Our eyes see, our ears hear, our mouths speak, our brains work and my hands will type.

I got shocked with these photographs, how can people be so inhuman, so heartless and all this for the love
of power. I am not into politics, am just a peace lover and these happennings in the country I live in had me crying for hours.


A group of men came hunting for 22-year-old Memory Marume, a married mother-of-two. They burst into her home, seized her and her children, and took them to their temporary headquarters in the local village school. She told me how on arrival at the school (which she had attended as a child), she had been ordered to sit in the playground with a group of supporters of Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) - the opposition party led by Morgan Tsvangirai. On the dot of 8am, the beatings started. Groups of eight people at a time were ordered out for treatment at the hands of a band of around 200 members of Green Bomber militia, each wearing Zanu-PF T-shirts and green, red and yellow bandanas signifying the national flag. Many of them were high on drink or drugs. She watched as four of her close friends were beaten and kicked to death. A fifth friend later died, and others remain unaccounted for. The militia men chanted songs and spat insults at Morgan Tsvangirai as they did their work. They told Memory, whose farmer husband was away: "You and your husband are MDC members so we must beat you.' They said that she belonged 'to a party of animals". Four men held down her arms and legs, while a fifth gripped her head, placing his hands over her mouth to prevent her screams being heard. Two others, wielding heavy wooden poles, then took turns to thrash her on the buttocks in a beating that lasted half an hour. Memory told me how she could hear her children screaming "Mamma, Mamma, Mamma!" during her beating. They were held back by female members of Zanu-PF. Later, Memory was ordered to sit for two hours on her wounds. The political thugs told her she would be thrashed again if she moved a muscle. "We spent the day without eating or water in the hot sun," she told me. "If we asked for water, they said: 'Get your water from Tsvangirai'." Believe it or not, just by being alive, Memory is one of the lucky ones. This is but one woman's experience of the work of the devil incarnate and his cohorts, there
are many others whose experiences are even more horrific and remain untold because of fear. Reporting such cases to the police does not help, they simply turn a deaf ear and government officials have the audacity to appear on national and international media denying that such atrocities are happenning, yet they are indeed happenning. Our eyes see, our ears hear, our mouths speak and our brains work.
Memory is at Westend Hospital as we speak and her husband who was in hiding was caught by the same devils who crashed her buttocks and had his private parts turned to pulp.

For more photos of this kind that show the extensive barbaric acts being perpertrated by Zanu PF green bomber
militia to MDC supporters in the rural areas you can visit the following website, http://www.flickr.com/photos/sokwanele/

Renewal of Zimbabwe

Photo from www.fotolia.com

Imagine a Zimbabwe with a strong economy and no inflation to write home about.
Imagine a Zimbabwe without any corruption to talk of, a Zimbabwe without a black
market and where you can walk into a bank and get any amount of foreign currency
that you want. Imagine a Zimbabwe with supermarkets full to the brim not only with
all the basic necessities but with all the luxurious goods that you can think of at
affordable prices. Imagine a Zimbabwe where even the President and cabinet ministers
are taken to court and justly tried if they break the law and there is justice for all without fear or favour. Imagine a Zimbabwe where there is freedom of the press and the caliber of journalists is such that they report the truth all the time and they unearth all sorts of skeletons in the cupboards to curb corruption and unethical and unprofessional behavior. Imagine a Zimbabwe where most people have a good lifestyle. Imagine a Zimbabwe where there are no power cuts, no water shortages, no commuter fare hikes every week and an efficient health delivery system. Imagine a Zimbabwe where all civil servants and Parastatal employees are paid market salaries that correspond to the cost of living and that can sustain them and their families as well as enable them to invest in any asset of their
choice. Imagine a Zimbabwe with the latest up to date communication technologies
enabling efficient communication. This Zimbabwe is possible not only in my dreams but in reality if whoever comes into power ensures that Zimbabwe develops in all sectors, through good governance and responsive policies.

