So Britain has any shame?

The British murdered, maimed, raped, humiliated and subjected the conquered people to all kinds of reprehensible treatment. They stole people’s land, and as seen in Zimbabwe, they condemned the majority black people to arid areas while they snapped 80 percent of all arable land...Does the Queen, in whose name these things were done, have any shame at all? If she does, she must come out and apologise and initiate justice

Tichaona Zindoga

Was anyone really shocked to learn that Britain systematically destroyed documents in its colonies that were about to gain independence as cover up for its activities?

We hear that the so-called “Operation Legacy” was effected in the 1950s and 1960s in at least 23 countries, including Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Jamaica, Malaysia and Singapore.

No surprises there. Nor are there any jaw droppers in further revelations by British newspapers on how detailed instructions were issued over methods of destruction: “the waste should be reduced to ash and the ashes broken up”, while any that were being dumped at sea must be “packed in weighted crates and dumped in very deep and current-free water at maximum practicable distance from the coast”.

There were even “destruction certificates” sent to London by colonial officials as proof that they were performing their duties, and letters and memoranda that showed that some were struggling to complete their huge task before the colonies gained their independence.
In Singapore there was even one destruction facility dubbed the “splendid incinerator.” Again, in the criminal, sadistic and evil colonial administration this is no surprise. Here is the real shocker: they were doing this because they feared the papers “might embarrass members of the police, military forces, public servants (such as police agents or informers)”.

Operation Legacy also feared evidence “likely to be interpreted, either reasonably or by malice, as indicating racial prejudice or religious bias on the part of Her Majesty’s government”. So does the empire have any shame at all? It would be useful to state here that embarrassment is not the word; the word is criminality. 

The British murdered, maimed, raped, humiliated and subjected the conquered people to all kinds of reprehensible treatment. They stole people’s land, and as seen in Zimbabwe, they condemned the majority black people to arid areas while they snapped 80 percent of all arable land.

Take the example of Kenya. Freedom fighters were beaten, starved, anally raped and flogged.  They had broken bottles inserted into their anuses. They were humiliated and subjected to forced labour. The world has come to know of the Mau Mau veterans who claimed compensation, and won, in what should be a precedent. One report cites a Kenyan colonial judge, Arthur Cram, appointed to examine the role of British officials in torture and killings, to draw comparisons with infamous Nazi camps.

“They (British colonial officials)not only knew of the shocking floggings that went on in this Kenya Nordhausen, or Mathausen (sic), but must be taken to be the men who were said to have carried them out. From the brutalising of flogging it is only a step to taking life without qualm,” he said in his judgment.

Britain has never apologised for these things, coming close to that by way of saying it “regretted” such criminality, as foreign secretary William Hague did last June. Germany has showed how sorry it is for its Nazi activities by paying them compensation. Britain has not initiated any justice whether restorative or distributive. Is this the same Britain that purports to be the champion of human rights? 

Does the Queen, in whose name these things were done, have any shame at all?
If she does, she must come out and apologise and initiate justice, as the Germans have nobly done.

Keep your Bryan Adams, we keep our Warriors

"See, black Zimbabweans do not hate whites.

They love them, actually, and a couple of them have seen the humanity and humanness and hospitality and have become “vakuwasha” and “varoora” (sons and daughters in law, which Zimbabweans as indeed Africans would readily call them being as ever ready to form bonds of kinship.) The whites mind their own businesses, one of which is to see the country return to white colonial rule.

They do not participate in any nationally representative or significant activities.

Stunned, too...Bryan Adams even wondered whether he was playing in Africa or Europe

The whites of this country should be reminded that, if they do please, they can keep their Brian Adams’ and we keep our Warriors."

Tichaona Zindoga

Writing this, I have been pretty excited about last weekend.

The guess is right: it is because of the senior national soccer team, the Warriors, who have done what we all feared to be the Houdini by qualifying for the semi-finals of the ongoing CHAN tournament in South Africa.

I am one of the millions of Zimbabweans that support football and in particular the national team.

The Warriors have not been able to reward the Zimbabweans adequately.

They have at times, most times, been a disappointment and outright disgrace and scandal.

They have been the Worry Us.

Some of us grew up with the reality of Zimbabwe being the near boys of African soccer.

