The arrogance of African politicians is legendary, and one can only point to the powerlessness of “we the people” to do anything to determine the course of national politics. The ballot has already proven to be a useless vehicle for change anyway as unelected men and woman still find their way into the corridors of power, perhaps that’s what has bred this unmitigated arrogance. Perhaps.

These politicians open their loud mouths, say whatever they want when criticised and get away with it, with “we the people” only cursing why and how the hell we allowed ourselves to have these arrogant men as government officials. Examples are too numerous to mention, but it got me thinking the other day when I read about Welshman Ncube calling his coalition partners from the MDC-T idiots or something to that effect, at least according to a SW Radio interview with Violet Gonda.

The issues bordered on what others in the coalition and indeed in the public arena perceive as deliberate stalling and endless postponements of meetings of GPA negotiations. Justifiably, the MDC-T felt the frustration of having meetings postponed and with Ncube and his MDC-M colleagues endlessly engaged in “national business” visiting “world capitals” thereby forcing the postponements. And then Ncube says as far as he is concerned, SADC did not put a deadline on the resolution of outstanding issues but rather provided a framework (according to his dictionary, he said) for the negotiators. All these allegations being levelled against the MDC-M are “nonsensical and idiotic,” Ncube suggests. “That is a creation of those who grandstand and who are masters of deception. There never was a SADC deadline. Those who want to believe there was, is their problem not mine. SADC provided a framework.”

It says a million things about what is wrong with this marriage of inconvenience where a coalition partner addresses his counterparts –primarily the PM who has raised some of the issues – as such and get away with it. It paints a graphic – and horrific – picture about the progress or the lack thereof with this albatross around our neck when we all know that all this gamesmanship – or feeble attempt at it – is only being perpetuated at the miserable expense of the ordinary man, woman and child who at the turn of the century had imagined a Zimbabwe with one political party to steer it to the prosperity we all deserve.

It is interesting that during one of the delays, the MDC-M negotiators were out of town on government business with one of Zanu PF negotiators at Chirundu border post. Cynics will argue that there you already had a meeting of negotiators though not official! Does it then come as a surprise then that we have a guy like Ncube simply dismissing with an epithet-filled tirade that which would only be expected from Zanu PF?

It would increasingly appear that MDC-T is waging a battle for a better and new Zimbabwe with both Zanu PF and MDC-M on the opposite corner, otherwise how else would we read such disturbing attitudes to the coalition from the same people who we expect to make this beast (GNU) work?  It takes us back to the arrogance of African politicians. A guy thinks because he is minister he is above reproach, forgetting that he has no claim over representing any constituency. Yet if there remains an absence of sincerity and nation-centric rapport among these coalition partners then we can bet Jacob Zuma will just be winking in the dark with these latest efforts to resolve the so-called outstanding issues and rescue the coalition from what the doomsayers say is an inevitable…well doom.

It is also interesting however that Zuma would be expected to read the riot act to Ncube and others despite the family ties that bind Mr. Ncube and Mr. Zuma. Is it not all a travesty? In a court of law no doubt Zuma would be called to recuse himself as mediator as he cannot be expected to objectively preside over this circus because of the Ncube factor. But then, “we the people” apparently have once again resigned ourselves to a situation where we leave our fate to the gods only because the men who should be steering this ship to placid waters render it a waste of time putting the “we the people” first.

- When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle – edmund burke, political philosopher – 1770.

Poetic Journey is the story of Zimbabwe told through poetry and mbira music. A young man refuses to celebrate the GNU because he can’t afford electricity, water and a host of other necessities. He realises that whilst he lives in poverty; the leadership is living in the lap of luxury.

The play was scheduled to premiere on the 25th of November and run from 26-27 November @ Amakhosi Theatre Upstairs.

The premier went very well on the 25th, with the audience interacting with the writer/director  and the cast after the show.

Trouble began after the performance on the 26th. After the show we walked into town; two members of the cast and I. We went our separate ways when we got into town. I decided to go into one of the smaller supermarkets along Leopold Takawira Avenue. As I was standing by the fridges, a guy in his late thirties approached me and asked a seemingly innocent question about the price of yoghurt in US dollars.