Good governance is a result of good political governance, good economic governance,
good corporate governance and good administrative governance interacting to create an
environment within which growth, development and poverty reduction can take place in
a country. Whoever comes into power should practice the following key political
governance values which are areas of concern for sustainable development in Zimbabwe.
First and foremost the rule of law as well as the rights, liberties and freedoms of the individual can only be upheld where there exists a judiciary that is independent, ethical, professional and protected from Executive branch interferences by the constitutional separation of powers. Secondly a free, independent and responsible media can make a valuable contribution to fostering transparency in the management of public affairs and public resources, to keeping in check governmental excesses, corruption and mismanagement, to empowering people and providing independent information. Thirdly it is important to keep public bureaucracy insulated from political interference, in particular economic management should be shielded from the deleterious impact of political patronage. There is also crucial need for control mechanisms to nurture accountability, competence and honesty and to prevent bureaucrats from becoming a law unto themselves. Last but not least good political governance would be incomplete if it does not have a democratic constitution and does not practise fair and open democratic processes. Some of these democratic rights being, freedom of assembly and association, freedom of political participation, democratic elections and transition from political power as well as an independent electoral commission.

Whoever comes into power should recognize the important contribution that good economic and corporate governance values and practices can make to economic growth and development, notably, through promoting market efficiency and controlling wasteful spending both of which have a positive impact on the encouragement of private financial in flows. The key desirable economic and corporate values that will result in development in Zimbabwe are firstly integrity of the monetary and financial sector through monetary and financial transparency, independence of the Reserve Bank and effective regulatory and supervisory institutions. Secondly there should be sound macro-economic and public financial management and accountability with emphasis being put on macro-economic stability, budgetary discipline, fiscal transparency, equity and efficiency in public revenue mobilisation
and public resource use. Thirdly there should be sound, effective and reliable accounting and auditing systems. This is achievable through the establishment of comprehensive, integrated and reliable accounting systems which would provide for, inter alia, the independence of the supreme audit institution and the communication of reliable and objective reports to the public authorities and the general public. All these economic and corporate governance values and practices would be of no use if there is no effective corporate governance framework to ensure transparency, accountability, effectiveness, efficiency, integrity and fairness. Therefore
it is imperative that there be a legal framework protecting property rights as well as the rights and obligations of companies, their boards, management, shareholders and stakeholders. As well as a regulatory framework for effective supervision and transparent financial disclosure.

Good governance largely depends on effective and excellently functioning institutions. By institutions I mean both formal and informal organisational structures, practices, value systems, norms, patterns of behavior and relationships which contribute directly or indirectly to the process of socio-economic and political development. It is common knowledge that weak, complex and inefficient institutions create incentives for corruption, reduce productivity and
hinder development. Therefore if all the good things we want to happen in Zimbabwe are to happen it is imperative that whoever comes into power ensures that all institutions meet the vital requirements for successful development and poverty elimination. I personally think that Zimbabwe’s development has got to be based on a market economy, therefore it is important that whoever comes into power establish and put in place institutions that are most likely to support a market-based development strategy.

Firstly it should be noted that market freedom requires regulatory vigilance so
there is need for strong regulatory institutions to take care of market imperfections and market failures as well as to lower transaction costs and to mitigate the consequences of imperfect communication. A strong, effective and efficient regulatory institutional framework is called for to regulate the conduct of business in goods, services, labour, assets and financial markets. Effective rules and procedures must be enacted and enforced to promote competition and social responsibility in such critical areas as communications, consumer’s goods and services, health, food and environmental protection. The effectiveness
of regulatory institutions, including central banks, is largely a function of their degree of independence and professionalism. However it is important to bear in mind that regulatory institutions can easily become sources of red tape and economic inefficiency and prone to corruption and collusion with the regulated businesses and so it is imperative that whoever comes into power ensures that the regulatory institutions are run ethically and professionally. Secondly a market economy needs institutions for macro-economic policy and public management since governments can seldom rely on the market to be self stabilising. Such institutions must develop the capacity to design and implement excellent fiscal and monetary policies that are market and growth friendly. The role of independent audit agencies in ensuring
transparency and accountability in the management of revenue and expenditure can hardly be overstated. Thirdly it should be noted that the establishment and enforcement of secure and stable Property rights was a key factor behind the economic growth and development of countries in the Western world. Therefore effective property rights institutions should be set up in Zimbabwe and whoever comes into power should ensure that, on the one hand, the state uses its power to enforce contracts and property rights and on the other does not behave in a predatory or confiscatory manner towards the private owners of those rights. Herein lies the philosophical underpinning of the minimalist state, that government is best that governs least. Lastly it is important for Zimbabwe to have in place
well-functioning, transparent and representative systems for acceding and transmitting political power as well as institutionalised avenues that will allow the voices of civil society and the private sector not only to be heard but to be responded to. Hence the need for institutions
for conflict resolution and management.

