BY TREVOR NEETHLING - BusinessDay
ZIMBABWEAN rights groups fear a dramatic increase in violence and torture aimed at human rights activists in the run-up to the country’s presidential elections early next year.
In a research report released on Monday, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation against Torture, warn that Zimbabwean security police have been acting with impunity against activists.
President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu (PF) party is known for its intimidation of opposition party members and activists.
In its report, the observatory says it found dozens of examples of the torture of human rights activists.
FIDH vice-president Arnold Tsunga said the mission’s aim was to assess the environment in Zimbabwe in which human rights "defenders" carried out their activities four years after the 2008 elections.
He said that due to a failure to implement conditions of the Global Political Agreement — which was instituted after the 2008 elections and which led to the formation of the government of national unity — human rights violations against activists continued unabated.
"The Zimbabwean authorities have continued to resort to pieces of legislation to selectively and systematically restrict the space for the enjoyment of freedoms of expression, association and assembly of human rights defenders," according to the report.
"So far, most perpetrators of human rights violations against human rights defenders have not been charged and remain free."
Among its recommendations, the report calls for the Zimbabwean authorities to put an end to harassment and to uphold the country’s constitution.
It also calls for the assistance of the African Union, the Southern African Development Community and the United Nations to implement the Global Political Agreement fully and to ensure the presence of local and international observers for the elections next year.
Jacob van Garderen, national director of Lawyers for Human Rights in South Africa, said it was important for international organisations to maintain pressure on Zimbabwean authorities, as developments there would affect the entire region.
This story is taken from:
http://www.bdlive.co.za/world/africa/2012/11/26/zimbabwean-rights-groups-fear-rise-in-intimidation
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Monday, November 26, 2012
Urban Boreholes Sink MDC-T Political Fortunes
Written by Rejoice Ngwenya
My wife is among vote-eligible millions habitually contemptuous of Zimbabwe’s poisoned electoral system. Her skepticism of political promises has of late, been reinforced by the dismal failure of Ruwa Local Board [RLB] to offer reliable water service to her urbane home. In 2008, enthusiastic Movement for Democratic Change Tsvangirayi [MDC-T] campaigners heightened expectations of Ruwa Urban Residents [RURs] with promises of unlimited safe piped water. After five years of dry taps, a mere nine months before Election 2013, she, like many RURs, has had to invest in an expensive borehole system. “All politicians are the same,” she moans. “They lie for a living!” She has vowed never to vote MDC-T.
Water problems afflict most Morgan Tsvangirayi-controlled Local Authorities [LAs]. MDC-T finds itself completely exposed to criticism. Council governance is a test of political efficacy. If you want to taste the ire of urban women, deprive them of drinkable tap water! Unlike my wife, I am lenient with political manifestos. I simply punish campaign crooks by voting against them. What a feeling of satisfaction after expressing ballot box vengeance! She would rather abstain than legitimise electoral hypocrisy.
Academic Sharon Murinda argues how Urban Councils Law ‘specifies the responsibilities of the council concerning the provision and maintenance of supply of water within or outside the council area … [but] it does not give sufficient guidance for the management of urban water supply services.’ This implies the RLB can offer a myriad of excuses for not supplying water - without ‘breaking any law’! Water engineer T.J. Broderick attempts to save MDC-T from the electoral guillotine: “The foundation investigations for Kunzvi Dam on the Nyagui River were completed in 1996 and plans were in place for that supply to augment the ever-growing Harare by 2004. Those plans were stalled, and the [Harare] population still waits and expands. Then the disastrous move to take water supply responsibility from the Municipal authority and give it to ZINWA, coupled with power woes, consequent pumping problems, an unchecked pollution of Chivero and Manyame waters, and our economic crash through into the new millennium put renewed demand on an overtaxed and basically unmanaged groundwater system “.
RURs spend many hours rattling neighbours’ gates begging for ground water. Turnover of ‘housemaids’ is consequently high in Ruwa, with most ‘sisters’ fleeing the torture of wheelbarrows and neck-breaking water gallons. My wife and I are regular attendees of council public meetings where residents are routinely threatened for defaulting on rates. In our locality alone, RLB is owed over a million US dollars as citizens protest the non availability of water. My activist efforts of distributing ‘water update’ newsletters were rewarded with police threats for ‘circulating unlawful written materials’. So much for independence!
Borehole water, for my wife, is now the ultimate solution. “Groundwater is the best resource to tap to provide clean water to the majority of areas in Africa … [it] has the benefit of being naturally protected from bacterial contamination and is a reliable source during droughts. (Awuah, Nyarko, Owusu & Osei-Bonsu, 2009). Unfortunately, according to WHO, “only 61 percent of Sub-Saharan Africans have access to clean water supply sources …” Yet MDC-T cannot afford to place all the blame on both ZANU-PF and ‘global trends’. Allegations of corruption, poor prioritizing and immaturity pervade their LAs. Tsvangirayi ‘expelled’ corrupt councillors though most still remain active members of his party. But for Election 2013 with vote-allergic citizens like my wife, my bet is that MDC-T electoral fortunes are for now sunk in deep boreholes.
-Rejoice Ngwenya is a Harare based political economist
My wife is among vote-eligible millions habitually contemptuous of Zimbabwe’s poisoned electoral system. Her skepticism of political promises has of late, been reinforced by the dismal failure of Ruwa Local Board [RLB] to offer reliable water service to her urbane home. In 2008, enthusiastic Movement for Democratic Change Tsvangirayi [MDC-T] campaigners heightened expectations of Ruwa Urban Residents [RURs] with promises of unlimited safe piped water. After five years of dry taps, a mere nine months before Election 2013, she, like many RURs, has had to invest in an expensive borehole system. “All politicians are the same,” she moans. “They lie for a living!” She has vowed never to vote MDC-T.
