WHY???

Why did they accept the Mercs? WHY?? And then the one WHITE guy is the only one with the sense to do the right thing....WHY??? I know it's probably not appropriate to say this but shit I really believe that you cannot let a poor man become a politician....Can you really blame those MDC sods for taking the cars? No, not really. Think about it...some of these MDC cats have been in this struggle for 10 years, making absolutely no money. Many of them live in really modest accommodation and have never owned mudziyo wakaita seBenz. So for a brief moment they will be excused....BUT they should have just touched the Benz and whispered "Some day...." and turned them down.
How does this look to the people whose lives continue to suck ass even though MDC is in office? MDC needs popular support right now. They need to be looking at the Diaspora and asking people to go back. This is such a critical time I can't believe they would even risk accepting those cars. But they did so now what?? ZANU PF is carrying on unchecked. Chamisa just lost his ministry and no one seems to care. Oh Biti...poor Biti...He is the only one I have repect for really, he and Coltart. The rest are tired and hungry and they are looking for comfort. They are Hyenas and Vultures feeding on a carcass. ZANU has drained Zimbabwe of life and the MDC are expected to resusitate a carcass?

All MDC members now in the cabinet who went into existing portfolios are shocked to discover the depth of disintegration. There is almost nothing left in the social services ministries which the MDC has taken on.

These guys haven't got a shot if they don't reach out to non-conventional resources. The western governments are not going to fund this puppy while Mugabe is in office. It goes against everything their democracies stand for. Diaspora. Zimbabwe is wealthy n terms of human capital. MDC has to figure out a way to harness that shit.

"It's our country too"!!! We Zimbabweans in the Diaspora have to think about Zimbabwe in these terms. It's our country too! We are obligated to go back when and where we can. Mugabe cannot live forever, and the generals have little left to steal. We just need to shore up and wait. A better day is coming but we can't expect the MDC with the little resources they have to do this by themselves and we cannot relax our expectations for accountability. The MDC are public servants they need to be accountable for the actions they take and the decisions they make. Someone needs to ask WHY?? and we should get the answers.

There is time to give the Merc's back...................

Nomangingamemeza

I am sitting on the train today and I am reading ZWNews and there is nothing good. It all just keeps getting worse. All around me are people who don't know or if they do don't give a toss what happens in Zimbabwe. I am suddenly filled with rage and despair all at once, because for all my caring what am I really doing? Am I not just the same as the people I ride train with every morning? When does the moment of obligation begin? I think of my kids and I am riddled with guilt, who will speak for them when the time comes?

Today the ANC released the following statement:

“It has always been and continues to be the view of our movement that the
challenges facing Zimbabwe can only be solved by the Zimbabweans themselves.
Nothing that has happened in the recent months has persuaded us to revise that
view."

WTF? Pray tell, what more can we do? We rejected the tampered with constitution in 2000, we voted for MDC is record numbers in 2002, and did the same in 2005. This March we did the same and yet we continue to suffer for our troubles. What do we do next? Take to the streets? Kill?

Here lies my moment of obligation...no one is coming to our aid y'all! Tis time to shit or get off the pot. I am going home in December....Irrational as it may seem I refuse to die in this country. I belong in Zimbabwe, ndirimwanawevhu. When the very people who terrorise us today decided to combat injustice they did when the last straw laid it's final blow and I think this is it now.

ZVAKWANA! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! SOKWANELE!

What Crisis?

This picture was in my inbox this morning and just when I was lambasting South Africa (Thabo Mbeki) for inaction in Zimbabwe. One would have thought the xenophobic attacks against immigrants that began last month in South Africa would have made this man open his eyes and take action but no, instead the Mbeki-led regime in South Africa has chosen to condemn Zimbabweans to death. We will never forget this Baba Mbeki asizoze sikukhohlwe! Infact all you African leaders take heed. Robert Mugabe will not live forever and when he dies the murders and deaths that will continue to occur Zimbabwe will be on your hands. The hunger you continue to foster and nurture will be at you doorstep. The ruthless morally void Zimbabwean youth will be your worst nightmare.

