Mother, of all the ugly men you could have married you picked one with a half-loaf with a peaked-roof for a head! This was one genetic inheritance I could have done without. All my life I have been self-conscious of my odd looking head; God knows, I have been reminded of it often enough.
“The shape of the head does not matter; it’s the contents,” I retorted long before I had learnt to spell my name. “What contents?” Some smart Alec soon asked, waving my graded English examination answer papers with a miserable 10% or some like that.
After that I tried to cover my odd shaped head under a hair style but too did not last. By the time I turned 20 there was no hair growing on the ridge of the “roof”. Five years later, the whole head stood like one of those Domboshava granite boulders complete with the patch work of red blotches from the freckles.
“In life, we are all tested and challenged,” my mother would say. With a bald half-loaf with a peaked roof for a head; I must say I felt challenged; but that was not what my mother was on about. “You might be ugly, poor, not educated, etc.; still that is no excuse for not washing your face.” According to her the act of washing one’s face is a sign of pride and self-respect. If you do not wash your face, people will spit in your face. “If you lose your pride and self respect, other people will like the Cuckoo eat your eggs and replace them with their own.” Wise words indeed mother, as a nation Zimbabwe should pay heed because we have allowed the Cuckoo into State House!
In Zimbabwe, Mugabe and a selected few have commandeered the nation’s vast wealth and resources for their own exclusive use. It is our labour, sweat and blood that is paying for their luxurious life styles. We have had to make do with the little falling off their tables. The ruling elite have their children well fed and schooled outside Zimbabwe at our expense whilst our children are starving and have to use the ill funded local education system that has all but collapsed. Zimbabweans have traditionally attributed their failure to stop Mugabe ride rough shod over their dreams of freedom, liberty, human dignity and the right to life itself to the dictator’s canning and ruthless brutality. But after thirty years of his tyrannical rule and the depths of depravity the dictator has pushed the nation the excuses have worn thin.
Two things have worked to Mugabe’s advantage; firstly the dictator has had the great fortune of having some of the most incompetent politicians on earth as his opponents. After the sham June 2008 elections Mugabe was definitely on the hook and it was none other than Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC party that got him off by agreeing to the power sharing arrangement. The dictator has repaid Tsvangirai by kicking him in the teeth. It is hard to feel sorry for the idiot considering the tragic misery the nation has continued to suffer because of his blundering.
The second, and more significant, reason why Mugabe has been able to do as he pleased is that we, the people, are a subservient lot! Of course we would have welcomed to be living in an independent Zimbabwe in which all prospered and enjoyed freedom and a life with human dignity. When Mugabe denied us these rights and freedoms, we should have demanded that they are restored as a screed duty of every citizen. We owed it to ourselves and posterity to hold our head high and take pride. Instead, like subjects or slaves, we cowed down and rolled into a ball for Mugabe and his henchmen to kick around.
Every nation and every generation is challenged in one way or the other just as individuals are challenged at a personal level. We have failed to rise to the challenge of our time. We must now wash our faces and not allow Mugabe spit in our faces.
Even after the Nazi had the Jews holed up in the Warsaw Ghetto, still they fought back giving the Germans a bloody nose. The Nazi were a lot more repressive and brutal than Mugabe and Zanu PF!
Zimbabweans have been clamouring for democratic and accountable government and yet we have clearly failed to hold even Tsvangirai and MDC accountable for their spell in power. The MDC’s spin doctors pointed to the shops full of goods and Zimbabweans were queuing to sing the party’s praises. How quickly we forgot that the primary task of MDC was to bring democratic change in Zimbabwe, without it nothing much could be achieved.
A working and effective democracy demands a well informed and thoughtful electorate. In Zimbabwe the people have such a superficial understanding of things affecting their lives and such low expectations; they are easily fool and easily pleased.
“What have I done to help end this dictatorship?” is the question every Zimbabwe wherever they are must ask themselves. Indeed it would be more pertinent to ask what they have been doing, directly or indirectly, to prop up the dictator.
The problem of a ruthless dictator in State House is an internal problem and one Zimbabweans can have to find a solution to. Outsiders may help, but it is Zimbabweans themselves who have to take the lead. How well we perform in this will go a long way to restoring our national self respect and pride. Until we can learn once again hold our heads high it will be easy for yet another Cuckoo to make State House its home even if the present occupant is finally driven out.
Zimbabweans it is high time we restored our self respect and stand up to the Cuckoo in State House who has made our lives such a nightmare. This is something we have to do ourselves for our own good and that of our children and posterity! It is high time we stopped feeling sorry for ourselves, washed our faces and walked tall!
Saturday, 19 June 2010
Thursday, 17 June 2010
THE LONG AWAITED CONSULTATIONS ON ZIMBABWE'S NEW CONSTITUTION HAVE FINALLY STARTED: A WASTE OF TIME, OF COURSE!
