Zimbabwe - A letter from the diaspora

GOING HOME: The year is 2004 and Caleb Dube, the former detective with the Zimbabwe Republic Police has been in exile in the United Kingdom for two years. A letter arrives from his old friend and colleague, Moses Musindo, alerting Dube to the fact that his former teacher and friend, Father Hugh Malloy, is in great danger. Friendship demands no less and Caleb Dube goes home to his native land. With no help from a partisan police force, Dube and Musindo set out to investigate. In the course of their enquiries deep in the rural areas, the two men meet a host of unforgettable characters, including Sami the AIDS orphan and Sami's friend, Tatenda, the hunter. The two boys are an indispensable part of the investigation and the search leads them to an old adversary of Dube's who holds the key to the mystery of the missing priest.
Click here to find out more or buy online

Countdown is a political detective story. It is fiction but the background is accurate and verifiable. Set in 2001/2 and the start of the land invasions, the book shows how the politicisation of the police force has led directly to the breakdown of law and order. In this hostile environment, two honest cops attempt to investigate a murder. Click here to find out more or buy online

31 July 2009

Dear Friends.
Well, well, wonders will never cease! There on the main BBC One TV News last night was the BBC's man reporting legally, repeat legally, from Zimbabwe. He was doing a piece on the economy and one shot showed supermarket shelves in Harare crammed with goods, "Imported and local" commented the BBC's man, a natural mistake, you might say; after all what does a Brit know about brand names of local goods? Now, it so happened that yesterday I had spent a wonderful day with members of my extended family who happened to be visiting the UK. Of course, we spent the day talking about Zimbabwe and exchanging family news but one of the things I wanted to know was did they still have to travel from Bulawayo where they live to Botswana to buy their groceries or could they get stuff easily now and was it local or imported? Hollow laughter at the mention of locally produced goods! "You know," they told me, "We even import sugar, sugar of all things, from South Africa and, believe it or not, we're drinking South African milk."
So naturally, when I saw the BBC piece I started to wonder...was this a genuine opening up of the media or was it just another PR exercise on the part of the Zimbabwean 'government' to make the rest of the world believe that all is now well in this bankrupt country of ours. Anything to spread the word to potential investors that Zimbabwe is a safe place to invest!
In complete contrast to the rosy picture the Inclusive Government would like the media to portray, Channel Four had earlier in the week screened an excellent documentary entitled Bankrolling Mugabe showing how British based companies located in the City of London were funding Mugabe and Zanu PF and thereby enabling them to stay in power. The documentary focused particularly on Billy Rautenbach's vast financial empire with its links to shadowy companies all used to divert monies to the once ruling party. We saw Rautenbach's vast farms and his ongoing attempts to turn black African farmers off their cattle farms and thus extend his own empire. Zimbabweans know that Rautenbach is not the only white man involved is shoring up Mugabe; Nicholas van Hoogstraten and Bredenkamp are two other names that spring to mind. The Channel Four piece was 'undercover', by the way. It remains to be seen whether ITN will also be allowed to operate legally in Zimbabwe. I see today that CNN has also been de-listed and can now report freely from inside the country.

