Patience Mambo submitted the following piece to Kubatana recently on the subject of expectations in regard to the new Unity Government. She believes that its good to have hope and faith, but within the bounds of reason and realism . . .

The political crisis in Zimbabwe since 1999 has led to a rise in the cost of living, an unlivable economic climate, despair, unrest and socio-psychological turmoil. That the two political rivals should finally agree to work together presented a thin thread of hope millions of Zimbabweans were desperate to clutch at. But are they placing their eggs in one basket? Are they being too hopeful for solutions in a scenario that may or may not work?

In 1980, Zimbabwe gained independence from white colonial rule. Suddenly blacks were free to walk in Salisbury’s First Street, they could stay “kumayard” such as Highlands, and they could ride in first class public transport and so on. Most (many of whom were poor and impoverished) dreamt that independence meant an instant change in their social position. They dreamt that suddenly they were in a land of milk and honey and when they realized that they still had to work for every bread crumb they ate, they got a rude awakening.

The story is the same for black South Africa. Independence from White apartheid rule in 1994 carried a huge wave of expectation. Many black South Africans thought independence would usher in a lightning bolt of social transformation. Suddenely they saw themselves rising from shacks (mikuku) to brick houses; they saw their pockets filled with the much coveted Rand; education for their children in the plushest of schools formerly meant for white South African children; the list is endless. But this was not to be and today, the majority of black South Africans are still to realize those dreams.

11 February 2009 marked a great and historic event in the Zimbabwe’s, and indeed the Southern African Development Community’s calendar. Three major political rivals formed a joint government in perceived to be impossible circumstances. Zimbabwe has had the same president for close to 30 years. The ruling party has been battling with a stubborn and headstrong opposition for the past 10 years. So it becomes not only exciting and intriguing that they should finally come together to form a much awaited and long overdue government.

The majority of the people are looking to this new political dispensation to dilute (if not erase completely) their suffering and magically transform their lives from Egypt and lead them to the New Canaan.

People should be informed that manna will not simply fall down from the sky to pick up and eat at free will. People will still have to work hard to produce and henceforth generate much needed foreign currency. If you are uneducated you will not wake up a general manager, if you are lazy, you still won’t have bread to feed your children. Those willing to give the new leaders a chance, while working hard for themselves stand a better chance. Those who think things will automatically improve have a bitter pill to swallow. It’s good to have hope and faith, I think, within the boundaries of reason and realism!

Colletah, a Kubatana subscriber wrote to us recently sharing views on the recent power sharing deal in Zimbabwe . . .

What happened in Zimbabwe is not good. When will African leaders ever be able to appreciate the democratic fact that those who lose elections should simply hand over to the winners? The fact that Morgan  agreed to be sworn in with dozens of his supporters jailed for the most spurious of charges is deeply troubling. The fact that he dropped his legitimate demand for their unconditional release before taking any oath is very disturbing.

I have deep reservations about his strategy to fight  ZANU from within. I will always remember one of my students who said “one cannot push an immobile bus from inside – it does not work.” Those who have cohabited with Mugabe in the hope they can reform from within have ended up either being absorbed into the same defective system they sought to reform or being completely emasculated or ruthlessly eliminated. There is nothing to suggest that  Mugabe is serious about the power sharing deal. Which is why he keeps on detaining dozens over trumped up charges. There is nothing to show that he is serious about the reforms required to reform Zimbabwe’s institutions to restore the rule of law. That is precisely why he would not give  Tsvangirai sole control of the Home Affairs ministry in charge of the highly politicized Zimbabwean police force. Not to mention the defence and state security portfolios he has used to bludgeon opponents. I don’t expect any stampede of donors and investors back into Zimbabwe. In fact, by rushing to bankroll the new government, the donors will be promoting the very disturbing trend in which election losers stay through power sharing deals. I am very sad at the developments this week

If at all there are opportunities in genuine Nation Building please remember that there are people  willing to come  home but do not know how to go about it .  Taneta nekugara musango!

‘We are not ready to commit suicide yet.’

