How Amanpour and CNN lost to Mugabe- By Rashweat Mukundu

How Amanpour and CNN lost to Mugabe- By Rashweat Mukundu

Mugabe stuck to his well known script, Amanpour and CNN fumbled all over. Thus after the highly expected interview of Mugabe by senior CNN Journalist, Christiane Amanpour, on Thursday 24 September, it came out, in my view, to a victory for Mugabe, if we take it as a contest. Amanpour failed to rise above the familiar frames of the western media’s analysis of Zimbabwe, dictatorship, hunger, land, and white farmers. These are part of the issues, but more of symptoms of a deeper problem which we hoped CNN would probe. We expected Amanpour to bring these issues to the interview but in a way that makes it impossible for Mugabe to waive them away so simply. We expected more facts, events and names. And they are many that Mugabe cannot run away from.

Yes, the Zimbabwe crisis is also about land among many other things, but this is more a symptom of a deficiency in democracy that Mugabe demonstrated very early in his rule. It is this failure to understand history and looking at Zimbabwe in compartments that has been the failure of the western media for so long and indeed the Achilles heel of Amanpour when she met Mugabe. Amanpour stated clearly that her Rhodesian journalists’ friends really enjoyed the first ten years of Mugabe’s rule. In those ten years Mugabe presided over the massacre of thousands of Ndebele’s who happened to support an opposition party and belong to an ethnic group other than his. It is therefore wrong for CNN to say Zimbabwe’s crisis is a year 2000 phenomenon and only so because Mugabe started grabbing farms from white farmers. Amanpour thus sunk into a familiar tune that Mugabe was well prepared for, giving a full lecture of history which Amanpour was, again, unprepared for. Statistics is there all over the internet on how Mugabe’s government abused donor funds and some resettled farmers sank more into poverty. Mugabe’s views were never seriously challenged.

In any case lets us talk of the crisis in Zimbabwe since 2000. The most affected and those who have suffered the most are the majority of poor Zimbabweans. If there are a people that Mugabe has failed the most and dehumanised the most it is his fellow black Zimbabweans. Any questioning and framing of the Zimbabwe crisis should, as a consequence, start from this stand point. Mugabe should have been asked about the many MDC supporters who were murdered, again their names are there, about Jestina Mukoko and others who were kidnapped in December 2008. Those who did this are still free, and Zimbabwe courts have been clear that this was wrong. Hundreds of cases of MDC supporters who lost their lives are recorded and should have been brought to Mugabe by CNN. Their killers are walking scot free and many are known by name. This should have been brought to Mugabe. The Daily News was bombed 3 times, 60 000 copies of the Zimbabwean newspapers were burnt in 2008, four newspaper were shut by decree and remain closed while Mugabe’s government is launching one daily paper after another, while denying others that space. These are double standards that should have been brought to Mugabe as undermining the unity government. There were many scenes of violence that were captured by the media in the 2008’s controversial June Presidential by-election that Amanpour should have pinned Mugabe on.

Mugabe is a dictator yes, but one who has created a very sophisticated dictatorship that is not only about power grabbing but distorts and deploys historical narratives for its benefit. It’s a dictatorship that sinisterly divides society along race, ethnicity and ideology. If the western media intends to report Zimbabwe they should not engage Mugabe in a turf of contested history but talk of the practicalities and realities of life in Zimbabwe, that story Mugabe cannot dismiss that easily. It is for this reason that the western media has to change its frames of analysing Zimbabwe and Mugabe, and see the majority of victims of Mugabe’s government not only a statistics but the real victims of this crisis. The violence on ordinary Zimbabweans is not a land issue, but has always existed well before 2000. A proper analysis needs to go beyond land reform, to look at what Mugabe has done to his own people, the cases of corruption that should have been brought out, the collapse of Kondozi farm, a classical case of the phoney arguments by Mugabe that land reform is about equality and prosperity, the diamonds fiasco in Manicaland.

A well respected journalist like Amanpour was expected to go deeper, bring out examples, the horror and scenes that Mugabe cannot deny. She should have avoided narratives of history that are not in dispute but give it to Mugabe in black and white from the perspectives of the majority of Zimbabweans. The interview turned to be a successful Public Relations exercise and godsend for Mugabe. This is because we have heard it all before and Mugabe reinforced his message at a world stage. But the real story of Zimbabwe’s majority rarely finds space and it is one that Mugabe cannot deny nor justify by whatever means or explanation. He can easily explain the land reform on the basis of history, but he cannot explain the kidnapping of Mukoko, the bombing of the Daily News among other many things. The international media will become relevant when it sees the Zimbabwe crisis from this holistic perspective. As for Amanpour we hope she can be better prepared next time.//End//

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My Dream Plans for US$500m- Rashweat Mukundu

My Dream Plans for US$500m


Thursday, 17 September 2009 16:40
SOMETIME back on a cold weekend day of June 1985, my mother gave me Z$35 to pay rent to our landlord in Cherima, Marondera. I knocked on the kitchen of Amai Munyaradzi, a big woman whose steps and breathing I could hear hundreds of metres away. Amai Munyaradzi was ensconced at the fireplace with her husband, Bitoni Silipa.

Silipa worked at the GMB in Marondera and was a devout Christian. He always sang loudly, every evening, calling the whole street to the saviour. On many occasions I had however seen him sneak into the wooden and almost collapsing cabin of Susan, who lived at the end of Rusvingo Street, but I never told anyone.

As I handed the money to Amai Munyaradzi , Silipa leapt with tremendous force to lift from his chair, almost falling into the fireplace as he attempted to grab the money. The Z$35 was consumed by the fire.

I was shocked and quietly left the room. I never told my mother or anyone until now.
This incident reminds me of Finance minister Tendai Biti and RBZ Governor Gideon Gono wrangling over the IMF US$500 million. The IMF loan, for me, came at the right time for Zimbabwe, more so for this unity government. Unfortunately as Zimbabweans, we are reminded daily that we are being governed by a very disunited family that is all to eager to show, at every opportunity, that they are in a forced marriage.

Under Sterp — the economic recovery programme of the unity government — the sourcing of resources for both public and private sector revival is mentioned as key. This document, despite its overtly private sector deterministic approach to economic recovery, nevertheless contains the main ingredients that have so far brought a semblance of stability and if continued, some hope for citizens.

What can be drawn from the arguments of the two men is that the two parties are still very much driven by self-interest. I don’t agree that Zimbabwe should decline the US$500 million simply because we are poor and cannot repay the money.
My understanding is that Zimbabwe has so far received more than US$1 billion in loans that will attract even higher interest rates than the IMF loan. Secondly I don’t agree that this money should be used to refinance another so called agricultural mechanisation programme, simply to give more farm machinery to some high-placed officials to abuse and use as campaign tools.
Those who are into commercial farming must now go to the banks and negotiate for loans. While they are producing for the country, they are foremostly creating personal wealth. If there is to be any support to them, let it be in areas that don’t hit the pocket of the taxpayer.
Zimbabweans, long left out of the management of their resources, are again left baffled as the IMF loan opens another battlefront — an unnecessary one. First Zimbabweans need power, water, affordable housing and functional hospitals.

If the IMF loan is to be repaid by the taxpayer, then the loan should simply go to those areas of concern to the taxpayer. This loan can pay off all of Zesa’s debts and finance the refurbishment of Hwange Thermal Power Station and support Hwange Colliery to increase its capacity.
Thousands of Zimbabweans died needlessly in 2008 and 2009 as a result of cholera. Cholera is a disease of poverty. Almost all cities and towns in Zimbabwe have a critical water shortage. Again I believe citizens are prepared to pay for clean water rather than die of cholera. The IMF loan can finance the refurbishment of water reticulation in cities and towns.
A few months ago, prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai toured Harare Central Hospital and was told the hospital needed nearly US$40 000 to repair a non-functional boiler, apart from shortages of drugs and staff. I would not mind if part of this loan goes to repairing that boiler and buying other critical equipment for hospitals in Zimbabwe.
Again as citizens, we will pay back the IMF loan rather than die from lack of drugs and health equipment. Hundreds of Zimbabweans have also died in the past few months in needless accidents, mostly as a result of bad roads.

As citizens we also would not mind paying toll fees to use better roads. Zimbabwean schools have no books, a dangerous scenario that is creating a generation on illiterates that will be of no use in the next few years apart from being criminals and loafers. Again let the IMF loan buy text books for schools and citizens will not mind paying for the future of their children.
Rather than abuse citizens with all the economic jargon of this and that, Biti and Gono can save us better by directing this loan to things that matter in our lives. And citizens will pay back the loan through their taxes.

I am reminded that as I left the kitchen of Amai Munyaradzi I heard her shout, “Yaa” followed by another “Yaa” from Silipa. The two of them were “happy” but neither had gained. I hope Biti and Gono don’t take us though this zero-sum scenario. Leadership and sensitivity are necessary for the sake of long suffering Zimbabweans.

Zero Duty Policy Opens up Avenues of Communication- Rashweat Mukundu

THE reaction of the state-owned media, especially the Herald, to Finance minister Tendai Biti’s midterm financial policy speech is hardly surprising. More so the reaction of the likes of former Information minister Jonathan Moyo. Moyo attacked Biti with all sorts of words, from accusations of the new policy as partisan to charges of abuse of the parliamentary floor and threatening national sovereignty and security by allowing the free movement and entry of foreign media content in Zimbabwe.

Despite its struggles to deal with so many problems, chief among which is that it is broke, the unity government through this policy has done something progressive where it matters most. And that is opening the avenues of access to information by as many of Zimbabwe’s citizens as possible and indeed the ability of the people to communicate without restrictions, be they of policy or poverty.

