What's in a name

When I moved to SA in 2008 I found accommodation in a 1 bedroom cottage at the back of a larger house in Kempton Park. Towards the end of 2008 tenants in the main house moved out and a white Afrikaner family moved into the main house. It was a couple in their early 30s with two kids, one 5 going on 6 and the other a two year old toddler.

The wife was, according to me, a nut-case and on several occasions I found the henpecked husband with his suitcases packed ready to move out. I often found myself playing the role of elder trying to calm tempers and patch up things. My personal opinion was that the husband would be better off without the nagging wife, but like the good African elder I always advised them to think of their children and stay together. This was even before the events I am about to recount below happened.

Then December came and my children came for the holidays. My daughter was almost 10 and my son who was 6 years old. The children were instant friends. Never mind that my son couldn't speak English yet, and the little white girl not a word of Shona, they just found ways to play together - barrelling around the yard at tireless speeds the entire day. Phew! You can never tell where children get this much energy! Nowadays I cannot even maintain a sedate jog for a minute.

My children of course were not allowed into the main house. So the little girl often came to play in the cottage with my son. On many occasions I would hear her bowling being thrashed by the mother. I didn't want to interfere too much and I didn't ask why though I often advised the mother not to beat a child so young. After a thrashing the little girl would spend maybe half a day without setting foot in my house but a few hours later she would be back.

Then one day she just piped up, "Jupiter, my mother beats saying I should not play with your children. She says black children will give me diseases."

I certainly didn't mind her playing with my children but at the same time I didn't want to use her plight to make a point and get her into more trouble with the mother. It was her who was getting a terrible beating and I didn't want her continue being beaten. At the same time I didn't mind her playing with my children. So there I was just looking at her at a total loss for words on how to express my thoughts.

"But I like Kumbi." My son is named Kumbirai. "Kumbi is very nice."

We looked at each other with my wife.

"You can play with Kumbi, but you should also listen to your mother." was all I could manage to say.

"But Kumbi is my friend. And Fungai is also nice."

"Kumbi will always be your friend, but your mother also likes you so you should listen to her."

"My mother says I should find white friends, but there are no nice ones."

The girl never stopped coming to my cottage and she got many more beatings for it and her plight was one of the reasons I decided to move away from the place. The adults of the white family never said anything bad to me. The husband was genuinely nice, I could tell. The wife was careful to wear the 'nice' mask in front of us. I don't think she ever realised what her daughter had told us. I decided that confronting the family would probably get the girl more beatings and possibly stigmatisation so to save her I had to move away with my children.

Then three months ago my sister had a baby daughter. We jokingly suggested that the now 9 year old Kumbirai find a name for the baby. He spend a day thinking hard then he came up with a name, Ameline. It didn't click in my mind immediately but Ameline was the name of the little white girl. When I eventually realised it and I mentioned it to my wife we all laughed. My mother and my sister were all delighted by the name and how it came to be. The name was immediately adopted so now I have niece called Ameline named after Kumbi's friend, a sweet white girl beaten by her mother for playing with Kumbirai.

Fungai, my daughter also came up with a name for the baby, Anotida. So my niece's names are Anotida Ameline. In Shona they literally mean 'Ameline likes us' or 'She likes us, Ameline'. At the time it didn't strike me but now the more I think about the more I wonder. Is this a coincidence or were my children trying to make a point? They certainly never said anything to suggest they wanted to make a point and Fungai explained that her name suggestion came from Mwari Anotida (God loves us).

The statement they ended up making about their friend who was beaten up by her mother for playing with them is quite powerful and inspiring.

I wonder whether Ameline would be allowed to name a new baby Kumbirai, after her friend a black boy, not just by her mother but by any member of her family. I can only wonder, for I will never know the answer.

Rowan Williams's Approach Was Wrong

The recent visit by head of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has done nothing to solve the split in the Anglican church and was in fact handled in a manner that is likely to make matters worse.

Dr Williams should have started with an honest appraisal of the history of the conflict. The Anglican church itself started the conflict, displaying bigotry and intolerance towards Kunonga over his political opinion. Kunonga refused to toe the church's chosen political line and criticize President Robert Mugabe in the same way Pius Ncube was doing.

Dr Williams should acknowledge this mistake and take steps to correct it as the foundation to solving the woes of the Anglican church in Zimbabwe. He should not seek to offload that burden onto Robert Mugabe's shoulders now that things have not gone the way he wanted.

I had hoped that Dr Williams would act to heal the rift in the church. However it is clear the he chose a tone that inflamed tensions and sought to shift the blame to politicians. It was preposterous and condescending for the bishop to not even bother to acknowledge rulings by Zimbabwe's courts.

His decision to seek to appeal to 'Mugabe's powers' is a very thinly veiled insult aimed at Zimbabwe's constitution. It is not Mugabe's job to overturn court rulings.

The bearded reverend needs to be reminded that it is his faction that went to court first. Now that the courts have ruled against them, they want to take the matter to politicians. What a joke. If they knew what judgement they wanted why didn't they simply tell the judges to pass it rather than make a ruling.

The comical irony of the matter is that they are seeking the intervention of the very same politician they were attacking when they vilified Kunonga.

Dr Williams should stop trying to turn the Anglican church into another political party in Zimbabwe. He should stop trying to dictate the political opinion his flock should hold. He should have let those who support Mugabe do so in peace and those against him also do so in peace. This attempt at politics has shattered the Anglican church into pieces which he is now trying to have Mugabe pick up for him.

