“We are here because there is hope,” Congressman Gregory Meeks told journalists soon after meeting Tsvangirai on Tuesday. This is the kind of false hope we in Zimbabwe can do without. What reason(s) does the Congressman has for his optimisms?
“The Prime Minister has told us that there are so many good things in as far as the unity agreement is concerned and that the differences they may have can be worked out,” Congressman Meeks explained. What nonsense!
This unity government has is almost a year old since they signed the GPA and seven month old since the formation of the GNU and still they can not agree on minor issues like the appointment of RBZ governor. The rainy season is upon us and still the teething problem of getting back the farms seized by Mugabe and his cronies now laying idle can be put to productive use again has not even been brought up yet. Indeed the farm invasions has continued and thus disrupting the little agricultural production that was still taking place.
Congressman, Zimbabwe was once able to produce enough food not only for its own people but with surplus for export. It was the bread basket of the region; that is a fact. Today 80% of our people are totally dependent on food aid and, sadly, there is nothing to show this is set to change.
The GNU has yet to address the big beasts in the political front. The writing of the new constitution has been kicked into the tall grass. The GNU is yet to investigate and punish all those involved in the politically motivated violence and murders during last year’s sham presidential run-off elections. There are the institutional reforms of the Police and other State Security arms still to do. No one in the GNU has yet raised any of these issues and without them Zimbabwe’s next election will be yet another sham.
Congressman Meeks understand that PM Tsvangirai has his own selfish reasons – he has joined Mugabe at the high table being one of them - for giving a positive spin to everything the GNU has done. The reality is this GNU nothing but a Mugabe dictatorship by another name. It is bad enough that we, Zimbabweans, continue to suffer under this dictatorship but, please, do not insulting our intelligence by talking of hope in this political marriage of convenience.
Ironically almost all the American leaders who have dealt with Zimbabwe so far including President Obama, have all dismissed this GNU as a failure. Congressman Meeks is therefore sending a contrary message. PM Tsvangirai has so far been swimming against the popular and logical current of opnion, of course he will now seize on Congressman Meeks' very words. Only last week he was finally talking of pulling out of the GNU, he was desperately searching for an excuse to stay put - and the Congressman has given him one!
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Sunday, 30 August 2009
PRESIDENT ZUMA AND SA WILL LIVE TO REGRET THE WASTED OPPORTUNITIES TO RESOLVE THE ZIMBABWE PROBLEM
To begin to understand African leaders one must understand the two things that govern their thinking when confronted with a particularly difficult situation or problem:
1) They will search for some good, even if it is minute and insignificant, and use it to justify why they are doing nothing to resolve the problem. They are guided by the eternal optimist’s creed; it does not matter how bad things are, there is always room for them to get worse and therefore one should be grateful that there are only bad. Take this one step further, and African leaders always do, then even the bad would disappear and out of the pitch blackness of despair only they see a whole galaxy of stars and hope!
“The important factor is that there is commitment amongst all parties, which will make the movement forward possible,” said President Zuma.
Commitment, what commitment? It is now seven months after the formation of the GNU and still the parties are yet to agree on minor issues like the appointment of governor of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. What chance is there that they will agree on the more contentious issues like taking back the idle farms from Mugabe and his cronies – a key plunk in the nation’s economic recovery plan – for example?
When the reality of bad things on the ground is self evident and beyond question; African leaders’ fall back on their plan “B”:
2) They kick the problem into the tall grass or else pass it on to someone if they can. Africa is awash with heroes and heroines all honoured for a multitude of reasons of which sticking one’s head above the pulpit when it matters is certainly not one of the reasons. They all have taken to heart to the Shona sage “Bere zvarakatya, mapakatwa aro mangani!” – The hyena is a coward but then he does not many battle scars either!
After the mess former President Mbeki had made of the Zimbabwe problem and the serious threat to SA’s own stability and prosperity Zimbabwe was already causing; addressing Zimbabwe’s on going problem should have been top on President Zuma’s agent. The fact that the SADC presidency was going to someone else should have made this even more urgent. Surprise, surprise President Zuma seemed to be relieved to pass Zimbabwe to someone else to deal with.
President Zuma and the whole of SA will live to regret they missed the many opportunities to end Zimbabwe’s relentless slid into the abyss – Zimbabwe will pull many other countries including SA down with it.
Leaders like Mugabe, PM Tsvangirai, former President Mbeki, President Zuma, etc.; all clamour – in Mugabe’s case murder – for political power. Once they get it, they do not know what to do with it other than to enrich themselves and their cronies. They have no sense of duty and responsibility to themselves, the nation or all those whose very lives are totally dependent on everything they do.
Zimbabwe is facing serious economic and political problems and they are all man-made problems. Instead of dealing with these problems Zimbabwe’s political leaders have been contend to tinker at the edges and now, sadly SA’s President Zuma has joined them in this futile exercise. Meanwhile the ordinary Zimbabweans continue to suffer!
