Zimbabwejournalists.com
By Rhoda Mashavave
AS the
year 2006 comes to an end it will always be remembered for bringing
sadness
to most Zimbabweans who were counting and subtracting Robert Gabriel
Mugabe's remaining days in office.
Zimbabweans are likely to endure
two more years of Mugabe's corrupt
government.
His government has made
little-known Sekesai Makwavarara run the City of
Harare like her backyard
business. She has managed single-handedly to ruin
the much-loved Harare, our
"sunshine city".
What's left is only the name Sunshine City, which does
not in any way
resemble the Harare that was known and renowned
internationally for its
beautiful Jacaranda trees, the cleanliness, the
humble and polite people.
During her reign Harare has been reduced into a
garbage city. The high
standards of Harare have been reduced at alarming
proportions. It becomes
worse when in the midst of all this and many more,
Mugabe comes out saying
he needs an extra two years.
Zimbabweans were
shocked when they heard the unexpected news of Robert
Mugabe's intentions to
extend his term. He personally declared that the
vacancy for Presidency was
not up for grabs. What arrogance from an old man
who is aged
83!
Mugabe thinks he is the only best thing that ever happened to
Zimbabwe since
independence from the British. All those Zimbabweans at home
and abroad are
just counting the days whilst some are even praying for his
death.
Yes it is taboo in our culture to wish someone dead but if one has
been
reduced to a destitute in his or her own country or has been forced to
leave
and suffer in foreign lands, anything is possible - people wish you
the
worst. It is something one cannot avoid to think about.
Mugabe
should learn a lesson from Nelson Mandela, the former president of
South
Africa. He stayed in prison for 27 years but stayed in office for a
very
short period. Mandela could have just chosen to run the country as he
liked
but he was humble enough to pass the baton to someone like Thabo
Mbeki.
This reminded me of an unpleasant incident I heard when I was
in France
months ago. Two men from Ethiopia were asking for money from other
Africans
as they wanted to use it in their organisation. Their organisation
fights
racism against Africans.
They needed a few euros. When one of the
men saw me. His face lightened up.
He asked me where I came from.
I
looked straight in his eyes and said "Zimbabwe".
He gave me a broad smile
and he declared his undying love for Robert Mugabe.
My heart sank when I
heard him saying that. I asked him whether he had ever
met Mugabe and why he
loved him.
He said: "Mugabe is the great son of Africa. He is a brave
man. The whites
do not like him."
I just shook my head as my lower lip
started quivering with anger. I told
him to go and stay in Zimbabwe so he
could tell us what he thinks of Mugabe
after experiencing his rule.
I
asked him why he was in France and not in Zimbabwe. He just looked at me
and
I gave him a long lecture on the Zimbabwean crisis. He kept looking at
me
like a dumb person.
After giving him a strong lecture I fetched two euros
from my pocket and
gave them to him. I later asked him what he thought of
Nelson Mandela. He
just gave a cry of happiness.
"Nelson Mandela is
an icon. He is the great son of Africa," said the
Ethiopian. He later on
apologised for his undying for Mugabe. He promised to
read more on
Zimbabwean history and stories.
These are some of the things one endures
in the diaspora. It is so painful
to know that some African people are not
informed in this day and age of the
true crisis affecting not only Zimbabwe
but many other countries on the
continent.
Life expectancy has been
reduced and inflation is running over 1 000 percent
in Zimbabwe. Then you
hear someone who has never been in Zimbabwe saying he
or she loves
Mugabe.
Love him for what?
As a person I do not hate him but I hate
what he has done to the economy,
the media and our lives as a whole. Mugabe
and his cronies have committed
crimes against the people of Zimbabwe. Time
will come when they will be
answerable. As for me I am counting the days
down.
I cry for my beloved country. Zimbabwe will always be alive in my
memories
wherever I go; I carry a piece of Zimbabwe in my
mind.
Welcome the year 2007 and I pray the year will bring wonders to all
Zimbabweans. Hope for a better future will keep us going and alive. Someday
I believe our dreams will become true. Our God will be there for us in bad
or good times. Do not give up daughters and sons of the Zimbabwean
soil.
Happy New Year to you all!
IOL
January 01 2007 at 11:02AM
By Fanuel Jongwe
Harare -
The new year holds bleak prospects for the overwhelming
majority of
Zimbabweans reeling under world-record inflation and a meltdown
that shows
no sign of easing, economists say.
