ELECTION LEAVES THE WORLD SLEEPLESS
Clarence
Page
-----------------------------------------------------------
Harare,
the capital city of Zimbabwe, means "place where
one does not
sleep." That's what a black Harare
journalist told me last
summer as he drove me around his
town. When Shona tribesmen first settled the
area, he said,
the lions in the nearby forest interrupted the night
so
forcefully with their roars that settlers had a hard time
getting much
shut-eye.
More
recently, as I watched
from afar while President Robert Mugabe appears to
have
stolen his re-election fair and square, the entire country
of
Zimbabwe has become a tough place to
sleep.
Terry Ford, for
example, is
sleeping permanently. He was a 55-year-old white
Zimbabwean
farmer. He was killed Monday, a day after Mr. Mugabe, 78,
was
sworn in for a hotly contested fifth
term.
Mr. Ford was the
10th white
farmer to be killed since 2000 in Mr. Mugabe's
so-called
"fast track" land reform. Ownership
by
Zimbabwe's tiny white minority of 90 percent of the
best
farmland is a real issue, dating back to the
country's
independence in
1980.
Great Britain and
the United
States pulled out of the original land reform plan a few
years
after independence, charging corruption in Mr.
Mugabe's government.
Mr. Mugabe did not make an issue
out of the land dispute until a few years
ago, when white
farmers provided a convenient scapegoat for a
mounting
political backlash against Mr. Mugabe by his fellow
blacks.
Mr.
Mugabe's supporters in
the United States (yes, he still has a few; I
think I have
heard from all three of them) cynically blame
Mr.
Mugabe's horrible international image on the Eurocentric
view
of the world's major
media.
Indeed, there
have been many
more blacks than whites killed, injured, jailed or
made
homeless during Mr. Mugabe's land seizures and
other
political power grabs, but their cases usually don't
sizzle
through the world's media as much as Mr.
Mugabe's
black-on-white
crimes.
Nevertheless,
Mr. Mugabe
can't blame his country's troubles on the
media.
Besides, those of us who supported Mr. Mugabe from this side
of the
ocean in his battle against Rhodesia's
white-minority rule are more
obliged than anyone else to
hold him accountable, racially and otherwise, now
that he
and his political party ZANU-PF are in
charge.
The larger
story in Zimbabwe
goes beyond race or tribe. It is the story of a
postcolonial
Third World nation struggling mightily to join the
new,
emerging
globalism.
Mr.
Mugabe's opposition is
quite real and growing, born out of his
country's labor
movements and fed by a new, young black professional
class
struggling and striving to join neighboring economic giant
South
Africa in the new global
economy.
No other
sub-Saharan African
country besides South Africa has more potential
than
Zimbabwe for development based on its natural and human
resources. It
has one of the continent's highest
literacy rates. Its agricultural
strength made it the
breadbasket of southern Africa until drought and
political
turmoil in the last two years caused famine and
fuel
shortages.
Harare
today bristles with
young entrepreneurial professionals, easily detected
by
their cell phones, laptops and, in many cases, American and
European
educations. If countries that have Zimbabwe's
potential fall to the
old big-man form of tribal despotism,
it is bad news for a world trying to
bridge widening gaps
between rich and
poor.
After two decades
in office,
Mr. Mugabe has become a hindrance to his
country's
future progress. Even the pragmatists within
Mr.
Mugabe's party have urged him to step aside while he
still can
be remembered with some semblance of honor as the
father of his country.
Instead, he clings to the old
despotic form of African leadership, tribally
based and
eager to play the race card when his back is up against
the
wall, no matter who else gets
hurt.
"You know
what we say
around here, we thrive on our optimism," Geoff
Nyarota,
editor of the Daily News, Zimbabwe's only
independent
daily told me by cell phone after the votes were
counted.
Mr. Nyarota
knows optimism.
His printing press and offices were bombed last
year,
apparently by Mugabe supporters. Still his staff comes to
work every
day and puts out a paper that has helped fill the
gap left by Mr.
Mugabe's closing of independent radio
and TV
broadcasters.
Zimbabwe
maintains some
semblance of democracy because its courts, its press
and
other institutions are weak by American standards but strong
by
African standards. The country's best hope is the
relentless optimism
of its people.
Mr.
Mugabe has angered them by
putting his corruption right in their faces and
thwarting
the popular will. The opposition began calling for
national
strikes as soon as the votes appeared to be miscounted in
the
recent election. The voice of a new Zimbabwe is rising.
It has many miles to
go before it
sleeps.
Clarence
Page is a
nationally syndicated
columnist.
-----------------------------------------------------------
This
article was mailed from The Washington Times
(http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20020322-59081959.htm)
For
more great articles, visit us at
http://www.washtimes.com
Copyright
(c) 2002 News World Communications, Inc. All
rights reserved.
Afrlcan Dreams
by Peter Simple
The Weekly Telegraph (UK)
20 March
2002
THERE is nothing surprising about Mr Mugabe's victory. What is
surprising
is that he bothers about elections at all. There must be easier
ways of
holding on to power than beating up voters, stuffing ballot boxes
with fake
papers and losing them or setting them on fire and generally
rigging the
result.
And for all the shock, horror and distress among
Western liberal thinkers,
there is nothing surprising about the African
countries' support for him.
The quarrel in Zimbabwe, as in all of Africa, is
between the white man and
the black man. The black man, as Mugabe knows and
the white thinker denies,
would like to get rid of the white man and all his
laws and institutions
that linger on so confusingly from colonial times and
irritate Mugabe and
his fellow potentates by getting in the way.
There
is an obvious remedy. Let the black man get rid of the white man's
democratic
eletions, his parliaments and woolsacks and judges' wigs, his
military
uniforms, his weapons and other ingenious devices, his science
and
technology, his money and financial arrangements, his motor cars
and
aircraft, his computers, radio and television, not to speak of
his
hospitals and medical services.
No longer ensnared by the white
man's overpowering gifts, the Africans
could return to African ways of doing
things.
The African chief would summon his tribal council and dispense
African
justice. Wars would be fought with sticks and stones. Cattle would
be
currency. Witchdoctors would flourish with their spells and potions.
The
people would dance and sing and celebrate birth and death and
the
procession of the seasons. The fat man, reclining in the shade, would
have
the thin men scurrying about to do his bidding, as from time
immemorial.
No news, good or bad, would come out of Africa any more to
fill our "media"
with worry and soul-searching. Experts and liberal thinkers,
deprived of
conscience-fodder and obsessive guilt, would have to find other
ways of
passing their time. And Africa, free of mad, white, alien dreams
of
progress and modernity, would be itself again.
Monday, 22 March 2002
.Zimbabwe At The Crossroads: Transition Or
Conflict?
If the current election outcome in Zimbabwe is allowed to stand,
the message
across Africa would seem to be that managed violence works, vote
rigging is
acceptable and that Africa is in the main not prepared to defend
modern
democratic standards. In the end the goal must be a
transitional
power-sharing arrangement, new elections and a political exit
strategy for
Robert Mugabe. ICG sets out a two-track, complimentary strategy
with
regional leaders, including importantly South Africa, seeking to broker
a
transition, while the EU, U.S. and others should take a hard-line
position
that reinforces the leverage of the regional efforts.
HOLGER JENSEN
International Editor, Denver Rocky Mountain News
Foreign
Affairs Columnist, Scripps Howard News Service
______________________________________________________________
'Brother' Africans turning on Mugabe
______________________________________________________________
3/21/02
By Holger Jensen
News International Editor
President Bush
is still consulting with allies on how to respond to
Zimbabwe's stolen
election but other nations have begun piling the pressure
on President
Robert Mugabe.
