The Zimbabwean
BY OWN CORRESPONDENT BANJUL,
Gambia Zimbabwe is a democratic state, which
upholds the rule of law and
all fundamental freedoms; its Parliament,
Executive and Judiciary
compliment each others efforts in a beautiful
manner for the good
governance of the people . Evidence from Robert Mugabe's
officials to the
African Commission on Human and People's Rights meeting in
Banjul Nov. 26 -
Dec. 5 got even better. Land seized since 2000 has been
"equitably"
distributed among the landless black majority, ending a
situation where a
few white farmers owned vast tracts of "under-utilised and
derelict prime
land". African NGOs, civil society organisations, human
rights lawyers, and
media watchdogs in Zimbabwe and South Africa, submitted
a string of
statements to the Commission deploring Zimbabwe's authoritarian
regime, the
stifling of freedom of the press and of assembly, the collapse
of the rule
of law - and all the rest. In response, Mugabe's officials
pressed on ever
deeper into Alices Wonderland. Oh yes, there was Operation
Murambatsvina,
condemned around the globe, including by a United Nations
special envoy who
saw the plight and suffering of some 700 000 people
forcibly removed, many
dumped to live in the open. Oh no. The operation,
according to the
submission from Harare, was embarked upon in the interest
and welfare of the
affected persons who at the time were leading a sub-human
form of life. The
international condemnation? Well, that was because the
exercise "was
hijacked by the country's detractors." But it's all OK now.
Thanks to
Operation Garikai, many Zimbabweans with little, or indeed, no
income are
"proud owners" of houses which their government had constructed
for them.
The only hint in the state evidence that there could a slight
problem came
with a reference to Zimbabwe having "a number of challenges"
which she is
grappling with. These are all the fault of, guess who? Right
first time.
But Britain and its Western allies have failed miserably. And
that's not
all. In due course, Zimbabwe will be right there to help any
sister state
threatened by the "ignominious appetite of the West.". All
Harare's
submission lacked was a postscript, perhaps starting, "If you
believe this"
The Zimbabwean
BY OWN CORRESPONDENT
HARARE Zanu (PF) has been reduced to using strong-arm
tactics on its own
members in a desperate bid to stop them deserting to the
newly-formed United
Peoples Movement. It would appear that UPM has eroded
the ruling partys
support base in the Midlands and Masvingo to such an
extent that alarm bells
are ringing. Emmerson Mnangagwa, minister for rural
housing and amenities,
last week threatened Zanu (PF) supporters not to
defect to the opposition in
a move seen as evidence of panic and deepening
divisions within the party.
Mnangagwa is mistaken. He should steer away from
political movements and
shifts in the hearts and minds of our hard-pressed
nation. He should inform
the nation on how many houses, if any, in the rural
areas he has improved
during the past six months. The people of Zimbabwe are
now united under the
banner of the MDC and are determined to fight the Zanu
(PF) dictatorship
from all fronts. The Senate election exposed Zanu (PF).
Zanu (PF) has
disintegrated in the Midlands, Masvingo, Manicaland,
Bulawayo, Harare and
many other parts of the country because of the ongoing
factionalism and the
emergence of the UPM, whose political catchment area
was supposed to anchor
within the mainstream Zanu (PF). In Masvingo, for
instance, the party does
not even have functional structures, said Nelson
Chamisa, MP, MDC Secretary
for Information and Publicity. Zanu (PF) remains
hanging onto rag-tag
elements of the old guard whose peers were recently
selected for the Senate,
a moribund institution designed to buttress Robert
Mugabes patronage
system, he added. Chamisa said the record low poll in
last weeks
senatorial elections confirmed that the ruling partys support
base had
dwindled significantly. The low voter turnout shows that the
party
faithful have crossed the floor and joined the MDC, especially in the
rural
areas. The people gave Zanu (PF) a vote of no confidence and listened
to the
MDC message to stay away from the useless Senate election, said
Chamisa.
The MDC is set for a comprehensive renewal process. Our Congress
process is
moving on smoothly and a new, robust and vibrant organization is
now in the
making following the Zanu (PF)-inspired turbulence that has
rocked our
organization over the past two months. We are on a firm ground,
directing
the political agenda and in charge of a message that resonates
with the
majority, he said confidently.
The Zimbabwean
BY A
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT HARARE While United Nations statistics show
Zimbabwe
still has among the worlds highest HIV prevalence rates, there is,
surprisingly, a drop in infection rates among pregnant women. Marking the
recent World AIDS Day, Health Minister David Parirenyatwa talked of getting
more people on life-prolonging anti-retroviral (ARVs) drugs, and Robert
Mugabe chimed in with some bluster about British demonisation of our
country leading to a drop in help from international donors. Neither
Parirenyatwa nor Mugabe, naturally, mentioned Operation Murambatsvina. It
was all as if nothing had happened. As if there were no thousands of people
rendered homeless, uprooted, living in the open; as if this cruel
displacement had not interrupted the strict medical regimes of those
receiving ARVs. Worse still, there are reports that the Mugabe regime has
actually ordered some organisations to stop distributing the drugs, while
Zanu (PF) chefs and officials are still getting the medication. SW Radio
Africa spoke to a woman who for years had been helped by an organisation in
Mabvuku, which supplied single HIV positive women with drugs and the
required nutritional foods and supplements. The woman, who asked not to be
identified for fear of reprisals, said that in July supplies suddenly dried
up and the organisation said it had been ordered by the authorities to stop
distribution of both food and drugs. Three women on the programme have since
died, she said, and she herself is deteriorating rapidly. She now has
infected canker sores from her throat to her stomach and can barely afford
pain killers. Back in the world of people with jobs and homes, Parirenyatwa
announced that an estimated 21,000 Zimbabweans were on ARVs, while the
latest official figures showed that 1.6 million are living with HIV/AIDS. I
am hoping that come next year, with the global fund money coming through, we
should have more people on treatment, he said, offering no further details.
Zimbabwes HIV infection rate has fallen to about 20% of the population from
25% five years ago, apparently due to more condom use and fewer sexual
partners. The country, with a population of 12.5 million, is, however,
expected to record 134,993 new HIV infections and 142,330 AIDS cases by the
end of this year, while another 139,950 people are expected to die from the
disease. Some 57% of infections and deaths are women. UN statistics, based
on governmental and NGO research, showed that HIV infection levels among
pregnant women dropped from 26% to 21% in Zimbabwe, while in South Africa it
rose to a record 33%. A falling prevalence rate may mean that deaths from
the virus are outnumbering the newly infected, particularly given the acute
food shortages in Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwean
BY RALPH
BLACK WASHINGTON - While much has been made of the internal
squabbles
surrounding the MDC's non-participation in the senate election,
evidence has
emerged that South Africa has persuaded the British and US
governments to
support the creation of a framework for a government of
national unity in
Zimbabwe, promising each faction within the MDC a part of
the political
fortunes on condition that human rights abuses be swept under
the carpet,
and Mugabe be granted immunity from prosecution for crimes
against humanity
for the remaining days of his natural life. As an insurance
policy, Mugabe
has agreed to retire with the condition that his appointed
successor is
accepted by the international community and that key hardliners
within the
party and public service continue their tenure until 2010. In
exchange South
Africa, under the terms of its economic bail-out package, has
undertaken to
micro-manage Mugabe's transition to retirement and has adopted
unprecedented
measures i.e. the signing of a defence agreement that will
provide for the
training of the South African Air force by Zimbabwean
instructors, the
signing of an intelligence exchange protocol and the sale
of military
hardware to the Zimbabwean military intelligence and Central
Intelligence
Organization (CIO). It has become apparent to Mugabe, and to
the
intelligence services of Zimbabwe and South Africa that a Zanu (PF)
without
him as its leader is a weaker and more vulnerable political party
that will
not retain its hold on power in the future. This reality will have
adverse
effects for the South African ruling party the ANC, and its
coalition.
