John Nyamande laid to rest

The late Makoni Central MP John Nyamande has been laid to rest in his rural Rusape home area.

The funeral was attended by the entire MDC leadership and thousands of shocked mourners following the sudden death of the legislator in a horrific car crash at the 25 kilometer peg along the Harare Mutare road at approximately 2am on Saturday 7 November 2009.

Prime Minister Right Honourable Morgan Tsvangirai used the occasion of the funeral of the MP they adoringly referred to as the Giant slayer after he defeated Patrick Chinamasa in the March Parliamentary elections to appeal to the nation for peaceful co-existence between people of divergent and sometimes opposing political views.

Patrick Chinamasa who was defeated by the late Nyamande attended the funeral to pay his last respects for the departed MP who was his cousin.

President Mugabe and Deputy Premier Mutambara were conspicuous by their absence from the funeral of a colleague in parliament.

Only last week the state owned Herald newspaper and usual Zanu PF propagandists were making nauseating noises about the Premier having failed to attend the funeral of Zanu PF Senator Chando whom the party declared its national hero but they are muted about the non attendance of the President to a sitting MP’s funeral.

When next they declare another party hero a national hero they should not be surprised if MDC MPS and the Premier do not turn up because that is the relationship they are promoting by not even sending condolences or attending funerals of non Zanu PF MP’s and senior officials.

Hon Nyamande was as much an MDC hero and freedom fighter as Senator Chando was a Zanu PF hero and freedom fighter and the mere fact that Zanu PF has built a shrine where it buries its eminent heroes that the MDC has not managed to build does not change that.


And here is the rest of it.

Welshman Ncube and the semantics of outstanding GPA issues

Hatirebwi Nathaniel Masikati

Jomic Co-Chairman Professor Welshman Ncube obsessed with the trivia and delussional over the GPA outstanding issues.


Jomic co-chairman from the MDC-M Professor Welshman Ncube would like us to believe that there are no longer any outstanding issues concerned with the GPA.
“Everything in the GPA has been talked about at different levels and at different platforms. It therefore does not make sense for people to say there are outstanding issues in the agreement.

People need to understand the terminology. The fact that there are disagreements or that the other part maybe slow in the implementation does not make an issue outstanding.

What remains of the GPA is the full implementation and Jomic is there to deal with all the problematic areas of the agreement which is exactly what we are doing,” he reportedly told one pro Zanu PF website recently.

Prof Ncube may not now it but he has a very bad reputation as an arrogant and holier than thou political tribalist with very limited constituent support let alone national support.

That is why he was resoundingly defeated by MDC-T vice President now Deputy Premier Thokozani Khupe in the March 2008 elections.

He is reported to have specifically demanded to contest Khupe specifically to show MDC-T President and current Premier Morgan Tsvangirai that he had remained with the chuff of the Matabeleland following the 12 October 2005 split of the Party that he masterminded.

He was humiliated and has never forgiven MDC-T for that.

That is why he is going at a tangent by alleging there are no GPA outstanding issues but rather disagreements emanating from the GPA that remain to be sorted out.

The GPA was signed and sealed on 15 September 2008 and thus became the benchmark upon which the formation of the inclusive government and its achievements or failures will be measured and evaluated.

When reference is made to outstanding GPA issues it is in respect of the clauses in the agreement that have still to be implemented.

Professor Ncube must surely understand that there is no difference between what he calls “disagreements or that the other part maybe slow in the implementation” and what the entire nation regards as outstanding issues from the GPA.

It is sad when a person occupying such a senior position in Jomic as does Prof Ncube resorts to lecturing the nation on trivia of semantics instead of dealing with the real issues that Jomic was established to monitor.

The GPA is a signed political agreement between Zanu PF, MDC-T and MDC political Parties wherein they agreed to form a coalition government in place of the one that could not be formed following the March 2008 elections due to interventions that have been dealt with sufficiently enough to make them common cause and thus not form the basis of this piece.

In agreeing to form the coalition government the GPA subscribers made certain specific undertakings to the nation on what the coalition government was to do in order to restore the supremacy of the electorate in determining who should or should not be in government.

It is no exaggeration to say that the GPA was breached on the very date it was signed when President Mugabe deliberately failed and or refused swear in the Premier and his deputies there and then to formalise the start of the formation of the coalition government.

Because of that refusal or failure, action to form the coalition government was stalled until 11 February 2009 and this only because SADC had decreed a timeline for the subscribers to follow if they expected its support.

Outstanding issue the unilateral appointment of Dr Gono
Even then the formation process was not completed and remains incomplete to date with the Deputy Minister of Agriculture nominee still to be sworn into office and the Provincial governors and positions of Reserve Bank Governor and Attorney General still to be filled by the coalition government as agreed in the GPA and at the subsequent SADC summit on 26-27 January 2009.

Professor Welshman Ncube says there are disputes over these issues in the formation of the coalition government that Jomic is dealing with but that does not make them outstanding GPA issues which does not make sense.

For the ordinary Zimbabwean whose vote counted for nothing in the formation of the current government the question is was there agreement between MDC-T, MDC and Zanu PF to form a coalition government in which each party would nominate a certain number of Ministers and Deputies for appointment as such by the President and if so was that done to the letter of the agreement or as alternatively renegotiated and agreed upon by the GPA subscribers?

Obviously if the answer is yes then the issue has been resolved but if the answer is to the contrary then the issue remains outstanding. It is that simple really but Prof Ncube wants us to believe that if any of the issues has not been implemented because of a later day dispute among the GPA subscribers then that issue is not outstanding but as he puts it issues of “disagreements or that the other part maybe slow in the implementation,” whatever that means.

Going by Professor Ncube’s warped reasoning an issue becomes outstanding in the GPA if it has not been included in the agreement but not if it has been included but never implemented which is outrageous.

The GPA was not signed to be archived but to guide the implementation process of the coalition government formation and its resolution of issues that failed the formation of a government following the March 2008 elections.

In that respect therefore there are several issues that remain for the subscribers to the GPA to attend to and ensure they have been implemented as agreed by the parties.

In the GPA it was agreed that parties would form a coalition government that would work towards achieving economic stabilization and turnaround, national healing and reconciliation, the democratization of the country’s political processes and facilitation of humanitarian aid and access thereof.

To achieve these broad objectives the coalition government agreed to take certain specific actions which actions have been in some instances varied and or neglected altogether making them outstanding from the GPA.

We have in mind the swearing in of Ministers and their deputies that was agreed to be completed by 13 February 2009 but is yet to be completed.

The review of appointments of Provincial Governors, the Reserve Bank Governor, the Attorney General and other Senior Government officers such as Ambassadors by the coalition government which is yet to be realised.

Chief Persecutor Johaness Tomana Zanu PF AG
The cessation of politically motivated hostilities, land invasions, selective application of laws, retraining of law enforcement agencies and restoration of political freedoms including the freeing of airwaves, appointment of the Parliamentary Standing Rules and orders Committee, the Electoral, the Anticorruption, the Media Commission and the Human Rights commissions.

Surely Professor Ncube would be in the know of what has happened to these agreements and why some have yet to be realised.

In addition to that we ask Prof Ncube what has happened to the National healing and reconciliation process and who has been healed or reconciled by it?

Why is the State media still preaching hate against the MDC-T and why are only MDC-T activists and MP’s being arrested, prosecuted and acquitted of the charges if the charges are substantive?

Why is the Constitution making process behind the agreed schedule and what is Jomic doing to ensure this extremely important issue does not lapse into the category of outstanding issues?
Brigadier Mujaji leading later day farm invasions and evictions despite the signing of the GPA

Why are farmers being evicted from their farms and sentenced to prison terms for refusing to vacate their premises?

Why is the MDC-T being asked to cause the lifting of targeted sanctions when it was a tripartite agreement to work towards the upliftment of those measures and to what extent has the other parties complied with the reasons that caused the imposition of the sanctions other than mere grandstanding and verbal condemnation of the measures?

We must also ask Professor Ncube why the so called pirate radio stations are the responsibility of the MDC-T alone to shut down when Zanu PF and MDC-M are using the same stations in equal measure by granting them interviews to spread their messages while the MDC-T is not allowed space in National broadcasting media to air its views at the same level as Zanu PF is if at all.

We do not expect Prof Ncube to compel respect for the Premier but he must be honest when it comes to the disrespect he has been accorded by the Zanu PF MPs, the Military Commanders and the President. What is Jomic’s position with regard to the behaviour of the military chiefs in refusing to salute and even meet with the Premier in the National Security Council?

And more what has the Jomic co-chairman to say about the statements from Didymus Mutasa, Bright Matonga, and Ephraim Masawi and Webster Shamu alleging that the Premier and his party a harlots in the Zanu PF government that is mistakenly referred to as the government of national unity?

As co-chairman of the body tasked to monitor compliance with the spirit and letter of the GPA during implementation what is Prof Ncube’s take on these inconsistencies. Are they disputed issues or outstanding compliance issues?

There must be some rational explanation for all these inconsistencies with what was agreed that Prof Ncube as the Jomic co-chair must give to the nation other than that they are simply in dispute among the subscribers.

Why should they be in dispute at implementation when they were not in dispute at the negotiation table and were agreed upon and signed for by all subscribers?

Now we hear that the MDC-T is being accused of setting up parallel government structures in the Premier’s office with workers therein being paid more than any other Civil Servant yet their salaries must be coming from the Salary Service Bureau that pays all Civil Servants.

Who is authorizing the higher pay rates for these Civil Servants in the Premier’s Office and by what authority is he doing that?

Professor Ncube must know that Jomic is there to deal with deviations from the GPA and the fact that there is disagreement with what the parties agreed is an indicator of what is outstanding or not.

