Mugabe & His Cabal Are Just One Problem For Zimbabwe, There 99 Others Lurking In The Shadows

There is a proverb in Shona that says "Rugare (Pronounced Roo-ga-reh) Tange (Ta-n-ge) Nhamo (Nha-mo)" which roughly means when you think you you have made it finally you are then confronted by new problems. There is no doubt that Zimbabwe will be free again one day, free from tyranny however the euphoria of the freedom will be short lived. Zimbabwe faces a myriad of problems, the majority which are well documented. So of the problems money will be able to solve but for others it will take a committed and a concerted effort from all Zimbabweans to be able to rid the country of a threat bigger than Mugabe.

When Mugabe came to power in 1980 he inherited the second most sophisticated urban infrastructure system South of Sahara, topped only by South Africa. The roads were perfect,there was an efficient public transport consisting of buses and trains that ran on a strict time table, the postal system was good, the health sector was good, though it needed improvement to reach the masses notwithstanding that there was something here for Zanu PF to improve on they were not starting from scratch. In the urban areas one could summon an ambulance and expect it to arrive in few minutes, the schools were the envy of Africa, after all they produced the highest literacy rate in Africa, teaching was a respectable middle class profession that one's parents could aspire their child to be. Cholera and burst sewer pipes was something we read about in science books, and the foreign section of The Herald. The economy was thriving, fixed phone lines worked there were even public phone booths that accepted coins, there were street lights. Most of our basic services were competitive to that offered in the Western world if not at par. The deterioration of Zimbabwe is well documented practical everything has broken down, there is no single public phone booth that works.

The roads will need to be resurfaced potholes will need to be filled, other roads will need a complete upgrade, the sewage system will need to be revamped such that it can serve the growing urban population, the health sector: hospitals will need to refurbished and re-equipped together with properly trained personnel. The school will need to refurbished, re-equipped as well, with adequate qualified personnel. The empty grain silos that once made Zimbabwe the bread basket of Africa will need to be re-stocked, maybe that will require a re-think of the grabbed commercial farms that now lie idle or are underutilised.

Most the work that will need to be done will cost a lot of money, while a new government will be able to attract investment both from foreign and local business. To fund most of the projects will require a progressive taxation system as well as an efficient method of collecting the tax and accounting for it. That said Zimbabwe needs to realise there is another threat that faces the country after Mugabe which could potential halt the overhaul of the entire archaic infrastructure, that threat is corruption. Corruption has permeated every level of the Zimbabwean society, its so endemic that it has become normal to pay or request a bribe. It is actually a point of envy to be well connected with people in places of influence. If you do not know anyone or if you are not prepared to pay a bribe to a civil centre to process your passport you can forget you will ever have one. There is always a big queue at the passport office everyday, the staff there only serve people till midday, so if you do not make it one day before they shut then you will have to wake up early in the morning again and hope you will be the first to be served. even after being served you might find yourself at the back of the queue again because the civil servant behind the counter will reject your passport photos saying they are the wrong size or format however directing you to a photographer who pays him for client referrals. You might come back with the right photos but your application will rot in the system unless you are willing to pay a bribe so that the civil servant whom you are paying through your taxes can do his job. You might have read or you are familiar with the road accidents in Zimbabwe, while the roads are bad, the other biggest cause of road accidents are vehicles which are not road worthy, as well as drink driving. Drinking and driving is a national pastime in Zimbabwe, the drunk drivers have nothing to deter them from drinking and driving. After all they will pay US $5 at the police checkpoint so that they cannot be bothered, same for the owners of cars which are not roadworthy they will just pay their way past the police checkpoint. Even the checkpoints they have been set up to harvest bribes paid by passing motorists whether they have a roadworthy vehicle or not. A joke is told that a policeman gets home is informed by his daughter there is no food, he asks her to pass him the crisp white sleeves that are attached to his police uniform to distinguish him as traffic cop so he can go out and get some cash. Joke or not this is the reality of the level of corruption in Zimbabwe. Its everywhere, you want a place for your son or daughter in a good school well how much is it worth it to the person doing it for you, you want to jump the queue show me the money.

