Fear and Limbo in Harare

And now we have fear. A new, complex emotion to add to our ragged shopping basket that also holds anger, hope and anxiety. We fear that the regime may begin to end the beginnging of the end by trying to end our new beginning. We fear that the last kicks of the jongwe may last more than a few seconds. It may be weeks. Or months.

One shortage our rulers don't seem to have is a shortage of humour. Their make-believe propaganda makes you smile and shudder at the same time. They have started a new propaganda offensive. White farmers are about to invade the country and steal back their farms. The MDC rigged the election by bribing the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). It would be funny if it wasn't so morbidly real. They have allegedly started arresting ZEC officials and invading farms. 

So fear is in our stomachs. We're in a state of limbo between where we were and where we want to go. Between an old Zimbabwe and a new Zimbabwe. The waitress comes to my table, serves my food and then delivers what she really wanted to put on the table. "What are they doing now? Do they want a re-run or a re-count? We have no president. We haven't had one for over a week now. Now they've started invading farms again and the riot police are on the streets. We are being calm but we are scared." Fear. Our familiar staple diet in this hungry land. Msavaya, a comrade of mine, was in the townships yesterday when a police man announced to a group of drinkers oustide a bottle store "We may not have a president but that doesn't mean that public drinking is now legal!" The police know it just as the waitresses do. We are in limbo. And we are in fear because we know this beast. It has started kicking and lashing out.

Those of us in the democracy movement here need to campaign for the results to be released. If ZANU claims the need for a re-run then we must push for it to be within 3 weeks of the election. Together we must give birth to a nationwide campaign that keeps hope alive, from township to growth point. Those in the international community need to push for the results to be released. We must avoid a re-run because it could be bloody. But if ZANU wants a re-run then we must give them a re-run for their money. And their dirty wealth. We are so close to that sun on the horizon. I can almost see it through the dust. We need to walk together towards the sunset. We need to be crazy enough to keep hope alive. 

This is Comrade Fatso's Daily Blog during the Zimbabwe Election Period

See www.comradefatso.vox.com

For the MAGAMBA! Daily Election Blogs by Zimbawean artists and activists see www.myspace.com/magamba