It is in the context of this that the attacks by Moyo have to be understood. It is not surprising that when it comes to the advancement of views that represent dissent, views other than their own, Moyo and the likes of former chairperson of the defunct Media and Information Commission Tafataona Mahoso become analysts of choice for the Herald.

It is also important to note that despite being an independent Member of Parliament, Moyo’s heart and spirit are still on board the Zanu PF gravy train. This is so because the ideological views of Zanu PF when it comes to media and the rights of citizens to access information, freely associate and speak their views, were shaped and are still influenced by the likes of Moyo and Mahoso.

Where Zanu PF would from time to time suppress dissent in the media in the 1980s, it had neither the confidence nor inclination to be so vicious until Moyo came onto the scene, presiding over the promulgation of laws that include Aippa and BSA.
It is the effect of these laws that Zimbabwe is struggling to reverse and the reason for Moyo’s anger.

In Moyo, Zanu PF found new energy and zeal that it never had to repress critical media voices.
So when he is quoted by the Herald attacking Biti for allowing duty–free entry of newspapers, computers and mobile phone handsets, his views have to be understood from a historical point of view of not only having nostalgia for his days in the former ruling party but also a warped ideological view based on the dominance of one view, his view, and the subjugation of the rest, to his narrow-minded thinking.

The attack on the free movement of media products as a threat to national sovereignty and security is a strange and unintelligent argument that should not be taken seriously nor have space in serious national discourse.
Of all things that have gone wrong in Zimbabwe, Moyo sees foreign newspapers and duty–free computers and mobile phones as a threat to national security and sovereignty. What of the fact that almost half of the population is being fed by foreigners because of the destructive policies of Zanu PF?

What of the fact that we are almost getting electricity which we are unable to pay for for free? What of the hordes of police and military service persons who have run away from duty because of paltry salaries? What of the abduction of innocent citizens, the torture and killing of civilians in Chiadzwa and other parts of the country?
For a very long time the likes of Moyo have abused terms such as national sovereignty and security to mean the protection of Zanu PF’s interest.

The citizens of Zimbabwe have enjoyed neither the benefits of sovereignty nor security as many have had to cross crocodile infested rivers to look for a better life in other peoples lands. Citizens have neither enjoyed security as they are daily harassed by security arms of the state.
The argument of sovereignty and national security has to be dismissed with contempt as an attempt to capture the national psyche in a historical trap. Sovereignty and security can only be guaranteed in a free society able to feed itself and sleep without fear of harassment by its own security arms and politicians.

Moyo and the Herald should take time to unpack the jargon they use, more so declare their own baggage and interests rather than pose as sober thinkers with the interest of the country at heart. It is not surprising that Moyo did not like what Biti said, more so because he is a lowly backbencher, whose voice is becoming fainter every time he opens his mouth.
This is indeed an unfamiliar position for Moyo who is used to strutting the national stage with gusto. The policy pronouncement by Biti might have its economic shortcomings but it is a major contribution to the freedoms that Zimbabweans are crying for.

It is also a major contribution to the development and usage of ICTs, be it in the mobile phone or computer sector. The more Zimbabweans can talk, access information, share ideas and concerns the more they can become liberated and play their rightful roles as citizens.
It is possible that an increase in mobile phone usage at reasonable charges can be a major contributor to state revenue as mobile phone companies increase their revenues, hence tax contributions. It is possible that the duty-free entry of computers is the panacea Zimbabwe needs to move into the ICT-driven knowledge age in all its sectors, and free us from the Stone Age that Moyo and others want to keep us in. All these aspects have a liberating feel and effect.
Zanu PF and the likes of Moyo would rather have people remain ignorant, submissive, read the Herald and listen and watch the ZBC, then go to sleep. We are not told how newspapers printed in London and distributed in Zimbabwe are a threat to national sovereignty. Why should Moyo or anyone else determine what people read. Why should the choice of what I read not be left to me if I can afford it?

This policy pronouncement is probably the most progressive and pro-poor as it enhances access to communication facilities. And with such facilities a communal farmer in Murehwa can easily communicate with his/her market at Mbare, negotiate prices, organise business and make a living. It is through communication and access to information that society can hope to move forward.

For those caught in the past, their attacks of this policy are not only shocking but another reminder of the threats of regression and myopia that lurks in the dark. Unfounded Zanu PF phobias fuelled by false prophecies of its oracles, in the form of Moyo and Mahoso, should not be allowed to stop Zimbabwe moving forward.

Gender as the lived experience: The controversy over the Zambian, ‘woman in birth’ Pictures- by Rashweat Mukundu

It is often too easy to say one understands gender equality issues, and I have said so, myself, many times. But a recent debate and discussion in the MISA office over the graphic pictures of a woman in birth, taken in Zambia a few weeks ago, apparently to demonstrate the collapse of the health delivery system as a result of a health workers strike, left me wondering whether there is more to the gender equality struggle and debate than what I know and would want to know. I am left wondering how deep does the gender debate arouse and prickle our cultural, religious and indeed manly sensitivities. I was shocked by what I saw in the pictures. This shock that I expressed in emails to colleagues, both mothers and seasoned activists in their own right, left me wondering whether when we talk about gender there are surface and deeper meanings that we all miss.

First, the two pictures taken in June in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, are indeed graphic and demonstrate the suffering the woman was going through and the fear on the faces friends and relatives who were trying to assist. The government in Zambia and the women’s movement are up in arms, accusing The Post newspaper of distributing pornography. On its part newspaper says it neither published nor took the pictures but simply forwarded them to select authorities with a note expressing concern on the state of health delivery in Zambia. The News editor was picked-up by the police and made to sign a warned and cautioned statement. She might still face trial.

My interaction with the images brought me to a world which I thought I knew, gender, women, equality. I talk and address these issues all the time. Our discussion on the pictures however brought a dimensions about the gender debate, that when we talk of gender and gender equality it is more than what one says and does but ‘THE LIVED’ experience and how as a man, despite all my good intentions, I can so easily miss the bigger picture.
I argued that maybe this woman was never consulted, did not consent to have the pictures taken and was to some extent used as a guinea pig and tool in a much bigger political game. The response from my two colleagues brought me to realise that maybe there is a cultural framing and societal structure and lenses that we men use to view women, and that there are many things about the women’s body, and role that we are not comfortable with. Women in birth, women in old age, women demonstrating masculinity and women in power are some of the things that came to mind. In the case of the Zambia pictures, President Rupiah Banda’s government leaped on this as an opportunity to reignite its fight with its nemesis The Post newspaper. The government leaped on this as an opportunity to divert attention from its failings on health delivery. The government lambasted the newspaper for distributing pornography. Cheering on the government corner, lo and behold, was the women’s movement in Zambia in all its shades and colours. The groups raised dust accusing the newspaper of disrespecting women’s bodies, dignity and all sorts. The political opportunism of the government is well understood, that is what politicians are like, quick at blaming and quick at diversion. What about the Zambia women’s movement?
We agreed in the short discussion that while we are all activist, still we are men and women, we belong to families, and we belong to a society. We belong to religious groups, we hold political views and opinions, and we carry our baggage wherever we go. This brings us back to the Zambia women’s movement. Which hat where they wearing when they attacked The Post newspaper and whose interests were they advancing between the suffering women and President Banda? Where they wearing their activism and gender equality hats or their cultural hat as submissive women who should be all fearing and in perpetual awe of the powerful men, or maybe they just decided to take a political stance against the newspaper?. It became clear in our discussion that the Women’s movement in Zambia and indeed a broad section of civic society did not take time to reflect and think deeper about these pictures. These pictures were not concocted, but ‘THE TRUTH’. The truth that women in Zambia, poor women who cannot afford private hospitals, doctors or even to be flown to Johannesburg are giving birth in the open, with no health care, traumatised and possibly dying. It was explained to me, that the baby that was being born as shown in the pictures, was in fact ‘breached’, that is coming out legs and body first, instead of head first. It was further explained to me by my colleagues that the baby would probably die and that should the mother have been receiving medical care, this situation would have been corrected. For me the birth was a messy affair that I could not comprehend. For our Zambian women movement it becomes clear that they missed the bigger picture that the Rupiah Banda government should be held accountable for putting the lives of women in serious danger. It is possible that the baby in those pictures died, it is possible also that the mother died or is seriously ill. Forget the privacy issues, lets us look at the bigger picture, the public good and interest issue, which is the lives and health of women. This is the message my colleagues emphasised on me. The concerned Minister of Health, in a democracy might have resigned and an official enquiry set up. In Africa life is cheap hence the Zambia government got away with a gross human rights violation. And those who are supposed to be the avant-garde fighting for women rights were sleeping. Again this raises another issues, how related are gender issues to politics and are women’s groups prepared to challenge politicians and get dirty in the process. I think not, women’s movements throughout Africa still have a long way to go. Gender equality is conducted as the neatest, most innocent, most unthreatening and apolitical process in the world. My experience with the Zambian pictures has taught me that gender equality is a messy business, highly political, about life and death. Women’s groups in Zambia and in Africa should be prepared to tackle these issues beyond rhetoric, hotel conferences, glossy newsletters and radio talk shows but tackle the root cause of the problem, which is political and cultural.

