Morgan Tsvangirai Was Here

By Tinomudaishe Chinyoka

Mutating ballots and  vanishing ink:  Morgan and his crew are
still hanging on to their creative imagination

There is one thing that is common in all prisons the world over and no, it is not the fact that they all have prisoners, though that is a given. Instead, it is the fact that prisoners, for some reason or other, like to write on the prison walls that ‘So and So was here’. For people incarcerated in a place that is meant to rehabilitate someone, to ensure that one is made to learn that the path which led them thither must never again be followed, it is odd that prisoners want to advertise the fact that they were there. Quite why this is so has always eluded me, until now.

This week however, I find I can guess as to one possible explanation: some sojourns are so pointless, so much of a useless detour in one’s life that the most that can be said about them is just that one epitaph: ‘so and so was here’.

Alas, I find that this applies to our former Prime Minister’s recent trip to the United Kingdom. Morgan Tsvangirai was here. End of story.

In two speeches, one in London to an elite audience that will never vote in Zimbabwe, and the other billed as a Star Rally in Birmingham (though the reported attendance of well north of 80 but south of 90 -  of which half were either relatives or foreign based girlfriends - would call that billing to question), Dr Morgan Richard Tsvangirai made it known to the international community that the election on 31 July 2013 was stolen, (we have heard this story before), that the Zimbabwe economy was bad, real bad (yawn! we have heard this one again), that Zanu PF was blaming sanctions for our economic problems (we know this), which the MDC did not agree with (we have heard this many times, yawn! yawn!) and that although according to him  the sanctions were apparently innocuous and hurting no-one, the MDC did not encourage a mere removal of sanctions without a framework that plods and entices the nation towards the respect of full democratic values (we have heard this before) and that the international community must rally together against Zanu PF (we hear this daily). There was apparently this need for internationally brokered dialogue, not because the MDC wanted to get back into another GNU, mind you, but out of the national interest. It is of course the same national interest that keeps Dr Tsvangirai in his Highlands Home, instead of having it sold to build a clinic or two, but that was not in the speech.

"Handiti tinoziva tese kuti tkarigwa" - Mai Tsvangirayi addresses
 the almost empty church building

From his wife, who was only unleashed in Birmingham, safe to talk to relatives and confirm to any foreign based girlfriends that she was in situ, there was an attempt to ‘reiterate’ what the husband had said, but given her previous disaster with that word, she wisely chose to speak in Shona,  asking ‘handiti tese tinoziva kuti takarhigwa?’ The audience gave feeble nods; seems the message had not gone home that those in the diaspora do not truly buy the Nikuv nonsense. 

More than half the hall was empty, and given that food and drinks were being offered for free, you get the idea why it is Zanu PF UK members and not the MDC that is talking about a diaspora vote. The Star Rally was flat as a trowel, and even Mai Tsvangirai’s bright face failed to raise spirits. About the only smiles you saw where when people queued to have their pictures taken with…., not the good doctor, but her!

Anyway, to the point. That the above is the sum total of what Tsvangirai (Dr Morgan Richard Tsvangirai, if you please!) had to share with the international community and his members in the UK, the question is, why did he come here? We have heard these claims before. We know that he claims, without reason or foundation, that the elections in July 2013 were rigged. They were not. We already know that he claims, without justification, that sanctions do not hurt our economy. They do. We already know, without his help, that the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia and Germany issued statements just after our elections calling into question their legitimacy. But they were merely quoting him. Quoting them in return to prove that the elections were in fact rigged is the best case of manufacturing evidence this side of kingdom come. We already know that he claims, without proof given the last five years, that it was the MDC that rescued the Zimbabwe economy. It was not. So, if he had nothing new to say, why did he come?

There was not a single statement from the good doctor about what an MDC government would do to reverse the claimed economic slide. Nothing by way of policy to inform us on what an MDC government would do different. Besides a plea to join another GNU, there was no plan for the future. So, again, why did he come here?

It is now clear that Dr Tsvangirai (as we must call him), despite well over 15 years on the job, does not appreciate the job of the leader of the opposition. It is not to dumb down the country. It is not to seize each and every opportunity to denigrate your country’s leadership and the prospects for future economic growth. It is not to seize whatever microphone in thrust in your face and think of what bad things to say about your country.

