As I’ve mentioned before, with a subscriber base of over 5000 people, Kubatana receives a wealth of varied information. Much of it makes sense. So here I share with you an email sent to us today discussing the fact that on the ground in Zimbabwe nothing much has changed for ordinary citizens while the negotiating politicians plunder their minibars in South African hotels.

A sharp example of the violence that continues to haunt Zimbabweans is the recent abduction and beating of University of Zimbabwe student activist Tafadzwa Mugwadi. He was on his way home last night when he was forced into a car, taken to the Kopje area in Harare and assaulted by a gang of men who accused him of having trained Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) polling agents.

In the words of a Kubatana subscriber . . .

Change needs to be fundamental. And for ordinary Zimbabweans that would equate to the Total Eradication of Fear that is by now so ingrained in all sectors of our Society that we seem paralysed by it. People are still even afraid to take down mugabe posters for Gods Sake!

Although zanu is making gestures of arresting the odd person for supposedly perpetrating violence – the Real Instigators of the serious violence and murders which occurred soon after the March Elections have yet to be made accountable. It is very doubtful whether this will ever happen because it would mean that key zanu enforcers would have to be arrested and they would then have to forfeit their Council and M.P. seats – these are the people who are responsible. So until these serious offenders are arrested and charged for their crimes the fear that their very presence invokes in the people remains.

Although some militia camps are breaking up and dispersing of their own accord, no admission of their existence has come from zanu. Nor has there been any order for them to disband. No order has gone out from anywhere to tell the police to arrest people who have been implicated in political violence. The Police seem willing, in some cases, to do the right thing but are hesitant without clear orders.

The army still has not been removed from the “lines” in the rural areas – sure they are no longer playing such a visible roll, but they are still there – still quietly threatening, still perpetuating fear. The rank and file of the army have still not been stood down from the so-called threat of an imminent invasion from Botswana – this state of “readiness” prevents the average soldier dwelling on his own miserable existence. One can almost feel the JOC commanders plotting daily – trying to come up with a plan so that they will not have to relinquish their power. From everywhere come the whispers of their persistent, obstinate stance that there is no way they will serve under Tsvangirai.

* The little food aid that is out there is still controlled by government through the “Headman’s Lists”
* Chombo has also appointed 10 zpf councillors to every council throughout the country
* The local media is still run by zpf – still spewing out propaganda by the hour
* The Judicial system is still a total farce with the 4 senior prosecutors and the Judges receiving huge kick-backs and manipulating the courts

On the ground the reality is that nothing has changed and if the MDC and the International Community are hoodwinked into thinking that progress has been made they will be making a serious error.

zanu is so desperate for a deal that they are making small compromises in line with the Memorandum Of Understanding (MoU) to try and deceive everyone that this veneer is enough to get what they want. If the MDC were to be rushed into the signing a compromise it will be a grave mistake. zanu are real snakes.

Remember that zanu’s only power base is the government institutions and the weapon of fear that it uses through them. Tsvangirai’s power base is the people of Zimbabwe. We see zanu consulting with their power base. Are we taking these talks seriously? We are holding all the cards, let’s not be rushed into anything – it is obvious zanu is pushing for a quick deal – why? They know they have no bargaining power.

Are the MDC going to make concessions by being manipulated and for the perceived need for “self-preservation”? Is Tsvangirai and his negotiating team going to ask for ratification of any negotiations and concessions from the people, his power base, before he signs our lives away?

We certainly hope so – in fact we demand it!

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve gone to see a movie in Harare. My last memory of a movie outing was going to the 7 Arts where I found one of the ushers frying fish behind the sweet counter. I wasn’t charmed. The smell of fish mixed with popcorn doesn’t quite do it for me. Maybe there’s a renegade working at the state-controlled Herald newspaper because while I was browsing the movie listings last night I saw the title of a film that singularly sums up how many Zimbabweans feel about Bob.

No Country for Old Man is playing at the Elite 100.

The Zimbabwe National Students Union recently sent an appeal to Ian Khama the President of Botswana concerning the recruitment of Caesar Zvayi as a lecturer in the University of Botswana’s media department. Blessing Vava, spokesperson for the students union had this to say

We the students of Zimbabwe write this letter to appeal to your government to urgently act and deport former Zimbabwe Herald newspaper editor Ceaser Zvayi who is now working at the University of Botswana as a lecturer in the media department. Your Excellence, we salute and commend your efforts in not recognizing and condemning the 27 June one man election in Zimbabwe. Your country is a good model of a democracy and good governancy in Africa and people like Zvayi should not be accommodated as they propagated hate among Zimbabweans because of his vitriolic writings in the daily newspaper. We commend the European Union who added the journalists on the sanctions list. Ceaser Zvayi should be deported and come back to Zimbabwe lest he pollutes those students in Botswana with his dirty and unclean background, as his past is not clean.

Apparently when approached for comment on the issue, the Head of the Media Studies Department, Professor David Kerr, said that the University of Botswana hires on academic merit as well as experience, but ideology is not considered. One wonders how Professor Kerr would have reacted to an application for employment by Joseph Goebbels, because he was clearly good at his job too.