Clearly, every precaution is being taken to avoid an outcome
similar to that
witnessed in Zambia and to some extent Kenya, where, once
leading figures
like Kaunda and Moi stepped off the political scene, their
successors were
not able to galvanize sufficient support from the population
to remain in
power. For South Africa, the rise of a labour-backed opposition
party
threatens its own coalition with the largest and politically virulent
COSATU. Therefore the emergence of a coalition government is the main
objective of its meddling in Zimbabwe's politics. Zimbabwe has in exchange
accepted to adopt economic reform - the lifting of price controls and
acceptance of IMF economic reform measures and UN demands for access to
build permanent housing for those displaced and rendered homeless by
Mugabe's social reconstruction by sledge hammer and bulldozer policy. One
major obstacle to this grand scheme is the intransigence of the opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai and the non-involvement of the MDC in the senate.
Further evidence suggests that military discipline is breaking down. The
rank and file of Zimbabwe's war machine is becoming increasingly
dissatisfied with their conditions of service and desertion from the army
ranks is at an all time high. Zimbabwean Military Intelligence estimates
indicate that if a political solution is not reached within the next 18
months, a mutiny is possible, preceded by a complete collapse of the command
and control structures of the entire security services resulting in the
existence of internal conditions that are conducive for a violent overthrow
of the Mugabe Government, with the deserters forming the core of the
resistance. The training programme agreed upon between the South African and
Zimbabwean air forces is meant not only to secure Mugabe's retirement but to
provide protection and military assistance to the ailing Mugabe government
in the event of a military-sponsored uprising. A further challenge for the
regime is the growing restlessness of the population. Calls for democratic
resistance are being made with growing frequency. With an increasing number
of unemployed, low morale within the military, police force, intelligence
organization and public service rank and file, sympathy of the business
sector with the plight of the workforce and increasing militancy of the
student organizations and the country's trade unions - an outlet must be
found. Repression, restrictive legislation and the deployment of security
forces to quell street demonstrations is no longer a viable approach. The
creation of the senate as the preamble to establishing a government of
national unity may dampen this. On the economic front, South Africa cannot
afford for the Zimbabwean economy to collapse. Currently, the self-enriching
policies of the Mugabe regime have ruined the economic fortunes of the
country, and alienated it from international financial markets. With
problems of its own the South African government is unable to shore up the
Zimbabwean economy over the long term. The majority of the region's national
economies are consumer markets, with South Africa being the manufacturing
hub. The further collapse of the Zimbabwean economy, coupled with the threat
of internal strife, will invariably tie up South Africa's and the
International Community's resources, in a bid to clean up the aftermath of
Mugabe's ruinous rule. In order to head this looming crisis off at the pass,
South Africa has proposed the formation of a government of national unity. A
resolution to the Zimbabwean crisis in this manner works well for the
American and European governments. With declining popularity, the British
and American governments do not need to add Mugabe and Zimbabwe to the
gallery of crises being faced by these nations. Further, as reported by the
US National Intelligence Council, in March of 2005, America and a bloc of
European nations are contemplating reducing their strategic investments in
Africa over the next 15 years, leaving room for newer actors, especially
Africa's new Imperialist master China, whose commitment to democratic values
is questionable at best. What remains is for the opposition leader to form a
working alliance of the small groups that have made claims of sustained and
clear injustice, into a working political majority, that will vigorously
advocate for change- on the streets. A Government of National Unity would
appear to present a different beast with the same DNA as Zanu (PF). For the
people of Zimbabwe - De-Zanufication presents the only possible upside for
the fortunes of the nation. Anything short of this is tantamount to
appeasement and selling out to the corrupt and immoral political majority.
Ralph Black is the Director of Communication for the Association of
Zimbabweans Based Abroad (www.azba.org.),
co-chair of the North American
Coalition for a Free Zimbabwe (www.zimbabweans.org) and board member of
DFW
Community Alliance (www.dfwinternational.org). He writes
in his personal
capacity. He can be contacted by e-mail at ralphblck@yahoo.com.
The Zimbabwean
The people of Zimbabwe
have spoken. More than 80% of the registered voters
boycotted the sham
senatorial elections - despite the combined best efforts
of Zanu (PF) and
the MDC rebels to persuade them to go to the polls. The
statistics speak
volumes. One analysis maintains that Zanu (PF) held back in
Bulawayo to give
the MDC pro-Senate faction some seats and that in those
areas rigging was
minimal. MDC won the five seats there with a 7.5 percent
poll. If this is
indeed the case, it would mean that the total poll of 19,48
percent was the
result of wholesale rigging. Across the whole country, only
631 000 voters
turned out. Of these, three per cent spoiled their votes and
124 000 voted
for the MDC candidates despite the boycott call by Morgan
Tsvangirai. The
message is clear the people of Zimbabwe cannot be fooled.
They know very
well that, at this stage of near-total national economic
collapse, what the
country needs is food, fuel, jobs, a health service that
works, respect for
human rights, an independent judiciary and democracy.
Just for starters. And
democracy is not simply about holding elections,
which are rigged anyway. It
is much, much more. And it begins with freedom
of speech, freedom of
association, freedom of the press. Elections are only
one very small part of
democracy. Its all about tolerance and diversity.
When you look at the
quality of the Senators who have been sworn in to that
august body, it is
plain for all to see that these are political has-beens
who have nothing to
contribute to the development of our country. Weve said
it before, and
well say it again: The Senate is a cushy warehouse for
Mugabes cronies who
are being pampered in return for their support for his
succession plan. The
fact that the MDC rebels were trounced in all urban
areas (traditionally MDC
strongholds) other than Bulawayo shows that they
failed to read the mood of
the people. We commend Zimbabweans for taking a
principled stand and showing
the world that they know what they want.
Despite the very real terror of
authorised punishment, they stayed away from
the polls, demonstrating that
they had not been fooled at all by the
convoluted rhetoric and machinations
of Zanu (PF) and the MDC rebels. We
hope that these dissenting opposition
members can read the writing on the
wall and bow out gracefully. It would be
folly for them to resort to
desperate, perhaps underhand, methods to
undermine the wishes of the people.
