Following reports of the third accident by Zimbabwe’s presidential motorcade in two weeks, Kubatana sent an SMS to our subscribers asking their opinion: Should the motorcade slow down, or should we get out of the way.

We received nearly 200 responses, with about 2/3 of opinion arguing in favour of the motorcade slowing down, and 1/3 arguing that the rest of us should get out of the way. Where possible, we’ve mapped responses here. Other opinions are shared below. What do you think? Submit your opinion as a report on this site or via twitter – hashtag #zwmotorcade.

• He must leave home in time and slow down.
• The motorcade should slow down or he should walk on foot.
• Mugabe should slow down. Why is he always in a hurry? If he has too many duties he should be pruned of some.
• He must slow down. Our roads are no good for formula1 races!
• Being d President o Zw doesn’t give Mugabe mo privileges than us, he should lead by example &we 4llow.He must SLOW DOWN!
• We must always make sure to stay away from the road when the big man is coming.
• He should fly.
• If the hero passes, his way must be fully honoured by everyone!
• Its up 2 us 2 get out e way, 4 e president have 2 b safe guys
• The motorcade is just too large. For starters let it be cut. The man is secure enough for God’s sake.
• He must slowdown to save his life and we must give way to save our life, we one life!!
• Lets not blame Mugabe for what is beyond his control. All drivers must be trained in defensive driving. My condolences to families and relatives who lost loved ones, those injured our Lord Jesus Christ cure them as hospital staff can only treat and Jesus heals.
• He has to slow down after all why the rush
• He should slowdown and cut his procession short
• Let us be out of the way
• He should slow down or not use the whole road
• Know Mugabe must respect the human rights and slow down his motorcade.
• As we are all equal citizens road rules to be observed by all, drive with caution always, its better to late than to be the late.
• He travels at suicidal speeds. Our roads are no good for formula1 races! He must travel responsibly before more lives are lost. Love Life, Love Zimbabwe.
• It is  up to us to get out the way, coz its being foolish to always appreciate (sorry)! Who will then be said to while there will be no one left alive.
• Mugabe’s motorcade must slow down, there is a lot of traffic in Zim nowadays
• To get out of the way is the best solution and to tune down our radio volumes
• Life is irreplaceable they should slow down & redo defensive driving course a human being is never a soft sport in driving
• Is it up to us 2 get out of the way or they compel us 2 do so?
• He needs to drive responsibly we do not want to die young so he MUST slow down.
• Highway code teaches that When the siren sounds for whatever reason pull off.
• He must slow down. Who knows he might be the next victim
• We must get off the way
• They must drive fast but safely.
• It is up to us to get out of the way because he is the president of this country, & his motorcade must not slow down, they are same like the ambulance passing through.
• They should fix their roads, which are in a bad state.
• He should slow down why the rush and cause more deaths. we should value lives than sacrifice.
• They slow down to allow the other road users to pull off the road safely without panic.
• He must stop when accident occurs and render first aid also his motorcade is too big
• They have to up grade the roads. Oh yes have to move at a moderate speed since having al the road.
• Let us get off the way should we hear the siren
• High speed is always dangerous
• The police are to blame they think they are the only ones right
• He must slow down where there is danger. Those cars are driven by human like us, why cant they just take precautions where necessary.
• There is no need for motorcade in this peaceful country? Vanoti kanganisa kufamba tavekutogara takatiza tikadziona (It is very disturbing on the roads, we get off the road each time we the motorcade)
• The motorcade should slow down. Why hurry every time?
• He should reduce speed as no politician has been shot in Zimbabwe but many have been killed in road accidents in which the cause has mainly been speeding.
• Why rushing, anenge achimbo nhanyira kupi,achitiza ani next time a big penalty (why rush, where will he be running to and running away from who next time, a big penalty)
• He is not rushing anyway, should not speed.
• We must get out of the road because we can die for nothing if we don’t do so.
• He should cut down on the number of vehicles and SLOW DOWN. What is he afraid of.
• Its up to us to get out of the way. It is even stated in the Highway code. Worldwide when the motorcade is sounding siren,u pull out of the road.
• It is up to the public to give way to the head of state.
• Lets obey road regulations and the law.
• He does not need motorcade. He is safer than any of us in Zim. He has enough room to show off. He should leave the streets out of it.
• He should slow down. mota dzinomhanya zvisingaite idzodzo (His motorcade moves really fast)
• The president should reduce number of vehicles on his convoy. What does he needs that whole fleet for he should be man enough what does he fear he is the president that won’t change anything
• Up 2 us to get way we cannot just watch such sad news.
• He should reduce the size of his convoy and slow down.
• He must slow down than 2 coz deaths thru accidents by trying 2 save an individual, why rush all d time?
• Its good for us to get out of the road bcoz if we don’t its also us the public who end up being injured
• Both the public and the motorcade should always drive carefully. Why speeding anyway.
• Like many other accidents happening in the country, what can we do before we focus on one person?

