Tired of life in Harare, a friend and I decided to take a weekend trip out of town to Mwanga Lodge and Bally Vaughn Animal Sanctuary. Happily we ran into these three Zebras, and found the answer to that question people always ask about them: they’re white with black stripes.

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has a tendency to use funeral speeches to attack some target or other, typically The West. There is even a name for this. Type in a Google search for “Mugabe funeral rant” and you’ll be amazed with what you find – for example, the Sabina Mugabe rant (“‘To hell’ with Europe and America) and the Joseph Msika rant ([The West] are not the people to deal with).

Yesterday, he gave the Menard Muzariri rant. According to AFP:

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Thursday condemned gay “filth” in Europe, as he lambasted Western powers for maintaining their asset freeze and travel ban on him and his inner circle. “We don’t worry ourselves about the goings-on in Europe,” he told thousands at the burial of deputy intelligence chief Menard Muzariri, who died Monday. “About the unnatural things happening there, where they turn man-to-man and woman-to-woman. We say, well, it’s their country. If they want to call their country British Gaydom, it’s up to them. That’s not our culture. We condemn that filth.”

I haven’t heard about the upcoming referendum to change the name of the United Kingdom to British Gaydom, but clearly when you’re in the diplomatic circles you have more inside information on these sorts of things.

Read the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) statement about the Muzariri rant:

Statement on President Robert Mugabe’s threats at the burial of Menard Muzariri

Statements by President Robert Mugabe castigating gays and lesbians at the burial of Menard Muzariri at the National Heroes Acre on Thursday 14 April are nothing new and only serve to reinforce our call for constitutional protection of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Intersex people that has been met with state sponsored homophobia of alarming levels.

It is time for the Zimbabwean government to reflect seriously on its thinking around human rights including those of its lesbian and gay citizens and Government should be implementing measures which proactively encourage a culture of meaningful human rights protection in this country.

Statements by the President are a contradiction of article VII of the Global Political agreement in which the President pledges to promote equality, national healing, cohesion and unity. The President should strive to “create an environment of tolerance and respect among Zimbabweans and that all citizens are treated with dignity and decency.”

Activists in Zimbabwe are not puppets of foreign forces, as government would have everyone believe: we want a responsible government that is responsive to the needs of all Zimbabweans and we are fighting for our own good and for our own benefit as citizens of Zimbabwe.

The President needs to provide leadership in overcoming Zimbabwe’s challenges in areas such as violence, unemployment, education and health rather than fostering antipathy and intolerance.

A recent update from the MDC shares the news of Shakespeare Mukoyi‘s release, after four nights in police custody and following his assault by police. Mukoyi was arrested with fellow congregants at a prayer for peace gathering on Saturday. The others were released on Monday:

Shakespeare Mukoyi, the MDC Harare Youth Assembly vice chairperson who was arrested and beaten by police at a peace prayer church service on Saturday was released on free bail on Wednesday. He was arrested with 12 other people who were released on Monday. Mukoyi who appeared in court with a neck brace after he was seriously assaulted by the police will appear in court on 18 May. He is facing allegations of assaulting a police officer on the day he was arrested.

Rumours of a revolution in Zimbabwe have been greatly exaggerated. Filled with hope but little practical knowledge, several unidentified groups took to Facebook in an attempt to replicate the Egyptian revolution here. These attempts have failed because as Ghandi says ‘Revolution has had no blueprint, and all the blueprints that were written before a revolution never proved true.’

In my recent interview with Professor John Makumbe, this is what he had to say about the failed Facebook attempt:

It failed because everybody knew it was organised from the Diaspora, and the Diaspora has no business organising people in Zimbabwe. It is when people organise through cyberspace in Zimbabwe so that the cyberspace communication is reinforced by clandestine on the ground assurance that things will happen. People are very keen to do it, but they will not do it without knowing someone who is going to be part of it, or someone who is organising it, or someone to whom they will cry if things don’t go well. And it must be someone local. Not someone toying with cyberspace in the Diaspora from the comfort of one bedroom with a large screen television in the hope that they can mobilise the poor people to hit the streets. From there no!

Are Zimbabweans different from fellow citizens of our neighbouring countries like South Africa, Botswana or Zambia? Do Zimbabweans have what it takes to bring change in their own country, without external influences? Are there any Egyptian or Tunisian or Libyan traits in Zimbabweans? What would a Zimbabwean value more, by virtue of being a Zimbabwean? To read more visit this link. Below are excerpts from an article written by Vince Musevewe on his opinion of the Zimbabwean he knows. Is your Zimbabwean different from his or they are the same?