It was all very well for President Zuma to preach about the need for Africa to unite over important values like democracy and human rights. These are empty words; he should take his duties and responsibilities more seriously instead. President Zuma and is fellow leaders across the Limpopo River should take a page from US President Truman and have the sign “The Buck stops here” on their desks.
And we the ordinary people must also take our duty to hold our leaders to account seriously too. It is true that in Zimbabwe people like Mugabe have usurped the people’s basic and fundamental right to have a meaningful say in the governance of the country. We will have to take this right; we should never expect people like Mugabe to simply give this right back. We will have to fight for it or whatever it takes.
1) They will search for some good, even if it is minute and insignificant, and use it to justify why they are doing nothing to resolve the problem. They are guided by the eternal optimist’s creed; it does not matter how bad things are, there is always room for them to get worse and therefore one should be grateful that there are only bad. Take this one step further, and African leaders always do, then even the bad would disappear and out of the pitch blackness of despair only they see a whole galaxy of stars and hope!
“The important factor is that there is commitment amongst all parties, which will make the movement forward possible,” said President Zuma.
Commitment, what commitment? It is now seven months after the formation of the GNU and still the parties are yet to agree on minor issues like the appointment of governor of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. What chance is there that they will agree on the more contentious issues like taking back the idle farms from Mugabe and his cronies – a key plunk in the nation’s economic recovery plan – for example?
When the reality of bad things on the ground is self evident and beyond question; African leaders’ fall back on their plan “B”:
2) They kick the problem into the tall grass or else pass it on to someone if they can. Africa is awash with heroes and heroines all honoured for a multitude of reasons of which sticking one’s head above the pulpit when it matters is certainly not one of the reasons. They all have taken to heart to the Shona sage “Bere zvarakatya, mapakatwa aro mangani!” – The hyena is a coward but then he does not many battle scars either!
After the mess former President Mbeki had made of the Zimbabwe problem and the serious threat to SA’s own stability and prosperity Zimbabwe was already causing; addressing Zimbabwe’s on going problem should have been top on President Zuma’s agent. The fact that the SADC presidency was going to someone else should have made this even more urgent. Surprise, surprise President Zuma seemed to be relieved to pass Zimbabwe to someone else to deal with.
President Zuma and the whole of SA will live to regret they missed the many opportunities to end Zimbabwe’s relentless slid into the abyss – Zimbabwe will pull many other countries including SA down with it.
Leaders like Mugabe, PM Tsvangirai, former President Mbeki, President Zuma, etc.; all clamour – in Mugabe’s case murder – for political power. Once they get it, they do not know what to do with it other than to enrich themselves and their cronies. They have no sense of duty and responsibility to themselves, the nation or all those whose very lives are totally dependent on everything they do.
Zimbabwe is facing serious economic and political problems and they are all man-made problems. Instead of dealing with these problems Zimbabwe’s political leaders have been contend to tinker at the edges and now, sadly SA’s President Zuma has joined them in this futile exercise. Meanwhile the ordinary Zimbabweans continue to suffer!
It was all very well for President Zuma to preach about the need for Africa to unite over important values like democracy and human rights. These are empty words; he should take his duties and responsibilities more seriously instead. President Zuma and is fellow leaders across the Limpopo River should take a page from US President Truman and have the sign “The Buck stops here” on their desks.
And we the ordinary people must also take our duty to hold our leaders to account seriously too. It is true that in Zimbabwe people like Mugabe have usurped the people’s basic and fundamental right to have a meaningful say in the governance of the country. We will have to take this right; we should never expect people like Mugabe to simply give this right back. We will have to fight for it or whatever it takes.
Saturday, 29 August 2009
PRESIDENT ZUMA OFFER NO SOLUTION TO ZIMBABWE STALEMATE: TSVANGIRAI HAS NO EXCUSE NOW BUT END THIS GNU!
Prime Minister Tsvangirai had complained to S A’s President Jacob Zuma about Mugabe’s continued failure to honour the terms of the GPA. President Zuma has been to Zimbabwe and gone and all he said is some platitudes about SADC being committed to help Zimbabwe solve its problems.
Zimbabwe's nightmare will have to be solved by us Zimbabweans ourselves. But having elected MDC, one would expect Tsvangirai and his MDC Ministers and MPs to be leading the charge or at the very least fighting with along side the people. Surely, that is not too much to ask.
Sadly MDC and the rest of the people are pulling in opposite directions. Any Zimbabwean who even the most basic understanding of what is going on – except those with something to gain from the chaos and confusion griping the country – have now come to the conclusion that the GNU is not working. Even those who had supported it and wanted to give it a chance have now finally lost hope.
