Opinion / Columnist
People's wishes to prevail at Congress, Cdes
27 Nov 2014 at 05:32hrs | Views
Dear Cabinet and
Politburo members
COMRADES, I am glad that our Congress is almost here. With it comes the platform for the owners of the party - the people - to decide whatever they want to do with their party. From what I have seen happening over the past few weeks, I have no doubt whatsoever in my mind that whatever comes out of the meeting is what the people want.
Sadly, from the look of things, by the time the Congress comes to an end, quite a number of you would be history. There is nothing that I can do to save you at this point in time. I warned most of you for a long time of the dangers of taking the people for granted. I repeatedly warned you against using money to buy and keep positions in the party, when you are doing nothing for the grassroots. And most of you thought I was just making noise. Now see what is happening to you.
Well, let us see how many of you will make it back in the top echelons of the party.
Kindest Regards
Yours Sincerely
ME
…And CZ's Notebook
Baby-dumpings
Dzikamai Mavhaire, Didymus Mutasa, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, Flora Buka, Munacho Mutezo, Webster Shamu, Nicholas Goche, Simbaneuta Mudarikwa . . . and many more and still counting these are the latest "victims" to fall by the wayside as the Zanu-PF train steam rolls towards next week's Congress. Dozens others have already been off-loaded in the past weeks. If the charges being levelled against all these people are true, then if that party was a true democracy - which is the rule of the majority - then it means they are pushing for a just cause. Well, to Dr CZ, it looks like by the time all this comes to an end, only two people would be left in Zanu-PF! Among those people who were "baby-bumped" is Didymus Mutasa. Dr CZ does not know why he thinks the man is a sinewy personification of arrogance, and therefore has very little sympathies for him! If only the same could happen to Christopher Mutsvangwa!
Ashamed!
Without misplacing his sense of patriotism, there are some moments when Dr CZ, patriotic as he has always been, really gets ashamed that he is still a Zimbabwean. What he is seeing happening both on the socio-political and economic landscape has not helped matters much. This week, Namibians vote to chose a new leadership. And it will be the first African country to use electronic voting system. There would be no need for ballot papers and ballot boxes and the announcement of the election results would be a mere formality as they would be there for anyone who cares to see. This system is very cheap and so efficient that rigging on the voting day is almost impossible.
The campaigning process has been going on there for sometime now, but we haven't heard of some candidates and or voters fleeing their homes to hide in caves. That is what happens when no one has anything to fear or hide. There are very strong indications that when these Namibians vote next time, they could do it via their computers and mobile phones. Well, you and I know that raising such "basic" issues with our own Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is almost a treasonous offence!
Unimaginable
Still on more shameful situations, we are told that something has finally started happening at the hill. Pockets Hill, to be more specific, the headquarters of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC). Suspensions started taking effect this week, as more chefs were sent home to the wild jubilation of workers. Across the Zambezi River, as the power-tussles continue among Zambian politicians there, something unimaginable here was happening there. The board of the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation - ZBC's equivalent there - had no time for a mealy-mouthed approach when it came to warning government officials and political goons to "back off", telling them in no uncertain terms that the public broadcaster was not there to serve their narrow, selfish interests.
The following excerpt is just the tail end of a long statement. ". . .The Board and Management of ZNBC, therefore, demand that all Media Statements must be duly signed and no verbal statements or instructions will be entertained, to protect ZNBC staff from abuse by people who wield political power. The Board and Management would also like to re-iterate its earlier position to political parties and their supporters not to turn ZNBC into a political battlefield by frequenting the newsroom. In conclusion, therefore, the Board would like to assure staff of its unwavering and unflinching support in their generation, treatment and dissemination of news content in line with ZNBC's National Mandate to serve the public." Imagine the ZBC board issuing a statement which ends like this to everyone, Zanu-PF included!
Anticipation?
Last week, Chief Justice Cde Godfrey Chidyausiku called for something to be done urgently to the noisome police holding cells, which the Constitutional Court recently condemned as unfit for human habitation. He was speaking at a police pass-out parade in the capital. It was good to hear this, coming as it was from a very senior lawman. However, in hindsight, Dr CZ hopes the senior judge did not base his sentiments on insider information he might be having . . . that sooner rather than later, some high profile suspects might find themselves locked up there . . . that is if the strident calls being made for the arrest of people who are allegedly plotting to commit treasonous acts are anything to go by! We wait to see.
