We received this appeal to South African President Thabo Mbeki from a subscriber today:

Mr Mbeki 18th April 2008

Mr Mbeki,
It is late,
So late,
And we, a nation
Watch through the barred gate,
Of justice.
Which you walked through
To be president,
Above apartheid
And hate.
But, you make us wait
For just words you will never say.

Like Pilate,
You wash your hands
Of what has been in your power to do.
You slip through a side door
And allow
This Mad High Priest of the Past,
Mugabe,
To crucify,
Fourteen million people.
And the living water
Of deliverance,
Shimmers,
In your still hand.

Blood, exhaustion and sickness;
And filth and misery
And hunger
The pall of Hell,
Covers us.

And, you say,
“Zimbabwe ? Not today.”
To the Security Council.
And so, a nation is hung from a tree
And ZANU murderers walk free.

We ache with questions.
What scales cover your eyes ?
What steel seals your ears ?
What vault insulates your heart,
From the drum of echoing truth,
Of millions of voices ?

Does your conscience never wake you,
With the doves at dawn,
And warn,
Of our horror ?

Justice stands on a high hill.
Lord, deliver us from Dialogue and Debate.
As our People crawl through the river, mud and wire

To your Limpopo shore
To implore;
“Work..?.”

Our stolen elections lie scattered,
Like silver pieces
In the fields of the dead.
Blessed by your election monitors from the past,
Who will be asked, again,
“Why, did this happen ?”

It is late Mr Mbeki, so late
And your stubborn will
Has finished many of us.
What obscene loyalty compels protection
Of this geriatric murderer.

A liberation hero who kills his own people,
Remains a hero, no less ?
These stale lies of brotherhood
Gall the ears of mourners
At our funeral pyres.

Already night is falling
And the devil moves in darkness
His hyenas hunt again
And we the living,
Strain,
To hear the voice of any Shepherd.

Mr Mbeki,
If only I could make you
One of us here, the unseen,
For a day
To see what you have ignored.
To feel the grief, to taste the fear
Racing across parched fields
And empty huts
Like the wind called
Gukuruhundi
Like the storm called
Murambatsvina
Maybe then your heart would break
And you would awake.
Too late…

So, for want of any inspiring solution to the fiasco Zimbabwe’s 29 March election has become, we’re turning to humour.

Alex Magaisa recently sent us some creative answers to the classic question Why did the chicken cross the road?

Some of my favourites are:

Patrick Chinamasa: No. The chicken did not cross the road. In fact we need to verify whether in fact it was a chicken. As far as we know, the chicken is still there. It could have been an eagle. We have to wait until verification is done.

Robert Mugabe: The chicken will never be allowed to cross the road. Not in my life time! Let those that run away to Bush and Brown do so. Not my chicken! My chicken will never cross the road. It will never be colonised again!

Tendai Biti: We have irrefutable evidence from those who were at the road that the chicken has, indeed, without any shadow of doubt, crossed the road. I hereby declare that Chicken Huku Inkuku is now the legitimate resident of the other side of the road.

Judge of the High Court: Whether or not it crossed the road is a matter for the officials to declare at their own time. They have the power to order a re-check and verification as to whether it crossed the road before they can make the declaration.

Zimbabwe Electoral Commission: We are not in a position to say whether or not the chicken crossed the road. There are some people who have complained that it probably wasn’t a chicken at all and others saying it was being pushed or dragged against its will. We are currently considering whether to do a re-check before we can officially declare if the chicken crossed the road. We will take as long as we want to be fully certain that it was a chicken that crossed the road.

Read more

I’ve read that Morgan Tsvangirai believes that shuttle diplomacy is the way to go right now. If I had my way I’d put him on a shuttle and send him straight to Mars. I read in the Zimbabwe Independent that Tsvangirai, his family and his advisers have set up camp in Botswana because Zimbabwe is too dangerous. I’m not sure how much more insulting one can get but Tsvangirai certainly takes the cake.

I was at a lunch on Saturday and I just wish Tsvangirai could have been there because the derision with which his name was uttered would surely have made him sit up and take note. I wrote recently about finding these ridiculous stickers in Newlands in Harare likening Tsvangirai to Mandela . . . yeah right.

