One year on, feuds stall Zim unity govt

The future of zimbabwe is indeed in the hands of the MDC, ZANU-PF are illegitimate rulers, they should not even be in partnership with the MDC. But they have managed to bully their way through. Nice going SADC

Is there a media code somewhere that bans publications from mentioning the USA's Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA)? All we hear is, Western travel ban and asset freeze. I thought media outlets were there to inform and not withold information. It appears to me like there is collusion by the media to promote a particular line.

Why is it that this article is talking about a stalemate between MDC and Zanu PF but only refers to MDC's insistence on the reversal of Gono and Tomana's appointments yet Zanu PF is also insisting on the removal of sanctions and pirate radio stations? David Miliband the UK Foreign Secretary did not call them travel bans and asset freezes, he called them sanctions and he said the EU will above all be guided by what the MDC tells them. The article says,"Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Mugabe's Zanu-PF are still feuding over Mugabe's unilateral appointments of the attorney general and central bank governor."

While MDC has legitimate claims about senior appointments, Zanu PF eqaully has legitimate claims about sanctions and MDC's ability to have them removed which is confirmed by Miliband. A bit of balance will help readers make informed judgements about the sitaution.

Fungayi, if Animal Farm-1209 gets you well then this puppet Morgan and his western handlers are the ones holding Zimbabwe and the whole SADC into ransom.

What is this puppet’s benefit when Zimbabwean economy is collapsing thanks to his criminal friends in Britain and America?

Animal Farm-1209 seriously wants Zimbabwe to get out of this Morgan-western engineered quagmire period!

A person who signs as fungayi Dzvinyangoma is nothing more than a CIO attached at the Zimbabwean Embassy to SA. He has nothing to do but support a discredited Mugabe regime because it (the regime) gives him free money that taxpayers at home suffer paying. What you have to know Fungayi is that ZIDERA was never implimented to inconvenience companies though they were fully behing the murderes regime. What existed in Zimbabwe is a regime which loses elections more than once and uses guns to stay in power. The type of santions that exists to a few individuals are of no effect to the country. Zimbabwe is a country of more than 12 million people and sanctions on 200 killers should me of no consequence. Moreover, ZANU(PF) is not Zimbabwe and so it is an insult to us Zimbabweans to say that sanctions on some 200 ZANU(PF) maggots imply sanctions on Zimbabwe. Get over it Tendai and think of looking for another job because Carl Max said a revolution is irreverssible. The sooner you come to terms with the fact that without meudering people Mugabe and his gang will be lucky to get 5% of the votes the better. The truth is Mugabe lost to Tsvangirayi. There is no dispute about that. So Tsvangirai should be the President in the coalitioin government. Thanks to Mbeki the reverse is true.

@white trash, I’m in total agreement with you, save for the SADC bit. I think they are in a precarious situation (SADC), because why else would they tolerate the Mugabe regime? Why don’t they just damn him to hell? They are putting the credibility of the organization at risk by being soft on the despot. Maybe SADC is caught between siding with the West and been strict with Mugabe thereby having the West imposed sanctions lifted against Zimbabwe (and once again cementing the masses trust on to the West); or SADC could bring the West to book for their failure to honour the Lancaster house agreement and frustrating the land reform programme, with the latter choice placing the SADC nations’s relations in jeopardy with the West. So, the decisions that SADC has to make is not an easy one, it has lots of implications and attributes to it.
But on the same note, personally, the characteristic of a man is the one who lets his yes be yes and his no be a no, and have great courage to face the consequence of the decision despite having fear, hence I admire Mugabe for standing his ground, but he’s lost the plot when he employed desperate measures to keep his grip on power and for that he must go, he’s a criminal. The ZANU-PF has been committing its fair share of atrocities but West are the big bullies in this plot.
Thandanani Umlaw

The Zimbabwe issue has always been paralysed by the blame syndromme. Those in the ZANU corner will blame everything on sanctions and MDC. The MDC corner would also blame everything on ZANU. The media is always blamed for taking this or that side. The reason why the GPA was construed in the first place was to try and bring Zimbabweans together but unfortunately polarization remains in place. MDC people have to admit they actively campaigned for sanctions (just like ANC did against apartheid) because ZANU was killing innocent Zimbabweans ansd suppressing political space. Do they now trust ZANU enough to call for easing of sanctions? Judging by the actions of the AG and a number of ZANU ministers I would not trust ZANU at all. It is still a barbaric organization worse that apartheid. The anti-apartheid and even the Rhodesian sanction were only lifted after the complete decimation of the system that created them. If ZANU PF can prove that they have abandoned barbaric methods of kidnappings, toture, political persecution, media bias, looting of state resources, barbaric farm invasions; then the MDC should be condemned for not actively campaigning for the lifting of targeted sancions.

