Beatrice Mtetwa vs A gang frozen in time.

Beatrice and me.

Beatrice’s pursuers know one thing for a fact; that they are greedy,wrong and could face prosecution once they allow the rule of the law to prevail in Zimbabwe. Therefore, they have placed themselves smack dab right in the middle of political political power struggle ring, to try and make sure that power shall never leave their enclaves. In so doing, sadly, they have led many a Zimbabwean into shame, pain and heavy loss of property and freedom of which they care less. Once vibrant, Zimbabwe's economy is tottering hanging on by the skin of hair while they carouse and spend lavishly then turning around to vehemently deny charges leveled against them of human rights abuse and squandering of national wealth. They do so by denying well-meaning journalists from reporting the truth about them. People like Jestina Mukoko, Geoff Nyarota; Institutions like The Daily News and a whole bunch of others are sworn enemies of their bogus revolutionary movement that has long since abandoned the revolutionary dream. Instead, ZANU (PF) is following a path of a mixture of barbarism and despotism that has seen some disturbing developments on the religious front, with many a religious leader abandoning utmost trust and reverence for God, and dumping their respect on the sole figure of Mugabe, the president. This is supported by many occurrences including a report recently published by Zimbabwean tabloids about a priest Msindo who clearly indicated that he feared only Mugabe and anyone else, goodness knows what about them? Victor Kunonga too, dragged church business into politics a while ago and well, who knows how many other leaders are mingling God's business with politics? The two in my opinion should never mix otherwise things get pretty nasty. Along with many other individuals who use their affiliation to the third of the Government of National Unity which is set to dissolve after the impending elections this year, the mention of the party ZANU (PF) has many people giving up their rightful property, letting go of debt and giving of special privileges to the individuals flaunting the law in broad daylight. Many of those who speak out have been sent to jail without fair trial and representation, and that is where our own Iron Lady Beatrice Mtetwa comes waltzing into the light. It hasn't been easy for her as well.

Let me begin by dismissing all the rubbish that the media wherever it may be from, that speak ill about Zimbabwe. Of course, the country has been stumbling for the past decade under wanton exploitation by ZANU (PF), a political party made of cowards and opportunists whose activities have been cruel and denigrating to the general majority of the people. Zimbabwe is a country of peace-lovers, compassionate people among who dwell brainwashed disciples of the ZANU (PF) religion. Had it been another country, it would have been thrown into irreparable chaos by this time, but the people are long suffering and hopeful that sooner or later, things will change, God willing. That has been the trump card of the opportunists riding on every one's back, they have banked on that the people shall continue to tolerate them till they all expired by natural or other causes. Amongst the people of Zimbabwe,there are brainwashed people who would go to extremes to protect their political figures and the policies of this party. There are about similar minded people as well in the opposition, Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai and the other MDC breakaways. In every political formation, there are such people. Over the years, I have noticed that ZANU (PF), given their long track record at the helm of government, among the numerous problems that they have propagated, is tribalism. There was the notorious Gukurahundi in the eighties which they do not want to really address on national platform. I have only heard about it in stories told by victims and journalists who have done documentaries on the grave event. It is an issue that caused a deep wound on national unity and although it seems to have healed, on the surface, deep under the skin, it still hurts and proper medication has to be administered to eradicate it. Today,you hear people express that they would not like to live under the rule of  a Ndebele president, swearing that that day will never come at all. Similarly, the Ndebele blame the Shona that they are the ones who have ruined the country, every one of them and should be driven from Matebeleland beyond Shangani River. I see clearly the colonialist mentality coming out into the light here because the white settlers are the ones who created this animosity commonly among the Shona and the Ndebele so as to keep them divided and weak. At the end of the day, we are all Zimbabweans, and that is what we are failing to see. 

Having an aside with Beatrice.