Zimbabwe’s 2008 elections were marred by widespread violence. The country’s constitution has its weaknesses, yes, and yes it needs to be amended or replaced. But the one thing no one can do is blame the weak constitution for the 2008 violence and the volumes of similar happenings in the past. The current constitution does not allow the Police and the Army to not only ignore Zanu PF instigated violence but join in on the side of Zanu PF which is exactly what happened in 2008.
MDC has expended its political energy on the writing of the new constitution because it was the easier thing to do. Violence took place because Mugabe and Zanu PF consider themselves to be above the law, particularly when the party’s struggle hold on power is threatened. MDC should therefore have concentrated in using the power in the existing laws and constitution to prosecute all those involved in political violence and thus proves that NO ONE is above the law.
If his hold on power is threatened Mugabe has the whole Zanu PF machinery primed and ready to do whatever it takes to secure another Mugabe victory. The party’s militia have been put on civil service payroll, the party has no money to pay them and the Army, Police and CIO who played since a critical role in 2008 are committed to do so again. Last year Zanu PF party Congress passed a resolution committing these state security agents to backing Zanu PF in future elections because these institutions were “born of the resolution and Zanu PF is the party of the resolution” congress argued!
Zimbabwe would certainly be better off holding the next election under the old constitution but with the threat of fresh violence removed than having a new constitution but with the threat of violence hanging over the nation!
*****
@Concerned Citizen You are right to be concerned about the anti-white language from some people. The war of independence was fought to end white colonial rule and oppression and people like Mugabe are the heroes of that struggle. When Mugabe realised that his government had failed to delivery freedom, liberty and human dignity to the people of Zimbabwe he sort a scapegoat and moved the debate away from his failed leadership to the familiar ground of anti-white.
People like Fungayi, Aluta, John Berry, Dread Dread6, etc. are the dictator’s foot soldiers; they are programmed to see a white conspiracy in every issue. They have stifled meaningful debate on this site; which is what their master Mugabe pays them to do!
I am concerned about the millions of ordinary blacks whose lives have been turned into a hell-on-earth by Mugabe. Mugabe does not want this said or discussed. The white colonialists treated blacks as second class citizens; Mugabe has treats them much the same way one would treat a mentally challenged relative – make a big farce about how well you listen to them only to ignore them the next minute and, of course, never allow them to make any important decisions.
Concerned Citizen you are fighting that the whites should not be Mugabe's scapegoats. I am fighting that the ordinary black Zimbabweans should not be ignored as if they are invisible and their tragic suffering acknowledged. These are causes worth fighting for but until there is regime change, little will be accomplished!
Zimbabwe had its best chance yet for regime change after the sham 2008 elections; sadly Tsvangirai wasted it. Next time, I am convinced, Mugabe will not get off the hook again!
MDC has expended its political energy on the writing of the new constitution because it was the easier thing to do. Violence took place because Mugabe and Zanu PF consider themselves to be above the law, particularly when the party’s struggle hold on power is threatened. MDC should therefore have concentrated in using the power in the existing laws and constitution to prosecute all those involved in political violence and thus proves that NO ONE is above the law.
If his hold on power is threatened Mugabe has the whole Zanu PF machinery primed and ready to do whatever it takes to secure another Mugabe victory. The party’s militia have been put on civil service payroll, the party has no money to pay them and the Army, Police and CIO who played since a critical role in 2008 are committed to do so again. Last year Zanu PF party Congress passed a resolution committing these state security agents to backing Zanu PF in future elections because these institutions were “born of the resolution and Zanu PF is the party of the resolution” congress argued!
Zimbabwe would certainly be better off holding the next election under the old constitution but with the threat of fresh violence removed than having a new constitution but with the threat of violence hanging over the nation!
*****
@Concerned Citizen You are right to be concerned about the anti-white language from some people. The war of independence was fought to end white colonial rule and oppression and people like Mugabe are the heroes of that struggle. When Mugabe realised that his government had failed to delivery freedom, liberty and human dignity to the people of Zimbabwe he sort a scapegoat and moved the debate away from his failed leadership to the familiar ground of anti-white.
People like Fungayi, Aluta, John Berry, Dread Dread6, etc. are the dictator’s foot soldiers; they are programmed to see a white conspiracy in every issue. They have stifled meaningful debate on this site; which is what their master Mugabe pays them to do!
I am concerned about the millions of ordinary blacks whose lives have been turned into a hell-on-earth by Mugabe. Mugabe does not want this said or discussed. The white colonialists treated blacks as second class citizens; Mugabe has treats them much the same way one would treat a mentally challenged relative – make a big farce about how well you listen to them only to ignore them the next minute and, of course, never allow them to make any important decisions.
Concerned Citizen you are fighting that the whites should not be Mugabe's scapegoats. I am fighting that the ordinary black Zimbabweans should not be ignored as if they are invisible and their tragic suffering acknowledged. These are causes worth fighting for but until there is regime change, little will be accomplished!
