There is no method in Tsvangirai’s madness; it is simply madness, period.
Tsvangirai is without doubt one of the most feeble-minded political leaders in history, definitely the wrong man to deal with a sly and ruthless canning fox like Mugabe. It takes forever for Tsvangirai to have an inkling of what Mugabe is up to and by then Mugabe has vanished and committed a dozen more acts of mischief.
Tsvangirai did Mugabe a great favour in agreeing to the Government of National Unity (GNU); the later was in deep trouble after the sham 27 June 2008 presidential run-off elections. So it should have been Mugabe begging Tsvangirai but alas it was the other way round. The GNU has achieved very little because, once again, Mugabe would not honour what the parties had agreed. And it is Tsvangirai and his fellow MDC leaders who are doing everything to make the GNU work – no surprise there!
Tsvangirai told a weekend MDC rally in Zimbabwe that the GNU is irreversible. “There’s no reverse on the inclusive government” he told his listeners. “There’s nothing Mugabe does without me approving and there is nothing I do without him approving,” he added in what most people considered a moment of madness.
Tsvangirai is sold to the idea that it would be a complete disaster for Zimbabwe is the inclusive government show collapse. People like Finance Minister Tendai Biti and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube talked of “dire consequences” if the GNU collapsed. University of Zimbabwe Professor John Makumbe talked of Zimbabwe going back to 2000 if that was to happen. To them, the GNU must be made to work.
Tsvangirai and others believe there “hardliners” in Zanu PF, composed of Security Chiefs, RBZ governor Gideon Gono and a few others, who are totally opposed to the GNU and would like to see it fail. It is simple to see why members of the Joint Operations Command (JOC) would want to see the inclusive government died and buried. JOC wielded a lot of political power; parliament and cabinet were there just for show, they deferred to JOC for all important decisions. The GNU if it worked was always going to restore political power back to parliament and cabinet. Of course JOC was bound to recent that.
People like Chihuri have public stated that he would never salute Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and so far has staunchly avoided having to do that. Of course, that explained why Tsvangirai and an MDC leaders could not be President nor Vice President and so the PM and DPM positions were created to avoid this potentially embarrassing situation for the Security Chiefs. Of course JOC members see Tsvangirai and others in MDC as political upstarts.
Tsvangirai and his supporters believe Mugabe would like the GNU to work but is being the other way by those who want it to fail. Tsvangirai and others believe by working hard in support of the GNU they will drive a wedge between Mugabe and JOC. Neither Tsvangirai nor anybody else has any concrete evidence to back their basic assumption that Mugabe would indeed like the inclusive to succeed. All they have to go by is circumstantial evidence: Mugabe signed the agreement so he must be committed to it and secondly there is nothing to link Mugabe to the repeated acts of lawlessness and therefore he has nothing to do with them. It takes a giant leap of faith to believe that nonsense.
It was Mugabe who carefully selected each and every member of JOC. Air Marshal Perence Shiri was the man who spear headed the Matebeleland massacres paving the way for Mugabe to finally create a de facto one-party state. Gideon Gono bankrolled Mugabe’s political machine. He recently said that he expropriated foreign currency from foreign aid donor accounts to buy food for the starving people. Yah, right! Last year, whilst millions of our people faced starvation – the regime even stopped donors giving people food, medicines, etc. – Mugabe was giving away buses and tractors to rural party faithful and Mercedes Benz and Plasma TV to Judges.
Zimhondi, the Director of Prisons, has some serious explanation to do. Is it possible that the things shown on “Hell Hole” ever happened in Zimbabwe? If so, when did he know about it and what did he do to stop the tragic suffering?
Police Commissioner, Chihuri owes the nation an explanation why his Officers are shooting defenceless farm workers and harassing innocent people?
People have talked of Mugabe going to The Hague if he should ever lose the presidency. Well, most members of JOC will go down with him for all of them have blood of innocent Zimbabweans on their hands.
Mugabe is part and parcel of JOC, if one member falls out of grace rest will follow. When Gideon Gono was put under pressure he did not hesitate to say he took his orders from Mugabe himself. The buck will always stop with Mugabe.