The international community does not vote in Zimbabwe. No matter how many times they are told lies about mutating ballots and ‘debilitating economic problems symptomatic of a deep-rooted political crisis stemming from a disputed election’, the international community will not and cannot replace the Zimbabwe voter. There are hard core MDC supporters in Zimbabwe who will continue to buy these lies, but they are not the majority. And, sadly for this trip, a speech that plays well to a handful of zealots at Makoni Business Centre does not translate well to the ‘international community’. All it does is paint the country in a bad light, frightening away investment and tourists, and exacerbating the very same economic ills that the Doctor wants to talk about.

ZANU PF victory was widely predicted but some disillusioned
supporters and sympathisers thought the numbers at a Harare
rally signified an MDC victory: Naivety and misadvising at its worst!

More than a year after the elections, Dr Tsvangirai went to London to point out that 5, yes, 5 people and two entities from abroad have made speeches to the effect that they did not believe that the elections in Zimbabwe were free and fair. Never mind that these 5 people were quoting him when they said that. Never mind the fact that all 5 were not in Zimbabwe to observe the elections. Never mind that they are all from the very same countries that imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe in order to effect regime change, for Dr Tsvangirai it is important to hop on a plane to go to London and point out that yes, John Kerry, and some guy called William Hague, plus another one called John Baird, and another one called Bob Carr and also a certain Guido Somethingwelle from Germany, all thought our elections were irregular. 

Not sure whether these old men have been to Zimbabwe lately, but I know seven people in Mazvihwa that think the election was free and fair because they voted. Does the opinion of my seven fail against that of these five white men who have never been to Zimbabwe? On what criterion? Truth: it helps no-one to go around litigating a loss that is now part of history, lost fairly and squarely to a better candidate, and one that Dr Tsvangirai, for good reason, decided not to fight in Court.

What we need from the opposition is maturity and national service. We need for them to do their job. That job, with respect, is not go on useless foreign trips and then to highlight their ‘success’;  pose for pictures with the ineffectual Mayor of the City of Birmingham, and claim that you have been discussing areas of cooperation. What, if we are to ask, can Birmingham offer to our country to address the problems that Dr Tsvangirai talks about? And on what basis is Dr Tsvangirai empowered to enter into cooperation agreements with foreign entities for our country?

From which page of JUICE do we find that an MDC government will look for cooperation with cities like Birmingham?

Instead of manufacturing excuses for the election loss Morgan
 should be outlining which aspects of this blueprint
would be applicable and where.

Talking of JUICE, is it not telling that since the election, the MDC has never once tried to tell us with aspects of this blueprint would be applicable where? And while we are at it, the Mayor of Birmingham? Not directly elected by the people, his powers largely symbolic, who is he in the scheme of things. I guess Boris Johnson or David Cameron were not available. Something about pressing summer holidays prevented them to meet with our Doctor no doubt.

Dr Tsvangirai went to the UK and spent his time at Chatham House rehashing old talking points. Then he went to Birmingham and met with his relatives and their friends (the figure of 89 is being mentioned quite a lot), and having done that, his publicity department is busy releasing pictures of him with the Mayor of Birmingham and some Trade Union deputy secretary whose name escapes me but whose connection to Zimbabwe is zilch, and all this as evidence that his visit was a ‘huge success’. Before we laugh, we must not forget that this is the same lot that had a party to celebrate losing the July 2013 elections, only they called it a Victory Celebration.

Clearly, Dr Tsvangirai does not know what his job is: so he spends his time doing what he knows best: being inconsequential.

Clearly Dr Morgan Richard Tsvangirai does not know the job of an
opposition leader and appears not to have a plan for the next election
but to bring suffering to the people of Zimbabwe
 for himself and his gang-members' benefit

The job of the opposition leader is to try and show the people an alternative. To say that yes, you chose the other guy, but had you chosen me, look what you would be getting. An opposition leader with nothing good to say about the country that they mean to rule is not appealing to Mr and Mrs John Q Public. Voters like to know that the leader of the opposition has a plan to win the next election, not an explanation for why he lost the last one. Voters like to know that the leader of the opposition has a plan to make the economy and their lives better if given a chance to rule, not a speech about how the other guy is messing things up and I told you so. Voters like to know what you will do for them, not excuses about what you did not do when you had the chance. Voters actually love their country, which is why they choose to vote, and going around claiming that their country is like a boxer knocked down to the canvas risks the view that you do not know how to administer first aid, otherwise why are you gloating about it instead of offering solutions.