Zimbabwe had its best chance yet for regime change after the sham 2008 elections; sadly Tsvangirai wasted it. Next time, I am convinced, Mugabe will not get off the hook again!
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
IT IS IMPERATIVE: THE LOOT MUGABE AND HIS CRONIES STOLE IS TAKEN AWAY FROM THEM!
@Be Els
People like Fungayi can afford to live anywhere they wish; they are Mugabe's cronies they a loaded. They have all the time in the world to commit all manner of mischief including haunting all those who point out the gross injustice of the repressive regime.
I had argued that the loot Mugabe and his cronies have stolen must be recovered for two reasons; a) because the nations needs the resources and wealth to finance its recovery and b) because to let the looter keep it will be allowing them to benefit from their crime; double dipping. There is a third reason: c) because these thugs will use their loot to destabilise Zimbabwe for generations to come.
After the fall of this dictatorship the new democratic government in Harare should grant three months for all those with wealth and money they know was obtained fraudulently, for which there were no tax returns, bank transaction records, etc. to declare it and give all the details of their criminal activities and, more significantly, a comprehensive list of their accomplices. Of course the state will be relived of their ill got wealth; they will be glad not to be sent to jail.
After the grace period, the state must go after all the errant criminals and thugs and every penny of their hidden treasures; no expense spared. People like Fungayi must be flashed out of the fox holes they are hiding, like Saddam Hussein!
Anyone with innocent blood on their hands must face justice; that is not negotiable.
People like Fungayi can afford to live anywhere they wish; they are Mugabe's cronies they a loaded. They have all the time in the world to commit all manner of mischief including haunting all those who point out the gross injustice of the repressive regime.
I had argued that the loot Mugabe and his cronies have stolen must be recovered for two reasons; a) because the nations needs the resources and wealth to finance its recovery and b) because to let the looter keep it will be allowing them to benefit from their crime; double dipping. There is a third reason: c) because these thugs will use their loot to destabilise Zimbabwe for generations to come.
After the fall of this dictatorship the new democratic government in Harare should grant three months for all those with wealth and money they know was obtained fraudulently, for which there were no tax returns, bank transaction records, etc. to declare it and give all the details of their criminal activities and, more significantly, a comprehensive list of their accomplices. Of course the state will be relived of their ill got wealth; they will be glad not to be sent to jail.
After the grace period, the state must go after all the errant criminals and thugs and every penny of their hidden treasures; no expense spared. People like Fungayi must be flashed out of the fox holes they are hiding, like Saddam Hussein!
Anyone with innocent blood on their hands must face justice; that is not negotiable.
Monday, 14 June 2010
MUGABE'S PROMISE OF PIE IN THE SKY IS IRRESISTABLE TO MALEMA SUPPORTERS!
Why is it so difficult for you to believe that Mugabe just might be using violence to get what he wants here? He has used violence before and even boasts about it!
You have lived in SA and experience of the brutal repression of the apartheid regime. Is it really a bridge too far for you to believe a black regime can be just as repressive?
There is one possible explanation why Mugabe is hero per excellence to you, it is of course the same reason he is held in high esteem by his cronies in Zimbabwe; he has allowed a chosen few to enjoy absolute power, to loot and have a life style beyond their wildest dream. You clearly see yourself as part of SA’s ruling elite and are getting impatient with leaders like President Zuma for not following Mugabe’s example. Let me give you a free lesson in history and a warning.
So after independent Mugabe had many, many loyalists who unwitting helped him build a de facto one-party state in Zimbabwe. They all thought they too will have a share of the loot and then they did. Then the top leadership was not so greedy and there was plenty to go round. This did not last long; the nation’s capacity to generate wealth started to falter under the growing weight of mismanagement and rampant corruption. Meanwhile the leaders were settling down and their appetite for power and wealth soared. Something had to give; the national wealth was taken away from everyone and shared between and ever shrinking the ruling elite.
Last time you talked of 4 000 white farm being redistributed to 350 000 new black farmers. That is nonsense, I told you; Mugabe and his inner circle have six farmers each!
Mugabe and his cronies are unbelievably rich but there are single Coconut tree Island in a sea of abject poverty. Whilst Mugabe’s daughter is reportedly living in a US$ 5 million apartment in Hong Kong, at tax payers’ expense of course; the state is even spending the same amount of the accommodation of the all university students in Zimbabwe!
Dread Dread6 there are many Zimbabweans a lot smarter than you – you can not even add and multiple for Christ’s sake! They helped Mugabe build this monolithic juggernaut that has crashed the nation’s dreams of peace, freedom and economic prosperity. They did not care about the crashed dream because they thought they will always be one of the select few. Of course that did not happen.
Mugabe even used some of blind loyal supporters to do his dirty work; many of them have blood on their hands, and then dumped them. Some of Mugabe’s most zealous supporters are living in abject poverty; they continue to support Mugabe, of course, but for a different reason. They do not want the world to see the blood on their hands; they secrete is safe as long as Mugabe remains in power.
