Mugabe made it clear late last week that he cannot be removed from power by a mere CROSS on a piece of paper. What is more, Bob declared only God who APPOINTED him would dethrone him. Leaves you wondering aloud why is DIVINE BLOODLESS COUP through a massive heart attack so selective? Kenyans prayed and continue praying for this illusive silver bullet and now Zimbabweans would enormously benefit from the same.
Zimbabwe may have been the last African country to get independence in 1980 but Mugabe has outdone all his fellow DINOSAURS. Robert Gabriel must have integrated and synthesized all the brutal scripts from Mubarak in the north to entitlement's mindset of our own Mwai in the horn. Mugabe just can’t fathom the imagination that Zimbabweans gave Tsvangirai (he publicly calls him SON OF A BITCH, reminds you of pumbavu?) more votes hence the open brutality and uprooting his own people for voting the wrong way.
You cannot fault Tsvangirai given his tribulations at the hands of police on the campaign trail this past week. He was arbitrarily arrested and detained severally sometimes more than twice a day while enroute to his campaign rallies. But the final straw that broke MDC’s back was today’s (Sunday) rally scheduled for Harare that never was. Fist the police maliciously banned the rally and MDC successfully challenged it in court but it was never to be when they woke up to find the Stadium venue of the rally overwhelmed by Zanu-PF gangs baying for their blood. And the goons didn’t disappoint they clobbered even election observers.
Guilt by association
As Rwanda's Kagame asked early in this week why would one pretend to call elections when he the results won’t bind him? And Tsvangirai aptly summed it that there is no point in contesting when the outcome is already determined by a fellow aspirant (Mugabe himself). Mugabe is a sour thumb to the African continent to say the least. Guilt by association galore since he knows majority of African leaders cannot dare lift a finger against him since they are equally guilty of the same ills on a grandiose scale. So are we cursed as a continent to live at the mercy of tyrants and despots like Mugabe? Well, you won’t be surprised that just as Mugabe uses youths to kill their fellow Zimbabweans, out here some will shamelessly fall for his prank of imperialism.
Plenty of parallels can be drawn between Zimbabwe and Kenya. All lie in the truism that the easiest way of uniting people is to have an enemy, and if you then split away from that enemy, then you've got no reason to be together until you start looking at each other, and then you start looking for another enemy within your ranks. By then it may be too late. Our own Simba Makoni went for the spoils long before even the electoral battle began. All else has been WIPED into history.
That Kenyan is mentioned as a preface to Zimbabwe’s hell is a painful truth. Zimbabweans may be civilized and Mugabe knows and takes advantage of their placidity. But cowardice and indifference can be so expensive especially when you may never live to tell the tale. It is a delicate and defining week ahead for Zimbabwe and Africa in general. This may mark the beginning of the end Zimbabwe as we know it today. But will the global community to step in to prevent the imminent genocide? Only time will tell. God save Zimbabwe from itself.
You really never cease to amaze
ReplyDelete'Plenty of parallels can be drawn between Zimbabwe and Kenya.'
yes, according to your narrow focus this may be true. Remember, only fools never realise what they have until you have lost it. By then it's too late.
I hope one day you appreciate how far and better Kenya is from Zimbabwe. But anyway, if ua source of information is CNN and schrewd ODM politicians, then u will always believe in this fallacy.
Whatever else he may be labeled, his action has certainly saved some lives
ReplyDelete"HARARE, Zimbabwe - Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of Zimbabwe's violence-wracked presidential runoff Sunday, declaring that the election was no longer credible and the loss of life among his supporters was simply too high"
unfortunately the downside is that this now leaves the despot a clear field to unleash revenge for any one accused of supporting MDC and other opposition parties with no hope for internal pressure, what a sad state for Zimbabweans.
If there are any reading this blog, i hope these events strengthen you all even more and hope you can achieve more democratic space in that country.
it is unclear how this will impact an already tattered economy with high inflation, but those of you with means simply have to reach out to the international community and help your brothers/sisters back home.