My own personal opinion is that discussions should be held with Kunonga to let him back into the fold and allow him to honourably retire. However being familiar with the racist psyche of those like Dr Williams, he is likely to expend every fibre in his body trying humiliate Kunonga rather seek accommodation with someone he considers inferior.

As it is the reverend's trip was little more than a mission to demonize Zimbabwe and generate bad publicity for the country. He made it to look like the police are persecuting Anglicans when all they are doing is enforcing court judgements.

Is it the holy book that he claims to know well that talks about seeing the mote in another's eye while ignoring the log in one's own eye. Dr Williams should take out the logs that are blinding him to reality.

Anglicans

I do not know why the Anglicans finds Mugabe, a Catholic, relevant to ructions within their organisation caused, not by Mugabe, but by their own mishandling of disputes and disagreements within the Anglican church.

What exactly is Mugabe expected to do in this case? Overturn rulings of Zimbabwe courts which gave Kunonga control of Anglican Church properties?

It is the Anglican church which caused divisions in Zimbabwe by trying to expel Kunonga over his political opinion. It seems they are now trying to use Mugabe's power and influence to get their way over Kunonga.

To me that is still the wrong approach. They should be trying reconcile the church factions rather than than trying to use a politician who belongs to another church to suppress one of the factions.

Dr Rowan Williams should be coming to Zimbabwe to meet Bishop Kunonga not Mugabe. If his objective is to heal the rifts in the Anglican church then that is the only logical thing to do. Meeting Mugabe suggests that his objective is to further humiliate Kunonga, and widen the rifts, by getting Mugabe to 'switch sides'.

If that is the case then the preposterousness and condescending nature of Dr William towards Mugabe is astounding. How can he expect Mugabe to turn his back upon someone ostracised for supporting him in the first place.

I also feel greatly insulted by Dr Williams' insinuation that court rulings in Zimbabwe are irrelevant, all that's relevant are the politicians with power. What does he take our constitution and governance system for?

It is the courts which said Kunonga is in charge. If Dr Williams understands the whole concept of independence of the judiciary, I fail to see where he thinks Mugabe can come in. This is not a criminal case where Mugabe has the prerogative to pardon criminals after conviction. This is a civil case.

Debate on Which Present Day African Tribe Built Great Zimbabwe is a Pointless and ill Informed Exercise

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/news-6095-No+pure+truth+on+Great+Zim+historian/news.aspx

Clearly Professor Sabelo Gatsheni-Ndlovu is ignorant about the subject he is talking about. How can he talk about Karanga vs Rozvi or Venda vs Kalanga as if these are separate and clearly defined entities. Talking about Karanga vs Rozvi is like talking about Coloureds in terms of Black vs White. Can the Professor tell us  who are the true ancestors of Coloureds, Whites or Blacks?

Today's Karanga have among them the descendants of the Rozvi. It is also clear that the Venda have strong and clear ethnic links to the people now called Shona. There is no doubt that they have among them large numbers of descendants of the VaRozvi. The same applies to the Kalanga and definitely to the Ndebele as well given the prevalence of the surname Moyo among the Ndebele.

About four years ago in Naboom I was served by a bank teller with the surname Chikanya. She was a Venda and had never been to Zimbabwe. While doing a project for Tansnet in Pretoria my contact person was named Tendamudzimu Matshatshi (or is it Machachi). She was a Venda.

The Professor is guilty of the assumption that the Shona have a very narrow and easily identifiable ethnic source much like the Ndebele. The truth is that the Shona are a conglomeration of many different ethnicities with a history going back a millennia not a mere century.

During that millennia some people have moved into the region and been assimilated into the Shona culture such as the vaNjanja who are descendants of Portuguese traders. Others have moved out of the region and became assimilated into other cultures. In Malawi I met a man with the surname Shumba whose clan had been in Northern Malawi for so many generations that they didn't recall exactly where they came from but he claimed they had links to Zimbabwe.

Such movement happened frequently in Bantu history and a recent example is the Mfecane which resulted in the scattering of various Nguni clans. The Ngoni are now in Malawi and have become Chewa speakers. The Shangaani are now in Mozambique and Zimbabwe and the Ndebele are now in South Africa and Zimbabwe very far away from Zulu territory.

The Mfecane happened at the same time as the infiltration of Africa by European settlers who had writing and record keeping skills which is why it is relatively well recorded. Other movements have not been so well recorded. Though versions have survived through folklore, these are not accurate and detailed.

Therefore the truth is that some of the descendants of the builders of Great Zimbabwe are to be found among the people called Shona today while some have moved and are to be found among surrounding cultures. The VaRozvi go by the totem Moyondizvo. These people largely went by the isbongo Moyo when they were assimilated into Ndebele culture.

It is therefore quite possible that Jonathan Moyo today called a Ndebele may have the same ancestors as my great-grand-uncles the Mupfururirwas of Chivhu who are Moyondizvo and are today called Shonas, or even the Mushores found in Hurungwe who are also Moyondizvo.

The questions then becomes whether Jonathan Moyo should claim that the Ndebele built Great Zimbabwe because he is now a Ndebele or the Mupfururirwas should now claim that only the Shona built Great Zimbabwe since they are now called Shonas.

On the other hand my own clan, the vaBarwe are also now called Shonas like the Mupfururirwas, but Barwe folklore clearly states that we originated from around Sena in Mozambique and does not lay claim to construction of Great Zimbabwe. My village or origin Punungwe village at Wazvaremhaka in Chivhu now lies next to the Mupfururirwa village, while Jonathan Moyo's village of origin in Tsholotsho is a journey of many days away from Mupfururirwa village. He does not even natively speak the same language as the Mupfururirwa's anymore.

