Jacob Chikuhwa's Zimbabwe Blog

March 14, 2009.
PATRONAGE AND HARDLINERS ARE GNU ENEMIES

The Government of National Unity is now in place and there are priorities to be met, namely food to feed seven million Zimbabweans out of a population of 12 million, resuscitation of the collapsed health and education systems, release of political prisoners and the tackling of the hyperinflation that has put industry and commerce into the doldrums. It is clear that these priorities are not a matter of negotiations and cannot be deferred for too long without rousing the ire of ordinary Zimbabweans. And yet the inclusive government has to reckon with ZANU (PF)'s embedded patronage and resistance from its hardliners.

February 14, 2009.
AFTER ALL HAS BEEN SAID AND DONE

It is justified to proclaim that "every cloud has a silver lining" to describe recent political developments in Zimbabwe. Once a prosperous nation in Africa, the southern African country has been brutally mismanaged by Robert Mugabe. Morgan Tsvangirai has been sworn in as Prime Minister. Few give the deal much hope, yet it must be given the opportunity to succeed. Doing nothing would have left Tsvangirai and the Movement for Democratic Change with nothing - no leverage to succeed. While the West may be justified in its distrust of this deal, it is one that Tsvangirai has chosen - and the only option for now.

January 24, 2009.
SPECTACULAR COLLAPSE OF ZIMBABWE'S CURRENCY

Once one of the most vibrant economies in Africa, Zimbabwe is in the grip of an unprecedented socio-economic crisis that began in 1997 when the Zimbabwean dollar was affected by the unbudgeted war veterans' allowances. At independence, the Zimbabwe dollar was stronger than the US dollar when one US dollar was worth Z$0.72. All the glory went out in November 1997.

January 4, 2009.
FLASHBACK 2008

The year 2008 has been the most difficult year in Zimbabwe's post-Independence history despite the year opening with hope for a permanent political solution to spur socio-economic revival. The country's decade-long crisis has deepened with the majority of people wallowing in abject poverty in a country with an economy which was previously one of the most developed in Africa.

December 24, 2008.

ZIMBABWE IN A VORTEX OF DESPAIR

The political crisis is at the centre of the collapse in the economy and the health service. The crisis is one of legitimacy, where a party and a leader who lost an election in March are still clinging to power and holding the country hostage. Zimbabwe, once the bread basket of Southern Africa, is now the fastest shrinking economy in the world. The root cause of the political, economic and humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe needs to be addressed.

November 24, 2008
ACCORD STALLED BY CORRUPTION
The inner circle, loyalists and hangers-on are living in affluence, driving state-of-the-art vehicles along Samora Machel Avenue. Meanwhile, most Zimbabweans can hardly put a meal on the table; school children sit at home as teachers are on strike; hospitals have run out of drugs and anaesthetics and some hospitals have closed; child mortality rates and the numbers of women dying after pregnancies have reached unprecedented levels; doctors continue to strike for better working conditions; sewage pipes have burst and many people are dying of cholera; the brain drain has reached unprecedented levels as many Zimbabweans continue to leave the country in their thousands.

24 October 2008
Angling for Powerful Jobs from a Shrinking Pie
Power-sharing should be a conflict management device to end conflicts, but at the same time it should be seen as an exercise to put in place democratic processes. In other words, it is meant to reduce the uncertainties involved in a peace process by ensuring participating parties an equitable share of political power and thereby reducing the predicaments of post-accord elections.

September 24, 2008.
PROSPECTS FOR A NEW BEGINNING
The power-sharing accord signed on September 15, 2008 marks a turning point in the struggle for democracy and efforts aimed at promoting reconciliation, stability and fostering conditions conducive for the reconstruction of the catastrophic socio-economic collapse in Zimbabwe. This was an epochal moment - the end of 28 years of uninterrupted, increasingly autocratic power for Mugabe, the triumph of an excruciating effort of mediation by Thabo Mbeki, the outgoing South African president, and the culmination of years of perilous campaigning by Morgan Tsvangirai, who endured beatings and detentions to prevail.

September 4, 2008.
MUGABE'S PROBLEM: THE CRUMBLING ECONOMY

On August 25, 2008, a new historical script was written when ZANU (PF) was defeated in Parliament by the leading Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai despite trying to strike a coalition deal with MPs from the smaller MDC group led by Arthur Mutambara in a fierce battle for the post of Speaker of the House of Assembly. This dealt a heavy blow to Robert Mugabe and ZANU (PF). After having been defeated, Mugabe was further subjected to humiliation by jeering opposition MPs the following day while he was opening Parliament.

