http://www.newzimbabwe.com
DR ALEX T. MAGAISA
Last updated: 10/31/2008 15:31:34
THERE was a time, in the 1980s, when villages across Zimbabwe became hosts
to young men like Mukoma Zhuwawo. These were young men from Mozambique,
having crossed the border to eke out a living far from the raging war in
their homeland. They worked hard, these young men, tilling the land and
herding cattle.
There was a time, too, in the 1990s, when we received young men and women
who had travelled thousands of miles, hitch-hiking along the way, from the
genocide in Rwanda.
Some of them became good friends when they joined university. They were
decent young men and women who sought shelter and comfort in our home.
I remember speaking to our guests and asking about the conditions they had
left behind. Their stories weighed heavily on our hearts. They carried many
wounds of war - they had lost families and friends.
I remember wondering at the time whether we, too, could find ourselves in a
similar situation. At the time, that Zimbabwe could descend into absolute
poverty and utter chaos was far from the mind. It is not far anymore.
There has been a reversal of fortunes. The likes of Mukoma Tendai are now
foraging in the Mozambican hinterland, perhaps Mukoma Zhuwawo is now his
host. Young Zimbabweans are paying the last penny; they are using the last
of their energies to cross borders into Botswana, South Africa and thousands
of miles away into Britain, Australia, USA, etc.
But what are the chances that Zimbabwe could also descend into civil
conflict, the type that made young men and women run from their homes in
Rwanda, Somalia, Mozambique and the DRC into Zimbabwe?
The possibility is certainly no longer far-fetched. There are already
situations we thought we could never have. I remember the wild laughs when
visitors from Zambia in the late eighties brought the worthless Zambian
Kwacha. Yet it never quite fell to the depths that the Zimbabwe Dollar has
reached.
At this rate, that Zimbabwe could descend into civil conflict is therefore
not beyond imagination. It is no longer something to be easily dismissed.
There are number of reasons why the situation may deteriorate to the state
of conflict:
Political Failure: Zimbabwe has failed and continues to fail to find a
political solution to its problems. Normally, questions of leadership are
decided through elections. This has, so far, not worked in Zimbabwe.
The other option, as we saw in Kenya earlier this year, is to submit to a
negotiated settlement. This has not worked either and holds little prospects
of success.
When politics fails and when politicians fail, this creates opportunities
for military strongmen to take power. This will not allay fears of conflict;
it will only heighten them.
Desperation: With political failure comes desperation and desperation causes
people to think of crazy things. Desperate men develop very dangerous minds,
especially when coupled with poverty and a paucity of options for survival.
Zimbabwe is reaching, if not so already, the Hobbesian state of nature where
life is 'nasty, brutish and short'. In this kind of world it is only the
fittest who survive by virtue of force.
Big Men and Lords of War: Beyond and, indeed, within the large political
party structure, the Zimbabwean political landscape is characterised by deep
cracks along regional and tribal lines. This is an often understated reality
but only because it is an inconvenient reality. Zanu PF's unity, or what
appears on the surface, is driven by the common desire to retain power and
the mutual benefits accruing to rival factions. If the equilibrium that
sustains the mutual interests shifts, there is likely to be chaos between
the rivals.
For its part, the MDC (already divided since 2005) is united only by a
common desire to drive out Zanu PF from power, perhaps less so by any common
vision or ideology that would withstand the challenges of a post-Mugabe era.
The different factional conflicts, which simmer under the surface like a
volcano, could erupt at any time.
When it all breaks down, the Big Men, especially within or connected to the
military who have their spheres of influence could easily mobilise
impressionable and desperate young men to engage in a free-for-all brawl.
There is a huge reserve of unemployed young people, the type that Frantz
Fanon referred to as the Lumpen Proletariat which is vulnerable to
manipulation and easily led.
Militarisation of Society: Violence has always been employed by the powerful
to suppress the largely pliant majority of ordinary people. There is a
growing pool of desperate young men who in their crucial teenage years who
have been led to believe that violence is a perfectly legitimate way of
resolving disputes. The then burgeoning middle class of the nineties has
been severely eroded and in its place is the growing Lumpen Proletariat.
They have very little to lose; nothing but their lives to protect and when
it comes to the worst, who knows what risks they could take?
Add to this the large numbers of Youth Militias, better known as the Border
Gezi Youths or Green Bombers, after their olive green garb, who have been
indoctrinated in the virtues of the fist. They have killed, raped and
assaulted at will without fear of the law's enforcement. Then there is also
the growing number of deserters from the military, as recently reported in
parts of the media. These are poor young men who know how to use arms; they
are desperate and who knows what they might do if they got hold of arms?
An unhealed nation: Zimbabwe has experienced a tumultuous history since it
was founded as the colony of Southern Rhodesia in 1890. The culture of
violence and impunity did not commence in the Zanu PF - MDC era as is often
presented. Right through the violence of the colonial era, the bloodshed of
the liberation war in the 1970s, to the unmitigated atrocities in
Matabeleland during the 1980s, Zimbabweans have endured pain, loss and
suffering. There are divisions and suspicions along the fault lines of race,
tribe and class. The nation has not healed.
The post-2000 violence has undoubtedly received greater coverage and
intensified the hostilities. People naturally want to account for what
happened; they want justice and accountability in order to have closure. If
there is no proper system in place, people could easily resort to chaos,
where they take the law into their own hands, with devastating results. All
these episodes in the history of the nation are festering wounds and chances
are that they will burst, and when they do, it will not be a pretty sight.
We Zimbabweans have long thought of ourselves as a sophisticated nation. We
got independence late in the day, long after our African counterparts had
experienced the political and economic demise of the post-colonial period.
We had our sunshine years when dark clouds hung over most of Africa. We
never thought we would get to their sorry state. But they have moved on;
they are moving on and we are where they were in their dark days, only
worse.
If we still think civil conflict is unimaginable in Zimbabwe, perhaps it is
time to wake up and smell the coffee. There are too many factors building up
to create a very dangerous situation, largely because politics and
politicians seem to be failing.
Now after the failure of the SADC Troika, we have to wait for the SADC
Summit. The question is: what if that, too, fails? But even if it does
succeed, there is little evidence of good faith and political will on the
part of politicians to make things work. No amount of beautiful clauses, not
even control of 'key ministries' will transform Zimbabwe's fortunes unless
the politicians invest sufficient trust, confidence in each other and act in
good faith. Things could get much worse. Politicians have the responsibility
to halt the slide on the slippery slope toward civil conflict.
Alex Magaisa is based at Kent Law School, The University of Kent. He can be
contacted at wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Fair elections, not summits, the utlimate solution
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=6547
October 29, 2008
By Tendai Dumbutshena
IF the communique released by the SADC secretariat after the failed meeting
to resolve the political impasse in Zimbabwe is to be believed, 15 regional
heads of state and government are to meet to decide who controls the
ministry of Home Affairs in the proposed inclusive government.
Taxpayers and donors in the SADC region will fund a summit to get Zimbabwe's
warring factions to agree on who runs the Home Affairs portfolio. How
farcical can things get?
Desperate people clutch at straws. This is what is happening in Zimbabwe as
people wait expectantly for SADC to provide the solution.
It is forgotten that for eight years this body has let the people of
Zimbabwe down. It turned a blind eye to Robert Mugabe's violation of its own
protocols on governance and human rights. It endorsed elections which were
condemned even by its own observers. It cynically embraced the lie that the
land issue was at the core of the crisis in Zimbabwe to absolve itself of
the responsibility to take a principled stand against Harare's aberrant
behaviour. It was only jolted into half-hearted action when it appointed
Thabo Mbeki last year to mediate following brutal assaults on political and
civic leaders including MDC president, Morgan Tsvangirai. Images of the
savage attacks and the resultant international outcry forced the hand of
SADC leaders.
Also central to the problem has been Mbeki's treacherous role which began in
2000. Masquerading as a mediator, Mbeki has done everything within his
powers to protect Mugabe and prolong his rule. Even now he continues to bat
for Mugabe seeking at every turn to undermine the MDC. His hidden hand was
visible in SADC's communiqué which took the position of Zanu-PF that only
the ministry of Home Affairs was the outstanding issue.
The MDC has set the record straight. Differences go beyond the home affairs
ministry to include the posts of provincial governors, diplomats, permanent
secretaries and the composition and functions of the proposed national
security council. Mbeki and the SADC secretariat want the full SADC summit
to only discuss the Home Affairs ministry leaving other issues of concern to
the MDC off the agenda.
It will be interesting to see where the summit is held. Normally it is held
in the country of the current chair which is South Africa. The MDC has
threatened that Tsvangirai will not attend if he is not issued with a
passport. It may well be decided to hold the summit in Zimbabwe so that SADC
leaders do not have to put pressure on Mugabe to issue a passport. The
policy of appeasement is still very much alive.
Nothing positive should be expected from the SADC summit. Mugabe has no
intention of sharing power with the MDC. At long last the MDC has officially
acknowledged this. Regional leaders with the notable exception of Botswana's
Ian Khama are unwilling to get Mugabe to do the right thing. There is great
resentment among African leaders when Western powers involve themselves in
the Zimbabwe issue They are told this is a matter for Africans to resolve
among themselves.
But what if Africans cannot bring themselves to seriously address the issue?
What if their feeble efforts are rendered useless by an insatiable desire to
protect and appease Mugabe? What will a full SADC summit achieve that a
smaller group more suited to resolving such a matter failed to do? For as
long as SADC leaders are not prepared to show some spine and address the
issue squarely these summits and troika meetings are a waste of time and
money.
Some analysts suggest that the matter be referred to the AU - another
guarantor of the agreement. What makes them think AU can do better than
SADC? The AU usually defers to regional bodies on such matters. The
continental body is full of leaders with a peripheral interest in Zimbabwe.