"The year 2007 is bad news
already before we have even started it,"
economist John Robertson told
reporters, dismissing projections by Finance
Minister Herbert Murerwa that
Zimbabwe's four-digit inflation would drop in
2007.
Eric Bloch,
an economist who runs an independent financial
consultancy, said: "The first
half of the coming year will be markedly worse
than 2006.
"Inflation will continue to rise, there will be extensive foreign
currency
shortages and a further contraction in employment."
Bloch said inflation would subside in the second half but the decline
would
not be spectacular.
Zimbabwe is in the seventh year of an economic
recession which
culminated in a more than 1 000 percent inflation rate in
2006, unemployment
of more than 70 percent and perennial shortages
of
basic goods like fuel and cooking oil and staples.
Announcing the 2007 national budget last month, Murerwa said: "The
economy
is projected to grow marginally by between 0.5 to one percent in
2007."
He said annual inflation which stood at 1 098 percent in
November
would recede to between 400 and 350 percent in the later half of
2007.
He attributed the projected change of fortunes to "good
weather,
stabilising of commodity prices, improved mineral deposits and
growing
number of tourist arrivals."
Despite various projects
to halt the spiral, including a drive to woo
new friends among Asian
countries after being shunned by the West due to
President Robert Mugabe's
policies, the government
appears far from winning the
battle.
"Most of the problems facing the economy are a result of
self-inflicted damage we did ourselves and there is no quick way to fix it,"
Robertson said.
He said the economic woes stemmed from the
government's controversial
and often haphazard land reforms in which the
state seized at least 4 000
farms from white commercial farmers for
redistribution to landless blacks.
"We don't have the money we used
to earn from beef and tobacco any
more. If the government changes some of
its policies we might get loans from
those who are holding back because of
the bad policies."
Mugabe said in his end-of-the-year address in
parliament that the
country's economy was recovering as a result of the
National Economic
Development Priority Programme (NEDPP) and the "Look East"
policy to forge
closer links with Asia.
The NEDPP was launched
in April to resuscitate the economy by
generating foreign currency and
promoting tourism but analysts say the
blueprint has so far failed to end
the country's economic woes.
Zimbabwe launched the Look East policy
nearly four years ago to
buttress political and economic relations with
Asian countries such as China
and Malaysia after the country's former
Western allies
turned their backs on Mugabe's government.
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary general Wellington
Chibebe said calls by Mugabe's supporters for the extension of the veteran
ruler's term by another two years in 2008 would also scuttle efforts to mend
fences with the country's former trading partners.
Zimbabwe's
relations with the EU and the United States were strained
following
presidential polls in 2002 which the main opposition as well as
western
observers charged were rigged to hand
Mugabe victory.
"The
ruling Zanu-PF failed to resolve its succession issue at its
conference two
weeks ago and the resolution to extend Mugabe's term is going
to cause a
negative attitude on co-operating partners who were willing to
help,"
Chibebe said.
He said the labour body which has led several
anti-government protests
including one brutally crushed by police in
September, would "employ both
dialogue and action" to press the
government
next year to address the plight of workers living below the
poverty
threshold. - Sapa-AFP
By Violet Gonda
1
January 2007
The house of Dr Lovemore Madhuku, the chairperson of the
pressure group
National Constitutional Assembly, was petrol-bombed in
Waterfalls around
midnight on Saturday. The outspoken civic leader told SW
Radio Africa the
attack was politically motivated. He said; "It is very
clearly political.
What other person would just come to your house to just
throw petrol bombs
and go away? That cannot be done by an ordinary person."
He added;
"Fortunately no one was hurt, the damage is more the panicking and
intimidation, burnt curtains and broken windows."
Dr Madhuku said he
was woken up at 12:30pm by noises that sounded like a
huge blast outside and
within seconds saw flames. He said; "I didn't know
what was happening and
initially we put the kids under the bed but realised
that it was a fire that
was going to consume the house. We panicked when we
saw the fire surrounding
the house and you can imagine the pandemonium that
ensued with young kids
crying." He said the family was helped by other
people to put out the fire
and two plastic containers with petrol were
allegedly found outside the
house. Dr Madhuku says although they didn't see
the culprits they saw that
the petrol was put right around the house
including around the garage. "I
think the intention was having the car in
the garage catch fire so that the
whole house would blow up in the inferno."