Tsvangirai and the rest in MDC have always admitted that Zimbabwe’s economic recovery is dependent on massive foreign aid; US $ 8 to 10 billion to be exact. So when the West refused to bankroll this GNU because they did not believe it was anything other than a Mugabe dictatorship by another name – something MDC itself has been complaining about all along -; MDC should have realised at this point that the game was up.
Even before the signing of the GPA, many Zimbabweans had public said power sharing with Mugabe would not work. They argued MDC not to do it. At the time Tsvangirai had said if the power sharing did not work, he would pull out. A few months after the formation of the GNU, he changed his tune; all of a sudden, the GNU was the “only game in town!”
Tsvangirai has threatened to do a lot of things but at the end of the day, he never had the guts to do most of them. Again and again Mugabe called his bluff and won. Mugabe must have known that once Tsvangirai and his fellow MDC leaders had had a taste of power they would not want to give it up no matter what. And once again time has proven Mugabe right.
Tsvangirai had pinned a lot of hope on SA’s President Jacob Zuma to force Mugabe to honour the terms of the GPA. Now it is clear that was one thing President Zuma could not deliver. Next month the SADC presidency will be passed on from President Zuma to the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kabila - a staunch ally of Mugabe. He will never push Mugabe to do anything!
With the West saying they will not give a NGU a penny until there is real democratic change and President Kabila set to support Mugabe’s dictatorial rule to the hilt; MDC is fast running out of excuses for its continued support of this GNU. MDC will have no excuse now but join the rest of the ordinary Zimbabweans in ending this GNU and thus Mugabe’s ruinous rule of Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe's nightmare will have to be solved by us Zimbabweans ourselves. But having elected MDC, one would expect Tsvangirai and his MDC Ministers and MPs to be leading the charge or at the very least fighting with along side the people. Surely, that is not too much to ask.
Sadly MDC and the rest of the people are pulling in opposite directions. Any Zimbabwean who even the most basic understanding of what is going on – except those with something to gain from the chaos and confusion griping the country – have now come to the conclusion that the GNU is not working. Even those who had supported it and wanted to give it a chance have now finally lost hope.
Tsvangirai and the rest in MDC have always admitted that Zimbabwe’s economic recovery is dependent on massive foreign aid; US $ 8 to 10 billion to be exact. So when the West refused to bankroll this GNU because they did not believe it was anything other than a Mugabe dictatorship by another name – something MDC itself has been complaining about all along -; MDC should have realised at this point that the game was up.
Even before the signing of the GPA, many Zimbabweans had public said power sharing with Mugabe would not work. They argued MDC not to do it. At the time Tsvangirai had said if the power sharing did not work, he would pull out. A few months after the formation of the GNU, he changed his tune; all of a sudden, the GNU was the “only game in town!”
Tsvangirai has threatened to do a lot of things but at the end of the day, he never had the guts to do most of them. Again and again Mugabe called his bluff and won. Mugabe must have known that once Tsvangirai and his fellow MDC leaders had had a taste of power they would not want to give it up no matter what. And once again time has proven Mugabe right.
Tsvangirai had pinned a lot of hope on SA’s President Jacob Zuma to force Mugabe to honour the terms of the GPA. Now it is clear that was one thing President Zuma could not deliver. Next month the SADC presidency will be passed on from President Zuma to the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kabila - a staunch ally of Mugabe. He will never push Mugabe to do anything!
With the West saying they will not give a NGU a penny until there is real democratic change and President Kabila set to support Mugabe’s dictatorial rule to the hilt; MDC is fast running out of excuses for its continued support of this GNU. MDC will have no excuse now but join the rest of the ordinary Zimbabweans in ending this GNU and thus Mugabe’s ruinous rule of Zimbabwe.
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
ZIMBABWEANS DO NOT DESERVE DICTATOR MUGABE: AS FOR "DZUNGU" TSVANGIRAI THEY VOTED FOR HIM OUT OF DESPERATION!
“If every nation gets the leaders it deserves,” wrote Melanie McDonagh in the UK Sunday Times, “the Germans deserve (Chancellor Angela) Merkel, dull and competent.”
In Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe got a very boastful, excitable and unbelievably incompetent PM; deserving or not.
In my Form One Class, there was a boy who relished telling every one of his excellent Grade Seven examination results. He would rattle the names of all the neighbouring rural areas of which he was the top student. “KwaDanda, Ziguvo, Charungeno, Chipanza, kose kose hapana iitipwee,” he boasted. His end of first term school report was not much to talk about, except that it did helped shut him up.
What Dzungu, the class had nicknamed that meaning boastful and easily excitable, failed to understand was that the Grade Seven results were important in helping one secure a Form One school place; nothing more. If he had paid more attention to his school work he probably would have done a lot better than his below average report showed.
