Cathy Buckle's Weekly Letter From Zimbabwe !

Cauldron bubble

Saturday 1st March 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

"Double double, toil and trouble;fire burn and cauldron bubble."

These two lines from Macbeth are particularly appropriate for Zimbabwe this week as elections draw nearer and the ruling party condemn their opponents, point accusing fingers and talk of witches, political prostitutes and charlatans.

Two minutes before President Mugabe stepped up to the podium to launch his party's election manifesto, the electricity came back on in my home town. It had been off for the past ten hours in a week where it's been off more than on.Wearing a black and red baseball cap and a green shirt covered with pictures of himself on it, Mr Mugabe leant on the podium and looked out at the audience.Many of them were also wearing clothes decorated with Mr Mugabe's face and they waved little paper flags as their leader raised his clenched fist.

"Pasi na Morgan!" (Down with Morgan Tsvangirai) He called out and waited for the traditional echoed, damning response."Pasi na Makoni!" (Down with Simba Makoni) he shouted next and again the response was immediate. This then was the start of yet another angry, divisive, Zanu PF campaign - nothing new for our beleaguered country and people here.

The posters in the stands expose the prevailing Zanu PF thinking nine years into our country's deep crisis: "No to Sanctions!" said one; "See the revolution through Cde R.G. Mugabe!" said another. "They only give sanctions not freedom!"proclaimed a third but none offered solutions to a hundred thousand percent inflation, no food in the shops, scarce electricity and water or a quarter of the population living in exile around the world. The Zanu PF theme for the coming elections is: "Defending our land and sovereignty."

Mr Mugabe spoke for an hour and a half - about the past, the Independence struggle, religion, the old days and at one point went into a lengthy aside about the fact that he couldn't speak French and neither could anyone in his offices. The audience were largely quiet during the ninety minutes and there were few interruptions for cheers or clapping - that is until the insults began.The crowd came to life when Mr Mugabe started condemning his opponents. Portly women and big bellied men roared with laughter, ululated and applauded when the President called on them to: "Reject the bootlicking British stooges, the political witches and political prostitutes."

Ten minutes after the end of the live Zanu PF election campaign launch, the electricity went off and everything shuddered to a stop again. One thing stayed in my mind from Mr Mugabe's speech and that was his statement that "every child must go back to school." The words are a far, far cry from the reality of this weekend in education in Zimbabwe. Across the country our children have come home for half term with additional accounts for "Top-Up" school fees. Most schools face imminent collapse this term as they cannot cope with over a hundred thousand percent inflation. The Top Ups range from thirty million for children at rural government schools to hundreds of millions for urban schools and billions for some private schools. Children whose parents are unable to pay the extra fees before Tuesday will not be allowed back into school. At the same time government school teachers are about to go on strike. Their salaries are not even enough to buy basic food. One heartbreaking report this week tells of teachers at a rural primary school signing up for emergency food aid. They say it is embarrassing to have to do so and they are being laughed at but it is better than fainting in class.

This is a tragic state of affairs for a country whose education was always a shining beacon in the whole of Southern Africa. We can only hope and pray that come March 29th we can begin repairing the damage and restore our teachers to their rightful places of dignity and respect in our society.

Until next week, thanks for reading, love cathy.