Comments on: Does any of this make sense to you? http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/2072 This is Zimbabwe is Sokwanele's pro-democracy activist blog. It provides grassroots news and views from Zimbabwe. Wed, 17 Mar 2010 01:43:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Lobengula http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/2072/comment-page-1#comment-272119 Lobengula Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:24:01 +0000 http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/?p=2072#comment-272119 We would be the laughingstock of the world if we weren't so pathetic: We have no money. We have no food. We have no free press. We have no rights. We have no clean water. We have no education. We have no health services. We have no electricity. We have no airlines. We have lots of play money...wheelbarrows full. We have lots of starvation. We have the state run Herald and state run TV. We have the courts (the ones grandpa Bob appointed). We have cholera. We have plenty of pupils...(just no teachers or books or paper or pencils). We have plenty of sick and injured patients (but no doctors or medicines). We have electric lights and televisions...just no electricity. We have airplanes and airports (just no pilots). THANKFULLY, for 30 years we've had grandpa Bob and ZANU-PF and we have "our sovereignty" and therefore it all makes perfect sense!<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('272119','Lobengula'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> --- <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('272119','Lobengula','We would be the laughingstock of the world if we weren\'t so pathetic:\r\n\r\nWe have no money.\r\nWe have no food.\r\nWe have no free press.\r\nWe have no rights.\r\nWe have no clean water.\r\nWe have no education.\r\nWe have no health services.\r\nWe have no electricity.\r\nWe have no airlines.\r\n\r\nWe have lots of play money...wheelbarrows full.\r\nWe have lots of starvation.\r\nWe have the state run Herald and state run TV.\r\nWe have the courts (the ones grandpa Bob appointed).\r\nWe have cholera.\r\nWe have plenty of pupils...(just no teachers or books or paper or pencils).\r\nWe have plenty of sick and injured patients (but no doctors or medicines). \r\nWe have electric lights and televisions...just no electricity.\r\nWe have airplanes and airports (just no pilots).\r\n\r\nTHANKFULLY, for 30 years we\'ve had grandpa Bob and ZANU-PF and we have \"our sovereignty\" and therefore it all makes perfect sense!'); return false;">Quote from this comment</a></div> We would be the laughingstock of the world if we weren’t so pathetic:

We have no money.
We have no food.
We have no free press.
We have no rights.
We have no clean water.
We have no education.
We have no health services.
We have no electricity.
We have no airlines.

We have lots of play money…wheelbarrows full.
We have lots of starvation.
We have the state run Herald and state run TV.
We have the courts (the ones grandpa Bob appointed).
We have cholera.
We have plenty of pupils…(just no teachers or books or paper or pencils).
We have plenty of sick and injured patients (but no doctors or medicines).
We have electric lights and televisions…just no electricity.
We have airplanes and airports (just no pilots).

THANKFULLY, for 30 years we’ve had grandpa Bob and ZANU-PF and we have “our sovereignty” and therefore it all makes perfect sense!

