n/a • n/a
Subject: You know the story........................names of babies born in local clinics and hospitals after the harmonised elections
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:49:45 • Runoff Moyo
Senetorial Chirumhanzu
Candidate Pote
Independant Maposa
Rigging Hamadziripi
Electoral Commission Ndlovu
Foreign Observer Chimunda
Neck Toneck Nyamadzawo
Sadhaki Sibanda
Heavy Weight Utaunashe
Fiftythree Percentage Ndlondlo
Released Results Matongo
Meticulous verification chinengundu
Free andfair Pazvakawambwa
Rerun Mombeshora
Rural Stronghold Khaliyathi
Constituency Madison
Polling Station Nhamoinesu
Ballotbox & Ballotpaper Kunonga (Twins)

N/a • n/a
Subject: n/a
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:24:47 • Well said and very well balanced. We need more people who can think outside the box and tackle real issues like you did. Ana gundamusaira taneta navo. This article shows a lot of maturity.

Yvonne Mahlunge • ymahlunge@btinternet.com
Subject: The truth shall set you free indeed
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:38:48 • Mr Garande you obviously have a way with words and your journalistic experience obviously gives you an upper hand in your article in that you have managed to get away with telling half-truths as though there were fact. One of my fellow contributors has already corrected your misrepresentation that US companies are barred from trading with Zimbabwean companies. The list of those targeted is very clear and is a matter or public record. It includes high ranking Zanu-Pf officials and two or three Zanu-Pf affiliated companies. The issue of whether these sanctions are effective is one that forms a plausible debate as it is well known that sanctions evasion is an art well-practised in Zanu-pf within Zanu-PF circles. Another area woefully in need in clarification is the real caus of Zimbabwe's economic downfall. It would have been fair for you to incorporate in your article what role if any the unilateral decision by Mugabe to participate in the war in the DRC. Unlike Mozambique to which we not only owed a debt by virtue of Comrade Samora's help during the liberation struggle and to which our interests for access to a port due to our landlocked status, ordinary Zimbabweans like me believed the DRC war was an entirely domestic affair in which we should have had no han.d We were ofcourse proved wrong by the international report on the merciless rape perpetrated on that country's mineral resources of coblat and diamonds. It became evident that state resources were applied for no national interest.

Another area in need of clarification is the role the pay out to war veterans had. That then princely amount of ZW$50 000.00, awarded again unilaterally by the President, with no regard to the effect it would have on the macroeconomic status of Zimbabwe and with no fiscal foresight as evidenced by the need to accommodate the payment in a supplementary budget resulted in the 16th of November 1997 crash of the Zimbabwean dollar. Since then the noughts have continued to appear. We have an impressive collection no thanks to Mr Gono and his team at that impressive and aesthetically pleasing building in Samora Machel.

That said, it is fair that I state that I agree with you that the West should be held accountable for foistering wholesale economic recovery packages for all developing countries through the one size fit all structural adjustment policies. However, Zimbabwe is but one victim and the SAPs is but one cause of the economic meltdown in Zimbabwe.

We all love our country and want to see the situation resolved. Home is best. However, in as much as the MDC maybe adjudged to have its weaknesses, Zanu-PF cannot be absolved for the chaotic land re-allocation process that has so ruined investor confidence in Zimbabwe. Maybe it is time we all stood up as Zimbabweans never mind our political affiliations and say that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, ZVAKWANA, SOKWANELE. We want our Zimbabwe back, yes freedom you gave us through the liberation struggle but we cannot be held ransom forever to Zanu-PF.

Philip Nyandoro • pnyandoro@yahoo.com
Subject: n/a
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:44:59 • This is an excellent article. Well researched. At least five Lords from the Zimbabwe Democracy Trust trustees have now sold their farms. They had not registered the farms in their names anyway, so it was difficult to track them down. But that is neither here nor there. The Zim democracy trust is no more now. They are exasperated. They've realised that the land question cannot be dealt with anymore. What happened ius irreversible. They haven't updated their site in years and no more work is happening on the ground anymore. That said I think this is an excellent article, whether you are MDC or not, that does not matter.