Dread6, you find the promises dictators like Mugabe offer of unimaginable wealth and absolute power irresistible and would destroy all great leaders like President Nelson Mandela have done for this pie in the sky. It is my sincere hope that there are not many South Africans with your myopic vision and that SA is spared the curse of being ruled by a ruthless tyrant like Mugabe.
Why is it so difficult for you to accept that Mugabe is using violence to achieve his own selfish ends in Marange? Mugabe himself boasts of having degrees in violence. That was only a rhetorical question, I know why.
Mugabe’s dictatorial rule has certainly delivered absolute power and unimagined riches to Zimbabwe’s ruling elite. You can not wait to see this happen in SA; confident you will be among the ruling elite! Let me give you a free lesson in history and a warning.
So after independence many Zimbabweans helped Mugabe build a de facto one-party dictatorship because they believed Mugabe would share the loot and power with them. Then the country was rich and there was plenty to go round. It did not take long before the national cake began to shrink under the double pressure of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption. The situation was made worse by the ruling elite whose appetite for power and wealth had been growing at an exponential rate. What we have in Zimbabwe is an ever shrink island of the super rich and all power in a growing sea of the oppressed masses living in abject poverty.
People like you believed Mugabe’s propaganda that the 4 000 former white farms were redistributed among 350 000 new black farmers. It is common knowledge that Mugabe, his wife and a handful of his cronies alone own as many as six farms each, their children, relatives and mistresses have a farm each, etc. The numbers simply do not add up!
Dread6, many of Mugabe’s most zealous supporters are, like most other Zimbabweans, are as poor as a church mouse. They still support Mugabe only because they have blood on their hands; Mugabe used them to do his dirty work and dumped them. Still, many of them are a lot smarter than you Dread6 – you can not even add for f* sake!
@ Fungayi
“"The report, released in London." This tells you all you need to know doesn't it.” Really!
Farai Maguwu released a similar report in Zimbabwe and where is he now!? In your desperate effort to defend Mugabe, you have once again made a complete idiot of yourself. The CIO must have money to burn if they pay you for this.
You have lived in SA and experience of the brutal repression of the apartheid regime. Is it really a bridge too far for you to believe a black regime can be just as repressive?
There is one possible explanation why Mugabe is hero per excellence to you, it is of course the same reason he is held in high esteem by his cronies in Zimbabwe; he has allowed a chosen few to enjoy absolute power, to loot and have a life style beyond their wildest dream. You clearly see yourself as part of SA’s ruling elite and are getting impatient with leaders like President Zuma for not following Mugabe’s example. Let me give you a free lesson in history and a warning.
So after independent Mugabe had many, many loyalists who unwitting helped him build a de facto one-party state in Zimbabwe. They all thought they too will have a share of the loot and then they did. Then the top leadership was not so greedy and there was plenty to go round. This did not last long; the nation’s capacity to generate wealth started to falter under the growing weight of mismanagement and rampant corruption. Meanwhile the leaders were settling down and their appetite for power and wealth soared. Something had to give; the national wealth was taken away from everyone and shared between and ever shrinking the ruling elite.
Last time you talked of 4 000 white farm being redistributed to 350 000 new black farmers. That is nonsense, I told you; Mugabe and his inner circle have six farmers each!
Mugabe and his cronies are unbelievably rich but there are single Coconut tree Island in a sea of abject poverty. Whilst Mugabe’s daughter is reportedly living in a US$ 5 million apartment in Hong Kong, at tax payers’ expense of course; the state is even spending the same amount of the accommodation of the all university students in Zimbabwe!
Dread Dread6 there are many Zimbabweans a lot smarter than you – you can not even add and multiple for Christ’s sake! They helped Mugabe build this monolithic juggernaut that has crashed the nation’s dreams of peace, freedom and economic prosperity. They did not care about the crashed dream because they thought they will always be one of the select few. Of course that did not happen.
Mugabe even used some of blind loyal supporters to do his dirty work; many of them have blood on their hands, and then dumped them. Some of Mugabe’s most zealous supporters are living in abject poverty; they continue to support Mugabe, of course, but for a different reason. They do not want the world to see the blood on their hands; they secrete is safe as long as Mugabe remains in power.
Dread6, you find the promises dictators like Mugabe offer of unimaginable wealth and absolute power irresistible and would destroy all great leaders like President Nelson Mandela have done for this pie in the sky. It is my sincere hope that there are not many South Africans with your myopic vision and that SA is spared the curse of being ruled by a ruthless tyrant like Mugabe.
Why is it so difficult for you to accept that Mugabe is using violence to achieve his own selfish ends in Marange? Mugabe himself boasts of having degrees in violence. That was only a rhetorical question, I know why.
Mugabe’s dictatorial rule has certainly delivered absolute power and unimagined riches to Zimbabwe’s ruling elite. You can not wait to see this happen in SA; confident you will be among the ruling elite! Let me give you a free lesson in history and a warning.
