adminthriller novels, which from the more than 270 countries would end up as bestsellers?
Out of the 251 287 cables, Zimbabwe has about 3 000 – a fairly sizeable number considering the population size.
However, if the events of the past fortnight are anything to go by, what it means is that if WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange were to release more batches from notable states like the US, our nation will literally grind to a halt.
This is the first time in a very long time that Zimbabweans have been so keenly engrossed in historical matters, considering that some in our midst believe that history has no place.
The so-called private media has also rediscovered history’s relevance. Is it because the leaked cables have more about President Mugabe and his party?
However, isn’t it interesting that as the leaks make news headlines daily, the US is more worried about terrorist attacks? It is also more worried about its dire economic situation where the poor are getting poorer and more people continue to lose jobs.
When the people who should be central to the story do not seem to care at all, what does that tell us?
On Tuesday US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles A Ray met the main protagonist in these cables, President Mugabe, and some waited with bated breadth to hear some mighty pronouncements about WikiLeaks.
But they were overly disappointed. Asked whether WikiLeaks was part of their discussions, Ambassador Ray said, “No. They (WikiLeaks) never came up”.
Note the pun in the Ambassador’s response.
Nation states are made of such stuff – collection of intelligence information in order to make informed decisions and policies, and in order to safeguard permanent interests.
The first spies are recorded in the Bible, an indication that there is nothing new under the sun: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Send some men to explore the land of Canaan . . . ‘ (Numbers 13). Twelve spies were sent, but today it is a dirty word.
Joshua 2 is more explicit about the use of spies: “Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. ‘Go look over the land,’ he said, especially Jericho.’ So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.” (Joshua 1:1-2). The mix in the personalities says a lot, but we have been quick to cast the first stone.
Is it any different from what Ambassador Ray said on Tuesday: “I met a lot of political and non-political players. I will listen to and talk to everyone . . . “
I will revisit this remark towards the end.
What I find a bit interesting is that WikiLeaks has taken us in, and it is not even originally from us. When Jacque Chirac becomes a big story in the making, we can’t be bothered. Why?
We need Western newswires to tell us that former French President Jacques Chirac used to receive funds from some African countries to sponsor his election campaigns!
Such a scoop only comes out when Chirac is before the French courts (not even the International Criminal Court, considering the French’s hand in African affairs). It also comes out when his medical team argues that his memory lapses make him unfit to stand trial.
According to a recent AFP report, in 2002, former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo sponsored Chirac’s election campaign to the tune of US$4 million. Who said Africa is poor?
How much African money has gone to Western governments to elect people who end up doing us in by using us against ourselves?
Why are people so excited with WikiLeaks? Is the mainstream media aiding and abetting the excitement? How best could one frame this seeming big story, with all the big names? Who will emerge victorious?
There is an interesting school of thought doing the rounds: “See, we told you what Zanu-PF is like. Haven’t we always said that the President is surrounded by people who pretend to like him, but instead tell him lies?”
It is a school of thought that sees a lonely President Mugabe with very few individuals he should trust, a school of thought that is so naïve and bereft of how political power translates itself.
I am not trying to speak for the President, but for a man who has led a political organisation for four decades, and has been at the helm of Government for 32 years, do we seriously believe that he does not know the challenges that accompany leadership?
Why would these cables change the way he conducts his day-to-day affairs, especially when he knows that politics is a dirty game?
After the titillation that the WikiLeaks cables has brought, then what?
We might not realise that we are already operating in an information society, but we are. Do we have the knowledge and skills to operate in such a fast moving information world?
Whether at individual, party political and/or governmental levels, what lessons have we learnt? To borrow Blaise Cronin’s terminology, do we have the ability to “transform the information heartland” to best advantage? For what Assange has shown with his WikiLeaks is that information is the heartland of every nation that hopes to develop. He has also revealed the vulnerabilities therein.
Are we taming it, when we continue to pour more into the heartland, oblivious of the originators’ intentions? All of us, are we helping and building Zimbabwe with all this?
The leaked cables are newsworthy indeed, but how do we move from this so and so said this and that, to repairing the damage we believe has been caused?
How can we best use this small example by Assange as a rallying point to forgive and unite as a nation – for the sake of the future? I promised to get back to Ambassador Ray. While we are busy with
WikiLeaks, the Ambassador is Facebooking with our children.
They are not politicians, businesspeople and or church ministers, but they have a powerful tool – the Internet – be it on their laptops or mobile phones.
The US envoy is reaching out to them because they are the future opinion makers. He is able to deal with the past, present and future.
Will we accuse them of speaking with the Ambassador when technology allows you to communicate with anyone in the global village?
You don’t need a diploma or degree to use the Internet. You also don’t need to know everything that is on the Internet, but it is important in the 21st century to be net literate. The phobia might be there
initially, but as you get used to it, you get by with ease.
This is what our politicians should know because what these kids are saying in the absence of guidance might also harm this nation.
Below is part of the report from ZimPAS on Ambassador Ray engaging Zimbabwean youths:
“On August 31, Ambassador Charles A Ray took the US Embassy’s Youth Dialogue initiative into the wide, enthusiastic world of Zimbabwe’s Facebook fans in the Embassy’s first AmbChat.
“For one hour over a pizza lunch, Ambassador Ray ‘chatted’ on the Embassy’s Facebook Wall about ‘Zim Youth Making a Difference.’
“The Embassy’s Public Affairs Section set up two threads of discussion on their FB Wall – one for youth and one for ‘26 years of age and up.’
The discussion generated over 250 comments, while over 200 new fans joined the already 2 500+ fans following the page each day.
“FB users from as far away as Bindura, Kwekwe and Mutare joined Harare and Bulawayo fans in telling Ambassador Ray about the many positive and ambitious activities they are doing to build their communities.
“Malony Marekwa in Plumtree wrote, “I’m aged 19 nd ws a volunteer peer educator 4 restless dvpnt in plumtree, the youth over ther a havin problems in acces gd medical facilities due 2 lack of fundin 4 e local clinics.”
“Penelope Malunga, a student at Harare Institute of Technology, works with SAYWHAT (Students and Youth Working on reproductive Health Action Team). Penelope wrote, “SAYWHAT envisions a gender just nation with youths who are empowered and know their sexual reproductive health rights.”
“Ambassador Ray stated he appreciated learning first-hand what youth are doing today and giving encouragement and advice on how they can make a difference at both the grassroots and national level . . .”
The long and short of it is that wikileaking has been part of human nature since time immemorial. Let’s learn to manage them, and move on.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter