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Archive for 2008

Civil society must re-strategize

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Monday, November 24th, 2008 by Natasha Msonza

Life under a dictatorship in Zimbabwe has seen all systems collapse, including the work of civil society organizations and human rights defenders. If its not the so-called war veterans stifling progress, it is the invisible government dictating obstructive policies like the recent food ban that saw a majority of needy Zimbabweans starve. The same government is slowly but systematically taking the country to hell by committing crimes against its own people, the most recent being the unexplained disappearance of the Global Fund money to fight TB and AIDS and the state indifference to the endemic cholera outbreak.

As to be expected some members of society and civil society have made efforts to protest. A risky occupation in the face of a brutal and unrelenting police force that is always ready to descend on peaceful protesters with baton sticks and tear gas. Marching, as we have seen in the last few years, has been rendered basically useless. So have picketing and other peaceful forms of civil disobedience. A number of civil society groups – notably WOZA, the ZCTU and ZINASU among others have been outstanding in staging protests in Zimbabwe. But none of their endeavors have achieved much. It is high time they all sat down and re-strategized to effect the mother of all protests in Zimbabwe.

The one obvious weakness that has been inherent in the previous protests staged by Zimbabwean civil society has been ‘individualism,’. How often do we hear that today WOZA is staging a demonstration, tomorrow it is the NCA, then ZINASU, and then ZADHR? Each time their separate protests hardly last 30 minutes or achieve the desired goals before the leadership is nabbed and the groups disperse. It is always the same pattern: go out in the street – police appear promptly – protest leaders are nabbed – the rest of the group disperses.

Instead of these individual groups staging their protests separately, it would be more strategic for them to come together as one unit driven by a single passion. The struggle for justice is not about populism or fame, it is about sacrifices and the sooner Zimbabwean civil society organizations realize this the better for everyone. Civil society should be willing to work with other member organizations because they are fighting the same cause – a rogue regime that is trampling its people.

Civil society needs to go beyond their differences and form a highly organized unit that will mobilize in such a way that will ‘confuse’ the police who are used to nabbing the one leader, rendering the protest over. A unified civil society must find tactics that will work. They must abandon ineffective mobilizations. The current type of demonstrations may make participants feel they have done something huge, or garner donor appreciation, but they will not end the crisis in Zimbabwe.

Organizing protests is also about logistics: where people meet; how and where they march to for instance. WOZA has been proficient in timely convergence with the help of synchronized watches and marching in silence for a distance while the crowd gathers. The same tactic  – if adopted by a unified movement of civil society groups has the potential to see the largest march since the 90s. The law of large numbers has historically proved to be the best crowd puller. The more people who march, the more infectious the spirit of solidarity and the higher the possibility of ordinary citizens joining in the protest – which is the desired effect, surely?

And, no matter how many they are, the police do not outnumber the ordinary citizens. The law of large numbers is critical in keeping the rogue police force at bay. Outside the CFX bank in Bulawayo, irritated customers retaliated and pounced on a policeman who was overpowered by the angry mob. Civil society needs must take advantage of the situation – the angry crowds and the fact that the police hardly have the fuel or the water to mobilize their water cannons!

This dictator is swallowing all of us

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Monday, November 24th, 2008 by Natasha Msonza

Phoenix, my fish that survived the ZINWA water ordeal that saw all my other fish die, swallowed her young one in an unprecedented move yesterday. I bought several other interesting fish to replenish the tank and ease her loneliness but somehow she perceived the other fish a threat – especially the hyperactive, ugly black gouramis and the red-tailed guppy.

Sometimes I wonder how many Zimbabwean mothers, who have no idea where the next supper is going to come from or where to get school fees, wishes she could just swallow her children and shield them from the cruel hell this country has degenerated into. I heard on etv yesterday that the South African government is currently debating the legality and practicality of deporting a two-year old whose mother died of cholera at Musina after illegally crossing the border to seek medical attention. Had the mother known this was to be the fate of her child isn’t it possible she would have wanted to ‘swallow’ him before she died in order to forestall the misery brought on by petty party politics and the hellish bureaucracy that dogs the lives of refugees at the hands of some xenophobic South Africans?

Meanwhile the Elders delegation was stuck in South Africa at the weekend because they were denied entry into Zimbabwe by the invisible government. It is obvious that the leaders of the invisible government have something to hide and as Carter rightly put it, are “very immune to reaching out for help for their own people.” They will not even allow critical humanitarian assistance to flow in where whole communities stand a chance of being wiped out by cholera and starvation.

SADC turned its back on the people of Zimbabwe, so did the AU and let’s hope that the Elders are not just going to give up. Unnecessary diplomacy and bureaucracy will see many a dictator thrive if the international community does not soon devise interventionist policies regarding Mugabe, especially where the welfare of a whole nation is at stake.

Not wishing to see another Iraq-style invasion, sometimes it is necessary to use force in order to oust a dictator and save the lives of innocent, defenseless people. This has become a matter of urgency because this dictator is swallowing all of us, not to protect us but to annihilate us.

Heartless souls

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Monday, November 24th, 2008 by Moreblessing Mbire

The current political situation in Zimbabwe has cost the ordinary person too much. I cannot imagine how people are surviving. Most food stuffs are sold in foreign currency yet the majority of Zimbabweans earn the Zimbabwean Dollar whose maximum withdrawal limit can only buy a loaf of bread. Public health institutions have stopped admitting patients leaving people no choice but to rely on home based care.

The living conditions are hard. Count the number of times in a day that you think about where to get what. In most cases time is spent trying to find the means to survive. Sometimes I wonder if ever we are going to be normal again. People have been turned to what they are not. Most people who work in public institutions have turned into ‘heartless souls’. Imagine what kind of soul you need to have to turn away hundreds of people who evidently need medical assistance from a public hospital. Sometimes I feel for the nurses and doctors. How can you be expected to deliver a good service with no adequate drugs and health facilities?

