tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-174616242012-01-25T12:44:01.994ZDiana Mitchell's Zimbabwe and other perspectivesDiana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.comBlogger951100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-15696295040138172982011-08-11T20:16:00.003+01:002011-08-11T20:28:45.457+01:00

My friends here in England have arrived home from a visit to Norway. They are hard at work again today, on this grey homecoming. But the fires, looting and mayhem have all died down and now we are in for an orgy of post-riots analysis, clattering along in the media. No doubt we will soon be mesmerized by the blame game. Mercifully there are only a handful of genuine, human, post mortems. The

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-21490121656179056002011-06-03T20:48:00.005+01:002011-06-03T22:07:41.540+01:00

When I started this blog about five years ago I was still in `commentary on Zimbabwe' mode. I keep up with the beloved country's news, even now after my personal situation is radically changed but I find it harder and harder to believe that there is any point in continuing to comment. Cathy Buckle does a brilliant 'on the spot'job; there are countless memoirs (mine is written but I need a

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-6876289534629101292011-04-15T17:12:00.003+01:002011-04-15T18:26:31.452+01:00

Cosmas Gonese was once a hero.I am struck by a report in The Zimbabwean Thursday April 14 on the facts surrounding the burial of Cosmas Gonese. His colleague, the 'self-styled' National War Veterans Association chairman, Jabulani Sibanda is offended by the 'provincial hero' status accorded to Gonese. I met Gonese but I never heard of Sibanda until his `self-styled' role as the much disputed head

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-22545227600896095172011-03-11T17:08:00.003Z2011-03-11T17:44:47.727Z

An important remark by South Africa's Deputy Foreign Minister, Marius Fransman, on the legality of forthcoming general elections in Zimbabwe is quoted by the chief reporter for The Zimbabwean of March 10 2011 :"Any calls for elections without the finalisation of the constitution-making process are in breach of the GPA as well as the Consitution, which gives legitimacy to the inclusive government

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-68505973614077357432011-03-11T17:03:00.000Z2011-03-11T17:06:12.999Z

Copyright © 2004 Diana Mitchell

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-17923930396550962612010-08-22T17:31:00.002+01:002010-08-22T17:54:59.833+01:00

Mugabe’s current `Contradictions’ Robert Mugabe has been abusing and begging from his real and perceived enemies in equal and bewildering measure recently: `Go to Hell!’, he raves but his call for a blanket amnesty for his suborned security forces whose violence has been directed at so many of his own innocent people, are cases in point. His apparently schizoid state of mind (an industrious,

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-4115274991861631852010-05-25T11:33:00.002+01:002010-05-25T12:40:05.675+01:00

The sad story told by the wife of Zimbabwe's Assisant Police Commissioner, Todd Jangara, allegedly seriously beaten by her husband, is a stark reminder of what happens when the rule of law is so utterly compromised. This unhappy woman and her family would once have rejoiced, danced and ululated when her husband was promoted to high office. She appears to have known that her husband's first

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-5336016634097823882010-04-20T13:03:00.000+01:002010-04-20T13:03:47.132+01:00

 My pic at 76This is an experiment just to see if I can manage pics, a skill I have not practised enough.A blog for today can only say that I have read of the crass brutality of one Aquilina Katsande in Zim's violently led ZANU (PF) and am horrified. I am regretful that it is likely that I shall not live long enough to see this woman and her ilk brought to account in this world. There is not much

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-89062072101419599452010-03-25T11:45:00.003Z2010-03-25T12:05:16.198Z

Today, on reading the First Post's item on greenhouse gas emissions and their connection with flatulant cattle, I was struck by the statement made by a serious scientist:"The developed world should focus on increasing efficient meat production in developing countries where growing populations need more nutritious food. In developing countries, we should adopt more efficient, Western-style farming

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-16937671325443131322009-12-27T21:47:00.002Z2009-12-27T22:25:18.286Z

This is a time of year for attempting to tidy up one's email files. I have a tendency to hang on to everything I read so this can be a daunting task. It will never be finished before the year 2009 is out so I have decided to stop deleting and record the following, found in a 2006 file. I have lifted it from the Solidarity Peace Trust, presided over by the revered, reverend Pius Ncube and another

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-75269255439131207402009-12-09T11:00:00.003Z2009-12-09T18:08:54.996Z

December's big, political decision-making moment has come around once again for ZANU PF.Who will rule the party and the country? Which of the favoured sons - or daughters - will prevail in positions of wealth, power and authority? Asset grabbing of what is left of a destroyed economy is so much easier when the generals salute your leader and the CIO directs provincial and traditional leaders to

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-9173448700210544102009-11-19T16:33:00.002Z2009-11-19T17:53:42.934Z

BEN FREETH has eloquently described (most recently in The Spectator, November 7) what has happened to him and his family, and by extension to most white farmers in Zimbabwe. It is a terrible tale and among many similar stories, some are even worse. His description of the cruel and wanton destruction of his farm and that of his in-laws, the Campbells, deserves the widest exposure just as he and

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-85896078946437644742009-10-29T13:49:00.007Z2009-10-29T14:19:15.340Z

