Zimbabwe: The political marriage of convenience saga continues

Disclaimer: This is fiction and any resemblance in names and the plot of the story is purely coincidental.

In the last episode of this saga we saw how the wife, Tsvangirai, was showing characteristics of being the handiende type of wife, a type that sticks to the marriage inspite of being ill treated by the husband. This type of wife insists on staying in the marriage for the sake of the children, "Handiende, ndinogarira vana vangu." We wondered how this wife, Tsvangirai, thought he was going to provide for the needs of the children when the husband, Mugabe, was hell bent on doing things that repel well-wishers of the marriage from offering help in cash since the joint bank account of this couple is almost bankrupt. We also wondered if the children of this marriage wanted their mother to continue being abused mentally by their father or prefered to see her walk away from the marriage and never turn back. In a democratic family the children should be constantly informed and asked for their opinion, we wondered if the opinion of these children has been sought and acted upon.

I delved deeper trying to find out what is causing this marriage of convenience to have problems and found out that part of the reason is because the husband, Mugabe is refusing to fire the housekeeper, Gono, and the garden boy, Tomana, whom he employed a month before he got married to this wife. This housekeeper is unpopular with the children of this marriage as well as relatives from both sides of the marriage because he at one time set house rules that made living in this household feel like living in hell. The garden boy is known for bullying the relatives of the wife and locking them up in the storeroom for no apparent reason or for the mere reason that he would have heard them talking badly about the husband. The wife want the husband to fire this housekeeper and the garden boy, she feels that as an equal partner in the marriage she should have a say as to who is employed as the housekeeper and the garden boy as well as any other epmloyee in the household. The husband is refusing to fire the housekeeper and the garden boy and is saying so very loud and clearly even going to the extend of shouting that at a funeral of the housekeeper's brother. He has even gone further and mobilised his close relatives to rally behind him and support the housekeeper and the garden boy's stay as employees in his household. The wife is not amused by this yet he is holding on to the marriage.

Why is she allowing the husband to treat her like his doormat? Where has her pride gone to? Is this marriage of convenience really worth the humiliation she is being subjected to by her husband? Why is she afraid of divorcing this husband? You will get the answers to these questions and will hear more about why this marriage has turned sour in the next episode of this saga.

Zimbabwe: A whole nation held at ransom by three men

The progress of Zimbabwe is being hindered by three men, Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Johannes Tomana, the Attorney General and Mugabe the Zimbabwean GNU President. Gono and Tomana were appointed by Mugabe a few weeks before the birth of the GNU and he is refusing to meet the MDC's demands to have these two men fired for the sake of progress in the country

For those of you who are not in the know, Gideon Gono is the notorious banker under whose term as governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwean dollars were being printed willy nilly without regard of internationally accepted rules of economics resulting in inflation in Zimbabwe skyrocketing at the speed of light to extremely high levels. He is the same man who promoted black market foreign exchange rates by printing a lot of Zimbabwean dollars and using them to buy all the foreign currency at the black market so as to get all the hard currency that Zimbabweans
in the diaspora had sent to their loved ones. I suppose he was accumulating the foreign currency in preparation for the dollarisation of the economy that only he and his ZANU-PF cronies knew he was going to implement in the near future. Where all that foreign currency he accumulated from the black market went to is a mystrey, because Treasury is being said to be broke and Transparency International which wanted to audit the Reserve Bank books was barred from doing so under orders from the High Office. He is the same man who is said to have helped the dictator and his
cronies to transfer lump sums of foreign currency to banks outside the country, money which should have remained circulating in Zimbabwe and helped boost the economy. He is the same man who set up the RTGS banking system that saw many Zimbabweans being lured to exchange their hard currency using that system and by so doing being conned off their money because once the Zim dollar RTGS equivalence was deposited into their bank accounts Gono's bank withdrawal limits made it impossible to access the money in full and because of hyper-inflation each day the money
stayed in the bank would reduce it more and more to uselessness. He is the same man that reduced most Zimbabweans to paupers last year by setting very low bank withdrawal limits per person per day such that the money one was allowed to withdraw per day was not enough to buy a loaf of bread. Let me bring to your attention that because of those very low bank withdrawal limits many Zimbabweans died from hunger or from lack of medical treatment because the money they would get from the bank was not enough to buy food or buy medicines. He is the same man who tends to buy
loyalities using Treasury money, a man who gives priority to buying cars and plasma televisions for ministers, member's of parliament, judges and doctors than to buying chemicals to purify the recycled water used by Harare residents, the result of that was cholera ravaging the lives of Zimbabweans. He is the same man who is notorious for frustrating most prominent Zimbabwean business men, (eg Mutumwa Mawere who owned Shabani & Mashaba mine) such that they ended up fleeing the country and leaving their assets which would then be seized. He is the same man who
authorised businesses to sell their goods in American dollars and Rands without at the same time instructing employers to pay their employees in US dollars and Rands such that most employees who were being paid in useless Zim dollars spent three months struggling to survive.