It was interesting to read this morning that the BBC had negotiated their 'deal' with Webster Shamu and George Charamba, two staunch Zanu PF loyalists. Cynic that I am, I can't help wondering if the BBC haven't been hoodwinked by the smooth talking Zanu PF stalwarts. Will the BBC now be free to travel all over the country? Will they be able report on the ongoing violent farm invasions, or the arrests of MDC MPs - the number now stands at seventeen since the GPA - or the activities of the Green Bombers in the rural areas or incidents such as the arrest of protestors for wearing black clothing during the so-called National Healing exercise? And more to the point in a country where the rule of law has virtually collapsed, will the Zimbabwean police respect the agreement that allows the BBC to operate legally? How long before we see BBC journalists being bundled into the back of police trucks, I wonder.
The BBC World News Editor's statement on the agreement is very relevant here. "We are pleased we have been able to reach an agreement," he says. "We all recognise the realities of the situation. If we look back we will never look forward." (How's that for classic British double-speak!) "We have different perspectives on this but we both agree we need to look forward. The most important thing is not what happened over the past ten years, it is that we can go into Zimbabwe and report openly" It is that last remark, "its not what happened over the past ten years" that is most significant. It is so redolent of the 'sweep it all under the carpet' talk that we are hearing from both sides of the political divide these days. Such a comment from the BBC's top man suggests to me that he has been well and truly taken in by the Zanu PF speak that he got from the likes of Shamu and Charamba. It is certainly not in Zanu's interest to dwell on the events of the past ten years: the killings and beatings, the disappearances and brutal repression of MDC members; that would bring prosecution for human rights abuses much too close to home for the comfort of the former ruling party.
It was the shot of the BBC's reporter being welcomed into 'Shake-Shake' House that was the most intriguing. He had been invited into Zanu PF headquarters by none other than John Nkomo, Mugabe's 'urbane right hand man' was how they described him. Nkomo's words certainly reflected his urbanity! "Let me say the hardliners have come to accept that change is inevitable" then he added the give away line, "There is so much interest in investing in the country." So that's what this is all about! This is not about opening up the media because it's the democratic thing to do; it's not even about making life better for the majority of Zimbabweans. It's about more business opportunities for greedy politicians and they are using the BBC to make the country look good in the eyes of the world. "Accepting that change is inevitable" hardly seems to apply to the likes of Joseph Chinotimba, a hardliner if ever there was one, as he and his so-called war vets disrupted the Constitutional Conference! "I don't think there are any hardliners in Zanu PF" declares the 'urbane' John Nkomo and adds, "President Mugabe is a principled man. Once he agrees on a programme he wants it implemented." Well, yes, we can all concur on that one. We have a starving and impoverished nation to prove it.
So I for one will be watching and listening to the BBC's coverage of Zimbabwe with considerable interest - and not a little cynicism. I hope my cynicism will prove misplaced and that we shall see all the media outlets inside the country being given the same freedom - if indeed it is genuine 'freedom' - as the BBC and CNN. Until AIPPA is repealed and the airwaves are freed up so that SW Radio Africa and The Zimbabwean are free to do their jobs inside the country, I remain cynical.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH.

24th july 2009

Dear Friends.
However bloody the battle, be it in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, the DRC or Ruanda, sooner or later the opposing sides have to sit down and talk to each other. One of the excuses that Africa and the west have used for not intervening in Zimbabwe has been that there is not a situation of outright conflict. There has been no war they say - unless you call the long, slow war of attrition waged by Zanu PF against innocent civilians a war - and, I would argue, there is no real peace. Misguided, or just plain deluded politicians may argue otherwise but reality tells a very different story. Up and down the country we have documented cases of violence still going on; that violence takes many forms and we cannot exclude wrongful arrest, the misuse of the police and the courts whose political allegiance appears to be stronger than loyalty to their oath of office. The state under Robert Mugabe's misrule has become an instrument of violent repression against any citizen who dares to disagree with the Zanu PF. With complete disregard for the fact that is his own party that has been primarily responsible for the continuing violence, Robert Mugabe has declared a period of National Healing. The Extraordinary Government Gazette declares that July 24-26 will be days when "Zimbabweans at home and abroad renounce and report all forms of political violence in an effort to restore peace and stability in the country." And to compound the hypocrisy of this nonsensical declaration, Mugabe's 'partners' join him in this call for 'National Healing'. While their own MDC supporters, including MPs are being arrested on patently trumped up charges, or beaten up like the young woman in UMP, the MDC leaders blithely ignore their plight and join the President in his call for three days of National Healing.

It all sounds very worthy but several questions spring to mind. Apart from the sickening hypocrisy of Mugabe's call, I ask whether it is remotely possible that 'healing' can take place when the Zanu PF perpetrators of the violence are still at large and the police steadfastly fail to prosecute the wrong-doers? Appeals to the churches to participate in this process of National Healing may well be heeded on the grounds that it is the 'Christian' thing to do but I for one cannot see how there can be genuine healing without justice and truth. It is Gordon Chavunduka, the leader of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association, who best sums up the reality. "It is too early for such a process," says Chavunduka, "the wounds from the 2008 violence are still too fresh and those who committed such violence must take responsibility." That is the nub of the matter. From Robert Mugabe himself right down to his thugs on the ground there has been no acceptance of responsibility for their crimes, no sorrow expressed for the victims of the barbarous cruelty and inhumanity that has been meted out on innocent men, women and children. Instead we are offered three days of 'National Healing' as if that alone could do any more than draw a veil over unpardonable crimes against humanity.