come on Fungayi.... ZANU-PF is oppressive, lost the elections & hijacked them. We don't need to hear their side of the story. That's Botha saying international media is only interested in Mandela's story - off course they are, who is interested in murderers and rapists. Of all the people I know from Zim and all the stories from them, media is underestimating the cruelty of ZANU-PF.
If you want two sides of the story, stage free and fair elections.

The Europeans handlers argument is not valid anymore. ANC for example was supported by the likes of China, Russia, East Germany and other "communist / socialist" governments on the armed wing & was supported by West Europe (though not fully) and America on economic sanctions to end Nats rule. Are we puppets of any of these countries now? NO... we strenghten diplomatic relations as it suits us (like everyone does). Politics IS Business, if you don't look at it that way you will either be Naive or (in your case) Paranoid.....

Hey Fungai, how do you justify Mugabe and his gang stealing the very diamonds that would make Zimbabwe functional?

Instead of whining on about the never activated ZDERA tell us why Mugabe's taking of all the diamond output from Chiadzwa is helping pay civil servants and school teachers and doctors, and purifying water and making the electricity flow?

You Zanoids are very sick things indeed.

Justify Mugabe stealing the nation's diamonds instead of banging on about some farcical bit of impotent American law.,

We are fooling ourselves in believing that the Mugabe CIO is still operational in Zim. Those guys are the hardest hit by the dolarisation and the coming in of Biti. Lets get facts right whether Biti is giving money to these guys? My brother a former CIO left because the kitchen was too hot and the tapes were dry.

The point I want to put across is both ZANU PF and MDC are illegitimate. They should not be in the driving seat. We don't want those guys to be in settlement agreements at the expense of us. They drive the latest cars and have unbelievable benefits at the expense of the electrolate.
I don't know what my fellow Zims believe but I don't subscibe to that. Vanhu ava imbavha amasela chete.
Tsvangirai shouted to Zuma when he suggested that elections should be held next year. Vanhu ava they are comfortable with this arrangement and would want it to stay loke that till they have financially stabilised till year 5000. I say its time for Zims to rise and say NO to this nonsense. Hatichadi

Why is it that when someone calls for impartiality and objectivity in reporting they are immediately labelled this or that?

For the record Tsvangirai called for sanctions against Zimbabwe and even complained in an interview with David Frost in 2002 that they had come too late. Zimbabwe has suffered economic decline through sanctions and now cannot even pay its civil servants a living wage. Tsvangirai promised to pay all civil servants real salaries as soon as he got into office and has failed to do so due to sanctions.

Anyone saying ZIDERA was never implemented is being dishonest. Biti said Zimbabwe's economy cannot recover with ZIDERA in place because it stops Zimbabwe accessing BOP support from IMF or any lines of credit from US linked international financial institutions. Zimbabweans cannot set up accounts with Paypal because of ZIDERA. Zimbabweans cannot buy farming implements from the US because of ZIDERA. The list is endless.

My reasoning for blaming the SADC as colluding with ZANU-PF is that they have legitamised the party, without support from the SADC Mugabe would not have been able to hold on to power for this long. This is because the zimbabweans, as well as ourselves, rely on the SADC to give us direction in who to belive, and they would have us believe that ZANU-PF is the only organisation capable of running the show, as well as the fact that the elections were free and fair and that ZANU's win was the voice of the majority of zimbabweans. That is an insult to our intelligence as well as a severe insult to zimbabweans and those who lost family and friends to the brutal regime.

