Fighting back with vim and vigour overthetop
By Brian Latham
THE government of a troubled central African
country has declared sanctions on several western imperialists in a move that
will undermine the effectiveness of the European parliament, it announced
this week.
The list, published in the state-controlled press, was
hailed as a triumph of strategic thinking in the war against western
domination. State-sponsored analysts working at the department of
misinformation, declared that sanctions against the running dogs of
imperialism were sure to deal a massive blow to Europe's efforts to
destabilise the central African country.
They said the
introduction of smart sanctions would be particularly damaging to the economy
and government of a small patch of mud situated off the coast of
France.
Ironically, the small patch of mud is an increasingly
popular destination for citizens fleeing the sunshine and freedom of the
troubled central African nation.
Still, members of the European
Parliament said the sanctions were unlikely to have any effect at all, mainly
because MEPs were themselves totally ineffective. "Most of us get elected
because the food in Brussels is considerably better than it is in Little
Boddington on the Sewer. Also, booze and fags are cheaper here," said
one.
More pragmatically, the men and women banned from visiting
the troubled central African country said their banning was delightful news
and unlikely to affect their holiday plans. "None of us were planning to
visit your troubled central African country in the foreseeable future
anyway," one of them told Over The Top.
Meanwhile, a spin-doctor
at the department of misinformation said it was all very well for the banned
Euros to act smug, but they'd be laughing on the other side of their faces
when the serious fraud squad seized all their assets in the troubled central
African country.
Responding to the issue of assets, a spokesperson
for the European Parliament said, "It is believed that only one of us is
affected by the assets issue. While we cannot provide names, one banned
individual has come forward to say he visited your country briefly in 1964 at
which time a commercial sex worker managed to pilfer four pounds, six
shillings and four pence from his hotel room.
He has no idea how
the dreadful woman managed to sneak into his room, but assures us that,
should she still be living, she can keep his assets. To the best of our
knowledge, these are the only assets any of us can lay claim to in the
troubled central African nation."
Another MEP, the wife of a
muddled Welshman and former leader of the Labour Party said that she had no
intention of visiting the troubled central African country even when it
ceased to be troubled. "Last time my husband set foot in that place he was
arrested by a corporal and treated rather badly-so, if you think I'm going to
subject myself to that sort of harassment, you can jolly well think again,"
she said.
Meanwhile, analysts who do not work for the department
of misinformation questioned the effectiveness of sanctions against
Europeans. It seemed unlikely that sanctions would work because, in case no
one had noticed, all aeroplanes arriving in the country were empty, while
all aeroplanes leaving were full.
"This seems to indicate that
no one is queuing up to come here," said one analyst, who also pointed out
that most foreigners had long since disposed of any assets they held in the
troubled central African country on the grounds that they were no longer
assets but liabilities.
Mugabe's disastrous ad hoc fuel policy By
Chido Makunike
LAST week we got an astonishing insight into the ad
hoc nature of policy making that has over the years led to Zimbabwe's decline
into its present parlous state.
Zimbabweans have been asking why
fuel queues have reappeared after recent assurances that our new official
best friends, the Libyans, had agreed to keep us awash with petrol and diesel
for the foreseeable future.
President Mugabe, cocooned as he
personally is from the everyday problems of his fellow citizens, usually
keeps a British-style stiff upper lip, acting as if everything is just fine
and under control. The pressure of maintaining this facade is beginning to
take its toll, and he was forced to not only admit that all is not well, but
that he was fresh out of ideas to stop the slide.
For years, we
have been told that government had to control every aspect of the importation
and selling of fuel because it was a strategic commodity that could not be
left in the hands of sly, greedy, neo-imperialistic global Western
capitalists, who might use their power to threaten our
sovereignty.
In the midst of a largely self-inflicted economic
crash that has led to the drying up of foreign currency, those sovereignty
concerns are thrown out the window and the international oil companies are
now "partners" who should import their own fuel.
Mugabe talked
about how the fuel comes in the name of government, the constant worries
about how long it would last and the profits made by the oil companies who
distribute it after government has subsidised it.
Perhaps
soliciting public sympathy, he whined: "Twenty-two years in government, of
playing this game of foolery. They don't suffer from the headaches and
stomach aches I suffer. For how long shall I superintend this institution of
tomfoolery?", a question I have asked myself about Mugabe's presidency for
many years now.