John Nyamande the MDC-T MP for Makoni Central is no more.

The late John Nyamande MP (Makoni Central)


He died this morning in a car crash with a stationery Mazda T 35 vehicle opposite Thornicroft Primary School just after Ruwa towards Mutare.
MDC officials are at the scene of the crash to salvage the former legislator’s vehicle and possessions.

The T35 has already been removed and the driver of the truck who survived the crash has been taken to Parirenyatwa hospital for treatment.
The accident occurred at approximately 2.00 am as the legislator was driving back to his constituency.

The late Nyamande defeated Zanu PF’s Patrick Chinamasa in the March 2008 elections to secure the Makoni Central Party seat for the MDC-T.

He will remembered in the UK for the sterling work he did as Interim Provincial chairman following the dissolution of the Tapa led UK&I provincial executive that had become errand and insubordinate to the National Executive Council and the Party’s National leadership.

Our condolences and deep sympathy go to the widow and children of the late MP who are still in the UK.

SADC Troika corners Mugabe over Roy Bennett, Johannes Tomana and Gideon Gono

Get back to serious business and resolve the outstanding issues to unshackle sanctions

The Sadc Troika summit meeting in Maputo on 5 November 2009 has left President Mugabe in a sticky spot over breaches of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

It is evident that the evasive tactics Zanu PF and President Mugabe have employed to evade accountability on unfulfilled GPA issues came to nothing at the Maputo meeting despite the elaborate planning that the party had done to dupe the Troika.

It is no exaggeration that President Mugabe was literally frog marched to the SADC meeting he had tried to avert by the decision of the MDC-T to partially disengage from the coalition government in protest to delays in implementing certain clauses of the GPA that aid weight to its effectiveness in the government.

President Mugabe and Zanu PF were effectively employing the, agree and do nothing else tactic, to avoid a walkout from the coalition by the MDC-T while denying the party any space to play a meaningful role in shaping government policies.

Going into the Troika meeting President Mugabe and Zanu PF had prepared to mislead the Sadc Troika into believing that the coalition government was well on course in implementing the GPA provisions and there was no need for the regional bloc to worry.
To back that up he had evidence of a government he had formed as directed by the Sadc summit of 26-27 January 2009.

In addition to that he had evidence that Constitutional Amendment No 19 was passed unanimously as directed by Sadc and government Ministries were shared as endorsed by Sadc and operational.

More, he had evidence that the coalition government principals had agreed in principle on the allocation of Provincial Governors, constituted the Parliamentary Standing Rules and Orders Committee which in turn had constituted the Constitution Making Sub-Committee and had already interviewed and recommended candidates for Appointment to the Electoral Commission, the Human rights Commission and the Media Commission and was just left with interviews for the Anticorruption Commission.

Despite all this President Mugabe and Zanu PF were disappointed that the travel sanctions imposed on Zanu PF members of the coalition government remained in place as if nothing had happened and pirate radio stations based in America and Britain were still broadcasting into the country illegally and the MDC-T in particular was hesitant or unwilling to forcefully speak out against these sanctions and illegal acts despite agreeing to campaign against these violations.

The Troika accepted all these impressive signs of progress in the coalition government and recorded its pleasure with the positives and displeasure with the continued sanctions on Zimbabwe.

In the past that would buy Mugabe and his Zanu PF the time he needed to delay ceding power he had agreed to cede to coalition partners and allow him and his party to act as they pleased as if they never signed agreements with the coalition government partners to share power.

Not this time though. Sadc wanted to know to what extent its January resolutions had been fully implemented by the Zimbabwe government.

It turned out that despite claims to the contrary President Mugabe had refused to comply with the requirement to swear an MDC-T nominee for Deputy Minister and thus failed to fully implement resolution 7 (iii) of the Sadc summit of 26-27 January 2009 and they wanted that complied with to the letter.

President Mugabe’s explanation for non compliance that the nominee he did not swear in was facing serious criminal allegations was rubbished by the Troika which insisted that it was not in the spirit and letter of the GPA and in any event the accused was yet to be tried and convicted or exonerated of the alleged criminal offences and should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

It was in that sense that the Troika ordered the coalition government principals to go back home and comply with its resolution No 7 (iii) on 26-27 January 2009 which states that;

“The Ministers and Deputy Ministers shall be sworn in by 13 February 2009, which will conclude the formation of the Inclusive Government.”

It was made clear that as long as one or more nominees remain excluded from the swearing into the coalition government then formation of the Inclusive Government was still an outstanding issue that the principals must address as directed by Sadc and this time within 15 days and no later than after 30 days.

Mugabe’s eyes nearly popped out with rage at this directive because he had no intention of swearing in Roy Bennett as Deputy Minister of Agriculture for which he was nominated by the MDC-T. Now he has 30 days to comply or face the wrath of Sadc and he is not amused with that.

Next SADC wanted to know what has become of its resolution No 7 (VI) in the same January meeting that reads;

“The appointment of the Reserve Bank Governor and the Attorney General will be dealt with by the Inclusive government after its formation.”

President Mugabe explained that the positions had been filled prior to the formation of the Inclusive Government and the contracts of the incumbents could not be terminated without the government incurring substantial damages and in any event the incumbents were the best qualified for the jobs and therefore there was no need for the Inclusive government to revisit the appointments of the incumbents.

The Troika reminded President Mugabe that the Inclusive government he now leads has every right to appoint the persons it feels are best qualified and competent to run these key positions but is not obliged to work with appointees of a previous regime unless there is consensus about their suitability to work in the new order.

No prize for guessing President Mugabe’s response to that but at the end of the day he was given no more that 30 days in which to comply with Sadc resolution No 7(vi) in letter and spirit and he was not amused.

The Troika tightened screws on President Mugabe by demanding to know why the agreements reached by the Principals were not being transformed into action in respect of appointments of Provincial Governors, Ambassadors, Commissioners yet Permanent Secretaries who outnumber these appointments were confirmed with minimum farce?

His frivolous and vexatious excuses that he was busy and still scrutinizing the recommendations were dismissed by the Troika and he once again was directed to ensure these and any other outstanding issues stemming from the GPA that were out of implementation times set were swiftly brought up to date and certainly no later than 30 days after the Troika meeting.

In light of these developments the MDC-T was ordered to rescind its decision to partially boycott the Inclusive government and duly complied on condition Zanu PF lived by the Sadc orders on outstanding implementation issues within the prescribed period.

The troika obliged by appointing South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma to closely monitor the progress in the Inclusive Government and make recommendations to it to expedite the implementation processes.

That is the fix Zanu PF and Mugabe is now in which it must shrug off somehow if it is to remain in breach as it intended to perpetually be.

It is not going to be as easy as it was before the Troika meeting and now the MDC-T has set the agenda for implementation of the GPA clauses in ways President Mugabe and his party had always sought to dominate the Inclusive government processes.

Demystifying the SADC mediation process in Zimbabwe

They can't agree on critical issues these coalition government principals in zimbabwe now they have to appear before a reinforced SADC Troika for panelbeating


There is apparent confusion and or genuine misunderstanding in Zimbabwe in respect of the role the regional bloc should execute its influence in Zimbabwe.

Basically Sadc is a political and economic cooperation union of Southern African countries that aims at promoting Social, political and economic cooperation in the region.

To do so Sadc uses persuasion and conciliation as opposed to physical cohesion to ensure its members live within acceptable norms.

The Sadc Supreme Council which equates to the Non Executive Board of Directors in a company comprises of Heads of State of member States and like in companies its sole responsibility is to give directions on any areas of interest between member states.

The day to day execution of the policies and procedures of the SADC are the responsibility of the Secretariat headed by Dr Tomaz Augusto Salomão which is the current Secretary General a position with similar powers to those carried by the position of Chief Executive in a company.

The Chairmanship of the SADC supreme council rotates among the various Heads of State every six months.

The Chairman has no extraordinary executive powers to compel any member state to behave as he deems fit from his interpretation of Sadc protocols but he holds immense powers of persuasion in that he uses the grouping to threaten punitive measures against errand member states.

That is why Sadc guaranteed the Zimbabwe GPA. It relies on power of the consensus in the grouping to bear on any errand member state and modify behaviours.

Sadc like any other company is divided into strategic business units the most commonly known of which is the organ on politics, Defence and Politics which is commonly referred to as the Sadc Troika.

The dispute in Zimbabwe has been escalated to the SADC executive for mediation. It is a reference of the dispute to Dr Tomaz Augusto Salomão’s team and he has decided that the best way to deal with the grievances before him is to table them before the Troika.

Zambia Mozambique and Swaziland are the current members of the Troika and have been invited to deal with the Zimbabwe disputes in Maputo starting Friday 6 November 2009.

Since Sadc has no military unit to force its members to comply with agreements when disputes arise in member States in areas where Sadc is directly involved as is the case with the Zimbabwe GPA, the grouping taps into its strategic business units to cobble out an acceptable resolution for the challenges brought before it.

Zimbabweans expect SADC to decree certain courses of action to resolve the Zimbabwe impasse but if that was to happen, it would need a force to enforce compliance which SADC does not have at present.

At best what can be expected from the planned Sadc Troika meeting in Maputo is persuasion of President Mugabe to implement forthwith the agreements so far reached by the coalition government principals and that includes the swearing in of Roy Bennett, The appointment of Provincial Governors in the ratio MDC-T 5 Zanu PF 4 and MDC-MM 1, The appointment of recommended Human Rights, Media and Electoral commissioners, the reversal of Dr Gono and Johannes Tomana’s appointments and or the renegotiation of their appointment to find a consensus.

The MDC-T in particular will most likely be compelled to take a leading role in campaigning for the lifting of travel bans imposed on Zanu PF members of the coalition government.

