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.
Friday, 6 March 2009
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
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//
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//
Sunday, 1 March 2009
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//
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//
Friday, 20 February 2009
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
Thursday, 12 February 2009
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//
“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//
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
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//
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
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
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