Still here, and still in despair…

This morning was a killer. Our water supplies are still cut off and a power failure last night caused my deep freeze to thaw, our meat had to be cooked immediately before it rotted and my kitchen was invaded by an army of flies looking for some kind of moisture. Temperatures soared to the upper thirties, it was humid and with supplies low at home, I was forced to go to the supermarket. Citizens of the west have no idea what an onerous task this is. Finding a simple bag of sugar is like looking for a pot of gold at the end of an elusive rainbow.

As usual, I had a little chat with the guys who work there about the home situation. My heart bleeds every time I am with them. I will never forget that day in 2000 when zpf stole the first parliamentary elections. The build up had been so filled with hope and excitement, despite all the violence and intimidation employed by mugabe’s thugs. The results had just come in, I can’t remember the exact tally, but zanu were jubilant over their devious “victory”.

The elderly security guard at the supermarket, my long time confidante and comrade in the fight for democracy, came running to my car as I mournfully pulled into my usual parking. He jumped in the passenger seat and this dignified Ndebele gentleman openly wept. His pain penetrated my every pore, deepening my own overwhelming disappointment that they had managed to cheat us after all our hard work.

This morning’s conversation started with the normal, the workers telling me that Zimbabwe is, “too hard” now and they cannot afford to feed their families any more.

My normal response, “Well, what are you doing about it?”

Routine answer came back, “There is nothing we can do.”

Apathy and despair remain the regime’s greatest allies in maintaining a repressive grip on the nation. Ordinary Zimbabweans believe in their heart of hearts that the all powerful chief mugabe is invincible. He has some special muti that makes him immortal and super human. This takes me back to my days of learning about Faustus, maybe he does have a pact with the devil that makes him immortal. My only consolation is one day he will have to answer for his crimes against humanity, perhaps not as I hope in an international court of law, but certainly to our Maker.

This entry was posted by Still Here on Saturday, November 19th, 2005 at 6:18 pm. You can follow any comments on this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.