So, like the prisoner who has nothing else to report about his stint in jail than the fact that he was there; having spent a good sum of his party funds, having taken his wife shopping in London before going to meet his 40 relatives and their 49 friends in Birmingham, Tsvangirai can return to Zimbabwe safe in the knowledge that posterity will record that ‘Dr Morgan Richard Tsvangirai was here’.

What a shame.

------------------------------------------------

Tinomudaishe Chinyoka is a former President of The University of Zimbabwe Students Union, a lawyer and member of the ZANU PF UK Chapter

Tsvangirai’s London Trip: Big Fuss Over a Trifle

By Bernard Bwoni

A picture can speaks a thousand words: A disjointed panel  missing some of the
prominent MDC-T UK-based figures (conspicuous by their absence) sitting
behind a make-shift and poorly decorated table summarises Morgan's trip

31^st July 2013 was a defining and watershed moment in the history of Zimbabwe. The country held peaceful and democratic elections under the new constitution, yet another milestone and extraordinary moment in the history of the country. The elections saw the end of the contentious Government of National Unity and saw the overdue re-emergence of the revolutionary party to put into place its potent people orientated policies. 

The elections were won decisively, freely and fairly and even the then MDC-T Secretary

Senior MDC figures; including the Secretary General;  Biti
admitted that they lost to a better organised ZANU PF

General Tendai Biti was honest and conceded that they lost because they were ill-prepared, lacked a convincing strategy and lost to the well-oiled ZANU-PF party. The revolutionary party won two thirds of the majority and has embarked on a country and continent-defining programme. The elections were widely endorsed by the African election observers from SADC, AU and COMESA as free, fair and credible and instantly condemned by the EU and USA who did not participate in the monitoring of the elections.

The ruling party forged ahead putting into place the details of their election manifesto into place. The economic blueprint, Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) was presented to the country to provide clarity and guidance on mapping a way forward. Under the provisions of the Zim-Asset framework there is clarity in terms of national and economic direction. There are four clear clusters of food security, nutrition, social services and eradication of poverty, and from these there are subsectors such as value addition and beneficiation, infrastructure development and others. These clusters provide guidance and direction on how the revolutionary party will be proceeding in the economic transformation of Zimbabwe.

Fast forward to 25^th July 2014, a few days before the anniversary of the 31^st July 2013 elections, along comes one Mr Morgan Tsvangirai and the venue is Chatham House in London. The expectations were high as Tsvangirai was coming to historically expected home of the most passionate of Tsvangirai’s supporters. Well, so we all thought.  The usually eager and celebrity-creating British media was uncharacteristically mute about Tsvangirai’s visit. There was no fanfare, there was no tea at Number 10 Downing Street with Mr Cameron and there was no pass out parade at Buckingham Palace in honor of this nearly Nobel Prize winner. 

Shaking hands with who?: Lord Mayor of Birmingham - Heard of Him?

Well he did manage to shake hands with the Lord Mayor of Birmingham and not many, even in Birmingham have heard of him. There were some claims that he turned down an invitation to appear on the BBC’s Hard Talk for fear of being given a hard time about the disintegration of the regime change project and the election loss in 2013. Well if you believe that then cows can fly. But the bottom-line is that Morgan Tsvangirai was totally left out in the cold by the British media, British politics and relevant stakeholders to the regime-change agenda. Tsvangirai’s visit was a non-event; even Ras Pombi drew double the crowd that attended the MDC-T leader’s rally in Birmingham.

The UK has been the Centre of opposition politics since the onset of the regime-change agenda and their supporters have been more prominent. The expectation was that the venue is Birmingham was going to overflowing with supporters from all Counties but in fact the venue was as empty as Tsvangirai's pockets. The Birmingham Gala was attended by a measly 97 strong crowd, most who were from his entourage and MDC-T UK Officials. The dinner was £20 per head and if you do your mathematics right factoring in non-paying delegates, cost of venue and other overheads then it is highly likely no amount of money was raised from this social function. In fact there is a high likelihood of a loss having been made.  As stated before the venue was as empty as his party’s pockets.

