Rwanda's closure from a brutal past - A phoenix rises from the ashes
BY GRACE KWINJEH
"I realized after the Genocide that there was more that I could and
should have done, to sound alarm and rally support. The international
community is guilty of sins of omission," Former UN Secretary General,
Kofi Annan commenting on the international community's silence during
the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.
Legend has it that a phoenix, after being burnt to ashes, would always
rise again from the same ashes to its original form and fly. This is
the story of Rwanda – a phoenix that has risen from the ashes.
Adam Hochschild's internationally acclaimed book; 'King Leopolds
Ghost', came to life during my recent visit to Kigali's Rwanda
Memorial Centre - a cemetery and a place of remembrance of those
killed in the 1994 Genocide.
Hochschild, gives a vivid narration of events in Africa's dark
colonial past - especially the brutality of resource exploitation in
the Belgian-Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo).
I could not help but mentally reopen chapters of his book, in which he
so brilliantly narrates atrocities in the then Belgian Congo under
King Leopold 11 – a genocide which claimed 8 million Congolese lives.
The description of the nature of the killings is exactly what I
witnessed in the Memorial Centre - butchered bodies, hands cut off,
cut out tongues – all sorts of ghastly inhuman, totally diabolic ways
or means of inflicting pain on another human.
It is this genocide ideology, rooted in our colonial history, whose
success was not only based on the use of force but also on 'tribal'
classifications and differentiations based on origins and time of
arrival into territories.
This was Rwanda's case, a former Belgian colony that ended up with
three distinct 'tribes': the Tutsi, Hutu and the Twa.
The colonial administrators then carried out their business based on
those classifications, determining superior tribes to inferior ones,
playing the Hutu and Tutsi against each other, leading to the first
Genocide against the Tutsi in 1954 – in which over 20, 000 perished.
Entrenching the genocide ideology in the country's political veins, to
be propagated through the years in the church (in particular the
Catholic Church, Reverend Athanase Seromba was the first Catholic
Priest to be charged with the 1994 Genocide by the ICTR), media
(several journalists are also on trial), the State and foreign powers,
in this case the French Government.
Rwanda's story exposes Africa's intricate post-colonial history,
rooted in a colonial construction that was never meant to give her
people freedom and peace.
While the narrative of the horrific events in Rwanda has tended to be
based on Eurocentric views and attitudes towards Africans – of
ingrained rivalries (ethnic hatred) amongst African 'tribes', in this
case the Hutu versus the Tutsi, it is important to interrogate how
such designs suited the colonial project even in post-colonial Africa.
The shooting down of a plane carrying the French-backed leader of
Government, Juvénal Habyarimana in April 1994, started a chain of
events that will always be a black spot in Africa's history.
It is reported that within a 100 days, at a rate of 10, 000 people per
day – over a million people were massacred. Fourteen years on, more
bodies are still being discovered, the most recent being those found
in the eastern region - Ruhunda area.
The first part was to dehumanise them by calling them 'Inyenzi',
Kinyarwanda word for cockroach; then the flames of ethnic hatred were
set alight.
If you are killing cockroaches you do not need to feel; they are no
longer human, but mere pests that can be easily wiped out.
They were 'smoked' out of their homes, churches, every corner or hole
that seemed to be hiding an ethnic Tutsi or moderate Hutu was
cleansed.
These are the gory images on display at the Memorial Centre,
systematic, well coordinated mass killings in the church, schools, on
the streets. Painful images of toddlers lying dead on the streets.
The international community is silent until the Rwanda Patriotic Front
(RPF), takes its destiny into its own hands and launches an attack
mainly from Uganda against the Hutu militants, quelling them - ending
the slaughter. The world hung its head in shame vowing, 'Never Again'
– a little too late.
Paul Kagame, who is lauded for his policy of ethnic reconciliation,
was elected President in 2003. He refuses tribal or national
identities for persons of African descent, relaxing citizenship laws.
France has not accepted Kagame, seeking instead to have him and nine
other officials prosecuted on allegations of downing Habyarimana's
plane.
The African Union at its summit backed Kagame's arguments on the
potential flaws of the principle of Universal Jurisdiction, in which a
state extends its laws into another country on alleged crimes against
its nationals.
Relations remain sour between Rwanda and France, and to this end there
is no French embassy in Rwanda, France having backed the late
Habyarimana's government with military and financial support. Even
more insidious is the alleged logistical support France provided for
the Genocide perpetrators.
In the book "Shake Hands with the Devil," General Romeo Dallaire, (a
Canadian who led the UN Peace-Keeping Mission during the Genocide),
narrates his experience, with the notorious French Humanitarian Army
Aid or 'Operation Turquoise'.
"They weren't there as neutrals to help victims of the genocide, they
were there to help perpetrators of the genocide.,,,, Often the French
camps where the Tutsis were taken turned out into slaughter camps
where the French abandoned them to the genocidal Hutus."
Furthermore, France has refused to hand over Genocide suspects in her
territory, and there is some tension over the extradition of the two -
Isaac Kamali and Marcel Bivugabagabo - to Rwanda to face justice.
In 2007, Rwanda recorded a 7 percent economic growth, the mainstay of
her economy being agriculture specializing in tea and coffee. Tourism
is booming, with visitors from all over the world.
Over the weekend the Rwanda Revenue Authority, (RAA), celebrated its
10th anniversary, reporting that this year the domestic revenue
component of the Budget overtook the external grants component.
Tax revenues increased from Frw74 billion in 2000 to Frw111 billion
in 2003 to an estimated Frw275 billion in 2008.
Legal means established to deal with the perpetrators of the violence
in Rwanda, part of the healing process have been set up.
The traditional 'Gacaca' courts, give reconstructive justice, through
local traditional systems, that also foster a spirit of
reconciliation. Then there is the Arusha-based ICTR, which has tried
- Show quoted text -
scores of Genocide perpetrators.
It is an intricate story in which Rwanda remains haunted by the ghost
of her colonial past. It was while driving back to the office that a
sudden realization hit me.
All along I had pondered the neat, well tarred roads not seen in
African capitals, especially those that have suffered this kind of
turmoil in recent years.
It dawned upon me that working on her roads was part of her closure
from that sordid past. In the planting of palm trees on the highways;
the neat, well manicured grass, Rwanda is moving on.
It is part of the closure as she starts to rebuild the tattered
economy, instill hope in a traumatised people, become a competitive
member of the African Community and a leading global player. The
phoenix has indeed risen from the ashes.
Grace Kwinjeh is a journalist currently working for the Kigali based,
daily paper, The New Times
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Staring a gift horse in the mouth.
Death Spiral in Zimbabwe: Mediation, Violence and the GNU
Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?
[Bertolt Brecht.1953]
By
Grace Kwinjeh
18 June 2008
In March 2008 Zimbabweans voted in the most peaceful election since independence, resulting in an unambiguous victory for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai. Three months later, the country is haemorrhaging from a massive and rising tide of political violence not seen since the state sponsored terror of the early 1980s. The ruling party and its supporters are responsible for the vast majority of the current attacks. As if to underscore his party’s public embrace of violence, President Mugabe now openly threatens to “wage war” beyond the June 27 Presidential run-off election, if his candidacy should be rejected by the people for a second time. Meanwhile the MDC government-elect, MDC party structures and much of the party’s leadership have been forced into hiding as they seek to convince voters of their right to select – and see installed in place – a president of their choice.
For SADC, the Zimbabwe conflagration has become the most comprehensive diplomatic failure in the region since the resumption of the Angolan war in the 1990s. But unlike Angola, the Zimbabwe crisis is one for which SADC, President Mbeki and the international community bear a central contributing responsibility. By pushing for secretly brokered power-sharing arrangements leading to a “government of national unity” (GNU), the international intervention in Zimbabwe has relegated hopes for a new democratic dispensation built on the foundations of the expressed popular will of Zimbabweans. By refusing to actively acknowledge the MDC’s electoral victory and insist on its recognition and acceptance by ZANU PF, regional leaders and the international community effectively ignored and silenced the democratic voice of the people. As a consequence, the MDC’s hard-won legitimate authority has been erased, and the way has been opened for ZANU PF to recover by the bullet the authority it had lost at the ballot box.
It is increasingly apparent that talk of a GNU has helped to accelerate the level of violence, not calm it; and has fostered political instability, rather than the smooth transition to a new governing order that Zimbabweans voted for in March.
This violent outcome of a proposed GNU strategy should not have been unexpected. ZANU PF’s violent riposte is reminiscent of the period immediately prior to Independence around the Lancaster House Conference, and even more so of the party’s violent campaign before the 1987 “Unity Accord” with the ZAPU opposition: indeed, it is a tried and tested tactic of ZANU PF to threaten and deploy intense violence as a strategic bargaining tool. Since independence the party has singularly distinguished itself among Zimbabwean political parties by demonstrating a capacity for – and indeed claiming the right to wage – mass violence in defense of its “national” interests. No longer heading the majority party, Robert Mugabe now cynically portrays violence as a means for defending the people from their mistaken choice.
This deeply cynical pathology is echoed more subtly in the GNU concept. Despite a clear rejection of ZANU PF under electoral conditions heavily tilted in that party’s favour, unity talks have been promoted as a means of bringing the former ruling party back into the centre of decision-making. Even though neither voters nor the MDC demanded this arrangement in March, the new government in waiting has come under enormous pressure to fall in line accordingly. Its leaders have repeatedly said that such an arrangement would deny the popular voice and reward anti-democratic, flagrantly illegal and often murderous behaviour – while only deferring, and certainly not solving, the problem of organising the transition to a new political order. It is indeed difficult to understand why those who previously promoted engagement with ZANU PF as a means of strengthening a deeply flawed electoral process, should now effectively reject that improved process and insist on power sharing terms with the author of electoral fraud and intimidation.
In contrast, it is clear that the promotion of a GNU is integral to the facilitation of an elite transfer of power which would vitiate the popular will of the electorate. This is why the idea of a GNU has been explicitly rejected by the leading membership-based civil society organisations in Zimbabwe, from the trade unions to human rights networks. These groups challenge the credibility and viability of a compromise that according to its proponents, would bring about some sort of “normalisation” of the political space without addressing the growing democratic deficit in Zimbabwe. For the Zimbabwean democratic movement, political normalisation requires before all else, recognition and acceptance of the expressed will of dominant social interests – not its circumvention through brokered elite pacting carried out under the threat of violence.
In Zimbabwe, there is abiding consternation over why ZANU PF and its militia were given the opportunity by SADC and the international community to ignore the electoral results in the first place. What would have happened if the election results – deemed legitimate by observers – had been recognised and enforced? And what would happen if a similarly free and fair process were enforced in the current second round, by insisting on the disarming of ZANU PF and its militia, and the confinement of the security forces to base? Have those mediating and promoting mediation raised these issues – the clearest and most profound obstacles to democratic practice in Zimbabwe in the current moment?
It is widely acknowledged that demilitarisation is a central precondition needed to advance a democratic outcome and ensure its consolidation in the medium term. Yet, the perpetration of violence has been treated as a negotiable right – not as an act which invalidates claims to the process of a democratic transition. Remarkably, it took 10 weeks of deteriorating conditions for SADC’s official mediator Thabo Mbeki to publicly raise his concerns about the spiralling violence. But even then he avoided commentary on responsibility, despite ample documented evidence heavily implicating ZANU PF and state security forces in commanding the terror. His spokesperson claims he is precluded from doing so by virtue of his position as mediator. However this is a hollow rationale in the face of open and mounting ZANU PF belligerence.
The absence of collective censure of violence and any pointed criticism by Mbeki has been seen by perpetrators of the violence as giving them a green light to continue employing these tactics to further their political ends. And for ZANU PF, with few political repercussions arising from the deployment of its violent supporters, there seems little incentive for abandoning this approach– and perhaps much to be gained from pursuing it. Robert Mugabe’s public declaration earlier this week that his party would go to war in the event of his defeat in the second round of voting was met with paralysing silence by Thabo Mbeki. The deployment of weapons and violence may be logistically difficult to confront: the deployment of words and threats is not.
The election fix: back to the future
By focusing on the GNU, rather than the actual election results, the SADC mediation has effectively allowed ZANU PF to return to the brokerage scenario it had anticipated in the post election period. This scenario, broadly shared by ZANU PF reformers, SA, some EU governments and others before the election, was premised on the belief that the MDC-Tsvangirai party’s support would be diminished by support for MDC-Mutambara and for Simba Makoni, the former Finance Minister and ZANU PF reformer who was a candidate for President. A split opposition vote would enable victory in the Presidential election and at least a plurality in Parliament. Moreover, the dispersion of opposition representation across three groupings would present options for developing a ‘Kenyan-style’ negotiation that could lead to a ZANU PF dominated GNU. Makoni – the “modernising” reform face of ZANU PF - could be parachuted in under Mugabe, to soon replace him as the consensus politician. And ZANU PF could argue that, if this kind of arrangement was acceptable for Kenya, why not in Zimbabwe? There was a lot of this kind of talk among MDC-M and Makoni supporters in advance of the election.
For ZANU PF this scenario both enabled the departure of Mugabe, a political liability whose presence would continue to block the party’s return to legitimacy and the resumption of desperately needed, stabilizing financial assistance for the world’s fastest-collapsing economy; and the retention and renewed consolidation of power by the ruling party. Confident of a mediated victory and needing a “legitimate” result to back its claims to rehabilitation, ZANU PF significantly loosened control over the electoral process in the first round of voting in March.
As it turned out, the party’s electoral assumptions were wildly naïve. At the election support for the MDC-M collapsed – and notably for its leadership, which was roundly defeated. Makoni was overwhelmingly rejected by voters, gaining perhaps just 10 percent of the vote. At the same time, ZANU PF’s traditional voters deserted the party by voting for the opposition or by boycotting the poll, as they had done in the benchmark defeat of the party in the 2000 Constitutional Referendum. In contrast, the MDC Tsvangirai party surged across the country, including in former rural strongholds of ZANU PF that for the first time ever had been rendered easily accessible to opposition campaigners – and to opposition polling agents and officials. This combination of factors meant there were too few votes to rig with, and that the conditions allowing the playing off of opposition forces within a prospective GNU did not materialise.
The shock of the election result and the resulting conundrum for the ruling party were quite literally written on its face. The headline of The Sunday Mail, the most slavishly loyal of the state-controlled newspapers, screamed the day after the election, “Anxiety Grips Zim” . Many other state media, including the country’s only radio and television broadcaster, ZBC, effectively fell silent, bewildered about what to say. No party leader of note addressed the nation for several days. It was apparent that ZANU PF was reassessing its game plan. Over the next month it developed and then rolled this plan out, as SADC first patiently accommodated repeated inexplicable delays in the processing and announcement of results by ZEC, and then sat motionless as ZESN, the key civic election monitoring network, and MDC itself were raided by state officials in search of independently collected polling data that could be used to disprove manipulated official figures. Even after the long delay, only limited details of the presidential poll were eventually released.
Meanwhile, reports surfaced of remobilised war veterans and youth militias, and of the first violent penetrations by state security forces of “turncoat” former ruling party strongholds. ZANU PF aimed to create conditions that would make the run-off so difficult and dreaded that prospects of averting violence through some form of GNU and power sharing arrangement would be welcomed: a replay of the ZANU-ZAPU Unity Pact of 1987. ZANU PF’s transparently obvious “spin” on the violence – which has often been taken up by SADC leaders, and swallowed whole by much of the regional media as well – has been doubly damaging for Zimbabwean democrats. One the one hand, substantial evidence that the violence is disproportionately organised against the MDC has drawn muted criticism from SA, SADC and the GNU advocates like Makoni; on the other, the small amount of retaliatory violence attributed to the MDC is deemed to suggest a “crisis” and raise possibilities of “civil war” – reinforcing the need to avoid a run-off and the urgency for a negotiated solution.
African leaders have thus far studiously avoided apportioning responsibility for violence, in most instances couching reactions in terms of cautioning both sides and invoking dialogue. Widespread violations of SADC’s election ‘norms and standards’ have failed to elicit coherent responses from them. Neither has SADC cautioned or castigated the ZANU PF government for failing to ensure its constitutional responsibility for safety and security, despite overwhelming empirical evidence that the primary perpetrator is ZANU PF and its proxies.
Rather than address the issue of destabilizing violence and impose political censure for its deployment in this period of uncertainty, the SA government, SADC, some EU diplomats and the Makoni grouping actively talked up the need for a GNU – ostensibly as way to avert the threat of violence coming from ZANU PF. Indeed, as independent and MDC reports emerged demonstrated that increasing numbers from the MDC’s ranks were being beaten, tortured, abducted and murdered, the rationale for a GNU – and a political counter-attack to the wave of violence – was publicly reinforced by SA and SADC.
While mediation does not preclude processes of accountability, this approach appears to have been absent from the Mbeki initiative. As a result the SADC intervention has directly facilitated ZANU PF’s unfolding strategy for manipulating the conditions and issues that would have to be negotiated. SADC’s tentative response to the March vote allowed space and time for ZANU PF to regroup and ramp up the violence and threats of more of the same – both fuelling a defensive “demand for GNU”, and reasserting ZANU PF’s leading place in the setting of terms for any negotiations. The latter now focus on ending violence and averting civil war, rather than implementing the results of the peaceful election or ensuring that the next round of elections are conducted in a free and fair atmosphere – something that it appears can no longer be ensured.
The GNU problem
If the GNU is primarily being proposed as a means to avoid a violent tragedy, rather than as a basis for a establishing a new inclusive democratic politics, sceptics are right to question the idea’s aims, objectives and predictable outcomes. Just as importantly, we need to pose a question for those advocating a non-democratic negotiated resolution to Zimbabwe’s election crisis: by what principle can the rights of the popular democratic will as expressed by voters be equated with, or rendered secondary to, the rights of discredited elites and perpetrators of violence? For this is precisely what the idea of a GNU proposes, in the name of an elusive, highly unstable and temporary peace.
Even if the MDC were able to extract considerable concessions from ZANU PF, it is highly unlikely that Robert Mugabe’s party would cede its effective control over its levers in the bureaucracy and particularly, in the security forces. Why would it: these are the instruments of war and obstruction that have enabled ZANU PF to climb out of the hole of electoral defeat on more than one occasion, to protect its networks of power. To suggest that these determinants of power would be given up willingly is to accept the notion that ZANU PF would be willing to abdicate. The last two months have exposed this view as profoundly delusional. Those who have put stock in the GNU have failed to assess their model of peace-making in light of ZANU PF’s strategic understanding that violence is a political asset and an effective substitute for popular legitimacy, which will not be negotiated away.
Rather than deflect and defeat the likelihood of political violence, the construct of a GNU would formally integrate it into the lifeblood of the Zimbabwean democratic dispensation. This is a remarkable solution to put before a political party that has just won an election based on its abiding commitment to non-violent democratic participation – and to the voting majority who supported it. For South Africans, this situation recalls the kind of power sharing arrangements that former South African President F W De Klerk had in mind at the start of the 1990s negotiation process, where the share of actual voter support would not determine power arrangements. This proposal was not acceptable in the new South Africa then, and it is not acceptable in the new Zimbabwe now.
If there were no question of who were to lead and form a GNU, there would be little space for the kind of unanswered violence that is now seen. In effect, SADC’s weak response to the March election has facilitated a strong and violent response by ZANU PF.
For the time being, it seems increasingly likely that the GNU route will be not followed. This is not due to any lack of effort by the likes of Mbeki and many in SADC, or the distasteful posturing of the rejected Makoni, who cites rising violence as the need for inclusive negotiations without naming and condemning those – his erstwhile colleagues – who have created the unstable terrain on which he hopes to relaunch his ambitions. Rather, both the MDC and its supporters are wary of legitimizing the political role of those holding the gun to their heads and the torch to their homes. War is not something to be prevented: it is here already. And the only non-violent way to confront and defeat it is the ballot box, even if that option too is flawed.
If the current pressures for a GNU do indeed fail, all is not lost for ZANU PF: Makoni or another ZANU PF senior reformer could return to the forefront if Mugabe were to win the run-off, further destabilize the MDC and civil society, and then retire on his own terms – handing over power to a reformer to negotiate a new GNU from a position of regained legitimacy and strength. But this first requires another successfully manipulated election result, and a frontal assault on MDC and civil society resistance. The arrest on treason charges this past week of MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti does not bode well; neither does the relative weakness of the SADC response to this latest development. And is there any reason to think that additional ZANU PF manipulations during and after the second round of voting will not take place, given the success of such interventions in the first?
Accepting responsibility, acting responsibly
The options chosen by SADC and the international community for dealing with the March 2008 election have directly contributed to the options chosen by ZANU PF. It was a choice not to recognise the MDC victory and to allow the illegal charade over the recount to occur. It is enough here to point out that the MDC won the Parliamentary elections, that Morgan Tsvangirai won the Presidential election, that nearly 3 million Zimbabweans did not vote, and consequently it is very clear that Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF do not enjoy the support of the vast majority of the population.
This set of circumstances allowed for an alternative political response; a recognition of and call for an MDC government to be accepted by ZANU PF. However, the failure to support this option has contributed directly to the current confusion between promoting conditions for a free and fair re-run and negotiations for a GNU. Despite a widespread acceptance that conditions cannot be free and fair for the June 27 poll, and calls for a GNU, the MDC is sticking to the electoral path and holding out prospects for an inclusive government of national healing in which it would play a lead role after the election.s This position is not openly supported by SADC, who seem stuck to a moribund engagement that is destined to undermine the democratic will of Zimbabweans, and that will promote an elitist management of transitional arrangements under the auspices of a power sharing arrangement that will effectively insulate and protect those responsible for perpetrating violence and gross human rights abuses – as happened with previous election amnesties for party violence, and most seriously with the Unity Accord in 1987.
As regards the re-run, the keys to re-establishing a recognisably fair playing field are not adequately being pursued by SADC and South Africa, which plays directly into the agenda of those who wish to ensure it does not proceed. Although it is no longer possible to create the conditions for a free and fair poll, with less than 10 days before the poll, there could and should be certain steps taken to remedy the most egregious violations and potential for destabilisation. This should include: deploying adequate numbers of election monitors, especially in areas where violence and intimidation has been reported, and playing a more active role in monitoring the activities and decision-making processes of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission; promoting an agenda of disarming ZANU PF and its militia / war veteran proxies hands; censuring the role of the security forces, censuring hate speech and talk of war by any political parties; commenting on access of candidates to state media; question and establishing a strategy with rewards and penalties for compliance/non-compliance with SADC election guidelines.
Thabo Mbeki did state ahead of the 2005 elections that there would be consequences if the SADC Principles and Guidelines were seriously violated, but this was said against the background of woefully inadequate provisions for monitoring on the ground. Meanwhile, in June 2008, the corpses of MDC officials and suspected opposition supporters are accumulating, thousands have been displaced by the political violence, likely thousands more beaten and brutalised, hate speech fills the airwaves, and a discredited President threatens the majority with war – and still, there is no sign of serious electoral censure in the air.
It is time for fresh thinking and fresh action. In advance of the second round of presidential voting, problems need to be anticipated and prevented before the arise. Several critical questions emerge.
What would have happened if SA, SADC and the international community rejected the delays by ZEC and ZANU PF, demanded the transparent compilation and immediate release of results - and ensured that all parties abided by them?
What would have happened if all civil society organisations and democratic parties and politicians
had stood firmly behind the MDC government-elect, rather than soliciting for all-inclusive extra-electoral GNU? If more support for the winning party MDC had been expressed, what options then would have remained for elite transitions?
Who, then, really enabled ZANU PF’s violent election strategy, sending the defeated party, its leaders and violent supporters inside and outside the state all of the wrong signals in the immediate post-election period?
And consequently, whose responsibility now is it to end the violence by terminating discussions about an all-inclusive GNU, and insisting on a government of transition and renewal headed unambiguously by the party elected by the people: the MDC Tsvangirai.
Death Spiral in Zimbabwe: Mediation, Violence and the GNU
Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?
[Bertolt Brecht.1953]
By
Grace Kwinjeh
18 June 2008
In March 2008 Zimbabweans voted in the most peaceful election since independence, resulting in an unambiguous victory for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai. Three months later, the country is haemorrhaging from a massive and rising tide of political violence not seen since the state sponsored terror of the early 1980s. The ruling party and its supporters are responsible for the vast majority of the current attacks. As if to underscore his party’s public embrace of violence, President Mugabe now openly threatens to “wage war” beyond the June 27 Presidential run-off election, if his candidacy should be rejected by the people for a second time. Meanwhile the MDC government-elect, MDC party structures and much of the party’s leadership have been forced into hiding as they seek to convince voters of their right to select – and see installed in place – a president of their choice.
For SADC, the Zimbabwe conflagration has become the most comprehensive diplomatic failure in the region since the resumption of the Angolan war in the 1990s. But unlike Angola, the Zimbabwe crisis is one for which SADC, President Mbeki and the international community bear a central contributing responsibility. By pushing for secretly brokered power-sharing arrangements leading to a “government of national unity” (GNU), the international intervention in Zimbabwe has relegated hopes for a new democratic dispensation built on the foundations of the expressed popular will of Zimbabweans. By refusing to actively acknowledge the MDC’s electoral victory and insist on its recognition and acceptance by ZANU PF, regional leaders and the international community effectively ignored and silenced the democratic voice of the people. As a consequence, the MDC’s hard-won legitimate authority has been erased, and the way has been opened for ZANU PF to recover by the bullet the authority it had lost at the ballot box.
It is increasingly apparent that talk of a GNU has helped to accelerate the level of violence, not calm it; and has fostered political instability, rather than the smooth transition to a new governing order that Zimbabweans voted for in March.
This violent outcome of a proposed GNU strategy should not have been unexpected. ZANU PF’s violent riposte is reminiscent of the period immediately prior to Independence around the Lancaster House Conference, and even more so of the party’s violent campaign before the 1987 “Unity Accord” with the ZAPU opposition: indeed, it is a tried and tested tactic of ZANU PF to threaten and deploy intense violence as a strategic bargaining tool. Since independence the party has singularly distinguished itself among Zimbabwean political parties by demonstrating a capacity for – and indeed claiming the right to wage – mass violence in defense of its “national” interests. No longer heading the majority party, Robert Mugabe now cynically portrays violence as a means for defending the people from their mistaken choice.
This deeply cynical pathology is echoed more subtly in the GNU concept. Despite a clear rejection of ZANU PF under electoral conditions heavily tilted in that party’s favour, unity talks have been promoted as a means of bringing the former ruling party back into the centre of decision-making. Even though neither voters nor the MDC demanded this arrangement in March, the new government in waiting has come under enormous pressure to fall in line accordingly. Its leaders have repeatedly said that such an arrangement would deny the popular voice and reward anti-democratic, flagrantly illegal and often murderous behaviour – while only deferring, and certainly not solving, the problem of organising the transition to a new political order. It is indeed difficult to understand why those who previously promoted engagement with ZANU PF as a means of strengthening a deeply flawed electoral process, should now effectively reject that improved process and insist on power sharing terms with the author of electoral fraud and intimidation.
In contrast, it is clear that the promotion of a GNU is integral to the facilitation of an elite transfer of power which would vitiate the popular will of the electorate. This is why the idea of a GNU has been explicitly rejected by the leading membership-based civil society organisations in Zimbabwe, from the trade unions to human rights networks. These groups challenge the credibility and viability of a compromise that according to its proponents, would bring about some sort of “normalisation” of the political space without addressing the growing democratic deficit in Zimbabwe. For the Zimbabwean democratic movement, political normalisation requires before all else, recognition and acceptance of the expressed will of dominant social interests – not its circumvention through brokered elite pacting carried out under the threat of violence.
In Zimbabwe, there is abiding consternation over why ZANU PF and its militia were given the opportunity by SADC and the international community to ignore the electoral results in the first place. What would have happened if the election results – deemed legitimate by observers – had been recognised and enforced? And what would happen if a similarly free and fair process were enforced in the current second round, by insisting on the disarming of ZANU PF and its militia, and the confinement of the security forces to base? Have those mediating and promoting mediation raised these issues – the clearest and most profound obstacles to democratic practice in Zimbabwe in the current moment?
It is widely acknowledged that demilitarisation is a central precondition needed to advance a democratic outcome and ensure its consolidation in the medium term. Yet, the perpetration of violence has been treated as a negotiable right – not as an act which invalidates claims to the process of a democratic transition. Remarkably, it took 10 weeks of deteriorating conditions for SADC’s official mediator Thabo Mbeki to publicly raise his concerns about the spiralling violence. But even then he avoided commentary on responsibility, despite ample documented evidence heavily implicating ZANU PF and state security forces in commanding the terror. His spokesperson claims he is precluded from doing so by virtue of his position as mediator. However this is a hollow rationale in the face of open and mounting ZANU PF belligerence.
The absence of collective censure of violence and any pointed criticism by Mbeki has been seen by perpetrators of the violence as giving them a green light to continue employing these tactics to further their political ends. And for ZANU PF, with few political repercussions arising from the deployment of its violent supporters, there seems little incentive for abandoning this approach– and perhaps much to be gained from pursuing it. Robert Mugabe’s public declaration earlier this week that his party would go to war in the event of his defeat in the second round of voting was met with paralysing silence by Thabo Mbeki. The deployment of weapons and violence may be logistically difficult to confront: the deployment of words and threats is not.
The election fix: back to the future
By focusing on the GNU, rather than the actual election results, the SADC mediation has effectively allowed ZANU PF to return to the brokerage scenario it had anticipated in the post election period. This scenario, broadly shared by ZANU PF reformers, SA, some EU governments and others before the election, was premised on the belief that the MDC-Tsvangirai party’s support would be diminished by support for MDC-Mutambara and for Simba Makoni, the former Finance Minister and ZANU PF reformer who was a candidate for President. A split opposition vote would enable victory in the Presidential election and at least a plurality in Parliament. Moreover, the dispersion of opposition representation across three groupings would present options for developing a ‘Kenyan-style’ negotiation that could lead to a ZANU PF dominated GNU. Makoni – the “modernising” reform face of ZANU PF - could be parachuted in under Mugabe, to soon replace him as the consensus politician. And ZANU PF could argue that, if this kind of arrangement was acceptable for Kenya, why not in Zimbabwe? There was a lot of this kind of talk among MDC-M and Makoni supporters in advance of the election.
For ZANU PF this scenario both enabled the departure of Mugabe, a political liability whose presence would continue to block the party’s return to legitimacy and the resumption of desperately needed, stabilizing financial assistance for the world’s fastest-collapsing economy; and the retention and renewed consolidation of power by the ruling party. Confident of a mediated victory and needing a “legitimate” result to back its claims to rehabilitation, ZANU PF significantly loosened control over the electoral process in the first round of voting in March.
As it turned out, the party’s electoral assumptions were wildly naïve. At the election support for the MDC-M collapsed – and notably for its leadership, which was roundly defeated. Makoni was overwhelmingly rejected by voters, gaining perhaps just 10 percent of the vote. At the same time, ZANU PF’s traditional voters deserted the party by voting for the opposition or by boycotting the poll, as they had done in the benchmark defeat of the party in the 2000 Constitutional Referendum. In contrast, the MDC Tsvangirai party surged across the country, including in former rural strongholds of ZANU PF that for the first time ever had been rendered easily accessible to opposition campaigners – and to opposition polling agents and officials. This combination of factors meant there were too few votes to rig with, and that the conditions allowing the playing off of opposition forces within a prospective GNU did not materialise.
The shock of the election result and the resulting conundrum for the ruling party were quite literally written on its face. The headline of The Sunday Mail, the most slavishly loyal of the state-controlled newspapers, screamed the day after the election, “Anxiety Grips Zim” . Many other state media, including the country’s only radio and television broadcaster, ZBC, effectively fell silent, bewildered about what to say. No party leader of note addressed the nation for several days. It was apparent that ZANU PF was reassessing its game plan. Over the next month it developed and then rolled this plan out, as SADC first patiently accommodated repeated inexplicable delays in the processing and announcement of results by ZEC, and then sat motionless as ZESN, the key civic election monitoring network, and MDC itself were raided by state officials in search of independently collected polling data that could be used to disprove manipulated official figures. Even after the long delay, only limited details of the presidential poll were eventually released.
Meanwhile, reports surfaced of remobilised war veterans and youth militias, and of the first violent penetrations by state security forces of “turncoat” former ruling party strongholds. ZANU PF aimed to create conditions that would make the run-off so difficult and dreaded that prospects of averting violence through some form of GNU and power sharing arrangement would be welcomed: a replay of the ZANU-ZAPU Unity Pact of 1987. ZANU PF’s transparently obvious “spin” on the violence – which has often been taken up by SADC leaders, and swallowed whole by much of the regional media as well – has been doubly damaging for Zimbabwean democrats. One the one hand, substantial evidence that the violence is disproportionately organised against the MDC has drawn muted criticism from SA, SADC and the GNU advocates like Makoni; on the other, the small amount of retaliatory violence attributed to the MDC is deemed to suggest a “crisis” and raise possibilities of “civil war” – reinforcing the need to avoid a run-off and the urgency for a negotiated solution.
African leaders have thus far studiously avoided apportioning responsibility for violence, in most instances couching reactions in terms of cautioning both sides and invoking dialogue. Widespread violations of SADC’s election ‘norms and standards’ have failed to elicit coherent responses from them. Neither has SADC cautioned or castigated the ZANU PF government for failing to ensure its constitutional responsibility for safety and security, despite overwhelming empirical evidence that the primary perpetrator is ZANU PF and its proxies.
Rather than address the issue of destabilizing violence and impose political censure for its deployment in this period of uncertainty, the SA government, SADC, some EU diplomats and the Makoni grouping actively talked up the need for a GNU – ostensibly as way to avert the threat of violence coming from ZANU PF. Indeed, as independent and MDC reports emerged demonstrated that increasing numbers from the MDC’s ranks were being beaten, tortured, abducted and murdered, the rationale for a GNU – and a political counter-attack to the wave of violence – was publicly reinforced by SA and SADC.
While mediation does not preclude processes of accountability, this approach appears to have been absent from the Mbeki initiative. As a result the SADC intervention has directly facilitated ZANU PF’s unfolding strategy for manipulating the conditions and issues that would have to be negotiated. SADC’s tentative response to the March vote allowed space and time for ZANU PF to regroup and ramp up the violence and threats of more of the same – both fuelling a defensive “demand for GNU”, and reasserting ZANU PF’s leading place in the setting of terms for any negotiations. The latter now focus on ending violence and averting civil war, rather than implementing the results of the peaceful election or ensuring that the next round of elections are conducted in a free and fair atmosphere – something that it appears can no longer be ensured.
The GNU problem
If the GNU is primarily being proposed as a means to avoid a violent tragedy, rather than as a basis for a establishing a new inclusive democratic politics, sceptics are right to question the idea’s aims, objectives and predictable outcomes. Just as importantly, we need to pose a question for those advocating a non-democratic negotiated resolution to Zimbabwe’s election crisis: by what principle can the rights of the popular democratic will as expressed by voters be equated with, or rendered secondary to, the rights of discredited elites and perpetrators of violence? For this is precisely what the idea of a GNU proposes, in the name of an elusive, highly unstable and temporary peace.
Even if the MDC were able to extract considerable concessions from ZANU PF, it is highly unlikely that Robert Mugabe’s party would cede its effective control over its levers in the bureaucracy and particularly, in the security forces. Why would it: these are the instruments of war and obstruction that have enabled ZANU PF to climb out of the hole of electoral defeat on more than one occasion, to protect its networks of power. To suggest that these determinants of power would be given up willingly is to accept the notion that ZANU PF would be willing to abdicate. The last two months have exposed this view as profoundly delusional. Those who have put stock in the GNU have failed to assess their model of peace-making in light of ZANU PF’s strategic understanding that violence is a political asset and an effective substitute for popular legitimacy, which will not be negotiated away.
Rather than deflect and defeat the likelihood of political violence, the construct of a GNU would formally integrate it into the lifeblood of the Zimbabwean democratic dispensation. This is a remarkable solution to put before a political party that has just won an election based on its abiding commitment to non-violent democratic participation – and to the voting majority who supported it. For South Africans, this situation recalls the kind of power sharing arrangements that former South African President F W De Klerk had in mind at the start of the 1990s negotiation process, where the share of actual voter support would not determine power arrangements. This proposal was not acceptable in the new South Africa then, and it is not acceptable in the new Zimbabwe now.
If there were no question of who were to lead and form a GNU, there would be little space for the kind of unanswered violence that is now seen. In effect, SADC’s weak response to the March election has facilitated a strong and violent response by ZANU PF.
For the time being, it seems increasingly likely that the GNU route will be not followed. This is not due to any lack of effort by the likes of Mbeki and many in SADC, or the distasteful posturing of the rejected Makoni, who cites rising violence as the need for inclusive negotiations without naming and condemning those – his erstwhile colleagues – who have created the unstable terrain on which he hopes to relaunch his ambitions. Rather, both the MDC and its supporters are wary of legitimizing the political role of those holding the gun to their heads and the torch to their homes. War is not something to be prevented: it is here already. And the only non-violent way to confront and defeat it is the ballot box, even if that option too is flawed.
If the current pressures for a GNU do indeed fail, all is not lost for ZANU PF: Makoni or another ZANU PF senior reformer could return to the forefront if Mugabe were to win the run-off, further destabilize the MDC and civil society, and then retire on his own terms – handing over power to a reformer to negotiate a new GNU from a position of regained legitimacy and strength. But this first requires another successfully manipulated election result, and a frontal assault on MDC and civil society resistance. The arrest on treason charges this past week of MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti does not bode well; neither does the relative weakness of the SADC response to this latest development. And is there any reason to think that additional ZANU PF manipulations during and after the second round of voting will not take place, given the success of such interventions in the first?
Accepting responsibility, acting responsibly
The options chosen by SADC and the international community for dealing with the March 2008 election have directly contributed to the options chosen by ZANU PF. It was a choice not to recognise the MDC victory and to allow the illegal charade over the recount to occur. It is enough here to point out that the MDC won the Parliamentary elections, that Morgan Tsvangirai won the Presidential election, that nearly 3 million Zimbabweans did not vote, and consequently it is very clear that Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF do not enjoy the support of the vast majority of the population.
This set of circumstances allowed for an alternative political response; a recognition of and call for an MDC government to be accepted by ZANU PF. However, the failure to support this option has contributed directly to the current confusion between promoting conditions for a free and fair re-run and negotiations for a GNU. Despite a widespread acceptance that conditions cannot be free and fair for the June 27 poll, and calls for a GNU, the MDC is sticking to the electoral path and holding out prospects for an inclusive government of national healing in which it would play a lead role after the election.s This position is not openly supported by SADC, who seem stuck to a moribund engagement that is destined to undermine the democratic will of Zimbabweans, and that will promote an elitist management of transitional arrangements under the auspices of a power sharing arrangement that will effectively insulate and protect those responsible for perpetrating violence and gross human rights abuses – as happened with previous election amnesties for party violence, and most seriously with the Unity Accord in 1987.
As regards the re-run, the keys to re-establishing a recognisably fair playing field are not adequately being pursued by SADC and South Africa, which plays directly into the agenda of those who wish to ensure it does not proceed. Although it is no longer possible to create the conditions for a free and fair poll, with less than 10 days before the poll, there could and should be certain steps taken to remedy the most egregious violations and potential for destabilisation. This should include: deploying adequate numbers of election monitors, especially in areas where violence and intimidation has been reported, and playing a more active role in monitoring the activities and decision-making processes of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission; promoting an agenda of disarming ZANU PF and its militia / war veteran proxies hands; censuring the role of the security forces, censuring hate speech and talk of war by any political parties; commenting on access of candidates to state media; question and establishing a strategy with rewards and penalties for compliance/non-compliance with SADC election guidelines.
Thabo Mbeki did state ahead of the 2005 elections that there would be consequences if the SADC Principles and Guidelines were seriously violated, but this was said against the background of woefully inadequate provisions for monitoring on the ground. Meanwhile, in June 2008, the corpses of MDC officials and suspected opposition supporters are accumulating, thousands have been displaced by the political violence, likely thousands more beaten and brutalised, hate speech fills the airwaves, and a discredited President threatens the majority with war – and still, there is no sign of serious electoral censure in the air.
It is time for fresh thinking and fresh action. In advance of the second round of presidential voting, problems need to be anticipated and prevented before the arise. Several critical questions emerge.
What would have happened if SA, SADC and the international community rejected the delays by ZEC and ZANU PF, demanded the transparent compilation and immediate release of results - and ensured that all parties abided by them?
What would have happened if all civil society organisations and democratic parties and politicians
had stood firmly behind the MDC government-elect, rather than soliciting for all-inclusive extra-electoral GNU? If more support for the winning party MDC had been expressed, what options then would have remained for elite transitions?
Who, then, really enabled ZANU PF’s violent election strategy, sending the defeated party, its leaders and violent supporters inside and outside the state all of the wrong signals in the immediate post-election period?
And consequently, whose responsibility now is it to end the violence by terminating discussions about an all-inclusive GNU, and insisting on a government of transition and renewal headed unambiguously by the party elected by the people: the MDC Tsvangirai.
Friday, June 13, 2008
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Friday, May 23, 2008
Ruling party terrorises voters
Zimbabwe: Ruling party terrorises voters
IPS
Victim of post-election violence in Zimbabwe. Credit: Solidarity Peance Trust
23 May 08 - A report on post-election violence by the Solidarity Peace Trust (SPT), a church-based organisation focused on human rights abuses in Zimbabwe describes a climate of brutal intimidation in Zimbabwe following March 29 elections
Grace Kwinjeh/IPS, Johannesburg - "It’s a very traumatized community. Their crime on the 29th March election, at that polling station called Chaona, there were about 80 votes for the MDC and 15 votes for ZANU-PF. So that is the offence they committed. This is the price they are paying. And that is what Retired Major Mhandu was saying. ‘You will have to learn’. Not only were the victims killed, their parents were also beaten, their wives were also beaten, their children were also beaten, so it was a very frightening operation. The community is still traumatized. It’s very sad."
This testimony comes from an eyewitness account of the massacre of six people on May 5 at Chaona, a village in northern Zimbabwe; the attack was directed by Mhandu, a member of Parliament from the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). The account is part of a report on post-election violence by the Solidarity Peace Trust (SPT), a church-based organisation focused on human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, released in Johannesburg on May 21. It describes a climate of brutal intimidation in Zimbabwe following March 29 elections, and recommends fresh mediation led by the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) in order to form a transitional government.
The report, titled "Punishing Dissent, Silencing Citizens: the Zimbabwe Elections 2008," is based on information gathered from 681 interviews carried out across Zimbabwe between Jan. 1 and Apr. 30, supplemented by consultations with Zimbabwean civil society and health professionals. The SPT interviewed approximately 50 more people at the beginning of May.
The authors describe a campaign of beatings, torture and destruction of homes since the elections, in which at least 22 people have been killed. They say the attacks have been carried out by ZANU-PF supporters — including war veterans and the party’s youth wing — but planned by a Joint Operations Command that includes senior members of Zimbabwe’s army, police, prisons service and Central Intelligence Organisation. Army, police or intelligence officers have been directly involved in 56% of the attacks covered by the report. ZANU-PF members of Parliament are also accused of directly participating in assaults.
The authors say none of their interviewees reported attacks by the MDC, but the authors visited a business centre where opposition supporters had retaliated to the destruction of shops owned by MDC-aligned traders by burning and looting stores owned by ZANU supporters. They also acknowledge a number of other unsubstantiated claims of violence attributed to MDC supporters.
The violence is nationwide, but particularly intense in rural areas of the northern province of Mashonaland, a traditional ZANU-PF stronghold, where many voters for the first time gave their support to the opposition. The authors believe the violence is meant to intimidate people in these areas ahead of run-off presidential elections now scheduled for June 27.
The Zimbabwe Election Commission delayed the release of results of Zimbabwe’s March 29 election for several weeks, ostensibly for a recount, but giving rise to suspicion of manipulation to avoid an outright defeat for the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) by its main challenger, the Movement for Democratic Change. When results were eventually released on May 2, no candidate had the 50 percent required for outright victory under Zimbabwe’s electoral rules, necessitating a run-off.
Speaking in Johannesburg at the launch of the report, Brian Raftopoulos, a leading Zimbabwean academic said, "SADC has to bring the parties together, demobilize structures of violence, create a Transitional Government that will oversee the writing of a new constitution, and set conditions necessary for free and fair elections."
Raftopoulos insisted that in the present environment of state violence, the June run-off election is neither practical nor desirable. "We have to bring the two centres of power together. That is the only way forward. We have to accept that ZANU PF is a force on the ground that is why it is able to do the things it is doing."
The SPT report’s recommendations were immediately questioned by analysts and some civic leaders at the press conference who felt the proposal could give fresh legitimacy to Mugabe’s regime while disregarding the electoral process in which Zimbabwe’s people have elected leaders of their choice.
Nicole Fritz, the Director of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC), an organization that promotes human rights and the rule of law, was present at the launch of the report; she warned against facilitating agreements between elites for the sake of peace. "Issues of international justice are no longer issues subject to political negotiation. Amnesties cannot be granted for crimes against humanity and crimes to the scale of genocide," she said.
Doubts were also cast over South Africa’s role in mediation. Elinor Sisulu, spokesperson for the Johannesburg-based Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, a coalition of civic organizations, accused South African president Thabo Mbeki — who led SADC-sponsored mediation efforts in 2007 — of failing to acknowledge the gravity of Zimbabwe’s political crisis. Sisulu cited Mbeki’s earlier attempts to block United Nations Security Council efforts on Zimbabwe, "Mbeki has opposed the UN, suggesting Africans can do it themselves."
Political analyst Deprose Muchena suggested that any mediation team should include other Africans with experience in political mediation and that President Mbeki should not work alone. "We need to reinforce the mediation route first by ensuring a sitting president not be allowed to work alone, because it is quite evident he will not deliver a solution on his own."
For the moment, the MDC has begun campaigning for the run-off election. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai announced today that he would re-enter Zimbabwe this weekend; he delayed his return from South Africa to begin campaigning for the June run-off when his security staff said there was evidence of a plot to assassinate him. His party has decided to defy the violence in a bid to remove Robert Mugabe through the ballot.
The SPT report quotes an unidentified MDC activist saying, "What has clearly emerged in Zimbabwe is that an election is not an election, since ZANU PF purports to know for the people of Zimbabwe rather than the people of Zimbabwe to know for themselves…. We can’t be forced to do what we don’t want to do. We can’t be forced to vote for hunger. We can’t be forced to vote for poverty. We can’t be forced to vote for terrorists like this…"
See online: Solidarity Peace Trust
IPS
Victim of post-election violence in Zimbabwe. Credit: Solidarity Peance Trust
23 May 08 - A report on post-election violence by the Solidarity Peace Trust (SPT), a church-based organisation focused on human rights abuses in Zimbabwe describes a climate of brutal intimidation in Zimbabwe following March 29 elections
Grace Kwinjeh/IPS, Johannesburg - "It’s a very traumatized community. Their crime on the 29th March election, at that polling station called Chaona, there were about 80 votes for the MDC and 15 votes for ZANU-PF. So that is the offence they committed. This is the price they are paying. And that is what Retired Major Mhandu was saying. ‘You will have to learn’. Not only were the victims killed, their parents were also beaten, their wives were also beaten, their children were also beaten, so it was a very frightening operation. The community is still traumatized. It’s very sad."
This testimony comes from an eyewitness account of the massacre of six people on May 5 at Chaona, a village in northern Zimbabwe; the attack was directed by Mhandu, a member of Parliament from the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). The account is part of a report on post-election violence by the Solidarity Peace Trust (SPT), a church-based organisation focused on human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, released in Johannesburg on May 21. It describes a climate of brutal intimidation in Zimbabwe following March 29 elections, and recommends fresh mediation led by the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) in order to form a transitional government.
The report, titled "Punishing Dissent, Silencing Citizens: the Zimbabwe Elections 2008," is based on information gathered from 681 interviews carried out across Zimbabwe between Jan. 1 and Apr. 30, supplemented by consultations with Zimbabwean civil society and health professionals. The SPT interviewed approximately 50 more people at the beginning of May.
The authors describe a campaign of beatings, torture and destruction of homes since the elections, in which at least 22 people have been killed. They say the attacks have been carried out by ZANU-PF supporters — including war veterans and the party’s youth wing — but planned by a Joint Operations Command that includes senior members of Zimbabwe’s army, police, prisons service and Central Intelligence Organisation. Army, police or intelligence officers have been directly involved in 56% of the attacks covered by the report. ZANU-PF members of Parliament are also accused of directly participating in assaults.
The authors say none of their interviewees reported attacks by the MDC, but the authors visited a business centre where opposition supporters had retaliated to the destruction of shops owned by MDC-aligned traders by burning and looting stores owned by ZANU supporters. They also acknowledge a number of other unsubstantiated claims of violence attributed to MDC supporters.
The violence is nationwide, but particularly intense in rural areas of the northern province of Mashonaland, a traditional ZANU-PF stronghold, where many voters for the first time gave their support to the opposition. The authors believe the violence is meant to intimidate people in these areas ahead of run-off presidential elections now scheduled for June 27.
The Zimbabwe Election Commission delayed the release of results of Zimbabwe’s March 29 election for several weeks, ostensibly for a recount, but giving rise to suspicion of manipulation to avoid an outright defeat for the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) by its main challenger, the Movement for Democratic Change. When results were eventually released on May 2, no candidate had the 50 percent required for outright victory under Zimbabwe’s electoral rules, necessitating a run-off.
Speaking in Johannesburg at the launch of the report, Brian Raftopoulos, a leading Zimbabwean academic said, "SADC has to bring the parties together, demobilize structures of violence, create a Transitional Government that will oversee the writing of a new constitution, and set conditions necessary for free and fair elections."
Raftopoulos insisted that in the present environment of state violence, the June run-off election is neither practical nor desirable. "We have to bring the two centres of power together. That is the only way forward. We have to accept that ZANU PF is a force on the ground that is why it is able to do the things it is doing."
The SPT report’s recommendations were immediately questioned by analysts and some civic leaders at the press conference who felt the proposal could give fresh legitimacy to Mugabe’s regime while disregarding the electoral process in which Zimbabwe’s people have elected leaders of their choice.
Nicole Fritz, the Director of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC), an organization that promotes human rights and the rule of law, was present at the launch of the report; she warned against facilitating agreements between elites for the sake of peace. "Issues of international justice are no longer issues subject to political negotiation. Amnesties cannot be granted for crimes against humanity and crimes to the scale of genocide," she said.
Doubts were also cast over South Africa’s role in mediation. Elinor Sisulu, spokesperson for the Johannesburg-based Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, a coalition of civic organizations, accused South African president Thabo Mbeki — who led SADC-sponsored mediation efforts in 2007 — of failing to acknowledge the gravity of Zimbabwe’s political crisis. Sisulu cited Mbeki’s earlier attempts to block United Nations Security Council efforts on Zimbabwe, "Mbeki has opposed the UN, suggesting Africans can do it themselves."