I didn’t choose to be Zimbabwean, just as I didn’t choose to be born but I am proud to be who I am in spite of the economic decay in the country at the moment and my aim is to try and bring to the policy makers’ attention how the country can be improved in all those areas that make me disadvantaged to be Zimbabwean. It was with this thought in mind that I spent hours researching for this article about ways to renew Zimbabwe with the hope that it would come to the attention of policy makers. Your constructive comments on this article will be greatly appreciated ladies and
gentleman even if you comment anonymously because your point on how to renew Zimbabwe
might just provide the breakthrough that Zimbabwe so badly needs.

The silence of victims synonymous to The Peace of the Graveyard in Tibet

Photo from www.fotolia.com

Today as I read the goings on between Tibet and China I said
to myself, damn could it be that Dynamos officials chose the
wrong people to be their role model. The goings on in Tibet
echo the goings on in my nightmare it's as if they are being
done by one and the same person. Could it be that Dynamos
officials in my dream are looking east not only for purposes
of trade but also in terms of football ideology. Are they
copying the eastern country's virtues as well as its vices?

This is a copy of the article that reminded me of that nightmare
I gave the title, "The silence of victims."

Tibet: The Peace of the Graveyard
By El Hassan Bin Talal, André Glucksmann, Vaclav Havel, Yohei
Sasakawa, Karel Schwarzenberg.
The recent events in Tibet and adjoining provinces are cause for
deep concern. Indeed, the dispersal of a peaceful protest march
organized by Tibetan monks, which led to a wave of unrest that
was brutally suppressed by the Chinese military and police, has
caused indignation all over the democratic world.
The reaction of the Chinese authorities to the Tibetan protests
evokes echoes of the totalitarian practices that many of us
remember from the days before communism in Central and Eastern
Europe collapsed in 1989: harsh censorship of the domestic media,
blackouts of reporting by foreign media from China, refusal of
visas to foreign journalists, and blaming the unrest on the
"Dalai Lama's conspiratorial clique" and other unspecified dark
forces supposedly manipulated from abroad.
Indeed, the language used by some Chinese government
representatives and the official Chinese media is a reminder of
the worst of times during the Stalinist and Maoist eras. But the
most dangerous development of this unfortunate situation is the
current attempt to seal off Tibet
from the rest of the world.
Even as we write, it is clear that China's rulers are trying to
]reassure the world that peace, quiet, and "harmony" have again
prevailed in Tibet. We all know this kind of peace from what has
happened in the past in Burma, Cuba, Belarus, and a few other
countries—it is called the peace of the graveyard.
Merely urging the Chinese government to exercise the "utmost
restraint" in dealing with the Tibetan people, as governments
around the world are doing, is far too weak a response. The
international community, beginning with the United Nations and
followed by the European Union, ASEAN, and other international
organizations, as well as individual countries, should use every
means possible to step up pressure on the Chinese government to:
• allow foreign media, as well as international fact-finding missions,
into Tibet and adjoining provinces in order to enable objective
investigations of what has been happening;
• release all those who only peacefully exercised their
internationally guaranteed human rights, and guarantee that no one is
subjected to torture and unfair trials;
• enter into a meaningful dialogue with the representatives of the
Tibetan people. Unless these conditions are fulfilled, the International
Olympic Committee should seriously reconsider whether holding this summer's
Olympic Games in a country that includes a peaceful graveyard remains a
good idea.
—March 24, 2008


Václav Havel is a former president of the Czech Republic, André
Glucksmann is a French philosopher, Yohei Sasakawa is a Japanese
philanthropist, El Hassan Bin Talal is President of the Arab Thought
Forum and President Emeritus of the World Conference of Religions for
Peace, and Karel Schwarzenberg is Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic.