So after independence many Zimbabweans helped Mugabe build a de facto one-party dictatorship because they believed Mugabe would share the loot and power with them. Then the country was rich and there was plenty to go round. It did not take long before the national cake began to shrink under the double pressure of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption. The situation was made worse by the ruling elite whose appetite for power and wealth had been growing at an exponential rate. What we have in Zimbabwe is an ever shrink island of the super rich and all power in a growing sea of the oppressed masses living in abject poverty.
People like you believed Mugabe’s propaganda that the 4 000 former white farms were redistributed among 350 000 new black farmers. It is common knowledge that Mugabe, his wife and a handful of his cronies alone own as many as six farms each, their children, relatives and mistresses have a farm each, etc. The numbers simply do not add up!
Dread6, many of Mugabe’s most zealous supporters are, like most other Zimbabweans, are as poor as a church mouse. They still support Mugabe only because they have blood on their hands; Mugabe used them to do his dirty work and dumped them. Still, many of them are a lot smarter than you Dread6 – you can not even add for f* sake!
@ Fungayi
“"The report, released in London." This tells you all you need to know doesn't it.” Really!
Farai Maguwu released a similar report in Zimbabwe and where is he now!? In your desperate effort to defend Mugabe, you have once again made a complete idiot of yourself. The CIO must have money to burn if they pay you for this.
Saturday, 29 May 2010
Zimbabweans should not forgive Tsvangirai if the next elections are NOT free and fair!
It was disappointing to hear co-Home Affairs Minister, Giles Mutsekwa talk endless about how MDC is making progress in bringing democratic change to Zimbabwe when facts point to the exact opposite. The Mugabe dictatorship is stronger than ever.
The Police Force is a key supporting pillar of any community equal in importance to the executive branch, the legislature, the judiciary and media. The Zimbabwe Republic Police as it is presently constituted was clearly designed to serve the Mugabe dictatorship and it is naïve to urge that it can still be made to serve the democratic Zimbabwe we are all seeking. In a democracy there is the clear blue water separating the Police from political interference from the executive and all the other branches of government. There are checks and balances on each branch to ensure none becomes a law unto itself. None of these things exist in Zimbabwe.
Minister Mutsekwa admitted that the State President and the Attorney General can “give directives verbal or otherwise” on anything. He also admitted, not that it was anything new, that the Police Force is highly politicised. Hence we end up with a Police Force that has not only routinely turned a blind-eye to politically motivated lawlessness and thuggery by the ruling party’s militia but in 2008 the ZRP (CIO, the Army and all the other State security organs) crossed the red-line by masterminding and playing a pivotal role in the political violence and murders.
At the end of the Zanu PF party Congress in 2009 Mugabe have the ZRP and all the other State Security Organs reaffirm their commitment Zanu PF‘s continued rule. All evidence on the ground point to one thing; the ZRP is geared to support a Zanu PF dictatorship, now more than ever before.
“Transforming a security force, takes a lot of time,” is Minister Mutsekwa’s excuse for his failure to bring about any meaningful reforms of the ZRP after nearly two years of the GNU. “It is a process.” This is the equivalent of the ANC government of President Nelson Mandela carrying over SA’s Police Force with its racist apartheid mentality complete with the notorious pass laws. SA racist Police Force seized to function the day SA had majority rule, it was not a process but an event, because the white regime it served seized to be. On the other hand, in Zimbabwe, the Mugabe dictatorship is very much alive and calls all the shots. As Minister Mutsekwa admitted, the ZRP is controlled and answerable one man Mugabe.
According to Minister Mutsekwa the fact that MDC leaders have been able to make “conduct” with Zimbabwe’s security forces given the hostility of the later was an “achievement” in itself. The hostility of the security chiefs was nothing but a manifestation a ruling elite intoxicated by power and wealth dolled out by the dictator and blind to the national tragic consequences of the dictatorship. The behaviour of the security chiefs must be condemned in no uncertain terms not rewarded with platitudes.
The trouble with Minister Mutsekwa and his fellow MDC leaders is that now that they are in power and is enjoying it, they no longer care about the rest of us or the promise they made to bring democratic change to Zimbabwe. Admittedly many of them are really naïve, they do not have the foggiest what is going on and are no match for a canning fox like Robert Mugabe.
Whilst one has to accept that the ruthless dictatorship of Mugabe has not only destroyed the nation’s economy but more pointedly it destroyed the nation’s body politics. Mugabe poisoned the soil making it impossible for quality leaders to emerge. MDC will go down in history as one of the most incompetent political parties in human history. MDC was hardly the party the nation wanted at the best of time much less when we are in deep, deep trouble. Still beggars can not be choosers.