How can you be so comfortable with have this mess in your backyards? Sure you benefit now from Zimbabwe's evicted white farmers and the brain drain but there are only a few of those...what happens when the 16 year old who has stopped going to school and has no skills comes to your door begging for food? Only he shan't be 16 anymore will he? No, he will be a sad, hungry, disappointed and bitter young man. What then will you tell him? Is your hatred for white western powers so entrenched that you really cannot see that there is no more a western sponsored neo-imperial scheme being waged against Zimbabwe as there is one in your own countries. Neo-imperialism is everywhere Zimbabwe is as much a victim of it as any part of the Global South and really has no place in the immediate Zimbabwean crisis.

Robert Mugabe was stealing and in bed with the so-called neo-imperialists for years. Still is, because all of his subsidiaries are still making money in Zimbabwe. While the rest of you African leaders are now forced to be transparent and actualy do the right thing as public servants, Robert Mugabe is laughing all the way to the bank. You are all of the younger generation....Tsvangirai's peers and Mugabe is the last of the dinosaurs; you all know what the consequences of a dictator and mismanagement are, yet you continue to allow Mugabe to torture the people of Zimbabwe and perpetuate the stereotype of African incompetence.

We claim in Africa that the west bullies us and we have no sense of autonomy, well here is a situation in which the west is being meddlesome in a constructive way and we have the opportunity to exercise this autonomy and what do we do? Dig our heals and go back on our words. Levy Mwanawasa you coward! As the head of SADC you should by-pass South Africa and stick to your guns when criticising Zimbabwe. We lose legitimacy if we cannot challenge each other when we fail.

Zimbabweans cannot do this alone. Modakuti tidii? Tife here? I am not suggesting that you interevene physically, the spirit of resistance in Zimbabwe is there, we just need to know that we are not alone in this.

This is some fucked up bull shit right here.

There is no crisis indeed. You will live to regret those words...all of you.

Wither To Zimbabweans?

Latest news on the BBC is that immigrants are being attacked and sometimes killed in Johannesburg and the quitely acknowledged South-African xenophobia is manifested. Wait quietly acknowledged....wasn't Makwerekwere a hot song once? Ahh but I digress. I could I suppose rail against the South Africans and get pissed off at their behaviour which was my intention when I started this post but then again.......Mencken comes to mind "People get the government they deserve", if we don't like the behaviour of the South Africans....go home! This violence against immigrants in South Africa, the South African leadership's apathy to intervene in Zimbabwe, and the recent move by Botswana to make their border with Zimbabwe less porous; all of this makes me wonder if we are not seeing the beginnings of an Isolationist period in Africa. Hear me out: I think Isolationism is a splendid idea for African states. Why should we be each other's keepers when internally we have our own burdens to carry. Much as I hate to agree with him (for non-Zimbabwe related reasons) Mbeki was right "Zimbabwe is not a province of South Africa" we cannot expect intervention from outside for our problems just as South Africa cannot expect employing Zimbabweans to occur without consequence.

And so we wait...........

I am surprised at my anxiety and hope for the outcome of the vote at home. I spoke to K this morning and she sounded so hopeful and now I am sick with worry that the election is in the process of being stolen. At this point I'll give up the Hague for a new President and constitution. All we want is fot the old man to GO......This cannot go on....right....I mean we cannot have this go on ...... can we? The official result apparently will be announced at 0400 GMT so we wait..............................................

Vote 2009

I suppose I should post something given that my fellow Zimbos are going to be practising citizenry in the next few days.....but honestly I can be excited nor can be fired up about this anymore. The more things develop the clearer it becomes that only the death of RGM is going to bring any kind of hope for Zimbabwe. I mean how do they (Tsvangie and Makoni) even begin to compete with dead people on the voter roll, police escorts in the voting booth, intimidation and promises of violence from the army and the police?

