HARARE – Since 2009, Zimbabwe has been making half-hearted attempts at democratisation following a disputed election the previous year. The piecemeal reforms so far are attributable primarily to the dearth of political will and lack of financial resources. Of the political parties involved, Zanu PF in particular has demonstrated an aversion to democratic reform; it…
HARARE – One thing history teaches is that no ruler or leader will rule forever and records show that there is no ‘‘rise and rise’’ in any given account of any leader but ‘‘rise and fall.” It is against this background that leaders, in particular dictators, should know that no matter how useless the ordinary…
HARARE – Zanu PF celebrates 50 years this year with so many questions hanging over the deaths of some of its iconic members. Top of the pile is the death of former Zanla commander Josiah Magama Tongogara, whose widow recently cast doubts on what supposedly led to her husband’s death. The death of the decorated…
HARARE – When armed police fired tears gas at Glen Norah parishioners during a church service in 2011, there was a huge outcry. The outcry was not a reaction to politics, but police heavy-handedness and insensitivity which was seen as an assault on the Church. Pregnant women and children who were among the parishioners suffered…
HARARE – The festive season is a period marked by a hives of activities. Business tries to clear stock, ordinary people rushing to buy goods, state institutions are put to rest, and a spirit of togetherness and joy defines people’s faces. The level of vehicle and human traffic increases. The needs and demands of an…
HARARE – The subsistence of political transitions are marked by political infighting, partisan positions and attempts to revert back to the old authoritarian rule especially if the undemocratic elements within the elite power arrangements read that a full scale democratic norm compliance could result in regime defeat. Zimbabwe has been grappling with a political transition…
HARARE – Government’s move to stop the acquisition of farms covered under Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (Bippa) although long overdue is most welcome. This comes after 40 farmers successfully sued government for $25 million at the International Court for Settlement of Investment disputes and more are also pursuing the legal route. Damage has…
HARARE – While telecommunication technology has meant Zimbabwe catching up with the rest of the globe in the information superhighway, reports that cell phones have become a major contributor to our appalling road carnage are worrying. As reported in yesterday’s edition, as of this week, police countrywide arrested almost a thousand people and fined them…
HARARE – Nothing lasts forever. The young eventually become the old and they subsequently perish. Such is the law of nature. 1980 is pretty different from 2013. Dialectical materialism dictates that life is in constant motion and more particularly, that the old gives way and collapses into the new. Thus, it will be utter folly…
HARARE – The first time this column appeared in another newspaper a few years ago, I started off by explaining the title. Lovers of popular music, the Beatles in particular, will recognise it as a song from the Fab Four’s Revolver album. So I doff my hat to Messrs Lennon and McCartney (its composers) for…