Anyone who believes they could drive a wedge between Mugabe and the rest of the JOC members is day-dreaming. JOC is Mugabe and Mugabe is JOC, the two are inseparable.
Yes Mugabe would damp his fellow travellers in JOC, leave them to face the music on their own, if he could count on Tsvangirai and MDC to guarantee he himself will never be called to account for his past. He knows Tsvangirai too well for that; he has wrapped Tsvangirai round his little finger so many times. Tsvangirai would give in to the international pressure at the drop of a hat!
Mugabe may be a ruthless dictator whose political options are fast disappearing still he would have to be crazy to throw his lot with someone as feeble as Tsvangirai.
Whilst it is true that neither Mugabe nor anyone in JOC ever wanted this inclusive government – even with it very limited political powers. They were all forced to accept this by the country’s economic melt down. Tsvangirai’s principle task was to get the targeted sanctions lifted and the international aid flowing again. Of course, Mugabe had hoped Tsvangirai and MDC would do this without him and JOC ever loosening his iron grip on power. The international community would not be fooled, they were not as gullible as Tsvangirai, they have stood firm and demanded real political change before they do any of these things.
Mugabe and JOC have given up as much political power as they can, they fear that if they give up any more ground they will not be able to roll back the changes that may follow. Mugabe has assured his supporters that the party should regroup and fight back.
There has been some economic recovery already; there is now food in the country’s shops! Mugabe and JOC are not going to seat tight. Tsvangirai and MDC have now a simple choice they can walk out of the inclusive government- Mugabe is hoping that will never happen. Mugabe would not want to face fresh elections so soon after the sham June 2008.
All the GNU is doing is giving Mugabe’s breathing space and time to regroup. So the nation will be a mediocre inclusive government followed by the near certainty of Zanu PF election “victory” and years of the same incompetent, corrupt and repressive dictatorial rule! This is the irreversible path Tsvangirai is taking Zimbabwe and the nation will have to be crazy to go along. We will be better off letting this totally ineffective GNU collapse and have take our chance with fresh elections now!
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
TSVANGIRAI'S INCOMPETENCE IS MATCHED ONLY BY MUGABE'S BRUTALITY AND ARROGANCE!
Let bygones be bygones! Well, well here is the man who single-handed caused the nation’s GDP to fall by a staggering 14% according to IMF and God only knows what else he has done. Least people forget; Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis has a human price tag; life expectancy has plummeted from 65 years in 1980 to a misery 34 years. Many, many Zimbabwean lives have been lost unnecessarily. And what does Gideon Gono, without doubt one of the key players in this tragic tale of human suffering and death, say - “let bygones be bygones!” No way!
Mr Gono, you and your fellow Mugabe accolades have a lot to answer for. Yes during your heydays you were untouchable and did as you pleased. For years you have lived lives of amazing comfort and luxury in the face of grinding poverty and despair of the masses you systematically cheated and robbed. If there is justice and common decency in this world then surely people like Gideon Gono must account for all their past excesses. At least, the money, farms and all the looted must be taken away from them – even Tsvangirai and his fellow MDC leaders can be trusted to do that!
Judging from Tsvangirai’s past and Gono’s arrogance confirms it; all the past dirty will be swept under the carpet and, if Gono should lose his job at the RBZ, he will probably be employed by the regime in some consultant role. And so will all the other Mugabe cronies!
The much anticipated and postponed meeting of the three principles to the GNU, Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, to resolve all outstanding matters such as the firing of Gideon Gono, the stopping of the mindless farm invasions, etc., did finally take place on Monday 20 April 2009. And - surprise, surprise – nothing was resolved.
“It was to spell out who has the power to do what because it is felt some do things, not out of malice, but through lack of understanding of their roles,” explained Gorden Moyo, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office. Well else is there to say; this makes it as clear as mud!
Deputy Prime Minister, Arthur Mutambara was in Chegutu to confront the farm inventors and, fair enough, he read the riot act to them. But sadly it was all talk because an hour after he left they were back and once again they chased the farm owner and his workers off the farm. And what was the DPM’s response to that blatant act of defiance? “What matters is that the next time Mugabe denies there have been fresh land invasions I can say that is not true, I saw it for myself.” Really!