It is quite clear that the people of
Matabeleland as a whole are not behind
them. In fact, it is patently obvious
that the people of Zimbabwe as a whole
are simply not interested in
elections any more. And we dont blame them. It
would appear that MDC
executive member, Gertrude Mtombeni, had her finger
truly on the pulse when
she said that the people of Matabeleland do not want
Mugabe to continue to
rule any part of Zimbabwe. They were not interested in
a piecemeal vote just
to keep Mugabe away from Matabeleland. Mtombeni was
very emphatic that the
people of Matabeleland do not subscribe to tribal
politics and have a
national vision for a free and truly democratic
Zimbabwe. National unity is
the only way forward and we sincerely hope that
those mischievously and
destructively attempting to promote tribal divisions
will be shown once and
for all that Zimbabweans are done with tribalism. In
this regard we condemn
the weekend assault on MDC legislator Timothy Mabhawu
who was hospitalised
on Sunday after being attacked by a mob of youths loyal
to Morgan
Tsvangirai. We commend the party leadership for condemning the
action by the
unruly youths and urge them to take a very strong stand on
this kind of
intolerance. We expect such thuggish and intolerant behaviour
from Zanu (PF)
strong signals must be sent that it is totally unacceptable
for any member
of the opposition. What Zimbabwe needs perhaps more than
anything today is
political tolerance.
The Zimbabwean
EDITOR - When will we, as a
nation, finally say enough? We, a tiny little
nation, with so many heroes,
alive and dead, black and white, throughout the
world. 30,000 died to put an
end to an unjust regime in 1980, to be reborn -
as nation that is now
devouring itself. When will it be enough? Our
President offered
reconciliation after a bitter battle, offered the best
life in the world, a
nation of schools, farms, hospitals, a nation of the
proudest. A nation the
world respected. Was it all a whitewash, papered-over
cracks? President
Mugabe had four white cabinet ministers. Racism, back
then, was one thing he
could never be accused of. Or was that a veneer, was
the truth something
different? Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans, and true
Zimbabweans are not now
doing business in San Paulo, or Plett Bay for that
matter. The rich men with
their cobalt mines who pulled our army to the DRC
to be nothing better than
security guards. I dont think the Karoi mealie
farmer and President Kabila
have ever shed a single tear for our young men.
No, they are too busy
counting their 30 pieces of silver. A nation as proud
as us, a tiny army
saved Zaire. Our young men gave birth to the DRC, and
what for? Those brave
men saved Kabila. What for? To be cast aside and sent
on forced leave. Our
young men saved Mozambique, they saved the diamond
mines - what for? For
rich men to loot farms, for uncouth illiterate thugs
to hug visiting
Presidents, is this honour? What is it about Mbeki? Is his
long-term plan to
conquer Zimbabwe through the power of the mighty US
Dollar? Will we be
re-colonised by South Africa? Will Spoornet just roll
across the Limpopo and
to hell with the mess called the NRZ? We farmers,
rightly or wrongly, got
behind the MDC and we lost everything because of it,
and we cast a million
farm workers aside in the process. We made a stand. We
were, the workers at
the coal face. We, who must make a stand against evil,
against wrong for
right. What for, I now ask you? For the MDC to
self-destruct, to be mere
pawns in Zanu's secret polices mind games? Taiwan
paid US$1million, no it
didn't, Ghana paid US$250 000, oh no I was mistaken,
it was blown all out of
proportion. What this means to us normal Zimbos
trying to keep our heads
down is simple, the whole lot of you aren't worth
what we gave up for you.
We made a stand, we didn't agree with our soldiers
keeping Kabila's cobalt
mines open and we NEVER disagreed with land reform.
Why has it come to this?
20-year-old policemen beating the hell out of old
men and women, millions in
the diaspora pouring money home to fuel the Zanu
(PF) engine, more farms
looted, more redundancies, more suffering, no fuel,
no hospitals. It's
Christmas time again. THE PATRIOT, Harare
The Zimbabwean
BY A CORRESPONDENT
DURBAN - Timothy Rukombo's cheerful round face and warm
smile belie the
often overwhelming difficulties he's faced during the past
three years as a
Zimbabwean refugee in South Africa. Three years ago, in
November 2002,
Timothy crossed the border into South Africa, hoping to find
a good job and
build a new life for himself and his family. "It was very
hard for us in
Zimbabwe as there were shortages of everything," he said. "I
was
campaigning for the MDC and people were being arrested, kidnapped or
tortured - it was even dangerous to walk in the streets wearing an MDC
T-shirt. " Despite his optimism, Timothy soon found that life across the
Limpopo was not easy for refugees. "It is difficult to find employment and,
if you are a Zimbabwean, you are only paid small amounts of money," he
said. "The way the South African police arrest Zimbabwean people is wrong.
You are often forced to hand over a R20 bribe to avoid deportation, even if
you have a valid asylum seekers' permit," he added. Inspired by popular
Zimbabwean singers like Oliver Mutukudzi and Simon Chimbetu, as well as
home-grown group Pengaudzeke, Timothy decided that, since the MDC was not
allowed to campaign on radio and television, he would produce songs which
would get the message across. With the help of musician friends and chorus
singers, Timothy cut a CD at a shopping centre. Called "Border" Jumper
Introduction , it features songs like "Hatidi Hondo" (We Don't Need War)
and "Varovereyi" (Clap Your Hands). The CD is dedicated to Morgan
Tsvangirai, Learnmore Jongwe, Gibson Sibanda and Welshman Ncube. Timothy is
currently trying to get a producer and backer so that he can cut a
professional CD and contribute to change in Zimbabwe through his music. He
dreams of travelling to the United States and London, where he hopes to meet
fellow countryman and highly respected cricketer turned singer, Henry
Olonga. Timothy is angry that so many African leaders forget the poor when
they come to power. "Zanu (PF) has forgotten how they survived in the war,
they did not fight alone. Everyone cooked and helped and contributed to
change," he said. Instead of feeding the people, Timothy is appalled that
the government has wasted money on expensive equipment to jam SW Radio
Africa's broadcasts into Zimbabwe and arms from China. In his view, however,
Zanu (PF) is not going anywhere. "The day will come when they will regret
their actions and be made to step down. Everything that flies will have to
land." Timothy urges Zimbabweans to work extra hard for change. "We must
unite our efforts around the world in order to succeed, " he concludes.
The Zimbabwean
Open letter to Tony Blair,
Chairman, European Union From the Student
Executive Council, University of
Zimbabwe Sir - We have no doubt you are
aware of the political, social and
economic challenges facing our country
and our people. We are confident that
you know the gross human rights abuses
that are perpetrated on our people by
the government of Zimbabwe. As
students and student leaders at the
University of Zimbabwe we have not been
spared by this ruthless and thuggish
regime. Our concerns have been
constantly ignored and any efforts to get
them addressed either through
dialogue or demonstrations have been severely
squashed. We have suffered
systematic torture, detention, arrest, wanton
clobbering of innocent
students by anti-riot police, all resulting in the
deprivation of our
fundamental right to education. As a microcosm of
Zimbabwean society, our
concerns reflect the problems faced by the country
at large. Even where our
problems are particular to students, the government
has reacted with
unprecedented heavy handedness as fears that student unrest
on campus may
spill over into the nation. The government has turned even
academic issues
political, heavily deploying state security agents and
anti-riot police on
campus creating a near war zone situation. Realising the
urgent need to
maintain control of the university the Mugabe regime has
appointed a
well-known government apologist as vice-chancellor, Professor
Levi Nyagura.
He has unleashed a reign of terror, mismanaging the university
and bringing
it into total disrepute. Arbitrary suspensions have become the
order of the
day. The man has suspended over 40 students since he came into
office.