At a moment's notice, years of government policy
are reversed by decree with no examination of the implications, or why policy
that was considered to be so "principled" yesterday, is now considered to
be "tomfoolery."
No mention of the fact that the oil companies
have been pleading to be allowed to bring in oil on their own all these
years. Nor of the fact that now that economic collapse and expediency have
forced Mugabe to let them do so, the situation of our rapidly devaluing
currency would mean fuel prices having to go up many times over for importers
to cover the real, as opposed to the official, costs of foreign
currency.
Apart from this first real presidential admission that
things are really bad, what is even more worrying is the implicit admission
that there is no plan in place at all to deal with the spiralling
problems.The strategy, if you can call it that, is to keep passing the buck
from government to virtually anybody else.
If Tony Blair was the
source of all our problems yesterday, tomorrow it will be the oil companies
who have the nerve to take advantage of government's generosity in allowing
them to import fuel independently. They then stab government in the back by
wanting to sell it at prices that will allow them to make a profit-the
greedy, heartless capitalists! See how they never tire of looking for new
ways to sabotage our revolution?
International oil companies are
far from being angels. Even in their home countries, they are often accused
of using their mega bucks and influence to involve themselves in all kinds of
chicanery, from big time bribery to massive environmental pollution, and I am
loath to defend them. The question is merely one of realities.
Would it have been better to let them compete over the years to bring in oil
independently under close government regulation, letting the prices rise
higher over time in response to our falling currency, or keep the prices
artificially low by letting government control trade in oil, buying the
foreign currency at the rising black market rate, while selling it based on
the fixed, absurdly unrealistic official rate?
The choice has been
the latter, but this kind of command control and populist subsidisation can
only work in a booming economy of surpluses, not one of sharp decline. Now
that we have grown accustomed to Z$74/litre petrol, raising it to more than
$600/litre to reflect our currency and other economic realities will cause
unprecedented chaos.
We may not like the big global capitalists,
and we may chafe at the world economic set-up, but I think part of the lesson
of the decline of Zimbabwe is that we are too economically small and
insignificant in world terms to think we can rearrange systems of trade in
isolation from the rest of the world.
The pie in the sky voodoo
economics of subsidising everything may appeal to our sensibilities, but it
doesn't work in the long term. The people you are trying to appease by
unrealistic economic policies over the years are the same people whose wrath
will give you headaches, stomach aches, unnecessary aggression and sleepless
nights when the results of those policies, worsened by your words and
actions, precipitate economic collapse.
Now that Libya's Gadaffi
seems to put more value in hard currency than in Mugabe's rhetorical
solidarity, we are either soon going to be paying a hell of a lot more for
fuel, or we'll be walking. My dream of owning the biggest, most expensive,
most prestigious petrol-guzzling luxomobile may be about to be
shattered.
Its so unfair that it is Mugabe and his ministers, the
very people who have brought us so low, who continue to enjoy such perks, and
twice a year salary reviews while the rest of us fret from day to day between
bread, petrol and public transport queues. I'm sorry about his headaches, but
he, his henchmen and their policies may actually be Zimbabwe's biggest
headache.
Yes indeed, I couldn't agree more: it has been a long,
depressing 22 years of tomfoolery under Mugabe. For how long shall we let him
superintend the further disgrace and decline of Zimbabwe?
For many, it's worse than the colonial era By
Eupha Mahenga
A DESPERATE move by the Zanu PF government to protect
consumers from economic hardships it created by imposing unpopular price
controls on most basic commodities has backfired, causing more hardships
instead.
Effected late last year by the desperate ruling party
which sought to ensure the re-election of President Robert Mugabe in the face
of a strong challenge from MDC president, Morgan Tsvangirai, the price
controls have caused havoc in the country threatening the livelihood of many
people.
The effects of the controls have been so drastic that life
in Zimbabwe has been transformed into a nightmare.
An acute
shortage of commodities that are on the controlled prices list is now the
order of the day, condemning Zimbabweans to a life in queues.
Such basic commodities as mealie meal, cooking oil, salt and sugar which were
always readily available have vanished from the shelves, fuelling the
parallel market where the prices are out of reach of
ordinary Zimbabweans.