Water problems afflict most Morgan Tsvangirayi-controlled Local Authorities [LAs]. MDC-T finds itself completely exposed to criticism. Council governance is a test of political efficacy. If you want to taste the ire of urban women, deprive them of drinkable tap water! Unlike my wife, I am lenient with political manifestos. I simply punish campaign crooks by voting against them. What a feeling of satisfaction after expressing ballot box vengeance! She would rather abstain than legitimise electoral hypocrisy.
Academic Sharon Murinda argues how Urban Councils Law ‘specifies the responsibilities of the council concerning the provision and maintenance of supply of water within or outside the council area … [but] it does not give sufficient guidance for the management of urban water supply services.’ This implies the RLB can offer a myriad of excuses for not supplying water - without ‘breaking any law’! Water engineer T.J. Broderick attempts to save MDC-T from the electoral guillotine: “The foundation investigations for Kunzvi Dam on the Nyagui River were completed in 1996 and plans were in place for that supply to augment the ever-growing Harare by 2004. Those plans were stalled, and the [Harare] population still waits and expands. Then the disastrous move to take water supply responsibility from the Municipal authority and give it to ZINWA, coupled with power woes, consequent pumping problems, an unchecked pollution of Chivero and Manyame waters, and our economic crash through into the new millennium put renewed demand on an overtaxed and basically unmanaged groundwater system “.
RURs spend many hours rattling neighbours’ gates begging for ground water. Turnover of ‘housemaids’ is consequently high in Ruwa, with most ‘sisters’ fleeing the torture of wheelbarrows and neck-breaking water gallons. My wife and I are regular attendees of council public meetings where residents are routinely threatened for defaulting on rates. In our locality alone, RLB is owed over a million US dollars as citizens protest the non availability of water. My activist efforts of distributing ‘water update’ newsletters were rewarded with police threats for ‘circulating unlawful written materials’. So much for independence!
Borehole water, for my wife, is now the ultimate solution. “Groundwater is the best resource to tap to provide clean water to the majority of areas in Africa … [it] has the benefit of being naturally protected from bacterial contamination and is a reliable source during droughts. (Awuah, Nyarko, Owusu & Osei-Bonsu, 2009). Unfortunately, according to WHO, “only 61 percent of Sub-Saharan Africans have access to clean water supply sources …” Yet MDC-T cannot afford to place all the blame on both ZANU-PF and ‘global trends’. Allegations of corruption, poor prioritizing and immaturity pervade their LAs. Tsvangirayi ‘expelled’ corrupt councillors though most still remain active members of his party. But for Election 2013 with vote-allergic citizens like my wife, my bet is that MDC-T electoral fortunes are for now sunk in deep boreholes.
-Rejoice Ngwenya is a Harare based political economist
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Zimbabwe's forgotten youth: a disaster in the making
By Vince Musewe
Vince Musewe says youth unemployment levels are a powder keg waiting to explode
We have been conspirators in creating a most heinous crime against humanity: the obliteration of hope and the suppression of the aspirations of our youth.
I was at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) the other day, and it reminded me of our days there in the 80's. Oblivious to what was to come, one thing we did not worry about was the basics of food, shelter, transport, books and even jobs after graduating. I remembered when we used to queue up to get our "pay out" which was our pocket money paid to us in the form of government cheques. We even managed to buy a little car and could be seen ferrying all sorts of girls up and down into town. It was the best of times.
It is disheartening to see such enthusiasm in students at the campus, as they hurry off to their lectures, because it is most probable, that their expectations after graduating will not be met. As long as we continue on the route we are on and with this political leadership that we have, I am almost certain that a good number of them will leave this country.
The youth unemployment levels in Zimbabwe are a powder keg waiting to explode. My estimates are that 1 in 10 youths are formally employed and youths make up about 60% of our population. This means that several millions of young Zimbabweans have no hope for the future and nothing specific to do today and tomorrow when they wake up..
I don't know what the census results will reflect when and if they come out in a couple of years' time. Yes that's not a typo, a couple of years' is the estimate that I got from informed sources. The numbers will of course be useless when we finally get them. This, after spending a cool USD45 million on the whole exercise. I understand that the enumerators have only been paid measly USD150 for their misery. This is because, everything is being done manually, despite us having two rather exuberant ministers of science and technology and information communications technology. Where are they hiding? But I digress.
Now this is our problem, in the last ten years, our leadership has been otherwise occupied with politics and in the mean time, despite us having a stable currency; life conditions for most youths have become dreadful. Ten years is certainly a long time to wait hoping that something will come up, especially if you are a graduate,
The result is that, our youths have become peddlers and opportunists of all sorts hoping to make a fast buck and I don't blame them. The unscrupulous amongst us continue exploit them without shame. This has also increased the probability of violence where, youths are paid as little as USD10 to beat up political opponents. Others are organized into groups such as Chipangano, a notorious vigilante group of degenerates, who are most probably neither employed nor very well educated.
In the case of young women, those of lesser morals have happily become what Zimbabweans call "small houses" (adulterers or pfambi in Shona) in order to survive and be looked after by married men. It has devastated their self esteem and the moral fabric of our young girls but survive they must.
If you dine out in Johannesburg, there is a 99% chance that a Zimbabwean will serve you and an 80% chance that they will have good "O" levels and mosr probably come from Bulawayo. This reminds me a colleague from Johannesburg of mine whose daughter was getting extra tutorials on calculus from his Zimbabwean gardener.
A youth empowerment program is not only urgent, but critical because if by any chance, our youth do not get meaningful opportunities and experience now, imagine what the profile of our population will become in a couple of years time. Of course this will have serious negative consequences on our productivity, competitiveness and economic growth going forward.
