'Mugabe is my father' – Peace Pacts, Loyalty and Handcuffs

It is hard not to be a prophet of doom in Zimbabwe. Yesterday, a peace pact was agreed between three main political parties as they sat at one table together and denounced violence. This was some kind of historic occasion because never before in Zimbabwe have we seen these three parties coming together to discuss campaign code of conducts – mainly about violence which is the main scourge that has shattered ordinary people's lives every time an election is announced. Historic as the meeting was, I want to allow myself to be a prophet of doom because we have seen peace pacts before where leaders have come to share tea and appear in public denouncing violence while in actual fact behaving the opposite. Before we get into celebratory mood, I say let us wait for the code of conduct which the VP Nkomo must produce. Let us see what punishment will be prescribed for those who break the peace pact and what the code of conduct says about the impartiality of the police, who over the years have been seen as an accessory to politically motivated violence. So, as much as we appreciate this as a step in the right direction, I will be a doubting Thomas for now.

Respect your father for the love of your fellow countrymen
Again this week, the Minister of Mines Mr Obert Mpofu told a pack of journalists who had gathered at a press conference that Mugabe was his father. It's not surprising because there we see the son of a rich man who made his money by following his "father's" footsteps to wealth by looting. His praises and loyalty to his "father" landed him a lucrative ministry where corruption continues unabated and even elevated by the discovery of precious diamond stones. God knows what exactly is happening in Marange but we do know that corruption is rife and one has to deal with the Ministry that Obert is running. No wonder that in a short space of time he now owns massive properties in Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. Boasting of his wealth, he told journalists that he has never been poor in his life. For me, I really don't care what he is or what he does with his wealth but the only favour I would ask from him and his brothers in Zanu PF is to respect his "father's" words of commitment to peace. That way, he will be giving us a chance as orphans to feel part of Zimbabwe – we all see no reason why we should live in constant fear.

In times of future peace, we order guns
While we gather to talk peace, China has been of course finding ways to destabilise the peace we need by supplying consignments of unnecessary weapons to fill our streets. Negotiated by the Butcher of Matabeleland, the Minister of Defence Emerson Mnangagwa, these weapons, according to the southernafricareport.com are said to include 20,000 AK-47 automatic rifles, uniforms, 12-15 trucks and about 21,000 pairs of handcuffs. While elections have finally brought leaders together to talk peace, it is clear that this can be undermined by these weapons which I suspect are being stocked for crowd control should the election go the way they don't want it to. Why on earth would you order 21,000 pairs of handcuffs in the midst of a mooted election? I am sure experiences in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia have told them that there can never be enough handcuffs when people defy your threats against their freedom. Mugabe flew to China on yesterday, no doubt to say a big thank you to his longest ally for the consignment.

For all the good efforts made in Zimbabwe, I still believe there are some making even more effort to push us back to the darkness – but our strength in numbers can make them very few. Their numbers dwindled in North Africa and now the few are shivering in Zimbabwe which is a sign that the end is nigh for them…!