In an analysis titled Debating Zimbabwean-ness in Diasporic Internet forums, researchers Wendy Williams and Winston Mano explore the way in which national identity and citizenship were debated in an online discussion forum on the tabloid news site NewZimbabwe. The analysis focuses on an online discussion of Makosi Musambasi, who participated in Big Brother UK 2005, providing an interesting insight into how we as Zimbabweans construct our collective identity.

Like many Zimbabweans of my generation and more in the succeeding ones, all I wanted to do after high school was leave the country. Yet it was when I left and had experienced otherness in another country I wanted nothing more than to come back.  There is nothing that makes you feel more Zimbabwean than leaving Zimbabwe. In my time away, I spent hours on the Internet looking for anything and everything I could find that might possibly bring home to me. Including other Zimbabweans and time and time again I was disappointed. The group that was supposed to create a soft landing for fellow émigrés was mired in infighting and political struggles. Other Zimbabweans would get in touch only when they needed something.  I remember one African Union like gathering that was so overwhelmed by Nigerians that there was nowhere for them to sit. And even though there were several thousand Zimbabweans living in that city, our table for ten could hardly find three people. This is not to imply that that we are an exception among nationalities, but it is peculiar that even Zimbabweans themselves have observed that we are the least united of all the nationalities. There is not a single person living in or who has returned from the Diaspora who cannot recount at least one story of Zimbabweans being taken advantage of, excluded and sometimes even oppressed by fellow countrymen. An example is the news story of the man who was accused of selling the names of undocumented Zimbabweans to the Home Office in the UK.

The report observes that the Internet has provided a means for Zimbabweans both in and out of the country to set up a vibrant media culture, therefore a space for a more robust and inclusive debate regarding Zimbabwean-ness. It also notes that ‘[t]he discussion has shown how diasporic Zimbabwean media culture incorporated and subverted mainstream representations on the British media. The intensity and scope of the debates around the participation of a Zimbabwean nurse, Makosi Musambasi…are a good example of the mobilising aspect of national identity on the Internet.’

Disappointingly, those posting comments on the forum reject Makosi’s authenticity as a Zimbabwean because her parents were not born in the country.  Reflecting on this, Williams and Mano write:

Although Makosi had lived her whole life in Zimbabwe, forum participants excluded her from the nation in similar ways as the Zimbabwean Government sought to disenfranchise Zimbabweans of Malawian, Zambian and Mozambican descent from their citizenship. In this way highly exclusionary notions of the nation were thus reproduced on the New Zimbabwe forum.

I can see why the state chooses to broadcast propaganda, it works. And ironically it has worked on the very people who by virtue of their location outside Zimbabwe are economically if not politically opposed to the party’s authoritarian grip on everything Zimbabwean, including identity. But regardless of where they live, their political affiliation and even skin colour, for many people being Zimbabwean is no longer defined in terms of what country you were born and grew up in or common experiences. As Zimbabweans we define our Zimbabwean-ness in terms of what it is not, rather than in terms of what it is. We are just as guilty as ZANU-PF of perpetuating a nationalistic misconstruction of our common identity. Individually, we divide and create an ‘other’ based on what is perceived as mis-culture or acculturaltion. This becomes personally unacceptable, and instead of uniting and embracing the diversity within our culture we reject each other for petty small-minded reasons. It’s no wonder then that there are people in Matebeleland who believe in creating a separate Ndebele state, or that Zimbabweans of European descent are first white then Zimbabwean. In fact depending on where and how we grew up, we are all Zimbabwean second.

I am disappointed by Zimbabweans. Even as we create conversations and actions about rebuilding Zimbabwe, the same breath is used to exclude other equally capable Zimbabweans, be they ZANU-PF or MDC-x members, Diasporans, white farmers, or Angolan/Malawian/Mozambican/Zambian-Zimbabweans. Surely this is a process that will require every Zimbabwean, regardless of location, language preference, political affiliation and most especially ethnic origin.