A report was made to the
Waterfalls police station. No arrests have been
made. Although he has
personally been at the receiving end of state
sponsored brutality Madhuku
said the regime is now taking extreme measures
by targeting his family. He
said; "I only feel for my family who had to run
for their lives over issues
they have nothing to do with." The NCA
chairperson who is a staunch critic
of the Mugabe regime said he knows where
this is coming from and believes it
is to do with several informal campaigns
that the pressure group embarked on
during the Christmas period. He said the
NCA, which is fighting for a people
driven democratic constitution, has been
conducting countrywide arrangements
whereby provincial structures have been
attending public functions to
sensitise the people. Madhuku explained that
the informal meetings now
include speaking at some funeral and church
gatherings, since conducting
formal gatherings is becoming more and more
difficult as a result of
draconian security laws enacted by the regime.
He believes he could also
be targeted because of statements he has been
making to the media over
attempts by Mugabe to harmonise the presidential
and parliamentary elections
and extend his term of office from 2008 to 2010.
Madhuku has said this will
be the unifying factor for the pro-democracy
groups in Zimbabwe to fight
with one voice and to organise mass action.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
VOA
By Blessing Zulu
Washington
01
January 2007
A leading member of Zimbabwe's civil society
opposition to President Robert
Mugabe and the ruling ZANU-PF government has
vowed to press ahead with his
democratic activism despite an attempt early
Sunday to set his Harare home
on fire.
National Constitutional
Assembly Chairman Lovemore Madhuku said the incident
was an attempt on his
life and has blamed the Central Intelligence
Organization.
Madhuku
said in an interview that both entrances to his home in the
Waterfalls
section of Harare were doused with petrol and set afire, as were
its
windows. But he escaped injury with his wife, three children and five
relatives by escaping through a window that had cracked open due to the
fierce heat. Madhuku said the attackers also sprinkled petrol outside his
garage, hoping his cars would catch fire and explode.
Police Chief
Inspector Andrew Phiri told the state-controlled Herald
newspaper that an
investigation had been opened into "malicious injury to
property where an
unknown assailant scaled a wall and set some substance on
fire" by Madhuku's
bedroom.
Political observers said the attack evoked memories of the
deaths in 2000 of
activists Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika of the
Movement for Democratic
Change, who were killed when assailants fire-bombed
their car. CIO operative
Joseph Mwale and war veteran Tom Kainos Zimunya
were implicated in that
attack, but police have ignored orders from the high
court and attorney
general to arrest them.
Former high court Judge
James Devittie recommended in 2001 that Mwale be
tried for the murder of
Chiminya and Mabika, noting that there was a strong
possibility that the
secret police agent could be convicted of the crime.
The judge described the
killings as a "wicked act." Sources in the office of
the attorney general
said senior police officials have been frustrating
efforts to bring Mwale to
justice.
Madhuku told reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that the
attack on his home has not shaken his resolve to challenge
the government
and demand a redrafting of the country's constitution as the
basis for
democratic reform.
Yahoo News
HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe this year aims to
more than triple the number of
people on anti-retrovirals (ARVs) from the
current level of 50,000, a senior
official was quoted as saying.
"We
hope that by the end of 2007, about 160,000 people would have been
enrolled
under the anti-retroviral programme and we are working hard to
ensure that
this happens," Owen Mugurungi, National co-ordinator of health
ministry's
HIV/ AIDS programme, told the state-run Herald daily.
About 18 percent of the
country's 12 million people are HIV-positive.
According to the
government, at least 300,000 people need ARVs throughout
the country.
Doctors have said that people with a CD4 count of 200 or less
should be on
anti-retrovirals.
CD4s are immune system cells attacked by the AIDS
virus.
Some of the drugs to be used will come from Zimbabwean
pharmaceutical firm
Varichem and the rest will be sourced by Unicef on
behalf of the National
Aids Council, Mugurungi said.
Zimbabwe
channels three percent of individual income tax collections towards
an Aids
Levy aimed at fighting the pandemic.
Last month, Finance Minister Herbert
Murerwa announced in his 2007 budget
that 70 percent of the funds collected
under the Aids Levy would be used to
procure ARVs.