At this point I await death but while I wait I can smile when I get a dose of Zimfeminizmo

Wolves in Sheep's clothing

The news this weekend has been centered on Dumiso Dabenbgwa's support of Makoni's presidential bid. Ladies and Gentlemen we need to err on the side of caution. Why are we not extremely suspicious of these people? The euphoria that has risen, especially among those of us in the Diaspora, is amazing. Simba Makoni is the name on everyone's lips. But no one is asking the real questions, the important ones. Why does Makoni deserve our support? Why are we so comfortable with supporting a man who has made up the backbone of Zanu support? Makoni has never been a people's politician, all his political appointments have been bestowed upon him by Rob. Do we really not see Bob's hand in all of this? Knowing Bob the way we do, would Simba Makoni not be in hiding if was his bid a truly independent one?



We need to wake up! These elections should not happen without a new constitution. Makoni stands to inherit the same constitution that has kept Mugabe in power. So far Makoni has not even reached out to civil society groups, the individuals who have kept their finger on the pulse and know better than most what it is the people of Zimbabwe want in their leadership. We need a clear and conscise plan, one that will ensure that the reconstruction phase, that is inevitable after Mugabe, will include the needs and interests of ALL Zimbabwean not the elites.



The entire country needs to do this together. We all need a lesson in democracy. Our leaders need to understand their responsibilities as publics servants, the people need to understand what it means to be a citizen and how to exercise their rights as citizens. The marginalised need a voice. Only then will elections and new leadership mean anything.

"It Makes Me Wanna Holler"

Thanks Nathan McCall.


What is to become of Zimbabwe? Who is supposed to dig the land between the Limpopo and Zambezi from under the rubble of corruption, oppression, depression, and disease? Last night in a rare moment I paid attention in class and learned. We have been reading Women's autobiography and the assigned text for this week was Shirin Ebadi's Iran Awakwening and one of the themes that came up in discussion is Ebadi's ability to remain committed to Iran while pursuing a Human Rights agenda, that she is driven by nationalism in creating a fair and just world within the context of Iran. This got me thinking about how near impossible it is to be critical of the current regime in Zimbabwe without being denounced as a sell out or a Western puppet. Why do Nationalism and sovereignty trump universal rights? How does one demand good governance from one's leaders without seeming to undermine nationalism?



The current line from leaders in Zimbabwe and their counterparts in SADC is that calls from the West for Mugabe to step down are a direct violation of the International System's rules on sovereignty. Cries for proper governance from within, are always dismissed as blind mimic of western interference. Opposition movements (not the party) face reprisals for demanding that the government do the right thing because their demands are represented as not their own but that of the West. But is the desire for proper governance and the practise of democratic principle only a desire that can only be Western? Universal Rights:the right to life, liberty and security should be standard, right? Regardless of where one lives n'est-ce pas? That's why these rights are Universal



Then somebody please explain to me why Robert Mugabe's actions are not being judged solely by his utter disregard to the Universal Rights? Why is it that anyone who criticizes this "Liberation Hero" is immediately dismissed as a Western puppet? The right to life, liberty and security are not privileges,we are all entitled to these and we are furthermore entitled to demand them from the people who we elect to lead us. The problem with African politicians and leaders is that they forget that their alias is PUBLIC SERVANT. Their job is to serve the public and ensure that what they do in office as representatives of the people is to protect the people's interests. This is what Democracy is meant to be.



It is quite possible to be a nationalist and still demand universal rights. Anything else is fascism. Yeah I said it and SADC is supporting Fascism. What is happening in Zimbabwe right now is fascism: individual interests are being ignored for the interests of the party and a rampant bastardisation of populism is at work. ZANU PF claims to be a party made up of the people for the people but the leaders in ZANU have long been disconnected from the people. The fact that ZANU leaders have 3 squares a day is clear indication that they are not with the people. These arseholes have no context for what life in Zimbabwe is like for the individual they claim to represent.



Fascism has been used for shock-value in contemporary political discourse and so I want to be clear that I know what I am saying when I say the current regime in Zimbabwe is fascist. Todays news: If Zim catches fire, everyone will burn. Ambassador Simon Khaya-Moyo in weighing on the looming March 29th election,was spouting some bull-shit in which he claims that there is no dictator in Zimbabwe, just meddlesome Western puppets bent on bringing down the government. The evidence of fascism lies in comments like this:

That is primarily the reason why the Zimbabwean people have for long been decrying the death of patriotic opposition with the capacity to come up with a national agenda and home-grown solutions to our problems," he said. It was only the people of Zimbabwe who could, through the ballot, tell the world whom they thought had their best interests at heart. The will of the people must manifest freely, uncontaminated by outside money.