Political analyst Deprose Muchena suggested that any mediation team should include other Africans with experience in political mediation and that President Mbeki should not work alone. "We need to reinforce the mediation route first by ensuring a sitting president not be allowed to work alone, because it is quite evident he will not deliver a solution on his own."
For the moment, the MDC has begun campaigning for the run-off election. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai announced today that he would re-enter Zimbabwe this weekend; he delayed his return from South Africa to begin campaigning for the June run-off when his security staff said there was evidence of a plot to assassinate him. His party has decided to defy the violence in a bid to remove Robert Mugabe through the ballot.
The SPT report quotes an unidentified MDC activist saying, "What has clearly emerged in Zimbabwe is that an election is not an election, since ZANU PF purports to know for the people of Zimbabwe rather than the people of Zimbabwe to know for themselves…. We can’t be forced to do what we don’t want to do. We can’t be forced to vote for hunger. We can’t be forced to vote for poverty. We can’t be forced to vote for terrorists like this…"
See online: Solidarity Peace Trust
Monday, May 19, 2008
Mugabe 'electoral cleansing' - xenophobia and global capitalism
By Grace Kwinjeh
The post election crisis in Zimbabwe and the SADC region is a manifestation of much deeper, complex issues to do with global capitalism and its vampire-like tendencies.
At the root of the problems is the failure of our nationalist Governments to deal with these dimensions of the global crisis: food shortages and price hikes; oil speculation; financial meltdowns and higher interest rates. These manifest themselves as rising inequality and unemployment and competition between very poor people in places like Alexandra, Tembisa, Diepkloof and the Johannesburg inner city for scarce resources.
It is only by addressing these issues that we can meet the aspirations of the masses for freedom and decent lives.
Forces both local and global may seem to be worlds apart in the definition and context of the Zimbabwean struggle but we African citizens are all in an awkward position.
Global capitalism
While we are fighting the Robert Mugabe dictatorship, we Zimbabweans have not been spared from the negative impact of global capitalism on our livelihoods especially in poor communities - as we are currently witnessing, in the current xenophobic attacks against us.
The xenophobia exposes not only working-class people's fears of lower wages, higher crime and new cultural influences, as is the explanation at first blush. In addition, we can see in the attacks on non-nationals the duplicitous role our national elites play in pushing us further to the mercy of capitalist forces while they label us in the opposition – puppets of the West.
The attacks are being condemned by progressive forces in SA, including COSATU Secretary General, Zwelinzima Vavi, who said: "I want to send out this message: It is not the Zimbabweans (exiles) that cause the problems (of the poor)".
He cited the capitalist system as the problem and argued that South Africa should focus on building an economic system that could: "seriously eradicate poverty".
The same position reiterated by the Anti-Privatisation Forum:"Let us not forget that it is South African corporate capital – through the framework of NEPAD – that has, over the last decade, moved into other African countries, most often causing many local, smaller businesses to close down and thus contributing to a situation in which many poor people have lost their jobs."
Three million exiles
There are over three million of us eking out a living outside Zimbabwe's borders, a result of the failure of our national leaders to deliver both politically and economically for us at home.
The situation gets more ridiculous when looked at within the context of the aspirations spelt out in the reformed African Union, in the New Partnership for Africa's Development, and its dream of an African Renaissance.
These programmes are again full of empty rhetoric framed, more to attract international donor funds and less to deliver dignity to African citizens, negating our 'ubuntuness', which espouses values to do with compassion, value for human life, respect for each other and harmonious existence.
Even as Frantz Fanon prophesied back then on the dilemma of African Unity in post–colonial Africa: "Now the nationalist bourgeois, who in region after region hasten to make their own fortunes and to set up a national system of exploitation, do their utmost to put obstacles in the path of this 'Utopia'. The national bourgeoisies, who are quite clear as to what their objectives are, have decided to bar the way to that unity, to that coordinated effort on the part of two hundred and fifty million men to triumph over stupidity, hunger and inhumanity at one and the same time."
Fanon's insight helps us understand the failures of Mugabe and his allies beyond their "leftist" rhetoric. They are forever trapped in the awkward "talk left – walk right" jive as they remain arguably the best custodians of capitalist/imperialist forces, in our countries.
International Monetary Fund
Mugabe flirted with the US military for many years, and until 1998 was considered amongst the highest-performing of World Bank and International Monetary Fund puppets, earning a "highly satisfactory" rating from the Bretton Woods Institutions in 1995. Did he not use $205 million in hard currency in 2006 to repay the IMF for failed loans?
In Zimbabwe today those suffering under the yoke of Mugabe's oppression are us black citizens. We are the homeless, the jobless, the battered and the bruised.
Majority not respected
We are in the majority of those whose vote is not respected, in a negation of that very national liberation struggle aspirations of 'one man one vote.'
At the moment, Zimbabweans are just as good as people who did not go out to vote. We remain at the mercy of the dictatorship, as Mugabe is determined at each turn to reverse our hard-earned victories.
The elections did not deliver change. Instead, the moment of triumph against Mugabe and his cohort soon turned into a nightmare. The opposition won against one of the most entrenched liberation movements on the African continent. We romped to victory with a narrow parliamentary majority, equal seats as Zanu PF in the Senate and a majority votes in the Presidential election count. It was a great achievement given the odds placed against any possible opposition electoral victory.
Devastating retribution
The story of Mugabe's retribution against innocent civilians gets more devastating each day – from abductions, torture to cold blooded gruesome murders.
"One group grabbed a 79-year-old widow, yanked up her skirt, then lashed her bare buttocks with barbed-wire whips as two dozen terrified relatives looked on. The woman, Martha Mucheto, said she cried in pain and shame. 'If none of you confesses, we will hit this granny until she's dead,' Mucheto, a great-grandmother and former nurse's aide, recalled hearing. She spoke from a hospital bed in Harare."
The Washington Post
Old grannies such as gogo Mucheto are not spared in this brutality. Young men are killed in cold blood. The latest case is of Better Chokururama who was shot once and stabbed four times around the chest area by Mugabe's thugs. Chokururama was buried on 17 May 2008, one of at least two dozen MDC members killed for their beliefs in recent weeks, and one of several hundred since 2000.
Most affected are the already-struggling and impoverished rural folks. Scores are being displaced in their own areas while others find their way to towns, many being victims of torture.
Zanu PF, the liberation movement that defeated the colonialists in a protracted struggle, somehow concluded that they should hold state power in perpetuity. The era of democratization has not yet arrived. The elites in Zimbabwe, like their despotic friends elsewhere in the world, disdain the notion that elections are the process through which people elect leaders of their choice.
Elections remain a privilege that is denied to the masses. As Zimbabwe prepares for a run-off on the 27th of June, we expect once again to be fed nauseating fascist propaganda on good citizenry and patriotism. Mugabe has declared war against the people of the world.
We have an obligation to organize ourselves and fight back. As Fanon advised: "…we must understand that African Unity can only be achieved through the upward thrust of the people, and under the leadership of the people, and that is to say, in defiance of the interests of the bourgeoisie."
The marches on 17 May 2008, led by COSATU, helped to strengthen people-to-people solidarity. The way our SATAWU comrades exposed and fought against the 'ship of shame' and stopped it from offloading its cargo of arms in Durban, is a show of solidarity that the people of Zimbabwe will forever remember.
Zimbabwe does not need arms. We are not at war. We want decent jobs, homes, schools and food.
· Grace Kwinjeh is the Chairperson of the Global Zimbabwe Forum
The post election crisis in Zimbabwe and the SADC region is a manifestation of much deeper, complex issues to do with global capitalism and its vampire-like tendencies.
At the root of the problems is the failure of our nationalist Governments to deal with these dimensions of the global crisis: food shortages and price hikes; oil speculation; financial meltdowns and higher interest rates. These manifest themselves as rising inequality and unemployment and competition between very poor people in places like Alexandra, Tembisa, Diepkloof and the Johannesburg inner city for scarce resources.
It is only by addressing these issues that we can meet the aspirations of the masses for freedom and decent lives.
Forces both local and global may seem to be worlds apart in the definition and context of the Zimbabwean struggle but we African citizens are all in an awkward position.
Global capitalism
While we are fighting the Robert Mugabe dictatorship, we Zimbabweans have not been spared from the negative impact of global capitalism on our livelihoods especially in poor communities - as we are currently witnessing, in the current xenophobic attacks against us.
The xenophobia exposes not only working-class people's fears of lower wages, higher crime and new cultural influences, as is the explanation at first blush. In addition, we can see in the attacks on non-nationals the duplicitous role our national elites play in pushing us further to the mercy of capitalist forces while they label us in the opposition – puppets of the West.
The attacks are being condemned by progressive forces in SA, including COSATU Secretary General, Zwelinzima Vavi, who said: "I want to send out this message: It is not the Zimbabweans (exiles) that cause the problems (of the poor)".
He cited the capitalist system as the problem and argued that South Africa should focus on building an economic system that could: "seriously eradicate poverty".
The same position reiterated by the Anti-Privatisation Forum:"Let us not forget that it is South African corporate capital – through the framework of NEPAD – that has, over the last decade, moved into other African countries, most often causing many local, smaller businesses to close down and thus contributing to a situation in which many poor people have lost their jobs."
Three million exiles
There are over three million of us eking out a living outside Zimbabwe's borders, a result of the failure of our national leaders to deliver both politically and economically for us at home.
The situation gets more ridiculous when looked at within the context of the aspirations spelt out in the reformed African Union, in the New Partnership for Africa's Development, and its dream of an African Renaissance.
These programmes are again full of empty rhetoric framed, more to attract international donor funds and less to deliver dignity to African citizens, negating our 'ubuntuness', which espouses values to do with compassion, value for human life, respect for each other and harmonious existence.
Even as Frantz Fanon prophesied back then on the dilemma of African Unity in post–colonial Africa: "Now the nationalist bourgeois, who in region after region hasten to make their own fortunes and to set up a national system of exploitation, do their utmost to put obstacles in the path of this 'Utopia'. The national bourgeoisies, who are quite clear as to what their objectives are, have decided to bar the way to that unity, to that coordinated effort on the part of two hundred and fifty million men to triumph over stupidity, hunger and inhumanity at one and the same time."
Fanon's insight helps us understand the failures of Mugabe and his allies beyond their "leftist" rhetoric. They are forever trapped in the awkward "talk left – walk right" jive as they remain arguably the best custodians of capitalist/imperialist forces, in our countries.
International Monetary Fund
Mugabe flirted with the US military for many years, and until 1998 was considered amongst the highest-performing of World Bank and International Monetary Fund puppets, earning a "highly satisfactory" rating from the Bretton Woods Institutions in 1995. Did he not use $205 million in hard currency in 2006 to repay the IMF for failed loans?
In Zimbabwe today those suffering under the yoke of Mugabe's oppression are us black citizens. We are the homeless, the jobless, the battered and the bruised.
Majority not respected
We are in the majority of those whose vote is not respected, in a negation of that very national liberation struggle aspirations of 'one man one vote.'
At the moment, Zimbabweans are just as good as people who did not go out to vote. We remain at the mercy of the dictatorship, as Mugabe is determined at each turn to reverse our hard-earned victories.
The elections did not deliver change. Instead, the moment of triumph against Mugabe and his cohort soon turned into a nightmare. The opposition won against one of the most entrenched liberation movements on the African continent. We romped to victory with a narrow parliamentary majority, equal seats as Zanu PF in the Senate and a majority votes in the Presidential election count. It was a great achievement given the odds placed against any possible opposition electoral victory.
Devastating retribution
The story of Mugabe's retribution against innocent civilians gets more devastating each day – from abductions, torture to cold blooded gruesome murders.
"One group grabbed a 79-year-old widow, yanked up her skirt, then lashed her bare buttocks with barbed-wire whips as two dozen terrified relatives looked on. The woman, Martha Mucheto, said she cried in pain and shame. 'If none of you confesses, we will hit this granny until she's dead,' Mucheto, a great-grandmother and former nurse's aide, recalled hearing. She spoke from a hospital bed in Harare."
The Washington Post
Old grannies such as gogo Mucheto are not spared in this brutality. Young men are killed in cold blood. The latest case is of Better Chokururama who was shot once and stabbed four times around the chest area by Mugabe's thugs. Chokururama was buried on 17 May 2008, one of at least two dozen MDC members killed for their beliefs in recent weeks, and one of several hundred since 2000.
Most affected are the already-struggling and impoverished rural folks. Scores are being displaced in their own areas while others find their way to towns, many being victims of torture.
Zanu PF, the liberation movement that defeated the colonialists in a protracted struggle, somehow concluded that they should hold state power in perpetuity. The era of democratization has not yet arrived. The elites in Zimbabwe, like their despotic friends elsewhere in the world, disdain the notion that elections are the process through which people elect leaders of their choice.
Elections remain a privilege that is denied to the masses. As Zimbabwe prepares for a run-off on the 27th of June, we expect once again to be fed nauseating fascist propaganda on good citizenry and patriotism. Mugabe has declared war against the people of the world.
We have an obligation to organize ourselves and fight back. As Fanon advised: "…we must understand that African Unity can only be achieved through the upward thrust of the people, and under the leadership of the people, and that is to say, in defiance of the interests of the bourgeoisie."
The marches on 17 May 2008, led by COSATU, helped to strengthen people-to-people solidarity. The way our SATAWU comrades exposed and fought against the 'ship of shame' and stopped it from offloading its cargo of arms in Durban, is a show of solidarity that the people of Zimbabwe will forever remember.
Zimbabwe does not need arms. We are not at war. We want decent jobs, homes, schools and food.
· Grace Kwinjeh is the Chairperson of the Global Zimbabwe Forum
Saturday, May 17, 2008
An Urgent Call and Appeal to Save Zimbabwe
GLOBAL ZIMBABWE FORUM
"The Voice of the Zimbabwean Diaspora"
PRESS STATEMENT
An Urgent Call and Appeal to Save Zimbabwe
The Global Zimbabwe Forum would like to express its dismay and dire concern at the current state of political affairs in the Zimbabwe in the aftermath of the harmonized elections that were held in Zimbabwe on 29th March 2008.
We would like as Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, to state in no uncertain terms our unequivocal stance on the following issues:
1. The outcome of the said elections was highly compromised by the fact that over three million eligible voters who are now living outside Zimbabwe were excluded from participating in the process. We believe that the exclusion of the Diaspora vote is a fundamental flow that has seriously affected the credibility of the results of the electoral process.
2. We also note with concern the rather inconclusive nature of the presidential poll process. It is our strong view that Robert Mugabe no longer has the express mandate of the majority of the Zimbabwean electorate and therefore must not be allowed to continue as the President of the country. He must step down.
3. We further call upon SADC, Africa in general and the UN to intervene decisively ensure that in the event that the run-off election is held then it must be in full accordance with the expectations of the SADC Protocol on Elections that was adopted in Mauritius in August 2004 and all other internationally accepted democratic norms and practices.
4. We condemn the ever increasing scourge of political motivated violence against innocent masses of Zimbabwe and urge all the interested political parties to promote a spirit of peaceful election campaign process. All forms of political violence must be condemned unconditionally. In this regard we are expressly opposed to any call for a blanket amnesty for all perpetrators of political crimes against the people of Zimbabwe.
5. We also note that the Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai had the highest number of votes in the Presidential election, but has had threats to his life and senior officials on his party. We also note with concern the continued attacks on civic leadership, who include ZESN, labour, farm workers , farmers and others who are being systematically targeted by the supporters of Robert Mugabe who is still using state machinery for their political ends. If SADC especially is sincere in its interventions in the political situation in Zimbabwe, all those targeted political and civic leaders must be provided with adequate security.
6. We also declare that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission's role and its members need to be revisited since it has clearly failed to fulfil its constitutional mandate. We call for the inclusion of representatives of SADC, AU and UN to increase the independence and credibility of the electoral authority immediately.
Issued in Johannesburg on Monday 12th May 2008 by:
Mr. Daniel Molokele
Co-ordinator
Telephone: +27729474815
Ms. Grace Kwinjeh
Chairperson
Telephone: +27794344508
Mr. Mandla-akhe Dube
Vice Chairperson
Telephone: +6421348288
Mr. Canaan Mhlanga
North America Region
Telephone: +7782373072
Mr. Simbarashe Chirimubwe
Rest of Africa Region
Telephone: +267-71910712
Mr. Promise Mkwananzi
Europe Region
Telephone: +31612697629
Mr. Luke Zunga
South Africa Region
Telephone: +27835281561
Prof. Stan Mukasa
North America Region
Telephone: +724 467 0001
"The Voice of the Zimbabwean Diaspora"
PRESS STATEMENT
An Urgent Call and Appeal to Save Zimbabwe
The Global Zimbabwe Forum would like to express its dismay and dire concern at the current state of political affairs in the Zimbabwe in the aftermath of the harmonized elections that were held in Zimbabwe on 29th March 2008.
We would like as Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, to state in no uncertain terms our unequivocal stance on the following issues:
1. The outcome of the said elections was highly compromised by the fact that over three million eligible voters who are now living outside Zimbabwe were excluded from participating in the process. We believe that the exclusion of the Diaspora vote is a fundamental flow that has seriously affected the credibility of the results of the electoral process.
2. We also note with concern the rather inconclusive nature of the presidential poll process. It is our strong view that Robert Mugabe no longer has the express mandate of the majority of the Zimbabwean electorate and therefore must not be allowed to continue as the President of the country. He must step down.
3. We further call upon SADC, Africa in general and the UN to intervene decisively ensure that in the event that the run-off election is held then it must be in full accordance with the expectations of the SADC Protocol on Elections that was adopted in Mauritius in August 2004 and all other internationally accepted democratic norms and practices.
4. We condemn the ever increasing scourge of political motivated violence against innocent masses of Zimbabwe and urge all the interested political parties to promote a spirit of peaceful election campaign process. All forms of political violence must be condemned unconditionally. In this regard we are expressly opposed to any call for a blanket amnesty for all perpetrators of political crimes against the people of Zimbabwe.
5. We also note that the Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai had the highest number of votes in the Presidential election, but has had threats to his life and senior officials on his party. We also note with concern the continued attacks on civic leadership, who include ZESN, labour, farm workers , farmers and others who are being systematically targeted by the supporters of Robert Mugabe who is still using state machinery for their political ends. If SADC especially is sincere in its interventions in the political situation in Zimbabwe, all those targeted political and civic leaders must be provided with adequate security.
6. We also declare that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission's role and its members need to be revisited since it has clearly failed to fulfil its constitutional mandate. We call for the inclusion of representatives of SADC, AU and UN to increase the independence and credibility of the electoral authority immediately.
Issued in Johannesburg on Monday 12th May 2008 by:
Mr. Daniel Molokele
Co-ordinator
Telephone: +27729474815
Ms. Grace Kwinjeh
Chairperson
Telephone: +27794344508
Mr. Mandla-akhe Dube
Vice Chairperson
Telephone: +6421348288
Mr. Canaan Mhlanga
North America Region
Telephone: +7782373072
Mr. Simbarashe Chirimubwe
Rest of Africa Region
Telephone: +267-71910712
Mr. Promise Mkwananzi
Europe Region
Telephone: +31612697629
Mr. Luke Zunga
South Africa Region
Telephone: +27835281561
Prof. Stan Mukasa
North America Region
Telephone: +724 467 0001
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Countering Actions
by Charmaine Mandivenga
What is global warming
some would say it's the
green house gasses;
some would say it's the cars
But I would say it's man
man's greed and desire
for fast cars and fancy
clothes;
A man washes his 4x4
with excess rain water
where is the extra rain water
coming from now that's irony;
A man can use solar panels
for the energy for every thing in his
home;
but commute to work everyday;
A man can drive a hybrid
car to work;
but fly around the world
every year;
So we say we are improving but are we ?
some of us are countering our actions
think about it ,it's not just one person
it's the world
What is global warming
some would say it's the
green house gasses;
some would say it's the cars
But I would say it's man
man's greed and desire
for fast cars and fancy
clothes;
A man washes his 4x4
with excess rain water
where is the extra rain water
coming from now that's irony;
A man can use solar panels
for the energy for every thing in his
home;
but commute to work everyday;
A man can drive a hybrid
car to work;
but fly around the world
every year;
So we say we are improving but are we ?
some of us are countering our actions
think about it ,it's not just one person
it's the world
Monday, April 14, 2008
Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum mobilises for South Africa action
Press Release
13 April 2008
Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum mobilises for South Africa action
The newly elected chair-person of the South-African based Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum, Mr Solomon Chikowero, has urged Zimbabweans based in South-Africa to remain resilient in the face of many challenges confronting them in the country.
Chikowero urged Zimbabweans based in South-Africa to unite and press for democratic reforms in Zimbabwe that will enable an environment that fosters stability to ensure a peaceful transition and reconstruction, for them to be able to go back home.
"Many of us are here for economic and political reasons, for as long as these remain unresolved then we are going to remain in foreign lands forever. We want to go home. The harmonised election on March 29 offered an opportunity for the resolution of the Zimbabwean crisis, but it seems as though the Robert Mugabe regime will stop at nothing to disregard the people's will. No solution that does not respect the will of the people will be sustainable."
Chikowero urged Zimbabweans based in South-Africa to come out in their hundreds for a demonstration to be held on Wednesday the 16th of April, at the front of the Zimbabwean embassy, in Pretoria, to press for a lasting solution on the Zimbabwean situation. South-Africa's President Thabo Mbeki at the weekend declared that there was no crisis in Zimbabwe.
"We know there is a crisis in Zimbabwe, that is one of a ruling elite that refuses to accept that the people rejected it at the polls. We know who won in the elections, we demand that the results be made public for all without any further delays."
Note to editors
- Logistics and mobilisation will be handled by ZDF affiliates the Zimbabwe Revolutionary Youth Movement and the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum
- Demonstrators will start gathering at 10.AM,at the Zimbabwe Embassy in Pretoria
CONTACT
Sox Chikhohwero
Chair-person - ZDF
+27 72 238 9192
Simon Mudekwa
0796192955
Gabriel Shumba
0726393795
Eddie Matsangaise
0724365798
13 April 2008
Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum mobilises for South Africa action
The newly elected chair-person of the South-African based Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum, Mr Solomon Chikowero, has urged Zimbabweans based in South-Africa to remain resilient in the face of many challenges confronting them in the country.
Chikowero urged Zimbabweans based in South-Africa to unite and press for democratic reforms in Zimbabwe that will enable an environment that fosters stability to ensure a peaceful transition and reconstruction, for them to be able to go back home.
"Many of us are here for economic and political reasons, for as long as these remain unresolved then we are going to remain in foreign lands forever. We want to go home. The harmonised election on March 29 offered an opportunity for the resolution of the Zimbabwean crisis, but it seems as though the Robert Mugabe regime will stop at nothing to disregard the people's will. No solution that does not respect the will of the people will be sustainable."
Chikowero urged Zimbabweans based in South-Africa to come out in their hundreds for a demonstration to be held on Wednesday the 16th of April, at the front of the Zimbabwean embassy, in Pretoria, to press for a lasting solution on the Zimbabwean situation. South-Africa's President Thabo Mbeki at the weekend declared that there was no crisis in Zimbabwe.
"We know there is a crisis in Zimbabwe, that is one of a ruling elite that refuses to accept that the people rejected it at the polls. We know who won in the elections, we demand that the results be made public for all without any further delays."
Note to editors
- Logistics and mobilisation will be handled by ZDF affiliates the Zimbabwe Revolutionary Youth Movement and the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum
- Demonstrators will start gathering at 10.AM,at the Zimbabwe Embassy in Pretoria
CONTACT
Sox Chikhohwero
Chair-person - ZDF
+27 72 238 9192
Simon Mudekwa
0796192955
Gabriel Shumba
0726393795
Eddie Matsangaise
0724365798
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Statement of the GZF on the situation in Zimbabwe, issued after the Global Teleconference by all the regions present
Statement of the GZF on the situation in Zimbabwe, issued after the Global Teleconference by all the regions present
Global Zimbabwe Forum (GZF) condemns the actions of the ZANU PF Party for the arbitrary handling of the electoral process as well as the results of the presidential elections held on March 29, 2008.
Robert Mugabe, and his ZANU PF party have frustrated, not only the conduct of the elections but the timely release of the election results.
What is even more troubling is that Robert Mugabe’s ZANUPF are demanding a recount of the presidential votes, while at the same time preventing the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission from releasing the presidential election results.
Robert Mugabe and his subordinates have started arming the youth militia and war veterans to unleash retributive and coercive violence against opposition supporters, especially in rural areas. President Mugabe is embarking on a warpath to impose himself on Zimbabweans in the aftermath of his defeat in the elections. It is self evident that Robert Mugabe does not respect the democratic process of elections in accordance with the SADC Guidelines and the laws of Zimbabwe.
Well -confirmed results - even from the vote-counting officers of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission - show that the Movement for Democratic Change led by President Morgan Tsvangirai won both the presidential and parliamentary elections. These results, which were posted outside the counting centers in accordance with the mandate of ZEC, also clearly show that President Morgan Tsvangirai won by more than 50 percent.
Constitutionally, Robert Mugabe is by law obligated and required to concede defeat and hand over power to the MDC, according to the procedures provided for by the Constitution.
Robert Mugabe and ZANUPF have a proven history of political violence against members of the opposition parties. This is how he has maintained his rule over the years.
Robert Mugabe will now use all the barbaric and brutal force at his command to go after the Zimbabweans who voted against him and his party.
Already reports are emerging of an assault of innocent civilians, aimed at forcing them to vote for Mugabe at the next run-off election and hence:
1. We call upon the international community to bring pressure to bear on Robert Mugabe to respect the people’s verdict and accept defeat. We quote from Robert Mugabe himself before the elections when he said if ZANUPF loses the elections he will concede defeat.
2. We demand that the countries of SADC insist that Robert Mugabe should follow the electoral procedures as laid out in the SADC guidelines and the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
3. We call upon, the Secretary General of the United Nations to begin consultations leading to the convening of the Security Council on the crisis in Zimbabwe.
4. We call upon the African Union, in consultation with SADC, to send a strong African delegation to mediate the crisis in Zimbabwe. The delegation should stay in Zimbabwe for as long as is necessary to resolve the crisis.
5. We call upon the countries of Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Botswana which have expressed concern at the denial of human and civil rights in Zimbabwe to play a leading role in bringing pressure to bear on Robert Mugabe.
6. The Government of the Republic of South Africa has a unique geopolitical and historic influence on Zimbabwe. We call upon President Thabo Mbeki, whose country will be adversely affected by the ongoing crisis of governance and humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe, to initiate a shuttle diplomacy between Robert Mugabe and President-elect Tsvangirai in order to resolve peacefully the country’s electoral conflict.
7. Should a rerun of the presidential election become the only option to resolve the crisis, we call upon the United Nations to supervise the election with the active participation of SADC, AU and civil society in the country and region.
8. If Robert Mugabe and ZANUPF refuse to accept reasonable conditions for resolving the crisis, we call upon the international community not to recognize the Mugabe regime, especially, if the regime is fraudulently and by force of arms imposed on the people of Zimbabwe.
9. We also call upon the international community to impose more effective targeted sanctions against the Robert Mugabe regime if it refuses to comply with the democratic norms for elections and handing over power.
10. We call upon the industrialized countries of North American, the European Union, etc. to increase, expand and extend the scope of their humanitarian assistance programs to include Zimbabwean refugees, especially the traumatized victims of assault by the Mugabe regime.
11. We call upon the international community to continue to strengthen civic society in Zimbabwe, and to distribute aid through civic organizations rather than a disputed government to avert politicization and misappropriation of resources and ensure that aid reaches its intended beneficiaries.
12. We call upon the international community to stand ready to engage the new democratic Zimbabwean on the basis of the Zimbabwe Strategy paper.
Issued 07 April 7, 2008
Mr. Daniel Molokele
Co-ordinator
Telephone: +27729474815
Ms. Grace Kwinjeh
Chairperson
Telephone: +27794344508
Mr. Mandla-akhe Dube
Vice Chairperson
Telephone: +6421348288
Mr. Canaan Mhlanga
North America Region
Telephone: +7782373072
Mr. Simbarashe Chirimubwe
Rest of Africa Region
Telephone: +267-71910712
Mr. Promise Mkwananzi
Europe Region
Telephone: +31612697629
Mr. Luke Zunga
South Africa Region
Telephone: +27835281561
Prof. Stan Mukasa
North America Region
Telephone: +724 467 0001
Global Zimbabwe Forum (GZF) condemns the actions of the ZANU PF Party for the arbitrary handling of the electoral process as well as the results of the presidential elections held on March 29, 2008.
Robert Mugabe, and his ZANU PF party have frustrated, not only the conduct of the elections but the timely release of the election results.
What is even more troubling is that Robert Mugabe’s ZANUPF are demanding a recount of the presidential votes, while at the same time preventing the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission from releasing the presidential election results.
Robert Mugabe and his subordinates have started arming the youth militia and war veterans to unleash retributive and coercive violence against opposition supporters, especially in rural areas. President Mugabe is embarking on a warpath to impose himself on Zimbabweans in the aftermath of his defeat in the elections. It is self evident that Robert Mugabe does not respect the democratic process of elections in accordance with the SADC Guidelines and the laws of Zimbabwe.
Well -confirmed results - even from the vote-counting officers of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission - show that the Movement for Democratic Change led by President Morgan Tsvangirai won both the presidential and parliamentary elections. These results, which were posted outside the counting centers in accordance with the mandate of ZEC, also clearly show that President Morgan Tsvangirai won by more than 50 percent.
Constitutionally, Robert Mugabe is by law obligated and required to concede defeat and hand over power to the MDC, according to the procedures provided for by the Constitution.
Robert Mugabe and ZANUPF have a proven history of political violence against members of the opposition parties. This is how he has maintained his rule over the years.
Robert Mugabe will now use all the barbaric and brutal force at his command to go after the Zimbabweans who voted against him and his party.
Already reports are emerging of an assault of innocent civilians, aimed at forcing them to vote for Mugabe at the next run-off election and hence:
1. We call upon the international community to bring pressure to bear on Robert Mugabe to respect the people’s verdict and accept defeat. We quote from Robert Mugabe himself before the elections when he said if ZANUPF loses the elections he will concede defeat.
2. We demand that the countries of SADC insist that Robert Mugabe should follow the electoral procedures as laid out in the SADC guidelines and the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
3. We call upon, the Secretary General of the United Nations to begin consultations leading to the convening of the Security Council on the crisis in Zimbabwe.
4. We call upon the African Union, in consultation with SADC, to send a strong African delegation to mediate the crisis in Zimbabwe. The delegation should stay in Zimbabwe for as long as is necessary to resolve the crisis.
5. We call upon the countries of Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Botswana which have expressed concern at the denial of human and civil rights in Zimbabwe to play a leading role in bringing pressure to bear on Robert Mugabe.
6. The Government of the Republic of South Africa has a unique geopolitical and historic influence on Zimbabwe. We call upon President Thabo Mbeki, whose country will be adversely affected by the ongoing crisis of governance and humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe, to initiate a shuttle diplomacy between Robert Mugabe and President-elect Tsvangirai in order to resolve peacefully the country’s electoral conflict.
7. Should a rerun of the presidential election become the only option to resolve the crisis, we call upon the United Nations to supervise the election with the active participation of SADC, AU and civil society in the country and region.
8. If Robert Mugabe and ZANUPF refuse to accept reasonable conditions for resolving the crisis, we call upon the international community not to recognize the Mugabe regime, especially, if the regime is fraudulently and by force of arms imposed on the people of Zimbabwe.
9. We also call upon the international community to impose more effective targeted sanctions against the Robert Mugabe regime if it refuses to comply with the democratic norms for elections and handing over power.
10. We call upon the industrialized countries of North American, the European Union, etc. to increase, expand and extend the scope of their humanitarian assistance programs to include Zimbabwean refugees, especially the traumatized victims of assault by the Mugabe regime.
11. We call upon the international community to continue to strengthen civic society in Zimbabwe, and to distribute aid through civic organizations rather than a disputed government to avert politicization and misappropriation of resources and ensure that aid reaches its intended beneficiaries.
12. We call upon the international community to stand ready to engage the new democratic Zimbabwean on the basis of the Zimbabwe Strategy paper.
Issued 07 April 7, 2008
Mr. Daniel Molokele
Co-ordinator
Telephone: +27729474815
Ms. Grace Kwinjeh
Chairperson
Telephone: +27794344508
Mr. Mandla-akhe Dube
Vice Chairperson
Telephone: +6421348288
Mr. Canaan Mhlanga
North America Region
Telephone: +7782373072
Mr. Simbarashe Chirimubwe
Rest of Africa Region
Telephone: +267-71910712
Mr. Promise Mkwananzi
Europe Region
Telephone: +31612697629
Mr. Luke Zunga
South Africa Region
Telephone: +27835281561
Prof. Stan Mukasa
North America Region
Telephone: +724 467 0001
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
URGENT PETITION TO SADC HEADS OF STATE ON ZIMBABWE ELECTIONS
URGENT PETITION TO SADC HEADS OF STATE ON ZIMBABWE ELECTIONS:
INORDINATE DELAY IN ANNOUNCING RESULTS IS OF GRAVE CONCERN TO CIVIL SOCIETY
We the undersigned Civil Society groups whose names are listed below have found it necessary to send this urgent petition to your Excellences in order to save our country from potentially sinking into complete anarchy if election results are manipulated.
On 29th March, 2008 the people of Zimbabwe voted for the national president, members of parliament and councillors.
The elections took place against the background of a serious political and economic crisis in the country, which has lasted for a decade. After brazen use of organized violence and torture of political opponents as Zimbabwe approached the 2008 election year, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) facilitated negotiations between the government and the opposition to end Zimbabwe ’s crisis so that Zimbabweans can once again live in dignity.
President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa who was mandated by SADC to lead the dialogue stated clearly that his aspiration was that the March 2008 elections needed to be held in circumstances where the outcome of such elections would not be contestable. Even though the negotiations collapsed before reaching their final conclusion, there were some changes in the electoral laws that resulted in visible changes on the ground in terms of the election management process as follows:
1. The accreditation of journalists was smoother and earlier than in previous elections even though the government erred in being selective on whom it invited to observe.
2. There were less queues at polling stations and it looked like the majority of those who wanted to vote and whose names were on the voter’s roll managed to vote without undue delays or major hassles.
3. The general environment inside the polling station and around the polling station was not hostile unlike in previous elections where cases of harassment of local observers were reported. In this election there have been few reports of intimidation or harassment of human rights defenders during the election day and the period immediately after.
4. The counting and posting of results at the polling stations for all to see was very well received and ordinary people could be seen in numbers studying the results posted at the polling stations.
There were however some areas of concern as well. These will be enumerated in due course as various organizations do their individual and collective election reports as necessary. However the biggest concern that has emerged is the inordinate delay in the announcing of the election results. The counting was done immediately after the polls were shut generally around 7 pm on 28 March 2008 at the polling stations. The results were posted at the polling stations immediately and there is significant concern at the failure of the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) to announce these results more than 36 hours after the voting stopped. There seems to be absolutely no justification for this delay and the tokenistic announcement of results for 109 contested positions by 8am on 1 April 2008 is wholly inadequate.
We as Civil Society are concerned by the failure to announce the results timeously. This creates a founded suspicion in the minds of Zimbabweans that the authorities are trying to manipulate the results in order to get their preferred party candidates to win. This is especially so given that the opposition has already been expressing public concern at what they saw as measures that were being taken to manipulate the vote and rig the elections.
This delay, if it persist will result in the real likelihood of the outcome of the elections being contested and in the process undermining what ever small gains may have arisen from the SADC efforts. We are naturally gravely concerned that any contestation of the outcome of the elections is also likely to lead to escalation of conflict. With the weak rule of law environment that has been well documented before, the elections may trigger serious and potentially widespread violations of human rights in Zimbabwe .
We are aware that the Zimbabwean government has already deployed police, army and intelligence units into the major cities in anticipation of potential trouble. Of significant concern are the unconfirmed rumours that allegedly from the security branches of government that the incumbent is preparing to declare a state of emergency after announcing inaccurate results. This is consistent with the threats by the security chiefs before the elections that they are not prepared to accept the election results if President Mugabe and ZANU PF lose the elections.
We the Civil Society Organisations from Zimbabwe therefore implore the SADC and AU heads of State and Government to urgently
1. Exert the necessary diplomatic pressure to force President Mugabe to ensure that the elections are as free and fair as possible.
2. Demand that President Mugabe and his government should allow the elections results to be released immediately without being tampered with.
3. Exert the necessary diplomatic pressure to President Mugabe not to declare a state of emergency.
4. Apply pressure on the military and intelligence in Zimbabwe not to manipulate the elections results and to accept the peoples verdict in the elections
5. CALL for SADC in conjunction with other international and domestic observers to investigate allegations of fraud, so that the ZEC announced results may be
correlated with independent tabulation processes.
6. THAT SADC together with the African Union should be prepared to urgently engage in a process to assist in resolving any dispute that may arise if the results of the elections are seriously contested - particularly since the domestic electoral courts process is itself not seen as legitimate by all but the ruling party.
Dated this 1 April 2008 by the undersigned Civil Society Organisations
1. CRISIS COALITION ZIMBABWE
2. ZIMBABWE LAWYERS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
3. ZIMBABWE NATIONAL STUDENTS UNION
4. ZIMRIGHTS
5. MANICALAND LEGAL PRACTITIONERS ASSOCIATION.
6. CHURCHES IN MANICALAND
7. ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM
8. ZIMBABWE CONGRESS OF TRADE UNIONS
9. NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONAL ASSEMBLY
10. THE SAVE ZIMBABWE CAMPAIGN
11. PROGRESSIVE TEACHERS UNION OF ZIMBABWE
12. STUDENTS SOLIDARITY TRUST
13. COMBINED HARARE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION
14. ZIMBABWE STUDENTS CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT
15. ZIMBABWE COALITION ON DEBT AND DEVELOPMENT
16. MEDIA INSTITUTE OF SOUTHERN AFRICA ( ZIMBABWE CHAPTER)
17. MEDIA MONITORING PROJECT ZIMBABWE
18. YOUTH INITIATIVE FOR DEMOCRACY IN ZIMBABWE
INORDINATE DELAY IN ANNOUNCING RESULTS IS OF GRAVE CONCERN TO CIVIL SOCIETY
We the undersigned Civil Society groups whose names are listed below have found it necessary to send this urgent petition to your Excellences in order to save our country from potentially sinking into complete anarchy if election results are manipulated.
On 29th March, 2008 the people of Zimbabwe voted for the national president, members of parliament and councillors.
The elections took place against the background of a serious political and economic crisis in the country, which has lasted for a decade. After brazen use of organized violence and torture of political opponents as Zimbabwe approached the 2008 election year, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) facilitated negotiations between the government and the opposition to end Zimbabwe ’s crisis so that Zimbabweans can once again live in dignity.
President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa who was mandated by SADC to lead the dialogue stated clearly that his aspiration was that the March 2008 elections needed to be held in circumstances where the outcome of such elections would not be contestable. Even though the negotiations collapsed before reaching their final conclusion, there were some changes in the electoral laws that resulted in visible changes on the ground in terms of the election management process as follows:
1. The accreditation of journalists was smoother and earlier than in previous elections even though the government erred in being selective on whom it invited to observe.
2. There were less queues at polling stations and it looked like the majority of those who wanted to vote and whose names were on the voter’s roll managed to vote without undue delays or major hassles.
3. The general environment inside the polling station and around the polling station was not hostile unlike in previous elections where cases of harassment of local observers were reported. In this election there have been few reports of intimidation or harassment of human rights defenders during the election day and the period immediately after.
4. The counting and posting of results at the polling stations for all to see was very well received and ordinary people could be seen in numbers studying the results posted at the polling stations.
There were however some areas of concern as well. These will be enumerated in due course as various organizations do their individual and collective election reports as necessary. However the biggest concern that has emerged is the inordinate delay in the announcing of the election results. The counting was done immediately after the polls were shut generally around 7 pm on 28 March 2008 at the polling stations. The results were posted at the polling stations immediately and there is significant concern at the failure of the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) to announce these results more than 36 hours after the voting stopped. There seems to be absolutely no justification for this delay and the tokenistic announcement of results for 109 contested positions by 8am on 1 April 2008 is wholly inadequate.
We as Civil Society are concerned by the failure to announce the results timeously. This creates a founded suspicion in the minds of Zimbabweans that the authorities are trying to manipulate the results in order to get their preferred party candidates to win. This is especially so given that the opposition has already been expressing public concern at what they saw as measures that were being taken to manipulate the vote and rig the elections.
This delay, if it persist will result in the real likelihood of the outcome of the elections being contested and in the process undermining what ever small gains may have arisen from the SADC efforts. We are naturally gravely concerned that any contestation of the outcome of the elections is also likely to lead to escalation of conflict. With the weak rule of law environment that has been well documented before, the elections may trigger serious and potentially widespread violations of human rights in Zimbabwe .
We are aware that the Zimbabwean government has already deployed police, army and intelligence units into the major cities in anticipation of potential trouble. Of significant concern are the unconfirmed rumours that allegedly from the security branches of government that the incumbent is preparing to declare a state of emergency after announcing inaccurate results. This is consistent with the threats by the security chiefs before the elections that they are not prepared to accept the election results if President Mugabe and ZANU PF lose the elections.
We the Civil Society Organisations from Zimbabwe therefore implore the SADC and AU heads of State and Government to urgently
1. Exert the necessary diplomatic pressure to force President Mugabe to ensure that the elections are as free and fair as possible.
2. Demand that President Mugabe and his government should allow the elections results to be released immediately without being tampered with.
3. Exert the necessary diplomatic pressure to President Mugabe not to declare a state of emergency.
4. Apply pressure on the military and intelligence in Zimbabwe not to manipulate the elections results and to accept the peoples verdict in the elections
5. CALL for SADC in conjunction with other international and domestic observers to investigate allegations of fraud, so that the ZEC announced results may be
correlated with independent tabulation processes.
6. THAT SADC together with the African Union should be prepared to urgently engage in a process to assist in resolving any dispute that may arise if the results of the elections are seriously contested - particularly since the domestic electoral courts process is itself not seen as legitimate by all but the ruling party.
Dated this 1 April 2008 by the undersigned Civil Society Organisations
1. CRISIS COALITION ZIMBABWE
2. ZIMBABWE LAWYERS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
3. ZIMBABWE NATIONAL STUDENTS UNION
4. ZIMRIGHTS
5. MANICALAND LEGAL PRACTITIONERS ASSOCIATION.
6. CHURCHES IN MANICALAND
7. ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM
8. ZIMBABWE CONGRESS OF TRADE UNIONS
9. NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONAL ASSEMBLY
10. THE SAVE ZIMBABWE CAMPAIGN
11. PROGRESSIVE TEACHERS UNION OF ZIMBABWE
12. STUDENTS SOLIDARITY TRUST
13. COMBINED HARARE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION
14. ZIMBABWE STUDENTS CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT
15. ZIMBABWE COALITION ON DEBT AND DEVELOPMENT
16. MEDIA INSTITUTE OF SOUTHERN AFRICA ( ZIMBABWE CHAPTER)
17. MEDIA MONITORING PROJECT ZIMBABWE
18. YOUTH INITIATIVE FOR DEMOCRACY IN ZIMBABWE
Pressure SADC on Zimbabwe urge rights activists
Pressure SADC on Zimbabwe urge rights activists
By Grace Kwinjeh
South-Africa, 25 March 2008 – The international community's response
to the outcome of Zimbabwe's March 29 elections will be crucial, human
rights activists say.
At stake is not only democracy for long-suffering Zimbabweans, but
also whether the pariah state will rejoin the community of nations and
benefit from much needed donor relief for reconstruction, taking it
back to glory days when Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of Africa.
Zimbabwe's President, Robert Mugabe is facing a stiff challenge from
former ally Dr Simba Makoni, long-serving opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai and another little known candidate, Langton Towungana.
A free and fair election would be rewarded with refreshed legitimacy
for a Harare government, even Mugabe's. But by the look of things,
this is not likely. Mugabe seems more determined than ever to assure
that campaigning, district demarcation, voter rolls and vote counting
for Saturday's elections - favour his ruling Zanu-PF party.
Mugabe has been condemned by human rights groups and many governments
over the pre-election period's many flaws, and it is unlikely that
many of these will accept the outcome.
Aside from the many domestic groups which have long objected to
political repression, the international watchdog Human Rights Watch
(HRW) and Brussels based International Crisis Group (ICG) have joined
those dissatisfied with the current political environment.
The ICG report, entitled 'Prospects from a flawed election', details
the failure of the SADC mediation under South African President Thabo
Mbeki. The main areas of concern are a violent climate, abuse of state
resources and anticipated polling day problems.
Meanwhile another report compiled by the HRW, "All Over Again: Human
Rights Abuses and Flawed Electoral Conditions in Zimbabwe's Coming
General Elections,"concedes that there are "some improvements on paper to election
regulations". But, according to Georgette Gagnon, HRW's Africa
director, "While there are four candidates running for president and
many political parties involved, the election process itself is
skewed."
In the closing days, can measures be added to compel Harare to change course?
For example, there have been veiled threats from top security
personnel of a coup should opposition candidates win. Would
challenging Mugabe to identify and arrest potential treasonous
elements in the armed forces not be worthwhile?
Such a challenge could only be made through diplomatic pressure on the
regional body of governments, the Southern African Development
Community (SADC). Warns the ICG, "If the region's leaders were again
to recognise an illegitimate government, Zimbabwe's dramatic economic
disintegration would continue, and the inevitable early next round of
the struggle over Mugabe's succession could easily provoke bloodshed."
According to Human Rights lawyer and Executive Director of the
South-African based Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, Gabriel Shumba, "In the
event that elections are not free and fair, SADC must be forced to
condemn Zimbabwe, through pressure even in the area of trade. The
issue of Zimbabwe in terms of general human rights violations should
be discussed at the United Nations Security Council level.
Consequences stemming from such a discussion should follow."
Maureen Kademaunga, Gender and Human Rights officer of the National
Student Union (ZINASU), remarked recently, "People are looking towards
any possibility for change. If the Mugabe regime lives on, there is
absolutely no hope for change. What we need is transition towards a
new kind of government, with principled leaders, who really are
accountable to the people".
Mbeki, who was mandated by SADC to be mediator in March 2007, argues
that there is no reason why elections in Zimbabwe won't be free and
fair.
The opposition parties agree that Mbeki's mediation did not facilitate
the democratic reforms that had been promised. Critics dismiss the
mediation as a charade, a time-buying gimmick by the Mugabe regime.
To add salt to the open wound, President Mugabe, last week made a
Presidential decree allowing police officers into polling stations
during voting. Yet the repressive role of security forces was one of
the contentious issues during the SADC negotiations, leading to the
amendments to the Electoral Act that this role be contained.
According to Tsvangirai's secretary general, Tendai Biti, "It is quite
clear that Mugabe's actions are an assault on the SADC dialogue
therefore an assault on SADC itself. Mugabe is clearly daring SADC
knowing clearly that the latter will blink. Unfortunately it does not
appear likely that anyone in SADC would have the guts to stand up to
Mugabe. It is obvious that the Old Boys mentality which African
institutions have been accused of generating still remains
operational."
In reply, Zimbabwe's ambassador to South Africa, Simon Moyo, claims that
Mbeki has acted to the best of his ability, "It now comes as more of a
shocker than anything else, in fact amounting to arrogance and
disrespect, for the MDC to make the trip to South Africa to announce
that Mbeki has not been an honest broker."
This sets the stage for continuing polarisation, with opposition
forces, much of civil society and Western countries seeming to back a
change of government (whether led by Tsvangirai or Makoni), while
African countries support Mugabe.
International sanctions play a minor role. Top Zimbabwean government
officials were in 2002 slapped with targeted "smart sanctions" and
travel bans by Australia, the European Union and the United States.
Australia went further last year by targeting the children of top
Government officials studying at its universities, who have since been
deported to Zimbabwe. Canadian legislators recently also condemned
Mugabe.
A March 11 meeting of Ottawa's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs
and International Development noted "grave concern about the elections
in Zimbabwe and the harassment of opposition parties and candidates,
and call on the Government of Canada to take all reasonable measures,
including the participation of election observers to promote free and
fair elections in Zimbabwe."
A day earlier, the Council of the European Union repeated its concern
about the humanitarian, political and economic situation in Zimbabwe,
which "may endanger the holding of free and fair elections".
If these comments are anything to go by then it means Zimbabwe will
remain a pariah state. And also if actions by the Mugabe regime during
the campaign are a sign of things to come, how will Zimbabwe's
democrats react in the event that he rigs the election and declares
himself winner?
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum reports at least 300 cases of
politically motivated violence against the opposition, recorded in the
month of January alone. This intimidation has had the effect of
quelling any ideas of an opposition uprising.
But how to channel anger at another stolen election into constructive
forms – in contrast to Kenya, which saw only an elite power-sharing
deal emerge from widespread protest - appears to be the primary
challenge just below the surface, one which will re-emerge as
soon as votes are cast on Saturday.
By Grace Kwinjeh
South-Africa, 25 March 2008 – The international community's response
to the outcome of Zimbabwe's March 29 elections will be crucial, human
rights activists say.
At stake is not only democracy for long-suffering Zimbabweans, but
also whether the pariah state will rejoin the community of nations and
benefit from much needed donor relief for reconstruction, taking it
back to glory days when Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of Africa.
Zimbabwe's President, Robert Mugabe is facing a stiff challenge from
former ally Dr Simba Makoni, long-serving opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai and another little known candidate, Langton Towungana.
A free and fair election would be rewarded with refreshed legitimacy
for a Harare government, even Mugabe's. But by the look of things,
this is not likely. Mugabe seems more determined than ever to assure
that campaigning, district demarcation, voter rolls and vote counting
for Saturday's elections - favour his ruling Zanu-PF party.
Mugabe has been condemned by human rights groups and many governments
over the pre-election period's many flaws, and it is unlikely that
many of these will accept the outcome.
Aside from the many domestic groups which have long objected to
political repression, the international watchdog Human Rights Watch
(HRW) and Brussels based International Crisis Group (ICG) have joined
those dissatisfied with the current political environment.
The ICG report, entitled 'Prospects from a flawed election', details
the failure of the SADC mediation under South African President Thabo
Mbeki. The main areas of concern are a violent climate, abuse of state
resources and anticipated polling day problems.
Meanwhile another report compiled by the HRW, "All Over Again: Human
Rights Abuses and Flawed Electoral Conditions in Zimbabwe's Coming
General Elections,"concedes that there are "some improvements on paper to election
regulations". But, according to Georgette Gagnon, HRW's Africa
director, "While there are four candidates running for president and
many political parties involved, the election process itself is
skewed."
In the closing days, can measures be added to compel Harare to change course?