Mars-based
Dr CZ read this in one of the State-owned weeklies and has been laughing, laughing and laughing ever since. Read this:
The confiscation of driver's licences by traffic police is illegal as there is no law which empowers police officers to do so, while arbitrarily demanding spot fines from traffic offenders is unwarranted as motorists should be given the option to pay later at their nearest police station. Zimbabwe Republic Police director of legal affairs, Senior Assistant Commissioner Benjamin Mhiripiri, told Sunday News last week that spot fines were introduced as an alternative to the Form 265 and an administrative option for the convenience of both the police and the motoring public.
Form 265 enables the traffic offender to pay the imposed fine at the nearest police station within seven days, failure of which they will be prosecuted. Snr Asst. Comm. Mhiripiri condemned the confiscation of driver's licences by police officers, saying such practice was illegal as there is no law permitting such. Pointing out that Form 265 gives police headaches in following up on offenders, the police chief said it remained the duty of traffic officers to explain to the motoring public the available options before issuing out a ticket.
Snr Asst Comm Mhiripiri said it was regrettable that some traffic police officers were abusing the system by demanding spot fines from traffic offenders, and detaining motorists who would have failed to pay the fines until they raised the required amount. Well, this sounds like a statement by someone who has just returned from a decade-long visit to Mars.
What goes round…
It's a slow day in a small town and the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everyone is living on credit. A tourist visiting the area drives through the town, stops at the motel and lays US$100 bill on the desk saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs to pick one for the night. As soon as he walks upstairs, the motel owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the US$100 note and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer. The pig farmer takes the US$100 and heads off to pay his bill to his supplier, the co-op.
The guy at the co-op takes the US$100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her "services" on credit. Now the hooker rushes to the motel and pays off her room bill with the motel owner. At that moment the traveller comes back down the stairs, stating that the rooms are not satisfactory picks up the US$100 bill and leaves. No one produced anything and no one earned anything! However, several people in the whole town now think that they are out of debt and there is a false atmosphere of optimism and glee! And that is how Zimbabwe works!
cznotebook@yahoo.co.uk
Politburo members
COMRADES, I am glad that our Congress is almost here. With it comes the platform for the owners of the party - the people - to decide whatever they want to do with their party. From what I have seen happening over the past few weeks, I have no doubt whatsoever in my mind that whatever comes out of the meeting is what the people want.
Sadly, from the look of things, by the time the Congress comes to an end, quite a number of you would be history. There is nothing that I can do to save you at this point in time. I warned most of you for a long time of the dangers of taking the people for granted. I repeatedly warned you against using money to buy and keep positions in the party, when you are doing nothing for the grassroots. And most of you thought I was just making noise. Now see what is happening to you.
Well, let us see how many of you will make it back in the top echelons of the party.
Kindest Regards
Yours Sincerely
ME
…And CZ's Notebook
Baby-dumpings
Dzikamai Mavhaire, Didymus Mutasa, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, Flora Buka, Munacho Mutezo, Webster Shamu, Nicholas Goche, Simbaneuta Mudarikwa . . . and many more and still counting these are the latest "victims" to fall by the wayside as the Zanu-PF train steam rolls towards next week's Congress. Dozens others have already been off-loaded in the past weeks. If the charges being levelled against all these people are true, then if that party was a true democracy - which is the rule of the majority - then it means they are pushing for a just cause. Well, to Dr CZ, it looks like by the time all this comes to an end, only two people would be left in Zanu-PF! Among those people who were "baby-bumped" is Didymus Mutasa. Dr CZ does not know why he thinks the man is a sinewy personification of arrogance, and therefore has very little sympathies for him! If only the same could happen to Christopher Mutsvangwa!
Ashamed!
Without misplacing his sense of patriotism, there are some moments when Dr CZ, patriotic as he has always been, really gets ashamed that he is still a Zimbabwean. What he is seeing happening both on the socio-political and economic landscape has not helped matters much. This week, Namibians vote to chose a new leadership. And it will be the first African country to use electronic voting system. There would be no need for ballot papers and ballot boxes and the announcement of the election results would be a mere formality as they would be there for anyone who cares to see. This system is very cheap and so efficient that rigging on the voting day is almost impossible.