It is wrong to deny either the Mupfururirwa's their heritage and credit it to the Khumalos because they are now considered closer to Jonathan Moyo, or to deny Jonathan Moyo his heritage and credit it to us Punungwes because we now live next door to the Mupfururirwas.

Therefore the notion of 'contestation' of 'ownership' of the Great Zimbabwe monument among the various ethnicities now found in the region is entirely pointless and those who are partaking in it will keep going around in circles, and have as much chance of success as a dog has of catching its tail.

That notion is propagated by mentally colonised people who seek to write history in exclusionist terms the same way colonialists did for reasons of racism and discrimination. Colonial historians sought to exclude blacks from the Great Zimbabwe heritage for reasons of their own bigotry and racism. I therefore fail to understand why blacks would partake in the same exercise.

It is like trying to find out who are the true Romans, the Italians or the Spanish. Italians have among them people who were not Romans and Spanish have among them people who were Romans.

The descendants of the people who built Great Zimbabwe are to be found among the Shona, the Ndebele, the Venda, the Kalanga the Nambya and the many other ethnicities in the region. At the same time among those ethnicities are to be found millions of people whose ancestors had nothing to do with the construction of the monument.

Yes it is true the people who live around the monument are today called Shona and indeed the name Zimbabwe itself comes from the Shona language. That means the monument is always going to be identified with the Shona more than anyone else. Let us not forget that even the name Shona itself is a very recent creation.

Classical Shona tradition readily recognises the ethnic diversity of the people. If one mentions the name Ncube at a Shona gathering several voices will quickly say 'ndiSoko Murehwa ivavo' clearly implying and accepting that the Ncubes who are Ndebeles are closely related to Murehwa people.

When I introduced a friend and business colleague, Steve Mpofu, to my mother a muHera of the Mhofu totem she quickly told me 'ndiSekuru vako ivavo'. (He is your uncle.) This is in line with the Shona practice of identifying close relations by totem even across tribal lines, rather than by ethnic name as most people tend to do. This is a clearly acknowledgement that blood relations, people with common ancestors to oneself, may be found in other tribes and not only among the people of the same tribe as oneself.

In short people who say the Shona claim the Great Zimbabwe monument for themselves do not understand this aspect of Shona culture which clearly is inclusionist. The Shona acknowledge that vaRozvi built great Zimbabwe and at the same time will readily call Jonathan Moyo a muRozvi because of his totem although ethnically he is now called a Ndebele. At the same time Shona people like myself who are not vaRozvi will never claim to be such, or claim association with the builders of Great Zimbabwe.

People like Professor Sabelo Gatsheni-Ndlovu have exclusionist outlook, that seeks to exclude certain groups first from among themselves and then from some aspects of Bantu heritage. They may also be suffering from tribal malaise which does not like to see anything good credited to the Shona.

In short the Great Zimbabwe monument belongs to all of us in the region. After all we are all Bantu people, and the evidence is clear that the ruins were built by the Bantu. Whether those Bantu are now Ndebele, Shona, Venda, Kalanga or whatever you like to call them they are still Bantu.

The Indian envoy should be expelled

The Indian envoy should be expelled, fulstop. His ignorance of Shona culture and traditions does not amount to the absence of such traditions.

I also wonder exactly on what facts he bases his assessment that the Shona people are quiescent and undemanding. Who fought the first Chimurenga. Which war against colonialism was fiercer than the second Chimurenga.

The envoy's regurgitating of Rhodesian misrepresentations is an insult to us the people of Zimbabwe.

Did the envoy ever bother to listen to Zimbabwean programs like ChiKristu neTsika or Madzinza eZimbabwe which was presented by the fomer minister of education Mr Chigwedere and the late Boniface Gabarinocheka Dzvova.

If the Indian envoy is so convinced that the Shona have no history and culture then can he explain to us what the Munhumutapa Empire, Rozvi Empire, Great Zimbabwe civilisation, Torwa Empire and Barwe Empires were all about?

If the envoy is ignorant of Shona culture and history he should keep quiet rather than try to pass off insults and misrepresentations as facts. Especially if these are misrepresentations by our oppressors the Rhodesians who spent generations trying to prove that a white race built Great Zimbabwe and threw away crucial archaeological evidence calling it 'the filth of Bantu habitation' when in fact it was the proof of Bantu construction of the monument.

In fact Shona is the most widely spoken native Bantu language and the seventh most widely spoken native language in Africa. Such demographics certainly are not evidence of a lack of culture.

The ambassador's confusion may be stemming from the fact that he is trying to attribute the Shona to a single ethnic source. Let him be informed that Shona culture is a very large collection of cultures united by a common history and close geography but not by a single ethnic source.

This fact is recognised by the Shona themselves who identify themselves by clans such as vaHera (giving their name to Buhera), vaNjanja, maUngwe, vaRozvi, vaBarwe, vaTsunga, vaRemba and so on. Karanga, Zezuru, Korekore, Manyika and Ndau are language dialects and not definers of ethnicity, another common misunderstanding about Shona ethnicity.

Indeed that the Shona have a diverse background is commonly acknowledged. The Shona are not the descendants of a single tribe but a collection of tribes and peoples who moved into the region over a millenia. For example vaNjanja (vazungu vemachira machena) are commonly acknowledged to be descendants of Portuguese traders and this evidenced by their clan praise name Sinyoro which is a derivative of Senor.