A JUSTIFIABLY ANGRY UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL, MANUEL NOWAKI am sure I am not alone in finding it difficult to get my thoughts down after reading/hearing the news each day. No sooner have I composed my thoughts and opened this new blog page than some newer development (sometimes personal) intervenes and the moment is lost.For this reason I shall blog more like a twitter-er, or give

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-21573925345167608752009-06-23T21:09:00.004+01:002009-06-23T22:18:20.816+01:00

THIS IS BAD NEWS! MUST I `EAT CROW'?A reliable friend in Zimbabwe is patently angry with me for `blogging' re my feeling upbeat about Morgan Tsvangirai's overseas visit and my welcoming his prospects for persuading his audiences that he will bring change to Zimbabwe. Here is my worthy friend's argument:"We would like to see how/why you can feel upbeat, even vaguely; but we cannot afford to go

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-84896086430177999532009-06-21T10:03:00.004+01:002009-06-21T12:52:54.132+01:00

TELEGENIC, ARTICULATE BUT NOT WHOLLY UNDERSTOODThat Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is currently Zimbabwe's best hope for an end to its glaring problems is not generally doubted. What is still in the realms of wishful thinking is that the ordinary folk should experience the extraordinary turnaround that Morgan himself has recently experienced. From political pariah, target for murder, traitor,

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-55012230713437351682009-01-25T14:35:00.005Z2009-02-16T18:49:02.713Z

Like everyone else on the planet, I was interested, first in the election of Barak Obama to the office of President-elect of the United States. I watched it while visiting my family in Connecticut. This state was pretty solidly behind the Democratic candidate and it was a rare event for me to find myself on the winning side. So many times in my former incarnation in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe, I lost.

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-2172541597051970032009-01-14T22:16:00.003Z2009-01-14T22:45:38.811Z

SIBANDA Mishek I am prompted to write yet another `People I Once Knew’ entry here, having been reminded some time ago by a VOA News report (Jan 2, 2009 - see ZWNEWS Jan 3) of my encounters in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe with Dr Mishek Sibanda. I know that he has served for some years as Zimbabwe’s Chief Cabinet Secretary. At the time of writing, a new cabinet, shortly to be appointed by the

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-90784275564413925022009-01-01T20:59:00.006Z2009-01-10T20:19:34.290Z

The Late, Great Lady's Gong from Mandela is in a Harare TownshipI have admired Helen Suzman for as long as I can remember. I never dreamed that I would meet her - this long-serving champion of justice and freedom for fellow South Africans who expressed herself so calmly and brilliantly in her career in Parliament. But not only did I meet her, but I shared with her an adventure in Harare's Mbare

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-72893502305540345122008-12-30T11:53:00.002Z2008-12-30T17:41:21.571Z

KEN FLOWER A `DOUBLE AGENT' AND HICKMAN A WOULD-BE `TURNCOAT'At last, when most adult and middle-aged Rhodesians who lived through the eventual political and military turbulance of a bush war at the climax of the Rhodesian crisis - which began with Smith's UDI in November 1965 - are dead, I have lived to hear Matthew Parris and David Owen confirm what we `white liberals' suspected, but would not

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-17809261510824670842008-12-20T22:01:00.002Z2008-12-20T22:13:33.748Z

"Zimbabwe is mine" announced Robert Mugabe to his party Congress this week-end.The Times added "all mine". That was closer to the truth: all the pain, the suffering, the torture, the starvation, the ruined economy, the devastated farming industry, the unholy killings of illegal diamond panners, the collapse of the health and education systems.... the list would fill this page, all these belong to

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-9796543991568401752008-08-31T17:26:00.002+01:002008-08-31T19:10:17.955+01:00

When I read of the garlands (and cash) being thrown at the successful, brilliant Olympics performer, Kirsty Coventry by the despicable Mugabe regime I wondered how they cope with their own internal contradictions. Kirsty, after all is a white Zimbabwean. All Zimbabweans are proud of her achievement, she has worked hard for it and deserves recognition from the country of her birth.However - and

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-67334579155283061742008-08-21T14:28:00.002+01:002008-08-21T23:47:31.966+01:00

`I am coming out of Oxford. None of your prime ministers can challenge me intellectually'Arthur is in a muddle. He was invited to lead the Welshman Ncube faction of the MDC when the split came in the wake of Mugabe's divisive, tactical move, restoring Senate seats in Parliament in 2005. He was last seen by this writer as a young student revolutionary, braving the teargas and the beatings of the

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-53203025835830061382008-08-18T17:42:00.003+01:002008-08-18T18:13:32.220+01:00

On reading further reports it seems to me almost certain that Arthur Mutambara was prepared to sign a deal with Mugabe if Mbeki had allowed it. We can be quite certain that Tsvangirai has the full support of his party to withold his signature if there is the slightest possibility that Mugabe will be up to his usual tricks. This time the old rogue remains determined to hold on to authority while

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-61375325573946037742008-08-14T18:36:00.005+01:002008-08-18T17:03:06.882+01:00

Bronwen Maddox in The Times today quoted Richard Dowden saying "a deal stitched up by Mugabe, Mutambara and Mbeki isn't going to stick". This is true but somewhere along the line, the media had fallen, initially, for the line that on Tuesday night, Mutambara " struck a deal for a coalition government with Arthur Mutambara, leader of a faction of the MDC" (Maddox).Like all Zimbabweans, expat and