Not to be a champion of violence but there is something to be said fo yester year's revolutionary leaders. Unfortunately some of them have turned out to be desports. But one has to wonder what options the opposition is left with to dethrown incumbent dinosours, other than the gun. Clearly, as we saw in Kenya, a mere x on a piece of paper does not count for anything.
ReplyDeleteZIMBABWE, COULD AFRICANS CRITICS BE MISSING THE POINT?
ReplyDelete1-Background:
There's nothing new under the sun. Not even in Zimbabwe. Robin Cook may have cajoled the Commonwealth into joining Britain in admonishing Robert Mugabe's government, but it is doubtful that many members of the Commonwealth share Mr Cook's enthusiasm for building pressure against Zimbabwe. Many African leaders, in particular, will agree with Mr Mugabe's contention that he is merely seeking to right the wrongs of history. For Mr Mugabe, the land question is the last colonial question, and it is one he now intends to resolve, whether Mr Cook likes it or not.
2- Land and the Colonial Past:
The issue of land distribution holds the key to Zimbabwe's history, from the colonial past to the present, and, in the words of Mr Mugabe himself, it remains the biggest single problem his government has yet to resolve. There are good reasons for African bitterness over land. Whites in colonial Rhodesia simply took the land they wanted by conquest. They paid no compensation to the Africans they dispossessed. European farms, big and small, dominated productive Highveld by 1900 and still do today. Land was free. Labour was cheap. And throughout the colonial period, the state provided enormous financial subsidies to Rhodesia's white farmers.
3- African Agriculture Confined to Native Reserves:
By contrast, African agriculture was sorely neglected under British colonial rule. Confined by law to so-called native reserves and special purchase areas, African farmers were not encouraged to compete with whites. And by the 1950s, the reserves were grossly overcrowded and declining in productivity. Growing rural poverty and a smouldering sense of injustice at the denial of access to farmland fuelled African political protest in the Sixties. Land was a central plank of the nationalist political platform. When the guerrilla war began, in the Seventies, both Joshua Nkomo's Zapu party and Mr Mugabe's Zanu pledged to bring about radical land reform on gaining power.
4- Independence, Land Redistribution and the Peace Settlement:
By the end of the Seventies, more than 40% of the country was still in the hands of white farmers. Their community had been the backbone of Iain Smith's support since UDI, fighting against the rise of African nationalism and bitterly opposing any suggestion of African political advancement. Even in defeat, few of Rhodesia's white farmers were ready to give up their land. As the negotiations to bring majority rule to Rhodesia came to a head, the question of land redistribution still appeared to be the greatest stumbling-block to a peaceful settlement. Britain took some responsibility for helping with the land question at that time, and it was agreed that £75m would be given to offset the costs of buying out European farmers after independence.
5-Thatcher's Government Springs a Surprise:
That inducement helped to bring African nationalists to the negotiating table, but when they arrived at Lancaster House in 1979, for the final round of constitutional talks, Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government sprang a surprise. The representatives found themselves confronted by an uncomfortable compromise that would commit them to respecting existing European property rights and debar them from any expropriation of land during the first 10 years of independence, while the constitution negotiated at Lancaster House remained in force. In return, Britain would meet half the costs of a resettlement programme. In 1980, the British government pledged £20m for that purpose. Under international pressure, the compromise was agreed. To Zimbabweans, it seemed a poor deal. And it has rankled ever since.
6- The Bargaining Counter - Development Aid but No Land Reform:
Maintaining the status quo on the land was to be the price of independence. These were the terms set by the British government: there would be no place for socialist solutions in independent Zimbabwe. To sugar the pill, Britain dangled the prospect of other forms of development aid in the reconstruction of the war-torn Zimbabwean economy, stressing the importance of stability in commercial farming to secure future prosperity. Since 1980, Britain has consistently used the land question as a bargaining counter with Zimbabwe, most recently in 1998, when continued support for the Mugabe government's settlement programme was linked again to the condition that there be no move toward compulsory purchase of commercial farms.