Key in this process are issues of access to information and how they are linked to the need for the public to know. If these picture had not been taken it is possible that the citizens of Zambia would imagine and indeed think that all is well, hence not challenge their government on its shortcomings. Access to information is therefore a critical element that either determined the life or death of the woman and the baby. It is access to information at various levels and in various stands that was shortcoming. Access to health information, i.e. did this woman have access to information on her condition, did she have access to information on alternatives, did she have acces to information on heath facilities and services available if any?. If not does the Zambia community have access to information on how much the government is spending on health, does society have access to information on the causes of the strike and government actions to resolve the crisis. These questions will never be answered, but are the cause why civic society should remain true to its calling, that is seek accountability, transparency and a better life for citizens. The woman and the baby in those pictures deserved better. The Zambia women’s movement needs to wake up, President Band and his government are politicians they can be voted out should Zambians decide so in 2011. // End//

Tanzania’s fading dream: The return of disappointment- Rashweat Mukundu

CNN recently featured Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete in all glowing coverage that portrays him as a decent and promising leader in Africa. The coverage hovered around phantom developmental issues that the President has achieved and of course continuing sympathies over the terrorist bombings in Tanzania that took place a few years ago. I however beg to differ with CNN especially if one looks at developments in that country. The death and injury of many from unsecured army weapons that exploded last month to the recent granting of USD 3 million in damages to a leading businessperson and ruling party politician against a leading but small and struggling newspaper, ‘Mwanahalisi’ shows a country desperate for true and visionary leadership. My argument is anchored on the sad but inspirational story of ‘Mwanahalisi’ newspaper, which for some reason never found its way into the CNN discussion, at least for its significance as an attack on the free press.

The source of the legal case that the newspaper lost, the Richmond saga as it is known is a true story of monumental corruption and it resulted in senior politicians and government officials getting into trouble. It is one of the many stories of corruption that the media has exposed. It seems it payback time for the ‘Mwanahalisi’. The alleged damages to this politician have not stopped him from being an MP and running his business empire, he did not suffer a stroke as a result of ‘Mwanahalisi’ story. One would think with such as award the politician committed suicide, hence the level of monetary damages awarded. In this instance the justice system in Tanzania has to be questioned and rightfully so. Is it truly independent and how does it relate to the Tanzanian society? It is part of the establishment and elite groups attempting to thwart dissent?

On a recent visit to Tanzania, a senior editor of one of the leading media groups remarked to us that Tanzania is increasingly becoming a dangerous place for journalists and the media in general.

“Losing one case is enough to shut down whole” newspaper she said in March 2009. This statement might come out to be prophetic as lasty month the High Court awarded damages of close to USD 3 million to ruling party MP and well known businessman. This ruling against the ‘Mwanahalisi’ newspapers, a young and bold investigative newspaper sums up the situation in Tanzania. After hopes raised by economic revival in the 1990s and early 2000s, the human rights costs of this facade of a stable, peaceful country is finally being exposed for what it is, a sham. For starters one really wonders how ‘Mwanahalisi’ can pay USD 3 Million, for a story that in the public court was true, serve for a few errors that have been exploited by some politicians. Leading figures in the government were sent to jail and others resigned over this matter. While the principle is to given the judiciary all protection and respect, one really wonders how the judge reached a damage ward of USD 3 million in country were the majority survives on less than a dollar a day. Is this ruling a just ruling, we ask? Is this ruling meant to ensure justice and leave the newspaper surviving or is in fact an opportunity to deal with the ‘Mwanahalisi’ once and for all. For those of my readers not in the picture, ‘Mwanahalisi’ is a Swahili weekly, owned and run by a young team of Tanzanian journalists, operates from what others might called backyard offices, was shut down in 2008 for allegedly impugning on the name of the head of state, President Kikwete. Before that its editor Saed Kubunea was scalded with acid, beaten up, left for dead and almost; lost his sight. The ‘Mwanahalisi’ was instrumental in exposing what is now known as the Richmond saga in Tanzania where senior government officials received bribes to push for the purchase of obsolete power generators for Tanzania from the USA. The newspaper has also exposed other serious official corruption cases in Tanzania. For all its work and efforts the newspaper is now saddled with USD 3 Million in damages for allegedly defaming a ruling party and prominent businessperson in the Richmond deal. The judiciary, in its wisdom or lack of it, saw it fit that the damage to this official is worth 3 USD million not shillings, but USD.

Corruption is a disease that many agree has eaten Africa to the bone. That is not difficult to see even as one walks the streets of Dar. Ordinary people hassle for life in the streets, public transport is in disarray, roads are pot holed that one can even fish in them and any semblance of planning is zero. In the same streets, one sees the latest four wheel drive 4x4s and some of the officials exposed by Mwanahalisi are known to have stashed millions of USD, ill gotten wealth in overseas banks. The newspaper exposed this, and had its offices and the house of Kubenea raided and some computers and documents confiscated. For all its supposed good name, peace and so called economic progress, Tanzania is on the contrary regressing. I say so because no country and no government confident of itself and its projects and closeness to people, can harass a small newspapers as is happening to Mwanahalisi. This is in a country where there is no access to information laws, where getting the slightest of government information is a hassle. While the Tanzania of yesteryear failed because of inappropriate economic policies, at least Nyerere cycled around on his bicycle and rode an old, ordinary car. What of Kikwete and the team that surrounds him? What has this government done to improve the lives of people?
Tanzanian dreams, disappointed after a false start at independence, face yet another hurdle as the new system, a dog eat dog primitive capitalist system devour even its own children. The Mwanahalisi is suffering not because it is such a bad paper; it is suffering because it has dared to challenge the clique that is feeding on the system. This clique obviously has political protection, striving on intimidation, bribery, pseudo media enterprises and greasing the palms of those with power. It is time the international community rise to the human rights threats in Tanzania. A stable Tanzania has always been a key factor in the sub region. At some point in its life, the University of Dar was bedrock of African nationalism and revival. We wonder what to say about Dar today. The death of Mwanahalisi, should it ever come, will be a victory of evil over good, the losers in all this will be the people of Tanzania, ordinary man and women many I saw queuing hours long to ride home in creaking, life threatening buses, many who cannot even pay fees for their children, many who cannot afford to buy or build a house, many who are fed empty promises year in and years out, many who faced unsecured bombs and paid with their lives recently, many who survive in the streets of Dar. Its time we tell the Tanzanian government that their good boy image is soiled. It is time we stand by the people of Tanzania. This charade cannot go on forever //End//

Reform key to Zanu PF Survival- Rashweat Mukundu

Reform key to Zanu PF Survival - Rashweat Mukundu

A FEW weeks ago Zanu PF took the rare step of announcing that it had set up a committee to address the issue of succession within the party. This announcement, made after a politburo meeting, was also accompanied by the announcement that another committee to deal with ideological issues had been set up.

The issue of succession and ideology are key to Zanu PF’s survival beyond President Robert Mugabe. By making this announcement the party leadership has set in motion a process that it might not be able to stop. Zimbabweans would be expectant that finally the party might come to terms with and sense its self-destructive mode and take a new turn, hopefully for the better.

For Zimbabweans, the Zambia situation where the Movement for Multiparty Democracy now dominates the political scene like the former Unip of Kenneth Kaunda shows that in the long run Zimbabwe’s democracy will benefit from a reformed and democratic Zanu PF. The complete dominance of the body politic by one party has to be avoided. And in any case, it will be interesting to see if a new political alternative to the current Zanu PF and MDC ideological positions can emerge within Zanu PF.
It was the demise of Chairman Mao in China, infamous for his violent Cultural Revolution and intolerance of dissent, that resulted in a major turn on economic reform. The China we see today, though not the best example on democracy, is an outcome of reform that started in the Communist Party of China. Without this, China would have gone through another cultural revolution as Zimbabwe has seen a third Chimurenga, with destructive results.
It is possible that nothing much can be achieved from these announcements. The issue of succession has been talked of in Zanu PF before and Zanu PF is inconsistent in words and delivery. This issue has also been used by Mugabe to bait the ambitious who have been exposed and dealt with ruthlessly. The fate of the likes of Dr Eddison Zvobgo was sealed on the succession question. Zvobgo was more poignant, likening the succession question in Zanu PF with the story of the madman of Ngomahuru, who upon the receiving the baton in a relay race ran away with it into the mountains. The consequence is that the madman’s team lost the race.
Indeed President Mugabe and Zanu PF have lost the race, as well as the trust and faith of the people of Zimbabwe. The party’s hold on power through democratic means has slipped. The party now survives on violence, deception and patronage. Without violence and its dwindling patronage system, the centre cannot hold in Zanu PF.
The announcements appear to be a belated realisation that a top leadership hitting the mid 80s cannot be relied upon to take the party into the future. Zanu PF has been blind to the fact that since the mid-1990s it lost the people of Zimbabwe completely. This is despite the failure to unite the nation soon after Independence leading to the massacres of innocent civilians in Matabeleland. Zanu PF faces the real possibility of complete demise if it mishandles its succession issue.
At the centre of this succession is the need for a credible and visionary leadership to rise within the party. A leadership that can lead with brains and vision and not violence and patronage as we have seen in the past. It is clear that the patronage system of Zanu PF has permeated all facets of its political body and the state. A senior official in the Local Government ministry is known to boast that he is not a member of Zanu PF, but a shareholder. People who have shouted the loudest in support of Mugabe have suddenly become rich, not only owning ill-gotten farms but also getting all sorts of deals to supply this and that.
City council security guards, who a few years ago were doing commendably well by arresting pickpockets at Mbare Musika now have a new and enriching vocation, shouting praises of President Mugabe and are now living pretty. Zanu PF has relied so much on its abuse of state security organs, the CIO, army and police to the extent that not many people have any trust in these.
But this abuse cannot go on forever. At some point the vakomana, meaning security chiefs that Zanu PF has relied on so much, will also have to give up. Zanu PF has looked outward to external forces such as the security forces and patronage to maintain its hold on power. Failure of the party to realise these weaknesses and take them into account as part of the succession debate and ideological refocus means the future of the party is doomed.
Those who have stood by Zanu PF, especially the security chiefs, have created a false sense of security based on browbeating citizens and the opposition. The same grouping has lacked the foresight to realise they still need to be trusted by the people and must show a vision that can be shared.
It is here that the ideological committee set up by the politburo and includes the likes of Didymus Mutasa comes in. A critical question that it has to answer is:
will the committee be willing to face Zanu
PF’s demons in the face and seek to exorcise them?
These demons include an archaic, redundant and unattractive ideology. This ideology is based on the politics of either being with us or against us, race and ethnicity and conceptions of belonging and homogeneity which neither tolerate dissent nor respect basic principles of democracy. In this politics of Zanu PF, all citizens are expected to reconcile their views with those of Zanu PF and accept to be subservient to the dominance of Zanu PF, literally, to survive.
There is nothing wrong with Zanu PF advancing its nationalist ideology, as long as this is done persuasively and in the interest of the country. However, Zanu PF nationalism is a convoluted political position driven by an insatiable love of power. Since 2000, Zanu PF has shown total disdain for the MDC, and all its actions have been driven by hatred of the MDC and not selling its programmes and winning the hearts and minds of citizens.
Moving forward, one hopes that Zanu PF, as a minority party, will seek to reengage the people of Zimbabwe on what it can offer. As a minority party, Zanu PF can no longer afford to bury its head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich, but actively seek to locate the heart beat of society, by reforming and repenting from its bad ways.
Zanu PF needs to abandon its ideology of deprivation, nepotism, violence and chaos and reengage all sectors in Zimbabwe from academia, civil society, business and labour if it is to be a party of the future. Otherwise all the efforts at succession and ideological reform will come to naught. Despite its appearance of strength and the grandstanding of security chiefs, Zanu PF is really in a corner and a shell of its former self.
Rashweat Mukundu is a Programme Specialist: Media Freedom Monitoring, Misa Regional Secretariat.

Media Reform Conference Missed the Point – By Rashweat Mukundu

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/index.php/opinion/22598-media-reform-conference-missed-the-point

Thursday, 14 May 2009 17:46


IF one is to go by the Herald of May 11, the much publicised Media Conference on media reform organised by the Ministry of Information and Publicity confirmed fears that many had, and indeed the fears that led many in the media to stay away — that this was a sham of a conference.

First the Herald says the main issue that came out of the conference is that sanctions should be lifted to level the media playing field. It boggles the mind how that issue ever arose in a conference around media in Zimbabwe, of all places.
And which level playing field is the Herald talking about? Does this level playing field relate to the dominance of the state media, the Herald included, in information dissemination in Zimbabwe? This matter is made so obvious by the fact that the only daily newspapers in Zimbabwe are those owned by Zimpapers after the violent shut down of the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe.


Does this level playing field relate to the dominance of the ZBC which is the sole broadcasting station in Zimbabwe? Does this playing field relate to the detention of Andrisson Manyere who is languishing under police guard in hospital, after being abducted, detained incommunicado?

We ask the question whether this level playing field also relates to the bombings of the Daily News, the hounding out of the country of hundreds of journalists and the arrest of Zimbabwe Independent editors for publishing the story on police complicity in the abduction of Jestina Mukoko, Manyere and others in December.


The Herald did the sceptics of this conference a huge favour by confirming that nothing has changed in the thinking of the Zanu PF government.

The much talked about media conference obviously came to nothing because it was never meant to be about reform, but a confirmation of the desire by the new government to perpetuate the current media law regime by tinkering with the periphery while leaving the centre intact.


This conference completely missed the point by attempting to be a public bus open to all views, including the absurd, to be discussed, except genuine reform.

This newspaper questioned a few weeks ago why some strange topics were included in the programme for this conference.

This conference, we later heard from the former Minister of Information and Publicity Jonathan Moyo writing online, was meant to address those same queries that the media has on the continued harassment of the media. Does it take a conference to raise complaints on the arrests of journalists? Has Zimbabwe sunk this far?


Coming back to the issue of the conference, the Herald story did us favour by exposing, from the unity government point of view, a failure to grasp what a media law conference or discussion is all about.

Such an issue cannot be tackled from a chaotic point of view as has prevailed where all and sundry could present as they please and talk about what might amount to a desire to build a ladder to the moon, censoring the web and shortwave broadcasts.


The main issues around media and freedom of expression in Zimbabwe remain the skewed, repressive media laws and abuse of the state media by Zanu PF and its functionaries. Media reforms in Zimbabwe would therefore have to look first at the state policies in relation to media issues, especially how the state, through its arsenal of laws, has virtually destroyed the media in Zimbabwe — save for a few newspapers — harassed for exposing state abuse of citizens.

The critical matter around levelling the Zimbabwe media playing field is removing restrictions on the operations of the media and the enactment of laws and policies that guarantee the independence of the state media.


Those in support on this conference cannot pretend that the state media is under any sort of pressure and that the private media in Zimbabwe is a domineering giant suppressing or misrepresenting the voice of those in government and Zimbabwe. The role of the international media is not a concern to Zimbabweans because we neither own, nor have the power to change, the CNN or BBC.


We can however change our own situation, after all the majority of Zimbabweans get their news locally and would appreciate having more local media. In this regard the conference had to acknowledge that the private media is so vulnerable and weak in Zimbabwe and any serious discussion on levelling the playing field has to start with the reasons for this decline, the closure of the Daily News, Tribune and other newspapers.


Such a discussion has to start with genuine policy issues around opening the airwaves and guaranteeing the independence of the ZBC so that it can represent all voices. The unity government cannot speak of regulation of the print media, success so far.

Who does not know of the “successes” of Zanu PF in regulating the media. Does it take a conference to know that the MIC shut down four newspapers and hounded hundreds of journalist out of the country? And is it the intention of the unity government to continue with the Mahoso-style of media regulation? If so shame on the unity government for this kind of thinking.


Serious discussion on reforms should look into the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Media Commission and the Post and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and how these are not democratically constituted to play any meaningful role in advancing media and communication issues.

The unity government cannot pretend, serve out of ignorance, that these bodies can license, regulate the media and the communications sector in a fair manner while they are not only weak, but directly under the control of politicians. The bodies also lack any technical capacity and independence to make decisions without political interference.


Media reforms cannot start on or be built on lies that we have regulatory bodies when in fact we have bodies that play a secretarial role to the decisions of politicians.

What did the conference say as an example about the closure of the Daily News, and other newspapers? What did the conference say about the continued detention of journalists? What did the conference say about the biased reporting of Zimpapers publications and ZBC?

What did the conference say about the continued coverage of Zanu PF cell meetings and not those of MDC-T, MDC M, NDU, Zanu Ndonga etc?


It is a shame that the unity government, especially those from the MDC, is being misled and abused in validating Zanu PF’s cover–up conferences. Without fundamentally looking at what the problems in the media in Zimbabwe are, we might as well forget about any meaningful reforms coming up.

The first point of call for any serious media conference is therefore the state or precisely Zanu PF polices on the media. Once we agree that these need reform, everything else will fall into place and citizens can agree on the media we all want. The failure by the unity government to condemn and do away with laws such as Aippa and BSA, among others, shows a lack of sincerity.


The media conference should have understood that in this day and age you cannot waste time discussing radio stations that are broadcasting on shortwave and internet-based sites. Who has control over these and who has the power in Zimbabwe to stop them?

The unity government however has the power to remove Aippa, license new broadcasters, reform the ZBC and Zimpapers to make them relevant to the needs of the people. These are the reforms that people are looking for.

