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aristocracy of mercy” in Graham Hancock’s best seller, Lords of Poverty. Maybe this is what we say in Shona, “Kudada kwavari mugomo, kukumbira vari pasi mapfihwa.”
When you think you wield a lot of power, you can use it as you wish, and you can also play mind games with that power to achieve desired results.

On March 25, the EU’s representative Catherine Ashton made the following declaration that read in part: “. . . with regard to the successful Constitutional referendum in Zimbabwe and the review of EU restrictive measures, the EU congratulates the people of Zimbabwe on a peaceful, successful and credible vote to approve a new constitution on 16 March, 2013. This represents a significant step in the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which remains key to achieving a more peaceful, prosperous and democratic Zimbabwe.

“The EU reiterates its support to the efforts of the political parties, the South African Facilitation Team and SADC, and encourages them to build on the momentum to complete the implementation of the GPA and the SADC Roadmap, paving the way for peaceful, transparent and credible elections in which the people of Zimbabwe will be free to elect the government of their choice.

“Recognising the importance of the referendum and the adoption of a new constitution as a major step along this road, the EU in line with its commitment to suspend a majority of remaining restrictive measures, has today agreed to immediately suspend the application of measures against 81 individuals and 8 entities.”
However, 10 individuals and two entities are still under the illegal sanctions regime. They include the following, in the manner and order the EU council presented them:

• Mugabe, Robert Gabriel President
• Mugabe, Grace
• Bonyongwe, Happyton Director-General Central Intelligence Organisation
• Chihuri, Augustine Police Commissioner
• Chiwenga, Constantine Guveya Commander Zimbabwe Defence Forces
• Mutasa, Didymus Minister of State for Presidential Affairs
• Nyikayaramba, Douglas Brigadier General
• Shiri, Perence (Perrance) Air Marshal
• Sibanda, Philip Valerio, Commander Zimbabwe National Army
• Sibanda, Jabulani National War Veterans Organisation

The two entities that are still “subject to restrictive measures”, as they want to call them are the Zimbabwe Defence Industries and Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC).

Mugabe, Grace is the only woman on the list, and her status is not explained like everybody else. People have to speculate that it is the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe. Punishment by way of association.
Reading between the lines, one realises that no one is paying attention to Zimbabwe’s position. The EU and its allies imposed the illegal sanctions, and it is only normal that they remove them unconditionally, as Zimbabwe demands. It’s a two-way process.

So, why this carrot and stick game, which is nothing but a psychological game meant to exert undue pressure on Zanu-PF?
The divide and rule tactics are also clear. With each review, as some names are removed and others remain, the ploy we believe forces Zanu-PF to do some introspection and then conclude that these are the “good” guys, and those are the “bad” guys, just like the racist “good boy” mentality.

When a person opts for a mind game, it means that they have studied the other party very well and they are confident that they understand them and can manipulate them if need be. They are also confident that they know their opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. Thus they know where to hit hard and how much damage they will inflict. The same applies with the knowledge of the adversary’s strengths. Such psychological games, which have always been accompanied by some congratulatory messages are meant to achieve certain results, but to whose advantage?

When the EU does not immediately release the names of the 81 personalities removed and the 8 entities, what does that mean? That we do some guess work? For we recall that at one point, their list included deceased personalities.
Monday’s much-anticipated press conference was also a disappointment. Indeed the media wanted to hear whatever information the EU was giving out, but precluding the media from having the list of the10 names and the two entities was in my view also a psychological game.

The net result was that journalists were not given the opportunity to ask questions during the press conference about the 10 and 2.  But, what do the 10 personalities mean not only to the 10 people, but also to the Zimbabwe population? What is it saying to Zanu-PF on one hand and the MDC formations on the other? Because, the MDC formations must realise that they are in this game with Zanu-PF, hook, line and sinker.
Western powers as usual are also assuming the kingmaker position, without necessarily appearing as though they are.

If you behave, we reward you and if you misbehave, we have the right not only to punish, but to also ensure that the international community gets the message and treat you as a pariah state.
So don’t fool around with us. We have known what we want from Zimbabwe since 1890, and the 21st century is no different.

If you have not yet realised it, then tough luck! Can we draw parallels with the just-ended Kenyan elections and the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Ambassador Johnnie Carson’s infamous “consequences” of who to vote for warning? Definitely!

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s “matching action for action” and the EU recent gesture that has the Zimbabwean presidency and its security forces remaining on its sanctions list are sending certain signals to the electorate and their political parties.  This is why in this information age ordinary literacy is not enough. There is some encryption and decoding that has been going on since the illegal sanctions were imposed.  In some cases, we managed to see the bigger picture behind the story. It’s the same right now.

What is the bigger picture behind the 81 vis-a-vis the 10 personalities? What is also the real story behind the 8 entities vis-à-vis the remaining two?
Why does Europe want to engage with Zimbabwe, but at the same time apply punitive measures upon the rules of engagement?
As one journalist remarked, President Mugabe is Zanu-PF’s candidate in the presidential election. He is also Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.

That in itself is telling. All his military and national security chiefs and advisers remain on the illegal sanctions list.
When President Mugabe  enters the electoral playing field, do we expect him to say that it was free and fair?
On the other hand, we cannot say these games are much ado about nothing.
The last decade has also been painful for the EU and the US.

In so short a letter, they are telling us that they want a bite of the Zimbabwean cake they were used to, and not the hyped humanitarian assistance.
Thus we have decrypted the message and also contextualised it within the framework of the bigger picture.

From the Lobengulas and Nehandas to Mugabe, the message has never changed. The template might be redesigned to suit the contemporary geo-political landscape, but at the end of it all, it’s still the same.
They desire to be masters of the universe, but as I play around with words from their own writers, that aristocracy of mercy can turn into a bonfire of vanities.

They had better listen to the drumbeat for a peaceful, free and fair election that will be credible even to pessimists.
I end with a big surprise from former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo’s road to Damascus revelation.
Giving a keynote address at the 7th Annual Symposium of the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) on March 13 in Johannesburg, South Africa he is reported to have suggested that non-African election observer missions should be banned from monitoring polls in the continent arguing that Western observers were sometimes biased and that their position sometimes seemed to undermine the sovereignty of African countries.

“We must reflect on the role of non-African observation mission or the so-called international observers. It is an appellation that continues to trouble me. How much more international can an election observers mission to Ghana be, when you have a mission made up of nationals from 10 African countries,” Obasanjo asked?
Unlike President Mugabe, he won’t be sanctioned for speaking Africa’s mind.