The MDC-T has no problem with doing that if Zanu PF shows total commitment to the GPA by reining in its errant hardliners and it ceases all forms of hostilities they are currently directing towards MDC members and sympathizers alike.

Because of the seriousness of the threat to the continuation of the Zimbabwe coalition government the SADC secretary general has considered it expedient at this juncture to bolster the Troika with the inclusion of the current Sadc Chairman DRC President Joseph Kabila and immediate past chairman South Africa President Jacob Zuma.

Dr Tomaz Augusto Salomão appears to have received intelligence that this meeting will be no stroll in the park for the Troika and wants to ensure success at the first attempt by bringing in top guns Zuma and Kabila whom both President Mugabe and Premier Tsvangirai know they must respect if they are to get their way in Sadc should the issues remain unresolved and are to be escalated to the SADC supreme body.

What this means is that the long awaited mediation of the Zimbabwe GPA problems by Sadc as guarantour of first instance, has started in earnest following the threat posed by the MDC-T disengagement that has been in force over the past 3 weeks.

This preliminary stage will be crucial in managing tension and conflict within the tottering Zimbabwe government and who knows with the inclusion of the top guns invited to the Troika may surprise the nation by finding an amicable resolution of the thorny issues that have dragged for 9 months after the consummation of the government.

The acquittal of the Chinotimba mobile thief Thamsanga Mahlangu

Deputy Minister of youth Development Hon Thamsanga Mahlangu. He is no Cellphone thief after all the court has ruled.

From the arrest and labeling of Premier Tsvangirai to Mahlangu it is all political-judicial persecution of political foes sanctioned by the octogenarian Sadc imposed on our country as President after he was vanquished in the March 2008 Presidential elections he staged and managed singlehandedly.

Premier Morgan Tsvangirai defeated Robert Mugabe in the March 2008 Presidential election and Mugabe has in his cynical ways admitted to that effect now that his tail is up after SADC aided him in restoring his legitimacy as President.

When negotiations for power sharing were stalling over Zanu PF hard-liners’ accusations that he had away too much power to the Premier the Sadc imposed President of Zimbabwe rebuked his critics by reminding them that Zanu PF lost elections to the MDC-T and was in a negotiating position only because of his initiative to reclaim the Presidency he had lost militantly.

Not a single one of the internal Zanu PF critics of the iron fisted party leader ever summoned the courage to respond to that admission because they knew that he their criticism had irked their “Supreme Leader” as they now regard him in Zanu PF.

They kept silent because they knew that Mugabe had told them that he did not need the election losers in his party ranks telling him what to do and what not to do as he had better reliable and more effective advisors from the military establishment that had guaranteed his retention of his Presidential Office even after admitting losing elections for the post to Morgan Tsvangirai by a massive 5% points in March 2008.

Instead the humiliated critics vented their bottled anger and desperation against the MDC-T in a desperate attempt to redeem themselves before their Supreme leader.

The Junta axis involving Didymus Mutasa, Patrick Chinamasa, Emmerson Mnangagwa, Nicholas Goche, Saviour Kasukuwere, George Charamba, Gideon Gono and the Military Commanders that Mugabe relies on for power retention strategies devised the judicial persecution strategy aimed at manufacturing crimes of insurgency, banditry and anything that would put the MDC-T and its Civil Society allies leadership into disrepute to strengthen Mugabe’s hand in the coalition government.

The most priced victims of that dirty political initiative were identified as the MDC-T Party President, elected MDC-T Legislators, Top MDC-T Activists, Advisors and Administrators.

Treason charges against MDC-T Secretary General Hon Tendai Biti now the coalition government’s Finance Minister were dropped while impending violent conduct trial of Advocate Eric Matinenga now Legal and Constitutional Affairs Minister was downgraded to a sideshow in order to facilitate the formation of the coalition government that was being stalled by these arrests and abductions of other MDC-T and sympathetic Civil Society activists.

The strategy was to create false confidence within the MDC that Zanu PF had succumbed and was willing to relinquish its hegemony on power over three decades when in effect the strategy was to allow MDC-T to recall its key functionaries strategically located outside the country who were keeping the international community appraised about developments in the country and ensuring the country remained a top agenda for discussion at every material international gathering.

Once inside the country the top externally based activists and MDC-T party functionaries would be easier to manage through the judicial persecution initiative it was reasoned.

That is why Roy Bennett is still facing the banditry and insurgency charges to ensure he does not have a chance in the world to leave the country and initiate programmes that will expose Zanu PF excesses in the coalition government.

Hebson Makuvise who was the Party’s key strategist in Europe has now been recalled and is awaiting posting as Ambassador to Germany but not before he was detained and thoroughly quizzed by State Security Agents for over 48 Hours on his arrival in Zimbabwe to attend the Premier’s inauguration and put under 24/7 surveillance.

One of the reasons why there has been limited movement in the posting of Ambassadors has been to delay Makuvise and other MDC aligned postings in countries that Zanu PF used to mislead through its Ambassadors.

Makuvise nearly missed qualification for consideration as an Ambassador as Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede did everything to frustrate him getting back his Zimbabwean Passport as it had been discovered he had a UK Passport and thus had renounced his Zimbabwean citizenship by taking up dual citizenship.

Intelligence sources with insight to goings on in the Zanu PF wing of the coalition government but discontented with the direction the party wants the country to travel tipped Makuvise of the grand plan to disqualify him from Ambassadorial consideration and he swiftly reclaimed his Zimbabwean citizenship by renouncing the British Citizenship as provided by the Zimbabwe laws.

While he surprised the Registrar and his henchmen with the renunciation papers the Junta axis was thrilled that now they at least could keep Makuvise under leash as any international travel he intended was to be in terms of the Zimbabwe passport which was within their capacity to be withdrawn if need arises for such drastic action.

The same tactic was used to sanction Tsvangirai’s travel plans during negotiations to form the coalition regime and he was put on an emergency travel document plan to restrict him from travelling to Western nations Mugabe and Zanu PF blamed for sponsoring the MDC-T to achieve regime in Zimbabwe.

It was only when Tsvangirai boycotted further discussions with Mugabe and Zanu PF and holed himself in Botswana that SADC intervened and forced the Mugabe fronted Junta to issue the Premier the passport he deserved.

That forced compliance together with other decisions and undertakings by Sadc facilitated the return of Premier Tsvangirai and traction towards implementation of the GPA.

Within Zanu PF though, Tsvangirai was now a highly prized political trophy as they had completed the dossier that was to form the basis of his immediate arrest and detention if ever he and his party opted out of the GPA.

Yet many others in Zanu PF who felt the MDC-T’s entry into government would condemn them to the political dustbin were rooting for an MDC-T refusal to enter the government and create openings or them to be drafted in by President Mugabe.

Both camps were devastated when against all the odds stacked against the MDC-T its National Council resolved to participate in the coalition government.

The Junta strategy could no longer be applied to detain Tsvangirai who was the designated coalition Premier. In like manner the opportunities redundant Zanu PF aspirants were eyeing in government went up in smoke with the MDC-T National Council’s resolution to take up their positions in government.

It was at that juncture that it was resolved to frustrate the MDC-T involvement in government with a concerted judicial persecution initiative which saw over 45 activists and sympathizers abducted and detained incommunicado.

Then the idea was to cause Premier designate Morgan Tsvangirai to re-think his participation in government as he was being personally labeled as treasonous as Jonasi Savimbi,a tag Mutasa and Chinamasa still hold onto despite it having been invalidated by developments that followed the consummation of the government.

MDC-T MP’s were wantonly arrested between September 2008 and March 2009 at the same time Mugabe moved with lightning speed to appoint Provincial Governors, Senators,
The AG and RBZ Governor from within his party ranks to avoid imminent consultations with the Premier that would have been mandatory if appointments were made after affirmation of the Premier.

Little did his advisors realise or more accurately care that the appointments were against the spirit and letter of the GPA that had already been signed and was awaiting implementation.

By making the appointments Mugabe had created a conflict point in relations within the coalition government and the issues are now coming home to roost in the disengagement initiative by the MD-T.

Tendai Biti,(Harare East), Trevor Saruwaka (Mutasa Central), Lynnette Karenyi (Chimanimani West), Shuwa Mudiwa (Mutare West), Meki Makuyana (Chipinge South) and Mathias Mlambo MP for Chipinge East. the party’s treasurer Senator Roy Bennett Roy Bennett, Blessing Chebundo (Kwekwe Central), Eric Matinenga (Buhera North) MP, Reggie Moyo (Luveve ), Thamsanga Mahlangu (Nkulumane) Albert Mhlanga (Pumula) Ghandi Mudzingwa (Premier’s Office), Kisimusi Chris Dhlamini (Director of Security) together with another 40 party activists have been arrested on charges related to violation of National Security, Treason, Banditry, Rape, Electoral Fraud, banditry, insurgency and theft of arms and cell phones.

All the charges are framed by a multidisciplinary crack security team of Central Intelligence, Police and Army intelligence officers.

The team only heeds orders from President Mugabe, Army Commander Constantine Chiwenga, Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri and Happyton Bonyongwe the Director of Central Intelligence and Attorney General Johannes Tomana.

That is the reason why all Ministers including Home Affairs Co-Ministers Kembo Mohadi and Giles Mutseyekwa are powerless to stop the vindictive actions of this crack team against perceived or real enemies of President Mugabe and Zanu PF.

Most of the cases the team handles are imaginary cases where they have either planted incriminating evidence on a targeted suspect or where Zanu PF has waylaid induced and or provoked its opponents to break the law.

