With lyrics like, “An iridescent example of honour for the coming generation… You promised always to open the doors for us… Indeed it is you and only you who sleeps with the key… You are chicken to change!” it is plain to see that the video is a message or challenge to Mugabe to let go of the power he has held on to for decades. But, he is too chicken to do so.

The latex Mugabe character is the creation of the well-known cartoonist and co-creator of ZA NEWS, Zapiro. This may mean we will be seeing more of Mugabe on ZA News.

Given Zimbabwe’s political history is taking such a stand against Mugabe really worth the while or is it a waste of time?

Watch the video and draw your own conclusions.

All over Africa, you will find foreign based companies with a strong presence in whatever sector they do business in. Yes, they may be providing jobs for people in the regions in which they operating. But, how does that compare to the amount of money that they are making that does not stay in Africa?

In some cases, the governments of African nations are to blame. They may for example get a few millions dollars of investment from Africa’s new colonial powers China. What the Chinese get in return may be mining concessions which could make them Billions. In some cases the government officials try and do whatever they can to make it look like they are trying to gain control of sectors that are in chaos (such as the hotly debated diamonds from Chiadzwa). They will say they want to be able regulate it for everyone’s benefit when in actual fact it is for the benefit of a select few. This kind of greed is a completely different story all together.

When it comes to multinational corporations that are owned and operated by entities outside of Africa, is there a need for them? Can’t we do it ourselves? Out of Africa’s population of an estimated 850 million there has to be groups of people who can do what the multinationals are doing. Why can’t we be the ones to have control of our resources which after extraction we sell on at a price we set? Could the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act in Zimbabwe really be a way of getting what is really ours back in our hands? Some say it is just a way of Zanu PF keeping a grip on things and something that will sink the economy.

Why can’t we do it ourselves and be the ones to benefit from our riches?

Is Africa in such a bad state that those who are able to get their foot into the door are just exploiting the chaos?

In it, he talks about the revolutionary triumphs and misfortunes that they face along the way. It also touches on the progress of certain objectives such as the ZANLA Forces Eleven Tasks, British colonisation, traitorous puppets working against the victorious Zimbabwean masses and other significant events in the liberation war (Chimurenga).

Here is an excerpt of the first two paragraphs:
Revolutionary and New Year greetings to all the struggling and victorious masses of Zimbabwe, Revolutionary and New year greetings to all our ZANU Members within and without the country, Revolutionary and New Year greetings to all our friends and allies outside Zimbabwe.

I wish to address you, the revolutionary masses of Zimbabwe with mixed feelings of joy and sorrow: joy, because we are now on the dawn of victory when the enemy’s military machine has crumbled and the puppet regime it tried to prop has fallen; but sorrow, because the dawn of ZANU’s victory, the dawn of your victory, has become a dark moment for us all, for we have suffered the tragic loss of our Secretary for Defence, Comrade Josiah Magama Tongogara.

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1980 – The Year of the People’s Power by Comrade R G Mugabe

This was published in 1980 and is a New Year Message to the people of Zimbabwe by Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, the President of the Zimbabwe African Union ZANU (PF).

The first paragraph reads: Revolutionary and New Year greetings to all the struggling and victorious masses of Zimbabwe, Revolutionary and New year greetings to all our ZANU Members within and without the country, Revolutionary and New Year greetings to all our friends and allies outside Zimbabwe.

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I do not have any political affiliations in Zimbabwe but here I find myself being affected by the TARGETED sanctions. My understanding was that the sanctions were targeted towards certain individuals and that they would not have an effect on the general population. My little experience obviously goes to show that this is not the case.

A week or two after my arrival there was a newspaper article about a university student who tried to get her hands on demonstration software from ETAP Enterprises Solutions. Getting a hold of the demo disc entailed entering her address into a form which she did do. She was later told that they would not be able to provide her with the disc due to trade sanctions against Zimbabwe.

I am not on the sanctions list and the student mentioned above may not be either. That experience has been an inconvenience and I am sure that there are a lot more Zimbabweans with no political associations who have experienced similar. It has also made me think about what kind of effect it has had on individuals, businesses and institutions that have been denied access to products and services that they would have otherwise have had the right to access. My guess is that they would have had a major negative that would have led to them finding a roundabout way of getting something or going without it completely and having to deal with it.

If you take a look at some of the individuals on the sanctions list, they are living very opulently. Many a people in Zimbabwe may have been able to better their lives and those of others had there been no sanctions. It just makes me wonder whether there is a point to the sanctions and whether or not they have really worked?

Watch the video of part of their meeting below:

That was a video of a recent farm invasion. In one foul swoop, these farmers have lost everything that they have spent most of their lives building and it is not an easy thing for anyone (white or black) to go through. In addition to the farmers losing their livelihood, their employees suddenly find themselves without a job which only adds to the ridiculous unemployment rate that is already above 90%.

