It's the 'British', Mugabe's election Manifesto for his 2012 daydream election

Government corruption and theft are among the biggest threats to democracy in Zimbabwe and they are probably the main reason why Zanu PF will not give up power. But yet again, Mugabe uses the British to divert attention from his failures of nearly 32 years in power.

In my article Auctioning Zimbabwe – the shady faces behind Mugabe's government, which was retracted from the blog after a couple of threats from the people I wrote about, I mentioned that corruption is becoming a major concern to young Zanu PF supporters who feel that the party elders and the military chiefs are greedy masters who refuse to share the resources cake with anyone who is not in their circles. Now, throwing an egg at Mugabe's wrinkled face, the Zanu PF youth leader for Manicaland broke the ranks of fear and told Mugabe, in front of thousands of people who attended his birthday celebrations, that Zanu PF is a greedy party that only cares for corrupt individuals. In his own words, Manicaland Provincial Youth Chairman Tawanda Mukodza said: "President as Manicaland youths we have a lot of complaints. There are a lot of corrupt activities happening within the party. Some of the top officials are abusing their political positions and power to acquire vast wealth for themselves". (www.zimbabwesituation.com – 27/02/2012) Mukodza's "Juju Malema" approach was immediately shot down by the 57 year old Zanu PF Youth Chairman, Absolom Sikhosana, who suggested that the youth were not there to raise complaints but to celebrate the aged leader's birthday. In the typical Zanu PF style of avoiding bread and butter issues raised by his youth league members, Mugabe replied by attacking UK Prime Minister David Cameron and the gay community. And did Sikhosana then remind Mugabe that they were not there to attack other people but to celebrate his birthday…?

Money, the good life, puzzles and politics

Last week had some interesting moments for the President and Prime Minister of our beloved country. The two men dominated the news when the Minister of Education, David Coltart, raised concerns about their travel expenses, which were said to be three times higher than the entire Ministry of Education. Despite this seeming agreement with Mugabe's approaches, the PM shifted tack and expressed a lot of frustration when addressing journalists in Harare last Friday. This was an encouraging change from his last press conference with his deputy, Mutambara, where they jointly expressed hope that Mugabe was working with them on issues amongst others, the appointment of the police commissioner, media reforms and general electoral reforms.

Then, it was Mugabe's turn in the media when he claimed to be promoting non-violence and emphasised his tea drinking relationship with the PM. His warning to police against arresting the PM for supposed corrupt transactions was clearly trying to hint that he was guilty but wouldn't be charged. Latest findings seem to be that the PM is in the clear as far as the US$1.5 million supposedly corrupt deal is concerned. New information suggests that the money was a personal loan that the PM must repay, borrowed to improve his living conditions.  A big "hard luck" must go to Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, who was apparently kept in the dark over these transactions. While the PM belongs to the same party as the moneyman Biti, it seems he would rather deal with Zanu PF controlled Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to access funds.

Of Libya and Syria, what can Zimbabweans Learn?

The first lesson from these countries is that non-violent struggles for democracy are always the safer bet when fighting against violent regimes like that of Mugabe, Gadhafi and Assad. I think political leadership should study how to avoid the regime taking us the violent way, and at the same time study how to respond to violence by military strikes on civilians. There are many things to look at here as we have seen how help from the international community can be delayed by the geopolitics of countries such as China and Russia who are among the possible obstacles to Zimbabwean democracy as this time. While we wouldn't wish to go that way, the history of oppressed communities teaches us that rebellion happens naturally and Zimbabwe cannot be an exception. What Zimbabwe can be is a shining example of how power can be captured from violent regimes without killing thousands of innocent civilians. We hope to be that example but it needs sensible leadership from all political parties and institutions such as the military. I still have hope that we can achieve the mission to isolate the persona of bloodthirsty Mugabe and his inner circle and this should be a priority that has to echo in strategies of peace loving Zimbabweans both in the country and beyond.

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