It is no surprise really that Mugabes in the form of the head of state’s nephews have over the years fashioned themselves as above the law. Hey, this is African politics, the right surname can get you places, you know!

This does not help matters in trying to fight the fires of accusations of Zanu PF being essentially anarchist, and we only have to recall the dreadlocked one “invading” a bird sanctuary and ominously promising that he will be back after the “law” extended its arm and forced the “occupiers” to retreat.

Now we read that the former football administrator nephew of the president walked into a Chinese company (how dare he?), declared that he was the new head honcho, changed locks and expected to live happily ever after.

Yes just like that.

This is just but another reminder that the country has to wean itself from the odium forcibly visited on it by people who firmly believe they must “eat” from this anarchist’s trough, gorge themselves before Zanu PF disappears from the country’s political radar.

Surely they must be seeing this as imminent despite all that propagandist baloney that all signs point to extend rule come elections, why would there be this brazen economic anarchism on the eve of poll?

One indigenisation exponent actually once told a public meeting that Zimbabwe will not always be caught in this political and economic circus, therefore people must move in for the kill now – i.e. capitalise on the lawless expropriation of mines, companies, farms etc.

Something worth imagining is that while the lawyer of the Chinese firm Leo Mugabe was envying said Leo was “applying laws of the jungle”, and the courts have ordered the anarchist to “immediately and forthwith” return any documents, offices and office keys and any other such effects to the Chinese firm,” would the ruling have been this favourable had it not been a Chinese firm under siege?

Not anticipated by many, it looks like Zimbabwe’s new constitution has ushered in an era full of uncertainty and insanity. Call them radical thinkers or progressive minds or just disruptive minds; all these minds are contributing to the political circus of Zimbabwe. Just like in any circus, if a show starts to lose the audience, the producers quickly change the script – something that I think producers of Zimbabwe’s political circus should do.

The debate hosted by Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition yesterday on the recent Constitutional judgement exposed political weaknesses all round. It also exposed the habit of just issuing out press statements without action, which has been long been adopted by civic organisations.

The circus really began when the courts ruled in favour of the private citizen who had filed the lawsuit and ordered that elections be held by 29th July.

The panic and lack of strategy exhibited by the opposition parties in response to this ruling made me realize I was not the only one who one lacks knowledge of the constitution. The same constitution we endorsed without knowing its contents is now coming back to haunt us.

Caught napping again, Zimbabwe’s opposition parties began to scurry for cover, taking defensive positions. Among the noted defensive lines is the issue of “reforms”. On this one I would side with the progressive minds at Bumbiro house. These guys have been calling for these reforms for ages but nobody listened only to be labeled disruptive minds by those who now eat at the high table in Parliament. For how long will the nation wait for reforms and the continued mediation of President Zuma? I don’t think even Mr Zuma will have the power to reverse the decision taken by the courts but will just tell the GPA principals to hold free and fair elections.

The nation has been in election mode for some time and the continued backtracking by the opposition has been giving arsenal to ZANU-PF’s campaign strategy. The reality is that the so-called free and fair conditions being called for by Civil Society and opposition parties will not happen in the short timeframe given by the court.

So where is the plan “B” if there is one?

As an advocate of civil disobedience, Henry David Thoreau asserted that it is basically criminal that one has got to pay money toward wars that he/she doesn’t support. It makes them accomplices to murder. Zimbabweans are a very perfect example of this view. People are paying taxes everyday to the government and in turn the fiscal allocations to our security bodies are being used to ferment torture and murder. Elections right now are fast approaching and apparently the Joint Operation Command has already pledged their allegiance to ZANU PF. Thoreau once said, ‘It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see’. I see the great nation of Zimbabwe being accomplices to their own annihilation. But still I pray for discernment in our leaders’ minds to look out for the people.

The Herald today announced that ward-based mobile voter registration in Zimbabwe will begin on Monday, and end 9 July. The new Constitution requires a 30-day voter registration exercise before new elections, so this is an essential part of Zimbabwe toward elections. At the mobile centres, there will also be an opportunity for people to get IDs and birth certificates.

According to The Herald, The Registrar General has said four teams are to cover all wards in a given district. If this is the case, if a district has, say, 20 wards, a team would spend 6 days in that ward. But a district like Harare has 45 wards – that means only 2 ½ days per ward – which, if the previous mobile voter registration exercise is anything to go by, is nowhere near enough time.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network’s report on the May mobile voter registration exercise recommended that for voter registration, ”adequate time must be allocated to each centre in proportion to the population density in the community.” It’s not clear how sending four teams to cover all wards in any given district accomplishes that.

As SW Radio Africa reports, however, the publicity around this exercise has yet to begin – and even basic information like where one should go for their ward, and on what days, has yet to be shared with the public.

Also worrying is the basic fact that, as David Coltart helpfully explains, if mobile voter registration ends on 9 July, elections cannot be legally held before 31 July. It works like this:

• According to the Electoral Act, you need at least 28 days between nomination court (when all the candidates get vetted and approved) and elections
• You can’t have nomination court before the voters roll for that election is finalised, because a) a candidate has to be on the voters roll and b) the people who nominate him/her have to be on the voters roll

Presumably it might also take a day or two to close up the voter registration exercise and get the voters roll out for each relevant ward and constituency for nomination court? But even if it doesn’t, 28 days from 10 July puts us at 7 August. So one way or the other, Zimbabwe’s elections will violate a court order, violate Zimbabwe’s Constitution, or violate the Electoral Act. Promising start. I’m no lawyer. But surely out of those three options, the court order is the one with the least sway? Personally, I think we should drop the ridiculous “elections by 31 July frenzy,” and rather look to hold legal, Constitutional and properly prepared for elections on a date that makes sense and follows the law.

I’ve just made some tea at the office. You know how it goes: open tap, fill kettle, boil kettle, pour water into teapot.

Except, with Harare water in crisis like it is across Zimbabwe, it usually isn’t that simple. Sometimes it’s open tap, find nothing coming out, close tap, grab jug. Sometimes it’s switch on pump, open tap, fill kettle, switch off pump. Incredibly, today, it’s open tap, fill kettle. I should have known it wouldn’t actually be that simple in reality.

But I’m standing there in the kitchen with the boiled kettle, and something does not smell right. If I’m honest, it smells like someone has left their poo in the rubbish bag by the window. But who wants to think that?! So I think maybe it’s the toilets at the service station over the road? Maybe it’s a rotting banana peel in the rubbish (I do loathe bananas)? It takes my colleague to point out: It’s the water.

I sniff, recoil, and sniff again. She’s right. The cup, the teapot, even the kettle now all smell like feces. Open the tap, fill another cup of water? A brown liquid in the glass, and an even stronger feces smell.

I suppose we should be grateful, right – Our office block most often doesn’t have tap water at all. But personally? I’d rather have nothing flowing from my taps than this sewage smell pervading everywhere.

The manager of our office block tells me it started around 10am – when City of Harare water finally came back to the taps. Apparently, the smell is a big infusion of chemicals, not the opposite, and it will just take a bit of time to work it’s way through the system. But since news reports suggests water chemicals in Harare are scarce,  it’s hard not to be suspicious. They’re working on it, he tells me – It was even worse earlier in the day. Again, this implicit: “You should be grateful.”

But I don’t want to feel grateful that my office smells like sewage. I want to be able to open the tap, make a decent cup of tea, wash up afterwards, and not feel nauseated in the process.