Fungayi, Zimbabwe cannot buy farming implements because Mugabe is paying each acompanying CIO about US$350 000 on every foreign trip that he goes. He normally goes with not less than 50 of them at each trip. Zimbabwe cannot buy farming equipment because Mugabe forced biti to release more than US$40 million every year to pay for fees and the welfare of ZANU(PF) children enroled in South African Universities under the so called "Presidential Scholarship" where Mugabe never puts a cent from his pocket but is happy to use taxpayers money under a ZANU(PF) party scholarship disguised as "helping the needy children" as if they cant be enroled at NUST or University of Zimbabwe (UZ). This year alone Mugabe sent more than 1000 ZANU(PF) children to South Africa alone, a well calculated move to milk the state cofers dry and then blame Biti for economic failure. Zimbabwe cannot buy farming equipmemt becausse the minerals like diamonds mearnt to generate revenue for the country are looted. Zimbabwe cannot buy farming equipment because the country is still paying the debt accrued by sending troops to the DRC to protect mining interests of ZANU(PF) leaders and the military. These are the economic sanctions which must be removed not imaginary sanctions imposed on a group of killers which has been killing and stealing people's wealth since 1980. When Joshua Nkomo was in opposition all his wealth was taken by Mugabe. Ndabaningi Sithole's farms were taken by Mugabe just because he was in opposition. Now the white farmers all lost their properties because they support the opposition. The urban dwellers' houses were destroyed by ruthless Mugabe just because they supported the opposition. More than 20 000 Ndebeles were killed just because they supported the opposition. In 2008 it was mass killings around the whole country of people who supported the opposition. So the real killer is Mugabe. He has no right to complain because the personal sanctions are not punishment enough for his evil deeds.

@white trash, there was no legitimisation required from anyone about Zanu PF's standing in Zimbabwe's national politics. Zanu PF got 99 seats to MDC-T's 100 and MDC-M's 10 plus the independent who later rejoined Zanu PF. Coupled with that Zanu PF had absolute majority in the upper house which makes MDC-T's claims to have the people's mandate ignorant, misleading and dishonest.

As for the presidential election well Ukraine has just had a run-off election, Ghana had a run-off, Portugal had one and Greece had one too. Reason being there was no outright winner in the first round. The farce that has been made about Zimbabwe is laughable given these examples. Moreso for Ukraine the result of the first round was very similar to the Zimbabwe one. SADC cannot be complicit in circumventing a member country's electoral laws to please some selfish outside influnces and interests. SADC must be commended for abiding by the building blocks of it's foundation based on mutual respect of each other's sovereignty except for rogue Botswana.

Fungayi you are so lying.

A listed new "farmer" was prevented from doing business with an American tractor supplier because he was listed. Anybody else could and did buy tractors and every other thing they needed from the States.

Tell me when Zimbabwe asked for BOP support after ZDERA and was refused. Tell us all how many years before ZDERA Zimbabwe was denied access to BOP funding because of our inappropriate policies like going to war in the DRC, paying out the war vets.

Tsvangirai when asked what SA could do to pressurize Mugabe into accepting democratic norms said they could cut power and fuel supplies, certainly not military action he said. This is what you Zanoids refer to when you say MT called for sanctions. You will note that SA did none of the above so the western democracies did their little pinprick shopping sanctions and the NEVER used ZDERA and you claim these have destroyed the Zimbabwean economy while never referencing the destruction of one third of the economy directly and another third indirectly when agricultural output was essentially stopped.

You make no reference to the huge and ongoing importation of Mercs and BMW's and SUV's and helicopters all for the ruling classes egos. Why is that Mr Honesty in Reporting?

You completely avoid my point about the Chiadzwa diamonds, why? Are you getting a cut boet?

Stop your Zanoid nonsense man, you are on the wrong team. These naive, but well intentioned, South Africans here do not have sufficient detailed information about our situation and past to be discriminating about your lies but I do and I will do my best to make sure nobody is taken in by your bullshit.

thethinkingman you need to change your name, enough said!

This from Newzimbabwe.com.

FINANCE Minister Tendai Biti has met the authors of American sanctions on Zimbabwe, telling them: It would be very difficult to move when the sanctions are in place.

Biti’s admission that US sanctions on Zimbabwe have an economic impact shatters a long advanced argument by western nations and supporters of the MDC, the former opposition party now in a ruling coalition with President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF, that the sanctions are “targeted” at senior government officials accused of human rights violations.

Biti is a senior member of the MDC which is led by Morgan Tsvangirai, now Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister.

Speaking to SW Radio Africa’s Hot Seat programme on Friday night, Biti said the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) passed in 2001 directs American citizens to veto any extension of any loan, credit, or guarantee to the government of Zimbabwe.

He said: “… if you consider for instance the World Bank right now has billions and billions of dollars that we have to access but we can’t access unless we have dealt with and normalised our relations with IMF.