So Equitorial Guinea has a constitutional referendum – basically to let dictator Obiang’s son become Vice President. Armed militia present IN the polling stations. Result? 99.4% in favour. Um. Okay. Because that 0.6% against is really going to make it look less rigged? Since he’s now top of the list as Africa’s longest serving dictator, you’d think he’d know better by now not to make it so obvious.

U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Ambassador Charles A. Ray, gave a talk at the embassy’s public affairs section in commemoration of Veteran’s Day, which falls on the 11th of November annually. A US veteran himself, having served in the military from 1962-1982, and as one who has been making the effort to completely transition from military to civilian life for the past 29 years, the Ambassador’s credibility on the issue was unquestionable.

“They say a leopard can’t change its spots. Well, each year thousands of military veterans change their spots, and they make the transition back into being civilian,” the Ambassador said. He addressed the transition under the following 3 topics:

1. US govt contributions – GI Bill of rights
The government has taken a legislative approach to helping soldiers, especially through the 1944, Serviceman’s Readjustment Act, which sought to make reintegration into civilian life easier for returning soldiers through providing:
Education
Job training
Job location
Low interest home loans – contributing to the housing market boom in the 60s.

2. Return of Vietnam veterans and eventual recognition of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
The Ambassador emphasized that the reception a soldier receives on his return home, also has an impact on their readjustment to civilian life. The Vietnam war generated a lot of frustration, protest, anger in American society, which affected the way people treated returning soldiers. This frosty welcome, coupled with PTSD, (mental illness resulting from exposure to combat trauma), meant that these veterans did not do as well at readjusting to civilian society.

Ambassador Charles stated that approximately 20% of the 2,700,000 who served in Vietnam experienced PTSD, which could be very incapacitating flashbacks, extreme anxiety, which affect the soldier’s reintegration. The eventual recognition and establishment of treatment services for PTSD has helped the war vets. Currently, the US Army takes great care to treat and inform soldiers and their families of PTSD in order to combat it.

3.Personal Perspective
“While my story might be easy to read on paper, I can tell you from personal experience, that the transition is something that is accomplished with no small amount of difficulty.” Ambassador Ray said this before explaining some of the things that affected his, not-yet-complete, adjustment to civilian life.

He explained that the military is a highly structured environment where each person has a place with heavy emphasis on discipline, planning, preparation and training. He also explained that there was a sense of camaraderie in the institution, unlike any other in the world and a strong sense of respect for authority and each other. Ambassador Ray expressed his difficulty with the casual way civilians relate to and address each other and even with calling people who are senior to him in the hierarchy by their first name, as this was unheard of in the military.

“In the military, you never have to worry about what to wear”. An everyday task in civilian life, such as, deciding what to wear proved a challenge to the Ambassador for several years. He still maintains a military haircut that he gets cut at a military barber and still wears military shoes.

Many of the skills attained in the military he says have often helped him in his professional career. Though he has come a long way in his transitional journey, the Ambassador admitted that he is still not quite a civilian.

Through his contacts with military and former military people globally, both from regular (military) and irregular forces (rebel forces, child soldiers), the Ambassador says the problem of readjustment are pretty much the same.

Article 21 section 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Right states that; ” The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.”  This is of one of the international instruments used as the basis for the conduct of free and fair elections in a country. The major challenge with many countries is on how to guarantee the conduct of free and fair elections and to ensure equal suffrage.

The Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) and The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) foundation co-hosted a conference in Harare under the theme ” Pathway to Popular Legitimacy”. The purpose of the conference was to engage and promote reflective dialogue amongst Zimbabweans. The conference touched on various issues covering content of road map to free and fair elections and its challenges and opportunities and legislative reforms and imperatives of security sector reform.

In his presentation Mr Dieudonne N Tshiyoyo the Programme Manager of Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) highlighted that under the three phases of an electoral process, which are Pre-Election, Voting and Post-Election, the constitution of the country should guarantee a free and fair election. Freedom of movement, speech and assembly are some of the characteristics of free and fair elections. An Electoral Act and system that grants no special privileges to any political party or social group should to be put in place to ensure and guarantee the contact of a transparent free and fair election.