Zimbabwe will need a new elite police force which will fight corruption and both perpetrators will have to face the full wreath of law, the one that offers the bribe and the one that receives it. The notion that theft from the government is victimless should be banished, when you conspire to withhold revenues due to the state not only in terms of taxes but fines that a professional policeman should have charged you for when you drove while drunk then you have stolen from yourself. How will the repair of roads be paid for? A top to down approach will be needed, there is no way that you can get rid of corruption if the very top echelons of the government are corrupt. By arresting and prosecuting senior government officials it will send a message to the everyone that corruption is not tolerated in a new Zimbabwe. Tender awarding will have to be transparent and accountable, and those that flout the tender rules should also face the full wrath of law. A massive re-education will be needed to members of the public as well that they too face prosecution if they have offer a bribe and giving them rewards to report people who ask for a bribe. It should be made clear that everyone has to stand in line wait their turn to be served if a person require an expedited service then they should be willing to official pay a premium that reflects on the speed of service. Remuneration of police officers, civil servants will need to reflect the service they offer to the country, would a a police officer with 25 years of service risk his pension by protecting a rookie who set up an illegal police checkpoint?

Can A Free Zimbabwe Be Achieved In Our Lifetime?

Zambians have experienced the rule of four different country leaders since Kenneth Kaunda admitted defeat at the hands after ruling Zambia for 27 years, beaten by a labour backed opposition party called Movement of Multi Party Democracy (MMD)which was led by Fredrick Chiluba in 1991. Since then Chiluba has been succeeded by Levy Mwanasa albeit from the same party however the constitution of Zambia bars anyone from standing for a third presidential term (a clause Chiluba attempted to amend and failed) a cornerstone of democracy which leading democratic countries of the world have adopted. Mwanasa was succeeded by Rupiah Banda again from MMD again the significance of the peaceful change of guard cannot be downplayed. Now MMD has been thrown out of power by Patriotic Front led by the incumbent president Michael Sata who becomes the fifth DIFFERENT PERSON to head the Zambian government.

The peaceful transition of power in Zambia deserves respect and recognition for the Zambian institutes that made sure that the election in which Michael Sata triumphed was free and fair. It should also be commended that the out-going president of Zambia Rupiah Banda, whatever his faults, was man enough to admit defeat inflicted by an opposition party. It is no mean feat to admit defeat, after all this Africa and Zambia is an African country. It is a feat that has alluded the motherland from time immemorial. Authoritarian governments have dominated the post-war history of independent Africa. In fact, there have only been 189 country-years of democracy
in Africa compared to 1823 country-years of dictatorship between 1946 and 2000. Moreover, dictatorships still outstrip the number of democracies in Africa by a considerable margin despite the transitions to democracy that occurred in the early 1990s.

Zambia is a neighbour to Zimbabwe, which the on the contrary has only been ruled by one person since we achieved independence in 1980. Mugabe has been ruling for 31 years, four years more than Kaunda and one year more than Kamuzu Hastings Banda of Malawi. If the rumours are to be believed it was ego driven race for him to out-rule all the African leaders, though I doubt he will beat 42 years of his compatriot Muammar Gaddafi. As things stand today Zimbabweans are bracing themselves for another 5 years of autocratic rule by Mugabe unless he dies before the completion of his 7th term he is 87 old. Zimbabwe has had no formidable opposition party for 20 years until Movement of Democratic change emerged in 1999. All elections that Mugabe claims to have won since 2000 were rigged to ensure that his iron grip on Zimbabwe continues.

While I sit here and drool with envy at the Zambians on how they manage something that had eluded Zimbabweans for long. I wonder whether Zimbabwe will ever be free in our lifetime? What about the other people who benefit from Mugabe's political patronage such as Saviour Kasukuwere and his criminal cabal, the security forces who actually now run Zimbabwe, will they allow the country to become free giving up their pornographic opulent lifestyle while the rest of the population can barely breathe?

Does This Indicate A Shift of Policy Towards Zimbabwe?

