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.