IF rejecting envoys ever became an Olympic sport, the government in Zimbabwe would have few rivals for the gold. The news that the Zimbabwean government has refused to grant visas to the three Elders, Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter and Graca Machel, comes as no surprise. It is notorious for playing hide and seek and playing the blame game. The latest rejection of the three Elders has prompted some justification from the regime that shamelessly defend none other than their claim to power. There is a lot of disgrace to be hidden in Zimbabwe, the reason why envoys are not a welcome species.Crimes against humanity have driven political leaders to deny genuinely concerned Elders’ entry to expose the situation. This government has fallen short of any meaningful reasoning. But here is a situation that can no longer be hidden.Harare has decided not even to allow the envoys coming to assess the impact of the damage they have inflicted upon powerless people, thereby jeopardising their humanitarian concerns. Instead, the government claims that the Elders need to come at a “convenient time”. This is but a myopic assessment of the dismal situation in Zimbabwe. People are dying of hunger, of cholera and other readily curable diseases, yet Harare claims a postponement of such a vital assessment of the escalating humanitarian crisis. What the government assumes to be a “convenient” time agreed by both sides takes no consideration of the dying population. Such a government is worse than two devils.An objective revolution meant for change must begin by Zimbabweans transforming themselves —— to transform into a people ready for a new dispensation.  This government must answer to the displacement of millions of Zimbabweans, the majority of whom are political and economic refugees in neighbouring countries and beyond. It must answer to the destruction of property and families. The region must move past the debilitating, self-perpetuating regional gentleman’s soft-voice against Mugabe to salvage the potential of a new Zimbabwe. The Elders are a part of the international community supporting the cause of a new Zimbabwe, so are other world leaders calling for Mugabe to go. Political stability and economic progression are the foundation of social harmony that Zimbabwe should attain sooner than later.
Clyde B Chakupeta,Barbados.