If there is any country in the world with the power to force change in Zimbabwe it is South Africa, it has the muscle to get attention from Zanu PF. I have mentioned it here before when I was really frustrated by the idiotic quite diplomacy that Mbeki, the then President of South Africa and SADC appointed facilitator on Zimbabwe. The failure of such a ill-thought policy is well documented, any hope to salvage Zimbabwe worsened from 2000, thousands were brutally murdered, tortured, persecuted, forced to flee their country of birth, service delivery and maintenance of infrastructure broke down. Yet Mbeki stuck to his guns like an idiot he would not budge, he could not be persuaded even the evidence of deaths of thousands of MDC activists, the reports of torture camps, murambatsvina, disputed election results and the arbitrary arrests of activists could not make him change his mind.

I never expected Zuma to change, after all he was Mbeki's deputy and he had endorsed and supported ANC's stance towards Zimbabwe. He too argued the same tired argument that differences in Africa are dealt with differently he too was not a fan of megaphone diplomacy. So I expected South Africa to continue with its quite diplomacy which had failed Zimbabwe and its citizens gravely. The reason for the policy are not hard to see any endorsements for a labour backed party would have sent a wrong message not only to the region but to South Africa itself. South Africa has the largest labour union in Africa in terms of members, even though Congress of South African Trade Union (COSATU) is a partner with the ruling ANC in their triparte alliance with SACP, recently the labour body is getting frustrated by their ruling partner. Not so long ago Zwelinzima Vavi warned of the dangers of South Africa becoming a banana republic. I do not want to divert and start discussing what is happening in South Africa now in terms of corruption but it is important to know that the same trickle down economics is what brought Zimbabwe to what it is now and its alive in South Africa.

Its no doubt that the events in Egypt and Tunisia and now Libya have shaken the African dictators. For the first time the dictators know that if there is no meaningful change the people will rise up. The once slumber club of ageing African dictators is now pressuring Mugabe to ensure that democratic reforms outlined in the GPA are adhered to in full before a general election can be called. It comes hot on the heels of the sharp rebuke that SADC had issued in March calling for an end to violence and their insistence that reforms proposed in the GPA are fully implemented. The change of tact could be attributed to the Arab uprisings which have toppled two dictatorships so far and still threatens to take in more, the other important one is that Zuma has had enough of Zimbabwe.

His plate is full with his own country's problems as it grapples 40% unemployment, a frustrated constituent which is increasingly becoming restless if the recent service delivery riots are to be used as a barometer. The other reason why Zuma is changing tact is his annoyance as being portrayed as uneducated, inept with a poor grasp of statesmanship. One visible mistake by Zanu PF which might have triggered the SADC to come down hard on Mugabe like a ton of bricks is their PR's dog Jonathan Moyo's foul mouthed rant at the SADC appointed facilitator Zuma. South Africa was curt in its response to the attack saying that they are not concerned about opinions who are outside the negoatiations. Yet the most recent heated exchange between Mugabe and Zuma, clearly indicate that he has had enough of the Zanu PF charade. What started off as diplomatic deliberations deteriorated after Mugabe challenged the facilitators report presented to the SADC Troika meeting in Zambia at the end of March. An angry Zuma is said to have bluntly told Mugabe; “I do not manufacture things, my reports are based on things that are happening in the country, based on facts.” Desperate to save face Zanu PF also claimed they had not been given a copy of the report before-hand.

I could be wrong in thinking that Zuma or even SADC for that matter are beginning to get tough on Mugabe but only time will tell. The recently issued communique on Zimbabwe does not still address the time-line for the implementation of reforms that are outlined in the GPA. Nor does it spell out what will happen if Zanu PF does not comply with the GPA. However the shift in tone is noted and welcomed.

The White House Befriends Tyrants If They Have Oil

Obama and the White House’s judgement is being questioned today after they rolled out the red carpet yesterday to welcome an African Tyrant in the same mould as Mugabe, President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon is at the white house yesterday. It is common knowledge that America and Britain’s foreign policies are determined largely by oil, but you would have expected Obama to be at least subtle in his communication and meeting with oil rich countries given their poor human rights records. Gabon is an oil rich country and that is the reason why America cannot ignore it, human rights in this case comes second.

