Zimbabwe - A letter from the diaspora

28th March 2008

Dear Friends.
Thursday last week marked the first day of Spring here in the UK. Nature seemed to be in agreement with the calendar for once: daffodils were out, primroses in bloom and birds singing. Then the weather gods took a hand and the Easter break turned bitterly cold with whirling snowstorms and pictures in the papers of chaos on the motorways and kids building snowmen.
It was all a very long way from home and that's all Zimbabweans here in the diaspora are thinking and talking about right now; what's happening at home? Thanks to Robert Mugabe we can't vote. Upwards of three million of us have no say in who will govern the country for the next five years. All we can do is scour the papers and news media for coverage of the Zimbabwe story. My box of press cuttings grows heavier by the day as the British newspapers wake up to the fact that Zimbabwe just might be the next really big story to hit the headlines. Despite Mugabe's efforts to keep all foreign journalists out, the accounts of potential rigging and the printing of thousands of extra ballots papers are common knowledge in the western media.
Like most Zimbabweans here and at home I alternate between profound depression and wild hope. Maybe, I tell myself, just maybe this time Zimbabweans can do it. We can get rid of this terrible old man with his threats of violent retribution should the unthinkable happen and he loses the vote tomorrow. He will take to the bush he screams, Zimbabwe will never be a colony again, there will be another chimurenga. 'Get behind the fist' is his new slogan and this morning the streets of Harare resemble an armed fortress with armoured tanks and Israeli-made water canons accompanied by heavily armed troop carriers roaring through the city. It's all designed to intimidate the population to vote for Zanu PF and another five years of hell on earth. But I believe the old man has seriously underestimated his own people and my belief was re-enforced by a phonecall I received just this morning from a good friend of mine back home in Zimbabwe from the so-called heartland of Zanu PF in Mashonaland East.
8000 people, he told me, had attended Morgan Tsvangirai's rally in the town recently and described how people had walked 20 kms to be there to hear 'their' President speak. The people have found their voice and their courage at last! My friend had attended every political rally in the area; 600 people for Mugabe in Mutawatawa he said and even then the rally was delayed for two hours while the party faithful rushed round to corral people into attending; 100 for Simba Makoni in Murehwa itself and then - 8000 for Morgan in the Council Grounds of all places where Zanu PF have their Party Headquarters! The ruling party have the use of the Ground for free but MDC had to pay 3 billion Zim dollars. Singing and dancing and joyous laughter; it was like one huge party, he said. An ambuya from the rural area asked ' When have you ever seen Va Mugabe dancing, or heard him singing…or seen him smiling'? She was right to ask. What Mugabe has to offer is the fist and the grim unsmiling face of a man who has stayed too long and knows it. Why else should he be so afraid of a man he has dismissed as a puppet of the British, the teaboy as he disparagingly calls Morgan Tsvangirai?
Strangely enough, the British seem more interested in Simba Makoni. They believe he can fix Zimbabwe's disastrous economy I suppose or perhaps, like some Zimbabweans, they are just taken in by the doctorate? As if academic degrees have anything to do with plain common sense. I've been a teacher all my working life and I've never known the two necessarily go together! Robert Mugabe is surely a case in point! What Zimbawe needs right now is a true Man of the People, a person who can empathise with their suffering and understand their needs. I believe Morgan Tsvangirai is that man.
I hear the wonderful Zimbabwean humour is in full swing with text messages and ring tones helping people to smile despite their pain. I liked the prediction my friend gave me this morning. It came in the form of a text massage…from a nun, a Zanu PF supporter sensing perhaps that the end is near for the old man. 'Morgan Tsvangirai for State House, Simba Makoni for Minister of Finance and Robert Mugabe for an Old People's Home.'
We must just wait and see, wait and hope that tomorrow will bring the longed for New Beginning.