Ok so when exactly have the people been decrying the MDC (which I am not a fan of but I work with what I have) as an un-patriotic opposition movement? I mean just read the loaded language in the quote patriotic, national agenda, home-grow solutions.....I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Of course Zimbabweans want to be patriotic and I am the first to call for African solutions for African problems, you don't need to convert me I joined the "Fuck neo-liberalism" church voluntarily and with relish. But this appropriation of ideals that normal people hold and attaching BS dictator logic to it is unfair and that SADC would buy this rubbish is disheartening. This tactic of defaming the opposition is not novel, god forbid dictators and authoritarian regime ever be original. Where is the opposition supposed to get funding from? It has to come from outside. These ZANU dogs forget that just 30 years ago the White Minority Rhodesian regime was accusing them of the same un-patriotic agenda that they now heap on the opposition movement. Where did they get their guerilla training and ideological indoctrination? It definitely wasn't homegrown. How fucken rich! That they would use the same rhetoric and torure methods used by the colonial oppressor is just rich, soap opera rich!

This is why I am no longer going to be silent in the face of other Zimbabweans who call me a sell-out and westernised when I criticise the government of Robert Mugabe. It is not Western to demand dignity for all citizens of Zimbabwe (women,children, and men,black, white, makaradi, indian,). It is not Western to demand that the public servants who represent Zimbabwean citizens are chosen by Zimbabwean citizens and not foisted upon us. It is not Western to demand, it is citizen to demand. And I am a Zimbabwean citizen and I am demanding. I am still a nationalist and I wear my Zimbabwean colours with pride but I will never again allow anyone to questions my allegiance to Zimbabwe because I demand justice.

Ndiri mwana wevhu - I am a child of the soil.

The Makoni Symphony

All I have to say is:

Ibbo Mandaza

Solomon Mujuru

These are Makoni's backers......better the evil you know.

Zimbabwe needs a new constitution more than we need a new president.

They call him Mr. Mugabe......

....no one can Fuck with Bob. Opened ZW NEWS today for a little update action and Mugabe meets Makoni is what greets me. Without even reading the article I knew that it was done, so much for Simba challenging Uncle Scar......but you've got to give Bob credit for managing to keep holding the strings of his puppet show for 28 years. If only that brilliance could be used for good not evil. Oh well that's it for this post I am taking a break from Poll-tix till something new happens

It's the new trend!

So it seems ZANU break-aways have become the new thing in Zim in the lead up to the elections . Today New Zimbabwe reports that Dabengwa leads Zanu PF revolt, to challenge Mugabe.....YAWN! Is this the same Dabengwa who was quick to give in to the Unity Accord so that he could get rich at the expense of the Matabele people? Ok, so it may not be fair for me to heap that responsibility on Mr. Dabengwa but .........
As you read the article further apparently Mr.Dabengwa has also been in talks with MDC to form an alliance. Is there anyone in ZANU the MDC has yet to invite to form alliances? Next week's news will be about Emerson forming an alliance...somehow though I don't see that one happening. I don't think Emmie wants to share power with anyone. It's Masvingo netara solo for Cde Mnangagwa, who may win Bob's favour again now that there is all this dissent within Zanu.

Mashingaidze's article in ZW NEWS today is sobering, he makes the point that all this new opposition that is coming up 2 months before the March elections may really be a toothless lion. If Bob refuses to delay elections till June, what real chance do any of the new Zanu hopefuls have of organising? Especially seeing as they will be sanctioned by the very laws they helped create?

With only two months to go, Makoni's supporters may not be
able to organise a challenge, the MDC may remain divided and, without adequate
oversight, the elections would be a forgone conclusion.

Enter Simba

The name Simba is associated with the sacchariny Lion King. Simba is the young lion cub, crown-prince, who leaves his kingdom in shame after his father dies at the paws of the evil uncle Scar . Uncle Scar is evil and is ruining the kingdom and he has allowed the hyenas to come and live with the lions...it's awful and then Simba comes back to save the day...Yay... "the circle of life" etcetera and so forth.