For example, there have been veiled threats from top security
personnel of a coup should opposition candidates win. Would
challenging Mugabe to identify and arrest potential treasonous
elements in the armed forces not be worthwhile?
Such a challenge could only be made through diplomatic pressure on the
regional body of governments, the Southern African Development
Community (SADC). Warns the ICG, "If the region's leaders were again
to recognise an illegitimate government, Zimbabwe's dramatic economic
disintegration would continue, and the inevitable early next round of
the struggle over Mugabe's succession could easily provoke bloodshed."
According to Human Rights lawyer and Executive Director of the
South-African based Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, Gabriel Shumba, "In the
event that elections are not free and fair, SADC must be forced to
condemn Zimbabwe, through pressure even in the area of trade. The
issue of Zimbabwe in terms of general human rights violations should
be discussed at the United Nations Security Council level.
Consequences stemming from such a discussion should follow."
Maureen Kademaunga, Gender and Human Rights officer of the National
Student Union (ZINASU), remarked recently, "People are looking towards
any possibility for change. If the Mugabe regime lives on, there is
absolutely no hope for change. What we need is transition towards a
new kind of government, with principled leaders, who really are
accountable to the people".
Mbeki, who was mandated by SADC to be mediator in March 2007, argues
that there is no reason why elections in Zimbabwe won't be free and
fair.
The opposition parties agree that Mbeki's mediation did not facilitate
the democratic reforms that had been promised. Critics dismiss the
mediation as a charade, a time-buying gimmick by the Mugabe regime.
To add salt to the open wound, President Mugabe, last week made a
Presidential decree allowing police officers into polling stations
during voting. Yet the repressive role of security forces was one of
the contentious issues during the SADC negotiations, leading to the
amendments to the Electoral Act that this role be contained.
According to Tsvangirai's secretary general, Tendai Biti, "It is quite
clear that Mugabe's actions are an assault on the SADC dialogue
therefore an assault on SADC itself. Mugabe is clearly daring SADC
knowing clearly that the latter will blink. Unfortunately it does not
appear likely that anyone in SADC would have the guts to stand up to
Mugabe. It is obvious that the Old Boys mentality which African
institutions have been accused of generating still remains
operational."
In reply, Zimbabwe's ambassador to South Africa, Simon Moyo, claims that
Mbeki has acted to the best of his ability, "It now comes as more of a
shocker than anything else, in fact amounting to arrogance and
disrespect, for the MDC to make the trip to South Africa to announce
that Mbeki has not been an honest broker."
This sets the stage for continuing polarisation, with opposition
forces, much of civil society and Western countries seeming to back a
change of government (whether led by Tsvangirai or Makoni), while
African countries support Mugabe.
International sanctions play a minor role. Top Zimbabwean government
officials were in 2002 slapped with targeted "smart sanctions" and
travel bans by Australia, the European Union and the United States.
Australia went further last year by targeting the children of top
Government officials studying at its universities, who have since been
deported to Zimbabwe. Canadian legislators recently also condemned
Mugabe.
A March 11 meeting of Ottawa's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs
and International Development noted "grave concern about the elections
in Zimbabwe and the harassment of opposition parties and candidates,
and call on the Government of Canada to take all reasonable measures,
including the participation of election observers to promote free and
fair elections in Zimbabwe."
A day earlier, the Council of the European Union repeated its concern
about the humanitarian, political and economic situation in Zimbabwe,
which "may endanger the holding of free and fair elections".
If these comments are anything to go by then it means Zimbabwe will
remain a pariah state. And also if actions by the Mugabe regime during
the campaign are a sign of things to come, how will Zimbabwe's
democrats react in the event that he rigs the election and declares
himself winner?
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum reports at least 300 cases of
politically motivated violence against the opposition, recorded in the
month of January alone. This intimidation has had the effect of
quelling any ideas of an opposition uprising.
But how to channel anger at another stolen election into constructive
forms – in contrast to Kenya, which saw only an elite power-sharing
deal emerge from widespread protest - appears to be the primary
challenge just below the surface, one which will re-emerge as
soon as votes are cast on Saturday.
Zimbabwe's political roller-coaster hits another deep dip
Zimbabwe's political roller-coaster hits another deep dip
Patrick Bond and Grace Kwinjeh (2008-03-11)
There is 1 comment on this article.
With presidential elections in Zimbabwe just around the corner, Patrick Bond and Grace Kwinjeh look at who the national, regional and international players are, and consider various people-centered alternatives.
INTRODUCTION
The March 29 election in Zimbabwe is very likely to result in Robert Mugabe winning, by hook or by crook, a slim 50%+ majority, so as to avoid a run-off. In the last presidential election, in 2002, his main opponent Morgan Tsvangirai – leader of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions from 1988-99, but subsequently also supported by business and most Western governments - officially received just 40% of the vote.
Massive irregularities – such as far fewer urban polling stations - were noted by all honest observers, and the pre-election playing field was skewed by lack of a free press, Tsvangirai's frame-up on a bogus treason charge, and his party's inability to campaign peacefully in many regions. He nearly certainly won, but was cheated out of a democratic, peaceful regime change supported by most progressives in civil society.
Since then, core degenerative dynamics have included economic rot, sustained political repression, and two important splits in the dominant parties, Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZanuPF) and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)-Tsvangirai.
THE MDC AND ZANU-PF INTERNAL SPLITS
The first split was when in October 2005, key officials of the MDC – led by secretary-general Welshman Ncube and Vice President Gibson Sibanda – broke away a small faction of supporters, due to what they claimed was Tsvangirai's ‘dictatorial style’. The catalyst was Tsvangirai's insistence on boycotting Mugabe's new Senate. Ironically, in this election MDC-Tsvangirai has posted candidates for the Senate.
A brand new leader was chosen for the breakaway group, Dr Arthur Mutambara, formerly a firebrand student leader opposed to Mugabe's early 1990s structural adjustment program and state corruption, who subsequently studied at Oxford and Michigan, and by the mid-2000s moved back to the region, to take a job at Johannesburg's Standard Bank.
An effort to rejoin the two factions failed when MDC-Tsvangirai demanded too many parliamentary seats in MDC-Mutambara's Matabeleland heartland, according to the latter. Then Mutambara dropped out of the presidential race once a brand new candidate – from the ruling party (the first substantial defection since 1990) – jumped in to challenge Mugabe on February 5.
In Zanu PF's case, the split may yet become serious, but now amounts to just renegade former finance minister Simba Makoni, a long-term favourite of neoliberal forces internal and external. By early March, only two other major ruling party figures, former revolutionary Dumiso Dabengwa and parliamentary leader Cyril Ndebele, publicly supported him. Makoni hoped for backing by the powerful couple Solomon and Joyce Mujuru (Zimbabwe's vice-president), not only failed to materialise, but Joyce then endorsed Mugabe to most observers' surprise.
Although she was once tipped as his successor, a different faction in ZanuPF led by Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to reign once Mugabe finally retires.
COST OF MUGABE’S REIGN
But the damage done in the meantime, including the coming weeks of violent electioneering, will be extreme.
For example, the economic contradictions of running a growing patronage-based regime with a rapidly declining Gross Domestic Product are felt mainly in the inflation rate. Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono made a stunning revelation in January: 67 trillion Zimbabwean dollars (US$33 million at the then effective exchange rate) were in circulation but could not be traced inside the financial system.
The banks had only Z$2 trillion cash on hand. Said Gono, "The rest of the money is with cash barons who have opened mini-central banks at their houses. Unfortunately the people doing that are influential citizens with leadership positions."
One accused was the former chairperson of the Finance Portfolio Committee in Parliament, David Butau, who escaped to Britain. Butau's rebuttal was that he was about to make a stunning revelation of "shady deals" by the central bank: "Gono should publish all the payments he made to Flatwater, to Michigan as well as declare how he bought shares in Doves." At least Z$7 trillion is estimated to have been captured by these shady shell companies in recent months.
Instead of coming to grips with cronyism, Gono's solution is to print infinite numbers of Z$, using expensive imported German paper. With inflation rising far beyond the 100,000% level, amongst the highest recorded in world history, there are only a few areas Zimbabweans can dump money into so as not to see it evaporate instantly: hard currency, real estate, local stock market shares and durable consumer goods.
As a result of the cash shortage thus caused, a large proportion of Zimbabweans suffered the Christmas and New Year holiday break without access to money. The shortages of cash and basic goods – electricity, clean water, petrol, most medicines, many foodstuffs - epitomises the freefall of a once quite prosperous site for a largish middle class.
Meanwhile the tiny, kleptocratic ruling elite grew wealthy at the expense of the vast majority of people, as unemployed soared to more than 80%. Life expectancy for an average Zimbabwean dropped to 32 and 37 years for females and males respectively, and AIDS medicines that were once available have become scarce. The education system faces near total collapse.
Without growing electricity supplies, there is little hope of an upturn. Mozambique's Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa power utility recently suspended supplies over an outstanding debt of US$26 million. The South African parastatal Eskom cut Zimbabwe's power supply when in January regular 'load-shedding' electricity shortages hit home.
As for the durable political repression faced by any opposition politician or civil society activist, anyone brave enough could have remarked upon Mugabe's monomaniacal and extremely violent tendencies from at least 1982, not long after the country`s liberation from white-ruled Rhodesia. Over the subsequent four years, the Matebeleland region witnessed the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade massacre over 20 000 civilians, mostly of the Ndebele ethnic group.
THE BIRTH OF THE MDC
The West preferred to look the other way, courting Mugabe as an ally in part to persuade the apartheid government to begin gradually deracialising capitalism, the way Zimbabwe was – ever so gradually. By 1989, whites still received 97% of bank loans, though they were 3% of the population; during the 1990s white control of land actually grew thanks to liberalisation and lower state spending.
As the World Bank and International Monetary Fund began screw-tightening from 1984, intensifying the loan flows and neoliberal pressure in 1991, Zimbabwe's once impressive expansion of health clinics and schools, the development of a state-based middle- and lower-middle-class, and the sustenance of the inherited vibrant manufacturing sector, all waned.
Then the inevitable IMF Riots began in the early 1990s, growing in intensity and numbers of aggrieved constituencies until 1997. That year Mugabe began the political and economic zigzagging for which he is now famous. There were new patronage payments to liberation war veterans following embarrassing protests, and a new war against Democratic Republic of the Congo rebels (with Mugabe propping up Laurent Kabila), whose high costs were offset by army elite accumulation.
Alongside deep structural economic rot, the fiscal drain and threats of radical land reform led to a late 1997 currency crash. In 2000, after losing a referendum on a new Constitution, Mugabe authorised the war vets to invade white farmers' properties (some inherited from Rhodesian days but a large share paid for in cash since liberation in 1980 after the state declined its first option to buy), causing a substantial agricultural sector collapse. By then, too, corruption was so well entrenched that inevitably, civil society turned to alternative organisations for political inspiration. A Working People's Convention in 1999 mandated the trade unions to form a new party, and the MDC was born.
Was the MDC born free? Or free-market? By early 2000, it appeared the white business elite had captured the MDC, as economic spokesperson Eddie Cross promised the privatisation of "everything", including the schools. In subsequent years a more explicitly social-democratic ideology was adopted. But how deep?
In July 2007, for example, the first drafts of the MDC's 2008 electoral programme were shown to neoliberal officials of the Cato Institute in Washington; in contrast, it was only at last month's launch that Zimbabwean civil society got its first glance at the quite uninspired manifesto. Makoni's is just as vapid. And Mugabe's will change nothing.
SOUTH AFRICA: WHOSE FRIEND? WHOSE FOE?
Some may conclude, then, that the March 29 election is only interesting from the standpoint of personalities operating within preconstrained 20th century paradigms (nationalism and neoliberalism), with little or no mass popular content or appeal. And after all, nearly all the prior contested elections – since 1990 - have been marked by rigging, state sponsored violence, and repressive legislation curtailing media and political freedoms.
For this, plus sustained repressive behaviour, Mugabe and more than 100 top officials face Western personalised "smart sanctions" - travel bans and account freezes – as well as an arms embargo. China and Russia subsequently became much more important trading partners.
But one major regional supporter of Mugabe continues to have influence: South African president Thabo Mbeki. Although displaced as African National Congress president by Jacob Zuma in December, and although Zuma's labour backers hate Mugabe and expect him to shift tack, there was no apparent change in the nurturing of the Zimbabwean dictatorship from Pretoria in subsequent weeks. South African officials continued to hope and "expect" a "free and fair election".
Mbeki had gained a mandate from regional governments to mediate the Zimbabwe crisis in March 2007, and managed to sucker both MDC-Tsvangirai and MDC-Mutambara into endless talks that gained superficial legislative changes. Late last year, amendments were made to the Electoral Act and the Access to Information and Privacy Act, but there is still no free press and highly constrained ability to even campaign for the coming election.
Worse, Mugabe unilaterally announced the 29 March election date, which the MDC desperately wanted postponed until June so as to vet the now-corrupted voters' roll and also gain more media and non-violent campaigning space. It was clear the Mbeki negotiations were a stalling and divide-and-conquer tactic, and that this worked to raise hopes of internal reform in the two MDC camps.
WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES?
In the context of recent upheavals rocking Kenya over disputed elections, can Zimbabwe afford another stolen poll? Unfortunately, there may be insubstantial protests from the political elites who lose. A top official of MDC-Tsvangirai, Johannesburg-based former member of parliament Roy Bennett, specifically called on the party's constituents not to hit the streets, though he suggested no other recourse than more talks.
And the smaller MDC-Mutumbara seems able to stomach any level of state repression in the interests of elite participation, a matter embarrassingly obvious when Makoni snubbed Mutumbara's attempt at an alliance last month - yet the latter still endorsed the former.
In short, what was once a united opposition, one strong enough to defeat Mugabe's sponsored Constitutional proposals in a 2000 Referendum, is now deeply fractured, but on personality not substantive lines.
And sadly, a good many of those who might have insisted on the MDCs putting petty squabbling over trivial spoils behind them, in search of a common platform to not only dismiss Mugabe's government but generate a real socio-economic alternative, are no longer in Zimbabwe. A huge exodus of young Zimbabweans, the cream of the country's talent and literally millions of its hardest workers, have emigrated, desperate for survivalist opportunities further a field.
Thousands based in central Johannesburg, some have found refuge in Bishop Paul Verryn's Central Methodist Church. At any one time, says Verryn, he has 200 teachers sleeping on the church floor: "They are amongst the best teachers in Africa, Zimbabwe, until recently, has had the highest rate of literacy in Africa."
The Johannesburg metro police arrived on February 7 at midnight to arrest 1500 Zimbabweans, alleging they were illegal aliens. Police captain Bheki Mavundla bragged of his "sustainable crime-combat operations" aimed at "eradicating criminal elements from the district and building". In fact only 15 were found not to have papers, and thankfully this new version of apartheid-style "swart gevaar" – the Afrikaner's notorious fear of black immigration to the cities – was widely condemned in what is usually a quite xenophobic South African society.
Some like senate candidate, torture victim and war veteran Sekai Holland see hope in the latest political developments: "However most Zimbabweans are finally forced by this bad situation to talk to one another across all political divides, to find common ground to move on and build the country together. Mugabe continues to ignore these developments. It is a dangerous time, yet it is also a time of great opportunity if this current mood to work together continues,"
This leaves us to search for the main wellspring of hope for a Zimbabwean recovery within those courageous civil society forces who remain. In early February, reminiscent of the Working People's Convention nine years earlier, more than 5000 representatives of activist groups gathered for the National People's Convention. Key groups included the trade unions, Women of Zimbabwe Arise, the National Students Union, National Constitutional Assembly, Christian Alliance, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, and Lawyers for Human Rights.
The Peoples Charter adopted touched on many issues, ranging from constitutional reform, gender, elections, national economy- but the most fundamental statement to come out of this gathering was the resolve: “And hereby further declare that never again shall we let lives be lost, maimed, tortured or traumatised by the dehumanising experiences of political intolerance, violence and lack of democratic government.”
*Professor Patrick Bond is the Director of the Durban based Centre for Civil Society and Grace Kwinjeh is a South-African based Zimbabwean journalist.
**Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at www.pambazuka.org
Patrick Bond and Grace Kwinjeh (2008-03-11)
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With presidential elections in Zimbabwe just around the corner, Patrick Bond and Grace Kwinjeh look at who the national, regional and international players are, and consider various people-centered alternatives.
INTRODUCTION
The March 29 election in Zimbabwe is very likely to result in Robert Mugabe winning, by hook or by crook, a slim 50%+ majority, so as to avoid a run-off. In the last presidential election, in 2002, his main opponent Morgan Tsvangirai – leader of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions from 1988-99, but subsequently also supported by business and most Western governments - officially received just 40% of the vote.
Massive irregularities – such as far fewer urban polling stations - were noted by all honest observers, and the pre-election playing field was skewed by lack of a free press, Tsvangirai's frame-up on a bogus treason charge, and his party's inability to campaign peacefully in many regions. He nearly certainly won, but was cheated out of a democratic, peaceful regime change supported by most progressives in civil society.
Since then, core degenerative dynamics have included economic rot, sustained political repression, and two important splits in the dominant parties, Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZanuPF) and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)-Tsvangirai.
THE MDC AND ZANU-PF INTERNAL SPLITS
The first split was when in October 2005, key officials of the MDC – led by secretary-general Welshman Ncube and Vice President Gibson Sibanda – broke away a small faction of supporters, due to what they claimed was Tsvangirai's ‘dictatorial style’. The catalyst was Tsvangirai's insistence on boycotting Mugabe's new Senate. Ironically, in this election MDC-Tsvangirai has posted candidates for the Senate.
A brand new leader was chosen for the breakaway group, Dr Arthur Mutambara, formerly a firebrand student leader opposed to Mugabe's early 1990s structural adjustment program and state corruption, who subsequently studied at Oxford and Michigan, and by the mid-2000s moved back to the region, to take a job at Johannesburg's Standard Bank.
An effort to rejoin the two factions failed when MDC-Tsvangirai demanded too many parliamentary seats in MDC-Mutambara's Matabeleland heartland, according to the latter. Then Mutambara dropped out of the presidential race once a brand new candidate – from the ruling party (the first substantial defection since 1990) – jumped in to challenge Mugabe on February 5.
In Zanu PF's case, the split may yet become serious, but now amounts to just renegade former finance minister Simba Makoni, a long-term favourite of neoliberal forces internal and external. By early March, only two other major ruling party figures, former revolutionary Dumiso Dabengwa and parliamentary leader Cyril Ndebele, publicly supported him. Makoni hoped for backing by the powerful couple Solomon and Joyce Mujuru (Zimbabwe's vice-president), not only failed to materialise, but Joyce then endorsed Mugabe to most observers' surprise.
Although she was once tipped as his successor, a different faction in ZanuPF led by Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to reign once Mugabe finally retires.
COST OF MUGABE’S REIGN
But the damage done in the meantime, including the coming weeks of violent electioneering, will be extreme.
For example, the economic contradictions of running a growing patronage-based regime with a rapidly declining Gross Domestic Product are felt mainly in the inflation rate. Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono made a stunning revelation in January: 67 trillion Zimbabwean dollars (US$33 million at the then effective exchange rate) were in circulation but could not be traced inside the financial system.
The banks had only Z$2 trillion cash on hand. Said Gono, "The rest of the money is with cash barons who have opened mini-central banks at their houses. Unfortunately the people doing that are influential citizens with leadership positions."
One accused was the former chairperson of the Finance Portfolio Committee in Parliament, David Butau, who escaped to Britain. Butau's rebuttal was that he was about to make a stunning revelation of "shady deals" by the central bank: "Gono should publish all the payments he made to Flatwater, to Michigan as well as declare how he bought shares in Doves." At least Z$7 trillion is estimated to have been captured by these shady shell companies in recent months.
Instead of coming to grips with cronyism, Gono's solution is to print infinite numbers of Z$, using expensive imported German paper. With inflation rising far beyond the 100,000% level, amongst the highest recorded in world history, there are only a few areas Zimbabweans can dump money into so as not to see it evaporate instantly: hard currency, real estate, local stock market shares and durable consumer goods.
As a result of the cash shortage thus caused, a large proportion of Zimbabweans suffered the Christmas and New Year holiday break without access to money. The shortages of cash and basic goods – electricity, clean water, petrol, most medicines, many foodstuffs - epitomises the freefall of a once quite prosperous site for a largish middle class.
Meanwhile the tiny, kleptocratic ruling elite grew wealthy at the expense of the vast majority of people, as unemployed soared to more than 80%. Life expectancy for an average Zimbabwean dropped to 32 and 37 years for females and males respectively, and AIDS medicines that were once available have become scarce. The education system faces near total collapse.
Without growing electricity supplies, there is little hope of an upturn. Mozambique's Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa power utility recently suspended supplies over an outstanding debt of US$26 million. The South African parastatal Eskom cut Zimbabwe's power supply when in January regular 'load-shedding' electricity shortages hit home.
As for the durable political repression faced by any opposition politician or civil society activist, anyone brave enough could have remarked upon Mugabe's monomaniacal and extremely violent tendencies from at least 1982, not long after the country`s liberation from white-ruled Rhodesia. Over the subsequent four years, the Matebeleland region witnessed the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade massacre over 20 000 civilians, mostly of the Ndebele ethnic group.
THE BIRTH OF THE MDC
The West preferred to look the other way, courting Mugabe as an ally in part to persuade the apartheid government to begin gradually deracialising capitalism, the way Zimbabwe was – ever so gradually. By 1989, whites still received 97% of bank loans, though they were 3% of the population; during the 1990s white control of land actually grew thanks to liberalisation and lower state spending.
As the World Bank and International Monetary Fund began screw-tightening from 1984, intensifying the loan flows and neoliberal pressure in 1991, Zimbabwe's once impressive expansion of health clinics and schools, the development of a state-based middle- and lower-middle-class, and the sustenance of the inherited vibrant manufacturing sector, all waned.
Then the inevitable IMF Riots began in the early 1990s, growing in intensity and numbers of aggrieved constituencies until 1997. That year Mugabe began the political and economic zigzagging for which he is now famous. There were new patronage payments to liberation war veterans following embarrassing protests, and a new war against Democratic Republic of the Congo rebels (with Mugabe propping up Laurent Kabila), whose high costs were offset by army elite accumulation.
Alongside deep structural economic rot, the fiscal drain and threats of radical land reform led to a late 1997 currency crash. In 2000, after losing a referendum on a new Constitution, Mugabe authorised the war vets to invade white farmers' properties (some inherited from Rhodesian days but a large share paid for in cash since liberation in 1980 after the state declined its first option to buy), causing a substantial agricultural sector collapse. By then, too, corruption was so well entrenched that inevitably, civil society turned to alternative organisations for political inspiration. A Working People's Convention in 1999 mandated the trade unions to form a new party, and the MDC was born.
Was the MDC born free? Or free-market? By early 2000, it appeared the white business elite had captured the MDC, as economic spokesperson Eddie Cross promised the privatisation of "everything", including the schools. In subsequent years a more explicitly social-democratic ideology was adopted. But how deep?
In July 2007, for example, the first drafts of the MDC's 2008 electoral programme were shown to neoliberal officials of the Cato Institute in Washington; in contrast, it was only at last month's launch that Zimbabwean civil society got its first glance at the quite uninspired manifesto. Makoni's is just as vapid. And Mugabe's will change nothing.
SOUTH AFRICA: WHOSE FRIEND? WHOSE FOE?
Some may conclude, then, that the March 29 election is only interesting from the standpoint of personalities operating within preconstrained 20th century paradigms (nationalism and neoliberalism), with little or no mass popular content or appeal. And after all, nearly all the prior contested elections – since 1990 - have been marked by rigging, state sponsored violence, and repressive legislation curtailing media and political freedoms.
For this, plus sustained repressive behaviour, Mugabe and more than 100 top officials face Western personalised "smart sanctions" - travel bans and account freezes – as well as an arms embargo. China and Russia subsequently became much more important trading partners.
But one major regional supporter of Mugabe continues to have influence: South African president Thabo Mbeki. Although displaced as African National Congress president by Jacob Zuma in December, and although Zuma's labour backers hate Mugabe and expect him to shift tack, there was no apparent change in the nurturing of the Zimbabwean dictatorship from Pretoria in subsequent weeks. South African officials continued to hope and "expect" a "free and fair election".
Mbeki had gained a mandate from regional governments to mediate the Zimbabwe crisis in March 2007, and managed to sucker both MDC-Tsvangirai and MDC-Mutambara into endless talks that gained superficial legislative changes. Late last year, amendments were made to the Electoral Act and the Access to Information and Privacy Act, but there is still no free press and highly constrained ability to even campaign for the coming election.
Worse, Mugabe unilaterally announced the 29 March election date, which the MDC desperately wanted postponed until June so as to vet the now-corrupted voters' roll and also gain more media and non-violent campaigning space. It was clear the Mbeki negotiations were a stalling and divide-and-conquer tactic, and that this worked to raise hopes of internal reform in the two MDC camps.
WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES?
In the context of recent upheavals rocking Kenya over disputed elections, can Zimbabwe afford another stolen poll? Unfortunately, there may be insubstantial protests from the political elites who lose. A top official of MDC-Tsvangirai, Johannesburg-based former member of parliament Roy Bennett, specifically called on the party's constituents not to hit the streets, though he suggested no other recourse than more talks.
And the smaller MDC-Mutumbara seems able to stomach any level of state repression in the interests of elite participation, a matter embarrassingly obvious when Makoni snubbed Mutumbara's attempt at an alliance last month - yet the latter still endorsed the former.
In short, what was once a united opposition, one strong enough to defeat Mugabe's sponsored Constitutional proposals in a 2000 Referendum, is now deeply fractured, but on personality not substantive lines.
And sadly, a good many of those who might have insisted on the MDCs putting petty squabbling over trivial spoils behind them, in search of a common platform to not only dismiss Mugabe's government but generate a real socio-economic alternative, are no longer in Zimbabwe. A huge exodus of young Zimbabweans, the cream of the country's talent and literally millions of its hardest workers, have emigrated, desperate for survivalist opportunities further a field.
Thousands based in central Johannesburg, some have found refuge in Bishop Paul Verryn's Central Methodist Church. At any one time, says Verryn, he has 200 teachers sleeping on the church floor: "They are amongst the best teachers in Africa, Zimbabwe, until recently, has had the highest rate of literacy in Africa."
The Johannesburg metro police arrived on February 7 at midnight to arrest 1500 Zimbabweans, alleging they were illegal aliens. Police captain Bheki Mavundla bragged of his "sustainable crime-combat operations" aimed at "eradicating criminal elements from the district and building". In fact only 15 were found not to have papers, and thankfully this new version of apartheid-style "swart gevaar" – the Afrikaner's notorious fear of black immigration to the cities – was widely condemned in what is usually a quite xenophobic South African society.
Some like senate candidate, torture victim and war veteran Sekai Holland see hope in the latest political developments: "However most Zimbabweans are finally forced by this bad situation to talk to one another across all political divides, to find common ground to move on and build the country together. Mugabe continues to ignore these developments. It is a dangerous time, yet it is also a time of great opportunity if this current mood to work together continues,"
This leaves us to search for the main wellspring of hope for a Zimbabwean recovery within those courageous civil society forces who remain. In early February, reminiscent of the Working People's Convention nine years earlier, more than 5000 representatives of activist groups gathered for the National People's Convention. Key groups included the trade unions, Women of Zimbabwe Arise, the National Students Union, National Constitutional Assembly, Christian Alliance, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, and Lawyers for Human Rights.
The Peoples Charter adopted touched on many issues, ranging from constitutional reform, gender, elections, national economy- but the most fundamental statement to come out of this gathering was the resolve: “And hereby further declare that never again shall we let lives be lost, maimed, tortured or traumatised by the dehumanising experiences of political intolerance, violence and lack of democratic government.”
*Professor Patrick Bond is the Director of the Durban based Centre for Civil Society and Grace Kwinjeh is a South-African based Zimbabwean journalist.
**Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at www.pambazuka.org
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
The Economy beyond 29 March 2008
PUBLIC MEETING
Hosted by Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development ZIMCODD
TOPIC: The Economy beyond 29 March 2008.
· Water?
· Education?
· Health?
· Electricity?
· Livelihoods security?
Do the manifestos hold any water or they are mere propaganda pieces?
Will the March 2008 Election Deliver Social and Economic Justice?
Speakers:
1. Joy Mabenge - Executive Director-ZIMCODD
2. Dr Ibbo Mandaza- Mavambo.
3. Hon. Tendai Biti-MDC
Chairing:Jonah Gokova- Chairperson ZIMCODD.
Date: Wednesday 19 March 2007
Venue: New Ambassador Hotel
Time: 530pm-8pm.
Police have been notified of this event
Contact: ZIMCODD on 04 776830/1 or email zimcodd@zimcodd.co.zw
-The economy in Transition Dialogue Series-
For more information contact us on (04) 776830/1 or email us on zimcodd@zimcodd.co.zw
Hosted by Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development ZIMCODD
TOPIC: The Economy beyond 29 March 2008.
· Water?
· Education?
· Health?
· Electricity?
· Livelihoods security?
Do the manifestos hold any water or they are mere propaganda pieces?
Will the March 2008 Election Deliver Social and Economic Justice?
Speakers:
1. Joy Mabenge - Executive Director-ZIMCODD
2. Dr Ibbo Mandaza- Mavambo.
3. Hon. Tendai Biti-MDC
Chairing:Jonah Gokova- Chairperson ZIMCODD.
Date: Wednesday 19 March 2007
Venue: New Ambassador Hotel
Time: 530pm-8pm.
Police have been notified of this event
Contact: ZIMCODD on 04 776830/1 or email zimcodd@zimcodd.co.zw
-The economy in Transition Dialogue Series-
For more information contact us on (04) 776830/1 or email us on zimcodd@zimcodd.co.zw
Monday, March 17, 2008
Zimbabweans Protest Vote on March 29.
Zimbabweans Protest Vote on March 29.
Save Zimbabwe Campaign in New Zealand will stage protest presidential elections on March 29 in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. This is the same day, as national elections will be held in Zimbabwe.
‘We are raising the voice of at least 3 million disenfranchised Zimbabweans in the Diaspora’, says Mandla Akhe Dube, general secretary of the Save Zimbabwe campaign and vice chairperson of the Zimbabwe Global Forum. ‘They have as much a right to vote as anyone else in Zimbabwe’.
Similar protests will be held in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brussels, Botswana and the United States of America*.
Zimbabwe bars all but officials in its embassies from postal voting and yet there are nearly 4 million – most of them in neighboring South Africa- outside Zimbabwe.
About 7 000 Zimbabweans reside in New Zealand.
In Christchurch, polling will begin outside the Anglican Cathedral (10am to 5pm), Wellington (3.30pm to 6pm) Taita Community Centre, 7 Taine Street (Off High Street), Taita, Lower Hutt and Auckland (8am to 6pm) at Inside Africa shops in Botany, North Shore and West
Friends of Zimbabwe will serve as volunteer polling officers and monitors.
Results will be announced at press conferences in the three cities at 6pm before being faxed to the Zimbabwe embassy in Canberra. The Christchurch campaign will then join the Earth Hour.
‘Ironically, the Earth hour just about demonstrates the kind of conditions urban Zimbabweans live in for between 10 and 18 hours a day where there is no electricity available most of the time,’ adds Mandla Akhe Dube.
About 5.6m Zimbabweans are registered for the 29th March polls. Those who are able will vote for a President, 90 Senators and 210 Members of Parliament as well as local Councilors.
Save Zimbabwe Campaign says that the Diaspora vote cannot be ignored if Zimbabwe is to conform to Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) norms and standards of free and fair elections. All other SADC countries have postal vote provisions for their citizens living abroad.
Post March 29 this challenge to extend the vote to the Diaspora will be placed before the newly elected parliament of Zimbabwe, which is expected to prioritize constitutional reforms.
Save Zimbabwe also appeals to New Zealand media to seek accreditation to cover the elections.
The Campaign prays for peace before, during and after elections.
* USA based Zimbabweans held their protest vote on the 16th February outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in Washington.
For more information and a sample of the presidential ballot paper to be used:
1. Auckland: Adams Makope, 021 027 24797
2. Wellington: Driden Kunaka, (04) 439 7595; 021 0466 814,
3. Christchurch: Mandla Akhe Dube, 03. 366 9274 Ext 113; 021 348 288;
savezimbabwe@slingshot.co.nz
Save Zimbabwe Campaign in New Zealand will stage protest presidential elections on March 29 in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. This is the same day, as national elections will be held in Zimbabwe.
‘We are raising the voice of at least 3 million disenfranchised Zimbabweans in the Diaspora’, says Mandla Akhe Dube, general secretary of the Save Zimbabwe campaign and vice chairperson of the Zimbabwe Global Forum. ‘They have as much a right to vote as anyone else in Zimbabwe’.
Similar protests will be held in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brussels, Botswana and the United States of America*.
Zimbabwe bars all but officials in its embassies from postal voting and yet there are nearly 4 million – most of them in neighboring South Africa- outside Zimbabwe.
About 7 000 Zimbabweans reside in New Zealand.
In Christchurch, polling will begin outside the Anglican Cathedral (10am to 5pm), Wellington (3.30pm to 6pm) Taita Community Centre, 7 Taine Street (Off High Street), Taita, Lower Hutt and Auckland (8am to 6pm) at Inside Africa shops in Botany, North Shore and West
Friends of Zimbabwe will serve as volunteer polling officers and monitors.
Results will be announced at press conferences in the three cities at 6pm before being faxed to the Zimbabwe embassy in Canberra. The Christchurch campaign will then join the Earth Hour.
‘Ironically, the Earth hour just about demonstrates the kind of conditions urban Zimbabweans live in for between 10 and 18 hours a day where there is no electricity available most of the time,’ adds Mandla Akhe Dube.
About 5.6m Zimbabweans are registered for the 29th March polls. Those who are able will vote for a President, 90 Senators and 210 Members of Parliament as well as local Councilors.
Save Zimbabwe Campaign says that the Diaspora vote cannot be ignored if Zimbabwe is to conform to Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) norms and standards of free and fair elections. All other SADC countries have postal vote provisions for their citizens living abroad.
Post March 29 this challenge to extend the vote to the Diaspora will be placed before the newly elected parliament of Zimbabwe, which is expected to prioritize constitutional reforms.
Save Zimbabwe also appeals to New Zealand media to seek accreditation to cover the elections.
The Campaign prays for peace before, during and after elections.
* USA based Zimbabweans held their protest vote on the 16th February outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in Washington.
For more information and a sample of the presidential ballot paper to be used:
1. Auckland: Adams Makope, 021 027 24797
2. Wellington: Driden Kunaka, (04) 439 7595; 021 0466 814,
3. Christchurch: Mandla Akhe Dube, 03. 366 9274 Ext 113; 021 348 288;
savezimbabwe@slingshot.co.nz
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Christine Mhaka a forgotten heroine of Zimbabwe's struggle
Christine Mhaka a forgotten heroine of Zimbabwe's struggle
Grace Kwinjeh
March 01, 2008
Her name is Christine Mhaka. She is 28 years old. She is a founder-member of the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, (MDC), for which she has worked tirelessly for the past eight years.
Christine has been arrested and beaten several times over the years.
She is now a refugee in South-Africa, where she is faced with yet another kind of struggle; a struggle with its own dynamics that make her wonder whether she should have left home after all.
For Mhaka, things came to a head when she was tortured on March 11, 2007. Ghastly scenes of tortured civic and political leaders made international headlines. Many cannot erase from their memories images of the battered civic and opposition leaders.
For those that already had a media profile, their prominence gave them the protection and support they would need.
Little known Mhaka is a forgotten heroine. Her story exposes the dynamics around the struggle for change in Zimbabwe and how it plays itself out for many activists especially those who choose to cross the border into the Diaspora. Harsh circumstances force them out of Zimbabwe but when outside they are essentially on their own.
Mhaka now lives in a makeshift shack in a squatter camp.
"I have to kneel down to get into my home. We have no water; we use buckets to get water about 5km from where I stay," she says while sobbing.
"I have never suffered like this in my life. At times I wonder why God has condemned me to this."
Mhaka was once full of life. Now she does not look like the fearless fighter against Zimbabwe's secret police that she used to be. There has been no reward for her political activism; no one to turn to or to share her agony of police brutality with. Zimbabwe's opposition has not been a source of security to her as an activist.
One would think the benefits and the hero status accorded to her fellow comrades would have at least trickled down to her, or that she would get some form of recognition and be remembered. She has now become a mere statistic - a figure or a case in the numerous reports that have been written about the tyranny that visits those that oppose Robert Mugabe's dictatorship.
A security crackdown that followed March 11 resulted in more arrests and torture of senior civic and opposition officials. It did not end there. Other people, including Mhaka's mother, were harassed as state agents sought information on the whereabouts of those on their list.
"I decided to leave the country, after the torture," Mhaka says. "I could not bear it any more. They beat up my mother because of my activism. My mother worries about me; she worries about how I am surviving."
The Southern African Development Community, (SADC), responded to the March 11 brutality by appointing South-Africa's President Thabo Mbeki as mediator to end the crisis through a negotiated settlement between the ruling Zanu-PF party and the MDC. Months later the much talked about mediation has all but collapsed. The Zanu-PF party has reneged on every promise made in terms of guaranteeing democratic reforms that would rescue Zimbabwe from the prevailing socio-economic crisis.
Inflation stands at a record high of over 100 00 percent. Life expectancy for females is down to 34 and for males 37 years. High unemployment, collapsed health delivery and education systems, increased repression, are the litany of ills Zimbabweans endure as they brace themselves for yet another general election on March 29.
Many like Mhaka, who is one of an estimated 3-million Zimbabweans now living outside Zimbabwe, would like to return home, but she is afraid of going back. That means they must continue to face the rigours of refugee life.
"The police here haunt us every day," says Mhaka, who was brought to the squatter camp by a friend she met while on the streets of Johannesburg. "Night and day we are raided."
The squatter camp is home. For food they scrounge around I dare not ask about the basic needs of a woman, such as sanitary towels. On average a packet of tampons costs R20, a fortune for an unemployed refugee.
A South African researcher with the International Labour Research and Information Group based in Cape Town, Koni Benson says of Mhaka's case: "The politics of elite transition in Zimbabwe is being played out across the bodies of women who dare to speak out, such as women like Mhaka. Instead of supporting their struggle for humanity, as they cross the border into South- Africa in search of survival, they continue to struggle, as the South-African Government does nothing to help."
Benson believes the South-African Government should develop a more honest and realistic approach to the political crisis in Zimbabwe - not one that props up the Mugabe regime.
In January the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg was raided. Refugees from Zimbabwe and other African countries, who live there and receive humanitarian support, were harassed by members of the South-Africa Police Service (SAPS).
Bishop Paul Verryn, who runs the programme, says: "Some of the refugees here ran away from political persecution, but in South Africa they are being subjected to torture, harassment, police brutality and all forms of abuse at the hands of the people who should protect them. Women and children are yet to come to terms with the recent raid.
"South Africa treats Zimbabwean refugees like criminals, which makes it complicit in the gender violence being unleashed on women by the state in Zimbabwe."
Mhaka finally found help after almost a year of destitution and no access to therapy. She made her way to the Southern Africa Centre for Survivors of Torture, (SACST), where she has finally started to receive therapy.
Project officer, Sox Chikowero, a Zimbabwean who is also a victim of torture, says of Mhaka's condition: "Looking a her you can see she is very traumatized and depressed. You can see she is not her self."
Thousands of genuine asylum seekers arrive in South Africa. Chikowero says many are too scared to seek help or to come out in the open because of the continued victimization and the xenophobia of some South Africans towards foreign nationals.
Asked whether it would be easy for Mhaka to deal with the continued social and emotional stress sustained while in South Africa, Chikowero says: "Help comes in stages, It is not a once-off situation. It includes psycho-social, medical intervention and humanitarian assistance. How one responds is not easy to tell after one visit.
"We offer humanitarian assistance especially in the case where drugs are prescribed and if the person needs to eat, we try to provide food," says Chikowero.
He says SACST receives new cases of refugees who have escaped from political persecution in Zimbabwe every week. Chikowero estimates that at least a third of the Zimbabwean refugee population in South-Africa comprises victims of torture or political persecution.
There is yet another problem – that of access to health care and drugs for refugees living with HIV/AIDS. He says they are subjected to discrimination. HIV treatment and care in South-Africa remain a contentious issue between the Government and those advocating for robust policy change.
South Africa does not provide ARVs to all seven million citizens who are infected. Out of a population 42 million, only 200 000 receive ARVs. What this means is that HIV-positive refugees who cannot afford to pay for their own drugs face a dire situation, in an already complex political context over the issue.
There is the case of 44-year old Gift Moyo who was on ARVs in Zimbabwe and is now seeking asylum in South-Africa. He has been denied the drugs and his life is now at risk.
While the South African Refugees Act of 1988 makes it mandatory for asylum seekers with or without papers to access health facilities and to be provided with drugs, this does not always happen in reality.
"My drugs have run out and I have been camping at the Home Affairs centre," he told me recently.
Another March 11 torture victim, Nhamo Musekiwa finally succumbed to the HIV virus. His condition was exacerbated by the beatings he endured on that fateful day and a subsequent break in taking the ARVs. He escaped to South-Africa where he died in destitution late in 2007.
Perhaps one day when Zimbabwe is free again Christine Mhaka will look back and smile that her sacrifices were worth it. For now she deserves a fresh start.
(Christine Mhaka is a pseudonym for a Zimbabwean political activist. This story is based on her real life experience.)
*Grace Kwinjeh is a Zimbabwean journalist based in South Africa.
Grace Kwinjeh
March 01, 2008
Her name is Christine Mhaka. She is 28 years old. She is a founder-member of the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, (MDC), for which she has worked tirelessly for the past eight years.
Christine has been arrested and beaten several times over the years.
She is now a refugee in South-Africa, where she is faced with yet another kind of struggle; a struggle with its own dynamics that make her wonder whether she should have left home after all.
For Mhaka, things came to a head when she was tortured on March 11, 2007. Ghastly scenes of tortured civic and political leaders made international headlines. Many cannot erase from their memories images of the battered civic and opposition leaders.
For those that already had a media profile, their prominence gave them the protection and support they would need.
Little known Mhaka is a forgotten heroine. Her story exposes the dynamics around the struggle for change in Zimbabwe and how it plays itself out for many activists especially those who choose to cross the border into the Diaspora. Harsh circumstances force them out of Zimbabwe but when outside they are essentially on their own.
Mhaka now lives in a makeshift shack in a squatter camp.
"I have to kneel down to get into my home. We have no water; we use buckets to get water about 5km from where I stay," she says while sobbing.
"I have never suffered like this in my life. At times I wonder why God has condemned me to this."
Mhaka was once full of life. Now she does not look like the fearless fighter against Zimbabwe's secret police that she used to be. There has been no reward for her political activism; no one to turn to or to share her agony of police brutality with. Zimbabwe's opposition has not been a source of security to her as an activist.
One would think the benefits and the hero status accorded to her fellow comrades would have at least trickled down to her, or that she would get some form of recognition and be remembered. She has now become a mere statistic - a figure or a case in the numerous reports that have been written about the tyranny that visits those that oppose Robert Mugabe's dictatorship.
A security crackdown that followed March 11 resulted in more arrests and torture of senior civic and opposition officials. It did not end there. Other people, including Mhaka's mother, were harassed as state agents sought information on the whereabouts of those on their list.
"I decided to leave the country, after the torture," Mhaka says. "I could not bear it any more. They beat up my mother because of my activism. My mother worries about me; she worries about how I am surviving."
The Southern African Development Community, (SADC), responded to the March 11 brutality by appointing South-Africa's President Thabo Mbeki as mediator to end the crisis through a negotiated settlement between the ruling Zanu-PF party and the MDC. Months later the much talked about mediation has all but collapsed. The Zanu-PF party has reneged on every promise made in terms of guaranteeing democratic reforms that would rescue Zimbabwe from the prevailing socio-economic crisis.
Inflation stands at a record high of over 100 00 percent. Life expectancy for females is down to 34 and for males 37 years. High unemployment, collapsed health delivery and education systems, increased repression, are the litany of ills Zimbabweans endure as they brace themselves for yet another general election on March 29.
Many like Mhaka, who is one of an estimated 3-million Zimbabweans now living outside Zimbabwe, would like to return home, but she is afraid of going back. That means they must continue to face the rigours of refugee life.
"The police here haunt us every day," says Mhaka, who was brought to the squatter camp by a friend she met while on the streets of Johannesburg. "Night and day we are raided."
The squatter camp is home. For food they scrounge around I dare not ask about the basic needs of a woman, such as sanitary towels. On average a packet of tampons costs R20, a fortune for an unemployed refugee.
A South African researcher with the International Labour Research and Information Group based in Cape Town, Koni Benson says of Mhaka's case: "The politics of elite transition in Zimbabwe is being played out across the bodies of women who dare to speak out, such as women like Mhaka. Instead of supporting their struggle for humanity, as they cross the border into South- Africa in search of survival, they continue to struggle, as the South-African Government does nothing to help."
Benson believes the South-African Government should develop a more honest and realistic approach to the political crisis in Zimbabwe - not one that props up the Mugabe regime.
In January the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg was raided. Refugees from Zimbabwe and other African countries, who live there and receive humanitarian support, were harassed by members of the South-Africa Police Service (SAPS).
Bishop Paul Verryn, who runs the programme, says: "Some of the refugees here ran away from political persecution, but in South Africa they are being subjected to torture, harassment, police brutality and all forms of abuse at the hands of the people who should protect them. Women and children are yet to come to terms with the recent raid.
"South Africa treats Zimbabwean refugees like criminals, which makes it complicit in the gender violence being unleashed on women by the state in Zimbabwe."
Mhaka finally found help after almost a year of destitution and no access to therapy. She made her way to the Southern Africa Centre for Survivors of Torture, (SACST), where she has finally started to receive therapy.
Project officer, Sox Chikowero, a Zimbabwean who is also a victim of torture, says of Mhaka's condition: "Looking a her you can see she is very traumatized and depressed. You can see she is not her self."
Thousands of genuine asylum seekers arrive in South Africa. Chikowero says many are too scared to seek help or to come out in the open because of the continued victimization and the xenophobia of some South Africans towards foreign nationals.
Asked whether it would be easy for Mhaka to deal with the continued social and emotional stress sustained while in South Africa, Chikowero says: "Help comes in stages, It is not a once-off situation. It includes psycho-social, medical intervention and humanitarian assistance. How one responds is not easy to tell after one visit.
"We offer humanitarian assistance especially in the case where drugs are prescribed and if the person needs to eat, we try to provide food," says Chikowero.
He says SACST receives new cases of refugees who have escaped from political persecution in Zimbabwe every week. Chikowero estimates that at least a third of the Zimbabwean refugee population in South-Africa comprises victims of torture or political persecution.
There is yet another problem – that of access to health care and drugs for refugees living with HIV/AIDS. He says they are subjected to discrimination. HIV treatment and care in South-Africa remain a contentious issue between the Government and those advocating for robust policy change.
South Africa does not provide ARVs to all seven million citizens who are infected. Out of a population 42 million, only 200 000 receive ARVs. What this means is that HIV-positive refugees who cannot afford to pay for their own drugs face a dire situation, in an already complex political context over the issue.
There is the case of 44-year old Gift Moyo who was on ARVs in Zimbabwe and is now seeking asylum in South-Africa. He has been denied the drugs and his life is now at risk.
While the South African Refugees Act of 1988 makes it mandatory for asylum seekers with or without papers to access health facilities and to be provided with drugs, this does not always happen in reality.
"My drugs have run out and I have been camping at the Home Affairs centre," he told me recently.
Another March 11 torture victim, Nhamo Musekiwa finally succumbed to the HIV virus. His condition was exacerbated by the beatings he endured on that fateful day and a subsequent break in taking the ARVs. He escaped to South-Africa where he died in destitution late in 2007.
Perhaps one day when Zimbabwe is free again Christine Mhaka will look back and smile that her sacrifices were worth it. For now she deserves a fresh start.
(Christine Mhaka is a pseudonym for a Zimbabwean political activist. This story is based on her real life experience.)
*Grace Kwinjeh is a Zimbabwean journalist based in South Africa.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
When push comes to shove, women fight it out
By Grace Kwinjeh
“IF anyone tries to remove President Robert Mugabe from power, we will march in the streets and we are prepared to remove our clothes in support of his candidature in next year’s elections,” said Oppah Muchinguri, leader of Zanu-PF women’s league at a meeting held at the party’s Harare headquarters early this year.
The Chinese proverb: “Crisis equals opportunity”, seems to be a reverse of what happens in Zimbabwe’s politics in which “crisis equals zero opportunities” especially for women aspiring for political office.
After the horrific 1994 genocide, Rwanda's first general election, in 2003, resulted in the election of the highest number of women in Parliament in the world, a record 48 percent. South-Africa and Mozambique after Apartheid and the civil war respectively managed to
attain at least 20 percent of women in Parliament - a high percentage at that historic moment. These countries were ready for healing and forgiveness. They were ready to put the past behind and to move on - the women themselves were also ready to unite and move on, much to their advantage.
Sadly, in Zimbabwe another reality is playing itself out in the absence of a united front of women to push the ‘women’s agenda” strategically in the coming election. The volatile political environment has meant parties have had a higher hand in shaping and influencing women's participation in the election more than the women themselves in a united front out of their various political contexts that would ensure a strategic increase in their numbers in the contested seats.
Open Society for Southern Africa, (OSISA)'s gender advisor, Alice Kanengoni says: “The polarized political environment manifests itself in elections and electoral processes and unfortunately that also impacts on women's participation. And to also say some of these women will represent Zimbabwean women might be an anomaly as they represent their political parties. And so it becomes a party agenda as distinct from a Zimbabwean women’s agenda.”
Under Robert Mugabe’s dictatorship the political environment is highly polarized, the shrinking political space has meant the opposition and its leadership fighting for survival - more so for the women.
The above statement by Muchinguri in her proclamation and backing of the aging dictator, Mugabe, is ample testimony of the kind of environment women go into this election as they stand behind the BIG MEN, representing their political parties. Participation is therefore through a male symbol and given the patriarchal nature of the
political systems it means even within the party women are not able to wrestle out of that context that will by and large result in their continued subjugation and marginalisation.
There are four male Presidential aspirants in the elections to be held in three weeks time. The three main contenders being the incumbent, Mugabe, opposition Movement for Democratic Change, (MDC), leader Morgan Tsvangirai and Independent candidate Dr Simba Makoni. Each of these males has attracted strong female candidates to his side.
But then the question is when push comes to shove who gets shoved?
While no women have put their names forward for the highest office in the land, certain dynamics are at play in terms of the diversity of the women candidates, their quality and caliber and the value they add to Zimbabwe’s politics, at the senatorial, parliamentary and council levels. There are credible women with a good background or political history, in some cases going back to Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle. Some have been leaders in the women’s movement; some in the labour movement; while others carry Government experience.