Zimbabweans are suffering a devastating lack of leadership from Morgan “Asylum” Tsvangirai. He should be here, on the front lines inspiring hope and being among his supporters. He’s worried that he’ll become a “dead hero” – well pretty soon he will be dead in the eyes of Zimbabweans because so many of us are entirely unimpressed with his sorry arse. We all run the risk of assault and imprisonment, many without the glare of publicity and glamour that the likes of Tsvangirai generate when he’s chucked inside.

Will you participate in a re-run for this man? I won’t.

OK. So I don’t have an election Result, but I now have a bottle of Radox. It was hand delivered by a messenger with a stunning smile. Amazing what a lament in a blog, and a gorgeous friend from afar will do for you . . . my bottle of Radox promises me “clear thoughts” . . . bring them on. Although I can’t get any clearer about the fact that Bobby Must Go Now! It’s early afternoon in the Kubatana offices and we’re taking back Independence in Zimbabwe, playing Dr Alban – loudly. His insistence that freedom is our goal is our reprise.

It has been widely reported in the press, today, that Kenya has “stepped back from the brink” following the swearing in of opposition leader Raila Odinga in to the Prime Minister’s position. Over a thousand people died so that the “will” of the people could be reflected by this appointment. So it is it fair to assume that, had two thousand people died, Kenya would have gone over the brink?

Who sets the brink? Is present day Iraq before, in, after or recently back from the brink? Is Iran speeding towards the brink or does Dick Cheney think not fast enough? What about Darfur? Is Somalia, with its gung ho pirates who could not organise a piss up in a brewery, way beyond the brink and in the abyss? How many steps does Somalia need to take to climb out of the abyss and then take that monumental step back from the brink? How many people does it take to die for there to be brink?

Is there a crisis in Zimbabwe? Starting when? With the deaths of twenty thousand people in the early eighties or was that a different kind of brink? An inconvenient brink during the cold war? Should we colour code brinks and have a brink-o-meter? In fact, should we have a brink-o-meter for the economy as well? Because at 165 000% official inflation, Zimbabwe is not at the brink. It does not even have a crisis! It is simply setting a world record. The Tiger Woods of failed economies. There is, however a “crisis” according to many because election results have not been released. Mbeki does not agree; his benchmark for a crisis could well be that 1000 dead bodies mark. Before that, it is a manageable solution. Was Rwanda not manageable before the radio broadcasts began?

What about a stable country, like say Botswana or Swaziland, with some of the highest rates of HIV AIDS infections and related deaths? Does that constitute a brink or an impending catastrophe? Is Arsene Wenger, having thrown away what was to be surely a premiership championship on the brink?

Back to Kenya, a reporter asked who the opposition was going to be since everyone one is now in government. Given that there is no longer an opposition in place, is democracy there on the brink? Has Kenya really stepped away from the brink? What brink?

Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers,
but to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain,
but for the heart to conquer it.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Below we share with you an Independence Day message from Arthur Mutambara. He raises many valid points which are worth reflecting on. In order to provide for ways to measure the performance of elected political leaders and the political opposition, we have selected some ideas and suggestions from Mutambara’s paper with a view to them being taken up as reasonable, implementable activities.

1. “It is ironic that we should be celebrating the birth of our freedom in the prevailing climate.”

Actions:

Create your own ways of taking back Independence Day.

* Switch off ZBC/TV.
* Don’t buy state controlled newspapers.
* Play your own liberation songs at high volume.
* Write a letter to the editors of local and regional newspapers . . .

2. “Fellow citizens, make no mistake about it. Mugabe now knows that he will never win a free and fair election in Zimbabwe. The 29th of March made this predicament unequivocally clear. Hence, if he agrees to any new election it is clear that he would have put measures and systems in place to ensure his victory by any means necessary.”

Actions:

* Lobby the political opposition in Zimbabwe to participate in a run-off only if specific conditions are met.
* Refuse to cast your vote in a run-off unless the political opposition stands firm on its demands for a free and fair environment, including an independent vote count.
* Say no to the dithering of the political opposition in their “will run, won’t run” mantra.

