In response to my blog Civil society needs to re-strategize one of our subscribers sent in the following comment:

I do agree on peaceful demonstrations but fundamentally differ with the writer on the accountability of the organizer (s). I think the NCA, Woza, Zinasu and ZCTU have done enough as it is. Remember, it is illegal to have a group of more than four people or organising such. The organisers will be taking risks in organizing these demonstrations. My suggestion is for Zimbabweans to start getting involved in protests in a cunning way. No one should be given the task of organizing because then you need to coordinate and plan and put the whole project into a scheduled start-do-end scenario which has failed so far. In Thailand people have been protesting for 5 months. I don’t think there is a project manager for this, everyone feels responsible and they do not have an end date but an end objective and are actively dedicated. By cultivating bravery, Zimbabweans can change their destiny because those with power are a very small number compared to those who are suffering. Also those with power are actually frightened that is why they rely on guns, violence and intimidation. We are still at a stage where we value “going to work” even if that is now meaningless or “queuing at the bank” even though we may not get our money. We need the same determination to be cultivated in changing the lame duck mentality when it comes to demonstrating for social progress. The whole world is actually waiting for Zimbabweans themselves to actively and practically SHOW their disgust at what is happening in their countries before they can come and assist.

First off, to say civil society has done enough as it is akin to saying HIV and AIDS workers must just stop because now it is up to people to abstain, be faithful and condomize. The civil society organizations the author mentioned as examples are among the many others that pledged to stand up for the rights of others. It is their core business and what donors give them funds for. So to say they have done enough gives the impression that all their goals and objectives have been achieved, and that the human rights situation in Zimbabwe has improved to such an extent that they can now stop. Alternatively it gives the impression that their efforts have failed and its now up to Zimbabweans to sort this mess out themselves.

Secondly the fact that POSA criminalizes mass mobilizations is a matter of public knowledge. But despite that knowledge, WOZA, Zinasu, the NCA among others still go out to protest in large numbers because action like this is fundamental to civil disobedience. The quest to be heard calls for the need to do something that attracts attention. Mass protest achieves that goal.

Third, it is unfortunate that the author does not suggest means and ways Zimbabweans can “start getting involved in protests in a “cunning way, ” neither does he say how Zimbabweans can start “cultivating bravery” in order to change their destiny. I must point out that we are talking about a highly traumatized people that are scared out of their wits of the invisible government. A people that is trying to recover from witnessing their wives, mothers and sisters being raped senseless in their presence. How simple is it then for people to just jump up and protest one day without any form of leadership? Steve Biko so rightly put it that the most important weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. Zimbabweans have more than one enemy; they still have to get over the fear in their minds to be able to move forward.

That civil society has dared to protest is what gives us hope and is the very reason why we ought to harness that strength. Why should they not be encouraged to incorporate more practical means of protest that everyone else will feel compelled to join? Indeed Zimbabweans need to cultivate bravery but right now the pressing matter is that we’ve got a dictator in our midst, and the actions of civil society are what will give the ordinary citizens the clout to engage in protest. Cholera has failed to galvanize people, so have hyperinflation, poverty and food shortages. Only people can move people now.

The small protest activities that civil society has organized so far have required a lot of planning and have been dangerous to implement. Why shouldn’t they be encouraged to do the same thing at a more coordinated level so that we see some real change? Do they not owe it to the people whose rights they represent to form more practical, effective mobilizations that will include those same people in change processes?

Yes, it is true that the world is waiting for Zimbabweans themselves to do something about this situation, but remember, the rest of the world does not live here, like you and I do, and we happen to have first-hand knowledge of the exact situation on the ground.

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!

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.

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.

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

Jumped into my car today and went off to do two chores in town. Pretty much all the traffic lights weren’t working. There’s litter everywhere. The Sunshine City is decidedly grimey. I saw a large pod of riot police sauntering down Julius Nyerere Way and my heart skipped a beat. Maybe WOZA were around the corner. You can’t keep good women down. A couple of street kids were scooping water from a pipe on Samora Machel Avenue. I’ve never seen the city center so full of people. The banks are being besieged by people trying to get their hands on THEIR cash. Tsvangirai and the Movement for Democratic Change don’t need to bus anyone into Harare for the mother of all protests. They’re there already. It’s leadership that’s missing.