Granted MDC are a hopelessly incompetent lot and one has to forgive them for wasting a golden opportunity to end Mugabe’s reign of terror by getting him off the hook, for failing to put the Zimbabwe economy back on a firm recovery path, etc., etc. The one thing MDC can not and should not be forgiven for is if Zimbabwe should be plunged into another violent election. This is the one thing that would make the great sacrifices Zimbabweans have made over the years bearable. It is something MDC promised and was well within their reach. The only reason they can fail their mind numbing incompetency and greed - it will be impossible to forgive them for that!
The Police Force is a key supporting pillar of any community equal in importance to the executive branch, the legislature, the judiciary and media. The Zimbabwe Republic Police as it is presently constituted was clearly designed to serve the Mugabe dictatorship and it is naïve to urge that it can still be made to serve the democratic Zimbabwe we are all seeking. In a democracy there is the clear blue water separating the Police from political interference from the executive and all the other branches of government. There are checks and balances on each branch to ensure none becomes a law unto itself. None of these things exist in Zimbabwe.
Minister Mutsekwa admitted that the State President and the Attorney General can “give directives verbal or otherwise” on anything. He also admitted, not that it was anything new, that the Police Force is highly politicised. Hence we end up with a Police Force that has not only routinely turned a blind-eye to politically motivated lawlessness and thuggery by the ruling party’s militia but in 2008 the ZRP (CIO, the Army and all the other State security organs) crossed the red-line by masterminding and playing a pivotal role in the political violence and murders.
At the end of the Zanu PF party Congress in 2009 Mugabe have the ZRP and all the other State Security Organs reaffirm their commitment Zanu PF‘s continued rule. All evidence on the ground point to one thing; the ZRP is geared to support a Zanu PF dictatorship, now more than ever before.
“Transforming a security force, takes a lot of time,” is Minister Mutsekwa’s excuse for his failure to bring about any meaningful reforms of the ZRP after nearly two years of the GNU. “It is a process.” This is the equivalent of the ANC government of President Nelson Mandela carrying over SA’s Police Force with its racist apartheid mentality complete with the notorious pass laws. SA racist Police Force seized to function the day SA had majority rule, it was not a process but an event, because the white regime it served seized to be. On the other hand, in Zimbabwe, the Mugabe dictatorship is very much alive and calls all the shots. As Minister Mutsekwa admitted, the ZRP is controlled and answerable one man Mugabe.
According to Minister Mutsekwa the fact that MDC leaders have been able to make “conduct” with Zimbabwe’s security forces given the hostility of the later was an “achievement” in itself. The hostility of the security chiefs was nothing but a manifestation a ruling elite intoxicated by power and wealth dolled out by the dictator and blind to the national tragic consequences of the dictatorship. The behaviour of the security chiefs must be condemned in no uncertain terms not rewarded with platitudes.
The trouble with Minister Mutsekwa and his fellow MDC leaders is that now that they are in power and is enjoying it, they no longer care about the rest of us or the promise they made to bring democratic change to Zimbabwe. Admittedly many of them are really naïve, they do not have the foggiest what is going on and are no match for a canning fox like Robert Mugabe.
Whilst one has to accept that the ruthless dictatorship of Mugabe has not only destroyed the nation’s economy but more pointedly it destroyed the nation’s body politics. Mugabe poisoned the soil making it impossible for quality leaders to emerge. MDC will go down in history as one of the most incompetent political parties in human history. MDC was hardly the party the nation wanted at the best of time much less when we are in deep, deep trouble. Still beggars can not be choosers.
Granted MDC are a hopelessly incompetent lot and one has to forgive them for wasting a golden opportunity to end Mugabe’s reign of terror by getting him off the hook, for failing to put the Zimbabwe economy back on a firm recovery path, etc., etc. The one thing MDC can not and should not be forgiven for is if Zimbabwe should be plunged into another violent election. This is the one thing that would make the great sacrifices Zimbabweans have made over the years bearable. It is something MDC promised and was well within their reach. The only reason they can fail their mind numbing incompetency and greed - it will be impossible to forgive them for that!
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Tsvangirai says elections are set for next year. He has done absolutely nothing to ensure there will be no violence.
Tsvangirai announce in SA that Zimbabweans will have refresh elections next year.
“Tsvangirai emphasised the country needed to change and he hoped the process leading up to this would speed up,” the Mail and Guardian reported.
Has Tsvangirai done anything, anything at all, to ensure that the kind of political violence that swept Zimbabwe in 2008 is not going to be repeated? The answer to that has to be an unqualified NO.
On the other hand his counterpart, Robert Mugabe, has been very busy making sure the Police, Army and all the other State security Agencies as ready for a repeat of 2008. Hundreds of thousands of Youth Militia, the Zanu PF foot soldiers in 2008, have been forced on the civil servant payroll to keep them sweet and to keep them battle ready they have been involved in endless skirmishes of political violence. Last week Mugabe appointed Zanu PF loyalists on to the Supreme Court; he has this base covered in case there is any legal challenge to his political machinations.