They have a collective track record and history of participation in politics or public life that qualifies them to win their constituencies and serve the people of Zimbabwe.
Behind Morgan Tsvangirai are his deputy Thokozani Khupe, trade-unionist Lucia Matibenga, war veteran Sekai Holland, Lawyer Jessie Majome, trade unionist Thabita Kumalo and former MP Hilda Mafudze.
Makoni has attracted the support of former education minister Dr Fay Chung, Feminist Dr Rudo Gaidzanwa, war veteran Margaret Dongo and members of parliament, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga and Trudy Stevenson have also put their weight behind him.
“For me it is delightful to see a young woman like Jessie on this list. That means inter-generational continuity; those are the veterans of tomorrow”: says Kanengoni while lamenting the fact that the best of Zimbabwe’s women are going to be up and against each other.
While it also seems more women have been given room to come out to participate in the harmonised election analysts warn that it is the campaign environment and the voting that will determine the number of women represented in the contested seats – after the final vote count.
In any event technically there are more seats up for grabs – for instance parliamentary seats have been increased from 150 to 210- that has simply meant higher numbers both of men and women, contesting in the various levels of the election, not that women have been accorded higher representation.
Feminist Thoko Matshe says there should be no surprises in this election.
“Do you anticipate any surprises in this one?” she asks. “No, same old, if they increase its more about having four different formations than that the political parties have deliberately increased, the numbers of women.”
However a perusal of the candidate list makes an interesting analysis. In some cases women are standing against women, while in others political parties have fielded strong female candidates in opposition strongholds and in others female candidates have been
'imposed', apparently in a bid by the parties to attain a one third quota as stipulated in their constitutions.
Explaining the incidence of women standing against fellow women, Matshe says: “Personally I have a problem because I think they are set up, but then if it has to be I then lament that they do not do it with dignity they end up on each others throats.”
However, parliamentary candidate Jessie Majome has a different take.
“I think to have women standing against women is an indicator of the success of the women’s lobby for more women standing- it's pretty much like the ladies’ tennis or other sports where women compete against women. It’s also good because it gives the electorate a chance to vote for women for the sake of it, but based on issues.”
In Zimbabwe there are no constitutionally guaranteed quotas for women in decision-making positions. The only guarantees are at political party level. Both Zanu-PF and the MDC have one third quotas. Since the 2000 General election the percentage of women in parliament has been going down significantly after each election, the last parliament
had 10.6 percent female representation a drop from 14.6 percent in the previous parliament.
Sadly, the environment in which these brave women have decided to take a plunge into the turbulent political waters is hardly woman- friendly, let alone person-friendly. The backdrop of a dictatorship that has strengthened its grip on power over the years, accompanied by the deep entrenchment of patriarchy as women are pushed further to the
periphery of political and public life would complicate any campaign. Not to mention those like Sekai Holland who are still on therapy, healing the wounds of Mugabes' brutality.
In an environment in which at times a good campaign simply means cash not your political track-record, it is a known fact women often go into politics with very little resources a source again of their perpetual marginalisation. The use of money has already been reported in the way the different parties ran their primary elections meaning the elimination process of some deserving women to stand as candidates started at that party level.
The shrinking political space has further poisoned the environment as campaign issues or manifestos are thrown out of the window, it is now about personalities.
The poison or polarization can be felt even in the media in which now most discussions hardly make sense for Zimbabweans who just want change - a situation in which at times professional journalists, have been reduced to information officers for the various male aspirants.
Again, this is an environment in which women's voices are muted. What do the women want out of this election as the majority 52 percent voters? We do not know. And then as candidates what do they have to offer? Again we do not know. Their visions and aspirations have been eclipsed by the men who are majority of the news makers and news sources.
A situation further compounded by the fact that the women are going to be fighting in different camps and on completely different agenda’s and platforms. There is no united front of women across political party and class divide that is going to battle it out in this
election. The women have been parceled according to the different agenda’s based on their political formations and persuasions.
Over the years of fighting for freedom and democracy Zimbabweans have had moments of recall and reflection on the future Zimbabwe they want to see. One such recent event is the Working People’s Convention, which adopted a People’s Charter which states: “That gender equality is the responsibility of women and men equally, we recognise the role that our mothers and sisters played in the liberation of our country from colonialism and their subsequent leading role in all struggles for democracy and social justice.”
That is the common denominator amongst most of the women on the participants list -therefore their participation is not out of charity or the largess of our patriarchal society but a right they earned, squarely side by side with the men. What is unfortunate is how
the poisoned political environment seeks to disenfranchise some of the above women simply on the basis of political choices they have made.
The Zimbabwe Women’s Charter goes further in as far as the promotion of women in politics and decision-making: “Government and all political parties must ensure that women participate equally and are represented equally in all national and local decision-making bodies. They must have a system so that women hold the same number of
positions as men.”
Again going back to the South-African experience the Women’s Charter adopted in 1994 after months of consultations by the women across class, race and political divide under the National Women’s Coalition, resulted in them also influencing the new constitution in the which their rights are not only guaranteed but are also safe guarded. This process happened at a time when the wounds of oppression under apartheid were still fresh in the minds of many women who had suffered these. Kanengoni, however, says what is needed for such an outcome is leadership: “There is a lot of potential in the women. Maybe because I have never really been a politician, but I feel that women have to rise above their party affiliations.”
Kanengoni believes there is need for a strong women’s leadership to unite the women and move the country forward.
“IF anyone tries to remove President Robert Mugabe from power, we will march in the streets and we are prepared to remove our clothes in support of his candidature in next year’s elections,” said Oppah Muchinguri, leader of Zanu-PF women’s league at a meeting held at the party’s Harare headquarters early this year.
The Chinese proverb: “Crisis equals opportunity”, seems to be a reverse of what happens in Zimbabwe’s politics in which “crisis equals zero opportunities” especially for women aspiring for political office.
After the horrific 1994 genocide, Rwanda's first general election, in 2003, resulted in the election of the highest number of women in Parliament in the world, a record 48 percent. South-Africa and Mozambique after Apartheid and the civil war respectively managed to
attain at least 20 percent of women in Parliament - a high percentage at that historic moment. These countries were ready for healing and forgiveness. They were ready to put the past behind and to move on - the women themselves were also ready to unite and move on, much to their advantage.
Sadly, in Zimbabwe another reality is playing itself out in the absence of a united front of women to push the ‘women’s agenda” strategically in the coming election. The volatile political environment has meant parties have had a higher hand in shaping and influencing women's participation in the election more than the women themselves in a united front out of their various political contexts that would ensure a strategic increase in their numbers in the contested seats.
Open Society for Southern Africa, (OSISA)'s gender advisor, Alice Kanengoni says: “The polarized political environment manifests itself in elections and electoral processes and unfortunately that also impacts on women's participation. And to also say some of these women will represent Zimbabwean women might be an anomaly as they represent their political parties. And so it becomes a party agenda as distinct from a Zimbabwean women’s agenda.”
Under Robert Mugabe’s dictatorship the political environment is highly polarized, the shrinking political space has meant the opposition and its leadership fighting for survival - more so for the women.
The above statement by Muchinguri in her proclamation and backing of the aging dictator, Mugabe, is ample testimony of the kind of environment women go into this election as they stand behind the BIG MEN, representing their political parties. Participation is therefore through a male symbol and given the patriarchal nature of the
political systems it means even within the party women are not able to wrestle out of that context that will by and large result in their continued subjugation and marginalisation.
There are four male Presidential aspirants in the elections to be held in three weeks time. The three main contenders being the incumbent, Mugabe, opposition Movement for Democratic Change, (MDC), leader Morgan Tsvangirai and Independent candidate Dr Simba Makoni. Each of these males has attracted strong female candidates to his side.
But then the question is when push comes to shove who gets shoved?
While no women have put their names forward for the highest office in the land, certain dynamics are at play in terms of the diversity of the women candidates, their quality and caliber and the value they add to Zimbabwe’s politics, at the senatorial, parliamentary and council levels. There are credible women with a good background or political history, in some cases going back to Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle. Some have been leaders in the women’s movement; some in the labour movement; while others carry Government experience.
They have a collective track record and history of participation in politics or public life that qualifies them to win their constituencies and serve the people of Zimbabwe.
Behind Morgan Tsvangirai are his deputy Thokozani Khupe, trade-unionist Lucia Matibenga, war veteran Sekai Holland, Lawyer Jessie Majome, trade unionist Thabita Kumalo and former MP Hilda Mafudze.
Makoni has attracted the support of former education minister Dr Fay Chung, Feminist Dr Rudo Gaidzanwa, war veteran Margaret Dongo and members of parliament, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga and Trudy Stevenson have also put their weight behind him.
“For me it is delightful to see a young woman like Jessie on this list. That means inter-generational continuity; those are the veterans of tomorrow”: says Kanengoni while lamenting the fact that the best of Zimbabwe’s women are going to be up and against each other.
While it also seems more women have been given room to come out to participate in the harmonised election analysts warn that it is the campaign environment and the voting that will determine the number of women represented in the contested seats – after the final vote count.
In any event technically there are more seats up for grabs – for instance parliamentary seats have been increased from 150 to 210- that has simply meant higher numbers both of men and women, contesting in the various levels of the election, not that women have been accorded higher representation.
Feminist Thoko Matshe says there should be no surprises in this election.
“Do you anticipate any surprises in this one?” she asks. “No, same old, if they increase its more about having four different formations than that the political parties have deliberately increased, the numbers of women.”
However a perusal of the candidate list makes an interesting analysis. In some cases women are standing against women, while in others political parties have fielded strong female candidates in opposition strongholds and in others female candidates have been
'imposed', apparently in a bid by the parties to attain a one third quota as stipulated in their constitutions.
Explaining the incidence of women standing against fellow women, Matshe says: “Personally I have a problem because I think they are set up, but then if it has to be I then lament that they do not do it with dignity they end up on each others throats.”
However, parliamentary candidate Jessie Majome has a different take.
“I think to have women standing against women is an indicator of the success of the women’s lobby for more women standing- it's pretty much like the ladies’ tennis or other sports where women compete against women. It’s also good because it gives the electorate a chance to vote for women for the sake of it, but based on issues.”
In Zimbabwe there are no constitutionally guaranteed quotas for women in decision-making positions. The only guarantees are at political party level. Both Zanu-PF and the MDC have one third quotas. Since the 2000 General election the percentage of women in parliament has been going down significantly after each election, the last parliament
had 10.6 percent female representation a drop from 14.6 percent in the previous parliament.
Sadly, the environment in which these brave women have decided to take a plunge into the turbulent political waters is hardly woman- friendly, let alone person-friendly. The backdrop of a dictatorship that has strengthened its grip on power over the years, accompanied by the deep entrenchment of patriarchy as women are pushed further to the
periphery of political and public life would complicate any campaign. Not to mention those like Sekai Holland who are still on therapy, healing the wounds of Mugabes' brutality.
In an environment in which at times a good campaign simply means cash not your political track-record, it is a known fact women often go into politics with very little resources a source again of their perpetual marginalisation. The use of money has already been reported in the way the different parties ran their primary elections meaning the elimination process of some deserving women to stand as candidates started at that party level.
The shrinking political space has further poisoned the environment as campaign issues or manifestos are thrown out of the window, it is now about personalities.
The poison or polarization can be felt even in the media in which now most discussions hardly make sense for Zimbabweans who just want change - a situation in which at times professional journalists, have been reduced to information officers for the various male aspirants.
Again, this is an environment in which women's voices are muted. What do the women want out of this election as the majority 52 percent voters? We do not know. And then as candidates what do they have to offer? Again we do not know. Their visions and aspirations have been eclipsed by the men who are majority of the news makers and news sources.
A situation further compounded by the fact that the women are going to be fighting in different camps and on completely different agenda’s and platforms. There is no united front of women across political party and class divide that is going to battle it out in this
election. The women have been parceled according to the different agenda’s based on their political formations and persuasions.
Over the years of fighting for freedom and democracy Zimbabweans have had moments of recall and reflection on the future Zimbabwe they want to see. One such recent event is the Working People’s Convention, which adopted a People’s Charter which states: “That gender equality is the responsibility of women and men equally, we recognise the role that our mothers and sisters played in the liberation of our country from colonialism and their subsequent leading role in all struggles for democracy and social justice.”
That is the common denominator amongst most of the women on the participants list -therefore their participation is not out of charity or the largess of our patriarchal society but a right they earned, squarely side by side with the men. What is unfortunate is how
the poisoned political environment seeks to disenfranchise some of the above women simply on the basis of political choices they have made.
The Zimbabwe Women’s Charter goes further in as far as the promotion of women in politics and decision-making: “Government and all political parties must ensure that women participate equally and are represented equally in all national and local decision-making bodies. They must have a system so that women hold the same number of
positions as men.”
Again going back to the South-African experience the Women’s Charter adopted in 1994 after months of consultations by the women across class, race and political divide under the National Women’s Coalition, resulted in them also influencing the new constitution in the which their rights are not only guaranteed but are also safe guarded. This process happened at a time when the wounds of oppression under apartheid were still fresh in the minds of many women who had suffered these. Kanengoni, however, says what is needed for such an outcome is leadership: “There is a lot of potential in the women. Maybe because I have never really been a politician, but I feel that women have to rise above their party affiliations.”
Kanengoni believes there is need for a strong women’s leadership to unite the women and move the country forward.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
African women and the struggle for emancipation – translating words into
Written for a Swedish publication.
African women and the struggle for emancipation – translating words into
action
By Grace Kwinjeh
Determined gender activists and feminists have over the decades proposed solutions
to not only ending conflict, eradicating poverty, but more
importantly- those that are aimed at unshackling the continents women
from the bondage of patriarchal exploitation and domination.
That African woman, bears the burden of conflict and poverty on the
continent is an old cliché. Certainly, gains
can be celebrated over landmark achievements towards women's
emancipation over the years, but the situation on the ground shows
there is still much work to be done, as most of these gains have just
remained on paper .
In a society that denies the full humanity of women the odds are
stacked against those who would like to make a difference- through
radical changes to the existing gender relations. Recent experiences
in parts of the continent bear testimony to the fact that changing the
lot of women is going to take more than just miracles. Transforming
societal attitudes towards those who are viewed as the 'fairer' or
'weaker' sex, is what gender activists and feminists have been working
hard at – in some instances with much gain and in others – much
back-lash.
Areas of intervention activists have over the years advocated for and
employed include, institutional reforms and policy interventions at
governmental, regional and International levels. Thus, African
government have acceded to international conventions that seek to
redress the previously skewed gender relations, meant to emancipate
women, these include the Convention on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women, (CEDAW), the Beijing Plat-form of Action
and continentally the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and
Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.
However, the patriarchal nature and scope of most Governments
including regional and continental bodies has resulted in much
resistance and backlash - leading in most instances to the piling up
of declarations and protocols that are either never translated into
action - as they just remain symbolic gestures on paper.
Gender activists and feminists in the Southern Africa Development
Community, (SADC) region are for instance not amused at the way the
SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, whose signing of, by SADC
leaders at their Summit in 2007 was deferred apparently to give more
time for 'national consultations'.
Among contentious issues between the Governments and activists was
the provision in the Gender Protocol that Governments enshrine gender
equality in their constitutions; that the Protocol use obligatory
language such as 'ensure' and not 'endeavor' and that the rights of
socially excluded and vulnerable groups be recognised and protected.
A consultative meeting coordinated by the Southern African Gender
Protocol Alliance, agreed that: "the Alliance roadmap involves
intensive lobbying and advocacy in-country and at a regional level,
including offering technical support where this may be required
through to the August summit, where it plans to hold a parallel civil
society forum and launch a high profile campaign for the adoption of a
strong Gender Protocol."
The alliance has set itself an uphill task as signs of resistance from
the powers that be in the region are quite clear, Botswana often
celebrated for being a progressive democracy has been one of the
first, on making protocol provisions constitutionally binding,
commenting on that, Assistant Minister of Labour and Home Affairs,
Utlwang Matlhabaphiri, said this was not possible, due to the fact
that the country's constitution could only be amended through a
referendum. Matlhabaphiri said Botswana for instance, would be
comfortable with a provision that says 50 percent of decision-making
positions should be held by women, but without any prescriptions on
how to attain this quota.
This is precisely, part of the problem because the declarations that
SADC governments have signed before have not been legally binding,
thus a mere signature has remained just that a signature on paper –
with those who seek redress still remaining in a weaker position.
HURISA director Corlett Letlojane, identifies the inability to
translate international conventions into local laws, as one of the
major impediments in the attainment f gender equality even in yet
another democracy- South-Africa: "There's a strong need for CSOs and
other relevant stakeholders to advocate for the domestication and
implementation of international, regional and sub-regional instruments
promoting women's rights. These instruments are meaningless if they
are not incorporated at local level, and the failure of our courts to
provide remedies to victims of violence brings disgrace to our
progressive Constitutional Order."
In a paper titled, 'Gender and human rights in South-Africa',
Letlojane, applauds the fact that South-Africa has made great advances
towards the attainment of gender equity through constitutional
provisions. Citing Section 9 of the South-African bill of rights which
prohibits any form of discrimination based on gender or sex
perpetrated directly or indirectly.
Sadly, notwithstanding these provisions, South-African women still
face discrimination in terms of cultural practices that deny them
their full humanity: "In terms of culture, women are not allowed to
remain the custodian of their children or to be in physical control of
the estate of their late partners. The deceased's eldest male
relative, if there is no male of the age of 18 at the time of the
deceased death, assumes this duty. The mother of the male and the
elder sister of the sibling's brother were completely disqualified
from exercising this duty."
This sums up the situation pertaining on the African continent where
cultural reasons for the continued oppression of women supersede moral
or legal ones for their empowerment. Across the Limpompo in Zimbabwe,
while Section 1.11 of the Constitution provides that for any regional
and international instruments to be applicable, they have to be
domesticated through the process of ratification, not many of the
international instruments pertaining to women's rights have been
ratified.
The situation is worse for women in conflict situations – in countries
such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, (DRC), Kenya, Sudan and
Zimbabwe they face other dynamics as they deal not only with the
cultural realities of their oppression but the increased burden of
conflict to their livelihoods.
Amnesty International reports of women in the Darfur region: "There
are more women living in camps than men and the threat of rape remains
rife for those who venture outside the camps. Many of the camps are
surrounded by belts of deserted land with hardly a tree standing.
Rapes are carried out on women who leave the camps to go to market or
collect firewood. They are carried out by Janjawid militia, government
soldiers, armed opposition groups and even by other displaced people."
Again in Kenya women and children are the majority of the more than
300 000 displaced people, they have fallen victim to sexual crimes and
ethnic cleansing.
They remain victims to a situation whose solution
again does not recognize their full humanity as they are largely
excluded from the mediation process meant to find a solution to the
crisis – that has made international head-lines over the past weeks.
Responding to the women's calls for inclusion in the mediation
process, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is
part of the negotiating team said: "To realize peace, we need complete
mobilization of society at all levels; we need the women."
While Zimbabwean women are dealing with state sponsored repression and
tyranny. Only recently in a Valentines Day protest march several
members of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise, (WOZA) were brutally attacked
by state security agents, scores were injured. This has become the
norm for this women's group, which has commendably, sustained
non-violent methods of resistance to state repression. Woza
coordinator Jenni Williams said after the February 14 protests: "We
know things are tough but we think this is the time for us to really
defend the country's future and stand up for our children."
Inclusion of women in peace-making efforts is provided for in the; UN
Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security; the
African Union Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality; and the protocol
to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa.
And so while so much has been said and written on paper aimed at
emancipating African women, the biggest job is in translating the
words into action, if the women's lot s to change for the better.
Grace Kwinjeh is a free-lance journalist and a consultant.
African women and the struggle for emancipation – translating words into
action
By Grace Kwinjeh
Determined gender activists and feminists have over the decades proposed solutions
to not only ending conflict, eradicating poverty, but more
importantly- those that are aimed at unshackling the continents women
from the bondage of patriarchal exploitation and domination.
That African woman, bears the burden of conflict and poverty on the
continent is an old cliché. Certainly, gains
can be celebrated over landmark achievements towards women's
emancipation over the years, but the situation on the ground shows
there is still much work to be done, as most of these gains have just
remained on paper .
In a society that denies the full humanity of women the odds are
stacked against those who would like to make a difference- through
radical changes to the existing gender relations. Recent experiences
in parts of the continent bear testimony to the fact that changing the
lot of women is going to take more than just miracles. Transforming
societal attitudes towards those who are viewed as the 'fairer' or
'weaker' sex, is what gender activists and feminists have been working
hard at – in some instances with much gain and in others – much
back-lash.
Areas of intervention activists have over the years advocated for and
employed include, institutional reforms and policy interventions at
governmental, regional and International levels. Thus, African
government have acceded to international conventions that seek to
redress the previously skewed gender relations, meant to emancipate
women, these include the Convention on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women, (CEDAW), the Beijing Plat-form of Action
and continentally the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and
Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.
However, the patriarchal nature and scope of most Governments
including regional and continental bodies has resulted in much
resistance and backlash - leading in most instances to the piling up
of declarations and protocols that are either never translated into
action - as they just remain symbolic gestures on paper.
Gender activists and feminists in the Southern Africa Development
Community, (SADC) region are for instance not amused at the way the
SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, whose signing of, by SADC
leaders at their Summit in 2007 was deferred apparently to give more
time for 'national consultations'.
Among contentious issues between the Governments and activists was
the provision in the Gender Protocol that Governments enshrine gender
equality in their constitutions; that the Protocol use obligatory
language such as 'ensure' and not 'endeavor' and that the rights of
socially excluded and vulnerable groups be recognised and protected.
A consultative meeting coordinated by the Southern African Gender
Protocol Alliance, agreed that: "the Alliance roadmap involves
intensive lobbying and advocacy in-country and at a regional level,
including offering technical support where this may be required
through to the August summit, where it plans to hold a parallel civil
society forum and launch a high profile campaign for the adoption of a
strong Gender Protocol."
The alliance has set itself an uphill task as signs of resistance from
the powers that be in the region are quite clear, Botswana often
celebrated for being a progressive democracy has been one of the
first, on making protocol provisions constitutionally binding,
commenting on that, Assistant Minister of Labour and Home Affairs,
Utlwang Matlhabaphiri, said this was not possible, due to the fact
that the country's constitution could only be amended through a
referendum. Matlhabaphiri said Botswana for instance, would be
comfortable with a provision that says 50 percent of decision-making
positions should be held by women, but without any prescriptions on
how to attain this quota.
This is precisely, part of the problem because the declarations that
SADC governments have signed before have not been legally binding,
thus a mere signature has remained just that a signature on paper –
with those who seek redress still remaining in a weaker position.
HURISA director Corlett Letlojane, identifies the inability to
translate international conventions into local laws, as one of the
major impediments in the attainment f gender equality even in yet
another democracy- South-Africa: "There's a strong need for CSOs and
other relevant stakeholders to advocate for the domestication and
implementation of international, regional and sub-regional instruments
promoting women's rights. These instruments are meaningless if they
are not incorporated at local level, and the failure of our courts to
provide remedies to victims of violence brings disgrace to our
progressive Constitutional Order."
In a paper titled, 'Gender and human rights in South-Africa',
Letlojane, applauds the fact that South-Africa has made great advances
towards the attainment of gender equity through constitutional
provisions. Citing Section 9 of the South-African bill of rights which
prohibits any form of discrimination based on gender or sex
perpetrated directly or indirectly.
Sadly, notwithstanding these provisions, South-African women still
face discrimination in terms of cultural practices that deny them
their full humanity: "In terms of culture, women are not allowed to
remain the custodian of their children or to be in physical control of
the estate of their late partners. The deceased's eldest male
relative, if there is no male of the age of 18 at the time of the
deceased death, assumes this duty. The mother of the male and the
elder sister of the sibling's brother were completely disqualified
from exercising this duty."
This sums up the situation pertaining on the African continent where
cultural reasons for the continued oppression of women supersede moral
or legal ones for their empowerment. Across the Limpompo in Zimbabwe,
while Section 1.11 of the Constitution provides that for any regional
and international instruments to be applicable, they have to be
domesticated through the process of ratification, not many of the
international instruments pertaining to women's rights have been
ratified.
The situation is worse for women in conflict situations – in countries
such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, (DRC), Kenya, Sudan and
Zimbabwe they face other dynamics as they deal not only with the
cultural realities of their oppression but the increased burden of
conflict to their livelihoods.
Amnesty International reports of women in the Darfur region: "There
are more women living in camps than men and the threat of rape remains
rife for those who venture outside the camps. Many of the camps are
surrounded by belts of deserted land with hardly a tree standing.
Rapes are carried out on women who leave the camps to go to market or
collect firewood. They are carried out by Janjawid militia, government
soldiers, armed opposition groups and even by other displaced people."
Again in Kenya women and children are the majority of the more than
300 000 displaced people, they have fallen victim to sexual crimes and
ethnic cleansing.
They remain victims to a situation whose solution
again does not recognize their full humanity as they are largely
excluded from the mediation process meant to find a solution to the
crisis – that has made international head-lines over the past weeks.
Responding to the women's calls for inclusion in the mediation
process, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is
part of the negotiating team said: "To realize peace, we need complete
mobilization of society at all levels; we need the women."
While Zimbabwean women are dealing with state sponsored repression and
tyranny. Only recently in a Valentines Day protest march several
members of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise, (WOZA) were brutally attacked
by state security agents, scores were injured. This has become the
norm for this women's group, which has commendably, sustained
non-violent methods of resistance to state repression. Woza
coordinator Jenni Williams said after the February 14 protests: "We
know things are tough but we think this is the time for us to really
defend the country's future and stand up for our children."
Inclusion of women in peace-making efforts is provided for in the; UN
Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security; the
African Union Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality; and the protocol
to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa.
And so while so much has been said and written on paper aimed at
emancipating African women, the biggest job is in translating the
words into action, if the women's lot s to change for the better.
Grace Kwinjeh is a free-lance journalist and a consultant.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Forthcoming Zimbabwean Elections on 29th March
GLOBAL ZIMBABWE FORUM
PRESS STATEMENT
RE: Forthcoming Zimbabwean Elections on 29th March
The Global Zimbabwe Forum would like to express its dire concern at the current state of the preparations for the forthcoming harmonized elections that are due to be held in Zimbabwe on 29th March 2008.
We would like as Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, to state in no uncertain terms our unequivocal stance on the following issues:
1. The outcome of the forthcoming elections will be highly compromised by the fact that over three million eligible voters who are now living outside Zimbabwe will be excluded from participating in the process. We believe that the exclusion of the Diaspora vote is a fundamental flow that brings the credibility of the elections into question.
2. We also note with concern the rather inconclusive nature of the SADC mediation process that was being led by President Thabo Mbeki. Should Zimbabweans expected more from this rather protracted process.
3. We further call upon SADC and Africa in general to ensure that the elections are held in accordance with the expectations of the SADC Protocol on Elections that was adopted in Mauritius in August 2004.
4. We urge all the interested political parties and independent candidates in the forthcoming elections to promote a spirit of peaceful election campaign process. Political violence must be condemned unconditionally.
5. We endorse current efforts to mobilize some Zimbabweans in the Diaspora especially those living in the SADC region to return home and vote in the forthcoming elections.
6. While we respect the individual members’ preferences of candidates of their own, we do not endorse any candidates in the elections since we are a politically non-partisan organization but urge the Zimbabwean electorate to vote for a candidate who will seek to promote the democratic ideals of Zimbabwe especially the interests of the diverse Diaspora community.
7. We urge all Zimbabweans at home to go turn out in their numbers on 29th March and fully exercise their right to elect the leaders of their own choice.
Issued in Johannesburg on Monday 25th February 2008 by
Mr. Daniel Molokele
Co-ordinator
Telephone: +27729474815
Ms. Grace Kwinjeh
Chairperson
Telephone: +27794344508
Mr. Mandla-akhe Dube
Vice Chairperson
Telephone: +6421348288
Mr. Canaan Mhlanga
North America Region
Telephone: +7782373072
Mr. Simbarashe Chirimubwe
Rest of Africa Region
Telephone: +267-71910712
Mr. Promise Mkwananzi
Europe Region
Telephone: +31612697629
Mr. Luke Zunga
South Africa Region
Telephone: +27835281561
Prof. Stan Mukasa
North America Region
Telephone: +724 467 0001
The Global Zimbabwe Forum
c/o The Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum
4th Floor, Noswal Hall, Braamfontein
Johannesburg, South Africa
Tel/Fax: +27113393629
PRESS STATEMENT
RE: Forthcoming Zimbabwean Elections on 29th March
The Global Zimbabwe Forum would like to express its dire concern at the current state of the preparations for the forthcoming harmonized elections that are due to be held in Zimbabwe on 29th March 2008.
We would like as Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, to state in no uncertain terms our unequivocal stance on the following issues:
1. The outcome of the forthcoming elections will be highly compromised by the fact that over three million eligible voters who are now living outside Zimbabwe will be excluded from participating in the process. We believe that the exclusion of the Diaspora vote is a fundamental flow that brings the credibility of the elections into question.
2. We also note with concern the rather inconclusive nature of the SADC mediation process that was being led by President Thabo Mbeki. Should Zimbabweans expected more from this rather protracted process.
3. We further call upon SADC and Africa in general to ensure that the elections are held in accordance with the expectations of the SADC Protocol on Elections that was adopted in Mauritius in August 2004.
4. We urge all the interested political parties and independent candidates in the forthcoming elections to promote a spirit of peaceful election campaign process. Political violence must be condemned unconditionally.
5. We endorse current efforts to mobilize some Zimbabweans in the Diaspora especially those living in the SADC region to return home and vote in the forthcoming elections.
6. While we respect the individual members’ preferences of candidates of their own, we do not endorse any candidates in the elections since we are a politically non-partisan organization but urge the Zimbabwean electorate to vote for a candidate who will seek to promote the democratic ideals of Zimbabwe especially the interests of the diverse Diaspora community.
7. We urge all Zimbabweans at home to go turn out in their numbers on 29th March and fully exercise their right to elect the leaders of their own choice.
Issued in Johannesburg on Monday 25th February 2008 by
Mr. Daniel Molokele
Co-ordinator
Telephone: +27729474815
Ms. Grace Kwinjeh
Chairperson
Telephone: +27794344508
Mr. Mandla-akhe Dube
Vice Chairperson
Telephone: +6421348288
Mr. Canaan Mhlanga
North America Region
Telephone: +7782373072
Mr. Simbarashe Chirimubwe
Rest of Africa Region
Telephone: +267-71910712
Mr. Promise Mkwananzi
Europe Region
Telephone: +31612697629
Mr. Luke Zunga
South Africa Region
Telephone: +27835281561
Prof. Stan Mukasa
North America Region
Telephone: +724 467 0001
The Global Zimbabwe Forum
c/o The Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum
4th Floor, Noswal Hall, Braamfontein
Johannesburg, South Africa
Tel/Fax: +27113393629
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Calling ALL Zimbabweans and Friends in North America
Please circulate this message. For more details please go to
Demo in Washington DC: Please spread the word
February 19, 2008
Global Zimbabwe Forum for North America will launch a campaign
for Zimbabweans in Diaspora to be allowed to vote in the elections
scheduled for March 29.
The campaign is planned for February 22 at 11 a.m. outside the
Zimbabwe Embassy in Washington DC. It will include a petition to
the Zimbabwean and South African embassies to the US, as well as a
symbolic vote outside the Zimbabwe embassy.
GZF is appealing to Zimbabweans in Diaspora and friends to make
every effort to come to the embassy in Washington DC to support
the campaign. The embassy is located at 1608 New Hampshire Ave
Washington, DC.
GZF was launched in South Africa last year. It is aimed at
mobilizing Zimbabweans in Diaspora and friends to campaign for the
return of the rule of law, democracy, freedom of the press and
free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora remit nearly US$1 million a DAY to
Zimbabwe to help their destitute families and relatives.
This makes the Diaspora remittances the second largest foreign
currency earner for Zimbabwe!
The Robert Mugabe regime has destroyed the country’s economy and
social institutions.
Basic human rights are non existent for most Zimbabweans.
About half the Zimbabweans are now TOTALLY dependent on the
Diaspora remittances.
There are about 4 million Zimbabweans living outside their
country.
This is about 40 percent of the Zimbabwean population.
No election can ever be free or fair if the Zimbabweans in
Diaspora are denied their right to vote.
The despotic and dictatorial regime of Robert Mugabe has so far
REFUSED to allow the Zimbabweans in Diaspora to vote.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora have the ECONOMIC power and power in
NUMBERS to DEMAND their right to vote.
The Global Zimbabwe Forum has begun a mass mobilization of
Zimbabweans in Diaspora to CLAIM their right to vote in the next
elections.
Mugabe cannot have it both ways. He cannot benefit from the
foreign currency remittances from the Zimbabweans in Diaspora,
and, at the same time, deny the Diaspora’s right to vote.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora must now mobilize to make Mugabe history.
No Diaspora Vote, No Free and Fair elections, No popular
participation in the elections!
Demo in Washington DC: Please spread the word
February 19, 2008
Global Zimbabwe Forum for North America will launch a campaign
for Zimbabweans in Diaspora to be allowed to vote in the elections
scheduled for March 29.
The campaign is planned for February 22 at 11 a.m. outside the
Zimbabwe Embassy in Washington DC. It will include a petition to
the Zimbabwean and South African embassies to the US, as well as a
symbolic vote outside the Zimbabwe embassy.
GZF is appealing to Zimbabweans in Diaspora and friends to make
every effort to come to the embassy in Washington DC to support
the campaign. The embassy is located at 1608 New Hampshire Ave
Washington, DC.
GZF was launched in South Africa last year. It is aimed at
mobilizing Zimbabweans in Diaspora and friends to campaign for the
return of the rule of law, democracy, freedom of the press and
free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora remit nearly US$1 million a DAY to
Zimbabwe to help their destitute families and relatives.
This makes the Diaspora remittances the second largest foreign
currency earner for Zimbabwe!
The Robert Mugabe regime has destroyed the country’s economy and
social institutions.
Basic human rights are non existent for most Zimbabweans.
About half the Zimbabweans are now TOTALLY dependent on the
Diaspora remittances.
There are about 4 million Zimbabweans living outside their
country.
This is about 40 percent of the Zimbabwean population.
No election can ever be free or fair if the Zimbabweans in
Diaspora are denied their right to vote.
The despotic and dictatorial regime of Robert Mugabe has so far
REFUSED to allow the Zimbabweans in Diaspora to vote.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora have the ECONOMIC power and power in
NUMBERS to DEMAND their right to vote.
The Global Zimbabwe Forum has begun a mass mobilization of
Zimbabweans in Diaspora to CLAIM their right to vote in the next
elections.
Mugabe cannot have it both ways. He cannot benefit from the
foreign currency remittances from the Zimbabweans in Diaspora,
and, at the same time, deny the Diaspora’s right to vote.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora must now mobilize to make Mugabe history.
No Diaspora Vote, No Free and Fair elections, No popular
participation in the elections!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
TRIFFLING THOUGHTS
TRIFFLING THOUGHTS
Peering the world in the face
Our somewhat decorated eyes
Haze through these nagging thoughts.
We refuse to see
The deceit on the feigned smiles
Of those we try so hard to emulate.
We just don't mention.
Well, let us not say a word!
What use is a dead hero anyway?
History books have been written
But how many can read
The right from wrong
And be the spine of a generation?
Our mother's shack stink fouling poverty
The naked tads on the streets don't make us panic
The bow-carved backs of irritable fathers
And the young condemned to the machine
Humiliated by unvalued labour
Is no cause of concern yet.
We rather sap imagination in pretensions.
Well, let us not say a word!
We are born to die anyway,
What use is a life forgotten on death
Remembered by nothing but the inscription on the grave?
The ant is cleverer than a man with a head
The anthill is for us as well!
Well, let us not say the words
Lurking at the back of the mind
Fortified by ancient fatigue
Suffocated by cannibal desires
Of self preserving greed
Nestled in garish images
Dissipated hideously by un-reconciled reason
There is a shadow of our pitiable lot
Nettling the garrisoned peculiar dreams
Of breaking politely into the ranks
Or keeping the rest at bay for an extra morsel
To keep our mouths shut.
How free is a one
Whose conscience is sheltered in vexatious guilt
Stashed in naked baseness –
We are nothing but slaves
Worth only as a pair of hands.
Ooh, let us not use the words:
Words from a drunk are but
The harrowing thoughts of the sober.
A drunkard does not only think of the cup!
There is a pain in living
There is pain in dying
This is a schizophrenic society
To dream is pardoned
Peering the world in the face
Our somewhat decorated eyes
Haze through these nagging thoughts.
We refuse to see
The deceit on the feigned smiles
Of those we try so hard to emulate.
We just don't mention.
Well, let us not say a word!
What use is a dead hero anyway?
History books have been written
But how many can read
The right from wrong
And be the spine of a generation?
Our mother's shack stink fouling poverty
The naked tads on the streets don't make us panic
The bow-carved backs of irritable fathers
And the young condemned to the machine
Humiliated by unvalued labour
Is no cause of concern yet.
We rather sap imagination in pretensions.
Well, let us not say a word!
We are born to die anyway,
What use is a life forgotten on death
Remembered by nothing but the inscription on the grave?
The ant is cleverer than a man with a head
The anthill is for us as well!
Well, let us not say the words
Lurking at the back of the mind
Fortified by ancient fatigue
Suffocated by cannibal desires
Of self preserving greed
Nestled in garish images
Dissipated hideously by un-reconciled reason
There is a shadow of our pitiable lot
Nettling the garrisoned peculiar dreams
Of breaking politely into the ranks
Or keeping the rest at bay for an extra morsel
To keep our mouths shut.
How free is a one
Whose conscience is sheltered in vexatious guilt
Stashed in naked baseness –
We are nothing but slaves
Worth only as a pair of hands.
Ooh, let us not use the words:
Words from a drunk are but
The harrowing thoughts of the sober.
A drunkard does not only think of the cup!
There is a pain in living
There is pain in dying
This is a schizophrenic society
To dream is pardoned
Thursday, February 14, 2008
An unorthodox update on Zimbabwe's voter's roll on V Day
Wrote this to African Feminist networks:
BY Bella Matambanadzo
Feel free to share:
I dressed for the occassion. Put my cute fanny in lace
nickers,
Gave my breasts some serious gravity (EJ Win always
says wear new, matching underwear on important days,
that's why she got me stuff from Bravissimo).
I was already sizzling
Rainbows around my Waist, beads, and beads, and beads
of them from Codou and Roses in Dakar. She's also sent
me incense. Intoxication is critical.
I wasn't just sizzling, I was leaving a most musky
trail.
Layering: Vanila bath what what from Sisonke, coconut
oil something wafting.
Slipped my pink pedicured feet into slinky sandals.
Shells on the rim.
A trade we did with Alice from Rwanda in Zanzibar,
plotting Feminism
Needed some bling. hooked in amber and silver
earrings, Muthoni Wanyeki style. off of Biashara
street in nairobi, necklace from hope chigudu, a
talisman from Thailand -- Awid, Bangkok, Massage - Men
in our movements, masquerading comradeship, turnign ur
voice to footnotes.
Pulled back the dreadlocks. One side like Sylvia. Now
the war paint. Eyes the way Jessica Horn taught me -
intense, serious, sparkling. Mac to the Lips -- pout,
shimmer, shine: Pat Made put this in my purse ( need
to text Thoko Matshe to stop by the counter next time
she's in London -- I got to have another one).
Stand tall like Bisi, this is an election year after
all:
But my name was not there: Not on the voter's roll,
where it had been 5 years ago. Vanished. Disappeared.
My name was not there.
Who took my name? I hollored, vagina twitching with
rage. I said -- who took my name? Ziii No Answer other
than stares of intimidation from some twobit cop
representative of rigging. Txt message to Teresa
Mugadza-- most kicking lawyer in Town. Woman wrote
Domestic Violence Legislation surely --- this is a
piece of cake for her!
Someone took my name Tere I howl, mad as ever. So get
it back girl, she croones. get it back. You know you
got to vote. Right?
Zimbabwe: hurting and burning. Rage.
Straight up. I am taking it back. And today I am going
back. War clothes and all. This V is my Day.
Love you all
Bella
BY Bella Matambanadzo
Feel free to share:
I dressed for the occassion. Put my cute fanny in lace
nickers,
Gave my breasts some serious gravity (EJ Win always
says wear new, matching underwear on important days,
that's why she got me stuff from Bravissimo).
I was already sizzling
Rainbows around my Waist, beads, and beads, and beads
of them from Codou and Roses in Dakar. She's also sent
me incense. Intoxication is critical.
I wasn't just sizzling, I was leaving a most musky
trail.
Layering: Vanila bath what what from Sisonke, coconut
oil something wafting.
Slipped my pink pedicured feet into slinky sandals.
Shells on the rim.
A trade we did with Alice from Rwanda in Zanzibar,
plotting Feminism
Needed some bling. hooked in amber and silver
earrings, Muthoni Wanyeki style. off of Biashara
street in nairobi, necklace from hope chigudu, a
talisman from Thailand -- Awid, Bangkok, Massage - Men
in our movements, masquerading comradeship, turnign ur
voice to footnotes.
Pulled back the dreadlocks. One side like Sylvia. Now
the war paint. Eyes the way Jessica Horn taught me -
intense, serious, sparkling. Mac to the Lips -- pout,
shimmer, shine: Pat Made put this in my purse ( need
to text Thoko Matshe to stop by the counter next time
she's in London -- I got to have another one).
Stand tall like Bisi, this is an election year after
all:
But my name was not there: Not on the voter's roll,
where it had been 5 years ago. Vanished. Disappeared.
My name was not there.
Who took my name? I hollored, vagina twitching with
rage. I said -- who took my name? Ziii No Answer other
than stares of intimidation from some twobit cop
representative of rigging. Txt message to Teresa
Mugadza-- most kicking lawyer in Town. Woman wrote
Domestic Violence Legislation surely --- this is a
piece of cake for her!
Someone took my name Tere I howl, mad as ever. So get
it back girl, she croones. get it back. You know you
got to vote. Right?
Zimbabwe: hurting and burning. Rage.
Straight up. I am taking it back. And today I am going
back. War clothes and all. This V is my Day.
Love you all
Bella
The things love has taught me
The things love has taught me
Charlene Smith
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars
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A day in which love is expressed is a day well-lived.
Last Valentine’s Day, I sent these words by WH Auden to my Irish lover:
“I’ll love you till the ocean
Is folded and hung up to dry
And the seven stars go squawking
Like geese about the sky.”
For those of you that missed it, I folded up the ocean not long after, which has been unable to dry because the polar caps are melting so fast. This disturbed some stars that went squawking off in a flurry of cosmic dust; such a fuss the Irish make when a romance ends. It was a great love; he’d quote Yeats, buy me paintings by Louis d’Brocquy, photographs by Amelia Klein and Dorothy Cross, send me signed books of Seamus Heaney poetry and was as passionate as I about human rights.
Ah yes, we never marry those we should. Or rather, I don’t.
But then again, the one after him, a dour geologist, planted a crooked white stinkwood with such love that it’s growing tall and straight, and he penned magnificent haiku. How lucky can one person be?
It’s fashionable to bemoan Valentine’s Day commercialism, but no one is forcing you to take out your credit card. It’s sad that we have to be reminded to express love, but our lives are so busy we need to be nudged to make time for those we love, to be prompted to stop, listen, say something important, go deep into our heart, and “make a little love, have a little dance” as a song once suggested.
This Valentine’s Day will be wonderful. I have two key interviews, one with possibly the greatest political pollster in the world and then a famous South African author. As the evening turns into the only one diners won’t mind the lights failing in restaurants, I’ll be at home nose deep in a book I’m writing, eating giant strawberries from Woolworths.
I’m too busy for a relationship; maybe by June, I’ve told friends who’ve given up trying to match-make me. But the truth is we can’t plan these things. We receive an unexpected phone call, get chatting to someone over the veggies in a supermarket, go to a meeting, pass someone on an escalator and — va-voom — love hits us between the eyes and, if you’re like me, you become hopelessly clumsy.
I once managed to break six wine glasses during one meal cooked by a man I had decided during the meal that I fancied; he’d decided that about me a while before but I’m notoriously backward on picking up on whether someone is interested in me. I’ve always had many male friends, so I tend to see any friendship with a man as just that.
In my life I’ve been lucky to have loved a lot and been greatly loved in return. There are some things I’ve learnt; perhaps some will resonate with you. Men are more sensitive than women; we express things better, they feel them deeper. We get over things faster; they stay quietly wounded for longer.
I recently assisted with a competition that got people to write about the occasions where they loved the most. The entries from women bored me silly; they read like 1950s greeting cards. There was a lot of terrible poetry from people who had clearly never read a decent poet. Many women appear to spend a lot of time lying in men’s arms. No wonder some men walk with their knuckles almost scraping the floor; some fool woman lay in his arms all night and now he can’t bend his elbows.
Immature men think that love is about a good bonk, so they wrote about the time they did it in a cable car, on a trampoline, all night — and revealed a general failure in imagination in areas they don’t want us to contemplate. Those who think that one’s most important assets are in the bank wrote about cruises and foreign trips.
The men that had women judges swooning were those who celebrated life. The winner wrote an ode to his newborn son that came straight from his heart.
Real romance in those collected memories was not sipping champagne on a yacht. It was drinking boerekoffie in the back of a train; it was the couple who had a picnic on the floor of their new house, boxes still unpacked; it was the unemployed man who did extra work to buy polony, some potatoes and a small chocolate for his love.
I have a friend who, every year since I was 16, on Valentine’s Day has sent me flowers, a letter with pressed veld grasses, or flowers stolen from whichever pavement had the best display. We’ve never been lovers, always just friends, and it’s his gift more than any other that I look forward to every Valentine’s. (I love you too, Glenn!)
His gift typifies my favourite section from what I think is the greatest book about loving in the world, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I first read it to my son in Spanish; we lived in Argentina and my child had forgotten he was English. The little prince meets a fox and both are lonely, but the fox says he cannot play with the little prince until he is tamed.
The fox says that to tame is to establish ties. The fox explains: “To me you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you … To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you I shall be unique in all the world.”
The fox suggests that they meet at the same time each day. Anticipation creates desire.
He suggests that they don’t talk much; “words are the source of misunderstandings.” They become friends and when they have to part, both are sad. The fox imparts his secret: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
I believe it is our spirit that recognises the one we will love and it is our heart that most accurately hears.
The most precious gifts are not expensive rings or Agent Provocateur in pink and black boxes and layers of tissue that melt before excited fingers. It’s in the unexpected and heartfelt.
A treasured gift is from my son who made a tomato-box cross one birthday and wrote on it with black koki: “Happy birthday Mom I just can’t believe that your getting older by the minet you’re already 37!!!” I framed it and put it on the wall and every time I see it, it makes me smile.
There is the painting my daughter did when my son was born that shows a baby with an umbilical cord attached — yep, I took her to birthing classes and she was the only one who didn’t almost pass out when she saw the birth video. It says “I [drawing of a heart] our baby.” It’s also framed.
It’s not the gift; it’s the intent behind it. Or, as Pablo Neruda wrote:
“I will bring you happy flowers from the mountains, bluebells,
dark hazels, and rustic baskets of kisses.
I want
to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.”
Love is most of all about compassion and empathy. It is about never forgiving, because in the very act of love, trust is implied and even if broken, forgiveness is not necessary. What is needed is a desire to heal, for each to look inward and find that which caused the breach; blame is rarely singular when love falters.
Rumi, the 12th-century Sufi mystic and Persian poet, wrote:
“Come, come, whoever you are.
Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving — it doesn’t matter,
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vow a hundred times,
Come, come again, come.”
Love completes, revenge and petulance hollows us.
Love is not mean-spirited. Sorry said with humility is a word too little used and even less frequently accepted with grace.
Nelson Mandela and Graca Machel had this reading from Corinthians 13 when they married:
“Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hope and patience never fail.”
As for me: the first person who loves me and does not seek to possess me will own me. As Michael Ondaatje wrote in The English Patient:
“We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as if caves. I wish for all this to be marked on my body when I am dead. I believe in such cartography — to be marked by nature, not just to label ourselves on a map like the names of rich men and women on buildings. We are communal histories, communal books. We are not owned or monogamous in our taste or experience. All I desired was to walk upon such an earth that had no maps.”
There are a few more things I have learned:
# Pain recalled is pain remade.
# It is better to hear than to say.
# Point scoring is relationship shedding.
I have learned too that if you’re not happy with yourself, you’ll never make anyone else happy. If you don’t take pleasure and pride in yourself, if you don’t love others a lot, every day, then a great love won’t come to you.
And remember: great loves never look like we expect them too. The love of your life might be right in front of you but because you’re too stupid to see it, you may be looking past him or her. Your eyes won’t see your great love; your spirit will.
On this Valentine’s Day, and every other day, don’t limit love to just a “special someone”. Show it to your colleagues and friends, tell your children again, thank those who give you valued service, call someone who is old or lonely, buy that Homeless Talk or Big Issue; that tray of over-ripe apricots will make great jam and bring happiness to someone who needs it. You’ll be amazed by the end of the day how much love you will have received in return.
Remember, too: a life lived without passion is a life not lived at all.
Charlene Smith
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A day in which love is expressed is a day well-lived.
Last Valentine’s Day, I sent these words by WH Auden to my Irish lover:
“I’ll love you till the ocean
Is folded and hung up to dry
And the seven stars go squawking
Like geese about the sky.”
For those of you that missed it, I folded up the ocean not long after, which has been unable to dry because the polar caps are melting so fast. This disturbed some stars that went squawking off in a flurry of cosmic dust; such a fuss the Irish make when a romance ends. It was a great love; he’d quote Yeats, buy me paintings by Louis d’Brocquy, photographs by Amelia Klein and Dorothy Cross, send me signed books of Seamus Heaney poetry and was as passionate as I about human rights.
Ah yes, we never marry those we should. Or rather, I don’t.
But then again, the one after him, a dour geologist, planted a crooked white stinkwood with such love that it’s growing tall and straight, and he penned magnificent haiku. How lucky can one person be?
It’s fashionable to bemoan Valentine’s Day commercialism, but no one is forcing you to take out your credit card. It’s sad that we have to be reminded to express love, but our lives are so busy we need to be nudged to make time for those we love, to be prompted to stop, listen, say something important, go deep into our heart, and “make a little love, have a little dance” as a song once suggested.
This Valentine’s Day will be wonderful. I have two key interviews, one with possibly the greatest political pollster in the world and then a famous South African author. As the evening turns into the only one diners won’t mind the lights failing in restaurants, I’ll be at home nose deep in a book I’m writing, eating giant strawberries from Woolworths.
