“Come on, its 2011 already”. “What have you in store for Zimbabweans?” “More gloom than bloom?” These were the thought-provoking Zimbabwean newspaper headlines of a brand new year.

Every January columnists take the opportunity to offer their readers some forethought on how to delve into the unknown twelve months with hope, courage and confidence. It’s also a month of crafting resolutions for the ensuing year.

“A potential referendum on a new constitution and another round of hotly contested elections will be in the minds of the majority of Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe will continue to fight for the right to sell it’s newly discovered diamonds on the world market amid strong opposition from countries that believe the heavy presence of security forces compromises the Kimberly Process principles”, predicts Kholwani Nyathi of the newspaper the Standard

The Year of the Rabbit
2011 is dubbed the Year of the Rabbit - the Chinese associate of good luck. When applied to the Zimbabwean context promises to be a placid year, a much welcome one after the ferocious Year of the Tiger in 2010, during which partners in the national unity government were always at each other’s throats. President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara are expected to go off to some quiet spot and lick their wounds and get some rest after all the battles of the previous year, imagines Njabulo Ncube in the Financial Gazette.

Writing in The Standard, Chipo Masara is overwhelmed with fear. “Talks of yet another election no doubt triggers people’s memory back to the 2002 and 2008 scenarios where elections were characterised by unprecedented levels of violence, with thousands of people reported to have lost their lives while many more were left incapacitated”.

Foreign-owned companies threatened
Describing 2011 as a watershed year for Zimbabwe, the Sunday Mail spelt gloom and gnashing of teeth in the business world. A columnist, who wants to remain anonymous, says: “Why should we continue to have companies and organisations supported by America and Britain who imposed illegal sanctions on us without hitting them back? We shall use the Indigenisation and Empowerment Act to take them over.” Grabbing huge foreign-owned companies and banks the 2000-farm-invasion-style was one of the major resolutions at the ZANU (PF) conference held in December last year.

Maggie’s dreams
“I dream that one day I will wake up with uninterrupted power and reliable clean water out of my tape. I dream of a Zimbabwe which can provide a home of security, warmth, shelter, food, protection and peace where sons and daughters of the soil do not find themselves needing to search for these provisions in the Diaspora. I dream of a Zimbabwe where national healing and reconciliation are more than just grandstanding rhetoric but practical ideals to heal, embalm and unite”, envisions Maggie Mzumara in her ‘Lighter Brew’ column in the Financial Gazette.

Thirty years on, I have also not stopped day dreaming about the liberalisation of the airwaves and setting up of many private radio and television stations in Zimbabwe.