Well according to the news Friday, Zimbabwe is about to experience our own version of the Lion King as Simba Makoni has decided to stand for the presidential election and finally prove to me that he really is a big deal. Apparently the anti-Mugabe faction in Zanu has decided to launch a party.........Maiwe zvangu! Directing this new movie is Dr. Ibbo Mandaza.....oh joy...this man is one of those whom many forgive because "he has no choice but to enjoy the spoils of Zanu affiliation"...huh? Any way if I can use the Lion King analogy again, Ibbo would be Rafiki.



Look I don't much about Simba Makoni when he was Finance Minister I think I was at that age when snogging my Falcon College boyfriend was the most important thing. But I know that among the educated, sophisticated and advanced Zimbos he is really respected. There was outrage among the aforementioned group when the Western nations blocked Makoni's bid to head the ADB at the World Bank because of his former Zanu ties. All I ever hear is "Simba is a good guy". He is not a revolutionary he is a technocrat...kinda like Mbeki. The general consensus among middle-class Zimbabweans (oxymoron,i know) is that Makoni can make us the new South Africa......ah who care about the new South Africa, people just want to eat.



So now those who have been hoping for a Makoni Presidential bid can celebrate because apparently next week we may see the formation of a third or fourth political party in Zimbabwe. Which signals to me ( and I admit I am not informed enough to make thsi prediction, but f u! this is my blog) the end of MDC - Tsvangirai and MDC-Mutambara even if they are claiming unity for the March.



As far as I am concerned the MDC lost their privilege to represent the Zimbabwean people in government when they shamelessly aired their dirty laundry in public. When the leadership in the MDC exposed themeselves to be no better than ZANU, I lost faith. Our problem in Zim and Global South in general is the we give our leaders messianic status and we can no longer imagine anyone else leading us. (Look at the mess in Pakistan with Benazir Bhutto's (R.I.P) replacing her - WTF?) For all their shennanigans I for one am shocked that the MDC is still a viable party in Zimbabwe.



In my opinion they are ungrateful and they do not have the welfare of the Zimbabwean people at heart. Right now they are in secret talks with Thabo Mbeki and ZANU Pf and no one, not even civil society knows what they are doing or agreeing to. Once in a while we learn that they are in actuality giving in to ZANU. Then came the mess with the Women's Assembly and yet we still think that MDC is our answer. Can they really be trusted not to match or even top Robbie? At least with Robbie we know what to expect zvino ava who are newbies and foaming at the mouth for power are even more dangerous.



The person who take over after Robbie is going to have to have a cool head. This individual is going to have to know how deal with the anger that will be misdirected at the new government by the people who have been oppressed for 27 years. The new government will have to know how to respond to the demands of the people and how to quell the anger without bringing the army. Chaos doesn't even begin to describe what could possibly happen in Zimbabwe if ZANU loses and relinquishes power in March. Can MDC handle it? Especially now when they don't even get along and they have already had violent clashes among themselves? May be Simba is really who we need.....more so because he is pals with the guy who controls the army.



But like I said earlier what do I know about Simba Makoni...not much but anyone who is accused of "embracing the neo-liberal agenda of western countries" by Zanu probably has a way to dig us out of this economic Dante's Inferno. Now let me clear I am not promoting World Bank and IMF economic liberalism models for African democracy I think we can all agree that doesn't work. But what I am arguing is that here we have a guy who understands that without a solid political system there can never be a successful economy in Zimbabwe. Now what ideology informs that economy is another debate for another times.



In conclusion I would advise the MDC to follow their own advice to ZANU and they should "chinja maitiro".