3. “All opposition parties, in particular the two MDC formations must work closely on all matters affecting the national interest. They ought to cooperate in the way they tackle the current political stalemate in our country. There is need to unlock and leverage the collective wisdom, moral authority, bargaining power and numerical strength that is unleashed by a cooperating and united opposition fraternity.”

Actions:

* Refuse to participate/vote in a run-off if the political opposition is divided.
* Demand their unification – withhold your vote to make this demand a reality.

4. “The 110 opposition Members of Parliament (from the two MDC formations and the Independent MP) must informally convene, immediately. They should elect the Speaker, and outline a comprehensive agenda for the incoming Parliament.”

Actions:

* Creating parallel structures which by-pass the formal institutions of the state are powerful in their ability to undermine the authority of the state. It is time for our elected political representatives to act with authority and confidence.
* Insist that the representatives you voted for show some leadership NOW.

5. “Zimbabwean citizens will be the key drivers of this revolution.”

Action:

* Our liberation is a contract between political, civic leaders and citizens. It is a time for courage, a time for standing up and being counted. A time for unity – play your part.

A Shameful Betrayal of National Independence: The Case for both Out thinking ZANU-PF and Putting National Interest First

Independence message by Arthur G.O. Mutambara

Introduction

Fellow citizens once again we commemorate the great occasion of the independence of our country from colonial and imperialist rule. The 18th April should always be an opportunity for us as a nation to reflect, take stock, and define new trajectories. This particular 28th commemoration is like none of the previous ones. We are in uniquely invidious circumstances. Our economy has virtually collapsed and industries have grinded to a halt. Our society is calibrated by fear, terror and outright brutality. Our national institutions of governance have been rendered dysfunctional and impotent. We have had harmonized general elections, and twenty days later the results of the Presidential polls are not yet released. One of the key objectives of the liberation struggle was attainment of the one person one vote dispensation. Twenty eight years after independence our people are denied this basic right. Our country is characterized by extreme illegitimacy where we have an abrasive caretaker President and an illegally constituted Cabinet in cahoots with an imbecilic and cynical military junta, running the affairs of our country. There is heavy army and police presence in our major cities to intimidate ordinary citizens. Opposition supporters are being brutalized and killed in the rural areas under an unprecedented terror campaign.

This is the state of our nation on Independence Day. It is ironic that we should be celebrating the birth of our freedom in the prevailing climate. What a travesty of justice, principle and national interest!

Deconstructing the ZANU-PF Strategy

There is a method to the ZANU-PF madness we have witnessed in the last three weeks. Mugabe’s strategy is pure and simple: Regain control of Parliament by criminal and crooked means, win a run-off (or re-run) of the Presidential elections by using brute force and blatant rigging, and thus control the Senate as well. As a result of these efforts, ZANU-PF will be back in complete charge and control of all the three arms of government; The Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. The second phase of the strategy will then be to force and harangue a bludgeoned and brutalized opposition into a so-called Government of National Unity. This is the strategic plan.

Fellow citizens, make no mistake about it. Mugabe now knows that he will never win a free and fair election in Zimbabwe. The 29th of March made this predicament unequivocally clear. Hence, if he agrees to any new election it is clear that he would have put measures and systems in place to ensure his victory by any means necessary. This is why participation or lack of it in any new election involving Robert Mugabe is a huge decision conundrum for the opposition: Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

Let us further interrogate the ZANU-PF game plan. What does Mugabe need to execute his evil strategy? Just a one word answer would do: Time. The key resource that is essential to this regime is time. All that the post election shenanigans have served to do is buy time for the dictatorship to carry out the necessary intimidation and violence, while putting the requisite rigging mechanisms in place. ZANU-PF strategists know that after announcing the results they legally only have three weeks to the run-off. They toyed around with the idea of demanding ninety days, but dropped the proposition on realizing that they could not legally sustain it. The tactic then adopted was to hold onto the results until they have done most of the dirty work, and release the hung Presidential results when they have only three weeks of evil steps to implement. A variation of the plan at that stage is to allege gross and systematic patterns of misconduct and irregularities, declare the Presidential elections null and void, and call for a re-run instead of a run-off. Yes, Robert, we know what’s up. However, we are glad that you also know what time it is.