Freedom of expression, association and movement have been severely
curtailed
on campus, with student leaders not allowed to address more than
two
students and prevented from visiting residential areas on campus. The
present leadership has been the target of this systematic victimisation. Our
president Hentchel Mavuma was expelled in unclear circumstances, and four of
our members Mfundo Mlilo, Collen Chibango, Garikai Kajau and Wellington
Mahohoma were suspended twice in a single semester. We have been arrested
with no charges levelled, tortured, detained on five different occasions. We
have been hauled to a student disciplinary hearing on four different
occasions on frivolous charges and the university has consistently failed to
find us guilty. In a bid to render us ineffective, we have been removed from
student residence and catering services. This has rendered us destitute and
made it difficult for us to attend lectures and carry out our SEC business.
The university has some 12,900 students but can only afford to accommodate
about 4,000. With operation murambabtsvina having destroyed scores of
backyard structures, many of which housed about 8000 students, the problem
has been much more complex. Hundreds of students are now sleeping in common
rooms on the floor, in TV rooms and some in the chapel. The toilets are
malfunctioning and sewage water oozes along corridors everywhere. The
university staff complement is pathetic with less than 240 lecturers
instead of the requisite 1,200. There are no books in the library, and a
class of over 700 students has to use less than five books. The University
administration has recently seized the Students Union building that was
donated to the students by the people of England through the benevolence of
the Queen. It is the social and political centre for the students, houses
the largest dining hall on campus and is the traditional venue for serving
lunch to non-residents. The students union building also houses offices of
the Students Executive Council (SEC), and has affordable services like
photocopying, phone shops and typing for students. The closure of the
building has meant that the SEC has operated for over a year without
identifiable offices. By international standards our university has been
reduced to a disgrace. We believe you have the power to influence positive
changes in our country and university. We have petitioned the Zimbabwean
minister of higher education on some of these issues with no response. Yours
in defence of student rights Signed: Mfundo Mlilo (Info and publicity), H W
Mavuma (President), C Chibango (Vice), G Kajau (Sec-general), W Hahohoma
(Legal), T Murai (Sports) and T Chitekwe (Transport)
The Zimbabwean
BY MARTINE
STEMERICK As Zanu (PF) squandered desperately needed funds on yet
another
fraudulent election, Archbishop Pius Ncube pleads with the world to
feed
Zimbabwe's starving millions. "Yesterday President Mugabe was here in
Bulawayo and he was saying, 'No one will starve.' But some people have
already starved to death, and some people are staying four or five days
without food, so it's just an empty promise," accused the Archbishop.
"There's been very little rain. It's very hot: 36 degrees Centigrade. Things
are bad. Cattle are dying in the rural areas, especially in Matabeleland.
I've seen dead cattle by the side of the road, and others so thin you could
see their ribs and so weak they could hardly stand." Two weeks ago the
Archbishop saw the ravages of hunger in the rural homelands, when he met
with 20 local priests on a spiritual retreat in Empendene to pray for his
starving people. "I saw a little girl who was very, very thin. I asked her,
'Did you eat yesterday?' She said 'no.' 'Did you eat this morning before you
came to school?' The child had walked 7 kilometers to get to school. 'No, I
didn't eat.' "'When you get back, will you eat anything?" 'No,' she
answered, 'for the last three days we have had no mealie meal." "Tell your
mother to come and see me tomorrow." The next day, the Archbishop emptied
his pockets so that the child's mother could go and buy mealie meal. While
individual acts of kindness can meet the needs of a starving child, there is
no real study of how widespread the famine is. "This government is lacking
transparency. There is no real systematic study of the amount of starvation,
but the United Nations has estimated the 5.5 million people are in need of
food aid. And this was worsened by what Mugabe did - smashing buildings so
that 700,000 people will not only need food, but they will also need
shelter. "And this operation Garakai is merely lip service. It's nothing
concrete. And even those little houses that they have built are so small
that a family wouldn't fit in there. It seems these houses have been
prepared for government forces and the militia and police," the Archbishop
concluded. Pastors in Bulawayo have been actively searching for the people
displaced from Killarney and other squatter settlements. The Archbishop had
high praise for their efforts, especially for Pastor Albert Chatindo, the
pastor of Killarney squatter camp, who has searched endlessly for his
scattered flock. "In Bulawayo, some pastors have gone out to find the
people. It was hard to locate them; it took three or four weeks before they
found them. They had been dumped in the middle of nowhere, some 130
kilometers from Bulawayo, where there was no food, no water supply and no
shelter." Sheba Dube, whose charity works with Aids orphans and widows in
remote impoverished areas of Avoca, Filabusi, Masenane and with some
child-headed households in Mzilikazi, recently returned from supplying
orphans and grannies with small packets of maize meal. But the food meant
for two mouths is often forced to stretch to feed many, many more. In one
case, there were seven more orphans living in the same household, and in
another, 16 more children. Ten kilos of maize meal won't stretch that far.
What are these orphans and grannies supposed to do? The Archbishop
castigated Mugabe's heartless refusal to accept aid in a timely manner. "If
our government had been reasonable, they were meant to accept the food aid
being offered by the United Nations. But because they are proud, they don't
like it to appear that they have failed in their land resettlement program
and they want to appear that they are managing very well. So that's why they
blocked food distribution by churches, by Non-Governmental Organizations
(NGO's), and the World Food Program." If the UN envoy, Jan Egeland, can get
the government to agree to distribute food, and the food is distributed
through the government rather than the NGOs and the churches, will the food
aid get to the starving who need it, or will it go to prop up the military
and those who oppress the people? Pius Ncube was clear: "The practice of
Zanu (PF) has been to politicize the food. You are dealing here with
murderers who do not care about the welfare of the people. They only care
about the welfare of their own stomachs and their own party."
The Zimbabwean
BY ZAKEUS CHIBAYA JOHANNESBURG
- Thousands of Zimbabwean refugees who fled
the country after their
households and source of livelihoods were destroyed
during Operation
Murambabtsvina are now facing eviction by the authorities
here in
preparation for World Cup 2010. Young children and women are now
sleeping in
the open, exposed to criminals and heavy rains. Johannesburg
metro
authorities and police are carrying out raids at night to evict people
staying in disused flats and buildings in order to clean up Johannesburg.
Most of the Zimbabweans rent dilapidated and disused flats in Hillbrow,
Berea, Doorfontein and Yeoville as they do not have income to pay rent in
standard flats. The authorities are targeting these suburbs because of their
proximity to Ellis Park Stadium, the official opening venue. I have been
staying in the open for a week after police raided the flat. We are
surviving on food from a soup kitchen in central Johannesburg. I am no
longer able to sell my sculpture because I am looking for accommodation,
said Shuvai Matongo, mother of a child aged nine months. She added that they
used to pay R200 for rent for a flat they shared, using curtains, with a
family of four. The Zimbabwe blind community was hard hit when authorities
swooped on their flat in Hillbrow leaving more than 50 families homeless.
Methodist Church Bishop Paul Verryn is frantically seeking alternative
accommodation for them. The situation is chaotic. We are back on the
streets after Mugabe destroyed our homes. My son was arrested and has been
deported. I was only left on humanitarian grounds but now I am stranded as I
have no one to lead me, said one blind man.
