CHID 250: Post-Colonial Zimbabwe & African Sexualities
The following is my Current Events Paper.
Grace Mugabe & The Pillaging of Zimbabwe
Grace Mugabe is the current First Lady of Zimbabwe since 1996, following the death of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s first wife. First Lady Grace Mugabe has been praised and critiqued from various national parties in the Zimbabwean public. To some, she is a philanthropic woman who’s charity work and funding of orphanages (BBC: NEWS Africa, 2015) has brought elements of Peace to Zimbabwe. Opposing parties would like to portray “Gucci Grace” in a more negative light due to her “lavish spending” practices; nefarious adulterous affair with Robert Mugabe; suspicious intentions of rising to power through marriage; supporting Robert Mugabe’s anti-gay policies; EU and US sanctions and travel bans on the Mugabe family; and most recently the alleged home burning of over 200 Mazowe farming families to build a game park for profit next to the First Lady’s dairy farm. (BBC: NEWS Africa, 2015; New Zimbabwe, 2015; Gumbonzvanda, 2015).
Last week the Manzou Estate in Mazowe, Zimbabwean was raided by police in the name of First Lady Grace Mugabe (Gumbonzvanda, 2015). Over 200 villagers had their homes and settlements illegally burnt to the ground and left with no alternative for shelter; a direct violation of Zimbabwe’s Constitution, Section 74, for human rights. Section 74 states that all officials must have a warrant prior to activity; as well as any form of “arbitrary conviction” or destruction of property without a court order is directly prohibited (New Zimbabwe, 2015). Over 200 families were left shelterless for over a week, and demoralized and dehumanized as the police expressed, “There’s no way an ant can fight an elephant because Amai (Mrs) Mugabe is a high profile person and you’re ordinary citizens,” as well as referring to the village cattle, maize and soya bean farmers as “a bunch of illegal gold panners” (BBC: NEWS Africa, 2015; New Zimbabwe, 2015). The Zimbabwean government has stressed to the public that First Lady Mugabe denies any association with the evictions and that the shaming of her name and “privacy and integrity must come to an end” (BBC: News Africa, 2015). No persecution befell the officers, they were simply instructed to halt further demolition processes (BBC: News Africa, 2015; New Zimbabwe, 2015).
Furthermore the issue aroused great controversy in the local Zimbabwean political community as the 200 families’ human rights were violated on more than just one level. Their property was destroyed, their livelihood stripped from them, their health and wellbeing was threatened, and the educational pathways of their children were obstructed (Gumbonzvanda, 2015; New Zimbabwe, 2015). Many villagers interviewed stressed that they now would be forced to not only reconstruct their homes, but the development would interfere with the ongoing harvest season (New Zimbabwe, 2015). Furthermore, if the families are forced to relocate elsewhere, their livelihoods will be obstructed as they will not be able to plant or harvest this season at all (Gumbonzvanda, 2015). The health and wellbeing of the families is also threatened as over 200 families are now “at risk of disease or death” as they are faced with “no decent shelter, food, clean water and access to services” (Gumbonzvanda, 2015). For many children, their education has been interrupted during the first week of school (Gumbonzvanda, 2015). Furthermore, the quantity of the amount of families left homeless only hinders the efforts of Zimbabwe to decrease the impoverished populations and “stretches the already meagre resources”, and cannot provide them with the necessary care as Zimbabwe lacks a social security or welfare system (Gumbonzvanda, 2015).
Three articles were sourced from an international news station BBC, an African news station named All Africa, and a local Zimbabwean news station known as News Day. Reviewing these articles, the primary features of language, bias, assumptions, audience, and societal roles were heavily prevalent.
BBC: News Africa did an excellent job of maintaining a more neutral tone while providing critique and evidence for both the defense and accusations of Grace Mugabe in relation to the evictions. BBC seemed to be simply supplying knowledge to the general public, or rather a public interested in African news as it is necessary to go directly to BBC: News Africa to find the article. The article was not directly found on the main site. Furthermore, BBC provided not only interviews from all sides of the event (villagers, Mugabe defendants, general public, etc.), but also provided background information on the villagers, the village, defendants, and Grace Mugabe herself for factual representation. Supporting evidence of all identified players in an event allows the audience to draw their own conclusions and assumptions, rather than a necessity for the article to persuade the reader in either direction.
