The front page of The Herald today reads: Minister Arrested. My first thought? Who now.

According to The Herald:

National Healing and Reconciliation co-Minister Moses Mzila-Ndlovu (MDC) has been arrested on allegations of failing to notify police of a meeting held on Wednesday at a primary school in Lupane. . . . Mzila-Ndlovu, the deputy secretary general of the Welshman Ncube-led MDC, was arrested yesterday morning in Lupane on his way to Victoria Falls where he was supposed to address a national healing meeting.

The following statement from ZLHR shares a bit more information about the arrest, and the arrest of Father Mkandla, who was arrested for convening the healing service Mzila-Ndlovu allegedly didn’t tell the police about.

The Church under attack in Zim as police arrest pastor and MP

Police in Lupane have arrested a Catholic Priest, Father Marko Mabutho Mkandla and Bulilima West Member of Parliament Hon. Moses Mzila-Ndlovu for allegedly convening a meeting without notifying the police.

Father Mkandla, who is represented by Nosimilo Chanayiwa of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) and Nikiwe Ncube of Webb, Low and Barry Legal Practitioners, who is also a member of ZLHR was arrested on Wednesday 13 April 2011 and charged with contravening the country’s tough security laws.

Police charged Father Mkandla with contravening Section 25 of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) after he allegedly convened a healing service at Silwane Primary School in Lupane, Matabeleland North without notifying the police.

The police also charged Father Mkandla with contravening Section 31(a) (i) of Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act for allegedly communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the State and violating Section 42 (2) of Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, that is causing offence to persons of a particular race or religion.

Father Mkandla was also charged with contravening the Censorship and Entertainment Control Act for allegedly possessing pornographic material. Although the police record at Lupane Police Station showed that Father Mkandla was released on Friday 15 April 2011 and transferred to Bulawayo Police Station, his whereabouts were not known late on Friday.

On Friday 15 April 2011, the police arrested Hon. Mzila-Ndlovu. ZLHR lawyers attended to the Bulilima legislator and will attend to him again on Saturday 16 April 2011.

Meanwhile, an Associated Press story puts the two incidents together and helps make more sense of the whole thing. Except that none of it makes any sense. Arrest a priest for holding a healing service. Arrest the Minister of National Healing for attending it (and when he’s on his way to address another national healing meeting)? You can’t make things like this up, they’re so absurd.

What does it mean to be Zimbabwean? If propaganda and political rhetoric from Our Dear Leader and his cohorts are to be believed it means winning a medal at some sporting event while, say, swimming or playing cricket for Zimbabwe. For those of us who are under achievers, or lazy, it means being black. I cannot help but feel that Zimbabwe is further away from resolving its racial issues than it was at Independence. Being born-free, and a member of the generation that attended private school without there being a quota system that mandated my presence, being Zimbabwean meant simply a love for my country and the things that make it unique. That is not to say that we weren’t aware of the cultural difference between races – we were.  But back then, it was ok to discuss them, to explore our individual identities within the context of our group identity as Zimbabweans, now it’s considered racist.

I think Zimbabwe is far from being post racial. I think there are those of us who in our heads, there are friends who I hang out with, who are definitely post racial in their outlook, but I think we’ve still got a lot of issues to deal with. There’s no doubt about it…racial issues and class issues. I’m not sure, but I think the last ten years have in some ways dragged us backwards, and in others have dragged us forwards. Dragging us backwards, there does seem to be more racial tension here now than there was when I was growing up. It’s definitely because of all the hate propaganda, the political propaganda that gets spewed in the state media. In how it’s dragged us forward, I think it’s made those who believe in Zimbabwe have to fight for it, be they black white or coloured, and that’s hopefully brought people closer together. At the same time Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, black, white: all these middle class kids who’ve gone abroad, connecting with their Zimbabweans identity. They grew up here and wanted to go away as quickly as possible, and then they go over there and try to find their identity and realize what connections they’ve got back here. There are interesting things that come out. You’ve got white kids in London who’ve got an mbira punk band and things like this that you end up appreciating what you have when you’re far away [from home].
- Comrade Fatso.

Read the full interview with Comrade Fatso here.

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has a tendency to use funeral speeches to attack some target or other, typically The West. There is even a name for this. Type in a Google search for “Mugabe funeral rant” and you’ll be amazed with what you find – for example, the Sabina Mugabe rant (“‘To hell’ with Europe and America) and the Joseph Msika rant ([The West] are not the people to deal with).

Yesterday, he gave the Menard Muzariri rant. According to AFP:

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Thursday condemned gay “filth” in Europe, as he lambasted Western powers for maintaining their asset freeze and travel ban on him and his inner circle. “We don’t worry ourselves about the goings-on in Europe,” he told thousands at the burial of deputy intelligence chief Menard Muzariri, who died Monday. “About the unnatural things happening there, where they turn man-to-man and woman-to-woman. We say, well, it’s their country. If they want to call their country British Gaydom, it’s up to them. That’s not our culture. We condemn that filth.”

I haven’t heard about the upcoming referendum to change the name of the United Kingdom to British Gaydom, but clearly when you’re in the diplomatic circles you have more inside information on these sorts of things.

