and jury have passed their verdict — GUILTY as charged.
This is the dilemma that Zanu-PF has to deal with, that there are some crying out that the beautiful ones are yet to be born.
But, does it have to be presented that way — thoroughly abusing the deceased and the bereaved? Twelve-year old Christpower Maisiri, who tragically died last Saturday in a case of arson, and whose father is a senior MDC-T party member in Headlands Manicaland Province, has become the appropriate link to a violence motif that has suddenly become the talking point in the build-up to the coming referendum on the draft constitution.

The boy’s death has also become a rallying point and linkage to what some quarters have always believed — Zanu-PF couldn’t be trusted! When President Mugabe has continued to talk peace and more peace, it has been perceived as disingenuous.

In the same vein, he has to remain the persona they had made him to be — a leader leading what they say is a violent prone political party. After the inclusive Government, it is impossible for some to reincarnate him, and make him angelic. This is why we are once again being bombarded with the violence agenda.

The barrage in the past week alone makes you want to separate the wheat from the chaff. However, it was the front-page picture of the Maisiri family published in the Daily News issue of February 26, that made me ask so many questions. We do not just analyse actions and words, but we also critique the images that accompany stories, for, a picture on its own tells a thousand words. There is no intention whatsoever to belittle the pain and loss that the Maisiri family is suffering, but that picture which looks like a fifties picture pulled out of the National Archives makes you ask: were the photo shoots necessary, because as each day progresses, more pictures are emerging, and the pictures are sending messages not to the Maisiri family, but somewhere else?

How much did that first picture give away, despite the conclusions that have already been drawn? They could be accurate conclusions, but they could also be inaccurate because in as much as we have opinions, they remain that. The Zimbabwe Republic Police have the mandate to conduct investigations without fear or favour and inform the nation about the circumstances that led to the tragic death of Christpower. Isn’t this what people have been clamouring for: rule of law and ensuring that due process is followed in letter and spirit?
Politicising the police’s role when there is an MDC-T co-minister of Home Affairs does not make sense. It speaks more about her role. Thus the saying, those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

Let me get back to that picture. In as much as Eddie Cross is a senior MDC-T party member who had the right to pay his condolences to the Maisiri family, what amazed people was that although political violence is being laid at the doorstep of Zanu-PF, other schools of thought are asking: by having a picture with Eddie Cross alone, is the MDC-T saying that he was the only member who was so empathetic and had to go to pay his condolences to the bereaved family? Where are the other MDC-T members in that picture? Why was it also the best picture for the story? Which readership was it targeted at?

The story is now cannon fodder for the international community with as many usual twists as expected. At home, MDC-T is also breathing fire and brimstone. An Associated Press report said MDC-T Secretary-General Tendai Biti said the Headlands attack was one of the 120 incidents of violence recorded so far this year.

This means two cases of politically motivated violence per day since New Year’s day? But in a twist of fate, other MDC-T contenders are now learning through the media that Mr Shepherd Maisiri, the boy’s father, had passed the mark to represent his party in the forthcoming elections. Thus we cannot hasten to lay blame when there could be others with equally good motives.

A tragic incident like this tests everyone’s credibility. It is an acid test which Zimbabwe has to pass in the eyes of the international community. You start having goose bumps when a few days before the tragic incident, there are statements from the international community, statements that are as bright as the African sun that, they are expecting a certain election result. If Zimbabweans do not deliver the result the international community wants, then it is just as good as not holding the election.

Last week, the Obama administration sent two emissaries to deliver this tongue-in-cheek expectation.
I present excerpts of the statement by Deputy Assistant Secretaries of State Dr Reuben Brigety and Ms Karen Hanrahan, which was made to the Zimbabwean media on February 22. Draw your own conclusions.

Said Dr Brigety and Ms Hanrahan: “The year 2013 has the potential to be a landmark turning point in Zimbabwe’s history. With an up-coming referendum on the constitution, the UN World Tourism Summit, and elections, Zimbabweans will have the opportunity to set the foundation for a stable and prosperous future. Zimbabwe’s leaders also have the opportunity to move the country forward by breaking the cycle of instability and violence. As a friend, the United States is eager to support the people of Zimbabwe in seizing these opportunities.

“Over the past four years, Zimbabwe has been transformed in ways many thought impossible not so long ago. The road has been bumpy, but the trajectory of the past four years has clearly been positive . . . All Zimbabweans should be proud of these successes.

“Given these positive developments, the United States is concerned by emerging trends that put the progress Zimbabwe has made at risk. As we get closer to elections, some are attempting to push the country back into the vicious cycle of intimidation, violence, and instability. Elements among the Zimbabwe Republic Police continue to demonstrate a clear partisan bias in arrests, detentions, and investigations — or the lack of such actions — depending on one’s political orientation. Recent months — and, indeed, the past few days since our arrival — have seen a clear pattern of harassment of civil society organisations through spurious charges, extended detentions, and confiscation of materials that impede their activities.

“Zimbabwe Defence Forces soldiers have been deployed on ‘administrative support duty’ to rural areas countrywide to pressure communities to support one political party. At the same time, police officials are being sent for political indoctrination at Shamva Battle Camp and police commissioners are visiting police camps around the country to exhort officers and their family members to chant pro-Zanu-PF slogans . . .
“The United States looks to Zimbabwe’s leaders to rectify these trends and to allow the people the opportunity to exercise their rights to self-determination and freedom from fear. As Zimbabwe seizes the opportunities that 2013 presents, the United States will respond in kind, matching action for action to recognise, reward, and support positive progress…”

There it is in black and white — an action for action policy on Zimbabwe. I wonder how former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer would respond to this considering her debacle with Ambassador Johnnie Carson over the upcoming Kenyan elections.

But the jigsaw puzzle becomes clearer when you read a document Confronting security risks for Zimbabwe civil society ahead of elections, and authored by the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute. You see a certain trend emerging — more similarities than differences in a lot of things and you tell yourself that not only are we used against each other, but we are also supply information to a foreign government, information that can be used whichever way they want.

It then takes us back to the illegal sanctions and regime change narrative — an outright 360-degree move. We are not done yet. We have learnt through the media that South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the South African Police Service (SAPS) formally agreed to open an investigation into widespread rape perpetrated in the lead-up to Zimbabwe’s 2008 presidential elections and that this landmark decision was in response to a legal submission filed by Canadian politician-cum activist and former diplomat Stephen Lewis.

After the Marikana shootings and the Oscar Pistorius case, where both the NPA and SAPS got a thumps down, it’s best to say that we are surely headed for exciting times, but these divide and rule tactics will not work.

The icing on the cake was the exclusive on Christpower Maisiri from one of the dailies: Boy watched mother being raped. We watch with abated mouths while they struggle to build a watertight case. We are also headed for interesting times, where we hope that we do not get so fixated on issues that are detrimental to progress, while allowing unscrupulous elements to present opportunities for outsiders to tell us that since we cannot manage our governance issues, let us do it for you.

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