2008 Articles 25 Dec Kingdom Come 21 Dec Christmas 15 Dec Step Forward 5 Dec Beginning 1 Dec Amendment 30 Nov Facilitation 26 Nov Genocide 24 Nov Running Out 17 Nov Crisis 15 Nov Somalia 12 Nov What Next? 8 Nov Leadership 2 Nov Chipo 1 Nov Rome Burns 29 Oct Failure 25 Oct High Noon 19 Oct Never Easy 10 Oct Abyss 8 Oct Filibustering 4 Oct Chaos in Zim 29 Sept A Mule? 21 Sept On Step 16 Sept The End 12 Sept New Beginning 11 Sept Deal? 6 Sept Consequences 3 Sept Need a Deal 2 Sept Dollar Died 31 Aug Steering 29 Aug Unstuck 23 Aug Betrayed 18 Aug The Devil 13 Aug 13 Aug 08 12 Aug Today 11 Aug Cliffhanger 8 Aug Whats Going On 27 Jul Progress 22 Jul Agree to talk 21 Jul Mbeki kicks 16 Jul Crunch Time 13 Jul Economics 9 Jul Reality Looms 2 Jul Where? 30 Jun Looking Glass 26 Jun Battle 22 Jun What Now? 21 Jun The Commitment 16 Jun Do or Die 13 Jun Morning After 10 Jun Closing Doors 26 May Current Outlook 24 May Fan Club 19 May Tyranny 17 May End Game 15 May Flushing 8 May Violence 6 May Bizarre Process 25 Apr Cornered 20 Apr Electoral Fraud 19 Apr Jesse 17 Apr This Farce 11 Apr The Devil 6 Apr Wounded Buffalo 1 Apr Dying Kick 31 Mar Politcl Tsunami 27 Mar Current Situ. 26 Mar 4 days to go 21 Mar 8 days to go 15 Mar Election Time 27 Feb Games Begin 17 Feb Public Office 11 Feb Choices 4 Feb Decision Time 26 Jan Ambushed 25 Jan The Struggle 20 Jan Truth or Fiction 12 Jan Mugabe Mistake 8 Jan Surprise 2 Jan Kenya Lessons
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Choices
In life you get to make choices - many of which are not really
dramatic and
some that will change your life and circumstances for a long time. You
do
not choose where you are born and raised - that is your parent's
choice, but
thereafter those sorts of choices will come up from time to time for
each of
us.
I chose a career in agriculture and economics - not a real hard
decision for
me as I had always wanted to work in agriculture - did not have the
money to
farm so did the next best thing and became an economist and a commodity
specialist. I must say I have enjoyed working in this field and it has
done
me well. I worked internationally and had several opportunities to
leave the
country and work abroad. In 1976 I thought that Ian Smith would never
give
in and that we faced a future where the small white community would be
beaten into the ground and the country burned and destroyed by a war we
could not win.
Many friends said to me that it was OK for me to choose to stay - but
what
about our children? They did not have that choice - we were making it
for
them. We decided to look at a job abroad and to do so we took a family
holiday in Europe. After this trip we came home and talked it through
and
decided that Zimbabwe was home and we would stay. We are Christians and
my
wife and I had prayed about the choice and both felt very strongly that
our
leading was to remain in the country and tough it out.
Now we all have another choice to make - its decision time again for
all
adult Zimbabweans who live here. We have several choices this time -
the
main ones are the status quo (Mugabe and Zanu PF), Tsvangirai and the
MDC;
and now the 'Third Force' that has got everyone so excited and is
made up of
a really motley crew - led by Simba Makoni with the backing of Ibo
Mandaza,
Jonathan Moyo, Mujuru, Zinovashe and Mutambara!
Simba is an old friend and is one of the more decent and reasonable of
the
Zanu PF stable of leadership. He has a nice smile, looks young although
he
is well into his 50's and has been in the leadership of Zanu PF since
Independence. He does not have a very productive CV. He was fired twice
as a
Minister, unusual for Mugabe, and was Secretary General of the SADC for
10
years during which not a great deal was achieved and he succeeded in
remaining silent while genocide was being committed at home.