The campaigning process has been going on there for sometime now, but we haven't heard of some candidates and or voters fleeing their homes to hide in caves. That is what happens when no one has anything to fear or hide. There are very strong indications that when these Namibians vote next time, they could do it via their computers and mobile phones. Well, you and I know that raising such "basic" issues with our own Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is almost a treasonous offence!
Still on more shameful situations, we are told that something has finally started happening at the hill. Pockets Hill, to be more specific, the headquarters of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC). Suspensions started taking effect this week, as more chefs were sent home to the wild jubilation of workers. Across the Zambezi River, as the power-tussles continue among Zambian politicians there, something unimaginable here was happening there. The board of the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation - ZBC's equivalent there - had no time for a mealy-mouthed approach when it came to warning government officials and political goons to "back off", telling them in no uncertain terms that the public broadcaster was not there to serve their narrow, selfish interests.
The following excerpt is just the tail end of a long statement. ". . .The Board and Management of ZNBC, therefore, demand that all Media Statements must be duly signed and no verbal statements or instructions will be entertained, to protect ZNBC staff from abuse by people who wield political power. The Board and Management would also like to re-iterate its earlier position to political parties and their supporters not to turn ZNBC into a political battlefield by frequenting the newsroom. In conclusion, therefore, the Board would like to assure staff of its unwavering and unflinching support in their generation, treatment and dissemination of news content in line with ZNBC's National Mandate to serve the public." Imagine the ZBC board issuing a statement which ends like this to everyone, Zanu-PF included!
Anticipation?
Last week, Chief Justice Cde Godfrey Chidyausiku called for something to be done urgently to the noisome police holding cells, which the Constitutional Court recently condemned as unfit for human habitation. He was speaking at a police pass-out parade in the capital. It was good to hear this, coming as it was from a very senior lawman. However, in hindsight, Dr CZ hopes the senior judge did not base his sentiments on insider information he might be having . . . that sooner rather than later, some high profile suspects might find themselves locked up there . . . that is if the strident calls being made for the arrest of people who are allegedly plotting to commit treasonous acts are anything to go by! We wait to see.
Mars-based
Dr CZ read this in one of the State-owned weeklies and has been laughing, laughing and laughing ever since. Read this:
The confiscation of driver's licences by traffic police is illegal as there is no law which empowers police officers to do so, while arbitrarily demanding spot fines from traffic offenders is unwarranted as motorists should be given the option to pay later at their nearest police station. Zimbabwe Republic Police director of legal affairs, Senior Assistant Commissioner Benjamin Mhiripiri, told Sunday News last week that spot fines were introduced as an alternative to the Form 265 and an administrative option for the convenience of both the police and the motoring public.
Form 265 enables the traffic offender to pay the imposed fine at the nearest police station within seven days, failure of which they will be prosecuted. Snr Asst. Comm. Mhiripiri condemned the confiscation of driver's licences by police officers, saying such practice was illegal as there is no law permitting such. Pointing out that Form 265 gives police headaches in following up on offenders, the police chief said it remained the duty of traffic officers to explain to the motoring public the available options before issuing out a ticket.
Snr Asst Comm Mhiripiri said it was regrettable that some traffic police officers were abusing the system by demanding spot fines from traffic offenders, and detaining motorists who would have failed to pay the fines until they raised the required amount. Well, this sounds like a statement by someone who has just returned from a decade-long visit to Mars.
What goes round…
It's a slow day in a small town and the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everyone is living on credit. A tourist visiting the area drives through the town, stops at the motel and lays US$100 bill on the desk saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs to pick one for the night. As soon as he walks upstairs, the motel owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the US$100 note and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer. The pig farmer takes the US$100 and heads off to pay his bill to his supplier, the co-op.
The guy at the co-op takes the US$100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her "services" on credit. Now the hooker rushes to the motel and pays off her room bill with the motel owner. At that moment the traveller comes back down the stairs, stating that the rooms are not satisfactory picks up the US$100 bill and leaves. No one produced anything and no one earned anything! However, several people in the whole town now think that they are out of debt and there is a false atmosphere of optimism and glee! And that is how Zimbabwe works!
cznotebook@yahoo.co.uk
Source - fingaz
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