Calvin Gumede • calvin80@walla.com
Subject: Re: Give the Evening Standard freedom of press
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:19:09 • There are a lot of half truths in your article. We investigated the number of British lords who owned land in Zimbabwe, and there was only one Lord Plunkett in Manicaland. That was 1999. At the time, no absentee British lord owned land in Zimbabwe. How you expand this half truth to sharpen your attack on MDC Tsvangirai baffles the mind. (We know you endorsed Makoni prior to the election. He lost the race and that should be no reason to spit venom on his victory.

ZIDERRA does not prohibit US Companies from doing business with Zimbabwe. Rather it prohibits these companies from doing business with the targeted individuals.

Finally, as a freedom of expression advocate i am profoundly shocked by your insinuation that an editorial in a British newspaper reflects the views of the British government. Why not give it the freedom to interpret events in Zimbabwe the way its reporters or correspondents see it. Your stance reflects the strong desire prevalent in most African governments to censure unpalatable news and information from reach the people.

In the meantime, I wish you luck in all your endeavours against MDC, and more luck on your Simba Makoni project

Oliver • web.morrisons@lycos.co.uk
Subject: INTERSETING
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:01:42 • Politics is a game of opportunities and you sometimes have to nature events to ripe.However opportunities alone are not suffice,cos without skill to manage the opportunity,its a window of opportunity to others.Unlike a game of chance as mentioned by other social commentators you need brains.Scholars would agree with me on subject of managing change.In as much as we need change,change should come from zim people and not to have change being fostered to us by external elements.ZPF got it wrong at Lancaster,Land acquisition funds was a pledge and not an outward right.Change should be a genotypic desire coupled with a vision on how to manage it.Our fellow comrades from MDC had to scumb to a phenotipic desire and ONLY financial resources were availed with no human resources invested in it.Arbitrarliy to the selling of the ideas of change from a US/UK perspective to Morgan and his entourage, it was sold with hidden philanthropic ideologies.My learned favourite author on the subject of change,John kotter noted 8 steps of doing so and i am not sure whether MT and his Jazz band understands this
1.Increase urgency - inspire people to move, make objectives real and relevant.
2.Build the guiding team - get the right people in place with the right emotional commitment, and the right mix of skills and levels.
3.Get the vision right - get the team to establish a simple vision and strategy, focus on emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency.
4.Communicate for buy-in - Involve as many people as possible, communicate the essentials, simply, and to appeal and respond to people's needs. De-clutter communications - make technology work for you rather than against.
5.Empower action - Remove obstacles, enable constructive feedback and lots of support from leaders - reward and recognise progress and achievements.
6.Create short-term wins - Set aims that are easy to achieve - in bite-size chunks. Manageable numbers of initiatives. Finish current stages before starting new ones. Do not talk jailing service chiefs and perpetrators of Gukurahundi cos it will be come an unmanageable chunk to handle.ZPF is refusing to announce results.
7.Don't let up - Foster and encourage determination and persistence - ongoing change - encourage ongoing progress reporting - highlight achieved and future milestones.
8.Make change stick - Reinforce the value of successful change via recruitment, promotion, new change leaders. Weave change into culture.MT should have tried to recruit people with the same vision and not daytime dreamers as Ministers and Ambassadors of a new zimbabwe.The vision is a pre-dertemination to change and not to be a minister.Such acts brings Politics of patronage

chief dee • ront3@yahoo.com
Subject: ha ha ha
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:51:48 • Zimbabwe for Zimbos. vaGarande... & all those sharing his views...the west (British) have done nothing wrong. all they do is protect their 'yes' their interest. their leaders give free housing to 'their people' lots of benefits for 'their people... what on planet earth has your hero Mugabe done for his people... ESAP, housing for all 2020, health for all, food for work... what a joke...you are hungry already where do you get the strenght.