These are but only a few of his misdeeds, I am sure they are many more that are skeletons in his cupboard. Considering Gono's record, no man in his right mind would want to keep him as Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and no donor or international financial body in their right mind would want to risk giving money to any bank he is in charge of or any government he is a part of and they have said so in no uncertain terms. MDC-T and MDC-M want him either to resign or be fired by Mugabe who appointed him and rightfully so given his track record but Mugabe insists on keeping him as the Governor of the Reserve bank of Zimbabwe for reasons best known to himself but which can only be clandestine, otherwise it wouldn't make sense.

Tomana is said to be a ZANU-PF political appointee and that brings the independence of the justice system in question because the office of the Attorney General is an office that is supposed to be neutral and anti-partisan. For the sake of a free and fair justice system MDC-T and MDC-M want the Attorney General to either resign or be fired by Mugabe who appointed him.

A whole nation held at ransom by three men who had they been ethically and professionally minded and had any sense of pride or shame would simply have resigned and let the country move on the minute they knew that the majority of the Zimbabwean population no longer wanted them to continue holding on to the positions of authority that they have. Gideon Gono & Johannes Tomana are opting to cling to their political appointments just as the man who appointed them is clinging on to power at such an antiquated age. I shudder to think about the selfishness of these three men, who are putting their own interests above those of the rest of the Zimbabwean population.

Zimbabwe: Tsvangirai and Mugabe's political marriage of convenience is now a marriage of inconvenience

A marriage of convenience is a marriage between two people for practical or financial reasons and not for love or intimacy and that is synonymous to the Zimbabwean GNU which was formed not because MDC and ZANU-PF wanted to work together to rebuild Zimbabwe but for practical and financial reasons. MDC did it for the practical reason that they thought doing so would alleviate the suffering of Zimbabweans which had reached unprecedented levels. ZANU-PF did it for the financial reason that they thought doing so would result in Western nations lifting sanctions against Zimbabwe so that the country's battered economy could be revived. One hundred days after this marriage Zimbabweans are still suffering with water supply cuts and electricity blackouts. One hundred days after this marriage international donor funding is not trickling into the country at a rate that would cause a significant change in the country's development. So like all marriages of convenience which are not based on the true love sanctity of marriage the Zimbabwean GNU marriage is on the rocks now, it looks like the GNU is on the verge of collapse. But then again this marriage of convenience might just keep standing with all its problems because the wife is the handiende type, a type of wife that clings to the husband even when the husband's actions speaks out loudly that he no longer loves her. MDC is determined to stay in the GNU even though their demands are not being met by the President. The handiende type of wife that is the MDC are giving the reason for staying in the unhealthy marriage as, "Ndinogarira vana vangu," "I will remain in the marriage for the sake of my children." MDC says it is staying in the GNU marriage for the sake of its supporters whom they think they can still help by developing the nation for them if they stay in government. How they expect to do that when they don't have the funds to do so beats me? I guess they are hoping that soon some donors are going to bail them out.

Let me now keep quiet and stop meddling in other people's marriage and build castles in the air about the marriage bound by true love that I long to have. It will happen one day.