The progressive and potent ZANU-PF UK chapter has been drawing way bigger crowds than Mr Tsvangirai’s hyped much ado about nothing Birmingham show. The UK which has traditionally been seen as a predominantly opposition fortress has been witnessing some statistically significant changes in Zimbabwean political demographics. At a time when MDC-T UK support has been rapidly shrinking, there has been a sudden surge in ZANU-PF support in the UK. 

Birmingham Branch Launch: ZANU PF UK Local Branch
Meetings have drawn crowds larger than the much
hyped National "Star Rally" 

The UK chapter of ZANUPF has seen several branches being launched country-wide and has also gone international with the Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg (BENELUX) launch in Amsterdam recently. More branches are earmarked for the mainland UK counties and offshore for the responsive and people-focused ZANUPF in the UK. The demand for ZANUPF cards and registration in the UK has gone viral. The difference between the two political outfits, ZANUPF-UK and MDC-T UK is that the former focuses precisely on policy, people orientated policies and there is clarity in terms of strategy and goals whilst the latter (MDC-T) focuses on demonizing the former (ZANUPF).

Tsvangirai’s London trip was an inspiration to none, a hollow and pointless exercise. He started off his London ordeal with a lifeless speech at the Chatham House Think-tank. The address at Chatham House was predominantly a whinge about what the government is not doing and no genuine attempt at presenting a shadow strategy to the country’s economic challenges. The address was a telling event with Tsvangirai providing details of what he fondly termed “global players and stakeholders’’ and what they had to say about the supposedly ‘disputed’ election in Zimbabwe. The names were exclusively ‘international’ and included US Secretary of State John Kerry, Former UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird, Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr and Germany Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and of course the ever-submissive government of Botswana. 

This exposed Tsvangirai’s naivety and suspect preoccupation with what he fondly terms ‘the international community’. The names Tsvangirai provided here are from countries that did not participate in the monitoring of the general election. There are no names of the African countries that actually monitored and concluded that the elections were free, fair and credible. Tsvangirai’s address was not reassuring, as at most it was a public quest for readmission to the elite neoliberal circles he so thrives in. Here is a man regurgitating the party line of ‘chaos in Zimbabwe and begging for more handholding from the ‘international community’.

Tsvangirai also made a futile attempt at mentioning the state of the economy and presented some spurious and ill-researched economic indicators from the World Bank’s Doing Business Report ranks. What Tsvangirai does not realise about these Doing Business indicators is that they are highly subjective and not symptoms of the economic downturn facing the country. Zimbabwe needs solutions and not meaningless indicators. He also made some sweeping statements about the liquidity crunch, FDI flows into the country and he also mentioned a US$1 billion figure that was ‘spirited out of the economy barely a week after the election’.

In the final part of his address Tsvangirai made a feeble attempt at ‘mapping a way forward’ and his first statement was about national dialogue and from that he seemed to be eluding to another government of national unity. Tsvangirai termed it ‘an internationally brokered national dialogue of all stakeholders’ and we know very well who he is referring to when he talks about the ‘international community’.

He chastised the government’s Look East policy saying it had not yielded direct financial support. It is however an open secret that China is currently the country’s biggest source of FDI. Figures from the World Investment Report (2013) indicate that FDI inflows from China in 2013 amounted to in excess of US$400 million whilst those from the EU countries fell below the US$100 million mark. Even the EU has been borrowing money off China.

Tsvangirai continued with his painfully tedious monologue about dialogue and re-engagement with the EU yet seemed oblivious to the fact that the government of Zimbabwe has remained widely open to positive re-engagement with all its international development partners, former and present. Following on from the landslide victory in 2013, the government has put emphasis on economic revival.

There has been a genuine commitment from the ruling party to address the issues of re-engagement with the ‘international community’, employment creation and regenerating the desolate and dilapidated infrastructure. 

The finance minister Patrick Chinamasa recently went to the IMF and World Bank as part of the re-engagement process and to reopen lines of credit and attract the much needed direct foreign investment. The IMF has placed Zimbabwe on a Staff Monitoring Programme (SMP) as a condition for re-engagement with Zimbabwe if successfully implemented. The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industry delegation was also recently on an EU wide re-engagement drive. Minister Chinamasa has been working tirelessly working and currently on an international drive to redirect FDI inflows into the country.