“We cannot normalise our relations with IMF because of the voting power, it’s a veto power of America and people who represent America on that board (who) cannot vote differently because of ZIDERA, so it is critical.”

There are those who said that the unity government would not work long before the GPA was signed and the swearing in of Prime Minister Tsvangirai and the rest in this administration. Well time has proved the doubters were rights.

What made this marriage of convenience between MDC and Zanu PF so unworkable is that it gave Mugabe dictatorial powers, unacceptable to those concerned about justice and freedom is that the arrangement endorsed Mugabe’s position that he could disregard the electoral wish of the people and so reckless and uncaring on the part of all those who pushed through this marriage is that they are really not concerned about the tragic suffering of the millions of ordinary people who are the real victims of this failed Zimbabwe government.

@Fungayi. I am not an American, so have nothing to gain or lose by this post. ZIDERA is an American law, governing Americans. The US Government has the absolute right to direct its employees to follow its instructions; every government 'instructs' its diplomats at International Organizations to conduct themselves in a certain manner.

Zimbabwe will not access support from the IMF, WB, AfDB or any other IFI because they don't repay their debts. The US may vote for or against Zimbabwe, but there are dozens of other votes around the table. IMF and WB are funded, in part, by obligatory contribution of tax payers dollars, and those civil servants have an obligation to manage our funds reliably. The IMF Group also receives funds from participating banks. I have said it before and say it again; these institutions are the lenders of last resort for clients who are unreliable as borrowers. Blaming the US principally, for the sorry state of the ordinary people in Zimbabwe is just untrue. to quote former US Ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee..."[the US is] providing over US$200million in food assistance to the people of Zimbabwe. That is a number that the government of Zimbabwe itself comes nowhere close to matching." and that is only the humanitarian assistance provided by the US. This does not include the EU Nations, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Australia, and so forth.

It is risible for Tendai Biti to suggest that Zimbabwe become a member of the HIPG of nations, and have its debt forgiven...so that it can borrow more. There is a definite disconnect with reality here.

The appropriation/taking for safekeeping, whatever you call it, of 30kg of diamonds spirited off to the Reserve Bank is not a good signal. Nor is the fact that the gold reserves, in the RBZ, have not been seen, to say nothing of audited, since the late 80s. Would you lend your money to such a borrower?

Zimbabwe's government for reasons of its own, has systematically deconstructed the economic underpinnings of the country. It can rebuild them as it sees fit, but should accept that they must also accept the consequences of their actions, and not expect life to go on as usual.

He can't answer the question about diamonds, hence the ad-hom.

LA QUEBECOISE you do not need to be an American to understand the impact of ZIDERA on Zimbabwe. It is called denialism by ommission. Zimbabwe does not need humantarian assistance but fair trade and fair access to lines of credit as well. Even with dwindling export proceeds Zimbabwe was settling its debts as recent as 2008 so spare us the lies about non payment.

There are countries with worse credit ratings than Zimbabwe that had access to IMF and World Bank funds that Zimbabwe has been denied. You cannot pauperise a country and then brag about how much aid you are giving it. Zimbabwe has enough resources to settle its debts withou the need for the US or anyone else's charitable giving. Why do you think there is so much noise about Zim diamonds? If Zimbabwe is able to trade its diamonds without constraints then its economy would rebound and the US, EU and UK will lose any leverage they had on the politics of the country.

Organisations like HRW and AI are now the fronts used for this purpose. The aim being to have trade in Zim diamonds banned then create illegal trade of same leading to a DRC like civil war situation. DeBeers has been dealing in DRC bloody diamonds for ages with the Belgians, Mobutu and then laterly with the Rwanda backed rebels yet it has the guts to call Zimbabwean diamonds bloody. Reason being it is not been involved in their exploitation. A lot of wolves in sheep skin with deceptively well meaning good sounding names are bent on causing strife in Zimbabwe and nothing else.

Fungayi, Zim may have some diamonds; two of the mines belong legally to ACR and the Australian group from whom the mine was stolen by Gen Chiwenga. Just as the resources of "the land" are stolen from the white owners. At the first lecture I attended in Zimbabwe, ZANU PF stalwart Ambassador Patel said, in pulic, that if Pres Mugabe returned the money he had stolen from the people of Zimbabwe and lodged in Malaysian banks (to say nothing of other monies stolen by other members of the inner circle and lodged elsewhere) Zimbabwe could repay its debts and not owe anybody anything.