So it was when Deputy Minister Mahlangu was trapped in the theft of a $25.00 Cell Phone from Zanu PF’s notorious commander of farm invasions and questionable War Veteran Joseph Chinotimba.

All the arrests, abductions, incarcerations and judicial persecutions against the MDC-T are nothing more than a well planned Zanu PF political initiative to discredit MDC-T leadership.

It matters not that most cases will fall through on trial in court but in a country where accused persons are generally presumed guilty until proven innocent the intention is clear that the stigma of arrest and humiliation in court appearances will leave lasting aspersions on the minds of the electorate on the caliber of leadership from the MDC-T.

Sadly though the opposite is true in that whichever MDC-T the judiciary persecutes is turned into an overnight hero of the fight for freedom from Zanu PF misrule.

The more the Tomana advised security officers harass the MDC leaders the more faith the electorate has in the victims whom they accept as true liberators without question.

Even where the State secures a conviction on the trumped up charges or on the merits of the cases the generality of the populace remains firmly behind the convicts and or victims.

Mugabe deception knows no nation or self

Robert Gabriel Mugabe the SADC imposed Zimbabwe President is an untrustworthy partner in the GPA who is causing the delays in implementation of the agreement he says he understands the meaning of.

Stung by the partial disengagement of the MDC-T from the coalition government laboriously worked out to legitimize his continued tenure as Zimbabwe’s President octogenarian Robert Mugabe bared his anguish over the development at the “Heroes Acre” interment of the late Zanu PF Senator Misheck Chando.

The supposedly National burial shrine for Zimbabwe’s outstanding life achievers that has bees desecrated by its reservation as a burial place for Zanu PF loyalists who participated in the Liberation war against British colonists no matter how mediocre their contribution was, has become the most convenient rallying ground for President Mugabe.

With his party in turmoil and having lost all credibility as a democrat after his antics following defeat in the March 2008 Presidential elections by the coalition government Premier Morgan Tsvangirai Mugabe is no longer able to attract the crowds he used to pull to Zanu PF rallies throughout the country other than at the Heroes acre.

After MDC-T announced its partial disengagement from dealings with Zanu PF in the Council Of Ministers and Cabinet to force compliance with implementation of outstanding GPA issues, President Mugabe and his party propagandists fell over each other to trivialise the move as a none event.

President Mugabe has convened two Cabinet meetings attended only by Zanu PF and MDC-M nominees in the coalition Cabinet and pretended that it was business as usual in Cabinet notwithstanding the boycott by MDC-T nominated Ministers.

But coalition government business will never be business as usual without MDC-T participation and after the 2nd successive week boycott of Cabinet by those Ministers panic gripped Zanu PF and they started singing the discordant song about sanctions being the main outstanding GPA issue still to be addressed and President Mugabe mulling appointment of Acting Ministers in place of those boycotting Cabinet to ensure decisions reached are implemented.

The death of the late Senator Chando provided Mugabe the perfect opportunity to speak publicly in front of a captive audience about his anguish over the MDC-T disengagement initiative.

The MDC has demanded that for it to re-engage Zanu PF in the coalition government organs it is boycotting President Mugabe must forthwith implement agreed GPA issues and bring to finality outstanding implementation issues that include;
 Swearing in of Roy Bennett as Deputy Minister of Agriculture
 Swearing in of the 5 MDC-T nominated and 1 MDC- M Provincial Governors
 Reversal of the unilateral appointments of the Attorney General and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor by President Mugabe
 Appointment of the Media, Human Rights and Electoral commissions as per recommendations from Parliament.
 Cessation of punitive judicial persecution of MP’s and activists on party political considerations and
 Cessation of hate publication and hostile press coverage of the party in State Media.

But Mugabe having become accustomed to having his way against feeble and mediocre political challengers since he became head of State in 1980 has become delusional and believes he is the benchmark of political integrity in the country.

His political life has been such a massive lie that he is now convinced he is not just the benchmark of ethical politicking but also the champion of political correctness and ethical practice when to the contrary most Zimbabweans see him as a desperate political despot with unrivalled inclination towards dictatorship.

This was aptly demonstrated in his eulogy at the graveside of the late Senator Misheck Chando on Saturday 31 October 2009.

"Even if some person is not mentally stable he is still your partner,” he stated in reference to his coalition government relationship with Premier Morgan Tsvangirai.

Most Zimbabweans believe it is Mugabe who has lost his mind and not the Premier he was denigrating

"We bound ourselves to work together even though we had disparate positions. We will continue talking, no matter what,"

Mugabe believes that the bond between him and his Zanu PF Party on hand and the MDC-T in particular is to work together only if he is allowed to appoint his loyalists to key government positions without them having a say in who should be appointed.

He is deranged into the belief that working together with the MDC means he can flagrantly refuse to swear in nominees from other parties in the coalition government, selectively order the arrest and persecution of Ministers MP’s and activists from any other coalition partners’ formations, allow the State owned media to retain information dissemination monopoly and spread heresy against Zanu PF competitors and opponents alike, renege on written agreements between Zanu PF and any other party as and when he deems it fit to do so and use State power to deny access to anything Stately for opponents of Zanu PF.

That is the extent of the delusion that informs Mugabe to act as he often does. He believes that he has the mandate to do as he pleases and does not brook any opposition to his desires.

"There can be disagreement but that's ours to handle," he said. "We are glad we are talking about it.On an odd day, one party decides it should not be fully in the process. It has one leg in, and one leg out and you begin to wonder if you are with people who know what agreement means," Mugabe told the ‘Heroes Acre’ captive audience as he berated his Prime Minister who was conspicuous by his absence from the event because he and his party had not been involved in determining the Hero status bestowed on Chando by the government he supposedly heads.

It beggars belief that a President fails to understand that agreements by their nature impose obligations on parties to the agreement and where a party refuses to live by its obligations it cannot reasonably expect the others to abide by their obligations.

If Mugabe understands the meaning of agreement as he claims to do can he tell the nation on what basis he refuses to swear in a nominee from a party in the coalition government quoting the clause of the GPA that allows him to act as he has done to date over Roy Bennett?

While at it he may as well put the minds of the nation at rest by quoting which clause of the GPA he had signed on 15 September 2008 allowed him to appoint Provincial Governors, the Reserve Bank Governor and the Attorney General without consulting the Premier.

Simply pointing out that he appointed the incumbents because the Premier was not yet in office will not suffice because if that were the case he should have appointed the incumbents in an acting capacity pending the finalization of the Premier’s appointment which was within his realm in terms of the GPA he and his Party had entered into.

Is it the President’s understanding of the 15 September agreement that he entered into with the Premier and Deputy Premier that he could delay the appointment of the Premier to create the excuse for appointing his loyalists into senior positions in government and thereafter the Premier?

If that is the case then it is the President who does not understand the meaning of an agreement if you ask me.

"The countries of Europe and America want to dictate which way our politics should go and they talk about regime change. They want us to go down on our knees and beg. One day we should think about fighting them in the international courts," Mugabe told the nation from the Zanu PF Heroes Acre.

Whenever he has staged elections during his tenure as President it appears Mugabe was not concerned about the electorate choosing a new regime to lead them but rather the electorate endorsing the old regime to continue even if the electorate had misgivings about its competencies.

While there is merit in President Mugabe refusing external interference in initiating regime change in our country it is absolutely ludicrous for him to suggest that it is America and Britain that want regime change in Zimbabwe when there is evidence from elections in which these countries were completely excluded from not just funding but also organizing and observing, that the electorate voted overwhelmingly against Zanu PF and President Mugabe.

Those votes against him and his party are the real demands for regime change that he refused to heed that causes countries like Britain and America to remind him that Zimbabweans demanded regime change that he did not heed and must of necessity take heed if he wants them to recognize his tenure as President’s legitimacy.

After stealing the election and negotiating a regime change convenient to Zanu PF and himself President Mugabe is now failing to live by that agreement and still wants us to believe it is because America and Britain are demanding regime change in Zimbabwe when to the contrary it was before SADC that Zanu PF conceded to the current changed regime order obtaining in the country.

The problem with a delusional Mugabe is that he is afraid that he and his party have lost favour with the electorate and the hard line stance they are publicly displaying is camouflage for deep rooted fear that the Party will lose any election to the MDC-T unless the electorate remains gripped with fear of reprisals like those they witnessed post elections ever since Zanu PF took charge of the governance of our country.

But it is the attempt to portray the Premier and his party as the violators in chief of the GPA that exposes the extent of Mugabe’s derangement.

Zanu PF has lost its political marbles and in Mugabe it carries its greatest liability. Who in his right frame of mind would vote Mugabe for another day in
office as President when he does not even understand why he is currently regarded as such less than a year after he was legitimized by the very GPA he is failing and or deliberately refusing to implement fully.

By reneging on the GPA and holding onto the tired sanctions mantra Mugabe is dragging Zanu PF into the dungeons of political obscurity.

Now he is facing another unsavory experience of explaining himself to Sadc over issues he undertook to implement in writing before them.

His defense that the MDC-T has refused and or failed to get the sanctions lifted is without merit as the MDC was not held accountable for that issue but rather the parties were agreed that sanctions were not necessary but counterproductive to the coalition government’s economic turnaround initiatives and should be lifted.
The major obstacle to the lifting of sanctions is not the MDC-T but rather Zanu PF culture of impunity.

Obviously a President Mugabe who does not understand why his coalition partner is protesting unfulfilled GPA agreements and who does not subscribe to regime change as the only constant in governance will not appreciate what it takes to have the sanctions lifted until he falls prey of the regime change initiative that will conclude the coalition government.