Other Shona clans such as vaHera are thought to be descendants of Arab and Indian traders who plied the Indian Ocean coast with their dows long before Vasco da Gama was guided to India by an Arab or Indian guide. Other clans such as the vaTsunga have folklore which openly acknowledges that they came from north of the Zambezi. Vakarova mvura netsvimbo ikazaruka.

My own clan the vaBarwe are often referred to as maSena because we are said to have come from around Sena is Mozambique. Clans such as my clan, the vaNjanja and vaHera who are relatively recent arrivals in the region have no hand and have never claimed to have any hand in the construction of Great Zimbabwe.

Other clans such as vaRozvi have a much longer history in the region and I have no reason to doubt that they had a hand in the construction of Great Zimbabwe.

What there is absolutely no doubt about is that some of the descendants of those who built Great Zimbabwe are to be found among the people called the Shona today. Due to migration and assimilation, some are certainly found in neighbouring cultures. Nobody has ever claimed, certainly not us the Shona, that all the people now called Shona are descendants of the builders of great Zimbabwe, or that those known by other names never had a hand in it.

That misconception is often carried by people who underestimate misunderstand the size of the monolith called Shona culture. We are a very large group who even differ in physical characteristics ranging from tall dark people like the vaRozvi (mostly Karanga speakers), light skinned people like vaHera, short people like vaManyika, slight people like maKorekore. Most of us Shona can easily tell another Shona's clan or origin from their appearance and the moment they speak the first few Shona words.

We are also known by surrounding African tribes for stubbornly sticking to our traditions. Indeed some say we have a reputation of being very difficult to deal with in marriages and other traditional ceremonies, if things are not done as per our clan traditions.

Certainly we are not docile. We simply do not jump to agendas set by others.

When we do choose to put up a fight you can guaranteed that it will be ferocious and accompanied by cunning and deviousness. Cecil John Rhodes is said to have referred to the Shona as 'peace-loving but cunning' people. That is about the only thing he was right about.

US Diplomacy in the wake of Wikileaks?

Ambassador Ray Charles recently remarked that he had a writing quota of 1000 words a day. It seems US diplomats have an addiction to pens (err keyboards) and will write anything to fulfil their quotas.

They will write reports about anything and everything. The unpleasant side effect of this excessive report writing is that people who thought they were in informal meetings with US officials, have been surprised to find their names popping up in the formal US reports released by Wikileaks.

A Thai diplomat complained that an informal lunch meeting with a US official several years ago meant that his name appeared in a formal US report.

One wonders whether US diplomats should now be treated like lepers. Avoid them in case your name ends popping up where you don't want it to pop up.

Secondly I don't understand the logic of meeting people informally when they are not prepared to meet some of them formally. Take for example Zimbabwe's case. Over the years US diplomats have been meeting Zanu-PF officials informally and ended up being told a range of opinions and predictions none of which had anything to do with Zanu-PF's official positions.

Instead of ending up with valuable insider intelligence it looks like the US ended up mostly with dud information. As a result US policy in Zimbabwe can hardly be said to have been a success. They ended up backing a lame Prime Minister while Zanu-PF 'hard-liners' continued to exercise the real power.

Could this have been avoided if they had taken official positions more seriously? Could it be that the US diplomats were being deliberately misled, by the informal contacts they sought? I don't know the answers, and I doubt that anyone in the US diplomatic corps does either.

People who know Zimbabweans society inside out would have told you that the influence of the highly respected liberation war cadre was not about to wane and could definitely now be switched off overnight. Back when I was still writing blogs for the now defunct The Zimbabwe Times, I was among the first to predict that the MDC could not rule without the backing of the military.

Look at the size of Mujuru's funeral. That alone tells you that there are millions of ordinary people out there who care about what General Mujuru did for the country. That is helping get rid of the yoke of cruel racist colonialism.

Then the MDC almost totally ignored the existence of the military. Now they are trying to fashion a relationship of sorts with the military but I believe it is now too late for it to make much of a difference. If fact rather than build alliances and mutual respect, they are calling for 'security sector reform' which suggests they still don't have meaningful influence on or from the military.

The MDC strategy in Zimbabwe was not well thought out from the beginning. It was and largely still is a hodge-podge collection of opportunistic interests only united by their common abhorrence of Mugabe.

Justice and Gadhafi's demise

Gadhafi was one of the worst dictators the world has ever seen there is absolutely no doubt about that. But there also absolutely no doubt that today the lives of Libyans are much less secure, much less comfortable much more expendable than they were under Gadhafi. Evaluations that I have seen in news media are estimating that it will take at least 10 years to restore the civil infrastructure just to the level it is today. What is irreplaceable forever is the lives of loved ones that have been lost. Brothers, sisters, mothers and father have been wrenched away from their loved ones. Holes in the heart cannot be patched up like holes in concrete.

What leaves a numb ache in the hearts of those who care, is that this could have been avoided. A negotiated transition was possible and was only prevented by NATO sponsorship of the violence. Much of the carnage and mayhem, in Libya today could have been avoided through a negotiated transition rather than a fought transition. Gadhafi had already agreed to a transition, but apparently those backing the rebels did no want a transition that would leave Libya standing.

Much more worrying is the unspoken insinuation that third world lives are cheap and expendable, and much less valuable than first world lives. To me this is a form of discrimination equal to, if not worse, than racism.