They would go so near but fail to go any far.

The soccer governing mother body, Zifa, has been a big player in the underdevelopment of soccer in the country.

However some people said it was because of bad luck and a particular curse by one bitter ex-coach, while others put it down to the special kind of luck that always pitted Zimbabwe in tough groups with tough West African countries being the final hurdle.

It was the hurdle that we always failed to pass, until one beautiful year numbering 2002 when improbably beating Mali in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier heralded a debut dance with the kings of African football the following year.

The two showings in Tunisia (2003) and Egypt (2005) were all but confirmatory of Zimbabwe being the near yet so far, as they flattered only to deceive.

Years of barrenness have followed.

Until this.

It does not matter that CHAN is the second tier continental tournament reserved for players that play in comparatively impoverished leagues and economies and that it has had problems getting recognition from Fifa and clubs.

Yet Zimbabweans are all excited, all the same.

It is our Nations Cup and World Cup.

And the quality of the football in the tournament has not been too bad, which has heightened people’s expectations and ratings of the tourney so far.

Zimbabweans can believe again.

Today, they look set to cruise past Libya and book a berth in the final.

 Libya sounds easy prey enough; that is, if you banish bad luck, or more especially our distinctive tendency to self-destruct, which has dampened any excitement of the soul somewhat.

Self-destruction will come in form of complacency.

Zimbabwe should not drop guard.

The people are ready for the best thing after Independence on 18 April 1980.

The Warriors have the capacity to deliver.

They should deliver the silverware.

I am tempted to shout something like “Yes we can” (generally being disinclined to pouting such slogans as come from my opponents in the other world.)

Yes, Zimbabwe can achieve great things; especially on its own.

Which brings in the second aspect of this piece, namely the bizarre show by, or events around, one Bryan Adams this same last week.

Bryan Adams is a musician from Canada.

He used to be big.

He no longer has currency, being generally played in slots dedicated to old music by white musicians.

There were issues around Bryan Adams who performed at the Harare International Conference Centre on Friday night.

First, tickets for the show were mysteriously sold out in a few hours and ended up almost exclusively people’s white hands.

Three thousand five hundred people, of whom 99.9 percent were whites according to one statistic, attended the show.

One of the few blacks that attended told me he could only see one other black soul about.

One commentator believes that if a bomb had detonated at the HICC we would have lost about all of our white species in Zimbabwe.

That would have been such a pity, wouldn’t it?

Here is one newspaper editorialized the saga: “It was the secrecy surrounding the concert that has left many ordinary Zimbabweans shell shocked as there was no pre-publicity or details on where were people could purchase tickets.

The million dollar question is how the 3 475 people, almost all of them whites, managed to know about the concert and buy tickets. Even the media was surprised at the announcement that Adams’s tickets had already sold out.”

The paper tells us the tickets were “were sold underground, most of them to the white community.”

It compares the charade with the Harare International Festival of the Arts where all races are brought together in song and dance.

The paper ponders in all this: “And you tend to wonder — which year we are in?”

That is a loaded parting shot.

It can only be answered one way.

Here is what a weekend paper reported Adams to have said: “He said the audience at his Friday night show certainly made him wonder whether he was really in Africa or Europe.”

It is clear that the show was never an African thing in an African country called Zimbabwe.

It was a Caucasian thing organized, sponsored and ultimately held by and to serve the white interests.

In fact, this brings the valid observation that whites in Zimbabwe are generally not part of Zimbabwean life, culture and processes.

They have their own places where they live, which they flee when they see a growth in the number of black faces.

They have their own shopping malls, bars and clubs, where they do what they want including homosexuality.

They flee the black man like he has leprosy.

Some of them left the country at Independence, which we all thought was the best thing to happen after nearly a century of colonialism and near to actual slavery.

Most of them had killed black people in the land of black ancestors because the white man envied our land and gold.

Those that stayed put hid themselves in their suburbs and farms and exclusive clubs.

The land reform programme in 2000 knocked some of the last vestiges of white exclusion.

Some of them decided to fight back.

They for the first time in years started to participate in national life, namely via elections, which they had never done.

They hoped to wrestle the land back from three million blacks that they, the under 4 000, had had almost an exclusive claim to.

