Feeling disillusioned and alienated and the sense of belonging to an entity called Zimbabwe is fast fading. We have now had three consecutive elections that don’t seem to be helping in resolving the problems the nation has been facing for the past decade. If nobody bothers to respect the outcome of an election why then continue investing in such kind of a democracy? Isn’t it elections are supposed to help us resolve the great questions of our day, so that once one side of the argument wins, we can let it guide our decisions until the people feel the need for a change in direction? Alluding to everything and pretending to be enjoying every bit that comes with the election aftermath is now normal coping strategy as we continue to do soul searching on the direction the country is heading. For how long we will hold on depends on the men with the reigns over the mighty forces of the land.

Of course, you never really forget anyone, but you certainly release them. You stop allowing their history to have any meaning for you today. You let them change their haircut, let them move, let them fall in love again. And when you see this person you have let go, you realize that there is no reason to be sad. The person you knew exists somewhere, but you are separated by too much time to reach them again. – Chelsea Fagan, How We Let People Go

You see now, this is why I don’t have birthday parties, anniversaries or any of that sort of stuff. More often than not parties actually prove how unpopular you are. Like you rifle through your addresses, email or other, and you figure yeah well how about her, even though you haven’t seen, never mind spoken to this person, in the last year. Take Mugabe for example. I mean you’re a President right. Not a new one either so you know quite a few folk, if you know what I mean. Then you have like a big Inauguration bash and barely any Important People come and the stadium fillers are made to smile with free fizzy drinks, T-shirts and some muzak to get the groove on. OK. So he had to do something. Poor guy. Must be bleak wondering where all the (real) love has gone.

The first night a large bull visited us at supper
delicately stepping the narrow space between us and our drinks table
we sat motionless, breathless,
as he examined the mugs with his trunk
and picked seeds off the table

for the next 3 days they were a daily presence
quietly visiting each one of us
close enough for us to see the hairs on the back of their feet
their eyelashes
immense bulks reaching for leaves over our heads
close enough for us to watch the infinite gracefulness of their trunks
selecting seed pods around our chairs

and we knew a deep sense our own vulnerability
and the incredible gift we were being given
standing here at the edge
where our unquestioned control of the world is reduced to the flick of a trunk
our small worries of arrangements and agreements
are of nothing
in this wide wilderness of the Zambezi valley

we were told they had never been this close before

it felt as if they were learning us…
what did they think
as they smelt our cups?
tasted our shoes?

do they know we are the ones
who are playing havoc with their world
bringing our fuel exhausts and plastic and bottles
invading this wild place
slowly making it into our play ground

we stand at the edge of the wilderness
both the problem and the worshiper
awed by the generosity of its sharing
and the gentleness of these wild giants

The sight of vandalized street bins is now common in the streets of Harare. Blame might be placed on City workers for not efficiently emptying these on a regular basis. But then again the vandalized bins can be blamed on citizens who are just in a bad ‘habit’ of destroying property. The picture of a burnt bin is the most baffling and one wonders what was going through the mind of the person who burnt litter or threw a burning substance in the bin? What is also surprising is someone who throws litter in an already full bin. Many times people complain about the incompetence of our government but then again who are they to lay blame if the ordinary people in the streets are not able to take care of little properties such as bins entrusted to them for the betterment of the environment they live in.

Today we got fired up on chocolate cake (yes, call us dangerous why don’t you) as well as this little gem from Ibbo Mandaza on the election: a coup that has legitimised itself through an election. We found out why Baba Jukwa, and any other organisation working from their Internet bed, can’t inspire revolution: The platforms of social media are built around weak ties. Twitter is a way of following (or being followed by) people you may never have met. Facebook is a tool for efficiently managing your acquaintances, for keeping up with the people you would not otherwise be able to stay in touch with. That’s why you can have a thousand “friends” on Facebook, as you never could in real life. We agreed with Fungayi Mukosera that writing off water and power debts both persecutes good citizenship and illustrates what a truly brainless government we have. We got a whiff of Marko Phiri’s election induced PTSD infused with the belief that fresh beginnings were stolen on 31 July. We laughed when we read how Lenard Kamwendo has been trying to dodge election talk; my neighbours were even amused when they saw me on the roof and one of them asked if everything was okay? Knowing where I work the old man living next door came to my place asking me if the new government has also rendered me jobless. We liked the opening paragraph of an article by Richard Dowden writing for African Arguments: from the moment Robert Mugabe said he would step down from the presidency of Zimbabwe if he lost the election, it was clear that he knew he would win it. If he had not been certain of winning, he would not have called the election. Power – military, political, bureaucratic – is what he understands, loves and has enjoyed for 33 years. It’s more than love – it’s an addiction. Other African presidents try to cajole him. He charms and patronises them. British prime ministers and American presidents lecture him. He swats away their words and plays the colonialist card. Opposition movements challenge him. He crushes them with violence. Then he charms them. Mugabe will leave power when he wants to – or when his body gives out. We came across a provocative quote from Sisonke Msimang writing on the Daily Maverick – her whole article is well worth reading: as currently practiced, African standards, certainly in respect to elections and democratic governance, basically suck. We were inspired by an article that reflects on the rise in global protest as citizens lose faith in politics and the state and it got us questioning the protest apathy that personifies Zimbabweans. We agreed with Leon Hartwell that many Zimbabweans feel cheated because the credibility of the process that produced ZANU-PF’s victory was deeply flawed, thereby also betraying the essence of democracy. With 270 MPs and a Parliament designed for 160, Zimbabwe’s new Parliament will be standing room only. But not to worry, Marko Phiri writes: Yet we know from past experience that many MPs ignored sittings anyway, which means space will always be there! ZiFMStereo got a pom pom from us for making their birthday a day of action and cleaning up the rubbish and election posters in Newlands – You Rock! We came across Fungai Machiori interviewing Christopher Mlalazi, the author of Running With Mother which relives the Gukurahundi killings of the 1980s; on whether it’s time to put the pain of Gukurahundi behind us, Christopher responds: it is very easy for a perpetrator in any situation to say let’s forget about that, but it is not that easy for the victim to do the same, especially if the perpetrator is not forthcoming and sometimes tries to dismiss the whole issue as a none event. For the victim there is always the fear – that if the perpetrator is not forthcoming or apologetic, what can stop him or her from doing it all over again? We loved reading Dikson’s tribute (saying goodbye to our Marley) to Chiwoniso: if Mother Earth had a wind chime on her porch, it would be Chiwoniso with an mbira. We blogged a Q&A with the author of Hairdresser of Harare, Tendai Huchu, who reckons that you can never go wrong with sadza. We read an interview by Tinashe Mushakavanhu where he finds out more about how and why the gay activist Peter Tatchell arrested Robert Mugabe in London. And finally we’re thinking of making a useful offline product like rolls of toilet paper with inspiring messages on them for example: wipe out dictatorship. Please send us your slogan to: info [at] kubatana [dot] net