On the parallel market a thin loaf of
bread now costs between $150 to $280. Around March this year, a bigger and
nutritious loaf cost $30.
A 5kg pack of maize meal which a few
months ago went for $130 has gone up to $650. The same unrealistic price
increase have been effected on other commodities which are hard to get in the
country.
This scenario has caused untold suffering to people who
are adjusting to life without a slice of bread each morning and food prepared
without cooking oil. At one time locals learnt to endure meals without salt
which was in short supply.
In fact, most Zimbabweans who are
either low income earners or have no income at all are now reliving the
colonial era when they could only afford to eat bread at Christmas. During
that time every family, especially those in the rural areas, expected the
treat of having bread at breakfast.
However, for this festive
season things could be much worse as the commodity is likely to be
unavailable for the traditional heavy Christmas breakfast.
Things have become so bad that even finance Minister, Herbert
Murerwa, admitted before President Mugabe on Thursday that price controls had
become a threat to Zimbabwean society.
Said Murerwa while
presenting the 2003 budget to parliament: "Efforts to protect the consumer
from spiralling prices are being undermined by price controls that focus
mostly on the final product, ignoring developments affecting inputs into the
production process. This has affected production viability and the
sustainability of the controlled price levels. As a result, the real costs to
the society have been highS"
The real beneficiaries of the system,
Murerwa noted,were the speculators and dealers and not the targeted
vulnerable groups, who were now watching helplessly as their breadwinners and
friends lost employment as companies retrenched workers owing to viability
problems occasioned by unsustainable price control levels.
Victor Chisi, a senior manager with the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ)
told The Standard that although noble, the introduction of price controls had
created more problems for the country.
"The idea was noble because
the people could not afford the commodities. However soon after the
introduction of the price controls the commodities ceased to exist on the
shelves, giving rise to the thriving informal market," said
Chisi.
He added that the prices had become so high that consumers
could not afford them, prompting his organisation to call for boycotts on
the expensive items.
Only last week, CCZ called for a beef
boycott as a way of illustrating the plight of the consumer. Prices of
economy beef have shot up to between $800 and $1000, way beyond the reach of
many Zimbabweans.
A small scale retailer from Ruwa who confessed
that he did not have much knowledge of economics, told The Standard that by
introducing price controls, Mugabe's government had revealed its ignorance
over basic economic matters.
"The aim of every retailer or
business is to make a profit. By buying products at an uncontrolled prize and
selling them at a controlled prize one simply makes a loss. In such an
environment, he or she has no option but to close shop. I was surprised that
government actually created such a condition that forced us to close down our
businesses and later blamed that on Tony Blair," said Munashe
Tshuma.
Despite this state of affairs, the government yesterday
announced, in an extraordinary gazette, that it had extended price controls
to the agricultural, motor and newspaper industry.
The
education, building and technology sector were also not spared.
This move, which will also freeze the price of vegetables, means almost
everything sold in Zimbabwe now has a controlled price.
Zesa to get tough with new farmers 11/17/02
Story by By Debra Mazango
THE bankrupt Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority (ZESA) intends to cut off power supplies at most farms acquired for
resettlement because the new owners have failed to service their bills, The
Standard has learnt.
The move comes at a time when Sydney Gata, the
executive chairman of Zesa, who happens to be a brother-in-law of President
Robert Mugabe, is reported to be on leave. Gata is a staunch supporter of
Zanu PF and has in the past, crisscrossed the country campaigning for the
ruling party.
At many of the rallies, Gata chanted Zanu PF slogans
and told villagers they would get electricity if they voted for Zanu
PF.
According to information at hand, most of the new farmers who
now reside on the properties left behind by evicted white farmers have not
been paying their electricity bills, thus prejudicing the authority of
billions of dollars.
Huge bills have been incurred for the use
of irrigation schemes, for example. The displaced commercial farmers were
cumulatively paying about $1 billion per month to Zesa.
A senior
official at Zesa confirmed to The Standard that the chaotic land reform
exercise had further exposed the bankrupt nature of the
power utility.