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-59560308937858865412008-08-10T23:19:00.000+01:002008-08-10T23:59:35.322+01:00

Isn't it too ghastly for words to have to face the fact that Robert Mugabe's personal escape from his just deserts may yet come about because of the very depths of depravity to which his ZANU (PF) regime has plunged?A writer called Yarik Turianskyi whose question "Will Robert Mugabe face trial?" I noted on ZWNEWS yesterday, concludes that the answer may be a reluctant "Yes"Certainly, the people

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-16581099312323325052008-07-20T21:40:00.005+01:002008-07-21T00:24:58.310+01:00

This is not a trumpet blowing exercise and I have hesitated with the title. This is because my old friend Heidi Holland titled her book `Dinner with Mugabe' about the man whose ignominious life touched us both very profoundly. She explained that it was really a dinner FOR Mugabe that brought her briefly within arms reach of her subject. In my case, I reminisce, vaingloriously about attending a

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-30259577825048852272008-07-07T14:33:00.004+01:002008-07-20T21:39:50.206+01:00

I found a poster among my papers today and found I have forgottern how to copy to my blog. Originally, it was a full colour illustration "inserted on behalf of the Government" as Advertisement Supplement :The Sunday Mail - The Sunday News. September 2, 1979.The advert was published on the day the Zimbabwe Rhodesia flag was raised on September 2 at thirteen centres throughout the country and six

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-19882500979440226242008-07-05T21:34:00.002+01:002008-07-05T23:35:15.299+01:00

I bought a copy of The Guardian newspaper today because the front page blared out "Exclusive:secret film reveals how Mugabe stole an election". I followed this up on the internet. The video was brief but plausible. Brave Shepherd Yuda seems to have done his best to give his testimony to history before he escaped to a safer place. Mr Yuda went along with a despicable regime for a long time. Thank

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-70959883743766384752008-06-24T12:17:00.005+01:002008-06-24T13:04:39.540+01:00

A VERY PERTINENT PETITION I have just spent an hour of my extremely limited time responding to an Avaaz call per email to get my friends to join me in signing a petition to help save Zimbabwe. The Avaaz.com email includes a mock-up of a poster advertisement the organization will flight in the press, particularly in South Africa. It is very pertinent. I can't reproduce it here but it states: "

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-45070190100262912622008-06-17T14:33:00.002+01:002008-06-17T14:38:11.735+01:00

Just as we began to think that the old man was being driven to unstoppable violence by the forces that he himself unleashed in 2000, he confirms what we have long suspected: he really is, always has been, a violent, cruel and mentally unbalanced tyrant who will kill his own people rather than give up power. The words have come out of his own mouth in the week before the critical election that

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-43275800885371672472008-06-03T14:14:00.003+01:002008-06-03T17:23:32.428+01:00

Yes, Mr ex-President Mugabe. You have chosen the right word: `Mugabe, who faces MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai in a presidential run-off on June 27 described the violence as "barbaric" (Mail & Guardian (SA) 3 June 08). Barbaric, is undeniably the description of your own followers' current misbehaviour. You will have to wear that label yourself, tied to your toe, unless you can stop the cruel

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1006083226987368542008-05-04T23:24:00.003+01:002008-05-04T23:30:28.538+01:00

Britain's Prime Minister, Labour leader Gordon Brown is struggling to come to terms with his party's recent catastrophic losses in the local government polls. He is faced with much the same uncertainty for the future as is Zimbabwe's Morgan Tsvangirai (pronounced changiraiyi). In Africa, Tsvangirai who is the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party leader, is known to have won

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-29443954859200471042008-04-30T22:52:00.002+01:002008-04-30T23:29:18.120+01:00

I am reminded of yet another of ZANU (PF)'s copycat convulsions - harking back to the last days of Rhodesia. The present ruling party's apparent acceptance of its demolition, its loss of its parliamentary majority in the March 29 2008 elections (leaving aside the Presidential non-appearance of results for the present)has an interesting precedent.There was a time - following the Rhodesian Front's

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-30190497467408345892008-03-19T12:57:00.002Z2008-03-19T14:46:05.848Z

Peregrine Worsthorne has let fly today in The First Post (sorry I haven't mastered links yet) at "Crimes committed in the name of progress". His logic extends to the end product of "progress" in several countries but it is Tibet's renewed travails that have aroused his attention. Clearly he is remembering the romantic setting of old Tibet, unsullied by the "progress" of Chinese domination. I have

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-82734630482876195342008-02-23T20:15:00.002Z2008-02-23T20:49:29.089Z

I really do feel sorry for young Masikosana Ngulube who, as reported from IRIN on 18 Feb 2008 has to cycle the 30km round trip to get to Eveline High school in Bulawayo. She says the return trip is `downhill' so I guess she must live out of the city on the East side. Her brother certainly has an uphill ride from what was once Borrow Street (the location of the public swimming pool - maybe no

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-88298459474336724782008-01-27T15:04:00.000Z2008-01-27T15:30:27.764Z

When I read on Friday 25th January about the political shenanigans between the former, Ndebele ZAPU members of Mugabe's political elite and his Shona ZANU (PF)adherents my heart sank. As if poor, broken Zimbabwe was not in enough trouble already, this apparent reappearance of old, so-called `tribal' animosities is the pits. My information is that the Ndebeles, from whichever quarter are fed-up

