The Zimbabwean opposition, that tired bunch, would first need to reinvent itself before it could lead an uprising.
And then there is Zimbabweans’ complicated relationship with Mugabe and Zanu-PF. Many suffer from a political version of Stockholm syndrome. Zanu-PF not only liberated Zimbabwe from colonial rule, before everything started unraveling, it also delivered some measure of prosperity. The Mugabe brand is a mix of irreparably damaged and historically glorious, and that confusing combination serves as a psychological block against revolt.

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Attorney General Johannes Tomana has rubbished recent media reports regarding the reappointment of Augstine Chihuri as Police Commissioner General by the President.

President Mugabe is the only person with the mandate to appoint or reappoint the Commissioner-General of Police and other constitutional bodies without consulting anyone except the Public Service Commission

Tomana uses a superfluous semantic argument about the legal differences between appointment and re-appointment in the constitution. Truthfully, he needn’t have wasted his breath.

The MDC is trying to exercise Subsection 20.1.3 (p) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 19)Act, 2008 states that the President:

in consultation with the Prime Minister, makes key appointments the President is required to make under and in terms of the Constitution or any Act of Parliament;

Where “in consultation” is defined in Amendment 19 as meaning that the President is required to consult and secure the agreement or consent of the person consulted. In this case the Prime Minister.

However, Chapter IX Section 93(2) of the Constitution which deals with the appointment of the Police Commissioner General requires that any appointments to this position be made “after consultation with such person or authority as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament”. In other words, the President may appoint, or re-appoint as his whims dictate.

In an audit of the Global political Agreement Dereck Matyszak notes that the MDC placed undue emphasis on gaining control of the Ministry of Home affairs which administers the Police Act. Given the number of lawyers amongst the MDC’s Party officials it is surprising that they were unaware that only the President and Police Commissioner General determine appointments within the Police Force, while the Attorney General may -Commissioner General to direct the Police Commissioner General to investigate criminal offences and he as the final say over  prosecutions. I’m sure that the MDC-T is very aware that the Attorney General, Mr Tomana, serves at the pleasure of the President.

In the beginning of the MDC-Ts formal relationship with ZANU PF Mr Tsvangirai has the opportunity to exert the authority of his office. He neglected to do so in favour of political expediency. MDC-T will of course cry foul to anyone who’ll listen over Chihuri’s inevitable re-appointment. They may even threaten to pull out of the Inclusive Government and throw themselves on the ground in front of Zuma and SADC begging that their boo-boo be fixed and the world made right again. They have only themselves to blame.

In concluding his introduction to the audit, Mr Matsyszak wrote:

No one should be surprised by the failure of the GPA to open democratic space. The chain of command over the instruments of state repression was unaltered.

Here’s an excerpt from an interview I’ve just done with the Executive Director of the Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust, John Makamure:

You work with both Civil Society and Parliament. For a very long time Civil Society has been advocating for media freedom, but obviously the legislative environment does not allow for this. Why do you think civil society is not lobbying parliamentarians directly to introduce the Private Member Bills that would change this?

I am also very concerned that our civil society friends are not taking advantage of the democratic space available in Parliament. Advocacy requires that you exploit any opportunities that are available. We have supported quite a number of public hearings that are conducted by committees in Parliament. We fund those. And we try to send out information to members of civic society. But the response has been very poor on some public policy matters, which we believe would be relevant to those organisations. We don’t understand the apathy. We need civic society to engage Parliament more and work with the committees and individual members to improve the public policy environment.

Sheltered beneath cool thatch
surrounded by green lawns and fig trees

a circle of Zimbabwean women sit passing a stone
sewing beads onto a red velvet cloth as each one spoke

women’s work

they cross three generations
mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, grandmothers
facilitators, lawyers, counselors, activists

What is it, we asked, that we celebrate about being women?
‘Our ability to love,
to take responsibility for our children, our families
to take responsibility for the food, and the schooling
our ability to hold serious jobs
to talk about our feelings
to share the load’

And what is difficult about being  women here, at this time?