The Commonwealth, composed mostly of former British
colonies covering
nearly a third of the world, humiliated the 78-year-old
despot by suspending
Zimbabwe for a year and calling for new elections.
Denmark closed its embassy in Zimbabwe and shut off economic aid.
Switzerland froze any assets Mugabe and his inner circle might have in that
country and joined in a travel ban imposed by the United States and European
Union before the election.
Suspension from the Commonwealth is largely
symbolic since few penalties
are attached. But it was a stinging personal
rebuff to Mugabe because it came
from two African leaders he had previously
regarded as friends and allies in
his battle against “white imperialism.”
The Commonwealth task force that recommended the suspension was made up of
Australian Prime Minister John Howard, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa
and President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria.
Howard, the leader of the
troika, is unimportant to Mugabe, who considers
him a lackey of Britain.
Australia is routinely dismissed by Zimbabwe's
official press as a “British
dominion” and thus part of the “Western
conspiracy” that seeks to restore
colonial rule in Zimbabwe, according to
Mugabe's carefully spun mythology.
But Mugabe had always counted on the support of neighboring South Africa,
the continent's richest nation, and Nigeria, its most populous.
Mbeki's African National Congress and Mugabe's ZANU-PF had been allies
since
the 1960s, when both were fighting white minority regimes. Some of
Mbeki's
top lieutenants had already recognized Mugabe's election victory as
legitimate and congratulated him on what he called his “stunning blow to
imperialism.”
Obasanjo's betrayal stung even more because Mugabe
idolized him. In an
interview with a Lagos newspaper last year, he praised
the Nigerian leader as
his “master,” saying: “You are the one who taught us
how to fight the white
man.” Now the master, in Mugabe's view, has rallied
behind the white man
against an African brother.
The Commonwealth
groups 50 developing countries from Africa, Asia and the
Pacific alongside
four developed ones: Britain, Canada, Australia and New
Zealand. Supporters
say it offers a platform for joint action on worldwide
problems such as
poverty and AIDS. But critics say it is a redundant relic of
the British
Empire, a difficult mix of rich and poor nations with sharply
diverging
priorities.
Eleven years ago, at a meeting hosted by Mugabe, the
Commonwealth pledged
to uphold “the rule of law and the independence of
judiciary, just and honest
government and fundamental human rights.” It
backed that up by suspending
Nigeria in 1995, when it was under military
rule, and Fiji and Pakistan for
coups that ousted their elected governments
in 1999 and 2000.
However, Zimbabwe had always escaped censure even though
Mugabe's regime
was neither honest nor just and often operated above the
law. Steeped in
corruption and ruthless with political opponents, it killed,
tortured and
terrorized the president's foes, ignored court orders, fired
judges who ruled
against the government and unleashed lawless mobs of war
veterans to seize
white-owned farms and intimidate the growing black
opposition movement.
Faced with convincing evidence that Mugabe was
rigging his re-election,
Britain, Australia and New Zealand demanded
Zimbabwe's suspension at a
Commonwealth summit a week before the vote. But
all the African nations
banded together to protect Mugabe. Saying it would
be unfair to judge the
election before it happened, they created the
three-nation task force to rule
on its validity after the vote.
Even
then, Mbeki and Obasanjo gave Mugabe one last chance to avoid
suspension by
trying to persuade him to invite his opponents into a
government of national
unity.
Only when he refused did they fly to London and signal their
acceptance of
the Commonwealth election observers' report. It cited
political violence and
other irregularities, concluding that “conditions in
Zimbabwe did not
adequately allow for a free expression of will by the
electors.”
Now that Africa's two most influential leaders have turned
their backs on
Mugabe, others are bound to follow.
_______________________________________________________________
Copyright 2000 Holger Jensen.
These columns may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or otherwise
distributed without the prior written
authority of Holger Jensen.
ABC Australia
Zimbabwe Farmers Report Intimidation
Intimidation,
Revenge Violence Reported by Labor Officials, Farmers in
Zimbabwe
The
Associated Press
HARARE, Zimbabwe March 21 — Most businesses on
Thursday ignored a national
strike organized to protest disputed elections
and remained open, and labor
leaders blamed government intimidation. They
said police, troops and ruling
party militants took down the names of people
who did not report for work.
Tensions have remained high in the wake of
the March 9-11 elections, which
Zimbabwe's opposition and several independent
observer groups say was rigged
to ensure the victory of President Robert
Mugabe. The government declared
Mugabe the victor.
The Commonwealth of
Britain and its former colonies this week suspended
Zimbabwe from the
organization's meetings for one year, citing the "high
level of politically
motivated" violence in the vote.
On Thursday, a Commonwealth official
said that he hoped Zimbabwe would work
to regain full status within the
54-nation group.
Speaking from a U.N. summit in Mexico, Don McKinnon said
the Commonwealth
stopped short of taking harsher action such as expelling
Zimbabwe from the
group in part because of "the fragile nature of the
Zimbabwean economy."
Labor leaders said authorities used new security new
laws to prevent them
from meeting freely with workers to coordinate the
three-day nationwide
protest strike that began Wednesday.
Some
factories remained closed Thursday, but most banks and shops reopened
and
government offices, post offices and schools never closed.
The federation
estimated about half of Harare's businesses were curtailed by
early
Wednesday, declining to about a third in the afternoon as workers
showed up
at their jobs.
Meanwhile, white farmers accused ruling party militants of
attacking them as
part of a new campaign of violence intended to punish them
for perceived
support of the opposition in the elections.
The
Commercial Farmers Union said at least 50 farmers were illegally evicted
from
their properties since the elections.
One farmer died Monday in an
execution-style killing, a farm worker was
killed in a separate assault,
hundreds of workers were forced to flee their
jobs and 66 farmers were
arrested after providing logistical support for the
opposition Movement for
Democratic Change, the union said.
Most of those arrested face charges
they violated new security laws by using
licensed radio equipment for
political activities, the union said.
Though international leaders have
appealed for reconciliation in the
country, which has been plagued by
violence and intimidation over the past
two years, Zimbabwe remains as tense
as ever.
Authorities charged opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai with
treason
Wednesday and released him on bail in connection with an alleged plot
to
assassinate Mugabe.
Tsvangirai has denied the accusation,
dismissing the charges as a government
ploy devised to weaken the
opposition.
Business Day
Mugabe might sink SA's aid
strategy
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
HARARE
Despite vigorous SA efforts to secure political accommodation in
Zimbabwe,
President Robert Mugabe seems intent on a hardline cabinet
committed to
scorched-earth policies.
Official sources said yesterday that President
Thabo Mbeki's reconciliation
and economic recovery plans faced collapse as
Mugabe contemplated a "crisis
cabinet" to resist growing international
pressure and sanctions after his
disputed election victory. That would make a
coalition impossible with
Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC).
Mugabe seemed interested at first in Mbeki's unity talks and the
economic
rescue package as he sought political legitimacy, but made an
about-turn on
Wednesday, and dug in his heels, raising fear of heightened
repression.
A day after Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth,
Mugabe pounced on
Tsvangirai. Despite his earlier assurance to Mbeki and
Nigerian President
Olusegun Obasanjo that he would not hound opponents,
Mugabe dragged
Tsvangirai to court on treason charges for an alleged
assassination plot.
The US said the treason charges were baseless, and it
was reviewing more
measures to pressure Zimbabwe's leadership.