Just to be absolutely sure I understood exactly what is meant by the term 'Healing', I checked the word 'heal' in the dictionary. This is how it is defined: 'to restore or be restored to heath; to repair (of a wound) by natural processes, as by scar formation; to cure a disease or disorder; to restore or be restored to friendly relations, harmony etc. The word 'heal' derives from the Old English 'haelan' meaning 'whole'. It follows then that national healing implies that what was hurt or wounded in the nation would be made whole again. Does anyone seriously believe that can be done in three days? One look at the ongoing violent situations around the world tells us that healing may take a very long time. Indeed, Mugabe himself is hardly an example of Christian forgiveness and healing. Despite his stirring words at Independence, we have seen little 'healing' of the wrongs done over the years to Zimbabwean citizens. Mugabe has had nearly thirty years to demonstrate the spirit of national healing and forgiveness but all we have heard from him is hatred and intolerance towards anyone who disagrees with him. Healing takes time apparently, longer for some than others. I was vividly reminded of that by a piece in the UK Independent this week. The article dealt with an incident which took place 25 years ago. In October 1984 a thirty-pound IRA bomb blew up the Grand Hotel in Brighton, an English seaside resort on the south coast, where the ruling Conservative party was holding its Annual Conference. Margaret Thatcher, then Prime Minister was there, of course and was the probable target. She was unharmed in the massive explosion that followed but Norman Tebbit, a senior minister in her government, was buried under tons of rubble. He was rescued after hours of digging and eventually recovered from his injuries. His wife, Margaret, has been in a wheelchair ever since, paralysed from the neck down. Norman Tebbit said he can never forgive Patrick Magee, the IRA man who planted the bomb. "The only way he would ever want to bump into Patrick Magee" Tebbit said, " would be with a heavy truck." As I said, it takes different people in different ways, this healing process. Another victim of the bomb-blast was Sir Anthony Berry and it is his daughter who has befriended Patrick Magee who was released from prison under an amnesty when the Good Friday Agreement was signed. Together these two unlikely allies have worked tirelessly for peace in the troubled land. Magee has set up a charity called Building Bridges for Peace and has publicly expressed his sorrow for the loss of life that his action caused. He has, however, defended his reasons for planting the bomb. Whether one agrees with the IRA cause or not, the fact is there is now peace of a sort in Northern Ireland and a genuine power-sharing government is in place.
From where I'm standing, the same cannot be said of Zimbabwe and three days of National Healing will do little more than produce a whole lot of pious platitudes from the politicians who all have their eyes on the next election. At the risk of repeating myself, I still say that until I hear Robert Mugabe himself come out on national radio and television ordering his followers to immediately cease and desist from violence and for the police to vigorously prosecute all offenders, I will not believe that the President's call for National Healing is any more than a clever PR trick. Clever because, after all, what political leader could come out openly and say he didn't agree with 'National Healing'? Once again, Mugabe comes up smelling of roses, except for the cynics among us who definitely detect something 'fishy' about the whole exercise. On another continent, Patrick Magee served a prison sentence for his horrendous crime, expressed genuine sorrow for the suffering he had caused but maintained his cause was a just one. What 'cause, I wonder, other than silencing all dissenting voices, would Robert Mugabe put forward to excuse his crimes against the Zimbabwean people?
Yours in the (continuing) struggle, PH.