In terms of the House of Assembly, the agenda is to fraudulently seize at least 9 seats from the opposition through recounts and court action leading to re-runs. This explains the twenty-three recounts that ZEC has instituted. There is clearly criminal collusion between ZEC and ZANU-PF. To add insult to injury, this unholy marriage is dutifully consummated by a compliant and pliable judiciary typified and exemplified by Judge Tendai Uchena’s unreasonable and thoughtless decision not to order ZEC to release the Presidential results.

For the record, the farce about hung Presidential election results without a clear winner should be rejected with the contempt that it deserves. Mugabe lost the election and Morgan Tsvangirai won with an outright majority. What ZANU-PF has successfully done is to psychologically prepare the nation for a false result through massive propaganda, unmitigated lies and manipulative distortions. It is clear that ZANU-PF’s keenness to portray the results as hung means that the results are the opposite; i.e., we have an outright defeat of Robert Mugabe. It is shameful that even regional leaders and the international community have been duped by ZANU-PF’s big lie. All these discussions of run-off or re-run options are testimony of, and submission to, the power of a duplicitous ZANU-PF. Mugabe has won the psychological warfare.

It is sad that in all this pervasion and destruction of the Zimbabwean national interest, the illegitimate regime of Robert Mugabe has a partner in crime in the name of the SA President. Yes, Mr. Mbeki there is a crisis in Zimbabwe. We are sick and tired of your shameless antics. You clamour that Zimbabwe is not a Province of South Africa, and yet you treat us worse than your mother’s backyard. Whatever credibility and political capital you had left from Polokwane, you are busy dissipating with reckless abandon. This is not how one constructs a basis and rationale for the African Renaissance or New Economic Partnership for Development. Shame on you Thabo Mbeki! Indeed our cup of patience with you has run completely full. How can you be an effective mediator between the Zimbabwean political parties when you show such shameless duplicity, poor judgment and spinelessness? Zimbabwe and Africa deserve better leadership than this.

Let us go to New York. How can we have deafening silence on African matters by African leaders at the UN, and leave our case to be articulated by Western leaders. African solutions for African problems demand proactivity and ownership on the part of the African. We must take charge of our lives and not abdicate on our obligations to the continent. The SADC summit communique last Sunday was too timid and apologetic. Hence it was ineffectual. What happened at the UN this Wednesday is not only disgraceful but an affront to African dignity. We must all hang our heads in shame.

The Appropriate Response from the Opposition

On the 29th of March, the people voted for change and against the status quo. The removal of Mugabe and his fellow travelers was the issue, and nothing else. The voter’s tactical decision was to elect those perceived to have the best chance of defeating Mugabe. All democratic forces must acknowledge and respect this choice. What is imperative is for all opposition parties to close ranks and make the wishes of the Zimbabwean electorate a reality. In any run-off or re-run of the Presidential Election the support for Morgan Tsvangirai should be total and unconditional. There will be neither equivocation nor ambiguity on that subject. He represents the change that Zimbabweans voted for. The people spoke on the 29th of March. They seek no accommodation with the Dictator or any of his manifestations. All democratic forces must stand with the people in pursuit of the total annihilation of Robert Mugabe and all he stands for.

Going forward, all opposition parties, in particular the two MDC formations must work closely on all matters affecting the national interest. They ought to cooperate in the way they tackle the current political stalemate in our country. There is need to unlock and leverage the collective wisdom, moral authority, bargaining power and numerical strength that is unleashed by a cooperating and united opposition fraternity. History will not absolve this generation of leaders if we falter on this agenda. In fact, we will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Consequently, while the two MDC formations acknowledge that they are two separate political parties, they must irrevocably agree and undertake to work as one in the Legislature. In this regard they will have one Chief Whip and a single Caucus. They will agree to vote together in order to drive the transformational agenda in our country. There must be a solid and binding coalition and co-operation agreement between the two MDC formations. It is our intention it make it clear that our MPs will never vote with the Dictator’s Party. We cannot work with criminals, economic saboteurs and social deviants. Under no circumstances will we vote with Robert Mugabe. Hell no, never, ever. Put simply, the opposition is now in charge of Parliament with 109 MPs, period. That’s where the game is at Robert. Get over it. The self-serving and speculative hallucination among ZANU-PF apologists must stop. The opposition parties are united in their total onslaught on the regime.