Sources
said Zimbabwean Finance Minister Simba Makoni and Industry and
International
Trade Minister Herbert Murerwa seen in SA and the US as
progressive faced the
chop in a looming cabinet reshuffle. It is thought
Mugabe will cling to his
old guard and turf out ministers amenable to
economic
reforms.
Insiders said the "ultras" would prevail over reformers, given
the state of
Mugabe's mind.
It is now accepted in government circles
that Vice-Presidents Simon Muzenda
and Joseph Msika will be retired. Sources
said Mugabe's combative loyalists
like Jonathan Moyo, Patrick Chinamasa,
Elliot Manyika, Sydney Sekeramayi and
Nicholas Goche were set to form the
core of the obstructionist team.
A reactionary cabinet would undermine
the rescue package the SA government
was preparing. Trade and Industry
Minister Alec Erwin said last week
Pretoria was waiting in the wings with a
recovery plan linked to political
stability. Ironically, the plan was drafted
with the assistance of Makoni
last year.
While there has been growing
international pressure for a new election in
Zimbabwe, Malawian President
Bakili Muluzi called yesterday for closure,
saying the controversial election
was now "water under the bridge".
Muluzi said the 14-nation Southern
African Development Community (SADC),
which he chairs, would help Zimbabwe
rebuild its economy and attain
political stability.
"It's important
that there is stability in that country because the economy
is in shambles.
Stability is the future of Zimbabwe," he told Malawian
observers to the
Zimbabwean election at his Sanjika palace in Blantyre.
Meanwhile,
Tsvangirai has joined calls for another poll. Charging that
Mugabe stole the
presidential poll, the opposition chief said his party was
pressing for an
election rerun in line with growing international demands.
Bulawayo-based
opposition party Zapu also called for the election to be
staged again under
United Nations monitoring.
Mar 22 2002 12:00:00:000AM Dumisani Muleya and
Sapa-AFP Business Day 1st
Edition
Friday
22 March 2002
OUT OF AFRICA
-------------
Murderous thugs attack farm family
again
The Times, 21 March 2002
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,3-242742,00.html
WHEN
President Mugabe began his land grab two years ago Iain Kay was among
the
first white farmers to suffer. He was tied up and beaten senseless
by
so-called war veterans.
Within hours of Mr Mugabe declaring
victory last week, Mr Kay, a supporter
of the opposition MDC, was again in
the frontline. On Friday, his home at
Chipesa Farm in Marondera was taken
over. His adopted son, Jon Rutherford,
was assaulted and his black bodyguard
killed as he tried to save the young
man's life. Police fired on Mr Kay and
another son. On Monday, Tony Ford, a
friend and fellow farmer, was tied to a
tree and shot.
Mr Kay's wife, Kerry, said that after helping to get her
grievously injured
son to hospital, she had seen the mutilated body of
Darlington Vikaveka,
the security manager, placed in a metal coffin as local
police recorded his
death as natural causes. Farm workers told her that Mr
Vikaveka pleaded
with the mob to spare her son.
I just broke down and
sobbed for the sheer brutality of it all, killing and
beating with impunity,
a witch hunt to beat, rape and kill whoever
supported the legitimate
opposition party, she said.
While she waited at Jon's bedside, her
husband and his son David drove to
Chipesa after reports that a tractor
driver was being tortured. When they
arrived the father and son were
surrounded by armed marauders. They knew
two of the ringleaders, Marimo and
Katsiro, who were trying to smash the
vehicle's windows.
Mr Kay,
shouting for help on his shortwave radio, was told that police were
on their
way. When they appeared, Mr Kay said, they turned their assault
rifles on
him, shattering the windscreen as he accelerated away.
Mrs Kay is
worried about the farm workforce and their families, who were
chased into the
bush after their homes were torched. Among them is a
nine-year-old boy who
appeared at Mrs Kay's front door recently, explaining
that his father was
dying of Aids and his mother was already dead. She
found him a home, but now
has no idea of his fate.
Like so many now suffering at the hands of the
war veterans, the Kays were
once supporters of President Mugabe. Mr Kay's
father, Jock, was an
Agriculture Minister from 1992 to 1994.
Iain
Kay, 52, was born on the farm and was a pioneer in helping black
farmers to
build up their own herds of livestock and developing pockets of
land. Zanu
(PF) took exception to his interference in the hold it had over
so-called
communal farmers, fearing that if they had their own livelihoods
the party's
control would slip.Mrs Kay says that this is why, when Mr
Mugabe declared war
on white farmers, her husband was singled out.
News24
C'wealth hopes for Zim's rehab
Monterrey, Mexico - The
secretary-general of the Commonwealth said on
Thursday that he hoped
Zimbabwe, recently suspended from councils in the
organisation of Britain and
its former colonies, would work to regain full
status after its conflicted
elections.
Commonwealth nations suspended Zimbabwe from their councils
for one year on
Tuesday because of the "high level of politically motivated
violence" that
marred March 9-11 presidential elections. The disputed vote
gave President
Robert Mugabe another six years in office.
The
organisation stopped short of harsher action - such as expelling
Zimbabwe
from the group - in part because of "the fragile nature of the
Zimbabwean
economy", Don McKinnon said.
"I think there's always the feeling, 'It's
got to get better some day',"
McKinnon said. "If you take the major action
and suspend them, you lose
contact."
He said the Commonwealth would
work with Zimbabwe to help renew investments
in the country and to improve
its electoral system.
No new financial aid
Australian Prime
Minister John Howard, who announced Zimbabwe's suspension
on Tuesday, said
the decision was based on a report from a group of 64
Commonwealth election
observers who concluded that the poll was seriously
flawed and had not
allowed for the free expression of the wishes of the
electorate.
Other
independent observer groups also have said the election, which
followed a
campaign marred by political violence widely blamed on the ruling
party, was
rigged to ensure Mugabe's victory.
The suspension shuts Zimbabwe out of
all meetings of the 54-nation
Commonwealth over the coming year and means it
will receive no new financial
aid from the organisation except under
programmes aimed to restore political
stability and the rule of
law.
Full suspension would have halted all aid programmes and barred
Zimbabwe
from competing in the Commonwealth Games this year. -
Sapa-AP
The Age
Zimbabwe: Hundreds at slain white farmer's funeral
HARARE,
March 22 AFP|Published: Friday March 22, 11:01 PM
Hundreds of
white farmers, including former Rhodesian prime minister Ian
Smith, and black
farm labourers attended a moving funeral today for slain
white farmer Terry
Ford in Zimbabwe.
Ford was assaulted with axes and run over by a car
before he was shot five
times at his farm near the capital overnight
Sunday.
Four of his assailants appeared before a magistrate court
yesterday and were
not asked to enter their plea.
His son, Mark, who
lives in Australia told the funeral service at Highlands
Presbyterian Church
in Harare said his father died for a "reason".
"He just wanted to live.
He lived by what he believed and he died by what he
believed," said Mark
Ford.
The church minister Peter McKenzie preached
forgiveness.
"One of the saddest thing about bitterness is that the only
person it
destroys is the person who carries it," said
McKenzie.
President of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) Colin Cloete
said the
farmers were determined to stay in Zimbabwe regardless of the
violence
targeted at them.
"People are pretty desperate, with lack of
direction, but are determined to
stay and farm as much as they can," Cloete
told AFP in an interview after
the funeral.
"The lawlessness is
absolutely unacceptable. There is no support for farmers
out there so things
are very difficult, but we are determined to stay," he
said.
In a show
of the determination to stay in Zimbabwe despite difficulties the
white
farmers have faced over the past two years, the funeral ended with a
song by
a prominent Zimbabwean international cricketer, Henry Olonga, called
Our
Zimbabwe.
