We thought flight was easy -
A simple flapping of our fragile wings
Against the waves of air whirling us to freedom;
Then, we thought we were gods and goddesses,
Hallowed creatures haloed in light,
circling the skies – our own domain of royalty
where neither graveness nor gravity could ensnare us.

Then, we thought flight was
effortless and flawless;
And we didn’t realise that wings can be crushed and broken,
That winds can be brutal,
And that the kindly skies can sear too with rage and fury.

Then, we thought we were admired and revered,
Immortal and invincible:
Creatures of majesty sent to conquer the world
With our youthfulness and beauty,
But that was before we had fallen,
Before we had felt the pain of broken flight,
Thudding to the pitiless earth with wounds gaping with our own blood and bones;
That was before we had known that the elements are not always in our favour,
And that this flight and this life are a continual fight against fierce forces
That do not care for our raw dreams and determination.

Recently Kubatana offered Brian Chikwava’s new book, Harare North, as a prize for the best bit of writing on the Diaspora. Here’s something from Martha in Bulawayo . . .

For me the Diaspora is any place outside Zimbabwe. This is in contrast with the main belief that the Diaspora is over the seas. I grew up in Tsholotsho and most men over the age of eighteen are in Egoli, as Joburg in South Africa, is commonly known. For me they are in the Diaspora. For the past thirty years or so this has been an increasing trend and it has led to an appalling lack of ambition. Boys dream of going to Egoli and girls dream of getting married to Injiva (a man working in South Africa). To me the Diaspora means a  total disregard for education, a break down of the family system (men working in South Africa only visit their families once or twice a year) and lack of achievement – although it might be argued that being able to  feed one’s family is achievement. But I believe if a person who could have been a doctor, an engineer et cetera ends up being a mere gardener in South Africa, there is a lack of achievement. The Diaspora has set an unreal sense of achievement so much that the youth, and in some cases adults, have totally lost focus. To me the Diaspora means a disturbance of a people’s value system and belief in themselves.

I have to say this. I have commented on local social and political issues from way back before the turn of the century and for me whether it has been objective or emotional, one thing has always stood out in my analysis and understanding of local politics: the sincerity of Zanu PF is always and has always been suspect.

Everything the party says – the individuals as a collective – is taken in at your own peril. Whatever people say, the analysts, the opposition, the academics, there is always a caveat.

Beware – they (Zanu PF) only put up a human face to a leviathan that only seeks the dominance of other people’s lives. And all this based on the folly of imagining their own immortality.

I wrote a long time ago about how Mugabe made snide remarks way back in the early years of independence about a white legislator who sued govenment and won the case only to have Mugabe – then the darling of the white world -  to issue an edict that the pay out would be a waste of taxpayer’s money so why pay it.

Now they (Mugabe types) are arressting or rather re-arresting all kinds of activists in direct contravention of the so-called GPA so where does that leave us? Are we there yet? Stupid question! Are we ever getting there?

With this kind of crap where everybody seems to think the leopard will change its colours one can only commiserate with the opposition – and the rest of the incorrigible optimists – where popular thought is that Mugabe and the other types are about or on the road to Damascus. It has always been a trifle that actions speak louder than words, so folks how louder can it get?

The question then is: how do Zimbabweans get themselves out of this mess as the whole world is saying we only pass this Rubicon when they see genuine changes? We have lived with this crap for long enough and we surely deserve better.

The Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ) has just withdrawn from the highly controversial Zimbabwe All Stakeholders Media Conference set to start tomorrow. They cite the re-detention of Zimbabwean activists as the reason for their withdrawal.

We need more of this. Much much more. Without this kind of public condemnation of the behaviour of the Government of National Unity (GNU) there will be no hope of achieving a return to the rule of law and respect for human rights.

I hope that others involved in the conference will follow the example set by MAZ and stand up for justice.

Shame on ANY of you who don’t.

05 May 2009.

Media Alliance of Zimbabwe Position Statement on the Re-Detention of Journalists and Human Rights Defenders.

The Media Alliance of Zimbabwe advises members of the Zimbabwean public, the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity, and Members of Parliament of its decision not to attend the Zimbabwe All Stakeholders Media Conference scheduled for this week from the  6th to the 9th of May 2008 in Kariba. This decision was made following the re-arrest and detention of human rights defenders, in particular Zimbabwe Peace Project director Ms. Jestina Mukoko and freelance journalist Mr. Andrisson Manyere on charges that can only be considered political.  It is MAZ’s view that their re-detention represents an apparent abuse of the judicial process which undermines the spirit and letter of the Global Political Agreement, especially as regards the restoration of a political environment that is democratic and respectful of the rule of law, as well as cognisant of the urgency of ensuring the security and freedom of human rights defenders and citizens in general.

It is in this context that MAZ considers it impossible to participate at the government All Stakeholders Media Conference when human rights defenders and journalists such as Ms. Mukoko and Mr.Manyere, who are presumed innocent until proven guilty, continue to be targets of repression.

MAZ remains committed to engaging the government to ensure that genuine media law and policy reforms are made in a politically conducive environment, and according to the letter and spirit of the GPA.

Ends//

MAZ comprises of MISA-Zimbabwe Chapter, Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe National Editors Forum, Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe, and African Community Publishing and Development Trust.

18 human rights activists including Jestina Mukoko have been re-detained on terrorism charges by the Government of National Unity in Zimbabwe. Morgan lets see some muscle; lets have some freedom. Now.

Francis Fukuyama reviews The Challenge for Africa by Wangari Maathai and Dead Aid by Dambiso Moyo.

But the truth is that these books have more in common than their authors may admit. Both women see sub-Saharan Africa’s fundamental problem not as one of resources, human or natural, or as a matter of geography, but, rather, as one of bad government. Far too many regimes in Africa have become patronage machines in which political power is sought by “big men” for the sole purpose of acquiring resources—resources that are funneled either back to the networks of supporters who helped a particular leader come to power or else into the proverbial Swiss bank account. There is no concept of public good; politics has devolved instead into a zero-sum struggle to appropriate the state and whatever assets it can control.