Associated Press
Sep 14, 2:33 PM EDT
By ANGUS SHAW
Associated Press
Writer
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- On paper - and it's a paper
he has yet to sign or
even publicly admit exists - President Robert Mugabe
appears to be
acknowledging at last that he cannot rule Zimbabwe
alone.
Mugabe, Zimbabwe's main opposition leader and a leader of a
smaller
opposition faction were to sign a power-sharing deal Monday that has
resulted from weeks of negotiations mediated by South African President
Thabo Mbeki.
Mbeki and Morgan Tsvangirai, the main opposition leader,
announced a deal
late Thursday. They gave no details, saying the agreement
would be made
public Monday. Members of the opposition first gave the broad
outlines
Friday, and media controlled by Mugabe confirmed their version
Sunday.
Even the time of Monday's ceremony had not been released by late
Sunday, but
South African officials said Mbeki was to attend with his
Foreign Affairs
minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and Sydney Mufamadi, a
Cabinet minister
who has led the mediation effort.
"The South African
government has noted that while this is cause for
celebrations, we remain
all too aware that this historic milestone
constitutes but the end of the
beginning," the South African government said
in a statement
Sunday.
According to Zimbabwean state radio Sunday and the opposition
members
earlier, the agreement to be signed Monday calls for a Cabinet with
31
members; 16 from the opposition and 15 from Mugabe's party. It is an
acknowledgment from Mugabe - accused of holding onto power through violence
and fraud and ruining the economy - that his party no longer draws the
support it once enjoyed from Zimbabweans. But opposition members who wanted
Mugabe to surrender power completely have complained the deal does not go
far enough, and creates a complicated arrangement Mugabe could exploit,
especially given the tension that exists between the two opposition
factions.
Mugabe, 84 and in power since independence from Britain in
1980, and
Tsvangirai, 56, are seen to have been forced into the deal by
economic
pressures.
Zimbabwe has by far the world's highest official
inflation of 11 million
percent. Independent financial institutions put real
inflation closer to 40
million percent and rising daily.
Mugabe has
been in power since independence from Britain in 1980. He will
remain
president and is to chair the Cabinet, with Tsvangirai as vice chair.
Tsvangirai is to head a new Council of Ministers that will supervise the
work of the Cabinet.
Mugabe's ZANU-PF and the opposition have begun
discussing the appointments
before Monday's ceremony. The opposition has
demanded control of the police
while agreeing to allow Mugabe to retain
control of the military.
Both the police and military have been blamed
for state-orchestrated
violence and torture of Mugabe's
opponents.
Mugabe's ZANU-PF, Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change
and the
smaller opposition grouping of Arthur Mutambara met in Harare on
Saturday to
work on Cabinet appointments before a meeting of Mugabe's
politburo, his
party's top policy body, the radio said.
The 30-member
politburo "endorsed" the power-sharing agreement that was
announced
Thursday, state radio said Sunday. Mugabe has yet to comment.
Although
Tsvangirai "does not have absolute power he does have substantial
power,"
Attorney David Coltart, an opposition lawmaker, said in a message to
his
supporters Friday. "This is undoubtedly historic but we still have a
long
and treacherous road to travel."
Virtually all of the Cabinet ministers
to be appointed by the opposition
"have at some stage in the last nine years
been brutalized on the
instructions of those they will now have to work
with," Coltart said.
"Zimbabwe remains highly polarized and it will take
statesmanship on all
sides to make this work," Coltart said.
In March
presidential polling, Tsvangirai won the most votes, but not enough
to avoid
a runoff against Mugabe. An onslaught of state-sponsored violence
against
Tsvangirai's supporters led him to drop out of the presidential
runoff and
Mugabe was declared the overwhelming winner of the second vote
widely
denounced as a sham.
Long-simmering and bitter differences between the
two sides and the nation's
worsening economic collapse are expected to put
the power-sharing deal under
massive pressure.
Hours before the
accord was announced, Mugabe told a meeting of fiercely
loyal tribal chiefs
he would never allow the opposition "to govern this
country."
.
Wall Street Journal
As Power Deal
Remains Elusive
By FARAI MUTSAKA
September 14, 2008 3:09
p.m.
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Negotiators for a power-sharing deal between
President
Robert Mugabe and the opposition were still haggling over the
agreement's
details Sunday, raising the possibility of a delay in a final
accord.