Our worst enemy is and has been Mugabe & his silly policies...Zanu PF failed the people...that include Simba Makoni... I have no idea why people think he is great... look at his business record... he is a failed business man...true Zanu PF values...they fail at anything the enhances other peoples live...kwete to Makoni & Mugabe.

No one is best for the leadership job if you dont get and listen to good advice... how long have we waited for a 'tube' train form Chitungwiza to Harare...

murungu munhu, mumhu mutema munhu...get real all of you

Arthur Gwagwa • arthurgwagwa@yahoo.com
Subject: Well researched article
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:18:17 • This is one of the most incisive articles on the evolution of the Zimbabwean crisis that I have ever come across.

We can not prescribe a solution to a problem if we dont know how the problem evolved- its like closing a wound full of puss.

Itayi, what we need in Zimbabwe at the moment in Zimbabwe is to acknowledge our individual roles in causing the crisis and agreeing on a domestically generated solution.

A few, not all, whites must acknowledge that they were arrogant when the government requested them to give up one farm in cases where one farmer owned many farms.

A few blacks, not, all,must acknowledge the wrong they did in retaliating using violence because an eye for an eye makes us all blind.

The MDC must acknowledge that the sanctions largely contributed to the collapse of the economy.

Some in ZANU must also acknowledge that poor work ethics and corruption als palyed a role in brinign the economy down.

In other words, all of us were culprits to varying degrees although there are worse culprits, esp those who pull in other countries to solve problems that we can solve on our own.

Zimbabwe can rise up again, all we need is to be humble and acknowledge our respective roles and start to make ammends.

It is still possible for whites and blacks to live side by side sharing the same heritage but the onus is upon us to see that dream succeeding.

Tinashe • n/a
Subject: Give Morgan a chance.
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:57:55 • I agree that we should beware of imperialist governments and their hidden agenda’s. My question is why did it take the Zanu government 20 years to realise that the west or the British in particular were not true to their word on Land redistribution. After all they were liberation heroes who fought and dislodged the very white man that they once again blame for the problems we have today 28 years later. Why is it 28 years later we still are fighting the same battle (Land Redistribution). I believe the Zanu government has had a stronger hand (than the west) to play in our stagnation as a nation and they won’t accept, but instead still feed us with the same pre independence rhetoric. Zanu as people who were put in prison and fought the imperialist should have been more wiser to western dirty tricks than anyone else, as clever as Mugabe is I find it hard to accept that he was not aware of western manipulation during his tenure as our President, could it be that he was also a puppet, the same thing he accuses Morgan Tsvangirai of now I am sure he is in a better position to spot a puppet because he was one and is now angry that he cannot get anymore praise, honorary degrees and oh yeah!! shopping trips for his wife and top brass.
We have to move forward and one thing that is very clear is we will never move forward as a country with Bob and Zanu as our leaders. We have learnt our lesson from the opportunist puppets like Bob who lied to us (remember is independence speech begging the white man to stay for the good of the country) now he turns around and cries foul. He did not have the guts like the true revolutionaries like Samora Machel, Castro and Amin to call it like it is and he wants to start doing that now. His time is up!!

ha ha ha • n/a
Subject: Itayi
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:19:31 • Ana Itayi. When you start pouting like the Herald you become part of them - Zanu PF and their sense of entitlement. If the west is really that bad why are you hopping on their trains and eating their food? Why not go to Harare and properly sing Zanu songs? The likes of you, Wafawarowa, Shire, and your lot will never say anything that's constructive. Honestly you don't believe Zanu's time is up? 28yrs, 160000% inflation, no jobs, no medicines, no food, and you still don't believe the Zimbabwean people (not the refugees in western countries) have a right to dump this bereft, moribund regime? Get serious.

