“From your discussions, one would like to find out how Gukurahundi victims in Matabeleland could suddenly bury the hatchet and vote for Zanu PF, a party which committed those atrocities, and also given that Zanu PF had never won a single seat there since 1980.” Rudo Gaidzanwa.

Now that it’s “official” that the Zim kwacha is not coming back anytime soon, we eagerly await the promise of a big pay day for people who lost their money when the local currency was suspended.

Mugabe promised supporters that once he wins the poll, Zimbabweans will be compensated for the loss of their savings.

Reported the Sunday Mail: “Zimbabweans from all walks of life are scrounging for Zimbabwe dollar notes following the announcement by President Mugabe that those who are still in possession of the currency must keep it as they will be compensated.”

Of course no one asked where the money will come from, but to hazard a guess, the diamond purse shall be opened wide, in fact wider than the margin with which Zanu PF own!

After all, everything under the sun has been pinned on diamonds, and one of the major rifts during that ugly GNU beast was that Tendai Biti was a scrooge who did not want Zimbabweans to benefit from the diamond riches.

(Actually, I just read Munyaradzi Gwisai allege the same!).

Now here is a beautiful picture: every household across the country turns their mattresses down-side-up, ransacks every nook and cranny in their homes, hovels and harems in search of the suspended currency (remember that wad of notes Tsvangirai waved during one of his campaign rallies), runs to banks (surely that’s where they will get “their” money not Zanu PF offices) to claim their dues at the same time civil servants are lining up to get their salaries. Now that’s something to watch!

And there is no need to dabble in elementary economics and the effect of this on money supply, consumer prices, and all that, but merchants of apocalypse-now can already see a throwback to that time many imagined was behind us.

Here is how the Sunday Mail reported it : “He (Mugabe) also said there were consultations between his Office and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono to see how people who lost their money during the switch-over from the Zimbabwe dollar to the multi-currency regime could be compensated.

A snap survey conducted by this paper revealed that most Harare residents are waiting excitedly for the “windfall”.

“Luckily for me, I did not dispose of my Zim-dollars. Since I am going to be given an equivalent of United dollars, I am going to jealously guard my treasure,” Maureen Chakandinakira, an informal trader who sells her wares in Harare’s First Street, said. In the high-density suburb of Rugare in Harare, residents, mostly youngsters, could be seen rummaging through rubbish dumps and open spaces as they sought the much-needed currency.”

Can only be Zanu PF!

In the past few days I’ve been musing about the poll results in rural Matebeleland and couldn’t help but wonder how the psychology of political persuasion works.

I even tried – and actually I’m still trying – to understand it as extending from the psychology of political violence itself as informed by events of the early 1980s in that region, and wondered what could have changed for a people who for so long have demanded among other things that range from compensation and retributive justice to “overwhelmingly” elect the very political animal at the centre of these nightmares.

Time sure must be greatest healer!

I recalled Owen Maseko’s work “Sibathontisele.” Maseko’s exhibition that documents the Gukurahundi atrocities – not surprisingly for many – only got him into trouble, and my reaction to the Matebeleland vote was to ask myself: what is Maseko’s reaction to this?

Of course not just Maseko, but indeed many others for whom Matebeleland remains a symbol of Zanu-PF antipathy, and it shall remain a mystery for me how Zimbabwe’s south-west was won.

I recalled Maseko’s work specifically because of the trouble it got him into with the “authorities,” the same “authorities” who today are claiming the subject of Maseko’s work have “seen the light” and today are jubilant with terrific amnesia!

This is no way to stoke anything (some political egos and other things phallic were long stroked!) but the Matebeleland vote count is plainly outside the realm of credible all things considered.

And as McDonald Lewanika writes elsewhere: “something less sophisticated than politics that will put them on their deathbed.”

And THEY know who they are!

It was one of those things that get you both angry and surprised.

Empty polling stations; unemployed young men who hang around local pubs and are forever asking for beer alms saying voting is for suckers; short queues moving at a snail’s pace; bored polling agents getting animated seeing a single soul passing by; all this became part of the July 31 kaleidoscope.

And this was in Bulawayo, a city long known for its strong anti-Zanu PF sentiment, yet here were some people eligible to vote staying away, choosing instead to leave the country to the Fates.

Bulawayo has some 367,178 registered voters against the disputed 2012 census that put the city’s population at 655,675, but despite the widespread frustration during the voter registration exercise, some actually said they had no reason to vote as the poll outcome had been decided a long time ago.