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-67934426019051497862008-01-26T22:25:00.001Z2008-06-17T14:46:47.902+01:00

When I read yesterday about the political shenanigans between the former, Ndebele ZAPU members of Mugabe's political elite and his Shona ZANU (PF)adherents my heart sank. As if poor, broken Zimbabwe was not in enough trouble already, this apparent reappearance of old, so-called `tribal' animosities is the pits. My information is that the Ndebeles, from whichever quarter are fed-up with the way

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-19828922051547954702008-01-02T19:54:00.000Z2008-01-10T17:56:54.005Z

This blog awaits a description of the launch of Peter Godwin's book "When a Crocodile Eats the Sun. Picador (2007).The pic is of my daughter and Peter Godwin at the launch in London, 2007. Copyright © 2004 Diana Mitchell

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-71580094230325813062007-12-06T23:31:00.000Z2007-12-07T21:38:59.632Z

Last month I penned an obituary which was published in The Zimbabwean. Because so many of my (former)Rhodesian and (current)Zimbabwean friends and acquaintances as well as old political adversaries are scattered over the face of the earth, I forwarded copies per email to a couple of dozen email addresses. Naturally, the people with whom I remain in contact are almost uniformly political

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-45303981688114866072007-10-03T23:26:00.000+01:002007-10-03T23:51:59.988+01:00

Exactly ten years ago, an upstanding (and outstanding) Zimbabwean businessman, Nigel Chanakira, predicted that if Zimbabwe's hopes for democracy continued to decline, we would end up with warlord-ism. The report of military personnel ignoring vice-President Joseph Msika's appeal to them to spare the remaining (white) farms and stop shoving out some (black) settler farmers who had staked their

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-84624004527812644172007-09-28T15:27:00.000+01:002007-09-28T16:25:35.188+01:00

Paul Mangwana says the decision to `indigenize' the Zimbabwe economy (i.e. give 51% shareholding to locals) under the Indigenization and Empowerment law which passed through Parliament on Wednesday, cannot be reversed. He thinks the revolution will not be complete until the last white-owned business is despatched to the pages of history. Curiously this thinking is premised on the country having

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-74737748526362303652007-08-14T12:12:00.000+01:002007-08-14T16:28:41.229+01:00

Hello again. I have been absent from this blogging business for weeks, mainly because I have experienced one of those recurring periods of doubt as to whether I have anything to say that is worth the reader's time. I hope it is not age related and is merely attributable to the severe disruption of the normal pace of my life. I seem to have been born with an obsessive need to hurry through

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-19764837773209990022007-04-19T13:47:00.000+01:002007-04-19T14:41:56.060+01:00

"I would be poor if things were like Zimbabwe" says Nigeria's richest businessmanListening to BBC World News this morning I heard a man described as Nigeria's richest business man give a `rare' interview. In haste I must write down why I find a single phrase, uttered by this man, so shattering. No time to check the spelling: Aleko Dangote was explaining his support for President Obasanjo's

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-11130220440582003152007-03-18T18:21:00.000Z2007-03-18T20:28:54.030Z

As the hated agents of Robert Mugabe's violence against his political opposition busy themselves cracking skulls, breaking limbs and drawing the blood of non-violent protesters, I bow my head in shame. Not a hair on my Zimbabwean head has been touched. I am far from the scene of these crimes. I feel an acute sense of guilt that I have escaped, physically unhurt from the consequences of

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1168476233992438782007-01-10T20:10:00.000Z2007-01-11T00:43:54.103Z

Question: What's the difference between a duck?Answer: One of its legs is both the same.That little riddle makes about as much sense as what is going on in Zimbabwe today. I am forever searching for some clues which might help Zimbabweans (and the dwindling numbers of concerned Zimbabwe watchers) arrive at an educated estimate of how the country's current crisis will end. Doing a little

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1168391703250259022007-01-09T23:41:00.000Z2007-01-10T18:41:52.160Z

So the the spectre of Idi Amin has been raised yet again. I have just read a report on the making of a feature film in Uganda, presenting this latest reincarnation of Africa's number one dead despot - due for release on Friday, January 12. Titled `The Last King of Scotland' and directed by Kevin MacDonald (there's a good old Scottish name) the report has brought one pretty depressing observation

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1159803682236154782006-10-02T14:38:00.000+01:002006-10-02T17:35:29.313+01:00

The question mark in my title should make it clear that I have only just begun to understand what the Sudanese tragedy, encapsulated under the single word `Darfur' could really mean for Africa.For a long time I have viewed Darfur mostly through television as a desert hosting refugees, where indescribable human suffering goes on unabated and nobody, not even the AU, can do anything about it. And

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1158677740082298152006-09-19T14:58:00.000+01:002006-09-19T22:16:44.916+01:00

When South African Steve Biko protested against the tyranny of the state in the years before Freedom dawned, he was beaten to a pulp and he died. Many others who were prepared to face the callous might of state machinery suffered terribly after protesting bravely on behalf of fellow oppressed. Their suffering was not in vain. The international outcry made of Steve Biko a national hero and over