7- Kenyan’s Million-acre Scheme Provides the Model:
Why should the Zimbabweans have expected any more from the British? Many had hoped that Zimbabwe would benefit from a scheme similar to that adopted in Kenya after independence. There, under the much-lauded "million-acre scheme", more than 1,000 white settlers had transferred lands to African farmers between 1962 and 1966, with Britain underwriting the land values paid in compensation to the departing Europeans. Farms were often massively overvalued, securing excellent prices for the departing farmers. But the costs were high, amounting to more than £25m, of which the British government paid 67%.
8- The Failure of the Kenyan Model:
In Kenya, property had been transferred to Africans, but the reality was that the poor and landless seldom gained access to the farms. The vast majority of lands under the million-acre scheme were taken up by wealthier farmers who could afford the purchase costs. By the 1980s, the Kenyan model was considered non-viable, both politically and economically. No donor could accept a scheme under which land was distributed to wealthier farmers while landlessness was so apparent among others, and it was recognised that the start-up costs for any programme in Zimbabwe would need to be considerably higher than in the Kenyan case if farmers were to make an economic success of things. It was a price the Thatcher government simply was not prepared to pay.
9- Britain Created the Land Problem:
It was British policy, therefore, that in effect prevented any attempt to redistribute lands in Zimbabwe throughout the Eighties. And it was British capitalism that created the problem in the first place. White prosperity was built on the oppression and exploitation of Africans. It is not difficult to see why land redistribution remains such a live political issue.
10- British Ministers may Huff and Puff:
On the international stage, the Zimbabweans have won the quiet admiration of many other Africans for refusing to be pushed around by their former colonial masters. If anyone has lost the plot in the Zimbabwe saga, it is not Robert Mugabe. He understands the importance of land in Zimbabwe's history only too well, just as he has a clear view of what must be done to retain power. And he knows that Britain is committed to paying further toward the costs of land redistribution in Zimbabwe. The only question that remains is: when, and how much. That may not be to the liking of some British ministers, but no matter how hard they huff and puff, it is not they who will blow Mr Mugabe's house down.
Your article on Zimbabwe and the parallels you have drawn between Kenya’s Mwai Kibaki and dictator Robert Mugabe does not come to me as a surprise. Your blog has perfected the art of pouring venom on Kibaki and by extension Nyumba ya Mumbi (Mt Kenya communities). Carry on brother.
ReplyDeleteWhat else would you say if you failed to write on your pet subject of demonizing Kibaki? You have been singing that song since 2002 and I assure you’ll sing it till Kibaki finishes his 2nd term. Furthermore, apart from ODM hooligans who cares about the rubbish you publish everyday in your blog?
If ODM and their god Raila strongly believes Kibaki stole the presidency, why did they agree to serve under him? I’m a strong believer in principles. Why should Raila sacrifice the “principles” he holds dearly in his heart if he knows Kibaki stole the vote? He should have opted to stay out of the Govt and refuse to work with a “thief”.
What you Chris and your fellow ODM hooligans fail to understand is that Kibaki has his own supporters just like Raila does. Your deep hatred for Kibaki will never force his loyalists to switch camp to your god Raila.
"The constitution does not say that if somebody drops out or decides to chicken out the runoff will not be held," Ndlovu said.
ReplyDeletethe stupidity of upholding a lame constitution is not only observed in kenya but zimbabwe as well
only idiots continue to hang onto a document or law that is long obsolete
My take is that the international ammunity should do nothing. Nothing at all. If all african leaders will do nothing but yap (kagame) hit the nail on the head but will do no more, then africans have no moral authority to call on anyone else. We have our on elected leaders whose sole priority is to enrich themselves. No wonder the rest of the world looks on aghast as african leaders and their tribal electorate continue to foul their pants. MugabeShame just relaxed and took full advantage me what he knew was the african leaders biggest weakness. 'too much talk. . Too little action'. shame. Shame on up all. Yet again.
ReplyDeletewe both fought together in diffent ways to bring independence. we both have educated people. we were both mistreated by moi regimes. and we have very many successful people in private sector and abroad.