After buying what I wanted I walked to 6th Avenue to look for transport. The guy I had met in the supermakert was there and I immediately bacame suspicious and got into the nearest combi. He got in as well and sat next to me.

Speaking in shona,  he said, “you getting too clever”, and he left.

The next morning I received a lot phone calls from people who were saying they had been “advised” not to attend my show.

On the 27th I met the cast for our final show at Amakhosi. Two guys showed up around 6.30 pm. They pulled me asside and said my show wasn’t in the spirit of the GNU and I needed to stop the nonsense or else. They refused to identify themselves, but I recognised one as a police officer based at Queenspark.

I wanted the show to go on since it had not been officially BANNED but the cast members except one, were too scared to perform.

We had to turn people away and close the show.

Increasingly what you find on the streets of villages, towns and cities in Zimbabwe is irritation with the Government of National Unity. Yes we might have stocked shops. Yes the useless Zimbabwean dollar has gone. Yes schools have re-opened albeit in a stop/start fashion.

But the real issues – the issues that will turn Zimbabwe into a democracy continue to go unaddressed by both the MDC and Zanu PF. The MDC don’t have any real power to make fundamental changes in Zimbabwe and Zanu PF have no intention of coming good.

All they can do is talk, and talk and talk. And that’s why people are getting irritated.

I was pleased to see Gerry Jackson of SW Radio Africa take our politicians to task for focusing on the non-essentials like pirate radio stations. As she says, get real guys! And stop wasting time.

But then again talking isn’t hard work and it always comes with a swanky lunch and some fine wine.

Here’s Gerry . . .

A news report on Thursday quoted Welshman Ncube saying that the talks which began on Monday focused on “western sanctions against Zimbabwe, pirate radio stations and government appointments including those of the attorney general and reserve bank governor”. While another report said ZANU PF wants ‘the MDC to rein in its supporters in western capitals running “pirate” radio stations’.

Guys – please – get a grip. We’re not controlled, owned or are even members of the MDC. They can do nothing to have us closed down. Our broadcasts on shortwave and via the internet are completely legal and we want nothing more than a free, peaceful, democratic Zimbabwe. And yes we do believe that Zimbabweans have an absolute right to the information that has been denied them for so many years.

Perhaps I can remind you of the fact that in 2000 I challenged the government’s broadcasting monopoly in the Supreme Court and won the right to set up the first independent radio station, on the basis that freedom of expression was enshrined in Zimbabwe’s constitution. But Robert Mugabe used his presidential powers to have the station shut down after just 6 days, ignoring his country’s own constitution and courts of law.

Get rid of the appalling broadcasting regulations which were introduced in response to this court ruling. Allow myriad broadcasters to apply for a license, register as many as you can. Those that are any good will survive, the bad ones will go the way of all bad media. Get some decent newspapers on the streets, allow as many community radio stations as you can cram onto a waveband.

If you want to get rid of radio stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe – free the media. Really free it. It really is that simple. Discussion over, now will you PLEASE start talking about the real issues. You have a population that’s desperate, investors ready to throw money at Zimbabwe the minute there is a guaranteed return to the rule of law, respect for property rights, an end to the political intimidation and the massive human rights abuses – and Gono and Tomana really do have to go.

out beyond ideas of right doing and wrong doing
there is a field
I’ll meet you there
rumi

Last week the Tree of Life held workshops in the granite rocks of Mutoko
sheltering from the October heat under Mahatcha trees
as they dropped their ripening fruit into the circles

30 people had walked from their homes 1 to 2 hours away
all from the same community
headmen, councillors, community leaders and activists
victims and the perpetrators together in the same circle

victims who had become perpetrators
and perpetrators who had become victims
brother against brother
father against son

a community who have been carrying the brunt of political conflict and social upheaval in the centre of their families

but in this place
where they told their stories
they began to speak of something different
of their need to stop the violence
and to reconstruct their lives
to see beyond fear
into the eyes of their brother, neighbour, friend
and recognise that peace was more important

(there was even the space for humour
as one man said to the person who had burnt his house and stolen his chicken.
“the house I can understand – but my hen?
did you think she had a vote?”)

and when the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about
rumi

The trouble with trying to be clever is that you run the risk of idiocy. This maybe complete nonsense, or it could be a good blog. Let me know.