Tsvangirai reminds me of Dzungu; ever since he was sworn in as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe he has carried on as if he was the brightest Star in the Zimbabwe sky. When he visited the West in June and met leaders like Chancellor Merkel and US President Obama; he even condescended to preaching to them! The begging bowl he carried did nothing to humble him. He told the Western Leaders Mugabe had changed and that Zimbabwe was on an “irreversible” path to democratic change all in stack contrast to the reality on the ground. The Western leaders pointed this out to him but clearly he was not listening.
Tsvangirai asked the West to lift the targeted sanctions and renew financial assistance to Zimbabwe. And that was when the Western leaders told him when to get off; they did no such things!
Tsvangirai was way out of his depth; he can not be compared to such leaders as US President Obama in intellect, economic clout and public profile. And yet Tsvangirai behave as if he is. It was this pompous attitude that Zimbabweans in London did not like and booed him off the stage. He is like Dzungu boosting about his Grade Seven results to First Class Honours University Graduates who would use the Grade 7 certificate to wipe their backside!
In Mugabe Zimbabwe has is a spiteful and foul mouthed conman whose dirty past has finally caught up with him. For years he has masqueraded as a great statesman and liberation hero. Many people showed him with praise and honorary University Degrees. But time has shown him to be nothing more than a little man of little intellect whose love for power and wealth knew no limit. Many of the Universities have, in shame, since recalled the honorary degrees conferred on him. The fact that he was still able to con PM Morgan Tsvangirai is itself a sign of just how gullible the later is.
Mugabe should rightly be in The Hague, with former Liberia dictator Charles Taylor, facing charges of serious human rights violations. He has murdered tens of thousands of innocent Zimbabweans during his three decades of ruinous and murderous rule of Zimbabwe.
I can not think of anything Zimbabweans have done to “deserve” Mugabe. As for Tsvangirai, they voted for him because they were desperate to get rid of Mugabe; and desperate people do indeed do desperate things!
“And I mean it as a compliment,” confessed Melanie McDonagh commenting on her “dual and competent” caricature of Chancellor Merkel. Describing Tsvangirai as “Dzungu” and Mugabe as a dictator is purely to state the facts as one sees them!
In Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe got a very boastful, excitable and unbelievably incompetent PM; deserving or not.
In my Form One Class, there was a boy who relished telling every one of his excellent Grade Seven examination results. He would rattle the names of all the neighbouring rural areas of which he was the top student. “KwaDanda, Ziguvo, Charungeno, Chipanza, kose kose hapana iitipwee,” he boasted. His end of first term school report was not much to talk about, except that it did helped shut him up.
What Dzungu, the class had nicknamed that meaning boastful and easily excitable, failed to understand was that the Grade Seven results were important in helping one secure a Form One school place; nothing more. If he had paid more attention to his school work he probably would have done a lot better than his below average report showed.
Tsvangirai reminds me of Dzungu; ever since he was sworn in as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe he has carried on as if he was the brightest Star in the Zimbabwe sky. When he visited the West in June and met leaders like Chancellor Merkel and US President Obama; he even condescended to preaching to them! The begging bowl he carried did nothing to humble him. He told the Western Leaders Mugabe had changed and that Zimbabwe was on an “irreversible” path to democratic change all in stack contrast to the reality on the ground. The Western leaders pointed this out to him but clearly he was not listening.
Tsvangirai asked the West to lift the targeted sanctions and renew financial assistance to Zimbabwe. And that was when the Western leaders told him when to get off; they did no such things!
Tsvangirai was way out of his depth; he can not be compared to such leaders as US President Obama in intellect, economic clout and public profile. And yet Tsvangirai behave as if he is. It was this pompous attitude that Zimbabweans in London did not like and booed him off the stage. He is like Dzungu boosting about his Grade Seven results to First Class Honours University Graduates who would use the Grade 7 certificate to wipe their backside!
In Mugabe Zimbabwe has is a spiteful and foul mouthed conman whose dirty past has finally caught up with him. For years he has masqueraded as a great statesman and liberation hero. Many people showed him with praise and honorary University Degrees. But time has shown him to be nothing more than a little man of little intellect whose love for power and wealth knew no limit. Many of the Universities have, in shame, since recalled the honorary degrees conferred on him. The fact that he was still able to con PM Morgan Tsvangirai is itself a sign of just how gullible the later is.
Mugabe should rightly be in The Hague, with former Liberia dictator Charles Taylor, facing charges of serious human rights violations. He has murdered tens of thousands of innocent Zimbabweans during his three decades of ruinous and murderous rule of Zimbabwe.
I can not think of anything Zimbabweans have done to “deserve” Mugabe. As for Tsvangirai, they voted for him because they were desperate to get rid of Mugabe; and desperate people do indeed do desperate things!
“And I mean it as a compliment,” confessed Melanie McDonagh commenting on her “dual and competent” caricature of Chancellor Merkel. Describing Tsvangirai as “Dzungu” and Mugabe as a dictator is purely to state the facts as one sees them!