Go Home and Vote

I am always keenly aware of what it means to be one in the diaspora, our presence outside the country is a double-edged sword. On one hand we are essential to those still at home because we send the much needed forex for them to eke out an existence. Without the thousands of dollars sent into Zimbabwe by the diaspora to relatives, who knows what would happen. On the other hand our staying away from Zimbabwe contributes to the further entrenching of Robbie and his crew. We lose touch with reality and to an extent our connection to the home country; we can no longer truly empathise with those left behind.
This morning I read a very short news blurb on VOA Zimbabwean Nongovernmental Group Urges Exiles To Return For Elections , and the guilt overwhelmed me. In 2005 I remember watching Ukraine's Diaspora gather on Michigan Avenue in Chicago in a show of solidarity for Yuschenko and democracy. It was so inspiring to watch and once or twice I caught myself getting choked up as I imagined Zimbabweans doing the same. Named the "Orange Revolution" this show of support by the diaspora for the resistance that was ongoing in the Ukraine I believe was powerful enough to allow some transparency in the democractic process and the eventual election of Viktor Yushchenko. That summer I remember writing passionately for a class about the power of the diaspora and how those outside who are maligned by ruling elites as traitors and defectors could really be instrumental in the fragile democratic process in Zimbabwe.

So here were are in 2008 awaiting the next round of elections and I really cannot see myself marching down Michigan avenues waving the Zimba flag nor do I see myself purchasing a plane ticket to go and cast my vote in March.
So my rhetorical question to self is two-fold....
What does it mean to be a citizen?
How do I exercise my citizenship from thousands of miles away?

Honestly we in the diaspora whether you support the ruling party, the opposition or no one are all spineless. It's great isn't it to sit here with a full belly, electricty, running water, and spew my pathetic rants about saving Zimbabwe when really I wouldn't have the guts to endure the life in Zimbabwe. I am ashamed of myself. Yes I contribute I suppose by being outraged everytime I read of some injustice or the other. I e-mail the news link to friends, I blog, I "spread awareness" but this awareness I am spreading doesn't seem to be a very catchy disease. Heck I seem to recover from every bout.

So what do I do? Man I wish I was one of those revolutionary types, the ones who don't just read books and newspapers but the ones who actually act. Like my beloved women of WOZA who remind me everyday that I am nothing but a candy-ass nose brigade.... and I am shamed.

New Year

Happy New Year! Election 2008....will it bring hope? Will it make permanent the current state of things? Friends and family without electricity for a full week. How does one wish them a merry Christmas and a Hppy New Year without the yoke of guilt weighing heavily? What is to become of Zimbabwe? I miss home and I so want to be back among my own................

Enter Zuma

So the ANC voted for their next party President and it has turned into a Mbeki vs Zuma Wrestlemania. I know very little about Jacob Zuma, I was disturbed like many by the revelations that came from the rape trial, which he was acquitted of. I have been reading and hearing comparisons of him to Bob. Many believe that Zuma's ascendence to power spells the end of South Africa the rainbow-nation-democracy .
Personally I believe that RSA rushed their race issues and that tension will raise it's ugly head sooner or later. I mean take a page out of Zim's book, we rushed the whole we are one people thing too and twenty years later white Zimbabweans were blamed for the suffering of every black Zimbabwe by the government and many black Zimbo share the same sentiment.

Ok all these are valid arguments and fears, Jacob Zuma is no saint and he is facing corruption charges and does South-Africa the regional hegemon really need such a tainted character as head of the nation? Perhaps not. It is bad enough that there are those that refuse to treat African leaders as capable, putting someone like Zuma in there is not really a great way to combat this problem. But who else is there Cyril Ramaphosa?

But the point of this blog is not really about whether Zuma is good or bad for South Africa. It's the media portrayal of Jacob Zuma that sparked this post. Today on ZWNEWS the picture of Zuma that accompanies this article South Africa fears the worst from Jacob Zuma is just wrong

Come on people! Surely we can get our points about a questionable character across without making him look like he is completely crazy. It's shit like this that gets people sitting on the fence to totally jump ship and support him.


They do it with Uncle Bob too
Ok this one might be crazy! LOL!

I am not endorsing any of these men. My views on uncle Bob are clear, but seriously?

Hope?

This week has been Interesting News Week for Zimbabwe let's begin shall we?