I’m too busy for a relationship; maybe by June, I’ve told friends who’ve given up trying to match-make me. But the truth is we can’t plan these things. We receive an unexpected phone call, get chatting to someone over the veggies in a supermarket, go to a meeting, pass someone on an escalator and — va-voom — love hits us between the eyes and, if you’re like me, you become hopelessly clumsy.
I once managed to break six wine glasses during one meal cooked by a man I had decided during the meal that I fancied; he’d decided that about me a while before but I’m notoriously backward on picking up on whether someone is interested in me. I’ve always had many male friends, so I tend to see any friendship with a man as just that.
In my life I’ve been lucky to have loved a lot and been greatly loved in return. There are some things I’ve learnt; perhaps some will resonate with you. Men are more sensitive than women; we express things better, they feel them deeper. We get over things faster; they stay quietly wounded for longer.
I recently assisted with a competition that got people to write about the occasions where they loved the most. The entries from women bored me silly; they read like 1950s greeting cards. There was a lot of terrible poetry from people who had clearly never read a decent poet. Many women appear to spend a lot of time lying in men’s arms. No wonder some men walk with their knuckles almost scraping the floor; some fool woman lay in his arms all night and now he can’t bend his elbows.
Immature men think that love is about a good bonk, so they wrote about the time they did it in a cable car, on a trampoline, all night — and revealed a general failure in imagination in areas they don’t want us to contemplate. Those who think that one’s most important assets are in the bank wrote about cruises and foreign trips.
The men that had women judges swooning were those who celebrated life. The winner wrote an ode to his newborn son that came straight from his heart.
Real romance in those collected memories was not sipping champagne on a yacht. It was drinking boerekoffie in the back of a train; it was the couple who had a picnic on the floor of their new house, boxes still unpacked; it was the unemployed man who did extra work to buy polony, some potatoes and a small chocolate for his love.
I have a friend who, every year since I was 16, on Valentine’s Day has sent me flowers, a letter with pressed veld grasses, or flowers stolen from whichever pavement had the best display. We’ve never been lovers, always just friends, and it’s his gift more than any other that I look forward to every Valentine’s. (I love you too, Glenn!)
His gift typifies my favourite section from what I think is the greatest book about loving in the world, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I first read it to my son in Spanish; we lived in Argentina and my child had forgotten he was English. The little prince meets a fox and both are lonely, but the fox says he cannot play with the little prince until he is tamed.
The fox says that to tame is to establish ties. The fox explains: “To me you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you … To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you I shall be unique in all the world.”
The fox suggests that they meet at the same time each day. Anticipation creates desire.
He suggests that they don’t talk much; “words are the source of misunderstandings.” They become friends and when they have to part, both are sad. The fox imparts his secret: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
I believe it is our spirit that recognises the one we will love and it is our heart that most accurately hears.
The most precious gifts are not expensive rings or Agent Provocateur in pink and black boxes and layers of tissue that melt before excited fingers. It’s in the unexpected and heartfelt.
A treasured gift is from my son who made a tomato-box cross one birthday and wrote on it with black koki: “Happy birthday Mom I just can’t believe that your getting older by the minet you’re already 37!!!” I framed it and put it on the wall and every time I see it, it makes me smile.
There is the painting my daughter did when my son was born that shows a baby with an umbilical cord attached — yep, I took her to birthing classes and she was the only one who didn’t almost pass out when she saw the birth video. It says “I [drawing of a heart] our baby.” It’s also framed.
It’s not the gift; it’s the intent behind it. Or, as Pablo Neruda wrote:
“I will bring you happy flowers from the mountains, bluebells,
dark hazels, and rustic baskets of kisses.
I want
to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.”
Love is most of all about compassion and empathy. It is about never forgiving, because in the very act of love, trust is implied and even if broken, forgiveness is not necessary. What is needed is a desire to heal, for each to look inward and find that which caused the breach; blame is rarely singular when love falters.
Rumi, the 12th-century Sufi mystic and Persian poet, wrote:
“Come, come, whoever you are.
Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving — it doesn’t matter,
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vow a hundred times,
Come, come again, come.”
Love completes, revenge and petulance hollows us.
Love is not mean-spirited. Sorry said with humility is a word too little used and even less frequently accepted with grace.
Nelson Mandela and Graca Machel had this reading from Corinthians 13 when they married:
“Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hope and patience never fail.”
As for me: the first person who loves me and does not seek to possess me will own me. As Michael Ondaatje wrote in The English Patient:
“We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as if caves. I wish for all this to be marked on my body when I am dead. I believe in such cartography — to be marked by nature, not just to label ourselves on a map like the names of rich men and women on buildings. We are communal histories, communal books. We are not owned or monogamous in our taste or experience. All I desired was to walk upon such an earth that had no maps.”
There are a few more things I have learned:
# Pain recalled is pain remade.
# It is better to hear than to say.
# Point scoring is relationship shedding.
I have learned too that if you’re not happy with yourself, you’ll never make anyone else happy. If you don’t take pleasure and pride in yourself, if you don’t love others a lot, every day, then a great love won’t come to you.
And remember: great loves never look like we expect them too. The love of your life might be right in front of you but because you’re too stupid to see it, you may be looking past him or her. Your eyes won’t see your great love; your spirit will.
On this Valentine’s Day, and every other day, don’t limit love to just a “special someone”. Show it to your colleagues and friends, tell your children again, thank those who give you valued service, call someone who is old or lonely, buy that Homeless Talk or Big Issue; that tray of over-ripe apricots will make great jam and bring happiness to someone who needs it. You’ll be amazed by the end of the day how much love you will have received in return.
Remember, too: a life lived without passion is a life not lived at all.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Global Zimbabwe Forum - North America Protest
February 9, 2008
Global Zimbabwe Forum for North America will launch a campaign
for Zimbabweans in Diaspora to be allowed to vote in the elections
scheduled for March 29.
The campaign is planned for February 22 at 11 a.m. outside the
Zimbabwe Embassy in Washington DC. It will include a petition to
the Zimbabwean and South African embasies to the US, as well as a
symbolic vote outside the Zimbabwe embassy.
On February 21 GZF will participate at a Roundtable on Zimbabwe.
Panelists will be drawn from Washington –based NGOs and human
rights groups. Details of the venue and participants will be
announced in due course.
GZF will also participate at a consultation on Zimbabwe on
February 16. This consultation will be organized by Africa
Action.
GZF representatives for North America, Canaan Mhlanga and Stan
Mukasa, are appealing to Zimbabweans in Diaspora and friends to
make every effort to come to the embassy in Washington DC to
support the campaign. The embassy is located at 1608 New
Hampshire Ave Washington, DC.
GZF was launched in South Africa last year. It is aimed at
mobilizing Zimbabweans in Diaspora and friends to campaign for the
return of the rule of law, democracy, freedom of the press and
free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora remit nearly US$1 million a DAY to
Zimbabwe to help their destitute families and relatives.
This makes the Diaspora remittances the second largest foreign
currency earner for Zimbabwe!
The Robert Mugabe regime has destroyed the country’s economy and
social institutions.
Basic human rights are non existent for most Zimbabweans.
About half the Zimbabweans are now TOTALLY dependent on the
Diaspora remittances.
There are about 4 million Zimbabweans living outside their
country.
This is about 40 percent of the Zimbabwean population.
No election can ever be free or fair if the Zimbabweans in
Diaspora are denied their right to vote.
The despotic and dictatorial regime of Robert Mugabe has so far
REFUSED to allow the Zimbabweans in Diaspora to vote.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora have the ECONOMIC power and power in
NUMBERS to DEMAND their right to vote.
The Global Zimbabwe Forum has begun a mass mobilization of
Zimbabweans in Diaspora to CLAIM their right to vote in the next
elections.
Mugabe cannot have it both ways. He cannot benefit from the
foreign currency remittances from the Zimbabweans in Diaspora,
and, at the same time, deny the Diaspora’s right to vote.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora must now mobilize to make Mugabe history.
No Diaspora Vote, No Free and Fair elections, No popular
participation in the elections!
Calling ALL the Zimbabweans in Diaspora
Join the PROTEST for the right to vote in the elections
Zimbabwe Diaspora Vote Protest
No Diaspora Vote, No Free, Fair or Credible Elections in
Zimbabwe
Washington DC February 21 - 22
21 February
10 - 12 p.m. Roundtable on Zimbabwe
Venue : TBA
Contact persons: Ralph Black and Handel Mlilo
7 p.m. – 10 p.m. Zimbabwe consultation and social
Venue : TBA
Contact persons:
22 February --
9. 30 a.m. Arrival at Lafayette Park 1608 H St NW, Washington DC
10:30 a.m. March from Lafayette Park
11:30. Arrive at Zimbabwe Embassy.1608 New Hampshire Ave
Washington,
Moment of reflection for victims of politically motivated
violence
Demonstration. Speakers:
Ralph Black
Handel Mlilo
Ruzvidzo Zvidzair
Nassar Rusike
Alyce Murambiwa
HANDING PETITION: protest organizers to present petition to
Ambassador or his staff.
DIASPORA VOTE. Diaspora will cast votes in a ballot.
News conference : Media will be invited to ask questions.
3 p.m. Gathering at a venue to be announced for the termination
of the protest
Contact persons
Canaan Mhlanga 604 461 3072
Zvidzayi Ruzvidzo 614 622 0427
Stanford G. Mukasa 724 467 0001
Handel Mlilo 240 505 0179
Global Zimbabwe Forum for North America will launch a campaign
for Zimbabweans in Diaspora to be allowed to vote in the elections
scheduled for March 29.
The campaign is planned for February 22 at 11 a.m. outside the
Zimbabwe Embassy in Washington DC. It will include a petition to
the Zimbabwean and South African embasies to the US, as well as a
symbolic vote outside the Zimbabwe embassy.
On February 21 GZF will participate at a Roundtable on Zimbabwe.
Panelists will be drawn from Washington –based NGOs and human
rights groups. Details of the venue and participants will be
announced in due course.
GZF will also participate at a consultation on Zimbabwe on
February 16. This consultation will be organized by Africa
Action.
GZF representatives for North America, Canaan Mhlanga and Stan
Mukasa, are appealing to Zimbabweans in Diaspora and friends to
make every effort to come to the embassy in Washington DC to
support the campaign. The embassy is located at 1608 New
Hampshire Ave Washington, DC.
GZF was launched in South Africa last year. It is aimed at
mobilizing Zimbabweans in Diaspora and friends to campaign for the
return of the rule of law, democracy, freedom of the press and
free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora remit nearly US$1 million a DAY to
Zimbabwe to help their destitute families and relatives.
This makes the Diaspora remittances the second largest foreign
currency earner for Zimbabwe!
The Robert Mugabe regime has destroyed the country’s economy and
social institutions.
Basic human rights are non existent for most Zimbabweans.
About half the Zimbabweans are now TOTALLY dependent on the
Diaspora remittances.
There are about 4 million Zimbabweans living outside their
country.
This is about 40 percent of the Zimbabwean population.
No election can ever be free or fair if the Zimbabweans in
Diaspora are denied their right to vote.
The despotic and dictatorial regime of Robert Mugabe has so far
REFUSED to allow the Zimbabweans in Diaspora to vote.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora have the ECONOMIC power and power in
NUMBERS to DEMAND their right to vote.
The Global Zimbabwe Forum has begun a mass mobilization of
Zimbabweans in Diaspora to CLAIM their right to vote in the next
elections.
Mugabe cannot have it both ways. He cannot benefit from the
foreign currency remittances from the Zimbabweans in Diaspora,
and, at the same time, deny the Diaspora’s right to vote.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora must now mobilize to make Mugabe history.
No Diaspora Vote, No Free and Fair elections, No popular
participation in the elections!
Calling ALL the Zimbabweans in Diaspora
Join the PROTEST for the right to vote in the elections
Zimbabwe Diaspora Vote Protest
No Diaspora Vote, No Free, Fair or Credible Elections in
Zimbabwe
Washington DC February 21 - 22
21 February
10 - 12 p.m. Roundtable on Zimbabwe
Venue : TBA
Contact persons: Ralph Black and Handel Mlilo
7 p.m. – 10 p.m. Zimbabwe consultation and social
Venue : TBA
Contact persons:
22 February --
9. 30 a.m. Arrival at Lafayette Park 1608 H St NW, Washington DC
10:30 a.m. March from Lafayette Park
11:30. Arrive at Zimbabwe Embassy.1608 New Hampshire Ave
Washington,
Moment of reflection for victims of politically motivated
violence
Demonstration. Speakers:
Ralph Black
Handel Mlilo
Ruzvidzo Zvidzair
Nassar Rusike
Alyce Murambiwa
HANDING PETITION: protest organizers to present petition to
Ambassador or his staff.
DIASPORA VOTE. Diaspora will cast votes in a ballot.
News conference : Media will be invited to ask questions.
3 p.m. Gathering at a venue to be announced for the termination
of the protest
Contact persons
Canaan Mhlanga 604 461 3072
Zvidzayi Ruzvidzo 614 622 0427
Stanford G. Mukasa 724 467 0001
Handel Mlilo 240 505 0179
Thursday, February 7, 2008
WOZA Valentine's Day Action
Dear Vigil Supporters
WOZA
Saturday, 16th February - We are pleased to let you know that WOZA UK will be at the Vigil. Message from WOZA:
"This year WOZA will be dedicating their Valentine's Day actions to the children of Zimbabwe and saying:-'Our education system is being allowed to collapse and our children's future is being sacrificed on the altar of political power by bunch of corrupt, insensitive, selfish thieves. Can we continue to keep quiet whilst our children are robbed of their future?' WOZA, of course, will not be quiet and WOZASolidarity UK will be showing their support for WOZA outside the Zimbabwe Embassy on Saturday 16th February from 2pm. We want to remind the politicians that STOLEN ELECTIONS ARE STEALING THE FUTURE OF ZIMBABWE'S CHILDREN. Please join us! Wear white if possible and don't forget to bring your WOZA scarf if you have one. Nearest tube Charing Cross."
ELECTION DAY
Saturday, 29th March is Election Day in Zimbabwe. We have booked the space outside the Zimbabwe Embassy from 6 am to 6 pm on that day and will be holding a mock election. We are planning some media stunts and will keep you posted as plans develop. Come and join us on the day. The Vigil polling station is the one place where the diaspora vote will count.
Vigil Co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
WOZA
Saturday, 16th February - We are pleased to let you know that WOZA UK will be at the Vigil. Message from WOZA:
"This year WOZA will be dedicating their Valentine's Day actions to the children of Zimbabwe and saying:-'Our education system is being allowed to collapse and our children's future is being sacrificed on the altar of political power by bunch of corrupt, insensitive, selfish thieves. Can we continue to keep quiet whilst our children are robbed of their future?' WOZA, of course, will not be quiet and WOZASolidarity UK will be showing their support for WOZA outside the Zimbabwe Embassy on Saturday 16th February from 2pm. We want to remind the politicians that STOLEN ELECTIONS ARE STEALING THE FUTURE OF ZIMBABWE'S CHILDREN. Please join us! Wear white if possible and don't forget to bring your WOZA scarf if you have one. Nearest tube Charing Cross."
ELECTION DAY
Saturday, 29th March is Election Day in Zimbabwe. We have booked the space outside the Zimbabwe Embassy from 6 am to 6 pm on that day and will be holding a mock election. We are planning some media stunts and will keep you posted as plans develop. Come and join us on the day. The Vigil polling station is the one place where the diaspora vote will count.
Vigil Co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
‘Woman’s soul’ – Tormented soul - Tribute to a female comrade
‘Woman’s soul’ – Tormented soul - Tribute to a female comrade
May your ‘soul’ rest in peace
By Grace Kwinjeh
“what type of a woman is she hurting other
woman like that. take care and lets pray abt this.
united we stand divived we fall,” written to me by the Late Gertrude Mtombeni on the unfair sacking of Lucia Matibenga, 16 October 2007.
It has taken me long to sit and write a tribute in honour of our departed comrade Gertrude Mtombeni. It took time for several reasons – the main being that the comrade fell ill and died while we were in a deep , intense conversation on our participation in politics, as founding women who have a strong tradition of activism rooted in the MDC’s founding principles. That Gerty should die at the intense moment of this conversation is for the Gods to one day reveal to us - why. A loss for us – a tragedy for Zimbabwe.
It has taken time because I have tried to place this comrade, her soul, her search for justice, her fight for freedom, within the context of the environment she was operating in to the time of her death. I seek to navigate woman’s soul in narrating what Gerty stood for – yes she was firm in her beliefs. Many of us would cry and feel downtrodden but Gerty was a mover and a shaker. She never winced or squirmed – she fought always to the end.
As mama Sekai Holland wrote at the announcement of Gerty’s death: “Getrude Mthombeni worked under extremely difficult conditions in her Bulawayo province. Mthombeni stuck to MDC principles whatever obstacle was cast in her way, in all her political and union work to the end.” Mama Holland whose soul has been tormented from the seventies.
Decade after decade of trying to free her soul – decade after decade innovative ideas found to keep her captive- and this decade those young enough to be her grand-children were her latest tormentors. She fights on – hope her slogan.
However in the conversations through e-mail, by telephone, text messages, I sat and reached out to what Luta Shaba explored in the ‘Secrets of a woman’s soul’.
I am a product of woman's struggle, I was raised by a single hard working woman – mother-mama- amai- whose soul anguished for me to go to school, woman’s soul was determined for me never to go to bed hungry. Above all woman was determined my dignity first – all else is secondary. She carried many secrets for her survival – for our survival – we have survived through her our struggle continues.
And so it is with this strength that I remember and in this spirit that I honour Gerty- her conviction, her values, what she stood for and what she stood against. A dear friend, a visionary, the wild woman, the fighter who aptly fits in with the description, by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women who run with the wolves: “When women reassert their relationship with the wildish nature, they are gifted with a permanent and internal watcher, a knower, a visionary, an oracle, an inspiratrice, an intuitive, a maker, a creator, an inventor, and a listener, who guide, suggest, and urge vibrant life in the inner and outer worlds. When women are close to this nature, the fact of that relationship glows through them. This wild teacher, wild mother, wild mentor supports their inner and outer lives, no matter what.”
This is to honour a comrade who at the founding Congress of the MDC received a thunderous applause from all the Provinces present. They lifted this daughter of the of the soil - their leader. If there was an award to be claimed just for being a peoples people – munhu wevanhu – umuntu wabantu- Gerty deserved it.
Gerty died with a conviction that the system of oppression, the barricades set up to exclude others could be dismantled. Up to her untimely death Gerty and I were in a conversation about choices to do with our future- about the transformation of the MDC into an elite party – about reclaiming the party- about leadership deficiencies in some of our comrades. This debate was further stimulated by the unfair sacking of Lucia Matibenga, another founder member – another tormented soul. I was disillusioned – she had hope. I was broken – she was fighting.
This signified for us an assault on the soul of the woman, an insult to our struggle and a dismissal of our contributions. Surely the terrain had transformed from that day at Congress – 8 years ago-when you were judged on the basis of your contributions – and never on the basis of the sleek car you drive. Leadership meant a peoples servant- humility, consultation, respect for ‘other’ above all it belonged to the poor, the working class, the struggling, the tormented women. Let them lead their struggle.
We stood as ‘woman’ to fight for our souls that Zanu PF had so unashamedly trampled upon, ripped apart, dishonoured, abused, raped. We thought we could find a place for the soul – for it to rest, reclaim its dignity, dry its tears – for it to, shine, sing and dance –shout – ‘I am every woman’.
I remember Gerty’s humour, at one women’s meeting in Harare, she got up to introduce herself, “I am Gertrude Mtombeni and I am dangerously single.” She declared, to laughs and claps from the women present.
Oh yes we had gone into politics under the very naïve notion that the second liberation would deliver for us, emancipation and freedom. That we were bound as comrades – male and female- by certain standards, values, respect for other. And so yes, Gerty never minded in her eight years of loyal service to the party that she never once parked outside her home, a vehicle called a ‘party car’. Simple as it may sound, Gerty caught combi’s to and from party meetings – this was who she was. She never minded, she never complained – she was on a mission to liberate woman- to liberate ‘people’ – abantu - vanhu. And so it is with the people she remained. This was her soul – her spirit that yearned for a greater freedom money could not buy, money could not bribe – money could not corrupt. She was a fully ascribed member of the working class – in a class struggle for the dignity of the worker, recognition of the worker as a human being. Amandla!
Amadou Kourouma in ‘Waiting for the wild beasts to vote’ talks of the morning dew people, these are people who wake up before dawn, walk on bare feet to the field. They feel the morning dew on their bare feet. They look up at the horizon – they know if the sun will shine today- they know if it will rain. They instinctively know what the day ahead holds for them- they plan accordingly. They are the custodians of wisdom – the knowers – the visionaries.
Those my late grand-mother would remember in times of anguish: “vakafa vakazorora’.
And so it is by the time we all wake up, put on our shoes, get into our cars, go about our business as people who have MADE IT, with technology to forecast our days for us- more often the rains always catch us unprepared. Harsh weather conditions have always caught us with bare backs – unprepared – confused and disrupted.
And so it is in this arrogance, naivety, lack of vision, duplicity – that many a comrade is always drenched in those mid-afternoon surprise showers- at times it thunders. They are caught up in their dubious world, of superiority, self aggrandizement, grand-standing, many have delusions of grandeur - they have redefined struggle to mean every thing else other than what the woman’s soul stands for.
And so Mai Matibenga in her black matomi , catching lifts to and from Gweru like comrade Gerty becomes a symbol of shame, retrogress – not even the slogan ‘chinja’ can rescue the soul of the woman from these patriarchal elitist notions of ‘struggle’. The kicks are from fellow male and female comrades – thus Gerty’s ponders above – woman takes on woman.
Woman has to free her soul.
For female comrades there are hard choices to be made. We are ‘dangerously single’- we have only our selves- we have only our shoulders to shed those never ending tears on – we have each other. We have to survive the many contradictions within and out of our movement. The sisterly message often brutal.
“ If it means I lose you as a friend Grace then let it be. I cannot let the MDC do this to you. I love you too much for that – this is not you – not the friend I have known,”was Yvonne Mahlunge’s message when I visited her in London. Her soul?
Has found rest- expression- her daily chores - feeding the spirit of her soul, not through small minded endeavour’s - but fulfilling work – that makes woman’s soul SMILE.
We fought so bitterly (with Yvonne), I for one could not see what the hell she meant that this is what had been done to me. Hey! With unquestionable accolades of being a female comrade, revolutionary, fighter, why would these sacrifices not be necessary?
We made an oath to be in service of the struggle through think and thin. Through broken relationships, through separation with our children, through loss of jobs, loss of incomes – we said we would stand firm – for the woman’s soul. Surely, that is the only way breaking these chains of bondage?
How else can the dignity of this soul be reclaimed without those sacrifices?
After all we were ALL struggling which ever way any comrade went –female or male- to the Diaspora or back in Zimbabwe, the word was struggle. And so how could I at this moment think that ‘The Woman in me’, who had just defended herself from the bitter blows of baton sticks, kicks, slaps all an embodiment of the misogyny in our society. How could I abandon the ‘struggle’ ?
For which ever way woman looks her testimony is one of physical or emotional abuse, but she carries on, she is resilient, for the sake of the children.
I will not recount Gerty’ testimony of torture – I will not write on how they stuffed a used tampon into her mouth. I block my memory as I do not want to write on how her soul was often tormented. She believed to the end.
Yvonnes message finally sank.
We soon become a contradiction of what we stand for as we become accomplices in the oppression of woman’s soul, in the torment of her soul, by our very inability to re-organise our lives to set her free. By endorsing another form on oppression in the name of liberation fighters, female comrades, feminists – call it what you want but if its basis is the torment of ‘woman’s soul’ then it is not worth it.
Free her – let her lose – let her go- let her sing, dance, shout, write, cry, love, - Gloria Gaynor says – ‘I am what I am’.
Take it or leave it. Find new spaces, set boundaries – the wicked, the small minded cannot encroach on woman’s life anymore. We are the feminist revolutionary vanguard –guarding woman’s soul from further abuse and torment – abuse in all its forms and torment in all its forms.
And so yes during the conversation with Gerty – I was rescuing myself from narrow-mindedness, anger, greed, intolerance, fear, - all that comes with a society that fails to honour ‘woman’s soul’. And so yes I honour Gerty for rescuing my soul, I make a new pledge to woman – a promise – the fight is not over. For the sake of what Gerty stood for, aspired for, ‘woman’s soul’ will not rest- until it is achieved.
I dedicate this to woman, to struggle, to resilience, to finding peace for the ‘woman’s soul.’ Let Gerty rest in peace. Let her smile that her struggle was not in vain- her legacy lives on. Aluta-continua.
May your ‘soul’ rest in peace
By Grace Kwinjeh
“what type of a woman is she hurting other
woman like that. take care and lets pray abt this.
united we stand divived we fall,” written to me by the Late Gertrude Mtombeni on the unfair sacking of Lucia Matibenga, 16 October 2007.
It has taken me long to sit and write a tribute in honour of our departed comrade Gertrude Mtombeni. It took time for several reasons – the main being that the comrade fell ill and died while we were in a deep , intense conversation on our participation in politics, as founding women who have a strong tradition of activism rooted in the MDC’s founding principles. That Gerty should die at the intense moment of this conversation is for the Gods to one day reveal to us - why. A loss for us – a tragedy for Zimbabwe.
It has taken time because I have tried to place this comrade, her soul, her search for justice, her fight for freedom, within the context of the environment she was operating in to the time of her death. I seek to navigate woman’s soul in narrating what Gerty stood for – yes she was firm in her beliefs. Many of us would cry and feel downtrodden but Gerty was a mover and a shaker. She never winced or squirmed – she fought always to the end.
As mama Sekai Holland wrote at the announcement of Gerty’s death: “Getrude Mthombeni worked under extremely difficult conditions in her Bulawayo province. Mthombeni stuck to MDC principles whatever obstacle was cast in her way, in all her political and union work to the end.” Mama Holland whose soul has been tormented from the seventies.
Decade after decade of trying to free her soul – decade after decade innovative ideas found to keep her captive- and this decade those young enough to be her grand-children were her latest tormentors. She fights on – hope her slogan.
However in the conversations through e-mail, by telephone, text messages, I sat and reached out to what Luta Shaba explored in the ‘Secrets of a woman’s soul’.
I am a product of woman's struggle, I was raised by a single hard working woman – mother-mama- amai- whose soul anguished for me to go to school, woman’s soul was determined for me never to go to bed hungry. Above all woman was determined my dignity first – all else is secondary. She carried many secrets for her survival – for our survival – we have survived through her our struggle continues.
And so it is with this strength that I remember and in this spirit that I honour Gerty- her conviction, her values, what she stood for and what she stood against. A dear friend, a visionary, the wild woman, the fighter who aptly fits in with the description, by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women who run with the wolves: “When women reassert their relationship with the wildish nature, they are gifted with a permanent and internal watcher, a knower, a visionary, an oracle, an inspiratrice, an intuitive, a maker, a creator, an inventor, and a listener, who guide, suggest, and urge vibrant life in the inner and outer worlds. When women are close to this nature, the fact of that relationship glows through them. This wild teacher, wild mother, wild mentor supports their inner and outer lives, no matter what.”
This is to honour a comrade who at the founding Congress of the MDC received a thunderous applause from all the Provinces present. They lifted this daughter of the of the soil - their leader. If there was an award to be claimed just for being a peoples people – munhu wevanhu – umuntu wabantu- Gerty deserved it.
Gerty died with a conviction that the system of oppression, the barricades set up to exclude others could be dismantled. Up to her untimely death Gerty and I were in a conversation about choices to do with our future- about the transformation of the MDC into an elite party – about reclaiming the party- about leadership deficiencies in some of our comrades. This debate was further stimulated by the unfair sacking of Lucia Matibenga, another founder member – another tormented soul. I was disillusioned – she had hope. I was broken – she was fighting.
This signified for us an assault on the soul of the woman, an insult to our struggle and a dismissal of our contributions. Surely the terrain had transformed from that day at Congress – 8 years ago-when you were judged on the basis of your contributions – and never on the basis of the sleek car you drive. Leadership meant a peoples servant- humility, consultation, respect for ‘other’ above all it belonged to the poor, the working class, the struggling, the tormented women. Let them lead their struggle.
We stood as ‘woman’ to fight for our souls that Zanu PF had so unashamedly trampled upon, ripped apart, dishonoured, abused, raped. We thought we could find a place for the soul – for it to rest, reclaim its dignity, dry its tears – for it to, shine, sing and dance –shout – ‘I am every woman’.
I remember Gerty’s humour, at one women’s meeting in Harare, she got up to introduce herself, “I am Gertrude Mtombeni and I am dangerously single.” She declared, to laughs and claps from the women present.
Oh yes we had gone into politics under the very naïve notion that the second liberation would deliver for us, emancipation and freedom. That we were bound as comrades – male and female- by certain standards, values, respect for other. And so yes, Gerty never minded in her eight years of loyal service to the party that she never once parked outside her home, a vehicle called a ‘party car’. Simple as it may sound, Gerty caught combi’s to and from party meetings – this was who she was. She never minded, she never complained – she was on a mission to liberate woman- to liberate ‘people’ – abantu - vanhu. And so it is with the people she remained. This was her soul – her spirit that yearned for a greater freedom money could not buy, money could not bribe – money could not corrupt. She was a fully ascribed member of the working class – in a class struggle for the dignity of the worker, recognition of the worker as a human being. Amandla!
Amadou Kourouma in ‘Waiting for the wild beasts to vote’ talks of the morning dew people, these are people who wake up before dawn, walk on bare feet to the field. They feel the morning dew on their bare feet. They look up at the horizon – they know if the sun will shine today- they know if it will rain. They instinctively know what the day ahead holds for them- they plan accordingly. They are the custodians of wisdom – the knowers – the visionaries.
Those my late grand-mother would remember in times of anguish: “vakafa vakazorora’.
And so it is by the time we all wake up, put on our shoes, get into our cars, go about our business as people who have MADE IT, with technology to forecast our days for us- more often the rains always catch us unprepared. Harsh weather conditions have always caught us with bare backs – unprepared – confused and disrupted.
And so it is in this arrogance, naivety, lack of vision, duplicity – that many a comrade is always drenched in those mid-afternoon surprise showers- at times it thunders. They are caught up in their dubious world, of superiority, self aggrandizement, grand-standing, many have delusions of grandeur - they have redefined struggle to mean every thing else other than what the woman’s soul stands for.
And so Mai Matibenga in her black matomi , catching lifts to and from Gweru like comrade Gerty becomes a symbol of shame, retrogress – not even the slogan ‘chinja’ can rescue the soul of the woman from these patriarchal elitist notions of ‘struggle’. The kicks are from fellow male and female comrades – thus Gerty’s ponders above – woman takes on woman.
Woman has to free her soul.
For female comrades there are hard choices to be made. We are ‘dangerously single’- we have only our selves- we have only our shoulders to shed those never ending tears on – we have each other. We have to survive the many contradictions within and out of our movement. The sisterly message often brutal.
“ If it means I lose you as a friend Grace then let it be. I cannot let the MDC do this to you. I love you too much for that – this is not you – not the friend I have known,”was Yvonne Mahlunge’s message when I visited her in London. Her soul?
Has found rest- expression- her daily chores - feeding the spirit of her soul, not through small minded endeavour’s - but fulfilling work – that makes woman’s soul SMILE.
We fought so bitterly (with Yvonne), I for one could not see what the hell she meant that this is what had been done to me. Hey! With unquestionable accolades of being a female comrade, revolutionary, fighter, why would these sacrifices not be necessary?
We made an oath to be in service of the struggle through think and thin. Through broken relationships, through separation with our children, through loss of jobs, loss of incomes – we said we would stand firm – for the woman’s soul. Surely, that is the only way breaking these chains of bondage?
How else can the dignity of this soul be reclaimed without those sacrifices?
After all we were ALL struggling which ever way any comrade went –female or male- to the Diaspora or back in Zimbabwe, the word was struggle. And so how could I at this moment think that ‘The Woman in me’, who had just defended herself from the bitter blows of baton sticks, kicks, slaps all an embodiment of the misogyny in our society. How could I abandon the ‘struggle’ ?
For which ever way woman looks her testimony is one of physical or emotional abuse, but she carries on, she is resilient, for the sake of the children.
I will not recount Gerty’ testimony of torture – I will not write on how they stuffed a used tampon into her mouth. I block my memory as I do not want to write on how her soul was often tormented. She believed to the end.
Yvonnes message finally sank.
We soon become a contradiction of what we stand for as we become accomplices in the oppression of woman’s soul, in the torment of her soul, by our very inability to re-organise our lives to set her free. By endorsing another form on oppression in the name of liberation fighters, female comrades, feminists – call it what you want but if its basis is the torment of ‘woman’s soul’ then it is not worth it.
Free her – let her lose – let her go- let her sing, dance, shout, write, cry, love, - Gloria Gaynor says – ‘I am what I am’.
Take it or leave it. Find new spaces, set boundaries – the wicked, the small minded cannot encroach on woman’s life anymore. We are the feminist revolutionary vanguard –guarding woman’s soul from further abuse and torment – abuse in all its forms and torment in all its forms.
And so yes during the conversation with Gerty – I was rescuing myself from narrow-mindedness, anger, greed, intolerance, fear, - all that comes with a society that fails to honour ‘woman’s soul’. And so yes I honour Gerty for rescuing my soul, I make a new pledge to woman – a promise – the fight is not over. For the sake of what Gerty stood for, aspired for, ‘woman’s soul’ will not rest- until it is achieved.
I dedicate this to woman, to struggle, to resilience, to finding peace for the ‘woman’s soul.’ Let Gerty rest in peace. Let her smile that her struggle was not in vain- her legacy lives on. Aluta-continua.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Logistics of Pretoria Demo
LOGISTICS OF PRETORIA DEMO (29/01/2008)!!!
WE MEET IN FRONT OF THE UNION BUILDINGS AT 09.00HRS.
WE MARCH WITH POLICE ESCORT TO THE ZIM EMBASSY TO START DEMO AT 10.00AM.
DEMO ENDS AT 12.00HRS.
CONTACT: 0791463039 / 0796192955/0722543486/0787303844 RSA.
www.zimdiasporavote.blogspot.com
WE MEET IN FRONT OF THE UNION BUILDINGS AT 09.00HRS.
WE MARCH WITH POLICE ESCORT TO THE ZIM EMBASSY TO START DEMO AT 10.00AM.
DEMO ENDS AT 12.00HRS.
CONTACT: 0791463039 / 0796192955/0722543486/0787303844 RSA.
www.zimdiasporavote.blogspot.com
Sunday, January 27, 2008
their bodies are a battle ground
we hear a woman’s raped every
30 minutes this fact needs to be
adjusted as 56 & more
many more were assaulted
inside the first 2 days of
premeditated brutality
of the elephants’ skirmish
their bodies are the frontline
where foes are belittled
& age-old grudges viciously settled
meanwhile rallies sermonise
peacemakers negotiate &
dealmakers mediate
they play the blame game who instigated
what who killed whom excuse me while
i spit & yet do not speak
of the trauma & the terror
& shun the soundless screams of
untold others who in mute silence suffer
they talk about democracy
about ethnocracy autocracy
& just about any cracy you can think of
malevolence shrouded in words
while powerless women little girls
boys & men are abused what
do they know about sacrilege how much
do they care about the shame & humiliation?
how many little girls did you rape today baba?
we know bodies may be healed but
spirit bruises soul lacerations are
indelible quotidian &
never ever leave your side
their bodies are a battlefield
whose destruction’s a conscious
act of ethnic cleansing
in some place we hear
the price for one rape is a goat how
many goats for gang rapes or
for sodomised little boys
we know this isn’t about gratification
nor passion & we are aware of the imperative
revenge domination control
opportunism thuggery it
really doesn’t really matter as the
sacrifice’s been made
the earth’s tasted their blood
their tears soak the ground
mission accomplished
they ask what they should do
as they pray for divine reckoning &
vengeance of cosmic magnitude
they live in constant sorrow & in dread of the hatred spewing
men with rungus for fists & serrated panga eyes
do they not feel pain when you
hurt them do they not bleed when you defile them?
their bodies are a battle ground
their violation
a weapon of war their
bodies are a combat zone
their degradation a
weapon of mass destruction
baba = father
rungus = clubs
panga = machete
by Mshairi
we hear a woman’s raped every
30 minutes this fact needs to be
adjusted as 56 & more
many more were assaulted
inside the first 2 days of
premeditated brutality
of the elephants’ skirmish
their bodies are the frontline
where foes are belittled
& age-old grudges viciously settled
meanwhile rallies sermonise
peacemakers negotiate &
dealmakers mediate
they play the blame game who instigated
what who killed whom excuse me while
i spit & yet do not speak
of the trauma & the terror
& shun the soundless screams of
untold others who in mute silence suffer
they talk about democracy
about ethnocracy autocracy
& just about any cracy you can think of
malevolence shrouded in words
while powerless women little girls
boys & men are abused what
do they know about sacrilege how much
do they care about the shame & humiliation?
how many little girls did you rape today baba?
we know bodies may be healed but
spirit bruises soul lacerations are
indelible quotidian &
never ever leave your side
their bodies are a battlefield
whose destruction’s a conscious
act of ethnic cleansing
in some place we hear
the price for one rape is a goat how
many goats for gang rapes or
for sodomised little boys
we know this isn’t about gratification
nor passion & we are aware of the imperative
revenge domination control
opportunism thuggery it
really doesn’t really matter as the
sacrifice’s been made
the earth’s tasted their blood
their tears soak the ground
mission accomplished
they ask what they should do
as they pray for divine reckoning &
vengeance of cosmic magnitude
they live in constant sorrow & in dread of the hatred spewing
men with rungus for fists & serrated panga eyes
do they not feel pain when you
hurt them do they not bleed when you defile them?
their bodies are a battle ground
their violation
a weapon of war their
bodies are a combat zone
their degradation a
weapon of mass destruction
baba = father
rungus = clubs
panga = machete
by Mshairi
Friday, January 25, 2008
Walking down the Famished Road
Walking down the Famished Road
Pambazuka Editors (2008-01-24)
Dear Pambazuka Community,
Just a few quick words! Starting with this issue you will note a new category – African Writers’ Corner. Why should Pambazuka News - a place for Pan-African analysis - also create a space for our creative workers? Because they themselves are the first to remind us that they have been at the forefront of making Africans visible to each other. Africans meet over Things Fall Apart, see each other in the Famished Road as they look for a Grain of Wheat. Ah, and since African literature is really a Question of Power, surely, can we leave behind sister Killjoy? So we want to have a corner that will feature the creative mind as it wrestles with African issues – be it through poetry, fiction, non-fiction and memoir and the occasional song. It’s about beauty… and the politics.
We also wish to invite you over the next few weeks in the run up to the March 2008 Zimbabwe elections to contribute in depth articles/analysis.
Already there is much contestation to do with the pre-election environment. The opposition is struggling with its own internal dynamics in terms of readiness to participate or not to participate. Consensus for a new people driven constitution remains within the broader civil society's agitation.
Another essential dynamic is the emerging consensus around the fact that the SADC mandated mediation by Thabo Mbeki has collapsed, with very little gain for Zimbabweans in terms of changing their lot towards democratic governance.
There are other thematic cross-cutting issues that can also be considered, gender or women's participations an issue that has been pushed to the periphery, political-economy environment - inflation is the highest in the world; pre- and post-election conflict - mechanisms for handling this, etc.
The idea is to generate debate on such issues as we have been doing with the Kenyan crisis, with a view to giving space to progressive citizens of the world, to once again contribute towards the unfolding events in Zimbabwe.
To help us achieve this is feminist and political activist Grace Kwinjeh. She can be reached on gkwinjeh@gmail.com
Pambazuka Editors (2008-01-24)
Dear Pambazuka Community,
Just a few quick words! Starting with this issue you will note a new category – African Writers’ Corner. Why should Pambazuka News - a place for Pan-African analysis - also create a space for our creative workers? Because they themselves are the first to remind us that they have been at the forefront of making Africans visible to each other. Africans meet over Things Fall Apart, see each other in the Famished Road as they look for a Grain of Wheat. Ah, and since African literature is really a Question of Power, surely, can we leave behind sister Killjoy? So we want to have a corner that will feature the creative mind as it wrestles with African issues – be it through poetry, fiction, non-fiction and memoir and the occasional song. It’s about beauty… and the politics.
We also wish to invite you over the next few weeks in the run up to the March 2008 Zimbabwe elections to contribute in depth articles/analysis.
Already there is much contestation to do with the pre-election environment. The opposition is struggling with its own internal dynamics in terms of readiness to participate or not to participate. Consensus for a new people driven constitution remains within the broader civil society's agitation.
Another essential dynamic is the emerging consensus around the fact that the SADC mandated mediation by Thabo Mbeki has collapsed, with very little gain for Zimbabweans in terms of changing their lot towards democratic governance.
There are other thematic cross-cutting issues that can also be considered, gender or women's participations an issue that has been pushed to the periphery, political-economy environment - inflation is the highest in the world; pre- and post-election conflict - mechanisms for handling this, etc.
The idea is to generate debate on such issues as we have been doing with the Kenyan crisis, with a view to giving space to progressive citizens of the world, to once again contribute towards the unfolding events in Zimbabwe.
To help us achieve this is feminist and political activist Grace Kwinjeh. She can be reached on gkwinjeh@gmail.com
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Debate on Zimbabwe politics
Seminar: Davie Malungisa (Institute for a Democratic Alternative in
Zimbabwe) and Grace Kwinjeh (CCS)
Topic: Zimbabwe politics
Date: Friday, 25 January
Time: 12:30-14:00
Venue: CCS Boardroom, MTB F208, Howard College Campus
Join via SKYPECAST: Please sign up by Thursday, 24/1, by skyping to
Patrick Bond at patricksouthafrica... once you have registered in the
skype address book we call *you* at 12:25 on Friday; you will have
access to full audio participation
More details coming, at http://www.ukzn.ac.za/ccs
Spread the word, thanks!
Zimbabwe) and Grace Kwinjeh (CCS)
Topic: Zimbabwe politics
Date: Friday, 25 January
Time: 12:30-14:00
Venue: CCS Boardroom, MTB F208, Howard College Campus
Join via SKYPECAST: Please sign up by Thursday, 24/1, by skyping to
Patrick Bond at patricksouthafrica... once you have registered in the
skype address book we call *you* at 12:25 on Friday; you will have
access to full audio participation
More details coming, at http://www.ukzn.ac.za/ccs
Spread the word, thanks!
Monday, January 21, 2008
'The Great Need of the Hour'
'The Great Need of the Hour'
By Joe Rospars - Jan 20th, 2008 at 1:14 pm EST
Barack spoke today at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. His
full remarks as prepared for delivery follow ...
The Scripture tells us that when Joshua and the Israelites arrived at the
gates of Jericho, they could not enter. The walls of the city were too
steep for any one person to climb; too strong to be taken down with brute
force. And so they sat for days, unable to pass on through.
But God had a plan for his people. He told them to stand together and
march together around the city, and on the seventh day he told them that
when they heard the sound of the ram's horn, they should speak with one
voice. And at the chosen hour, when the horn sounded and a chorus of
voices cried out together, the mighty walls of Jericho came tumbling down.
There are many lessons to take from this passage, just as there are many
lessons to take from this day, just as there are many memories that fill
the space of this church. As I was thinking about which ones we need to
remember at this hour, my mind went back to the very beginning of the
modern Civil Rights Era.
Because before Memphis and the mountaintop; before the bridge in Selma and
the march on Washington; before Birmingham and the beatings; the fire hoses
and the loss of those four little girls; before there was King the icon and
his magnificent dream, there was King the young preacher and a people who
found themselves suffering under the yoke of oppression.
And on the eve of the bus boycotts in Montgomery, at a time when many were
still doubtful about the possibilities of change, a time when those in the
black community mistrusted themselves, and at times mistrusted each other,
King inspired with words not of anger, but of an urgency that still speaks
to us today:
"Unity is the great need of the hour" is what King said. Unity is how we
shall overcome.
What Dr. King understood is that if just one person chose to walk instead
of ride the bus, those walls of oppression would not be moved. But maybe
if a few more walked, the foundation might start to shake. If a few more
women were willing to do what Rosa Parks had done, maybe the cracks would
start to show. If teenagers took freedom rides from North to South, maybe
a few bricks would come loose. Maybe if white folks marched because they
had come to understand that their freedom too was at stake in the impending
battle, the wall would begin to sway. And if enough Americans were
awakened to the injustice; if they joined together, North and South, rich
and poor, Christian and Jew, then perhaps that wall would come tumbling
down, and justice would flow like water, and righteousness like a mighty
stream.
Unity is the great need of the hour – the great need of this hour. Not
because it sounds pleasant or because it makes us feel good, but because
it's the only way we can overcome the essential deficit that exists in this
country.
I'm not talking about a budget deficit. I'm not talking about a trade
deficit. I'm not talking about a deficit of good ideas or new plans.
I'm talking about a moral deficit. I'm talking about an empathy deficit.
I'm taking about an inability to recognize ourselves in one another; to
understand that we are our brother's keeper; we are our sister's keeper;
that, in the words of Dr. King, we are all tied together in a single
garment of destiny.
We have an empathy deficit when we're still sending our children down
corridors of shame – schools in the forgotten corners of America where the
color of your skin still affects the content of your education.
We have a deficit when CEOs are making more in ten minutes than some
workers make in ten months; when families lose their homes so that lenders
make a profit; when mothers can't afford a doctor when their children get
sick.
We have a deficit in this country when there is Scooter Libby justice for
some and Jena justice for others; when our children see nooses hanging from
a schoolyard tree today, in the present, in the twenty-first century.
We have a deficit when homeless veterans sleep on the streets of our
cities; when innocents are slaughtered in the deserts of Darfur; when young
Americans serve tour after tour of duty in a war that should've never been
authorized and never been waged.
And we have a deficit when it takes a breach in our levees to reveal a
breach in our compassion; when it takes a terrible storm to reveal the
hungry that God calls on us to feed; the sick He calls on us to care for;
the least of these He commands that we treat as our own.
So we have a deficit to close. We have walls – barriers to justice and
equality – that must come down. And to do this, we know that unity is the
great need of this hour.
Unfortunately, all too often when we talk about unity in this country,
we've come to believe that it can be purchased on the cheap. We've come to
believe that racial reconciliation can come easily – that it's just a
matter of a few ignorant people trapped in the prejudices of the past, and
that if the demagogues and those who exploit our racial divisions will
simply go away, then all our problems would be solved.
All too often, we seek to ignore the profound institutional barriers that
stand in the way of ensuring opportunity for all children, or decent jobs
for all people, or health care for those who are sick. We long for unity,
but are unwilling to pay the price.
But of course, true unity cannot be so easily won. It starts with a change
in attitudes – a broadening of our minds, and a broadening of our hearts.
It's not easy to stand in somebody else's shoes. It's not easy to see past
our differences. We've all encountered this in our own lives. But what
makes it even more difficult is that we have a politics in this country
that seeks to drive us apart – that puts up walls between us.
We are told that those who differ from us on a few things are different
from us on all things; that our problems are the fault of those who don't
think like us or look like us or come from where we do. The welfare queen
is taking our tax money. The immigrant is taking our jobs. The believer
condemns the non-believer as immoral, and the non-believer chides the
believer as intolerant.
For most of this country's history, we in the African-American community
have been at the receiving end of man's inhumanity to man. And all of us
understand intimately the insidious role that race still sometimes plays –
on the job, in the schools, in our health care system, and in our criminal
justice system.
And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our
hands are entirely clean. If we're honest with ourselves, we'll
acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's
vision of a beloved community.
We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The
scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community.
For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs
instead of companions in the fight for opportunity.
Every day, our politics fuels and exploits this kind of division across all
races and regions; across gender and party. It is played out on
television. It is sensationalized by the media. And last week, it even
crept into the campaign for President, with charges and counter-charges
that served to obscure the issues instead of illuminating the critical
choices we face as a nation.
So let us say that on this day of all days, each of us carries with us the
task of changing our hearts and minds. The division, the stereotypes, the
scape-goating, the ease with which we blame our plight on others – all of
this distracts us from the common challenges we face – war and poverty;
injustice and inequality. We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by
tearing someone else down. We can no longer afford to traffic in lies or
fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the
wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late.
Because if Dr. King could love his jailor; if he could call on the faithful
who once sat where you do to forgive those who set dogs and fire hoses upon
them, then surely we can look past what divides us in our time, and bind up
our wounds, and erase the empathy deficit that exists in our hearts.
But if changing our hearts and minds is the first critical step, we cannot
stop there. It is not enough to bemoan the plight of poor children in this
country and remain unwilling to push our elected officials to provide the
resources to fix our schools. It is not enough to decry the disparities of
health care and yet allow the insurance companies and the drug companies to
block much-needed reforms. It is not enough for us to abhor the costs of a
misguided war, and yet allow ourselves to be driven by a politics of fear
that sees the threat of attack as way to scare up votes instead of a call
to come together around a common effort.
The Scripture tells us that we are judged not just by word, but by deed.
And if we are to truly bring about the unity that is so crucial in this
time, we must find it within ourselves to act on what we know; to
understand that living up to this country's ideals and its possibilities
will require great effort and resources; sacrifice and stamina.
And that is what is at stake in the great political debate we are having
today. The changes that are needed are not just a matter of tinkering at
the edges, and they will not come if politicians simply tell us what we
want to hear. All of us will be called upon to make some sacrifice. None
of us will be exempt from responsibility. We will have to fight to fix our
schools, but we will also have to challenge ourselves to be better
parents. We will have to confront the biases in our criminal justice
system, but we will also have to acknowledge the deep-seated violence that
still resides in our own communities and marshal the will to break its
grip.
That is how we will bring about the change we seek. That is how Dr. King
led this country through the wilderness. He did it with words – words that
he spoke not just to the children of slaves, but the children of slave
owners. Words that inspired not just black but also white; not just the
Christian but the Jew; not just the Southerner but also the Northerner.
He led with words, but he also led with deeds. He also led by example. He
led by marching and going to jail and suffering threats and being away from
his family. He led by taking a stand against a war, knowing full well that
it would diminish his popularity. He led by challenging our economic
structures, understanding that it would cause discomfort. Dr. King
understood that unity cannot be won on the cheap; that we would have to
earn it through great effort and determination.
That is the unity – the hard-earned unity – that we need right now. It is
that effort, and that determination, that can transform blind optimism into
hope – the hope to imagine, and work for, and fight for what seemed
impossible before.
The stories that give me such hope don't happen in the spotlight. They
don't happen on the presidential stage. They happen in the quiet corners of
our lives. They happen in the moments we least expect. Let me give you an
example of one of those stories.
There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who
organizes for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She's been working
to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this
campaign, and the other day she was at a roundtable discussion where
everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.
And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer.
And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her
health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that's when Ashley
decided that she had to do something to help her mom.