Last but not least the world needs to take stock and evaluate what started as a mission to 'protect civilians' ended up being an openly one sided participation in a civil war. The kind od insincerity, lying, cheating and dishonourable behaviour exhibited by NATO clearly has an effect of the ability of the world to intervene in other parts of the world.

Clearly the international community is now hobbled on Syria. Nobody can trust that whatever action is authorised will not be twisted and abused by some Western powers. It is a sad day when not authorising anything is seen as being better than authorising limited action because you cannot trust the implementers to twist the authorisation for their own ends. It is a sad day when the policemen are worse than the robbers. It is a sad day when 'humanitarian intervention' result in more carnage and abuse than the original situation.

The problem is made worse by international institutions that have sacrificed their independence. The UN secretary general has reduced himself to a mere foreign minister of some of the G7 countries. Around the world the UN is increasing being seen as a vassal and appendage of only some of the world powers.

I don't know if the ICC is even worth mentioning. That organisation has been so biased that there is little hope of its actions being seen as justice delivery at all. It has reduced itself a mere witch-hunter and kangaroo court. The world does need a true centre of justice delivery but the ICC is simply not up to the task. Right now the situation in Libya needs a proper and professional investigation into possible crimes by all sides including NATO commanders who can legitimately be accused of indiscriminate bombing in some instances. But the ICC has reduced itself to a tool for merely harassing Gadhafi, not justice delivery in Libya.

The ICC is to Western powers what some Zimbabwean judges are to Robert Mugabe. In fact it is insulting to Zimbabwean judges to make such a comparison. They are much more professional under much more difficult circumstances.

Clearly Gadhafi is the bigger abuser in Libya. But, in a proper justice system, you do not let the petty thieves go because you have caught the murderer. The ICC should not let rebel and NATO commanders go scot-free because Gadhafi is there. Justice is not just about catching the big criminal only, it is more about a thorough and credible process being undertaken to deliver justice at all levels.

Personality Politics Ruining Zimbabwe

There is no doubt that Zimbabwe's opposition politicians are hungry for success. They are trying their best to do something that will make them hugely successful and hugely popular in the eyes of the public.

Probably the biggest political success of the last few generations was the liberation struggle to shake off the shackles of white minority oppression. That was a struggle to end a clearly defined system of repression, racial discrimination and exploitation.

It was struggle that shaped the psyche and culture of the country immernsely. The concept of national hero was born out of it. Songs some recorded, some never recorded mushroomed heaping all sorts of accolades on those who fought in the liberation war. Zimbabwean culture being typically African, everything revolves around song and dance. Moments of sorrow are marked by song, moments of joy are marked by song, times of hard work pass easily through song.

It is patently obvious that the liberation struggle is the yardstick opposition politicians are measuring themselves by. Their rhetoric, their demeanour and even their commemorations are all steeped in language reminiscent of the liberation struggle. Talk of fallen heroes, talk of the struggle has sought to elevate what is a mere ruckus over leadership change, and the excessive stay of one man in power, into liberation struggle of sorts.

The first clue that talk of liberation is misplaced is that the antagonist and protagonist revolve around persons not systems, much like a cheap action movie. True liberation struggles like the American Civil Rights movement, have systems as the antagonist. True liberation struggles do not have one person as an irreplaceable hero.

Our own liberation struggle has heroes like Jason Ziyapapa Moyo, Hepert Chitepo, Leopold Takawira, Ndabaningi Sithole and others who did their part but their removal was never considered a threat to the very struggle itself. The American Civil Rights movement had heroes ranging from Medgar Evers to Martin Luther King Jr. The deaths or removal of these individuals changed nothing. It did not alter the system or the need to dismantle the system.

Contrast that with Zimbabwe's politics today. Everything is revolving around two people, Mugabe and Tsvangirai. The departure of Mugabe would pull the rug from under much off the opposition rhetoric and strategy. At the same time Tsvangirai is handled like a rare egg because there is no other person with the brand-power to take his position in Zimbabwe politics. What kind cause is it, that merely revolves around a person's brand-power.

I always lament that this kind of personality politics has served nothing but to draw energy, time and resources away from substantive issues. There is no more proper assessment of the development needs of communities. This has been substituted by assessments of who they support.

Youths are mobilised to bludgeon opponents and not to partake in community projects. Youths are plied with intoxicating substances not career enhancing skills and knowledge. These are hallmarks of opportunistic tactics not visionary strategy.

Libya Ceasefire and Negotiations

NATO bombing of Libya has been going on for almost half the year now. To say that the outcome is any more certain than it was in March is a lie. If anything it is now much, much less certain.

Today there was a story on BBC about rural buildings that were bombed by NATO. The BBC interviewed a schoolgirl who had been injured in the bombing. Gadhafi's government claims that 85 civilians died. I believe they are exaggerating.

NATO claims they are sure it was a military target. I am sure they are lying through their teeth. The truth is they don't know what they bombed. They don't have men on the ground and apparently they rely on the rebels for much of their target selection intelligence.

The rebels are mostly untrained civilians. It is certain that their intelligence will be unreliable, based on wrong or incompetent analysis and sometimes plain malice. For example getting NATO to bomb their house could be a very cool way of getting back at the family of that girl who embarrassed me by rejecting my hand in marriage. This is conjecture on my part but there is no denying that family and tribal alliances play a very significant role in which side one supports or opposes in African conflicts, and perceived social slights play a large part in forging those enmities and alliances.

I have also seen an article suggesting that occupation by another Arab country could be the face saving way out of this quagmire for NATO. Why do we have this conflict anyway? The people of Libya supposedly want a democracy with free and fair elections. Since when did foreign occupation and democracy become bosom buddies?