Two weeks ago,
the United Nations Global Fund for HIV and Aids,
Tuberculosis and Malaria
gave Zimbabwe a 65-million-dollar grant to help
fight these diseases.
VOA
By Patience Rusere
Washington
01 January
2007
Something like a truce has been declared between Harare
Commission
Chairwoman Sekesai Makwavarara and her critics among senior
officials of the
ruling ZANU-PF party in Harare Province, following her
reappointment to the
post.
Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo
last week named several new
members of Makwavarara's commission, following
renewal of her six-month term
in December. She was first appointed in 2004,
when the government removed
Elias Mudzuri, the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change politician
serving as mayor.
Though the commission
was imposed by Harare, ruling party officials in the
province have not been
not happy with Makwavarara's job performance and
sought to oust her and her
team, accusing them of failing to deliver
essential services.
But
following Makwavarara's reappointment, ruling party critics say she has
made
some progress and are running up the white flag of truce.
Spokesman
William Nhara of the ZANU-PF's Harare organization, who has
offered some
sharp criticism of Makwavara, told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of
VOA's Studio
7 for Zimbabwe that the provincial party apparatus trusts
Chombo's
judgment.
Makwavarara could not be reached for
comment.
Meanwhile, Chombo is fighting another battle with the Local
Government Board
over who should be Harare's next town clerk. Sources say
Chombo is backing
former Air Zimbabwe chief executive Tendayi Mahachi, while
the majority of
Local Gvernment Board members want to see Kariba town clerk
George Makunde
hired.
Local political sources say board chairman
Joseph Mandizha, seen as a Chombo
ally, has blocked an announcement of
Makunde's hiring.
The job opened up in June when the commission and Local
Government Board
fired town clerk Nomutsa Chideya, citing incompetence. He
is contesting the
dismissal.
Combined Harare Residents Association
spokesman Precious Shumba said the
entire procedure is a sham that reveals
the level of ministerial meddling in
city affairs.
The Herald (Harare)
January 1,
2007
Posted to the web January 1, 2007
Zvamaida
Murwira
Harare
Ombudsman Mrs Beatrice Chanetsa has dismissed some
civil servants as a
burden to taxpayers because they lack commitment to duty
and are unsuitable
for public service.
In her 15th annual report
tabled in the House of Assembly recently, Mrs
Chanetsa said due to inaction
in the public service, administrative issues
were taking long to be resolved
at the expense of the public.
"Mr Speaker Sir, cases of inaction in
the Public Service that stretched for
long periods of up to 10 years and
more were noted during the review period,
which indicated quite clearly that
some Government workers lacked both
loyalty and commitment to duty and were
unsuitable for public service work
as they had become a burden to the
taxpayer," said Mrs Chanetsa in her
report.
She said although cases
of inaction had been reported in the past, never
before had such a large
number of inaction been recorded.
Of particular mention were cases
against the Pensions Office where she said
many cases of non-payment of
compensation for injury, death and retirement
were not being dealt with
expeditiously, resulting in some beneficiaries
dying before receiving their
dues.
"Many cases of non-payment of compensation for injury or death on
duty,
non-payment of pension benefits for pensioners, war veterans, war
victims'
orphaned children and widows were investigated and my office was
left
convinced that all was not well at the Pensions Office.
"Long
delays in actioning matters brought before them characterised the
Pension
Office's work and in some cases, beneficiaries died before receiving
their
dues," said Mrs Chanetsa.
She said the Pensions Office's work was
well-regulated by various statutes
and statutory instruments since pension
benefits have always been considered
to be a human rights
issue.
These laws were the Constitution of Zimbabwe, Public Service Act,
Pensions
and Other Benefits Act, Pensions Review Act State Service
(Disability
Benefits) Act, War Pensions Act, War Victims Compensation Act
and War
Veterans Act.
"Despite that adequate legislation is in place,
the intended beneficiaries
expressed dissatisfaction with the Pensions
Office's poor service delivery.
"Complaints centred on loss of important
documents and pensions files,
inaction, delays, rudeness, uncaring attitude
and general inefficiency,"
said Mrs Chanetsa.
"The State Pensions and
Compensation Office, which deals with issues related
to retired pensioners
and disabled former Government workers respectively,
received most of the
complaints. It was observed that the unduly long
waiting period that
beneficiaries had to endure before their benefits were
paid out had
subjected them to untold hardships."