ReplyDeletesee below a kikuyu and jaluo operating eating joints in Harare. cant we just get along and rule kenya towards a better place for all of kenyans?
history has shown that anytime kikuyu and jaluo have teamed up- kenya has moved forward positively. and anytime kikuyu and jaluo have gone against each other- disaster has struck kenya.
http://www.eastandard.net/sports/?id=1143988967&cid=2
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Kenyans selling food in Harare
Published on June 23, 2008, 12:00 am
Enterprising Kenyans are everywhere and Harare is no exception. On Sunday, we met Kariuki wa Gachuhi who runs the Kraal, a local nyama choma joint just outside the City.
There is also Beryl Odinga, a sister of Prime Minister Raila Odinga. She also runs an eating joint. There are dozens of Kenyan students in the country. Stars were not lonely when they played Zimbabwe Warriors.
********
It seems Denis Oliech is doing well financially since joining the paid ranks.
He is currently paying Sh120,000 a month for a three-bedroom apartment in Westlands.
The apartment has a servant quarter. It comes with a swimming pool and a gymnasium among other facilities in upmarket areas. He plans to build a 15-bedroom house in Runda. But do I say.
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Just like in Nairobi, it is not uncommon to see hawkers running away from council authorities in Harare.
I witnessed council authorities confiscate food from a hawker while others escaped arrest.
Harare is generally a very clean city with hardly any litter and the council authorities may just have been making sure the city stays clean.
— Compiled by Gilbert Wandera
If a person has taken an oath of office to protect the people he is governing...Then the same person unleashes militia on the people he vowed to protect...what do you call such a person...MAD MAN!!!!!
ReplyDeleteKibaki, Michuki and Ali unleashed the police on looters in Kisumu, Kibera, Kakamega....Shoot to kill order (And who passed the verdict that looters are supposed to be killed? And if looters are to be killed, Mwiraria, Kiraitu are still walking tall...What changed?
Anon 8:54...Nyumba ya mumbi tena? I dont think Ali is from nyumba ya Mumbi...Nyanza PC is not from there and the police who was caught in the comedy wasn't from nyumba ya mumbi..
Ivy
Hmmmmmmm!
ReplyDeleteGentleman
Just as Zimbabweans will never forgive Mugabe for beatin them for voting the wrong way, Kikuyus will never forget the way they were killed by ODM barbarians in the RV for voting the wrong way!!!
ReplyDeletePeople like Mugabe make me recognise the need of assassinations as done by the CIA and KGB during cold war era! That he has killed directly and indirectly hapless Zimbabweans is enough fact to send him on the other side of the world, by any means available.
ReplyDeleteNOTE: Checkout your grammer, the use of the word 'severally' is wrong. We all make mistakes anyway.
Chicken Tsvangirai! May shame be upon his face foreer! He wants the presidency on a silver plate! No wonder he is universally called Ignoramus Tsvangirai!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI have 50 Million Zimbabwean dollars which I was given by a friend but I understand with that dosh I can't even afford a decent breakfast in Harare! So you guys thought our dear Lucy was bonkers coz of slapping some fellas, just look what Grace Mugabe does in Europe after landing there in a private jet....
ReplyDeleteBy Staff Reporter
Last updated: 05/23/2008 23:53:08
ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe's wife, Grace, has blown an estimated £2,1 MILLION fortune feeding her insatiable love for shopping.
According to The Sun, Britain's biggest circulating newspaper with over 3 million readers daily, her biggest extravagance was blowing a cool £75 000 in TWO hours in Paris last year.
The paper named Grace in a list of spouses of the rich and famous who were "big spenders", documenting how the 40-year-old former secretary to Mugabe has "battered" the 80-year-old leader's wallet.
"Grace has managed to work her way through an estimated £2,1 million during her frequent shopping sprees," the paper said.
"The biggest battering for her husband's wallet was when Gucci addict Grace blew an estimated £75 000 in just two hours in Paris fashion houses during a jaunt last year.
"And Grace's doting husband Robert - 40 years her senior - also splashed out on a lavishly-equipped DC-9 airliner once owned by Playboy baron Hugh Hefner, as a present for her."
Grace's lavish spending has been a major discussion point in Zimbabwe for years. She has been to almost all the famous fashion houses in the world, including Harrods in London which was her favourite stop before the European Union barred her an her husband from travelling there over human rights violations
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/shopper6.11592.html
What a shame for Africa! and Kenya led the way, what a shame!
