Opinion / Columnist
Tsvangirai marched his men up to the top of the hill
26 Mar 2017 at 15:27hrs | Views
Photo caption: French Ambassador to Zimbabwe Richard Boidin
Like the Grand Old Duke of York, Morgan Tsvangirai marched his men up to the top of the hill on Wednesday. And, as goes the English nursery rhyme, he promptly marched them down again.
'Circumstances dictate the situation and today is not the day to stage street protests', he told supporters in Harare campaigning for electoral reforms. But, the Vigil asks, if not now, when? Yes, the police had predictably placed last minute obstacles in the way of the protest. Can anyone see the day coming when they won't?
Seen from afar, it looks like the protestors simply bottled out. But what right do those of us safely in the diaspora have to criticise activists at home? After all, according to the French Ambassador in Harare, we are just helping to spread a negative portrayal of Zimbabwe.
Ambassador Richard Boidin has been in Zimbabwe for a couple of months so he thinks he knows what's what. He reportedly told the Herald 'the reality of Zimbabwe is very different from what you have when you are outside'. The Ambassador was speaking after paying a courtesy call on Senate President Comrade Edna Madzongwe with members of a French parliamentary Zimbabwe friendship association.
Boidin continued: 'For example, the two members of the association have been here since yesterday and what they have seen here they have not seen in the media outside' (see: http://www.herald.co.zw/envoy-slams-medias-negative-portrayal-of-zim/).
Pretty smart, the French. Barely a day in Harare and the delegation has concluded that the Zimbabwean independent media and the international press are producing 'fake news' about the situation.
Envoys like Boidin call into question why about a dozen European Union countries have embassies in Zimbabwe and another half dozen are represented by consulates. To crown it all there is even an embassy of the European Union itself.
What can they possibly be doing, apart from enjoying the sunshine? The Vigil thinks they need to break free from the incestuous Harare diplomatic cocktail round and get out a bit more and see how Zimbabweans not belonging to the Zanu PF metropolitan elite are suffering under the repressive and corrupt Mugabe dictatorship.
It's not the media that's fake, Mr Boidin. It's self-satisfied, time-serving, patronising functionaries who are 'neither up nor down'.
'Circumstances dictate the situation and today is not the day to stage street protests', he told supporters in Harare campaigning for electoral reforms. But, the Vigil asks, if not now, when? Yes, the police had predictably placed last minute obstacles in the way of the protest. Can anyone see the day coming when they won't?
Seen from afar, it looks like the protestors simply bottled out. But what right do those of us safely in the diaspora have to criticise activists at home? After all, according to the French Ambassador in Harare, we are just helping to spread a negative portrayal of Zimbabwe.
Ambassador Richard Boidin has been in Zimbabwe for a couple of months so he thinks he knows what's what. He reportedly told the Herald 'the reality of Zimbabwe is very different from what you have when you are outside'. The Ambassador was speaking after paying a courtesy call on Senate President Comrade Edna Madzongwe with members of a French parliamentary Zimbabwe friendship association.
Boidin continued: 'For example, the two members of the association have been here since yesterday and what they have seen here they have not seen in the media outside' (see: http://www.herald.co.zw/envoy-slams-medias-negative-portrayal-of-zim/).
Pretty smart, the French. Barely a day in Harare and the delegation has concluded that the Zimbabwean independent media and the international press are producing 'fake news' about the situation.
Envoys like Boidin call into question why about a dozen European Union countries have embassies in Zimbabwe and another half dozen are represented by consulates. To crown it all there is even an embassy of the European Union itself.
What can they possibly be doing, apart from enjoying the sunshine? The Vigil thinks they need to break free from the incestuous Harare diplomatic cocktail round and get out a bit more and see how Zimbabweans not belonging to the Zanu PF metropolitan elite are suffering under the repressive and corrupt Mugabe dictatorship.
It's not the media that's fake, Mr Boidin. It's self-satisfied, time-serving, patronising functionaries who are 'neither up nor down'.
Source - zimvigil
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