Living Zimbabwe

Tag: Liberation

  • Zimbabwe 1980 Independence | Monument Along Airport Road, Harare

    Zimbabwe 1980 Independence | Monument Along Airport Road, Harare

    The structure below is one that you are driving to and from the Harare International Airport. Years ago it used to be guarded by military personnel, nowadays there are a couple to security guards who don’t seem too interested in what they are doing. This stretch of road was also a popular road block point for police or Zimra (Zimbabwe Revenue Authority) trying to catch out people coming off international flights and had managed to evade their counterparts at the customs lanes.

    What does the monument mean to you?

  • 1980 – The Year of the People’s Power

    1980 – The Year of the People’s Power

    1980 – The Year of the People’s Power (Gore reMasimba eVanhu – Umnyaka Wamandla Abantu) is a publication that was put out in 1980. It is a New Year Message to the people of Zimbabwe by Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, the President of the Zimbabwe African Union ZANU (PF).

    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.

    The full 12 page publication is available in PDF format for US$0.50. To purchase the publication visit the Living Zimbabwe Store or by clicking on the Buy Now button below which will take you through to PayPal

     

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  • Politically Charged Graffiti In & Around Harare

    Driving around Harare, it is hard not to notice graffiti dotted all over the place. Most the graffiti is politically motivated and expresses people’s sentiments on the state of certain affairs in Zimbabwe. A lot of the graffiti points towards disdain for President R. G. Mugabe and Zanu PF and even towards the Chinese who are increasing in number in Zimbabwe.

    Sometimes it is really not that hard to see where people stand with political issues. When listening to political conversations/debates there will be those who 100% support the actions of the last few years and those who clearly have a deep seeded hatred for Mugabe and members of Zanu PF because of their actions, attitudes and stance on various issues. Those with that deep seeded hatred have said that no matter what steps are put in place to rectify situations, they still would not find it in their heart to forgive.

    If people were to step up to the plate and publicly acknowledge wrongdoings and ask for forgiveness, would you find it in your heart forgive?

    Below are only just a few examples of what people had to say:

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    Zanu PF Hate Graffiti in Harare

  • Perence Shiri’s would Be Assassin Captured!

    Air Marshall Perence Shiri aka Black JesusAbsolute rubbish! That is what I thought when I read through reports that Frank Muchirahondo, an employee of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was captured at the Forbes border post in Mutare on January 22nd whilst trying to flee the country. Absolute rubbish was the exact same thing I thought when reports first surfaced in mid December that there had been an attempt on Perence Shiri’s (aka Black Jesus) life. Reports stated that he was ambushed whilst travelling alone to his farm and was shot in the hand or arm or shoulder (there are a number of different versions of the story). After the incident he was said to have received medical attention at the Manyame Air Force Base hospital. Ever since that alleged attempt on his life, he has not been seen in public and there is no real evidence that he was in fact shot.

    All of this I find very hard to believe because for one, the likelihood of someone like Perence Shiri travelling alone are slim to none not only because of him being the Air Marshall or a member of Joint Operations Command (JOC) but also because of his history of being at the forefront of Gukurahundi. These are more than enough to warrant that he is escorted wherever he goes. To add to that, an unnamed Senior Air Force of Zimbwbe official said it totally false that Shiri had been admitted to the military hospital.

    At the time the reports came out, Minister of Home Affairs, Cde Kembo Mohadi stated, “The attack on Air Marshal Shiri appears to be a build-up of terror attacks targeting high-profile persons, Government officials, Government establishments and public transportation systems.” The alleged incident was seen by many as something that was made up so that Mugabe could declare a state of emergency which would effectively sideline MDC and leave him in complete control of Zimbabwe.

    It is events like this that are among the increasing number of lies that the government has told in the past few months. Some weeks before the ‘shooting’, a number of activist including Jestina Mukoko were abducted and for weeks the authorities denied having any involvement in the abductions. Not to everyone’s surprise, the abductees were found to be alive and in police custody just before Christmas.

    All of these events are just a taste of the lies that the Zimbabwe government is capable of coming up with. They can blatantly lie to its people and the world about what they are doing and not doing and it even more evidence to show that they cannot be trusted. Even with that being the case Tsvangirai and a number of other leaders still believe that a unified government can be formed in Zimbabwe. What is the point of going ahead with a unity government if you know for sure that one party cannot be trusted?

  • Increasing Calls For Mugabe To Go!

    Rice, Bush, Tutu, Odinga, Brown and Sentamu are amongst the growing number of world figures speaking up against Mugabe and saying that it is time for him to step down. Whether or not the increasing number of calls for him to step down will have an effect is yet to be seen.