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1157924059457019912006-09-10T22:19:00.000+01:002006-09-10T22:34:19.823+01:00

I missed the whole of August and there was so much going on that I am ashamed of my lethargy. I have at last got around to disposing of my huge collection of documents hoisted over here to England and I suppose I should say that is a good enough excuse for drying up on this blogging thing. Not the same as writer's block since there is no publisher in view - only my friends and family and an

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1154365218324022342006-07-31T16:55:00.000+01:002006-07-31T18:05:50.490+01:00

My postwars experiencesEnos Nkala, one of the last surviving founders of Zimbabwean nationalist parties is going to dig up some very smelly political bones in a book to be posthumously published, he says. I wonder if I will live to see it. If he has any sense he will be sending his MS off to a safe place even as he writes, or we shall be visiting his forensic laboratory sooner rather than later.A

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1152830115728383422006-07-13T23:11:00.000+01:002006-07-13T23:36:16.316+01:00

> >CHINESE BUSESI wrote this article last year for publication in `The Zimbabwean' and having a look at it now, a year on decided to edit it and update it(since I reserve the right to use my own copyright)When I get my website up and running I shall repeat it there too for maximum exposure. Why do I do it? Because I must.> > Zimbabwe's silver jubilee came and went last year and a jubilant> >

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1151947483772696692006-07-03T13:17:00.000+01:002006-07-03T18:24:43.840+01:00

Lucky, as it turned out yesterday we were out of onions. So I braved the heat and walked to Sainsbury's. I picked up The Sunday Times, almost straining my right arm in the process. After dumping a lot of heavy paper I was struck by the headlines and content of two thoughtful pieces on the leader page. Oh joy! Andrew Sullivan and Simon Jenkins have thrown a bright, shining light where, for me, in

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1151694245419885262006-06-30T19:12:00.000+01:002006-07-01T22:27:13.330+01:00

Poor, deluded, unhappy man - Mugabe thinks he is the only one in step. Let him allow just and lawful treatment for the people he oppresses with his iron fist. The news from Zimbabwe that his `close confidant' Nathan Shamuyarira is still helping to prop up this pathetic old man's ego does not bode well for Shamuyarira's place in history. His name will be recorded beside that of his crazed boss,

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1150293478330202812006-06-14T14:10:00.000+01:002006-06-14T20:02:26.473+01:00

I have been copied. Am I flattered? - since imitation is supposed to be the highest form of flattery.My recent blog, giving unsolicited advice to Dan Brown's publishers re charges of plagiarism has elicited a comment or two. Right now the media reports are working us up about students copying their assigments from internet sites. Now this is a skill that requires you to be a dab hand at `surfing

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1148839707188539042006-05-28T16:41:00.000+01:002006-05-28T19:12:27.886+01:00

HAS POWER CHANGED HIM ALREADY? CAN HE HIMSELF AVOID CHANGING WITH `CHINJA(!)'?Andrew Marr interviewed Morgan Tsvangirai on the BBC this bright Sunday morning. I was as interested in what he had to say as I was the first time he rose to address us as the Chairman of the NCA back in 1998. Marr came straight to the point: "Is the split in the MDC a personal one?" Morgan's answer, well rehearsed I am

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1148309563003145542006-05-22T15:06:00.000+01:002006-05-22T15:52:43.453+01:00

I cannot resist commenting on a TV news item regarding the `re-introduction of white lions into the wild' by a wild life conservationist in South Africa's Western Cape. Here is why:About twenty years ago, I decided that I should try to depart from my serious and wholly unprofitable (in the financial sense) writing about the business of politics in Rhodesian Front- ruled Rhodesia. Peter Joyce, the

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1148301671747313062006-05-22T12:20:00.000+01:002006-05-22T15:03:47.133+01:00

The vultures who reign in Zimbabwe feed on carcases not quite dead.In today's ZWNEWS featuring Reuter's Stella Mapenzauswa's "Zimbabwe unions back strikes amid economic chaos" I am inclined to dyslexia in mid-sentence. Should we not hope that Zimbabwe unions strike back? Without the ZCTU, the opposition MDC would never have got within striking distance in its attempt to scare giant ZANU(PF)

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1146419617479383552006-04-30T17:49:00.000+01:002006-05-01T20:05:05.636+01:00

WELSHMAN NCUBEAn article in The Standard (Harare) (Ncube breaks down over Gukurahundi) today describes the anguish of Prof Ncube as he recounted the terrible experiences of his family in the `gukurahundi' massacres perpetrated in Matabeleland by Mugabe's notorious 5th Brigade. At last! I wondered when these - quite literal - home truths which explain his determination to remove the ZANU (PF)

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1144603522148218282006-04-09T16:17:00.000+01:002006-04-09T18:57:41.673+01:00

CAN YOU HEAR THE SOUND OF GUNFIRE?Its coming from the game conservancies. Ask Webster Shamu, formerly Charles Ndlovu; he is named in the The Mail on Sunday as the Zimbabwean Minister who enables rich American and other hunters to bag big game in Zimbabwe - without much in the way of care for the seasons or the sustainability of the country's wild life. The paper suggests that the national

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1144595684169228422006-04-09T15:58:00.000+01:002006-04-09T18:39:43.830+01:00