She gave an example of one case of
one complainant whose service in the
Zimbabwe National Army was terminated
in 1993. More than five years passed
without him getting his pension refund
and terminal benefits.
The complainant revealed that he had visited the
Pensions Office on several
occasions but nothing materialised.
On May
26, 1998, the Ombudsman's Office approached the Director of Army Pay
and
Records requesting to know whether the necessary documents had been
prepared
and they were advised that the complainant's refund pension forms
had been
sent to the Pensions Office on September 10, 1992. The Ombudsman
then wrote
to the complainant advising him of the response and requesting
his pension
number so that they could effectively communicate with the
Pensions
Office.
"There was no response from the complainant despite several
letters being
written to him. Eventually, (the) complainant's son visited on
November 17,
2003 and advised that his father had died in January 2000,"
said the
Ombudsman.
"He was advised to tell his mother to visit the
Pensions Office with a copy
of the late father's identity document, death
certificate and marriage
certificate and inquire on the pensions. It was
later revealed that they had
been to Pensions Office on several occasions
without any progress."
Mrs Chanetsa said there was an increased the
number of compensation cases
under the State Service (Disability Benefits)
covering people who would have
sustained injuries while on duty.
Many
complainants had gone beyond the stipulated 540 days within which they
should have been compensated.
"Surprisingly, some complainants had
not appeared before a medical board to
determine the degree of their
disability and hence, no compensation could be
paid.
"Moreover,
serious cases were not treated urgently as was expected thereby
causing
severe hardships to the injured former Government workers," she
said.
The Ombudsman is established under Section 108 of the
Constitution and is
empowered to investigate action taken against any
officer, person or
authority in the exercise of the administrative function
of that officer.
Acting President Cde Joice Mujuru has previously also
taken a swipe at some
inefficient civil servants saying they were doing a
disservice to the
country.
Zimbabwejournalists.com
By
Mathew Nyashanu
BIRMINGHAM - The arrest of a Masvingo schoolteacher
for comparing Mugabe to
Hitler is an interesting development in the
fast
dwindling democratic space in Zimbabwe. It reminded me so much of the
play
'Ganyani Express" which used to be performed in the once beautiful
Harare
Gardens.
The setting of the play is a commuter omnibus traveling from
Chitungwiza to
the City Centre. The issues raised on that journey are the
same issues that
are being raised by Letwin Matereke and the other
passengers in the Masvingo
minibus. This is a clear illustration of how much
the democratic space is
fast dwindling in Zimbabwe.
For Mugabe to be
compared to the worst dictator ever is an indicator of how
bad things have
become for the ordinary people. Letwin Matereke is echoing
sentiments that
everyone would love to say to His Excellency.
Mugabe and Hitler compare
favourably. Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe in the same
iron-fisted way that
Hitler did Nazi Germany. He is the head of one of the
most brutal regimes in
the world just like Hitler. He is a master at
employing the same tactics
that were used by the
Fuhrer.
Mugabe uses Para military violence and
torture as campaign tools. Hitler
used the SA and other State state security
organs as tools of his Nazi
party. The Central Intelligence Organisation,
and the Zimbabwe Republic
Police have become extensions of the
ZANU-PF
department of security. Hitler used the Para military organisations
to
frustrate and destroy opposition parties. CIO operatives are targeting
opposition party leaders, the civic society, and labour leaders on
a
daily basis.
With his "Degrees in Violence" Mugabe is a Master at
preaching and
implementing violence to opposition parties and individuals
who differ from
the party line of thought. State sponsored violence is a
direct
result of Mugabe's intolerance of opposing views.
State agents
who are never arrested have committed murders in his name.
Mugabe's secret
army CIO uses Gestapo style techniques to suppress
opposition. Mugabe
targets small groups and individuals to set examples and
create a culture of
fear within the
population.
Hitler used truckloads of supporters to
cause commotion and distribute
'swastikas' to the electorate. Mugabe and
ZANU-PF owe ZUPCO millions and
millions of dollars for 'bussing' supporters
to
rallies and elections.
Of late Mugabe has been using the strategy
of legality to achieve his aims.