Free Press no threat to Democracy- Rashweat Mukundu

IN the Sunday Mail of April 12 the defunct Media and Information Commission (MIC)’s chairperson Tafataona Mahoso wrote once again, as he has done for many years, on what was supposed to be a great revelation to the people of Zimbabwe regarding the role of the independent media that should, in his understanding, make the people afraid and sceptical of the “free press”. He does not explain what the free press is or why we should support the state-owned Zimbabwean press that is virtually under the control of Zanu PF and used for its propaganda purposes, even as we talk of a unity government.
The press that Mahoso writes for and supports denied the ravages of cholera, political violence, political prisoners, food shortages and many other social ills that have cost thousands of lives just a few months ago. It does not explain why we are in the ninth year of hunger despite the land reform.
In other words it serves the interests of Zanu PF which Mahoso confuses with those of Zimbabwe.
It is a press that is a curse to the people of Zimbabwe from its founding by Cecil John Rhodes to its takeover by Zanu PF.
More than writing about the “dangers” of the free press, we also need to understand that Mahoso writes for himself, seeking reassurance for his fears, both professional and personal. He seeks to fight against the rightful, historical and necessary erosion of a system that he has come to believe, and one his life is tied to and dependent on.
His defence of continued media repression by promoting an unfounded fear of the free press is a reflection of a personal, ideological and professional wilderness that he finds himself in.
Mahoso begins his article by anchoring his views on the supposed worldwide revolt against the corporate press, which he bands together with evils such as the worldwide financial crisis.
Yes, the independent press is part of the corporate sector in many areas, and in all fairness there is nothing wrong with the corporate sector. All modern states are developed as a result of personal/group enterprise.
As is the case in other sectors of the economy such as mining and manufacturing, the modern media cannot exist without investment in machinery, training, among other things. Indeed the whole process of news writing can be seen as an industrial process, from the way in which newsrooms are arranged to the final product received by consumers. There is nothing wrong with that.
In terms of its content, the media has systems that ensure fairness and balance. The challenge to maintain this balance is not enforced by laws like Aippa in democratic societies, but left to such bodies as voluntary media councils, training and direct interaction between media and its consumers. Consumers can exercise their power by simply not purchasing the product.
Media consumers are not empty slates waiting to be informed by the media; they interrogate what they read, believe it or throw it away depending on their background knowledge, social or political beliefs.
It is for this reason that most urbanites in Zimbabwe simply don’t believe the Herald, Mahoso and the Sunday Mail. The key issue in the relationship between the media and societies with a free press is that such a press is not homogenous.
The free press has natural countervailing forces and hence no single idea or view is dominant or forced onto society as is the case in Zimbabwe.
No media operates the same hence democratic and liberal societies allow as many voices to be heard as possible.
These voices are not expected to be monolithic, but diverse and representative of a multiplicity of views.
It is for these reasons that there were demonstrations in Washington, London, Paris etc against the war in Iraq and recently the Israeli war with Hamas in Palestine. It is precisely because of this that Mahoso was able to read about the voices labelling other media as part of the corporate sector in the West. Those voices were carried by the media; Mahoso was not part of the demonstrations in either Washington or London.
It is also because of this fundamental belief in the promotion of a free press and freedom of expression in general in democratic societies that Mahoso is able to quote, regularly out of context, the writings of many academics and activists on the left, in the West.
The same free thinking and freedoms that allows him to receive this information are unfortunately banned in Zimbabwe and he has been a chief advocate for the banning of the Daily News, the Tribune and other newspapers.
Mahoso does not believe in free thinking hence his support for the ban of foreign journalists and daylight robbery of foreign media organisations working in Zimbabwe and foreign journalists wishing to visit.
His reliance on the Western media and Western leftist ideas and information to formulate his warped thinking about how the press should be in Zimbabwe betrays his hypocrisy. Mahoso’s writings have largely benefited from the free press and freedom of expression ideals and practices of the west.
As is expected in most of his writings, Mahoso blatantly lies that the independent media first is a “regime change media” and secondly supported the call for sanctions. We don’t need to labour this argument other than say that Mahoso cannot produce a single story to support his statement.
Genuine criticism of Zanu PF by a concerned citizenry through the media is, in Mahoso’s scheme of things, regime change.
Mahoso talks of the rule of law in the media, by this I suppose he means banning newspapers that write what he does not like as he has already done.
And as for banning journalists who write what he does not like, again we need not labour ourselves on this matter save to say Mahoso is wrong because the media are the voices of the people, and you cannot ban corporates, individuals, political parties and civil society from speaking.
The rule of law with regard to the media should be about legal protection of media rights and state advancement of media and free expression rights, and restrictions on monopolies in the media industry, not about shutting down newspapers and arresting journalists as Mahoso advocates.
It is the need to advance free expression that the Windhoek Declaration was put in place. The Windhoek Declaration acknowledges the universality of freedom of expression. Obviously Mahoso does not.
At the end of it all, what we read in Mahoso’s Sunday Mail article is a convoluted and misleading argument that lacks an understanding of how the media operates and what its role is.

End of Ideology, Return of Economic Realism- Rashweat Mukundu

FOR many years Zimbabwe’s ruling elite has lived far beyond its means. Many activities of the past government, especially in the 1990s to 2 000, to a large extent contributed to the current economic crisis.
Examples that immediately come to mind include the Congo war adventure in which at some point Zimbabwe was spending more than US$1 million a day.
Those in power now might as well look at those days with both envy and regret. The cost of the Congo war to Zimbabwe has never been fully accounted to date, both in human and monetary terms.
The Congo adventure combined with the unbudgeted payments to war veterans and the looting of the same fund have also never been fully revealed in as far as how they dented the country’s purse and their contribution to the current economic crisis.
The social strife that arose from the economic challenges led to half- hearted political machinations such as the constitutional reform process meant to pacify a restive civil society.
When this failed the ruling elite went for broke, instigating farm invasions and political violence under such hollow slogans as “the land is the economy and the economy is the land”.
Zimbabwe has been poisoned by divisive politicians who churned out doses of meaningless ideological mantras. This only brought successive years of hunger and increased poverty.
Zimbabwe never recovered from this and has never been the same. The rest, as they say, is history. This background brings us to the latest efforts by the unity government to settle the wrongs of the past 15 years or so.
The new economic programme launched by President Robert Mugabe and crafted by the Ministry of Finance is probably the most realistic assessment of the economic and social quagmire that the previous government sunk this country into.
At the centre of this new document is the reality that Zimbabwe is broke and that this is the time to live within available means.
We will eat what we gather or collect, were the words of Finance minister Tendai Biti. In other words the living beyond our means by a few that continued even as Zimbabwe collapsed has to stop.
This included printing money to buy foreign currency, and the splashing of foreign currency to buy vehicles for senior military and government officials.
The days of government officials going to the Reserve Bank with a truckload of Zimbabwe dollars and coming out with wads of US dollars in their pockets have to stop.
The days of the Reserve Bank bankrolling political projects of Zanu PF and paying the “green bombers” have to stop.
And the days of army generals and brigadiers receiving the latest 4x4s on the market, every year, must come to an end.
This is the sole reason why the generals are sulking like little children: it’s not politics, trust me. Hiding under fighting sanctions and fighting imperialists, these economic evils were perpetuated to the detriment of the real national interests.
They promoted a culture of patronage, corruption and clientelism.
The new economic programme comes against the background of the formation of the unity government whose thrust is to resolve a number of challenges Zimbabwe is facing in all aspects of social life.
An important element of the Global Political Agreement upon which the economic programme is based is the absence of the usual ideological rhetoric of fighting imperialists, and “looking east where the sun rises” and hollow slogans of “Zimbabwe will never be a colony again”.
With the widespread and legal use of foreign currencies and dominance of foreign products in our shops, Zimbabwe seems very much like a colony again.
It seems finally the former ruling elite and former government has run full circle in understanding that the world has long since abandoned ideological leanings as the basis to conduct business.
The Chinese and Russians and others might have supported the liberation struggle in the 1970s purely on the basis of expanding their political beliefs and influence.
The realities of seeking economic growth and ultimately happiness for their societies have since led them to embrace market-based economic policies and the world, albeit maintaining a tight grip on politics.
In Zimbabwe Zanu PF succeeded in only one of these, that is maintaining a stranglehold on political discourse and participation while completely failing on the economic side.
While the Chinese maintain solidarity with Zimbabwe at the United Nations, this has not extended to broad-based economic support. Indeed China is concerned that it might not get economic returns for its investments and like the West, China sees Zimbabwe as risky.
The reporting by Chinese news agencies such as Xinhua also show how desperate the Chinese are for this unity government to work, because it gives their interactions with Zimbabwe legitimacy and a moral grounding. Zimbabwe, more than being a friend was becoming an irritant and one of those “friends” you want to keep at arm’s length and speak to in hushed tones.
President Mugabe visited China a few years ago and came back with a load of maize, the same stuff that USAid and the European Union are giving millions of starving people in Zimbabwe.
Basing economic policies and growth on utopian ideological beliefs of fighting and defeating phantom enemies has been the hallmark of the previous government.
This did not yield any results. Examples abound from which the unity government can learn from on how the world is moving.
These include the new thrust by the Obama government to reboot its relations with China, Iran, Syria and many other so-called rogue states.
While there are geo-political and security concerns for the USA, the bottom line is that ideology is no longer driving foreign relations, but national interest and survival.
China is the single largest buyer of US investments and it is China’s trillions that are expected to prop up the economic stimulus plan in the USA. In the USA, the federal government is becoming an active player in the economy, almost turning upside down the sacred principles of capitalism.
This reality demonstrates that Zimbabwe’s relations with the outside should be driven first by national interest and not personal egos or ideologies of a few who feel they are embodiments of the struggle and revolution.
Instead of travelling with army generals and bootlickers, we hope the president and prime minister can travel with CEOs of leading Zimbabwe industries, invite civil society to the table and engage academia.
Army generals and soldiers should keep their place in the barracks or follow the example of the late general Vitalis Zvinavashe into fulltime farming and business, and stop telling us who they want to salute or not: Zimbabwe is not one of their barracks or police camp.
Apart from reengaging the West which the unity government is already doing, the government should actively engage the east, not on the basis of hollow talk of the east being “where the sun rises” but the real business of investment, trade and assistance. It matters no more where the sun rises.
I don’t see anything wrong with the prime minister making a visit to Beijing one of his first priority trips abroad; it was so with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He is far better positioned to unlock assistance from China than President Mugabe.
The world is a maze of shifting alliances now driven by economic realities and not ideology.
This is the time for the unity government to make a realistic assessment of where help can come from and when.
A key matter as we move forward is to determine and have a clear timetable and benchmark on how Zimbabwe can move out of this current situation.
This programme cannot be one with infinite objectives, the people of Zimbabwe would want to see what the measurements of success are and when we attain them.
This programme has to take into account the real possibility that the West wants to see Zanu PF change its ways in some areas.
If President Mugabe is serious about this programme succeeding then he should release all political prisoners and stop unnecessary farm invasions.
He should rein in the army generals and police chiefs who are now a law unto themselves. The world might have gone through a lot, especially around the time of the cold war. Africa and Zimbabwe might have received some benefits from that division.
It seems now the present world has changed, and ideology and rhetoric can no longer bring a plate of food.
The days of President Mugabe haranguing the world won’t bring cholera medicine. Much thinking is needed and developing people and our society is the only key to national success.