19th March 2008

Dear Friends.
One story dominating the headlines this week has been the unrest in Tibet and China's attempts to repress the mass protests led by the Tibetan monks. China denies reports of excessive force and has attempted to keep foreign journalists well away from the action. What is concerning the Chinese authorities is the adverse publicity in the run-up to the Olympic Games; the Chinese do not want pictures flashed around the world showing hapless monks being beaten by Chinese troops. On the spot witnesses are the last thing they need as they seek to portray China as a suitable venue for the Games and – remembering China's economic muscle - world governments are for the most part silent about China's human rights record.
It is another sporting event, the World Cup, that must be uppermost in the mind of the South African government as 2010 approaches and the collapse in Zimbabwe continues unabated, thanks largely to Mbeki's 'quiet diplomacy'. With an estimated 3 million refugees on South African soil and chaos just over the border, the question is will South Africa be ready to host the prestigious event? This week for the first time the ANC called on top service chiefs inside Zimbabwe not to take sides and to respect the outcome of the March 29th election. It remains to be seen whether the ANC's call will be heeded; Augustin Chihuri's statement that he 'will not allow' Zimbabwe to be ruled by puppets demonstrates once again the regime's total lack of respect for the people's wishes. In the ten days remaining, Zimbabweans can expect more ruthless repression by the police and Green Bombers.
Robert Mugabe certainly doesn't want anyone from outside to see what's going on inside 'his' Zimbabwe. He has permitted only 'friendly' countries as observers and from what I hear even they are nowhere to be seen and certainly not in the rural areas where violence and intimidation increase in intensity as the election draws ever closer. Zanu PF continues to muzzle both local and foreign journalists, accusing the latter of being spies for western governments. But no matter how hard they try repressive regimes like Mugabe's cannot keep 21st century technology at bay.
This week the BBC World Service website carried a discussion between Wilf Mbanga, publisher of The Zimbabwean and George Shire, the UK based 'academic' and ardent Zanu PF supporter. The subject of the two men's discussion was the election in Zimbabwe although to read George Shire's comments you could be forgiven for thinking he was talking about some other country. True, he has lived in the UK for some twenty years, perhaps he has lost touch with reality in Zimbabwe? At the start of the interview Shire predicts that Robert Mugabe will win the presidency and Zanu PF will sweep the board in House of Assembly and local elections. When confronted by Wilf Mbanga with the very real prospect of Zanu PF rigging the vote by stuffing the ballot boxes, Shire simply replied that 'Zimbabwe is not like that... It will be free and fair' he says. 'It is in the interests of Zanu PF to make it transparent'
There was much more of the same in the discussion that followed. ' One of the things that Zanu PF has done so well over the last 10 years' Shiri maintained, ' is to keep its membership base involved about what is the reason for inflation.' Like Shire himself, I am thousands of miles away but the only explanations I've heard for inflation blamed sanctions and the western backed opposition. When asked by Wilf Mbanga why Zanu PF had invited only friendly countries to observe the elections, Shire had no answer except to reiterate that 'everybody in Zimbabwe is going to accept whatever the result on March 29 will be…To the majority, what matters is whether the land revolution continues – whatever imperfections there may be.' Strange, but I haven't heard any calls from the hungry people of Zimbabwe for the so-called land revolution to continue. What I, in common with the various NGO's and aid organizations, have heard are desperate cries for food, for clean drinking water and for decent schools and hospitals.
But it was Mbanga's last question to Shire that gets the prize for Zanu PF idiocy. In response to a comment by Shire that Zimbabwe's political landscape is 'much more open' Mbanga pointed out that radio, television and newspapers are controlled by the government and ' up to now the government newspapers are still refusing to take adverts from the MDC.' Shire answered with the following gem of Zanu PF-speak: ' In 1980- there was no media access to Zanu PF, (yet) it came up with 80% of the vote.' Of course Shire omits to say that the 1980 election was held in very different circumstance from those prevailing now in 2008.
George Shire, like his political master Robert Mugabe and Ian Smith before him, is a political dinosaur, unable to adapt to a changing world.
They do the same thing over and over again and yet expect a different result each time; that's a clinical definition of insanity, by the way!
Yours in the struggle. PH





15th March 2008

Dear Friends.
Robert Mugabe declaims at every opportunity that the former colonial power is responsible for Zimbabwe's troubles; blame the Brits, blame sanctions, blame the opposition, blame anyone rather than acknowledge his own personal responsibility for the mess the country is in. I believe that one of the real causes for Zimbabwe's troubles is the 'fatal flaw' in Mugabe's own personality. He is a vain, arrogant man, never happier than when he is strutting the world stage and basking in adulation. What he cannot face is rejection, particularly from once faithful followers. His response, when it comes is cruel and vindictive; a brief look at Zimbabwe's recent history illustrates my point.

Back in February 2000 the government of Zimbabwe held a Referendum on a new constitution for the country. Zanu PF had mounted a nationwide campaign to popularise the new constitution which gave the President greatly enhanced powers including the power to take land from the white commercial farmers and redistribute it to landless black peasants.

Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF lost that Referendum by a sizeable majority: 61 of 120 constituencies voted No to his new constitution.

'Whites vote No in their thousands' screamed a ZBC headline but amazingly Mugabe himself made what seemed like a very conciliatory broadcast thanking the whites for their participation. No one watching that broadcast could quite believe what they saw: a contrite and seemingly humble Mugabe accepting defeat.

Two weeks later, under the direction of Chengerai Hitler Hunzvi, now buried in Heroes Acre, hordes of so-called war veterans began the violent farm invasions. On March 2nd, Mugabe was again on TV. Gone was the conciliatory tone; now whites and farmers in particular were the enemy, they must be made to tremble, strike fear in the hearts of the white man and no, he would not turn the war veterans off the land.

