Sokwanele is obviously a thorn in the side of the zanupf technological thug crew. They realize that civil society in Zimbabwe has finally found the courage to stand up and say ‘Enough is Enough’ to the regime’s crude and violent oppression. They are trying to close us down. Last week Sokwanele received two separate emails, one on Friday and another on Sunday (they are working overtime!), directly from zanupf@africanonline.com. Both contained viruses. They are desperate because their days are numbered, people have said ‘Enough is Enough!’

Share This

Yesterday’s rally was amaaaazing. We were conspicuous by our pale faces and what a fabulous welcome we received from a happy bunch of Bulawayo MDC supporters. I wish the other whities in this country would stop being so afraid, kill their victim complexes and get out with our fellow countrymen to end evil.

I was pleasantly surprised by the cops there, a few stood stony faced and long suffering, some helped usher vehicles into the car park and you could see many itched to fling their open hands up, joining the
crowd in welcoming democracy. At last they realize they are working for their children, not the government that treats them like dirt. I can feel the winds of change blowing …

A bit of humour. On the way to yesterday’s rally, I was chuffed to find myself driving behind David Coltart envoy. One of their enthusiastic numbers was so busy waving to pedestrians, he was taken unawares when the truck he was in moved off from a traffic light. He fell out the back, unhurt, picked himself up and ran after the vehicle. He was too slow but luckily, Mrs Coltart was coming up behind him and scooped him up.

The comedy not over, he jumped out of her vehicle at the next traffic light to jump back into the back of the truck, but he was too slow! Once again he was saved by the MP’s good wife.

Share This

Heard that villagers out past Bulawayo airport have been visited by CIO and they’ve been told who will go and vote and how they should vote, and that if there is any other result at that particular polling station other than the expected result, all their houses will be burned down. This is the down side of counting votes at each polling station. Where are the observers? Seems to me that they are in Holiday Inns and only attending permitted rallies.

Share This

I heard from a friend who was part of the Good Friday walk in Bulawayo, that a few walkers approached some observers outside the Selbourne Hotel. They were completely uninterested in what the ‘walkers’ were doing or what they wanted to say to them. I wonder why they are here if they are uninterested to speaking to us.

Share This

I have just heard that Professor Jonathan Moyo held a rally last week in his constituency, Tsholotsho. His generous supply of free food and drink brought in a crowd of 10 000 as reported by the State run newspapers. President Mugabe held a rally in Tsholotsho’s main business center a few days after. His offer of free, forced transport brought in a crowd of 4000. The MDC also held rallies in Tsholotsho in two separate, isolated, hard to reach growth points. They offered no food, no drink and no transport. The combined attendance at the MDC rallies was over 9000. Who knows, the MDC may retain Tsholotsho after all.

Share This

One of the speakers at the rally that I attended the other night was talking about the level of corruption that has developed in our society and how unashamed people have become. Today, I met with friends and the topic came up again. My friend (I’ll call him Mr.T) shared his experience…

Recently, Mr.T went on holiday to Mozambique. Because he was unsure of whether he would get fuel along the way he took a jerry can of petrol with him. Before he crossed the border he filled up the fuel tank in his vehicle, but had about 10 litres left over in the can. At the border, the Zimbabwean officials told him he was not allowed to take fuel out of the country.

Obviously, Mr.T was annoyed and was NOT going to allow the officials to have his 10 litres of fuel. On principle, he started pouring the petrol out onto the road.

The officials, accompanied by an armed policeman, came dashing over and asked him to instead sell the petrol to t
he people nearby. Eventually my friend gave in, and sold his fuel for Z$30 000.00.

A short while later, at the customs office, the same officials asked how much cash he had on him. (There is a limit to the amount of Zim dollars you are allowed to take out of the county). Because of his fuel ‘sale’ he now exceeded the cash limit.

Surprise, surprise! Mr. T’s extra cash was ‘confiscated’.

You cannot win! Fortunately, our sense of humour can’t be taken away.

Share This

My domestic worker has just returned from a ZanuPF rally where the President himself was addressing the crowd in Norton, just outside Harare. Five years ago this area was considered one of the finest farming districts in the country. Today it is a dusty patch of weeds. My worker attended the rally purely out of curiosity and was amused to report that the many elderly participants enraged the President as they set up a low chant in Shona “Nzara, Nzara” in English, “Hungry, hungry”. Five years ago everyone had a roof over their head, a full stomach, a clinic to be treated at and a decent school to send their children to.

Share This

I feel compelled to share the lighter side of the farcical election campaign being held in the Nkayi district. We all know that Obert Mpofu, a nefarious and self important character and the governor of Matabeleland, is the parliamentary candidate for this constituency.