Over half of Zimbabwe's population need food assistance and nearly 90% live in poverty

Infamous Birthday Bash and Immoral Leadership- Rashweat Mukundu

Infamous Birthday Bash and Immoral Leadership


Thursday, 05 March 2009 23:05
MANY Zimbabweans and the world were bewildered, amazed and left in awe at the enormity of the infamous birthday bash of President Robert Mugabe held in Chinhoyi last weekend. The bash, which reportedly cost US$250 000 displays in clear detail the dichotomy between the Zimbabwean leadership and the suffering masses.
A simple enumeration of the problems facing the masses shows why the bash was something done at the wrong time, moreso by a leadership that claims to have the interests of the people at heart.
Over 83 000 Zimbabweans have been affected by cholera.
This number is a reflection of those that international NGOs and UN agencies have managed to record.
Thousands more, I believe, are still left out of this figure and thousands more have died, their deaths unrecorded, their names unknown. Millions are without food, many suffering from hunger-induced illnesses.
Many schools remain closed, hospitals are not working, many suburbs are without water and electricity, roads are in a state of disrepair. Zimbabweans are psychologically tortured and have lost hope.
A bash of that magnitude is in sharp contrast to the desperate situation in Zimbabwe. The speed with which the US$250 000 was mobilised is a further testimony of how a few who have benefited from the godfather would want to maintain the status quo.
This bash, we were told by the President’s nephew, Patrick Zhuwao, was to honour the sacrifices the president has made for this country. Many would have wondered what sacrifices the president bore on his own while others watched.
The liberation struggle was a collective effort that cost lives of the poor and vulnerable more than any other group.
The purpose, ethos and spirit that drove the liberation struggle has been betrayed by the same grouping. The land reform has been chaotic and benefited a few, as a result up to now Zimbabwe is a basket case, notwithstanding the grandstanding and rhetoric on the land redistribution programme.
Hiding behind a finger on sanctions is no longer a plausible argument as those sanctions are about them (the mob) being stopped from their international jamboree of shopping sprees.
Even if, for argument’s sake, we are to agree that we are under sanctions, countries such as Cuba and Iran have been under serious and real economic sanctions for far longer than us but their people have not suffered as we have.
Cuba has managed to develop one of the best health and education systems in under more than four decades of sanctions. Iran has even sent a spacecraft into space, under sanctions, and is increasingly becoming a player on the world political stage notwithstanding whether this is for good or bad reasons.
We ask now, what has Zanu PF done under sanctions? The problem is not sanctions, it is a dearth of leadership, and nothing best illustrates this than a leadership that surrounds itself with champagne, cognac, lobster, caviar and duck at a time when the majority are eating leaves, wild roots and wild fruits.
The Zanu PF leadership and the so called friends of President Mugabe who paid for this, including its young leadership who should know better — the likes of Zhuwao — have lost their moral compass.
They see Zimbabwe as far as their shadows can go. They see Zimbabwe from the lenses of what they can get from it and not what they can put in it.
The hunger and deprivation in Zimbabwe, the suffering of the people of Zimbabwe should have driven these people to realise that a birthday bash of such a magnitude by a leadership that says it cares for the people is a non-starter, and a shame.
Zimbabweans and the world are in no doubt of the leadership vacuum that this country faces. The US$250 000 could, and should have gone some way in alleviating the suffering of the cholera victims.
The US$250 000 could have been an addition to the US$2 billion we are asking other nationals to pay for our own mistakes. This money could have paid for the US$38 000 that Prime Minister Tsvangirai says Harare Hospital needs for its intensive care unit to reopen.
Pictures of the tattered linen at Harare Hospital, broken water and sewage pipes, should awaken the Zanu PF leadership to its years of destructive policies, even as they fly to Millpark Hospital in Johannesburg when they have flu.
This situation should be a moral awakening of some sorts. No sustainable or reasonable argument can be made for the birthday bash in such an environment of want, deprivation and despair. This kind of insensitivity, famous with absolute monarchs in bygone Europe, is shameless, more so in the 21st century and in a country as poor as ours.
One wonders what it will take for the Zanu PF leadership to realise its mistakes. This lack of sensitivity is demonstrated by denials and failure by President Mugabe to distinguish between proper criminal and legal processes and ones based on abductions, harassment and torture.
Zanu PF is better advised to stop the orgy of personal glorification which has been permitted to sweep the country. One wonders how then the unity government, expected to be a turning point in the fortunes of Zimbabwe, can survive with such different leadership philosophies and no leadership at all.
A certain newspaper once described its leader as “the great leader”, “father of the people”, “the great helmsman”, “the genius of our epoch”, and “titan of our revolution”. That all sounds too familiar in Zimbabwe today.
The newspaper was the Soviet Union's Pravda in 1934. The leader was Josef Stalin. He left his country in ruins, millions dead, many thousands in exile and today he is reviled as one of the worst dictators of all time.
His country is still nursing the wounds of his reign. The factory- based towns he built in a quest to rapidly industrialise and modernise the Soviet Union are the worst hit by the current global economic crisis — some recording close to 100% unemployment in the past few months.
His reign demonstrates how a whole country can be caught up and destroyed by a hollow personality cult.
So much for history informing and guiding the future. Zimbabweans can take comfort in the fact that history also records without fail the rise and fall of men like Stalin and indeed many others like him in the past, in our time and in the future. If we are wrong we await the impeccable judgement of posterity.

Jestina Mukoko: Portrait of a ‘terrorist’- Rashweat Mukundu

Portrait of a terrorist became one of the most controversial documentary characterisation of President Robert Mugabe by the BBC at the advent of Zimbabwe’s independence. Mugabe was, then, in his heydays as a liberation hero. The characterisation, to many, was supposedly misplaced as it sought to fulfil a long held view of Mugabe by his detractors. In other words, the framing of his persona only went as far as fulfilling preconceived views of Mugabe as a blood thirst if not crazed Marxist. The realities of the immediate post independent 1980 however showed a wholly different Mugabe. One who strode the western capitals, riding the Queen’s horse drawn carriage, and winning awards and recognition world wide. Discussion on this characterisation today might be as controversial as when it was first put out into the public arena. Many who thought otherwise then, might as well be convinced the other way, now. This however is not the subject of my writing.

This week we saw another ‘terrorist’ being granted bail and freedom after three months of torture. This is a ‘terrorist’ with a difference, one wholly created by President Robert Mugabe’s government out of the blue and to serve political ends. For those who have read Frantz Fanon, Wretched of the earth (Pitfalls of National Consciousness), Jestina’s travails might aid a better understanding of the psychology of the post independent African nation state. Especially the behaviour of a visionless and clueless leadership, one that seeks power for its sake. Fanon explains in vivid language how the formerly oppressed outdo the former oppressor at oppressing, the majority of people.

Jestina Mukoko is free at last, but battered to breaking point. Jestina was a legend in broadcasting in Zimbabwe the time I was growing up. She remained one in civic society. More so because many others were not prepared to do the work she was doing. Talking openly about the violence in Zimbabwe. She today, by a twist, not of fate, but of deliberate planning, became one such victim of this state orchestrated violence. Having had the chance to work with her and the group of civic activists in the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), the organisation that she leads, one is left wondering how on earth such a grouping can, of all things, be accused of terrorism. The grouping involves old men and women, who at some point, I struggled with the whole day, discussing how to compile reports on politically motivated violence, identify and talk to ring leaders from all parties, and act as peacemakers. These are men and women, who in the best of times would rather concern themselves with their farming, their goats and cattle and in the wildest of dreams, hold a gun. Jestina humbled herself to work with the so called ordinary women and men and ZPP never conducted business in the cover of darkness but what ever activities ZPP carried out where out in the open. Their reports and work accessible to all who wanted to see. Their office out in the open. Apart from vile sadism one cannot put any explanation to the three months of torture, denial of freedom that she went through. We had senior government officials, the likes of AG Johannes Tomana, portray Jestina as one of the most dangerous persons in Zimbabwe, a terrorist. I dare say Jestina has never held a gun in her hand, and I bet she does not know the shape of a grenade.

In the struggle over meaning making and making the stupid sound sensible and common sensical, the world terrorism is unfortunately accorded a new meaning by the Zimbabwe government, to mean anyone who opposes its policies. A terrorist in Zimbabwe is either an opposition supporter, a human rights activists or a white farmer. The skills in torture and propaganda that the Mugabe government learnt in Ian Smith’s jail are being put to good use, albeit against their own citizens. Whatever the freedom that Jestina might have now, will not take away the scars that she physically and emotionally will live with for the rest of her life. This trauma has not only been confined to her but her family and colleagues. It seems within ZANU PFs scheme of things the message has hit home. What more ace is there to play now and who is next? We can only wonder. //End//

Zambia: The big and small man of Africa and the trappings of power-R Mukundu

I cannot claim to know the politics of Zambia, nor the intricacies of the power struggles that are ongoing in the ruling MMD party and country at large. But even as an outsider I have the advantage of viewing things without emotion and from an uninterested vantage point. This past week, President Rupiah Banda, recently elected to the highest office in Zambia lambasted The Post newspaper, one of the success stories of private media development in Africa. The President, surrounded by cadres from his party was on the offensive against the newspaper. The allegations, which I cannot claim to know details about, are that The Post and, its editor Fred M’membe owe the state substantial amounts of money allegedly as a result of the collapsed Zambian Airways which the Post had invested in. These matters, in normal societies are personal, board room and cabinet matters that are best handled by relevant Ministries and authorities and not political rally issues that are used to mobilise and incite political party supporters, some who cannot even read and write, to attack other citizens and private institutions in the name of defending their political party and leadership.

I must confess I am one of those who had hope, and still hold on to whatever is left of it that President Rupiah Banda can do better that what we have seen across the Zambezi, in Zimbabwe. Despite all its problems Zambia has this history of fairly mature political discourse that saw the former President, Kenneth Kaunda bowing out of office without a fight and indeed the subsequent political transitions in that country have, by African standards, been seamless. Zambia thus has played a political role of cooling the tensions in Zimbabwe and acting as a counter weight to the bulling by South Africa when it was necessary to do so. The Zimbabwe question again being one such case where Zambia demanded a tough stance despite the wishes of former President Thabo Mbeki. The utterances by President Banda are, however, unstateman like. Firing Ministers in front of a mob and calling a newspaper all sorts of names is hardly the stuff that great leaders are made of. The President is better counselled to conduct his business in private in matters that are private. If he feels that there are cases of corruption, criminality or whatever, then he has the relevant institutions to carry out this work and surely he cannot arrest M’membe or shut down the Post himself. What a day and spectacle will it be to see the President leading his supporters down the street, to effect citizen arrest on M’membe and shut down the Post himself.