While this kind of talk infuriated those who had braved the cold to queue and exercise this important constitutional right, the same chaps today feel vindicated!

Yet those who did vote saw it as The Coming of the long-awaited transition to a post-Zanu PF political dispensation and the stories I listened to bordered on the hilarious as folks firmly believed that their vote would indeed make a difference.

One chap told colleagues he was saving USD150, – a lot of money by any standard – to purchase a goat to celebrate “independence,” another, a man in his fifties who has a ready story to narrate about his torture by the Fifth Brigade during Gukurahundi, went home after casting his vote and blasted his stereo in celebration of what he saw as a sure Mugabe defeat; another bought a round of beer for anyone in the bar who was sitting next to the counter: that was the mood in some parts of Bulawayo, and the excitement was just fantastic.

And then I met some folks on Friday 2 August as it became clear that Zanu PF had bamboozled the MDC-T and it was like a funeral!

A chap I grew up with who has been flirting with mining said he couldn’t take it and was contemplating leaving the country; the fellow who had planned to buy a goat to celebrate an MDC-T victory simply said: sizafa sihawula – we will die poor. He was in no mood for the animated chit-chat of 31 July; men and women feeding their families as “flea market” trader said, “And we were only beginning to realise something out of this (flea market). We are facing tough times ahead.”

These folks did not need to explain the gloomy predictions of their economic future by referring to Erich Bloch or Tony Hawkings but know from experience where they are from and, with such frustration with what are seen as very flawed political and electoral processes that have come to define Zimbabwe, they are not cursing Tsvangirai and the MDC-T but a system thought to have allowed such incredible results.

Everywhere one went the sentiment was that this was a classic case of daylight robbery, and grown men could be seen literally drowning their sorrows by taking generous quaffs of bottles brown, green and other liver melting stuff.

Another asked between sips: “so this means another five years of Zanu PF?”

Yes.

There is a lot that remains to be said – some add “and done” – about the poll furore, but the most radical that I have heard is that the MDC-T is no longer the party that will lead Zimbabweans to the Promised Land.

I sat among some of the country’s respected senior citizens over the weekend as they mourned the death – once again – of credible elections and one thing one of them said rather angrily was that he did not want to discuss what went wrong but wanted to ponder the question: “what’s next?”

Indeed “what next?”

These are men who spoke fondly of Charles Chikerema, Authur Chadzingwa, men who recalled the politics of George Nyandoro, and exchanged stories about the bad turn the country took despite all the promise, and these elections became an opportunity to talk about the past, the present and the future of Zimbabwe.

One angry old intellectual said despite his loathing for Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF, he felt the country could do well with a new political party that would make sure to succeed where the MDC-T had failed, opining that Zanu PF had actually exercised some kind of selective magnanimity by “letting” some MDC-T candidates win and also extending the same to Zanu PF whom the revolutionary party “let” lose!

It was a strange conversation to be part of, but as one said, Zanu PF has no shame, yet I found myself musing over how all this anger being palpably felt across the country will be dealt with amidst concerns that what Zanu PF seeks is any excuse available to unleash the wrath of the security forces on civilians.

Yet one of these enlightened senior citizens was of the view that no soldier or policeman would act on such instructions to beat up any marchers because the same police and soldiers are fed up with the system that has taught nothing but hate and suffering.

This is disturbingly interesting considering the eagerness of the uniformed juniors to cast their vote during the special vote chaos.

I asked how the MDC-T lost Mbare for example, and an old professor said, “I know the guy who won for Zanu PF, he is a cruel man.” The response was loaded in that the old professor said nothing about the tactics that were employed to win but rather the kind of people who have been made guardians of our public life and space.

It was the kind of frustration with the election results that has you thinking, “If these old enlightened men are feeling this way, what of the younger people for whom this election was meant to provide a new beginning?”

One of the favourite occupations of many an analyst during the run-up to the poll was wide guesses about possible post-election scenarios, and like many such occasions, no one seems to have a clue about what’s likely to happen now that Mugabe has once again stunned everyone.

Besides the MDC-T changing its leadership, one suggested that Zanu PF had actually began destroying the MDC-T in that in forming a new government, it would invite some winning MDC-T MPs despite Tsvangirai’s position that these MPs must have nothing to do with a Zanu PF government.

And because we already know how eager everyone was to occupy cabinet posts during the GNU, this could indeed present problems for the MDC-T where its members appointed to cabinet positions through Mugabe’s magnanimity will see no reason why they should not take up the posts.