Copyright © 2004 Diana MitchellDO WE NEED AN UPRISING? ZANU (PF)IS DESTROYING ITSELF.As each day passes the news becomes worse. Looked at another way, its getting better. If the army is now underpaid and the police are reluctant accomplices to tyranny and the judiciary is severely intimidated... we could go on but all this is known... how much longer can the great liberator hold on? A starving

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1143834570057632022006-03-31T20:05:00.000+01:002006-03-31T20:49:30.120+01:00

When should we panic?The global warming alarms are part `cry-wolf’ and part fashionista. Or are they? They’ve been hollering on about climate change with more than the usual heat lately. I say ‘they’ because some of us first felt an urge to press the panic button more than thirty years ago. When the Friends of the Earth first used a giant computer to concoct elaborate graphs illustrating the

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1143304206999160032006-03-25T15:11:00.000Z2006-03-25T18:17:04.150Z

Who will put the coint into the old man's hand now?I read in today's ZWNEWS that Zimbabwe's Government has swallowed its pride - or whatever unhealthy deadly sin that has made it so dangerously ill these past years - and asked for help. White Rhodesians invented an apt, not necessarily racist aphorism which I can't resist using at this time. "Even Lobengula's oldest and blindest wife could see

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1143211733942872332006-03-24T13:31:00.000Z2006-03-25T00:55:44.853Z

Pat has left the world at last, at ninety seven, in England and far from her old home in Inyanga. I can't help feeling that a great spirit has deserted those lovely Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe and wondering if her legacy, that spirit, her inventions, her great productions have all gone with her - like so much else that was good about the past. An artistic, strong-willed English gentlewoman, she

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1141600792791581662006-03-05T22:21:00.001Z2006-03-05T23:20:40.333Z

....BUT FIRST A POST SCRIPT TO MY PREVIOUS BLOG ON THE ROCKET SCIENTIST(its frightfully important not to take sides - YET - in the MDC battle) Other opposition spirits whose lives were wasted in battle will surely be around wherever there is a plan to help to re-unite an incredibly brave band of democrats in peace - or at the very least, to bring friendship and co-operation between the two

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1141061752918572632006-02-27T17:29:00.000Z2006-02-27T19:10:34.743Z

A ROCKET HAS LANDED ON ZIMBABWE'S SOIL...and just when I thought there was no such thing as a UFO. This one carried home Arthur Mutambara who could not have landed any other way; its a dangerous journey by road and flight passenger lists are watched closely by the spooks. He is going to fight the Mugabe regime `tooth, nail and claw'. No guns I am glad to note. Not even the `axes and spears' that

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1140017682115184272006-02-15T15:32:00.000Z2006-02-15T15:44:50.643Z

HOW PACHIPAMWE, REALLY BEGANby original organizer, Diana Mitchell* Pachipamwe (Shona) means `where we are all together’Sculptor, Tapfuma Gutsa recently featured in The Zimbabwean. This remarkable man rose rapidly after he first came to public’s attention in 1987 to become one of Zimbabwe’s most gifted, original, prolific and successful artists. Now living in Austria, he will be re-united with

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1139361190534888222006-02-07T23:40:00.000Z2006-02-08T01:33:45.423Z

Alec Douglas Smith died tragically young, recently. In an obituary (Independent Feb 2, 2006) Rebecca Saintonge states: `He was not the sort of person you'd think had been instrumental in averting a military coup.But this is what he did, and, in so doing, helped change the course of his country's history'.I know little about Alec Smith, other than of his remarkable conversion from rebel son of the

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1138663522331219112006-01-30T23:23:00.000Z2006-01-31T00:07:09.646Z

FOXTROT 3 The Moment of dangerStanding with the military on the podium were representatives of officials from the Rhodesian government - the Ministry of Social Welfare and other relevant arms of the administration including the CID (plain clothes police). We, the pathetic six white journalists had stood in front of the podium taking our photographs and recording the speeches which were mainly

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1138466833864567522006-01-28T16:33:00.000Z2006-02-02T15:51:08.570Z

MILITARY HANDOVER AT FOXTROT ASSEMBLY POINT continuedIn order to be present at this important ceremony I drove, as usual, in my little Ford Anglia, this time through dangerous, guerilla infested country, carrying my photographic equipment. I was determined to witness what was going on out there in the bush but had no idea of the significance of the day until I snapped that picture, capturing

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1138366170776933602006-01-27T12:35:00.000Z2006-01-27T18:24:15.660Z

I promised the Foxtrot story - not a ballroom dance but,literally, Zimbabwe's first dance of freedom. My blogspot went missing yesterday and I have reminded myself not to be paranoid about the Mugabe regime getting their Chinese friends to blot out my blog. So here's the first instalment of an eyewitness story which is going into the book I have been taking so long to complete.FOXTROTFebruary

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1138193068217665002006-01-25T12:11:00.000Z2006-01-25T14:50:27.943Z

`The chief defect of Henry King/Was chewing little bits of string.' HILAIRE BELLOC's whimsy is a long time favourite. I began my blogging in October last year with half a borrowed and a wholly fractured quote:`Let go the hand of Nurse' for my title. `Nurse' back then was my computer guide and helper. I was reluctant to strike out on this blogging thing without him, the worthy Parafeen. I was led