Other than that, Zimbabwe is a great place with loads of potential. There are many people aspiring to bring about a positive change in the country including Beatrice Mtetwa who was arrested on the morning of March 17, 2013 after she responded to a call to attend to her client while the police were searching him/her premises. Upon arrival, she says, she as usual, requested for a search warrant from the police who went on ahead and arrested her claiming that she was obstructing the course justice. Her brief stay in prison has given her yet another beast to wrestle, the prison system of Zimbabwe which she said is in need of an overhaul. She spoke about the horrible conditions that women prisoners live in in incarceration and from the reports that have circulated around, men prisons are even worse. Beatrice began her career working as a prosecutor for the Mugabe government until she quit and started practicing privately. She saw unheard of enormities perpetrated upon journalists, white farmers, ordinary Zimbabweans, opposition party members and peace activists by the Mugabe government in their bid to stay in power and rob the country thus more of its precious resources. In so doing, she has managed to help quite a number of people get out of the cruel jaws of the law imposed by ZANU (PF). In fact  she is fighting for justice to prevail in the nation and for the rule of the law which is almost extinct in the country, and that ladies and gentlemen, is her crime! For a lady her size, she surely has done more than enough to raise awareness and begin a revolution for change. I met with the Iron Lady at the US Institute of Peace in Washington DC this month of April and was quite impressed by her presentation which came after her short film made by independent filmmaker Lorie Conway. At the end of the presentation, she gave the floor an opportunity to fire some questions, an opportunity of which I wanted but did not get. However, those who did ask, asked their questions and the following is some of the questions and answers, which you may also have had per chance, if not, watch the space, you will get your responses as her work continues. A brief chat with her, she expressed her passion to see justice being served in Zimbabwean courts and I was quite bawled over by her compassion for the equality of all men advocacy she is fighting for. Some may say that she is all about money, you are fatally mistaken! She has worked on numerous cases without getting paid a penny, all she has done is do the work, see to it that people are served justly and go home to her family. God bless such a spirit!

On being asked why she was on this campaign, including her short film which chronicles her targeted professional life as she helped loads of persecuted people get justice till her arrest and beyond, she responded by pointing out that all that she wanted was a change of governmental behavior in the country. All that she stands for is peace, equality and the rule of law. Whoever delivers that, she is content with it. She made it clear from this that she is not partisan and would not single out individuals by names. It’s a very smart thing to do and I guess as a lawyer, she knows best how to handle such situations. She expressed her wish that the upcoming elections should have fair coverage by observers so as to curb any party from rigging the elections or winning by other unfair means. So this was an advocacy to raise awareness even prior to the elections day, knowing the animosity that political party supporters carry around times like this.

Another questioner observed that the short film was biased towards demonizing ZANU (PF) and Beatrice passed on the blame to the maker, Lorie Conway who went on ahead to state that ZANU (PF) principals, other than Johnathan Moyo were willing to give interviews so as to have a balanced showcase. Other politicians did not have any problems with it and were interviewed. Beatrice does not discriminate anyone in her representation. Hers is a duty to see to it that justice is served to deserving people. She represented current Police Commissioner of Zimbabwe Mr Augustine Chihuri when he was vying for the position that he now holds. She says he was not qualified to contend for the post because the law then disallowed any ex-freedom fighter from being police commissioner. Today, she pointed out, there are widespread divorces of high-ranking ministers in the present government and she has represented the women, quite a significant number for that matter. She called her clients in these cases, ZANU wives, meaning that she represented wives of these infamous ministers whose moral conduct is also questionable. 

Among those who attended the session were people from the Embassy of Zimbabwe, US Institute of Peace, Zimbabweans with concern for our country's well being (including your truly), people from Voice of America , an ex-client of Beatrice's who works for the British tabloid Sunday Times. who was arrested in Zimbabwe in 2005. The session began with Alejandro Ponce who works with the World Justice Project as Senior Economist giving a brief overview of Zimbabwe's economic performance and rankings alongside Jefferey Smith, an Advocacy Officer with the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights specializing in human rights issues in Southern Africa. 

Double Standardization of Zimbabwean Politics!