Many of them lack the moral stature to pronounce on Zimbabwe. If an African
solution is to be found it has to be in the region. Unless there is a
paradigm shift in their thinking and approach SADC leaders will not be able
to offer a solution to Zimbabwe's crisis. If they fail to author an
acceptable solution there is no point in running to Addis Ababa.
The inescapable conclusion to draw is that the September 15 agreement is
worthless. No one including the two major protagonists, Zanu-PF and MDC,
believes it is a workable solution. Given Mugabe's visceral loathing of
Tsvangirai and his party, is it not naïve optimism to believe that somehow
the agreement will work? The fact that seven weeks after the signing of the
agreement nothing has been achieved says it all.
The solution offered by Botswana is the only realistic option. Mugabe must
be put under pressure to accept a short transitional arrangement leading to
the adoption of a new constitution and elections. This process must be
driven by the international community because the regime in Harare cannot be
trusted to behave properly. Mugabe is vulnerable to pressure. What is
lacking among his peers in Africa is the will and courage to apply the
pressure. The people of Zimbabwe must be given an opportunity to settle this
matter once and for all. They must freely decide who governs them.
Therein lies the solution. But the international community must play its
part. If Africa is unwilling to do the right thing for Zimbabwe, others
should.
October 29, 2008
By Tendai Dumbutshena
IF the communique released by the SADC secretariat after the failed meeting
to resolve the political impasse in Zimbabwe is to be believed, 15 regional
heads of state and government are to meet to decide who controls the
ministry of Home Affairs in the proposed inclusive government.
Taxpayers and donors in the SADC region will fund a summit to get Zimbabwe's
warring factions to agree on who runs the Home Affairs portfolio. How
farcical can things get?
Desperate people clutch at straws. This is what is happening in Zimbabwe as
people wait expectantly for SADC to provide the solution.
It is forgotten that for eight years this body has let the people of
Zimbabwe down. It turned a blind eye to Robert Mugabe's violation of its own
protocols on governance and human rights. It endorsed elections which were
condemned even by its own observers. It cynically embraced the lie that the
land issue was at the core of the crisis in Zimbabwe to absolve itself of
the responsibility to take a principled stand against Harare's aberrant
behaviour. It was only jolted into half-hearted action when it appointed
Thabo Mbeki last year to mediate following brutal assaults on political and
civic leaders including MDC president, Morgan Tsvangirai. Images of the
savage attacks and the resultant international outcry forced the hand of
SADC leaders.
Also central to the problem has been Mbeki's treacherous role which began in
2000. Masquerading as a mediator, Mbeki has done everything within his
powers to protect Mugabe and prolong his rule. Even now he continues to bat
for Mugabe seeking at every turn to undermine the MDC. His hidden hand was
visible in SADC's communiqué which took the position of Zanu-PF that only
the ministry of Home Affairs was the outstanding issue.
The MDC has set the record straight. Differences go beyond the home affairs
ministry to include the posts of provincial governors, diplomats, permanent
secretaries and the composition and functions of the proposed national
security council. Mbeki and the SADC secretariat want the full SADC summit
to only discuss the Home Affairs ministry leaving other issues of concern to
the MDC off the agenda.
It will be interesting to see where the summit is held. Normally it is held
in the country of the current chair which is South Africa. The MDC has
threatened that Tsvangirai will not attend if he is not issued with a
passport. It may well be decided to hold the summit in Zimbabwe so that SADC
leaders do not have to put pressure on Mugabe to issue a passport. The
policy of appeasement is still very much alive.
Nothing positive should be expected from the SADC summit. Mugabe has no
intention of sharing power with the MDC. At long last the MDC has officially
acknowledged this. Regional leaders with the notable exception of Botswana's
Ian Khama are unwilling to get Mugabe to do the right thing. There is great
resentment among African leaders when Western powers involve themselves in
the Zimbabwe issue They are told this is a matter for Africans to resolve
among themselves.
But what if Africans cannot bring themselves to seriously address the issue?
What if their feeble efforts are rendered useless by an insatiable desire to
protect and appease Mugabe? What will a full SADC summit achieve that a
smaller group more suited to resolving such a matter failed to do? For as
long as SADC leaders are not prepared to show some spine and address the
issue squarely these summits and troika meetings are a waste of time and
money.
Some analysts suggest that the matter be referred to the AU - another
guarantor of the agreement. What makes them think AU can do better than
SADC? The AU usually defers to regional bodies on such matters. The
continental body is full of leaders with a peripheral interest in Zimbabwe.
Many of them lack the moral stature to pronounce on Zimbabwe. If an African
solution is to be found it has to be in the region. Unless there is a
paradigm shift in their thinking and approach SADC leaders will not be able
to offer a solution to Zimbabwe's crisis. If they fail to author an
acceptable solution there is no point in running to Addis Ababa.
The inescapable conclusion to draw is that the September 15 agreement is
worthless. No one including the two major protagonists, Zanu-PF and MDC,
believes it is a workable solution. Given Mugabe's visceral loathing of
Tsvangirai and his party, is it not naïve optimism to believe that somehow
the agreement will work? The fact that seven weeks after the signing of the
agreement nothing has been achieved says it all.
The solution offered by Botswana is the only realistic option. Mugabe must
be put under pressure to accept a short transitional arrangement leading to
the adoption of a new constitution and elections. This process must be
driven by the international community because the regime in Harare cannot be
trusted to behave properly. Mugabe is vulnerable to pressure. What is
lacking among his peers in Africa is the will and courage to apply the
pressure. The people of Zimbabwe must be given an opportunity to settle this
matter once and for all. They must freely decide who governs them.
Therein lies the solution. But the international community must play its
part. If Africa is unwilling to do the right thing for Zimbabwe, others
should.
Analyst says breaking 'rural terror' key to success of deal
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
29 October 2008
Zimbabwe cannot move forward as long as there are vigilante terror groups
operating in the rural areas and blocking people from expressing their vote
freely in elections. According to Luke Zunga, a Zimbabwean businessman
exiled in South Africa, the current discussions over cabinet allocations
have to address this problem or will be completely meaningless. He believes
that for the deal to work, the MDC has to continue campaigning vigorously
for the Home Affairs, Information and Finance Ministries as a buffer against
the continued use of state terror.
Only through the control of finance will the MDC be able to stop state
sponsorship of militants in the rural areas. By controlling Home Affairs,
and with it the police, all perpetrators of violence will be arrested. He
also added that because of the divisive propaganda churned out by the state
media, control of Information is going to be vital in order to change things
around.
Zunga, who is also a treasurer for the Zimbabwe Diaspora Development
Chamber, even suggested, 'the appointment of a SADC police commissioner,
'whose tasks will be to eliminate rural terror structures and clean the
police,' if the deadlock persisted. He argues that at independence Zimbabwe
turned to a Pakistani army general to help with the integration of the
various armed forces from the guerrilla groups, 'so it's not new.' Any calls
for a re-run of elections supervised by the UN, 'will not necessarily
neutralize the rural terror gangs,' he argued.
Zunga feels the current SADC mediation team has over-simplified the
Zimbabwean problem into a conflict between two parties that need to work
together. He believes the problem lies deeper in the ZANU PF culture of
violence and intolerance. 'Our view is that President Mbeki is aware of the
rural control. If so, his support or recommendation for Mugabe to take
control of these ministries transfers the liability for the death and
starvation of these people to the doorstep of South Africa,' he added.
By Lance Guma
29 October 2008
Zimbabwe cannot move forward as long as there are vigilante terror groups
operating in the rural areas and blocking people from expressing their vote
freely in elections. According to Luke Zunga, a Zimbabwean businessman
exiled in South Africa, the current discussions over cabinet allocations
have to address this problem or will be completely meaningless. He believes
that for the deal to work, the MDC has to continue campaigning vigorously
for the Home Affairs, Information and Finance Ministries as a buffer against
the continued use of state terror.
Only through the control of finance will the MDC be able to stop state
sponsorship of militants in the rural areas. By controlling Home Affairs,
and with it the police, all perpetrators of violence will be arrested. He
also added that because of the divisive propaganda churned out by the state
media, control of Information is going to be vital in order to change things
around.
Zunga, who is also a treasurer for the Zimbabwe Diaspora Development
Chamber, even suggested, 'the appointment of a SADC police commissioner,
'whose tasks will be to eliminate rural terror structures and clean the
police,' if the deadlock persisted. He argues that at independence Zimbabwe
turned to a Pakistani army general to help with the integration of the
various armed forces from the guerrilla groups, 'so it's not new.' Any calls
for a re-run of elections supervised by the UN, 'will not necessarily
neutralize the rural terror gangs,' he argued.
Zunga feels the current SADC mediation team has over-simplified the
Zimbabwean problem into a conflict between two parties that need to work
together. He believes the problem lies deeper in the ZANU PF culture of
violence and intolerance. 'Our view is that President Mbeki is aware of the
rural control. If so, his support or recommendation for Mugabe to take
control of these ministries transfers the liability for the death and
starvation of these people to the doorstep of South Africa,' he added.
Monday, October 27, 2008
PRESS STATEMENT BY THE BOTSWANA CIVIL SOCIETY SOLIDARITY COALITION FOR ZIMBABWE (BOCISCOZ)
Regional civil society committed to monitoring Zimbabwe agreement
We, The Botswana Civil Society Solidarity Coalition for Zimbabwe (BOCISCOZ) are concerned by the current impasse relating to the political agreement signed in Zimbabwe on 15 September 2008. BOCISCOZ held a series of meetings in Gaborone on 9 and 10 October 2008, with the aim of understanding whether or not the agreement provides an option for finding a sustainable solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe.
The first meeting on the 9 October 2008 was for the BOCISCOZ movement, regional civil society, diplomatic community and the media. The meeting observed that while the agreement has some imperfections, it provides a window of opportunity for the resuscitation of economic and social recovery in Zimbabwe. Civil society organisations were therefore encouraged to identify achievable goals to enable the monitoring of the implementation of the agreement.