If a Deputy Prime Minister can not stand up to these thugs, what chance does the poor white farmer, the Police Constable, Magistrate or the lowly rural peasant has? When Mugabe “declared war” – Tsvangirai’s own words - on the people last years Tsvangirai and his fellow MDC leaders disappeared like mist in the morning sun. The ordinary MDC supporters were left to face the music alone. And from March to June over half a million Zimbabweans were assaulted, raped and/or had their property destroyed. At least 200 lost their lives. Gono purchased most of the vehicles used by the thugs using funds donated to help Aids victims, the starving – the weakest and most vulnerable people.
The sheer incompetence of Tsvangirai and MDC is matched only by the heartless brutality and arrogance of Mugabe and his cronies. Lord, what have we done to deserve such a double whack? It is moments like this that one is tempted to think there is no God!
Mr Gono, you and your fellow Mugabe accolades have a lot to answer for. Yes during your heydays you were untouchable and did as you pleased. For years you have lived lives of amazing comfort and luxury in the face of grinding poverty and despair of the masses you systematically cheated and robbed. If there is justice and common decency in this world then surely people like Gideon Gono must account for all their past excesses. At least, the money, farms and all the looted must be taken away from them – even Tsvangirai and his fellow MDC leaders can be trusted to do that!
Judging from Tsvangirai’s past and Gono’s arrogance confirms it; all the past dirty will be swept under the carpet and, if Gono should lose his job at the RBZ, he will probably be employed by the regime in some consultant role. And so will all the other Mugabe cronies!
The much anticipated and postponed meeting of the three principles to the GNU, Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, to resolve all outstanding matters such as the firing of Gideon Gono, the stopping of the mindless farm invasions, etc., did finally take place on Monday 20 April 2009. And - surprise, surprise – nothing was resolved.
“It was to spell out who has the power to do what because it is felt some do things, not out of malice, but through lack of understanding of their roles,” explained Gorden Moyo, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office. Well else is there to say; this makes it as clear as mud!
Deputy Prime Minister, Arthur Mutambara was in Chegutu to confront the farm inventors and, fair enough, he read the riot act to them. But sadly it was all talk because an hour after he left they were back and once again they chased the farm owner and his workers off the farm. And what was the DPM’s response to that blatant act of defiance? “What matters is that the next time Mugabe denies there have been fresh land invasions I can say that is not true, I saw it for myself.” Really!
If a Deputy Prime Minister can not stand up to these thugs, what chance does the poor white farmer, the Police Constable, Magistrate or the lowly rural peasant has? When Mugabe “declared war” – Tsvangirai’s own words - on the people last years Tsvangirai and his fellow MDC leaders disappeared like mist in the morning sun. The ordinary MDC supporters were left to face the music alone. And from March to June over half a million Zimbabweans were assaulted, raped and/or had their property destroyed. At least 200 lost their lives. Gono purchased most of the vehicles used by the thugs using funds donated to help Aids victims, the starving – the weakest and most vulnerable people.
The sheer incompetence of Tsvangirai and MDC is matched only by the heartless brutality and arrogance of Mugabe and his cronies. Lord, what have we done to deserve such a double whack? It is moments like this that one is tempted to think there is no God!
Friday, 17 April 2009
TARGETED SANCTION AGAINST MUGABE AND CRONIES: MUST BE HURTING AND MUST BE THEREFORE MAINTAINTED
Hardly a week goes by without Mugabe calling for the targeted sanctions to be lifted. The must be hurting him and his cronies and he is calling on his “paid” MDC puppets to join in the call – he has always had nothing but contempt for MDC and to use them as his own errant puppets to West was the only reason Mugabe accepted to them join him in the GNU. It is laughable that the likes of Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti and Mutambara should now support the lifting of the sanctions on the grounds that lack of West support will result in the collapse of the GNU and increased suffering of the masses.
“So I told McGee and his friend that you must be careful as you deny us assistance, as you deny us credit line and investment, you are actually playing into the hands of those hawks and those foolish people who are undermining this government because their desire is to see a collapse,” Mutambara said. “The biggest losers in a collapse situation are the people of Zimbabwe. The biggest losers in a collapse are Morgan Tsvangirai and Mutambara.”
