Zim Political Atmosphere

Credit - @welovebarcelona : Unsplash   On the day that Zimbabwe celebrated 32 years of independence, Chelsea FC celebrated a 1-0 victory against FC Barcelona in a UEFA Champions League match. I could not help but draw up these parallels in my head. In as much as I appreciate the sacrifices that the liberation heroes made during those tough times, I still think the government has undone those good works. Independence should be not only be from white rule, but it should be independence in the totalitarian nature of the word, encompassing economic, social and political independence. People should not be forced to align to a particular party violently as we see today. So in essence, the Independence celebrated on the 18 th of April is just but a vacuous one. Credit :Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi : AP It was therefore puzzling to see scores of people at the National Sports Stadium celebrating this empty occasion, as empty as The Blues’ win over FC Barca. Maybe, just maybe,

image:www.zimetro.co.zw There have been calls by a civic organisation for Gukurahundi and the 2005 Operation Murambatsvina victims to be paid at least $2 million each as compensation. The Zanu PF deputy national spokesperson Cain Mathema has since labelled these calls as “stupid and daft.” Firstly, I am curious to find out how this civic organisation (Zupag) came up with the figure $2 million. Can the value of the life of a loved one be enumerated in monetary terms? If it is, is $2 million enough? If ever this suggestion is taken seriously, I pray that a bad precedent is not set, a bad precedent that allows heinous crimes to be covered by money. Justice must still prevail. Politicians could massacre people at will as long as they have the economic muscle power to buy the forgiveness of the surviving victims. But even when some consolation is paid to victims and survivors, the long arm of the law should still catch up with perpetrators. Icala aliboli . Approximately 20 000

Credit: Engin Akyurt - Unsplash I don’t know about you, but I really like groundnuts, particularly roasted ones. They make good late night dessert/snack together with a hot cup of coffee. Never before in my life had I imagined anyone eating them as relish for sadza… until I read Bulawayo24NEWS on the 1 st of April 2012.  I read with shock and disbelief about prisoners surviving on sadza with groundnuts as relish Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison. Naturally, since it was April Fool’s Day, I tried to convince myself that this was some sort of a sick joke. But I quickly remembered an episode of Special Assignment which uncovered similar appalling conditions at Khami Prison. A quick browse through other news sites almost brought me to tears as I realised how terrible life is for other human beings! Malnutrition in Zimbabwean prisons rife This comes in the wake of a government ban on NGOs providing food for the prisoners. Yep, you heard right. BANNING FOOD. Like seriously???

Picture by Armond Scipione There has been so much criticism about whether or not Prime Minister Morgan Tswangirai is capable of leading Zimbabwe should he win the Presidential elections considering his educational background. Personally, I do not see how one’s academic prowess can directly result in effective leadership of a country, or any organisation for that matter if it not driven by values of: equality and equity responsibility fairness servant-hood liberty the need to see human rights upheld  socio-economic justice One might argue that intellectual excellence means a better understanding of things and hence better management of the government. As much as this argument is tempting to consent, I believe it is far from the truth. I believe without the above mentioned values, a leader is bound to see power as an opportunity to dominate others instead of uplifting them and liberating them from different problems.   For me, rocket science, robotics, epistemology, ontology, econo

Proposed Mthwakazi map. Credit: Mthwakazi Independent For quite some time now, Zimbabweans have been subjected to thoughts of dividing Zimbabwe and coming up with a new state “Mthwakazi”. The envisioned Mthwakazi will encompass Matabeleland and Midlands Provinces. The party responsible for these ideas is the Mthwakazi Liberation Front (MLF). But are such notions justified? One might begin to dissect this question by analysing the origins of such thoughts. The Gukurahundi Genocide is not far off their lips as their foremost justification. However, there has been rhetoric about letting bygones be bygones. I wonder if this is really possible considering the gross inhuman treatment these people were subjected to??? Can this really be an easy pill to swallow when recently, just recently an Army Commander is reported to have said he is not apologetic for having been part of the massacres???     The region’s marginalisation, politically, socially and economically cannot be ignored even

BBC.com The European Union (EU) has invited Zimbabwe to resume talks to explore ways of normalising relations. The invitation comes at a time the European bloc has removed some individual and companies from its illegal regime (The Herald 12/03/2012). These sanctions were illegal, unjustified and causing more harm than good to the economy of Zimbabwe. So this is good news right? This calls for celebration right?   The question here is why now?   Why now when the massive condemnation they received from progressive forces across the world including the African Union, SADC and Non-Aligned Movement could not sway them for one second? Why now when over two million signatures of affected Zimbabweans gathered during the National Anti-Sanctions Petition last year did nothing to convince them otherwise? Why now when the talk of elections is on everyone’s lips? Could it be that they are trying to play for both teams (Zanu-PF and MDC). My guess is they want to lighten the animosit

