I woke up this morning to find my neighbourhood a sea of green and yellow. Zanu PF had plastered the place with posters – not one or two here or there, but entire walls recovered with posters. The supermarket, the garage, the shops, the banks, everywhere – wall-to-wall Bob. Some of the vendors even were wearing Zanu PF headbands – because they’re planning to vote for Mugabe next Friday? Or because that makes them feel safer, protected?

The latest slogan on the posters is telling. We’ve moved beyond 100% Total Empowerment. Now the posters, with the smiling face of a 60-year-old Bob, looking young and trim, tell us: This is the final battle for total control.

Political campaigns often use war metaphors to make a point. But in Zimbabwe, that slogan isn’t symbolic, it’s literal.

This entry was posted on June 21st, 2008 at 3:23 pm by Amanda Atwood and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.