The song advocates for peace and harmony.
Ford's Jack
Russell terrier Squeak, who was at his side until his death, was
also at the
funeral.
Squeak the Jack Russell who refused to leave his master's side when he was
murdered in Zimbabwe has been taken to his funeral.
The 14-year-old dog was cradled in the arms of Terry Ford's fiancee, Noami
Raaff, as mourners paid their last respects in Harare to the tenth white farmer
killed by ruling party militants.
The dog had huddled by Mr Ford's body for several hours after he was beaten,
lined up against a tree and shot through the head on Monday.
"It is a time of loss and great tragedy. It is not a time to give up and
throw our hands in the air," Pastor Peter McKenzie told the mourners.
At least 150 people, most of them opposition supporters, have died in
political violence since 2000.
Mr Ford was the tenth white farmer killed since the often-violent land
occupations began. Ruling party militants, with government support, have
demanded the farms be redistributed to landless blacks.
Mark Ford, 28, said his father "just wanted somewhere to live and farm."
Squatters had occupied the farm in 2000, forcing Mr Ford to take on teaching
work at a nearby Christian school.
Story filed: 14:39 Friday 22nd March 2002
There are no excuses for Mugabe
Zimbabwe's election should be judged by
its own high standards
Chris McGreal in Harare
Friday March 22,
2002
The Guardian
There is only one measure by which to judge
Zimbabwe's election. It is not
by "African standards" as Robert Mugabe and
his friends would have us do. It
is not by the criteria laid down by a myriad
election observers from widely
differing political cultures - from Japan to
Libya - with an array of tests
for what constitutes a good election. It is by
Zimbabwe's own standards,
after more than two decades of independence. And by
those, imperfect as they
may have been, the election was a
disaster.
Nigeria's president, Olusegun Obasanjo, recognised that the
election was
fatally flawed when he agreed to suspend Zimbabwe from the
Commonwealth this
week. So did Thabo Mbeki, if more reluctantly. But others
in Africa continue
to defend Mugabe by pointing to the violence that plagues
presidential
ballots in Kenya and the many shortcomings of a Nigerian
election. They
remind us of the bloody run-up to South Africa's elections in
1994, and note
the west has turned a blind eye to the rigging of Zambia's
latest election.
Wasn't Zimbabwe's vote a model of tranquillity and
efficiency by comparison
to elections in some other parts of Africa, they
ask? Why the double
standard? It's a good question, and one asked by those
who stand to benefit
from seeing Zimbabwe's tainted election accepted by the
wider world. Kenya's
Daniel arap Moi is certainly not interested in scrutiny
of next year's
presidential ballot in which he can be expected to fall back
on his routine
strategy of using violence to divide and rule. But Mugabe's
opponents ask
whether this is the standard by which Zimbabwe should be
judged.
Some of those dispatched to monitor Zimbabwe's election think so,
including
the head of the Nigerian observer mission, Ernest Shonekon. He
knows a thing
or two about stolen elections. When Moshood Abiola was deprived
of his
election victory in 1993 by the Nigerian military, Chief Shonekon was
the
frontman who took power on the army's behalf.
Some of the loudest
voices in support of Mugabe have come from South Africa.
The deputy foreign
minister, Aziz Pahad, wondered what all the fuss was
about - 120 political
murders was nothing compared with the thousands who
died in the run-up to
South Africa's first free ballot. And hadn't they
managed to pull off a free
and fair election?
Well, no. Much of the violence then was concentrated
in KwaZulu-Natal and
the election results there were openly manipulated with
the consent of the
African National Congress to ensure that Inkatha won the
province. That made
sense in the South African political context of the time
because it went a
long way to ensuring the political stability the country
enjoys today. But
it is no reason to brush off a strategy of murder and
terror by the
Zimbabwean government as small potatoes.
It is to
Zimbabweans' credit that 120 recent political murders are not as
meaningless
as Pahad suggests, particularly in a country which endured a
liberation war
in the 1970s and then the massacre of 20,000 people in the
Matabeleland
rebellion two decades ago, when Mugabe's forces put down the
only real
challenge to his authority before now.
Others have said that those
foreign observers who condemned the elections
are hypocritical because they
have failed to make similar criticisms of
ballots in Russia, eastern Europe
or Italy. Perhaps so. Italian politics is
remarkably corrupt. Does that mean
that when we encounter corruption in
British politics we should let it go?
Voters of any country have the right
to be outraged if the loser is declared
the winner in their elections.
The point missed by those who defend
Zimbabwe's election is that its
shortcomings are not the result of
under-development or the inability of the
system to cope which is implied in
talk of "African standards". It did not
happen after a civil war. It did not
happen in apartheid's death throes. It
did not happen because the country is
so fractured by religious and ethnic
divides that blood- letting is part of
the political discourse. It happened
because Mugabe was not prepared to
accept defeat. His government set about
to subvert the will of the
people.
There were certainly problems in past elections, particularly
in
Matabeleland in the years after the massacres. Sometimes there was
violence
against opposition candidates and supporters. But until Mugabe was
faced
with a real challenge to his power, elections were transparent and
largely
untainted by rigging. Political gatherings were not banned, nor
was
criticism of the president. The voters' roll included just about
everyone
who lived in the country and was over the age of 18, including
non-citizens.
Above all, people did not live in terror of an election. That
is the
standard by which many Zimbabweans want Mugabe's claim to victory to
be
judged.
chris.mcgreal@guardian.co.uk
Zimbabweans need your support
WHAT CAN YOU DO??? Zimbabweans are living
in fear for their life now. The
people are suffering from starvation
because President Mugabe has NOT
allowed crops to be planted and their
currency has collapsed. Please visit
http://www.zimbabweprotest.freeservers.com
Images
from the London protest outside the Zimbabwe High Commission link to
various
websites about what is happening in Zimbabwe today. If your heart
is
touched by what you read, please SPEAK OUT. Your voice is important, so
please e-mail church leaders, government officials and organizations that
can help.
Thank you in advance
Zim Independent
MDC appeals for help to end violence
Dumisani Muleya/
Abeauty Mangezi
THE besieged Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is
calling for
international intervention as mobs loyal to President Robert
Mugabe step up
their retribution against the party's supporters.
This
includes murder, abductions, beatings and destruction of
property.
The MDC said in a statement this week the international
community should
help stop Zanu PF violence after the hotly-disputed
presidential election.
"We call on Sadc leaders and the international
community to urge the ruling
party and government to restrain their
supporters and abandon their agenda
of violence," it said.
The
MDC's anguished appeal for intervention came as fresh violence swept
across
the country. In Muzarabani communal lands, 83 houses belonging to 34
families
were burnt after the election.
On Wednesday, newly-elected MDC
councillor for ward 32 in Glen View, Last
Maengahama, was beaten up at around
2am by thugs in riot police gear. During
the evening of the same day MDC
national youth executive member Philip
Mabika's house was
stoned.
The MDC complains its members are being "hounded and hunted
down, kidnapped,
tortured, and killed" by Zanu PF
militias.
"Tafireyinyika Gwaze, our polling agent at Rukwenjere
polling station in
Mutoko in the just-ended presidential election has died
after being abducted
and tortured by Zanu PF militias," the opposition party
said.
"Gwaze was picked up by the militia from a bus in which he was
travelling
after the poll on Tuesday last week. He was taken to a nearby
torture camp
where he was savagely beaten the whole night and released the
following day.
He died from multiple injuries and wounds
sustained."
The MDC also said another party activist, Owen Manyara,
died on Sunday after
a brutal assault by Zanu PF thugs.