The primary reason Zimbabwe is in this mess is, of course Mugabe and Zanu PF. This ruthless and brutal dictator has destroyed the country’s economy and crashed the hopes and aspiration of ordinary people for peace, freedom and economic prosperity. He turned many of them into heartless monsters after his own image.
The second reason why we are in this mess is that we – the ordinary Zimbabweans, the West (showered Mugabe with praise and bankrolled his failed policies and corrupt practices), etc - let Mugabe have his way for too long.
The ordinary Zimbabweans have finally said “enough is enough” and voted for the opposition even though they knew the regime would punish them for it. Not that the people had any faith or confidence in the opposition, they did not; and for good reasons too. They voted for MDC because they were desperate for change.
For the first twenty years of our independence, the West showered Mugabe with praise and honours and bankrolled his failed “scientific socialism” experiment – there was nothing scientific about his reckless spending and rampant corruption. 1999 marked the end of second five-year ESAP sponsored by WB and IMF. The two programmes had failed stop Zimbabwe’s economic slid into the abyss because the Mugabe regime would not implement the promised reforms. The WB and IMF, in exasperation, finally pulled the plug of all financial assistance to the regime. Most West financial institutions and governments soon followed the WB and IMF lead; the West had finally realised their error and stopped throwing more good money after bad. Mugabe responded by playing his white colonial and imperialist tramp card.
Mugabe hit back by instigating a lawless and violent take over of white owned farms throughout Zimbabwe for his own selfish political gains. He has given away the seized farms to his political supporters, cronies and the ruling elite to buy their continued political support. He maintains the farms were given to the landless peasants, which is a lie. The regime has never seized all the white owned farms and for the last ten years has stirred up this issue by having fresh waves of lawless and violent invasions each time the party wanted to commit some political mischief. For example the campaign of intimidation and murder before the presidential run-off elections last year where preceded by fresh farm invasions and party thugs deployed to stop white farmers threatening to retake their lost farms.
The West had responded to increasing lawlessness and rampant corruption by the Mugabe regime by imposing targeted sanctions against Mugabe and his inner circle who were economically thriving in the face of growing poverty and despair of the masses.
If there is one thing Zimbabweans have learnt from the brutal betrayal by Mugabe and his Zanu PF party; it is not to trust the country’s politicians. MDC last year received 47% of the popular vote. With the country a total economic melt down, one would expect the opposition to do a lot better than that. The result showed the electorate had very little confidence in the opposition and for good reasons too.
Tsvangirai, Mutambara, Biti and all the other MDC leaders have blundered again and again. Signing the GPA and agreeing to work with Mugabe, particularly with the later in charge and keeping all his dictatorial powers was one of MDC’s greatest blunders. MDC called the arrangement “imperfect but workable” which is of course nonsense. Even if farm invasions stopped; that will not count for much if Mugabe has his thugs on standby and drawing US$ 1.5 million in wages. Stopping their wages will not be enough either, those responsible for the violence and murder of 200 Zimbabweans last year alone must be smoked out and punished!
The very fact that MDC leadership should want the West to lift the targeted sanctions and resume bankrolling this dictatorship is itself proof that the MDC have got the foggiest idea of why Zimbabwe is in this mess. If they did they would know that allowing Mugabe to have his way again will get the country nowhere. Of course the other simple explanation is that Mutambara and company are now part and parcel of the Mugabe ruling elite – they are benefiting already. Ordinary Zimbabweans have never benefited from bankrolling an incompetent and corrupt Mugabe regime before and it would be naïve to believe that they will do so now.
“Mugabe has failed already. Fifty quintillion percent inflation, 10 years of destroying the economy, how can he fail more than that?” said Mutambara. So it is nonsense to talk of government collapse when the regime collapsed a long time ago.