17th July 2009

Dear Friends.
"The lion called Zimbabwe is about to roar." declared Nelson Chamisa when he heard that the Minister of Finance had lifted the import duty on cell phones and computers. Chamisa was talking about the effect freeing up communications would have in the rural areas where every son of the soil would have a cellphone and access to the world wide net of information technology. It's hard to believe that people who are barely surviving will be rushing out to buy the latest model computers and cellphones when they do not even have electricity most of the time - if at all. I have been trying to reach a cellphone in Murehwa for a week now only to be told, the number you have dialled cannot be reached. 'Pigs might fly' seems a more appropriate metaphor but the 'lion' image has a nice poetic ring about it.

The events of this last week, however, suggest that the only roar we are likely to hear is from the mob that invaded the Constitutional Stakeholders' Conference on Monday 13th July. The noise made by the likes of Joseph Chinotimba and his bunch of so-called war veterans was certainly enough to drown out the voice of reason. The BBC captured the whole debacle on camera and watching it just confirmed my worst fears that this charade of a Unity Government could ever succeed in the face of such blind intolerance and stupidity. Blood and bullets seems to be the only language they understand. Speaker Lovemore Moyo had no chance and was forced to sit down as the mob chanted and hurled missiles at the official delegates. It was all there on the BBC video including one memorable shot of Minister Tendai Biti as he remained firmly in his seat while most of the other delegates fled from the chaos in the hall and the police stood by.

The fact that the three principals to the GPA did not turn up at all surely suggests that they knew in advance what was going to happen. So who gave the go-ahead to the rowdy demonstrators? Are we really supposed to believe that Ministers and Zanu PF MP's, war veterans and the police themselves acted without their Dear Leader's approval? It is no secret that Mugabe is in favour if the Kariba Draft Constitution that gives him unlimited tenure; neither he nor his followers want a new constitution. After the Rumble at the Rainbow Towers was all over, Mugabe predictably expressed his 'abhorrence' at what had happened and Prime Minister Tsvangirai said he could only agree with what the President had said. As the Zim Independent's Muckraker commented "He (Tsvangirai) seems to be doing an awful lot of that recently."

Meanwhile, the MDC activist, who tried to restrain the Zanu PF MP Patrick Zhuwawo from beating up another MDC MP, is in prison while Zhuwawo, of course, walks free. He is the President's close relative, after all. It is all sickeningly familiar to Zimbabweans and even the most naïve of us have to admit that this Unity Government is going nowhere fast. Robert Mugabe is still firmly in the driving seat and, even if it means taking the whole country over a cliff into the abyss, he will not budge. Unlike The Zimbabwean in this week's editorial, I cannot find it in my heart to give Mugabe the benefit of the doubt – again. "For the sake of our beloved Zimbabwe, we are always prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt." says the editorial. Surely that is stretching credulity too far? Is it not time to face the facts head on and admit that this so-called settlement has been a terrible mistake, for Zimbabwe and all her people. Yes, there has been a short-term advantage in the improving financial situation but in terms of human rights, media freedom and justice for all there has been almost no progress. Is it really in Zimbabwe's best interest to allow this 85 year old man to be given the benefit of the doubt again? This is the man who has repeatedly demonstrated over nearly thirty years his contempt for the democratic process, who has time and again rigged elections, denied the voice of the people and caused immense human suffering. What other reason do we all have to be here in the world-wide diaspora, if it is not Robert Mugabe's intransigence?

For me, there was a tiny glimmer of hope this week that perhaps the light is beginning to dawn in the minds of some of the MDC 'partners' in this Global Political Agreement. It was enlightening to hear in Minister Biti's Supplementary Budget Statement this week the following comment, "I urge our principals to ensure the credibility and integrity of the GPA is respected not in terms of having tea together." Apparently, the ZTV, acting on the directive of George Charamba, the Presidential spokesperson, decided to black out Biti's budget statement and show a cartoon instead. Was it an animal cartoon, I wonder, where the lion was roaring at a bunch of silly sheep?
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH.