Saturday, 22 August 2009
TSVANGIRAI SAYS THE HEALTH SERVICE IS IN INTENSIVE CARE - SO TOO IS THE GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL UNITY!
Tsvangirai syas he is concerned about the nation's Health System and the condition of services of the health workers. “I am aware that your conditions of service still leave a lot to be desired,” Tsvangirai said. “But you cannot have a better trade unionist that me.”
Oh, yah! Just what did you achieved in all years as Secretary General of ZCTU? Nothing; that is what!
For the first tens years of our independence Mugabe attended Workers’ Day celebrations without failure. He would gave his trade-mark rambling two-hour speeches and the workers sat through the mid-morning heat with patience, waiting for the hefty wage increases marking the end of the each speech. Of course the nation did not need Tsvangirai and his ZCTU colleagues then. The employers listened to the speeches with heavy hearts because the pay increases were never tied to increased productivity and, worse still, the regime had imposed tight price controls.
The populist wage policies made Mugabe popular with the ordinary people but did not make any economic sense. It was short-sighted policies like this – there was a whole catalogue of them – that sowed the seed of Zimbabwe’s economic melt down to follow.
By 1990 the national economy was already in serious trouble so much so that Mugabe was forced to abandon many of his socialist policies including his unilateral wage increases for the workers. The workers and the employers were to agree on pay packages. Government also ended its price controls, although this was a measure the regime was to reintroduce again and again later. Ever since the workers have suffered double blow of shrinking wages package and ever increasing prices. The ZCTU, under Sibanda and Tsvangirai’s leadership, agreed on below inflation rate wage increases year after year. With such a pathetic track record only Tsvangirai would be so conceited to boost about it.
Prime Minister Tsvangirai negotiated the GPA with the same mind boggling incompetence he showed during his ZCTU days; the nation has been fighting to end Mugabe’s dictatorial rule and Tsvangirai agreed to give Mugabe all the dictatorial powers. Mugabe responded by kicking Tsvangirai, his MDC party and the nation at large in the teeth; he is a ruthless dictator, what else do you expect! Meanwhile Tsvangirai, with his self assured naivety, continues to pretend Mugabe has change and Zimbabwe is on an “irreversible” path to democratic rule. Tsvangirai has fooled no one; much less the West whom the GNU had hoped would bankroll the economic recovery.
“Sadly, it (the health system) is a far cry from the shining example that it was a few years back. One might say it is itself in the intensive care,” Tsvangirai said.
Mr Prime Minister, it is not just the Health Service that is in IC; the GNU too. Without any meaningful economic recovery, this GNU is doomed.
Oh, yah! Just what did you achieved in all years as Secretary General of ZCTU? Nothing; that is what!
For the first tens years of our independence Mugabe attended Workers’ Day celebrations without failure. He would gave his trade-mark rambling two-hour speeches and the workers sat through the mid-morning heat with patience, waiting for the hefty wage increases marking the end of the each speech. Of course the nation did not need Tsvangirai and his ZCTU colleagues then. The employers listened to the speeches with heavy hearts because the pay increases were never tied to increased productivity and, worse still, the regime had imposed tight price controls.
The populist wage policies made Mugabe popular with the ordinary people but did not make any economic sense. It was short-sighted policies like this – there was a whole catalogue of them – that sowed the seed of Zimbabwe’s economic melt down to follow.
By 1990 the national economy was already in serious trouble so much so that Mugabe was forced to abandon many of his socialist policies including his unilateral wage increases for the workers. The workers and the employers were to agree on pay packages. Government also ended its price controls, although this was a measure the regime was to reintroduce again and again later. Ever since the workers have suffered double blow of shrinking wages package and ever increasing prices. The ZCTU, under Sibanda and Tsvangirai’s leadership, agreed on below inflation rate wage increases year after year. With such a pathetic track record only Tsvangirai would be so conceited to boost about it.
Prime Minister Tsvangirai negotiated the GPA with the same mind boggling incompetence he showed during his ZCTU days; the nation has been fighting to end Mugabe’s dictatorial rule and Tsvangirai agreed to give Mugabe all the dictatorial powers. Mugabe responded by kicking Tsvangirai, his MDC party and the nation at large in the teeth; he is a ruthless dictator, what else do you expect! Meanwhile Tsvangirai, with his self assured naivety, continues to pretend Mugabe has change and Zimbabwe is on an “irreversible” path to democratic rule. Tsvangirai has fooled no one; much less the West whom the GNU had hoped would bankroll the economic recovery.
“Sadly, it (the health system) is a far cry from the shining example that it was a few years back. One might say it is itself in the intensive care,” Tsvangirai said.