Maybe my nightmare was telling me indirectly about the goings on in Tibet.

A testimony of love of all kinds, PART 2

It started right here on this blog but just in case you have forgotten
let me refresh your memory. Remember when I wrote the article,
“A testimony of love of all kinds,” about Dave & Chipo’s, TGJ &
Agnes’s and Tendai & Clemencia’s love stories and when Babra
who was living in dire loneliness alone in UK read about it she
started feeling so sorry for herself for being lonely,
so much that she was so disturbed that she just could not go to work
the next day because of bloodshot eyes from crying. Ike who is her
workmate and the only other black person in the company they both
work for got her address from the records clerk and came to her house
to find out how she was feeling. He immediately took over the cooking
while Babra feigned physical illness, (hers was an emotional illness)
washed the dishes after a home candlelit dinner where they got to know
each other a little better, tucked her to bed and kissed her good night right
on the lips before he left. The next day he came again and from that day
on they became very good friends and would spent most of their free time
together. Then there was the time they went together to some quiet and
lovely country inn as friends and at the end of the day as they stood in
front of Babra’s room kept on saying good night to each other endlessly
without either of them moving an inch from the door. Little did we know
that this was the beginning of something that would end up with an
engagement in early December 2007 and marriage soon after Christmas.
Oh yes, Babra and Ike are now officially married. Ike popped
the question, “Babra will you marry me,” after a welcome home bash that
they had thrown at Ike’s house in Cape Town. Of course Babra said, “Yes,”
otherwise I wouldn’t be writing about this right now.
I know you are all curious about how their friendship eventually turned to
love and how romantic the setting was when he proposed. I will tell you
all that in detail as told by Babra and Ike the love birds themselves.

Ike said he felt attracted to Babra the very first day her boss introduced her
to him on her first day at work as she was being shown around the new
workplace. He said there was something about her serious but sweet
composure that made him feel like hugging her tight and putting a smile
on her face. From then on he would make sure that he would pass by her
office for no apparent reason but to take a glimpse of her. Then there was
the two weeks that Babra had gone to Australia to attend to her aunt’s funeral
and he missed her a lot and was desperate for her to come back so that he makes
his intentions of becoming her friend known. When she came back she wore
this somber look due to the loss of her dear aunt and he thought maybe it wasn’t
a good time for him to make overtures of friendship. His chance came that day
when Babra fell emotionally ill, from that day on their friendship grew until he
realised that she was the right woman to be his wife.
Babra said Ike entered her life at a time when she was so lonely and needed a
friend and he was so good to her that it was very easy for her to become his
friend. As the friendship progressed she got attracted to his gentlemanly ways
and the fact that even though she could see in his eyes that he was sexually
attracted to her he never once tried to seduce her. All he would do was hug her
when she least expected it, kiss her right on the lips and tuck her to bed before
he leaves for his home or to sleep on her couch. This helped Babra to trust him
and believe that he was genuinely interested in getting to know her as a person
and not just to take advantage of her sexuality. That friendship and trust slowly
grew to become love but as the hunted woman, Babra dared not let her love
feelings for Ike get known by him for fear of rejection. When she & her children
were invited by Ike to join him and his children in Cape Town for the whole month
of December she was overjoyed because she didn’t want to spend Christmas without
Ike by her side.