Confusion reigned supreme with the police for the most part backing Mugabe's line and refusing to implement court orders to eject the invaders. The propaganda machine ground into top gear with rumour and counter rumour of weapon caches and white-hatched plots to topple the government. On the ground, murder, rape and torture were increasingly used to intimidate and terrorise the population .

In June of the same year there was a General Election; the newly formed MDC won 57 seats, Zanu PF 62 and Zanu Ndonga 1. The long delay in announcing the results indicated there was some serious rigging going on; why else would it take so long to count the votes. ' It's not who votes that counts but who counts the votes'!

By the time of the presidential elections in March 2002 Robert Mugabe could have had little doubt that he had lost the people's affection. His 'heroic' status had been tarnished by government corruption and mounting public dissatisfaction with steadily deteriorating living conditions and food shortages, not to mention the increasing use of the Green Bombers, Mugabe's 'new war veterans' as he called them, to subdue villagers and townspeople. In spite of all the violence, there was a massive turnout over the two days of voting. There were five candidates contesting but the only two that mattered were Mugabe and Tsvangirai. The others, the three stooges I called them, accounted for about 55 thousand votes. 3 million Zimbabweans had voted we were told. Mugabe gained 1million 685, 212 votes and Tsvangirai 1million 258.401. No longer could Mugabe claim that all his people loved him.

The relevance of these figures to the harmonised elections that will take place on March 29 2008 is not hard to see. Despite the fact that there are four elections taking place on that one day it has become very clear that the only one Mugabe is really interested in is the Presidential vote. All his party's candidates have been instructed to put 'Mugabe for President' ahead of all other considerations.
Mugabe has to win, his very survival, psychological, political and maybe even physical depends on it. If the people no longer love him and vote for him willingly then he will, like an abusive father, use force to ensure their obedience. In all of this he will be assisted by self-serving followers, such as 'Bishop' Kunonga and other unholy reverends who have granted him god-like status or service chiefs who swear they will never salute any other leader. Such adulation is food and drink for a man like Mugabe; without it his bloated ego will wither and die; no wonder that even at 84 years of age he cannot give up. And if the unthinkable happens and he loses the election, Mugabe will remain the vengeful enemy; I believe his successor in State House would do well to remember that.
Yours in the struggle. PH.

8th March 2008

Dear Friends.

I was teaching teachers at a remote training college a few years ago when I first came across Zvido Zvevanhu, a small primary school right out in the rural areas. The school was built shortly after Independence and its name perfectly summed up all the hopes and dreams Zimbabweans had at the time: zvido zvevanhu, the will of the people. I think of that little rural school often and its name which had such profound resonance in the eighties and has even more now in 2008 as we approach elections which are after all supposed to reflect the true will of the people.

Zimbabweans are no different from people anywhere; wherever they live, whatever their race or culture, what they all want from a government is a better life with stability and economic security for themselves and hope for their children's futures. People want to live in an ordered society which respects their rights as individuals; they want to know that they have equality before the law, that the police and the courts will treat them fairly and accord them their rights and freedoms as enshrined in the constitution. In return, the citizen will fulfil his/her obligations to the state and obey the law. This is the deal citizens make with their government in a democratic state. Robert Mugabe and his ministers frequently tell us that Zimbabwe is a democracy so we are entitled to ask: is this what the people want, is this the will of the people? Inflation at 100.000%, unemployment at 85%, widespread poverty and hunger, raw sewage running through the streets and into people's homes; endless power cuts, hospitals without medication or anaesthetics, schools dilapidated and deserted as teachers leave and pupils are too poor or too hungry to attend class. Is this what the people want? It is certainly what they've got under Robert Mugabe's leadership. The evidence is there for all to see - but not for all to acknowledge apparently.

Simba Makoni, like his former master, wants us to draw a veil over the disastrous failures of Zimbabwe 2008 and look back instead to the glories of the past and Mugabe's role in the Liberation Struggle. Makoni is quoted in the Mail and Guardian this week as saying that if he wins the presidential election he will not seek retribution over Mugabe's deplorable human rights record. 'President Mugabe is someone who has a very special place in our history… We will accord them ( Mugabe and the late Joshua Nkomo) the due respect of our African culture. We want President Mugabe to know that under our New Dawn government they have the same rights as other citizens.'

It is the dreadful irony of the last eight words that immediately strike the reader, 'they have the same rights as other citizens' One has to wonder where Simba Makoni has been for the past ten years while those rights have been steadily eroded by the government of which he was an integral part. What citizens' rights is Mr Makoni referring to? The right to be beaten to a pulp by Green Bombers or CIO operatives and thrown into a stinking gaol cell by a corrupt and partial police force, the right to have one's home and livelihood destroyed in a government sponsored operation designed to 'clear away filth' or the right to be arrested for nothing more dangerous than daring to hand out election literature in legitimate door-to-door campaigning? Are those the 'rights' that will be accorded to President Mugabe, his ministers and other assorted thugs when Makoni's bright 'New Dawn' government comes to power?