She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley
convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat
more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that
was the cheapest way to eat.
She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at
the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she
could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need
to help their parents too.
So Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks
everyone else why they're supporting the campaign. They all have different
stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they
come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire
time. And Ashley asks him why he's there. And he does not bring up a
specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not
say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of
Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, "I am here because
of Ashley."
By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl
and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care
to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.
But it is where we begin. It is why the walls in that room began to crack
and shake.
And if they can shake in that room, they can shake in Atlanta.
And if they can shake in Atlanta, they can shake in Georgia.
And if they can shake in Georgia, they can shake all across America. And
if enough of our voices join together; we can bring those walls tumbling
down. The walls of Jericho can finally come tumbling down. That is our
hope – but only if we pray together, and work together, and march together.
Brothers and sisters, we cannot walk alone.
In the struggle for peace and justice, we cannot walk alone.
In the struggle for opportunity and equality, we cannot walk alone
In the struggle to heal this nation and repair this world, we cannot walk
alone.
So I ask you to walk with me, and march with me, and join your voice with
mine, and together we will sing the song that tears down the walls that
divide us, and lift up an America that is truly indivisible, with liberty,
and justice, for all. May God bless the memory of the great pastor of this
church, and may God bless the United States of America.
###
By Joe Rospars - Jan 20th, 2008 at 1:14 pm EST
Barack spoke today at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. His
full remarks as prepared for delivery follow ...
The Scripture tells us that when Joshua and the Israelites arrived at the
gates of Jericho, they could not enter. The walls of the city were too
steep for any one person to climb; too strong to be taken down with brute
force. And so they sat for days, unable to pass on through.
But God had a plan for his people. He told them to stand together and
march together around the city, and on the seventh day he told them that
when they heard the sound of the ram's horn, they should speak with one
voice. And at the chosen hour, when the horn sounded and a chorus of
voices cried out together, the mighty walls of Jericho came tumbling down.
There are many lessons to take from this passage, just as there are many
lessons to take from this day, just as there are many memories that fill
the space of this church. As I was thinking about which ones we need to
remember at this hour, my mind went back to the very beginning of the
modern Civil Rights Era.
Because before Memphis and the mountaintop; before the bridge in Selma and
the march on Washington; before Birmingham and the beatings; the fire hoses
and the loss of those four little girls; before there was King the icon and
his magnificent dream, there was King the young preacher and a people who
found themselves suffering under the yoke of oppression.
And on the eve of the bus boycotts in Montgomery, at a time when many were
still doubtful about the possibilities of change, a time when those in the
black community mistrusted themselves, and at times mistrusted each other,
King inspired with words not of anger, but of an urgency that still speaks
to us today:
"Unity is the great need of the hour" is what King said. Unity is how we
shall overcome.
What Dr. King understood is that if just one person chose to walk instead
of ride the bus, those walls of oppression would not be moved. But maybe
if a few more walked, the foundation might start to shake. If a few more
women were willing to do what Rosa Parks had done, maybe the cracks would
start to show. If teenagers took freedom rides from North to South, maybe
a few bricks would come loose. Maybe if white folks marched because they
had come to understand that their freedom too was at stake in the impending
battle, the wall would begin to sway. And if enough Americans were
awakened to the injustice; if they joined together, North and South, rich
and poor, Christian and Jew, then perhaps that wall would come tumbling
down, and justice would flow like water, and righteousness like a mighty
stream.
Unity is the great need of the hour – the great need of this hour. Not
because it sounds pleasant or because it makes us feel good, but because
it's the only way we can overcome the essential deficit that exists in this
country.
I'm not talking about a budget deficit. I'm not talking about a trade
deficit. I'm not talking about a deficit of good ideas or new plans.
I'm talking about a moral deficit. I'm talking about an empathy deficit.
I'm taking about an inability to recognize ourselves in one another; to
understand that we are our brother's keeper; we are our sister's keeper;
that, in the words of Dr. King, we are all tied together in a single
garment of destiny.
We have an empathy deficit when we're still sending our children down
corridors of shame – schools in the forgotten corners of America where the
color of your skin still affects the content of your education.
We have a deficit when CEOs are making more in ten minutes than some
workers make in ten months; when families lose their homes so that lenders
make a profit; when mothers can't afford a doctor when their children get
sick.
We have a deficit in this country when there is Scooter Libby justice for
some and Jena justice for others; when our children see nooses hanging from
a schoolyard tree today, in the present, in the twenty-first century.
We have a deficit when homeless veterans sleep on the streets of our
cities; when innocents are slaughtered in the deserts of Darfur; when young
Americans serve tour after tour of duty in a war that should've never been
authorized and never been waged.
And we have a deficit when it takes a breach in our levees to reveal a
breach in our compassion; when it takes a terrible storm to reveal the
hungry that God calls on us to feed; the sick He calls on us to care for;
the least of these He commands that we treat as our own.
So we have a deficit to close. We have walls – barriers to justice and
equality – that must come down. And to do this, we know that unity is the
great need of this hour.
Unfortunately, all too often when we talk about unity in this country,
we've come to believe that it can be purchased on the cheap. We've come to
believe that racial reconciliation can come easily – that it's just a
matter of a few ignorant people trapped in the prejudices of the past, and
that if the demagogues and those who exploit our racial divisions will
simply go away, then all our problems would be solved.
All too often, we seek to ignore the profound institutional barriers that
stand in the way of ensuring opportunity for all children, or decent jobs
for all people, or health care for those who are sick. We long for unity,
but are unwilling to pay the price.
But of course, true unity cannot be so easily won. It starts with a change
in attitudes – a broadening of our minds, and a broadening of our hearts.
It's not easy to stand in somebody else's shoes. It's not easy to see past
our differences. We've all encountered this in our own lives. But what
makes it even more difficult is that we have a politics in this country
that seeks to drive us apart – that puts up walls between us.
We are told that those who differ from us on a few things are different
from us on all things; that our problems are the fault of those who don't
think like us or look like us or come from where we do. The welfare queen
is taking our tax money. The immigrant is taking our jobs. The believer
condemns the non-believer as immoral, and the non-believer chides the
believer as intolerant.
For most of this country's history, we in the African-American community
have been at the receiving end of man's inhumanity to man. And all of us
understand intimately the insidious role that race still sometimes plays –
on the job, in the schools, in our health care system, and in our criminal
justice system.
And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our
hands are entirely clean. If we're honest with ourselves, we'll
acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's
vision of a beloved community.
We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The
scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community.
For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs
instead of companions in the fight for opportunity.
Every day, our politics fuels and exploits this kind of division across all
races and regions; across gender and party. It is played out on
television. It is sensationalized by the media. And last week, it even
crept into the campaign for President, with charges and counter-charges
that served to obscure the issues instead of illuminating the critical
choices we face as a nation.
So let us say that on this day of all days, each of us carries with us the
task of changing our hearts and minds. The division, the stereotypes, the
scape-goating, the ease with which we blame our plight on others – all of
this distracts us from the common challenges we face – war and poverty;
injustice and inequality. We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by
tearing someone else down. We can no longer afford to traffic in lies or
fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the
wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late.
Because if Dr. King could love his jailor; if he could call on the faithful
who once sat where you do to forgive those who set dogs and fire hoses upon
them, then surely we can look past what divides us in our time, and bind up
our wounds, and erase the empathy deficit that exists in our hearts.
But if changing our hearts and minds is the first critical step, we cannot
stop there. It is not enough to bemoan the plight of poor children in this
country and remain unwilling to push our elected officials to provide the
resources to fix our schools. It is not enough to decry the disparities of
health care and yet allow the insurance companies and the drug companies to
block much-needed reforms. It is not enough for us to abhor the costs of a
misguided war, and yet allow ourselves to be driven by a politics of fear
that sees the threat of attack as way to scare up votes instead of a call
to come together around a common effort.
The Scripture tells us that we are judged not just by word, but by deed.
And if we are to truly bring about the unity that is so crucial in this
time, we must find it within ourselves to act on what we know; to
understand that living up to this country's ideals and its possibilities
will require great effort and resources; sacrifice and stamina.
And that is what is at stake in the great political debate we are having
today. The changes that are needed are not just a matter of tinkering at
the edges, and they will not come if politicians simply tell us what we
want to hear. All of us will be called upon to make some sacrifice. None
of us will be exempt from responsibility. We will have to fight to fix our
schools, but we will also have to challenge ourselves to be better
parents. We will have to confront the biases in our criminal justice
system, but we will also have to acknowledge the deep-seated violence that
still resides in our own communities and marshal the will to break its
grip.
That is how we will bring about the change we seek. That is how Dr. King
led this country through the wilderness. He did it with words – words that
he spoke not just to the children of slaves, but the children of slave
owners. Words that inspired not just black but also white; not just the
Christian but the Jew; not just the Southerner but also the Northerner.
He led with words, but he also led with deeds. He also led by example. He
led by marching and going to jail and suffering threats and being away from
his family. He led by taking a stand against a war, knowing full well that
it would diminish his popularity. He led by challenging our economic
structures, understanding that it would cause discomfort. Dr. King
understood that unity cannot be won on the cheap; that we would have to
earn it through great effort and determination.
That is the unity – the hard-earned unity – that we need right now. It is
that effort, and that determination, that can transform blind optimism into
hope – the hope to imagine, and work for, and fight for what seemed
impossible before.
The stories that give me such hope don't happen in the spotlight. They
don't happen on the presidential stage. They happen in the quiet corners of
our lives. They happen in the moments we least expect. Let me give you an
example of one of those stories.
There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who
organizes for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She's been working
to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this
campaign, and the other day she was at a roundtable discussion where
everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.
And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer.
And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her
health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that's when Ashley
decided that she had to do something to help her mom.
She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley
convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat
more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that
was the cheapest way to eat.
She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at
the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she
could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need
to help their parents too.
So Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks
everyone else why they're supporting the campaign. They all have different
stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they
come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire
time. And Ashley asks him why he's there. And he does not bring up a
specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not
say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of
Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, "I am here because
of Ashley."
By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl
and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care
to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.
But it is where we begin. It is why the walls in that room began to crack
and shake.
And if they can shake in that room, they can shake in Atlanta.
And if they can shake in Atlanta, they can shake in Georgia.
And if they can shake in Georgia, they can shake all across America. And
if enough of our voices join together; we can bring those walls tumbling
down. The walls of Jericho can finally come tumbling down. That is our
hope – but only if we pray together, and work together, and march together.
Brothers and sisters, we cannot walk alone.
In the struggle for peace and justice, we cannot walk alone.
In the struggle for opportunity and equality, we cannot walk alone
In the struggle to heal this nation and repair this world, we cannot walk
alone.
So I ask you to walk with me, and march with me, and join your voice with
mine, and together we will sing the song that tears down the walls that
divide us, and lift up an America that is truly indivisible, with liberty,
and justice, for all. May God bless the memory of the great pastor of this
church, and may God bless the United States of America.
###
MDC NORTH AMERICA REMEMBERS THEIR HERO
North American Province
PRESS RELEASE:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Stanford G. Mukasa. NAP Communications
Phone: (724) 357 3097 Office
(724) 467 0001 (CELL)
email: mukasa@iup.edu
Date : January 20, 2008
The North American Province of the Movement for Democratic Change today joins millions of oppressed Zimbabweans in mourning the death of firebrand human rights activist, Miss Gertrude Mtombeni, who died at the weekend. Affectionately known as Gettie by her friends and colleagues, Miss Mthombeni was a visionary and a dedicated activist for human rights in Zimbabwe.
Miss Mtombeni, MDC secretary for the environment and a member of the party’s national council, joins the long list of MDC activists who have died in the struggle for the liberation of Zimbabwe from the oppressive dictatorship of Robert Mugabe regime. She was harassed, jailed and severely assaulted by Mugabe’s police from whom she sustained serious injuries in her body. Yet she never gave up the struggle. She once declared that, if by joining the struggle it meant a certain death for her “so be it.”
In addition to her struggle against the oppressive regime of Mugabe, Miss Mthombeni was also engaged in another struggle to maintain unity after the leadership split in the MDC in 2005.
When a splinter group in the leadership broke away from the MDC and established its head office in Bulawayo, there were widespread reports that the people of Matabeleland would join the splinter group. Miss Mthombeni was one of the MDC leaders who played a critical and strategic role in keeping the national unity of the MDC intact.
She addressed many rallies and stressed that the people of Matabeleland were not, and did not define themselves as, a tribal or ethnic group but part of the national character of Zimbabwe. She did not mince her words when she poured scorn and contempt on the so-called analysts and propagandists who spread malicious and misleading information that the splinter movement of the MDC would be attracted to the people of Matabeleland on the basis of their ethnicity.
When Miss Mthombeni visited the United States last year she made an effort, despite her deteriorating health, to visit and meet with the Zimbabweans in Diaspora. Her lasting advice to all Zimbabweans was “Love one another.”
We cannot agree more with what Miss Mthombeni’s compatriot in the struggle, Sekayi Holland, said, namely:
[Miss] Mthombeni worked under extremely difficult conditions in her Bulawayo province. [Miss] Mthombeni stuck to MDC principles whatever obstacle was cast in her way, in all her political and union work to the end. We will all Miss Gertrude Mthombeni.
The North American Province of the MDC sends our deepest condolences to Miss Mthombeni’s family, relatives as well as to the MDC. We have lost a colleague, a fellow citizen, and a friend.
But we make this promise that we will finish the struggle that she and her compatriots started. There can be no doubt that Miss Mthombeni’s deteriorating health was a direct result of all the torture and detention she suffered under the Mugabe regime.
To this extent, we hold Robert Mugabe and ZANUPF directly responsible for Miss Mthombeni’s death. If Mugabe thinks that by killing Miss Mthombeni and other freedom fighters he has suppressed the struggle for freedom and democracy he is dead wrong. The spirit and determination by Zimbabweans to free themselves from Mugabe’s oppressive rule live on and will continue until victory is won, no matter how long it will take.
When Mugabe regime and ZANUPF are defeated, dead and buried in the dustbin of history Miss Mthombeni’s name will forever be remembered and memorialized among Zimbabwe’s authentic and true heroes who shed their blood for the second liberation of their country from the evil dictatorship of Mugabe.
Chinga Maitiro. Guqula Izenzo. Change Behavior.
PRESS RELEASE:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Stanford G. Mukasa. NAP Communications
Phone: (724) 357 3097 Office
(724) 467 0001 (CELL)
email: mukasa@iup.edu
Date : January 20, 2008
The North American Province of the Movement for Democratic Change today joins millions of oppressed Zimbabweans in mourning the death of firebrand human rights activist, Miss Gertrude Mtombeni, who died at the weekend. Affectionately known as Gettie by her friends and colleagues, Miss Mthombeni was a visionary and a dedicated activist for human rights in Zimbabwe.
Miss Mtombeni, MDC secretary for the environment and a member of the party’s national council, joins the long list of MDC activists who have died in the struggle for the liberation of Zimbabwe from the oppressive dictatorship of Robert Mugabe regime. She was harassed, jailed and severely assaulted by Mugabe’s police from whom she sustained serious injuries in her body. Yet she never gave up the struggle. She once declared that, if by joining the struggle it meant a certain death for her “so be it.”
In addition to her struggle against the oppressive regime of Mugabe, Miss Mthombeni was also engaged in another struggle to maintain unity after the leadership split in the MDC in 2005.
When a splinter group in the leadership broke away from the MDC and established its head office in Bulawayo, there were widespread reports that the people of Matabeleland would join the splinter group. Miss Mthombeni was one of the MDC leaders who played a critical and strategic role in keeping the national unity of the MDC intact.
She addressed many rallies and stressed that the people of Matabeleland were not, and did not define themselves as, a tribal or ethnic group but part of the national character of Zimbabwe. She did not mince her words when she poured scorn and contempt on the so-called analysts and propagandists who spread malicious and misleading information that the splinter movement of the MDC would be attracted to the people of Matabeleland on the basis of their ethnicity.
When Miss Mthombeni visited the United States last year she made an effort, despite her deteriorating health, to visit and meet with the Zimbabweans in Diaspora. Her lasting advice to all Zimbabweans was “Love one another.”
We cannot agree more with what Miss Mthombeni’s compatriot in the struggle, Sekayi Holland, said, namely:
[Miss] Mthombeni worked under extremely difficult conditions in her Bulawayo province. [Miss] Mthombeni stuck to MDC principles whatever obstacle was cast in her way, in all her political and union work to the end. We will all Miss Gertrude Mthombeni.
The North American Province of the MDC sends our deepest condolences to Miss Mthombeni’s family, relatives as well as to the MDC. We have lost a colleague, a fellow citizen, and a friend.
But we make this promise that we will finish the struggle that she and her compatriots started. There can be no doubt that Miss Mthombeni’s deteriorating health was a direct result of all the torture and detention she suffered under the Mugabe regime.
To this extent, we hold Robert Mugabe and ZANUPF directly responsible for Miss Mthombeni’s death. If Mugabe thinks that by killing Miss Mthombeni and other freedom fighters he has suppressed the struggle for freedom and democracy he is dead wrong. The spirit and determination by Zimbabweans to free themselves from Mugabe’s oppressive rule live on and will continue until victory is won, no matter how long it will take.
When Mugabe regime and ZANUPF are defeated, dead and buried in the dustbin of history Miss Mthombeni’s name will forever be remembered and memorialized among Zimbabwe’s authentic and true heroes who shed their blood for the second liberation of their country from the evil dictatorship of Mugabe.
Chinga Maitiro. Guqula Izenzo. Change Behavior.
Cde Getty is no more
On this very sad weekend, MDC is yet to announce the tragic news of the death of one of our youngest founding Party leaders Getrude Mthombeni, our Secretary for the Environment, National Executive Committe and National Council member. She died in Bulawayo, the Province she represents in the MDC National Executive Committee.
Mthombeni came into MDC from ZCTU as one of the Trade Union movement's senior leaders seconded by the Trade Union to build the new Party, as requested by civil society. Working for ZESA for years, Mthombeni was their union representative for years. She was the regional international union delegate. She has been ill for some weeks.
Mthombeni was on the Women's Assembly list of candidates for the Deputy President post at the March 2006 Congress. None of the women on that list except for Lucia Matibenga won the post we were put forward for. The current fight to remove Lucia Matibenga could be appreciated from that historical fact. She won the post we put her forward to contest, the National Chair for the MDC Women's Assembly.
Getrude Mthombeni worked under extremely difficult conditions in her Bulawayo province. Mthombeni stuck to MDC principles whatever obstacle was cast in her way, in all her political and union work to the end. We will all miss Getrude Mthombeni.
Hamba Kuhle Gertie! Sohlangana kwelizayo.
Go well Gertie! We will meet in the next world.
Famba zvakanaka Gertie! Tichasangana ikoko mberi.
Sekai Holland
Sydney, Australia
19 January, 2008
Mthombeni came into MDC from ZCTU as one of the Trade Union movement's senior leaders seconded by the Trade Union to build the new Party, as requested by civil society. Working for ZESA for years, Mthombeni was their union representative for years. She was the regional international union delegate. She has been ill for some weeks.
Mthombeni was on the Women's Assembly list of candidates for the Deputy President post at the March 2006 Congress. None of the women on that list except for Lucia Matibenga won the post we were put forward for. The current fight to remove Lucia Matibenga could be appreciated from that historical fact. She won the post we put her forward to contest, the National Chair for the MDC Women's Assembly.
Getrude Mthombeni worked under extremely difficult conditions in her Bulawayo province. Mthombeni stuck to MDC principles whatever obstacle was cast in her way, in all her political and union work to the end. We will all miss Getrude Mthombeni.
Hamba Kuhle Gertie! Sohlangana kwelizayo.
Go well Gertie! We will meet in the next world.
Famba zvakanaka Gertie! Tichasangana ikoko mberi.
Sekai Holland
Sydney, Australia
19 January, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Service the greatest pleasure in life
Service the greatest Pleasure in life –
One day my soul just opened up- 40 days and 40 nights towards spiritual growth.
Iyanla Vanzant
Today, I recognise that I am a child of the Divine; sustained by divine love, guided by divine light, protected by divine mercy, alive through divine Grace.
Today, I am thankful for this gift of life through which I am able to Serve.
Today, I ask the Divine to use me.
Use my mind. Use my eyes. Use my ears. Use my hands. Use my feet.
Use my being and this gift of life to Serve those in need.
Use me as an instrument of Peace. Use me as a tool of Strength. Use me as a vessel of Patience and Healing and Love that I may serve those in need.
Let all that I am today be in service to your Will.
Let all that I do today be n service to your Love.
Let all that I give today be in service and alignment with your perfect plan for Humanity.
Today, I am in your service.
For this I am grateful.
And so it is.
Let me remember
To Serve is an act of love
My service is a divine gift to the world
Service and poverty do not coexist
Passion + Focus + Purpose = Service
When I give Service, survival is guaranteed.
One day my soul just opened up- 40 days and 40 nights towards spiritual growth.
Iyanla Vanzant
Today, I recognise that I am a child of the Divine; sustained by divine love, guided by divine light, protected by divine mercy, alive through divine Grace.
Today, I am thankful for this gift of life through which I am able to Serve.
Today, I ask the Divine to use me.
Use my mind. Use my eyes. Use my ears. Use my hands. Use my feet.
Use my being and this gift of life to Serve those in need.
Use me as an instrument of Peace. Use me as a tool of Strength. Use me as a vessel of Patience and Healing and Love that I may serve those in need.
Let all that I am today be in service to your Will.
Let all that I do today be n service to your Love.
Let all that I give today be in service and alignment with your perfect plan for Humanity.
Today, I am in your service.
For this I am grateful.
And so it is.
Let me remember
To Serve is an act of love
My service is a divine gift to the world
Service and poverty do not coexist
Passion + Focus + Purpose = Service
When I give Service, survival is guaranteed.
Accepting our destiny
“I have always believed that in the lives of individuals, just as in society at large, the profoundest changes take place within a very reduced time frame. When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point pretending that nothing happened or in saying we are not yet ready.
The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny,’’ The devil and Ms Prym, Paulo Coelho.
The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny,’’ The devil and Ms Prym, Paulo Coelho.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Attention Conference call for Zimbabweans in North America
Calling On ALL Zimbabweans in Diaspora
Please organize and mobilize to protest for the Diaspora Vote
For those in North America
you are invited to a
Conference Call
Wednesday January 16
Starting At 9 P.M. [East Standard Time]
To discuss the Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum for North America.
To strategize a GLOBAL campaign for the Diaspora vote in the coming elections in Zimbabwe.
To campaign for free, fair and UN supervised elections.
See also http://www.zimaction.com/ZimDiaspora/index.htm
FACTS
Zimbabweans in Diaspora are ONE QUARTER of the Zimbabwean population.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora are the second largest foreign exchange earner for Zimbabwe.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora are now supporting nearly half the population of Zimbabwe through their remittances.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora have the right to vote.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora are not ignored when it comes to remitting foreign exchange.
We should not be ignored when it comes to voting.
Conference call details
Date : January 16
Time: 9 p.m. East Standard Time
Number to call : 1-605-475-6000
Access code 937832
For more details please contact
Canaan Mhlanga surehope7@yahoo.com
Stanford Mukasa mukasa@iup.edu
Canaan Mhlanga surehope7@yahoo.com
Stanford Mukasa mukasa@iup.edu
This is a non partisan mobilization.
Please distribute this to your networks.
Please organize and mobilize to protest for the Diaspora Vote
For those in North America
you are invited to a
Conference Call
Wednesday January 16
Starting At 9 P.M. [East Standard Time]
To discuss the Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum for North America.
To strategize a GLOBAL campaign for the Diaspora vote in the coming elections in Zimbabwe.
To campaign for free, fair and UN supervised elections.
See also http://www.zimaction.com/ZimDiaspora/index.htm
FACTS
Zimbabweans in Diaspora are ONE QUARTER of the Zimbabwean population.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora are the second largest foreign exchange earner for Zimbabwe.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora are now supporting nearly half the population of Zimbabwe through their remittances.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora have the right to vote.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora are not ignored when it comes to remitting foreign exchange.
We should not be ignored when it comes to voting.
Conference call details
Date : January 16
Time: 9 p.m. East Standard Time
Number to call : 1-605-475-6000
Access code 937832
For more details please contact
Canaan Mhlanga surehope7@yahoo.com
Stanford Mukasa mukasa@iup.edu
Canaan Mhlanga surehope7@yahoo.com
Stanford Mukasa mukasa@iup.edu
This is a non partisan mobilization.
Please distribute this to your networks.
Todays inspiration
Life hurts. Life is painful. Life is suffering.
There is nothing in life that does not involve trial.
There is nothing worthwhile that does not have a cost.
Yet, we go on.
There is nothing great that does not require a series of small acts.
We must persevere.
If we do, good times are sure to follow.
If we constantly seek, even in darkness, guidance is sure to come.
If we strive against evil, no matter what the cost, righteousness is sure to triumph.
Deng Ming-Dao, in Everyday Tao: Living with Balance and Harmony
There is nothing in life that does not involve trial.
There is nothing worthwhile that does not have a cost.
Yet, we go on.
There is nothing great that does not require a series of small acts.
We must persevere.
If we do, good times are sure to follow.
If we constantly seek, even in darkness, guidance is sure to come.
If we strive against evil, no matter what the cost, righteousness is sure to triumph.
Deng Ming-Dao, in Everyday Tao: Living with Balance and Harmony
Friday, January 11, 2008
WSF Festival for social change in Durban 26 January
WSF FESTIVAL FOR SOCIAL CHANGE IN DURBAN on 26 January
Theme : The State of the People / ASINAMALI
* to be skypecast, including workshops *
(Press conference led by Dennis Brutus and Fatima Meer on 22 January)
On Saturday, 26 January at Diakonia Centre in central Durban starting
at 10am, hundreds of progressive activists will gather to contemplate the
WSF, develop strategy in workshops, air local grievances against
municipal neoliberalism and a repressive state, forge unity, and march
to nearby targets protesting injustice at 4pm. The event is being
arranged by the KwaZulu-Natal Social Movements Indaba network, the
University of KwaZulu-Natal Centre for Civil Society, Diakonia and
others committed to social justice. More information will be posted at
where we will also be running a skypecast so
comrades across SA, Africa and the world can tune in.
***
Durban celebrates a WSF Festival for Social Change, Saturday, January
26, 10am-4pm
Diakonia Centre, 20 St Andrew's Street, central Durban
(lunch provided, but please RSVP for a free meal ticket, by calling 031
260 3195)
followed by a protest march
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM 2008: A GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION AND MOBILISATION
Millions of women and men, organizations, networks, movements, and
trade unions from all parts of the world will act together on January 26 to
show that another world is possible On January 22, 2008 press conferences from cities across the world will announce details of the 2008 decentralized World Social Forum Global
Day of Mobilization and Action.
Millions of people all over the world will march, speak, celebrate, and
dialogue in villages, rural zones, and urban centers. They will
mobilize on January 26 in the Global Day of Mobilization and Action to coincide
with the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland.
The neo-liberal gathering of the elites in Switzerland represents the
"old" world, with its elites, economists, experts, and ideologies that
produce violence, exploitation, exclusion, poverty, hunger and
ecological disaster and deprive people of human rights.
In contrast, the people's movement of movements will raise their collective voices and
take action all around the globe as the World Social Forum 2008.
The World Social Forum is an open space where social movements,
networks, NGOs and other civil society organizations come together to
raise issues, debate ideas democratically, formulate proposals, share
experiences, and network for effective action.
These movements are opposed to neo-liberalism and a world dominated by capital and all
forms of imperialism. Since the first worldwide encounter in 2001, the World
Social Forum has become a permanent global process seeking and building
alternatives to neo-liberal policies.
World Social Forums have taken place at the end of January at different
sites throughout the world each year for the past seven years, and
their spirit will continue to be reflected in the activities planned at those
same sites and worldwide in 2008.
On January 22nd, press conferences will take place in:
- Durban, South Africa
- Atlanta, USA
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Mumbai, India
- Rome, Italy
- Brussels, Belgium
- Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
- Erbil, Iraq (to be confirmed)
- Seoul, Korea
The press conferences will highlight actions happening in each country
as well as stories from the front lines of people's struggles.
Millions of people, workers, organizations, networks, and movements
around the world are struggling, against neo-liberalism, war,
colonialism, racism, and patriarchy with rich and varied proposals of
real-life alternatives. They represent all ages, peoples, cultures, and
beliefs united by the strong conviction that ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE!
From now until January 26th, the Global Day of Action, it will be the main
communication tool for organizing actions as well as the main source of
information about the World Social Forum 2008.
In Durban, plenary speakers address a group in the Diakonia courtyard
about the importance of the WSF and the evil of the WEF, starting at
10am with lots of time for questions, opinions, debate.
Then there are at least seven workshop breakaway groups to discuss issues central to
the people and the planet, in conflict with profits and the police
state Durban is becoming. After a vegetarian lunch, we tackle the explicit
grievances that WSF constituents will raise, and at 4pm depart Diakonia
for a protest march to raise our voices against injustice.
Join us!
Theme : The State of the People / ASINAMALI
* to be skypecast, including workshops *
(Press conference led by Dennis Brutus and Fatima Meer on 22 January)
On Saturday, 26 January at Diakonia Centre in central Durban starting
at 10am, hundreds of progressive activists will gather to contemplate the
WSF, develop strategy in workshops, air local grievances against
municipal neoliberalism and a repressive state, forge unity, and march
to nearby targets protesting injustice at 4pm. The event is being
arranged by the KwaZulu-Natal Social Movements Indaba network, the
University of KwaZulu-Natal Centre for Civil Society, Diakonia and
others committed to social justice. More information will be posted at
where we will also be running a skypecast so
comrades across SA, Africa and the world can tune in.
***
Durban celebrates a WSF Festival for Social Change, Saturday, January
26, 10am-4pm
Diakonia Centre, 20 St Andrew's Street, central Durban
(lunch provided, but please RSVP for a free meal ticket, by calling 031
260 3195)
followed by a protest march
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM 2008: A GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION AND MOBILISATION
Millions of women and men, organizations, networks, movements, and
trade unions from all parts of the world will act together on January 26 to
show that another world is possible On January 22, 2008 press conferences from cities across the world will announce details of the 2008 decentralized World Social Forum Global
Day of Mobilization and Action.
Millions of people all over the world will march, speak, celebrate, and
dialogue in villages, rural zones, and urban centers. They will
mobilize on January 26 in the Global Day of Mobilization and Action to coincide
with the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland.
The neo-liberal gathering of the elites in Switzerland represents the
"old" world, with its elites, economists, experts, and ideologies that
produce violence, exploitation, exclusion, poverty, hunger and
ecological disaster and deprive people of human rights.
In contrast, the people's movement of movements will raise their collective voices and
take action all around the globe as the World Social Forum 2008.
The World Social Forum is an open space where social movements,
networks, NGOs and other civil society organizations come together to
raise issues, debate ideas democratically, formulate proposals, share
experiences, and network for effective action.
These movements are opposed to neo-liberalism and a world dominated by capital and all
forms of imperialism. Since the first worldwide encounter in 2001, the World
Social Forum has become a permanent global process seeking and building
alternatives to neo-liberal policies.
World Social Forums have taken place at the end of January at different
sites throughout the world each year for the past seven years, and
their spirit will continue to be reflected in the activities planned at those
same sites and worldwide in 2008.
On January 22nd, press conferences will take place in:
- Durban, South Africa
- Atlanta, USA
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Mumbai, India
- Rome, Italy
- Brussels, Belgium
- Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
- Erbil, Iraq (to be confirmed)
- Seoul, Korea
The press conferences will highlight actions happening in each country
as well as stories from the front lines of people's struggles.
Millions of people, workers, organizations, networks, and movements
around the world are struggling, against neo-liberalism, war,
colonialism, racism, and patriarchy with rich and varied proposals of
real-life alternatives. They represent all ages, peoples, cultures, and
beliefs united by the strong conviction that ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE!
From now until January 26th, the Global Day of Action, it will be the main
communication tool for organizing actions as well as the main source of
information about the World Social Forum 2008.
In Durban, plenary speakers address a group in the Diakonia courtyard
about the importance of the WSF and the evil of the WEF, starting at
10am with lots of time for questions, opinions, debate.
Then there are at least seven workshop breakaway groups to discuss issues central to
the people and the planet, in conflict with profits and the police
state Durban is becoming. After a vegetarian lunch, we tackle the explicit
grievances that WSF constituents will raise, and at 4pm depart Diakonia
for a protest march to raise our voices against injustice.
Join us!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
XENOPHOBIC ATTACKS ON FOREIGNERS: A CAUSE OF URGENT CONCERN
09 Jan uary 2009
ZEF Press Statement on:
XENOPHOBIC ATTACKS ON FOREIGNERS: A CAUSE OF URGENT CONCERN
Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF) is extremely worried about the recent spate of xenophobic attacks against foreigners in South Africa. In the last few weeks, attacks have been witnessed Mooiplas area and Soshanguve in Pretoria, Thembisa in Johannesburg as well as some locations in Cape Town. Xenophobic attacks against mainly Zimbabweans in South Africa have often been accompanied by accusations that foreigners cause crime and are responsible for the incidence of HIV/AIDS in the country.
ZEF notes with disconcertion that the phenomenon of xenophobia in South Africa has been fuelled by irresponsible reporting of crime by various media correspondents. This situation has also not been helped by reckless and groundless statements made by high-ranking officials that crime in South Africa is perpetrated mainly by foreigners. This has indirectly led to vicious attacks on foreigners, some of them refugees and asylum seekers. Attacks of this nature have often manifested themselves in the killing of those of foreign origin, the burning of their houses and property as well as physical assault as was the case in Soshanguve on Saturday.
Whilst ZEF does not condone criminal behavior by foreigners, it posits that crime knows no nationality in South Africa. ZEF therefore urges the government of South Africa to ensure that officials do not shift blame for the incidents of crime to genuine asylum seekers and refugees as well as innocent immigrants in this country. Furthermore, there is need to support with facts statements that implicate foreigners as perpetrators of crime. We also urge media associations to reign in some of their colleagues whose reporting on crime and HIV/AIDS has been suggesting without facts that foreigners are responsible.
ZEF is calling upon refugee support groups in South Africa to work together to stop the xenophobic tendencies aimed at foreigners. We also urge the police to act expeditiously in curbing xenophobic attacks and other tendencies, and not to apply the law selectively when such incidents are reported.
For more information please contact:
Gabriel Shumba
Executive Director
ZEF Press Statement on:
XENOPHOBIC ATTACKS ON FOREIGNERS: A CAUSE OF URGENT CONCERN
Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF) is extremely worried about the recent spate of xenophobic attacks against foreigners in South Africa. In the last few weeks, attacks have been witnessed Mooiplas area and Soshanguve in Pretoria, Thembisa in Johannesburg as well as some locations in Cape Town. Xenophobic attacks against mainly Zimbabweans in South Africa have often been accompanied by accusations that foreigners cause crime and are responsible for the incidence of HIV/AIDS in the country.
ZEF notes with disconcertion that the phenomenon of xenophobia in South Africa has been fuelled by irresponsible reporting of crime by various media correspondents. This situation has also not been helped by reckless and groundless statements made by high-ranking officials that crime in South Africa is perpetrated mainly by foreigners. This has indirectly led to vicious attacks on foreigners, some of them refugees and asylum seekers. Attacks of this nature have often manifested themselves in the killing of those of foreign origin, the burning of their houses and property as well as physical assault as was the case in Soshanguve on Saturday.
Whilst ZEF does not condone criminal behavior by foreigners, it posits that crime knows no nationality in South Africa. ZEF therefore urges the government of South Africa to ensure that officials do not shift blame for the incidents of crime to genuine asylum seekers and refugees as well as innocent immigrants in this country. Furthermore, there is need to support with facts statements that implicate foreigners as perpetrators of crime. We also urge media associations to reign in some of their colleagues whose reporting on crime and HIV/AIDS has been suggesting without facts that foreigners are responsible.
ZEF is calling upon refugee support groups in South Africa to work together to stop the xenophobic tendencies aimed at foreigners. We also urge the police to act expeditiously in curbing xenophobic attacks and other tendencies, and not to apply the law selectively when such incidents are reported.
For more information please contact:
Gabriel Shumba
Executive Director
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Decisive time for the revolutionary left in SA
Decisive time for the revolutionary left in SA
Munyaradzi Gwisai
The debate that Brigg's intervention on the Zuma election has elicited is urgent and timely given the very important events unfolding in Africa's most important capitalist state.
The intervention's importance lies in its insistence that the overwhelming Zuma camp victory and the ongoing resurgence of the unions and the SACP show that South Africa is at crossroads. If correct this theses then raises the consequent urgency for the revolutionary left to fashion strategies that ensure its relevance in the unfolding struggles and opens up possibilities for the struggles to grow into social revolution against capitalism itself rather than their containment into another futile reformist Stalinist 'national democratic revolution' or worse still, a neo-liberal Trojan horse as happened with MDC and MMD in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
As other comrades have argued, Dale's rejection of Brigg's position is not sustainable. One cannot just dismiss the 4000 ANC delegates as he does.
The ANC enjoys overwhelming electoral dominance in SA. Its partners include the country's most important trade union federation and a still significant reformist left party, the SACP, in both of which are some of the most advanced sections of the working class. Polokwane must not be seen in isolation but as part of the broader social polarization taking place in SA over the last three or so years and reflected in escalating fights between reformist left sections and neo-liberal sections in not only the ANC but also COSATU and SACP themselves as the Madishe example and the push for a stand-alone SACP show. At one stage the neoliberals had the upper hand and even sought to elbow out the "ultra leftists" from the ANC, but Polokwane shows that the reverse now applies.
In a contest billed as the most fierce in 50 years, so many prominent leaders of the neoliberal camp were booted out. And this despite the overwhelming advantages that the Mbeki camp enjoyed including – huge use of state incumbency, media support and the subjective weaknesses of Zuma such as patriarchy, tribalism, primitive views on AIDS/HIV, strong linkages with crony capitalism and "passive neoliberalism."
The Zuma camp victory is best understood in the context of a general resurgence in working classes struggles and of an artificial anti-poor economic recovery that Claire and Bond have detailed. Briggs is thus correct to argue that the working classes have spoken through the Zuma victory -- 'spoken' mind you and not won!
Similarly there is a clear pattern of a return to serious working class struggle in SA, as shown by the wave of strikes, including the key June 2007 public sector strike and increase of strike days from 500 000 in 2003, to 2.9 million in 2006 and possibly over 11 million in 2007! The rise in workers struggles is mirrored in that of other struggles of the poor. Thus social service delivery demonstrations have jumped to over 20 000 in 2005 - 2007 from less than 6000 in 2004.
True a key factor behind the failure for convergence between the two streams of struggle has been the reluctance of the union elites to encourage such process, but there are other factors and this may be changing as the COSATU and SACP leaders reposition themselves leftward, in response to pressure from below and in order to survive pressure from above from the Mbekiists hence their growing willingness to confront the neoliberal wing as seen in the Mbeki - Vavi - Nzimande fights.
And most significantly for us, this re-positioning of the soft lefts or reformist leftist leaders is winning them big support in the rank and file of the ANC, if not the working class itself as shown in the significant growth in membership of both COSATU and SACP as revealed in their recent congresses. And if in further doubt, one just needs to look at the reception that Nzimande and Vavi received at Polokwane.
Zuma trial key in growing radicalisation
The above radicalization is likely to continue in the next two or so years critically centred on events around the Zuma trial and in the context of a worsening economic situation for the commons. Polarisation in the ANC is likely to worsen as the Mbeki camp seeks to use the trial to stem its decline and forestall a Zuma state presidency at all costs. Its determination has been shown by the new broader charges against Zuma. The Mbekiists will not be lame ducks, but on the contrary are likely to use the state as a bastion for their offensive and with the full support of the bourgeois opposition, business, the media, the judiciary and their regional and international neoliberal allies as they seek the appointment of an alternative and acceptable 'compromise' candidate for 2009.
The Zuma camp now emboldened by its current capture of the party machine is likely to fight back tenaciously and viciously, as Polokwane shows that neither side is taking prisoners. This is echoed in the DA's warning that the Zuma trial could see SA heading for the 'slippery slopes of anarchy' and the declaration of COSATU KZN secretary Zet Luzipho that -"This time there will be blood split in the courtroom" if the trial proceeds. Attitudes are certainly hardening. In their New Year messages COSATU, ANC Youth League and SACP, all insist the 14 August trial be cancelled and charges against Zuma be withdrawn because a fair trial is no longer possible.
COSATU has called upon "the membership of the ANC and its allies to rally around their newly elected ANC President" whilst the ANC YL declared that - "Any further attempt to prosecute cde Zuma will not be met by kindness by those who have showed confidence in his leadership. We will resort to the basics of the movement in ensuring that meet this injustice with people's power."
To succeed against the heavy odds, the Zuma camp and despite Zuma's own conciliatory tone, will indeed have to mobilize massively for people's power, going beyond the ANC and reach out to other sections of the poor including the social movements, and seek to portray the trial as a fight between the rich and the poor. This is why Bond is correct to argue that the fight will increasingly go beyond personalities into economic and social policy issues. The Alliance Summit meeting will be an important indicator.
The growing possibility of a significant economic slow down if not recession in the USA, will hit hard the raw material commodity and speculative based recent economic growth in South Africa, potentially sharply accelerating the social and political struggles in the country including in the ANC. Bond aptly summarises the vulnerable state of the economy as a "parasitical, high poverty, unemployment-ridden, capital -flight prone, elite-oriented economic machine plowing over poor people, whose gains appear only as temporarily restored profitability for big capital and a conspicuous consumption binge for a credit-saturated petite bourgeoisie."
Time for hard choices for the left
The political implications of the above likely polarization and radicalization could be dramatic and far-reaching for the ANC including - an outright split, if accommodation and compromise between the two wings fails; victory of the Zumaiists and resurrection of the reformist left's national democratic revolution agenda, now styled the 'development state'; or following a split or debilitating paralysis due to an inconclusive fight, the emergence of "a new people's party/workers' party", because of the resulting vacuum or as the ANC reformist left enters into alliance with other left of centre radicals and the revolutionary left outside the ANC whilst the neoliberal wing does a similar process with the bourgeois opposition and neoliberal forces.
Whichever way things go, the above opens up immense possibilities for the revolutionary left but only if the right choices are made now.
The two stark choices really are: a) to abstain from the ANC related processes, including the Zuma trial, seeing them as irrelevant or minor things in a bourgeois party and its reformist labour and communist allies; or b) engage with such processes and the reformist left in the ANC, COSATU and SACP on the basis that the crisis of neoliberal capitalism in SA and ANC succession question are opening up immense and unprecedented opportunities for a realignment and regroupment of left forces in South Africa to take on and defeat the neoliberal agenda in Africa's most important state, if not for full social revolution.
Drawing from the experiences of the ISO with MDC in 1999 - 2002 and radical workers in Zambia and Zimbabwe in the MDC and MMD, we think abstention would be a huge mistake. The commons are clearly radicalising in SA and the reformist left leaders are repositioning themselves at the head of this process, even if their ultimate objective is at best to limit such process to reform rather than uproot capitalism if not worse, as shown in how the commencing social revolts find crystallization in a detestable character like Zuma. But that is not unique to SA and indeed has happened many a time before. Thus the 1905 Russian Revolution first crystallized around the leadership of a religious police agent who led hundreds to their deaths in a march to present a petition to "Our Little Father."
In Zimbabwe, a neo-liberal supporting coterie of union leaders around Morgan Tsvangirai were able to position themselves at the head of the mass actions and strikes of 1997 – 98 and subsequently use the moral authority thereby gained to form an ostensibly working people based MDC but in reality one stacked with bourgeois farmers, business, NGO elites and taking instructions from the IMF, London and Washington. With the class on the move, even with misplaced illusions and hopes in the likes of Zuma, Vavi, Nzimande, Tsvangirai or Chiluba, the revolutionary left cannot isolate itself in some purist ideological revolutionary ivory tower or cocoon.
They have to engage with the reformist –led struggles so that they too can get in with the masses moreso to be in a position to expose the reactionary leaders, even if conditions are a pigsty as Lenin called it, when arguing for the reluctant Bolshevik committee men to join the reformist if not reactionary dominated 1905 revolutionary process, as the Mensheviks had earlier done.
To abstain is to surrender leadership of the struggle to the reformists if not reactionaries, with potentially devastating consequences. For us in the end, it was a painful and bitter pill to join and be part of such an MDC, but with some pressure and encouragement from cdes like Cliff and Callinicos of the SWP (UK) we did. I remember very well Cliff's advise that if you want to go fishing you might as well as get a licence from the bailiff if possible.
Despite a determined and very public fight we were ultimately unable to stop the total neoliberal take-over of the MDC and with it the paralysis of the democratic struggles in Zimbabwe, not because we engaged or did not try hard enough, but because our numbers and those of radical unionists were just too small to provide the necessary pole of attraction for radicalizing MDC rank and file activists and act as a counter to the neolibeal right-wingers.
Although today the ISO has survived and has good chances of rebuilding again as disillusionment with the MDC grows, the period of 1999 - 2003 was one of serious missed opportunities for the Zimbabwean working classes. But things could be worse, for the absence of a sizeable and effective revolutionary left pole in a period of economic and social crisis can result in surrender of leadership of the struggles to squabbling reformist or reactionary petite bourgeois leaders who may deliberately or inadvertently stalk communal, ethnic or class tensions to get power and trigger the kind of blood baths we have seen in Rwanda, Cote D'Ivore, Kenya, Pakistan and earlier on Ebert's SPD in the failed 1918 German Revolution.
Conclusion: What form of engagement
Only outlines of the forms of engagement can now be made. Probably most importantly is unconditional but critical support for Zuma in his trial in the mass mobilisation called for by the reformist left of the ANC/COSATU/ SACP. This will be a seminal event which will give the left and social movements plenty of room to work with and gain respect from the reformist left in the ANC Alliance, especially the militant rank and file.
This can subsequently be extended to joint work in other areas, in particular the social service delivery struggles currently being led by the social movements, thereby uniting the two streams of struggle into a mighty river that Trevor Ngwane likes to talk about. Already both COSATU and SACP have talked about the urgent need of building people power committees in the townships whilst COSATU is taking a lead in mobilizing for the WSF Global Day of Action on the 26 th January.
Joint actions in struggle must be accompanied by serious but fraternal ideological criticisms and discussions with the reformist left on key issues like alternatives to capitalism and appropriate organizational forms of the struggle.
In particular our contentions that the national democratic revolution - or developmental state agenda whilst welcome as a reform is inadequate and cannot succeed in isolation of a global socialist revolution besides the real danger of neutralisation by the neoliberal wing in the Zuma camp. Similarly our emphasis on the urgent need to establish both a democratic and anti-capitalist united front of the commons as the way forward as well as within it a mass revolutionary and democratic socialist party for the advanced sections of the commons and not the broad ANC church.
A determined political attack should constantly be made to expose the real dangers of Zuma himself and the neoliberals entrenched around him and the real likelihood of them betraying the masses in future. To argue that only mass action via the self-activity of the commons and a class conscious organ can defeat them.
The final point is the urgent need of the fragmented and small forces of the revolutionary left to urgently regroup into a bigger and sizeable entity that alone will give them the critical mass to effectively engage with the reformist left. Without this any intervention by it will be limited, ineffectual and incapable of stopping the Zumaist passive neoliberals or the Stalinist state capitalist project of the reformist left, if not worse. That is the bitter lesson of the Zimbabwean working class and earlier struggles in Zambia and Nigeria.
Yet more than many other place, the commons in SA have traditions and militancy forged by the mighty struggle against Apartheid, that gives their struggles, along with those of Latin America, the potency of igniting much larger regional and international struggles in a decisive all out fight with the forces of global neo-liberal capitalism.
The burden and challenge of the revolutionary left is therefore heavy but possible.
Amandla!
Munyaradzi Gwisai
Munyaradzi plays an active leadership role in the International Socialist Organisation and Zimbabwe Social Forum but writes here in a personal capacity
Munyaradzi Gwisai
The debate that Brigg's intervention on the Zuma election has elicited is urgent and timely given the very important events unfolding in Africa's most important capitalist state.
The intervention's importance lies in its insistence that the overwhelming Zuma camp victory and the ongoing resurgence of the unions and the SACP show that South Africa is at crossroads. If correct this theses then raises the consequent urgency for the revolutionary left to fashion strategies that ensure its relevance in the unfolding struggles and opens up possibilities for the struggles to grow into social revolution against capitalism itself rather than their containment into another futile reformist Stalinist 'national democratic revolution' or worse still, a neo-liberal Trojan horse as happened with MDC and MMD in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
As other comrades have argued, Dale's rejection of Brigg's position is not sustainable. One cannot just dismiss the 4000 ANC delegates as he does.
The ANC enjoys overwhelming electoral dominance in SA. Its partners include the country's most important trade union federation and a still significant reformist left party, the SACP, in both of which are some of the most advanced sections of the working class. Polokwane must not be seen in isolation but as part of the broader social polarization taking place in SA over the last three or so years and reflected in escalating fights between reformist left sections and neo-liberal sections in not only the ANC but also COSATU and SACP themselves as the Madishe example and the push for a stand-alone SACP show. At one stage the neoliberals had the upper hand and even sought to elbow out the "ultra leftists" from the ANC, but Polokwane shows that the reverse now applies.
In a contest billed as the most fierce in 50 years, so many prominent leaders of the neoliberal camp were booted out. And this despite the overwhelming advantages that the Mbeki camp enjoyed including – huge use of state incumbency, media support and the subjective weaknesses of Zuma such as patriarchy, tribalism, primitive views on AIDS/HIV, strong linkages with crony capitalism and "passive neoliberalism."
The Zuma camp victory is best understood in the context of a general resurgence in working classes struggles and of an artificial anti-poor economic recovery that Claire and Bond have detailed. Briggs is thus correct to argue that the working classes have spoken through the Zuma victory -- 'spoken' mind you and not won!
Similarly there is a clear pattern of a return to serious working class struggle in SA, as shown by the wave of strikes, including the key June 2007 public sector strike and increase of strike days from 500 000 in 2003, to 2.9 million in 2006 and possibly over 11 million in 2007! The rise in workers struggles is mirrored in that of other struggles of the poor. Thus social service delivery demonstrations have jumped to over 20 000 in 2005 - 2007 from less than 6000 in 2004.
True a key factor behind the failure for convergence between the two streams of struggle has been the reluctance of the union elites to encourage such process, but there are other factors and this may be changing as the COSATU and SACP leaders reposition themselves leftward, in response to pressure from below and in order to survive pressure from above from the Mbekiists hence their growing willingness to confront the neoliberal wing as seen in the Mbeki - Vavi - Nzimande fights.