Credit: Dan Gold - Unsplash The US soldiers recently burnt copies of The Koran. Their excuse was that the soldier in question was not aware that it was the Holy Books. The Afghanistan people have since taken to the streets demanding the head of the perpetrator. Read more  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/21/us-afghanistan-korans-idUSTRE81K09T20120221 That is the sickest explanation ever. The Koran is clearly identifiable because it is written on its cover page like most books. Unless the soldier was blinded by something, this could not have been possible. There is also claim that this bunch of soldiers had not received formal training about how to identify and treat Islamic religious material. I myself have never seen The Koran, let alone any form of training about anything to do with the religion, but I do not think I would need any of that to prevent me from burning their Holy Book. I would never burn any book I know nothing about. What’s mind boggling is the fact th

Cytonn Photography : Unsplash The three Secretary Generals of Zanu (PF) and the two MDCs confirmed to The Zimbabwean (23/02/12) that they will hold joint peace rallies countrywide to discourage violence. The first one is scheduled for Bulawayo in the next few weeks. The leaders of the respective parties President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tswangirai and Welshman Ncube are expected to address the rallies. I applaud them for this laudable gesture which shows that they can set aside their irreconcilable differences and fight for a common cause which is for the good of the nation. More of similar gestures would definitely see Zimbabweans breaking not only political shackles, but economic and social ones as well. ZAPU however does not see anything to write home about in this gesture. Methuseli Moyo, the spokesperson of ZAPU when speaking to the radio station VOP regarding this move said, “This party (Zanu PF) has a history of violence since 1980 and there is no way they c

 Image by Andrew Ruiz on Unspalsh Iran has recently come under the spotlight regarding its nuclear program. The US, Israel and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing military objectives in their program. They have repeatedly threatened Tehran with the option of military strike against its nuclear facilities. Moreover, the US has engineered the European Union’s unilateral sanctions against Iran’s oil section in a bid to force Iran into abandoning its ‘civilian’ nuclear program (presstv.ir 25/02/12).   I say ‘civilian’ because Iran has vowed the nuclear technology is for peaceful purposes only. Besides, Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which gives them the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. I might add that nuclear technology provides clean low cost energy for electricity and is particularly important in producing medicine for cancer patients so this program is completely necessary. In any case, billions of dollars

Credit: Element 5 Digital - Unsplash Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe insisted on the eve of his birthday interview with ZBC TV that new elections be held with or without a new constitution agreed to in the power sharing deal with Prime Minister Morgan Tswangirai. He said, “We just must have elections. They just must take place with or without the new constitution. If others don’t want to have an election, they are free not to participate.” (IOL News – 24/02/12). On the other hand, MDC is convinced that the new constitution is a non-negotiable pre-requisite for elections to take place.   When I read this, I was saddened right to the deepest chambers of my inner being. Fear gripped me in an inexplicable manner because I was quickly reminded of the 2008 electoral period. I know the potential of unrest and violence which can be caused by the contention between the political parties of Zimbabwe. Like i underscored in my previous post, our leaders really have to find the heart to com

Image courtesy of Zimpapers Archives  The Constitutional Select Committe (COPAC) is playing with the people of Zimbabwe. It has emerged ( from The Herald (23/02/12) that 70% of the information in the draft constitution was not solicited from the people. Mind you, the drafters should not add or subtract anything what is needed is a people-driven constitution, not a drafters’ Constitution. This is very disappointing. But did they really expect to get away with such unfathomable treachery? One clause of this draft constitution mentioned that a presidential candidate is limited to a maximum of two terms in office and has to be less than 70 years old. It is worth noting that this clause was crafted by the drafters themselves. Both terms disqualified President Mugabe. It’s a well-known fact that President Mugabe is ZANU-PF’s chief candidate, and they were not going to sit around and watch their party being destroyed at their wake. The clause has since been rectifi

President Robert G Mugabe. ( Photo accessed from zimbio.com) Now that the elections are just around the corner, almost everything seems to be politicised. Take for instance the acceptance of Zimbabwean diamonds by the Kimberly Process into the world market. This has been met by suspecting eyes. But is all this mistrust necessary and justified? A human rights organisation, Global Witness, recently released a statement saying Mugabe will misuse diamond revenue for upcoming elections. I understand that they base their sentiments on past history, but their statement is too prophetic for my liking because the situation now is completely different from the 2008 era. Mind you, we are now under an inclusive government and back then it was a unilateral government, so the chances of history repeating itself are minimal. So unless this organisation has spiritual anointing comparable to that of T.B Joshua, I don’t see their prophecy coming to pass. Speaking to journalists after tourin

Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri ( Photo from Daily News Archive) The country’s political stability has recently been compromised owing to the differences between the three principals of the GPA following the re-appointment of the Zimbabwe Police Chief. The term of office for the Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri expired at the end of January 2010 prompting the President to re-appoint him. This move however did not go down well with the two MDC formations who also make up the Global Political Agreement (GPA).The two formations are insistent on complete transformation and re-structuring of the security before elections can be allowed. Their fears stem up from Chihuri’s own words as he was once quoted by Conway Tutani, a Newsday correspondent (04/08/11), saying the government cannot be changed “by a mere pen which costs 5 cents.”. From such a statement it can be justified for one to think that he might very well use his influence and power to handicap the demo