1. Posted on Monday 3 November 2008 - 16:00

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   Matenga

   

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   Stephen T. Matenga, Africa News reporter in Haarlem, The Netherlands Photo: Francis Ncube

   With all due respect, the SADC mediated talks about the crisis in Zimbabwe have become a mere talk show for their failure to produce a solution to the deteriorating situation of the suffering millions.

   

   The talks can best be described by the old adage, which has it that it is stupid to hold a conference on fighting fire when in actual fact a building is burning. The most logical thing to do is therefore to fight the fire first and then have ‘talks’ or conferences and workshops on fire-fighting later.
   
   Put simply, the millions of desperate Zimbabweans who can no longer afford basic health care, have no food, cant afford medication or school fees for their children, do no longer get regular supplies of water and electricity yet the talk show about talks and power sharing is moving from capital to capital and from five-star hotel to another, costing millions in dollars, attracting all sorts of African heads of states and media but producing no solution for the suffering Zimbabweans who simply need a decent affordable life in a decent economy and a democratic country. That’s what Zimbabweans simply want. In a recent report, international human rights group, Amnesty International expressed shock that people can talk so much about power sharing without considering hunger and human rights abuses.
   
   Zimbabwe used to be the breadbasket of Southern Africa, producing enough food to feed the whole region of about 12 countries then. It used to embrace the model African statesmanship. It was then described internationally as ‘the symbol of hope’ and ‘the beacon of democracy’. All this has gone. The people have become destitutes without basic food such as cooking oil, sugar, salt, bread, mealie-meal, water as well as medication. The once glooming health delivery system has totally collapsed, there is no more education to talk about.
   
   Blame game
   
   This is the major challenge in this country, the people’s suffering. The causes vary and are debatable. Mugabe says its because of the sanctions imposed by the West because he re-possessed their land and re-distributed it among landless blacks, Tsvangirai says the country is suffering from Mugabe’s autocratic leadership, human rights abuses and economic mismanagement. The truth is that all these factors contribute to the current situation. The multi-million dollar question is how can the country get out of this mud?
   
   The talks seem not to bear fruit. Blessing Vava, Secretary of Information and Publicity of the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) whose members were arrested and brutally assaulted by police for demanding finality to the last talks said the people’s patience is being stretched too far.
   
   “We are greatly disappointed about the current political impasse. Zanu PF is taking the people of Zimbabwe for granted. Zanu Pf has not been negotiating in good faith as seen by their continued violation of the MOU. The continued use of hate language by the state, the abuse and violence by the police, the failure to issue Morgan Tsvangirai with a passport WHICH IN OUR VIEW IS A HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION. All in all we hope that a solution is found as a matter of urgency. We urge the political players to be level headed and put the interests of the nation and the people first.”
   
   The SADC Organ on Politics and Defense has evidently failed to persuade Mugabe and Tsvangirai to form a government. The sticking point is the distribution of Ministries particularly the Ministry of Home Affairs that controls the police, immigration and the registrar-general who administers elections. Tsvangirai says if the government is to be a power-sharing establishment, then he should have home affairs since Mugabe will have defense. Mugabe will not listen to this and therefore no agreement is in sight. The SADC Troika says it is now calling the full 14 members of SADC at a meeting and venue yet to be announced.
   
   Questions arising
   
   The concern is, (as Zimbabwe Youth Movement activist Collen Chibango put it in a Zimbabwe Watch report) what will the whole SADC achieve that the troika has failed? In other words, are we not heading for another talk show when the building is burning? The MDC says it will take the issue up with the AU and the UN if SADC fails. What hope is there for the suffering Zimbabweans who wonder what is being discussed about them without them so secretly that even the media is avoided? Whose interests are being served by these secret negotiators? Are they negotiating for the people’s plight or their personal power interests? The greatest questions are; what therefore is the solution to this madness about talks at the expense of the suffering masses? Are the people involved? Will SADC help? Is Motlanthe more powerful than Mbeki in this issue? How long more can people wait? Isn’t the delay a time bomb as people will soon explode?
   
   Meanwhile, Mugabe is reported to have sent troops to assist the DRC government contain rebels of the National Congress for the Defense of the People and surprisingly, seems not worried about the situation in Zimbabwe. Reports from the Eastern part of the DRC allege that these mercenary Mugabe troops have been involved in massive looting, rape and killings.

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Reactions

1. Posted on Tuesday 04 November 2008 13:46

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   Farai wekwaGandiwa

   

   farai nhende
   2 berichten
   Lid sinds November 2008

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   i am strongly inclined to agree by the views aired by Matenga in his article "Zim; where is the problem, the solution". clearly the ongoing talks have not done much to alleviate the continued suffering of the masses and still people continue to reel under the scourge of devastating poverty that has gripded the nation.
   
   while this fun-fare continues under the guise of talks aimed at reaching a compromise, the economic recession also continues unabated on its downward spiral. surely if there was any sincerity on the part of the facilitators of this process, they should have realised by now that the talks were doomed to fail. the reasons for the failure of this talkshow are multi-faceted. one of the reasons stems from the fact that the process has been too shrouded in secrecy, leaving out the most important stakeholders who have been affected the most by the 28 year despotic rule.
   
   however, what makes a compromise between the two political parties even more improbable is the fact that Mugabe is running scared, he is afraid that his past will catch up with him, afraid of owning up to the heinous offences that were perpetrated during his tenure in office. this is precisely the reason why he has adamantly stuck by his position that he will not let go of the two ministries of Home Affairs and Defence because he fears that this will expose and leave him vulnerable without much in the way of security. this in my view is the reason why the present talks have been unfruitful, and appparently the SADC heads of state in their multitude have either been unable to read into this very simple political dynamic or have conveniently chosen to disregard this obvious pointer. this is why a more practical alternative avenue of solving the zimbabwean crisis needs to be found as a matter of urgency in contradistinction to this kid glove handling technique that has sought to be employed hitherto.

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2. Posted on Tuesday 04 November 2008 13:47

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   Farai wekwaGandiwa

   

   farai nhende
   2 berichten
   Lid sinds November 2008

   ---

   i am strongly inclined to agree by the views aired by Matenga in his article "Zim; where is the problem, the solution". clearly the ongoing talks have not done much to alleviate the continued suffering of the masses and still people continue to reel under the scourge of devastating poverty that has gripped the nation.
   
   while this fun-fare continues under the guise of talks aimed at reaching a compromise, the economic recession also continues unabated on its downward spiral. surely if there was any sincerity on the part of the facilitators of this process, they should have realised by now that the talks were doomed to fail. the reasons for the failure of this talkshow are multi-faceted. one of the reasons stems from the fact that the process has been too shrouded in secrecy, leaving out the most important stakeholders who have been affected the most by the 28 year despotic rule.
   
   however, what makes a compromise between the two political parties even more improbable is the fact that Mugabe is running scared, he is afraid that his past will catch up with him, afraid of owning up to the heinous offences that were perpetrated during his tenure in office. this is precisely the reason why he has adamantly stuck by his position that he will not let go of the two ministries of Home Affairs and Defence because he fears that this will expose and leave him vulnerable without much in the way of security. this in my view is the reason why the present talks have been unfruitful, and appparently the SADC heads of state in their multitude have either been unable to read into this very simple political dynamic or have conveniently chosen to disregard this obvious pointer. this is why a more practical alternative avenue of solving the zimbabwean crisis needs to be found as a matter of urgency in contradistinction to this kid glove handling technique that has sought to be employed hitherto.

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