And most significantly for us, this re-positioning of the soft lefts or reformist leftist leaders is winning them big support in the rank and file of the ANC, if not the working class itself as shown in the significant growth in membership of both COSATU and SACP as revealed in their recent congresses. And if in further doubt, one just needs to look at the reception that Nzimande and Vavi received at Polokwane.
Zuma trial key in growing radicalisation
The above radicalization is likely to continue in the next two or so years critically centred on events around the Zuma trial and in the context of a worsening economic situation for the commons. Polarisation in the ANC is likely to worsen as the Mbeki camp seeks to use the trial to stem its decline and forestall a Zuma state presidency at all costs. Its determination has been shown by the new broader charges against Zuma. The Mbekiists will not be lame ducks, but on the contrary are likely to use the state as a bastion for their offensive and with the full support of the bourgeois opposition, business, the media, the judiciary and their regional and international neoliberal allies as they seek the appointment of an alternative and acceptable 'compromise' candidate for 2009.
The Zuma camp now emboldened by its current capture of the party machine is likely to fight back tenaciously and viciously, as Polokwane shows that neither side is taking prisoners. This is echoed in the DA's warning that the Zuma trial could see SA heading for the 'slippery slopes of anarchy' and the declaration of COSATU KZN secretary Zet Luzipho that -"This time there will be blood split in the courtroom" if the trial proceeds. Attitudes are certainly hardening. In their New Year messages COSATU, ANC Youth League and SACP, all insist the 14 August trial be cancelled and charges against Zuma be withdrawn because a fair trial is no longer possible.
COSATU has called upon "the membership of the ANC and its allies to rally around their newly elected ANC President" whilst the ANC YL declared that - "Any further attempt to prosecute cde Zuma will not be met by kindness by those who have showed confidence in his leadership. We will resort to the basics of the movement in ensuring that meet this injustice with people's power."
To succeed against the heavy odds, the Zuma camp and despite Zuma's own conciliatory tone, will indeed have to mobilize massively for people's power, going beyond the ANC and reach out to other sections of the poor including the social movements, and seek to portray the trial as a fight between the rich and the poor. This is why Bond is correct to argue that the fight will increasingly go beyond personalities into economic and social policy issues. The Alliance Summit meeting will be an important indicator.
The growing possibility of a significant economic slow down if not recession in the USA, will hit hard the raw material commodity and speculative based recent economic growth in South Africa, potentially sharply accelerating the social and political struggles in the country including in the ANC. Bond aptly summarises the vulnerable state of the economy as a "parasitical, high poverty, unemployment-ridden, capital -flight prone, elite-oriented economic machine plowing over poor people, whose gains appear only as temporarily restored profitability for big capital and a conspicuous consumption binge for a credit-saturated petite bourgeoisie."
Time for hard choices for the left
The political implications of the above likely polarization and radicalization could be dramatic and far-reaching for the ANC including - an outright split, if accommodation and compromise between the two wings fails; victory of the Zumaiists and resurrection of the reformist left's national democratic revolution agenda, now styled the 'development state'; or following a split or debilitating paralysis due to an inconclusive fight, the emergence of "a new people's party/workers' party", because of the resulting vacuum or as the ANC reformist left enters into alliance with other left of centre radicals and the revolutionary left outside the ANC whilst the neoliberal wing does a similar process with the bourgeois opposition and neoliberal forces.
Whichever way things go, the above opens up immense possibilities for the revolutionary left but only if the right choices are made now.
The two stark choices really are: a) to abstain from the ANC related processes, including the Zuma trial, seeing them as irrelevant or minor things in a bourgeois party and its reformist labour and communist allies; or b) engage with such processes and the reformist left in the ANC, COSATU and SACP on the basis that the crisis of neoliberal capitalism in SA and ANC succession question are opening up immense and unprecedented opportunities for a realignment and regroupment of left forces in South Africa to take on and defeat the neoliberal agenda in Africa's most important state, if not for full social revolution.
Drawing from the experiences of the ISO with MDC in 1999 - 2002 and radical workers in Zambia and Zimbabwe in the MDC and MMD, we think abstention would be a huge mistake. The commons are clearly radicalising in SA and the reformist left leaders are repositioning themselves at the head of this process, even if their ultimate objective is at best to limit such process to reform rather than uproot capitalism if not worse, as shown in how the commencing social revolts find crystallization in a detestable character like Zuma. But that is not unique to SA and indeed has happened many a time before. Thus the 1905 Russian Revolution first crystallized around the leadership of a religious police agent who led hundreds to their deaths in a march to present a petition to "Our Little Father."
In Zimbabwe, a neo-liberal supporting coterie of union leaders around Morgan Tsvangirai were able to position themselves at the head of the mass actions and strikes of 1997 – 98 and subsequently use the moral authority thereby gained to form an ostensibly working people based MDC but in reality one stacked with bourgeois farmers, business, NGO elites and taking instructions from the IMF, London and Washington. With the class on the move, even with misplaced illusions and hopes in the likes of Zuma, Vavi, Nzimande, Tsvangirai or Chiluba, the revolutionary left cannot isolate itself in some purist ideological revolutionary ivory tower or cocoon.
They have to engage with the reformist –led struggles so that they too can get in with the masses moreso to be in a position to expose the reactionary leaders, even if conditions are a pigsty as Lenin called it, when arguing for the reluctant Bolshevik committee men to join the reformist if not reactionary dominated 1905 revolutionary process, as the Mensheviks had earlier done.
To abstain is to surrender leadership of the struggle to the reformists if not reactionaries, with potentially devastating consequences. For us in the end, it was a painful and bitter pill to join and be part of such an MDC, but with some pressure and encouragement from cdes like Cliff and Callinicos of the SWP (UK) we did. I remember very well Cliff's advise that if you want to go fishing you might as well as get a licence from the bailiff if possible.
Despite a determined and very public fight we were ultimately unable to stop the total neoliberal take-over of the MDC and with it the paralysis of the democratic struggles in Zimbabwe, not because we engaged or did not try hard enough, but because our numbers and those of radical unionists were just too small to provide the necessary pole of attraction for radicalizing MDC rank and file activists and act as a counter to the neolibeal right-wingers.
Although today the ISO has survived and has good chances of rebuilding again as disillusionment with the MDC grows, the period of 1999 - 2003 was one of serious missed opportunities for the Zimbabwean working classes. But things could be worse, for the absence of a sizeable and effective revolutionary left pole in a period of economic and social crisis can result in surrender of leadership of the struggles to squabbling reformist or reactionary petite bourgeois leaders who may deliberately or inadvertently stalk communal, ethnic or class tensions to get power and trigger the kind of blood baths we have seen in Rwanda, Cote D'Ivore, Kenya, Pakistan and earlier on Ebert's SPD in the failed 1918 German Revolution.
Conclusion: What form of engagement
Only outlines of the forms of engagement can now be made. Probably most importantly is unconditional but critical support for Zuma in his trial in the mass mobilisation called for by the reformist left of the ANC/COSATU/ SACP. This will be a seminal event which will give the left and social movements plenty of room to work with and gain respect from the reformist left in the ANC Alliance, especially the militant rank and file.
This can subsequently be extended to joint work in other areas, in particular the social service delivery struggles currently being led by the social movements, thereby uniting the two streams of struggle into a mighty river that Trevor Ngwane likes to talk about. Already both COSATU and SACP have talked about the urgent need of building people power committees in the townships whilst COSATU is taking a lead in mobilizing for the WSF Global Day of Action on the 26 th January.
Joint actions in struggle must be accompanied by serious but fraternal ideological criticisms and discussions with the reformist left on key issues like alternatives to capitalism and appropriate organizational forms of the struggle.
In particular our contentions that the national democratic revolution - or developmental state agenda whilst welcome as a reform is inadequate and cannot succeed in isolation of a global socialist revolution besides the real danger of neutralisation by the neoliberal wing in the Zuma camp. Similarly our emphasis on the urgent need to establish both a democratic and anti-capitalist united front of the commons as the way forward as well as within it a mass revolutionary and democratic socialist party for the advanced sections of the commons and not the broad ANC church.
A determined political attack should constantly be made to expose the real dangers of Zuma himself and the neoliberals entrenched around him and the real likelihood of them betraying the masses in future. To argue that only mass action via the self-activity of the commons and a class conscious organ can defeat them.
The final point is the urgent need of the fragmented and small forces of the revolutionary left to urgently regroup into a bigger and sizeable entity that alone will give them the critical mass to effectively engage with the reformist left. Without this any intervention by it will be limited, ineffectual and incapable of stopping the Zumaist passive neoliberals or the Stalinist state capitalist project of the reformist left, if not worse. That is the bitter lesson of the Zimbabwean working class and earlier struggles in Zambia and Nigeria.
Yet more than many other place, the commons in SA have traditions and militancy forged by the mighty struggle against Apartheid, that gives their struggles, along with those of Latin America, the potency of igniting much larger regional and international struggles in a decisive all out fight with the forces of global neo-liberal capitalism.
The burden and challenge of the revolutionary left is therefore heavy but possible.
Amandla!
Munyaradzi Gwisai
Munyaradzi plays an active leadership role in the International Socialist Organisation and Zimbabwe Social Forum but writes here in a personal capacity
Message of solidarity with the people of Kenya
GLOBAL ZIMBABWE FORUM
in partnership with the
ZIMBABWE DIASPORA FORUM
PRESS STATEMENT
RE: Message of Solidarity with the People of Kenya
The Global Zimbabwe Forum in partnership with its local regional affiliate, the Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum would like to confirm that it successfully participated in a public protest outside the Kenyan High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa.
The event was held on the morning of Tuesday 8th January 2008.
The picket was organized by a network of South African based Kenyans who also extended a request to the Zimbabweans exiled in South Africa to participate in the march in solidarity with them.
The good news is that at least one full bus load of Zimbabwean activists managed to turn out in full force and helped to make the protest to be a huge success.
The Vice Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum, Solomon ‘Sox’ Chikohwero was also given a chance to make a public address of solidarity at the event.
We would like as Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, to state in no uncertain terms our unequivocal stance on the following issues:
The outcome of the recently held Kenyan elections does not truly reflect the democratic will of the nation’s electoral majority.
in partnership with the
ZIMBABWE DIASPORA FORUM
PRESS STATEMENT
RE: Message of Solidarity with the People of Kenya
The Global Zimbabwe Forum in partnership with its local regional affiliate, the Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum would like to confirm that it successfully participated in a public protest outside the Kenyan High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa.
The event was held on the morning of Tuesday 8th January 2008.
The picket was organized by a network of South African based Kenyans who also extended a request to the Zimbabweans exiled in South Africa to participate in the march in solidarity with them.
The good news is that at least one full bus load of Zimbabwean activists managed to turn out in full force and helped to make the protest to be a huge success.
The Vice Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum, Solomon ‘Sox’ Chikohwero was also given a chance to make a public address of solidarity at the event.
We would like as Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, to state in no uncertain terms our unequivocal stance on the following issues:
The outcome of the recently held Kenyan elections does not truly reflect the democratic will of the nation’s electoral majority.
We do not recognize Mr. Mwai Kibaki as the duly re-elected President of Kenya.
We also condemn the political motivated violence, rape and killings that have become an unfortunate outcome of the recent elections.
We urge all the interested political parties in Kenya to seek a common peaceful resolution to the current post electoral crisis in the country.
We endorse every current effort to mediate in the crisis particularly from Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Ghana’s President John Kuffour.
We also extend our full appreciation to all the relief agencies such as the Red Cross that have already responded to the humanitarian crisis that has engulfed the Kenyan nation.
We urge all Zimbabweans and Africans in general to rise up and stand in solidarity with the struggling people of Kenya.
Issued in Johannesburg on Wednesday 9th January 2008 by
Mr. Daniel Molokele
Co-ordinator of the Global Zimbabwe Forum
Outgoing Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum
Telephone: +27 72 947 4815
+27 72 238 9192
+27 79 434 4508
Website: www.zimcsoforum.org
The Global Zimbabwe Forumc/o The Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum4th Floor, Noswal Hall, BraamfonteinJohannesburg, South AfricaTel/Fax: +27113393629
World Social Forum 2008-A Global Day of Action and Mobilisation
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM 2008: A GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION AND MOBILISATION
Millions of women and men, organizations, networks, movements, tradeunions from all parts of the world the January 26th will act togetherall around the globe to show that another world is possibleOn January 22, 2008 at least seven global press conferences willannounce details of the 2008 decentralized World Social Forum Global Dayof Mobilization and Action.Millions of people all over the world will march, speak, celebrate, anddialogue in villages, rural zones, and urban centers.
They will mobilizeon the date of the 26th of January to coincide the Global Day ofMobilization and Action with the World Economic Forum held in Davos,Switzerland to confront this important neo-liberal gathering of the elites.In these same days the “old” world, represented by the World EconomicForum complete with its economists, experts, and ideologies that produceviolence, exploitation, exclusion, poverty, hunger and ecologicaldisaster and deprive people of human rights, will meet in Davos asusual.
In contrast, the people’s movement of movements will raise theircollective voices and take action all around the globe for the WorldSocial Forum 2008.
The World Social Forum is an open space where social movements,networks, NGOs and other civil society organizations come together tolift up issues, debate ideas democratically, formulate proposals, shareexperiences, and network for effective action.
These movements areopposed to neo-liberalism and a world dominated by capital and all formsof imperialism. Since the first worldwide encounter in 2001, the WorldSocial Forum has become a permanent global process seeking and buildingalternatives to neo-liberal policies.
World Social Forums have taken place at the end of January at differentsites throughout the world each year for the past seven years, and theirspirit will continue to be reflected in the activities planned at thosesame sites and worldwide in 2008.
On January 22nd, at least nine press conferences will take place in:- Atlanta, USA- Zurich, Switzerland- Mumbai, India- Rome, Italy- Brussels, Belgium- Sao Paulo, Brazil- Rio De Janeiro, Brazil- Erbil, Iraq (to be confirmed)- Seoul, KoreaThe press conferences will highlight actions happening in each countryas well as stories from the front lines of people’s struggles.Millions of people, workers, organizations, networks, and movementsaround the world are struggling, against neo-liberalism, war,colonialism, racism, and patriarchy with rich and varied proposals ofreal-life alternatives.
They represent all ages, peoples, cultures, andbeliefs united by the strong conviction that ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE!The website www.wsf2008.net <http://www.wsf2008.net> is on line. Fromnow until January 26th, the Global Day of Action, it will be the maincommunication tool for organizing actions as well as the main source ofinformation about the World Social Forum 2008.
World Social Forum 2008Snapshots of current mobilizations towards January 26 2008.In AUSTRIA:- There will be a Carnival of Solidarity in Vienna and a conference onthe reform treaty in Linz,a conference in RUMANIA, and a meeting in CHECH REPUBLIC.In BELGIUM:-
The Belgian Social Forum is organizing a guided tour of "a differentBrussels”, to invite people to visit Brussels while meeting itsmovements and associations. Between January 21st and 25th 2008, localactivities will be held in some cities, like debates, public events andworkshops. On Saturday, January 26th, a common action day will beorganized in Brussels. On this date, a big “alternative visit toBrussels” will begin at 12 p.m. (GMT +1), with stops at 15 typicalplaces in the city. Several guides will accompany the visitors duringthe walking.
Between 5 and 6 p.m. (GMT +1), the idea is to have aninteractive action, with direct contact with people that organizeactions in other countries of the world, like, for instance, a giantvideoconference.
In BRAZIL:- Many events are happening, from a large carnival parade in Belem to alarge concert on the beach in Rio, alternating famous performers withperformers from the favelas. Actions are known to take place so far alsoin Sao Paulo, Brasilia, Curitiba, Natal, Belo Horizonte and Pelotas.
In CANADA:- Organizations in Quebec are organizing a week in which all the eventswill be symbolically linked by the image of snow and fire, under theidea of "La neige brule".In CATALUNYA:- Civil society organizations will organize the first Fòrum SocialCatalà (FSCat) on 25-27 Jan (press dossier available onwww.forumsocialcatala.cat) which has already been announced through anaction on 28 Dec (people on the streets of Barcelona carrying bannerswith phrases showing how “naive” is our political and economicestablishment... like “it’s not pollution that threatens theenvironment, but impurity of water and air” by Bush, or “what is goodfor multinational corporations, is good for the country” by World Bank).On the 26th, in the Hall of Barcelona University, we will project on abig screen activities being done on the Global Day of Action, andestablish direct connection with movements all over the world.
In COLOMBIA:- The WSF local committee is focusing the activities on the struggleagainst poverty and exclusion. There will be a large concert in theBolivar Square in Bogota.In CONGO:- The journey will coincide with several local social forums, one ofthem in Kinshasa. Three other provinces have also expressed that theywill carry through some activities.
In FINLAND:- In Finland, we are planning on having a WSF speakers corner downtownHelsinki from Monday 21 January - Friday 25 January 2008. On Saturday 26January 2008 the idea is to give an as large as possible visibility tothe WSF process /our visions for another world in the form of an openspace for any organisations to carry out own actions, followed by adowntown Helsinki rally with candles/torches.
In FRANCE:- Large mobilization in Paris and other smaller initiatives in othertowns, specially about migration and the war on Iraq.
In INDIA:- Women’s groups are planning a conference and a march.- In Maharashtra there will be a protest by indebted farmers and theirsupporters.- In Mumbai a float parade is planned. Delegates also reported that theywould try and organize a response to the global call in west Bengal and UP.
In INDONESIA:- Farmer groups are responding to the call from Via Campesina, aninternational movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers,landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agriculturalworkers.
In IRAQ:- The Hiwar (means “dialogue” in Kurdish) Centre in Erbil iscoordinating activities that will take place in Erbil, Dohuk, Suleymaniaand other towns of the Iraqi Kurdistan. In Erbil there will be a panelbetween laical politicians and activists, islamists, trade unions, NGOsand the local civil society on the meaning of the WSF as an openpolitical space. The Hiwar Centre will also produce material in Arabicon the WSF that will be posted on websites of Iraqi networks for HumanRights and Nonviolence. The Iraqi Nonviolent Movement LAONF expressedinterest in organizing decentralized actions in some central andsouthern towns of Iraq.
In ISRAEL:- The Alternative Information Centre is interested in organizing anevent against the occupation of Palestinian territories, or at leastspreading information in Israel on what is going on in Palestine on thatday.
In ITALY:- Several events will take place all regions in around issues of peace,disarmament, racism, xenophobia and solidarity economy. Symbolic actionswill take place around military basis and barraks. Arci Turin and ArciTerni, for instance, are organizing in Turin a concert in memory of thedead workers of ThyssenKrupp and a congress in Collegno (Turin) aboutthe experience of other workers killed by cancer in a colour factory.The nonviolent activist of Rete Lilliput will do several decentralizedpacifist actions. In Rome the Città dell’Altraeconomia, the first “townin the town” of fair trade, organic and social economy will host anevent organized Fair Cooperative, Liberomondo, Reorient and othersolidary economy linked to similar initiatives done by Thanapara Project(Thanapara Village, Bangladesh), Asha Handicrafts (Mumbai, India), Raisnetwork (Guatemala), Kwanza (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) and Korogocho(Nairobi, Kenya). In Florence a party will celebrate the experience ofEuropean Social Forum 2002 hosted by this city, that introduced regionalForums in WSF process.- This email group has been created for making easier a common thought:we could imagine to organize different and small events coordinated (asa seminar, a public debate, or a small exhibition, or a prayer meeting)having the same keyword and a common idea.We think that six different initiatives coordinated could be animportant message for our fair trade movement: we have to act togetherif we want to change our future.Within few days we'll send you more informations about the initiative inRome, have you any new idea about the eventual your initiatives in yourcountry?Remember to register your organization end your event on the WSF websitetoo: www.wsf2008.net (you can find some informations onwww.faircoop.it/wsf2008.htm)
In JAPAN:- To protest the coming G 8 meeting to be held in Hokaido, a campaignstarts in the end of December and will continue through January 26th.Trade unions, non-governmental organizations and a wide variety ofsocial movements will come together to focus on issues including laborrights, caste, migration, peace, and human rights.In LEBANON:- Beirut International Resistance Social Forum will take place from 26JANUARY /02 FEBRUARY /2008.
In MAURITANIA:- The Maghreb Social Forum will take place in Mauritania and the AfricanCouncil is organizing support for widespread initiatives connected tothe Global Day of Action.
In MEXICO:- Large events will coincide with the summit of the heads of state ofthe Latin American countries, such as the Mexico Social Forum and theCorn March that will be part of the Global Day of Action.
In PAKISTAN:- Pakistan Social Forum is planning for the year 2007-08: events,messages and mobilization (WSF “Action Week” on 19-26th January 2008).
In PALESTINE:- The National Committee for the Commemoration of the Nakba, and thePalestinian grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, in collaborationwith al-Mubadara (Palestinian National Initiative), are preparingactions along the Wall and a massive popular march to demand an end tothe Nakba in Palestine, and an end to war on people of Middle East.Another Voice Campaign will organize actions to ask for internationalsolidarity for Gaza, and are planning an event in Ramallah to denounceall deaths of Palestinians in Gaza as a result of the siege.
In the PHILIPPINES:- Different organizations have come together for a week of action inwhich a "peoples camp' will be set up from January 23-25 where variousactivities (workshops, forums, film showing, trade fair, concerts) willbe held.
In PORTUGAL:- Preparatory meetings are taking place at the P. Carlos Alberto nº 128A, no Porto.(http://pimentanegra.blogspot.com/2007/12/reunio-preparatria-para-o-dia-de-aco.html).
In SOUTH KOREA:- There will be a week of action involving various social movements fromthe 21st to 25th. Each day there will be focused on one major theme.In SPAIN:- Andalucia: the Foro Social de Sevilla (España) will organize a meetingof social movements on 23-26 Jan in Sevilla. The january 26 severalorganizations of Andalucía, coordinated in the Foro Social de Sevilla,Foro Social de Granada, Foro Social de Jaen y Córdoba Solidaria, willorganize a march in Córdoba. Contacts: Miguel Sanz Alcántara, ForoSocial de Sevilla, msa980@gmail.com.Catalunya, civil society organizations will organize the first FòrumSocial Català (FSCat) on 25-27 Jan (press dossier available onwww.forumsocialcatala.cat) which has already been announced through anaction on 28 Dec (people on the streets of Barcelona carrying bannerswith phrases showing how “naive” is our political and economicestablishment... like “it’s not pollution that threatens theenvironment, but impurity of water and air” by Bush, or “what is goodfor multinational corporations, is good for the country” by World Bank).On the 26th, in the Hall of Barcelona University, we willthey’ll projecton a big screen activities being done on the Global Day of Action, andestablish direct connection with movements all over the world. They’llsent to the communication commission our call for press conferences onthe 22nd, and they’ll take a decision on the 9th in the preparatoryassembly.- Canarias: se ha hecho un llamamiento a la participación en el Enero26, y avanza la preparación de actividades en las islas en el marco delDía de Acción Global. Contacto: Koldobi Velasco Vázquez, grupo de enlacey comunicación del foro en las islas, Gran Canaria, moclaspalmas@gmail.com.
In SWITZERLAND:- “The Other Davos” a counter- World Economic Forum conference occursevery year during the Davos Symposium.- The Genevoise Federation of Cooperation will organize from Jan 24 to26 the second Solidarity Crusade to the Meyrin Forum.
In THAILAND:- Actions are in the planning stage.
In the USA:- A major action in Atlanta, the Poor People’s Caravan and MovementAssembly, will bring together thousands of voices demanding change.- Grassroots Global Justice Alliance has called on all the membergroups to do actions across the country.- There will be actions at the border of Mexico and the US against thefence the US has plans to build along the border. Those active againstthe fence have named it the “wall of death”.- In New Orleans, actions will demand the Right to Return, andsolidarity actions will take place in different states for GulfCoast/Katrina Survivors and local housing struggles.- And the AFSC, Jobs with Justice, AFL-CIO are planning various actionswith their members.- RUSSIA, SIBERIA, AFGHANISTAN, and perhaps UZBEKISTAN will be on boardas well.
Millions of women and men, organizations, networks, movements, tradeunions from all parts of the world the January 26th will act togetherall around the globe to show that another world is possibleOn January 22, 2008 at least seven global press conferences willannounce details of the 2008 decentralized World Social Forum Global Dayof Mobilization and Action.Millions of people all over the world will march, speak, celebrate, anddialogue in villages, rural zones, and urban centers.
They will mobilizeon the date of the 26th of January to coincide the Global Day ofMobilization and Action with the World Economic Forum held in Davos,Switzerland to confront this important neo-liberal gathering of the elites.In these same days the “old” world, represented by the World EconomicForum complete with its economists, experts, and ideologies that produceviolence, exploitation, exclusion, poverty, hunger and ecologicaldisaster and deprive people of human rights, will meet in Davos asusual.
In contrast, the people’s movement of movements will raise theircollective voices and take action all around the globe for the WorldSocial Forum 2008.
The World Social Forum is an open space where social movements,networks, NGOs and other civil society organizations come together tolift up issues, debate ideas democratically, formulate proposals, shareexperiences, and network for effective action.
These movements areopposed to neo-liberalism and a world dominated by capital and all formsof imperialism. Since the first worldwide encounter in 2001, the WorldSocial Forum has become a permanent global process seeking and buildingalternatives to neo-liberal policies.
World Social Forums have taken place at the end of January at differentsites throughout the world each year for the past seven years, and theirspirit will continue to be reflected in the activities planned at thosesame sites and worldwide in 2008.
On January 22nd, at least nine press conferences will take place in:- Atlanta, USA- Zurich, Switzerland- Mumbai, India- Rome, Italy- Brussels, Belgium- Sao Paulo, Brazil- Rio De Janeiro, Brazil- Erbil, Iraq (to be confirmed)- Seoul, KoreaThe press conferences will highlight actions happening in each countryas well as stories from the front lines of people’s struggles.Millions of people, workers, organizations, networks, and movementsaround the world are struggling, against neo-liberalism, war,colonialism, racism, and patriarchy with rich and varied proposals ofreal-life alternatives.
They represent all ages, peoples, cultures, andbeliefs united by the strong conviction that ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE!The website www.wsf2008.net <http://www.wsf2008.net> is on line. Fromnow until January 26th, the Global Day of Action, it will be the maincommunication tool for organizing actions as well as the main source ofinformation about the World Social Forum 2008.
World Social Forum 2008Snapshots of current mobilizations towards January 26 2008.In AUSTRIA:- There will be a Carnival of Solidarity in Vienna and a conference onthe reform treaty in Linz,a conference in RUMANIA, and a meeting in CHECH REPUBLIC.In BELGIUM:-
The Belgian Social Forum is organizing a guided tour of "a differentBrussels”, to invite people to visit Brussels while meeting itsmovements and associations. Between January 21st and 25th 2008, localactivities will be held in some cities, like debates, public events andworkshops. On Saturday, January 26th, a common action day will beorganized in Brussels. On this date, a big “alternative visit toBrussels” will begin at 12 p.m. (GMT +1), with stops at 15 typicalplaces in the city. Several guides will accompany the visitors duringthe walking.
Between 5 and 6 p.m. (GMT +1), the idea is to have aninteractive action, with direct contact with people that organizeactions in other countries of the world, like, for instance, a giantvideoconference.
In BRAZIL:- Many events are happening, from a large carnival parade in Belem to alarge concert on the beach in Rio, alternating famous performers withperformers from the favelas. Actions are known to take place so far alsoin Sao Paulo, Brasilia, Curitiba, Natal, Belo Horizonte and Pelotas.
In CANADA:- Organizations in Quebec are organizing a week in which all the eventswill be symbolically linked by the image of snow and fire, under theidea of "La neige brule".In CATALUNYA:- Civil society organizations will organize the first Fòrum SocialCatalà (FSCat) on 25-27 Jan (press dossier available onwww.forumsocialcatala.cat) which has already been announced through anaction on 28 Dec (people on the streets of Barcelona carrying bannerswith phrases showing how “naive” is our political and economicestablishment... like “it’s not pollution that threatens theenvironment, but impurity of water and air” by Bush, or “what is goodfor multinational corporations, is good for the country” by World Bank).On the 26th, in the Hall of Barcelona University, we will project on abig screen activities being done on the Global Day of Action, andestablish direct connection with movements all over the world.
In COLOMBIA:- The WSF local committee is focusing the activities on the struggleagainst poverty and exclusion. There will be a large concert in theBolivar Square in Bogota.In CONGO:- The journey will coincide with several local social forums, one ofthem in Kinshasa. Three other provinces have also expressed that theywill carry through some activities.
In FINLAND:- In Finland, we are planning on having a WSF speakers corner downtownHelsinki from Monday 21 January - Friday 25 January 2008. On Saturday 26January 2008 the idea is to give an as large as possible visibility tothe WSF process /our visions for another world in the form of an openspace for any organisations to carry out own actions, followed by adowntown Helsinki rally with candles/torches.
In FRANCE:- Large mobilization in Paris and other smaller initiatives in othertowns, specially about migration and the war on Iraq.
In INDIA:- Women’s groups are planning a conference and a march.- In Maharashtra there will be a protest by indebted farmers and theirsupporters.- In Mumbai a float parade is planned. Delegates also reported that theywould try and organize a response to the global call in west Bengal and UP.
In INDONESIA:- Farmer groups are responding to the call from Via Campesina, aninternational movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers,landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agriculturalworkers.
In IRAQ:- The Hiwar (means “dialogue” in Kurdish) Centre in Erbil iscoordinating activities that will take place in Erbil, Dohuk, Suleymaniaand other towns of the Iraqi Kurdistan. In Erbil there will be a panelbetween laical politicians and activists, islamists, trade unions, NGOsand the local civil society on the meaning of the WSF as an openpolitical space. The Hiwar Centre will also produce material in Arabicon the WSF that will be posted on websites of Iraqi networks for HumanRights and Nonviolence. The Iraqi Nonviolent Movement LAONF expressedinterest in organizing decentralized actions in some central andsouthern towns of Iraq.
In ISRAEL:- The Alternative Information Centre is interested in organizing anevent against the occupation of Palestinian territories, or at leastspreading information in Israel on what is going on in Palestine on thatday.
In ITALY:- Several events will take place all regions in around issues of peace,disarmament, racism, xenophobia and solidarity economy. Symbolic actionswill take place around military basis and barraks. Arci Turin and ArciTerni, for instance, are organizing in Turin a concert in memory of thedead workers of ThyssenKrupp and a congress in Collegno (Turin) aboutthe experience of other workers killed by cancer in a colour factory.The nonviolent activist of Rete Lilliput will do several decentralizedpacifist actions. In Rome the Città dell’Altraeconomia, the first “townin the town” of fair trade, organic and social economy will host anevent organized Fair Cooperative, Liberomondo, Reorient and othersolidary economy linked to similar initiatives done by Thanapara Project(Thanapara Village, Bangladesh), Asha Handicrafts (Mumbai, India), Raisnetwork (Guatemala), Kwanza (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) and Korogocho(Nairobi, Kenya). In Florence a party will celebrate the experience ofEuropean Social Forum 2002 hosted by this city, that introduced regionalForums in WSF process.- This email group has been created for making easier a common thought:we could imagine to organize different and small events coordinated (asa seminar, a public debate, or a small exhibition, or a prayer meeting)having the same keyword and a common idea.We think that six different initiatives coordinated could be animportant message for our fair trade movement: we have to act togetherif we want to change our future.Within few days we'll send you more informations about the initiative inRome, have you any new idea about the eventual your initiatives in yourcountry?Remember to register your organization end your event on the WSF websitetoo: www.wsf2008.net (you can find some informations onwww.faircoop.it/wsf2008.htm)
In JAPAN:- To protest the coming G 8 meeting to be held in Hokaido, a campaignstarts in the end of December and will continue through January 26th.Trade unions, non-governmental organizations and a wide variety ofsocial movements will come together to focus on issues including laborrights, caste, migration, peace, and human rights.In LEBANON:- Beirut International Resistance Social Forum will take place from 26JANUARY /02 FEBRUARY /2008.
In MAURITANIA:- The Maghreb Social Forum will take place in Mauritania and the AfricanCouncil is organizing support for widespread initiatives connected tothe Global Day of Action.
In MEXICO:- Large events will coincide with the summit of the heads of state ofthe Latin American countries, such as the Mexico Social Forum and theCorn March that will be part of the Global Day of Action.
In PAKISTAN:- Pakistan Social Forum is planning for the year 2007-08: events,messages and mobilization (WSF “Action Week” on 19-26th January 2008).
In PALESTINE:- The National Committee for the Commemoration of the Nakba, and thePalestinian grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, in collaborationwith al-Mubadara (Palestinian National Initiative), are preparingactions along the Wall and a massive popular march to demand an end tothe Nakba in Palestine, and an end to war on people of Middle East.Another Voice Campaign will organize actions to ask for internationalsolidarity for Gaza, and are planning an event in Ramallah to denounceall deaths of Palestinians in Gaza as a result of the siege.
In the PHILIPPINES:- Different organizations have come together for a week of action inwhich a "peoples camp' will be set up from January 23-25 where variousactivities (workshops, forums, film showing, trade fair, concerts) willbe held.
In PORTUGAL:- Preparatory meetings are taking place at the P. Carlos Alberto nº 128A, no Porto.(http://pimentanegra.blogspot.com/2007/12/reunio-preparatria-para-o-dia-de-aco.html).
In SOUTH KOREA:- There will be a week of action involving various social movements fromthe 21st to 25th. Each day there will be focused on one major theme.In SPAIN:- Andalucia: the Foro Social de Sevilla (España) will organize a meetingof social movements on 23-26 Jan in Sevilla. The january 26 severalorganizations of Andalucía, coordinated in the Foro Social de Sevilla,Foro Social de Granada, Foro Social de Jaen y Córdoba Solidaria, willorganize a march in Córdoba. Contacts: Miguel Sanz Alcántara, ForoSocial de Sevilla, msa980@gmail.com.Catalunya, civil society organizations will organize the first FòrumSocial Català (FSCat) on 25-27 Jan (press dossier available onwww.forumsocialcatala.cat) which has already been announced through anaction on 28 Dec (people on the streets of Barcelona carrying bannerswith phrases showing how “naive” is our political and economicestablishment... like “it’s not pollution that threatens theenvironment, but impurity of water and air” by Bush, or “what is goodfor multinational corporations, is good for the country” by World Bank).On the 26th, in the Hall of Barcelona University, we willthey’ll projecton a big screen activities being done on the Global Day of Action, andestablish direct connection with movements all over the world. They’llsent to the communication commission our call for press conferences onthe 22nd, and they’ll take a decision on the 9th in the preparatoryassembly.- Canarias: se ha hecho un llamamiento a la participación en el Enero26, y avanza la preparación de actividades en las islas en el marco delDía de Acción Global. Contacto: Koldobi Velasco Vázquez, grupo de enlacey comunicación del foro en las islas, Gran Canaria, moclaspalmas@gmail.com.
In SWITZERLAND:- “The Other Davos” a counter- World Economic Forum conference occursevery year during the Davos Symposium.- The Genevoise Federation of Cooperation will organize from Jan 24 to26 the second Solidarity Crusade to the Meyrin Forum.
In THAILAND:- Actions are in the planning stage.
In the USA:- A major action in Atlanta, the Poor People’s Caravan and MovementAssembly, will bring together thousands of voices demanding change.- Grassroots Global Justice Alliance has called on all the membergroups to do actions across the country.- There will be actions at the border of Mexico and the US against thefence the US has plans to build along the border. Those active againstthe fence have named it the “wall of death”.- In New Orleans, actions will demand the Right to Return, andsolidarity actions will take place in different states for GulfCoast/Katrina Survivors and local housing struggles.- And the AFSC, Jobs with Justice, AFL-CIO are planning various actionswith their members.- RUSSIA, SIBERIA, AFGHANISTAN, and perhaps UZBEKISTAN will be on boardas well.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Campaign for Diaspora Vote
Please respond positively to this campaign. I hope that in the next days it will spread to other continents. Note that while the notification from me for the conference call is late this campaign is still on and the details are below.
Calling On ALL Zimbabweans in Diaspora
Please organize and mobilize to protest for the Diaspora Vote
For those in North America
you are invited to a
Conference Call
Wednesday January 9
Starting At 9 P.M. [East Standard Time]
To discuss the Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum for North America .
To strategize a GLOBAL campaign for the Diaspora vote in the coming elections in Zimbabwe .
To campaign for free, fair and UN supervised elections.
See also http://www.zimaction.com/ZimDiaspora/index.htm
FACTS
Zimbabweans in Diaspora are ONE QUARTER of the Zimbabwean population.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora are the second largest foreign exchange earner for Zimbabwe .
Zimbabweans in Diaspora are now supporting nearly half the population of Zimbabwe through their remittances.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora have the right to vote.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora are not ignored when it comes to remitting foreign exchange. We should not be ignored when it comes to voting
Conference call details
Date : January 16
Time: 9 p.m. East Standard Time
Number to call : 1-605-475-6000
Access code 937832
For more details please contact
Canaan Mhlanga surehope7@yahoo.com
Stanford Mukasa mukasa@iup.edu
Canaan Mhlanga surehope7@yahoo.com
Stanford Mukasa mukasa@iup.edu
This is a non partisan mobilization.
Please distribute this to your networks.
Calling On ALL Zimbabweans in Diaspora
Please organize and mobilize to protest for the Diaspora Vote
For those in North America
you are invited to a
Conference Call
Wednesday January 9
Starting At 9 P.M. [East Standard Time]
To discuss the Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum for North America .
To strategize a GLOBAL campaign for the Diaspora vote in the coming elections in Zimbabwe .
To campaign for free, fair and UN supervised elections.
See also http://www.zimaction.com/ZimDiaspora/index.htm
FACTS
Zimbabweans in Diaspora are ONE QUARTER of the Zimbabwean population.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora are the second largest foreign exchange earner for Zimbabwe .
Zimbabweans in Diaspora are now supporting nearly half the population of Zimbabwe through their remittances.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora have the right to vote.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora are not ignored when it comes to remitting foreign exchange. We should not be ignored when it comes to voting
Conference call details
Date : January 16
Time: 9 p.m. East Standard Time
Number to call : 1-605-475-6000
Access code 937832
For more details please contact
Canaan Mhlanga surehope7@yahoo.com
Stanford Mukasa mukasa@iup.edu
Canaan Mhlanga surehope7@yahoo.com
Stanford Mukasa mukasa@iup.edu
This is a non partisan mobilization.
Please distribute this to your networks.
Global Zimbabwe Forum at Kenya protest demo
GZF coordinator Daniel Molokele and other Zimbabweans are at this demo. Well done guys.
SA Based Kenyans to Hold Demo at Pretoria Embassy
Pretoria - A network of South African based Kenyans plans to hold a protest demo at the local Kenyan embassy on Tuesday at 9.30am.Solidarity messages are also expected from other African nationalities that are based in South Africa from such countries as Zimbabwe, Ghana and Nigeria.For more details, please contact +27 76 859 5565
SA Based Kenyans to Hold Demo at Pretoria Embassy
Pretoria - A network of South African based Kenyans plans to hold a protest demo at the local Kenyan embassy on Tuesday at 9.30am.Solidarity messages are also expected from other African nationalities that are based in South Africa from such countries as Zimbabwe, Ghana and Nigeria.For more details, please contact +27 76 859 5565
Monday, January 7, 2008
Charlene Smith off to Kenya
Charlene Smith will be leaving for Kenya tommorrow after-noon after receiving an invitation from the Urgent AID & Nairobi Women's Hospital. They have made the following appeal, please let us all respond positively. This is the bit from Charlene.
**********************************************************************
Their situation really does not seem good there judging from the mails I have received. I'm taking a sleeping bag because I'm not sure what the accommodation situation will be like and also have no money to pay for anything as usual. They are desperate for aid there so if you can donate medical supplies, especially antiretrovirals to prevent HIV in those raped, clothes anything, pack it carefully and either drop it off for me at home 66 Troon rd, Greenside, before 11am tomorrow or at the airport before 1pm. (Go to the SAA information desk at international - I've asked SAA to sponsor our tickets and any cargo, I have no doubt they will assist) Pray for us that we can do a little good. Pray for peace and decent leaders across Africa. Charlene
**********************************************************************
Their situation really does not seem good there judging from the mails I have received. I'm taking a sleeping bag because I'm not sure what the accommodation situation will be like and also have no money to pay for anything as usual. They are desperate for aid there so if you can donate medical supplies, especially antiretrovirals to prevent HIV in those raped, clothes anything, pack it carefully and either drop it off for me at home 66 Troon rd, Greenside, before 11am tomorrow or at the airport before 1pm. (Go to the SAA information desk at international - I've asked SAA to sponsor our tickets and any cargo, I have no doubt they will assist) Pray for us that we can do a little good. Pray for peace and decent leaders across Africa. Charlene
Pray for kenya and South Africa
I must say the statement below by COSATU warning of violence over the latest charges brought against ANC President Jacob Zuma, made sad reading. Actually, the headlines in todays issue of COSATU Daily News online made my stomach churn. Here they are;
http://groups.google.com/group/COSATU-Daily-News/web/cosatu-media-monitor
"People are now angry. This time there will be blood spilt in the courtroom. People are ready to put themselves in the front line. We will not be held responsible for their anger," he told the Sowetan. Quote of one of the officials.
I truly believe there is a way of resolving the contestation between the two centres of power (Mbeki-Zuma, Luthuli-Pretoria) without resorting to violence or any other deplorable acts. SA has gone through a protracted phase of struggle characterised by all forms of violence, the legacy of which exists today. Look at violence against women.
Last week a blogger on Thoughtleader warned against violence should the Zuma case not be resolved properly or justly - or better still should it be seen as a provocation to those who support him. I have my fears with this route because those who support Zuma are well organised at grass-root level. We are talking of organised labour, COSATU, we are talking of the SACP, we are talking of the ANCYL, we are talking of all those people who have stood by him during the rape trial. These people cannot just be dismissed like that, their sentiments have to be taken seriously. And so we all wait to hear the outcome of the first newly elected ANC NEC meeting.
We are praying for Kenya which at the moment is faced with one of the worst humanitarian disasters, in just a few days, after the announcement of the disputed election results. People are dying, mothers with babies on their backs are being killed. Why because someone wants to be the President of Kenya? At what cost?
I received the bible reading here from a journalist friend this morning. Hebrews 10:30 - 39 -
"But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated: for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession in heaven. Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise".
And then another journalist friend Charlene Smith sent me this again this morning. God bless Charlene she would like to go to Kenya and be there during this time of need. She needs a sponsor for this. Looks like all she needs is an air-ticket, a bed like the journalist she is does not really matter.
This is hectic - I've written to the two organisations below volunteering two weeks up there if someone can sponsor a flight for me, I asked them to find a bed for me, but actually I have a sleeping bag, it's fine...God will find a way for me to manage my other work.If any of you can help in any way --- prayers are good too - then please do what you can. Charlene
----- Original Message ----- From: "Firoze Manji" <fmanji@mac.com>To: <pambazuka-news@pambazuka.gn.apc.org>Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 12:42 PMSubject: Kenya Crisis: Action alerts at Pambazuka News/ Appeal on RapeCrisis Centres
Dear All
As the crisis in Kenya unflolds, the number of articles, news items and appeals that we are receiving is more than can be handled by the weekly newsletter.
We have, therefore, established a blog site at http://
www.pambazuka.org/actionalerts/index.php to provide regular updates of what is happening.
Please keep an eye out on this website to keep up-to-date.
Meanwhile, we have received the following urgent appeal. We hope that readers can respond to this generously.
With warm regards,
Firoze Manji and Mukoma wa NgugiEditors, Pambazuka News
CALL FOR HELP IN SETTING UP RAPE CRISIS CENTRES
Urgent Action Fund-Africa has supported The Nairobi Women’s Hospital to set up 4 crisis response centres (Women’s Gender Recovery Unit s) in Mathare, Huruma, Jamhuri Park and Kibera to provide , shelter, security, and more importantly medical and psychological care to rape victims who are unable to access the services because the informal settlements have been sealed off by security personnel and violent protestors. The hospital is now FULL , it has dealt with 19 cases in the last 24 hours. There are 75,000 displaced people in Jamhuri park alone, majority of whom are women and children. Total numbers of displaced Kenyans has topped 300,000 and growing daily.
Other contributors to this initiative include St Johns Ambulance and Red Cross who have provided an ambulance and tents respectively. The Red Cross is also providing food to the IDP’s . We are appealing for more funds. We need Kenya Shillings 5.8 million (USD 90,000). UAF- Africa is contributing $10,000. We see the action as contributing to protecting the lives of the most marginalized in our communities; women and girls living in informal settlements. Those who are most vulnerable and subject to gender based sexual violence in this situation of crisis.
If you want to assist, kindly contact
Vicky Karimi or Betty Murungi atUrgent Action Fund-AfricaLife Ministry CentreJabavu Road, KilimaniPO BOX 53841-00200Nairobi KenyaTel +254 20 2731095Fax +254 20 2731094info@urgentactionfund-africa.or.ke or vicky@urgentactionfund- africa.or.ke
orLucy Kiamaa at the Nairobi Women’s HospitalGender Violence Recovery CentreNairobi Women’s HospitalArgwings Kodhek Road , HurlinghamP.O. Box 10552 - 00100Tel: +254 20 2726821/4/6/7, +254 20 2736845Fax: +254 20 2716651Email: gvrc@nwch.co.ke or lkiama@nwch.co.keNairobi, Kenya =
http://groups.google.com/group/COSATU-Daily-News/web/cosatu-media-monitor
"People are now angry. This time there will be blood spilt in the courtroom. People are ready to put themselves in the front line. We will not be held responsible for their anger," he told the Sowetan. Quote of one of the officials.
I truly believe there is a way of resolving the contestation between the two centres of power (Mbeki-Zuma, Luthuli-Pretoria) without resorting to violence or any other deplorable acts. SA has gone through a protracted phase of struggle characterised by all forms of violence, the legacy of which exists today. Look at violence against women.
Last week a blogger on Thoughtleader warned against violence should the Zuma case not be resolved properly or justly - or better still should it be seen as a provocation to those who support him. I have my fears with this route because those who support Zuma are well organised at grass-root level. We are talking of organised labour, COSATU, we are talking of the SACP, we are talking of the ANCYL, we are talking of all those people who have stood by him during the rape trial. These people cannot just be dismissed like that, their sentiments have to be taken seriously. And so we all wait to hear the outcome of the first newly elected ANC NEC meeting.
We are praying for Kenya which at the moment is faced with one of the worst humanitarian disasters, in just a few days, after the announcement of the disputed election results. People are dying, mothers with babies on their backs are being killed. Why because someone wants to be the President of Kenya? At what cost?
I received the bible reading here from a journalist friend this morning. Hebrews 10:30 - 39 -
"But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated: for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession in heaven. Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise".
And then another journalist friend Charlene Smith sent me this again this morning. God bless Charlene she would like to go to Kenya and be there during this time of need. She needs a sponsor for this. Looks like all she needs is an air-ticket, a bed like the journalist she is does not really matter.
This is hectic - I've written to the two organisations below volunteering two weeks up there if someone can sponsor a flight for me, I asked them to find a bed for me, but actually I have a sleeping bag, it's fine...God will find a way for me to manage my other work.If any of you can help in any way --- prayers are good too - then please do what you can. Charlene
----- Original Message ----- From: "Firoze Manji" <fmanji@mac.com>To: <pambazuka-news@pambazuka.gn.apc.org>Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 12:42 PMSubject: Kenya Crisis: Action alerts at Pambazuka News/ Appeal on RapeCrisis Centres
Dear All
As the crisis in Kenya unflolds, the number of articles, news items and appeals that we are receiving is more than can be handled by the weekly newsletter.
We have, therefore, established a blog site at http://
www.pambazuka.org/actionalerts/index.php to provide regular updates of what is happening.
Please keep an eye out on this website to keep up-to-date.
Meanwhile, we have received the following urgent appeal. We hope that readers can respond to this generously.
With warm regards,
Firoze Manji and Mukoma wa NgugiEditors, Pambazuka News
CALL FOR HELP IN SETTING UP RAPE CRISIS CENTRES
Urgent Action Fund-Africa has supported The Nairobi Women’s Hospital to set up 4 crisis response centres (Women’s Gender Recovery Unit s) in Mathare, Huruma, Jamhuri Park and Kibera to provide , shelter, security, and more importantly medical and psychological care to rape victims who are unable to access the services because the informal settlements have been sealed off by security personnel and violent protestors. The hospital is now FULL , it has dealt with 19 cases in the last 24 hours. There are 75,000 displaced people in Jamhuri park alone, majority of whom are women and children. Total numbers of displaced Kenyans has topped 300,000 and growing daily.
Other contributors to this initiative include St Johns Ambulance and Red Cross who have provided an ambulance and tents respectively. The Red Cross is also providing food to the IDP’s . We are appealing for more funds. We need Kenya Shillings 5.8 million (USD 90,000). UAF- Africa is contributing $10,000. We see the action as contributing to protecting the lives of the most marginalized in our communities; women and girls living in informal settlements. Those who are most vulnerable and subject to gender based sexual violence in this situation of crisis.
If you want to assist, kindly contact
Vicky Karimi or Betty Murungi atUrgent Action Fund-AfricaLife Ministry CentreJabavu Road, KilimaniPO BOX 53841-00200Nairobi KenyaTel +254 20 2731095Fax +254 20 2731094info@urgentactionfund-africa.or.ke or vicky@urgentactionfund- africa.or.ke
orLucy Kiamaa at the Nairobi Women’s HospitalGender Violence Recovery CentreNairobi Women’s HospitalArgwings Kodhek Road , HurlinghamP.O. Box 10552 - 00100Tel: +254 20 2726821/4/6/7, +254 20 2736845Fax: +254 20 2716651Email: gvrc@nwch.co.ke or lkiama@nwch.co.keNairobi, Kenya =
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Dangers of elite transitions
Here is the draft paper I presented to the historic Global Zimbabwe Forum, last December. I will in the next days write to you on this historic initiative but for now, given what is going on in Kenya I think we Zimbabweans have a lot to talk about.
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“Zimbabwe-Dangers of elite transitions lessons from Kenya& South Africa,”- “Nothing for us – without us.”
I WOULD like to start by expressing my most sincere gratitude to the organizers of the Global Diaspora Forum, for according me this opportunity of be part of this historic process, in Zimbabwe’s Diasporan politics. Yes, we Zimbabweans in the Diaspora have organized ourselves in various ways, formations and structures, since the attainment of independence, but this is the first time that our diverse views, energies and agendas, have been pooled together, in an endeavor to find a way forward in our articulation of the crisis bedeviling our dear country Zimbabwe. The problematical today, in terms of the economic, political and social crisis is of great concern to us Diasporans, because the longer the struggle, the longer we will also be stuck in the Diaspora, some of us voluntary some of us not.
Comrades, I take great pride as a feminist to have been asked to speak on a topic I feel passionate about, ‘elite transitions’, and thank the organizers that they have placed this appropriately under the thematic area on; ‘Citizenship and Political Participation’.