10th July 2009

Dear Friends.
President Barack Obama is about to pay a visit to Africa but it is not his first visit to the continent. In his memoir 'Dreams From My Father' Obama describes his first trip to his Kenyan father's homeland and his reactions to that momentous visit. It was momentous for so many reasons, not only because he was at last connecting with his African roots but because, as the son of a black African father and a white American mother, Barack Obama was searching for his own identity. Obama's father had left his American family to complete his Ph.D studies in Kenya when Barack was a very small boy and the child had grown up never really knowing where he fitted in life. It's an experience shared by thousands of other people who grow up without a father but in his case it was further complicated by his bi-racial status and the state of American race relations at the time. Barack Obama's father had died before his son finally visited Kenya. Father and son had met only once when Dr Obama had briefly visited him in the US and that brief visit had created more questions than it answered for the young Barack Obama. Upon his arrival at Nairobi Airport, Obama is astonished to find that his name is known. The African BA air steward asks him, "You wouldn't be related to Dr Obama by any chance?" and he answers, "Well, yes - he was my father." In the book, Obama comments, "For the first time in my life, I felt the comfort, the firmness of identity that a name might provide… no one here in Kenya would ask how to spell my name, or mangle it with an unfamiliar tongue…My name belonged and so I belonged, drawn into a web of relationships, alliances and grudges that I did not yet understand."

And this is the remarkable man who is now president of the United States. He is remarkable not just because of his experiences but because of the way he has internalised those experiences and learned from them. When he says as he did on Thursday just before his trip to Ghana at the weekend, "I'd say I'm probably as knowledgeable about African history as anybody who's occupied my office." it is hard not to be convinced by his honesty and undoubted understanding of Africa. "I can give you chapter and verse," he says, "on why the colonial maps that were drawn helped to spur on conflict and the terms of trade that were uneven emerging out of colonialism." And with direct relevance to Africa today he goes on, "I believe that Africans are responsible for Africa. I think that part of what's hampered advancement in Africa is that for many years we've made excuses about corruption or poor governance, that this was somehow the consequence of neo-colonialism, or the West has been oppressive or racist…And yet the fact is we're in 2009. The West and the US has not been responsible for what's happened to Zimbabwe's economy over the past 15-20 years. It hasn't been responsible for some of the disastrous policies that we've seen elsewhere in Africa. And I think it's very important for African leadership to take responsibility and be held accountable."

It will be interesting to see how, or if, Robert Mugabe reacts to President Obama's words. Will he dismiss Obama as 'an idiotic little man' as he did Johnny Carson, the Under Secretary of State for African Affairs in Obama's government? Mugabe and Carson apparently met on the sidelines of the recent AU Conference in Libya. The meeting was not a happy one and afterwards Mugabe told the Herald that he was very angry with Carson who had apparently told him that he should stick to his side of the bargain according to the GPA. "Who is he?" Mugabe is alleged to have asked, adding "It is a shame, a great shame and he an African American." Now, here's another African American, this time the President of the most powerful country in the world, telling Africa and its 'Big Men' that it's time to stop blaming the colonial past for Africa's problems. Is it likely, in the light of what we know about the man, that Mugabe will heed President Obama's advice? The signs are not good. Observers have noted that Mugabe's rhetoric has of late become increasingly paranoid and racist. White farmers are representative of former colonisers and have supported the British against him, he maintains and, to quote Mugabe, "Colonisers can never be friends so we turn our backs on them and face the east." But it is not only whites he takes issue with, in a direct snub to the outspoken Ambassador, Mugabe failed to agree to an official farewell visit from the black American Ambassador, James McGee, thereby breaking with basic diplomatic courtesy. Irene Khan, the head of Amnesty International was also treated with his usual abusive language, "I don't know where this little woman came from - always shouting." Mugabe ranted, but then Khan had just issued an extremely unfavourable - and honest - report on Zimbabwe's human rights record.

It is incomprehensible that the MDC partners in this Inclusive Government can continue to maintain, as Morgan Tsvangirai does, that this same Mugabe is 'part of the solution' to the country's problems. I for one cannot see any way in which the racism and vitriolic hatred which Mugabe espouses towards anyone who disagrees with him can have any part in Zimbabwe's future. President Obama is right to remind African leaders - and that includes Prime Minister Tsvangirai - that they are accountable for their own misgovernance. For Kenya, for Zimbabwe and for so many other former colonised African countries where Big Men continue to rule after patently rigged elections, it is not yet uhuru.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle, PH

3rd July 2009

Dear Friends.
Words have a nasty habit of coming back to haunt you. I suspect that Morgan Tsvangirai may well be regretting some of the things he said in Southwark Cathedral a couple of weeks ago. One particular expression he used smacked of the sort of dictatorial tendencies we thought were limited to the Dear Leader. "You better listen to me" the Prime Minister told the noisy crowd of Zimbabweans as if we were naughty children. Perhaps he should have listened to us, the people in the cathedral. If he had really listened, listened with his heart, he would have heard the very real love that his people have for him and the very real anger they feel for Robert Mugabe, the dictator who has ruined all our lives.