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The New African's Power 100 List Is An Insult To Zimbabweans & Africa As A Whole

The June issue of The New African has a compilation of a 100 strong power-list of who is who in Africa which includes the illegitimate leader of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe. His inclusion is a direct insult to Zimbabweans and even to Africa as a whole. How can anyone justify the inclusion of this monster who has presided the collapse of a once thriving and rich country to a basket case.

The New African’s editors must be smoking something or are in the pay of Zanu PF and Robert Mugabe to risk their reputation and tarnish their history by including a brutal dictator. Will The New African justify his inclusion as an influential African to surviving families and friends of his bloody Gukurahundi which killed roughly 20 000 victims in a genocide that the world chose to ignore. Can they also tell thousands of Zimbabweans who have disappeared and some whose remains were discovered in disused mines in Mount Darwin since Mugabe lost the referendum in 2000 and the subsequent blood smeared elections. The 7500 people who were displaced from their home and made homeless in 2005 in a guise of urban clean-up but were actually urban dwellers who have been a bane to Mugabe by continually voting MDC. Neither will millions of Zimbabweans who have been forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in South Africa, UK and all the others in different parts of the world. Today Zimbabwe’s unemployment is 95%, the majority of Zimbabweans left in Zimbabwe live the below the UN Poverty datum. It is unfathomable that the pace of collapse in Zimbabwe has rapidly outstripped even countries at war. Yet the New African has the chutzpah to include someone who has done more damage to any nation in living history as an influential figure.

They have also tarnished the images of real influential figures that have banded together with this dictator names that evoke respect and awe, luminaries such as Mandela, Mo Ibrahim, Desmond Tutu... just to mention a few. The list which if all circumstances are equal should be celebrated as it shows that Africans can hold they own in the dog eat dog world has been reduced to a joke by the inclusion of Mugabe. One starts wondering if The New African is in the pay of Zanu PF PR machine in order to boost Mugabe’s profile. In the absence of such a payment one wonders why, I mean why Mugabe given the body strewn debris he has left in the failed state of Zimbabwe. By publishing this insult the New African has lost its credibility and managed in the same stroke to alienate intelligent African readers who see the inclusion of Mugabe as patronage to his hate-filled diatribe against the whites, that remnant in Africa and the Western governments in ploy to hoodwink the observers.

For a magazine which has been printed since 1966 it’s a shame that they have failed to take their rightful position as guardians of democracy as purveyors of the fearless journalism not ass licking fools with a powerful platform.

A Revolution Has A Mind of Its Own

The past people's revolution in Tunisia and Egypt which managed to topple the dictators of both country have engulfed the whole of the middle-east is a natural phenomenon whose occurrence, duration and effectiveness cannot be guessed. Revolutions are as natural as evolution they cannot be stopped, delayed or even hurried. It is only the dictators whose iron grip of their countries blinds them to think that they can control a revolution with the same chutzpah and nonchalance that they control their regimes.

The seeds of the latest wave of revolutions were planted in Tunisia where Zine Ben Ali a ruthless and corrupt dictator had ruled for 23 years. It was an unlikely place for a revolution to begin, Tunisia is a tiny North African country with no international significance (I mean it has no oil, a very small army). Its all started in small town of Sidi Bouzid resident to 40 000 Tunisians similar to Marondera if you like. A 26 year old market vendor Mohammed Bouazizi had his goods confiscated by a municipal worker for not having a trading licence. Mohammed was expected to a pay a bribe to have his goods back, but on this occasion he refused to pay the bribe got into an argument with the municipal policewoman who slapped him. He tried to get his scale back from the local government building but they would not let him in. Instead of going home and plotting another hopeless exercise in selling vegetables illegally he went back home bought a litre of petrol and set himself on fire in front of the government building were his confiscated wares lay. The symbol of Mohammed burning himself touched ordinary Tunisians who flocked to Sidi Bouzid and started demonstrating, the anger quickly spread to other towns and its over a month now since Zine Ben Ali fled Tunisia for Saudi Arabia.