The second meeting on the 9 October 2008, was a public meeting for Zimbabweans in Botswana to share their thoughts on the signed agreement, with civil society leaders. The meeting explored the role of civil society organisations, the SADC, AU and UN in the interpretation and implementation of the agreement. BOCISCOZ noted with concern, the fact that some SADC countries like Mozambique and South Africa had been reported to have begun mass deportation campaigns on the basis that the agreement has been signed. Zimbabweans at this meeting expressed concern, anxiety and uncertainty at the deadlock over the formation of an inclusive government, in particular the mutually agreed upon allocation of Government Ministries.
On the 10 October 2008, a strategic planning meeting was held by the BOCISCOZ working group and the regional civil society leaders to discuss appropriate regional strategies for civil society in response to the Zimbabwe crisis.
It was agreed that;
∙ There is need to sensitise Zimbabweans in all SADC countries about the content of the agreement;
∙ Civil society organisations should lobby Humanitarian Organisations and international cooperating partners, through their Embassies and High Commissions in the respective SADC countries, to provide humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe.
∙ Civil society organisations should continue to lobby the SADC, African Union and United Nations to mobilise humanitarian assistance in order to avert the worsening humanitarian crisis currently unfolding in Zimbabwe; and
∙ There is a need to urgently identify achievable goals to enable the effective monitoring of the implementation of the agreement by regional civil society.
Recognising the urgency of the matter, BOCISCOZ therefore calls upon the SADC and AU member states to:
∙ Stop the deportation of Zimbabweans from their countries on the basis of the signed agreement and
∙ Ensure that the signed agreement is implemented. As official guarantors of the agreement, both the SADC and AU have a responsibility to execute their obligations.
15 October 2008
Gaborone
For more information please contact: DITSHWANELO – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights. Tel: (267) 3906998 Fax: (267) 3907778. Email: admin.ditshwanelo@info.bw. Website: www.ditshwanelo.org.bw
We, The Botswana Civil Society Solidarity Coalition for Zimbabwe (BOCISCOZ) are concerned by the current impasse relating to the political agreement signed in Zimbabwe on 15 September 2008. BOCISCOZ held a series of meetings in Gaborone on 9 and 10 October 2008, with the aim of understanding whether or not the agreement provides an option for finding a sustainable solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe.
The first meeting on the 9 October 2008 was for the BOCISCOZ movement, regional civil society, diplomatic community and the media. The meeting observed that while the agreement has some imperfections, it provides a window of opportunity for the resuscitation of economic and social recovery in Zimbabwe. Civil society organisations were therefore encouraged to identify achievable goals to enable the monitoring of the implementation of the agreement.
The second meeting on the 9 October 2008, was a public meeting for Zimbabweans in Botswana to share their thoughts on the signed agreement, with civil society leaders. The meeting explored the role of civil society organisations, the SADC, AU and UN in the interpretation and implementation of the agreement. BOCISCOZ noted with concern, the fact that some SADC countries like Mozambique and South Africa had been reported to have begun mass deportation campaigns on the basis that the agreement has been signed. Zimbabweans at this meeting expressed concern, anxiety and uncertainty at the deadlock over the formation of an inclusive government, in particular the mutually agreed upon allocation of Government Ministries.
On the 10 October 2008, a strategic planning meeting was held by the BOCISCOZ working group and the regional civil society leaders to discuss appropriate regional strategies for civil society in response to the Zimbabwe crisis.
It was agreed that;
∙ There is need to sensitise Zimbabweans in all SADC countries about the content of the agreement;
∙ Civil society organisations should lobby Humanitarian Organisations and international cooperating partners, through their Embassies and High Commissions in the respective SADC countries, to provide humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe.
∙ Civil society organisations should continue to lobby the SADC, African Union and United Nations to mobilise humanitarian assistance in order to avert the worsening humanitarian crisis currently unfolding in Zimbabwe; and
∙ There is a need to urgently identify achievable goals to enable the effective monitoring of the implementation of the agreement by regional civil society.
Recognising the urgency of the matter, BOCISCOZ therefore calls upon the SADC and AU member states to:
∙ Stop the deportation of Zimbabweans from their countries on the basis of the signed agreement and
∙ Ensure that the signed agreement is implemented. As official guarantors of the agreement, both the SADC and AU have a responsibility to execute their obligations.
15 October 2008
Gaborone
For more information please contact: DITSHWANELO – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights. Tel: (267) 3906998 Fax: (267) 3907778. Email: admin.ditshwanelo@info.bw. Website: www.ditshwanelo.org.bw
Joint Statement on Cabinet Impasse
Zimbabweans Demand Finality on the Formation of Government as Enshrined in the Global Political Agreement signed on the 15th of September 2008.
Considering that:
- A month has passed since Zanu PF and the two MDCs signed a power sharing agreement, the Global Political Agreement (GPA) facilitated by SADC and the AU, for the formation of an interim government of national unity in Zimbabwe.
- Zimbabweans continue to live in abject poverty, lacking access to of basic health care, food, employment, education and other socio economic resources crucial to basic human dignity and livelihood.
- The failure of the politicians to respect the spirit of the GPA and create an interim government in terms of it adversely affects 12million people in Zimbabwe.
- Moreover this political impasse continues to have negative repercussions within the Southern African region.
- Inflation continues to rise and is exacerbated by the current global financial crisis, it is estimated that the rate of inflation is now 231m% in Zimbabwe.
- All these elements combined have grave consequences for the impoverished people of Zimbabwe who urgently need food aid among other necessities of life.
Alarmed that:
- The number of Zimbabweans reported dead from starvation and/or eating poisonous wild fruits continues to spiral.
- Further the rainy season is fast approaching, this political impasse seriously threatens the ability of hard working Zimbabweans to make full use of this period and lift themselves from poverty and hunger. Without a government in place Zimbabweans are unable to access the essential R300m Agriculture Rescue package generously provided by South Africa.
- In addition the political impasse has severely interfered with the provision of education at primary, secondary and tertiary level. This is disastrous to the millions of children whose academic year and future prospects have been placed in serious jeopardy.
- In adequate water and sanitation services, goods and facilities continue to be a major cause of alarm threatening the health of numerous Zimbabweans. At the moment many people are suffering from fatal, communicable and preventable water borne diseases.
- A finality on this political impasse is long overdue yet it is becoming more distant by the day.
We the citizens and friends of Zimbabwe demand:
- That the SADC Extra Ordinary Summit of the Organ Troika on Zimbabwe set for Monday the 27th October in Harare, bring finality to this matter in the form of a new cabinet demonstrating a more equitable distribution of power reflecting spirit of the GPA and respecting the wishes of the people of Zimbabwe;
- And as guarantors of the GPA that they act as arbitrators to the matters in dispute between the Zimbabwe political parties;
- Finally that they impress upon the 3 Principal Zimbabwean parties the need to show Zimbabweans and the region their commitment to putting the country first and working together to implement the GPA.
Signed:
Save Zimbabwe Campaign New Zealand and Global Zimbabwe Forum.
Sunday 26 October, 2008
Considering that:
- A month has passed since Zanu PF and the two MDCs signed a power sharing agreement, the Global Political Agreement (GPA) facilitated by SADC and the AU, for the formation of an interim government of national unity in Zimbabwe.
- Zimbabweans continue to live in abject poverty, lacking access to of basic health care, food, employment, education and other socio economic resources crucial to basic human dignity and livelihood.
- The failure of the politicians to respect the spirit of the GPA and create an interim government in terms of it adversely affects 12million people in Zimbabwe.
- Moreover this political impasse continues to have negative repercussions within the Southern African region.
- Inflation continues to rise and is exacerbated by the current global financial crisis, it is estimated that the rate of inflation is now 231m% in Zimbabwe.
- All these elements combined have grave consequences for the impoverished people of Zimbabwe who urgently need food aid among other necessities of life.
Alarmed that:
- The number of Zimbabweans reported dead from starvation and/or eating poisonous wild fruits continues to spiral.
- Further the rainy season is fast approaching, this political impasse seriously threatens the ability of hard working Zimbabweans to make full use of this period and lift themselves from poverty and hunger. Without a government in place Zimbabweans are unable to access the essential R300m Agriculture Rescue package generously provided by South Africa.
- In addition the political impasse has severely interfered with the provision of education at primary, secondary and tertiary level. This is disastrous to the millions of children whose academic year and future prospects have been placed in serious jeopardy.
- In adequate water and sanitation services, goods and facilities continue to be a major cause of alarm threatening the health of numerous Zimbabweans. At the moment many people are suffering from fatal, communicable and preventable water borne diseases.
- A finality on this political impasse is long overdue yet it is becoming more distant by the day.
We the citizens and friends of Zimbabwe demand:
- That the SADC Extra Ordinary Summit of the Organ Troika on Zimbabwe set for Monday the 27th October in Harare, bring finality to this matter in the form of a new cabinet demonstrating a more equitable distribution of power reflecting spirit of the GPA and respecting the wishes of the people of Zimbabwe;
- And as guarantors of the GPA that they act as arbitrators to the matters in dispute between the Zimbabwe political parties;
- Finally that they impress upon the 3 Principal Zimbabwean parties the need to show Zimbabweans and the region their commitment to putting the country first and working together to implement the GPA.
Signed:
Save Zimbabwe Campaign New Zealand and Global Zimbabwe Forum.
Sunday 26 October, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Zanu PF Faces Bleak Future After Mugabe
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Tuesday, 21 October 2008 11:24
FOR a man of his age, intellect and experience, it boggles the mind
why President Robert Mugabe does not appear to have learned from the
precedents before him.
For a party of its collective experience, it is difficult to fathom
why Zanu PF has failed to learn from the mistakes of its counterparts across
Africa.