    As far as Mugabe is concerned, he has and is doing all he can to keep Zimbabwe alive. He is just going to continue blaming all of Zimbabwe’s problems on sanctions imposed by the West. Zimbabwe’s information minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu was quoted as having said the following to reporters earlier in the week:

    “I don’t have kind words for all heads of state who have made utterances against Zimbabwe, one by one and I hope this is the last time they open their dirty mouths on Zimbabwe”

    “After squeezing and strangling the country with sanctions and contaminating it with cholera and anthrax, the West is seeking to use the window of opportunity provided by the disaster to justify military intervention”

    With that being the case, what are the chances of Mugabe listening to ultimatums from the West?

  • Mugabe Feeling The Pressure

    This week, African leaders meet in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt for an African Union (AU) summit. President Robert Mugabe made his way to Sharm el-Sheikh after his inauguration and it was clear that he did not want to hear any advice from other countries. He went there thinking that no-one would speak up about all that has taken place in Zimbabwe. This was not the case as some of the leaders at the summit took the opportunity to express their concerns about the situation in Zimbabwe. The AU commission chairman, Jean Ping was one of the first to raise his concerns about the violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe followed by Raila Odinga, the Kenyan Prime Minister who urged the AU to suspend Mugabe until he allowed free and fair elections and Ernest Koromo, the President of Sierra Leone commented that the people of Zimbabwe have been ‘denied their democratic rights.’ All the criticism would not have been easy for him to take especially with him being there at the time. This is something that is necessary and I applaud the people who have managed to speak up.

    It looks like African leaders have realized that doing nothing is not an option because Mugabe will do whatever it takes to stay in power which was evident from the June 27th election and his hasty Presidential inauguration on the 29th of June. There was nothing free and fair about that election. President Mugabe did not look too pleased at the summit after all the criticism he faced and by the looks of things he is beginning to feel the pressure. This may explain his outburst when he was approached by a journalist at the summit:

    A recent visitor to this blog, Hilary left a comment with a link to a petition to make world leaders recognize Mugabe’s crimes and speak out against him – Global Action for Zimbabwe – you can make a difference.

  • Mugabe, the Rest of the World and God

    Mugabe: A Modern Hitler Cartoon by Tom Scott of The Dominion Post featured in the June 19th edition. (Click on image to enlarge.)

    With the increasing unrest in Zimbabwe, a number of people around the world have a lot to say about the situation. All the major news networks are continually running reports on the post election violence, the June 27th run-offs that Tsvangirai has reportedly pulled out of, all that Mugabe has to say about MDC and God being the only who will remove him from office, reports by reporters who have gone undercover in Zimbabwe, UN observers visiting the nation and the list goes on. Whatever it is that is being reported, all that it is is talk and all that there ever has been from SADC countries, other African nations and the wider international community is just talk! Thabo Mbeki was called upon to mediate in Zimbabwe but he has not made any sort of meaningful progress with him at one point stating that there was no crisis in Zimbabwe. The EU has hinted at extending sanctions against Zimbabwe but these sanctions have done more to harm the people of Zimbabwe than the people they are targeted towards to which they have had little effect. Political figures talk about how it must be made clear to Mugabe and his regime that what is going on in Zimbabwe is unacceptable and out of everything that has been said nothing has hit home for the ruling party to convince them to rethink their policies.

    A lot more intervention is needed in order to remove Mugabe from office be it from within Zimbabwe, Africa or the wider international community but people have had enough and can no longer live they way that they do. Just about everything that is being said at the moment has been said before with people calling upon SADC (who have been called upon before) to intervene. Do people not care about Zimbabwe that much and are waiting for another Darfur situation and only come to some sort of realization when too much harm has been done? This last weekend Mugabe insisted he would not step aside for MDC and went as far as saying “Only God, who appointed me, will remove me — not the MDC, not the British. Only God will remove me!” Zimbabweans are religious a people and there are a lot of people praying for salvation. He may have unknowingly sealed his own fate when he said what he said because at this point in time God may be the only one able to remove him from power and set the people of Zimbabwe FREE.

    God may indeed be the only one who can SAVE ZIMABWE now.

    For an insight into what some people in New Zealand have to say about Zimbabwe, here are three interviews that took place on Newstalk ZB June 23, 2008:

    Titus Katiyo (Zimbabwe Association of New Zealand) – click here for audio
    Helen Clark (Prime Minister of New Zealand) – click here for audio
    Winston Peters (Minister of Foreign Affairs) – click here for audio

  • Deposing Mugabe by Learning From Nature

    Lion and Buffalo StandoffOne of the basic animal instincts needed in order to stay alive is fighting for survival. I was watching a video on YouTube and thinking about it in terms of the current situation in Zimbabwe. For years people have been trying to bring Mugabe’s rule to an end but to no avail. In two weeks time Tsvangirai will go against Mugabe in a second round of voting but since the first round of voting in March things have not gone smoothly for MDC and its supporters.