The second article, All Africa, definitely leaned towards the struggles of the villagers, while persuading sympathetic emotions from the audiences by using personal interviews from the villagers. However, it also provided many interview responses from politicians defending Grace Mugabe. By supplying suffering victim responses as well as defending government officials’ replies, hints at a more cautious news source. It seemed as if the news source was trying to draw out an urgency to aid the villagers, but required the necessity to defend Grace Mugabe. For example, it was directly stated Grace Mugabe had no affiliation with the evictions: “Mashonaland Central provincial governor, Martin Dinha, stated evictions were purely a decision by his administration which wants the settlers to relocate to a land designated as their new place” (New Zimbabwe, 2015). Neither of the other articles, including BBC, directly stated that Grace Mugabe was not affiliated with the evictions. In fact, it was implied by both BBC and News Day that Grace Mugabe was in fact a prime suspect, if not the actual perpetrator, of the evictions.
More radically, News Day was very anti-Mugabe and the author Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda wrote with such passion and heat while directly accusing Grace Mugabe of moral depravity and human rights violations. One large portrayal of bias and passion-sided argument was easily identifiable in the article headline: “Evicting with impunity, without a conscience” (Gumbonzvanda, 2015). The other articles possessed moderately neutral headlines, whereas Gumbonzvanda’s held heavy opinion and judgment. Furthermore, the language of the article directly persuaded the reader into a sense of fury towards Mugabe by using descriptive words such as “burn and push people to live in the open,” “smacks a clear disrespect of the due process of the law,” “destroying the future of people’s children,” “abusing with taxpayer’s money,” and more. Such powerful sentences inclines the reader to side with the villagers on a passion fury sympathetic level. However, no interviews were used, no claims were supported with evidence, no data was provided, and no background information was interwoven. Combined, News Day had the most biased source of the three analyzed.
The displaced farming residents of Mazowe have faced great injustices, however, whether they were inflicted directly by Grace Mugabe, rebel individuals in an attempt to disgrace the Mugabe name, or even individuals inspired by the Mugabes, is unknown. And in the larger perspective of the events, it truly does not matter. Justice is always sought out in moments such as this, but the larger picture that can be focused on and easily identifiable is the social injustice occurring. In some ways, perhaps due to colonial expansion or even the dictatorship like rule of Robert Mugabe, classism has developed within Zimbabwe.
During the first day of class, we discussed the topic of “othering.” When one individual sets up a standard of excellence for themself, it immediately indicates a standard of lesser for another. What is normal, indicates there is an abnormal; what is white indicates there is a black; and what is superior, indicates an inferior. Interestingly, the eradication of these Mazowe farmers holds great symbolism of the “othering” that is occurring in Zimbabwe. The signified insignificance of these individuals was indicated by the destruction of their homes for “a game reserve.” Furthermore, if the allegations are true and are related to Grace Mugabe’s desire for a game park, then the destructions of their homes is in essence a monopoly of their livelihood (taking away their farmland for her own profit), as well as conquering and colonization (replacing their land, with her own rule). And the ability to command, divide and conquer derives from a greedy need, a superior self-proclamation (it is easy to see how fired up one could get from events like this, for example Gumbonzvanda).
But from a larger perspective, outside this, is it not perhaps karmatic? Not that these farmers deserved these misfortunes, but was it not expected? These lands were stripped from white colonialists and given to them by Mugabe and the government, essentially. When you instill a belief that land can be taken, given and traded, how is one to expect that their land is forever theirs and theirs alone? That they have some divine right for tilling the soil for several generations now. Did not the white colonialists do the same? With that said, the essence of the problem lies in the mentality of ownership, authority, and power. These three ingredients are what define corruption and lead to the misfortunes of a people. And to correct them may begin with the removal of the Mugabe rule, but also the mentality itself. And to do so, will cause only more civil turmoil and strife in the process.
Works Cited
NEWS Africa. (2015, January 13). Zimbabwe court halts evictions blamed on Grace Mugabe. BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30797103.
New Zimbabwe. (2015, January 12). Zimbabwe: court stops Grace Mugabe evictions. All Africa. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201501130882.html.
Gumbonzvanda, N. (2015, January 13). Evicting with impunity, without a conscience. News Day. Retrieved from https://www.newsday.co.zw/2015/01/13/evicting-with-impunity-without-a-conscience/.