When Mutambara and others in MDC joined Mugabe they too become parties to this failure. What Mutambara, Biti, Tsvangirai and company want is the West to pump money into this failure – they know without a total overhaul there will be no economic recovery and they know too that Mugabe will not allow any such change to the political system that has served his dictatorial needs well – so they too will have chance to enrich themselves. Mugabe allowed them into the elusive ruling elite club on condition they get the West to lift the targeted sanction and restart bankrolling the regime; he is desperate to have the targeted sanctions lifted. To me; that means the sanctions are indeed working.
Renewed funding and appeasement of Mugabe will only give the dictatorship another lease of life and that will not help the ordinary Zimbabweans in any way. Indeed all their sacrifices this far would all have been for nothing!
“So I told McGee and his friend that you must be careful as you deny us assistance, as you deny us credit line and investment, you are actually playing into the hands of those hawks and those foolish people who are undermining this government because their desire is to see a collapse,” Mutambara said. “The biggest losers in a collapse situation are the people of Zimbabwe. The biggest losers in a collapse are Morgan Tsvangirai and Mutambara.”
The primary reason Zimbabwe is in this mess is, of course Mugabe and Zanu PF. This ruthless and brutal dictator has destroyed the country’s economy and crashed the hopes and aspiration of ordinary people for peace, freedom and economic prosperity. He turned many of them into heartless monsters after his own image.
The second reason why we are in this mess is that we – the ordinary Zimbabweans, the West (showered Mugabe with praise and bankrolled his failed policies and corrupt practices), etc - let Mugabe have his way for too long.
The ordinary Zimbabweans have finally said “enough is enough” and voted for the opposition even though they knew the regime would punish them for it. Not that the people had any faith or confidence in the opposition, they did not; and for good reasons too. They voted for MDC because they were desperate for change.
For the first twenty years of our independence, the West showered Mugabe with praise and honours and bankrolled his failed “scientific socialism” experiment – there was nothing scientific about his reckless spending and rampant corruption. 1999 marked the end of second five-year ESAP sponsored by WB and IMF. The two programmes had failed stop Zimbabwe’s economic slid into the abyss because the Mugabe regime would not implement the promised reforms. The WB and IMF, in exasperation, finally pulled the plug of all financial assistance to the regime. Most West financial institutions and governments soon followed the WB and IMF lead; the West had finally realised their error and stopped throwing more good money after bad. Mugabe responded by playing his white colonial and imperialist tramp card.
Mugabe hit back by instigating a lawless and violent take over of white owned farms throughout Zimbabwe for his own selfish political gains. He has given away the seized farms to his political supporters, cronies and the ruling elite to buy their continued political support. He maintains the farms were given to the landless peasants, which is a lie. The regime has never seized all the white owned farms and for the last ten years has stirred up this issue by having fresh waves of lawless and violent invasions each time the party wanted to commit some political mischief. For example the campaign of intimidation and murder before the presidential run-off elections last year where preceded by fresh farm invasions and party thugs deployed to stop white farmers threatening to retake their lost farms.
The West had responded to increasing lawlessness and rampant corruption by the Mugabe regime by imposing targeted sanctions against Mugabe and his inner circle who were economically thriving in the face of growing poverty and despair of the masses.
If there is one thing Zimbabweans have learnt from the brutal betrayal by Mugabe and his Zanu PF party; it is not to trust the country’s politicians. MDC last year received 47% of the popular vote. With the country a total economic melt down, one would expect the opposition to do a lot better than that. The result showed the electorate had very little confidence in the opposition and for good reasons too.
Tsvangirai, Mutambara, Biti and all the other MDC leaders have blundered again and again. Signing the GPA and agreeing to work with Mugabe, particularly with the later in charge and keeping all his dictatorial powers was one of MDC’s greatest blunders. MDC called the arrangement “imperfect but workable” which is of course nonsense. Even if farm invasions stopped; that will not count for much if Mugabe has his thugs on standby and drawing US$ 1.5 million in wages. Stopping their wages will not be enough either, those responsible for the violence and murder of 200 Zimbabweans last year alone must be smoked out and punished!
The very fact that MDC leadership should want the West to lift the targeted sanctions and resume bankrolling this dictatorship is itself proof that the MDC have got the foggiest idea of why Zimbabwe is in this mess. If they did they would know that allowing Mugabe to have his way again will get the country nowhere. Of course the other simple explanation is that Mutambara and company are now part and parcel of the Mugabe ruling elite – they are benefiting already. Ordinary Zimbabweans have never benefited from bankrolling an incompetent and corrupt Mugabe regime before and it would be naïve to believe that they will do so now.
“Mugabe has failed already. Fifty quintillion percent inflation, 10 years of destroying the economy, how can he fail more than that?” said Mutambara. So it is nonsense to talk of government collapse when the regime collapsed a long time ago.
When Mutambara and others in MDC joined Mugabe they too become parties to this failure. What Mutambara, Biti, Tsvangirai and company want is the West to pump money into this failure – they know without a total overhaul there will be no economic recovery and they know too that Mugabe will not allow any such change to the political system that has served his dictatorial needs well – so they too will have chance to enrich themselves. Mugabe allowed them into the elusive ruling elite club on condition they get the West to lift the targeted sanction and restart bankrolling the regime; he is desperate to have the targeted sanctions lifted. To me; that means the sanctions are indeed working.
Renewed funding and appeasement of Mugabe will only give the dictatorship another lease of life and that will not help the ordinary Zimbabweans in any way. Indeed all their sacrifices this far would all have been for nothing!
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Zimbabwe humanitarian plus = buy luxuries for elite and let the masses starve!
We live in a world with finite resources, there are not enough to meet all our needs and so we have to decide and make choices. The choice is often one of what luxuries one will have to do without. In a country like Zimbabwe facing a total economic melt down with the great majority of our people now living in abject poverty their choice is what basic necessities of life they will have to do without! With unemployment now at 95% many Zimbabweans have had to face the choice of sending a daughter or son to school or see the family starve to death, for example. Obviously, in this case education is a luxury. Apparently this is not obvious to the Zimbabwe GNU!
How does anyone justify taking funds from a life and death situation like cholera and food aid to spend on salary on lucky 5% to have a job and their sons and daughters who can still afford the luxury of having an education? But in Zimbabwe, this is not a surprising decision at all. We are a country of two extremes; the ruling elite with all the political power and their extravagant life styles on the one hand and the powerless and economically impoverished masses. It is the first time that resources necessary for live and death needs for the masses are diverted and used to buy luxuries for the ruling elite. Only last week the Zimbabwe Times reported of the GNU Ministers taking their new Mercedes Benz, twenty for MDC Ministers alone at US$ 50 000 each! No doubt in a rare moment of unity all the politicians across the political divide agreed to keep the Mercedes Benz and divert funds for Cholera and food aid to pay for teachers and the education of the rich’s children.
The GNU chose the right man to announce their “wise” decision, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara. “We are going to get money under humanitarian assistance to pay for grants to students who are going to college, to pay for the salaries of teachers in higher education, to pay for salaries of teachers in the primary schools and secondary schools,” the DPM said. “It’s called ‘humanitarian plus’!” What else can anyone say after that; it makes everything as clear as mud!
To all the teachers and students out there, I would not cheer out loud because what the DPM did not say and is assumed is understood by all is that the diverted funds will be sued to pay politicians’ salaries, running cost of their ministerial cars and a host of other allowances first. Whatever is left- soon there will be nothing- will then go to paying teachers and students. Humanitarian plus!
The DPM said the regime was stealing – diverting, my foot – funds from Cholera programme “a result of an open refusal by Western nations to bail out the country” in one breathe. And in the next breathe he said the regime is getting the bail out money, reiterating what Finance Minister Tendai Biti has been saying. Both have conveniently avoided giving details of who was giving Zimbabwe money and how much. The West has repeatedly said they will not give any direct financial aid to Zimbabwe until there is rule of law. They have given indirect aid in the form of funding for the Cholera programme, food aid, etc. – funds the regime is now expropriating in the name of “humanitarian plus!”
Now that MDC has joined Mugabe’s ruling elite; it is becoming increasing hard to distinguish one from the other. The West will have to extend their targeted sanction to all the individuals in this GNU, Zanu PF and MDC alike!