The local whites have been helped by their kith and kin in Europe, America, Australia and Bryan Adams’ Canada.

In fact, some elements in Canada did not like Bryan coming here, as they reasoned that this would “legitimize” the current government led by President Mugabe.

What they did not expressly say is that they feared that such a supposedly big concert would show the world that Zimbabwe is not a place where whites are killed and eaten by a “monster” called Robert Mugabe.

The horror stories have been a careful plan to justify Western intervention in Zimbabwe to topple the heroic Mugabe and replace him with a puppet called Morgan Tsvangirai, failure of which scheme today has brought grief to Tsvangirai who is set to be shunted disgustingly aside like a used something.

The white clique, most of them in the genus we call Rhodies, as well as their exiled kith and kin are supposed to reap the fruits of the suffering and emasculation of the black Zimbabwean.

They wait.

They pray.

They live on the periphery, and like vultures, they wait for their moment.

One would be surprised to realize how many they are until they are privileged or foolish enough to go to the white places.

See, black Zimbabweans do not hate whites.

They love them, actually, and a couple of them have seen the humanity and humanness and hospitality and have become “vakuwasha” and “varoora” (sons and daughters in law, which Zimbabweans as indeed Africans would readily call them being as ever ready to form bonds of kinship.)

They whites mind their own businesses, one of which is to see the country return to white colonial rule.

They do not participate in any nationally representative or significant activities.

Their children go to their exclusive schools where a few blacks, whatever their source of money, send their kids.

Simon Chimbetu, the late eminent musician and nationalist had a song about it.

When we celebrate heroes they do not come, he tells us in the song Ndima.

They do not participate in national events.

They do not stay in Chitungwiza, the people’s homestead.

Nor in Budiriro or Sakubva.

At “the meeting place” where we spend our days they do not come.

He concludes: working together with them/harmony with them has been impossible…Ndima iye ichigere kupera.

The decolonization remains incomplete.

The whites of this country should be reminded that, if they do please, they can keep their Brian Adams’ and we keep our Warriors.

Morgan Tsvangirai: time to wash the nets?

The MDC will likely continue without him, this time, we hear in pursuit of a more violent streak.

It was never his own project, despite the MDC being surnamed of him.

Tsvangirai should admit to his honest self that he is past his sell-by date in the MDC scheme of things.

In trouble...Tsvangirai

Tichaona Zindoga

It is time to wash the nets for Captain Morgan Tsvangirai.

It is to be hoped that the above figure will not conjure up further images of the washing of dirty linen, which Tsvangirai is not unassociated with.

In fact, at the moment there is a lot of dirty MDC-T party linen being washed in public effecting to the ouster of Tsvangirai with Elton Mangoma boldly telling his leader that the time is up.

The temptation is to dwell on the sordid details of current MDC-T politics.

They may wait.

What is important, though, may be considering how the man could weigh his options in light of the tumult he is facing.

The one advice has been proffered above: time to wash up the nets, which means the day is done for the captain.

In soccer he could be hanging his boots.

But the advice here is not motivated by the same inspiration that Mangoma and his power hungry friends against Morgan may have.

Or for a stronger MDC-T party, whose brand of politics being Western sponsored as it has been over the years, and shall continue in the foreseeable future with or without Tsvangirai.

The MDC, with or without the “T” at the end, remains a poisoned and poisonous brand couched in the politics of treachery and deceit.

It precipitated the suffering of Zimbabweans as MDC-T handlers squeezed the economy of the country to make it scream.

It did scream.

Scream to high heavens.

The MDC-T profited from it.

It is what they had hoped.

The economic malaise, which Nelson Chamisa helpfully told us would ensure dead bodies to be stepped onto the way to State House, reaped power for the MDC-T  as they entered into Government.

The plan was “to take power from within”.

July 31, 2013, failed them.

Now the house is burning.

The West is taking the initiative and hatching new leadership.

Tsvangirai is marooned.

Nay, moribund.

The MDC will likely continue without him, this time, we hear in pursuit of a more violent streak.

It was never his own project, despite the MDC being surnamed of him.

Tsvangirai should admit to his honest self that he is past his sell-by date in the MDC scheme of things.

One can see that he senses this reality but is indecisive – as usual.

Take his “State of the nation” performance, for example.

This writer was humbly there.