The Zimbabwean I know is a highly accomplished character academically and to me, that has been his fundamental blemish. His persona has shaped mostly in a colonial environment where he believes in hard work and a reverence of those that are above his station or those in authority…

The Zimbabwean I know is an extremely proud individual with an over bearing sense of self-importance. To him education comes first for that has been his escape from poverty and his offspring must get a better education than him.

He will therefore do anything to ensure that his offspring receive better schooling. He will also hastily exhibit his academic accomplishments whenever he is afforded an opportunity to do so. Unfortunately these have been rendered useless in the political environment…

The Zimbabwean politician, on the other hand, has taken full advantage of these weaknesses and has pushed the boundaries to the brink and exploited the ordinary Zimbabwean in all spheres of life. The politician has used intimidation and fear as his tools to cower the Zimbabwean into accepting his dominance…

The Zimbabwean businessman, in my view, has become compromised and therefore useless in the game of change. He can only survive in this environment by supporting the ruling party or else his business will come to ruin.

Unfortunately he has become a partner in the entrenchment of a dictatorship. Because of the fear of loss, he has chosen not to dabble in politics but be a mere spectator. His position is similar to that of the Zimbabwean in the Diaspora who can make as much noise as he wishes to no effect…

Despite all this Zimbabweans I know are sick and tired of ZANU (PF) but know no better means to dislodge it but through the ballot. That is his only conceivable and safe means of bringing on change and yet it tarries…

The day will come, I guess, when all fear must dissipate and all Zimbabweans realise that without force there will be no change because this adversary is not going anywhere. Until that happens expect nothing much to change and the situation to worsen.

*Vince Musewe is an independent Zimbabwean economist based in South Africa. You may contact him on vtmusewe [at] gmail [dot] com

Eddson Chakuma is a Trade Unionist who was arrested with Munyaradzi Gwisai for attending a meeting to discuss the political events in Egypt. Following his release on bail, Eddson Chakuma was suspended from his job at the United Food & Allied Workers Union of Zimbabwe due to the time he missed from work when he was imprisoned. He now has no way to sustain himself.

Please narrate the events leading up to your suspension?
The three of us who had presented (at the meeting) myself another student representative and another lecturer were beaten so that we would testify that we were planning to subvert a Constitutional government. After that we were taken to court and placed on remand. On the 17th of March we were placed on two thousand dollars bail. I returned to work after my release and worked for almost a week. I was told to write a report about my continuous absence from work. I wrote it, explaining how I was arrested for attending an educational programme at Zimbabwe Labour Centre. Two days after submitting my report I was informed that I was to attend a hearing concerning my misconduct. Up to now I’m waiting for the verdict of the hearing.

What was your presentation about?
My presentation was about the problems of the workers. I talked about the how dollarization has adversely affected pension schemes. Workers who have worked for almost 30 years were given small amounts of pension. Pension houses were saying that their savings had been eroded by inflation. Another problem is casualisation, which is rampant in industry, as well as subcontracting.

In your opinion was any of what happened in that meeting an attempt to subvert a constitutional government?
There was nothing like that. We had been talking about the problems of the workers, the lessons which we learnt from the revolutions happening in Egypt and Tunisia vis-a-vis capitalism, socialism and imperialism. There was no plan to subvert the government. It wasn’t about the government, but about capitalism, imperialism and socialism, which have to go if Zimbabwe or even Africa is to come out of capitalism.

Then how do you feel about your detention?
It pained me. I was subjected to torture. Even when I told them what I had presented they kept on torturing me, they wanted me to say something that we didn’t plan or do.

Are you angry?
Sure I’m angry! If you face a situation where your colleagues don’t visit you in prison, they don’t support you financially. After coming out of prison where I’m facing a treason charge, which has a penalty of death or life imprisonment and somebody cuts your salary, suspends you and makes you write a report…it’s devastating. That person wants you to suffer more than what you have already suffered.

How has your detention affected your family?
When we were arrested it was toward the end of the month. My wife had to run around to look for money for utility bills, transport to visit me in prison… this was a big problem.

Judging from the hearing you had last week, do you feel hopeful that your suspension will be reversed?
I think there’s a 50-50 chance. The panel that was there was questionable. I’ve worked with some of the guys on the panel before and find it unfair that they put a panel of guys whom I’ve worked with and have at times had clashes with in terms of being voted into some posts. For me to become a unionist I had to battle it out with some of the guys who were on that panel.