The Zimbabwean
Though there were no
immediate confirmation from PTUZ President, Raymond
Majongwe by the time of
going to press, an official from the Crisis
Coalition here said the
registration of Zimbabwean teachers had commenced.
Speaking at a meeting in
central Johannesburg recently, a spokeswoman for
Crisis urged teachers in
exile to collect application forms for
registration. The latest move is
aimed at assisting Zimbabwean teachers so
that they generate own source of
livelihood after being forced to flee from
poverty, political persecution,
torture and victimization by Zanu (PF). It
has been resolved that South
Africa will next year engage at least 1 000
professional teachers. We met
with the Zimbabwe Progressive Teachers Union
(ZPTU) a month ago, where the
two bodies agreed to start with the
recruitment of 1 000 teachers. Besides
the recruitment of teachers, the
corporate world intends to recruit other
professionals from Zimbabwe, who
could be taken advantage of to boost our
economy, said the spokeswoman. -
CAJ News.
The Zimbabwean
BY THOMAS CHIRASHA The
people of Zimbabwe must come to their senses and
realise who among those who
aspire to leadership of our country best
represent our interests and who
represent their own selfish interests. The
DRC is still chasing the elusive
dream of peace and prosperity because it
has never had, apart from Patrice
Lumumba, a leader committed to the welfare
of his people. From the early
1980s many Zanu (PF) notables amassed great
wealth, unaffordable on the
salaries of mere cabinet ministers or senior
army officers. At some point
Mugabe was interested in being the man of the
people. Now his moment is gone
and he knows he can never cherish such dreams
again. This article will focus
on action plans that can be taken by
Zimbabweans as individuals rather than
collective action which is hampered
by the cunning and repressive
legislation of the current regime. Every
individual has the opportunity of
studying this article, refining its ideas
if need be and passing it on to
others to effect a potent programme of
action. The time has come for
ordinary Zimbabweans to make a stand, and make
an impact. The disintegration
of Zanu (PF) into the Mngangagwa/Mujuru camps
is a blessing in disguise,
because it means change can still be realised.
The intellectual back-up
within the ruling party may also be dwindling due
to the acrimonious
relations it has had with Ibbo Mandaza, domestic problems
being experienced
by Chombo; Charamba; Chinamasa etc and Thabo Mbeki's
internal problems -
which imply that he may have to defend his own integrity
and office, not
that of Mugabe. The demise of the MDC appears imminent, and
this is a
disappointment to all the people who have stood and suffered with
them.
Because it appears more of an inside job rather than Zanu
(PF)-orchestrated,
people have to be forgiven for having the life goes on
attitude, and
looking in another direction. The Mugabe/Mujuru camp is no
longer operating
as a modern political party. It is more of a political
(think religious )
cult, which believes it has the unquestionable authority
to act as it will,
answering not to the nation nor to the international
community. The key
features of such a cult are: " Many members, former
members, and supporters
are not fully aware of the extent to which members
may have been
manipulated, exploited, even abused " The group displays
excessively zealous
and unquestioning commitment to its leader and regards
his belief system,
ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law "
Questioning, doubt, and
dissent are discouraged or even punished. " The
leadership dictates,
sometimes in great detail, how members should think,
act, and feel " The
group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which
may cause conflict
with wider society, " The leader is not accountable to
any authorities e.g.
separation of powers, democratic vote, regional legal
considerations,
international law, religion " Subservience to the leader or
group requires
members to cut ties with family and friends (Nabanyamas
disappearance
allegedly linked to Nkala, Zanu (PF) war veteran and his
brother in-law) "
The most loyal members (the true believers ) feel there
can be no life
outside the context of the group. They believe there is no
other way to be,
and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they
leave (or even
consider leaving) the group. When you are dealing with people
who have no
conscience, interested only in their own welfare at the expense
of the whole
populace, there are acute measures that have to be adopted.
This is what
Zimbabweans have done so far: " expressed resentment at the way
the country
has been governed and the lack of accountability by mass
demonstrations of
the 90s " welcomed and joined the MDC at its inception "
strengthened the
work and impact of the civic society to try and attempt to
bring local,
regional and international focus on the excesses of the regime
" fled from
the country en-masse on foot, by road, on bicycles, by air to
become
expatriates, asylum seekers and illegals in foreign lands " given up
hope
and exercised political apathy hoping that the regime would see the
peoples
inability to change the status quo, expecting the regime would not
attack
unarmed people in straightjackets " striven as individuals to remain
alive
after various legislations and the complicity of the African leaders
made
futile any means of resolving the crisis. In the early 1980s the Shona
did
not believe there was ethnic cleansing in Matebeleland because it was
not
targeted at them. When during the 1985/1990/1995/2000 elections
opposition
members were disappearing, tortured or having their houses burnt,
many
people thought they were not affected and should not be bothered. Now,
all
and sundry are being targeted by the cult. So let not those in the
diaspora,
the employed, the executives, the church-going say this is an
issue for
politicians or for those interested. It is an issue for all
Zimbabweans.
What should we do now? I believe our only hope is in this
action plan: "
demystifying the ideological background and strength of the
Mugabe cult,
unseating and disempowering the individuals who in their
different
individual capacities sustain the cult through the system of
patronage and
fear e.g. youths, councillors, MPs etc " dismissing any
apologist argument
or way of thinking from the rogue academics, state media
and Zanu (PF)
propaganda machinery, including seemingly plausible arguments
because they
have proved beyond reasonable doubt they are not interested in
the welfare
of Zimbabweans. " withdrawing civility, courteousness,
politeness and any
form of co-operation from active functionaries of the
Mugabe cult within
Zanu (PF). " making life difficult for any cult
functionary in
neighbourhoods, streets, and any form of social encounter
within confines of
the law. This can be done by virtually anyone, from their
maids who can spit
in their food, to members of the public who can frown at
sighting them and
health workers who can refuse to give them services. The
successful
implementation of this action plan will ultimately be taken up by
the
uniformed forces who are also fed up with poverty, the rape and murder
of
their own relatives, basic shortages and lack of hope about national
recovery and the prosperity we enjoyed in the yesteryears. The role of the
uniformed forces under the guiding principles of the action plan are as
follows: " be disobedient to any orders that are not for the good of
Zimbabweans; " document acts that you know are in violation of local and
international law for use in criminal prosecutions when sanity and order is
restored; " inform members of the public through close family members of any
impending criminal acts against the countrys nationals by uniformed and
intelligence forces; " treat anyone on the wrong side of political law with
consideration at the expense of loyalty to evil. Bureaucrats, civil servants
and parastatal employees have a role to play that should come into effect
immediately. The success of the implementation of any covert or overt
policies by the Mugabe regime relies on effective implementation by senior
and junior officers in whatever department or unit. It has been proved that
all policies, governing such simple issues as traffic tickets, customs
duties, arrests, riot control and charging passengers on ZUPCO buses are
meant to stifle the normal way of life for the ordinary man and to raise
revenue for arms that will be used on civilians. The kind of leadership that
Mugabe has exercised on the Zimbabwean people is the same that the next
leader could possibly emulate. A new constitution and parliament may limit
the nature of leadership but certain trends may continue. It is the
responsibility of every Zimbabwean to act against this, by making sure that
everyone who takes political and administrative leadership of this country
is accountable to the people and the people make him or her account.