Dr. Simba Makoni a confused political nonentity

Former Zanu PF Politburo member and Finance Minister now masquerading as Zimbabwe opposition MKD leader Dr Simba Makoni presented several budgets like this one that impoverished Zimbabweans but now wants to endear himself with the same people he pauperised during his heydays in politics.

How else are we supposed to describe Dr Simba Makoni’s diatribe against the MDC-T than to point out that it is a feeble attempt by a confused political nonentity aimed at gaining lost attention.

After spending 28 years in a romance with Zanu PF during which he has been in the news limelight as a Minister and Member of the party’s Politburo Dr Makoni should be the last person to chide MDC-T for neglecting people.

For all we know none other than Dr Makoni and Zanu PF are responsible for the neglect of the people he shamelessly attempts to apportion to the MDC-T.

For 28 years Dr Makoni towed the Zanu PF political line that disenfranchised voters, militarized State enterprises, reduced our currency to ashes, dehumanized us, plundered and looted anything that was considered of national value and abandoned our social and economic wellbeing.

During this time Dr Makoni did not find it proper to give a single press conference or write a single article to any publication voicing concerns about our suffering at the hands of the government he was a key member of.

But within days of the MDC-T announcing disengagement from GPA interaction with Zanu PF the same Dr Makoni found his voice to speak about our abandonment and chide the MDC-T.

One wonders how a person who did not see anything wrong in the past 28 years when he was entrenched in power suddenly sees with such alarming clarity the neglect of the people by a Party and not the government.

“If the amount of attention that is being given to who gets what post in the inclusive government was directed towards delivering jobs, economic recovery, social harmony and stability, this country would have been much further down the road to prosperity than it is now,” stated Dr Makoni recently as he lynched the MDC-T.

This statement alone exposes the confusion in the mind of the distraught MKD leader who is fighting to regain lost political relevance not just in his tumultus movement but also nationally.

Having accurately observed;
“It is clear that Zanu PF and President Robert Mugabe have never been serious about engaging the MDC-T and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, specifically, and about the concept of power-sharing in general,” it is difficult to see how Dr Makoni then got it so wrong as to come to the conclusion that it is the MDC-T that is to blame and not the intransigent Zanu PF and its leader President Mugabe.

“Zanu PF has acted in bad faith throughout the life of the inclusive government, the MDC-T itself has also acted in a manner that does not inspire confidence in their ability to rise above the problems bedeviling Zimbabwe” said Dr Makoni in his futile attempt to exonerate Zanu PF for all its failures and ultimately his personal failures in the past and in the coalition government.

He quoted the Premier recently stating that "Mugabe is genuine", “Mugabe is not the problem, but other people around him", and "Mugabe is committed to power-sharing" "Mugabe is indispensable and irreplaceable,” at a time when the MDC-T nominee for Deputy Minister of Agriculture and several MDC-T MPs and supporters were persecuted and harassed all over the country as evidenced that MDC-T was culpable for the current state of affairs in the country.

For that reason Dr Makoni then concluded that the disengagement decision was motivated by MDC-T’s failure to secure jobs for the boys and girls in its ranks as opposed to a fight for “policies that can deliver real change for Zimbabweans.”
Dr Makoni then went on to tell us what the people want.

“The people want stable and permanent jobs, economic development, repair of dilapidated infrastructure, food, functioning health and education systems and social support networks. The people want their dignity and respect back,” he said.
“In this regard, we note that since they entered the inclusive government, the MDC-T have not put forward policy initiatives aimed at pulling the country out of crisis. The modest improvements that have occurred in people's lives over the past year are the result of the default dollarization which commenced in early 2008 and was formalised by Zanu PF before the inclusive government,” he lashed at the MDC-T.

Is it any wonder why we are where we are economically as a country when a former Finance minister and respected authority on financial matters within Zanu PF like Dr Makoni makes these crass statements?

Is it not true that as Finance Minister he was pushed out by Zanu PF after arguing for devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar in vain and never proposing the stabilizing dollarization of the economy then when there was scrap value in most organisations to salvage.

If dollarization was by default that the Zanu PF Junta of 2008 formalised what was he doing in the Finance Ministry and why was he paid?

More tellingly why did it take up to 2008 for Zanu PF to formalize dollarization of the currency when it is clear the country’s fiscal quagmire extends back to his tenure as Finance Minister?

Could it be that he was the square peg in the round hole within the Zanu PF government if dollarization was only formalized following his departure from the establishment.

Dr Makoni argues that people want stable and permanent jobs, economic development, repair of dilapidated infrastructure, food, functioning health and education systems and social support networks and they want their dignity and respect back.

We ask what has happened to these wants during his sojourn in successive Zanu PF governments he was a crucial member for people to demand them from the nascent coalition government that is only a year old.

If he and Zanu PF and Dr Makoni had not denied people these wants would there be any issue arising from them?

The height of confusion within MKD and Dr Makoni is exposed by his argument that the MDC-T must be happy that it still has no ambassadors posted, no provincial governors and resident ministers appointed and that Bennett has still not been sworn in as Deputy Minister of Agriculture because such appointments bloat the government but does not explain in what way as the positions have long been established during his reign in Zanu PF.

Clearly Dr Makoni is happy for these positions to be occupied by Zanu PF and if possible MKD activists so that they can continue frustrating MDC-T efforts at delivering real change to the people.

For how else can he explain the appropriation of the meaningful change from dollarization to a Zanu PF government that was busy printing worthless Zimdollars and is clamoring for the resuscitation of the money printing powers even as he ascribes the policy shift to the same party?

“The people expect MDC-T to champion causes such as national reconciliation and healing, in order that we never get a repeat of the violence and brutalities that have characterised recent elections.

The people expect the MDC-T to demonstrate better governance competency than Zanu PF, instead of helping implement destructive Zanu PF policies, as they have been doing since they entered the inclusive government.

The people want the MDC-T to demonstrate they can govern the country, facilitating prosperity through policies that are different from what we have come to expect from Mugabe and Zanu PF.

This is not happening,” Dr Makoni observed.

Indeed the people want all those things and much more. They want Zanu PF to reform and desist from using disguised activists like Dr Makoni to cast aspersions on the abilities within MDC to deliver real change when nightly they are at the centre of manufacturing the obstacles that are hindering the delivery of real change.

Real change is delivered by willing workers and not partisan political activists that Dr Makoni does not seem to realise are responsible for implementation bottlenecks within the coalition government.

MKD will not deliver meaningful change using MDC-T MDC-M and Zanu PF activists whose sole reason for occupying positions is to entrench their political formation in power at whatever cost.

Real change can only be delivered if the positions in government are occupied with willing professionals that uphold statutes and live by agreements, which is not the case in the coalition government.

Dr Makoni should realise that once he has identified Zanu PPF as being the insincere party in coalition government engagement he cannot justify ascribing failure to the sincere partners.

It is the people who exercise power that matter in the success or failure of a government and the argument that the MDC-T must achieve real change using unwilling Zanu PF activists strategically positioned in every public institution is a manifestation of the blindness in MKD leadership.

When push comes to shove Zanu PF quacks in its pants

Premier Tsvangirai at the end of his tether over Zanu PF failure to live by the GPA by persecuting Party Treasurer Roy Bennett announced disengagement from GPA sassociation with Zanu PF creating a monumental constitutional crisis in Zimbabwe.
Once again the MDC-T has taken a decisive political position that has caught many unawares just as it did when it pulled out its Presidential contestant from the sham 28 June 2008 Presidential runoff election days before the election was to be staged.

Then, as is the case now, armchair and active analysts were taken by surprise threw around doomsday theories for the MDC-T that we now know to have been miles off the mark.

Zanu PF activist Professor Jonathan Moyo then masquerading as an Independent legislator led the errand way by declaring that MDC-T had dug its own grave and would be buried in it by Zanu PF after the Presidential election results.

His flock of admirers in the party of geriatrics took the cue well and started flogging hypothesis after hypothesis on how the MDC-t burial ceremony would proceed while the octogenarian Zanu PF First Secretary and President Robert Mugabe made swift appointments to acknowledge the plaudits from his blind supporters as a show of newly found power.

Unbeknown to the cheerleaders was that behind the MDC-T President’s humble statement that hitherto the MDC Party had been thrown into political turmoil of similar magnitude and managed to weather the storm as it was going to do in the aftermath of the shambolic and fraudulent Presidential runoff election were serious repercussions awaiting the self imposed Junta regime fronted by Robert Mugabe.

In the euphoria of what later turned out to be a pyrrhic victory old Mugabe rushed to Sharm-El- Shaik in Egypt where African Heads of State were in legitimized his 6th successive term as President.

He returned home disappointed and depressed that none of his former colleagues had tacitly

Instead he was ordered to regularize his continued stay in office through negotiating power sharing with the MDC-T leader he had gone to bury at the funeral attended by all the African Heads of State to dispel any doubts about his Presidency.

With his tail firmly tucked under his legs Mugabe begged then South Africa President Thabo Mbeki to revive mediated negotiations he had dumped in preference of an election where he was humiliated into a distant second place by the MDC-T President Morgan Tsvangirai on 29 March 2008.

Protracted and humiliating negotiations before the SADC mediation team were eventually reactivated culminating in the signing of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) on 15 September 2008 wherein Mugabe conceded to sharing power with Tsvangirai.

In that agreement it now appears the octogenarian Zanu PF leader was forced to relinquish more power than he was prepared to and he made no secret of that fact when he disclosed that there were numerous compromises in the agreement that he was against and likewise the Prime Minister designate.
While Tsvangirai did not dismiss the allegations he nonetheless did not tacitly confirm his displeasure with the agreement and instead told the nation that he was convinced the agreement was the best possible and workable concession his party could extract from the negotiations and he would see to it that it was implemented.