August 4, 2008.
NEED FOR ECONOMIC STABILITY AND GROWTH

The stiffest challenge for any government that emerges from the post-March 29, 2008 harmonised presidential, parliamentary and local government elections is achieving the main objective of restoration of economic stability and growth in an economy which has shrunk by 60% within a decade. There is a need to come up with a roadmap that would address the economic problems that the country has been facing since 1998. Economic analysts blame the economic meltdown on repression and economic mismanagement by Robert Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in April 1980.

July 4, 2008.
A RUN-OFF WON BY VIOLENCE

After having terrorised the people, Robert Mugabe and his military junta presided over an election that they made sure they could not lose. After they had made it impossible for anyone to stand against Mugabe, the Joint Operations Command headed people in droves to the polling stations. It was the only way Robert Mugabe could win an election.

June 24, 2008.
A STATE OF ANARCHY

The reason Zimbabwe is in a state of anarchy is mainly because the 1970s liberation war was violent, and few liberation movements in Southern Africa have attempted to restore a culture of non-violence. Once the liberation movements took over power from the colonial masters, they felt so invincible that opposition parties were regarded as stooges of the former colonial powers. Thus, it is no surprise that Robert Mugabe finds it easy to cause anarchy to the socio-economic infrastructure of the country using violence against the people he helped liberate from Britain. The colonial state apparatus was attuned to that purpose.

June 4, 2008.
A RUN-OFF FROM MISERY

The presidential run-off election, which should have taken place 21 days after the announcement of the results on May 2, has been postponed to June 27 -- presumably to allow for more intimidation of the population, attacks on the opposition, and corruption of the electoral process. Morgan Tsvangirai goes into the run-off against Robert Mugabe as the clear favourite not just because he won the first plebiscite but because of compelling factors: the economy is in shambles with the May year-on-year inflation reported to be at 1,694,000% and state-sponsored violence claiming more and more lives of innocent civilians caught in the political crossfire.

May 14, 2008.
A RUN-OFF AGAINST TIME

After the March 29 harmonised elections, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission was delaying the announcement of the presidential vote to buy time for Mugabe after it was discovered that Morgan Tsvangirai had clinched victory. It was five weeks after the presidential election was held that the official result was announced on May 2.

April 26, 2008.
MUGABE SHOOTS HIMSELF IN THE FOOT

Robert Mugabe continues to hang onto power despite losing elections to the opposition on March 29, 2008. Mugabe, his ministers and high ranking officials and cronies -- already under targeted European and American sanctions -- have come under intense pressure from neighbouring leaders and the wider international community after they blocked release of results of the March 29 presidential election that the Zimbabwean leader is believed to have lost to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai by a wider margin than previously estimated.

April 14, 2008
TECHNICALLY, MUGABE CONCEDES DEFEAT

In the absence of figures on the presidential results from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), Robert Mugabe has technically conceded defeat to Morgan Tsvangirai. By calling for a re-run of the presidential vote, Robert Mugabe is actually telling Zimbabweans that he lost the March 29 plebiscite. Logic dictates that if Mugabe had lost to Tsvangirai by a small margin, he would have not resisted the publication of the results as proof that there was a need for a run-off. His attitude and vehement blocking of the release of the presidential vote is further proof Mugabe lost by a RESOUNDING margin.

April 4, 2008
Democratic Processes Finally Underway

ZANU (PF) stranglehold on power has finally been broken and in a dramatic manner! In the process, seven ministers lost their constituencies. The MDC's stunning success in the hinterlands -- for long the bedrock of Robert Mugabe's success -- was the key to unlocking his stranglehold on power. Mugabe's monolithic image has been shattered. It looks quite certain the stage is set for democratic processes to start rolling in Zimbabwe.

March 2008

ZIMBABWE CRAVES LEGITIMCACY
There is clear evidence that Robert Mugabe has failed to run the economy. Zimbabwe's elections are being held against the background of worsening economic hardships manifested in the world's highest inflation rate of over 100,000%, massive unemployment of 85% and poverty. It is hoped that the upcoming March 29 elections will give the people of Zimbabwe the chance to freely express their choices. These elections present a real opportunity for democratic change.

February 2008.

SKEWED ELECTORAL PROCESSES

After the Gold Coast gained independence to become Ghana in 1957, colonial domination in Africa started to crumble with the 1960s heralding a substantial number of colonies achieving independence. As student nationalist activists, we cheered heartily when we heard Kwame Nkrumah tell us that Africa could not be free when one African was still under bondage. Today, Africa is still under bondage, but not from the imperialist and colonialist Europe, but rather at the hands of other Africans.

January 2008

A NEED TO DEAL WITH CAUSES OF INFLATION

Inflation in Zimbabwe has been declared "enemy number one" as the scourge continues to rampage the collapsing economy. The Central Statistical Office put the year-on-year figure for November 2007 at 26,470.8% but independent economic analysts and financial institutions -- including the International Monetary Fund -- estimated the figure at over 100,000%.