    The video (below) is about a pride of lions stalking a herd of buffalo. The lions get their paws on a calf. The struggle between the buffalo and lions at the waters edge in turn leads to the calf being attacked by a crocodile too but the lions eventually win over the crocodile and work on killing their prey. The herd of buffalo that had fled away return to help their own and after some hesitation one charges the lions, another flicks one into the air with the herd eventually saving the young buffalo from certain death and they succeed in chasing the away the lions.

    This situation is somewhat reminiscent of events in Zimbabwe in the fact that you have the King of The Jungle (Mugabe & Zanu PF) doing what they do and being feared by just about everyone in the Animal Kingdom (The General Population & MDC). In most cases when a lion pounces on its prey (with assistance from other lions for big prey) survivors or those lucky not to have been picked scatter completely or watch helplessly from a distance as one of their own succumbs. For a number of years Zimbabweans have been watching innocent members of the public and the opposition being subjected to violent attacks and murder, elections being allegedly stolen, suppression of freedom of speech and other various steps taken by the ruling party to stay at the helm.

    Most of the time it is impossible to win over the king of the jungle but it is not impossible as you can see in the video. If the people of Zimbabwe really wanted to or when they have really had enough they should/will come together for their cause as the buffalo did. All it will takes is a few very brave individuals to charge at one the lions or fling one into the air to get the ball rolling for the rest of the herd to follow suit. If you take a look at the xenophobia attacks that took place in South Africa, groups of people banded together for a cause which in their eyes was necessary. In a sense they succeeded at achieving their goals with the exodus of a number of foreigners. There is nothing stopping people in Zimbabwe from grouping together the way people in South Africa did and pushing hard towards a cause that they feel will be worthwhile. This is a feat easier said than done but is it something that is impossible?

  • Zimbabwe Resistance Movement

    Below is a very interesting article about a military movement that has apparently been set up to depose Mugabe. If this is infact true it just goes to show that Zimbabweans have had enough and are ready to do whatever it takes to remove Mugabe from office.

    05 June 2008

    FELLOW Zimbabweans, it is with deep regret and trepidation that we announce the formation of the Zimbabwe Resistance Movement, a military organisation comprising of serving and former members of the Zimbabwe armed forces and security services.

    We thought it would not come to this, but unfortunately the situation on the ground in Zimbabwe has forced us to take this unprecedented move. We are firm believers of democracy but we are also alive to the fact that the democratic means are not necessarily the only options available to achieve democracy.

    We have discovered that the problem in Zimbabwe is a military one and therefore, require a military solution to bring a resolution to our long suffering. We acknowledge the efforts that have been made by numerous political, civic and student groups to achieve a democratic transition, but also note the arrogance of a few politicians, generals, colonels, police chiefs and top brass of the CIO.

    It is against this background, that we, serving and former military, police and CIO men and women believe that we would be doing our once great nation a disservice if we do not challenge the status quo by all means that are open to us, including but not limited to militarily means.

    For the benefit of our geriatric leadership that is fond of conspiracies, we would like to place it on record that we are a stand alone organisation, with its own leadership and doctrine. We, are however, not averse to alliances with like minded people, groups and organizations that are committed to the removal of the evil and despotic Robert Mugabe regime by any means necessary.

    WHO ARE WE?

    We are a group of serving and ex-servicemen and women who were and/ or are intimately involved in the operations of the Army, Air force, Police, CIO and Prisons.

    We are aware of what is happening at all military, police and CIO establishments such as 1 Commando, Inkomo, Magunje, Ngezi Barracks, KGV1, Chikurubi, Manyame Airbase, Suri Suri, and Thornhill.

    We would not hesitate to use the confidential and classified information and knowledge that we have about sensitive security and military state that we have to strike fear and pandemonium into the ranks of this dictatorship, which is causing untold suffering and hardships on its people that it claims it fought to liberate from colonialism.

    We are in everyday contact with Officers and other ranks in the armed forces and security services that places us at an unassailable position of knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each battalion, squadron, brigade etc.

    Furthermore we have minute and intimate personal details of the politicians, generals, CIO directors and police commissioners who are wreaking havoc on our people. These details include, and are not limited to their residential addresses, the security details, the communal areas that they hail from, their farms, the schools that their children attend, their itineraries and mistresses. We reserve the right to strike this dictatorship where it hurts most and as they have chosen to be indiscriminate in their attacks on the Zimbabwean people, we are also going to be indiscriminate. History abounds with cases where the people have chosen to be as indiscriminate in their revenge as those who instigate the killings in the first place.

    Let those who are instigating the current wave of killings of innocent children, men and women not say we were not warned when the people’s juggernaut exacts revenge on the perpetrators.