The attacks on the newspaper serve to incite and galvanise hatred on civic institutions by political party supporters who might not necessarily understand the issues. Its mob lynching of some sorts. The worst example of this in Africa was Rwanda and we all know what happened thereafter. We have to use this extreme example as in my language we say kamoto kamberevere kakapisa matanda (a small fire is known to have destroyed forests).

President Banda in my view had started well. Promising to fulfil outstanding media policy issues, maintain the economic reforms of the late President Mwanawasa and also promising reconciliation with the opposition. All this is under threat of reversal should the president embark on a mission to deal with his enemies real or perceived. At the end of the day that is all we will remember him for and nothing else. The attacks on The Post newspaper by the highest office in the land are therefore uncalled for and unnecessary. The attacks might on the contrary show how state house is jittery and struggling to get a grip on the levers of power. A confident leadership does not need to be surrounded by a mob to pronounce policy issues. As Africans, mostly used to big man bestriding the political stage and snuffing political life out of the small man and women, the new Zambian leadership can provide a relive in that regard. The days of the African big man who announces appointments, dismissals, policy changes at airports and rallies should be a by gone era. Having followed the Zambia politics for some time, one of which included observing the last election, won by Mwanawasa I cannot say the media in Zambia has any entrenched positions. The Post I could tell was leaning towards Mwanawasa; its argument being that there is need for a continuation of his economic polices other than the mob politics of the Patriotic Front (PF). I shared that position silently lest I disappointed a Zambian friend who was rowing his body with his hands all the time (The PF party symbol is a rowing boat). That position might have changed in the 2008 Presidential by-election for reason best known to the newspaper. But that is the nature of media work, shifting social dynamics, loyalties among other issues. President Rupiah Banda is better advised that he needs more of The Post as a mirror to his tenure, as something to keep him on his toes, all for the benefit of democracy in Zambia and I believe in Africa. Posterity will judge him, not by what he does for his supporters and friends but what de does to his so called enemies. Whatever issues there are with either the paper or its senior staff, are better left to those who have been appointed and who have authority to deal with those matters within the laws of Zambia. The President and his mob are hardly positioned to address national issues of this nature, more so through rallies at state house and marches in the centre of Lusaka.//End//

Unity Govt Poses Serious Threat to Vested Interests

ZIMBABWE’S unity government has started on a bad note, confirming what those sceptical of this deal feel and indeed the fears of Western countries that maybe Zanu PF is not ready or, rather, beyond change.The arrest of senior MDC official Roy Bennett hours before he was due to be sworn into office indicates the lack of sincerity on the part of Zanu PF and the security forces the party controls. The arrests go against President Robert Mugabe’s pledge that he is committed to the deal and is sincere in his dealings. As the leader of Zanu PF and indeed the security forces in Zimbabwe, the arrest of Bennett cannot be said to be the slightest of sincere actions.This arrest and the intransigence still being shown with regards to the continued detention of political prisoners indicate that, to some degree, President Mugabe is losing control of his structures, especially the security agents.I say so because the unity deal presents the only and last chance to redeem whatever is left of his legacy and present him with probably, his last opportunity for a dignified exit.It is becoming obvious, however, that many others, especially the high echelons of the security forces now used to running Zimbabwe from the barracks, would not want to cede power and return to their normal and acceptable constitutional duties.President Mugabe’s tolerance of human rights abuses as a political weapon are now haunting and already undermining the unity government so early in the day.Violence and repression is what this clique in the security forces is used to and know better.They seem not to know any other role for themselves in a stable Zimbabwe. The root cause of the insolence by security forces and their disregard for the wishes of the majority of citizens can be traced to the wide berth granted by President Mugabe for them to literally do as they please, as long as such actions maintained the rule of Zanu PF and the flow of privileges to the detriment of national stability and development.It is the same clique in the CIO, the army and police that fears losing these privileges they think are guaranteed as long as President Mugabe is in power and Zimbabwe remains without workable systems.A democratic, stable and prosperous Zimbabwe is a threat to the interests of this clique as a free and democratic Somalia is a threat to the warlords ravaging that poor country.They would rather maintain their policy of raping Zimbabwe while holding a gun to citizens.Apart from this clique of security agents, there are still many in the high echelons of government who are not happy with this deal.These include the likes on Nathaniel Manheru, a well-known senior official whose career has been to defend the undemocratic actions and policies of the Zanu PF government.Manheru cannot point to anything that he has positively contributed to Zimbabwe apart from a scorched earth policy on the media.These senior officials are so used to this way of doing business that they cannot see themselves rebuilding what they have destroyed.They cannot see themselves being burdened with the real stuff of nation building and governance.To them this unity government is a threat that has to be destroyed.What they don’t know, and what they need to be told is that this unity government is equally their only chance of saving themselves and rehabilitating their tainted lives by at least dropping the violence and undemocratic policies they prop up daily.This same clique cannot see itself surviving as ordinary Zimbabweans; they believe they are the royalty of this country, born to be sustained by the sweat of poor Zimbabweans even to the point of death while not putting a dime back into society.It is this clique that should be encouraged to drop its sanctions on the people of Zimbabwe.The world has noticed how for two weeks now, Zanu PF and the state media have increased their call for the lifting of Western sanctions. The basis of these calls is that Zimbabwe now has a unity government hence the need for the West to lift sanctions.To them the evidence of the unity government is the paper that this document is written on and the signatures of the MDC leaders.These calls should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve until Zanu PF and its leadership lift, first, sanctions they have imposed on the citizens of Zimbabwe.Zanu PF should show sincerity by releasing political prisoners languishing in detention, some dying from torture-induced illnesses.Zanu PF should lift sanctions it imposed on The Daily News, The Tribune and other newspapers and drop threats on exiled media workers and political activists, many who fear returning to Zimbabwe seeing what is happening to Bennett, Jestina Mukoko and others.The Western demands on Zanu PF and the unity government are therefore spot on. Zanu PF cannot take the world for fools and it cannot have its cake and eat it too.The ball is in the court of Zanu PF.The reasons the sanctions were imposed are clear and in black and white. Conditions for their removal include the release of political prisoners and the removal of undemocratic laws.We wonder what is so difficult about this for Zanu PF, if as President Mugabe says, he is sincere about this unity deal. Zanu PF therefore has to act first, and President Mugabe must put the security agents on a leash and take charge of his party.The rule of law has to be seen to be done, and not merely said to be done.The people of Zimbabwe need to see the unity government in physical terms and not words of senior Zanu PF and regional leaders.Until this is done, Zanu PF is in fact lying to the world. The party is talking peace while preparing for war

As a Zimbabwean, i remain hopeful, maybe out of desperation- Rashweat Mukundu

A workmate came to my office this other day, to tell a ‘hilarious’ story about how his classmates in a part time Accounting class at the Polytechnic of Namibia are, all of sudden, getting high marks in assignments yet struggling in the final exams. Apparently the students’ contract/hire Zimbabweans who sell what Namibians call talk time in the streets, better known as air time in Zimbabwe, to write assignments for them.

“Those Zimbabweans are very good”, she explained laughing. The poor Zimbabweans, my fellow country people, charge 200 Namibian dollars per assignment. At the end of the month, many of them gather at Soweto bus terminus in Windhoek’s high density suburb of Katutura sending groceries and hard earned rands to families back home. Last week I was accompanying a relative who was travelling back home. The first language at Soweto market like in many places Zimbabweans now populate is shona.
“Tanzwa kuti zvinhu zvanaka kumusha, tava kudzokera” (we hear things are now ok, back home we are going back) was the talk at Soweto market, even before the MDC leaders had been sworn into office.

Such is the desperation and hope that many Zimbabweans have in the unity government. I share this hope. I have read many articles and comments about how this process is bound to fail. I agree that there are no guarantees and neither is this the best deal. For a desperate people as ourselves, a turn of some sorts is necessary and this unity government is just one such turn. A change of direction was necessary in Zimbabwe, I dare say in any direction. The steep slope that we have been descending was increasingly out of hand and a detour, of any kind was necessary. I remain hopeful like my fellow country people now scattered all over the word, driven by need that Zimbabwe can turn the corner and move their lives in a direction of hope.

The scale of the Zimbabwe’s crisis is easy to see in human form even in a small city as Windhoek with its 400 000 thousand or so locals. Its well known that Zimbabwean teachers, policeman and women, technicians, school leavers sell talk time, pirated DVDs and many young Zimbabwean girls engage in prostitution. Many more stay illegally, without proper documentation and worse off, Namibians are easing their unemployment rate by creating a whole industry fleecing Zimbabweans of the little hard earned cash promising permanent resident, work permits and anything that can make one stay a day longer. Other brothers have resorted to marrying locals, any women willing to be married. Stories are thus abound in Katutura of Zimbabwean men who are daily beaten by their Damara, Oshiwambo and VaHerero women, and made to surrender all their salary to their wives. More so Zimbabweans, by far qualified than their Namibian counterparts are among the cheapest labour in Namibia, paid pittance and worked like donkeys. The cheap labour of Zimbabweans is a past time even at my work place, anyone wanting cheap labour can look for a Zimbabwean, it sounds like slavery, and it is. My mother’s Doctor, I last saw in Harare in September 2008 is now working at surgery in Windhoek. My own brother, once Chief Architect in Zimbabwe’s Ministry of National Housing is now Chief Architect in the Ministry of Works in Namibia. Every day I meet many of his former colleagues, Architects, engineers and technicians now scattered all over this small city and country. The astounding numbers make me wonder whether Zimbabwe still has any professional capacity in any sector. One wonders how many more are in South Africa, Botswana, UK, USA, Australia etc. The Zimbabwe crisis has humbled a once proud people; from this I am sure we will emerge a stronger people. I have become more aware of the fallacy of globalisation. Daily we are bombarded with messages of how the world is one. Daily in a foreign country one is reminded that you are a foreigner. You clutch to your passport as if your life depends on it, and in a foreign country it really does. Having a place to call home is thus important. Forget about other places; place your hope in your homeland. Nationalism might have changed names and its spots, but it is very much alive all over the world.