How does anyone justify taking funds from a life and death situation like cholera and food aid to spend on salary on lucky 5% to have a job and their sons and daughters who can still afford the luxury of having an education? But in Zimbabwe, this is not a surprising decision at all. We are a country of two extremes; the ruling elite with all the political power and their extravagant life styles on the one hand and the powerless and economically impoverished masses. It is the first time that resources necessary for live and death needs for the masses are diverted and used to buy luxuries for the ruling elite. Only last week the Zimbabwe Times reported of the GNU Ministers taking their new Mercedes Benz, twenty for MDC Ministers alone at US$ 50 000 each! No doubt in a rare moment of unity all the politicians across the political divide agreed to keep the Mercedes Benz and divert funds for Cholera and food aid to pay for teachers and the education of the rich’s children.
The GNU chose the right man to announce their “wise” decision, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara. “We are going to get money under humanitarian assistance to pay for grants to students who are going to college, to pay for the salaries of teachers in higher education, to pay for salaries of teachers in the primary schools and secondary schools,” the DPM said. “It’s called ‘humanitarian plus’!” What else can anyone say after that; it makes everything as clear as mud!
To all the teachers and students out there, I would not cheer out loud because what the DPM did not say and is assumed is understood by all is that the diverted funds will be sued to pay politicians’ salaries, running cost of their ministerial cars and a host of other allowances first. Whatever is left- soon there will be nothing- will then go to paying teachers and students. Humanitarian plus!
The DPM said the regime was stealing – diverting, my foot – funds from Cholera programme “a result of an open refusal by Western nations to bail out the country” in one breathe. And in the next breathe he said the regime is getting the bail out money, reiterating what Finance Minister Tendai Biti has been saying. Both have conveniently avoided giving details of who was giving Zimbabwe money and how much. The West has repeatedly said they will not give any direct financial aid to Zimbabwe until there is rule of law. They have given indirect aid in the form of funding for the Cholera programme, food aid, etc. – funds the regime is now expropriating in the name of “humanitarian plus!”
Now that MDC has joined Mugabe’s ruling elite; it is becoming increasing hard to distinguish one from the other. The West will have to extend their targeted sanction to all the individuals in this GNU, Zanu PF and MDC alike!
Friday, 3 April 2009
TSVANGIRAI BEGS MUGABE TO HONOUR HUMAN RIGHTS - LORD HAVE MERCY!
There are many reasons why this GNU of Mugabe and Tsvangirai has been a failure and is doomed to fail. One of the main reason has to be that it is a Mugabe regime in all but name. Everyone can see that; everyone that is except, sadly, the man above all else who should- Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai himself.
Zimbabwe’s bloated GNU is meeting in Victoria Falls, supposedly to give the inclusive government some focus – something that has been noticeably lacking. The regime has behaved in much the same as Mugabe regimes of the past ruthless repressive and wasteful of the nation's resources. Tsvangirai and some of his MDC colleagues are holding key government positions but they have not changed a single thing on the ground as the they have generally been ignored. Tsvangirai, it seems, does not understand the situation.“From your knowledge of the GPA you will see that much of it focuses on building upon and promoting the people’s freedoms, otherwise known as human rights,” Tsvangirai told the bloated GNU delegates. He did say “these are neither optional nor negotiable” which is not true because he has made these rights negotuable all along and is in Victoria Falls to negotiate that very point with Mugabe. My fellow Zimbabweans, we are dealing here with a ruthless and heartless dictator here who has ruined the nation by selling the nation’s silver to bride and corrupt State Security Chiefs, members of the judiciary, his party cronies, thugs and hooligans so they will do his political biding. He plugged the nation into an economic and political nightmare and stopped at nothing including the murder of hundred of thousands of innocent lives for political gain. All his political life, Mugabe has treated ordinary Zimbabweans with nothing but contempt. These people's political rights meant nothing to him.
That is the same dictator Tsvangirai now expects to give up his dictatorial powers because he signed some GPA with him, Tsvangirai? What a joke.