    We reserve the right to use any means available and necessary to get rid of him and other impediments to the realisation of a full democracy in our beloved country.

    We aim to cripple and suffocate the dictatorship’s financial ability to continue to finance the killings and we will be targeting the financiers of this killing spree. To this end, we are hereby serving notice to Gideon Gono, who has unashamedly abdicated from his professional role, opting instead to align himself with the cause of the people’s suffering.

    We will exert our energies on exterminating and disrupting the operations of businesses that finance the regime such as Barclays Bank and those that are fronts for the people who are the cause of our suffering.

    It is widely acknowledged that the dictator and his surrogates use companies registered in the relatives’ names as conduits of siphoning money and resources from the state. It therefore does not surprise anyone that today they live opulent lifestyles and have amassed huge fortunes despite having no known history of primitive accumulation.

    AIM

    We are guided by our desire to free Zimbabwe from the burden of the Mugabe dictatorship.

    Zimbabweans should know that the MDC won an absolute majority in the June 2000 parliamentary elections; that Morgan Tsvangirai won by over 500 000 votes in the March 2002 presidential elections; and that he won convincingly in the March 2008 elections. They should know that Mugabe is still there because of intransigent generals who are afraid of Tsvangirai’s pronouncements that he will establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, if and when he assumes the reins of power.

    Zimbabweans should also know that even if Tsvangirai were to win again on June 27, there is little likelihood that these generals acting in cohort with Emmerson Mnangagwa are going to allow the people’s will to prevail, just like they have denied us since 2000. Mnangagwa knows that Mugabe is terminally ill and that he will handover power to him by the end of this year. We will take our fight with Mnangagwa to Zambia where his family live so that he will realize how traumatic it is to indiscriminately butcher defenceless people for simply having exercised their democratic right.

    Some of us, as serving soldiers, police officers and prison officers, we have already been denied our democratic right to choose who we want to lead us as we been directed to vote in front of our superiors. We would like to place it on record that we will do this under protest and urge our country men and women to do to Mugabe what he has denied us.

    We would like to urge our people to be extra careful and vigilant in these dangerous and desperate times as there are lot of blood thirsty vulnerable young people who are armed and have been freshly minted by Gideon Gono, an arch accomplice in the suffering of our people.

    The people who are killing and maiming the defenseless men, women and children are predominantly young recruits and war veterans who are being armed and let loose to commit the greasily murders.

    MDC and human rights activists as well as lawyers should avoid walking alone and patronizing the areas they normally frequent. We advise that they lie low until after the elections as the current abductions that are just an eye before the storm.
    Fellow Zimbabweans, there is only one outcome to expect on 28 or 20 June 2008, the delayed but eventual DEPARTURE of Robert Mugabe and if that is not announced by the poodles who run ZEC, then that is our call to ARMS.

    LETS SPREAD THE WORD – MUGABE MUST GO OR BE FORCED OUT

    Zimbabwe Resistance Movement

    Source: Nehanda Radio

  • Mbeki – Zuma – Quiet Diplomacy

    Last week Jacob Zuma was elected as the new president of the African National Congress (ANC) ousting President Thabo Mbeki. This I find very interesting as he was recently acquitted of rape charges. I would not have thought that he would have that amount of support with his background. He could very well be the president of South Africa in 2009 when Mbeki has to step down.

    South Africa is a country that has been affected by events occurring in their neighbouring country Zimbabwe. On a monthly basis thousands of Zimbabweans illegally make the way to South Africa in search of a better life. In the process they are risking their lives as they cross the crocodile infested Limpopo River which makes up the border between the two countries.

    What goes on in Zimbabwe does not only affect the one country but its neighbouring countries. South Africa has had its fair share of people illegally cross their borders in search of ‘greener pastures’. Thousands of Zimbabweans cross into South Africa each month and their government has blamed a lot of their social problems on illegal immigrants. With them thinking that about immigrants one would think that they would do something to curb these problems. An effective way to do that is to get right to the source of the problem and see what can be done to solve it. Zimbabweans are leaving because they are not able to sustain themselves and their families. It cant be that hard to figure out what the root of the problem is in this respect.

    Mbeki has been called upon a number of times by the SADC to mediate in Zimbabwe but has adopted a policy of quiet diplomacy. But, what is quiet diplomacy and how does it help? With Zuma now leading the ANC and very much on the way to being the next likely president of South Africa it will be interesting to see what kind of a stance he will take on his neighbours to the north. At his inaugural speech he praised Mugabe’s party ZANU PF and said “I don’t think sanctions have produced anything.”

    Should Zimbabwe be left alone to solve its own problems or should the international community intervene? This is not to say that Mbeki has done nothing, he has been trying to mediate between ZANU PF and MDC.

    image courtesy of newzimbabwe.com