“Land distribution will continue. It will not stop,” Mugabe said. “The few remaining white farmers should quickly vacate their farms as they have no place there.” These were some of the words recently spoken by Mugabe. Farm invasions are continuing and they seem to have stepped into high gear. Last weekend in the Zimbabwe that has a unity government, one of change, an elderly couple were beaten by thugs who invaded their property just outside Harare.

A number of farms have been seized in recent weeks, 100 or so farmers are facing prosecution, some are under siege and some have gone into hiding. Majority of the farms being invaded are run by white Zimbabweans and the animosity towards them will not make life comfortable for those who are not even remotely involved in farming. Britain announced plans to evacuate its older and vulnerable citizens from Zimbabwe, a plan that Mugabe responded to by saying, “They are free here. They are quite comfortable. It’s queer, strange thinking by the British. We don’t understand.” Whether or not they really need help, Mugabe’s words and actions towards whites have done nothing to make them feel at ease.

During his 85th birthday celebrations, Mugabe said, “In the areas of mining, agriculture and manufacturing, a methodological and systematic identification of areas in which the state and indigenous entrepreneurs can participate, is being carried out, in line with the Indigenous and Empowerment Act.” This law is supposedly in place to facilitate the majority control of industry by blacks. One point to note is that it is not only white farmers who have been kicked off their land. It has happened to black farmers as well. The Zanu PF greed has extended beyond moving white farmers off their land. If a minister or someone else with a voice within the ruling party sets their eyes on a black owned farm, they do what they can to get their hands on it. This is going against what is stated in their own laws if they are taking something that a black person lawfully owns.

There are so many inconsistencies with the farm invasions, related laws and statements made by the government. It has gone from eviction to allowing some farmers back with 99 year leases on resettled farms to evicting them all over again. It is almost impossible to keep track of or figure out exactly what the government is trying to do or think they will achieve.

Has Mugabe not seen what effect the land invasions had in the past? The collapse of the agricultural sector and people facing starvation can be in part attributed to the invasions. After the invasions, a number of the farms became pieces of land with zero productivity. But still Mugabe continues to press on with land reform programme and calling on white farmers to leave and say they are not welcome.

This is all CRAZINESS!!

He is being held at the Mutare police station and he is no stranger to prison. In 2004 he spent eight months in prison after a scuffle with the then Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa who called his ancestors ‘murderers and thieves’. A short while after his release from prison the secret police were after him again with all sorts of accusations which is when he decided it would be best to slip out of the country.

Heather Bennett, Roy’s wife spoke to SW Radio Africa about her husbands arrest and there were a couple of things she said that struck a cord viz;

“If Morgan Tsvangirai has no power to protect his top leadership, the rest of the country is in big trouble because nothing is going to change.”

“If they get away with this Morgan Tsvangirai may as well not even be there because they will walk all over him. And unless he shows the leadership now it is going to be a waste of time having an inclusive government anyway.”

This is the start of power sharing and it just goes to show who is in control. Roy Bennett’s arrest is something that is unwarranted and those holding him know it too – just look at how they can’t decide on what to charge him with. Going back to Zimbabwe at the time he did may not have been a good idea and why he decided to is anyone’s guess. Nonetheless, what Mrs. Bennett had to say about the GNU was straight to the point and a fact that cannot be ignored. If Tsvangirai cannot protect Roy Bennett, what is the point of him being Prime Minister?

Listen to Heather Bennett’s interview on SW Radio Africa here

Its official, Morgan Richard Tsvangirai is sleeping with the devil. February 11, 2009 was the day that he was officially sworn in as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe by his long time rival Robert Gabriel Mugabe. This event is supposed to pave the way for a unity government but is it really going to be a unity government? Mugabe and Tsvangirai are hard nuts to crack and both have different ideologies on the way the country should be run.

The chance of Mugabe being a willing and co-operative partner in a unity government is something that one can only believe when it happens. As crazy as he is, he is a smart man who has managed to outwit his opponents and brainwash entire organisations such as SADC who seem to see no reason to remove him from power.
He has a strong personal connection with Zimbabwe but his misdirected passion has resulted in an almost failed state. Regardless of all of that, he still declares Zimbabwe as being his. With that being his frame of thought, what are the chances of him really sharing power with MDC?

Tsvangirai on the other hand, however unhappy he may have been with the way the whole agreement was to be played out still went ahead with it. With the way events have unfolded in the past few months it seems as if Morgan was forced into the agreement if he wanted to play any sort of meaningful role in Zimbabwean politics. He was given ultimatums by Mugabe and SADC that basically said take what you are being offered or have nothing at all. MDC is now part of the unity government and they have made many promises to the people of Zimbabwe. Now we all wait and see if they will live up to them.

Click here to read the full text of The Inauguration Speech of the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, His Excellency, Morgan Tsvangirai

Could we really have been better off if Joshua Nkomo had gotten his way?