"It was agreed sometime back to step up efforts
to disconnect defaulting customers and the issue of power cuts at most farms
acquired for resettlement has been one of the measures to be taken to contain
the growing financial crisis Zesa is facing," said the official.
It is understood that new farmers have been served with letters warning them
of Zesa's intention to disconnect supplies at the end of December 2002 if
they failed to pay their bills.
Whether the power utility has the
independence of action to carry out the threat-only time will
tell.
Some of the farmers have since pleaded with the parastatal to
allow them to settle their bills after their crops have been harvested next
year while others have suggested that their crops be used as
collateral.
Displaced commercial farmers throughout the country
left unpaid bills amounting to more than $4 billion at the parastatal.
Zanu PF bars Mudzuri 11/17/02 Story by
Chengetai Zvauya
HARARE executive mayor, Elias Mudzuri was
yesterday denied entry into the Hatfield Municipal Hall where about 500 Zanu
PF supporters were distributing maize meal on a partisan basis, sourced from
the Murehwa Milling Company.
The Zanu PF supporters, led by the
unsuccessful councillor for the ward, Tendai Gurira, were selling bags of
maize on council premises and without prior permission from the city
fathers.
The maize bags were piled high on the stage of the hall
and two long queues of people could be seen extending away from the stage.
After having their Zanu PF cards checked in the one queue, the card holders
would proceed to the second queue to receive their allocation of
maize.
When The Standard arrived at the hall, they could hear Zanu
PF supporters shouting derogatory slogans at the mayor. The supporters
had already hounded out of the premises, the MDC councillor for the
area, Benjamin Maimba.
''Pasi naMudzuri neMDC yake, hatidi
kumuona pano,'' the supporters chanted, forcing the mayor to also leave the
premises hurriedly for fear of his security.
Said Mudzuri:
''Zanu PF have turned the council's social centres into commercial halls
without our permission and I don't understand why they have done
so.
''We issued a directive that no council halls were to be used
without the approval of the council and when I received the report of what
was happening here, I had to come and see it for myself but they denied me
entry into the premises.'' he added.
The Standard understands
that the Hatfield Police Station refused to provide Mudzuri with an escort to
help him stop the trading.
''Police have refused to escort me to
the hall. When I asked the member in charge of this station for help, he
declined so it can be concluded that they were also involved in this illegal
activity.'' said Mudzuri.
Gwisai at it again 11/17/02 Story by By
Farai Mutsaka
MDC problem child, Munyaradzi Gwisai, has again
ruffled feathers within his party-this time by his open humiliation of MDC
vice-president, Gibson Sibanda and other top opposition party
officials.
Gwisai, who has in the past stirred controversy with
statements that have been out of sync with the party position, last week
walked out of a hearing chaired by Sibanda where he was supposed to answer
charges of misconduct.
Apart from Sibanda, the disciplinary
committee comprised the deputy secretary-general, Gift Chimanikire, the
deputy women's league chairperson, Enna Chitsa and the secretary for security
Dr Tichaona Mudzingwa as well as lawyers, Edith Mushore, Josphat Chuma and
Yvonne Mahlunge.
Gwisai, who had been summoned to answer
allegations of misdemeanour stemming from his utterances against the party
leadership and its policies, refused to be quizzed by the committee and
instead called on its members to read a document he had brought to the
hearing. He then walked out.
While the contents of the document
have not been entirely revealed, it is understood that Gwisai had outlined
his position as a socialist and lambasted the party for embracing
capitalism.
Party spokesman, Paul Themba-Nyathi confirmed that
Gwisai had walked out on Sibanda and his committee.
"Gwisai left
a document which he asked the committee members to read before he stormed out
of the MDC headquarters where the hearing was being convened," said Nyathi
adding that the party's national executive would soon meet to decide Gwisai's
fate.
Said Nyathi: "Gwisai was summoned to the disciplinary
committee to answer allegations of indiscipline. He arrived as requested but
did not stay. He submitted a document to the committee, imploring them to
read it and then he left. He refused to stay and answer the charges levelled
against him."
Nyathi would not divulge the action likely to be
taken against Gwisai but said the party's national executive would soon meet
to decide the fate of the self-confessed socialist.
"The
committee has submitted a report on the issue and the national executive will
look at the constitutional provisions and take the necessary action. However,
what happens to Gwisai will be determined by our constitutional
provisions."