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1133907130530921752005-12-06T22:11:00.000Z2005-12-06T23:05:55.146Z

A SELF-FULFILLED PROPHESYORIT WASN’T TRUE UNTIL THEY MADE IT SO.Successful farmers do not have to be white. Black farmers (not the `telephone farmers’ or the thieving politicians and their friends who only take farms for vanity or spite) are very able farmers. The proof would have been found in that brief moment after independence when the racial barriers to ownership of good land and good

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1133444099528709042005-12-01T13:08:00.000Z2005-12-01T13:34:59.793Z

I haven't blogged for several days - ` so much to do, so little done'. Only relics like myself will instantly recognise the dying words of Cecil John Rhodes. That wicked colossus of British imperialism had at least managed to kick start a country before he kicked the bucket, while I generally waste my time.This blog has been given freely to The Zimbabwean for later publication so my blog's three

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1133044167220475002005-11-26T21:58:00.000Z2005-11-29T00:23:55.940Z

I have read with huge admiration and great sadness the tale as told by Sokwanele in last week's copy of The Zimbabwean (25 Nov-1 Dec). Headed `Reality of Zanu's rule in rural areas' it is summarized by the editor: `Sokwanele provides a glimpse of the terrifying reality of Zanu (PF) power at village level as it is exercised today: the law - whatever the local chef says it is; the police and

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1132661783249445922005-11-22T11:39:00.000Z2005-11-22T12:16:23.286Z

They say there's no such thing. I had my doubts but have just discovered proof positive that there IS such a thing - quite literally - as a free lunch. Leaving my Zimbabwe theme aside for now (but inevitably there will be some correlation), the story is told by a Telegraph columnist, Sam Leith (when I have mastered LINKS I will insert the ref) who took the trouble to follow up a great scam:10

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1132530454986239182005-11-20T23:16:00.000Z2005-12-02T18:29:40.366Z

He has been through some torrid times, has Didymus Mutasa - appointed to the colonial civil service, the first of such appointments; sheltered by the religious at St Faiths; tutored by Clutton Brock, the great exemplar of self-reliant living in a co-operative at Cold Comfort Farm; briefly housed in a relatively civilized jail (unlike his government's jails today) where they didn't starve him or

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1132414244832382352005-11-19T14:43:00.000Z2005-11-19T15:32:09.596Z

My understanding is that a failed state is one which ceases to be taken seriously as a sovereign (Mugabe's favourite word - going with his fascinaton for British royalty)and independent state, has a worthless currency, cannot pay its bills and has a poor human rights record. There is more, but isn't that enough?What I find most distressing is the accuracy with which we Zimbabweans who were not

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1131406474180608342005-11-07T18:33:00.000Z2005-11-19T16:29:12.176Z

It seemed that a split in the MDC had been averted but no, Zimbabwe is in the grip of a new crisis. Brian Raftopoulos has done his best to help the two factions find a compromise, a facesaver, anything that will restore the country's hopes for a return to sanity, but if he cannot broker a peace, I doubt if anybody can. Protest marches were promised when I started this blog so I kept it short,

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1131129545041496042005-11-04T18:34:00.000Z2005-11-04T18:39:05.056Z

THIS PIECE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE 4-10 NOVEMBER ISSUE OF THE ZIMBABWEAN, leader p.10 (under my own name) Its a lazy way of blogging but no time for new thoughts today. How much do most Zimbabweans really know about Nicholas Van Hoogstraten except that he is very rich, owns a lot of property and business in the country, was briefly jailed in England’s Belmarsh prison, and is a frightening character

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1130868024443034622005-11-01T17:20:00.000Z2005-11-02T00:07:56.170Z

There is a general consensus among Zimbabweans working abroad that if they can get work, they work harder and are more valued by their employers than the locals - just like migrants the world over. This blog, however, is not about the flame of political freedom that was carried in the historic, pre-independence era. It has a social and economic thrust.Don't get me wrong, I have not strayed into

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1130627419413489802005-10-30T00:07:00.000+01:002005-11-05T22:49:11.883Z

I know this is cheating but I have wasted too much time trying to correct my last blog's reference to Financial Mail which should in fact read BUSINESS DAYSO TO KEEP UP MY BLOGGING AND TRY TO INTEREST ALL THOSE CURIOUS FOLK OUT THERE HERE IS THE PIECE I HAVE HAD PUBLISHED YESTERDAYS THE ZIMBABWEAN:As each day brings new disasters for Zimbabwe, all of them entirely expected but, paradoxically,

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1130423486287053092005-10-27T15:08:00.000+01:002005-10-30T02:19:42.506Z

For a few days I have reserved judgement re the question of the identity of the Director manipulating the `split' in the MDC. Zimbabwe's fragile little cast of opposition party characters appear to have got hold of the wrong script. A more germane question might be `Who is the author of the script?' I suggested the US's Dr Rice might be `the one', but she could very well have found job awaiting

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1130183298917672742005-10-24T20:44:00.000+01:002005-10-24T20:48:18.916+01:00

Being new at this game I have clearly pressed the wrong button and lost three quarters of what I wrote about Resolving the So-called Split in the MDC. All that has appeared is the list of quotes from Fingaz and some of my commentary but the effort to write something of greater erudition was a waste of time. The top and the conclusion have vanished and I shall henceforth compose in Word and copy

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1130167603879976072005-10-24T16:13:00.000+01:002005-11-17T21:48:05.306Z

Excerpts from Fingaz report (undated on internet ?last week)The president believes there are some people in the party and elsewhere who are up to mischief, generating various documents purporting to amplify a position made in good faith by senior members of the party in favour of participating in the senate elections. These were divergent views which do not, in any way, mean that the party is in

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1130099441463891412005-10-23T21:29:00.000+01:002005-10-23T21:35:15.696+01:00

See my blog on October 22 should read my undated blog (don't know what happened to the date)headlined THE SPLIT - THINK OF THE BIGGER PICTURE. It follows October 20 whose heading is SUBSTANTIAL MEN CALLED NKOMO.