In last week's Letter, I described my personal reaction to the Prime Minister's address to Zimbabweans in the UK diaspora on June 20th 2009. I was concerned at the time that my words would be seen as over-critical of Morgan Tsvangirai, a man I deeply admire for his courage and integrity. Respect for the man and for his office, however, should not be allowed to blind one to the truth. I believed then as I believe now that Morgan Tsvangirai was wrong to say that all was well in Zimbabwe and that 'peace and stability' prevailed. His words were ill-chosen and inappropriate for his well-informed audience; more than that, they were simply not an accurate reflection of reality on the ground. Judging from his words, it is hard to escape the conclusion that the MDC leader and some of his Ministers are so keen to defend the Unity Government and Robert Mugabe that they are prepared to be less than honest about the state of the country and the health of the GPA.

It took a woman, the PM's Deputy Thokozani Khupe, to spell out the real issues that are still bedevilling the full implementation of the Agreement. Speaking on June 29th, just before the Prime Minister's return to Zimbabwe, she enumerated the issues that are causing concern: the fact that the National Security Council which is enshrined in the GPA has still not met, four months after the Agreement was signed; the impositon of the Kariba draft as the basis for Zimbabwe's new constitution; the continued and persistent abuse of the rule of law and its selective application; the continuing farm invasions and prosecution of white farmers; the failure to reform the media and the failure to introduce legislation on freedom of speech, association and expression. One particular phrase in the Deputy Prime Ministers address struck me very forcibly. "For a long time," she said, prefacing her remarks, "we have remained polite and subservient upholders of the GPA against clear evidence of the absence of a reliable and honest partner." One event illustrated perfectly the 'absence of a reliable and honest partner' and that was Mugabe's sudden and unilateral decision to bring forward the usual Tuesday Cabinet meeting to Monday. Cabinet meetings are chaired by the Prime Minister and on Monday Morgan Tsvangirai was still not back in the country. What clearer evidence could be needed to show Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF's contempt and disrespect for their partners in the Inclusive Government? As Thokozani Kupe commented, "Innocent and innocuous as this (Mugabe's) decision may be, the fact of the matter is that it underpins everything wrong about this present agreement." The MDC proceeded to boycott the unscheduled Cabinet Meeting; for once MDC words and actions went hand in hand, polite but definitely not subservient.

Interestingly, one of Morgan Tsvangirai's first tasks when he arrived back in Zimbabwe was to defend the newly issued MDC Newsletter from allegations by George Charamba that the Newsletter was in fact an illegal publication. "There is nothing illegal about a newsletter," the Prime Minister declared. "I have a website. This is the modern age. I have to communicate. You cannot keep things to yourself and still say you are communicating. Let the people know." Exactly, Mr Prime Minister! That is just what the people want. But when you tell us 'things' that we know are not factual, then you should not be surprised at the hostile reaction from your own supporters. When the Deputy Minister of Mines, an MDC appointee, denies the well-documented reports of the killings of innocent villagers in the Marange diamond fields as "unsubstantiated reports" and when the Prime Minister himself describes the ongoing farm invasions as "Isolated incidents, blown out of all proportion" it is hardly surprising that his words are greeted with incredulity. As Ben Freeth points out in his meticulously detailed report on the situation of the former commercial farms in Chegutu (as seen on the SW website), the truth must be acknowledged if the whole country is not to remain in the darkness of dictatorship. Anything less than the truth is an insult to the people's intelligence. Let the people know, Mr Prime Minister, and they will be with you every step of the road.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle, PH.