"Manyara
was assaulted by Zanu PF militia at Nyamaruro Growth Point in Mt
Darwin for
supporting the MDC."
It said houses belonging to its polling agents
in Muzarabani, David Karamba
and Charles Madziwana, were burnt down in
Mahwenda village by Zanu PF mobs
last Friday.
"In Bindura, Zanu PF
militia have taken over House Number 2016 in Chiwaridzo
Township, which
belongs to Clemence Masawi, who is our activist," the
MDC
said.
"Zanu PF militants, among them Newton Hakata, Sydney
Mavhangira and one only
identified as Konde, broke into the house and turned
it into a torture
base."
The violence is systematic and
widespread.
"In Chinhoyi, Biggie Matare, our Hurungwe East
coordinator and Cosmos Nheya,
our polling agent in the election, were
severely assaulted by Zanu PF
militias and sustained life threatening
injuries," the opposition said.
"Another MDC activist, whose name is
yet to be confirmed, was abducted.
These cases have been reported to Karoi
Police Station and Inspector
Matorofa, a war veteran, is handling the
cases."
Three MDC supporters were killed last weekend in Chipinge,
allegedly by
soldiers. On Tuesday, an MDC activist, Ernest Gatsi, died in
Guruve Hospital
after being assaulted by Zanu PF supporters while Lawrence
Kuvheya was
killed in Chikomba district.
Over 110 people have so
far been killed in politically-motivated violence.
Thousands of people have
been affected. The ruling party has been accused of
being the major sponsor
of the terror.
Last week, Zanu PF activists killed MDC supporter
Funny Mahuni at a torture
camp in Mbizo township, Kwekwe, as violence swept
through the Midlands city.
In Marondera, three people including a
farm security guard, Darlington
Vikaveka and farm manager John Rutherford as
well as MDC activist Munyaradzi
Mupazviripo, were last week attacked by
ruling party mobs.
Masvingo mayor Alois Chaimiti was besieged in his
office and threatened with
death last week.
Renewed Fear Grips Farming Sector
Zimbabwe Independent
(Harare)
March 22, 2002
Posted to the web March 22,
2002
Blessing Zulu
ZIMBABWE'S commercial farming sector was
this week gripped by fear as a
terror campaign to force farmers off their
land was stepped up following
President Mugabe's re-election.
In what
is seen as a direct response to his call to intensify farm seizures
a white
commercial farmer, Terrence Ford of Gowrie Farm in Norton, was
bludgeoned to
death on Monday by suspected Zanu PF supporters and
war
veterans.
The suspects have been living on his property since
farm invasions began in
2000.
Yesterday, four suspects - Harrison
Jambaya, Joseph Siyabweka, Harrington
Kawanzaruwa and Costa Mahunza - were
remanded in custody at the Norton
Magistrate's Court in connection with the
brutal murder of Ford whose death
is thought to have helped persuade
Commonwealth leaders meeting in London to
suspend Zimbabwe.
The
Zimbabwe Independent understands the police are also looking for senior
war
veterans' leaders operating in the Norton area in connection with
the
case.
In another incident a security guard, Darlington Vikaveka,
was beaten to
death at a farm near Marondera.
Commercial Farmers Union
president Colin Cloete has confirmed an increase in
incidents of violence on
the commercial farms countrywide.
"Incidents of harassment, trashing and
looting, forced evictions and
extortion as well as political retribution have
reached alarming
proportions," he said yesterday.
"A large proportion
of the incidents seem to be retribution against farmers
who were exercising
their democratic right to support the political party of
their choice, which
in the cases reported is the MDC, although some of the
farmers attacked have
no political affiliation," he said.
"A total of 66 farmers who were
resource persons for the opposition party
were arrested with some due to
appear in court at the end of April. Charges
centre on the use of radios
which farmers have been using well before 1980
under licence," Cloete
said.
The new invasions are also affecting farm workers who face an
uncertain
future.
"In the last two weeks, on at least 14 of the farms
affected, the workers
are under threat of eviction from their farm villages.
A minimum of 600 farm
workers are affected prejudicing the lives of
approximately 3 000 family
members," Cloete said.
The failure by the
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to act on time had
worsened the situation, he
said.
"The lack of a definitive police response is playing into the hands
of
opportunists. The problem seems to be at district level where officers
seem
to be slow and in some cases unwilling to react to farmers' calls for
help.
Their hands seem to be tied," said Cloete.
Ford's murder
this week takes the toll of slain commercial farmers to 10
since farm
invasions began in 2000.
Mashonaland East province heads the list with
four murders in 2000. The four
are David Stevens on April 15, Stewart Allan
Dunn on May 7, John Weeks on
May 14, and William Botha on July
23.
Matabeleland North has two cases: Martin Olds murdered on April 18
2000 and
his mother Gloria murdered on March 4 2001.
There are also
two cases in the Midlands Province: Henry Swan Elsworth on
May 7 2000 and
Fenwick Robert Cobbet on August 6 2001. Following the recent
murder of Ford,
Mashonaland West now has two cases as Tony Oates suffered
the same fate on
May 31 2000.
The mayhem on the farms will perpetuate the food shortages
affecting the
country as hundreds of farms have now been abandoned in the
wake of the
violence.
"At least 50 farmers have been illegally
evicted, with some given an hour's
notice," Cloete said. "According to
reports, over a dozen homes have been
trashed and looted, including Ruzawi
Club in Mashonaland East," said Cloete.
Zimbabwe seeks massive food imports in shattered economy
ASSOCIATED
PRESS
HARARE, Zimbabwe, March 22 — Zimbabwe announced plans Friday to
import huge
amounts of food to stave off starvation caused by drought and
the
agricultural chaos following the occupation of white-owned farms by
ruling
party militants.
Agriculture Minister Joseph Made said the
government was seeking
200,000 tons of corn, the staple food, from Kenya,
Brazil and Argentina.
Over the next 18 months, the country will need to
import 1.5 million tons of
corn, state radio reported.
The fertile,
southern African nation was once considered the
breadbasket of the
region.
Now Zimbabweans wait in food lines in hopes of getting bags
of
increasingly rare corn meal. In November, the government ordered
200,000
tons of corn valued at $25 million from neighboring South
Africa.
The main labor federation, meanwhile, conceded the failure of
its
national strike to protest state-backed intimidation surrounding
this
month's disputed presidential elections.
The few businesses
that had observed the strike reopened Friday,
which was to have been the last
day of the three-day protest, said Lovemore
Matombo, head of the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions.
He said new security laws hindered strike
organizers and
''heavy-handed'' threats by the authorities and bias in the
dominant state
media stopped workers joining the action.
''We did
not do a great job. We admit that. This particular battle
might not have been
won, but it is a lesson for the future,'' Matombo said.
At a meeting
next month, leaders of the federation will consider
possible further action
to protest political violence that has left at least
150 people — most of
them opposition supporters — dead since 2000.
Early Friday, hundreds
of white farmers and black farm workers
attended the funeral of Terry Ford,
51, who was shot in the head in an
execution-style killing Monday at his farm
west of the capital, Harare.
''It is a time of loss and great tragedy.
It is not a time to give up
and throw our hands in the air,'' Pastor Peter
McKenzie said as he
officiated the funeral.
Ford was the tenth
white farmer killed since the often-violent farm
occupations began two years
ago. Ruling party militants, with tacit
government backing, have demanded the
farms be redistributed to landless
blacks.
Mark Ford, 28, told the
mourners that his father ''just wanted
somewhere to live and
farm.''