Ike’s welcome home party held in Cape Town was well-organised, the decorations,
the food, the music and the invited guests in their beautiful evening wear, everything
was just perfect and as the host and hostess, Ike & Babra made sure everyone was
having a good time. When the party was in full swing along came some band to
surround Ike and Babra and they were singing the song, “Let me be you hero” by
Enrique Iglesias. Then Ike fell on his knees and said to Babra, “I love you Barbra
and want to be your hero, will you marry me.” Of course Babra said yes otherwise
I wouldn’t be writing about this on my blog. Ike then put a very beautiful diamond
ring on Babra’s finger and kissed her then carried her to his bedroom as the invited
guests cheered on. The party continued until the next morning at dawn without the
host and hostess of the party who stayed locked up in their bedroom.
Clemencia and Tendai swore that they could feel the earth shaking
soon after Ike had carried Babra away. Four weeks later they were married in court.

You should see the love permeated by these two love birds when they are together,
and the way they look at each other. Looking at them convinces me that love is
the best thing that ever happened to humans.

The Silence of victims

Photo from www.fotolia.com

Two weeks ago in my dreams there was a match between Highlanders Football Club and
Dynamos Football Club at Babourfields stadium. Results of the match were displayed at
the stadium after the match, Highlanders won 4-2. The Highlanders football fans who
wanted to celebrate soon after the match were told to stop celebrating until the results have been officially announced on ZBC by ZIFA and to ensure enforcement of this order some riot policemen could be seen walking around the city, threatening the fans by their mere presence. For days football fans waited for the announcement of the match results but ZIFA didn’t announce the results. The next thing the fans heard was that ZIFA was having unending meetings with Dynamos F.C. officials. Then there was talk that some ZIFA officials had been arrested. The next day the results were announced not by ZIFA but by a ZBC news reporter as a draw which needed a re-match at a later date to be announced. All football fans the world over were shocked by this announcement but contrary to the expectations of football fans from other nations, the local football fans did not protest against the call for a re-match of unannounced match results whose results had already been displayed anyway at the stadium soon after the match. They just kept silent.

The silence of victims, a silence that speaks volumes. A silence that tells a story of the love of peace above everything else, a story of a people who prefer to ignore provocation than to stand up and fight. The silence of fans who are not fanatic enough as to cause a paradigm shift in the way football is played and supported in their nation.

Some described these local football fans as too docile & too passive cowards who are
mentally or psychologically incorrect, they just didn’t understand why these fans were tolerating such treatment. In the dream, as a local football fan who will always stand up tall and be proud of who she is I stood up and told those people that, “You have to belong to this group of football fans to understand them and as one of them let me give you a clue as to why they act the way they do. Most of the local football fans live in a realm where they put their trust in the highest authority of the universe, God, and have faith that he will lead them out of any predicament that befalls on them due to earthly men’s deeds or should I say misdeeds. Most of the fans believe that nothing ever justifies violence and prefer to do things that have an advantage to their families than to do things that advantages the nation as a whole. It is hard for most of the fans to think of
protesting for football match results when the economy they live in is such that they are struggling everyday to put food with all the nutrients on the table, they would rather concentrate on feeding their families. There is however another group of fans who are livid with suppressed anger and are just waiting for someone to start the protests so that they join in and if that someone puts some fighting tools in their hands gone will be the peace that is the nation’s trademark.”

Damn, what a dream. When I woke up from this dream I had tears on my cheeks, I must
have been crying whilst giving the speech. I knelt down on my bed and gave thanks to
God for the gift of the spirit of discernment that he gave me and asked him to lead me to do the right things all the time and to give me the strength to use this gift to make a difference in the world I live in. After this short prayer i lay awake on my bed and started thinking about the dream. My thoughts concerning the dream can best be summarised with these few statements:, Peace is the next most sort after commodity after love and we should ensure that it prevails at all times and true nothing justifies violence. But none but ourselves can free ourselves from abuse, we should be the change that we want to see in the world & remember God helps those who help themselves. The statements above can all be fulfilled with passive resistance, there are so many subtle ways of protest without resorting to violence. Armed with truth and honor and with Jesus on one’s side there is nothing to fear in this world.

Let me now put it on record that I don’t choose what I dream about, dreams just happen. So if anyone feels provoked or intimidated by my dream, my sincere apologies. It being a dream I ask all forms of intelligence to take it as such, just a dream, and leave me alone with my dreams. Let no one victimise me over a dream that I had no control over.