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ZIMBABWE: THIS IS THE HOUR OF TEMPTATION

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Message Clutton Patsika
Probably the parties to the Zimbabwean crisis will come to an agreement as I write this one. Of course it will be victory for President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. In the minds of many Mr Mbeki drew out the fishing line a long time ago. He caught the dreaded shark, Robert Mugabe, and like a good fisherman, he has been dragging him ashore. We all know that fishing of this type takes a great deal of patience or you may tip over losing the catch as well.

For South Africa, the success of this big catch will no doubt take Mbeki's rankings back to the top (where they should belong). However, now that the shark is out of water and desperate to return, can we say Mr Mbeki dares delay the process? I believe we should.

What is important in the deal between Zanu PF and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is that Zanu PF has played a crucial role of building, like a deck of cards, an undesirable nation. They still want to be part of a new system that we have been striving for more than nine years to get rid of. Here is where lies the problem.

Zanu PF must acknowledge that it has usurped the power of the people to decide their fate. On top of this, we have all been insulted and referred to as sellouts. The whole nation, which supported this party to power has suddenly become interested in returning the country to the colonial masters.

Yet what we would like to ask Mr Mugabe and his band is: Was the West involved when we created a gigantum cabinet with ministers on top of each other all burning Zimbabwe's resources. Did some of them not commit suicide when the legendary Geof Nyarota and henchman David Maruziva exposed them back in the 80's? Did, we budget for the windfall that , literally, fell on the war veterans' feet? We know the majority of them could not even fire a gun. What about our civil service was it ever efficient, results oriented or well apid to avoid corruption? And the parastals, oh my God I shudder not think about Zupco, NRZ, Zisco, etc.  What about escapades in Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique-- where we trying to be the America of Africa?

Many and indeed all of us Zimbabweans are agreed, our problems are self inflicted. We got reasonable support from the West, but our leaders betrayed us. Our leaders took advantage of our revolutionary chants to steal national coffers and enrich themselves. And as that great philosopher Franz Fanon warned, the class that takes power is an underdeveloped middle class busy copying ways of the white and looking for loopholes to enrich themselves. In the process, they fill us with jargon and diatribe. For example vision 2020, Health For All by The Year 200 and blah blah that keep us the poor in infinite expectation

In my view true unity means every one accounting for their wrong doing and being forgiven. This unity will stem from the fact that everyone has agreed to throw their idiosyncrasies out the window to allow for a new political dispensation. So if the government of national unity idea becomes reality, it is once again Zanu PF that stands to benefit. They go scott free once again, no sign of repentance and in fact they will plunder till death. To me that is why I still maintain that the best present for Zimbabwe is a supervised transition, where free and fair elections are held. How can the fate of so many of us be subjected to a two-week dialogue between these parties. This is just a marriage of convenience, which will obviously crack at the seams.

I am sure Zimbabweans are more conscious of the effect of the 1987 pact with Dr Joshua Nkomo. Of course it tranquilised Matabeleland but it also diluted this oppositional power base, leaving Matabeland the rural wasteland it is today. Eventually, the band wagon extended and the rest was the crisis that we face today.

The crisis may well extend as the real people become disillusioned by this pact of convenience they call government of national unity. In short, Zimbabwe's crisis must be solved through a democratic process in which the ballot is a basic tenet. There after, we are not a nation of idiots who do not appreciate the dynamics of Western imperialism and neo-liberalism. Yet democracy is a process and as we approach dawn of a new Zimbabwe, through the talks, the eagerness to reform must not be overtaken by political expediency. Let us remember that real freedom will be realised when we tick Zanu PF out of office.

To Mr Mbeki, all I can say is you are a real statesman, brother, and now your new role is: KEEP THE SHARK OUT OF WATER FOR A LONG AS YOU CAN. I rest my case.
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Clutton Patsika a Zimbabwean journalist with The Southern Cross, a Catholic weekly has worked in a senior capacity for various newspapers in Zimbabwe including the Zimbabwe Daily Mirror and Daily News all shut down by the government. He specialises (more...)
 
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