Zim Political Atmosphere

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