Presidential spokesman, George Charamba, has denied reports that the generals of the security forces have met Tsvangirai to secure their positions ahead of elections. ‘It is a major lie’ Charamba says vehemently. Me thinks the spin man protesteth too much. Sydney Sekeramai lends his two cents. You may recall the honourable Dr Sekeramai as one of the ministers who sat bare foot, clapping hands, before bogus n’anga, Rhotina Mavhunga, during the Chinhoyi diesel furore.
Banda and babies
Joyce Banda – who made international headlines for being Malawi’s first ever woman president and for ditching her presidential jet and fleet of limousines – officially opened the just-ended ZITF. Banda had been in the country for all of five minutes when she said Zimbabwe was a peaceful country. She and Grace Mugabe stopped by the first lady’s orphanage and held orphan babies. You know, for the benefit of the cameras in attendance.
Observers in some quarters have branded Bulawayo mayor Thaba Moyo’s proposal to grant freedom of the city to Tsvangirai and deputy PM, Thokozani Khupe, as pre-election politicking meant to increase popularity. And the other party has done no similar thing in other parts of the country.
Legal and Parliamentary affairs minister Patrick Chinamasa said emergency taxi operators – hwindis – who abuse women seen as dressed inappropriately should not play judge and jury. Commendable words from the minister. Now let’s see some arrests, to send the message loud and clear.
Holy cow
Holy cow! Somebody stole 10 mombes acquired for Mugabe’s 89th birthday celebrations. No mortal should inflict his birthday upon others or heap the torture of that “Heppy Heppy Heppy Birthday” song on the ears of 12 million citizens for a full month, even if February is only 28 days.
At a breakfast meeting for small to medium scale enterprises, deputy minister of economic planning Samuel Udenge – the man who wheedled his way into government by plastering full-page newspaper adverts against corruption, circa 2003 – accused some SMEs who complain about the influx of Chinese products of being “cry babies”. He further said his wife’s business was doing well, even in the face of Chinese products.
Residents of Kwekwe’s Torwood area have gone back to basics. Because their toilets, constructed a year ago, are not connected to the main sewer system, over 500 residents are reportedly using a nearby bush. Showing cooperation in crisis, the residents have a rule: the men use the north and womenfolk use the south. The town council obviously has a lot to answer for but in this age of cholera and typhoid, if the residents really wanted to help themselves, they could have long ago dug pit latrines while waiting for council assistance.
A dirty well
Simba “kaOne” Makoni proposes a political coalition of all like-minded people. He invites President Mugabe to join him in realising this quixotic vision. Nobody doubts Simba Makoni’s cleverness. But he does not hold a monopoly on intelligence. The whole reason behind Makoni’s resignation from Zanu (PF) is that he and Mugabe are not like-minded. Now he proposes an alliance? Makoni is only there to dirty the village well while everybody else waits their turn to draw water – somebody’s invention, designed to cause confusion and weaken other parties by splitting their votes.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe – you might know them for churning out a constantly mutating currency, printed on photocopying paper in the last decade – has lost a court appeal against the immediate payment of $932 million granted by an arbitrator in 2011. It is this scribe’s estimation that the bosses knew the outcome even before they made the call to their lawyer and the appeal was merely to buy time.
Post published in: Opinions & Analysis