A year after signing the agreement and just over 8 months of the entry of the MDC into the Coalition government that was agreed in the GPA, the MDC-T President has shocked the nation by announcing he and his party had resolved to disengage cooperation in government with Zanu PF.

The resolution has triggered frantic political analysis within and outside the country because of the constitutional implications it carries and likely consequences on the continued existence of the coalition government.

The Jonathan Moyo led Zanu PF cheerleaders wasted no time in condemning the MDC-T move.
Prof Moyo celebrated the opportunity for Zanu PF to consolidate power by appointing an Acting Minister of Finance. Zanu PF ceded the Finance Ministry to MDC-T control after a fervent fight to retain the ministry failed during GPA negotiations.

Charamba dismissed the MDC-T move as a non event “monkey business” grandstanding by the MDC-T without any chance of impacting negatively on the operations of the Government.

Zanu PF Legislator Jorum Gumbo regretted the MDC-T move saying it was out of sync with the MDC-T’s non interference with judicial processes pronouncements in the past.

Another Zanu PF Legislator Eohraim Masawi dismissed the move as a non event which will not cause Zanu PF sleepless nights as the MDC was in the coalition government as a temporary and stopgap measure by Zanu PF akin to a prostitution arrangement which is never intended to be a lasting union.

MKD spokesperson Denford Magora views the initiative as a self inflicted wound on the MDC-T that will land the party in elections that it will not win because of the violence that will be rolled out by Zanu PF whose leader will refuse the UN permission to monitor the election.

MDC-M spokesman Edwin Mushoriwa dismissed the move as being ill advised as it would leave Zanu PF with room to manipulate the systems in its favour such as resuscitating the Zimbabwe dollar-

NCA Chairman Dr Lovemore Madhuku dismissed the move as inconsequential arguing that Zanu PF will simply take charge of governance and leave MDC-T in limbo.

He was supported by Jupiter Punungwe concurred with Dr Madhuku and slammed the MDC-T for trying to revive its waning political fortunes through sabotage due to its lack of a sound ideological or principled foundation.

Other than the Zanu PF Conservatives Gumbo, Masawi, Moyo and Charamba the other three are pro-democracy activists with a burning desire to see Zanu PF dislodged from power but certainly not by Tsvangirai and his MDC.

The crisis gripping the country at present was triggered by the reincarceration of MDC-T Treasurer and Deputy Agriculture Minister Designate Roy “Pachedu” Bennett on terrorism and banditry allegations by a Mutare Magistrate following his indictment for trial in the High Court.

The MDC-T is incensed that the incarceration was a deliberate and vindictive act on the part of the Attorney General as there was no reason for it to revoke his bail conditions that were upheld by the Supreme Court at the time of his arrest.

Zanu PF activists sadly supported by Magora and Punungwe believe that Bennett’s case is a simple and straightforward case where the accused is alleged to have committed a crime against the government and must be tried by the courts.

They forget that before 1980 Zanu PF committed more heinous crimes than those alleged to have been committed by Bennett but when a negotiated settlement was reached that ushered the independence of the country none among them was charged with the offences.

That sadly is the spirit and letter upon which the GPA was agreed upon which only Dr Madhuku appears to have grasped and the persecution of Bennett is out of sync.

Even if Bennett had a case to answer against a regime that has been replaced through negotiations, which is not common cause, the political correctness of him being prosecuted by a successive government in which he has been nominated Deputy Minister is questionable and compromising to his colleagues who were fighting side by side with him but are now in government without facing similar allegations.

Are we to assume Bennett was planning these terrorist and banditry acts outside of the party which wants him in government.

Even if that was the case which appears highly unlikely, why is he not being sworn into his nominated position as per the GPA which has no exclusion clauses whatsoever allowing the president the discretion he claims to be exercising?

That is why it is naïve for any analyst to conclude that Roy Bennett’s case is very simple. On the contrary it is the most significant breach of the GPA in that the formation of the coalition government remains incomplete some 10 months after it was partially consummated.

The assumption that amnesty was not discussed during GPA negotiations is not only mischievous but also politically devious. Amnesty was central in these negotiations to the extent that Tsvangirai was published in the New York Times acknowledging that if amnesty was what it would take to give Mugabe confidence to step down then so be it.
Tendai Biti, Eric Matinenga, Nelson Chamisa, Morgan Tsvangirai to name but a few were all facing similar allegations but in the case of Biti the State withdrew charges while Tsvangirai was never arraigned to the courts.

That was because if that had not happened, the coalition government would not have materialized.

Bennett is simply a victim of political persecution because of his race and Zanu PF is at the centre of this racial persecution not the State because the State is clearly at variance over his continued detention and persecution as evident from the disengagement resolution announced by the Premier.

The reasons why MDC-M are against the disengagement initiative are similar to the reasons why they broke away in 2005 over Senate Elections.

Unfortunately they have not learned anything from the error of trying to defend positions without grassroots support.

Here is a party that signed an agreement which it is failing to enforce claiming that it can defend gains from that agreement.

Surely the first gain in any agreement is in its total implementation. If that cannot be achieved then there is no purpose in entering into another round of negotiations as they will only result in the party failing to realise the gains practically losing those unrealized gains in perpetuity by variation of the initial agreement.

The thinking behind condemnation of the disengagement initiative is flawed in that it assumes that Robert Mugabe has been legitimized for a full term as Zimbabwe’s President.

Far from it. Mugabe is only the legitimate President of the coalition government and if there is a disengagement notice which he does not act quickly to diffuse his legitimacy will come into question.

That is what Constitutional Amendment No 19 Provided for. It was a temporary amendment to diffuse an explosive political climate that was never intended to replace the Constitution sine die.

Those in Zanu PF that have advanced amnesia need to be reminded that the MDC-T is the majority party in Parliament and cannot be excluded from any popular government of the country without creating political chaos.

Zanu PF can disengage from government anytime because they lost the mandate to govern by consent ages ago and are imposing themselves using military force against an unwilling electorate.

The other imperative to note is that MDC-T have improved their popularity rating by stabilizing the economy and bringing some sanity in schools and hospitals.

Only those living outside the country think the contented electorate will opt for Zanu PF ahead of the MDC when the swansong is we will never allow a government to take us back to December 1998 and that government is the Zanu PF Government.

The crux of the matter is that there is an agreement that has not been fully implemented and MDC-T a party to the agreement wants to enforce its rights therein.

If by claiming its rights and taking action to enforce them the MDC-T is violating the agreement, then let the matter be escalated to the guarantours of the GPA.

If Zanu PF is aggrieved that the MDC-T is not living by the spirit and letter of the GPA they are free to take up those concerns to the gurantours.

The MDC_T cannot be held hostage to an agreement that is not being fully implemented because Zanu PF and Mugabe want to show the nation who is in charge.

The only people that are in charge are those that are making a positive difference to ordinary people’s quality of life and Zanu PF is not among those.

Well-done MDC-T and Professor Mutambara on stance against GPA impunity and political tomfoolery

Love him or loathe him Professor Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara the fortuitous Zimbabwe Deputy Prime Minister is adding colour and fanfare to the coalition government.

The Professor who must rank the luckiest political opportunist in the world was bound to be the political clown in the coalition government given his entry route to political prominence and he has not failed in that regard.

In 2005 Mutambara returned to the Zimbabwe political arena in controversial circumstances where he was to lead a faction of MDC malcontents within the party’s National Executive Council who had broken away from the Party over participation in Senate elections.

He said of his invitation to lead the Tribal faction of deviants that he was the Anti-Senate Elections leader of the Pro-Senate Elections faction of the MDC and he would rebrand the faction by renaming it and cleansing it of its bad reputation as a puppet of the West lacking leadership strategy and direction.

That set the stage for Mutambara becoming the Mukadota politician that he has turned out to be.

And boy do they love him in the MDC-t for the lighter moments he brings to the serious s and tense political environment that pervades the coalition government.


There appears to be consensus that in his own ways Professor Mutambara and his grouping of renegades is a useful political clown to have around when things get tough.

He has raffled a few feathers in Zanu PF at unexpected moments as insiders within MDC-T will bear testimony.

There was the incident in Kampala Uganda when he lapsed into his favourite rebranding subject and took a dig at African Heads of State for failing to establish internationally reputed political brands that earned him rebukes from Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Jakaya Kikwete.

He reportedly took the stage by storm and roared and thundered;

“The problem with African politics is the lack of internationally recognized brands.
What is your brand Museveni? What is your brand Kikwete? What is your brand Mugabe” he allegedly asked. “Africa must strive to establish political brands that are endorsed by the Western democracies and not by the Africans” he thundered in those exact words or something to that effect.

The Sentinel is advised that when Mutambara took to the podium Mugabe was too tired to remain in attendance and was on his way to bed but had to turn back when operatives rushed to hint him of the drama that was unfolding in the auditorium from his erudite deputy premier.

He entered just in time to hear the deputy premier castigate the African statesman much to the chagrin of Museveni and Kikwete.

Mugabe was not amused but could do nothing about it. After the speech Professor
Mutambara allegedly took his seat in the Zimbabwean delegation, rolled his eyes in the peculiar way he always does, wiped sweat drops forming on his forehead with an open palm and asked;

“How did that go?”

Needless to say he had read the body language in Mugabe’s eyes to know he had not been well received and the feedback was immediate from Museveni and Kikwete who told the Deputy Premier in their response that he still had a lot to learn about African politics if his views were anything to judge him by.

There is a widely held belief within MDC-T that the Zimbabwe deputy Premier sometimes lapses into the world of the bizarre and says things unintentionally landing himself in trouble.

Although he meant no malice on senior African statesman when he asked about their legacies he nonetheless raffled feathers when he implied that the West are better judges of what constitute democracy and good governance in Africa.