The other thing Tsvangirai clearly failed to understand is that the basic human rights should never be bargained away like water-melons at the market. That is why they are called "basic and fundamental". Every Zimbabwean weak or strong, rich or poor must enjoy these rights as a matter of course. “. . the police must be empowered to protect those protected by the law,” appealed Tsvangirai to Robert Mugabe. What? Not only is the right to law and order negotiable, Tsvangirai has been reduced to begging the dictator!
Power is something Mugabe understands; he has enjoyed absolute power for the last three decades and clearly has no intention of giving any of it up. To see Tsvangirai grovel before him; must tickles him greatly.
After six weeks as Prime Minister; power, it seems, is getting into Tsvangirai’s head too. “We who are gathered here today, hold the future of our nation in our hands,” he told his fellow GNU leaders. Of course, Tsvangirai is being naïve to think that he has an meaningful power; all real power remains firmly in the hands of the dictator, Robert Mugabe. That is precisely what it wrong with this GNU; it failed to give power to the ordinary Zimbabweans.
The GNU was the only option Mugabe had left for him to retain power after the sham June 2008 election. He has retained his dictatorial powers intact and has appointed many of his own cronies in key posts. The only fly in his ointment, it seems, is that has to listen to Tsvangirai talking his usual nonsense! But that is a small price to pay.
Like it or not, Tsvangirai is shallow, thick and slow. It is Zimbabwe’s rotten luck that at this critical stage in our history, the nation’s destiny should be in such competent hands!
Zimbabwe’s bloated GNU is meeting in Victoria Falls, supposedly to give the inclusive government some focus – something that has been noticeably lacking. The regime has behaved in much the same as Mugabe regimes of the past ruthless repressive and wasteful of the nation's resources. Tsvangirai and some of his MDC colleagues are holding key government positions but they have not changed a single thing on the ground as the they have generally been ignored. Tsvangirai, it seems, does not understand the situation.“From your knowledge of the GPA you will see that much of it focuses on building upon and promoting the people’s freedoms, otherwise known as human rights,” Tsvangirai told the bloated GNU delegates. He did say “these are neither optional nor negotiable” which is not true because he has made these rights negotuable all along and is in Victoria Falls to negotiate that very point with Mugabe. My fellow Zimbabweans, we are dealing here with a ruthless and heartless dictator here who has ruined the nation by selling the nation’s silver to bride and corrupt State Security Chiefs, members of the judiciary, his party cronies, thugs and hooligans so they will do his political biding. He plugged the nation into an economic and political nightmare and stopped at nothing including the murder of hundred of thousands of innocent lives for political gain. All his political life, Mugabe has treated ordinary Zimbabweans with nothing but contempt. These people's political rights meant nothing to him.
That is the same dictator Tsvangirai now expects to give up his dictatorial powers because he signed some GPA with him, Tsvangirai? What a joke.
The other thing Tsvangirai clearly failed to understand is that the basic human rights should never be bargained away like water-melons at the market. That is why they are called "basic and fundamental". Every Zimbabwean weak or strong, rich or poor must enjoy these rights as a matter of course. “. . the police must be empowered to protect those protected by the law,” appealed Tsvangirai to Robert Mugabe. What? Not only is the right to law and order negotiable, Tsvangirai has been reduced to begging the dictator!
Power is something Mugabe understands; he has enjoyed absolute power for the last three decades and clearly has no intention of giving any of it up. To see Tsvangirai grovel before him; must tickles him greatly.
After six weeks as Prime Minister; power, it seems, is getting into Tsvangirai’s head too. “We who are gathered here today, hold the future of our nation in our hands,” he told his fellow GNU leaders. Of course, Tsvangirai is being naïve to think that he has an meaningful power; all real power remains firmly in the hands of the dictator, Robert Mugabe. That is precisely what it wrong with this GNU; it failed to give power to the ordinary Zimbabweans.
The GNU was the only option Mugabe had left for him to retain power after the sham June 2008 election. He has retained his dictatorial powers intact and has appointed many of his own cronies in key posts. The only fly in his ointment, it seems, is that has to listen to Tsvangirai talking his usual nonsense! But that is a small price to pay.
Like it or not, Tsvangirai is shallow, thick and slow. It is Zimbabwe’s rotten luck that at this critical stage in our history, the nation’s destiny should be in such competent hands!
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