Because, if there is one discernible feature in the trajectory of
African politics since independence, it is that liberation parties that fail
to adapt are doomed and will often contract terminal illness at the
departure of a long-serving leader.
One day, Mugabe shall depart, yes, even if that has to await God's
will as he suggested a few months ago. At this rate, Zanu PF is unlikely to
survive his departure and the power-sharing deal is no more than a
palliative for an ailing patient - it may reduce the pain but it does not
remove the cause of the pain. The sad spectacle is that it is dragging
Zimbabwe down with it.
Liberation parties are those organisations that orchestrated the
struggle for independence in African countries. It is interesting to observe
the way these parties have handled the challenges of governance in their
respective countries; how and why some have survived and others have failed.
There is a clear line, which is that, in a process akin to natural
selection, the more adaptable have survived whilst the less adaptable have
suffered inevitable demise. It is in this context that it is arguable that
the power-sharing deal in Zimbabwe is an attempt by Zanu PF to cope with the
spectre of extinction but that this, too, is only likely to be temporary
relief.
The trajectory of African politics indicates that at independence and
for thirty or so years thereafter, most countries followed the authoritarian
one-party state system. Statistics show that by the end of the 1980s, nearly
50 African states were one-party states or ruled by a military junta. In 32
states, opposition parties were illegal and elections were mere formalities
to confirm the incumbent.
Daniel Arap Moi, then President of Kenya is quoted as having said in
1984: "I would like my ministers, assistant ministers and others to sing
like a parrot after me. That is how we can progress." (Meredith 2006). This
typified the mentality of the leaders at the time, influenced mainly by the
Soviet-style communist paradigm. The result was that liberation parties
claimed all political territory and suppressed, often violently, any
opposition or dissent.
The end of the Cold War, signified most visibly by the collapse of the
Berlin Wall in 1989 and the disintegration of the Soviet Union brought
fundamental changes to African politics. The Soviet Union was no longer able
to sustain its large network of client states. Suddenly, the ruling
liberation parties had to conform to a new environment of multi-party
politics, driven mainly by rising internal opposition due to repression and
poverty caused by the authoritarian politics.
It was also fuelled by renewed Western influence in African politics.
The US in particular made the spread of democracy a key part of its foreign
policy. The structural adjustment programmes of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF)/World Bank tied democracy to potential assistance. It is hardly
surprising, therefore, that there was a flurry of elections in most African
states in the early 1990s, as they embraced multi-party politics largely for
convenience rather than in good faith. Accepting the challenge of the
opposition was a new phenomenon which the liberation parties, long used to
dominating all political space, had to cope with.
As a superficial measure of democracy, the election suddenly enabled
the transformation of authoritarian strong-men into "democrats". The ritual
of the election was, rather unfortunately and inaccurately, equated with
democracy. The wider values and institutions, developed through struggle
over long periods of time and, therefore, firmly in place in the Western
political universe where democracy appeared to flourish, were non-existent
or at best, limited, in the African context. For example, where the
judiciary, responsible for resolving conflicts, is emasculated by one of the
contestants, the election process is ineffective since the incentive to be
fair is limited.
It is interesting to observe how, using examples from the South and
East African regions, the liberation parties responded to the challenge of
multi-party politics. I have divided the countries by response into two
sets, the Adaptable and the Non-Adaptable sets, depending on how the
liberation parties have coped with change.
Tanzania: When Mwalimu Julius Nyerere saw that the end was nigh he
departed gracefully in 1985 and was succeeded by Ali Hassan Mwinyi. Mwinyi
who handed over to Benjamin Mkapa. Mkapa passed the baton to the current
President Jakaya Kikwete. All these leaders belong to the liberation party,
Chama Cha Mapinduzi ("CCM") - a clear example of adaptability, even though
it was at the forefront of the one-party system in the 1970s.
Botswana: It is rightly held as Africa's longest multi-party
democracy, having adopted the system at independence in 1966. But in those
42 years, the ruling party, the Botswana Democratic Party ("BDP") has never
lost power to the opposition. Sir Seretse Khama, the first President was
succeeded by Sir Ketumile Masire who later stepped down for Festus Mogae.
Mogae recently handed over power to Seretse Khama Ian Khama.
Mozambique: The country that got off to a tumultuous start with Samora
Machel at the helm has calmed down lately. When Machel died tragically in
1986, he was succeeded by Joachim Chissano who successfully steered the
country out of the civil war, served his terms and gracefully left power to
the current President Armando Guebuza. As in Tanzania and Botswana, the
liberation party, FRELIMO, has retained power since independence and enabled
internal leadership succession and change, thereby providing a respectable
façade of democracy.
This is the set of countries where the liberation parties failed to
cope with change and have suffered a terrible patch after the leader's
departure. These are:
Zambia: Kenneth Kaunda led Zambia for 27 years since independence in
1964. He lost heavily to Frederick Chiluba in the watershed election in
1991. He became one of the first high profile victims of the new age of
politics and his party, UNIP, was left in the doldrums after his demise. It
has not recovered since.
Kenya: Moi took over the leadership after the death of Jomo Kenyatta
in 1978. By 1982 Kenya was a one-party state and Moi retained power, with an
iron grip, until 2002 when he "retired" before the election which his
party, KANU, lost to the opposition. It, too, has never recovered.
Malawi: Hastings Kamuzu Banda ruled this small country with an
iron-fist from independence in 1964 until he lost power to Bakili Muluzi in
1994, after reluctantly accepting multi-party politics.
So where, then, does Zimbabwe's Zanu PF fit?
It is the liberation party in Zimbabwe. Mugabe has dominated Zanu PF
politics since independence. The subject of succession in Zanu PF is almost
taboo. It has failed to learn from the mixed fortunes of the other
liberation parties
The power-sharing deal may have saved Mugabe from humiliation of
Kaunda and Banda, but the likelihood is that for Zanu PF the relief is only
short-term; a mere painkiller rather than a cure against a terminal disease.
It is odd that the many men and women in Zanu PF watch idly whilst their
party partakes the poison-pill.
Alex Magaisa is based at, Kent Law School, the University of Kent
and can be contacted at wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk
Tuesday, 21 October 2008 11:24
FOR a man of his age, intellect and experience, it boggles the mind
why President Robert Mugabe does not appear to have learned from the
precedents before him.
For a party of its collective experience, it is difficult to fathom
why Zanu PF has failed to learn from the mistakes of its counterparts across
Africa.
Because, if there is one discernible feature in the trajectory of
African politics since independence, it is that liberation parties that fail
to adapt are doomed and will often contract terminal illness at the
departure of a long-serving leader.
One day, Mugabe shall depart, yes, even if that has to await God's
will as he suggested a few months ago. At this rate, Zanu PF is unlikely to
survive his departure and the power-sharing deal is no more than a
palliative for an ailing patient - it may reduce the pain but it does not
remove the cause of the pain. The sad spectacle is that it is dragging
Zimbabwe down with it.
Liberation parties are those organisations that orchestrated the
struggle for independence in African countries. It is interesting to observe
the way these parties have handled the challenges of governance in their
respective countries; how and why some have survived and others have failed.
There is a clear line, which is that, in a process akin to natural
selection, the more adaptable have survived whilst the less adaptable have
suffered inevitable demise. It is in this context that it is arguable that
the power-sharing deal in Zimbabwe is an attempt by Zanu PF to cope with the
spectre of extinction but that this, too, is only likely to be temporary
relief.
The trajectory of African politics indicates that at independence and
for thirty or so years thereafter, most countries followed the authoritarian
one-party state system. Statistics show that by the end of the 1980s, nearly
50 African states were one-party states or ruled by a military junta. In 32
states, opposition parties were illegal and elections were mere formalities
to confirm the incumbent.
Daniel Arap Moi, then President of Kenya is quoted as having said in
1984: "I would like my ministers, assistant ministers and others to sing
like a parrot after me. That is how we can progress." (Meredith 2006). This
typified the mentality of the leaders at the time, influenced mainly by the
Soviet-style communist paradigm. The result was that liberation parties
claimed all political territory and suppressed, often violently, any
opposition or dissent.
The end of the Cold War, signified most visibly by the collapse of the
Berlin Wall in 1989 and the disintegration of the Soviet Union brought
fundamental changes to African politics. The Soviet Union was no longer able
to sustain its large network of client states. Suddenly, the ruling
liberation parties had to conform to a new environment of multi-party
politics, driven mainly by rising internal opposition due to repression and
poverty caused by the authoritarian politics.
It was also fuelled by renewed Western influence in African politics.
The US in particular made the spread of democracy a key part of its foreign
policy. The structural adjustment programmes of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF)/World Bank tied democracy to potential assistance. It is hardly
surprising, therefore, that there was a flurry of elections in most African
states in the early 1990s, as they embraced multi-party politics largely for
convenience rather than in good faith. Accepting the challenge of the
opposition was a new phenomenon which the liberation parties, long used to
dominating all political space, had to cope with.
As a superficial measure of democracy, the election suddenly enabled
the transformation of authoritarian strong-men into "democrats". The ritual
of the election was, rather unfortunately and inaccurately, equated with
democracy. The wider values and institutions, developed through struggle
over long periods of time and, therefore, firmly in place in the Western
political universe where democracy appeared to flourish, were non-existent
or at best, limited, in the African context. For example, where the
judiciary, responsible for resolving conflicts, is emasculated by one of the
contestants, the election process is ineffective since the incentive to be
fair is limited.
It is interesting to observe how, using examples from the South and
East African regions, the liberation parties responded to the challenge of
multi-party politics. I have divided the countries by response into two
sets, the Adaptable and the Non-Adaptable sets, depending on how the
liberation parties have coped with change.