- Nelson Chamisa, the then spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change, quoted in Time Magazine 9th February, on the MDC’s refusal to enter into a power-sharing agreement with Robert Mugabe.

Nelson Chamisa is now Minister of Information and Communication Technology in the Unity Government.

The date of the ‘yet’ is still to be determined.

Last year I was asked to contribute to a study on how information communication technologies (ICTs) are used in the civil society sector in Zimbabwe. One of the questions I was asked was what Kubatana would do if the Mugabe regime disabled our email and internet communications. My response went something like . . . we’ll make sure to get back up and running. And that you can’t keep a good project down!

Last week it wasn’t the Mugabe regime that interrupted our internet communications, it was the US based company Bluehost. We’ve used Bluehost for the last few years to host our blog, we’ve promoted their services on our main web site Kubatana.net because their service has been good, and we also encouraged organisations like Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) and Island Hospice to use Bluehost.

Unfortunately these two organisations were also brought down by Bluehost.

Bluehost’s communications with us say that they have had to take this action because it is illegal to do business with Zimbabwe due to sanctions applied by the US Government.

Indeed it is true that the US has imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe, but these sanctions are specific and targeted. And Kubatana, WOZA and Island Hospice are not not the list of sanctioned organisations or individuals.

Bluehost has chosen NOT to champion freedom of expression, nor have they afforded us, a fairly long standing customer, any respect by investigating the issue more deeply.

Matt Heaton, the CEO of Bluehost, wrote to us saying that he was particularly irate that members of the Kubatana community and other supporters of freedom of speech like Ethan Zuckerman and his readership, had “spammed” the Bluehost abuse and legal department.

This is where, and when, I feel immensely proud and warmed by our supporters taking the time to lodge legitimate complaints with Bluehost. It’s not spam Matt.

In the meantime we’ve had blogs backing up but with the help of Ethan, and an introduction to Rimu Hosting, and of course, Kubatana’s resident stellar-techno-kick-arse Brenda, we’re on stream again. So will WOZA and Island Hospice be soon.

Very many thanks to everyone who has supported us in this issue. Here I share with you one of our favourite emails sent to Bluehost by a Kubatana subscriber:

I find it incomprehensible that you have taken the decision to no longer host the Kubatana blog.  Are you unable to discern the difference between the tyranny and oppression of a despotic regime and a small group of people who tirelessly and in the face of adversity use the medium of the Kubatana blog to disseminate credible, relevant and important information to the outside world? It beggars belief that you find a blog, which works towards FREEDOM OF SPEECH in a country hamstrung by some of the most repressive media legislation in the world, worth sanctioning! Zimbabweans have to deal with enough!  They need your assistance to disseminate information.  The so called targeted sanctions should be exactly that – TARGETED!  Use your common sense!  Kubatana is part of the change Zimbabwe needs. Show the US’s reputation in the rest of the world is NOT justified.  Take five minutes to look at this issue.  It does not take a rocket scientist to work out that Kubatana should NOT be sanctioned! Support democracy! Yes YOU can!

If the MDC is planning to extradite Mengistu Haile Mariam, the former Ethiopian dictator, I wonder if they’ll help get Jestina Mukoko out of illegal detention in Zimbabwe?

Lionel, a Kubatana subscriber, shares his views with us on the Government of National Unity.

A new so called era has emerged where a unity government of some form has been developed to help us move forward. Let us beware of such moves because this ploy was done back in 1987. Look what it has done to our beautiful country. Completely plundered by Hagar and his Horribles. History must not be repeated and forgotten now. The history of our country was cleverly removed by a despot who wanted to start a new leaf. He did start a new leaf again by ridding our country of many people considered not worthy of their own birth right. Who or whom gives this present regime the right to play God with our lives. They have destroyed our means of survival and yet they are still proud to strut their stuff. From now on we must criticise our so called leaders and they must now learn to accept criticism. Without healthy criticism the rot will continue and as we all have learnt by now, a massive wrong was done by those in power because we all kept quiet. Our friendly nature as Zimbabweans must be also looked at, because this is what has brought us down. We must act to see that all are involved in developing a new constitution and ensure the elected people only do one or two 4 year terms.