It's all talk, all baloney, a bunch of impotent lies! Most of, if not all, the policies of the Zimbabwean government have been nothing more than just a bunch of words.  One of them is the program meant to emancipate ordinary Zimbabweans and empower them economically, turns out it's just another scam. Well, they do get away with it because they are politicians who have friends in the high courts of the land, and money, the money that they have amassed by mostly illegal means while the rest of the country watched. Every one of us knows the rules they have flouted every one of them, from the times of the GMB saga, Minister Chombo's unexplained and unaccounted for wealth, farms invaded and their owners maimed or thrown out of their properties, companies taken over, women snatched by force from other men, young girls taken advantage of. Their decadence pervades the whole atmosphere. One may wonder where am I getting all this but again, that question may be answered by the one who asks because ministers and other high-flying government officials or just ZANU PF chief whips, apologists and hangers on have been on a rampage in the country they liberated. I witnessed with much pain and later ambivalence the events leading to the 2008 parliamentary and presidential elections, how the men and women took advantage of naive people and helpless youths and at some point held ransom just to march and chant their slogans. Well, the ZANU PF camp that included Comrades Mlala, Makhulumo, Gwelo, the CIOs and the rest of them displayed some of the most appalling behavior ever. First, they took for themselves the subsidized mealie-meal meant for the people and resold it at inflated prices. The same they did to cooking oil, sugar and other basics that were scarce during that period. Furthermore, the men especially took the opportunity to have their way with many young girls who for economic and safety reasons, did not mind selling themselves to the men. Young men were given beer and cigarettes  a place to stay and piled onto the back of trucks so they could go around the city campaigning for them. They were given promises that soon as the men whom they were for won, they would all get benefits such as jobs or funds to start their businesses since the country was in a heavy period of high unemployment rate and vigorous entrepreneurship. The elections came by and went by and some of these men lost while others won and the promises said were put in abeyance. Most of these young people who wasted their time now scrounge for a living, their former comrades in arms are now too comfortable to entertain them even. That aside, after a rather disputably successful land and economic redistribution programme championed by the Patriotic Front, I was mainly interested in the Indigenisation Programme which has its dictates that in every corporation operating in the country with foreign investment or interest, 51 per centum of ownership should be in the hands of a Zimbabwean and the rest belongs to the other parties that are non-Zimbabwean.

Everyone was supposed to benefit from this platform, as long as they can engage foreign investors. However, the sad reality of the matter is, just like anything else meant to benefit the people, the greedy politicians hijacked the programme and set off to make money out of it. The rest of us, well we might as well settle for crumbles, but not for long.

 Talk of the guy who was nabbed in flagrante delicto, Savior Kasukuwere whose shady dealings with Zimplats have raised loads of questions in addition to those that have been raised already. Many people may have differing opinions to the issue of Gideon Gono and Munyaradzi Kereke who exposed the reserve bank's governor's corrupt dealings at the central bank.

The Indigenous policy was a very noble idea for the people with companies registered and in compliance with the laws of the country with regards to ethical operations. It was open to all people in the country, young entrepreneurs and old ones alike. Just like the land redistribution program, it is greatly flawed. Whether Kasukuwere understands the meaning of indigenisation or he just plainly refuses to acknowledge the existence of people's privileges because it is 'his time' is baffling to me. In plain sight, the corrupt government officials keep hiding their deeds. Their wealth and remuneration can not tally. A close associate who is an accountant with Zisco Steel also confirmed that the programme is not working in the steel making giant as the Indian company that is running operations does not even remit its taxes. At the earliest sign of duress, the ministers are called and they sort things out for them. Not only those companies, there is PPC, Anglo American Zimbabwe that operates Unki Mine, Mimosa and Larfage among all the others. All these have had back door entrance onto the scene meant for local investment benefit but the greedy vultures again took them to the side and whispered in their ear.

Growth and economic improvement can never be achieved if we have these cheating men in office. I believe Zimbabwe has the capacity to feed its people only if, resources are appropriated properly and government income is spent well. It's time to take some action, tell the men that we are fed up of their gimmicks and as a nation of smart people, we shall once again rise to prominence in Africa and the entire world.