It then it becomes a matter of principle, but such appeals are always problematic in that such men and women sorely lacked when the GNU was birthed.

Meanwhile, like many Zimbabweans, the old wise men retreat to their own spaces and watch Zanu PF’s next move, because honestly, no one has a clue where we are going from here.

Election time is always an opportunity for media hacks to practice a bit of creative writing and come up with that they imagine are funky headlines, puns and even shocking claims, never mind that many have been left ruing their creativity after the elections sprung shocks they wouldn’t have imagined.

Because Zimbabwe’s politics have been defined through very false black/white right/left dichotomies, this has been enough to have any writer or news outlet who favours one particular party to stretch their imagination despite all evidence to the contrary.

It is in news writing where clairvoyants would come in handy as part of the newsroom team!

While not exactly a news item, the International Relations and Security Network (ISN) carried an opinion piece headlined: “Mugabe Likely to Win Elections, But Who Will Lead Zimbabwe Next?” and it is one of those analyses which when you read it, raises questions about the logic of going to elections in the first place when the winner has already been determined. One has to live on the streets of Zimbabwe’s major cities to get a pulse of what such scenarios would mean in the event the people’s will is subverted.

Another local opinion piece carried by Newsday and written by MDC-T senior official Obert Gutu titled “Why Tsvangirai will be next President”
offers another long perspective on why Mugabe long lost his relevance to Zimbabwean politics, but then that can be expected from someone whose leader is contesting against Mugabe.

Yet another headline in the same paper says “Ncube’s journey to State House” in reference to Welshman Ncube whom the Herald, most interestingly, now says is expected to “give a good account of himself as his party has moved from being a splinter group to a full-fledged political outfit.” I imagine this means the Herald is then awake to the possibility that Ncube can indeed cause a major upset and end Mugabe’s political career?

The Herald carried a story headlined “Zanu-PF has transformed lives: Mujuru” and it’s stuff that one reads and says, perhaps I have been away too long. You still get such reports despite these being the same people who have begged President Sata for maize to feed starving millions here, but then in election time, voters are not expected to question such wild claims! And newsmen and women simply regurgitate the speechifying without reminding the speaker of the painful irony of such claims. But then that would mean losing your job!

Of course I found it strange that The Herald would run a story that was lifted from the Guardian (UK) that ostensibly predicts a Mugabe victory where the British paper cites Simon Khaya-Moyo saying rather laughably about Mugabe: “He is a very strong man. He will serve as long as people want him to serve.”

Or from Blessing-Miles Tendi, “a political analyst who has attended seven of the rallies” whom the Guardian quotes: “Mugabe is good at recreating himself depending on the national and international dynamics of the time. That’s why he has lasted so long.” Really?

The Herald also picks a story from the Independent (UK) titled “Odds stacked against Morgan Tsvangirai as Robert Mugabe scents victory in Zimbabwe” and chooses to ignore the sidebar: “Odds stacked against Tsvangirai as opposition candidates are harassed and fake voter registration appears widespread.”

The same Independent has another story headlined: “Fear and optimism mix as people face into another Mugabe-rigged election.” Just to lift one paragraph from that piece: Little wonder that for all their usual threats, abuse of patronage and ballot-rigging, Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party was trounced in 2008. Mugabe was, reportedly, ready to stand down. Instead, the generals and goons who really run the country and rip off its resources unleashed a campaign of extreme violence while they fiddled the vote to keep their man in power. I would like to see the Herald quote that!

An editorial comment in South Africa’s Timeslive titled “Zimbabweans must accept that freedom is not easily won” The comment continued: “With many seeking a better life abroad instead of working at home for the change they want, we are likely to have a Zimbabwean problem for years to come. It is said that the day the citizenry is willing to suffer for a better tomorrow is the day their fortunes will turn for the better. Have Zimbabweans reached that stage? Are they willing to roll up their sleeves to shape their tomorrow? South Africa and other countries that have fought oppression and mismanagement by a few went through a painful process to achieve their desired outcome. Zimbabweans should be prepared to do the same.”

But this drew outrage from readers with one writing under the headline: “SA is complicit in Mugabe’s tyranny” that “Zimbabweans have demonstrated their opposition to the tyranny of Robert Mugabe often enough, only to be subjected to brutal repression by the security apparatus, leaving many dead and maimed, and others homeless.”

The writer added: “As long as the African Union, the South African Development Community and our own government turn a blind eye to intimidation and accept the flawed outcome of the elections Zimbabwe will continue on its downward spiral.”

Newsmen and women are surely being kept busy by this election!