a free and democratic country; Mubarak MUST go and do so NOW. Mubarak is a dictator used to dictating all manner of demands to a cowed nation. The very fact that there have been hundreds of thousands of Egyptians demanding an end to his autocratic rule has greatly shaken the dictator. In his arrogant way he believes the concessions he has made already – that he will not stand for re-election in September and he has reshuffled twice the faces of those honoured to rule Egypt as his henchmen – is more than enough. He should now be allowed to do what he knows best; continue to dictate what happens in Egypt. A truly free and democratic nation coming out of the dictate of a ruthless and autocratic tyrant; that would be first!

Friday 4 February 2011

THE TASK BEFORE THE EGYPTIANS IS CHART A BETTER FUTURE - A TASK NOT TO BE ENTRUSTED TO A TYRANT!

So President Mubarak will not resign for fear that doing so will bring chaos in Egypt! There is chaos in Egypt already and it has been there throughout all the years of his corrupt and repressive rule. Here is a man whose hold on power was only justification for his autocratic rule was that he could make life a living hell for the whole nation if anyone dare challenge his rule. He had relied on his militia backed by the Police who in turn were backed by the Army.

The people finally decided enough was enough and demanded changed that marked the beginning of the end for Mubarak. When the Army said they would not used force against defenceless civilians making legitimate demands that turned Mubarak all power killing machine into a harmless paper tiger. Mubarak was finished.

There those who say Mubarak should be allowed to stay in office till September and thus allow him to depart with some honour. After all Egyptians have waited for thirty years for this moment; what is eight months more? These people miss the point completely. It is Mubarak who has overstayed his welcome by thirty years; year after year he has imposed himself on the nation and for thirty year the nation has suffered in damn anguish. Why should 80 million be asked to suffer for another 8 months longer just to gratify the sadistic ego one tyrant?

But, more significantly, these next eight months are not like any other 8 months of the last 30 years or any in the distant future. They are extra, extra special! A new Egypt will be conceived and shaped. Egypt will write a new constitution and define the power and role of the presidency, the army, press, judiciary, etc., etc. will play in Egypt. For a truly democratic Egypt, each must have the proper checks and balance so that the nation will never again have a runaway juggernaut for president, for example. If Egyptians fails to come up this well thought and balanced constitution at the end of the eight years then this is something that could take generations to put right!

The one thing Mubarak and his cronies will want to do in these dying months of the regime is to dwell on the past, recast it in rosy colours and make sure as much of it remains an integral part of Egyptian society. They are not there to facilitate change but to ensure there is as little change as possible.

It has taken decades for the people of Egypt to finally have the courage to stand up to the tyrant Mubarak. Mubarak, like Pharaoh 3 000 years ago, has finally relented and this time it is the Egyptians people themselves who can talk of the “dawn of freedom”. God gave the children of Israel the Ten Commandments; the core laws that have guaranteed the freedom, liberty and prosperity of all nations those who cared to emulate them. Will Egypt now come up with a constitution that too will guarantee freedom, peace, liberty and prosperity? History will answer that.

The question of the moment that Egyptians and anyone with any sense at all have to ask themselves is can they entrust this very important task of defining the very essence of what Egypt is to be for the next thousand years to an egotistic tyrant? The answer has to be no.

Tuesday 1 February 2011

MDC SUPPORTERS MUST NOW WAVE ZANU PF CARDS AND NOT THE RED CARDS TO SAVE THEIR OWN LIVES!

The right to support and vote for a political party of one’s choice is a fundamental right and per se a right one should not give up. Indeed one should never give up. In Zimbabwe the price of exercising this right has always been high; the Mugabe regime has been brutal and ruthless in its drive to create a de facto one-party state.

The regime has undermined the country’s democratic institutions like the print and electronic media and the judiciary by appointing party loyalists to run and/or control these institutions. Freedom of expression was stifled and the rule of law was no more. Fear not reason ruled the land.

The price oppressive regime pay for stifling debate and competition so that, right across the board, loyalty to the leadership and to maintaining the status quo is valued above merit and ability has allowed the scam, not cream, rise to the top. Thirty years of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and wholesale looting, an even more ravenous cancer to sweep the nation in the last ten years, has completely destroyed Zimbabwe’s economy. In the six years period 2002 to 2008; the Zimbabwe economy has shrunk by a staggering 84%!!

It is the Zimbabwean people who have suffered and paid the ultimate price of a repressive dictatorship; on the political and social front, they are been denied the basic and fundamental rights and freedoms and on the economic front, millions now live in abject poverty. The situation in Zimbabwe has driven the people into despair and desperate for change. The regime, true to form, has responded by slamming its repressive machine into overdrive. And as a reward for all those willing to do its dirty work, party loyalists have been given the green light to loot at will. There are hardly any white farms left in the country for them to loot and so the thugs have turned their beady eyes on the few businesses left. Of course, this last bout of looting will drive the national economic into the very depths of hell! The natural response for people would be to scream and demand change even more loudly.

The scene is therefore on the one hand set a regime set in its repressive ways determined more than ever to retain power at any cost. On the other hand a people whose very lives depend on bring about the very thing the regime dreads – regime change. We have the regime, a juggernaut, set on its destructive path and gathering momentum with each passing day and a defenceless people determined to stop it. The out come is clear there will be a blood bath!

Still, I do not believe having a blood bath is not the only way out of this political nightmare. Zimbabweans should denounce Tsvangirai and his MDC party and all the other opposition political parties and join Zanu PF in droves. The people in Matebeleland and Midlands did this before the 1985 elections, at the height of the Gukurahundi massacres. Mugabe was itching for a fight and as long as he regarded the ordinary people in Matebeleland and the Midlands PF Zapu supporters he wanted to political cleanse the country of PF Zapu and showed them no mercy. He only relented when there were bonfires of PF Zapu membership cards everywhere.

In the 1985 elections still PF Zapu garnered more votes than the party’s decimated card carrying membership ever suggested; much to the annoyance of Mugabe.

After the elections Mugabe continued with his political cleansing scheme; some people would say, with vengeance. Still, there can be no doubt that by joining Zanu PF on mass the people of Matebeleland and Midlands stole Mugabe’s thunder! We can do this again.

Mugabe knows that the majority of Zimbabweans will not vote for him in a free and fair election. He has amassed the misguided and overzealous Zanu PF Youths and the War Vets backed by the Police, CIO and soldiers to force people to vote for him. People should not just join Zanu PF but the Youth, Police, etc and play a very active role in the running of the party machinery. What better way of ensuring there will be no blood bath than confronting Zanu PF thugs with Zanu PF membership card! In the past MDC supporters have held red card to Mugabe; they must now hold Zanu PF cards to save their own lives in the coming days.