ReplyDeleteTsvangirai can disappoint sometimes. I didnt like how he left the country, after winning an election, running around to foreign countries saying his life was under threat. He should have stuck it out with his people who had gone to great lenghts to support him.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wonder whether he has alternate Plans B, C and D? Whether he anticipates different scenarios and plans accordingly?
I think zimbwabweans have been pushed into a corner where they cannot interact with mugabe in a civilised way anymore. That man seems to be on some drug that prolongs life or something, so they have to make a decision quick. Unfortunately in Kenya we resorted to violence to protest, but to be honest, at least in Kenya there was the common agreement that either pnu or odm were wrong and something had to be done.
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 4.42,facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
ReplyDeleteStop denying the truth.
Anon @ 3.30, cowards live to fight another day.
ReplyDeleteTsvangirai is only important to his country, alive, not dead..so pls stop judging and belittling him.
@anon 4:33, yes and cowards die many times before their deaths!
ReplyDelete@anon4:33 yes, and cowards die many times before their deaths.
ReplyDeleteMugabe and Kibaki are big friends.
ReplyDeleteWhy cant Mugabe seek asylum in Othaya? He would live longer there than in Harare. Birds os the same feathers flock together.
Just goes to show we should forever be grateful to RAO for marshalling KENYANS and the international community against the despotic Othaya MP. Thank you Raila.
ReplyDeleteanon 9.04, what exactly do you propose instead of a constitution?
ReplyDeleteIndeed yes, thanks to Raila for marshaling the 41 AGAINST 1 hate, for engineering the killings of 1500 and more people, for engineering the sorry excuse of an ODM election campaign on the basis of hate. He really is an engineer, isnt he? A communist one too, no? Remember ukiona simba amenyeshewa...usifikiri he's a liberal democrat. heh-heh.
ReplyDeleteI hope he learns some law from his 'cousin,' coming to catch up with him. The West is just giving him ROPE, and no need to educate on what ropes are used for.
To Anon @19.24;
ReplyDelete1- The rigging of 12/27/07 elections in Kenya caused the death of 1500+ poor Kenyans. So the people behind that rigging are squarely responssible for taking these people's lives. This is one fact nobody can successfully spin. One way or another, these killers will pay the prize either here on earth or at the time they meet their creator!
2- You are right about one thing, the people who provided the logistics for rigging the elections and called Mr. Raila a "dangerous communist" are wasting no time using him. I hope Raila and his supporters are smart enough not to put their heads in the sand.
Otherwise, he is going to end up like Ahamed Chalabi of Iraq or worse. Chalabi thought he would be the next President after Sadam Hussein was hanged. After all he (Chalabi) was instrumental in the events leading to invasion of Iraq which resulted in deaths of 6000,000+ Iraqis and millions of them in refugee tents in neighboring countries. The Iraq oil fields have been taken over by American and British oils companies just last week- June 21, 2008!
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/19/africa/19iraq.php
The Western government do not have friends; they have interests. There are numerous people in Kenya other than Mr. Raila Odinga that can fulfil those interests!!
Africans can decide to protect their fellow Africans or send them to the hangman. The choice is defitely theirs!!
To Anon @19.24;
ReplyDelete1- The rigging of 12/27/07 elections in Kenya caused the death of 1500+ poor Kenyans. So the people behind that rigging are squarely responssible for taking these people's lives. This one fact nobody can successfully spin. one way or another, these killers will pay eoither here on earth or at the time they meet their creator!
2- You are right about one thing, the people who provided the logistics for rigging the elections and called Mr. Raila a danderous communist are now using him right now. I hope Raila and his supporters are smart enough to see that.
Otherwise, he is going to end up like Ahamed Chalabi of Iraq who thought he would be the next president after Sadam Hussein was hanged. Chalabi laid the path for invasion of Iraq resulting in deaths of 6000,000+ Iraqis and millions of them in refugee tents in neighboring countries. The Iraq oil fields were given to American oils compaies just last week!
The Western government do not have friends, they have interests. There numerous people in Kenya other than Mr. Raila Odinga that can fulfil that interest!!