Mr Prime Minister, it is not just the Health Service that is in IC; the GNU too. Without any meaningful economic recovery, this GNU is doomed.
Friday, 14 August 2009
THOSE CALLING FOR WEST AID TO GNU SEEK TO APPEASE MUGABE AND DO NOT UNDERSTAND PSYCHO OF THE DICTATOR.
Anyone who thinks Zimbabwe can be saved from collapse by pouring foreign aid now then he or she does not understand the true Mugabe mentality.
For years Mugabe has claimed Zimbabwe's economic melt down was cause by the West's targeted sanctions. Well the events since MDC joint Zanu PF to form the GNU has settled that matter beyond doubt. MDC removed all the price controls and all the other stupid Zanu PF policies and within weeks the shops that had been empty of food and other goods filled up. MDC kicked RBZ Governor Gideon Gono and closed down his money printing crazy and, overnight, the country’s hyper inflation was a thing of the past.
Everyone would agree there has been a significant economic improvement in Zimbabwe. The targeted sanctions are still firmly in place. Thus proving it was not the sanctions but the bad Mugabe policies that were causing all the problems. QED!
Gono’s money printing scheme gave the Mugabe regime unfettered access to all foreign currency into the country from which the regime too a lion’s share. That has hit the dictatorship very hard; for the first time many in the ruling elite are for the first time experiencing the same economic hardships that the rest faced everyday for the last decade. The regime has other wealth generating schemes like its very lucrative dealing in illicit Marange diamonds but is benefiting only the top dogs in the dictatorship’s packing order.
The Mugabe dictatorship was hoping Tsvangirai would bring a begging bowl full of cash, they knew they would cream off a lot from that; and also get the targeted sanctions lifted, so they could access their other looted wealth. If the financial aid helped in Zimbabwe’s economic recovery then well and good but that will only be incidental, as far as Mugabe and his cronies are concerned. If they had cared about the national economy, then why did they drag it into this hell, in the first place?
The GNU is not working because Mugabe is determined to hold on to his dictatorial powers at all costs including that the desperately needed economic recovery fail to materialise. Even if the West was to put aside its demands for meaningful political reforms and pour in the financial aid there is no guarantee the economic recovery will take place. As long as Mugabe has his dictatorial powers he will cream off a lot of the aid to pay his ruling elite.
For three decades Zimbabweans have tried appeasing Mugabe by letting him do as he pleased and look where it has landed the country. Those who want the West to pour financial aid even when it is self evident Mugabe is still behaving in his dictatorial ways only want the West to appease Mugabe. These people are only encouraging Mugabe to hold on hoping the appeasement brigade will win the day.
The West, right across the board, has given a clear message to Mugabe; there will be no financial assistance without meaningful political change. In the circumstance, that means regime change. And so be it, then Mugabe must go. It is entirely up to Mugabe whom he is going to listen to; the appeasement brigade or those with the hard cash!
There two reasons why the Doctors, Teachers and the other Zimbabwean worker should go on strike and force this GNU to collapse, if need be. First, the GNU has not taken the issue of economic recovery seriously; they should have pushed Mugabe to give up his dictatorial powers by now if the had. Two, the politicians across the divide have their head down in the feeding trough already, giving Ministers Mercedes Benz and buying luxury cars for the rest. This GNU is too bloated as it is without all this reckless spending on top of it.
If the GNU had a clear economic plan to get Zimbabwe out of this hell-hole, then one can argue the ordinary Zimbabweans to be patient. Without the West’s financial assistance and the politicians spending recklessly there is no chance of an economic recovery. What would the Zimbabwe public be waiting for; for things to get a lot worse again?
For years Mugabe has claimed Zimbabwe's economic melt down was cause by the West's targeted sanctions. Well the events since MDC joint Zanu PF to form the GNU has settled that matter beyond doubt. MDC removed all the price controls and all the other stupid Zanu PF policies and within weeks the shops that had been empty of food and other goods filled up. MDC kicked RBZ Governor Gideon Gono and closed down his money printing crazy and, overnight, the country’s hyper inflation was a thing of the past.
Everyone would agree there has been a significant economic improvement in Zimbabwe. The targeted sanctions are still firmly in place. Thus proving it was not the sanctions but the bad Mugabe policies that were causing all the problems. QED!
Gono’s money printing scheme gave the Mugabe regime unfettered access to all foreign currency into the country from which the regime too a lion’s share. That has hit the dictatorship very hard; for the first time many in the ruling elite are for the first time experiencing the same economic hardships that the rest faced everyday for the last decade. The regime has other wealth generating schemes like its very lucrative dealing in illicit Marange diamonds but is benefiting only the top dogs in the dictatorship’s packing order.