Ever since the formation of the inclusive government Tsvangirai has again and again ignored everything that showed him as anything else other than a completed leader. He would talk of the GNU “working well” even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Zimbabwe has been dying for a chance to get out of the mess Mugabe landed the nation unfortunately this has not happened and will never ever happen till we have competent leaders who will face the difficult issues and tackle them head on. Not idiots like Tsvangirai bubbling nonsense about bringing change whilst doing nothing to ensure it happens!
The people of Zimbabwe have suffered greatly and have been abused repeatedly for the last thirty years by Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai had the chance to end Mugabe’s reign of terror after the shame elections in 2008 and he scuffed it. The GNU has been a total waste of time and many opportunities to set Zimbabwe right were wasted. The one thing Tsvangirai should have delivered without failure was ensuring the nation will never again be subjected to the same violence as seen in 2008. Tsvangirai should ensure the next elections are free and fair and the result reflects the true wish of the Zimbabwean people. Sadly it does not look like that will happen; the idiot has once again scuffed it and the nation will pay dearly for it!
“Tsvangirai emphasised the country needed to change and he hoped the process leading up to this would speed up,” the Mail and Guardian reported.
Has Tsvangirai done anything, anything at all, to ensure that the kind of political violence that swept Zimbabwe in 2008 is not going to be repeated? The answer to that has to be an unqualified NO.
On the other hand his counterpart, Robert Mugabe, has been very busy making sure the Police, Army and all the other State security Agencies as ready for a repeat of 2008. Hundreds of thousands of Youth Militia, the Zanu PF foot soldiers in 2008, have been forced on the civil servant payroll to keep them sweet and to keep them battle ready they have been involved in endless skirmishes of political violence. Last week Mugabe appointed Zanu PF loyalists on to the Supreme Court; he has this base covered in case there is any legal challenge to his political machinations.
Ever since the formation of the inclusive government Tsvangirai has again and again ignored everything that showed him as anything else other than a completed leader. He would talk of the GNU “working well” even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Zimbabwe has been dying for a chance to get out of the mess Mugabe landed the nation unfortunately this has not happened and will never ever happen till we have competent leaders who will face the difficult issues and tackle them head on. Not idiots like Tsvangirai bubbling nonsense about bringing change whilst doing nothing to ensure it happens!
The people of Zimbabwe have suffered greatly and have been abused repeatedly for the last thirty years by Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai had the chance to end Mugabe’s reign of terror after the shame elections in 2008 and he scuffed it. The GNU has been a total waste of time and many opportunities to set Zimbabwe right were wasted. The one thing Tsvangirai should have delivered without failure was ensuring the nation will never again be subjected to the same violence as seen in 2008. Tsvangirai should ensure the next elections are free and fair and the result reflects the true wish of the Zimbabwean people. Sadly it does not look like that will happen; the idiot has once again scuffed it and the nation will pay dearly for it!
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Zimbabweans must start thinking like citizens and not helpless subjects - a quantum leap!
The root cause of all our political and economic problems is that we have never really believed we too can be enjoyed the same human rights and dignities whites, for example, enjoyed. Of course we hoped and wished but that is not the same thing. So when the economic prosperity, peace, freedom, etc we had hoped for did not happen we were disappointed but not mad about it. If we were mad, then we would have been moved to do something about it.
One explanation, why as a people we were content to be subjects, as contrast to being citizens, is that this was the cheap option. As subjects we are helpless victims of the tragic situation that has happened in our country. Citizens would not accept that they were helpless and therefore would be hanging their collective heads in shame and, even more significantly, would now be feverishly seeking to put things right.
A citizen, in this context is entitled to all the basic human rights and freedoms as a birth right. On the other hand a subject would consider these rights and freedoms as privileges to be granted, withdrawn or completely denied at the whim of the ruler or ruling elite. Whilst one give whatever it takes in defence of one’s birth would spare nothing, including life itself, in defence of a birth right; a privilege is not worth the candle. For three decades Mugabe has ridden rough shod over us and we have done very little to stop him!
As subjects we have been content with whatever Mugabe has thrown at us. Professor John Makumbe and National Healing Minister Sekai Holland showed this weakness in their recent Hot Seat interviews. The two simply refused to accept that the GNU has failed to delivery on the all important issue of democratic change. Full shop shelves are no substitute, particularly when Mugabe can have all the policies that resulted in these positive gains reverse at the drop of a hat.
Minister Holland is fooling no one in pretending her national healing activities will end the culture of violence Mugabe has fostered on the nation. The reality on the ground is that Mugabe is forcing more and more Zimbabweans to be actively involved in his violent schemes. For example, last December he got the Zanu PF Congress to pass a resolution in which all Zimbabwe’s security agents accepted they a product of a “revolution” and therefore are expected to support a “revolutionary party” – Zanu PF. During the 2008 Presidential run-off it was the Police, the Army, the CIO and other State Security operatives who have spearheaded the political violence against the people. Mugabe’s popularity has sunk so much it is off the chart, so the State Security Agents will have to step up a gear to get him to “win” the next election. A naïve MDC that will not “see” Mugabe’s political machination for what they really are is only helping Mugabe in his devious schemes.