No one 'pauperized' Zimbabwe you did it all on your own.

@Thinking Man. Fungayi can't answer the questions about any of it, hence his continual rants.

I only answer from time to time. Now I answer because the people of Canada, ordinary working people, have collected somewhat over C$113 million!!!! (Rand 791 million) for Haiti. That's some ubuntu, isn't it?

Haiti is yet another country where we, the outsiders, horrified at the poverty, the hungry ill children, the violence against women and girls, the illnesses, the... everything we see in Africa, for example, we rush in to solve the problems that the Haitians themselves have created, and I think we should just stop this. Just as we should stop enabling Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe got into this problem now they should just sort out the answer themselves; and the answer is not pleading with the international community to declare Zimbabwe a HIPC, so that their debts could be forgiven...and they could borrow more money. Wow, wouldn't you like to be an investor in those banks.

Canadians, for example, had to learn with no aid, to manage our populations, discover solutions to poverty, hunger, sicknesses, lack of education, and take our societies on the road to a better life. One thing we had in our favour, was quite a lot less violence, than is seen in Haiti, and in South AFrica. People mock us because we are generally polite and kindly speaking; maybe that would help. I learned with our children, for example, that heated arguments only exacerbate a bad situation.

Maybe Fungayi could start by attacking the real problem, instead of the people who have an opinion.

LA QUEBECOISE you will not even mention how France pauperised Haiti will you since you are French Canadian and all? History in your books only starts when you think black people should be blamed for it. If France pays back Haiti all the billions Haitians paid for their freedom from slavery and for the island I know it would not be so poor. You ommitted that fact or were you ignorant of it since you were all taught selective history?

It does not matter who owns the mines because any primary benefit accruing from the diamonds should be going to Zimbabwe anyways. At least we agree on Biti's ill advised HIPC crusade and we all know who is advising him.

Are you saying, Fungayi, that because some people are poor, for whatever reason, it's alright to rape women and girls, as is happening now in the refugee camps of Haiti? Is it alright for those who have food to sell to sell it at 'scalpers' prices? And what does that have to do with the earthquake, anyway? And that France's activity 200 years ago, has something to do with the lack of progress now?

I don't understand how history affects personal responsibility. I could say the same about Canada; we were not always comfortable; we have a history of greater ubuntu than anything Africa lays claim to; no one gave us anything; we organized ourselves. Yes, of course we have our share of scoundrels, but we seem to manage them better because we know right from wrong.

And if our companies chose not to trade with Zimbabwe that is their business. Me, I would shut down all aid; humanitarian or otherwise. For the moment those you decry & despise are the only ones keeping your people alive.

LA QUEBECOISE, how did these Haitians end up on on this island? Are you implying that Africans do not know right from wrong? Answer to your question about France's activity 200 years ago is a big absolute YES!!!! It was wrong then and it is wrong now.

If you really knew right from wrong I am sure you would have condemned France's actions as well as the US which invaded Haiti for more than 20 years in the 1900s.

If any company chose not to trade with any country that is perfectly understandable. However, if companies are prohibited by their government from trading with another country then there is a huge problem.

The problem with the zimbawean political discourse is that it has so much individuals, organisations,countries and even continents with vested interests. and it is the ability of britain and its allies to render meaningless and inane zanupf's original position. the media which is controlled by who, yu know, has taken sides for the obvious reasons. now as the rigion and zimbabweans in general we need to have an open and honest debate about sunctions because they are real and no amount of hiding behind the finger will change this. mdc has veinly tried to sanitise sanctions as restrictive measures but zimbabweans are not fools. this is the greatest political scandals in years.in any case those who imposed them have come to realise that they can no longer hide under the restrictive measure banner. against this background zanupf must stick to its guns and demand for the removal of these sunctions with the mdc taking a leading role. otherwise no more compromise

La Quebecoise, haha, I admire your patience. Fungayi is actually playing a simple trick of reverse racism, he has nothing to do with actual logic. He will suffer just like the white racists suffer in their hatred for other races, it will eat him up eventually :)

white trash please explain to me how I have played reverse racism? You are calling yourself white trash not me!

@ OK Fungayi, I will say it slowly and use small words;

People occupy one half of an island. That half is called Haiti; it has just been hit by an earthquake; hundreds of thousands are dead and injured; outsiders are rushing in from all round the world, and millions of dollars have been donated to help.