Perpetrators of evil should never feel safe to walk among their victims.
The Zimbabwean
NGOMAKURIRA So we have a Senate
again. How does this help? Are there any
signs of the 'fastest declining
economy in the world' turning the corner? Is
there anything to give us hope?
Many of us on hearing the word advent
recall it as the time of preparation
before Christmas. It marks the end of
the year with tidying up to be done,
preparations for the new year to be
made and celebrations with family and
friends. How much closure, transition
and celebration will occur in Zimbabwe
this Christmas? For many it will be
just more of the same; the daily
struggle to provide food for the family,
medicine for the sick and to stay
alive. On Christmas Day there will be no
extras, no lightening of the
crushing weight many feel. Yet preparing is
still an invitation to us. The
beautiful words of Isaiah are not just
poetry. They were not spoken in times
of tranquillity. The wolf lives with
the lamb Calf and lion cub feed
together. He lived and spoke with menace all
round him. Yet his words
described a new era already breaking in on the old.
It would be a time of
justice and would bring peace. The song of Mary too
would be full of present
verbs despite the crushing Roman armies occupying
her homeland: He casts the
might from their thrones and raises the lowly He
fills the starving with
good things [and] sends the rich away empty What
made these ancestors of
ours so confident of the dawning of Gods reign? Can
we share their
optimism? The key surely is in attitude and action. Mary did
not just wait.
When the opportunity came she took it. She had much to suffer
as so many of
our mothers have. But all the time she knew. She knew that God
works with
those who open their hearts to him and get moving. They are the
ones who
know He is there just a step away. We call it hope. It is not
like sitting
around and hoping things will improve or that someone will
do something
to bring about change. It is the hope that is awake and pushes
and shoves
at every turn to win what are our hearts yearn.
The Zimbabwean
EDITOR - Mutasa declared We
would be better off with only six million
people, with our own (Shona)
people who support the liberation struggle. We
dont want all these extra
people . By extra people Zimbabwes leading
civil servant means the people
who live in non-Shona-speaking areas, who in
their majority supported the
opposition party, Movement for Democratic
Change. Food aid is being
distributed only to Shona speakers, those in
charge of distribution being
watched closely by Zanu (PF) party officials.
Due to the crop failures this
year, those living in areas that are wholly
dependent on food aid and who do
not receive it, are dying. Robert Mugabes
murderous regime is carrying out
a policy of ethnic cleansing while the rest
of the world concentrates on
Saddam Husseins Iraq, where scores of children
have died as a result of the
embargo imposed by the international community,
not through the actions of
the countrys government. ANON, Harare
The Zimbabwean
BY WILF MBANGA We need to view Africa
in a spirit of positive resolution,
building on its considerable strength
rather than wringing our hands in
despair Lord Holme The race is not
always to the swift, nor the battle
to the strong - Ecclesiastes Once upon
a time there were two friends
Tsuro (hare) and Kamba (tortoise). They
decided to have a race. Tsuro knew
that he would win because he had a great
advantage over Kamba who had very
short legs and a heavy shell to carry.
One sunny day the race began - and
all the creatures of the forest gathered
to watch. As soon as the whistle
blew, Tsuro raced off leaving Kamba in a
cloud of dust. After a mile or so
Tsuro saw that Kamba was far behind, so he
decided to take a rest. He went
to a nearby pool and had a nice cool swim
and a drink. Just as he had
finished, Kamba came up behind him. Tsuro took
off again. Kamba plodded
onwards. Once he was ahead again, Tsuro decided to
stop for a snack and to
sunbathe a little. Kamba plodded on. Just as he
caught up again, off went
Tsuro. This continued all day. Late in the
afternoon, Tsuro lay down under a
tree to take a nap. The finishing line was
nearby and he was confident of
victory. Kamba plodded onwards. As the sun
was setting he passed Tsuro
napping. When Tsuro awoke, the shadows were
falling. He leapt up and raced
to the finish just in time to see Kamba
plodding across the finishing
line. All the animals cheered. Kamba's
perseverance had paid off. He had won
the race. The race is not over yet.
Africa is the tortoise of our world -
creeping slowly toward progress,
heavily burdened. While the hare, the
developed world and even the
developing world, races ahead swiftly on the
wings of industrial development
and globalisation. Today, perhaps more than
ever, most of us think of Africa
as a place of suffering, corruption,
hatred - where millions die of disease
and hunger, where democracy has
failed and man's inhumanity to man reaches
appalling extremes. But that is
only one facet of the diamond that is
Africa. Truly Africa is multi-faceted,
full of fascination and mystery,
complex and intricate. It is vital that a
new approach be taken to the
"problems" of Africa. We must begin to change
the prevailing attitude of
Afro-pessimism, in order to dispel the clouds and
get back to a realistic
assessment of the real Africa. Lord Holme said it
eloquently in his recent
address to the West and Southern African business
association's Annual
General Meting: "First of all there is a depressing and
annoying tendency on
the part of the world in general and the international
media in particular
to lump the whole continent together as one generic
entity. This ignores the
extraordinary diversity of the vastly differing
peoples and their cultures
and the very different stages of their political
and democratic
development." A western television viewer can be forgiven for
concluding
that the entire African government is misgoverned, and
characterised by
massacres, internecine warfare, fear, failure and want.
Concerning Africa,
there is universal gloom and doom. We hear very little
about the good news
of growing democracy on the continent, points of
economic achievement, of
social progress. There is a new culture of
tolerance and respect for human
rights. The African Union now has a human
rights commission. There is a
renewed commitment to finding answers to
Africa's long-running crises. I
would like to encourage us all to look at
Africa with a degree of
perspective. Instead of measuring and lamenting how
far short it falls of
modern ideals, let us take a moment to look back along
the very long road it
has travelled. I do not want to dwell on the evils of
colonialism, because
they are now past and we must forge ahead. However, a
discussion such as
this would not be complete without a brief mention of the
colonial legacy
and the effect it has had on modern-day African states.
Perhaps the most
crucial aspect was the arbitrary drawing of boundaries,
which cut across
age-old tribal borders, forcing people of different ethnic
backgrounds - and
in same cases of different races such as the Arabs and the
Berbers - to
became a nation. You will agree that this would have disastrous
effects if
done in Europe. Just imagine, for example, the complexities and
chaos that
would result if, suddenly, a new country was created
incorporating part of
Holland, part of Germany and part of France. The
cultural, linguistic and
other divisions are enormous - and that's what it
was like in Africa before
colonialism. In my own country for example, if I
want to speak with a fellow
Zimbabwean from Matabeleland, we have to speak
in English otherwise we
cannot understand each other. The colonial powers
exploited the divisions
for their own purposes. And people wonder, today,
why Africans always seem
to be killing each other. Certainly there are
problems. It would be foolish
to deny that. There is widespread corruption,
crime, bureaucracy, red tape,
unfriendly customs and taxation, poor
enforcement of contracts and
inadequate infrastructure. These are the
enemies of income investment and
local enterprise alike. All these problems
stem from poor governance, and
most of the African countries need to keep,
as Lord Holme says "taking the
medicine of democracy". And not just in the
sense of free and fair elections
but also of open institutions, the rule of
law and administrative
transparency. By and large, the people of Africa are
ready for good,
democratic government. Like people everywhere they value it
when they have
it and they know damn well when they haven't. The people of
Africa are
incredibly resilient. They will put up with an enormous amount of
suffering
- but they know what they want and one day they will get it. -
Excerpts from
an address to the Another Africa conference held recently at
Tilburg
University, The Netherlands.