If a Professor and a Minister with all their advantage of years of schooling, travel, etc., etc. can not think straight, as a citizen should, what of my Aunt, Mai Mariana, deep in rural Zaka and millions others peasants like her. They can not spell democracy let alone understand what it means; how can they be expected to think any clearer.
People like Mugabe have never seen themselves as a citizen either. No self respecting free man would subjugate his own brothers and sisters; never! People like Mugabe are nothing more than a glorified black Slave Overseer of the slave trade days. It is a historic fact that some of these blacks were even more repressive and brutal towards their fellow blacks than the white slave masters. Back in mother Africa, the same blacks hunted their kith and kin and sold them to the whites as slaves for a peace of calico linen or shiny beads!
A citizen in a position of power and authority would think of the common good. A subject would only think of enrich him or herself as quickly as possible at public expense. Of course, once in power they would do anything including betraying the very people who put them there. The GNU resulted in a bloated government; even by Mugabe’s oversized past standard; because it was not about good governance but about getting as many Zanu PF, MDC-T and MDC-M members to “eat”, as Tanonoka Joseph Whande has aptly put it.
Unless we must start seeking for a better understanding of our true situation beyond the superficial nonsense from Zanu PF or MDC spin-doctors and fight for justice solution out of this mess; we will remain stuck where we are. We should stop seeing ourselves as subjects, helpless victims, and instead see ourselves as citizens, masters of our own destiny – a quantum leap!
One explanation, why as a people we were content to be subjects, as contrast to being citizens, is that this was the cheap option. As subjects we are helpless victims of the tragic situation that has happened in our country. Citizens would not accept that they were helpless and therefore would be hanging their collective heads in shame and, even more significantly, would now be feverishly seeking to put things right.
A citizen, in this context is entitled to all the basic human rights and freedoms as a birth right. On the other hand a subject would consider these rights and freedoms as privileges to be granted, withdrawn or completely denied at the whim of the ruler or ruling elite. Whilst one give whatever it takes in defence of one’s birth would spare nothing, including life itself, in defence of a birth right; a privilege is not worth the candle. For three decades Mugabe has ridden rough shod over us and we have done very little to stop him!
As subjects we have been content with whatever Mugabe has thrown at us. Professor John Makumbe and National Healing Minister Sekai Holland showed this weakness in their recent Hot Seat interviews. The two simply refused to accept that the GNU has failed to delivery on the all important issue of democratic change. Full shop shelves are no substitute, particularly when Mugabe can have all the policies that resulted in these positive gains reverse at the drop of a hat.
Minister Holland is fooling no one in pretending her national healing activities will end the culture of violence Mugabe has fostered on the nation. The reality on the ground is that Mugabe is forcing more and more Zimbabweans to be actively involved in his violent schemes. For example, last December he got the Zanu PF Congress to pass a resolution in which all Zimbabwe’s security agents accepted they a product of a “revolution” and therefore are expected to support a “revolutionary party” – Zanu PF. During the 2008 Presidential run-off it was the Police, the Army, the CIO and other State Security operatives who have spearheaded the political violence against the people. Mugabe’s popularity has sunk so much it is off the chart, so the State Security Agents will have to step up a gear to get him to “win” the next election. A naïve MDC that will not “see” Mugabe’s political machination for what they really are is only helping Mugabe in his devious schemes.
If a Professor and a Minister with all their advantage of years of schooling, travel, etc., etc. can not think straight, as a citizen should, what of my Aunt, Mai Mariana, deep in rural Zaka and millions others peasants like her. They can not spell democracy let alone understand what it means; how can they be expected to think any clearer.
People like Mugabe have never seen themselves as a citizen either. No self respecting free man would subjugate his own brothers and sisters; never! People like Mugabe are nothing more than a glorified black Slave Overseer of the slave trade days. It is a historic fact that some of these blacks were even more repressive and brutal towards their fellow blacks than the white slave masters. Back in mother Africa, the same blacks hunted their kith and kin and sold them to the whites as slaves for a peace of calico linen or shiny beads!
A citizen in a position of power and authority would think of the common good. A subject would only think of enrich him or herself as quickly as possible at public expense. Of course, once in power they would do anything including betraying the very people who put them there. The GNU resulted in a bloated government; even by Mugabe’s oversized past standard; because it was not about good governance but about getting as many Zanu PF, MDC-T and MDC-M members to “eat”, as Tanonoka Joseph Whande has aptly put it.
Unless we must start seeking for a better understanding of our true situation beyond the superficial nonsense from Zanu PF or MDC spin-doctors and fight for justice solution out of this mess; we will remain stuck where we are. We should stop seeing ourselves as subjects, helpless victims, and instead see ourselves as citizens, masters of our own destiny – a quantum leap!
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