Some Haitians are helping, but while foreigners are donating food and money, some haitians with food are raising their prices. WHile foreigners are helping to organize and provide shelter, Haitian women cannot sleep at night because they watch over their children fearful of the ever increasing rapes in the refugee camps.

That has only to do with Haitian people, not their history.

@FUNGAYI. Governments prohibit their companies from trading with others sometimes because of the scoundrels: There are loads of people who would buy the diamonds from Marange; and many do. But it's not morally right;

The lease for the mine was confirmed by one of Zimbabwe's black judges as belonging to African COnsolidated Resources, but this decision was ignored and one of the cronies gets into bed with 2 unscrupulous companies (scrap metal dealers from SA) registered offshore, who know nothing about diamond mining. How is this a fair break for the miners? for ACR? What is moral about this?

@White Trash. I'm not patient, ask anyone. My country donates a sizable amount of 'humanitarian assistance' to Zimbabwe, a country where I spent 7 happy interesting years. I am horrified at the dissemination of lies/ or alternatively at how the 'truth' is seen so differently from two sides.

I don't hope to change Fungayi's thinking, nor that of the couple of others of his ilk, but maybe, just maybe, my persistence will change someone's point of view. Although where we go from there is anybody's business.

It does make someone like me rethink things. I came out to Africa first in 1968, to teach English in francophone Africa, you remember, the generation who hoped to 'make a difference'. We were appalled by the poverty, disease and hopelessness of people.

Forty years later, what a waste. But wait, maybe not; maybe I should learn that we can't play God. But for some reason, people in my country still rush in where there is poverty & disaster; we worry about the children, we set up hospitals. At the end of the day, all we can govern and be responsible for are our own actions.

@LA QUEBECOISE

You are a very patient person, you have to be to have a conversation with some one like Fungayi. We have really important issues here and Fungayi has taken it upon himself or herself (all paid for by the Zimbabwean taxpayers) to disrupt the debate and thus turn this site into something akin to the Zimbabwe Herald.

The way I see it, the editor should delete Fungayi contributions and those of all the other paid Mugabe sycophants. The editor does not want to go down this path for obvious reasons. The alternative is that we the posters ignore Fungayi and his/her lot. What do you think, LA QUEBECOISE?

@Hah Wilbert. I think you & I must meet somewhere, sometime, tho I am in Canada at the moment. In about half an hour on the back of an envelope we could sort it all out, and even name the people who can put Zimbabwe back to rights. I hope you are Zimbabwean; the best image I had about Zimbabwe was when I first arrived & was invited to an opening at an art gallery, the Delta Gallery. I met black, white, coloured, asian men and women artists, all under the tutelage of Helen and Derek, who selflessly helped young Zimbabwean artists reach their highest level. I was so excited. And then the political reality took over; with the racism and the hatred.

Wilbert, and anyone else who thinks that way...let's make it right,

La Quebecoise, I actually grew up with support of aid workers and missionary people in central africa, amazing, anyway, I cannot tell you how disgusting that is, to put it in your perspective, it is like the way americans patronize canadians, and the rest of the world sees them as the 'little americans', enough said, Canadians are not really passive nice people, they don't have the best ice hockey teams because of their polite behaviour. So get off the higher moral ground. donating money has nothing to do with alturism. Fungayi is the other extreme, which probably explains the reason why you two get along so well :) hehe.

People like Albert Mukori are guilty of the very same sins that they accuse Mugabe of. Censorship of divergent views, isn't that what you copmlain about in Zimbabwe? You are given the platform to air your views freely and the first thing that comes to your mind is that someone writing what you don't agree with must be barred or censored? Can you see that log in your eye?

You must be the last person to criticise either Mugabe or the Herald as displayed by your narrow minded comments above. At least white trash and LA QUEBECOISE are airing their views and not policing other commentators' comments. You are a very sad man.

Sorry White Trash; it's late at night here, and I'm afraid I'm not getting the point: is it that you felt patronized by the behaviour of aid workers & missionaries? And are you saying that my motives as a rather naive 24 yr old were partonizing & insulting? If so, perhaps I was, and I apologize.

If you are refering to the enormous amount of funds donated by ordinary Canadians to help assuage the plight of the Haitians, in my culture these people acted with complete altruism and compassionate humanity. Little children held bake sales; people held 'skate-a-thons' schools held dances; bands donated their time & talents & endless fund raising activities were held in every single community in the country. There was only compassion & a sincere desire to help.