The Zimbabwean
BY DIANA
MITCHELL Seven has always been my favourite number, but I am going
off it.
When the MDCs pro-Senate faction won seven seats it set me thinking
about
numbers not my favourite pastime but words have begun to fail me
since
the whole sorry scenario of a futile and possibly fatal fight with the
partys President over the Senate seats began. So I ruminate over another
historical, and equally unhelpful political win for seven opposition men
whom I knew long ago. Working together in our little opposition political
party, we helped them on their way to parliament. We were looking for
political space; we were na?ve enough to believe that we could change
things. We were wrong. Our seven men won seven seats but they could do
absolutely nothing to advance the cause of our party for freedom from
minority rule of the country. Thirty-five years ago, the parliament of
Rhodesia was almost exclusively filled with devotees of the ruling party,
the Rhodesian Front (which was the same as the government). The opposition
could not even boast of the worthless quota - in seats, not in
personalities - that the current Zimbabwean government (which is the same as
the ruling party) has permitted their MDC opposition. It is by Mugabe's Zanu
(PF) party's design that they currently occupy too few seats to be effective
in either the upper or lower chambers of Parliament. A two-thirds majority
for the ruling party gives them licence to change the constitution, to do
whatever they like. Twenty-five years of increasingly brutal preparation for
this achievement has seen to that. The parallels with Smith's RF falter here
because it has to be said that the majority of white voters followed him out
of love (they wanted to believe that he could keep the country safe for them
forever), and not, as in Mugabe's case, out of fear. In the general
elections of 1970, undaunted by the same uneven playing field as exists
today - correction, it wasn't nearly so uneven then as it is today - the
Centre Party put up eight good men and true, led by Micah Bhebe, for the
eight seats that could only be contested by the very limited numbers of
black people on the "B" roll. Seven of them won (the eighth was won by a
candidate from Masvingo called Gondo). All the whites, who contested on the
"A" roll, lost. We were not surprised but we were thrilled to bits with our
seven men in parliament. The record (Hansard) reveals, however, that they
could change absolutely nothing - just as is the case for the MDC in today's
parliament of Zimbabwe. The little opposition CP had no chance of making
alliances in the House with other minority parties - because there were
none, way back then, either - to outvote the ruling RF regime. Mere "window
dressing" it was then and window dressing it is now. A small quota of
opposition seats was expensive window dressing, but well worth the cost as
it presented our apartheid South African neighbours and others disposed to
support white rule with the false face of a democratic dispensation. The
uninitiated were given the impression that democracy could prevail in a
country ruled by one party. We all know now that under the ruling RF, the
minority whites eventually had to fight a bloody war, and power came to the
majority blacks through the barrel of a gun. MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai
went against his party's formal decision to contest for seats when he urged
a boycott of the Senate election. He was ineffectively suspended, quite
legitimately, but unwisely at this point in time , as his party's
non-partisan Legal Secretary, David Coltart put it. He reacted by making
things worse. "I don't want to get bogged down in legal interpretations.
This is a political problem and would have to be sorted out politically, he
said, through Bango, his spokesman. William Bango is a good man but perhaps
he should shoulder the blame for this awful blunder. Zimbabwe's most
powerful man, the cause of most of Zimbabwe's problems has exactly the same
attitude to "legal interpretations". He has never allowed himself to get
bogged down in them. The only interpretations he will accept are his own,
and look where that has brought the country. Morgan is on firm ground,
however, with his reported remark "All this political fiddling while the
country is reduced to ashes." That is indeed a piece of political wisdom.
The score between the two factions is just about even "at this point in
time". David got it. Now why can"t the rest of them get it? The Seven Senate
Seats provide a fine piece of alliteration for a headline. Unfortunately,
the number Seven is as hopeless as it proved to be thirty-five years ago.
There really are no words worth concocting around the whole dreary episode
of a fatal fight over the carcass of a once proud parliament. Except for the
opportunity to play with words and numbers, it is an exercise in futility.
The Zimbabwean
BY MUSANDE MTAUSI The
commercial farming sector died with Mugabes
ill-advised, corrupt and
chaotic land reform. Can we revive it? Part 2 or
our 3-part series. Since
the inception of the land reform, government has
poured input support to all
farmers, including those who never deserved it.
Seed, fertilizers, chemicals
were handed out and are still being handed out
in the pretext of land and
agrarian reform. Money is handed to farmers, as
they like. The question of
security is applied on certain clients while the
rules dont apply to
others. New rules come with each new season. The Grain
Marketing Board is
tasked with input distribution. This is only one
organization, inadequately
funded and staffed and basic planting inputs
reach farmers as late as
January when they are already supposed to be
managing crops for weeds and
moisture. Non Governmental Organizations are
given modus operandi unsuitable
for their programmes, designed to delay
their efforts to supply farmers with
inputs. The impact of this attitude on
agriculture is unimaginable. Recently
the fertilizer producers were given
access to US$5 million to import inputs
for manufacture. That is obviously
too little too late. They should have
been given this money in March to
begin production of fertilizer for the
next the current season. As a result,
the farming community is critically
short of the essential fertilizers for
timely planting to achieve bumper
harvests. While seed is short,
government could have used other strategies
to save the foreign currency
spent on seeds for fertilizer. Political
expediency rules on price control.
Over the last five years, the government
has exercised price control on seed
and fertilizer with no regard of the
impact this would have on manufacturers
and suppliers of those inputs. Price
control has bled the countrys
potential to be the regional hub for seed
business. Seed and fertilizer have
become black market commodities. The
Land/Agrarian Reform brought about new
forms of supporting agricultural
production. The government on one side
introduced input support credit
through the Grain Marketing Board and The
Agricultural Development Bank
(Agribank). The government, with a desire to
increase production in the
sub-sector, also funded livestock support
schemes. Tobacco marketing
authorities financed production through direct
funding or Agribank. This
initially created optimism for the agricultural
sector. However, the funding
failed to yield results as cereal and tobacco
production decreased over the
years. Confidence in the sector has collapsed
and the government is now
turning to the very dependable rural farmers for
food security. There have
several discussions on the land reform but
focusing on mitigation measures
rather than exploring the causes of failure.
An analysis of the causes of
failure will give us potential solutions to the
country's food predicament.
While the land reform was essential and long
overdue, given the way the
demographic ratios of the races, the following
reasons caused its failures
to achieve the desired results, notably
equitable land distribution and
increased productivity for national food
security. It is common knowledge
that land was seized from the Africans by
colonial invaders. The purpose of
those seizures was firstly to produce food
for the mother countries. The
colonies produced fruit and other food
products cheaply for the mother
countries at the expense of indigenous
people. Secondly, the colonies
produced cash crops such as cocoa in Ghana
and tea and beef in Sub Saharan
Africa. Thirdly, the colonies were
mineral-rich and therefore produced
essential elements for industries in the
mother countries. Wealth was
siphoned off to develop the colonial masters
while Africa remained
under-developed. However, what happened in Zimbabwe 20
years after
independence was more destructive than the horrors of
colonialism, which
eventually developed the land into an economically
productive unit.