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]]> By: Anonymous http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/2072/comment-page-1#comment-272113 Anonymous Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:56:35 +0000 http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/?p=2072#comment-272113 Each of us is paying the price of living in Zimbabwe in countless ways. It's difficult to wake up each morning and put one foot in front of the other and be enthused about going to work when all one can think about is where and how to get the basics. I earn a meagre salary paid in local money and for 4 months now, have not been able to draw cash from the ATM machine because they either have NO CASH, or NO ELECTRICITY or the bank hasn't yet configured the machines to accommodate the new notes which are ever changing. Those who are employed cannot queue for the banking hall each day because of being late for work. No matter what percentage increase at work I am given, it is never enough to get me through the month. My standard of living has dropped so drastically! Dining at a restaurant, fresh flowers on the coffee table each week, various condiments for meals, a roast beef, pork, or chicken, fruit juice and bacon or fish for breakfast is only a dream. Snacks of cheese, savoury biscuits, gherkins and olives are also a 'thing of the past'. Purchasing manure and mushroom compost to feed the garden is out of the question and servicing the car is put on hold until something major goes wrong with the vehicle and borrowing the money is the only option. No wonder there's very little to laugh about any longer. The saddest thing is, that there are people FAR WORSE OFF than me!!<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('272113','Anonymous'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> --- <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('272113','Anonymous','Each of us is paying the price of living in Zimbabwe in countless ways. It\'s difficult to wake up each morning and put one foot in front of the other and be enthused about going to work when all one can think about is where and how to get the basics. I earn a meagre salary paid in local money and for 4 months now, have not been able to draw cash from the ATM machine because they either have NO CASH, or NO ELECTRICITY or the bank hasn\'t yet configured the machines to accommodate the new notes which are ever changing. Those who are employed cannot queue for the banking hall each day because of being late for work. No matter what percentage increase at work I am given, it is never enough to get me through the month. My standard of living has dropped so drastically! Dining at a restaurant, fresh flowers on the coffee table each week, various condiments for meals, a roast beef, pork, or chicken, fruit juice and bacon or fish for breakfast is only a dream. Snacks of cheese, savoury biscuits, gherkins and olives are also a \'thing of the past\'. Purchasing manure and mushroom compost to feed the garden is out of the question and servicing the car is put on hold until something major goes wrong with the vehicle and borrowing the money is the only option. No wonder there\'s very little to laugh about any longer. The saddest thing is, that there are people FAR WORSE OFF than me!!'); return false;">Quote from this comment</a></div> Each of us is paying the price of living in Zimbabwe in countless ways. It’s difficult to wake up each morning and put one foot in front of the other and be enthused about going to work when all one can think about is where and how to get the basics. I earn a meagre salary paid in local money and for 4 months now, have not been able to draw cash from the ATM machine because they either have NO CASH, or NO ELECTRICITY or the bank hasn’t yet configured the machines to accommodate the new notes which are ever changing. Those who are employed cannot queue for the banking hall each day because of being late for work. No matter what percentage increase at work I am given, it is never enough to get me through the month. My standard of living has dropped so drastically! Dining at a restaurant, fresh flowers on the coffee table each week, various condiments for meals, a roast beef, pork, or chicken, fruit juice and bacon or fish for breakfast is only a dream. Snacks of cheese, savoury biscuits, gherkins and olives are also a ‘thing of the past’. Purchasing manure and mushroom compost to feed the garden is out of the question and servicing the car is put on hold until something major goes wrong with the vehicle and borrowing the money is the only option. No wonder there’s very little to laugh about any longer. The saddest thing is, that there are people FAR WORSE OFF than me!!
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]]> By: paul canning http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/2072/comment-page-1#comment-272104 paul canning Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:32:12 +0000 http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/?p=2072#comment-272104 This puts the moans of us Brits about rising food prices and failing banks into context!<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('272104','paul canning'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> --- <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('272104','paul canning','This puts the moans of us Brits about rising food prices and failing banks into context!'); return false;">Quote from this comment</a></div> This puts the moans of us Brits about rising food prices and failing banks into context!
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]]> By: Roger http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/2072/comment-page-1#comment-272091 Roger Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:33:39 +0000 http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/?p=2072#comment-272091 On Monday I used my CABS swipe card in Spar to buy some garlic for $1,260. On my statement is a Zimswitch charge from Kingdom Bank of $8,066 for that transaction. Does this make sense to you?!<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('272091','Roger'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> --- <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('272091','Roger','On Monday I used my CABS swipe card in Spar to buy some garlic for $1,260. On my statement is a Zimswitch charge from Kingdom Bank of $8,066 for that transaction.\r\n\r\nDoes this make sense to you?!'); return false;">Quote from this comment</a></div> On Monday I used my CABS swipe card in Spar to buy some garlic for $1,260. On my statement is a Zimswitch charge from Kingdom Bank of $8,066 for that transaction.