This as the case maybe, Zimbabwe still has a chance to recover. Zimbabwe still has a chance to lure back its lost children, open schools; hospitals and kick start its industries. This hope might be exaggerated, but it also shows my desperation for things to get better, so that I can be home as well, one day, just once again. For this reason I remain hopeful that we can turn the corner. And may God have mercy on us in this regard. //End//

Diplomacy can triumph in Zimbabwe and the future belongs to us not Mugabe – Rashweat Mukundu

Diplomacy can triumph in Zimbabwe and the future belongs to us not Mugabe – Rashweat Mukundu

On 28 January South Africa’s e-TV showed pictures of emaciated Zimbabwean prisoners and rural families, many sick and dying from lack of food and medication. The pictures and accompanying news story were a stark reminder of the dire situation in Zimbabwe at the time that Southern Africa leaders had completed a meeting on finding a lasting solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe.

The e-TV story is particularly interesting as it shows in clearer terms the issue(s) in Zimbabwe, that the crisis is about livelihoods and people. While a lot has been written about how the crisis is man made, and Mugabe’s intransigence and his total disregard of any civilised political processes, the issue in my view remains that the people of Zimbabwe have reached the end of the tether and cannot hang on any longer. While the SADC summit was concluded in South Africa, reports were already emerging on how the MDC has not consented to the communiqué and how the breakthrough, is after all a false one. This message of doom was conveyed mostly by the foreign media with newspapers as the Telegraph in the UK carrying opinions supporting the MDC not to join Mugabe in a unity government. This kind of news has a chilling effect on the majority of Zimbabweans local or in the diaspora, for its says only one message, that is more suffering and an increasingly uncertain and dark and darker future. This brings back the question of what these talks are really about. Despite my misgivings about the leadership of South Africa in this process, I agree with Kgalema Motlanthe that we cannot afford to go on talking and talking and that these talks should focus on simply saving the lives of the people of Zimbabwe first and everything else later. No one is fooled that the MDC received a raw deal from Mugabe and SADC. The questions that remains to be answered is what options the MDC has, what can the MDC do to overcome the support that SADC openly shows for Mugabe. My view is that the MDC right now has no choice but to join the unity government with its headlights on beam. The MDC now needs to go above ZANU PF both morally and in political strategy and define itself as a party of the future. I argue that the MDC now need to join the goverament and simply help lives and restore some sort of dignity and normalcy to the lives of Zimbabweans.

The MDC at the moment needs to go into the unity governments to salvage the little of what is left of Zimbabwe, as well as work on a new constitution that reverses the damage of the past eight years as well set a future course guaranteeing our rights as well independent institutions for elections and other pressing issues. This agenda does not need the MDC to have Ambassadorial post among other issues. The MDC need to look at its role in the unity government as transitional and not permanent. There is no way this process, flawed as it is, can be seen as the ultimate solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe but a process towards a final resolution addressing issues of free and fair elections at some point. The transition in Zimbabwe, the MDC should note, will be slow and painful but the journey has to be taken nevertheless. For Christians the death of Christ on the cross was a painful journey that had to be taken, but was certainly not the end of the process but simply part of it and the final victory is coming. The MDC need to make full and effective utilisation of the social service and economic ministries it holds to stabilise Zimbabwe, gain experience in running a government and prepare for the future. Joining the unity government, however painful, gives the opposition a chance to carry out its political programmes in peace. One thing is clear about ZANU PF and Robert Mugabe. Not only is he 84 years old and therefore half way into being an ancestor and spirit medium for his family and party, but Mugabe is and should not be seen as part of the future of Zimbabwe. He unfortunately bestrides the door of transition and a way has to be found to sidestep him and move forward. The success of the MDC in the unity government is depended on what the party will do with that little power and an acknowledgment that the unity governments is part of and not the transition. The MDC still need a robust political programme that guarantees its continued linkages with its grassroots support both urban and rural.

A key stumbling block that the MDC needs to overcome is the pessimism that come from western capitals. This pessimism is rooted in the understandable loathing of Robert Mugabe. The MDC is however better counselled by history, that sometimes what maters in the life of any given state are its interests. Mugabe did not mutate into a dictator overnight. He was one in 1980 and did commit heinous acts against the Ndebele community in the 1980s. Then there was no talk of Mugabe quitting. The likes of Tiny Rowland even threatened to fire editors of their newspapers in London who reported the atrocities in Matabeleland. Any given state is better protected by its people, healthy and without disease and hunger. Mugabe has weakened Zimbabwe and our abilities to move forward as a people, the MDC cannot afford to maintain this path by going for broke. The call by some media organisations that the MDC should not join the unity government negates the suffering that the people of Zimbabwe are going through. Another aspect that the MDC needs to remove from its psyche is that the unity agreement as process will not succeed without monetary support from the west. That in my view is neither true nor a sustainable proposition noting how the west is now burdened with its own economic challenges. The future of Zimbabwe lies not in generous aid but normalising the economy, resuscitating agriculture, education health, and more importantly taming corruption. History and present international crises must counsel the MDC that the world is far less concerned about Zimbabwe in comparison, say to Gaza. The geo-political significance of Zimbabwe is such that we can all die and the world moves on as if nothing happened. One million people died in Rwanda and the world moved on. Less that two thousand died in Gaza and the world almost came to standstill from the UN, Washington, London, Johannesburg, Lusaka to Paris. African governments, all quite on Zimbabwe, had something to say about the deaths of the Palestinians. Over 3000 have died in Zimbabwe and not many, except Raila Odinga and Botswana, said anything. That is the painful reality of our own world. It is good to then evaluate how far we can rely on outside to help to get us out of the malaise that ZANU PF has thrown us in. Diplomacy then is best placed to serve us and move us forward. The future belongs to us not Mugabe. //End//

Candid Comment: Judiciary not Beyond Criticism

Candid Comment: Judiciary not Beyond Criticism -

Friday, 16 January 2009 10:21 - Zimbabwe Independent

THIS week High Court Judge-President Rita Makarau lambasted some legal practitioners who she says criticised the judiciary in foreign media.
No particular story or legal practitioner was mentioned but those who have been following the human rights abuse cases in Zimbabwe, and lawyers who have braved state intimidation to stand with the victimised, can easily put some faces to the legal practitioners concerned.
Zimbabwe is not living in normal times and the Judge-President and others in the judiciary cannot pretend otherwise.
Zimbabweans from all walks of life have been victims of state thuggery and the judiciary has been complicit in this by failing to invoke legal protection when asked to do so.
Many in civic society, the opposition and indeed many voices critical of the government of President Mugabe cannot say they have received justice in Zimbabwe. Any criticism of the judiciary is thus on the basis of its failure to dispense justice.
The judiciary has been willing tools in the circus of phantom treason charges and dozens of conspiracy theories of Zanu PF in which individuals — who are invariably found innocent at the end of the day — have been subjected to the most inhuman treatment.
If not willingly consenting to the enforcement of the repressive measures of Zanu PF, one can conjecture that the judiciary is itself a victim of Zanu PF — fearful of what might happen to them.
One cannot but relate the composition and character of the current judiciary to the events leading to the resignation of Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay, followed by many other senior judges.
Earlier there was the desecration of the High Court by war veterans who danced on top of court desks and chairs during the inquiry into the looting of the war veterans fund.
When senior Zanu PF and government figures say they will defy the courts should they not like their rulings, the judiciary has remained silent.
The judiciary in Zimbabwe has undergone major changes in which one finds it difficult to say the citizens are being served. In fact the ruling elite has created its own judiciary to serve its interests.
It is therefore proper, Madam Judge-President, for those disaffected to highlight their concerns. For laypersons like me, there is no way we can know what is happening unless those who interact with the courts speak out against the serious regression in the protection of citizens.
In this regard the judiciary is not being undermined when people criticise it but is in fact being called upon to respect and adhere to its constitutional duty, which is the upholding of the law, and more importantly the protection of citizens from arbitrary arrest and detention.
That is all that the judiciary is being asked to do. Citizens of Zimbabwe now realise that once Zanu PF decides you are going to suffer there is nothing you can do, and more frighteningly there is little the judiciary is prepared to do.
Many cases abound where the judiciary has failed in this regard. In looking at the current crisis in Zimbabwe we also need to mention that the judiciary is inherently compromised by its almost parasitic reliance on the executive for handouts and survival.
How many judges double as farmers and other dealmakers? Who buys cars for judges and under what legal provisions?
All these issues are not lost on citizens. The same questions I am sure were asked by citizens who lived under the Smith regime and indeed in apartheid South Africa, as to whether they received justice and under what laws?
Criticism of the judiciary in Zimbabwe is therefore not something that the judiciary can wish away. It is real and if the stories in the media are inconveniencing judges it is well and good.
The lawyers referred to by the Judge-President are perhaps talking to the foreign media because of laws such as Aippa that have decimated the Zimbabwe media. The judiciary upholds the same laws as just and constitutional despite the suffering they cause to the citizens of Zimbabwe.
All this is being played out right in front of our eyes. The call is therefore for the judiciary to stand up and protect the rights of citizens, or be judged harshly by posterity.
BY RASHWEAT MUKUNDU