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Spies, spies everywhere and not a word to say!
Marko Phiri
July 04, 2007

During the pre-Gobarchev years, when Communist die-hards smelt the pro-democracy tide rising, spies and being spied on had become part of the national psyche. But then, the spying was the only way Communist Soviet Union comrades could employ to track the activities of pro-democracy activists, and remember these were the Cold War years where the spying game seemed a legitimate and logical part of a world divided by bipolar international relations. In Russia, you just did not know who was watching you, eavesdropping whether you engaged in a tête-à-tête with your lover or were just yawning. Any movement of the lips was likely to raise suspicion. (I recall here a prominent Zimbabwean human rights lawyer being clubbed in the mouth with the assailants saying ominously: we want to beat that mouth which says it defends human rights). A Time correspondent quipped then that in Russia, "every hotel room has a television: only, the television watches you." Zimbabwe today seems not too far off that epoch of the Soviet Union.

While the disgruntlement of the people here is now very palpable, one still hears warnings that you never know who might be listening to what you are saying. But some still argue that even the security agents themselves are fed up with the conditions here, and therefore are ostensibly one with the people. But then, that is subject to speculation considering there are still fears among the ordinary people to openly discuss the state of the nation. What then are those fears of the "spooks" based on if they (the spooks) are considered to be one with the people? The fact that abductions and torture continue, debate and overt opinions about the country today are still being approached with the same trepidation seen during the former Soviet Union-s communist years.

Even during the nascent years of active democratic forces in Zimbabwe signaled by the emergence of the MDC with its first participation in public elections in 2000, that period introduced the same fears where even family and ethnic loyalties became divided along political lines. And these divisions were in all veritable terms of the violent variety where, for one to be convinced not to ride the bandwagon of the new democrats, one had to have his head bashed in by his father who claimed to have lived through the brutal Smith years and deserved better from his son who was flirting with neo-imperialists. But amid all the fear to openly discuss the direction this country has taken, and indeed will take both in the short and long term, there still remains at play forces of mass deception, and who in their wake have left fettered consciousness among the so-called party faithful. These are the same people who, despite living on the edge of panic not knowing how they will survive in the next couple of days, still think the ever-bawling neighbour is nothing but an inveterate grouch.

The worst that has emerged from this crisis is not confined to the poverty of the material kind and what has left unfulfilled promises and empty bellies. The worst that it has bred is that it has divided people who in normal circumstances would share common ideals and backgrounds. And this based not merely on so-called kinship ties but more importantly on the very fact they exist at a time when everybody else seems to be in agreement their circumstances have become something they wouldn-t want their own children to inherit. There are ruling party stalwarts who have become virtual snitches, telling on childhood friends about views these erstwhile friends have about the regime. The deception about the causes of the hardships have been digested to the effect that fights have broken out between old mates, and these experiences have only confirmed the nature of politics here. It makes one strongly lean toward beliefs about voodoo priests and their power to own and control hearts and minds (literally). No views are legitimate unless they adhere to the rhetoric of the founding fathers. But it has to be asked what do the country-s genuine patriots have to contribute to the recovery if public debate is stifled in such a manner? It is in the fashion of George W. Bush declaring about his war on terror: it-s either you are with us or against. But it is exactly that which has led the country to the stage it is in: even the sages of yore will tell you that no individual growth can be expected from one who puts logs in his ears when approached with alternative ways of reading and understanding the earth. One gets so many contradictions from the nation-s leaders you wonder really if they are to be taken seriously by anyone. But guess what, the same guy you are sharing the calabash with thinks your whining about being perennially broke is at the instigation of opposition political forces.

The ZFTU proclaimed during May Day celebrations that the country-s labour force badly needed a boost in their purses. This is the same stuff the ZCTU has always been saying, but what makes it absurd is that the government aligned union thinks going on strike is illegal, is only a tactic employed by forces of evil, agents of neo-imperialists, etc. The bottom line? Workers are fed up. Yet voicing these same concerns privately is enough to get you a good thrashing after the anonymous chap sitting at the opposite end of the bar tips the ubiquitous state security agents. That is the comedy we have come to experience each waking moment here. The guy who "loves" talking in his sleep must be very careful the next time he takes a long trip by train.

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