NATO seem to be keeping on bombing Libya because they don't know what else to do. Since they have the bombs, the aircraft and the missiles, they will just keep lobbing them until they can think of another way to end this.

The truth is that if NATO wanted to spare the people of Libya the uncertainty, tribulation and fear of living in a war situation, they don't even have to think. All they have to do is take one of the options already on the table, a ceasefire followed by elections within a time limit.

Can Gadhafi be trusted? Of course not. But taking a chance with negotiated solution is much much better than bombing the Libyan people and their infrastructure - not Gadhafi - until Gadhafi gives in to what has evolved to be a mere battle of wills. And all this because of Sarkozy's inexperience and naivete as an international political leader.

The bottom line is that the ongoing NATO bombing and destruction of Libya is nothing but gratuitous. It may, hopefully, eventually get Gadhafi to depart but to any thinking person a negotiated exit, which Gadhafi has already agreed to, is a much more certain and much less destructive way of getting the same result that NATO are claiming can only be gotten through raining fire and brimstone upon Libya's harpless people.

If the negotiations had started in March or even April we could be talking about an election in Libya by the end of the year. Right now we are talking about maybe a foreign occupation without a timeline for an election. If you call that progress then I will call what comes out of a horse's behind chocolate.

The best way to put an end to the suffering of the Libyan people right now is an immediate ceasefire and commencement of negotiations. Did I hear someone say the rebels won't agree to that? Rebels my foot. Without NATO bombs there would be no rebels. Those guys cannot organise a shooting contest in an armoury. They have been held up by NATO policies, definitely not their own competence. They will do what they are told to do by NATO.

Ceasefire and Negotiations for Libya!

Regionalism in Zimbabwe: A mere red herring.

The issue if regionalism keeps getting raised by narrow-minded people who are refusing to see the forest for the woods.

Firstly local development issues are the purview of district councils. If the people running those are incompetent, then they should also be taken to the cleaners not just national leaders.

Secondly with so many people with names like Diniwe Mutambudzi, Thabani Magaya, Tichaona Mkandla and even my own brother Bekezela Edmore Punungwe (Facebook page), it is pointless and impractical to try and allocate most Zimbabweans to a particular region.

If you take the extreme view like the Mtwakhazi Liberation Front where does that leave my brother Bekezela born in Harare to a mother from Filabusi and a father from Chivhumudhara. Does he qualify as a Mtwakhazian? If maybe he qualifies because of his Ndebele name, what about my other brothers Muchineripi Punungwe and Tawanda Punungwe? Same father and same mother as this guy named Bekezela. What about my friend Steve Mpofu born in Nkayi but who has since made a life for himself in Harare. Does he have to abandon his mansion in Chisipite?

What about our neighbours in Chivhu, the Mpundumani family, the Ndlukula family, the Molai family. Do they have to abandon the homes that they have occupied for generations (and their youngsters don't speak even a word of Ndebele).

It is my sincere belief that any Zimbabwean who has and espouses a national outlook can lead Zimbabwe. It would be naive to expect those who constantly blurb along regional lines to get the votes of the people they are constantly criticising along ethnic lines.

It is also a fact that once issues are stripped down to regional issues then so called Shona (none of us calls ourselves Shona by the way. I am a muBarwe and my mother is a muHera) enjoy a significant advantage in numbers. There is no need for any of us to try and explain or be apologetic about it, because none of us is Cecil John Rhodes, Leander Starr Jameson, Frank Johnson or Frederick Selous the people most responsible for where the county's borders are now.

Zimbabwe's Diamond Torture Camps : Fact or Fiction?

The sudden discovery of torture camps in one's country is a chilling, spine freezing experience for anyone who loves their country as much as I do. I was concerned.

I rushed to the BBC website and read the BBC online article, and another by The Guardian. There are no substantive facts presented in either article. All they do is rehash long running gossip, rumours and urban legends about Marange and try and present that as if it were some earth shattering discovery.

At one time a major Western newspaper, The Chicago Tribune, published an internet urban legend as fact claiming that an Air Zimbabwe pilot locked himself out of the cockpit and had to hack down the door with an axe. http://www.snopes.com/travel/airline/fireaxe.asp. This is the same kind of hatchet job journalism we are witnessing here.

The truth of the matter is that ever since the discovery of Marange diamonds a lot of colourful rumours and gossip have been swirling around relating to them.

I am surprised the BBC program did not mention the stories of diamond poachers (colloquial known as magweja) skinning each other alive, to extract stones from those who may have swallowed them. Nor the ones about a villager from the area feeding his cattle exclusively on cabbages trucked in everyday. There are other urban legends about villagers installing expensive TV's in their chicken runs so that the feathered ones could watch.

The BBC has selected only some of these rumours and colourful claims that are negative for the government and tried to present them as fact. If you ask me that is gutter journalism, bad enough to make News of the World journalists seem like saintly friars.

For example the claim that detainees where whipped 120 times a day simply doesn't hold water, unless of course they were being whipped by one year old toddlers. If that was true there would be hundreds of people with scars to bear the testimony and probably numerous deaths as well. Being given 10 lashes by a strong man let alone 120 is not easy for the human body to endure.

My major concern is that this kind of negativism about Zimbabwe rubs off on the rest of us, not just those attacked.