Does this make sense to you?!

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]]> By: Julian http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/2072/comment-page-1#comment-272084 Julian Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:05:04 +0000 http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/?p=2072#comment-272084 re falling readership: contact the owner of zwnews.com -- it is no longer updated, but has probably the largest readership of any Zimbabwe news site, and a substantial mailing list. A pity to let it go to waste. WOuld be a good place to syndicate all Zim blogs and news sites into one, boosting everyone's readership.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('272084','Julian'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> --- <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('272084','Julian','re falling readership: \r\ncontact the owner of zwnews.com -- it is no longer updated, but has probably the largest readership of any Zimbabwe news site, and a substantial mailing list. A pity to let it go to waste. WOuld be a good place to syndicate all Zim blogs and news sites into one, boosting everyone\'s readership.'); return false;">Quote from this comment</a></div> re falling readership:
contact the owner of zwnews.com — it is no longer updated, but has probably the largest readership of any Zimbabwe news site, and a substantial mailing list. A pity to let it go to waste. WOuld be a good place to syndicate all Zim blogs and news sites into one, boosting everyone’s readership.
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]]> By: Anonymous http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/2072/comment-page-1#comment-272080 Anonymous Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:05:40 +0000 http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/?p=2072#comment-272080 Having just read the most recent posting via Metafilter and seen in the Guardian (UK) that Mugabe hasn't given up his cloak and dagger manouveres (sic), I felt compelled to offer my sympathies at the bizarre yet sadly familiar turmoil you are all still dealing with in Zimbabwe. My condolences... life is hard enough without said Zanu PNF idiots meddling, profiteering and (it seems) brazenly publicising said efforts. Be strong, be confident. I wish that my government were forcefully on the side of the Zimbabwean people; it is small comfort but the English people are with you in spirit and solidarity. Pat, England<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('272080','Anonymous'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> --- <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('272080','Anonymous','Having just read the most recent posting via Metafilter and seen in the Guardian (UK) that Mugabe hasn\'t given up his cloak and dagger manouveres (sic), I felt compelled to offer my sympathies at the bizarre yet sadly familiar turmoil you are all still dealing with in Zimbabwe. My condolences... life is hard enough without said Zanu PNF idiots meddling, profiteering and (it seems) brazenly publicising said efforts. Be strong, be confident. I wish that my government were forcefully on the side of the Zimbabwean people; it is small comfort but the English people are with you in spirit and solidarity.\r\n\r\nPat,\r\nEngland'); return false;">Quote from this comment</a></div> Having just read the most recent posting via Metafilter and seen in the Guardian (UK) that Mugabe hasn’t given up his cloak and dagger manouveres (sic), I felt compelled to offer my sympathies at the bizarre yet sadly familiar turmoil you are all still dealing with in Zimbabwe. My condolences… life is hard enough without said Zanu PNF idiots meddling, profiteering and (it seems) brazenly publicising said efforts. Be strong, be confident. I wish that my government were forcefully on the side of the Zimbabwean people; it is small comfort but the English people are with you in spirit and solidarity.

Pat,
England

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]]> By: Ants http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/2072/comment-page-1#comment-272079 Ants Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:12:51 +0000 http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/?p=2072#comment-272079 <a href='#comment-272077' rel="nofollow">@Sokwanele</a> - ...that is, except you Hope, who really is inspiring living up to your Nom de plume "Hope". Excellent site and as inspiring as it gets. Bob & his cronies, have the most incredible ability to wear people down.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('272079','Ants'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> --- <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('272079','Ants','<a href=\'#comment-272077\' rel=\"nofollow\">@Sokwanele<\/a> - \r\n\r\n...that is, except you Hope, who really is inspiring living up to your Nom de plume \"Hope\". Excellent site and as inspiring as it gets. Bob & his cronies, have the most incredible ability to wear people down.'); return false;">Quote from this comment</a></div> @Sokwanele –

…that is, except you Hope, who really is inspiring living up to your Nom de plume “Hope”. Excellent site and as inspiring as it gets. Bob & his cronies, have the most incredible ability to wear people down.