1. Outcry as Zim withholds degrees So it seems the government of Robert Mugabe has decided to curb the brain drain facing the nation by forcing Zimbabwe's educated to stay and work in the failing state for 3 years upon completion of their studies. Said a government official, "graduates should be patriotic and give back to society knowledge acquired". What the official left was "for free" because really the amount these indivuduals would be paid is ridiculous




2. Related to the joke that is Zim currency, Gideon Gono Govenor of the Reserved Bank said when commenting about cash shortages before the holiday season, "A practical solution is on its way very soon and before the festive season. Let us not despair, for failure can never be a viable option for us as a people. The destiny of our future is squarely in our hands." Our hand Giddy?? Really? I think not! This one is all you and uncle Bob, bravo!




3. Meanwhile on the BBC, this picture of a discarded Z$1 000 bank note almost made me cry

4. But......there is hope ......I think....light at the end of the tunnel. Zimbabwe has not been completely shafted by SADC. It was reported that the SADC tribunal rule in favour of a farmer and blocked the seizure of his farm on the grounds that it was racially motivated. Wow an african body actually decided that white africans have rights....I am stunned.

Who knows if this story is one to rekindle hope, but as a friend of mine said today "I believe in Zim"!

Violence Against Women

The level of violence against women in Zimbabwe is frightening. But what is even more chilling is the acceptance of violence against women in the everyday that is chilling. This morning a friend directed me to a Soros sponsored website Eyes on Zimbabwe and on that website I watched a video on torture and the severe beating of Grace Kwinjeh of the Movement for Democratic Change. This weekend women from Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) a pressure group in Zimbabwe were arrested and presumably beaten for staging their ongoing demonstrations against the injustices facing the citizens of Zimbabwe. Violence in Zimbabwe has become an everyday occurrence and women are frequently the victims. This violence is politically motivated and I often wonder how much of this violence stems from a socially accepted norm.

In 2006 an MP from the MDC embarrassed the party when he vehemently opposed the passing of H.B. 9, 2006.

Said the MP Timothy Mubawu:

"It is against Gods principles that men and women are equal....It is a dangerous Bill and let it be known in Zimbabwe that the right, privilege and status of men is gone. I stand here alone and say this Bill should not be passed in this House. It is a diabolic Bill. Our powers are being usurped daylight in this House." (Debate on Domestic Violence Bill persists)



The MDC minister with these words exposed a side of Zimbabwean culture that has fed and condoned the type of violence that is visited upon women be it on the political arena or in the home. When I was growing up there was a woman in my neighbourhood who was chronically abused both physically and emotionally by her husband. It was not a secret that she was being abused because her sick husband would beat her, then take her to hospital and nurse her back to health until the next beating. The women in our neighbourhood, my mother included, condemned the man's behaviour but negated that condemnation by asking what she (the woman) had done to provoke, the broken limbs and bruises that she was forced to parade through the neighbourhood and town. The men pretended not to see her bruises and continued to praise and admire the husband. Young women in the neighbourhood despised the wife and were constantly making themselves sexually available to this man.



The violence between this couple started when they were still high school sweethearts. The rumour (never confirmed but most likely true) was that they lived next door to each other and the parents on both sides knew of the violence. When the woman was at boarding school it is said that one day she came back to school late after a visit to town and she found her beau waiting for her. Before she could even say hello she was slapped and kicked while her schoolmates watched in horror and only saved when a groundskeeper chased the boy away. We'll take this story with a grain of salt it has never been confirmed. But the couple lived across the road from my house, and we watched in silence as she paraded the bruises of his handy work and never once did anyone step in to say a thing or even offer her a safe haven.



If in a small suburban community where everyone knows each others business no one stepped in and helped this woman who eventually died in 2002, how can we expect anyone to defend a domestic bill that will protect women across the nation? How can we expect anyone to bat an eyelid when women in political movements are beaten and raped by agents of the state? I am looking forward to the reconstruction of Zimbabwe and I truly believe it is coming soon i.e. the next 10 years, but I am also worried about the gender question. Where do women stand in this opposition movement? Yes there are many women who are occupying prominent positions in the opposition movement but the inclusion of women in this era smacks of the same co-opting and coercion of women of the liberation struggle. The Gender Question is often lipservice, but the real issues are that of democracy, free and fair elections, and regime change. Women's issues: an end to violence, better healthcare, land rights and inheritance, choice, education, and full inclusion in the political process are being lumped in one package and put on the back burner.