Tsvangirai went on to lay down ‘the conditions’ for the removal of sanctions saying ‘removal of sanctions without a framework that plods and entices the nation towards full democratic values’. This is very disturbing and we have history to back this claim. This is the man who has advocated privately for the continuation of the economic sanctions against the country and now he comes to London with his sanctions-begging bowel extended with. The sanctions are illegal and should never have been imposed in the first place.

 It is Tsvangirai and his clueless lieutenants who advocated for these devastating economic sanctions and when he starts globe-trotting and canoodling with the infamous ‘international community’ then Zimbabweans need to seriously start worrying.

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Bernard Bwoni is a member of ZANU PF UK and is the Secretary General of the SW England Branch

A Mind-set for World Dominance

A Call for Growth and Development Mind-Set

By Nyasha Maringa

Zanu-PF has educated us since independence in order to raise the level of our most precious asset, our minds. The Zanu-PF Manifesto for the years 2013 to 2018 states as a goal, the fostering of the Zimbabwean youth who has an inner drive for national prosperity and the success of his or her fellow Zimbabweans. In the manifesto, it is recognised that "it is this age group that is most vulnerable to external political, cultural and information manipulation which, if left unchecked, often results in the youth becoming politically apathetic or misguided...falling prey to all sorts of ills of life." 

The enemy knows that he can attack our minds through manipulation. Zanu-PF can only go so far in their pursuit for our protection and personal development. A deliberate effort on our own part is called for especially to guard and to enrich our mind-sets. Our destiny as individuals and as a nation is intrinsically linked to whether or not we utilise our minds and in what direction we utilise them, whether we conquer or succumb to the external political, cultural and information manipulation. 

One aim that we can assume as individuals is the continual development of our own minds so that they work at their top potential in the direction of our best interests. Our best and only chance for a good quality of life is through independence and sovereignty, to opt for servitude is to accept a low quality of life. We service our cars and we detox our bodies, we should service and detox our minds as well to secure our independence and sovereignty, to ensure a life of growth and development for ourselves and for generations to come.

National growth and development starts inside the mind and so does conflict and chaos. Any work that has ever been created by a human being started in the mind. Any nation in world history that has ever embarked on a drive towards world competitiveness or dominance has recognised the importance of possessing the right knowledge or skill-set and a positive mind-set. 

A positive mind-set is characterised by clarity, self-belief, peace, patience, endurance, empathy, desire for truth, vigilance, creativity and other positives. On the other hand, an uneducated mind is powerless and a negative mind-set is characterised by such ills as anxiety, addictions, apathy, lack of self-belief, ill tempers, blind faith, paranoia, amnesia, selfishness, ignorance and bitterness. 

Morgan and his advisers are on a renewed mission of campaigning for
the retention of sanctions which have indirectly killed thousands of
Zimbabweans and damaged the economy

A negative mind-set will produce negative results that are a detriment to ourselves and the nation as a whole. We should fight against negative mind-sets, they are silent barriers to cooperation.

Explicit attention should be paid as much to the mind-set as to the skill-set if we are to overcome the dragging social ills. The accumulated knowledge or the skill-set of an individual is one aspect of the mind; the other aspect is the mind-set. The neglect of one's skill-set brings undesired outcomes and so does the neglect of one's mind-set. It is a worthy cause to aspire to attain the full potential of our minds if we are to achieve our goals. God gave us our minds so that we utilise them and God does not give his children challenges that are too big to master.

It is important to recognise that there is a history to this challenge of the negative mind-sets. The Rhodesian colonial government made a deliberate attempt, during their 90 year reign to alter our mind-sets with the objective of totally disabling our resistance from their rule. They tried to condition us to be submissive and to feel worthless and hopeless. They wanted our land to keep and to keep us as their servants forever.

This was the same throughout Africa when the Europeans invaded our lands. The Europeans had to work to make sure that we were incapable of fighting back and they worked it on both the physical level and the mental level. It took courage. unity and a high sense of self worth to break the shackles. 

It is also important to know that forces still exist that have the purpose of manipulating our mind-sets so as to create and perpetuate the social ills mentioned above. Such forces are mostly manifested on the television. 