The Mugabe dictatorship was hoping Tsvangirai would bring a begging bowl full of cash, they knew they would cream off a lot from that; and also get the targeted sanctions lifted, so they could access their other looted wealth. If the financial aid helped in Zimbabwe’s economic recovery then well and good but that will only be incidental, as far as Mugabe and his cronies are concerned. If they had cared about the national economy, then why did they drag it into this hell, in the first place?
The GNU is not working because Mugabe is determined to hold on to his dictatorial powers at all costs including that the desperately needed economic recovery fail to materialise. Even if the West was to put aside its demands for meaningful political reforms and pour in the financial aid there is no guarantee the economic recovery will take place. As long as Mugabe has his dictatorial powers he will cream off a lot of the aid to pay his ruling elite.
For three decades Zimbabweans have tried appeasing Mugabe by letting him do as he pleased and look where it has landed the country. Those who want the West to pour financial aid even when it is self evident Mugabe is still behaving in his dictatorial ways only want the West to appease Mugabe. These people are only encouraging Mugabe to hold on hoping the appeasement brigade will win the day.
The West, right across the board, has given a clear message to Mugabe; there will be no financial assistance without meaningful political change. In the circumstance, that means regime change. And so be it, then Mugabe must go. It is entirely up to Mugabe whom he is going to listen to; the appeasement brigade or those with the hard cash!
There two reasons why the Doctors, Teachers and the other Zimbabwean worker should go on strike and force this GNU to collapse, if need be. First, the GNU has not taken the issue of economic recovery seriously; they should have pushed Mugabe to give up his dictatorial powers by now if the had. Two, the politicians across the divide have their head down in the feeding trough already, giving Ministers Mercedes Benz and buying luxury cars for the rest. This GNU is too bloated as it is without all this reckless spending on top of it.
If the GNU had a clear economic plan to get Zimbabwe out of this hell-hole, then one can argue the ordinary Zimbabweans to be patient. Without the West’s financial assistance and the politicians spending recklessly there is no chance of an economic recovery. What would the Zimbabwe public be waiting for; for things to get a lot worse again?
I DO NOT NEED TO BE A POLITICIAN TO COMMENT OF PUBLIC MATTERS: IT IS MY RIGHT AND DUTY TO DO SO!
This is a reply to Skint War Vet's comment on the last blog which also apeared in the Zimbabwe Times.
Skint, you say you will ask one question and then go on to ask several questions and make some remarks besides. Still I will answer them to the best of my ability.
Question: What else should Biti and Tsvangirai or MDC in general, have done that could have removed Mugabe from power?
Answer: You have to understand that after the sham 27 June 2008, Mugabe had politically “hanged” himself – no one was prepared to accept him as the legitimate president of Zimbabwe after such a violent and murderous campaign. Mugabe was finished! No one with any sense would trust such a brute to hold any position of power and authority – that, sadly, did not include Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai cut down the dictator and reinstated him – a stupid mistake, particularly since the brute has continued to keep Tsvangirai and the nation at large in the teeth as soon he caught his breath! Still, it is water under the bridge; what can we do NOW to remove Mugabe?
Tsvangirai insists the GNU is working and the next minute he is complaining about Mugabe’s arrogance and intransigence. Well there is an example of some one who can not make up his mind. He keeps talking about the GNU being “the only game in town”. Again another stupid move, telling Mugabe that has made the dictator even more arrogant! If the GNU is NOT working – and it is not – then we must have the courage to face that reality and explore other options.
The next best option is for MDC to walkout of the GNU. Then there will have to be fresh elections. Yes Mugabe will probably have to resort to the same violent and murderous tactic to win. (There is no guarantee that at the end of the GNU when fresh elections will be necessary, Mugabe will not use violence. So staying the present course out of fear of fresh election violence is only saving to post pone and not eliminate the threat. Indeed, I would even argue that delaying elections is helping Mugabe to reorganise and find better ways of hiding his murderous activities.)
Another sham election would put Mugabe back where he was after the 27 June 2008 election – bungling at the end of the hangman’s rope. Hopeful Tsvangirai will not step in and cut the rope – but I would not count on it!
Q: Why haven’t you formed your own party so that you can remove Mugabe or even MDC from government?
A: So you think only the politicians have the exclusive right to comment on how Zimbabwe should be governed? A logical extension of that is that those who risked their lives in the liberation of the country; have the divine right to rule. For that is exactly what people like Mugabe think; indeed that is exactly what the brute was saying to justify his violent and murderous campaign last year. With shallow minded people like in power; little wander we are in this mess!
I am a Zimbabwean citizen and it is my divine right and duty to comment on public matters regardless of whether I am a member of a political party or not. And every Zimbabwean out there has the same right. I know this right like many other rights and freedoms have been denied us but that does not change a thing. There are still our basic and fundamental rights and I, for one, will exercise these rights whenever I can.
Comment: You seem to be obsessed with seeing innocent blood being spilled. In a democracy you do not get into power through violence but through the ballot box. Zanu PF will never rule forever. That is why there are elections every five years. One day those elections shall be free and fair.
