A few weeks ago it was President Mugabe’s sister Sabina who was being showered with praise. And her claim to fame? Well, she was the president’s sister! More recently Ephraim Masawi has been praised to the skies because he was “a man of the people”.What does that mean and who coined it? We don’t recall anybody calling him that in his lifetime. We do recall him being a stone-thrower of note in the 1970s.The Herald told us “several” residents of Mbare lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the funeral procession.Is “several” the correct word? Let’s hope Masawi’s cortege attracted more than “several” people, especially when the Mbare Revolutionary Choir sang some of their songs.President Mugabe narrated how Masawi and other youths engaged in acts of sabotage “and caused a real breakdown of law and order against Ian Smith’s regime”. Indeed, but it wasn’t just Smith’s regime that witnessed a breakdown in law and order!The party did all it could to assist Masawi, politburo member Tendai Savanhu said.“Together with other comrades we did what we could to assist a dear comrade. He said that after (treatment in) South Africa he would want to go to China to receive proper treatment. He said Cde Menard Muzariri would direct him to the specialist doctors in China.”Why after 30 years of Zanu PF rule do we not have sufficient specialists here? In fact we have some excellent specialists still putting up with primitive conditions in Zimbabwe but Zanu PF’s elite prefer to be treated abroad.In this connection we enjoyed the Sunday Mail’s front page last weekend. On the one side: “Claim what is yours: President.” On the other: “US$35m vanishes from Noczim.”Must be another n’anga story.
Air Zimbabwe chair Jonathan Kadzura was in the Sunday Mail last weekend mouthing nonsense about how “our youths were pushed into making the rash decision of voting for their own disempowerment in the 2008 plebiscite”; and how the nation has “endured 10 long difficult years buttressed by those of Anglo-Saxon origin and their cronies in the West who imposed illegal sanctions on this very innocent and God-fearing nation.”This racist rubbish comes, not from Tafataona Mahoso, as one might suppose, but the chairman of one of our most important — and least successful — parastatals.
Instead of devising ways to restore the national carrier to profitability, he is busy advertising his loyalty to Zanu PF and cursing our youths for voting the wrong way. “Have you ever wondered why all the Western-funded NGOs focused all their attention on Marange and not the other diamond mining corporates..,” he asks? It’s all part of the Western regime-change agenda you see! “Those who came into power out of spreading fear and anxiety had been promised aid and grants by their friends from the same anchoring countries,” he continues.“Fellow Zimbabweans,” he admonishes. “The long-term fight should continue if the Zanu PF vision is to be realised one day.”So the AirZim chairman is fighting for Zanu PF’s long-term vision, not for the recovery of the airline he is employed to serve. This is a shocking dereliction of duty.Fellow Zimbabweans. If you wish to protest against partisan posturing of this sort, exercise your discretion when booking your next ticket.Zimbabweans in the Diaspora are also free to protest against Kadzura by choosing another airline when flying home.
Labour economist Dr Godfrey Kanyenze told US businessmen at the recent Just Business conference held in Harare last week that the government should exploit the remittances of Zimbabweans working abroad.Why should people who have been refused the right to vote hand over their remittances to a government that has still not met the terms of the global political agreement and is damaging the economy by not doing so? Let’s by all means harness the contribution of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora. But let’s also ensure the GPA is fully implemented so their hard-earned funds are not wasted.
Have you noticed how many of the Herald’s columnists are writing from abroad? Reason Wafawarova is the most obvious example. He is a super-patriot writing from the comfort of Australia. Reason will be the last person to share the challenges facing his countrymen. He amusingly ends his contributions with the slogan: “It is homeland or death.”Well, it certainly isn’t homeland in Reason’s case.Then there is Stephen Gowans in Ottawa and Obi Egbuna in Washington. They are happy where they are. So is Nancy Lovedale in Beijing. Zimbabwe’s suffering is something these people can pontificate about without actually having to experience! Then there are all those Zimbabweans based in the UK like “Cad Mash” who write indignant letters to the Herald denouncing the MDC and Britain. These super-patriots would be funny if they were not such blatant hypocrites.
Owners of businesses along the lakeshore of Lake Chivero have been visited by war veterans in recent days, we are told, and warned that their politics are not in keeping with the indigenisation campaign. They can expect a forced takeover, they have been told.We need to watch this space and ensure that Zimbabwe’s reengagement negotiators do not continue to get away with pretending that all is well in Zimbabwe when it manifestly isn’t.
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Now we learn that Sadc has set up a three-member presidential team to lobby for the removal of sanctions against Zimbabwe. Presidents Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia, and Rupiah Banda of Zambia are expected to travel soon to the US and Europe to urge Western leaders to lift sanctions. This is an exercise in futility if ever there was one. Zuma will be told what he has repeatedly been told in London, Brussels and Washington — that progress can only be made when Zimbabwe implements the GPA terms. These are not terms foisted upon Zimbabwe. They are terms agreed between the three political leaders in the country. They include an end to farm seizures and political violence, observance of the rule of law, and licensing of media outlets.Instead we have a continuation of farm seizures including those supposedly protected by Bippa treaties, persistence of political violence during the outreach campaign, contempt for the Sadc Tribunal, and partisan control of broadcasting.Zuma fatuously suggests that lifting sanctions would “give a chance to the efforts we are making there and empower Sadc to do more on Zimbabwe”.What efforts? Is anybody aware of these efforts? And why can’t Sadc do what it is supposed to do as a guarantor of the GNU instead of pathetically wringing its hands and pretending there is nothing it can do?It won’t cost anything to license radio stations. It won’t cost anything to stop the violence and bring the culprits to book. It won’t cost anything to stop farm invasions. It won’t cost anything to uphold the rulings of the Sadc Tribunal.This is the message the three envoys will get in London and Washington. This time the hosts need to turn up the volume.
Poor Tom Saintfiet! His career as the senior national football team coach seems to have ended before it started. He was kicked out of the country on Tuesday due to the fact that he did not have a work permit. While he and Zifa should have ensured that he got a permit before he commenced his duties, there is no hiding the fact that there was a clique which was out to get him. Whether his stay was illegal or not, some people took it upon themselves to ensure that he was whisked out of the country as soon as possible. The treatment of the Belgian since he “landed” the job leaves a bad taste in the mouth, to say the least.The clique, led by certain sections of the media, soccer administrators and powerful interested parties appear to have vowed to bar the coach. It boggles the mind why Zifa waited until this week to submit the application for a work permit. We wonder if it was a coincidence that the ZTV crew was still at the stadium when Jonathan Mashingaidze (Zifa acting CEO) came to deliver the news of the deportation. Was it not another act aimed at further humiliating the coach as was the case since he was appointed?
Could Econet find somebody with velvet tones to replace the gentleman currently bellowing down the line that “Your call is being connected.” Does he really need to shout? And he is telling whoppers about “the next time you call you will be required to dial 077…”Econet are still — thankfully — connecting 091… calls for slow starters like Muckraker who has difficulty remembering his own number.
