The roadmap to new Zimbabwe...

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending"... Maria Robinson

While we continue to toy with whether or not the re-run is legitimate and whether this party or that party is behind this conspiracy, we are continuing to lose Zimbabweans everyday. Zimbabweasn are a vigilant and perseverent people and will fight their way through many trials and tribulations but it appears to me that we are all in a fight that is being carried out under the guise of a struggle for freedom when it is merely a struggle for power and a continuation of what has become an african tradition of power hungry leaders and desperately hungry people.

On one side the ZANU PF are claiming that an MDC lead Zimbabwe would be a Zimbabwe run by western colonial powers. This has now become overused rhetoric and is frankly childish and disgraceful. A fellow student remarked as we discussed these issues recently and i quote; " Right now i would follow a stranger into woods where i know not what lies but for the simple prospect of change." What the government has failed to recognise is that people do not view the west as an enemy. Their enemies are much more menacing and much closer to home. They fight them everyday. Hunger, illness, poverty and dispair are much more real to the Zimbabweans that the threat of a western colonial plot to exploit the vast riches of africa's former bread basket. The realities of our economic hardships are self evident and need no introduction. LIfe is genuinely difficult for the Zimababwean and it is the job of those who prophess to fight for the people to fight their real enemies and not these ficticious rivals from the "west". Sooner or later one was hoping that the regime would realise that re-telling stories of the struggle for freedom does not put food on the table, neither does it shelter the homeless, create jobs nor educate the nation's children. It appears, against all odds, that that realisation will be coming later than sooner. If the ruling party was serious about re-election it would focus on winning the people back by tackling their problems, not by stopping the opposition from winning at all costs.

On the other end of the spectrum we have the Movemnet for Democratic Change(MDC).At this juncture one must pay homage to the MDC for their commitment to the process. This has been a battle fought on the other side's terms, under the other side's rules and they have come out victorious. However i think that there are some significant flaws in their strategies. Barak Obama said on one occasion that, "we need to narrow the gap between the ideals of our promises and the realities of our time." Never has such a statement been more true than with respect to the Zimbabwean electoral process. It is naive and extremely dangerous to think that a victory in an election in Zimbabwe immediiately equals a transfer of power from one regime to another. The regime they are facing knows no other existence except that of being in power. They have erected a bureaucracy that can only function if they are in power and are not willing to yield to the democratic will of the people simply because they have so much to lose. The effects of a Mugabe loss in the election are grave and far reaching. Without taking these factors into consideration it is unthinkable that change can come to Zimbabwe.

It is becoming increasingly evident that if the MDC have the people at heart and not the throne of power, then they must engage the ruling party in dialogue. It now about doing what is practically workable and not what is ideal. The stakes are far to too high to play a game of chess with the lives of the Zimbabwean poeple and we are running out of the luxury of time.

The phase we are in now is no longer about political change but it is in fact a fight for survival for most Zimabweans. What the nation needs now is genuine leadership not insincere rhetoric about prosperous outlooks, the future has never seemed gloomier. One cannot overstate the sacrifices we are making as a people at this difficult time in our nation's history but we cannot afford to dwell here and allow bitterness to become our motivation to take up arms. The deaths of many of our brothers and sisters in the fight for survival is tragic but the prerogative is ours to ensure that this loss of life was not a waste of life. We need to honour their memories uniting as a nation not finding more reasons to be a divided people.

This senseless killing of one another both pains and disgusts me! It is shameful that we should come to a place where our words cannot do battle for us. We have demonstarted our failure to appreciate our differences and celebrate those values that unite us. I pray that not another life is sacrificed at the alter of intolerance in these desperate times.

Jacqueline Novogratz said on one occasion that," Dignity is more important to the african soul than wealth." A greater percentage of the population is now considered to be impovrished by world standards but i would like to believe that we have not lost the essence of our african spirit. I would like to appeal to that dignity that distinguishes us from other peoples and allows us to share in such a a rich heritage to prevail while we are in this transition phase, on the road to a new Zimbabwe.