Marisa Elena Patrick
Grace Mugabe is the current First Lady of Zimbabwe since 1996, following the death of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s first wife. First Lady Grace Mugabe has been praised and critiqued from various national parties in the Zimbabwean public. To some, she is a philanthropic woman who’s charity work and funding of orphanages (BBC: NEWS Africa, 2015) has brought elements of Peace to Zimbabwe. Opposing parties would like to portray “Gucci Grace” in a more negative light due to her “lavish spending” practices; nefarious adulterous affair with Robert Mugabe; suspicious intentions of rising to power through marriage; supporting Robert Mugabe’s anti-gay policies; EU and US sanctions and travel bans on the Mugabe family; and most recently the alleged home burning of over 200 Mazowe farming families to build a game park for profit next to the First Lady’s dairy farm. (BBC: NEWS Africa, 2015; New Zimbabwe, 2015; Gumbonzvanda, 2015).
Last week the Manzou Estate in Mazowe, Zimbabwean was raided by police in the name of First Lady Grace Mugabe (Gumbonzvanda, 2015). Over 200 villagers had their homes and settlements illegally burnt to the ground and left with no alternative for shelter; a direct violation of Zimbabwe’s Constitution, Section 74, for human rights. Section 74 states that all officials must have a warrant prior to activity; as well as any form of “arbitrary conviction” or destruction of property without a court order is directly prohibited (New Zimbabwe, 2015). Over 200 families were left shelterless for over a week, and demoralized and dehumanized as the police expressed, “There’s no way an ant can fight an elephant because Amai (Mrs) Mugabe is a high profile person and you’re ordinary citizens,” as well as referring to the village cattle, maize and soya bean farmers as “a bunch of illegal gold panners” (BBC: NEWS Africa, 2015; New Zimbabwe, 2015). The Zimbabwean government has stressed to the public that First Lady Mugabe denies any association with the evictions and that the shaming of her name and “privacy and integrity must come to an end” (BBC: News Africa, 2015). No persecution befell the officers, they were simply instructed to halt further demolition processes (BBC: News Africa, 2015; New Zimbabwe, 2015).
Furthermore the issue aroused great controversy in the local Zimbabwean political community as the 200 families’ human rights were violated on more than just one level. Their property was destroyed, their livelihood stripped from them, their health and wellbeing was threatened, and the educational pathways of their children were obstructed (Gumbonzvanda, 2015; New Zimbabwe, 2015). Many villagers interviewed stressed that they now would be forced to not only reconstruct their homes, but the development would interfere with the ongoing harvest season (New Zimbabwe, 2015). Furthermore, if the families are forced to relocate elsewhere, their livelihoods will be obstructed as they will not be able to plant or harvest this season at all (Gumbonzvanda, 2015). The health and wellbeing of the families is also threatened as over 200 families are now “at risk of disease or death” as they are faced with “no decent shelter, food, clean water and access to services” (Gumbonzvanda, 2015). For many children, their education has been interrupted during the first week of school (Gumbonzvanda, 2015). Furthermore, the quantity of the amount of families left homeless only hinders the efforts of Zimbabwe to decrease the impoverished populations and “stretches the already meagre resources”, and cannot provide them with the necessary care as Zimbabwe lacks a social security or welfare system (Gumbonzvanda, 2015).
Three articles were sourced from an international news station BBC, an African news station named All Africa, and a local Zimbabwean news station known as News Day. Reviewing these articles, the primary features of language, bias, assumptions, audience, and societal roles were heavily prevalent.
BBC: News Africa did an excellent job of maintaining a more neutral tone while providing critique and evidence for both the defense and accusations of Grace Mugabe in relation to the evictions. BBC seemed to be simply supplying knowledge to the general public, or rather a public interested in African news as it is necessary to go directly to BBC: News Africa to find the article. The article was not directly found on the main site. Furthermore, BBC provided not only interviews from all sides of the event (villagers, Mugabe defendants, general public, etc.), but also provided background information on the villagers, the village, defendants, and Grace Mugabe herself for factual representation. Supporting evidence of all identified players in an event allows the audience to draw their own conclusions and assumptions, rather than a necessity for the article to persuade the reader in either direction.