I do not have the statistics with me yet, regarding the youth empowerment funds that have been launched by our honorable minister of youth empowerment and indigenization, but what I hear is rather bizarre. Youths are being given loans to pay lobola, girlfriends to set up hair salons. Others are being used as fronts by unscrupulous opportunists, to apply for the youth loans and get paid USD500 for their efforts. That is scandalous.
I doubt that there is any method in the madness of this youth empowerment project but I hope that I am wrong. We need to anticipate the future, and focus on investing in agriculture, manufacturing, information communications technology, mining, tourism, infrastructure development and renewable energy and get our youths into these sectors now. Youth empowerment funds, managed correctly, can lead to meaningful domestic investment and increase youth employment levels. However, if they are run by ZANU (PF), we all know what criteria will be used to loan the funds and their probability of success.
I have met some youths in Highfileds, who are saying they are anxiously waiting for the election campaigns to start, so that they can make some good money. They explained to me that MP's hire them to intimidate opponents, and the more MP's there are contesting for a position within one party, the more money they will make because they can get paid by all of them. All they want is their money and they could not care less who wins. They have become the true mujibas ( a South African term for young unemployed youths who live by their wits).This is a true story.
In my opinion, by sitting by the sidelines and doing nothing about this, we have been conspirators in committing a most heinous crime against humanity: the obliteration of hope and the suppression of the aspirations of our youths and future generations. That is not only dangerous, but inhuman and unforgivable.
It is ironic, that these are the very social conditions of unmet black aspirations in the then Southern Rhodesia, which inspired James Chikerema, George Nyandoro and Joshua Nkomo to be part of the African National Congress in September 1957.
My gosh, history truly does have a tendency to repeat itself.
Oh Morgan, where art thou?
Vince Musewe is an independent economist in Harare. You can contact him on vtmusewe@gmail.com. This article first published www.politicsweb.co.za
Vince Musewe says youth unemployment levels are a powder keg waiting to explode
We have been conspirators in creating a most heinous crime against humanity: the obliteration of hope and the suppression of the aspirations of our youth.
I was at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) the other day, and it reminded me of our days there in the 80's. Oblivious to what was to come, one thing we did not worry about was the basics of food, shelter, transport, books and even jobs after graduating. I remembered when we used to queue up to get our "pay out" which was our pocket money paid to us in the form of government cheques. We even managed to buy a little car and could be seen ferrying all sorts of girls up and down into town. It was the best of times.
It is disheartening to see such enthusiasm in students at the campus, as they hurry off to their lectures, because it is most probable, that their expectations after graduating will not be met. As long as we continue on the route we are on and with this political leadership that we have, I am almost certain that a good number of them will leave this country.
The youth unemployment levels in Zimbabwe are a powder keg waiting to explode. My estimates are that 1 in 10 youths are formally employed and youths make up about 60% of our population. This means that several millions of young Zimbabweans have no hope for the future and nothing specific to do today and tomorrow when they wake up..
I don't know what the census results will reflect when and if they come out in a couple of years' time. Yes that's not a typo, a couple of years' is the estimate that I got from informed sources. The numbers will of course be useless when we finally get them. This, after spending a cool USD45 million on the whole exercise. I understand that the enumerators have only been paid measly USD150 for their misery. This is because, everything is being done manually, despite us having two rather exuberant ministers of science and technology and information communications technology. Where are they hiding? But I digress.
Now this is our problem, in the last ten years, our leadership has been otherwise occupied with politics and in the mean time, despite us having a stable currency; life conditions for most youths have become dreadful. Ten years is certainly a long time to wait hoping that something will come up, especially if you are a graduate,
The result is that, our youths have become peddlers and opportunists of all sorts hoping to make a fast buck and I don't blame them. The unscrupulous amongst us continue exploit them without shame. This has also increased the probability of violence where, youths are paid as little as USD10 to beat up political opponents. Others are organized into groups such as Chipangano, a notorious vigilante group of degenerates, who are most probably neither employed nor very well educated.
In the case of young women, those of lesser morals have happily become what Zimbabweans call "small houses" (adulterers or pfambi in Shona) in order to survive and be looked after by married men. It has devastated their self esteem and the moral fabric of our young girls but survive they must.
If you dine out in Johannesburg, there is a 99% chance that a Zimbabwean will serve you and an 80% chance that they will have good "O" levels and mosr probably come from Bulawayo. This reminds me a colleague from Johannesburg of mine whose daughter was getting extra tutorials on calculus from his Zimbabwean gardener.
A youth empowerment program is not only urgent, but critical because if by any chance, our youth do not get meaningful opportunities and experience now, imagine what the profile of our population will become in a couple of years time. Of course this will have serious negative consequences on our productivity, competitiveness and economic growth going forward.
I do not have the statistics with me yet, regarding the youth empowerment funds that have been launched by our honorable minister of youth empowerment and indigenization, but what I hear is rather bizarre. Youths are being given loans to pay lobola, girlfriends to set up hair salons. Others are being used as fronts by unscrupulous opportunists, to apply for the youth loans and get paid USD500 for their efforts. That is scandalous.
I doubt that there is any method in the madness of this youth empowerment project but I hope that I am wrong. We need to anticipate the future, and focus on investing in agriculture, manufacturing, information communications technology, mining, tourism, infrastructure development and renewable energy and get our youths into these sectors now. Youth empowerment funds, managed correctly, can lead to meaningful domestic investment and increase youth employment levels. However, if they are run by ZANU (PF), we all know what criteria will be used to loan the funds and their probability of success.