Tanzania: When Mwalimu Julius Nyerere saw that the end was nigh he
departed gracefully in 1985 and was succeeded by Ali Hassan Mwinyi. Mwinyi
who handed over to Benjamin Mkapa. Mkapa passed the baton to the current
President Jakaya Kikwete. All these leaders belong to the liberation party,
Chama Cha Mapinduzi ("CCM") - a clear example of adaptability, even though
it was at the forefront of the one-party system in the 1970s.
Botswana: It is rightly held as Africa's longest multi-party
democracy, having adopted the system at independence in 1966. But in those
42 years, the ruling party, the Botswana Democratic Party ("BDP") has never
lost power to the opposition. Sir Seretse Khama, the first President was
succeeded by Sir Ketumile Masire who later stepped down for Festus Mogae.
Mogae recently handed over power to Seretse Khama Ian Khama.
Mozambique: The country that got off to a tumultuous start with Samora
Machel at the helm has calmed down lately. When Machel died tragically in
1986, he was succeeded by Joachim Chissano who successfully steered the
country out of the civil war, served his terms and gracefully left power to
the current President Armando Guebuza. As in Tanzania and Botswana, the
liberation party, FRELIMO, has retained power since independence and enabled
internal leadership succession and change, thereby providing a respectable
façade of democracy.
This is the set of countries where the liberation parties failed to
cope with change and have suffered a terrible patch after the leader's
departure. These are:
Zambia: Kenneth Kaunda led Zambia for 27 years since independence in
1964. He lost heavily to Frederick Chiluba in the watershed election in
1991. He became one of the first high profile victims of the new age of
politics and his party, UNIP, was left in the doldrums after his demise. It
has not recovered since.
Kenya: Moi took over the leadership after the death of Jomo Kenyatta
in 1978. By 1982 Kenya was a one-party state and Moi retained power, with an
iron grip, until 2002 when he "retired" before the election which his
party, KANU, lost to the opposition. It, too, has never recovered.
Malawi: Hastings Kamuzu Banda ruled this small country with an
iron-fist from independence in 1964 until he lost power to Bakili Muluzi in
1994, after reluctantly accepting multi-party politics.
So where, then, does Zimbabwe's Zanu PF fit?
It is the liberation party in Zimbabwe. Mugabe has dominated Zanu PF
politics since independence. The subject of succession in Zanu PF is almost
taboo. It has failed to learn from the mixed fortunes of the other
liberation parties
The power-sharing deal may have saved Mugabe from humiliation of
Kaunda and Banda, but the likelihood is that for Zanu PF the relief is only
short-term; a mere painkiller rather than a cure against a terminal disease.
It is odd that the many men and women in Zanu PF watch idly whilst their
party partakes the poison-pill.
Alex Magaisa is based at, Kent Law School, the University of Kent
and can be contacted at wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk
Friday, October 17, 2008
Zimbabwe the land of the dying children
By RW Johnson, Harare
SUFFER the little children is a phrase never far from your mind in today's Zimbabwe. The horde of painfully thin street kids milling around you at traffic lights is almost the least of it: in a population now down to 11million or less, there are an estimated 1.3 million orphans.
Go to one of the overflowing cemeteries in Bulawayo or Beit Bridge, and you are struck by the long lines of tiny graves for babies and toddlers.
Hyena attacks on humans, previously unheard of, are increasingly common.
"So many babies, not all of them dead, are being dumped in the bush that hyenas have developed a taste for human flesh," a game ranger said.
A staggering 42,000 women died in childbirth last year, compared with fewer than 1000 a decade ago.
A vast human cull is under way in Zimbabwe, and the majority of deaths are a direct result of government policies.
Ignored by the UN, it is a genocide perhaps 10 times greater than Darfur's and more than twice as large as Rwanda's.
The situation is as described in the UN Convention on genocide, which defines it as "deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part".
Reckoning the death toll is difficult. Had demographic growth continued normally, Zimbabwe's population would have passed 18million by the end of last year. But people have fled in large numbers, with 3million heading for South Africa and an estimated further 1million scattered around the world.
This would suggest a current population of 14million. But even the Government, which tries to make light of the issue, says only 12million are left in Zimbabwe.
Social scientists estimate the population at between 8million and 11million. But even if you accepted the Government figure, 2million people are "missing", and the real number is probably 3million or more.
The number is escalating as the effects of years of malnutrition and abuse take their toll. And all this is happening in what was until recently one of Africa's most prosperous states and a member of the Commonwealth.
Such comfort abruptly vanished after 2000, when President Robert Mugabe launched farm transfers and a political terror campaign to counter a rising tide of opposition.
Bulawayo, capital of Matabeleland, is a virtual ghost town, for emigration and starvation have drained its lifeblood.
Matabeleland, the centre of opposition to Mugabe, was the first to experience his iron fist in the mid-1980s and has taken more punishment in recent years.
Last year, in common with the rest of the country, it was the target of Operation Murambatsvina (Shona for "drive out the filth") in which the police and army destroyed shanty towns and cracked down on unlicensed traders after Mugabe decreed that they needed to be forcibly "re-ruralised" to regain their peasant roots. About 2million people were affected.
Just what that meant becomes clear from the study carried out by the Reverend Albert Chatindo, whose parish, Killarney, lies on Bulawayo's northern side.
Here, 217 families (1300 people) whose houses had been demolished crowded into his church hall - only for the army to load them into trucks and dump them in the middle of the bush without food or shelter. A few made it back to Killarney, but half are dead, the children from exposure and malnutrition.
Others tell me in hushed tones of the latest atrocity, Operation Maguta (live well), prompted by a shortfall in maize production since the whites' commercial farms were destroyed.
Under Maguta, the army descends on villagers on communal land to compel them to grow maize and sorghum, which they must then sell to the army-run Grain Marketing Board.
In Matabeleland, where maize does not grow well, the army has gone in hard, beating peasants who resist, raping women chopping down orchards and tearing up vegetable patches.
The outspoken views of Pius Ncube, the Catholic Archbishop of Matabeleland, have earned him several death threats. But he refuses to stay quiet. "I am perfectly willing to die," he said.
I ask him about the infamous statement by Mugabe's henchman (and boss of the secret police), Didymus Mutasa, in 2002, that "we would be better off with only 6million people, with our own people who support the liberation struggle. We don't want all these extra people".
Is the Government trying to reduce the population? Ncube shakes his head slowly. "What is going on is truly evil but I do not think they set out to kill people, it is just that they do not care.
"Their only concern is to stay in power and enrich themselves and to turn people into terrified, compliant subjects ... Mugabe is a murderer and also a traitor - he is selling the country to the Chinese. It is lonely to be the only one to say that."
Harare's northern suburbs are as beautiful as ever - tall trees, wonderful plants and flowers and luxuriant birdlife.
But death is all around. As I drive through the suburbs I see inert bodies lying on the kerb and in the grass, bodies which have not changed position when I come back half an hour later.
Harare, being the capital, you also see the luxurious Mercedes and SUVs of the ruling Zanu-PF elite and their business allies.
Despite the horrendous death toll, the Archbishop is right. This is not a genocide like that in Rwanda, where about 900,000 people were butchered in an orgy of tribal hatred. Instead, the regime's key motive at every stage has been its own maintenance in power.
From 2000 on, it destroyed commercial agriculture because it saw the white farmers and their workers as support for the opposition to Mugabe.
The evictions had the effect of collapsing the economy and cutting the food supply far below subsistence level in every subsequent year.
About 29 per cent of sexually active Zimbabweans are reckoned to be HIV-positive and the economic collapse has devastated the health system and stopped the distribution of anti-AIDS drugs.
World Health Organisation figures show life expectancy in Zimbabwe, which was 62 in 1990, had plummeted to 37 for men and 34 for women by 2004. These are by far the worst such figures in the world.
Yet Zimbabwe does not even get on to the UN agenda: South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, who has covered for Mugabe, uses his leverage to prevent discussion. How long this can go on is anyone's guess.
Mugabe - and, to a considerable extent, Mbeki - have already been responsible for far more deaths than Rwanda suffered, and the number is fast heading into realms previously explored only by Stalin, Mao and Adolf Eichmann.
The Sunday Times
SUFFER the little children is a phrase never far from your mind in today's Zimbabwe. The horde of painfully thin street kids milling around you at traffic lights is almost the least of it: in a population now down to 11million or less, there are an estimated 1.3 million orphans.
Go to one of the overflowing cemeteries in Bulawayo or Beit Bridge, and you are struck by the long lines of tiny graves for babies and toddlers.
Hyena attacks on humans, previously unheard of, are increasingly common.
"So many babies, not all of them dead, are being dumped in the bush that hyenas have developed a taste for human flesh," a game ranger said.
A staggering 42,000 women died in childbirth last year, compared with fewer than 1000 a decade ago.
A vast human cull is under way in Zimbabwe, and the majority of deaths are a direct result of government policies.
Ignored by the UN, it is a genocide perhaps 10 times greater than Darfur's and more than twice as large as Rwanda's.
The situation is as described in the UN Convention on genocide, which defines it as "deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part".
Reckoning the death toll is difficult. Had demographic growth continued normally, Zimbabwe's population would have passed 18million by the end of last year. But people have fled in large numbers, with 3million heading for South Africa and an estimated further 1million scattered around the world.
This would suggest a current population of 14million. But even the Government, which tries to make light of the issue, says only 12million are left in Zimbabwe.
Social scientists estimate the population at between 8million and 11million. But even if you accepted the Government figure, 2million people are "missing", and the real number is probably 3million or more.
The number is escalating as the effects of years of malnutrition and abuse take their toll. And all this is happening in what was until recently one of Africa's most prosperous states and a member of the Commonwealth.
Such comfort abruptly vanished after 2000, when President Robert Mugabe launched farm transfers and a political terror campaign to counter a rising tide of opposition.
