Living Zimbabwe

Author: Living Zimbabwe

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  • Is MDC Fighting A Losing Battle?

    Movement for Democratic Change (MDC Zimbabwe) Leaders – Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara

    The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was founded in 1999 in opposition to Mugabe’s ZANU PF. They have not had much luck in bringing an end to Mugabe’s rule. In 2005 MDC spilt into two factions following policy differences among senior leaders. The mainstream faction is led by Morgan Tsvangirai and the other by Arthur Mutambara. Both bring different skill sets to the table but have an overall goal of ending authoritarian rule. Tsvangirai is a former trade unionist whose positions have included being the Secretary-General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. Mutambara was the leader of student movements in the late 1980s and has lead a more academic career.
    Since their split in 2005 talks have been held to try and reunite the two factions but were unsuccessful. Last year talks broke down and resulted in two figures who had defected with Mutambara, Shaky Matake and Silas Mangono returning to the main camp. There has also been disharmony within the women’s assembly which further weakens the party.
    Events occurring within the party show a lot of disagreement and confusion amongst themselves. MDC is also notorious for boycotting or threatening to boycott elections which only goes to making the party irrelevant. One of the main purposes of a political party is to win elections. All of this may result in their supporters losing confidence in the party. If they themselves cannot form a united front there is no way they will succeed in their campaign against Mugabe. As it stands, Mugabe and ZANU PF are a force to be reckoned with and if they don’t get their act together they will be fighting a losing battle. Presidential, parliamentary and council elections are due to be held in March which does not give MDC a lot of time to sort out their differences.

  • Animal Farm and Zimbabwe

    I was recently encouraged by a close friend to read Animal Farm by George Orwell. I heard of the book a long time ago but never got around to reading it and I am glad that I finally have (thank-you …..). At the time of publication in 1945 it was an allegory of the Russian revolution but in recent times it has been compared to governments that have taken over from colonial powers only to become worse off than the so-called colonial oppressors. The characters in the book can be associated with real life characters. For this reason the book has stirred a lot of controversy and has even been banned in some countries. The book outlines a shift to totalitarianism and the effect it has on a population. It leads to a state where people start thinking as a group which affects individual judgement. That is the problem with the world we live in today. The world is ruled by a very small percentage of people who make decisions for the rest of us. No-one is standing up for what they believe in and are taking whatever comes their way. As a result they are suffering and will continue to do so until they speak up. The little that is said will count in making the world a better place.In the book it all started off with a dream of rebellion and freedom that a white boar Old Major shared with the animals on the farm just before his death. The cleverer animals on the farm, the pigs held secret meetings where they planned a rebellion against the enemy, man. At the forefront were two main pigs, Snowball and Napoleon who during the planning of the rebellion taught themselves to read and write and came up with seven commandments that the animals were to live by. Their plans came to fruition and animals drove Mr. Jones of his farm.

    After the rebellion the pigs took up a leadership role. Napoleon and Snowball did not see eye to eye on a number of issues and Snowball was eventually driven out of the farm leaving Napoleon as the sole ruler. With the passage of time, life for the animals did not improve as they worked more and received less rations which was the opposite of what they were promised. A number of events took place that the animals thought were against the seven commandments they were living by. For example, the fifth commandment stated “no animal shall drink alcohol,” but the pigs took to the drink. One night the animals found Squealer, Napoleon’s obedient follower and propagandist on the floor after a fall from a ladder on the wall with the commandments. He was holding a paint brush and next to him was an overturned pot of paint. One of the animals knew exactly what was going on but did not say anything. Later on the animals noticed that there was yet another commandment they had remember wrong for the fifth commandment no read “no animal shall drink alcohol in excess.”

    The animals were living in a society where they would take it as it is and not speak up for what they believed in. Fear had been instilled in the hearts of the animals with the help of Napoleon’s feared bodyguards the dogs. The pigs gradually embarrassed the ‘human’ way of life and one day they paraded around walking on their hind legs. On that very same day the seven commandments had been replaced with a single statement that read “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.” In the end the animals could no longer tell the difference between the pigs and the humans.

    The story that George Orwell tells is reminiscent of events that have taken or are taking place in Zimbabwe and other countries around the world. It starts of with a liberation struggle after which there are promises of a better life to follow but with the passage of time that is not the case. Laws are changed or altered to suit the needs of the people in power and fear is instilled within the population who become afraid to speak up for what they believe in and against an oppressive regime.

    If you haven’t read Animal Farm (Signet Classics) I would encourage you to read it. It is an easy read that will stir up a number of emotions especially if you can relate to what is going on in the book. If you have read it, what thoughts and emotions did it stir up?

  • 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

  • The Price of a Bride

    Roora (bride-price or dowry) is an old custom where a groom pays in order to marry the bride. The payment made to the bride’s family is meant to signify gratitude towards the bride’s family for raising her and a smaller portion of it is to help the bride set up house. It is a process that not only brings a bride and groom together, it also brings their families together. The process includes negotiations between the two families where they talk about the number of cattle (which represent money) to be paid and so on. This payment is now increasingly being paid out in cash or both cash and cattle. I won’t go into detail about the whole process but you can stop by xxxxxx’s blog and read about her experience – (note: link has been removed at the request of the site owner).

    A number of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora are falling in love sometimes the people they are falling in love with are still living in Zimbabwe and regardless of that fact they are sticking to tradition and having customary marriages. Roora has now become big business with a number of brides’ families seeing it as an opportunity to get their hands on some hard cash. With the groom living outside Zimbabwe it is becoming more and more common for the families to demand payment in foreign currency. Some even go as far as to demand cars and houses.

