Looking back…The Commemorative Issue

In March 2008 we set out on a journey more informed by our own exuberance than any coherent strategy. All we wanted was to tell the story of the Zimbabwean election in pictures. A call to two colleagues in NiZA, Bob van Winden and Christian Kuijstermans, was all it took for them to buy into the idea. In a way it was characteristic of the Netherlands Institute of Southern Africa (NiZA) and its staff to respond swiftly to such an untested idea. Elsewhere, we would have had to write tomes of proposals to justify the idea. But we believed in this project – and Bob and Christian believed in it too.

Months later we feel vindicated by the journey we have travelled. We have covered the developments in Zimbabwe in a dedicated manner starting off with the March “harmonised” elections, through the violent June Presidential re-run to the signing of the unity agreement. Our particular brand of photojournalism has not tried to show the so-called all sides of the story. We remain adamant that Robert Gabriel Mugabe is a charlatan – an unashamed tyrant who has subverted the will of the people of Zimbabwe. We intend to expose Mugabe and his cohorts for what they are and at the same time celebrate the efforts of the democratic forces in Zimbabwe. Journalism is our only weapon.

We appreciate the support we have received from our subscribers. We also appreciate the support we have received from funding and strategic partners. We thank Esther Blommestijn and Rosemarie Wuite at NiZA who granted further support after the intial grant. We are particularly grateful to Zohra Dawood and Noloyiso Mchunu at Open Society Foundation who gave us a Media Fellowship so we could cover the aftermath of the May-June 2008 xenophobic attacks. We are also grateful to Hans Determeyer and Babah Tarawally of Free Voice who will be partnering with us from January 2009.

On the basis of this support our team can now put into motion medium to long-term plans for the Zimbabwe in Pictures project. This special edition is a toast to the short journey we have travelled and to the exciting adventure ahead.

Chris Kabwato

Publisher

December 2008

Download The Commemorative Edition

EDITORIAL: The unscripted movie that is the new Zimbabwe

I HAD to be there on Monday 15 September. Up and early I struggled into a suit – jeans are my preferred item of clothing – but on this occasion I thought a suit might just be appropriate. I wasn’t exactly in a celebratory mood. Deep down I still felt that this was an unjust resolution to a simple problem – the lack of ZANU PF’s legitimacy. Mugabe had lost an election, had lost the support of the people. Now he would need to be accommodated – very much the way the National Party had to be acommodated by the African National Congress. It need not have ended this way. But our leaders had said this was the best compromise deal…

Chris

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