I have met some youths in Highfileds, who are saying they are anxiously waiting for the election campaigns to start, so that they can make some good money. They explained to me that MP's hire them to intimidate opponents, and the more MP's there are contesting for a position within one party, the more money they will make because they can get paid by all of them. All they want is their money and they could not care less who wins. They have become the true mujibas ( a South African term for young unemployed youths who live by their wits).This is a true story.
In my opinion, by sitting by the sidelines and doing nothing about this, we have been conspirators in committing a most heinous crime against humanity: the obliteration of hope and the suppression of the aspirations of our youths and future generations. That is not only dangerous, but inhuman and unforgivable.
It is ironic, that these are the very social conditions of unmet black aspirations in the then Southern Rhodesia, which inspired James Chikerema, George Nyandoro and Joshua Nkomo to be part of the African National Congress in September 1957.
My gosh, history truly does have a tendency to repeat itself.
Oh Morgan, where art thou?
Vince Musewe is an independent economist in Harare. You can contact him on vtmusewe@gmail.com. This article first published www.politicsweb.co.za
Monday, November 19, 2012
The ZANU-PF ‘Electoral Cliff’
-By Rejoice Ngwenya
I emerged bruised but unfazed from an encounter with ZANU-PF hardliners while documenting the COPAC second stakeholders’ conference. I am more than ever convinced that these people are aliens from outer space. Their dogmatic bigotry, spiteful entitlement and senseless arrogance can only be of one provenance – the Galaxy of Satan. But let me confess, the prospect of outright victory against the creaky ZANU-PF edifice of tyranny sustains my excitement. The just ended American elections are for me – a lesson in time.
Barack Obama has been re-elected president of the United States of America [USA] for the second time. Unlike our very own ‘life president’ Robert Mugabe, Mr. Obama accepts his constitutionally provided for terms. Even if ‘my people still want me’ – Obama cannot alter conditions to enable a third bite of the presidential cherry. The good news is that bitter political rivalry between Democrats and Republicans did not result in a single death, kidnapping or displacement during campaigns. That is how a perfect democracy functions. On my side of the Atlantic Ocean, Mugabe wants elections in March 2013 when no one else is prepared except his diamond-funded militias. SADC has been at pains to persuade him that political reform is more important than perpetuating a 32 year-old oppressive regime. Mugabe insists he is ‘tired of sharing power’ and wants another opportunity to ‘rout Western puppets once and for all’. Even if it means a violent, single-competitor plebiscite!
Obama’s final presidential term is not going to be easy either. Of immediate concern is USA’s ‘fiscal cliff’, which, according to Wikipedia, “is the popular shorthand term used to describe the conundrum that the U.S. government will face at the end of 2012, when the terms of the Budget Control Act of 2011 are scheduled to go into effect”. In theory, these are payroll tax and deep spending cuts agreed upon as part of the debt ceiling deal of 2011 which will affect over 1,000 government programs. Republicans want to cut spending and avoid raising taxes, while Democrats are looking for a combination of spending cuts and tax increases. The ‘cliff’ aspect is that these ‘George Bush-era’ actions will plunge the USA into an irretrievable recession. Obama has to convince sceptical Republicans that taxing the rich is a logical means of raising revenue.
Mugabe is equally determined to go in a proverbial blaze of glory. He knows that free and fair elections will not only expose his diamond cronies but also subject ZANU-PF’s primeval dictatorship to retributive justice. Bring in the element of debilitating factional ‘Young Turk’ wars in his fractious party; Mugabe’s political empire is tottering on the brink of a deep political ravine. With no Thabo Mbeki to cushion his fall; add a generally ‘hostile’ SADC - he might as well start ordering wood pallets for his furniture! ZANU-PF may deny it, but it is true that ‘future presidential aspirants’ Joyce Mujuru, Emerson Mnangagwa and ZAPU unity relic Simon Khaya Moyo would love a more permissible political environment to displace an obstinate Mugabe. Ironically, it is only the MDCs that can create such ideal ‘exit conditions’ – but not in March, not even in June 2013 – worse still without full electoral and political reforms. The crisis confronting Mugabe is that while reforms will give ZANU-PF ‘moderate’ presidential aspirants hope, such conditions will also make it easier for either Morgan Tsvangirayi or Welshman Ncube to hit the exclusive presidential jackpot. ZANU-PF has therefore only one choice – leap over the free and fair electoral cliff for a quick and painless death.
I emerged bruised but unfazed from an encounter with ZANU-PF hardliners while documenting the COPAC second stakeholders’ conference. I am more than ever convinced that these people are aliens from outer space. Their dogmatic bigotry, spiteful entitlement and senseless arrogance can only be of one provenance – the Galaxy of Satan. But let me confess, the prospect of outright victory against the creaky ZANU-PF edifice of tyranny sustains my excitement. The just ended American elections are for me – a lesson in time.
Barack Obama has been re-elected president of the United States of America [USA] for the second time. Unlike our very own ‘life president’ Robert Mugabe, Mr. Obama accepts his constitutionally provided for terms. Even if ‘my people still want me’ – Obama cannot alter conditions to enable a third bite of the presidential cherry. The good news is that bitter political rivalry between Democrats and Republicans did not result in a single death, kidnapping or displacement during campaigns. That is how a perfect democracy functions. On my side of the Atlantic Ocean, Mugabe wants elections in March 2013 when no one else is prepared except his diamond-funded militias. SADC has been at pains to persuade him that political reform is more important than perpetuating a 32 year-old oppressive regime. Mugabe insists he is ‘tired of sharing power’ and wants another opportunity to ‘rout Western puppets once and for all’. Even if it means a violent, single-competitor plebiscite!
Obama’s final presidential term is not going to be easy either. Of immediate concern is USA’s ‘fiscal cliff’, which, according to Wikipedia, “is the popular shorthand term used to describe the conundrum that the U.S. government will face at the end of 2012, when the terms of the Budget Control Act of 2011 are scheduled to go into effect”. In theory, these are payroll tax and deep spending cuts agreed upon as part of the debt ceiling deal of 2011 which will affect over 1,000 government programs. Republicans want to cut spending and avoid raising taxes, while Democrats are looking for a combination of spending cuts and tax increases. The ‘cliff’ aspect is that these ‘George Bush-era’ actions will plunge the USA into an irretrievable recession. Obama has to convince sceptical Republicans that taxing the rich is a logical means of raising revenue.
Mugabe is equally determined to go in a proverbial blaze of glory. He knows that free and fair elections will not only expose his diamond cronies but also subject ZANU-PF’s primeval dictatorship to retributive justice. Bring in the element of debilitating factional ‘Young Turk’ wars in his fractious party; Mugabe’s political empire is tottering on the brink of a deep political ravine. With no Thabo Mbeki to cushion his fall; add a generally ‘hostile’ SADC - he might as well start ordering wood pallets for his furniture! ZANU-PF may deny it, but it is true that ‘future presidential aspirants’ Joyce Mujuru, Emerson Mnangagwa and ZAPU unity relic Simon Khaya Moyo would love a more permissible political environment to displace an obstinate Mugabe. Ironically, it is only the MDCs that can create such ideal ‘exit conditions’ – but not in March, not even in June 2013 – worse still without full electoral and political reforms. The crisis confronting Mugabe is that while reforms will give ZANU-PF ‘moderate’ presidential aspirants hope, such conditions will also make it easier for either Morgan Tsvangirayi or Welshman Ncube to hit the exclusive presidential jackpot. ZANU-PF has therefore only one choice – leap over the free and fair electoral cliff for a quick and painless death.
Monday, November 12, 2012
F2WF – Fight Fire With Fire
The barbaric detention of Zimbabwe National Students Union and Counselling Services Unit activists proves that ZANU-PF’s blood-starved political vampires still lurk in our alleys. News Day reminds me not only of the fatal June 2008 petrol bomb attack on rural MDC-T offices but also quotes National Healing, Integration and Reconciliation co-minister Moses Mzila Ndlovu fingering ZANU-PF for suffocating debate on the 1980s Gukurahundi massacres. 20 000 innocent Zimbabweans were butchered in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces by members of President Robert Mugabe’s venomous 5th Brigade. Now, ZANU-PF hounds us for merely expressing our thoughts!
For me, the only ‘weapon of mass instruction’ is my keyboard. In order to adequately pitch my literary emotions, let me activate my ‘Rage Meter’ with snippets of the Rwanda and Gukurahundi genocides. In 1994, almost one million Tutsis were massacred after the assassination of Hutu president Juvenal Habyarimana. Like Zimbabwe’s 1980s mass murders, the Rwanda genocide had ethnic overtones. Hutu ‘Akazu’ militias collaborated with security to ‘exterminate’ Tutsis and so-called ‘collaborators’. While Gukurahundi perpetrators imported bayonets from North Korea, Hutus sourced half a million machetes from China.
We Zimbabweans mourn about ‘militarisation of state institutions’ for good reason. Rwanda genocide organisers were mainly retired army officers and members of the police. State-controlled Radio Rwanda, Television Libre des Mille Collines and Kangura newspapers fanned hatred by calling Tutsis inyenzi, cockroaches. AmaNdebele were labelled ‘dissidents’. Today, ZANU-PF media refers to MDC cadres as sellouts, puppets and agents of the West. Gukurahundi and June 2008 saw innocent women abducted and murdered. In Rwanda, close to 500,000 females conveniently labelled ‘gypsies’ - were raped. Father Athanase Seromba oversaw the massacre of 2000 Tutsis in his church. The Catholic Church in Zimbabwe confronted Mugabe on Gukurahundi. ‘Pentecostals’ - and my own dear Seventh Day Adventists leaders – ‘saw and heard no evil’. Pathological cowards! Were it not for the Bishops Conference and Legal Resources Foundation, Gukurahundi massacres would have evaded accurate documentation.
Colonial Britain was a spectator as 5th Brigade drew innocent blood while USA, France, Belgium and the UN stood akimbo as Rwandese perished. Nonetheless, the Paul Kagame government – save for spasmodic lapses into autocracy – has mastered national reconciliation. ZANU-PF is marinated in sarcastic denial, drunken with contempt. In Rwanda, places like the Murambu Technical School are now genocide museums. Our very own Bhalagwe pales in the distant past.
Rwanda activated the Gacaca traditional court system and the International Criminal Tribunal for national reconciliation. ZANU-PF refuses to constitutionalise truth and reconciliation. Consequently, Mzila Ndlovu’s ‘peace battalion’ will continue firing blanks. Gukurahundi perpetrators are still at large, some even playing ‘patriarchs and prophets’ in Zimbabwe’s Government of National Unity. Not even a single film or documentary on the 1980s genocide has been aired on ZANU-TV. RW Johnson clearly lays it out: “…far, far more have died through more indirect consequences - from starvation, from exposure, from an acceleration of death from Aids due to deprivation of drugs, food and care, from death during migration … and simply from the collapse of almost everything else.” As we approach Election 2013, I dare say if ZANU-PF expects us to roll over like grateful kittens for our political bellies to be stroked, they had better think again. We shall treat their diamond money with contempt. Throw back every political granule at them. Rally for rally; SMS for SMS; ward for ward; constituency for constituency; ballot for ballot; broadcast for broadcast; editorial for editorial; poster for poster; manifesto for manifesto; vote for vote. In 2013, the struggle has new number plates: F2WF.
Written by Rejoice Ngwenya - Harare based political economist
For me, the only ‘weapon of mass instruction’ is my keyboard. In order to adequately pitch my literary emotions, let me activate my ‘Rage Meter’ with snippets of the Rwanda and Gukurahundi genocides. In 1994, almost one million Tutsis were massacred after the assassination of Hutu president Juvenal Habyarimana. Like Zimbabwe’s 1980s mass murders, the Rwanda genocide had ethnic overtones. Hutu ‘Akazu’ militias collaborated with security to ‘exterminate’ Tutsis and so-called ‘collaborators’. While Gukurahundi perpetrators imported bayonets from North Korea, Hutus sourced half a million machetes from China.
We Zimbabweans mourn about ‘militarisation of state institutions’ for good reason. Rwanda genocide organisers were mainly retired army officers and members of the police. State-controlled Radio Rwanda, Television Libre des Mille Collines and Kangura newspapers fanned hatred by calling Tutsis inyenzi, cockroaches. AmaNdebele were labelled ‘dissidents’. Today, ZANU-PF media refers to MDC cadres as sellouts, puppets and agents of the West. Gukurahundi and June 2008 saw innocent women abducted and murdered. In Rwanda, close to 500,000 females conveniently labelled ‘gypsies’ - were raped. Father Athanase Seromba oversaw the massacre of 2000 Tutsis in his church. The Catholic Church in Zimbabwe confronted Mugabe on Gukurahundi. ‘Pentecostals’ - and my own dear Seventh Day Adventists leaders – ‘saw and heard no evil’. Pathological cowards! Were it not for the Bishops Conference and Legal Resources Foundation, Gukurahundi massacres would have evaded accurate documentation.
Colonial Britain was a spectator as 5th Brigade drew innocent blood while USA, France, Belgium and the UN stood akimbo as Rwandese perished. Nonetheless, the Paul Kagame government – save for spasmodic lapses into autocracy – has mastered national reconciliation. ZANU-PF is marinated in sarcastic denial, drunken with contempt. In Rwanda, places like the Murambu Technical School are now genocide museums. Our very own Bhalagwe pales in the distant past.
Rwanda activated the Gacaca traditional court system and the International Criminal Tribunal for national reconciliation. ZANU-PF refuses to constitutionalise truth and reconciliation. Consequently, Mzila Ndlovu’s ‘peace battalion’ will continue firing blanks. Gukurahundi perpetrators are still at large, some even playing ‘patriarchs and prophets’ in Zimbabwe’s Government of National Unity. Not even a single film or documentary on the 1980s genocide has been aired on ZANU-TV. RW Johnson clearly lays it out: “…far, far more have died through more indirect consequences - from starvation, from exposure, from an acceleration of death from Aids due to deprivation of drugs, food and care, from death during migration … and simply from the collapse of almost everything else.” As we approach Election 2013, I dare say if ZANU-PF expects us to roll over like grateful kittens for our political bellies to be stroked, they had better think again. We shall treat their diamond money with contempt. Throw back every political granule at them. Rally for rally; SMS for SMS; ward for ward; constituency for constituency; ballot for ballot; broadcast for broadcast; editorial for editorial; poster for poster; manifesto for manifesto; vote for vote. In 2013, the struggle has new number plates: F2WF.
Written by Rejoice Ngwenya - Harare based political economist
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Beware: the Ides of Year Twenty Thirteen!
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe insists on Parliamentary and Presidential Elections with or without critical political reforms in March Two Thousand and Thirteen. This only a mere four months after his automated candidature at the ‘Thirteenth People’s Conference’ in the Midlands town of Gweru. I am no convert of Paraskevidekatriaphobia — an affliction with a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the Thirteenth. Besides, we Africans do not lend much credence to Western superstitions. But my guess is that horror film writer Alfred Hitchcock - the ‘king’ of anxiety and fear - would salivate in his grave at the prospect of an election done in a year ending with a thirteen! The mysticism around this number dates back from ancient times, ‘portending more misfortune than some credulous minds can bear’.
For ZANU-PF, it better be more than a premonition of electoral annihilation. Unless if you respect the opinion of kindergarten strategic planners, you do not want to start a bruising campaign when your presidential candidate has just turned 89! For Pete’s sakes, our State House is not a cradle of geriatrics!
SADC [Southern Africa Development Community] mediators have warned Mr. Mugabe risks ‘political excommunication’ if he insists on violating conditions for electoral fair competition. Serious Movement for Democratic Change [MDC] presidential contenders Morgan Tsvangirayi and Welshman Ncube have enough political traction to give Mugabe a rude awakening. The two have more wind in their political sails than in June 2008 when they succumbed to ZANU-PF’s military scotched earth strategy.
There are those who argue that ZANU-PF has enough ‘dirty diamonds’ to soak the airwaves with frivolous political promises. Mr. Mugabe is said to have also drafted thousands of military cronies to force-feed villagers with his creaky party policies. Moreover, South African President Jacob Zuma – they add- will be distracted from ‘monitoring’ Zimbabwe’s by his own internal ANC [African National Congress] battles. This may be true, but there is more to 2013 politics than meets the eye.
If Tsvangirayi and Ncube stand their ground that March 2013 is too close for fair competition; and Mugabe persists with dissolving Parliament prior to wholesale, SADC-approved reforms, then Zimbabweans must revolt. Mugabe will then send his compliant army into the streets and before you can count to number 13, SADC will have a ‘Marikana’ on their hands. Tsvangirayi and Ncube are GPA [Global Political Agreement] signatories who ought to be consulted before Mugabe blows the electoral trumpet. He is facing a ‘succession’ headache in his party, thus must not be allowed to use March 2013 as painkiller. But whatever permutation lands on Zimbabwe’s electoral table, year Twenty Thirteen is an opportune era for us to prove that diamond money and Chinese guns are nothing compared to the desire for true freedom. Call me a griot of doom, agent provocateur or agitator-in-chief – that will not stop the tidal wave of dissent against ZANU-PF in 2013. Come to think of it, they may not be Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus to fulfill the Ides of March prophesy, but Robert ‘Julius Caesar’ Mugabe may be finally staring defeat in the eye. For the millions of Zimbabweans who have been deprived of true freedom for thirty-two years, the Election 2013 script must end with a ‘Mark Antonic’ pronouncement: “Friends, Harareans, Zimbabweans, lend me your ears; we have come to bury ZANU-PF, not to praise them. The evil that they did will live after them; The good [if any] must be interred with their bones…”
Written by Rejoice Ngwenya, Harare based political economist
For ZANU-PF, it better be more than a premonition of electoral annihilation. Unless if you respect the opinion of kindergarten strategic planners, you do not want to start a bruising campaign when your presidential candidate has just turned 89! For Pete’s sakes, our State House is not a cradle of geriatrics!
SADC [Southern Africa Development Community] mediators have warned Mr. Mugabe risks ‘political excommunication’ if he insists on violating conditions for electoral fair competition. Serious Movement for Democratic Change [MDC] presidential contenders Morgan Tsvangirayi and Welshman Ncube have enough political traction to give Mugabe a rude awakening. The two have more wind in their political sails than in June 2008 when they succumbed to ZANU-PF’s military scotched earth strategy.
There are those who argue that ZANU-PF has enough ‘dirty diamonds’ to soak the airwaves with frivolous political promises. Mr. Mugabe is said to have also drafted thousands of military cronies to force-feed villagers with his creaky party policies. Moreover, South African President Jacob Zuma – they add- will be distracted from ‘monitoring’ Zimbabwe’s by his own internal ANC [African National Congress] battles. This may be true, but there is more to 2013 politics than meets the eye.
If Tsvangirayi and Ncube stand their ground that March 2013 is too close for fair competition; and Mugabe persists with dissolving Parliament prior to wholesale, SADC-approved reforms, then Zimbabweans must revolt. Mugabe will then send his compliant army into the streets and before you can count to number 13, SADC will have a ‘Marikana’ on their hands. Tsvangirayi and Ncube are GPA [Global Political Agreement] signatories who ought to be consulted before Mugabe blows the electoral trumpet. He is facing a ‘succession’ headache in his party, thus must not be allowed to use March 2013 as painkiller. But whatever permutation lands on Zimbabwe’s electoral table, year Twenty Thirteen is an opportune era for us to prove that diamond money and Chinese guns are nothing compared to the desire for true freedom. Call me a griot of doom, agent provocateur or agitator-in-chief – that will not stop the tidal wave of dissent against ZANU-PF in 2013. Come to think of it, they may not be Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus to fulfill the Ides of March prophesy, but Robert ‘Julius Caesar’ Mugabe may be finally staring defeat in the eye. For the millions of Zimbabweans who have been deprived of true freedom for thirty-two years, the Election 2013 script must end with a ‘Mark Antonic’ pronouncement: “Friends, Harareans, Zimbabweans, lend me your ears; we have come to bury ZANU-PF, not to praise them. The evil that they did will live after them; The good [if any] must be interred with their bones…”
Written by Rejoice Ngwenya, Harare based political economist
Friday, November 2, 2012
Of Zimbabweans in South Africa and Drugs
South Africa is arguably the continent’s land of opportunities just as the United States of America is to the western world. The “American Dream” is the constant lure for millions who trek across the great Atlantic; South Africa has since the days of the gold rush otherwise known as “wenela” been the answered dream for many a Zimbabwean.
Not many people really wanted to go to South Africa but the sight of that boy who flunked his O’Levels and went eGoli / kuJoni coming back after a year driving a white BMW with tinted windows playing traditional Zulu music or Di gong (now known as Kwaito music), produced a compelling itch among local boys and it drove them to cross over into South Africa.
On getting to Joburg some were fortunate enough to get jobs while others were not so fortunate but what they both have in common is the knowledge that life here is not a bed of roses.
It dawned and is now obvious to many here that that boy who had flunked his O’ Levels but came driving a top of the range car was a criminal whose life is weaved by guns and ammunition, illicit deals, drug peddling and extortion. He is the same fellow who is selling them drugs and behind him is a thicket of Nigerians who are the source of these drugs
In their pursuit for a better life they both began indulging in drugs with those who are without a constant source of income using drugs as a form of escapism while those with jobs turned to drugs firstly on experimental basis before using them to jump start their over worked bodies.
Because jobs do not pay much, people are either on two jobs or they work double or long shifts so as to maximize earnings. To keep the body alert and functioning one naturally takes performance enhancing soft drinks like Red Bull and Energade but for many the body got used to these orthodox ways of boosting alertness and they now needed substances of a higher grade; and that’s how the story of their drug addiction begins.
Like all vices, drugs are an expensive addiction that gobbles one’s savings, wipes clean even your next salary before you even receive it; gets you into serious debts and in the process your friends become few because no one still wants to borrow you money as you do not pay them back.
The pathetic sorry sight of a drug addict shows how ruthless drug peddlers are and how vulnerable desperate Zimbabweans are. For me the drug issue comes as a personal testimony as a child hood friend is now living like a vagabond right here in Joburg.
My friend, Mugowe Hamadziripi (not his real name) came to South Africa in 2006 and the Heavens smiled on him as he quickly got a job at a restaurant in Rosebank Mall - an affluent and up market mall that has one of Joburg’s most expensive pubs and night clubs.