Here in the United Kingdom, the media promotes a picture of Zimbabwe as a country that is not governed by the rule of law. A Zimbabwean with a blind faith mind-set may believe this and chose to expend his energy towards pursuits that are counter productive to the goals of his nation for an illusory gain. It is possible for a nation to be highly educated but with a manipulated mind-set which, instead of being driven to produce for its people, produces for its colonial masters. It is just as possible for an individual to be highly educated but, because of his past experiences, alienated from his own family's best interests. It is imperative that we watch our mind-sets.

Stuck in a cycle of negativity: Failed regime change agents and
 political failures are on a mission to promote a negative image
of Zimbabwe and its policies

When we are stuck in a negative mind-set, we may find that we get limited as to where we can go or what we can do thus it becomes a barrier to the goals that we aspire to achieve in the long or short term. Sometimes we may find that we are unable to enter into a constructive conversation with our fellows or we may be unable to focus on a matter under discussion long enough because of our tempers, ignorance, denials or insecurities. These kinds of situations are most conducive for those who want to colonise us. 

Peace times call for a growth and development mind-set, times of turmoil call for a vigilant mind-set and war time calls for a warrior mind-set. Likewise, we require different mind-sets during different times of the day or for different periods and occasions through out life like work time, party time, time alone to reflect, family time or the time that we spend with our friends. During the period preceding an exam, we may assume a mind-set to study. A popular saying goes, when we work, let’s work hard; when we play, lets play hard. We cannot work when we are in a playful state of mind neither can we play when we are in a working state of mind. It is important to be able to transform from one mind-set to another and to avoid negative mind-sets if we are to be able to effectively adapt to situations.

The transformation of mind-sets is possible. The mind is like the body, what we feed our bodies determine our state of physical health and what we feed our mind determines the state of our mental health and our ability to adapt. Our state of mental health is often the outcome of what we have fed our minds over the preceding years of our lives and our experiences. It follows that any deliberate attempt to alter the mind-set will take time and effort but the rewards make the hard work worth it.

 I once disliked reading in general and only used to read just to pass exams. There came a time when I decided that it was imperative that I assume a habit of reading widely. It was tough and it took time to get going; now I can read volumes of material, something that I had never imagined that I would ever do. I altered my attitude towards reading and through reading, I have been able to make many revelations. I have also adopted the habit of listening to YouTube lectures for hours, something that I did not have before. 

Positive mind-sets: Made sacrifices for the independence of Zimbabwe
 and positively resolved their differences to unite the nation.

We can choose our habits and nurture them, lets chose habits that are in line with our national goals and our best interests in life and purge ourselves of those that are not. This will certainly increase the efficiency at which we work and cooperate with each other. The altering of a mind-set is just like learning a new skill, it takes thought, action and time and it can be done deliberately. This is contrary to such myths as that the mental state of an individual is fixed at a young age or by the colour of skin. The bible says in Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." The mind is like a garden, if we want to reap good produce, we have to tend the garden positively, if we neglect our garden, weeds will grow without encouragement.

Some television programs are garbage to the mind just as some foods are garbage to the body. Educational programs may be boring just as healthy foods might not be as tasty. Growth is more important than entertainment. There will be other challenges on this journey of mental growth, challenges such as a lack of knowledge of how to do it, the demands of day to day sustenance and external manipulation. A desire for truth and a willingness to work hard to obtain truth can overcome these challenges. Such desires too can be learnt, we can program ourselves to ask the questions why, how, who, where and when. The internet is a reservoir of answers when we learn to see through the manipulation.

At this point, allow me to suggest some successful and prominent personalities whose teachings are a good aid in the pursuit of a positive mind-set. These personalities always mention that the success of an individual is down more to their mind-set than it is to their level of education. Brian Tracy's story is that of rags to riches. He has numerous YouTube videos that are pleasant to listen to. 

Ben Jochannan is one of the most prominent personalities in the world on the subject of African history. He shows that black people have more to be proud of than they realise, this knowledge will have a positive impact on our minds. He too has numerous YouTube videos. 

There is a  lecture by Professor Carol Dweck called 'Teaching a growth mind-set'. Creflo Dollar is a pastor who teaches the bible from the perspective of the mind, he has numerous YouTube videos, one good one is called "Withstanding Mental Attacks ". The bible is a good resource for mind-set development. There are many other affordable books that have been written on the subject.