In a way, the people of Zimbabwe and the opposition forces are underestimating the critical role and power of the House of Representatives. This is probably because for the past 28 years it was rendered a docile and ineffectual institution due to its domination by ZANU-PF. Now that we are in control of this legislative organ of the State, let us demonstrate its true function and impact. The 110 opposition Members of Parliament (from the two MDC formations and the Independent MP) must informally convene, immediately. They should elect the Speaker, and outline a comprehensive agenda for the incoming Parliament. Items that should be debated and adopted must include, but not limited to: (1) Impeachment of the caretaker President, Robert Mugabe (2) Removal of AIPPA and POSA (3) Establishment of processes for achieving a people-driven democratic constitution (4) Immediate prosecution of public servants, including military and police officers who are currently abusing their authority (5) Establishment of processes to rationalize the land reform program (6) Setting up of a Truth and Justice Commission for Gukurahundi and Murambatsvina (7) Immediate removal from office, and criminal prosecution of, the RBZ Governor, Gideon Gono (8) Dismantling and reconstitution of ZEC.

Although this gathering of, and resolutions adopted by these 110 MPs will be informal, a framework for the terms of reference of the formally convened House is thus created. As these MPs constitute the majority they will use this informal platform to drive the Parliamentary agenda. This will send shivers down the spines of that illegal cabal running our country, as reality will suddenly sink in. The game is up! We need to demonstrate that Mugabe has lost and that the people have won. Even without the Presidential results we can unequivocally say that the Zimbabwean political landscape will never be the same again. ZANU-PF understands what has happened. They clearly appreciate the significance of their Parliamentary loss. This is why they are busy trying to reverse their poor fortunes through recounts and court actions. The opposition forces must both out think and outmaneuver these ZANU-PF losers who are running all over the place like headless chickens.

Conclusion

In the history of every nation there comes a time when a generation has a unique opportunity to break with the past and define a new direction. Such a momentous occasion currently presents itself in our country. We need to seize the time and deliver change. This requires putting national interest before partisan, sectoral and personal interests. It demands that we apply our minds and outthink the regime. What Mugabe has lost in the electoral battle, he cannot legitimately regain in any election remotely described as free and fair. He is fatally and mortally wounded. The veil of invincibility has been pierced. On the 29th of March 2008 the people voted for change, and that democratic choice must be defended. Our independence will be meaningless without the sanctity and integrity of the one person one vote principle. Those that rule our country must do so with the consent of the governed.

If a run-off or re-run is illegally imposed upon us, the first order of business is challenging and exposing the illegitimacy of the basis of that proposition. More than ever, it becomes imperative for all the progressive and democratic forces in the country to close ranks in pursuit of the collective national interest. We must seek to establish a peaceful and secure environment for those illegitimate polls. In addition to observation SADC, the AU and the international community must be allowed to supervise these particular elections; before, during and after the voting process. The mandate of the external players must include the verification and announcement of the results. Yes, the regime has behaved worse than East Timor. We now need international supervision. Consequently, the notion of regional sovereignty and the doctrine of international responsibility to protect must now take precedence over Mugabe’s narrow definition of national sovereignty. We have lost the right to manage our affairs alone internally. We need help.

However, Zimbabwean citizens will be the key drivers of this revolution. The power is in our hands. Let us stand up and be masters of our destiny. On this occasion of our Independence Day, let us rededicate ourselves to meaningful and total political and economic independence. The people should govern. The people must prosper.

We shall overcome.

Arthur G.O. Mutambara