''He lived by what he believed, he died by what he believed,''
he
said. Squatters occupied the farm in 2000, forcing him to take on
teaching
work at a nearby Christian school.
Noami Raaff, Ford's
fiancee, held the couple's Jack Russell terrier,
Squeak, in her arms. The dog
had huddled by Ford's body for several hours
after his murder.
The
farm occupations, along with floods and droughts, have decimated
the
country's harvest as its agriculture-based economy collapsed.
Last
year, Zimbabwe produced 1.54 million tons of corn, down from 2.1
million tons
in 2000.
Harvests of tobacco, the main cash crop, also are expected to
be down
this year, by as much as 30 percent.
Foreign loans, aid and
investment have dried up. Mining has been
plagued by shortages of equipment
and fuel and tourism, the third-largest
hard currency earner, has fallen by
80 percent.
Emergency food distribution by the World Food Program to
500,000
people facing starvation resumed Thursday in south and western
Zimbabwe,
U.N. officials said.
The distribution was halted a week
before the March 9-11 presidential
elections so as not to ''coincide with
political concerns,'' the WFP said.
Official election results showed
President Robert Mugabe winning 56
percent of the vote to 42 percent for
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai,
who claimed the election was tainted and
has called for a new vote.
Mugabe, 78, led the nation to independence
from Britain in 1980 and
had faced little dissent until recent years, when
the nation's economy
collapsed and political violence became
rampant.
Some foreign election observer groups said the election was
held
under unfair procedures that favored Mugabe.
MSNBC
Zimbabwe to seize more farms, defies
pressure
HARARE, March 22 — Zimbabwe's government on Friday
earmarked more white
farms for seizure in defiance of rising international
pressure against
President Robert Mugabe after his controversial election
victory.
The government published in the state-owned Herald
newspaper a list
of 388 farms for seizure -- including ranches owned by South
Africa's
wealthy Oppenheimer family, which has huge mining interests in
southern
Africa.
''Notice is hereby given...that the President
intends to acquire
compulsorily the land described in the schedule for
resettlement purposes,''
read the advertisement.
It did not give a
time frame for the seizures, but owners have until
April 22 to lodge
objections.
The announcement comes on the heels of the southern
African nation's
one-year suspension from the 54-nation Commonwealth this
week after its
election monitors said the March 9-11 presidential election
was neither free
nor fair.
On Wednesday, opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) leader
Morgan Tsvangirai appeared in court on treason
charges.
A barely heeded three-day strike called by the Zimbabwe
Congress of
Trade Unions (ZCTU) to protest against violence collapsed on the
final day,
Friday, with workers claiming that fear of reprisals and harsh
laws had
driven protesters back to work.
''The environment in which
we are operating is so cruel...we are
going to evaluate the weaknesses and
what we could have avoided,'' said ZCTU
president Lovemore Matombo.
The United States on Thursday warned African countries they could
lose U.S.
aid if they did not take a stand against Mugabe's re-election,
rejected by
many observer missions as fraudulent.
Analysts said the government was
trying to keep the land issue at the
top of its political agenda amid
mounting pressure for an election re-run.
The land reform programme formed
the core of the ruling ZANU-PF's election
campaign.
TO HELL WITH THE
COMMONWEALTH
''They are essentially saying 'to hell with the
Commonwealth.' The
government is clearly unrepentant and we are going to see
worse trouble,
with pressure growing for a new election,'' said John Makumbe,
a political
science lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe.
''They
will need to keep the land issue alive so that they can use it
in case there
is an election re-run. More farmers are going to be driven off
their
land.''
The MDC and farmers say Tsvangirai's supporters have
been
increasingly targeted in a retribution campaign since the
78-year-old
Mugabe's controversial victory.
A black farm guard has
been beaten to death, 25 farmers assaulted and
50 chased from their farms in
the past 10 days, the Commercial Farmers Union
(CFU) said on
Thursday.
''Incidents of harassment, trashing and looting, forced
eviction and
extortion as well as political retribution have reached alarming
proportions
since the...election,'' CFU president Colin Cloete said in a
statement.
The CFU, which represents mostly white farmers, backed
Tsvangirai in
the election. The opposition leader had promised to stop the
illegal seizure
of white-owned farms and to implement a negotiated programme
to advance
black land ownership.
Mugabe -- who says it is immoral
for the 4,500 white farmers to
occupy 70 percent of the country's best farm
land -- vowed at his
inauguration to press ahead with the land reform
programme.
The government wants to seize at least 8.3 million hectares
(20.5
million acres) of the 12 million hectares (29.6 million acres) in
white
hands. It has so far listed about 6,000 farms, representing about 90
percent
of commercial farm land, for seizure, but not all have been taken
yet.
Mugabe, who came to power when the former white-ruled Rhodesia
gained
independence in 1980, sees his land seizure programme as a belated
drive to
correct imbalances in land ownership created by previous
colonial
governments.
Zim Independent - comment
Dankie Suid-Afrika, Siyabonga, Re a
leboga
BEWARE of South Africans bearing gifts. They could have
unexpected
consequences.
On Monday President Thabo Mbeki, accompanied
by his Nigerian counterpart
Olusegun Obasanjo, tried to interest Zimbabwe's
leadership in something dear
to the hearts of South African politicians, a
government of national unity.
Deputy President Jacob Zuma had already
introduced the subject last Thursday
during his brief visit to Harare. He
didn't get very far. Nor did Mbeki and
Obasanjo. But their agenda is
compelling.
Both leaders are concerned about Nepad, their New Partnership
for Africa's
Development project, which stands no chance of success if
President Mugabe
continues to behave as a delinquent ruler with little regard
for the lives
or welfare of his citizens.
Nepad is premised squarely
on good governance and an attractive investment
climate. Zimbabwe has
neither. The South Africans have put an economic
rescue package in place but
it hinges on political stability. That was the
point of Mbeki and Obasanjo's
visit this week.
The government-of-national-unity proposal is designed
both to secure a
political consensus and head off further measures against
Zimbabwe by the
international community. It is in fact a fine-tuning of an
initiative the
South Africans have been touting since April 2000.
A
government of national unity is not in itself objectionable. But it will
have
to be a genuine coalition of interests functioning within a
specific
time-frame ahead of internationally-supervised elections. It cannot
be a
process by which Mugabe's rule is legitimised by co-option of certain
MDC
leaders with a view to neutralising the opposition as happened in 1980
and
1987.
Zimbabwe has an unfortunate history of "unity" between major
parties which
has suffocated democracy. It mustn't happen again.
Mbeki
and Obasanjo said in London they intend to remain "engaged" in the
search for
a solution to Zimbabwe's crisis. This says a great deal about
Mugabe's claims
to legitimacy based on his election "win". His absolutist
approach to
governance has now met its match in the MDC's rejectionism. The
MDC would
appear to have a whip hand in the diplomacy now under way.
Together with
civil society, they should use it to set out their democratic
case.
By
all means let's try to rescue the country from the mess Mugabe has
created.
But only if the instigator of violence and economic sabotage is
removed.
Under no circumstances should his damaging and discredited regime
be salvaged
by MDC participation in it, especially now the Commonwealth has
in effect
declared the electoral outcome invalid
However, with Mugabe's departure
the way would be open to negotiating a
power-sharing transitional arrangement
with an agenda of economic recovery.
A government of national unity would be
conceivable only if an independent
electoral commission acceptable to all
parties is established. Only if free
and fair internationally-supervised
elections are scheduled within a
specific period. Only if the police force is
returned to professional
conduct and criminals are prosecuted. Only if the
judiciary is politically
decontaminated. Only if repressive laws passed this
year are repealed. Only
if the public media is open to all.