It is ordinary Zimbabweans who eventually face xenophobic attacks from hosts who have negative perceptions about them. It is ordinary Zimbabweans who face deportations and other difficulties because of negative perceptions about their country. It is ordinary Zimbabweans who face all kinds of discrimination wherever they go because of negative perceptions.

Zimbabwe Politics

The pathetic thing about Zimbabwe politicians of the past 2 decades, is that they cannot seem to identify substantive issues to formulate policies around, yet there are so many things which need to be done in the country.

Consequently opposition politics has been reduced to mere Mugabe and Zanu-PF trashing, leaving the erena almost devoid of substantive issues except those raised by Zanu-PF itself.

For example the only substantive issues that are talked about in any depth are land reform and indigenisation. These were brought into the debate by Zanu-PF policies.

If opposition parties do not want to follow behind Zanu-PF on policy, there are numerous other national development issues they could formulate policies around. For example infrastructure development is one such issue. Rural infrastructure is deplorable and needs to be upgraded.

Rural were at first neglected by past colonial governments as part of their racist policies. Unfortunately the black population has been mentally colonised and have come to consider it normal that rural areas are backward. Rural dwellers most living in titleless communal lands need secure legal tenure to foster their development.

Zimbabwe is famed for its educated people. However the truth is that Zimbabweans are educated because of the work ethic of the students. In terms of basic education infrastructure such as classroom teaching aids, Zimbabwe is horrendously backward. Most schools are not computerised or even electrified. Universities are horribly under-equipped and understaffed.

Yet Zimbabwe's politicians are focused on taking the little resources the country has and sending their often dull children to expensive schools and universities outside the country. Bona is in Hong Kong and the Tsvangirai brood are all over the world.

Sending politicians children overseas is not only expensive in terms of the fees but also expensive in terms of their upkeep. The political brats are often spoilt into leading pointlessly expensive lifestyles.

These are issues which any sensible opposition could formulate national policies around. Yet what do we get endless harping about Mugabe this, Zanu-PF that. Exchange of insults has suplanted the exchange of ideas.

Organising youths into violent groups rather than organising them into productive self-help groups has become a favourite pass-time of all political parties. It is sad that buying youths scuds is considered a legitimate campaign strategy by all these politicians.

I cry for Zimbabwe.

Wither Libya?

Nato's Libya operation has panned out to be a virtually aimless pogrom of gratuitous violence. It continues to this day because the traditionally racist Europeans leading the operation do not care about the African Libyan lives being lost.

They know the operation is not leading anywhere but because it Africans dying they do not care to bring the conflict to the most sensible end - through a ceasefire and negotiations not a military victory by any of the sides.

The only side capable of military victory is the Gadhafi side but the Europeans have prevented that from happening prolonging the conflict. Despite my attempts to filter through the Nato propaganda, I still fail to see where a prolonged conflict, rather a negotiated solution, is in the best interests of Libya.

In fact, common sense tells me that prolonged conflict is in the interests of those bend on weakening Libya and removing her as a significant force in African politics. Libya has been the backbone of the AU which was slowly gaining assertiveness in international politics. Despite his off-the handle loose nut behaviour, the crazy colonel's money has been one of the nuts holding the AU's handle firmly in place. Removing the colonel is an obvious way of setting the AU back by several years if not decades.

Indeed the way the AU was treated in the whole saga suggests a deliberate ploy to humiliate the organisation.

An assertive and confident African continent is a threat to European countries whose economies are still dependent on colonial resources. It does not surprise me that the countries that led the onslaught on Libya had recently had problems which politicians in former colonies who refused to toe the line. France with Laurent Gbagbo and Britain with Robert Mugabe.

Dictatorship is no good and Gadhafi's dictatorship was among the worst, but the situation that Libyans are in now, is worse than Gadhafi's dictatorship. Not even Nato despite their bluster and bravado know what the future holds for Libya.

With the killing of a rebel general by rebels, everything is increasingly pointing towards sectarian strife. It would also have send a message to other defectors and planned defectors that they don't have a safe place to go. Defecting was probably not the wisest of decisions on their part. Defecting former Gadhafi allies should not expect to find a comfort zone among the long-standing opponents of Gadhafi. Life is not a Madagascar movie where a Zebra and a Lion can become the best of friends. If you have been opponents for life you do not become trusted buddies in the span of the moment it takes to say 'I am defecting'.

The TNF is a hodge-podge of long time Gadhafi opponents and defectors. As General Younnes death shows, the defectors were probably better off sticking with Gadhafi.

The Origins of Easter

The foundation of the Christian religion is the events that happened at Mount Calvary 2 millenia ago. Jesus's death by crucifixion, subsequent  resurrection and ascendancy to Heaven are foundations upon which the Christian religion is founded.

Illustration 1: A depiction of goddess Ostara (Eostre).

Consequently the most important holiday in the Christian calendar is the Easter holiday. Easter Sunday marks the day on which Jesus resurrected. That resurrection is the basis of all Christian theology.

There are many calendars in this world, the Chinese have their own calendar defining such things as year of the dog, year of the chicken and so on. This year is year 4708 in the Chinese calendar and is the year of the rabbit.

The Buddhists have their own calendar based on the nirvana of Buddha. This year is 2554 in the Buddhist calendar.

However dates as we know them today are based on the Christian calendar, or to be more precise the Catholic calendar, known as the Gregorian Calendar. Many people might not know, but Easter is also closely related to sun worship and the worship of pagan gods.

Easter is held on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the spring equinox. The problem was that Easter day tended to drift over the years because the solar cycle (year) is not a whole number multiple of the Earth's rotational cycle (day). As a result civil calendars based on merely counting the number of days tend to drift relative to the solar year.

In 1582 Pope Gregory signed a degree describing an elaborate formula to calculate the date of Easter based on the solar cycle and not on the then widely used civil calendar the Julian Calendar. The resulting calendar, the Gregorian Calendar, is the calendar that is today most widely used as the civil calendar in the world. This year is numbered 2011AD based on the Gregorian calendar. It is the number of the year based on the Catholic formula for calculating the days of Easter.

Other ancient Christian denominations such as the Eastern Orthodox, the Greek Orthodoc, the Coptic and the Ethiopian Orthodox churches have their own year numbers and celebrate Easter on different days to the Catholic based Christians.

The feast of Easter itself is not entirely based on the resurrection of Jesus but was adopted by Christians from pre-existing pagan religions. As alluded to earlier the feast is related to the first full moon after the spring equinox. The equinox is the day of the year when the sun is exactly above the equator and day is equal to night at every latitude in the world. There are two equinoxes one just before spring and summer, the other before autumn and winter. Easter is celebrated after the first  full moon of the spring equinox and is related to the most ancient practices of worshipping the sun and the moon.

However even though it is related to sun worship, Easter was not passed on to Christians directly from sun worshippers. Firstly the name Easter is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible but is derived from the Eastre the name of the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. The Anglo-Saxons themselves are thought to have adopted the name from Eostre or Austro the Barbarian goddess of dawn. Notice the pagan goddesses are associated with the times of spring or dawn, largely considered by humans to be times of renewal, awakening or resurrection.

Illustration 2: A depiction of Ishtar goddess of fertility, love and sex found on a Babylonian vase kept in a French museum

In Middle East, the ancient Babylonians, whose civilisation existed about 2000 years before Christ, held summer festives linked to the god Tammuz who was brought back (resurrected) from the Underworld every six months. Tammuz had been send to the underworld by Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, love and sex.

The Babylonian legend has it that Ishtar demanded of her sister who was ruler of the underworld that she be let into the underworld. Her sister agreed but with the condition that at each gate to the underworld she shed an item of clothing. Ishtar agreed and proceeded to enter the underworld. At the seventh gate (seven?!) she was completely naked. Despite that she was now naked, Ishtar proceeded to sit on the throne of the underworld whereupon the other gods of the underworld gazed upon her with the eyes of death. She became a corpse and was hung on a nail.

However a servant of the gods Enki pleaded with the gods and Ishtar was resurrected. She was allowed to go back but she had to find someone to replace her. When Ishtar came back from the underworld she found that her lover Tammuz was not mourning her at all. So she send him to the Underworld. Tammuz's sister Geshtinanna was sad and volunteered to spend six months of the year in the Underworld on his behalf. Consequently Tammuz came back from the Underworld every six months and his coming (resurrection) was marked by a festival.

For Christians Easter marks the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ but as we can see the whole idea of death and resurrection of a god or gods had existed beforehand.

Also, nowhere in the Bible are hares and eggs mentioned but today the Easter bunny and the Easter egg are considered contemporary items of the culture surrounding the Easter festival. Where did they come from? The Easter bunny and East egg have their origins in ancient Barbarian fertility lore. The hare is a symbol of copious breeding and copulation while eggs are symbols of fertility. As mentioned earlier the Babylonian goddess Ishtar was the goddess of among other things sex, love and fertility.

Again as mentioned earlier the name Easter comes directly from Eastre an Anglo-Saxon goddess who - to quote from French scholars Alfred Ernout and Antionne Meillet -  “represented spring fecundity, love and carnal pleasure that leads to fecundity.”

In short the contemporary symbols of Easter are directly associated with Barbarian (ancient European) beliefs on fertility, love and sex and the Babylonian goddess of the same.

In fact the followers of Ishtar engaged in what is called sacred prostitution. The requirement was that at least once in their lifetime a follower had to go to the temple and engage in public sex with a complete stranger.

Spring is the time of year when flora blossoms and fauna procreates in abundance and the world renews itself, and ancient humans have made it the time to celebrate renewal. Spring is marked by the time when the sun 'comes back' and days become longer than nights.

The Gregorian Calendar is explicitly defined such that the date of Easter never drifts with respect to the time when the sun 'comes back' in Northern hemisphere terms. The pre-summer (Northern hemispheric) equinox occurs on 21 March each year as defined by the Gregorian Calendar. Leap years, and number of days in months are so carefully defined that the day when sun comes back never ever shifts in the Gregorian Calendar.

Easter Sunday is then set as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the equinox heralding summer. In other words Jesus's resurrection is made to follow the cycles of the sun and the moon. Also, the festival itself is associated with various gods of fertility, love and sex.

The Gregorian Calendar was decreed by Pope Gregory so it is the Catholic church which calculates the dates of Easter for most of the world. The Protestant and Pentecostal variations of Christianity mostly branched off from Catholicism and use the same date for Easter though I doubt whether most of their pastors and ministers would be able to explain how this date is defined. The process of calculating the date of Easter, called Computus, which had been the subject of much controversy was that put to rest by Pope Gregory. The name Computus is what eventually gave rise to the English words computer, computation and computer.

Let me make it clear, I am not claiming that Christians worship the sun, the moon and pagan gods. However, I consider it better to open my eyes and seek knowledge than to keep my eyes shut and be led to nowhere. This is not a pun for the Christian practice of praying with the eyes shut either. However it is clear that religious practices have borrowed from past religions to a much greater extend than some would admit.