December 24, 2007

VOICES AT CHRISTMAS

There was a time Christmas used to be a joyful, festive occasion for families and friends. Over the past seven years, it has been shrouded with misery and poverty. Impoverished Zimbabweans have little or nothing in the way of possessions to hold onto and trust in for their security while the arrogant ZANU (PF) elite and their business cronies, on the other hand, trust both in their possessions and their social status and, very often, see little need for accountable governance, peace, stability and economic development. Thus, Jesus says of rich people that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

December 10, 2007

THE EU-AFRICA SUMMIT AND THE MUGABE FACTOR

The EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon will discuss key issues and topics that include human rights and governance, trade, immigration, the environment and peace and security. It is clear European countries are mindful of protecting their position in Africa amid rising competition from China. Today, Europe's economic and political influence in Africa is being eclipsed by aggressive bilateral programmes of investment from China.

November 26, 2007

"REGIME CHANGE": HIDING BEHIND A FINGER
People engaged in devious activities always invent new ways and language to camouflage their true images. When it comes to unholy political wars, the endeavour is to convince the outside world that there is a conspiracy, the main objective being to find sympathisers and allies.

November 12, 2007

POLITICAL VIOLENCE: NOT A FIGMENT OF ONE'S IMAGINATION

President Robert Mugabe, dismissing claims by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) that its supporters are victims of politically motivated violence said, "From out of the blue, his (Tsvangirai's) party is making unsubstantiated reports of growing and sustained politically motivated violence being perpetrated against its supporters." He was quoted in The Herald of October 27 in a speech at the opening of his ruling party Central Committee meeting the previous day.

October 29, 2007.

ZIMBABWE'S SOARING POVERTY

Zimbabwe, grappling with its worst ever economic crisis, has since 2000 when the fast-track land-reform began, relied on food imports and handouts from international food agencies mainly due to failure by resettled ZANU (PF) cronies to maintain production on former commercial farms. The poverty datum line or the estimated minimum level of income needed to secure the necessities of life has increased from Z$8 million in June 2007 (Z$16.7m in August) to Z$21.7 million in September. This is way above the average monthly salary for many Zimbabwean teachers, police constables, soldiers and shop floor workers, who often earn less than Z$4 million a month. The majority of workers are found in the agricultural sector where they are being paid less than Z$2 million a month (US$1 = Z$840,000 at the lucrative parallel market).

October 15, 2007.

SOUTH AFRICAN MEDIATION IN ZIMBABWE

From "quiet diplomacy" to concrete action, South African mediation in the southern African country of Zimbabwe has become of age. It is a long short from "shuttle diplomacy" when Henry Kissinger was the United States Secretary of State from 1973 to 1977. Although this term became widespread following Kissinger's participation in shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East and in the People's Republic of China, it can be recalled that he was a mediator between Ian Smith's Rhodesia and the UK. On September 19 1976, Ian Smith was summoned to meet John Vorster and Henry Kissinger in Pretoria. In an uncomfortable encounter, the Rhodesian Prime Minister was told by the South African premier and the US Secretary of State that his dream of delaying black majority rule in Zimbabwe for ‘a thousand years' was over.

1 October 2007

CENSORSHIP AS A TOOL FOR POLITICAL CONTROL

There is more than one side to any story. This is truer with censorship of the written word than with most topics. It should be admitted that censorship exists, to some extent, in all modern countries. However, it is worse in some countries than in others. Censorship is the suppression of ideas and information that certain persons - individuals, groups or government officials - find objectionable or dangerous.

17 September 2007

THE DOCTRINE OF THE SEPARATION OF POWERS

In our contemporary world, state authority is supported by three pillars. There is the Parliament/Legislature chosen by the people in a democratic election, sometimes called a general election. Then there is the Executive lead by a president/prime minister, in most instances, chosen in a popular vote but in other cases by an electoral college. Lastly, there is the Judiciary whose independence is safeguarded and protected against infringement by the Executive.

3 September, 2007

TINKERING WITH ELECTORAL PROCESSES

Vote rigging is as old as voting itself, but it is especially easy now in this window of time where cunning politicians have grown up knowledgeable about computers. Mantras are not required to bear the burden of explicating and demonstrating the truth of their actions. They merely need to dispense themselves with the proper disguise to infect with credence those who employ them. The argument is that vote rigging functions as a mass of producers, and that this has everything to do with technology or more specifically, with how technologies are being applied in the perpetration of vote rigging.

August 20, 2007

Price Controls Stimulate Economic Meltdown

It is quite an irony that when it came to celebrating Heroes Day on 13 August 2007, there was a shift in focus from remembering the fallen heroes to worrying about economic and political problems besetting the country. The state media was awash with propaganda meant to shore up ZANU (PF)'s image as a liberation war party. In contrast, in their homes Zimbabweans have been struggling with severe shortages of fuel, food and foreign currency for the past seven years. And now the few pleasures of life are rapidly disappearing: the revolution is devouring its children.