Mr. Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai agreed to a
power-sharing
accord late last week, a deal announced by South African
President Thabo
Mbeki, who has long mediated between the two sides. Close to
20 African
leaders have said they will attend a signing ceremony in Harare,
scheduled
for Monday morning, according to a government
official.
People familiar with the accord said it calls for Mr. Mugabe to
hold onto
the presidency and Mr. Tsvangirai to become prime minister. But
officials
from both parties said Sunday the two sides haven't yet agreed how
to divide
up cabinet positions and ministry portfolios. People familiar with
the deal
said Mr. Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF would get 15 cabinet seats in a
new
government; the opposition 16. (Three of the opposition seats would go
to a
break-away faction.)
Mr Tsvangirai won the first round of
presidential voting earlier this year
and his Movement for Democratic Change
won the most seats in parliament. But
his margin of victory wasn't enough to
prevent a run-off. He backed out of
the second round of voting in June amid
targeted violence against his
supporters. Mr. Mugabe claimed victory,
drawing criticism from Western
powers, who threatened to withhold aid for
the country's teetering economy
if he remained in power.
"Our party
has endorsed the deal, and I can also confirm that we have agreed
with the
MDC on the number of ministries to be created in the coalition
government,"
said Didymus Mutasa, ZANU-PF secretary for administration. "But
we are still
negotiating with them right now on how to share the actual
ministries." He
said, however, he was confident a deal would be signed
Monday.
The
MDC, meanwhile, said its party hierarchy has approved the deal but asked
negotiators to demand control of several key ministries.
"Our
negotiators are tasked with negotiating and demanding that we take
charge of
some ministries which we feel are key in reviving this ravaged
economy,"
said Luke Tamborinyoka, the MDC director of information.
Financial Times
By Tony
Hawkins in Harare
Published: September 14 2008 18:18 | Last updated:
September 14 2008 18:18
Leaders of the three Zimbabwean parties that
signed Thursday's unity deal
have agreed the allocation of cabinet posts
ahead of Monday's formal signing
ceremony in Harare.
Heads of
government or foreign ministers from the 14 members of the Southern
African
Development Community will attend the ceremony, after which full
details of
the agreement will be announced.
Patrick Chinamasa, chief negotiator
for the government of President Robert
Mugabe, said the ruling Zanu-PF's top
decision-making body, the 30-member
politburo, endorsed the agreement at an
emergency meeting on Saturday.
Both wings of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change have also
endorsed the deal, although there are many
dissenters. The MDC's minority
wing, led by Arthur Mutambara, seems
delighted with the agreement because it
has emerged with more power than
merited by its performance in the March 29
general elections, in which it
won just 10 seats.
The breakaway wing will have Mr Mutambara as a
deputy-premier and three
other cabinet posts. Of the remaining 28 posts, 15
will go to Zanu-PF, which
has 99 MPs, and 13 to the main MDC wing, led by
Morgan Tsvangirai, with 100
MPs.
Party sources say the MDC has been
allocated the ministries of justice,
which has been split into two with a
new ministry of prisons, home affairs,
which controls the police, and
finance. The existing Ministry for State
Security is said to have been
abolished, although it is unclear where the
Central Intelligence
Organisation, fiercely loyal to Mr Mugabe, will be
located and which party
will control it.
There is no clarity yet on the fate of the governor of
the central bank,
Gideon Gono, who has been singled out by the MDC for
dismissal. Mr Gono says
he will retire quietly if he is not wanted, but he
is close to Mr Mugabe and
many in Zanu-PF would see his removal as public
humiliation for the
president.
The relationship between the Council
of Ministers, to be chaired by Mr
Tsvangirai as prime minister, and the
cabinet, chaired by Mr Mugabe with Mr
Tsvangirai as his deputy, is still
unclear, as is whether service chiefs
have been granted immunity from
prosecution for alleged crimes against
humanity.
Analysts will scour
the agreement to see whether it provides for the repeal
of some of Mr
Mugabe's more pernicious legislation, such as that covering
the media and
state security. They question whether Zanu-PF will retain
control of the
electronic media and the daily newspapers.
