"There are thugs in every organization and the should be exposed and dealt with appropriately."

"Those police men should be reported?"

Who do they get reported to? No one is going to doi anything because these are the guys who run the show. If you are a media practitioner, and you talk about this, you are labelled an agent of foreign forces bent on destablising the country.

"Did'nt the Carter mission find the Zimbabwe elections free and clear?"

I do not know about the Carter mission. As one who has actually participated in elections in Zimbabwe, I do not know what free and clear is either. Unless by this you mean the blackout of opposition candidates in the state monopoly broadcast media- my friend who worked at ZBC told me they were asked to dig up old footage of Mugabe rallies coz they are the only ones where you will have genuinely cheering, fed-looking crowds. Unless you mean routine harrassment and intimdation of anyone. Some places you cannot go to unless you have a membership card and a letter from the ZANU leadership in your area saying you are a member. Unless you mean getting beaten up for carrying a private newspaper- the police will tell you they can't do anything because it is a "political matter."

My struggle, my beef is not so that MDC comes to power. I want to see an environment where whatever government exists in Zimbabwe listens to the people and is accountable to them.

Land Reform- my feeling is that we are going to have to do it all over again to make sure that the right people get the land- and not the ruling elite who have land already anyway. Giving land back, in my view, should be done through the traditional structures that we had- and still have. For example, I am entitled to land in Buja, it is my birthright. IF such a system were to be introduced by the present government, it would clash with its interests. They don't want to give land to people. Mugabe is not interested in uplifting the rural folk, because in his words- "no one need ever vote for ZANU-PF again."

What about all the other people who do not have deep ancestral ties to Zimbabwe. This includes not just whites, but many people of Malawian, Zambian etc origin. Well, under customary law, land was set aside for them by the chief. The only provision was that they had to assimilate, abide by the customs and conventions of the tribe.

Black native? That one is tricky one for anyone. Who is to say that me, a Buja, with only a 400 year history in Zimbabwe is less then native than say someone of Khoisan stock, who has been around for some 5000 years? Or the Ndebeles, who came in the 1800s? Or the whites who came in the 1890s?

The reason why I reject the idea of race is that I find it imprisoning. How can there be liberation when people expect you to think a certain way not on the basis of informed opinion, but by the color of your skin? The other day, I was at a party, and being the only black man present, I was expected to do Bob Marley at Karaoke. I could have, I know the words to some of his songs, but in doing so, I would have only been perpertuating stereotypes about what a Black dreadlocked male would prefer. It offended me that no one bothered to ask, they just assumed they knew.

As for Gerry Jackson, I admire her determination not let the Mugabe regime put her down. If more Zimbabweans were like that, we would get and preserve our freedom.

Respect to you, and MaLKaM YeGeNNa Bal!!