Bulawayo, capital of Matabeleland, is a virtual ghost town, for emigration and starvation have drained its lifeblood.
Matabeleland, the centre of opposition to Mugabe, was the first to experience his iron fist in the mid-1980s and has taken more punishment in recent years.
Last year, in common with the rest of the country, it was the target of Operation Murambatsvina (Shona for "drive out the filth") in which the police and army destroyed shanty towns and cracked down on unlicensed traders after Mugabe decreed that they needed to be forcibly "re-ruralised" to regain their peasant roots. About 2million people were affected.
Just what that meant becomes clear from the study carried out by the Reverend Albert Chatindo, whose parish, Killarney, lies on Bulawayo's northern side.
Here, 217 families (1300 people) whose houses had been demolished crowded into his church hall - only for the army to load them into trucks and dump them in the middle of the bush without food or shelter. A few made it back to Killarney, but half are dead, the children from exposure and malnutrition.
Others tell me in hushed tones of the latest atrocity, Operation Maguta (live well), prompted by a shortfall in maize production since the whites' commercial farms were destroyed.
Under Maguta, the army descends on villagers on communal land to compel them to grow maize and sorghum, which they must then sell to the army-run Grain Marketing Board.
In Matabeleland, where maize does not grow well, the army has gone in hard, beating peasants who resist, raping women chopping down orchards and tearing up vegetable patches.
The outspoken views of Pius Ncube, the Catholic Archbishop of Matabeleland, have earned him several death threats. But he refuses to stay quiet. "I am perfectly willing to die," he said.
I ask him about the infamous statement by Mugabe's henchman (and boss of the secret police), Didymus Mutasa, in 2002, that "we would be better off with only 6million people, with our own people who support the liberation struggle. We don't want all these extra people".
Is the Government trying to reduce the population? Ncube shakes his head slowly. "What is going on is truly evil but I do not think they set out to kill people, it is just that they do not care.
"Their only concern is to stay in power and enrich themselves and to turn people into terrified, compliant subjects ... Mugabe is a murderer and also a traitor - he is selling the country to the Chinese. It is lonely to be the only one to say that."
Harare's northern suburbs are as beautiful as ever - tall trees, wonderful plants and flowers and luxuriant birdlife.
But death is all around. As I drive through the suburbs I see inert bodies lying on the kerb and in the grass, bodies which have not changed position when I come back half an hour later.
Harare, being the capital, you also see the luxurious Mercedes and SUVs of the ruling Zanu-PF elite and their business allies.
Despite the horrendous death toll, the Archbishop is right. This is not a genocide like that in Rwanda, where about 900,000 people were butchered in an orgy of tribal hatred. Instead, the regime's key motive at every stage has been its own maintenance in power.
From 2000 on, it destroyed commercial agriculture because it saw the white farmers and their workers as support for the opposition to Mugabe.
The evictions had the effect of collapsing the economy and cutting the food supply far below subsistence level in every subsequent year.
About 29 per cent of sexually active Zimbabweans are reckoned to be HIV-positive and the economic collapse has devastated the health system and stopped the distribution of anti-AIDS drugs.
World Health Organisation figures show life expectancy in Zimbabwe, which was 62 in 1990, had plummeted to 37 for men and 34 for women by 2004. These are by far the worst such figures in the world.
Yet Zimbabwe does not even get on to the UN agenda: South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, who has covered for Mugabe, uses his leverage to prevent discussion. How long this can go on is anyone's guess.
Mugabe - and, to a considerable extent, Mbeki - have already been responsible for far more deaths than Rwanda suffered, and the number is fast heading into realms previously explored only by Stalin, Mao and Adolf Eichmann.
The Sunday Times
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Aid Agencies:5m face starvation in Zimbabwe
From The Times
October 14, 2008
Silently, in rundown wards, starving children lie dying — malnutrition diseases are overwhelming hospitals
A young Zimbabwean girl in Harare showing the signs of kwashikor
Jan Raath in Mutare
Death is stalking Zimbabwe’s children, as a potentially catastrophic famine gathers momentum. Aid agencies say that half the population, about five million people, face starvation, two-thirds of children are out of school and water shortages have led to deadly cholera outbreaks.
The Times went on a 600-mile (965km)journey through the eastern province of Manicaland and discovered a country whose reserves of food are exhausted and where the diseases of hunger — kwashiorkor, marasmus and pellagra — are appearing to a degree never seen in the country before.
Emaciated children are dying in hospitals, many more are being turned away to die at home. At one Manicaland hospital a doctor said that they were getting more cases of hunger-related diseases than ever before. “Half of the admissions end up in the mortuary,” the doctor said. The situation is the same across the country, including urban areas. “In the 32 years I have worked in Zimbabwe as a paediatrician I have never known a more serious situation,” said Greg Powell, chairman of the Zimbabwe Child Protection Society. “We can predict an exponential increase in cases of kwashiorkor and malnutrition over the next six months.”
Six weeks ago President Mugabe relaxed partially a three-month-old ban on food distribution by aid agencies but restrictive regulations still handicap the delivery of relief severely.
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“Malnutrition is a silent emergency that affects young children and they die quietly,” said Geoff Foster, a paediatrician in the provincial hospital in Mutare. “There is a famine situation prevailing and it is desperate.”
In forlorn, rundown hospitals all over Manicaland children’s malnutrition wards are full. The small patients lay deathly still, their hair sparse reddish clumps on oversized heads, their bodies swollen with oedema, all characteristic signs of kwashiorkor.
“I had an eight-year-old boy in the ward with kwashiorkor,” said Dr Foster. “That is highly unusual, it’s mostly confined to two and three-year-olds. That’s an indication of how serious the hunger is.”
A doctor in a mission hospital in Nyanga district was examining a child with severe kwashiorkor. The doctor explained that the hospitals lack lifesaving protein supplements, “so we use diluted milk. They are supposed to get six feeds a day. But we get milk one day and for the next five there is nothing.
Many starving children are sent away. “In hospital we cannot feed them,” said the doctor hopelessly. “At least at home they can scrounge for things. We only keep those that we can see won’t make it at home. We have lost the battle before we have fought it.”
At one district hospital well over a hundred HIV-positive patients came in for antiretrovirals last week. Every one of them was suffering from malnutrition.
Another doctor told of a mother who died in childbirth leaving an HIV-positive infant. “The grandmother was here but she would not take the child. She said she could not feed it, there was no food at home. So we are stuck with the child. It’s starvation all over, starving, starving, starving.”
Pellagra, an adult form of malnutrition that ends in madness and death, is becoming commonplace, and not just among impoverished rural folk. Three private doctors said that they had seen patients with severe symptoms in the past fortnight. None had seen it before. “People who come to private doctors have money. So it means the middle classes are starving,” said one.
In a few weeks the rainy season will begin and planting ought to be in full swing, yet the sight of a ploughed field anywhere in Zimbabwe is rare. Government promises of fertiliser and maize seeds are, for another year, proving empty. “What harvest?” a doctor joked.
At Changadzi village in the south of the province, Celestina Sithole was surrounded by hard, barren earth. Her daughter had the red hair of kwashiorkor. The stores of maize had run out and that morning she had made porridge for her children from the pods of baobab trees. She did not know what she was going to make for lunch.
Doctors tell of people drawing up rosters, with one person given “sadza”, a stiff maizemeal porridge that is the national staple, while the rest eat only boiled cabbage.
The Government is doing its best to cover up the situation. Most doctors are told not to talk about the situation publicly — which is why for their own safety many of those The Times spoke to are not identified. “We are not allowed to appeal to the donor organisations,” added one, “it’s terrible because so often help is so close, but we can do nothing about it.”
When Zimbabwe’s Government does spend money on the health sector it does not help the people. Three months ago the Central Bank allocated $5 million (£3 million,) which was used to buy imported cars for the state’s 100 or so specialist doctors. President Mugabe’s expulsion of white farmers from their farms since 2000 precipitated the crisis.
“The situation can be salvaged if aid agencies are allowed to distribute food,” said one senior doctor sounding a note of hope. “But the trouble is Mugabe and Zanu (PF) [who] think, ‘So what if people starve?’. If they hold on, it will be another Ethiopia.”
President Mugabe appointed two members of his own party to be Zimbabwe’s vice-presidents yesterday as he continued with moves to take full control of the “power-sharing” Government (Jan Raath writes). The decision to appoint Joseph Msika and Joyce Mujuru without consultation drew criticism from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg yesterday said that they would consider “additional measures” if the power-sharing deal was blocked.
October 14, 2008
Silently, in rundown wards, starving children lie dying — malnutrition diseases are overwhelming hospitals
A young Zimbabwean girl in Harare showing the signs of kwashikor
Jan Raath in Mutare
Death is stalking Zimbabwe’s children, as a potentially catastrophic famine gathers momentum. Aid agencies say that half the population, about five million people, face starvation, two-thirds of children are out of school and water shortages have led to deadly cholera outbreaks.
The Times went on a 600-mile (965km)journey through the eastern province of Manicaland and discovered a country whose reserves of food are exhausted and where the diseases of hunger — kwashiorkor, marasmus and pellagra — are appearing to a degree never seen in the country before.
Emaciated children are dying in hospitals, many more are being turned away to die at home. At one Manicaland hospital a doctor said that they were getting more cases of hunger-related diseases than ever before. “Half of the admissions end up in the mortuary,” the doctor said. The situation is the same across the country, including urban areas. “In the 32 years I have worked in Zimbabwe as a paediatrician I have never known a more serious situation,” said Greg Powell, chairman of the Zimbabwe Child Protection Society. “We can predict an exponential increase in cases of kwashiorkor and malnutrition over the next six months.”
Six weeks ago President Mugabe relaxed partially a three-month-old ban on food distribution by aid agencies but restrictive regulations still handicap the delivery of relief severely.