    Fact of the matter is that a number of the men are not able to meet these demands or see them as absurd. The man’s family may try to negotiate further but in most cases they run for the hills never to be seen again and the couple ends up not getting married. I have a relative who demanded that his daughter’s suitor who is based in South Africa pay him in Rands. He asked for a very high and unrealistic amount that the groom and his family could not afford. The groom’s family left a little stunned promising to return for further negotiations. That was two years ago and they have not yet returned.

    Just because someone is living out of the country it does not mean that they are suddenly doing very well for themselves and can afford anything and everything that their heart desires. If anything, it is a little harder for them to get on their feet. A number take up menial jobs and are struggling to get by. As is the case with a lot of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora they are looking after relatives and family back home by sending them whatever money they can.

    People should not forget about where they came from and wherever possible should stick to tradition. In the case of Roora, people should not exploit such a custom for their own personal gain and should use it for what it is meant for, defining relationships between two families.

  • Sanctions Against Zimbabwe

    Over the years, a number of countries world wide have been placing sanctions on Zimbabwe. These sanctions have been mainly targeted towards members of the Mugabe regime. Countries imposing sanctions include the United States, Britain, the EU, Australia and New Zealand just to name a few. Sanctions include travel bans, financial sanctions and a ban on trading with companies that are linked to the Zimbabwe government.

    Now they are going a little further than just targeting people directly involved with the Zimbabwe government. Australia recently deported the children of top Zimbabwe Government officials who were studying there. The United States has just imposed new travel and financial sanctions and will also be deporting the children of Zanu-PF officials.

    These sanctions may have made things a little harder for those on the lists but their lives are still go on as they continue to do what they do. Even the travel bans aren’t 100% effective. They are still able to travel to countries that don’t want them. If there is a UN summit or similar conference there isn’t a lot that can be to prevent them from attending. For example, there has been a big debate going on over the last few weeks about whether or not to allow Mugabe to attend the EU-Africa Summit in Spain this weekend (8th-9th December). British Prime Minister Gordon Brown plans to boycott the summit in protest of Mugabe’s attendance.

    The effectiveness of these sanctions can be brought into question. Does imposing sanctions change anything in a nation? Have they been effective in Zimbabwe? Are they having an effect on the people they are meant for? What kind of an effect do they have on the people of Zimbabwe?

  • The Fifth Brigade and Gukurahundi Massacres

    Gukurahundi which means ‘the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains’ is what Mugabe chose to call a military operation to combat civil unrest. In 1980 signed an agreement with North Korean President Kim Il Sung to have the North Korean Military train a brigade for the Zimbabwean Army. This brigade was known as the Fifth Brigade. Some have gone on to say it was the launch of organised genocide.

    On completion of their training and lead by Colonel Perence Shiri, the Fifth Brigade went out on their campaign of silencing dissidents. Their campaign mainly targeted the people in Matabeleland who were mostly loyal to Joshua Nkomo’s Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) who posed a threat to ZANU PF.

    The red beret wearing Fifth Brigade was not integrated into the army and only answered to Mugabe. They used a number of terror tactics to strike fear in the hearts of people. Countless numbers of people lost their lives. No-one really knows how many people lost their lives but estimates put it at 20,000.

    No-one has been held accountable for these atrocities and more and more people are urging the need for reconciliation and to start a commission similar to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. A more detailed report Gukurahundi in Zimbabwe is available for purchase.

  • Mugabe’s Supporters – “The Million Man March”

    Mugabe’s supporters in what was term “The Million Man March”.

  • Robert Gabriel Mugabe

    Born on the 21st of February 1924, Robert Gabriel Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe for nearly three decades. He played a key role in Zimbabwe’s independence struggle and bringing an end to British colonial rule.

    He came into power in 1980 as the prime minister of a newly formed Zimbabwe whose independence was internationally recognized on April 18, 1980. In 1987 he went on to become the President of Zimbabwe and has been at the helm since them. Some of his re-election campaigns were not without controversy as there were claims of vote rigging and intimidation. Elections are due to be held in 2008 and it will be interesting to see if Mugabe will continue on as the president.

    He went to great lengths to build up Zimbabwe which seemed to be going well for a while. Having trained as a teacher he knows the importance of education and has/had been committed to improving schools for all Zimbabweans. As a result of this, a large number of Zimbabweans are educated and realize the importance of it. Kim Jong-il, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez

    Zimbabwe was seen as the bread basket of Africa with people wanting to be in and not out of Zimbabwe. A number of people have attributed the fall of the nation to Mugabe’s governance. Mugabe has pointed fingers at the West for various problems that the nation is facing. He is known for his attacks on the West and has fostered relationships with leaders of nations who are at odds with the West such a Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, just to name a few. He has even managed to have his name included amongst the world’s worst dictators.

    Despite what a lot of people think about Mugabe, he still has a lot of support and he is still going strong for his age. How much longer he will be around for is anyone’s guess. There is so much that can be said about Mugabe. A lot of what is said about him is that he is the cause of everything that is happening to Zimbabwe. If he is indeed the cause for Zimbabwe’s collapse is there a way that he can start to rebuild it or will a fresh new government have to be put in place to carry out this task?

  • Zimbabwe’s Economy – Black Friday

    • US $1 is now worth ZW $2,000,000 on the black market.
    • Inflation is said to be around 15,000% (independent analysts put it much higher).
    • Is it all a result of Mugabe’s mismanagement and controversial policies?
    • Mugabe recently said that Zimbabwe’s economy would not collapse.
    • What marks the collapse of an economy?

    The economy has been spiralling downward for a decade now. Zimbabwe used to be the breadbasket of Africa but now it is in a situation where the average person really struggles to make ends meet. Even if they do manage to get their hands on a bit of money to buy basic commodities it can be a struggle trying to get their hands on them due to shortages. When will Zimbabweans see an end to such conditions?