Those are
the conditions all parties supporting democracy should be able to
subscribe
to and they represent a fitting response to Obasanjo's suggestion
on
Wednesday that a coalition government should be concerned with
"unity,
security...and the essential issue of the
economy".
Significantly Obasanjo said at the same time that fresh
elections were now
possible to contemplate, if not just yet.
All this
contributes to Mugabe's isolation. His refusal to entertain reform
blocks
economic recovery. As that leads to a rapidly deteriorating situation
so he
will find himself increasingly unpopular.
The consequences of his
political recidivism and scorched-earth policy are
now being felt. Mbeki and
Obasanjo cannot ignore the knock-on effects. By
delivering Mugabe to the
court of international judgement on Tuesday his own
closest allies have dealt
him a fatal blow. His obduracy in talks on Monday
and the murderous rampage
of his supporters gave them no room for manoeuvre.
This means in a space
of little under a week, South Africa's attempt to
recognise the election
outcome and persuade the victor to be accommodating
has been transformed into
a completely different ballgame in which the
restoration of democracy has
become the chief goal, backed by the
international community.
This
will come as a shock to the South Africans. But we are grateful to them
for
the way things have turned out!
From News24 (SA), 21 March
Cosatu wants facts from
observers
Johannesburg - The Congress of SA Trade Unions on Thursday
demanded of the
various observer missions that monitored the recent
presidential elections
in Zimbabwe that they produce facts to support the
conclusions drawn in
their reports. The ANC ally said none of the conflicting
reports on the
election provided a convincing argument to back their
conclusions. "In order
to convince Cosatu and the South African population at
large that the SA
Observer Mission and other missions did not go to Zimbabwe
with preconceived
and fixed positions to legitimise or to condemn the
election results, the
respective missions are challenged to give us concrete
facts and scientific
evidence to back up their arguments," the trade union
federation said in a
statement. "Cosatu believes that the presence of
observers did contribute to
the improving of the environment and ensuring
restraint," the statement
said.
Cosatu has argued that it would be
difficult to hold free and fair elections
in Zimbabwe taking into account the
political environment since the 2000
parliamentary elections. "Cosatu
consistently called for decisive
interventions by the international
community, in particular SADC, to ensure
a free and fair election. The fact
that most of the international community
chose to ignore our pleas and act
only on the eve of the election made it
too late to reverse the accumulated
damage," the labour organisation said.
"On the face of it, there is
compelling evidence that the electoral process
was fraught with
irregularities, violence and intimidation, a biased media,
and in some
respects bias on the part of the police in some parts of the
country. The
legislative framework did not allow for a level playing field.
The
uncertainty created by court ruling, the defiance of the ruling and the
last
minute introduction of regulations resulted in massive confusion
and
inadequate preparations by the electoral authorities."
Already
heavily involved in the pro-democracy struggle in Swaziland, Cosatu
also
undertook to engage itself in Zimbabwe. For that reason the
organisation said
it fully backed a three-day general strike called by the
Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions "in support of their fight for basic trade
union and human
rights". Cosatu deplored the action of police "who forced
their way into a
private meeting of the ZCTU Executive Council on 14 March,
in contravention
of the International Labour Organisation's Convention 87
which gives workers'
organisation the right to organise freely without
interference." The
federation condemned the harassment of workers by
government militias and the
police, "which the ZCTU say has intensified
since the 9-11 March election.
Cosatu also is concerned at the threat by the
Zimbabwe government to
deregister the ZCTU and its proposed 'anti-terrorist'
law, which would make
socio-economic, and political strikes illegal".
Comment from New Vision (Uganda), 21 March
Commonwealth is
right
Zimbabwe has been suspended from the Commonwealth group of
nations for one
year following last week's controversial election. A troika
of leaders,
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prime Minister John Howard
of
Australia, and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, delivered
the
organisation's verdict after considering it election monitors' report.
The
Commonwealth is right to take this stand. A fortnight ago, at its heads
of
state summit meeting, it was agreed that sanctions of any sort be held
back
pending the election itself. It was rightly deemed premature to judge
the
country before the poll was carried out. But the circumstances
surrounding
the voting process have been widely seen to be undemocratic. It
is not the
first time the group has suspended nations - Nigeria and South
Africa have
been themselves been out in the cold as recently as less than ten
years ago,
while Pakistan, where a military government took power, and Fiji
where a
coup overthrew an elected government, have been the latest
suspensions. But
Zimbabwe is the first case of a fraudulently conducted
election. The country
failed the standard set, ironically enough, in its own
capital, as the 1991
Harare declaration committed all Commonwealth countries,
regardless of their
political or economic conditions, to certain basic
principles. Democracy,
human rights, judicial independence and sound economic
management are some
of the ideals Zimbabwe has failed to live up to. The
Commonwealth has sent
out strong signals that to belong, one must meet basic
group standards.
After all, which club with a dress code would consistently
tolerate shabbily
dressed patrons? But if and when Zimbabwe reforms, they
should be
readmitted. The ball is now in Harare's court.
-->
Zim Independent
Muckraker
Where were the Africans at Mugabe's
inauguration?
SO what happened to all those 21 heads of state who
were due to attend the
inauguration? They seem to have lost interest. Instead
President Mugabe had
to comfort himself with five - all cronies from the
region.
South Africa, Botswana and Zambia sent vice-presidents while
close allies
like Angola and Libya could only manage "high-level
representatives" - even
after the ceremony was postponed a day to enable
their leaders to get here.
The Herald's "Special Correspondent" had to
resort to making the best of a
bad job.
"Rarely, if ever, can the
inauguration of a victorious Sadc leader have
attracted 10 Sadc countries,
including Zimbabwe, and representatives from
the Arab world, central and West
Africa," he claimed.
We didn't get the bit about Zimbabwe being among
those "attracted". Who was
Zimbabwe's representative at the swearing-in? Or
was this another case of
Zanu PF inflating figures?
It was interesting
to note that there was a master-of-ceremonies present to
guide the
proceedings. This would appear to be a novel development. Aren't
MCs usually
associated with quiz shows and beauty pageants? We have never
seen one before
at an inauguration ceremony.
This one seemed to be rather inept, not
knowing who was supposed to take an
oath of office. And there seemed to be
much emphasis in the official media
on the president's written speech as
distinct from his off-the-cuff remarks.
Are we missing something here?
Could the distinction have something to do
with that rare animal, the gnu
(government of national unity), which Thabo
Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo
appear to be foisting on the victor?
Which raises another issue. If
everything is fine and dandy with Mugabe's
re-election and he is now master
of all he surveys, why the frantic
diplomacy from those he counts as
pan-Africanist allies aimed at getting him
to first share power with the
opposition and then step down? With the
exception of outbursts from Jonathan
Moyo about dead horses, the Zimbabwean
public is being deprived of vital
information by the government media about
why these diplomatic shuttles are
necessary in the first place.
We were amused to see Thabo Mbeki resisting
Mugabe's attempts to embrace him
on arrival at Harare airport. We have noted
this before. He keeps Mugabe at
arm's length obliging the Zimbabwean leader
to do a funny little push/pull
dance with his reluctant partner.
It
would be useful to know who the author is of a dishonest police
report
published in the Herald last Saturday. Police statistics, it claimed,
showed
that MDC supporters committed 176 politically- motivated crimes last
year
while Zanu PF supporters were responsible for 157. During the election,
it
said, the MDC was involved in 570 incidents while Zanu PF was
held
responsible for two.