Equitable land distribution was designed to have every
Zimbabwean owning a
piece of land. In developed countries, where production
technology is more
advanced, a piece of land is a significant economic unit.
In Zimbabwe, where
systems of production are still underdeveloped and the
climate has its way,
a piece of land can be a serious source of misery. It
is therefore important
to note that equitable land distribution could not
have guaranteed food
security because the technology was limited, resources
and climate are
constraints and not everyone can be farmer. During the land
reform exercise,
government forgot to address the question of ability and
commitment,
resource capacity and the essentials of honesty in finance.
While the idea
of increased productivity was sincerely optimistic, there was
total
disregard of realities. Operating on assumptions and little knowledge
has
produced disastrous results for Zimbabwe. Many reasons have been
mentioned
as sources and causes of failure of the land reform in Zimbabwe.
They
include: f The Politics. The nature of the land reform exercise was
defined
by violent reaction to the rejection of a proposed constitution
through a
referendum in 2000. Then a new democratic dispensation had come
through the
formation of a formidable opposition party, the Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC). This created fear and loss to government especially
with
looming parliamentary elections. White farmers were also perceived to
be the
drivers and sources of funding for the new party. The imagination and
fear
that whites were taking control through the back door caused the
government
to institute rapid land reform, taking land from the whites and
creating a
massive flow of support to the ruling party. That was very
clever, but it
caused pain and suffering to whites and loss of production
and stability of
agriculture to the country. Politics became the driving
force for onward
activities reacting to both local and international
criticism on the nature
of land reform. The Process. Prior to the land
reform exercise, the
government had commissioned a study of land tenure
systems. The report, by
prominent Zimbabwean agricultural experts, noted the
disparities in land
ownership under the tenure system. It came up with clear
recommendations on
how to conduct the issues of land. The recommendations
guaranteed security
of sustainability and productivity of the agricultural
sector. It was a tool
of equitable land reform. Unfortunately, when the
desire to conduct land
reform was driven by fear and loss, hell broke loose
on the sector. Farms
were invaded and taken over by people who had no idea
of what can be called
correct farming , ie. farming that ensures
production. There was no proper
settlement programme, no schools, clinics
and other essential services to
support the new farmers. No accountability
on land utilization. Chaos rained
over the sector. Production estimates were
based on the minister flying in a
Boeing 737 jet between Harare and
Bulawayo. Estimates were announced to
justify the success of the reform.
Good figures were music to the
presidents ears - he was obviously not given
correct information. - Next
week some more reasons for failure, and
suggestions for the future.
The Zimbabwean
BY RUTENDO PARADZAI ANNE Anne
hangs around a church-based charity in a small
town in the Midlands. One of
the trustees, a kindly man, felt that her
paranoia might suit her to the job
of keeping an eye on the place. She reads
a lot but had just tried Doris
Lessing's The Grass is Singing (published
circa 1947.) Suffice to say that
she had found it wanting and the degree of
wanting seemed related to the
number of times she said, "Sis man!" Her
righteously indignant voice echoed
across the decades from my Southern
Rhodesian childhood. And smashed any
lingering teenage notions that 'poor
whites' as they were then called were
lucky people who were allowed to hang
around the shops smoking! Over the
years these kings and queens of the road
drifted off to the great white
paradise in the South. They were drawn to the
inflated salaries that job
reservation offered, courtesy of the Nationalists
who had come to power in
South Africa in 1948. Somehow Anne was left behind.
Her paranoia seems to
preserve an undigested 1950's racism that denies her
the companionship of
the other street people with whom she lives, all of
whom are black. "I'm
stuck here," she said sadly, "You can leave. You can
get a job. I'll never
get a job. I have to stay here and I HATE it." She
said the word with such
venom that I felt sorry for her. It must be hell to
be stuck in that kind of
prison while the world has moved on and thrown away
the key to your cell.
She leaned forward and indicated with her eyes the
nearest one of 'them' and
said in her conspiracy theory voice, "I'll just
have to stay here with
them." Her voice was pregnant with the menace of it
all and her taunt,
hunched body was cloaked with distrust. THEM The same
morning I watched a
food aid programme in operation. Only the chronically
ill are permitted by
the government to receive any help. A young woman with
both femurs broken
and still on one crutch carried 20kgs of roller meal on
her head, her baby
on her back, a heavy food parcel in one hand and her bag
in the other. She
clapped her thanks as each basic foodstuff was added to
her sack. She said
'may God bless you' when she left. There are no luxuries
in these parcels,
no sugar, tea or flour. One older woman wept as she told
of how she
struggles to support seven grandchildren including an
eleven-year-old
granddaughter who is HIV positive: She's a vendor and has
to vend in secret
after tsunami'. Chipo had a beautiful face but some
horrific and chronic
infection on her leg. Her husband abandoned her and the
seven children with
whom she lives in the grass by 'Islamic Church.' She's
also a victim of
tsunami. A young widow of 34 was HIV positive and had a
sore back from
carting concrete by wheelbarrow at her son's school to pay
off a year of fee
arrears. She wanted to get on an ARV programme and when
offered female
condoms she replied, "Ah no! I don't want to get into sex no
more!" How sad
to have to feel that way so young. But the saddest were a
seventeen-year-old
orphan with her youngest sibling strapped on her back.
She's a squatter and
was painfully thin and neglected. I thought at first
that she was stoned or
mentally retarded, and she may have been. Or did her
eyes seem dead, as if
they'd seen too much? And there was a frantic
three-year-old who was in
charge of a mother who seemed numb with
hopelessness. LIZZY "I wonder what's
going to happen to me?" she said
clinging to my hand with an iron grip that
belied her 90 years. "I mean
now," she said, eyeing the syringe. The doctor
replied, "Well I'm going to
give you a shot of local anaesthetic and then
I'm going to stitch you up."
She'd had another fall and is so thin that its
a miracle she didn't just
break. She has no family, no money and has sold
her flat to a crook. She
doesn't know how to cook and lives primarily on
white bread and golden syrup
when she can get it. Her greatest survival
skill is a belief that everyone
adores her, but the occupants of the other
flats plainly don't. She stood
outside the gate with a stern-faced neighbour
and waited in the dusk. She
looked like a sad old bag lady. "They said they
had no petrol to take me to
the doctor. Of course they have petrol and I
have to go NOW!" The panic rose
in her voice and she started to cry again as
she related the story. She
chatted all the way to the surgery and worried
far more about the way she
looked than her inability to take care of her
self. A kind Moslem doctor
waited for us, "I wonder why he likes me so
much?" she asked gaily on the
way home. "It's called zakaat," I muttered
ungraciously. But this narcissist
has no concept of duty but mercifully
she'll automatically go to Heaven
because she's a Catholic! But as she lay
there in his surgery being stitched
up after hours, I wondered what would
happen to her? - Rutenda Paradzai is a
nom de plume for a correspondent in
Zimbabwe.