Fungai • n/a
Subject: Zimbabwe's Land
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:18:21 • No one in Zimbabwe is a damn fool to believe the land will be returned to The British, or foreigners. The MDC is also not that daft to even try or contemplate that route, they will face resistance from the people who voted for them...but,

.. to try justify that Land is an exclusive club for ZPF patronisers is where I beg to differ with those who advocate for notions justifying the continued support for a dead monster ZPF and its leadership, in 2008.

Sanctions - believe it or not they are biting Zimbabwe, even though they are targeted hence there is no balance of payment support, there is no forex of any nature flowing into Zim except diaspora free funds.

To try and claim there are no sanctions because there is unrestricted trade is by all means trying to defend those who havent visited Zimbabwe in 25 years to see the suffering of the ordinary people, and everything is blamed on Mugabe and ZPF ... its rather sad and unfortunate.

Yes ZPF nad RGM might have made some mistakes here and there, but who doesnt make mistakes.

My only borne of contention with RGM is he has served his time, and should hand over the button-stick to someone else ... then we would all have a new Zimbabwe.

Diddley Squat • na.tasmania
Subject: ALL YOU WANTED WAS A CHANGE, EH?
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:13:18 • Well, didnt others suggest that you vote for Simba if you really wanted CHANGE?

But no, those of you who wanted change (?) through a 10 year habit continued to vote for MDC and now look at the state we are in according to western media .

If we have to vote all over again, (which I truly doubt) please this time just think about Simba Makoni.

At least he is a real statesman to begin with.

Brian Nyanzvi • brianmunyuni@yahoo.co.uk
Subject: zimbabwe election
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:18:29 • i agree with one writer and also would want to express my worry at Tsvangirai's credentials as a president. his press conferences were very poor the other night. we don't want Zanu PF anymore but we also do not want a man like Tsvangirai. we voted for him out of desperation for change. i hope when he starts to govern he will take on board people like Simba Makoni because the man needs serious help. Tsvangirai needs serious help or else we are dead and back to been a puppet country again but lets give him a chance and hope he makes wise decisions.

Fred Upwith-Hearingit • fred.U1952@aol.com
Subject: Selve serving nonsense
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:51:21 • The west is tired and bored with this self serving, disingenuous re-writing of the facts - Mugabe was voted in as the hero of the people after conducting a vicious civil war, and then becomes a vicious tribal dictator who turns the bread basket of Africa into a dust bowl. Reverse racism has been rampant, as opposed to in South Africa, where they recognised that the removal of all white influence would be tantamount to throwing the baby out with the bath water.
The war in Iraq was about oil, and the currency which it is bought in - Saddam changed to Euros, and if the rest of Opec had followed suit, the US economy would have gone into free-fall. Bush and Rumsfeld are both oil men, so I guess the logic is a no-brainer.

The western nations are willing to help any nation, but the people are sick and tired of the Colonial jibe, as if the western countries had never been subjected to colonialism themselves - Spain and the Moores, most of Europe by the Romans, Vikings, Goths and Visigoths - the difference is that we tend to focus on the benefits we derived from these brutal invasions of our native cultures, rather than continue to blame them for our own failures to use the experience wisely. If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day - if you teach him to fish you can help him feed his family for ever. Sadly, in so many African countries it would be if you teach him to fish, he'll complain for ever that the fishing rod you gave them wasn't as good as the one you own and that you had already eaten most of the fish, and that Colonial Imperialists patronise the indiginous population by treating them like children who don't know how to fish in the burial place of Kings, so give us your money instead

Patience is running out, and if you think we've been dismissive of your plight before, keep it up and find out what we learned from our colonial oppressors - take what you want and leave the rest to flourish or die.

If you don't start playing nicely with the other children soon, there will be no good will left to let you fool around in the political nursery of the world.

Sadhaki Observer • tonibhureya@mdc.rigging.co.zw
Subject: UK wants the regime change in zim
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:49:09 • The regime change is needed by the UK gvt and its allies. Chamisa, Mogiza & Biti know very well whom they are serving.