August 6, 2007

The Implication of Change

In today's ever-changing environment driven by high technology, leaders must adapt their styles and skills to contemporary demands. As the needs of organisations and communities change, leaders must act as facilitators and not obstacles to change. They need to establish a proactive culture that encourages democratic principles supported by teamwork and innovation, as well as inspire vision, creativity and empowerment in order to meet the challenges of the future.

July 23, 2007
PRIVATIZATION OF PARASTATALS

With the liberalisation of the economy during the 1990s, a new economic concept appeared on the Zimbabwean scene. 'Privatisation' is a legacy of the Thatcherite era and the Chicago School of Economics that appeared on the world economic scene after the end of the 1970s. Its popularisation could not have come at a better time when Zimbabwe's government expenditure and the Public Sector Borrowing Requirements (PSBR) were seen as the main culprit responsible for the economic ills and particularly for the current high inflation.

July 9, 2007

The Myth that is Economic Sanction

The Zimbabwe government media and propaganda machinery has been on full blast about the reasons for the country's economic meltdown. The suffering people of Zimbabwe have been served with a variety of dishes from the propaganda manufacturing machine. The one that has been on the menu over and over again is the claim that the international community declared economic sanctions against Zimbabwe. However, economic sanctions are economic penalties applied by one country (or group of countries) on another for a variety of reasons. Such sanctions can include tariffs, trade barriers, import duties, import or export quotas, and other monetarily damaging penalties.

June 25, 2007

ZIMBABWE'S RAMPANT INFLATION

Although authorities in Harare declared inflation the country's number one enemy, it appears they have run out of ammunition to subdue the charging "bull elephant". This is only one of a long list of hardships Zimbabweans have to endure since an economic meltdown that began in 1997. In addition, Zimbabweans also have to grapple with rising poverty caused mainly by unemployment of 85%, a crumbling health system with unaffordable drugs, rising food prices, electricity cuts, shortage of fuel and just about every basic survival commodity.

11 June

THE HAPHAZARD LAND REFORM

The question of land redistribution has remained a burning issue ever since the occupation of the country by the British South Africa Company. This private company was owned by Cecil John Rhodes, who was then Prime Minister of the Cape Colony after entering parliament in 1881. In an effort to fulfil his dream of British domination of the whole southern Africa, he persuaded Britain to annex Bechuanaland (now Botswana), occupied what was Mashonaland (now Zimbabwe) and the vast land north of the Zambezi River and named it Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia).

28 May

ZIMBABWEANS YEARN FOR A DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION

The vexing debate about a home-grown constitution for Zimbabwe is both controversial and timely. It is controversial in the sense that the ruling ZANU (PF) party is adamant that it has the "right" to write a new basic law for Zimbabwe and no one has a right to make an input. It is timely for quite a number of reasons, among which is the yearning for a democratic constitution. The Lancaster House Constitution, having been a transitional document, has been defaced seventeen times. Then there is the need for a strong opposition to counter and block unpopular legislation in the House of Assembly.

14 May

LIVING ON BORROWED MONEY AND TIME

The woes and tribulations of Zimbabwe's economy are phenomena dating back to the country's first decade of independence in the 1980s. This is the period of the "protectionist socialist governance". It was logical then that the independence government needed to resettle returning refugees and provide jobs for those that had been deprived by colonial regimes in spite of their academic qualifications. Socialistic rhetoric was overtaken by political patronage, where the ZANU (PF) government found it expedient to create jobs for the blue-eyed boys and girls. Over the years, the government has spent tax-payer's money to support its system of political patronage. This has meant a bloated Cabinet with its deadwood that does not stimulate economic growth.

April 30

A HISTORY OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION

It should be understood from the onset that the question of human rights violation started with the occupation of Mashonaland- the country known now as Zimbabwe - way back in 1890. Beginning with BSAC occupation of the country, land was being confiscated and sold to settlers and private companies in a corrupt manner. In 1898, a British Order-in-council reiterated the principle of assigning land to Africans by creating the so-called Native Reserves. Between 1890 and 1913, Africans were driven into Native Reserves in violation of their rights.

April 19

INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATIONS: JUST A BLUFF

Week sixteen of 2007 started with preparations for Zimbabwe's Independence Day that falls on April 18. This marks twenty-seven years of independence from Britain. However, the question that boggles the mind is what celebrations can there be when Zimbabwe is engulfed in an economic meltdown described by the World Bank as the worst in the world outside a war zone?

14 March 2009 - Patronage and Hardliners are GNU Enemies

14 February 2009 - After All Has Been Said And Done

24 January 2009 - Spectacular Collapse of Zimbabwe's Currency

4 January 2009 - Flashback 2008

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