Idling and dancing on the land

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BY MAGAISA IBENZI

WARD 12, PARIRENYATWA HOSPITAL, HARARE – I would have thought it would be rather risky for Mugabe to pray for divine intervention to sort out Zimbabwe’s problems. But that is what he did. No answer so far!
My friend Mujubheki came to me the other day looking quite serious and said he had been thinking – again. That worries me a lot. But I was quite impressed when he told me he had discovered a remarkable new mental illness in Zimbabwe. The symptoms are getting enthusiastic about one thing and taking it very seriously for a few hours, and then making a U-turn and doing everything possible to undermine, contradict and counteract the thing that made one enthusiastic in the first place. And finally blaming everyone else for the ensuing confusion. We decided to call it the Mugabe Syndrome.
The events of the past few weeks certainly give his theory a lot of weight. Many people thought Mugabe had come to his senses by praying to God for deliverance for Zimbabwe at the national day of prayer – never mind that the day had been hi-hacked from the original organisers by Zanu (PF) and turned into a party thing. God was still listening, I’m sure, although most Zimbabweans had better things to do, like watching soccer or going kwaMereki.
Anyway … Even I thought Wow! At last the man has come to his senses. I thought he had finally accepted that we have a very serious situation on our hands – and some really big help is needed.
He started off well, praying for the country, for forgiveness and even promised cabinet approval to declare a national day of prayer every year. But then he went off the track again. He said he wanted the day of prayer to send a message to the people that they should thank God for Zanu (PF)’s land reform programme. Does he think God doesn’t know that the land is stolen property? Has he forgotten that it was God who said Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill and thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s property?
I was also shocked to hear him using the holy occasion to issue threats to men of the cloth such as Archbishop Pius Ncube. He warned Ncube not to interfere in politics, saying something we had known all along – that he (Mugabe) was vicious when it came to politics.
In the same breath he then invited churches to point out the government’s sins of commission or omission. Isn’t that what Ncube and other church leaders have been trying to do?
After this, I wasn’t surprised when he proceeded to his usual land reform diatribe – but I was amazed that he seems to think it is alright if people decide to “idle and dance all day” on the land. Really? No wonder we are hungry if this is what he thinks.
I hear the army has got a very different interpretation of this – must be a severe break- down in communication somewhere along the line. I have had a number of disturbing reports recently about what is going on Matabeleland South in particular – where people are being beaten for not working hard enough on their lands.
Several irrigation schemes have apparently been targeted by the army and the plot owners forced to reap their maize in a hurry and leave it piled at the side of the fields while, under threat of beatings, they are made to plant winter wheat. One man was thoroughly beaten for daring to suggest that the winter wheat planting season was long past and the late planting would not be successful. A woman I know was beaten for being absent from her field – when she had gone to a funeral.
Vice-president Joseph Msika also appears to have received the wrong information. He seems to be concerned that re-settled farmers are not utilising the land diligently enough – the first sensible thing he has said for a long time.