So, my brothers and sisters, "iwe neni tine basa", "mina lawe silo musebenzi".  It’s not always about what our party and country can do for us but it is also about what we can do for our party and country. Having a high standard of education and a positive mind-set is indispensable to our own futures and therefore to our party and our nation. If we have to start with baby steps, lets do so, the important thing is that we will be moving in the right direction. Future generations will definitely benefit from the steps that we would have taken just as we have benefited from the steps that our forefathers took to win independence. 

Cde Joshua Nkomo said that “Peace begins with Me; Peace begins with You; Peace begins with all of Us” Lets us come together and surge ahead to glory. It can be done. 

Aluta continua, victory is certain!

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Nyasha Maringa is a member of ZANU PF UK and a member of the SW England Branch Youth League

Zimbabwe Opposition Killed Patriotism

By Bernard Bwoni

There is a strikingly uncanny poverty of patriotism among opposition ranks in Zimbabwe and there is absolutely no way of correcting this crude and rude political reality. The liberation struggle in Zimbabwe was fought and won by men and women with a marrow that filtered through their bones right through to the outer skin and flowed patriotically through the spirit of these extraordinary liberators. This was a just war that was fought by those who put the country ahead of all distractions and trappings. The priority was the liberation of the country and all its component parts. 

Today Zimbabwe’s national security is under continued threat owing to the exploitation-packaged ideologies being touted to the nation as democracy by a dysfunctional opposition and some stakeholders with specific intent to further an agenda that will never in a million years economically empower the people of Zimbabwe.

People can differ on any other matters but when it comes to affairs concerning the integrity of that compound and sacred entity called Zimbabwe, national pride and duty dictates that everyone pulls together. Patriotism is not a part-time pledge but the dedication of a lifetime to national cause and course. It is that sense of social, economic, political, religious, ethnic homogeneity and that shared sense of identity for national preservation and protection. The nation is the complex entity with its people being the component parts defining this unique structure. Tampering with this nexus has a disastrous cumulative effect on all the micro parts. Patriotism entails a paramount devotion to Zimbabwe with all its component parts and defending the integrity of the nation at all costs even if it makes one an enemy of those who wish to undermine the autonomy.

The liberation war was fought by men and women
with patriotism flowing in their blood and spirit

A patriot is ready to sacrifice all for the greater good of the whole country and not only the individual pieces that make up the whole. The young men and women who liberated the country were bonafide patriots who possessed that commitment to nurturing and upgrading for the greater good of Zimbabwe. The country is currently bedevilled with corruption, a culture of impunity and security breaches of the artless but highly sensitive baba jukwa type. The corruption, the impunity and the breaches are mere symptoms of the crisis that the country is currently facing.  Patriotism has abandoned Zimbabwe indefinitely across the board from the echelons of polity right down to the poverty-stricken supporters. The patriotic commitment to one’s country means protecting and preserving its honour whatever it takes. Corruption is an unpatriotic assault on the country and Zimbabwe is being battered from all fronts by her own citizens and administrators alike. The very same custodians of national pride, national sovereignty and national survival, the citizens of Zimbabwe, are the very same abusers of this sanctified privilege.

Patriotism is that selfless desire to safeguard national honour and a lack of patriotism yields self-obsession and unleashes a mercenary minority or majority against the nation. The only curative prescription is to look beyond the individual and towards collective national interests and long-term collective national aspirations. There is nothing wrong with citizens taking their governments to task over issues relating to the administration and misadministration of the state. There is absolutely nothing wrong with citizens challenging government impropriety and indiscretions but when this extends to undermining national security and national sovereignty then the line has to be drawn boldly and decisively. 

The opposition has advocated for sanctions against Zimbabwe fueled
by their hatred of the ruling party - violating the virtues of patriotism

The opposition tiers in Zimbabwe have repeatedly violated the virtues of patriotism in their handheld hatred of the ruling party and elusive quest for the so-called democracy. Some have compiled manuscript after manuscript of negative Zimbabwe chronicles to cater for their self-serving ends. The economic hardships have left hard-to-heal scars and the country unfortunately has been infested with far-from patriotic pessimistic prophets of gloom who derive only pleasure broadcasting the negative reports about the country.  In Zimbabwe a gullible opposition effectively eliminated patriotism when it advocated and begged for the damaging economic sanctions that were indiscriminately unleashed on an innocent and defenceless nation.