Tsvangirai was not looking good.

This can be explained in two parts.

In six months post July 31, Tsvangirai has an extra wrinkle on the face, and the skin tone and hair are greyer, and this can be observed by those of us not favoured with daily intercourses (no pun intended) with him.

He was looking restless in the initial stages where he was delivering the prepared speech and tried to boost his confidence by misplaced gesticulations and grins that at one point should have been embarrassing.

Equally unfortunate was his attempt at lightening the atmosphere with a quip on the captive crowd of party activists that had been stuffed into the venue.

But he called them “unruly”.

Perhaps he lacked a better word.

On the other hand, it is this crowd that came and rescued his day.

Tsvangirai began to relax, show some rare moments of brilliance when he fielded questions and comments and solidarity messages from the crowd.

It calmed his nerves.

He had the impression that he had the people on his side, especially when he said he would not step down from MDC leadership as demanded by some quarters.

He needed that.

He needs that at a time that his Western pivot is giving.

There were Western diplomats, as usual, and a number of white faces at the venue but their demeanour did not suggest having had any inspiration.

They did not take down notes as vigorously and as religiously as they used to do.

They did not smile.

They did not congratulate themselves for their preferences.

He is no longer such a pet.

His “Proposals on the way forward” were not earth shattering.

Perhaps because they were no Egypt.

In and of themselves they were nothing new.

They could be said to be daft, too, especially when one considers that he thinks that an election is due and hopes that he will outsmart Zanu-PF in negotiations for another inclusive Government.

It is all too improbable.

Equipped with a mind that cooks this kind of things, which does not help anyone from himself, his handlers and the nation at large, he could better look at other options.

The one will be to leave this troubled ship where he does not have the favour of the majestic Western compass.

That way he will have his US$3 million, every cent of it, as we read that he has been promised.

It is one quick way to have such a cool figure, especially if you happen to be a product past its sell-by date.

It is also one way to become a Nelson Mandela, especially of the MDC party.

That too, has been put forward.

It must have been Elias Mudzuri who said that.

Tsvangirai loves Nelson Mandela.

In real life he can never be.

The mock role should pacify him.

It may come with some “Elders” or “Imminent Persons” opportunities, too.

The other option that Tsvangirai has to pursue is to break from the Western project of the MDC and form his own homegrown party.

Tsvangirai has some considerable numbers.

He enjoys grassroot support that many, even those that are eyeing his post, can never muster.

He can potentially wipe away this poisoned MDC.

Tsvangirai will win a lot of goodwill from Zimbabweans that are especially opposed to politics of puppetry and treachery.

In the case that he forms his own outfit, he may not be endowed with infinite resources but he may yet become a credible politician, if he breaks clean.

Tsvangirai was once a Zanu-PF man, an official, too.

He needs not “go back home”, as Zanu-PF would welcome him in the unlikely event he decides on it.

Opposition will be good.

Opposition is good.

Opposition is helpful when it is grounded on nationally beneficial politics.

Tsvangirai has the gravitas.

He has a couple of people, at least on the surface of it, around him that will have some numbers.

He may also use his experience to realize the Western countries are no real friends.

They are enemy.

He needs to think of working for the country.

That way he may get what has eluded him in the last 15 years.

This piece began by suggesting Tsvangirai should wash his nets.

The imagery comes from the Bible, actually.

Here is what Luke 5 verses 1-4 says: “He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them, and were washing their nets. And (Jesus) got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the multitudes from the boat. And when He had finished speaking, (Jesus) said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.' "

If Tsvangirai leaves the MDC boat today and wash his nets, he may be readying for a bigger catch.

He is entitled to it as a politician and man.

If only he can be puppet no longer.