I would like to raise the issue of citizenship first and what it means for us as black women in the Diaspora and in general. Citizenship entails belonging, identity, nationality, issues that have boggled us as women for a long time even in our own countries of origin, and so it becomes a toll order to discuss this here as a foreigner, in a different, political context.
Feminist, Patricia Macffaden, says, “For me a citizen is one who has legal, social, cultural rights and entitlements through the formal recognition of his/her personhood within a specific geopolitical space which is called or named a country. The physicality of an individual therefore should be the least important aspect in terms of accessing and exercising these rights and entitlements. What I look like, my physical form and my color should be merely incidental. But this is not the case because rights and entitlements are gendered, they are sites of contestation and citizenship plays itself out physically in terms of two major constructs: gender and race.
And so then can we link citizenship or identity politics to political participation and ‘elite- transitions’ ? Comrades, I want to argue that the essence of democracy is participation, an avenue for people to earn their citizenship is through full franchise, in political processes.
It is in this context that I will go further to say that if in the struggle your franchise, identity, or belonging, conferred by citizenship has not been recognized then there is no participation to talk of popular or otherwise. Already in terms of national politics we are disenfranchised, the fact of the matter being that we have been left out important political processes. The worst being the denial of our right to vote. Thus, the relevance of this forum.
How can we learn from the Kenyan and South-African experience that what ever deal or solution is modeled on our behalf as a citizenry in our capacity as absentee citizens -- now numerically estimated to be at least 4 million people outside Zimbabwe’s borders will have no political relevance or legitimacy, as it will lack our popular participation.The clarion call for many in the global social movement over the past years of organized resistance against the right wing insurgence, and its global capitalist agenda, driven through neo-liberal policies as advanced, by International Institutions, such as the Bretton Woods and the World Trade Organisation, that have devasted our livelihoods, has been 'Nothing for us-without us'. That is because comrades for a long time, our national elites, working in cahoots with the global capitalist class have left us out of important political, economic and social processes in making major decisions such as the adoption of the much criticised Structural Adjustment Programmes, (SAPs). The ill effects or impacts of which have been agonizingly felt as much by we Zimbabweans as our other comrades in the remainder of the Third World.
And so can we agree here that the major post-colonial problem for us Africans has been a democratic deficit, characterized, largely, by a lack of our participation on issues to do with economic and political governance? I want to advance here that the leadership crisis, accompanied by a democratic deficit, characterized by high levels of corruption, both economic and political, is a result of the democratically inimical neo-liberal regime which advances, top-down methods of economic and political administration, and is so tolerant of corruption to the exclusion of participative decision-making in these matters. Unfortunately, as I will argue later in the paper, this model or framework, is replicating itself even in our broader democratic movement.
How can this forum benefit from lessons in political processes in Kenya and South-Africa and how can these help us in mapping a realistic way forward?
We meet days before SA or rather the ruling African National Congress, (ANC) holds its 52nd National Conference, an event that relates to us in many ways. When SA gained her independence against the apartheid regime, I remember as a young excited journalist writing on the ‘winds of change’ blowing across southern Africa. The new democratic Constitution, more women’s representation in political structures especially the legislature, media freedom, I saw this as a conclusion of our liberation process in the region. I thought SA would lift the rest of the continent with her.
So what then went wrong? Why is there a big debate going on in SA today, on many fronts, social, political and economical, why are South Africans not satisfied with their democracy? SA has one of the highest number of social demonstrantions, in the world, today, per person per square kilometer.
Activist, Trevor Ngwane writes, ‘The South African workers movement was atypical in that in the 1980’s when most workers’ movements were under attack and in retreat in the world, it appeared to be moving strongly ahead, making history by overthrowing the formidable apartheid regime. However, the moment of triumph proved to be a ‘defeat in victory’ as the price for getting rid of apartheid was paid in one of the biggest political and ideological somersaults as the new government of liberation embraced capitalism and chose the neo-liberal path. The ANC government and its allies proceeded to demobilize and deactivate the workers movement and its dream of socialism and a better life for all.’
And so today, here in SA, there is an apparent war raging between, the left and the right characterized by an ideological rapture, among the alliance partners, COSATU, SACP and the ANC, which seems to have found expression in the ANC succession battle.
Comrades, our struggle is more intensely fierce than we act it out to be. The political discourse here in SA, however has many lessons for us especially on how not to run a peoples struggle or revolution and the intended product. What the comrades on the left or the social movements here are saying in terms of the deal that saw the demise of apartheid and their experience there-after, is that it was an elite deal that did not change the structural or economic reality that existed before apartheid.
Thus today SA suffers from a Colonialism of a Special Type, (CST).
Speaking at a COSATU Central Committee meeting, SACP Secretary General, Blade Nzimande made a no holds barred presentation on the state of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR). In a paper titled, The revolution is on trial (2): Decisive working class intervention is of absolute necessity, Nzimande gave four points threatening the revolution the first point being;“Firstly, despite the many important and welcome advances made by our revolution over the last 13 years, the fundamental problem remains that we have not succeeded in changing the colonial character of our economy. In other words, ours is a revolution with some (significant), working class buttressed political power, but without economic power. This means that much as the national liberation movement has ascended to political power, but economic power still remains in the hands of the same old white (monopoly) capitalist class as under apartheid. Despite some black economic empowerment and advancement, this has largely benefited a small, and highly dependent and parasitic black section of the capitalist class, without any fundamental change in the ownership of wealth in our country, nor any significant changes in the character of South Africa‘s workplace. This poses a serious threat to the consolidation of the national democratic revolution.”
South Africa suffered what Professor Patrick Bond and others termed an elite transition, a source of much of the current contention between the ruling elites and the masses. The neo-liberal agenda or project has been able to reproduce itself with the tacit support of the black elite.
Turning to Kenya comrades, my heart bleeds again, for many reasons, the main being I was once again amongst you, who celebrated Daniel Arap Moi’s demise, when the National Rainbow Coalition, (NARC) made it into power in 2002. NARC made many electoral promises, chief among which was the end of corruption and the adoption of a new democratic Constitution. To date Kenya, has achieved none of the above. What lesson then is there in the Kenyan experience, just like in the above SA experience?
As Kenya prepares for another General election, on the 27th of December, the issues remain the same, development, corruption and a democratic Constitution, with the political terrain being contested around these three issues. “Thus, it was the promise of a comprehensive political and economic change that swept NARC (National Alliance Rainbow Coalition- an amalgamation of political parties) to power in late 2002. At that time, Mr Mwai Kibaki, the then leader of the coalition, was escorted around by a jubilant crowd singing, "Yote yawezekana bila Moi" (All is possible without Moi). This time round as Kenya goes to elections; he is the one under siege, facing the stiffest challenge of his political career so far. Those who were with him in 2002 — Mr Raila Odinga, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka and Mrs Charity Ngilu — will be playing a different song. Mr Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and his former ally Mr Musyoka (of ‘Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya’- a breakaway faction of the ODM) are Mr Kibaki and his PNU’s (Party of National Unity) primary challengers in this year’s general elections,” writes Ronald Elly Wanda .
The above scenario comrades, of political factionalism, oiled by corruption, lack of accountability, is once again unfortunately residual of the Moi culture. Kenya got rid of Moi but not Moism. Thus the battle against Moism continues today.
On corruption an alarming example, comes form the controversial Kroll Associates report part of which reads, of Moi’s sons Phillip and Gideon, “It is understood that Philip has an estimated wealth of approximately $770 million and controls more hidden cash than Gideon, even though significant attention has been directed at the latter. Whether by design or otherwise, the media more commonly associates Philip with motor vehicle tax fraud and other low-down economic vices. Therefore, unlike Gideon who would mainly wait for government-funded projects to broker deals, Philip's money machine was continuously churning out liquid cash on daily basis. At a local level there is no single company in which Philip holds shares directly. He uses proxies who range from low key Asians and houseboys who know little about the wealth in their names.” Again, one would not need to go into the John Githongo, report on corruption under the Kibaki administration, which saw the siphoning of billions of Kenyan shillings, from Government into none existent companies.
After losing the 2005 referendum for a new Government sponsored constitution, Kibaki fired his whole cabinet, of his decision he said, "Following the results of the Referendum, it has become necessary for me, as the President of the Republic, to re-organise my Government to make it more cohesive and better able to serve the people of Kenya."It is there-fore important at this juncture, that I want to go into our own Zimbabwean scenario. Comrades, I truly believe that for our Social Liberation Movement, to wage the struggle against the dictatorship’s tyrannical rule, to its logical conclusion, with all the intended benefits, based on tenets or values of social democracy it is important to revisit some of these concepts. In view of the above topic, to do with a meaningful people centred participation that will produce meaningful results, one that we had set out to achieve in the first place.
One that scores have lost their lives for, thousands arrested, many tortured, with the displaced well represented here today.
Sadly, comrades, I want to advance that our activism, or opposition politics that is in the broader political Movement, is haunted by the three headed beast of – race, class and gender, carrying with it the real danger of reproducing the above historic mishaps.
Comrades, I would like to advance that unless these are dealt with, through a proper soul searching, and reflection process, then our struggle too like the examples we have witnessed above might not be worth it.
Our struggle was initiated and driven on the basis of very utopian and idealistic, goals which were based on the notion that it was possible to bring together different interests groups, workers, farmers, bosses, women, men, youth, on a collective agenda that would equally benefit all players.
However, comrades, the state of our Movement, clearly shows that, our agendas are in constant contestation, thus some of the tensions and fractures we are witnessing today.
Comrades, social democracy has succeeded in some western countries because of their levels of political maturity, accompanied by economic success and progress, however in a poor third world country such as ours, the double scourge of dictatorship and poverty makes this almost impossible.
Thus, participation in the different aspects of the social liberation movement, has to be scrutinized, in terms of changing dynamics over the years since, the inception of the two broad based mass movements, one for constitutional reform, led by the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and the political movement led by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), without excluding other civic players, such as those, in the women’s, students and labour movement.
All components to be defined in this paper, as the Movement, made up of people and groups, that at the time felt disenfranchised, with a common desire for freedom, justice and democracy.
The three headed beast was first nurtured by our initial denial that the Movement, should be operated on the basis of ideological aspirations, based on what the components of the Movement had been agitating in their individual programmes, over the years.
In a prophetic writing on the fault lines that were beginning to show in the Movement, in 2003, Lawyer and Activist, Brian Kagoro wrote, “When the MDC was created, the actors were bound together by the possibility of dislodging Mugabe through an electoral process. The thinking was that issues of ideology and participation would be negotiated once this was accomplished, although in fact much was done to avert clashes of interests between the doves and the hawks, the leftists and the conservatives, the young and the old, patriarchy and feminists; the list is endless. The post-presidential election period requires the MDC to define a new set of values (inspirational and strategic) that will keep the bond intact. There are evident cracks, with some sectors calling for mass uprising whilst others prescribe negotiations and international intervention. Feminists within the party are beginning to demand more gender-sensitive policies and workers are now more vocal about their interests. The lines of synergy are being increasingly blurred.”
Secondly, our failure to anticipate a long struggle whose terrain would be prone to change, given the political and economic circumstances, such as increased violence, State terrorism in all its forms and economic decline, sees us today faced with fresh dynamics altogether. We did not anticipate catastrophic unemployment levels, high inflation, empty petrol tanks and the rapid collapse of our education and health systems.
The face of activism has changed, it is now about jobs, creating what others are now dubbing a ‘struggle aristocracy’, so whether you are the Director of an NGO, or the leader of a certain movement, you are forced to navigate the struggle around safer waters, that ensure your own stability and survival. This group is also not open to change, around contested areas, mainly to do with popular participation, internal democracy, accountability and succession issues. And corruption a by product.
Thirdly, dire poverty has resulted in the creation of a structure of dependency especially, among another exploited disenfranchised group the youth, and the ‘mudhara’ fashion. ‘Mudhara’ the patriarch in his many forms, is a source of small funds to the youths, creating another culture of patronage and dependency. That again compromises the youths participation in political processes.
The economic decline has also exposed the Movement, to exploitation, by elites with political interests, thus the centre for activism and leadership renewal, has rapidly changed from mass based zones, the shop floor, High-fields, Budiriro, to elite zones, as political power becomes an obsession, versus social liberation. The issue is now more to do with what can be secured politically other than what can be obtained, through mass movement organization and reform of the Zanu political culture.
The way the political ship is being navigated is around certain interests and not sacrosanct principles, take the vote for Constitutional Amendment 18 for instance, in September, which was done without prior consultation or popular support.
The “revolutionary aristocracy” leadership has clearly shown us that our Movement is in trouble comrades, we are operating ironically in the framework set by nationalists in post-colonial Africa embracing all its characteristics we had painstakingly sought to defeat in the first place.
As Frantz Fanon prophesied of the national middle-class after independence, "In its beginnings, the national bourgeoisie of the colonial country identifies itself with the decadence of the West. We need not think that it is jumping ahead; it is in fact beginning at the end. It is already senile before it has come to know the petulance, the fearlessness, or the will to succeed of youth.”
This marginalization of many of the social partners, from centres of power and decision-making and activism, is not coincidental, or accidental, thus as we are informed each day of President Thabo Mbeki’s, SADC mandated mediation process, as a people whose future is being prepared for not as legitimate stakeholders of the process, a situation equivalent to the 1979 Lancaster House Conference.
In the sense that the previously disenfranchised groups are still, Othered, in Feminist lingo, and fighting for space to be recognized, take the Feminist movement for instance, writing in the Mail and Guardian, feminist, Everjoice Win said, “Whatever "deal" is worked out to resolve Zimbabwe's crisis, women and their rights should be at the centre of it.
We want feminists -- women who care about the rights of other women and who are prepared to rock the patriarchal boat -- to be in leadership positions and to be there when the deal is made. Women want a new and comprehensive Constitution that guarantees their rights. This includes a provision which clearly states that customary law and tradition must not violate international human rights, norms and standards. We want to see a complete overhaul of a political system that has seen women reduced to political cheerleaders, or worse, sex workers with few economic prospects and the lowest life expectancy in the world.”
Wins vision of a complete reconstruction of our gender and class relations, through economic transformation is further elaborated by Horace Campbell, on the contradictions in the nationalist struggle, “the principal contradiction of the nationalist struggle was the failure to address patriarchy and masculinity as integral components of the struggle against oppression and injustice.” The same contradictions are there in our Movement today.
Going further, on the connection between nationalism, liberation and transformation, war veteran, Wilfred Mhanda, said in an interview with Swradioafrica : As far as I am concerned, Mugabe is a nationalist. I'm not a nationalist and I was never a nationalist. Nationalists were just fighting against colonialism to substitute colonial regimes with themselves. The political movements like the ANC of South Africa, ZANU, ZAPU, the ANC of Zimbabwe, they were all nationalist movements which later transformed into liberation movements. Being a liberation movement is qualitatively higher than being a nationalist movement. Structurally, the goal of nationalism is not very progressive. It doesn't aim and it doesn't have as its goal - the transformation of society to serve the people's needs. It just has at its goal the elite; the black elite; stepping into the white elite. That is the problem we have had in Africa which has ended up in re-enforcing neo colonialism. So, I really don't subscribe to the notion of nationalism.”
The other issue that we have been afraid to talk about that needs demystification is the race issue. It is fundamental to the discourse on where we want to go because, comrades, Feminist critique has it that our racial relations, are still embedded in the same old notions of white superiority, in which we as black women are often the most exploited and marginalized group, in political processes – as compared to black or white males. Because of the way Mugabe, a beneficiary of white capitalism has played this card, you cannot call for racial equality in our struggle without seeming to be playing into his hands. I say let us talk about it, as it is necessary in the transformation of our political culture.
Lastly, just as the contestation here in SA is also around, economic justice matters, Zimbabwe’s struggle now seems to be rooted in two contradictory, notions, the first being the nationalist doctrine, ‘seek ye first the political kingdom, the rest shall follow,’ or the Thatcherite, TINA dictum, There is No Alternative, to the global neo-liberal agenda, to what is being placed on the table for us. Both notions once again do not recognize popular participation.
Comrades, these have been my own reflections on elite transitions and the dangers we are faced with in the future political dispensation, should we not seek ourselves to change the way we are carrying out the business of liberating our country. The quandary that we are in is real and calls for a proper transformation of our Movement, it calls for aggressively cutting off each of the heads on the beast.
I want to end by saying there is an alternative, comrades, one that we can all work on, one that we can make to work. That alternative is based on us saying Never again, shall we as a people go through what Zanu PF has put us through. As we chat a new way forward, into a new era, of peace and abundance comrades I want to say that the struggle has not been in vain, but there is hope. This important process here of the Global Diaspora Forum should be part of that process of engendering I thank you.
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“Zimbabwe-Dangers of elite transitions lessons from Kenya& South Africa,”- “Nothing for us – without us.”
I WOULD like to start by expressing my most sincere gratitude to the organizers of the Global Diaspora Forum, for according me this opportunity of be part of this historic process, in Zimbabwe’s Diasporan politics. Yes, we Zimbabweans in the Diaspora have organized ourselves in various ways, formations and structures, since the attainment of independence, but this is the first time that our diverse views, energies and agendas, have been pooled together, in an endeavor to find a way forward in our articulation of the crisis bedeviling our dear country Zimbabwe. The problematical today, in terms of the economic, political and social crisis is of great concern to us Diasporans, because the longer the struggle, the longer we will also be stuck in the Diaspora, some of us voluntary some of us not.
Comrades, I take great pride as a feminist to have been asked to speak on a topic I feel passionate about, ‘elite transitions’, and thank the organizers that they have placed this appropriately under the thematic area on; ‘Citizenship and Political Participation’.
I would like to raise the issue of citizenship first and what it means for us as black women in the Diaspora and in general. Citizenship entails belonging, identity, nationality, issues that have boggled us as women for a long time even in our own countries of origin, and so it becomes a toll order to discuss this here as a foreigner, in a different, political context.
Feminist, Patricia Macffaden, says, “For me a citizen is one who has legal, social, cultural rights and entitlements through the formal recognition of his/her personhood within a specific geopolitical space which is called or named a country. The physicality of an individual therefore should be the least important aspect in terms of accessing and exercising these rights and entitlements. What I look like, my physical form and my color should be merely incidental. But this is not the case because rights and entitlements are gendered, they are sites of contestation and citizenship plays itself out physically in terms of two major constructs: gender and race.
And so then can we link citizenship or identity politics to political participation and ‘elite- transitions’ ? Comrades, I want to argue that the essence of democracy is participation, an avenue for people to earn their citizenship is through full franchise, in political processes.
It is in this context that I will go further to say that if in the struggle your franchise, identity, or belonging, conferred by citizenship has not been recognized then there is no participation to talk of popular or otherwise. Already in terms of national politics we are disenfranchised, the fact of the matter being that we have been left out important political processes. The worst being the denial of our right to vote. Thus, the relevance of this forum.
How can we learn from the Kenyan and South-African experience that what ever deal or solution is modeled on our behalf as a citizenry in our capacity as absentee citizens -- now numerically estimated to be at least 4 million people outside Zimbabwe’s borders will have no political relevance or legitimacy, as it will lack our popular participation.The clarion call for many in the global social movement over the past years of organized resistance against the right wing insurgence, and its global capitalist agenda, driven through neo-liberal policies as advanced, by International Institutions, such as the Bretton Woods and the World Trade Organisation, that have devasted our livelihoods, has been 'Nothing for us-without us'. That is because comrades for a long time, our national elites, working in cahoots with the global capitalist class have left us out of important political, economic and social processes in making major decisions such as the adoption of the much criticised Structural Adjustment Programmes, (SAPs). The ill effects or impacts of which have been agonizingly felt as much by we Zimbabweans as our other comrades in the remainder of the Third World.
And so can we agree here that the major post-colonial problem for us Africans has been a democratic deficit, characterized, largely, by a lack of our participation on issues to do with economic and political governance? I want to advance here that the leadership crisis, accompanied by a democratic deficit, characterized by high levels of corruption, both economic and political, is a result of the democratically inimical neo-liberal regime which advances, top-down methods of economic and political administration, and is so tolerant of corruption to the exclusion of participative decision-making in these matters. Unfortunately, as I will argue later in the paper, this model or framework, is replicating itself even in our broader democratic movement.
How can this forum benefit from lessons in political processes in Kenya and South-Africa and how can these help us in mapping a realistic way forward?
We meet days before SA or rather the ruling African National Congress, (ANC) holds its 52nd National Conference, an event that relates to us in many ways. When SA gained her independence against the apartheid regime, I remember as a young excited journalist writing on the ‘winds of change’ blowing across southern Africa. The new democratic Constitution, more women’s representation in political structures especially the legislature, media freedom, I saw this as a conclusion of our liberation process in the region. I thought SA would lift the rest of the continent with her.
So what then went wrong? Why is there a big debate going on in SA today, on many fronts, social, political and economical, why are South Africans not satisfied with their democracy? SA has one of the highest number of social demonstrantions, in the world, today, per person per square kilometer.
Activist, Trevor Ngwane writes, ‘The South African workers movement was atypical in that in the 1980’s when most workers’ movements were under attack and in retreat in the world, it appeared to be moving strongly ahead, making history by overthrowing the formidable apartheid regime. However, the moment of triumph proved to be a ‘defeat in victory’ as the price for getting rid of apartheid was paid in one of the biggest political and ideological somersaults as the new government of liberation embraced capitalism and chose the neo-liberal path. The ANC government and its allies proceeded to demobilize and deactivate the workers movement and its dream of socialism and a better life for all.’
And so today, here in SA, there is an apparent war raging between, the left and the right characterized by an ideological rapture, among the alliance partners, COSATU, SACP and the ANC, which seems to have found expression in the ANC succession battle.
Comrades, our struggle is more intensely fierce than we act it out to be. The political discourse here in SA, however has many lessons for us especially on how not to run a peoples struggle or revolution and the intended product. What the comrades on the left or the social movements here are saying in terms of the deal that saw the demise of apartheid and their experience there-after, is that it was an elite deal that did not change the structural or economic reality that existed before apartheid.
Thus today SA suffers from a Colonialism of a Special Type, (CST).
Speaking at a COSATU Central Committee meeting, SACP Secretary General, Blade Nzimande made a no holds barred presentation on the state of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR). In a paper titled, The revolution is on trial (2): Decisive working class intervention is of absolute necessity, Nzimande gave four points threatening the revolution the first point being;“Firstly, despite the many important and welcome advances made by our revolution over the last 13 years, the fundamental problem remains that we have not succeeded in changing the colonial character of our economy. In other words, ours is a revolution with some (significant), working class buttressed political power, but without economic power. This means that much as the national liberation movement has ascended to political power, but economic power still remains in the hands of the same old white (monopoly) capitalist class as under apartheid. Despite some black economic empowerment and advancement, this has largely benefited a small, and highly dependent and parasitic black section of the capitalist class, without any fundamental change in the ownership of wealth in our country, nor any significant changes in the character of South Africa‘s workplace. This poses a serious threat to the consolidation of the national democratic revolution.”
South Africa suffered what Professor Patrick Bond and others termed an elite transition, a source of much of the current contention between the ruling elites and the masses. The neo-liberal agenda or project has been able to reproduce itself with the tacit support of the black elite.
Turning to Kenya comrades, my heart bleeds again, for many reasons, the main being I was once again amongst you, who celebrated Daniel Arap Moi’s demise, when the National Rainbow Coalition, (NARC) made it into power in 2002. NARC made many electoral promises, chief among which was the end of corruption and the adoption of a new democratic Constitution. To date Kenya, has achieved none of the above. What lesson then is there in the Kenyan experience, just like in the above SA experience?
As Kenya prepares for another General election, on the 27th of December, the issues remain the same, development, corruption and a democratic Constitution, with the political terrain being contested around these three issues. “Thus, it was the promise of a comprehensive political and economic change that swept NARC (National Alliance Rainbow Coalition- an amalgamation of political parties) to power in late 2002. At that time, Mr Mwai Kibaki, the then leader of the coalition, was escorted around by a jubilant crowd singing, "Yote yawezekana bila Moi" (All is possible without Moi). This time round as Kenya goes to elections; he is the one under siege, facing the stiffest challenge of his political career so far. Those who were with him in 2002 — Mr Raila Odinga, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka and Mrs Charity Ngilu — will be playing a different song. Mr Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and his former ally Mr Musyoka (of ‘Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya’- a breakaway faction of the ODM) are Mr Kibaki and his PNU’s (Party of National Unity) primary challengers in this year’s general elections,” writes Ronald Elly Wanda .
The above scenario comrades, of political factionalism, oiled by corruption, lack of accountability, is once again unfortunately residual of the Moi culture. Kenya got rid of Moi but not Moism. Thus the battle against Moism continues today.
On corruption an alarming example, comes form the controversial Kroll Associates report part of which reads, of Moi’s sons Phillip and Gideon, “It is understood that Philip has an estimated wealth of approximately $770 million and controls more hidden cash than Gideon, even though significant attention has been directed at the latter. Whether by design or otherwise, the media more commonly associates Philip with motor vehicle tax fraud and other low-down economic vices. Therefore, unlike Gideon who would mainly wait for government-funded projects to broker deals, Philip's money machine was continuously churning out liquid cash on daily basis. At a local level there is no single company in which Philip holds shares directly. He uses proxies who range from low key Asians and houseboys who know little about the wealth in their names.” Again, one would not need to go into the John Githongo, report on corruption under the Kibaki administration, which saw the siphoning of billions of Kenyan shillings, from Government into none existent companies.
After losing the 2005 referendum for a new Government sponsored constitution, Kibaki fired his whole cabinet, of his decision he said, "Following the results of the Referendum, it has become necessary for me, as the President of the Republic, to re-organise my Government to make it more cohesive and better able to serve the people of Kenya."It is there-fore important at this juncture, that I want to go into our own Zimbabwean scenario. Comrades, I truly believe that for our Social Liberation Movement, to wage the struggle against the dictatorship’s tyrannical rule, to its logical conclusion, with all the intended benefits, based on tenets or values of social democracy it is important to revisit some of these concepts. In view of the above topic, to do with a meaningful people centred participation that will produce meaningful results, one that we had set out to achieve in the first place.
One that scores have lost their lives for, thousands arrested, many tortured, with the displaced well represented here today.
Sadly, comrades, I want to advance that our activism, or opposition politics that is in the broader political Movement, is haunted by the three headed beast of – race, class and gender, carrying with it the real danger of reproducing the above historic mishaps.
Comrades, I would like to advance that unless these are dealt with, through a proper soul searching, and reflection process, then our struggle too like the examples we have witnessed above might not be worth it.
Our struggle was initiated and driven on the basis of very utopian and idealistic, goals which were based on the notion that it was possible to bring together different interests groups, workers, farmers, bosses, women, men, youth, on a collective agenda that would equally benefit all players.
However, comrades, the state of our Movement, clearly shows that, our agendas are in constant contestation, thus some of the tensions and fractures we are witnessing today.
Comrades, social democracy has succeeded in some western countries because of their levels of political maturity, accompanied by economic success and progress, however in a poor third world country such as ours, the double scourge of dictatorship and poverty makes this almost impossible.
Thus, participation in the different aspects of the social liberation movement, has to be scrutinized, in terms of changing dynamics over the years since, the inception of the two broad based mass movements, one for constitutional reform, led by the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and the political movement led by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), without excluding other civic players, such as those, in the women’s, students and labour movement.
All components to be defined in this paper, as the Movement, made up of people and groups, that at the time felt disenfranchised, with a common desire for freedom, justice and democracy.
The three headed beast was first nurtured by our initial denial that the Movement, should be operated on the basis of ideological aspirations, based on what the components of the Movement had been agitating in their individual programmes, over the years.
In a prophetic writing on the fault lines that were beginning to show in the Movement, in 2003, Lawyer and Activist, Brian Kagoro wrote, “When the MDC was created, the actors were bound together by the possibility of dislodging Mugabe through an electoral process. The thinking was that issues of ideology and participation would be negotiated once this was accomplished, although in fact much was done to avert clashes of interests between the doves and the hawks, the leftists and the conservatives, the young and the old, patriarchy and feminists; the list is endless. The post-presidential election period requires the MDC to define a new set of values (inspirational and strategic) that will keep the bond intact. There are evident cracks, with some sectors calling for mass uprising whilst others prescribe negotiations and international intervention. Feminists within the party are beginning to demand more gender-sensitive policies and workers are now more vocal about their interests. The lines of synergy are being increasingly blurred.”
Secondly, our failure to anticipate a long struggle whose terrain would be prone to change, given the political and economic circumstances, such as increased violence, State terrorism in all its forms and economic decline, sees us today faced with fresh dynamics altogether. We did not anticipate catastrophic unemployment levels, high inflation, empty petrol tanks and the rapid collapse of our education and health systems.
The face of activism has changed, it is now about jobs, creating what others are now dubbing a ‘struggle aristocracy’, so whether you are the Director of an NGO, or the leader of a certain movement, you are forced to navigate the struggle around safer waters, that ensure your own stability and survival. This group is also not open to change, around contested areas, mainly to do with popular participation, internal democracy, accountability and succession issues. And corruption a by product.
Thirdly, dire poverty has resulted in the creation of a structure of dependency especially, among another exploited disenfranchised group the youth, and the ‘mudhara’ fashion. ‘Mudhara’ the patriarch in his many forms, is a source of small funds to the youths, creating another culture of patronage and dependency. That again compromises the youths participation in political processes.
The economic decline has also exposed the Movement, to exploitation, by elites with political interests, thus the centre for activism and leadership renewal, has rapidly changed from mass based zones, the shop floor, High-fields, Budiriro, to elite zones, as political power becomes an obsession, versus social liberation. The issue is now more to do with what can be secured politically other than what can be obtained, through mass movement organization and reform of the Zanu political culture.
The way the political ship is being navigated is around certain interests and not sacrosanct principles, take the vote for Constitutional Amendment 18 for instance, in September, which was done without prior consultation or popular support.
The “revolutionary aristocracy” leadership has clearly shown us that our Movement is in trouble comrades, we are operating ironically in the framework set by nationalists in post-colonial Africa embracing all its characteristics we had painstakingly sought to defeat in the first place.
As Frantz Fanon prophesied of the national middle-class after independence, "In its beginnings, the national bourgeoisie of the colonial country identifies itself with the decadence of the West. We need not think that it is jumping ahead; it is in fact beginning at the end. It is already senile before it has come to know the petulance, the fearlessness, or the will to succeed of youth.”
This marginalization of many of the social partners, from centres of power and decision-making and activism, is not coincidental, or accidental, thus as we are informed each day of President Thabo Mbeki’s, SADC mandated mediation process, as a people whose future is being prepared for not as legitimate stakeholders of the process, a situation equivalent to the 1979 Lancaster House Conference.
In the sense that the previously disenfranchised groups are still, Othered, in Feminist lingo, and fighting for space to be recognized, take the Feminist movement for instance, writing in the Mail and Guardian, feminist, Everjoice Win said, “Whatever "deal" is worked out to resolve Zimbabwe's crisis, women and their rights should be at the centre of it.
We want feminists -- women who care about the rights of other women and who are prepared to rock the patriarchal boat -- to be in leadership positions and to be there when the deal is made. Women want a new and comprehensive Constitution that guarantees their rights. This includes a provision which clearly states that customary law and tradition must not violate international human rights, norms and standards. We want to see a complete overhaul of a political system that has seen women reduced to political cheerleaders, or worse, sex workers with few economic prospects and the lowest life expectancy in the world.”
Wins vision of a complete reconstruction of our gender and class relations, through economic transformation is further elaborated by Horace Campbell, on the contradictions in the nationalist struggle, “the principal contradiction of the nationalist struggle was the failure to address patriarchy and masculinity as integral components of the struggle against oppression and injustice.” The same contradictions are there in our Movement today.
Going further, on the connection between nationalism, liberation and transformation, war veteran, Wilfred Mhanda, said in an interview with Swradioafrica : As far as I am concerned, Mugabe is a nationalist. I'm not a nationalist and I was never a nationalist. Nationalists were just fighting against colonialism to substitute colonial regimes with themselves. The political movements like the ANC of South Africa, ZANU, ZAPU, the ANC of Zimbabwe, they were all nationalist movements which later transformed into liberation movements. Being a liberation movement is qualitatively higher than being a nationalist movement. Structurally, the goal of nationalism is not very progressive. It doesn't aim and it doesn't have as its goal - the transformation of society to serve the people's needs. It just has at its goal the elite; the black elite; stepping into the white elite. That is the problem we have had in Africa which has ended up in re-enforcing neo colonialism. So, I really don't subscribe to the notion of nationalism.”
The other issue that we have been afraid to talk about that needs demystification is the race issue. It is fundamental to the discourse on where we want to go because, comrades, Feminist critique has it that our racial relations, are still embedded in the same old notions of white superiority, in which we as black women are often the most exploited and marginalized group, in political processes – as compared to black or white males. Because of the way Mugabe, a beneficiary of white capitalism has played this card, you cannot call for racial equality in our struggle without seeming to be playing into his hands. I say let us talk about it, as it is necessary in the transformation of our political culture.
Lastly, just as the contestation here in SA is also around, economic justice matters, Zimbabwe’s struggle now seems to be rooted in two contradictory, notions, the first being the nationalist doctrine, ‘seek ye first the political kingdom, the rest shall follow,’ or the Thatcherite, TINA dictum, There is No Alternative, to the global neo-liberal agenda, to what is being placed on the table for us. Both notions once again do not recognize popular participation.
Comrades, these have been my own reflections on elite transitions and the dangers we are faced with in the future political dispensation, should we not seek ourselves to change the way we are carrying out the business of liberating our country. The quandary that we are in is real and calls for a proper transformation of our Movement, it calls for aggressively cutting off each of the heads on the beast.
I want to end by saying there is an alternative, comrades, one that we can all work on, one that we can make to work. That alternative is based on us saying Never again, shall we as a people go through what Zanu PF has put us through. As we chat a new way forward, into a new era, of peace and abundance comrades I want to say that the struggle has not been in vain, but there is hope. This important process here of the Global Diaspora Forum should be part of that process of engendering I thank you.
Monday, December 31, 2007
God Bless you in the New Year
Friends, Sekai and I arrived in South-Africa on stretcher beds, half dead in a great deal of pain, not sure about the future.
All we had on us were the night-dresses we were in and small hurriedly packed toiletry bags.
Many of you might not understand or know my spiritual side. The sidethat fasts, that prays, that seeks truth and that seeks forgiveness.
The rest of the year has not been very pleasant for me, exiled and watching a situation we left already bad get even worse.
However, this message is just to thank you, for playing a part in our lives, coming this far has been a miracle, that could only be possible through God sent people. Hope will always be there. Many ask what happened after March 11? To many we say - Gods miracle.
And so as we all enter a new year, we know Zimbabwe will survive, we know truth will conquer, we know justice will prevail. One of my most favored authors, Paulo Coelho says the lesson is not in the end result but in the process. It is that lesson we often miss.I leave you with the message I sent you all, the first time I couldwrite after March 11.
I have not managed to say merry-xmas to many or send presents, because the last days have really been spent reflecting and healing. I do wish you all a good 2008 and pray that the God of miracles will once again shine in your lives, show his power.
He is a God for the poor, the oppressed, the hungry, the ones in need. I donot have a spiritual message other than the one I sent before. HappyNew Year.
************************************************************************
I wrote this after being discharged from Milpark Hospital in April.
Dear Friends,I am now out of hospital, thank you for your care and concern over thepast weeks. I would like to share with you a bible verse a friend cameand read to me while I was in hospital, very inspirational.
I am still heavy on medication, dizzy spells, but am much better to get aroundread my mail, and maybe write on this latest experience.
I do plan tobe home soon with other comrades, but still have personal matters todeal with, to do with my children, and maybe settle my conscience, asmy last prayer after being tortured once again by army intelligenceofficials at Braeside Police Station in the early hours of the 12th ofMarch was God please look after Charmaine, Panashe and Christina, Ithought these was my last and final prayer.
I have a second chance tomake amends to these three wonderful beings.
Philippians 4;10I rejoice very much in the Lord that at last you have renewed yourconcern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had noopportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, forI have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know whatit is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I havelearned the secret of being content in any situation, whether well fedor hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everythingthrough him who gives me strength. Yet it was good of you to share inmy troubles.Thank you and God bless you all, Grace
All we had on us were the night-dresses we were in and small hurriedly packed toiletry bags.
Many of you might not understand or know my spiritual side. The sidethat fasts, that prays, that seeks truth and that seeks forgiveness.
The rest of the year has not been very pleasant for me, exiled and watching a situation we left already bad get even worse.
However, this message is just to thank you, for playing a part in our lives, coming this far has been a miracle, that could only be possible through God sent people. Hope will always be there. Many ask what happened after March 11? To many we say - Gods miracle.
And so as we all enter a new year, we know Zimbabwe will survive, we know truth will conquer, we know justice will prevail. One of my most favored authors, Paulo Coelho says the lesson is not in the end result but in the process. It is that lesson we often miss.I leave you with the message I sent you all, the first time I couldwrite after March 11.
I have not managed to say merry-xmas to many or send presents, because the last days have really been spent reflecting and healing. I do wish you all a good 2008 and pray that the God of miracles will once again shine in your lives, show his power.
He is a God for the poor, the oppressed, the hungry, the ones in need. I donot have a spiritual message other than the one I sent before. HappyNew Year.
************************************************************************
I wrote this after being discharged from Milpark Hospital in April.
Dear Friends,I am now out of hospital, thank you for your care and concern over thepast weeks. I would like to share with you a bible verse a friend cameand read to me while I was in hospital, very inspirational.
I am still heavy on medication, dizzy spells, but am much better to get aroundread my mail, and maybe write on this latest experience.
I do plan tobe home soon with other comrades, but still have personal matters todeal with, to do with my children, and maybe settle my conscience, asmy last prayer after being tortured once again by army intelligenceofficials at Braeside Police Station in the early hours of the 12th ofMarch was God please look after Charmaine, Panashe and Christina, Ithought these was my last and final prayer.
I have a second chance tomake amends to these three wonderful beings.
Philippians 4;10I rejoice very much in the Lord that at last you have renewed yourconcern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had noopportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, forI have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know whatit is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I havelearned the secret of being content in any situation, whether well fedor hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everythingthrough him who gives me strength. Yet it was good of you to share inmy troubles.Thank you and God bless you all, Grace
Sunday, December 23, 2007
No to Senate elections
Welcome to this new initiative. I do hope through this blog to keep you updated on my very personal views to do with political developments in our country, Zimbabwe.
And so I start by posting an old article on why we said no to Senate elections, I wrote in September 2005, the views were relevant to our struggle then as they are today.
*********************************************************************
By Grace Kwinjeh
THE Movement for Democratic Change’s Youth Assembly over the past weekend made a very bold statement against the party’s participation in the forthcoming Senatorial elections. This move must be applauded. I thought that it was about time. That’s the way to go.
It is patently clear that the Senate agenda is a Zanu PF one which has nothing to do with addressing our country’s various socio-economic problems and other structural problems. In short whether or not there is a Senate will not result in more fuel, affordable food, drugs, or going back to the rule law and bring more democracy.
Zanu PF has made its political agenda for the year 2005 clear. It is an agenda that is solely driven by the party’s quest to restore its political hegemony once again. Thus, taking the country back to the pre 1999 scenario. The March 2005 Parliamentary elections which as predicted were callously rigged was the first step in fulfilling this agenda. Zanu PF secured a two thirds Parliamentary majority.
In my considered opinion it is demonstrably foolhardy; to defend the MDC’s continued presence in parliament as having anything to do with ‘defending democratic’ space. What democracy ? What space? MDC’s Parliamentary presence only serves to endorse and legitimize an illegitimate regime.
At face value, it may appear unfair to accuse the MDC of colluding with Zanu PF against the suffering masses, but the political reality is that a dictatorship is a dictatorship, supping with it even in an institution such as parliament makes the MDC guilty by default. Guilty of perpetuating Zanu PF’s evil agenda and its wanton rape of Zimbabwe’s resources. The party is participating in a perceived process of ‘Governance.’ A logical extension of this argument is that even if the MDC legislators never successfully move a motion in parliament the party must still stand satisfied that it is participating in a process of ‘Governance’.
Again the political reality is that every ‘nay’ that the minority MDC legislators vote as against the majority Zanu PF ‘ayes’, must be accepted as part of a legitimate democratic process. Consequently, the fact that the MDC is fighting a losing battle on the legislative front is crystal clear, even to my inebriated Tsunami survivor uncle in Tsonzo, and does not require neither professorial intellect nor political eloquence.
The same goes for the ill informed and unpopular constitutional changes. The MDC must stand accused of being a silent and conveniently sleeping partner in Zanu PF’s constitutional venture. Extending this analogy further, one could even risk an argument that applying the principle of collective responsibility, means that as a willing participant in the legislative agenda of the Fifth Parliament of Zimbabwe the MDC can no longer play it safe and plead innocence.
So when Zanu PF embarks on an unpopular constitutional agenda meant to further entrench its hold onto power with the MDC partaking in that process the MDC is as responsible as Zanu PF for the consequences of such actions. The MDC legislators as at 2000 must be definitively be distinguished from the MDC legislators at 2005. At 2000, the so to speak the fresh faced MDC was a disciple of what some have criticized as the naïve dispossession that the party’s parliamentary presence would as it were ‘bring about change.’ In 2002 the MDC now schooled at the harsh realities of the limitations of the legislature as a tool of change sought to complete the change through the Presidential process. It is now common cause that the limitations of this course of action were subsequently exposed.
Those of you that care to remember will recall that on both occasions our regional neighbors dismissed the MDC’s protestations of electoral fraud by arguing that the results of the elections demonstrated the ‘will of the people of Zimbabwe.’ The MDC once having accepted to participate in the Senatorial elections cannot turn around and refuse further constitutional amendments which if we are to take Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa’s word per his recent announcement Zanu PF is likely to have many up its sleeve.
A further predicament that the MDC faces is that of setting up a yard stick by which to measure participation in further constitutional amendments. One naturally fears the pre March 2005 situation in which the debate on whether or not to participate in the elections descended into a political free for all within the MDC, with the consequences that the party found itself caught in a web of official pronouncements from which it failed to extricate.
Zanu PF’s constitutional agenda is not for the benefit of the suffering masses but to protect its own interests by any means necessary and at any cost.
I remember as a young Student at Dadaya High School how the Head Master summoned the whole school to the Dining Hall. Students, teachers, support staff, cooks, everyone was there. He explained how Government was going to introduce reforms that will see our parents tightening their belts just a little bit. I remember him explaining how things would be tough, but this was going to be for a short while after which all will be well. I did not in my early teens understand the process of prolonged suffering that was about to visit my family and the people of Zimbabwe.
Going to school was no longer a given. I remember I would arrive at school and few days later our names would be called out at assembly to go back home and collect school fees. I remember the long walks on the dusty road from Dadaya Mission to the main Zvishavane – Bulawayo road. Catch lifts to Bulawayo and be away from school a little while.
But always as our parents salaries began to really erode in earnest. We always prayed that the following year will better, maybe the next, maybe the next. But never, life has just been getting worse. Zimbabweans continue to suffer, to the point that it has become part of our life. Having no medication in hospitals has become normal, high inflation has become normal; death a norm.
But for the ‘chefs’ Zimbabwe is a land of milk and honey, while we have continued to tighten our belts they have loosened theirs. The late Masipula Sithole, at a public meeting in Harare once commented on how the chef’s had finished the fruits of the struggle and are gnawing at the roots of the tree. That was so many years ago but even the juices of that tree have since dried up. The little that the country earns in any way they will grab and plunder.
We have now been reduced from a lower working class family to peasants. Back to the dark ages. There is no reward for any hard working family. My whole family has moved to the village, brothers and sisters can no longer even attend the boarding schools that we attended, those have become a luxury. ‘Kudzidza kumusha.’ Three meals a day also a luxury.
For some the struggle for change started recently, for others by default but many of us have watched and experienced the unfairness and ruthlessness of the Zanu PF regime closely. The very bane of our lives has been about fighting for a democratic Zimbabwe. Freeing Zimbabwe from Zanu PF’s tyranny. Saying no to participation in the Senatorial elections is a critical part of this struggle.
Every revolution has its casualties and the problem comes with wanting to minimise the cost of that revolution. This has never happened in history and is not likely to happen in Zimbabwe. Comrades, we have to stand up now or risk being remembered as those women and men who where not there when Zimbabwe needed them most. We must resist Zanu PF’s resurgent attempts to dictate the pace of the revolution. No to the Senate elections. No to Zanu PF’s constitutional agenda.Grace Kwinjeh is a political activist.
Contact Grace: freedomchete@yahoo.co.uk
And so I start by posting an old article on why we said no to Senate elections, I wrote in September 2005, the views were relevant to our struggle then as they are today.
*********************************************************************
By Grace Kwinjeh
THE Movement for Democratic Change’s Youth Assembly over the past weekend made a very bold statement against the party’s participation in the forthcoming Senatorial elections. This move must be applauded. I thought that it was about time. That’s the way to go.
It is patently clear that the Senate agenda is a Zanu PF one which has nothing to do with addressing our country’s various socio-economic problems and other structural problems. In short whether or not there is a Senate will not result in more fuel, affordable food, drugs, or going back to the rule law and bring more democracy.
Zanu PF has made its political agenda for the year 2005 clear. It is an agenda that is solely driven by the party’s quest to restore its political hegemony once again. Thus, taking the country back to the pre 1999 scenario. The March 2005 Parliamentary elections which as predicted were callously rigged was the first step in fulfilling this agenda. Zanu PF secured a two thirds Parliamentary majority.
In my considered opinion it is demonstrably foolhardy; to defend the MDC’s continued presence in parliament as having anything to do with ‘defending democratic’ space. What democracy ? What space? MDC’s Parliamentary presence only serves to endorse and legitimize an illegitimate regime.
At face value, it may appear unfair to accuse the MDC of colluding with Zanu PF against the suffering masses, but the political reality is that a dictatorship is a dictatorship, supping with it even in an institution such as parliament makes the MDC guilty by default. Guilty of perpetuating Zanu PF’s evil agenda and its wanton rape of Zimbabwe’s resources. The party is participating in a perceived process of ‘Governance.’ A logical extension of this argument is that even if the MDC legislators never successfully move a motion in parliament the party must still stand satisfied that it is participating in a process of ‘Governance’.
Again the political reality is that every ‘nay’ that the minority MDC legislators vote as against the majority Zanu PF ‘ayes’, must be accepted as part of a legitimate democratic process. Consequently, the fact that the MDC is fighting a losing battle on the legislative front is crystal clear, even to my inebriated Tsunami survivor uncle in Tsonzo, and does not require neither professorial intellect nor political eloquence.
The same goes for the ill informed and unpopular constitutional changes. The MDC must stand accused of being a silent and conveniently sleeping partner in Zanu PF’s constitutional venture. Extending this analogy further, one could even risk an argument that applying the principle of collective responsibility, means that as a willing participant in the legislative agenda of the Fifth Parliament of Zimbabwe the MDC can no longer play it safe and plead innocence.
So when Zanu PF embarks on an unpopular constitutional agenda meant to further entrench its hold onto power with the MDC partaking in that process the MDC is as responsible as Zanu PF for the consequences of such actions. The MDC legislators as at 2000 must be definitively be distinguished from the MDC legislators at 2005. At 2000, the so to speak the fresh faced MDC was a disciple of what some have criticized as the naïve dispossession that the party’s parliamentary presence would as it were ‘bring about change.’ In 2002 the MDC now schooled at the harsh realities of the limitations of the legislature as a tool of change sought to complete the change through the Presidential process. It is now common cause that the limitations of this course of action were subsequently exposed.
Those of you that care to remember will recall that on both occasions our regional neighbors dismissed the MDC’s protestations of electoral fraud by arguing that the results of the elections demonstrated the ‘will of the people of Zimbabwe.’ The MDC once having accepted to participate in the Senatorial elections cannot turn around and refuse further constitutional amendments which if we are to take Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa’s word per his recent announcement Zanu PF is likely to have many up its sleeve.
A further predicament that the MDC faces is that of setting up a yard stick by which to measure participation in further constitutional amendments. One naturally fears the pre March 2005 situation in which the debate on whether or not to participate in the elections descended into a political free for all within the MDC, with the consequences that the party found itself caught in a web of official pronouncements from which it failed to extricate.
Zanu PF’s constitutional agenda is not for the benefit of the suffering masses but to protect its own interests by any means necessary and at any cost.
I remember as a young Student at Dadaya High School how the Head Master summoned the whole school to the Dining Hall. Students, teachers, support staff, cooks, everyone was there. He explained how Government was going to introduce reforms that will see our parents tightening their belts just a little bit. I remember him explaining how things would be tough, but this was going to be for a short while after which all will be well. I did not in my early teens understand the process of prolonged suffering that was about to visit my family and the people of Zimbabwe.
Going to school was no longer a given. I remember I would arrive at school and few days later our names would be called out at assembly to go back home and collect school fees. I remember the long walks on the dusty road from Dadaya Mission to the main Zvishavane – Bulawayo road. Catch lifts to Bulawayo and be away from school a little while.
But always as our parents salaries began to really erode in earnest. We always prayed that the following year will better, maybe the next, maybe the next. But never, life has just been getting worse. Zimbabweans continue to suffer, to the point that it has become part of our life. Having no medication in hospitals has become normal, high inflation has become normal; death a norm.
But for the ‘chefs’ Zimbabwe is a land of milk and honey, while we have continued to tighten our belts they have loosened theirs. The late Masipula Sithole, at a public meeting in Harare once commented on how the chef’s had finished the fruits of the struggle and are gnawing at the roots of the tree. That was so many years ago but even the juices of that tree have since dried up. The little that the country earns in any way they will grab and plunder.
We have now been reduced from a lower working class family to peasants. Back to the dark ages. There is no reward for any hard working family. My whole family has moved to the village, brothers and sisters can no longer even attend the boarding schools that we attended, those have become a luxury. ‘Kudzidza kumusha.’ Three meals a day also a luxury.
For some the struggle for change started recently, for others by default but many of us have watched and experienced the unfairness and ruthlessness of the Zanu PF regime closely. The very bane of our lives has been about fighting for a democratic Zimbabwe. Freeing Zimbabwe from Zanu PF’s tyranny. Saying no to participation in the Senatorial elections is a critical part of this struggle.
Every revolution has its casualties and the problem comes with wanting to minimise the cost of that revolution. This has never happened in history and is not likely to happen in Zimbabwe. Comrades, we have to stand up now or risk being remembered as those women and men who where not there when Zimbabwe needed them most. We must resist Zanu PF’s resurgent attempts to dictate the pace of the revolution. No to the Senate elections. No to Zanu PF’s constitutional agenda.Grace Kwinjeh is a political activist.
Contact Grace: freedomchete@yahoo.co.uk
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