If you would like to help Zimbabweans protest Zvayi’s appointment and put pressure on this propagandist who aided and abetted the publishing of Zanu PF’s lies for so long, please write to the University of Botswana at mokgado@mopipi.ub.bw

I highly recommend the work of Zimbabwean writer Petina Gappah for anyone wanting a refreshing, honest take on life, politics and everything in between.

Robert Gabriel Mugabe and Morgan Richard Tsvangirai held hands. Mugabe grinned. Tsvangirai grinned. Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara grinned. Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki grinned. They all grinned and were happy together. It is surreal, this orgy of grinning, this sudden, blinding flashing of teeth: barely a month ago the pictures of torture camps filled television and computer screens, photographs of burnt bodies illustrated the stories of horror from Zimbabwe.

She writes, in her recent sobering and though provoking piece on the Memorandum of Understanding and inter-party dialogue. On her blog, she recently published John Eppel’s short story – Boys will be boys – a truth is stranger than fiction account of the petty squabbling reportedly happening behind the scenes at the interparty negotiations.

We made the story available to our SMS subscribers recently, and one wrote in:

Well, if indeed it is true that the inter-party talks have degenerated into a war about mini-bars and who has the best rooms, then God help us. Why would we, claiming to represent the wishes of the people, stoop so low? The people back home sleep on rumbling empty stomachs and our leaders fight over the fat of the land. The people back home sleep in overcrowded one roomed shacks and yet our leaders see sense in fighting over who has the better room. The people back home only have darkness as their best view thanks to ZESA blackouts and our leaders haggle over who has a better view of the magnificent terrain. That is the sad reality about power. Once our leaders begin to taste good things as is the case now, there is no telling what lies ahead of us after these talks. The gloves are off and we now see the true colours of our erstwhile leaders. For them it’s about fame, glory, power, prestige, and money. I mean, does it matter to our leaders that people died for the cause of democracy? What are the families of the deceased meant to think when they hear that the democracy their loved ones died for is now the flip side of a coin that has “bedroom suites, minibars, topless waiters etc” on the other side? We have betrayed the martyrs of the struggle. Surely, they turn in their graves in regret.

God help us indeed.

On a recent visit to the US, my family and friends were not only happy to see me, they also got a kick out of seeing my 50 billion dollar notes.  There were some dropped jaws at the site of all those zeroes. And laughs with stories I told about how confusing it can be to pay for things and receive change.  Importantly these reactions were combined with inquiries and concern surrounding an economy which requires 100s of billions to buy a loaf a bread.  What I find unsettling are the places where the concern seems absent.  Where interest in Zimbabwean Dollars has inflated into hyper-insensitivity.  This got me thinking about the dark side of the internet.

Let’s start with eBay.  I thought maybe the sale of Zimbabwean Dollars on eBay was an urban myth.  Not the case. I found an economist/blogger who identified three on-going auctions with prices ranging from US$49.72 to US$71.  He also reproduced an interesting graphic from The Economist showing that 100 billion is the 4th highest-denomination banknote in history.  The highest is the 1946 Hungarian 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 Pengo (one quintillion I think).  Other sites reported 100 billion notes going for AU$87 and US$152.50.  I see the benefit of eBay as a way for people to unload their junk onto someone else and make a little money.  Nothing wrong with that.  But this, I think is too much.  Selling Zimbabwean Dollars on eBay for profit is not right. Particularly if seller and buyer have no knowledge of the situation in Zimbabwe.

In addition to this insensitive free-for-all on eBay, I shake my head in confusion and anger over the places sales are being discussed/advertised.  One site is called Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things. What world do the creators of that website live in if they think hyperinflation in Zimbabwe is a wonderful thing?  And next, the comments people make.  On a site called ask.metafilter.com there is a post where the person is seeking Zimbabwean Dollars with the reason given: I wanna pose for pictures on my myspace page with my billions of Zimbabwe dollars on display, just stacks and stacks of it… maybe even make a little youtube movie where I flash my Zimbabwe dollars in my hands and yell, I’m rich, bitch!

I wish I knew the dockworkers instrumental in stopping the Chinese weapons from being unloaded in South Africa.  If I did, they might have some advice as to how to shut down the sale of Zimbabwean Dollars on eBay.  Perhaps it’s not neatly parallel or fair to compare the sale of weapons to a dictatorship with a few people making money on eBay.  However, there are similarities in the underlying end results.  In both cases, a set of people are operating (consciously or unconsciously) with seemingly no concern around the difficult and unjust realities for a much larger set of people.

“Let’s go,” growled Comrade Hondo shouldering his battered AK 47 and smashing his beer bottle against the wall of Mr Mutarara’s store. Their task that night was to put into effect Operation Vote Wisely. They were armed with iron bars, the kind used to reinforce concrete. They were drunk. Read more of John Eppel’s short story about Zimbabwe’s election