Far from it all the Deputy Premier was saying is that self praise has no recommendation and the African leadership bravado about practicing democratic governance is hollow unless the international community endorses that to be indeed the case.

But the real reason why he was not received well was because he sounded most disrespectful by naming the leaders he singled out as examples to drive home his branding obsession by their surnames and without reference to their esteemed titles which they cherish so much.

You only have to see how long and loaded some of their titles are to appreciate how offensive it is for a political novice like Mutambara to ignore them in a formal meeting of African Heads of State.

In many African customs calling elders or seniors at work by their surnames without the honorific prefix is a great insult.

Whichever way they took it Mutambara had once again pointed to a truism many an African leader would rather it not be said in public.

Then there was the incident in Nyanga where government had retreated to review its operations and redefine its objectives.

For the first time in the History of the Zanu PF party Professor Mutambara made them walk out in protest. Something akin to making a Zanu PF boycott of proceedings because they were in such a weakened position they could not defend themselves other than through a walkout.

Professor Mutambara had reminded the party not to make unreasonable demands on how government should operate as they had years of uninterrupted power to implement those ideas but failed dismally to the extent that they had to rely on stealing recent elections to remain politically relevant.

The rebuke was apt and stinging and took Zanu PF ministers by surprise leading
Patrick Chinamasa to call a boycott of proceedings through the infamous yet shameful walkout for which he later profoundly apologised to the Premier.
At the time he led the walkout Chinamasa stated;

"The meetings were going on very well until this morning when Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara made some very provocative statements that the parliamentary and presidential elections of last year were all fraudulent, null and void,"

"We, members from the ZANU-PF side, walked out in protest at the reckless and irresponsible utterances by Professor Mutambara because they are intended at undermining the legitimacy of a party in the inclusive government,"

None of the permanent secretaries in attendance followed suit and the embarrassed Chinamasa and Webster Shamu had to eat humble pie when they had to apologise to the Premier for their ill advised and cowardly response.

But instead of disclosing that embarrassing episode to the nation Chinamasa sought to mislead the nation into believing that Professor Mutambara had apologised to Zanu PF for having caused the walkout which he never did.

In fact the Premier accepted Chinamasa’s apology and reminded him of the serious responsibility he carries in ensuring that the coalition government succeeds as a leader of Zanu PF.

He reminded Chinamasa that Mutambara was in government at the behest of Zanu PF and if they now have a problem with their project to neutralize MDC-T dominance they should not vent it in government fora but in the political arena.

Whichever way Professor Mutambara behaves it always seems to benefit and strengthen MDC-T’s hand in the coalition government and they love him for that.

As the adage goes in Shona “Anebenzi nderake kudzana kwaro anopururudza “in the MDC they applaud Mutambara’s political tomfoolery which is now being landed weight by Professor Moyo’s attempts to rejoin Zanu PF.

That is why when Professor Mutambara comes out strongly condemning Zanu PF intransigence in implementing the GPA we must support him and urge him to come good on his promise to mediate between Gushungo and Save.

More importantly we urge him to make it clear that he and his party take exception to being compromised by unilateralism in Zanu PF.

It is obvious that the decision by State Prosecution Services to commit Roy Bennet to custody following indictment compromised the entire government including Deputy PM Mutambara.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Roy Bennett’s bail was granted by the High Court and upheld by the Supreme Court at the time he was arrested.

This was after the Attorney General had refused to abide by the Mutare Magistrate Court to grant Bennett bail through invocation of section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (CPEA).

The AG having indicted Mr Bennett for trial in the same High Court that had granted the accused bail had no basis upon which to incarcerate Bennett with the sole intention of igniting a legal process similar to the one that had been resolved by the Supreme Court at the time of the accused’s arrest.

It is sad that in all this legal gerrymandering the AG is using taxpayers’ funds for a vindictive Zanu PF political agenda which has nothing to benefit the taxpayers outside that party.

The unanimous decision by the MDC-T National Council to boycott government structures that Zanu PF is abusing to soil the good standing of the party must be commended and fully supported.

In politics it is the most bizarre and irrational decisions that change thinking and directions of the State.

If Mugabe does not address the GPA concerns at the centre of the boycott he will be forced into violence or alternatively he will find that his party will have nothing to offer the country.

Most people will go with the MDC-T led wing in Government and that is a frightening prospect for Zanu PF’s future relevance.

Meanwhile those that have been selling the idea that the MDC-T is in the throes of another split or about to ditch its leader Premier Morgan Tsvangirai must take note of the unity and cohesion within the party that the resolution has sent.

Most of the alleged sources of such malicious stories are frequent visitors to the Premier’s residence seeking job positions in the bureaucracy by night.

Some from within the party ranks have broken down to tears in their pleadings for jobs from the Premier. Many others from outside MDC structures have made nightly visits to the Premier to pay homage and seek jobs.

Army Generals that are threatening MP’s with loaded pistols are not any exception to these nightly visits.

The more subtle are those campaigning against the constitutional reform process who are using the platform to gain political recognition as opposed to spearheading a principled stand against the process.

It is remote that these same persons could successfully stage a palace coup in the MDC-T when their very existence and repute is in the Premier’s sphere of influence.

So it is with the Deputy PM who realizes that his political wellbeing is better served with Tsvangirai on his side and does not hide the fact when an opportunity arises.

Shoddy service a Zanu PF misrule legacy

Municipal workers dig trenches like these to replace rotten water pipework neglected by Zanu PF for decades but pose a danger to motorists and pedestrians alike by not barricading or signposting the works areas and leaving the trenches open for weeks. That is how tatty Zimbabwe service providers have become.

The culture of entitlement and impunity that became entrenched in Zimbabweans over decades of being subjected to Zanu PF misrule is turning out to be a serious threat to ethical business practice that will cost the country heavily as it struggles to move out of the economic stabilization phase to economic growth.

There has developed over the years a pervasive unhealthy culture that the service provider and not the customer is the king.

The culture stems from the days when shortages were the order of the day and black racketeering was the accepted norm of doing business.

The service provider was placed in an advantageous position to profiteer and middlemen that sourced scarce commodities made a killing out of adding little if any value to a service or product.

Here are a few classical examples that I have experienced recently.


My vehicle windscreen had been smashed in one corner by a falling object and required replacement,

I had entrusted a close confidante to source quotations of how much it would cost to get the repairs done and was quoted a whopping $250.00.

On arrival I went to PG Auto glass in the Graniteside industrial are and was quoted $130.00 for the supply and fix job – a variance of $120.00 from what I would have forked out to my confidante had I accepted his quotation.

This translates into an entitlement mark up of 90.31% that would have accrued to my confidante for the trust I had placed in him to arrange for the repairs.

On driving the vehicle to the repair workshop I discovered that repairs would not be undertaken unless I had paid cash up front as per the quotation and since I had not carried enough cash I decided to drive off and return the following day for repairs to be done.

At that point the technician who was supposed to fit the new windscreen on my car came closer and advised me that the reason was that the replacement windscreens are never kept in stock but are sourced from the main dealers from the cash that customers pay for the quotations.

This amused me and I asked where they sourced the windscreens and at what cost to which the technician refused to disclose unless I guaranteed that he would have the fitting job after work for $80.00.

I agreed and he gave me a runner to go and buy the windscreen and requisite adhesive.
We drove to the Zimbabwe Glass Warehouse some 3kilometers away from the PG Auto glass workshop where I was told to wait a moment while my escort sourced the windscreen.

The waiting was prolonged as my escort approached several dealers and or workers to get the cheapest price as the lowest price of $55.00 he had been charged would have meant a balance of $25.00 for the adhesive and fitting job which requires at least two people to complete.

I lost my patience with him and entered the warehouse where I was told they only sell to dealers with VAT registration certificates which my escort and I did not have.

Undaunted I asked further and discovered that staff working for the Zimbabwe Glass Warehouse could equally purchase the windscreen for a fee and these were what my escort was targeting but their charges for the corrupt service had been raised from the usual $5.00 to $10.00 per purchase thus increasing the actual cost from the usual $50.00 to the $55.00 that my escort was having problems with.

Having secured the information I wanted I then pressured my escort to finalise the purchase protesting the time it was taking, He attempted to negotiate the price up to $90.00 to cover the unexpected underhand charge and make his own $5.00 profit to which I refused to accede and demanded that we go back to PG so he could appraise his principal -the technician-as to why he had failed to purchase the screen.

We did and the contract was cancelled when we could not agree on the price increase to $90.00 as I was now aware that this involved an extra $40.00 on the cost price of the screen and should the fitting not meet my expectations I had no recourse to recovery action against the technician that I would have if he fitted the screen under PG Auto Glass.

I had also discovered that the screen that was being sold to staff at cost of $50.00 was sold to VAT registered dealers for $80.00 and adding VAT to that would retail at $92.00 plus costs of adhesives estimated at $8.00 meaning PG was charging 30% for labour in their quoted price.

For me therefore paying $130.00 to PG was preferable than paying $90.00 to the PG technician to work on my car privately as his mark up of $40.00 was in real terms $10.00 more than the PG markup of $30.00 yet Pg adds value by employing the technician and paying Vat which the technician did not do in his private capacity.

The following day I drove my car into PG and it was fitted to my satisfaction.
Then I had the problem with water charges from the city Council which needed to be sorted out.

The water meter had not been working so I was being charged for an estimated 40 cubic meters per month notwithstanding that there are only two of my children living on the property.

Water meters are Council property but these days they no longer supply or replace them although they continue to charge for them in the water bill.

I had to source my own meter from a hardware shop in town who kindly advised me to take it to the Local Municipal area offices for calibration before I could get it fitted.