I feel sorry for the victims of the sanctions brought abt by these three, who are being abused and lied to in order to get their votes. The ordinary people are hungry and do not quite grasp who caused the problem - so naturally they will blame the sitting gvt.

But I feel saddened that these three can lie thru their teeth that they wont reverse Land Reform when we kno the white farmers bankrolled their party.

Shuwa kutengesa nyika nekuda kutonga here Mogiza - better anyone else to rule zim but not Mogiza (Anyone else but not Morgan).

The Uk mass media distraction is getting hotter and hotter - The Financial Times reported that the militant thugs (war veterans) are being sent by Mugabe & in FTs own words - the genuine chairman of the Real war veterans, is called Mhanda ......... Note how the british audience are fed with lies..

In other words any war veteran who thinks Mugabe is right is labelled as militant thug; anyone who thinks Mugabe is wrong is the REAL war veteran.

sometimes i feel sorry for the ordinary british people how the get abused by their polticians - remember the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq that are yet to be found 5 yrs on?

No wonder, they too dont really trust them - when the northern rock faced problems, despite assurances that their savings were safe, they slept in queues to take their savings out, asked why, they simply said they dont trust their gvt.

But surprise, surprise when it comes to foreign news they tend to go with what they are told - I guess its to do with that mentality of the notion that nothing good comes of the dark continent of africa.

would you blame them when you have some lost souls like Mogiza willing to sell his birthright and its entire people to massage his own ego? Even when slavery & colonialism happened, it was thru collusion with some powerful lost black souls like Mogiza.

Africa must assert its place in the world and refuse to be bullied by the powerful nations. If the so-called democracy means selling the country in the mould of mdc - then we are better off without it. I`ve always argued that Africa must design its own democratic system that is compatible with its culture.

Fakeness • n/a
Subject: Those fake commentators
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:29:10 • One of those critics is that annoying Gugulethu Moyo and her fake British accent and Tererai Karimakwenda and his fake American accent. Or Stan Mukasa with his deep Kumusha accent. What is it with these people and fake accents? Why do they play ball on western media, heightening tension in Zimbabwe?

Philippa • n/a
Subject: Middle position, way forward
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:25:58 • So after all is said and done the West still has the upper hand. What can we do to reverse the situation? We are caught between a rock and a hard place. I can see why Tsvangirai would be inadequate, but also Mugabe will not fold, so what happpens? People are just going to die? Simba could represent that middle ground, don't you think?

Anesu Makaya • n/a
Subject: Great, great, great!
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:22:27 • Thanks for clarifying this whole raft of sanctions that we didn't know existed. I honestly thought there were only targetted sanctions. Brilliant.

n/a • n/a
Subject: n/a
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:19:33 • Well researched and reasoned article, but I can see it misconstrued as support for Zanu PF, which would be sad indeed. The media makes and breaks people in the west and Tsvangirai should be wary of their motive. They have already started calling him names saying that he is not good at Maths. He risks looking like a cartoon character if he doesn't handle his media skills well.

Securu Wotamess, Loveness • na.
Subject: IT IS SIMPLE - WE ARE ALL PECKING CHICKENS!
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:07:39 • When will the world realise that the African continent and its million different tribes and their policies are a totally different and entirely unusual entity - just as Europe, Asia and America and their many tribes are equally all very different entities?

Until we get that message across to all and sundry - we in Africa will never be left alone to get on with our lives and live side-by-side in the land we were born.

World Powers spend millions sending out shuttles and satellites trying to find out if there is life out there yet they don't even have any idea of how to deal with one another down here on Planet Earth yet.

I believe that until there is peace on Earth the Universal Source will never make it possible for Earthlings to communicate with other beings.

Sadly, the pecking order is a human characteristic that dominates anything or anyone that enables it to feel superior... and fear itself still dominates many out there who have no idea how Africa works, so that in turn those fearing individuals may react in different ways because they still do not have any idea of who or what concept they are dealing with.

Only when that happens will we all live happily ever after, but until then.... Pecking will Rule!