Next was Egypt which first tried police repression, violence intimidation the usual weaponry available to dictators to quash the revolution but as I said there is no human intervention especially that cooked by the dictator can stop a revolution. Protesters defied the feared police and stayed in Tahir Square until Hosni Mubarak was forced out. The revolution fervour has now reached Libya where Muammar al Gaddafi has ruled Libya for 42 years, the demonstrations in Libya have been met with violent reaction in futile attempt to stop the revolution. As the army, the diplomats dessert Gaddafi you can smell it in the air that the time is right and Libyans can rid themselves the evil, racist despot and chart their own way to determine their lives and fate. There are similar demonstrations in Bahrain, Yemen, Morocco, Algeria and as reported also in China.

You might ask what now for Zimbabwe, I think the seeds have been scattered enough to reach Zimbabwe. I do not know if it will happen this year or the next but once it starts the people will not go back. An interesting characteristic to take from the revolutionaries that have started this domino effect is that those suppressed by dictators world over they have cast away their fear and are willing to see the revolution to its end even if it means their death or that of their fellow citizens. The late political activist Tonderai Ndira who was brutally murdered by the genocidal government of Zimbabwe (RIP) once said,"Either way you die, whether you demonstrate against the government or not, you are condemned to die, people in Zimbabwe die from hunger, from easily treatable diseases". Mohammed Bouazizi realised that and its been implanted in minds of many young people all over the world whose futures are arrested by despots who rule their countries, they have shed that fear which has been a block in starting or participating in a revolution .

As I sign off I'm humming to Bob Marley's Bad Boy -"whatchu gonna do when they come for you?". The despots of the world better get ready the people are coming for you......

Politics Is Just A Game

Its been quite a while since I posted, I was not just lazy to post but rather I had grown disillusioned by the charade of politics. When I first dabbled into politics, I was just 17 and I had romantic ideas as to what politics can do, how it can right the wrongs of the world and give everyone a fair chance. I also felt that there would be politicians out there that would share the same ideals that through their leadership the world's flaws can be corrected. I naively held on to that dream that a right person or a right group of people can still change the world. It was not until late last year that I woke up from the dream and realised politics for what it is - a fallacious game one that I have decided I do not want to participate.

It is true that politicians are not concerned about anyone else except themselves, democracy in its purest sense is a myth. Its not only African politicians I am talking about its even the Western leaders the people who use their money to preach democracy knowing fully that its unachievable. Its like a mirage in desert you keep thinking you are getting nearer to it until it disappears. I started to read widely on topics such as democracy and the forms of government world-over trying to see if I could find a system that were compatible for with my beliefs what politics should represent. I am afraid to say that there is no system, there is no government or any other authority that correctly practices politics that changes the world for the better.

Take for example former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who professes to be a Christian now, having converted to Catholicism in 2007. Even after he converted he cannot bring himself to apologise to the people of Iraq as well as families of Iraq, UK and US soldiers that lost their sons and daughters in war for oil. It is this type of hypocrisy that typifies many politicians today from America to Zimbabwe. You see what these leaders fail to tell you is that, they are no longer in charge. No decision today is done which is in favour of the people to whom these politicians work for, instead they seek to protect the big businesses, the rich and powerful elite.

So I have news for you if you want to change the world start a business, become so big and influential, just like Murdoch's media empire in UK which now is considered as influence on who will govern Britain. Anything else like party politics is a waste of time as any decisions that are made by the people for the people are vetoed by those with vested interests.I can give many examples of decisions that stink from here to high heavens, like the Trafigura case which threatened to sue anyone who reported about the damages of oil spill, the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi from Scottish prisons was lobbied by BP.

If you are looking for a more recent case then look at how Wikileaks was fought not only by the government but by big businesses as well like Amazon, PayPal, Mastercard, etc. Without any money you do not have any voice, noone will listen to you, you cannot buy influence regardless of how popular you are, the only thing that matters now is money.