I drove to the Waterfalls Municipal offices where unfortunately I was told I had been wrongly directed by the retailer as I was supposed to take the meter to the Bishop Gaul Municipal Offices in Workington for calibration.

It was nearing 16.30 an I decided it was time wasting visiting the Bishop Gaul offices so close to the end of the normal working day because of experiences I had when I visited the organisation’s Rowan martin Offices the previous week to pay for the water and rates.

The estimated water bill of $85.00 turned up to be more than the average $30.00 that low density residence were advised to pay so I pulled out my cheque book to settle the bill.

“We do not accept foreign account cheques here and in any event we are about to close,” I was politely dismissed by the cashier.

Fortunately the supervisor was on the next service counter so I sought his intervention as I could not understand why in the multi currency financial order a Municipality would refuse to accept a cheque from a foreign account whose currency was in daily use in the country.

The supervisor explained that they did not accept cheques because they had not received deposit slips from their foreign currency transaction banker Kingdom bank.

I promptly asked for the account number so that I could go and do the transaction in the banking hall the following day if the deposit slip was really the issue and was given the account details.

The following day I was at the bank and deposited the cheque and suffered an additional $5.00 bank charge for the favour of accepting my deposit which charges should really be levied against the Account holder and not its clients if at all the charge is justified.

But then this is Zimbabwe where the supplier calls the shots and not the customers.

I was supposed to then take a copy of the deposit slip to the Municipality as evidence that I had indeed cleared the account but I did not and will not do that until they come to turn off supplies where I will show them the copy as evidence that I had paid the account.

Back to the water meter so it was that I was at the Bishop Gaul Offices with the meter to have it calibrated so I could take it back and fit it.

To my surprise I was asked if I had already been to the Zinwa Offices at the corner of Second Street and Speke Avenue to have the meter recorded and issued with a calibration certificate which the Waterfalls Area Office made no mention of the previous day.

Obviously I had not done that and was promptly advised to do so if I wanted the Municipality to have anything to do with my gadget.

It was too late for me to go there and come back in time for them to calibrate the meter and in any event I had not carried the purchase receipt which was required in the registration process at Zinwa.

As if that was not enough burden passed onto the customer, the calibration would not be done instantly while you wait but you had to leave the meter behind and collect after 3 hours.

I negotiated to leave the meter behind while they did the calibration and asked if I could given the receipt to take to ZINWA the following day together with the proof of purchase of the meter numbered in the Bishop Gaul Street Offices receipt.

The next day I paid the Zinwa Offices a visit equipped with the two documents and was given the calibration clearance certificate to take back to Bishop Gaul offices and redeem my calibrated meter which I grudgingly obliged to.

Before leaving Zinwa I took the certifying officer and her engineer to task as to the logic of having offices whose work is complimentary situated 3 kilometers apart and was given some lame excuse about the shortage of appropriately qualified Zinwa staff to Station at Bishop Gaul and the Speke avenue offices and the need to minimize fraudulent activities in the registration of the meters in the calibration offices.

I asked why the burden had to be placed with the consumer to commute between the two offices and not the Local Authority that is so diligent in trying to protect its consumers against fraudsters and did not get a satisfactory answer.

But the obvious answer is that the Municipality is expropriating consumers’ meters by registering them as its assets and exploiting them to run its administrative errands because it is a monopoly in the supply of water and if the customer does not oblige they will be charged exorbitantly for estimated water consumption that they hardly ever receive and consume.

Equipped with the calibration certificate I headed for the Bishop Gaul offices to collect the meter and finally fit it but there were more surprises in store for me.

I was given the now green painted meter alright and told it to take it to my local area office to have it fitted.

I went straight to the waterfalls Area office where to my surprise I was referred to another Waterworks department which is some 5 kilometers away from the Area Office.

I had had enough and lost it completely. Here I was at my area office which had failed me in the first instance by not replacing the broken meter and thereafter overcharging me for water that was ever a trickle and when I bought them the meter they did not advise me properly when they sent me to Bishop Gaul offices instead of the Zinwa offices first.

After doing all the work they are supposed to and for which I pay for in rates and water charges they were contend to send me anywhere and everywhere instead of them servicing me as their customer.

I told the cashier I had had enough of their inefficient service and would not go anywhere else other than the Area offices where I was from advice I had been given at Bishop Gaul Offices and if the plumbers were located elsewhere it was up to the office to let them attend to the job at my residence.

“We have no means to contact them as they have the only vehicle for the district and their landline is down,” they informed me.

It only added to my fury and I threatened the supervisor who was making this lame execuse with the sack as I was going to take the meter to Townhouse and leave it there if he was not willing to perform his duties.

It is only then I learned the plumbers had a business mobile which the area office was prohibited to phone from the landline and they had run out of credit in their mobile.

I offered them mine and was soon talking to the Plumber who insisted I had to drop the meter at his workshop.

I reminded him that his job was to serve customers and not the other way round and told him that I was leaving the meter with the supervisor at the area office and expect it to be fitted before the close of business the same day failure of which I was going to come and collect the meter and take it to the Director of Works’ Office and narrate my ordeal at the hands of the service providers in his frontline offices.

I terminated the conversation and drove off leaving the meter there with the supervisor cashier. Within 30 minutes the Plumber was on the line seeking directions to my residence claiming he had collected the meter and wanted to fit it which I gladly gave to him and he was there within ten minutes.

The meter was finally fitted much to my relief. The plumber attempted to squeeze a bribe from me to attend to a leak on the stop valve after the meter but I gave him an eye that told him he was treading on dangerous territory and he fixed the leak with thread tape that I provided when he complained he had not brought his full tools because of the ultimatum I had given him.

That is the sad service culture Zanu PF misrule has bequeathed the country.

The banks in Zimbabwe accept payments from foreign account holders and transfers from those accounts through MONEYGRAM. Western Union and or Telegraphic bank to Bank transfers.

They until last week refuse to dispense cash to such account holders citing the effects of forex transactions restrictions they were operating under Gideon Gono’s tenure as the Zanu PF economic turnaround point man.

While giving these excuses they were already accepting the same cards to be swiped at their point of sale terminals in supermarkets but refusing the outlets permission to even allow limited cash back facilities as is the case where point of sale terminals are in use globally.

Under these circumstances and needing substantial cash to pay contractors I had engaged to renovate the house I made arrangements to be sent the money via Western Union.

I went to collect the cash from the Standard Bank Africa Union Square Western Union Officers where the woman officer at the reception counter would not allow me to fill the collection form on a disused counter in the hall but outside the banking hall.

After complying and submitting my claim form to her she would not allow me to stand in the banking hall waiting for my turn ordering me to sit on the hard benches provided for waiting customers.

When my turn to be served finally came around the cahier dispensed the notes and retained 55 cents without so much mentioning that she had done so and her reasons for doing that.

I would have not bothered but the control freak at the reception had started my adrenalin running long before I got served so I questioned the shortage whereupon the cashier explained that she had no coins and they routinely left any coins unpaid for that reason.

I quickly counted that there were about 10 people served ahead of me in a space of one hour and at that rate the facility was capable of serving 80 people in the 8 hours they worked and if each was to be docked 50cents the cashiers will have $40.00 in unclaimed funds which they could share between themselves and resolved I was not going to be swindled like that.

I offered the cashier 35 pence and requested that she give me a dollar but she refused and said she was not authorized to accept the coins by her management.

I was livid and went to the manager’s office to demand my 50 cents. The duty manager was at first surprised to see a customer making such a frivolous demand but when she realised how angry and serious I was she struck a conciliatory note and explained that the matter could have been resolved by the cashier accepting the pence I had tendered.

She asked me to return to the counter and wait for her. When I arrived the control freak receptionist would not allow me to stand in the hall to which I told her to go to hell as it was not an offence anywhere in the country to wait for a service while standing.

The waiting customers she had rudely instructed to sit down before me were automatically turned on my side as they felt the offensive receptionist had met her match.

She would have none of that and went to call a security guard to ensure that I was seated or removed from the banking hall.

A dreadful miscalculation as she later realised when I told the security guard of and as I was giving the guard the lecture of his rights and mine the manager arrived and told him and the receptionist to leave me alone as I was under her care.

I was told to go back to the same cashier who had served me and declined as she was serving another customer much to the surprise of the manager who had to wait until she was through with that customer.

She was promptly instructed to accept the pence I had tendered and pay me out a dollar which I gratefully accepted and left with an air of triumph.

It was a victory worth celebrating after the banks had seemed impervious to my other suggestions as to how they could overcome the setback of severed relations with VISA.

These examples of the service culture prevailing in Zimbabwe serve to highlight the problem that is faced in doing business in the country and the gap between international customer expectations and the local customer expectations that have to be harmonized.

Fortunately consumer resistance to the culture is increasing and customers are beginning to demand value for money through demonstrations such as the one against the City Council over charges for no services staged recently.

The unfortunate part of it is that Zanu PF will cease the opportunity to turn the demonstrations into mayhem to further the resistance agenda against the coalition government but the government will have none other than itself to blame if the situation goes out of hand.

Zesa no longer replaces stolen armoured electricity supply cables and electricity meters while Municipalities no longer replace broken water meters they use to bill customers and demand that customers supply their own hardware which they will fit.

In the case of Zesa they demand that customers provide them with pickup transportation if they want the faults to their premises attended to timeously.

They are extorting residences’ property and recording them as their assets and further charging for them for utilities they have fully paid for.
That must be stopped and wherever customers have supplied hardware the Councils and

ZESA are not in a position to supply they must be credited back the costs on their bills if the Parastatals are to legally claim the hardware as their assets.
The service culture in public institutions has a contagious effect on service culture in private enterprises