In the Zimbabwean context the Zimbabwe Election Support Network notes that the Global Peace Agreement signed by the three political parties in the country provided an opportunity for legislative reforms on laws like the Electoral Act, AIPPA and POSA thereby presenting an opportunity for the conduct of fair and free elections in the country. The role of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission came under the spotlight especially on the ballot stuffing issue.

Some of the issues raised emanated from the challenges, which were faced by voters in the previous elections conducted in the country. The voter’s roll and the presence of police officers to assist voters in the polling stations during elections came under the spotlight and the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) highlighted that some of these issues are a result of the provisions of the law. Under some of the best practices being followed in other countries an independent electoral body is given the mandate to maintain the voters roll. Currently in Zimbabwe the Registrar General is in charge of the voters roll, registration of births and deaths and according to a survey conducted by ZESN, the voters roll was reported to be in shambles with some deceased people still appearing on the voters roll. This has prompted some civic organisations to lobby for an independent body like ZEC to be in charge of the voter’s roll.

The crowding out of private media from the limited media space and repressive media laws has also reduced the role the media in the conduct of free and fair elections. The current Zimbabwean situation has seen the media being used as an instrument to promote hate speech, individual interests within parties and criminalisation of some sections of society. Some of the remedies discussed include that the constitution should guarantee media freedom and access to information, the establishment of an independent broadcasting authority and harmonised media regulation through self regulatory mechanisms.

Here’s a Kubatana subscriber’s response to Mugabe’s unacceptably large delegations when he travels overseas. Fighting talk, and fighting spirit – we need more Zimbabweans to speak out about the abuse of power.

It boggles my mind how Mugabe can travel with such a large delegation, surely there is no need for that.  How much is such a huge delegation costing the taxpayer for accommodation which must be the best, allowances, etc.  Ridiculous!!!  That money can be used to feed thousands of starving children and old people.

The trips to see the ‘eye specialist’ almost every other month is another waste of money.  We have very good eye specialists here so what is wrong with seeing one of them?

Why was his wife part of that delegation?  No, don’t answer that – SHOPPING!!!!   I’m glad she now knows what it feels like to have her visa application denied.  Also to threaten Switzerland is very childish on his part and shows how his mind works now.

My 11 year old daughter was denied a visa to visit my daughter in the UK (accompanied by me) on the grounds that she was going to look for employment there – did I threaten them although their claim was very stupid to say the least? NO!!!!

I look forward to next years elections.

Aluta Continua!!

Here are some excerpts from the Prime Minister’s Question Time in Parliament:

Gay Rights
Hon. Dorcas Sibanda (MDC-T Bulawayo Central) asked the Prime Minister to clarify his position on the issue of gay rights in the light of recent media reports. The Prime Minister indicated that he was just echoing what Zimbabweans expressed during the COPAC outreach programme. He said his personal view did not matter and government position would be guided by the outcome of the constitution.

Measures to Deal with Political Violence
Hon. Marvelous Kumalo (MDC-T St. Mary’s) asked the Prime Minister if government had any policy measures in place to deal with political violence. The Prime Minister said government did not condone violence. He noted that there had been reduction in cases of violence in the country. He pointed out that it was the responsibility of the police to curb violence in the country. He said government principals had tasked the co-Ministers of Home Affairs to ensure that police carried out their duties professionally. He also appealed to national leaders to ensure that the message on peace should cascade down to lower structures of society.

Liberalization of the Airwaves
Hon. Innocent Gonese (MDC-T Mutare Central) asked the Prime Minister what government was doing to liberalize the electronic media in fulfillment of Article 19 of the Global Political Agreement (GPA). The Prime Minister said government leader had assigned the Minister of Media, Information and Publicity to reconstitute the Broadcasting Authority of Zimabwe (BAZ) board and to expedite the liberalization of the airwaves. He said that government was also concerned with hate speech and vilification of other government members by the state controlled media.