‘Being disrespected
often abused,
by the men with whom we live
sexual harassment
political rape and violence’

It was a story of attrition and overwhelming responsibility

One of the elders spoke
of the infidelities of her husband
of the pain it had cause her young soul
as she watched over her small children

and of the growing strength of realization
that she was the one

she would not seek what was impossible
she would take the responsibility
and do the work
and love her children
because she had the courage and strength to do it

of the power and satisfaction her life had brought her
of the wonderful children she had grown into the world
of the circles of women she shared her life with

They spoke of strong, enduring, loving mothers
of the father who had supported one young woman’s journey
allowed her the freedom to make her own choices
of her gratitude for this trust in her abilities

They spoke of the ‘enemy within’
their own jealousies
of women’s part in infidelities
the insecurity they carried

And then they looked at what they could change
and of holding circles with men

It is the first conversation of many, many conversations

everything changes

SW Radio Africa (London) reports that ‘Hundreds turned out for the Global Free Zimbabwe protests’. The protests were organised by MDC-T in an effort to pressure the South African government and SADC to ensure that ZANU PF is forced to honour the Global Political Agreement.

Zimbabwe vigil organiser, Rose Benton explained to SW Radio Africa that the London part of the protests was ‘a very big success’. The Zimbabwean community in London is estimated to number 100 000 and is largely concentrated in London. An estimated 300 gathered for the protest there.

It is estimated that millions of Zimbabweans reside outside the country’s borders. However, globally, less than 1000 people participated. Success, I suppose, is relative.

As one half of government and a party to the GPA itself, I wonder at the naiveté shown by the organisers of the protests. There is no denying that ZANU PF has stymied implementation of the GPA. But after having fought for democracy for so long, I would have hoped that MDC-T might have formulated a different strategy that best utilises the tools they have at hand. Contrary to what the MDC-T would have Zimbabweans in the Diaspora believe, it is not entirely powerless in government. Combined all the MDC factions hold a majority in both houses of Parliament. Given these circumstances it is surprising that key provisions to the GPA such as amendments to POSA and AIPPA are yet to be passed into law.

Like ZANU PF, MDC-T has consistently failed to deliver on its promises to the people of Zimbabwe. These protests are nothing more than a mass diversion to take away attention from the real issues and dissociate that party from the mess it too has made of this transitional period. Moreover, MDC-T has gotten into the disturbing habit of looking for a big brother in its fight with ZANU PF. The MDC-T persists in appealing to an international community that is largely fatigued of the Zimbabwean situation and is plagued by its own problems. By doing so, MDC-T plays directly into the hands of ZANU PF who accuse the party’s leadership of letting their decisions be made by foreign ambassadors. Acquiring power is a struggle in itself, the difficulties of which should never be underestimated. No amount of hand-wringing and petition signing is going to make it any easier. After years of South African mediation and questionable sanctions, none of which have been effective in wresting power from ZANU PF, MDC-T really should know better. And if that party cannot hold its own, it shouldn’t be in the ring.

The threat of the downing of tools by Zimbabwe’s civil servants has reached fever peak with the workers representatives embarking on a campaigning streak to mobilize support for the strike. The workers are demanding minimum of US$538 per month for the least paid employee, which they reflects the poverty datum line. The impact of the first one-day nationwide strike yesterday was mainly felt in the education sector and in high-density schools were teachers failed to turn up for work leading to an assumption that the workers are not pulling in the same direction as some government workers reported for duty.

The year 2011 was a year of un-coordinated job action by various government departments demanding better salaries. Depending on how important the department was to the inclusive government at that time some government workers embarked on a strike and forced the government into submission.  An investigation of how the government has awarded increments and allowances to some of its employees leaves one wondering if some government employees are more special than others.

The most recent and more controversial was the paying out of allowances to Members of Parliament in December 2011 just after the Minister of Finance had indicated in his monetary statement that the government had no money for civil servants pay increments. The legislators had threatened not pass the budget in Parliament unless they were paid their sitting allowances, which the government owed them back to 2008. The same legislators went on to demand top of the range luxury vehicles whilst some teachers in the harsh rural areas like Nyamapanda are struggling without the hardship allowances just to motivate them to work. In July 2011 a paltry salary increment by the government was met with mixed reactions from the employees as they complain that it was far below the poverty datum line, which stood at US$502 at that time.

In April 2011 magistrates stopped work at Zimbabwe’s courts nationwide in protest over poor remuneration and they were immediately awarded the increment.  Not to be outdone fellow court workers, the prosecutors, downed tools in protest over salary discrepancies between them and magistrates.

Funds from diamond sales and the special treatment of certain civil servants whilst neglecting others has fueled plans for a nationwide strike by the civil servants. If the legislators can manage to pay each other a whopping US$15 000 some may argue that maybe the Minister of Finance has a secret pool where he can access funds in times of crisis.