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]]> By: Charles Worringham http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/2072/comment-page-1#comment-272078 Charles Worringham Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:10:38 +0000 http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/?p=2072#comment-272078 Don't be discouraged by any drop off in comments. I'm sure many people are like me - still following events closely but unclear what actions to take. I have the sense that power has shifted psychologically despite the current unsatisfactory and untenable situation. Surely this throws up new opportunities for targetted e-mail, phone and letter campaigns? Who are the mid-level people in the old regime who know the game is up and who should be hearing from the outside world? Sokwanele - we need some creative ideas from those who know the situation best...<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('272078','Charles Worringham'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> --- <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('272078','Charles Worringham','Don\'t be discouraged by any drop off in comments. I\'m sure many people are like me - still following events closely but unclear what actions to take. I have the sense that power has shifted psychologically despite the current unsatisfactory and untenable situation. Surely this throws up new opportunities for targetted e-mail, phone and letter campaigns? Who are the mid-level people in the old regime who know the game is up and who should be hearing from the outside world? Sokwanele - we need some creative ideas from those who know the situation best...'); return false;">Quote from this comment</a></div> Don’t be discouraged by any drop off in comments. I’m sure many people are like me – still following events closely but unclear what actions to take. I have the sense that power has shifted psychologically despite the current unsatisfactory and untenable situation. Surely this throws up new opportunities for targetted e-mail, phone and letter campaigns? Who are the mid-level people in the old regime who know the game is up and who should be hearing from the outside world? Sokwanele – we need some creative ideas from those who know the situation best…
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]]> By: Sokwanele http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/2072/comment-page-1#comment-272077 Sokwanele Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:07:45 +0000 http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/?p=2072#comment-272077 <a href='#comment-272076' rel="nofollow">@tc</a> and <a href='#comment-272074' rel="nofollow">@Ants</a> - I can reassure you that the same familiar people who have been reading for a while are still reading because I see them drift by whenever we update the blog. General hits to the blog have however fallen since March and June, but this is natural to be expected. It's because worldwide readers who come to the blog during times of high news interest generally don't continue reading when the world media is focussing on things like the credit crunch and USA elections. But those who comment on Zim and are interested in Zim are still here. If Zim hits the international news in a big way again, we'll see a lot of our worldwide occasional readers come back - it always happens that way. Hope<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('272077','Sokwanele'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> --- <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('272077','Sokwanele','<a href=\'#comment-272076\' rel=\"nofollow\">@tc<\/a> and <a href=\'#comment-272074\' rel=\"nofollow\">@Ants<\/a> - I can reassure you that the same familiar people who have been reading for a while are still reading because I see them drift by whenever we update the blog. \r\n\r\nGeneral hits to the blog have however fallen since March and June, but this is natural to be expected. It\'s because worldwide readers who come to the blog during times of high news interest generally don\'t continue reading when the world media is focussing on things like the credit crunch and USA elections. \r\n\r\nBut those who comment on Zim and are interested in Zim are still here. \r\n\r\nIf Zim hits the international news in a big way again, we\'ll see a lot of our worldwide occasional readers come back - it always happens that way.\r\n\r\nHope'); return false;">Quote from this comment</a></div> @tc and @Ants – I can reassure you that the same familiar people who have been reading for a while are still reading because I see them drift by whenever we update the blog.

General hits to the blog have however fallen since March and June, but this is natural to be expected. It’s because worldwide readers who come to the blog during times of high news interest generally don’t continue reading when the world media is focussing on things like the credit crunch and USA elections.

But those who comment on Zim and are interested in Zim are still here.

If Zim hits the international news in a big way again, we’ll see a lot of our worldwide occasional readers come back – it always happens that way.