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“Malnutrition is a silent emergency that affects young children and they die quietly,” said Geoff Foster, a paediatrician in the provincial hospital in Mutare. “There is a famine situation prevailing and it is desperate.”
In forlorn, rundown hospitals all over Manicaland children’s malnutrition wards are full. The small patients lay deathly still, their hair sparse reddish clumps on oversized heads, their bodies swollen with oedema, all characteristic signs of kwashiorkor.
“I had an eight-year-old boy in the ward with kwashiorkor,” said Dr Foster. “That is highly unusual, it’s mostly confined to two and three-year-olds. That’s an indication of how serious the hunger is.”
A doctor in a mission hospital in Nyanga district was examining a child with severe kwashiorkor. The doctor explained that the hospitals lack lifesaving protein supplements, “so we use diluted milk. They are supposed to get six feeds a day. But we get milk one day and for the next five there is nothing.
Many starving children are sent away. “In hospital we cannot feed them,” said the doctor hopelessly. “At least at home they can scrounge for things. We only keep those that we can see won’t make it at home. We have lost the battle before we have fought it.”
At one district hospital well over a hundred HIV-positive patients came in for antiretrovirals last week. Every one of them was suffering from malnutrition.
Another doctor told of a mother who died in childbirth leaving an HIV-positive infant. “The grandmother was here but she would not take the child. She said she could not feed it, there was no food at home. So we are stuck with the child. It’s starvation all over, starving, starving, starving.”
Pellagra, an adult form of malnutrition that ends in madness and death, is becoming commonplace, and not just among impoverished rural folk. Three private doctors said that they had seen patients with severe symptoms in the past fortnight. None had seen it before. “People who come to private doctors have money. So it means the middle classes are starving,” said one.
In a few weeks the rainy season will begin and planting ought to be in full swing, yet the sight of a ploughed field anywhere in Zimbabwe is rare. Government promises of fertiliser and maize seeds are, for another year, proving empty. “What harvest?” a doctor joked.
At Changadzi village in the south of the province, Celestina Sithole was surrounded by hard, barren earth. Her daughter had the red hair of kwashiorkor. The stores of maize had run out and that morning she had made porridge for her children from the pods of baobab trees. She did not know what she was going to make for lunch.
Doctors tell of people drawing up rosters, with one person given “sadza”, a stiff maizemeal porridge that is the national staple, while the rest eat only boiled cabbage.
The Government is doing its best to cover up the situation. Most doctors are told not to talk about the situation publicly — which is why for their own safety many of those The Times spoke to are not identified. “We are not allowed to appeal to the donor organisations,” added one, “it’s terrible because so often help is so close, but we can do nothing about it.”
When Zimbabwe’s Government does spend money on the health sector it does not help the people. Three months ago the Central Bank allocated $5 million (£3 million,) which was used to buy imported cars for the state’s 100 or so specialist doctors. President Mugabe’s expulsion of white farmers from their farms since 2000 precipitated the crisis.
“The situation can be salvaged if aid agencies are allowed to distribute food,” said one senior doctor sounding a note of hope. “But the trouble is Mugabe and Zanu (PF) [who] think, ‘So what if people starve?’. If they hold on, it will be another Ethiopia.”
President Mugabe appointed two members of his own party to be Zimbabwe’s vice-presidents yesterday as he continued with moves to take full control of the “power-sharing” Government (Jan Raath writes). The decision to appoint Joseph Msika and Joyce Mujuru without consultation drew criticism from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg yesterday said that they would consider “additional measures” if the power-sharing deal was blocked.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Discipline for children is imperative for a brighter future
My friend saw some school children drinking beer and smoking cigarettes near a shopping mall .He tried to stop them and they told him to go and hang. He was very angry and decided to beat them so that they would not do it again. One of the small boys picked his cell phone and spoke to someone crying. Within few minutes an audi A6 had arrived. An elegant woman came out with her head high and told my friend that she had suffered alone for nine months to bear her child and that if ever my friend was to raise a hand on the son he should be prepared to go before the courts to answer assault charges My friend left the scene very embarrassed and discouraged ,wondering how the world was loosing it.
Parents we do not show love to your children by spoiling them, children should be beaten if they misbehave, that’s how you show them that you love them. A child who is spared from a rod is going to be a disaster in the future. Today we have parents taking their children to beer drinking spots instead of the church.The church helps to groom a child in the way of God. It enables children to be disciplined and also respect elders. Children of these have been spoiled to such an extent that you get scared to rebuke them because they can pick a stone and work on you nicely. We are not doing justice to the future by continuously boasting that it’s the nature of today that the children should misbehave. Children of today are being spoilt in the name of love and it worries to think of the future where these same spoilt children will be leaders
When we were growing there was no nonsense, we knew that the child once born belonged to the country and anyone could chastise him/her. If you were misbehaving in class a teacher would not spare a rod, they would beat you until you towed the line, however children of today go with cell phones to school. If you threaten to beat the child for misbehaving the child would tell you that he/she will call a family lawyer. I don’t think we are doing justices to future generations.
Our parents used to tell us folktales and stories that helped us to develop as future parents and leaders ,but today the children are being exposed to violent movies and pornography. This is mainly because both parents go to work and come very tired in the evening to come and sleep. If a child tries to chat with any of the parents they would chase the child off claiming that they are tired from a board meeting. The child will be left at the discretion of the maid who might not have time for the child. All the maid can do is to give a child a computer or television so as to have more time to herself. How then can we curb unwanted pregnancy and child abuse if we are not there for our children. Parents it does not help to accumulate a lot of wealth with undisciplined children because the wealth will become a catalyst to an early grave for them .Passion killings ,robbery and drunkardness are symptoms of a spoilt and bad past. Most of these cases though they are exceptions are as a result of poor parenting. They know about dating when they are eight years .Technology has also complicated the problem because they develop networks of trading drugs and dating. I appreciate that I am old fashioned but I still feel that if you truly love your child control what they see on computers and television because it molds them. When we were growing we were shy to sit next to a girl, but today its different.
The best way to groom a child is taking him or her to Sunday school at church where they will be trained good morals and respect of another person as an image of God. I know that in Zimbabwe things are tight, but that should be no excuse to neglect children. Let’s continue to discipline children as they are our hope for a better future. Let’s continue to encourage them to be positive in life as one day things will get better. If we neglect these children we will be compounding the problem than help it.
Some parents have developed modern methods of punishing children like I wont take you to Nandos , this technique will not work for sure. Children need to be chastised with a whip that’s all. If I see a child misbehaving I will not wait for the parents, I will beat the child up and explain to the court later that I beat the child for misbehaving and I will do it again.
Simbarashe Chirimubwe
Botswana
Parents we do not show love to your children by spoiling them, children should be beaten if they misbehave, that’s how you show them that you love them. A child who is spared from a rod is going to be a disaster in the future. Today we have parents taking their children to beer drinking spots instead of the church.The church helps to groom a child in the way of God. It enables children to be disciplined and also respect elders. Children of these have been spoiled to such an extent that you get scared to rebuke them because they can pick a stone and work on you nicely. We are not doing justice to the future by continuously boasting that it’s the nature of today that the children should misbehave. Children of today are being spoilt in the name of love and it worries to think of the future where these same spoilt children will be leaders
When we were growing there was no nonsense, we knew that the child once born belonged to the country and anyone could chastise him/her. If you were misbehaving in class a teacher would not spare a rod, they would beat you until you towed the line, however children of today go with cell phones to school. If you threaten to beat the child for misbehaving the child would tell you that he/she will call a family lawyer. I don’t think we are doing justices to future generations.
Our parents used to tell us folktales and stories that helped us to develop as future parents and leaders ,but today the children are being exposed to violent movies and pornography. This is mainly because both parents go to work and come very tired in the evening to come and sleep. If a child tries to chat with any of the parents they would chase the child off claiming that they are tired from a board meeting. The child will be left at the discretion of the maid who might not have time for the child. All the maid can do is to give a child a computer or television so as to have more time to herself. How then can we curb unwanted pregnancy and child abuse if we are not there for our children. Parents it does not help to accumulate a lot of wealth with undisciplined children because the wealth will become a catalyst to an early grave for them .Passion killings ,robbery and drunkardness are symptoms of a spoilt and bad past. Most of these cases though they are exceptions are as a result of poor parenting. They know about dating when they are eight years .Technology has also complicated the problem because they develop networks of trading drugs and dating. I appreciate that I am old fashioned but I still feel that if you truly love your child control what they see on computers and television because it molds them. When we were growing we were shy to sit next to a girl, but today its different.
The best way to groom a child is taking him or her to Sunday school at church where they will be trained good morals and respect of another person as an image of God. I know that in Zimbabwe things are tight, but that should be no excuse to neglect children. Let’s continue to discipline children as they are our hope for a better future. Let’s continue to encourage them to be positive in life as one day things will get better. If we neglect these children we will be compounding the problem than help it.
Some parents have developed modern methods of punishing children like I wont take you to Nandos , this technique will not work for sure. Children need to be chastised with a whip that’s all. If I see a child misbehaving I will not wait for the parents, I will beat the child up and explain to the court later that I beat the child for misbehaving and I will do it again.
Simbarashe Chirimubwe
Botswana
Monday, October 6, 2008
From the streets of Harare
http://www.zimdaily.com
By ITAI DZAMARAPublished: Monday 06 October 2008
ZIMBABWE - I was shocked when the lady behind the counter in the Gutsai Supermarket confirmed that indeed the twist bread was costing Z$430 000 (revalued).I looked at her, felt the pervasive urge to say something to her, protest, shout. For the very first time in my life I imagined calling some funny outfit called the National Incomes and Pricing Commission.The price of the twist bread as of that day, Saturday October 4 2008 was more than US$10 even going by the highest exchange rates available on that day.