Reply: You are clearly confusing MDC’s mix of appeasement and down right blundering with being none-violent. The two are worlds apart. MDC should by all accounts have ended Mugabe’s rule in 2000 or 2002, they failed because they are politically incompetent. Last year the again failed and now they are appeasing Mugabe. And you think they did that to save innocent blood being spilt – how naïve!
Skint and many others like you, really need to snap out of this old mentality in which any political leader who is appointed to district chairman position or above is automatically placed on a pedestal to be worshiped. Do that and, naturally, these individuals start behaving as if they are indeed infallible and they are cut above the rest of us. We went through that with Mugabe and the nation has paid dearly for it. But at least some of us learnt something from that; I will be damned if I will let myself go through that again!
Tendai Biti’s remark was stupid and completely off the mark. I want Mugabe removed because he is a ruthless dictator not because he is old. Youth is not a virtue, just as old age is not a curse or some contagious disease; youth, old age and death are as certain as morning, afternoon and night, it is the way all us mortals go.
Skint, you say you will ask one question and then go on to ask several questions and make some remarks besides. Still I will answer them to the best of my ability.
Question: What else should Biti and Tsvangirai or MDC in general, have done that could have removed Mugabe from power?
Answer: You have to understand that after the sham 27 June 2008, Mugabe had politically “hanged” himself – no one was prepared to accept him as the legitimate president of Zimbabwe after such a violent and murderous campaign. Mugabe was finished! No one with any sense would trust such a brute to hold any position of power and authority – that, sadly, did not include Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai cut down the dictator and reinstated him – a stupid mistake, particularly since the brute has continued to keep Tsvangirai and the nation at large in the teeth as soon he caught his breath! Still, it is water under the bridge; what can we do NOW to remove Mugabe?
Tsvangirai insists the GNU is working and the next minute he is complaining about Mugabe’s arrogance and intransigence. Well there is an example of some one who can not make up his mind. He keeps talking about the GNU being “the only game in town”. Again another stupid move, telling Mugabe that has made the dictator even more arrogant! If the GNU is NOT working – and it is not – then we must have the courage to face that reality and explore other options.
The next best option is for MDC to walkout of the GNU. Then there will have to be fresh elections. Yes Mugabe will probably have to resort to the same violent and murderous tactic to win. (There is no guarantee that at the end of the GNU when fresh elections will be necessary, Mugabe will not use violence. So staying the present course out of fear of fresh election violence is only saving to post pone and not eliminate the threat. Indeed, I would even argue that delaying elections is helping Mugabe to reorganise and find better ways of hiding his murderous activities.)
Another sham election would put Mugabe back where he was after the 27 June 2008 election – bungling at the end of the hangman’s rope. Hopeful Tsvangirai will not step in and cut the rope – but I would not count on it!
Q: Why haven’t you formed your own party so that you can remove Mugabe or even MDC from government?
A: So you think only the politicians have the exclusive right to comment on how Zimbabwe should be governed? A logical extension of that is that those who risked their lives in the liberation of the country; have the divine right to rule. For that is exactly what people like Mugabe think; indeed that is exactly what the brute was saying to justify his violent and murderous campaign last year. With shallow minded people like in power; little wander we are in this mess!
I am a Zimbabwean citizen and it is my divine right and duty to comment on public matters regardless of whether I am a member of a political party or not. And every Zimbabwean out there has the same right. I know this right like many other rights and freedoms have been denied us but that does not change a thing. There are still our basic and fundamental rights and I, for one, will exercise these rights whenever I can.
Comment: You seem to be obsessed with seeing innocent blood being spilled. In a democracy you do not get into power through violence but through the ballot box. Zanu PF will never rule forever. That is why there are elections every five years. One day those elections shall be free and fair.
Reply: You are clearly confusing MDC’s mix of appeasement and down right blundering with being none-violent. The two are worlds apart. MDC should by all accounts have ended Mugabe’s rule in 2000 or 2002, they failed because they are politically incompetent. Last year the again failed and now they are appeasing Mugabe. And you think they did that to save innocent blood being spilt – how naïve!
Skint and many others like you, really need to snap out of this old mentality in which any political leader who is appointed to district chairman position or above is automatically placed on a pedestal to be worshiped. Do that and, naturally, these individuals start behaving as if they are indeed infallible and they are cut above the rest of us. We went through that with Mugabe and the nation has paid dearly for it. But at least some of us learnt something from that; I will be damned if I will let myself go through that again!
Tendai Biti’s remark was stupid and completely off the mark. I want Mugabe removed because he is a ruthless dictator not because he is old. Youth is not a virtue, just as old age is not a curse or some contagious disease; youth, old age and death are as certain as morning, afternoon and night, it is the way all us mortals go.
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