He has used this strategy before to
entrench himself in power in 1987 when
he became the Executive President. He
is about to use the same strategy to
push for another term in office
beyond
2008.
Hitler used the same strategy of legality by formally
adhering to the rules
of the 'Weimar republic' until he had gained power and
then
transformed liberal democracy into a Nazi dictatorship.
The
banning of privately owned newspapers and radio stations and putting in
place draconian legislation like POSA and AIPPA is a deliberate strategy to
control what people think and undermine the rights of citizens to freedom of
association, expression and
movement.
While Hitler had a Minister
of Propaganda, Mugabe has a Minister of
Information whose mandate is to
control what gets to the people.
Mugabe has an amazing fear of expert
opinion and has an inborn distrust of
expert opinion. The land
redistribution exercise could have been a success
story had he followed
expert opinion but preferred the violent and confused
strategy of the
so-called Chimurenga 3.
A lot of aspiring leaders and advisors have found
themselves in the doldrums
of political oblivion by choosing to think
differently to His
Excellency and Party principles. He uses the same strategy
as Hitler of
distrusting arguments and criticism and has the tendency to
shout down his
opponents through the exclusive use of State
Media
machinery.
The two dictators also share the same passion for
using force or the threat
of force to settle matters. Remember the clenched
fist?
Zimbabwean people have suffered under Mugabe's dictatorship.
Independence no
longer has any meaning for the masses. Any wonder why people
are comparing
His Excellency to the worst dictator ever?
The most
painful experience people have had to endure under Mugabe and ZANU-
PF is
the lack of admission on their parts.
Letwin Matereke is one of the many
victims of an unjust system that has lost
the mandate of the people. Some
day history will judge her right. In the
meantime the suffering,torture and
State-sponsored terrorism continues
unabated. 'Takakusungurai'. My
foot!
Mathew Nyashanu is the secretary for information and publicity in
the MDC-UK
province.
Zimbabwejournalists.com
By Chenjerai Chitsaru
YOU had to take note of
some deaths, as the last month of the year ended.
Gerald Ford died at 93 and
was remembered, mostly, for pardoning his
predecessor, Richard Nixon, over
one of the most scabrous scandals in US
political history,
Watergate.
James Brown died, at 73. Only the most uncharitable would
remember this
grand Godfather of Soul for anything dark, shady or
unworthy.
Most black people, both in his native United States and the
rest of the
world, must remember him for singing out loud: Say it loud, I'm,
black and I'm
proud. Then, came Saddam Hussein, hanged for his sins against
humanity. Some
could remember him for backing the Palestinian struggle
against Israeli.
Others, undoubtedly the majority, remembered him for
invading two
neighbouring countries, Kuwait and Iran , in which thousands
died.
Still, there were others who lionized him for standing up to Uncle Sam,
even
if, in the end, it was the same US which saw that he paid for his
sins.
Then, for me, there was a sergeant major in the Zimbabwe national
army, a
man who had been in the liberation struggle of the 1970s. He died at
44
years of age, of natural causes in Chitungwiza hospital. I had never
heard
of him before they announced his death on national radio; I suspect
many
others, from Victoria Falls to Vumba, had never heard of him, until
they
told us he was dead.
This has always disturbed me. All these
liberation heroes become big news
only after their death. There is something
not quite genuine about this
national adulation of someone who, while they
were alive, did not exist in
the public eye.
One appreciates Zanu PF
is fixated on this hero thing. I sympathise with
them, really, because the
way the party has performed, except for a few
years after independence, has
been so devoid of heroism, any occasion, even
a death, during which it can
be exploited, has to be seized with both hands.
In a way, the intention
is to remind the people that, in spite of the
political, economic and social
hell they are going through today, a high
price was paid for this
independence which, lest we forget, has now been so
devalued more than four
million people now prefer not to enjoy it in their
own country.
In
truth, of course, it is Zanu PF which should be filled with shame that
the
freedom for which fighters sacrificed so much has become so dubious in
value
young citizens are finding it so repugnant they prefer to live in
foreign
lands.
It would be self-delusion of the most despicable kind to believe
that there
would be anyone in the Zanu PF hierarchy who would sympathise
with these
young people. Not one of them would allow themselves to venture
into that
dangerous jungle teeming with the truth: they all prefer to
confine
themselves to the safe, barren terrain where not a shrub of truth is
to be
seen for hundreds of kilometers.