One needed to withdraw cash from their account more than 20 times, which means for 20 days to be able to buy the twist, going by the daily withdrawal limit of Z$20 000.This is just one of the symptoms of the serious crisis Zimbabweans are grappling with, worsening by the day. But it doesn't mean nothing is being done by the country's leaders in the face of this suffering.
The political leaders are busy, talking, negotiating and so forth. They have been busy throughout this year, campaigning initially, talking, negotiating before striking a political settlement on September 15 but there has been an impasse after that (which in some terms and by some standards could be pronounced broken by the time you read this column).
Zanu (PF), of Robert Mugabe and the two MDC formations have been in deadlock into the fourth week since the signing because of failure to agree on sharing of ministries. We have is on good authority that Robert Mugabe, who has been in power since independence 28 years ago and presided over the parlous state of the country's economy, has been digging in his heels insisting he should retain virtually all the key ministries.
This is not only ridiculous, but also saddening. The same man and his entourage of praise singers and bootlickers that have been backing his destruction policies and agendas are stubbornly demanding the key ministries.To do what really? What new or different things does this gang believe or hope to do which they didn't do with the ministry of Finance where looting of the national coffers has been rampaging like a veldfire, or the ministry of Home Affairs where, despite using them like whips and guns against the opposition and the masses, members of the police force are a pathetic lot, paid peanuts and condemned to destitution dressed in the uniform that is meant to reflect national honour and authority.
I recently saw a constable's pay slip and he earned for the last month about Z$12 000. He needs to save his whole salary for five months to be able to buy the twist bread.These scenarios and analogies present far-reaching implications on Mugabe and his closest allies who stand on podiums to claim they are men (and women) of the people, participated in elections this year-lost them but killed people, begged for dialogue with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai who had clearly demonstrated to be the people's choice but now here we are-deadlock.This not normal at all, this is insane on the part of Mugabe and his allies. I am sure Robert Mugabe is totally insane and the majority of those closest to him are either stupid, hypocrites or possessed by demons. The insanity of Mugabe and some of his allies is caused by evil forces that possess, control and influence their minds, souls and spirits.
If Mugabe was normal he would be the first to embrace the hand of peace and love he is offered daily by Zimbabweans despite them still nursing the wounds of his murder and mayhem. He would have at least done a tenth of what former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa did when he humbled himself and appeared before the nation to allow for someone else to take over.
That takes me to my major point in this article, and which I dwelt on in an article published last week. Whatever some people call it, I am of the firm belief that the battle Zimbabweans have been and are still fighting has a spiritual dimension.In fact, it is primarily and basically a spiritual battle only manifesting in the natural and the physical through Mugabe, his followers, Morgan Tsvangirai, his party, Arthur Mutambara, his party and the rest of Zimbabwe, including our economy and other sectors.Only some force, of evil would have supported Mugabe in the horrendous things he has inflicted upon the beautiful nation of Zimbabwe since 1980.That force can never be Jehova Jireh God Almighty who says in Deuteronomy he has plans only to prosper his people, to provide them food, accommodation, shelter, wealth and also peace. This same God, of Abraham, Jacob and John, as well as the children of Zimbabwe, does not accept the hypocrisy of Mugabe and his gang.This God has heard the crying and supplication by Zimbabweans yearning to be delivered from the evil Mugabe regime and that is why he has proved to Mugabe that he and the evil forces that use him will not prosper Zimbabwe, will not provide food, will not get a harvest.God defeated the evil and Mugabe begged for talks with MDC. His hopes for an opportunity to swallow or silence the forces of change and cries for a better Zimbabwe are ending in vain.It is through the powerful stand and faith in God by the army of the Almighty in Zimbabwe that finally, yes finally, in his whole history Mugabe has found a nemesis in Tsvangirai, who will not fall for anything to waver from principle and commitment towards what is good for this country.
If Tsvangirai gives in and accepts the nonsense of some silly so-called power sharing arrangement, he would be fooling himself and wasting his time because God's plan for this country is something else.It is that he has defeated the evil forces that have been using Mugabe and Zanu (PF) to oppress this nation and that because the prayers of Zimbabweans have gone to the Almighty as a memorial.
This God will not countenance the hypocrisy and sinister agendas behind Mugabe's desire to cling onto key ministries which he has been with for 28 years of failure.Therefore, dance they may, issue threats, buy more arms from China, train more green bombers and even prepare more offices for Tsvangirai, there is no way Mugabe and his evil dictatorship can reverse their defeat already confirmed spiritually and also manifesting in the natural as they lose elections, as their economy melts to unprecedented levels, their money becomes the most valueless thing around them and what more, even their kids ridicule and find shame in them.They have no way they will escape the end, and the day is fast approaching and there will be more clear indications when you read this column next week.Keep watching this space
By ITAI DZAMARAPublished: Monday 06 October 2008
ZIMBABWE - I was shocked when the lady behind the counter in the Gutsai Supermarket confirmed that indeed the twist bread was costing Z$430 000 (revalued).I looked at her, felt the pervasive urge to say something to her, protest, shout. For the very first time in my life I imagined calling some funny outfit called the National Incomes and Pricing Commission.The price of the twist bread as of that day, Saturday October 4 2008 was more than US$10 even going by the highest exchange rates available on that day.
One needed to withdraw cash from their account more than 20 times, which means for 20 days to be able to buy the twist, going by the daily withdrawal limit of Z$20 000.This is just one of the symptoms of the serious crisis Zimbabweans are grappling with, worsening by the day. But it doesn't mean nothing is being done by the country's leaders in the face of this suffering.
The political leaders are busy, talking, negotiating and so forth. They have been busy throughout this year, campaigning initially, talking, negotiating before striking a political settlement on September 15 but there has been an impasse after that (which in some terms and by some standards could be pronounced broken by the time you read this column).
Zanu (PF), of Robert Mugabe and the two MDC formations have been in deadlock into the fourth week since the signing because of failure to agree on sharing of ministries. We have is on good authority that Robert Mugabe, who has been in power since independence 28 years ago and presided over the parlous state of the country's economy, has been digging in his heels insisting he should retain virtually all the key ministries.
This is not only ridiculous, but also saddening. The same man and his entourage of praise singers and bootlickers that have been backing his destruction policies and agendas are stubbornly demanding the key ministries.To do what really? What new or different things does this gang believe or hope to do which they didn't do with the ministry of Finance where looting of the national coffers has been rampaging like a veldfire, or the ministry of Home Affairs where, despite using them like whips and guns against the opposition and the masses, members of the police force are a pathetic lot, paid peanuts and condemned to destitution dressed in the uniform that is meant to reflect national honour and authority.
I recently saw a constable's pay slip and he earned for the last month about Z$12 000. He needs to save his whole salary for five months to be able to buy the twist bread.These scenarios and analogies present far-reaching implications on Mugabe and his closest allies who stand on podiums to claim they are men (and women) of the people, participated in elections this year-lost them but killed people, begged for dialogue with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai who had clearly demonstrated to be the people's choice but now here we are-deadlock.This not normal at all, this is insane on the part of Mugabe and his allies. I am sure Robert Mugabe is totally insane and the majority of those closest to him are either stupid, hypocrites or possessed by demons. The insanity of Mugabe and some of his allies is caused by evil forces that possess, control and influence their minds, souls and spirits.
If Mugabe was normal he would be the first to embrace the hand of peace and love he is offered daily by Zimbabweans despite them still nursing the wounds of his murder and mayhem. He would have at least done a tenth of what former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa did when he humbled himself and appeared before the nation to allow for someone else to take over.
That takes me to my major point in this article, and which I dwelt on in an article published last week. Whatever some people call it, I am of the firm belief that the battle Zimbabweans have been and are still fighting has a spiritual dimension.In fact, it is primarily and basically a spiritual battle only manifesting in the natural and the physical through Mugabe, his followers, Morgan Tsvangirai, his party, Arthur Mutambara, his party and the rest of Zimbabwe, including our economy and other sectors.Only some force, of evil would have supported Mugabe in the horrendous things he has inflicted upon the beautiful nation of Zimbabwe since 1980.That force can never be Jehova Jireh God Almighty who says in Deuteronomy he has plans only to prosper his people, to provide them food, accommodation, shelter, wealth and also peace. This same God, of Abraham, Jacob and John, as well as the children of Zimbabwe, does not accept the hypocrisy of Mugabe and his gang.This God has heard the crying and supplication by Zimbabweans yearning to be delivered from the evil Mugabe regime and that is why he has proved to Mugabe that he and the evil forces that use him will not prosper Zimbabwe, will not provide food, will not get a harvest.God defeated the evil and Mugabe begged for talks with MDC. His hopes for an opportunity to swallow or silence the forces of change and cries for a better Zimbabwe are ending in vain.It is through the powerful stand and faith in God by the army of the Almighty in Zimbabwe that finally, yes finally, in his whole history Mugabe has found a nemesis in Tsvangirai, who will not fall for anything to waver from principle and commitment towards what is good for this country.
If Tsvangirai gives in and accepts the nonsense of some silly so-called power sharing arrangement, he would be fooling himself and wasting his time because God's plan for this country is something else.It is that he has defeated the evil forces that have been using Mugabe and Zanu (PF) to oppress this nation and that because the prayers of Zimbabweans have gone to the Almighty as a memorial.
This God will not countenance the hypocrisy and sinister agendas behind Mugabe's desire to cling onto key ministries which he has been with for 28 years of failure.Therefore, dance they may, issue threats, buy more arms from China, train more green bombers and even prepare more offices for Tsvangirai, there is no way Mugabe and his evil dictatorship can reverse their defeat already confirmed spiritually and also manifesting in the natural as they lose elections, as their economy melts to unprecedented levels, their money becomes the most valueless thing around them and what more, even their kids ridicule and find shame in them.They have no way they will escape the end, and the day is fast approaching and there will be more clear indications when you read this column next week.Keep watching this space
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