Tsvangirai's spokesman, William Bango, said although
Tsvangirai had heard about Gwisai's walkout, he was yet to receive an
official report and could only make a comment when he had done
so.
"The president has not yet received a report from the committee
and will only comment on the issue once he is in possession of the report.
But as a matter of fact, the person who is handling Gwisai's disciplinary
issue is the vice- president, so he would be the best person to talk to," he
said.
However, a source within the MDC said it was mostly likely
that Gwisai would be expelled.
"Most national executive members
are unhappy with Gwisai's actions and it could be a matter of time before he
is chucked out. A number of people within the party leadership are of the
belief that this kind of action will set a bad precedent in the party but
hostility over Gwisai has been building up for some time and the walkout was
the last straw. The disciplinary committee has even recommended serious
disciplinary measures and Gwisai would be lucky to escape with a suspension,"
said the source.
The sources added that party president, Morgan
Tsvangirai supported the move to expel Gwisai whom he now viewed as "an
incorrigible bad boy" of the party.
This is not the first time
that Gwisai, a vocal and hardcore socialist, has tussled with his
party.
Earlier this year, Gwisai stirred a hornet's nest when he
castigated the party for "losing" direction by allowing its largely student
and labour base to be infiltrated by intellectuals and
capitalists.
Meanwhile, Tsvangirai told The Standard shortly before
he left for an MDC parliamentary workshop in Kadoma yesterday that he was not
impressed by the bahaviour of some parliamentarians in his party who were
endangering the MDC's credibility as an alternative to a corrupt Zanu PF
government.
He said indiscipline and untoward behaviour seemed to
be growing in the party which had transformed Zimbabwe's political landscape,
formerly dominated by the ruling party.
Said Tsvangirai: "Some
MPs spend a sizable amount of time cutting out deals for personal gain while
others are known to patronise certain gambling houses and have had their
integrity smeared by the company they hobnob with.
"While we are
reluctant to interfere with individual and personal lifestyles, we must
realise that whatever happens to any of us as public figures impacts on the
credibility of the party and dampens the hopes and aspirations of the
majority who have put all their trust in us."
The opposition leader
noted that impressive sacrifices made in the past three years when the MDC
took on the Zanu PF regime could all be lost through careless behaviours of
MPs.
"As role models, the behaviour of MPs and party officials is
always under public scrutiny and can easily turn out to be a
generational indictment. Once society begins to feel exasperated by our
misguided deeds, we will be in serious trouble. It will take a long time to
regain the people's confidence and respect," he said.
Johannesburg -
The aviation authority in Zimbabwe says it is concerned about the safety of
Air Zimbabwe as no maintenance has been done on the airline's planes since
September.
The airline plans to outsource the maintenance and servicing
of its planes to South African Airways (SAA) in an attempt to meet the
requirements of aviation authorities.
The Independent in Zimbabwe
reported that the airline's ground personnel have been on strike since
September, demanding better salaries. The airline dismissed all the striking
workers.
Since then, any technicians they could find have been working on
the planes. This is illegal under international aviation regulations, because
the work was not supervised.
These regulations stipulate that it is
standard practice to supervise repair and maintenance work to guarantee the
quality of the work and safety of passengers.
When these regulations
are not met, passengers may not be transported on the planes. Zimbabwean
president, Robert Mugabe, also uses the airline company for his official
travel.
Concerns A letter sent by the Zimbabwean civil aviation authority
to Air Zimbabwe, apparently indicated that there were concerns about a number
of incidents.
A plane was refuelled without members of the fire
brigade in attendance and while there were passengers on
board.
Temporary ground personnel, appointed in the place of the striking
staffers, were apparently given temporary qualifications although they are
not skilled to do the work.
The aviation authority was "disturbed" by
the airline's "total disregard for safety measures and the danger this posed
for its passengers".
A spokesperson for Air Zimbabwe was "too busy" to
comment.
LIBYA SEEKS TO FORM MILITARY TIES WITH AFRICAN
STATES
CAIRO [MENL] -- Libya seeks to form military ties with both
Arab and African states.
Arab diplomatic sources said Libya has
engaged several neighboring and regional states in a dialogue for defense and
military cooperation. They included Sudan and Zimbabwe.