The second article, All Africa, definitely leaned towards the struggles of the villagers, while persuading sympathetic emotions from the audiences by using personal interviews from the villagers. However, it also provided many interview responses from politicians defending Grace Mugabe. By supplying suffering victim responses as well as defending government officials’ replies, hints at a more cautious news source. It seemed as if the news source was trying to draw out an urgency to aid the villagers, but required the necessity to defend Grace Mugabe. For example, it was directly stated Grace Mugabe had no affiliation with the evictions: “Mashonaland Central provincial governor, Martin Dinha, stated evictions were purely a decision by his administration which wants the settlers to relocate to a land designated as their new place” (New Zimbabwe, 2015). Neither of the other articles, including BBC, directly stated that Grace Mugabe was not affiliated with the evictions. In fact, it was implied by both BBC and News Day that Grace Mugabe was in fact a prime suspect, if not the actual perpetrator, of the evictions.
More radically, News Day was very anti-Mugabe and the author Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda wrote with such passion and heat while directly accusing Grace Mugabe of moral depravity and human rights violations. One large portrayal of bias and passion-sided argument was easily identifiable in the article headline: “Evicting with impunity, without a conscience” (Gumbonzvanda, 2015). The other articles possessed moderately neutral headlines, whereas Gumbonzvanda’s held heavy opinion and judgment. Furthermore, the language of the article directly persuaded the reader into a sense of fury towards Mugabe by using descriptive words such as “burn and push people to live in the open,” “smacks a clear disrespect of the due process of the law,” “destroying the future of people’s children,” “abusing with taxpayer’s money,” and more. Such powerful sentences inclines the reader to side with the villagers on a passion fury sympathetic level. However, no interviews were used, no claims were supported with evidence, no data was provided, and no background information was interwoven. Combined, News Day had the most biased source of the three analyzed.
The displaced farming residents of Mazowe have faced great injustices, however, whether they were inflicted directly by Grace Mugabe, rebel individuals in an attempt to disgrace the Mugabe name, or even individuals inspired by the Mugabes, is unknown. And in the larger perspective of the events, it truly does not matter. Justice is always sought out in moments such as this, but the larger picture that can be focused on and easily identifiable is the social injustice occurring. In some ways, perhaps due to colonial expansion or even the dictatorship like rule of Robert Mugabe, classism has developed within Zimbabwe.
During the first day of class, we discussed the topic of “othering.” When one individual sets up a standard of excellence for themself, it immediately indicates a standard of lesser for another. What is normal, indicates there is an abnormal; what is white indicates there is a black; and what is superior, indicates an inferior. Interestingly, the eradication of these Mazowe farmers holds great symbolism of the “othering” that is occurring in Zimbabwe. The signified insignificance of these individuals was indicated by the destruction of their homes for “a game reserve.” Furthermore, if the allegations are true and are related to Grace Mugabe’s desire for a game park, then the destructions of their homes is in essence a monopoly of their livelihood (taking away their farmland for her own profit), as well as conquering and colonization (replacing their land, with her own rule). And the ability to command, divide and conquer derives from a greedy need, a superior self-proclamation (it is easy to see how fired up one could get from events like this, for example Gumbonzvanda).
But from a larger perspective, outside this, is it not perhaps karmatic? Not that these farmers deserved these misfortunes, but was it not expected? These lands were stripped from white colonialists and given to them by Mugabe and the government, essentially. When you instill a belief that land can be taken, given and traded, how is one to expect that their land is forever theirs and theirs alone? That they have some divine right for tilling the soil for several generations now. Did not the white colonialists do the same? With that said, the essence of the problem lies in the mentality of ownership, authority, and power. These three ingredients are what define corruption and lead to the misfortunes of a people. And to correct them may begin with the removal of the Mugabe rule, but also the mentality itself. And to do so, will cause only more civil turmoil and strife in the process.
Works Cited
NEWS Africa. (2015, January 13). Zimbabwe court halts evictions blamed on Grace Mugabe. BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30797103.
New Zimbabwe. (2015, January 12). Zimbabwe: court stops Grace Mugabe evictions. All Africa. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201501130882.html.
Gumbonzvanda, N. (2015, January 13). Evicting with impunity, without a conscience. News Day. Retrieved from https://www.newsday.co.zw/2015/01/13/evicting-with-impunity-without-a-conscience/.
Marisa Elena Patrick