Hope

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]]> By: tc http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/2072/comment-page-1#comment-272076 tc Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:53:58 +0000 http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/?p=2072#comment-272076 I can't believe this. I also heard yesterday that G Gono has made business dealing in forex legal provided companies pay a 50,000 US $ fee. Perhaps I have the facts wrong but they are all so bizarre it's hard to make head or tail of it. With so few people earning salaries etc. Govt can't be earning much on tax by legal means. There are fewer comments. I wonder what readership is like. I bet the same people are still reading. It's just you really do wonder what to do. What do Sokwanele think?<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('272076','tc'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> --- <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('272076','tc','I can\'t believe this. I also heard yesterday that G Gono has made business dealing in forex legal provided companies pay a 50,000 US $ fee. Perhaps I have the facts wrong but they are all so bizarre it\'s hard to make head or tail of it. With so few people earning salaries etc. Govt can\'t be earning much on tax by legal means. \r\nThere are fewer comments. I wonder what readership is like. I bet the same people are still reading. It\'s just you really do wonder what to do. What do Sokwanele think?'); return false;">Quote from this comment</a></div> I can’t believe this. I also heard yesterday that G Gono has made business dealing in forex legal provided companies pay a 50,000 US $ fee. Perhaps I have the facts wrong but they are all so bizarre it’s hard to make head or tail of it. With so few people earning salaries etc. Govt can’t be earning much on tax by legal means.
There are fewer comments. I wonder what readership is like. I bet the same people are still reading. It’s just you really do wonder what to do. What do Sokwanele think?
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]]> By: Ants http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/2072/comment-page-1#comment-272074 Ants Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:42:38 +0000 http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/?p=2072#comment-272074 There seem fewer and fewer letters and comments posted on Sokwnaele. A sign of extreme weariness, maybe? I know for one I am, and so also must all the good people in Zim be. Would I be even remotely correct in guessing that savage Mugabe is on the cusp of riding rough-shod over the newly democratically elected Government and President, on his way to absolute power again? Who says good will prevail! Charisma and brutality in Africa count - not good governance.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('272074','Ants'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> --- <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('272074','Ants','There seem fewer and fewer letters and comments posted on Sokwnaele. A sign of extreme weariness, maybe?\r\n\r\nI know for one I am, and so also must all the good people in Zim be.\r\n\r\nWould I be even remotely correct in guessing that savage Mugabe is on the cusp of riding rough-shod over the newly democratically elected Government and President, on his way to absolute power again?\r\n\r\nWho says good will prevail! Charisma and brutality in Africa count - not good governance.'); return false;">Quote from this comment</a></div> There seem fewer and fewer letters and comments posted on Sokwnaele. A sign of extreme weariness, maybe?

I know for one I am, and so also must all the good people in Zim be.

Would I be even remotely correct in guessing that savage Mugabe is on the cusp of riding rough-shod over the newly democratically elected Government and President, on his way to absolute power again?

Who says good will prevail! Charisma and brutality in Africa count – not good governance.

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]]> By: BM http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/2072/comment-page-1#comment-272072 BM Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:20:29 +0000 http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/?p=2072#comment-272072 Gideon Gono must be stripped of his position AND all his assets, his businesses and farms and houses and foreign bank accounts which he has accumulated through fraudulent banking practices against the whole nation. This is truly inhumane, despicable behavior. We have all the evidence we need for the court case!<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('272072','BM'); return false;">Reply to this comment</a> --- <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('272072','BM','Gideon Gono must be stripped of his position AND all his assets, his businesses and farms and houses and foreign bank accounts which he has accumulated through fraudulent banking practices against the whole nation. This is truly inhumane, despicable behavior. We have all the evidence we need for the court case!'); return false;">Quote from this comment</a></div> Gideon Gono must be stripped of his position AND all his assets, his businesses and farms and houses and foreign bank accounts which he has accumulated through fraudulent banking practices against the whole nation. This is truly inhumane, despicable behavior. We have all the evidence we need for the court case!
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