Read the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) statement about the Muzariri rant:

Statement on President Robert Mugabe’s threats at the burial of Menard Muzariri

Statements by President Robert Mugabe castigating gays and lesbians at the burial of Menard Muzariri at the National Heroes Acre on Thursday 14 April are nothing new and only serve to reinforce our call for constitutional protection of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Intersex people that has been met with state sponsored homophobia of alarming levels.

It is time for the Zimbabwean government to reflect seriously on its thinking around human rights including those of its lesbian and gay citizens and Government should be implementing measures which proactively encourage a culture of meaningful human rights protection in this country.

Statements by the President are a contradiction of article VII of the Global Political agreement in which the President pledges to promote equality, national healing, cohesion and unity. The President should strive to “create an environment of tolerance and respect among Zimbabweans and that all citizens are treated with dignity and decency.”

Activists in Zimbabwe are not puppets of foreign forces, as government would have everyone believe: we want a responsible government that is responsive to the needs of all Zimbabweans and we are fighting for our own good and for our own benefit as citizens of Zimbabwe.

The President needs to provide leadership in overcoming Zimbabwe’s challenges in areas such as violence, unemployment, education and health rather than fostering antipathy and intolerance.

A recent update from the MDC shares the news of Shakespeare Mukoyi‘s release, after four nights in police custody and following his assault by police. Mukoyi was arrested with fellow congregants at a prayer for peace gathering on Saturday. The others were released on Monday:

Shakespeare Mukoyi, the MDC Harare Youth Assembly vice chairperson who was arrested and beaten by police at a peace prayer church service on Saturday was released on free bail on Wednesday. He was arrested with 12 other people who were released on Monday. Mukoyi who appeared in court with a neck brace after he was seriously assaulted by the police will appear in court on 18 May. He is facing allegations of assaulting a police officer on the day he was arrested.

Rumours of a revolution in Zimbabwe have been greatly exaggerated. Filled with hope but little practical knowledge, several unidentified groups took to Facebook in an attempt to replicate the Egyptian revolution here. These attempts have failed because as Ghandi says ‘Revolution has had no blueprint, and all the blueprints that were written before a revolution never proved true.’

In my recent interview with Professor John Makumbe, this is what he had to say about the failed Facebook attempt:

It failed because everybody knew it was organised from the Diaspora, and the Diaspora has no business organising people in Zimbabwe. It is when people organise through cyberspace in Zimbabwe so that the cyberspace communication is reinforced by clandestine on the ground assurance that things will happen. People are very keen to do it, but they will not do it without knowing someone who is going to be part of it, or someone who is organising it, or someone to whom they will cry if things don’t go well. And it must be someone local. Not someone toying with cyberspace in the Diaspora from the comfort of one bedroom with a large screen television in the hope that they can mobilise the poor people to hit the streets. From there no!

Are Zimbabweans different from fellow citizens of our neighbouring countries like South Africa, Botswana or Zambia? Do Zimbabweans have what it takes to bring change in their own country, without external influences? Are there any Egyptian or Tunisian or Libyan traits in Zimbabweans? What would a Zimbabwean value more, by virtue of being a Zimbabwean? To read more visit this link. Below are excerpts from an article written by Vince Musevewe on his opinion of the Zimbabwean he knows. Is your Zimbabwean different from his or they are the same?

The Zimbabwean I know is a highly accomplished character academically and to me, that has been his fundamental blemish. His persona has shaped mostly in a colonial environment where he believes in hard work and a reverence of those that are above his station or those in authority…

The Zimbabwean I know is an extremely proud individual with an over bearing sense of self-importance. To him education comes first for that has been his escape from poverty and his offspring must get a better education than him.

He will therefore do anything to ensure that his offspring receive better schooling. He will also hastily exhibit his academic accomplishments whenever he is afforded an opportunity to do so. Unfortunately these have been rendered useless in the political environment…

The Zimbabwean politician, on the other hand, has taken full advantage of these weaknesses and has pushed the boundaries to the brink and exploited the ordinary Zimbabwean in all spheres of life. The politician has used intimidation and fear as his tools to cower the Zimbabwean into accepting his dominance…

The Zimbabwean businessman, in my view, has become compromised and therefore useless in the game of change. He can only survive in this environment by supporting the ruling party or else his business will come to ruin.

Unfortunately he has become a partner in the entrenchment of a dictatorship. Because of the fear of loss, he has chosen not to dabble in politics but be a mere spectator. His position is similar to that of the Zimbabwean in the Diaspora who can make as much noise as he wishes to no effect…

Despite all this Zimbabweans I know are sick and tired of ZANU (PF) but know no better means to dislodge it but through the ballot. That is his only conceivable and safe means of bringing on change and yet it tarries…

The day will come, I guess, when all fear must dissipate and all Zimbabweans realise that without force there will be no change because this adversary is not going anywhere. Until that happens expect nothing much to change and the situation to worsen.

*Vince Musewe is an independent Zimbabwean economist based in South Africa. You may contact him on vtmusewe [at] gmail [dot] com