This situation has come about
because we, the ordinary people victimised by
this lack of spine among
leaders to face the truth, have been frightened of
taking James Brown's
advice to heart.
Admittedly, one has to rephrase it to suit our
predicament: Say it loud, I
am black, proud, not a ninny or a
wimp!
Most Zimbabweans I know gave up making New Year resolutions years
ago. How
many, for instance, had vowed in 2005, to struggle tirelessly for
the
removal of the incompetent, arrogant and self-absorbed commission
running
Harare?
But when it came to the crunch, how many had the guts
to put their money
where their mouths were? Not one. Sekesai and her new
band of Zanu PF
hand-picked cronies are back: the dirt will pile up in the
streets and the
promises will flow from their lips as sweetly as they did
throughout 2006.
Even the bigger picture is hardly encouraging: people
used to joke that if
things ever became worse than they are now, then we
shall all be lining up
in front of Shake Shake building, demanding from Zanu
PF everything they
have looted from us since 1980, including our dignity and
self-respect.
I think most of us now know that there is no chance of us
reaching the party
headquarters, from any point in the country, before they
mow us down.
Yet there has to be a glimmer of hope somewhere. A few, perhaps
overoptimistic citizens, might take Saddam Hussein's fate as a minor signal
that things might be looking up for us - someone else might come to our
rescue.
They could take solace from the example set by Julius Nyerere
in Uganda; if
Mwalimu had stuck to the diplomatic niceties and insisted on a
dialogue
across the border with Idi Amin, that former heavyweight boxer
might still
be filling his refrigerator with all kinds of horrible things to
this day.
There was never any universal support for the US-UK invasion of
Iraq and the
eventual removal of Saddam Hussein from power. Moreover, the
cost, both
politically and economically, to the people of the two countries
- not to
mention the political cost to their leaders - remains incalculable.
History
may forever condemn the two allies for causing so much death and
destruction
in pursuit of a dubious goal - the removal from power of a man
they quite
deliberately lied about.
There never were any weapons of
mass destruction in Iraq; Saddam Hussein may
have killed hundreds of his
own unarmed citizens and thousands of
foreigners in two wars outside his
borders, for which he indeed ought to
have been punished by the
international community.
But he did not hide any weapons of mass
destruction, for which George W.
Bush and Tony Blair wanted him blown to
smithereens.
Yet Saddam Hussein was BAD for Iraq and for the world - as Idi
Amin was for
Uganda and the world.. He had an early flirtation with
violence, signalling
to the world that his political style would always
feature gratuitous
violence of the worst kind.
As the year screeched
to a bloody halt in Africa, there was violence in
Somalia, whose plunge into
internecine chaos originated with the Somali
people's inability to get rid
of another dictator, Mohammed Siad Barre,
until it was too late.
By the
time Barre had fled, Somalia was no longer capable of remaining a
united
entity; if, fairly early on, the people had united against this fat,
selfish
and corrupt soldier, there probably would have saved their country
from 15
years of bloody turmoil.
For many analysts, both foreign and African, it
is always difficult to
convince Africans in general that once they solve the
problem of their
choice of leaders, they would be halfway towards exorcising
the curse which
has plagued the continent since Kwame Nkrumah ended his life
in exile, after
leading Ghana to independence in 1957 and lasting only until
1966 as its
leader.
No Ghanaian wants to be reminded of the loss in
life, dignity and
self-esteem which the people endured as they suffered
terrorism under
successive military regimes after the fall of
Nkrumah.
Any time an African leader evinces the tell-tale signs of
wanting to rule in
perpetuity, the people closest to him must act swiftly:
they risk the
near-destruction of their country if they hesitate.
In
Nigeria, most people must be relieved that they did not allow Olusegun
Obasanjo to persuade them to allow him a third term. From the callous
treatment to which he subjected his former deputy, as Nigeria heads
towards new elections, it must be clear that as a third-term president,
Obasanjo would have been quite poisonous, politically.
Many African
countries have plunged into turmoil on the basis that leaders
who had the
opportunity to act to avert a crisis failed to do so because
they were
obsessed with their own self-interest.
All of which tells you that, from
whichever angle you like to look at it, it
is the choice of leadership which
determines a country's future.
It's not a job for ninnies or wimps.