Mpofu has had his thugs plaster his face to any wall, rock or tree space in this rural area. Local residents (majority of whom are MDC supporters) have responded to his mugshots with hilarious revenge tactics.

His posters now boast poked out eyes and ears, filled with stalks of grass! This has really gotten up the noses of the ZanuPF supporters who are now busy pulling down their own posters.

A good chuckle always makes the day’s crises easier to deal with.

Share This

Government Election Supervisors are following the campaigners around and some of them have been recognized as local war vets. My belief is that these war vets have been given uniforms to intimidate people at rallies. This has happened in several different places. I’ve also been told that a notorious war vet who works at the Chiredzi General hospital as a nurse is now an Election Supervisor in this area…! We also have War vets as Polling station Presiding Officers in this area. How can anyone possibly say that this Election is free and fair under these circumstances?

Share This

Yesterday afternoon, at the busy intersection of 23rd Ave and Plumtree Road, a group of MDC youths stood proudly on the traffic island wielding an oversized MDC flag. The contrast between these joyful youths and the shocked and depressed looks of passersby was most conspicuous, living proof of the personal empowerment action brings. This is not a time for caution, but it is the time to stand proud, be courageous and do what is necessary. Freedom is a big prize and it deserves extraordinary action if it is to be won.

Share This

I was quit
e relieved to see our pastor in church this Good Friday morning. He and some other members of our congregation had strolled through the city centre earlier today, from one church to another, carrying crosses to commemorate Jesus’ sacrifice for us. When we were asked to join him, I immediately thought: yes I do want to participate, as Christ died for me too, and I would not be afraid to publicly acknowledge that. But then I did become afraid after all. What if no police permission had been sought? What if I would be picked up by the CIO and taken to the Police Station like happened to me several years ago? What if I would have to give all my particulars again (name, address, ID-number etc) including my church affiliation? What if the CIO would read my name in the paper in the list of polling agents, which has to be published by law? What if – and I can go on like this for some time. So I did not carry my cross, and I felt terrible for not doing so. I had let down my pastor, my fellow congregants, but most of all I had let down Jesus Christ because I was afraid of mere men. This is what election time in Zimbabwe can do to people.

Share This

There are fuel queues at almost every service station again. With elections less than a week away, rumours are rife about the fuel shortage. Some people are saying that the government is holding back fuel so that people will not have transport to go and vote. Others are saying we have run out of foreign currency to purchase fuel.

We have become so accustomed to lining up our cars outside a petrol station. I don’t remember the last time I got petrol on the spur of the moment. There is a joke circulating: “Zimbabwe is a lot like Kuwait, because all we do is ‘queue’ and ‘wait’!”

Yesterday, as I drove through the city centre I noticed that there were policemen on every corner of each block along the main street – robert mugabe Way. We see this from time to time. It usually means that mugabe is in town and is due to drive down that particular road, usually with a whole entourage of security. At the end of the motorcade there is also normally an ambulance, just in case. The road will be cleared ahead of arrival by policemen on motorbikes. The procession does not impress people, but angers them! More flagrant abuse of taxpayers money. The fruits of our hard earned labour!

A while later, I pass a small van. The driver is hooting continuously as they drive along. There are supporters in the back cheering and shouting, trying to attract attention. I could not make out who they represented as we passed each other to quickly. Election fever is building up.

Share This

A couple of nights ago (22 March) I went to collect a colleague at the airport who was arriving on the night flight from Harare. I was forced to wait some time as guess who was coming to dinner??? It was the First Lady herself. Her motorcade consisted of no less than 17 vehicles who left the airport in a blur of speed. Earlier that evening, whilst sitting in my garden, I had seen our dear president passing over on his way from a rally in Gwanda to State House in Bulawayo with his normal squadron of three helicopters. I wander, how many suffering children could have been saved with the state funds used to prop up our corrupt regime just last night?

The United Nations reported last week that one child dies every 15 minutes in Zimbabwe………..

Share This

Between 20 and 30 armed soldiers were seen moving on the farms half way between Chiredzi and
Mkwasine at 9.45pm on Monday. If this isn’t intimidation, then why are they hiding in the evening hours? Nevertheless, despite the army using food and death threats to intimidate people in this area - and the war vets saying that there will be war if they lose - people seem to be ready to try and vote.

Share This

My hairdresser’s nephew was on a bus with 20 other male youths from their Apostolic Church en route to a Christian camp at Masvingo this weekend. They were stopped by Police at the Beatrice/Mbare road intersection and made to go to Mbare Police where they were charged with “Singing on a bus”.

The uniformed officious official fined them $450,000.00 (for the group of 20!).

Other police officers at the Station said “ that is not an offence” to which the more senior replied “ I will do whatever the President tells me to do”!!

Share This