It seems men want women to help them win the fight against this current regime with no real guarantees that the gender question will be a priority in the new Zimbabwe. But women are in a catch -22. We also want a regime change, we want food, education, and healthcare for all Zimbabweans, but why are we made to feel guilty for asking for equal rights for women at the same time? Does asking for equal rights under the law truly undermine or dilute the call change? How do we ensure that this time round women's rights are truly included and protections garnered in the new Zimbabwe? I am often criticised by men and women from Zimbabwe for being too westernised and that this call for equal rights and my calling myself a feminist (even if I put post-colonial first) is merely a western induced idea and thus I am a sell-out. Often I am told "you cannot live in Zimbabwe", "you are too white" is it really western, white and sellout-ish of me to demand that women enjoy the same freedoms and protection as men regardless of where I am living?

Home away from home

This weekend I went to a friend's baby shower, this friend is a black South African who has married a white American. The shower was hosted by a mutual friend a white South African and the invitees were 2 black South Africans, 2 South African coloureds , 3 black Zimbabweans, 1 ivorian, what a delicious mixed salad of the African diaspora. We had a lovely time, we ate, laughed, danced and made the mother-to-be shake her booty!! We were African women braving the cold climate while sharing in our friend's excitement of a new addition another woman to our coven. I left the shower feeling warm and fuzzy inside and a little lighter than I normally do. The laughter had reignited my hope for Africa.

Cut to the events of the evening. A friend who had attended the shower invited me to join her for dinner with some men from West Africa, Nigeria and Cameroon. Three guys joined us for dinner at an Ethopian restaurant....OMG it was an African wet dream of a weekend for me y'all. It was freezing outside a icy rain had begun to fall and the pavements were slippery and lethal to walk on, so it was great to be indoors with the delicious smells of zilzil tibs and doro wat. The restaurant Demera is a one of the numerous Ethiopian Restaurants that have cropped up on Chicago's northside. A great spot, but none can rival the Ethiopian Diamond.

It was all in all a good weekend. I got to hang out with people who share the same thread as me. Displaced outsiders who straddle the line between maintaining ties with the "motherland" and completely submerging ourselves in this life. Although I couldn't help but wish that the baby shower was happening at an apartment complex in Jo'burg or that dinner had been enjoyed in downtown Addis Ababa.......Oh well if wishes were horses right? At least there are momemts where this truly does feel like a home away from home

Father Why Hast Thou Forsaken Us?

Greetings Blog World!

In an article I read today Mr. Mugabe was quoted to have lamented over the millions of Zimbabweans, oh wait "his children" who have runaway from him to Britain. I mean c'mon! My favourite quote from this article is:

"Today is the day of understanding each other. Zimbabwe will never be a colony again. If you fail to get sugar for a day, you blame it on Mugabe's government. How much sugar have I given you all these years?"

Ummm Dad I don' think the problem is that we can't get sugar for a day or even the sugar....the problem is that you are abusive and we are all in need of some intense therapy because we watched you beat and rape our mother Zimbabwe down for the last 27 years. We are classic survivors of domestic violence, daddy dearest. Some of us bear the scars, the rest of us attempt to nurse our internal wounds with sugar from Britain.
Typical language of an abuser, blame victim. So because you supposedly freed us and gave us sugar for a short spell we should endure your abuses? Who wants to make Zimbabwe a colony again? Again? Did we ever stop being a colony Mr. I'll sign the Lancaster House Agreement without reading the fine print?

"Should we therefore run away, forsake and abandon our country? We must fight, fight and defeat the common enemy. We should not forsake our revolutionary values.”

The thing about that is that we are running away from YOU! We are not forsaking our country, you nitwit and we do have a common enemy, YOU! What are our revolutionary values? How do your extravagances and mounds of wealth reflect those values? We are fighting Baba you best believe it, and this time WE will truly decide what it means to be Zimbabwean. This what happens to children, they grow up, they learn and they remember.