Last
month, Libya and Zimbabwe discussed the prospects of expanded military
cooperation during the visit of Defense Minister Sydney Sekeramayi to
Tripoli. The Zimbabwean minister spent three days in Libya.
Libya
and Zimbabwe have extensive security ties and Tripoli has supplied equipment
and training to the forces of President Robert Mugabe. But the visit by
Sekeramayi was said to be the first high-level attempt to establish military
cooperation.
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details.
HARARE, Nov. 17 - A Zimbabwean woman has told a court that
she paraded naked before a traditional healer as part of a ritual he had
allegedly promised would gain her entry into Britain, a Sunday newspaper
reported.
The state-owned Sunday Mail said the woman had been
ordered to strip naked and walk around the healer, who sprinkled her with
water to cleanse evil spirits. The healer is being tried on
criminal injury charges for allegedly coercing the woman to go through a
humiliating ordeal. Thousands of Zimbabweans are trying to flee the
African country's grave shortage of food and political turmoil, with Britain
a prime destination. But London has begun requiring Zimbabweans to gain visas
for entry. The woman told the court she became suspicious after the
healer charged her a fee of Z$23,000 for the ritual, far above the Z$4,720
she had expected. ($1- 55 Zimbabwe dollar on the official market) ($1-
1,500 Zimbabwe dollars on the black market)
Desperate students turn to theft By Cynthia
Mahwite
BULAWAYO-At a time when the cost of living continues to
escalate in the country, students at tertiary institutions are bearing the
brunt of government's skewed economic policies as they struggle to survive on
menial payouts insufficient for even one course textbook.
With
the inflationary rate currently hovering at around 139% and expected to reach
about 540% next year, students at these institutions are living on a budget
of $90 per day. The loans they are currently receiving from commercial banks
are pegged at $20 000 per academic year.
The government last year
handed over to the banks, the responsibility of providing students with loans
and grants, following a series of demonstrations from students who were
demanding an increase in their payouts.
"The amount of money we
are receiving as loans is inadequate and insulting in terms of meeting our
day to day needs. We are living as paupers in the tertiary institutions,"
said Pedius Sikisa a second year student at Masvingo Teachers
college.
Of the $20 000 they receive per year, tertiary students
are expected to pay for rent and transport and for the purchase educational
materials.
In a semester which lasts 15 weeks, the money allocated
to these students amounts to a paltry $90 per day.
A plate of
sadza and stew at the college canteens which were privatised by government
sometime ago, costs at least $220 per plate.
"We are buying a mere
cup of tea for $20, an egg for $50 and a plate of sadza and beef for between
$220 to $250. This state of affairs has forced many students to indulge in
criminal activities to supplement their income.
The Standard has
established that many students have been involved in the thefts that have
rocked institutions of higher learning in the past few months.
Among the items that have disappeared at the universities and colleges have
been electrical items such as VCRs, televisions and computer
software.
"That some female students are resorting to prostitution
at colleges is now an old song, the new one talks about students turning into
part-time criminals to make their education a living success. It's common
these days for things to vanish at campuses," said Mark Moyo a student at
Nust in Bulawayo.
Several of the students have been arrested and
convicted of various criminal offences, mainly thefts
Archbishop Pius Ncube: Man of the year
TheStandardcomment
LAST month, President Mugabe announced that the
government would scrutinise non-governmental organisations and review the
policy and laws governing them. This came in the wake of false accusations
that the British government was working with NGOs such as Amani Trust in
clandestine operations to unseat the present Zimbabwean
government.
"We have a plethora of both foreign and local NGOs that
disguise their activities in semantics such as human rights, democracy and
promoting civil society," justice minister Chinamasa, fulminated in
parliament last Wednesday.
As it was in Rhodesia, so it is in
Zimbabwe. We seem to have forgotten nothing and learnt nothing. In Smith's
Rhodesia, all non-governmental organisations including churches who were
concerned with the whole issue of the struggle for liberation, for justice
and reconciliation, were reviled for aiding and abetting a "communist
terrorist minority bent on raping, looting, mutilating, murdering and winning
the support of tribespeople by intimidation."