I guess you need to kill a certain part of yourself as a way to brace up for the situation.

This situation slowly kills the spirit within. I for one am trying to resist but how can I succeed? Survival in this economic environment requires certain characteristics which may not necessarily be positive. There is so much potential for success in Zimbabweans. I am worried by the time we enter into a new political dispensation all this may be gone.

Outrage

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Monday, November 24th, 2008 by Bev Reeler

What outrage?
as you watch your much loved children starving
as your family is beaten and killed

What outrage?
as there is no seed for this years planting in Zimbabwe
as the schools are closed because the teachers are not being paid
or there is no phone
or electricity
or water

Along side this barrage of abuse
this abandonment of lives
this huge dying
there is a place on the other side of outrage
where we search for ways to keep our lives and our spirits intact

the welcome first rains feel like the unshed tears
held back for so long

Last week, Tendai wept in the circle
telling of her abduction and gang rape by 15 men
kept for 2 weeks
now with STD and HIV her life has changed forever

we sat whilst she cried

but at the closing circle she sang
and drummed and danced
and sang and sang . . .

On the other side of outrage
where we begin to consider what really matters
and look at other ways of survival
there are ripples of love and forgiveness and sharing
that emerge uncalled for

what space is this?
where the resilience of spirit
can still be sung?

speaking in many tongues
beyond outrage about who owns our words
we sing of a spirit that is still ours

A death warrant to all Zimbabweans

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Monday, November 24th, 2008 by Fungisai Sithole

A death warrant has been issued with immediate effect to all Zimbabweans following the closure of major government hospitals and clinics countrywide.

The Parirenyatwa and Harare Hospitals are just a few of many hospitals that have been closed for public treatment and consultations. The hospitals have been closed because of the unavailability of drugs, health personnel, water and electricity. Hospitals are now just dilapidated buildings whose state is symbolic of the crisis bedeviling the health sector. The hospitals are death waiting rooms where only those on the verge of dying are admitted hence the hospital authorities claim that only emergency cases are attended to. Recently, my friend lost a brother in law, a cholera case, who could not be attended to as he was deemed “not to be an emergency case.” As long as one goes to the hospital with a semblance of life, that person is deemed fit and therefore does not qualify to be an emergency case. One can only get admitted when through the naked eye he or she is clearly on their death bed and all they do at the hospital is to speed up your death as they have totally nothing to resuscitate life – from equipment to staff.

What the hospital authorities and the government of Zimbabwe need to know is that Zimbabweans are all emergency cases. No one can really be sane and healthy living in such miserable and unsafe conditions. The environment just makes one sick. People have no access to water, electricity, food, education and even their own cash in the banks. People now sleep in bank queues all for 500 000 dollars which is enough to buy a bunch of green vegetables. One wonders how Zimbabweans really survive and how such people can be normal and healthy when they are subjected to such injustices and disregard by the government that claims to be for them.

Pick up trucks

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Friday, November 21st, 2008 by Susan Pietrzyk

In the US of A where I hail from, seeing a pick up truck on the road generates several stereotypical thoughts about the people in the truck.  Likely they’re from a small town, perhaps farmers.  Or they might be contractors or construction workers, and sometimes they’re put in the category of beer drinking rednecks.  If a woman is driving and she’s not the truck owner’s wife, then there’s a good chance she’s a lesbian.  People are quick to put the stereotypes aside when moving residences because in that situation anyone with a pick up truck is your new best friend.

In Zimbabwe, or rather I should say in the urban hub Harare, pick up trucks are more common than any urban hub in the US.  Of late, I’ve been looking carefully at the people in pick up trucks in Harare.  And in nearly all cases, the sights pain me.  The intersection of Sam Nujoma and Herbert Chitepo is full of pick up trucks with people spilling out of the back side.  The passengers have sad faces. Likely the professionally dressed men and women are thinking:  What happened?  I used to drive my own car to/from work.  Now everyday I stand with 1000s of other people at this intersection and hope a kind pick up truck driver will stop right at the spot I’m standing so that I can beat the crowd and jump in.  If the driver stops 10 meters either side of where I’m standing I will miss my chance; therefore, I will curse that truck and pray to God the next driver receives my telepathic message to stop in my spot.

Most NGOs, UN agencies, etc. have the grand daddy of all pick up trucks.  The vehicles are big, bold and a truck, jeep, 4X4 statement of patronage and wealth all rolled into one.  I can’t see the faces of the passengers because the windows are usually tinted.  These trucks never stop for passengers.  And they always have the 4X4 features fully operating because Harare is full of bush and dirt roads.  I guess that’s why the drivers travel with machetes to clear a path if need be.  Yes.  It makes sense to spend the extra money on the additional fuel needed to operate these gas guzzlers.  Logical so that it’s easier to navigate the rugged terrain of Harare’s roads and robots during the daily routine of being driven from one meeting to another.

There are plenty of pick up trucks packed to the gills with people of all ages singing and cheering.  These are the shiny new silver trucks.  Inscribed on both doors in big black letters is ZANU PF.  Other words appear, but no need to read because the six letters are enough to understand. The drivers swerve a lot, make sharp turns, and ignore the robots as they gallivant around town spreading their message of 100% empowerment.  They zip around so quickly it’s hard to get a good look at the people making all the noise.  Often the rhetoricians are standing in the back of the cab.  Sometimes, given the reckless driving, the cheerleaders verge on falling out.  I suspect a good many of these brainwashed souls would like to fall out.

But where would they fall?