And I don't think we have the best hockey teams in the world any more. The players have become brawlers, with two junior players having been banned for the rest of the year for a heavy hit to opposing players. Maybe I[m a bit grouchy, but most of my compatriots are nice & kind and generous people.

@Fungayi: Quick it's time to get back to Zimbabwe. They are about to redistribute the "white's businesses" and you must be there to share.... if you know what I mean.

@Fungayi

Your mission has been to disrupt the debate that has been going on here by bombarding the site with your trash. Instead of discussing how Zimbabwe's GNU has failed the millions of ordinary people one year after its formation, which is what the article was about you have steered the debate away from that to ZIDERA and God knows what else beside.

Your idea of freedom of expression is to flood this site with your ideas. Mugabe's idea of freedom of expression as represented by the Zimbabwe Herald is to air his propaganda and censor all other views. What people like you and Mugabe fail to understand is that freedom of expression is not just about you and your right it is about others too. You rights must be balanced with your duty to others; it you duty to ensure others enjoy the same freedom of expression.

By flooding this site with your trash you are denying others their right to be heard. You, Fungayi, has the Zimbabwe Herald already to express your views - Mugabe has seen to it that no other views are given the light of day. I definitely encourage the editor to stop you flood this site and thus keep for those who believe in freedom of expression for all.

Stop flooding this site with trash and you are welcome to post your comments. Flood it and your comments will be deleted. You can call that censorship or what you like; as for me, that is common sense.

This site used to have lively exchange of views until people like you Fungayi started using it. Reading your contributions is like listening to the old record player stuck in one grove! The editor will be forced to delete your trash or risk losing the readership; there is a price tag for everything, I am sure the editor is well aware of that.

@ LA QUEBECOISE

One of the consequences of Mugabe's misrule is that he has forced many Zimbabweans to leave the country in search of work anmd peace of mind away from the madness. Of course there are those like you, who left the country but your heart is with those left behind.

I believe the change you and me and millions of other are seeking in Zimbabwe is coming. There is nothing Mugabe and his paid sychophants like Fungayi can do to stop the rising tide of change. I hope you and me will meet someday in a freed Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, I hope to meet you on this site and others in our search for our push for REGIME CHANGE (that always sends to chill down some people's spines - it is great to be on the right side of history!) in Zimbabwe.

I agree the solution to Zimbabwe can be worked out in an hour; it is simple enough, there right and dignity of every citizen must be honoured and no one is above the law.

Wilbert Mukori I am sure no one will miss you if decide to boycott M&G because to be frank you do not add any value to any debate going on here. You are insecure, shallow and dictatorial. You want me to stick to the script while you go off on a tangent?

Just because you lack your own views on issues does not mean that editor has to censor other readers for your benefit. You obviously missed out on the free education for all that Mugabe offered to help you broaden your mind. I know I am on the right side of history because we are making history. My children and their children will be able to claim their country as purely theirs without fear. You on the otherhand expect solutions from outsiders like LA QUEBECOISE the French Canadian and Alisdair Budd the Brit who is Ben Freeth's cousin. Goodluck!

Fungayi, do you get paid per letter or by response?

@ Wilbert Mukori...we will prevail. Meet at Delta Gallery with all the multi-talented, multi-raced Zimbabweans, for sure. Best of luck.

@LA QUEBECOISE
I will make a mental note to visit Delta Gallery next time I am in Harare. REGIME CHANGE is as certain as the sun rising tomorrow!

@Wilbert and La Quebecoise

First round of Castle's on me. Here here to men and women of Zimbabwe who have fought and continue to fight this Dictator, his cronies and his narrow minded supporters who view any opposing view as western propaganda. Change has already started and is here to stay. Out with the old, in with the new.

ZANU PF is hell, and this chum called Fungayi is actually a CIO guy. He is doin what he knows best, spying fro information and then goin on to report to the big boss..

Zanu PF messed up, and they messed up REAL bad. The problem started with Zanu losing the Referendum poll, and Bob knew that the playing field had changed, AND so so he began a wave of ill conceived farm invasions...

it was the beginning of an end for Zimbabwe.

so please spare us Fungayi. Zanu has messed up, thank you very much..

@Steven

Now there is an offer I will heartly accept. It will be a great pleasure and honour to drink with you. I can not wait for REGIME CHANGE!