How history
repeats itself! Chinamasa went on: "We would like to see all NGOs keep out of
politics." What a tragedy.
For 15 years, Ian Smith was hammering
that same message. How ironic to bear witness to a replay of the Rhodesian
situation 22 years after independence. The demise of the Smith regime does
not seem to have provided any lessons at all to the latter-day dictators of
this world.
The extent to which non-governmental organisations and
churches assisted the process of liberation, justice and reconciliation, is
now being conveniently ignored and forgotten in the interest of sanctifying
greed, power and privilege.
Christian Care, for example, did a
tremendous job in providing care, education and shelter to families of
detainees and victims of political violence. Amani Trust's work and mission
must be understood in this context. So should the work of many other
non-governmental organisations both foreign and local, who are currently
involved in the struggle for justice and reconciliation in
Zimbabwe.
In the current unambiguous struggle between good and evil
in Zimbabwe, there is a tremendous responsibility on the part of
non-governmental organisations, churches, the independent press and the
generality of Zimbabweans to inform and interpret to the world the nature of
the struggle in which we are involved in the country. This is a huge task
which non-governmental organisations cannot in any way shy away from or
be absolved of.
Archbishop Pius Ncube of the Roman Catholic
church in Bulawayo is clearly leading the way. He is clearly a man of the
year. Amani Trust and many other individuals and civic society groups
involved in the struggle for human rights, justice and reconciliation are
also showing the way. Archbishop Ncube's word is based on what is actually
happening in the lives of people and communities in Zimbabwe.
Why are Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Trevor Huddleston of apartheid
South Africa, Bishop Donald Lamont of Rhodesia, Bishop Kenneth Skelton
(former Anglican bishop of Matabeleland in the then Rhodesia), Pastor Martin
Niemoller of Nazi Germany and Rev Martin Luther King of the US, amongst many
others, such celebrated Christian leaders?
It was not only because
of their courage and refusal to compromise their Christian principles and
beliefs in the face of evil and their utter abhorrence of violence but
equally because they stood out as rarities in their respective churches.
These were some of the rare good men and women who made the world the theatre
of their operations in the pursuit of freedom, justice and reconciliation.
They combined a gentle compassion for the victims of injustice with an
uncompromising hostility to the oppressor.
The government of
Zimbabwe must not think and feel even for a minute that it is the only
guardian of the land. The importance of a strong and vibrant civil society
cannot be over-emphasised. It is unacceptable for government to think and
behave as if it has the ultimate power or final say over the lives of
people.
Politics is the business of everybody not Chinamasa alone,
neither is it the sole preserve of Robert Mugabe and Jonathan Moyo. Nobody is
ordained to rule. Governments come and go. Zimbabwe has eternity before
her.
It would be naive in the extreme for Chinamasa and indeed
anybody else to believe that non-governmental organisations can keep out of
politics. Politics is life. How did you Chinamasa get into politics in the
first place? If you did it why can't anybody else "did it" too?
There isn't a single non-governmental organisation that is threatening peace
and security in Zimbabwe-the security of Zanu PF perhaps but certainly not
that of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is not synonymous with Zanu PF. Zimbabwe is much
bigger than any individual, including the president. There is no way
a non-governmental organisations can play second best to a governmental
one. We are all equal and we are all entitled to ask government why they
alone should be involved in politics?
As we have stressed
before, the only way Zanu PF can be secure politically is to deliver the
goods to the people of Zimbabwe. And this includes freedom, justice and fair
play. That is the key. The ruling party must return to the ideals that gave
birth to the liberation struggle in the first place. It is just that
simple!
It's no good blaming outside forces and
non-governmental organisations, churches, Archbishop Ncube and the
independent press who are merely doing their job and have a vested interest
in the success of Zimbabwe. It is pure fantasy for the government to think
that in the face of an economy that is decaying badly, the hardships and the
political violence, people can just keep quiet.
Yes, it is pure
fiction for anyone to think that given the erosion 20 years later of our
rights, non-governmental organisations and the people themselves should see
no evil, hear no evil and smell no evil. People fought to have some kind of
paradise free from shortages-but now that paradise is gone.
And
you expect people not to speak out, to remain mum. What crooked way of
thinking is this? Human nature in not like that Chinamasa!