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.
Friday, 15 May 2009
Friday, 24 April 2009
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.
Friday, 27 March 2009
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.
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.
Friday, 6 March 2009
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.
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.
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//
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