Corruption is a symptom of lack of patriotism and should be eradicated

Corruption is the prejudice of virtue and righteousness and to fully understand the vice and have any hope of addressing the ailment there is an urgent need to define and redefine the immorality in the country’s own context. However whichever way you define this degeneracy it still remains a symptom of the lack of patriotism among the citizens of Zimbabwe. The culture of impunity pervades society’s high end, the self-serving inclination prevails laterally across the divide and the emotions of partisan politics continue to smother the patriotic flame among the economically molested and despondent Zimbabwean citizenry. The pride has been eroded and the sense of belonging is almost nonexistent. 

The opposition must take full responsibility for this sudden death of patriotism in the country and the ruling party has that responsibility of nurturing patriotism by eradicating corruption, culture of impunity, poverty and security breaches. If the ruling party fails to address these symptoms then it will effectively join the opposition ranks in commemorating the demise of patriotism in Zimbabwe. Shunning negativity and pessimism and embracing optimism and positivity will revive that patriotic feeling among Zimbabweans again.
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Bernard Bwoni is the Secretary General of the SW England Branch of ZANU PF UK. He writes in his own capacity.

We Chose to Act

By Nick Mangwana

Taking an active role: ZANU PF UK engaging Zimbabweans
 in Europe recently in Amsterdam

I am thinking of 2 groups of people. One group decides to sit by their keyboards and pine. They constantly reminisce and flirt with an illusionary Zimbabwe. One which they feel could have gone a certain way if certain outcomes had gone differently.  They then find fault and kiss their teeth. 

Some of those in group are very witty. They write in unimaginable and creative rhapsody. They get a lot of likes and thumps up on Facebook. They have hoards of followers. But at the end of the day they go to bed and tomorrow is another day. They wake up again and prowl the online media. Like a heat seeking missile they search.  Discovering an article critical of their country is their eureka moment.  Their spirits are once again enthused. Dai zviri zvamashavi, ravo rati  tuguu!  It’s nice to provide this type of entertainment.  There is a whole industry out there of their ilk.  So really this is no big deal. 

There is a confused group which cannot distinguish between
their country and the party they disagree with

The only problem is when one confuses their country with a party they dislike.  Even with that they will not act. They wait for someone to give them the Zimbabwe of their dreams. But that person they wait for will only give them the Zimbabwe of his own dreams.  Not the one they desired. After they are given that false awakening, they will brood in their self-pity and again, tomorrow is another day.

But there is a second group which some of us chose to belong to. This is a group of those that refused to flirt and indulge in illusionary hope. A group that felt that they cannot play the ostrich injudiciousness. We therefore kept our heads away from that sand dune and actually did something. We realised that we could listen to soulful music all day. But when that battery runs out, there will still be the Zimbabwe we don't want out there. 

You cannot wish the country's problems away; neither
can you solve them by denigrating your motherland:
Do something to bring transformation

We could engage in idle tittle tattle, but the Zimbabwe we want would also remain a mirage. We then decided to embark on this arduous journey we are now on. A journey that has transformed us from apathetic by-standers to impelled participants. We felt that None but Ourselves can transform our country from its desolate state it finds itself in. None but Ourselves is actually responsible for our own happiness or melancholy.  You can spend the whole day, a year,  a life time even, feeling sorry for yourselves. Feeling like victims robbed of a certain destiny. 

Those on our side blame ill-fate and sanctions. Those on the other side blame bad governance and poor economics. Whatever explanation you have for the current place you occupy, the outcome is the same.  

If you choose to be a passenger, refuse to help pick the coordinates, apathetic to the selection of the driver, don't complain if you find yourself in a strange destination! We chose to act. We chose to remain Zanu PF and contribute meaningfully to the well being and destination of our country. When we made this choice, we didn't close the door after ourselves. It remains open to those that are yet to swing a decision. And there is still room in the inn. 

Iwe Neni Tine Basa

None-But-Ourselves

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Cde Nick Mangwana is the Chairman for ZANU PF UK