The secret of life revealed to Zimbabweans

I love Zimbabweans and my heart bleeds as I see politicians playing power house (kutamba mahumbwe ekutonga) with the lives of Zimbabweans. Not honouring what was agreed upon in the GPA agreement that gave birth to the Zimbabwean GNU is what I call playing power house, kutamba mahumbwe nenyika yedu . For the past ten years I have seen Zimbabweans going through hell with a battered economy and cholera ravaging their lives. I have seen how their determination, resilience, unwavering hope and trust in God has pulled them through it all and made them survive it all. As one of them when Zimbabweans cry, I cry and when they are happy, I am happy too. I know that right now even though most Zimbabweans'lives have greatly improved because of dollarisation their living conditions are still pathetic with electricity blackouts and brownouts, water supply cuts and shortages & unreliable hospitals still a part of their lives under a backdrop of a pathetic infrastructure that badly needs to be rebuilt. I know how Zimbabweans long for a high standard of living like that experienced in developed nations, a life of good health and good food, a life of abundance and excellence in every aspect of their lives. I am sure you all agree with me that Zimbabweans need a breakthrough, they have suffered enough. I want Zimbabweans to experience prosperity, good health, peace, love & happiness in abundance and in this article I am going to help Zimbabweans get all that by revealing to them the secret of life.

The secret of life is a common truth that lies at the core of the most powerful philosophies, teachings, traditions and religions in the world. The secret of life is a natural law governing all lives, it is the most powerful law in the universe and by applying the knowledge of this law, you can change every aspect of your life. All prominent great men and women throughout history including Jesus knew the secret of life and used it to eradicate diseases, acquire massive wealth, overcome obstacles and achieve what many would regard as impossible. Fellow Zimbabweans, be informed that every Zimbabwean has the ability to transform any weakness or suffering in their life into strength, power, perfect peace, health, and abundance by applying the knowledge of the secret of life to their life.

Let me now reveal to you my fellow Zimbabweans this secret of life so that you begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that is within you and you can use it to provide yourself with the breakthrough that you want. The secret of life is the Law of Attraction which says people's thoughts (both conscious and unconscious) dictate the reality of their lives, whether or not they're aware of it. Essentially "if you really want something and truly believe it's possible, you'll get it", but putting a lot of attention and thought on to something you don't want means you'll probably get that too. What makes this law possible is the fact that thoughts have an energy which attracts whatever it is the person is thinking of. In order to control this energy to one's advantage, people must practice four things which are:
1. Know exactly what you want.
2. Ask God (who is the universe) for it or as some would put it, ask the universe for it.
3. Have faith and feel, behave and act as if the object of your desire is on its way.
4. Be open to receive it and let go of (the attachment to) the outcome.
Thinking of what one does not have, they say, manifests itself in not having, while if one abides by these principles, and avoids negative thoughts, the universe will manifest a person's desires. The Law of Attraction works regardless of whether you are working at it or not. The problem is that we can unknowingly be attracting things that we don't want. In order to attract the things that we do want we should focus on the positives and be happy, loving people who while wanting more are grateful of those things that they do have.

The big problem with Zimbabweans is that they focus too much on the negatives in the country and as a result the Law of Attraction works against them and the nation remains in a sorry state. My fellow Zimbabweans let us all use the Law of Attraction to our advantage by focusing our thoughts on the developed Zimbabwe that we all long for and the high standard of living and life of abundance that we want every family in Zimbabwe to experience instead of always thinking of what we lack. If we all do that together as a nation the Law of Attraction will definately cause the manifestation of a Zimbabwe full of splendour.

Good poker players make excellent political leaders

I was away on a solo holiday for the past three weeks and after indulging in all the holiday pleasures during the day, I would spend most of my nights indoors playing poker with friends. Mingling in night crowds over smoke and loud music filled places of entertainment has never been my idea of fun, I prefer quiet nights wining and dining with soft music in the background or spending the night reading a good book, watching a nice romantic comedy movie or playing poker with friends. Poker is a very interesting game that requires the player to strategise all the moves like a perfect leader in order to win and it greatly resembles real life scenarios in the political and business world. It was during one poker game that it occured to me that a good poker player can be an excellent political leader and I got inspired to write this article. My acknowledgement goes to Mark Bernberg of The Poker Room who gave me permission to quote him in this article.