Okay, so I know we’re all products of media hyperbole in both conscious and subconscious ways. But still, I was shocked to find Zimbabwe ranked 5th in this year’s Foreign Policy Magazine Failed State Index. That’s 5th as in fifth most failed. Fifth worst off. Sure, we’ve got our problems. Things aren’t perfect. There’s a lot of room for improvement. But fifth worst in the World?!

Countries ranked worse than Zimbabwe for 2011 are Somalia, DRC, Sudan and Chad. Granted, I’m also a product of this media hyperbole, but do you really mean to tell me that things were better in Libya (50) and Syria (23) than they were in Zimbabwe?

Maybe we need a better index, a less blunt way of measuring these things. The Postcards From Hell feature that goes with the index shares representative photographs from “the world’s most fragile countries.” There’s the bloody bodies of a suicide attack in Kabul, a bloodied political protestor in DRC, and a bombed out vehicle in Sudan. It’s telling that the worst image they could find for Zimbabwe was a torn election poster. Seeing as how the last election was in 2008, it’s no wonder the poster was torn.

Things aren’t great here – and with an election or constitutional referendum on the way, they’re sure to get worse. But that’s exactly the point. What disservice is done by crying wolf about Zimbabwe now? If you’re already ranked 5th worst there’s not a lot of room to demonstrate if things really do get worse.

Banner at the World Refugee Day commemorations in South Africa.
Photo credit: PASSOP

Reading a book by a Franciscan friar on the fall of apartheid and came across this quote: “It is often victims who are cursed by memory while perpetrators are blessed by forgetting,” from  The File by British author Timothy Garton Ash. I looked it up and a review by the UK’s Guardian newspaper says it’s an account on the feared Stasi in East Germany. I thought, yet another poignant reminder why the Gukurahundi ghost lives on. Yet I figured it goes even as recent as the 2008 Zimbabwean polls where we find the murders of political activists remaining unpunished, the perpetrators blissfully amnesiac.

Here’s some feedback from some Kubatana members about what’s happening on the ground. Maybe we need election observers Now!

I stay in Warren Park, about a week ago we had people at our doorstep who said they were checking whether we were registered to vote or not. They practically had a voters roll and they checked our names and all our names were there. I asked them whether they were from the Registrar Office, Statistics Office or any office but they said no. Finally after questioning their whereabouts they said they were sent by the Unity Government and they were people from our constituency! They said they were from the 3 political parties and their ‘Seniors’ will make a follow up after them. Do we have such people? Can anyone (or any political party) get the voters roll from the Registrar’s Office?
- from a subscriber in Warren Park, Harare

Thanks for keeping us updated. I have something that is worthy of public knowledge or public consumption. Can anything be done to improve service delivery on the ongoing voter registration exercise especialy in Chitungwiza. The staff there at Makoni seem to have been trained to frustrate people into not registering. The delays, the daily changes in their demands and the reception has done more harm than good to would be registrants. Its sad and the whole of Chitungwiza has one registration centre yet the population is big. Is there anything that can be done.
- from Obey in Chitungwiza

I was really moved by the boldness of an girl pupils who protested against their school authorities right in front of their nearest Ministry of Education offices in Zimbabwe. The pupils who are all boarders at Mukaro High School in Gutu, walked for 20km, taking four hours to reach to the district’s Ministry of Education offices. They sneaked out from the dormitories as early as 2am and reached the offices at 6am. Their aim was to protest water shortages and poor food at the school. A big round of applause ladies! The girls at school are said to number 700 and one can only imagine the health implications of having water shortages with so many children.

With the Ministry of Education now aware and doing an investigation into the plight of these pupils and the school authorities knowing well that they are now under scrutiny from the different stakeholders involved, like the parents, the education ministry, health officials and other concerned parties, these pupils are guaranteed of some change and provision of a basic necessity – water. Not only will this benefit them until they complete their studies but it will also benefit future generations of pupils to come to that school. They have not only protested their rights at this particular school Mukaro High, but they have been a voice for other pupils around the country who due to varying circumstances are not able to take up such high levels of boldness. Also this a big warning to school authorities that misuse school funds meant for the welfare of school children. They should change their ways before such protests occur at their schools.

It is such small acts of resistance and protest that bring about change in the bigger picture. It is high time we emulate these pupils and make those accountable for discrepancies in the provision of our society’s daily life needs.