The singular contribution that Makoni has made is to break the myth of
Zanu
PF solidarity and hegemony. Since his nomination, Zanu has been is a
state
of shock and disarray. It has broken the whole electoral process wide
open
and nothing will be quite the same again. But is he really a choice?
Neither Makoni nor Mutambara offer a real alternative that can form a
new
government and this is the central issue confronting all voters. Do we
stay
with what we have, or do we choose change? The answer is obvious, but
somehow the personalities involved and the media who all punt their own
view
of the future and the choices we must make, confuse the debate.
Makoni is obviously a front for powerful interests in the Zanu PF camp.
Why
Mutambara has decided to throw his weight behind him is a mystery to
me. It
would now seem as if Mutambara is not going to run as a Presidential
hopeful, a wise decision, but the decision to back Makoni makes no
sense in
terms of the fundamentals and smacks of opportunism.
The MDC under the leadership of Morgan Tsvangirai will run as the MDC
(Tsvangirai) and this will be shown on all our documents and ballot
papers.
We will put up candidates in all seats (I hope by Friday we will have
all
RDC seats covered) and next week we will unveil our policies for a new
Zimbabwe. Team change is in place and is flat out in the campaign and
getting ready for the most crucial election since 1980.
We face an uphill battle - the regime has carefully gerrymandered the
constituencies - 70 per cent are in the rural areas where there is
only 35
per cent of the population, 24 per cent are urban seats where there is
65
per cent of the population and 6 per cent are mixed urban and rural.
They
have manipulated voting rights by maintaining a voters roll that has 50
per
cent 'ghost' voters and disenfranchised many hundreds of thousands
who, in
any normal democracy, would be voters.
There is no press freedom and they jam incoming foreign radio stations.
No
international media is allowed and we will have no credible poll
watchers
from abroad. The ZEC has been staffed from the Registrar Generals
Office and
is loaded with security apparatchiks and others. Urban voters will have
difficulty casting their votes - remember the long queues in 2000 and
2002
and the security forces will again vote under supervision behind closed
doors. Food and all traditional leaders will be closely controlled and
used
to support Zanu PF in the elections.
Mugabe feels supremely confident that he has done enough to win this
contest; at least that is what he says. I personally feel that we would
not
have the opportunity of an election if he did not feel so confident.
The
question is - is he right in this assessment?
The great risk and threat for the MDC is apathy and a sense that voting
is a
waste of time. Makoni has helped and given the whole process greater
credibility. People now think that we may have a real choice at long
last. I
think they are right. I think that the security establishment has now
accepted that we can no longer travel the road that Zanu PF has put us
on. I
think the majority now want change - the question is who can deliver
and
how? Only the MDC has offered that information. In a detailed and
comprehensive review it sets out its policies developed over the past
15
months by teams of experts and activists. It gives a clear alternative
to
present policies that have failed to deliver what they promised.
Is Tsvangirai the man who can deliver? He is the only man with the
trust of
the people and with their true interests at heart. He is not a front
- what
you see is what you get. He is a man of integrity and principle, has a
great
wife and family. He is self educated, intelligent and well read. Quite
frankly I have had enough of a government that is made up of PhD
graduates
with few principles and no ethics. We have no future under the present
crew
who are totally corrupt and live only for themselves. On Sunday I
watched
with pride as our future Members of Parliament and the Senate came into
the
hall in Harare from every quarter of the country. Many ordinary farmers
and
small business persons. All had to pay their own way, many had left
their
homes early in the morning and had not eaten. They came, they heard the
briefing and made their commitment to a new Zimbabwe and then returned
home - we could not even give them lunch and they now have to fund
their own
campaigns.
They are committed to this struggle, whatever it costs; they have and
are
sacrificing everything they have to give the country a chance for real
change. What a privilege to be part of that in a secular and cynical
world.
Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 12th February 2008
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