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1130098761596720912005-10-23T21:09:00.000+01:002005-10-23T21:25:56.386+01:00

Sistersuzanna in SA says "current political debate centres around former vice-president,Jacob Zuma - sacked in June after trial and sentencing of his friend, Shapir Shaik a businessman found guilty of corruption charges in his relationshipwith Zuma. Zuma, is a Zulu (?) and his sacking by Mbeki is interpretedby Zuma's supporters as an attempt to stop him from running for president whenMbeki's

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1130000359199828972005-10-22T17:54:00.000+01:002005-10-23T17:08:43.050+01:00

My past not only catches up with me - far from home though I may be - but today it has overtaken me and all the hours of the days are not enough to keep up with this daily blog. My promises: to finish my book, to write an occasional column and to tidy up my life must be delivered. A visitor from Canada has reminded me today that the first promise looks like being broken - if I try to keep up with

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1129847710473462682005-10-20T22:14:00.000+01:002005-10-20T23:35:10.493+01:00

Its good to have lived long enough to see some of the stuff that is coming out of archives, public and private. This internet is the source of so much that would otherwise have passed me by. For instance, Joshua Nkomo's letter to Mugabe, written in 1983, has surfaced. (click on to yesterdays's swradioafrica.com).Zimbabweans were sickened by the massacres in Matabeleland soon after the euphoria of

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1129672348408037022005-10-18T22:22:00.000+01:002005-10-19T01:02:28.216+01:00

This has to be a quickly composed blog because I have run out of time, but I promised Parafeen that I would practise the art of blogging regularly. By coincidence, two entirely separate references to Dr Jendayi Frazer, the newly appointed US Ambassador to South Africa and a former US Assistant Secretary for Africa, came up today. There is a little mystery here, fit for the attention of some

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1129569859708394552005-10-17T15:32:00.000+01:002005-10-17T22:59:37.646+01:00

ACQUAINTED WITH IBBOEverybody is writing about `Breakfast with...' or `Dinner with...' but I have never dined, I was only acquainted with Ibbo Mandaza. You could say that I have had a bone to pick with him once he opted for slavish devotion to a political party which any fool could see was taking Zimbabwe to perdition.Perdition by attrition I call it. This is a very personal review of the way

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1129464001228057592005-10-16T12:28:00.000+01:002005-10-16T14:01:54.723+01:00

Today's first read yielded a new thought or two. Saturday's Guardian Review ran a piece by Martin Jaques (p.8) on Chris Patten's second book Not Quite the Diplomat: Home Truths about World Affairs. Jaques says that Patten "provides a useful antidote to New Labour's worldview". Patten is disillusioned with the US, but the reviewer's critique concludes: "...Empire and colonialism are for the most

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1129067116112333282005-10-11T22:05:00.000+01:002005-10-11T22:45:16.130+01:00

This colonial relic is still getting to grips with the developed world and so my ruminations on the state of old and new worlds will have to await the unpacking exercise after coming home from the US trip. Gatwick Airport requires well-developed calf muscles and a firm resolve to escape into the open air no matter how difficult the maze. It took me more than an hour to burrow out. I had bought a

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1128955371135596932005-10-10T13:46:00.000+01:002005-10-10T15:42:51.150+01:00

What a splendid thing is this! Now that I've got my head around `post' which no longer means stamps and envelopes, a gaping hole in a red pillar box - or even a pole to tie my horse up to (I joke of course) I'm up and flying into cyberspace.I must try one last practise with hyperlink before Parafeen, my patient teacher zooms out into a spot on the globe too far from Britain for hands-on

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1128913914406102542005-10-10T04:04:00.000+01:002005-10-10T04:51:34.990+01:00

Tricky! very tricky. Getting going with this blog has to wait for serious attention when I get home in the UK. A week in the US has confirmed Parafeen's prejudice about the paucity of entertainment and the poverty of art among the dozens of TV channels: all too bright, too loud and far too much advertising. These latter are the worst ever because they seldom get across to you exactly what it is

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17461624.post-1128463909987752822005-10-04T22:23:00.000+01:002005-10-04T23:32:58.466+01:00

Having the expertise on hand during a visit to the USA has provided the impetus for doing something which has been long delayed: using this marvellous technology to establish a blog. It is so much more productive for a compulsive writer,observer, analyst and record keeper. It makes more sense than merely keeping an out-of-control bundle of notes - now filed electronically - or beavering away at a

Diana Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01415729947837349929noreply@blogger.com0