The question of what will happen to President Mugabe when he finally leaves office - by whatever means - is hardly an election issue. It is hardly a question that is dominating people's minds as they stand in endless queues at the bank or trudge home in the dark after a day spent in a fruitless search for food or cash or petrol. It is surprising then that Simba Makoni should find it necessary to reassure the President he hopes to topple that his safety will be guaranteed should Makoni take his place in State House.

I believe it is for the Zimbabwean people themselves to decide what should happen to the man who destroyed the country's economy and drove millions into exile, the man who unleashed his violent war veterans onto the farms and destroyed the lives of thousands of his own people, black and white; the man who gave the orders for Gukurahundi which massacred twenty thousand innocent Ndebele people and in an act of politically motivated destruction set in motion Murambatsvina which left 700.000 people homeless, their rights as citizens totally set aside by a President and government determined to hang onto power at all cost. Ultimately, it will be for them, the victims of Mugabe's brutality to decide on his fate - and the first step in that process is to vote him out of power on March 29th.
Yours in the struggle. PH.

1 st March 2008

Dear Friends.

Browsing through the acres of print from the chattering class in Zimbabwe on the subject of the elections and Simba Makoni's participation in particular I found a description of him as a 'stalking horse'. Unsure exactly what it meant, I checked and discovered that it's a hunting term. It means to hide behind something while stalking one's prey, it conveys the idea of concealment, of hiding one's true intentions. So, in politics the term refers to a candidate put forward specifically to divide the opposition or to mask the identity of the real candidate in whose favour the stalking horse would then withdraw.

The problem for the Zimbabwean electorate is to decide whether this is
an accurate description of Simba Makoni. He claims that he stands for no party, his partnership is with the suffering masses, he says. And that may be true. Simba Makoni may indeed be his own man but that does not exclude the possibility that someone else is using him as a cover to draw out Mugabe's enemies. As yet none of the thousands Makoni says are behind him have shown their faces. Makoni has given no facts or figures to prove his claim that he has the backing of other Zanu PF insiders.

At his birthday celebration, Mugabe described Makoni as no better than a prostitute; she at least has clients, Mugabe told his supporters bussed in for the party. We have become used to such tasteless language from the old man. On the same occasion the 84 year-old dismissed Tsvangirai as 'just in it for the money'. Coming from Robert Mugabe, that's pretty hard to swallow after the brutality that Tsvangirai and his party have suffered at Mugabe's hands. The truth is that Mugabe just cannot bear to acknowledge that anyone other than himself can possibly have Zimbabwe's best interests at heart.

Which brings us back to Simba Makoni. Is he genuine or is he the stalking horse to draw out the president's enemies so that Mugabe can afterwards see that they are dealt with in his usual ruthless manner. Remember how he invited all those with an interest in being president to declare themselves openly and honestly? And when they did they were picked off like so many rabbits caught in the glare of the presidential Merc's headlights.
Mugabe's cops and Youth Militia are already dealing with the official opposition as we have seen just this week again with MDC supporters beaten up and arrested all over the country and Augustine Chihuri declaring that his police force have the right to use live ammunition where 'other methods are ineffective or inappropriate'. Mugabe's greatest fear now is not the opposition but the enemy within his own ranks; quite literally he does not know who they are, he isn't even sure if he can trust them to rig the election for him. What better way to force them to expose themselves than with a 'stalking horse'?

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwean economy collapses still further and to quote the Scotsman (UK) ' a desperate Robert Mugabe has asked China for a £25 billion loan to help repair Zimbabwe's shattered economy' The Chinese – and the Israelis – have already assisted him with weapons, water canons and purple dye to repress any future unrest that may follow a rigged election.
Yet, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary, there are still people who hail Mugabe as the saviour of Africa, they have swallowed his rhetoric that he was the man who single handed brought an end to colonial rule. Mugabe's influence has spread far wider than Zimbabwe or even Africa. Pan-Africanists everywhere have taken up Mugabe's anti-colonial stance and used it as a cover for all that is wrong in Africa. The Kenyan Minister of Justice used the tactic just this last week when he responded to criticism by reminding the British 'We are not a colony and they should…not interfere with sovereign states.'
'Trying to pull a Mugabe' was how one European diplomat described the Kenyan Minister's remarks and it is surely a sad reflection of the state of affairs in Zimbabwe when the President's name is associated with cheap tricks instead of the good governance that the country so desperately needs. Despite all the rigging and violence already in place all we can hope is that Zimbabweans find the courage to turn out in their thousands on March 29th to vote for honest men and women who genuinely have the country's best interests at heart.
Yours in the struggle PH.