A good political leader is one who focuses on everything that affects the living conditions of the people he wants to serve and bases his decisions on the situation on the ground and then implements his decisions in an effective way. Analogous to that is that the beauty of poker is that it trains you to focus on everything, the players, their tells, the odds and probabilities and the money on the table. You take into account all these factors and make them the foundation for the decision making process and once you have made a decision you have to execute. This is the hidden gem of poker that would make a good poker player a great political leader who is able to get in touch with the situation on the ground and then make decisions, execute his decisions and then move forward no matter what the outcome.

A good political leader governs least to allow for free markets, free press and many other freedoms that give citizens the space to grow and reach their full potential, but the few times he does govern he is proactive and shows excellent leadership. Poker players will often talk about taking control of a hand, of a table. The pros believe that the best way to play is tight-aggressive. In other words, play very few hands, but when you do, play them hard, be aggressive and take control of the hand. A good poker player who plays tight aggressive would make a great political leader who governs only when there is need to and when he does govern the result will be a win for the whole nation.

The political turf is at often times very bumpy and a good political leader is judged by how effectively he deals with the tough times so that the difficult times have minimum effect on the people he will be leading. A poker player's worst nightmare, but a matter of pure and simple reality is that at some point in time things are not going to go your way. Professional poker players call such a period, a period of cold cards. Given that the cards being dealt are completely random, the only element separating the good poker players from the bad ones is the effective skills they use to manouvre their way out of the cold periods. A good poker player would make a good political leader who is able to overcome all the difficulties that the nation encounters.

A great political leader radiates an aura of complete control no matter what the circumstances. A great political leader remains calm, focused, consistent and stable in their outlook and decision-making processes. A great political leader creates the right perception that will cause the nation to succeed in all their endeavours. The best poker players in the world will never let on that they might be in trouble, might not have the goods, or worse are scared and nervous of your play or your cards. Their poker face will never give you an indication of their strength or weakness. Their poker face creates your perception. In poker terms this perception is called the table image. The best poker players in the world have a table image that is strong, intimidating and fearsome. They are leaders in their field and their table image lets you know it. Their table image affects other poker players' decisions. A good poker player would make a good political leader who creates the perception that everything is under control and therefore makes the citizens feel calm and secure in the trust that their leader will guide the nation through the stormy waters until its safe. With that perception the citizens will rally behind their political leader, all hands on deck and help steer the ship to safety.

There are times when a political leader's endurance is tested to the limits, particularly during periods when there is uncertainty in the financial markets, times when economic factors threaten to destabilise the nation, times of inflation, depression or recession when the economic environment is not conducive for economic growth, times when the nation's treasury is bankrupt and no donors are wiiling to bail the nation out and times when the nation is plagued by infectious diseases or disasters like earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, terrorist attacks, famine, veld fires or floods. It is during such times that true leaders need to shine in the fields of calmness, logic, reason and the swiftness to act to solve the problems. Every poker player will at some point encounter bad luck. This will test the nerve, emotional strength and mental capacity of the player. It is human nature to want to win and when you see victory being snatched away bit by bit by the jaws of defeat some poker players will go on tilt. Going on tilt means to play irrationally, emotionally and in a manner that will leave you scraping your ego and empty wallet of the table, lost in the realm of cards, chips and croupiers. The best poker players in the world have the ability to avoid going on tilt, to avoid playing with their heart and to play only with their head. After all its poker and there is nothing personal about it, the same applies to politics, after all its only politics and there is nothing personal about it. A good poker player would make a good political leader who shows strength and calmness even when things are not going his way and by so doing others around him will feed off these attributes and become strong, motivated and productive themselves.

If you analyse, Tsvangirai, Mutambara, Munangagwa, Dabengwa and Makoni's leadership qualities, whom do you think would be the best poker player?