Because Zimbabweans are witty and hard working, Mugowe, who had no professional qualification when he left home, quickly rose through the ranks to become a manager with just eight months of employment. It goes without saying that his salary was hefty.
Below is a copy the email he sent me one day on his way to work. Please note that at this time in Zimbabwe we were not yet able to surf the internet on our mobile phones, so I saw his email later in the week when I had gone to the internet cafe.
“I got a baby daughter Anesu...i got the $ thebe talk
2Thoks & givim ma numbers ilsend the $ on 1 condition
jus kip it 2yoself pple there r al xpectin $ from me? U
can cum 2me eJozi wena lo Nduna.Im mailin u on ma way 2work using
ma-4ne.”
But from the day he got hooked to drugs, his world crumbled like a deck of cards. He had built a little heaven for himself, his girlfriend and their daughter but His girlfriend moved out with their daughter and went to stay with her mother. She could not stomach his base actions anymore: he was no longer paying rent and bills; the table no longer had adequate food; he was no longer sleeping at home; he was no violent; he was no longer sending money and groceries back home in Bulawayo.
He hit a new nadir when he was fired from his job because his cocaine addiction was now affecting his performances at work.
Drugs have become a serious cause of concern here with the Devil clearly being out witted by men. There are many forms of drugs now with the latest craze being a drug called Whoonga, a backyard drug popular in the slums.
The main ingredient of Whoonga is ARVs or AIDS medication. Other substances in the drug concoction include rat poison and soap powder. The drug is distributed as a fine white powder which is added to marijuana or tobacco. This mixture is smoked and the result is said to be one of the most lethal drugs in the world.
The drug is now being referred to as the cruellest drug of south Africa slums; it’s highly addictive, even after only one hit, and leads to violent side-effects such as anxiety, aggression, stomach cramps, slowing down of the heart rate and lungs. If taken in overdose, heart and lung function reduction becomes fatal.
Not many people really wanted to go to South Africa but the sight of that boy who flunked his O’Levels and went eGoli / kuJoni coming back after a year driving a white BMW with tinted windows playing traditional Zulu music or Di gong (now known as Kwaito music), produced a compelling itch among local boys and it drove them to cross over into South Africa.
On getting to Joburg some were fortunate enough to get jobs while others were not so fortunate but what they both have in common is the knowledge that life here is not a bed of roses.
It dawned and is now obvious to many here that that boy who had flunked his O’ Levels but came driving a top of the range car was a criminal whose life is weaved by guns and ammunition, illicit deals, drug peddling and extortion. He is the same fellow who is selling them drugs and behind him is a thicket of Nigerians who are the source of these drugs
In their pursuit for a better life they both began indulging in drugs with those who are without a constant source of income using drugs as a form of escapism while those with jobs turned to drugs firstly on experimental basis before using them to jump start their over worked bodies.
Because jobs do not pay much, people are either on two jobs or they work double or long shifts so as to maximize earnings. To keep the body alert and functioning one naturally takes performance enhancing soft drinks like Red Bull and Energade but for many the body got used to these orthodox ways of boosting alertness and they now needed substances of a higher grade; and that’s how the story of their drug addiction begins.
Like all vices, drugs are an expensive addiction that gobbles one’s savings, wipes clean even your next salary before you even receive it; gets you into serious debts and in the process your friends become few because no one still wants to borrow you money as you do not pay them back.
The pathetic sorry sight of a drug addict shows how ruthless drug peddlers are and how vulnerable desperate Zimbabweans are. For me the drug issue comes as a personal testimony as a child hood friend is now living like a vagabond right here in Joburg.
My friend, Mugowe Hamadziripi (not his real name) came to South Africa in 2006 and the Heavens smiled on him as he quickly got a job at a restaurant in Rosebank Mall - an affluent and up market mall that has one of Joburg’s most expensive pubs and night clubs.
Because Zimbabweans are witty and hard working, Mugowe, who had no professional qualification when he left home, quickly rose through the ranks to become a manager with just eight months of employment. It goes without saying that his salary was hefty.
Below is a copy the email he sent me one day on his way to work. Please note that at this time in Zimbabwe we were not yet able to surf the internet on our mobile phones, so I saw his email later in the week when I had gone to the internet cafe.
“I got a baby daughter Anesu...i got the $ thebe talk
2Thoks & givim ma numbers ilsend the $ on 1 condition
jus kip it 2yoself pple there r al xpectin $ from me? U
can cum 2me eJozi wena lo Nduna.Im mailin u on ma way 2work using
ma-4ne.”
But from the day he got hooked to drugs, his world crumbled like a deck of cards. He had built a little heaven for himself, his girlfriend and their daughter but His girlfriend moved out with their daughter and went to stay with her mother. She could not stomach his base actions anymore: he was no longer paying rent and bills; the table no longer had adequate food; he was no longer sleeping at home; he was no violent; he was no longer sending money and groceries back home in Bulawayo.
He hit a new nadir when he was fired from his job because his cocaine addiction was now affecting his performances at work.
Drugs have become a serious cause of concern here with the Devil clearly being out witted by men. There are many forms of drugs now with the latest craze being a drug called Whoonga, a backyard drug popular in the slums.
The main ingredient of Whoonga is ARVs or AIDS medication. Other substances in the drug concoction include rat poison and soap powder. The drug is distributed as a fine white powder which is added to marijuana or tobacco. This mixture is smoked and the result is said to be one of the most lethal drugs in the world.
The drug is now being referred to as the cruellest drug of south Africa slums; it’s highly addictive, even after only one hit, and leads to violent side-effects such as anxiety, aggression, stomach cramps, slowing down of the heart rate and lungs. If taken in overdose, heart and lung function reduction becomes fatal.
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