A very long time ago, before I was born anyway, Bob Marley came to Zimbabwe and sang ‘Get up stand up’ in front of thousands of Zimbabweans. Locks bouncing, his backing band doing their very best to keep up with his energy, Mr. Marley gave our country a soundtrack. The atmosphere was electric. Anything was possible. We had gone from telling all the mothers ‘No Woman No Cry’ to ‘Stirring it Up’ in the ‘Uprising’. But the ‘Buffalo Soldiers’ had returned and this was a new beginning. This, after-all, was the new Zimbabwe. For a few hours that night, there was no black, no white, no man, no woman, no child, just Zimbabweans. For a little while that night, and even after that, we were all one, united in singing ‘Songs of Freedom’.

Independence came, and went, but we were ‘Jammin’ together. Our President was hailed as a one of the great African Statesmen, a ‘Legend’. Zimbabwe couldn’t be prouder. Some of us had settled into a wonderful way of life. The ‘Sun is Shining’ we thought, as we happily braaied and drank Castles. Then the cracks began to show. All of a sudden the people started murmuring that we needed to ‘Stir it Up’ once again. The ‘Exodus’ of the best and brightest began in earnest, the word ‘Survival’ on their lips.

They left; the skilled, and the unskilled. Going to ‘Babylon by Bus’. And we who remained ‘Caught a Fire’ and became ‘Soul Rebels’. They resisted the lies, the bribery and finally the violence, quietly. ‘Time Will Tell’ we said. Those who dared rise up, ended up in the ‘Jailhouse’, while more and more people began to hum the notes to ‘Trenchtown Rock’. Abroad, the Diaspora yearned to know the ‘Real Situation’ and often they were told it was ‘War’.

‘So Much Trouble in our World’, quasi-fiscal became another word for instant impoverishment. Zimbabwe was weary, and hopeless, until the Global Political Agreement was signed. Until then we thought we had been ‘Waiting in Vain’, but, our ‘Redemption Song’ seemed to have been written at last.

Bob Marley died in 1981, a few months after we celebrated the first anniversary of Zimbabwe’s Independence. His music still lives, as do the people of Zimbabwe.

The Mass Public Opinion Institute conducted round 4 of the Afrobarometer survey in Zimbabwe in May 2009. The purpose of the survey is to compare public opinion about various economic civic and social issues across African countries.

The survey was supposed to have been undertaken in 2008, but the political instability prevalent in the country at the time made this impossible. Further, the sample size is based on 2002 Census figures, which are projected to 2008 figures with consideration being given to issues such as mass migration and displacement.

Despite many criticisms at its formation the majority of respondents expressed a belief that the Inclusive Government was the best way forward. Added to that 57% of respondents said that they would vote for MDC–T in the next election, as compared to 10% for ZANU PF. The popularity of the MDC is also mirrored in the high approval rating for Morgan Tsvangirai and his work in the Inclusive Government. Interestingly, Mr. Tsvangirai’s job performance is viewed positively by members of both parties.

It may be inferred that hope was restored to the public because 71% of respondents expressed satisfaction with the way government was managing the economy. Despite this, day to day issues were also seen in the survey, with the majority of respondents ranking management of the economy as the most important problem facing the country. Second to this were the issues of unemployment and education. Interestingly, a majority of respondents expressed greater satisfaction with the current state of the economy as compared with other years including 2004, 2005 and most notably 1999.

Issues of contention which arose during the survey presentation included the survey sample being based on 2002 census data; the fact that more respondents expressed greater satisfaction with the economy in 2009 as compared to 1999 and what the terms ‘economic policies’ and ‘economic management’ meant to the respondents.

What is most evident from the survey is that the formation of the inclusive government has restored hope in people. While many acknowledge the challenges in their own lives, they are optimistic that the country’s fortunes are on their way up.

Only time will tell if this hope is well founded.