The police said the MDC contravened the
Public Order and Security Act more
because it treated the legislation with
disdain and wanted to create an
impression that it was being
victimised.
"The birth of the MDC brought pronounced political violence
to the
Zimbabwean political scene," the report said. "This can be understood
from
the perspective that the MDC leadership comprises people who in their
years
at university have been militant in their approach to national
issues."
It would be difficult to find a more partisan and unprofessional
document.
It explains fully why the police have forfeited the public's
confidence.
First of all its figures tell us nothing at all except that the
police have
acted in the interests of the ruling party to arrest opposition
members
under draconian new security laws while refusing to act against
criminals
belonging to Zanu PF.
The Public Order and Security Act is
almost certainly unconstitutional and
gives the police sweeping powers that
are incompatible with democratic
norms. The Act has already been abused to
ban over 80 opposition rallies
during the election campaign.
The
statement that "the birth of the MDC brought pronounced political
violence to
the Zimbabwean political scene" looks as if it was written by
Zanu PF's
publicity department, not a law enforcement officer. It ignores
the over 100
victims murdered by Zanu PF thugs. It ignores the documented
incidents of
abductions and torture of MDC supporters. It ignores the trail
of violence
and mayhem unleashed by Zanu PF's militia on farms. It ignores
the setting up
of illegal roadblocks and the confiscation of ID cards. It is
a disgraceful
report that should be treated by the public with the contempt
it
deserves.
Reports on the just-concluded election by the Zimbabwe Election
Support
Network, the Commonwealth, the United States, and Sadc parliamentary
forum
have all sharply criticised the police for either being complicit
in
violence or failing to prevent it.
The Commonwealth Observer Group
said "very often the police did not take
action to investigate reported cases
of violence or intimidation, especially
against known or suspected supporters
of the MDC. Indeed, they appeared to
be high-handed in dealing with the MDC
and lenient towards supporters of
Zanu PF. This failure to impartially
enforce the law seriously calls into
question the application of the rule of
law in Zimbabwe."
That statement should be framed and put up in Wayne
Bvudzijena's office.
If anyone had doubted the political loyalties of the
Zimbabwe Mirror they
need look no further than its coverage of the election
results last week.
"Africa stands by Zimbabwe" was its patriotic heading last
Friday. And
inside was page after page of stories such as "Mugabe's victory
legitimate"
and "A victory for sons and daughters of the soil".
We are
not going to quarrel here with the right of the Mirror's publisher to
declare
his loyalty to Mugabe's moth-eaten cause in this clumsy way. Or his
right to
gloat in "told you so" terms about the futility of "an
orchestrated
international media campaign and voracious but also highly
intolerant
globalisation programme" design-ed to "condition the perceptions
of voters"
in a way that would "qualify the national independence and
sovereignty of
African countries".
It all just goes to show how much
the MDC was out of touch, the paper
suggests.
We could apply the same
logic to the Mirror. How did its targeted readership
market vote? Were people
living in Zimbabwe's cities (and let's not pretend
that "sons of the soil"
buy it) prepared to swallow the Mirror's redundant
junk about sovereignty and
pan-Africanist solidarity? Did they agree that
the country's problems can be
ascribed to an "orchestrated international
media campaign"? No. They rejected
these Zanu PF delusions wholesale.
It would be difficult to find a paper
more out of touch with voters in the
parts of Zimbabwe where it expects
people to buy it. But good luck to them
anyway. "Let a thousand flowers
bloom, let a thousand views contend," or
whatever Mao said!
BBC
World's Dateline has been devoting considerable time to discussion of
the
Zimbabwe election. Most of the programme's contributors have been
sharply
critical of the process. Others have been more indulgent.
The Guardian's
Polly Toynbee, for example, while not approving of rigging,
advised viewers
to be mindful of "where Mugabe is coming from".
We all understand where
Mugabe is coming from. We just don't think that's a
justification for where
he's taking us! SW Radio Africa's Tererai
Karimakwenda put that point
exceptionally well on the same program- me last
Sunday. George Shire, Zanu
PF's London-based apologist, was yelling at
every- body to understand that
Mugabe should be judged by African standards,
not Europe's.
Tererai
told him it was insulting to have Africans judged by a standard that
was
different from those applied else- where. He was calm and forthright
on
Mugabe's electoral rigging and the refusal of ZBC to admit other voices,
a
point Shire refused to respond to. Instead he kept repeating that there
were
nine independent papers in Zimbabwe.
Where are they all? And why
does the existence of privately owned papers
give the public broadcaster the
right to exclude views other than Mugabe's?
It has been instructive to
see the scorn heaped on the South African
observer mission in his or her own
country. They didn't get away with their
crude whitewash, if their media
coverage was anything to go by.
We accept that the group reflected the
diversity of South African society,
including some enlightened individuals as
well as a few political
recidivists.
One of the latter was spotted at
Harare airport on Wednesday watching the
final results coming through on a TV
monitor. When it was announced that
Mugabe had won, he punched the air with
his fist and shouted "Yes"!
A female member of an Italian film crew
nearby asked if they could record
his joy. But he threatened to hit her if
she tried. A wonderful
advertisement for the SA observer mission and for his
country!
Muckraker was interested to see the list of organisations
falling over
themselves to congratulate "Cde RG Mugabe" (all were required to
use the
same formula it seems) on his election theft. The Traffic Safety
Council of
Zimbabwe " joined the nation" in congratulating him.
"Let's
term (sic) the traffic jungle together", their ad said in what many
will take
as a reference to the havoc caused by his presidential motorcade.
Finhold
joined the rejoicing as did the City of Harare and Municipality
of
Chitungwiza, evidently abusing ratepayers' money before their Zanu
PF
administrators are booted out.
Zesa, Arda, Noczim, the Tobacco
Industry Marketing Board, POSB, Campfire,
Sable Chemicals, the Minerals
Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, ZimRe,
Dairibord, Tel*One, the Postal and
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority
and GMB, all felt compelled to offer
their congratulations. Then there were
individual boot-lickers like Augustine
Chihuri, Ignatius Chombo and Aeneas
Chigwedere who are no doubt relieved that
their patron has been returned.
We can readily understand why costly and
inefficient parastatals should
tender their best wishes. Their parasitic
relationship with the public would
have been severed if a reformist president
had been elected. But do they
have to waste our money to advertise their
slavish loyalty to a discredited
dictator?
If voter attendance at
rallies is a reflection of a leader's popularity then
Mugabe is a very
peculiar one indeed. We were constantly told and shown on
ZTV people
thronging his rallies in the run-up to the election. Invariably
crowds were
estimated at between 20 000-30 000. By the end of the hectic
campaign Mugabe
had notched up an incredible 51 rallies against Morgan
Tsvangirai's eight.
Surely we would expect Mugabe's victory at the election
to have been in the
ratio of almost 6 to 1. But 1,6 million against 1,2
million doesn't seem to
be anywhere near that. What happened?
Veteran correspondents have
commented on the similarities between Jonathan
Moyo and his onetime
predecessor PK van der Byl. Both are tall, supremely
arrogant, ideologically
suspect, and hostile to the press. Van deer Bill
held the Information
portfolio for many years before being appointed
Minister of Foreign
Affairs.
It was Ian Smith's worst move. Van deer Bill immediately
alienated South
Africa, Rhodesia's last friend, by his cool contempt for
their leaders and
refusal to budge on policy. It didn't help that he was a
refugee from the
Nat government there.
Muckraker's guess? Mayo will
follow in Van deer Bill's footsteps. The
Foreign Affairs ministry
beckons.