Crumbling empires, lessons for Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe cannot continue to look or seek inspiration from western institutions and philosophies because it will find none.
The growth of the so-called Asian Tigers has been independent of the West.
China has grown phenomenally in 40 years when its very systems of economy and governance have been excoriated in the West.
Tichaona Zindoga
Following the speech by British Prime Minister David Cameron at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week, one would sense the desperation of the captain of a sinking ship.
This is not particularly surprising.
One Chinese paper’s editorial was spot on when it said “the UK is not a big power in the eyes of the Chinese … It is just an old European country apt for travel and study”.
The UK is no longer a big power to many countries, not just the Chinese, except in places where its glorious past is considered with nostalgia and fear.
Cameron’s speech was important in more ways than one, and could provide lessons to countries such as Zimbabwe.
He admitted that Britain and Europe were no longer the big powers they were.
He conceded: “For years the West has been written off. People say that we are facing some sort of inevitable decline.
“They say we can’t make anything anymore.
“Whether it’s the shift from manufacturing to services, or the transfer from manual jobs to machines, the end point is the same dystopian vision; the East wins while the West loses; and the workers lose while the machines win.”
It is because they have not had the “fundamentals of our economies”, are indebted and uncompetitive in light of globalisation.
Then Cameron makes his move.
He begs (in the noble way, of course) for investment in Britain.
“I think there is a chance for Britain to become the ‘Re-Shore Nation’,” says he, by which he means that companies need to invest in Britain rather than locate to areas where the economic fundamentals are right.
The depredations that Europe is facing train a critical eye on the need for countries like Zimbabwe to craft and pursue policies that essentially deal away with the failed models of the West.
Zimbabwe cannot continue to look or seek inspiration from western institutions and philosophies because it will find none.
The growth of the so-called Asian Tigers has been independent of the West.
China has grown phenomenally in 40 years when its very systems of economy and governance have been excoriated in the West.
Of course, the tables have turned and Western companies are now off-shoring to China.
Western governments have also begun looking East, which has been an and unfamiliar and humiliating experience for them, as it has made them recipients of a few unsettling home truths as such Cameron received, alluded to above.
Zimbabwe, in looking East, has two objectives.
First and clearly, is looking for money through loans because that is where the money is nowadays, while the politics could be friendly too.
The second imperative is attracting investments to the country from these moneyed economies.
It may be pointed out that there is nothing inherently wrong in Western corporations’ investments in Zimbabwe.
As long as the politics of the West do not precede the investments.
They often do, however.
This has been even to the detriment of the same western governments as they have lost ground in Africa, for example.
Investment in Zimbabwe, especially in value addition and manufacturing, will give impetus to the economy and create employment.
The other instructive thing from Cameron’s speech relates to how to recover investment ground, “re-shoring” in his old Britain, and how Zimbabwe can attract new investment.
He cites the overall business environment and cheap and predictable sources of energy.
Zimbabwe would do well to strengthen its macro-economic structure, which requires coherent and consistent policies.
The current uncertainty about the indigenisation policy, for example, is needless.
We have noted how inconsistent pronouncements on the matter have been.
The new Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Minister Francis Nhema has at times appeared to contradict his predecessor Saviour Kasukuwere.
Minister Kasukuwere was once involved in a rather nasty verbal war over the issue of indigenisation of the banking sector.
The issue of indigenisation is about the biggest investment concern today clarity on which should be paramount; nobility of which should not be compromised.
The Zisco-Essar deal is said to have been stalled at some point due to the interpretation of the policy of indigenisation.
Again, this is needless.
The environment would also do with enforced and enforceable regulations that deal with corruption and corporate governance, property rights.
A country, or at least a clique thereof, that requires kickbacks to facilitate mega deals with investors, is a sure turn-off.
On the other hand, Zimbabwe offers an attractive destination because it is well and richly endowed with natural and human resources.
Resources are an attraction in and of themselves, while adding value to them will create employment and a large pool of downward activity.
Zimbabwe has no oil.
However, that should not stop it from utilising other sources of energy namely hydro-power and coal and natural gas.
The challenges that Zimbabwe has faced in relation to the power sector are rather a problem of lack of capacity utilisation, which should be surmounted if the Government commits itself to it partly in seeking partnerships with agreeable foreign companies that can deliver the goods.
Infrastructure development will ensure that Zimbabwe becomes an attractive destination.
The task at hand is not necessarily to build new things.
But simply to repair the existing infrastructure that has crumbled under our watch, due to various reasons.
Repairing and upgrading roads and road networks as well as resuscitating the National Railways of Zimbabwe will make doing business easier. When Zimbabwe addresses the economic fundamentals while also doing the right things, and be seen to do the right things, it will become a good investment destination.
It can again be the bread basket of Africa.
 At any rate, it is even better than old Britain in many respects.