George Charamba, Mr Mugabe's
chief spokesman and a columnist in the
state-controlled Herald newspaper,
wrote in his column on Saturday that
Zanu-PF had "to learn to govern in a
new environment where the enemy is now
within, well embedded. The west will
now have an eager listening post, right
up to cabinet."
If this
reflects government thinking there will be a difficult times ahead.
http://www.zimbabwemetro.com/news/gono-steps-down/
Local News
September 14, 2008 | By Gerald Harper
|
Reserve governor Gideon Gono will step down on Thursday this week two
months
before his second term at the helm of the Central bank
expires,sources
revealed to Metro.
MDC secretary general Tendai Biti
who is highly tipped to take over as
Minister of Finance in the new all
inclusive government early this year
blamed Gono for Zimbabwe's economic
woes.
"Gono is the number one enemy of this country, not inflation,"
Biti,MDC-Harare East said. "He has been stoking the fires of inflation
through quasi-fiscal activities.
Banker and MDC senior official Elton
Mangoma who could be appointed Minister
of Economic Planning and Investment
Promotion is a vocal critic of the
central bank chief and called Gono's
recent monetary policy statement,
inconsequential "tinkering" with the
symptoms of the problem.
Sources speculated that Gono will likely be
replaced by deputy governor,
Edward Mashiringwani as acting governor until a
suitable replacement is
found.
Mashiringwani who last year made
headlines by invading a farm owned by Louis
Fick a white farmer,
contradicting calls by Gono to stop farm invasions
blamed for destroying the
agricultural sector will not take over as governor
as it is envisaged that
the new governor will have to be apolitical and a
professional.
Already Western governments and donors have indicated
that the removal of
Gono,will be "one of the key indices" that they will use
to judge whether
the newly constituted government is genuinely reformed and
a fit recipient
for aid.
Since taking over as governor of the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe in 2003, Gono
has implemented a host of highly-criticized
policies. The main criticism
comes from the apparent failure of his policies
to reverse the economic
decline of Zimbabwe. Since he became governor, there
have been a number of
problems:
- cash shortages
- fuel and food
scarcity, shortages in agriculture
- Operation Murambatsvina, which some say
was funded by the RBZ
-Banker and businessmen have been arrested by the
police and army under Gono's
orders
-Some Zimbabweans have become
fugitives or have languished in prison,
notably Mutumwa Mawere, James
Makamba, Philip Chiyangwa and David Batau
-The highest inflation in the world
and unemployment and the collapse of the
health, education and agriculture
sectors.
-A number of banks have been raided and their operating licences
cancelled
-Bankrolling Mugabe 's highly discredited one candidate Run-off
election.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
A
four-year-old boy who watched Robert Mugabe's supporters torture and
murder
his mother will be among the audience as the Zimbabwean President and
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai sign a power-sharing agreement on
Monday.
By Louis Weston in Harare
Last Updated: 7:25PM BST 14 Sep
2008
Ashly Chiroto's father Emmanuel is a Movement for Democratic Change
councillor and the deputy mayor of Harare. He was kidnapped by a mob of
Mugabe-supporting thugs at the height of the election violence.
Two
gangs approached their house in Headcliff, an eastern suburb of the
capital,
looking for him. Mr Chiroto was away, so instead they threw three
petrol
bombs into the building and seized his wife and son.
As his wife Abigail,
26, sat in the car with Ashly on her lap the men broke
her hands and slashed
her stomach open with a knife. Stuffing her mouth with
paper to stifle her
screams, they dragged her out of the vehicle and shot
her in the
head.
Mr Chiroto, 44, said he wanted his son to see the power-sharing
ceremony,
and would set up a memorial, such as an orphanage or a trust fund,
named
after his wife.
"When he grows up he will know his mother died
but at least there is
something in her name," he said, adding he would tell
the boy of "the
madness that we saw where a government that was in power was
trying to
maintain its position by murdering innocent people.
"I run
short of words," he said. "Every day I think about it, every single
day. I
imagine I could be with my wife. It was complete destruction. All my
clothes, all that i worked for all my life went up in smoke.
"This is
the shirt she gave me for my birthday last year," he murmured as he
showed
burnt clothing piled up against a wall.
But Mrs Chiroto and the other
200-plus people killed in the aftermath of the
polls in March "didn't die in
vain," he said. "At least we have got
something in our hands right now. The
MDC is going to have a say in this
government. They didn't die in vain," he
repeated.
The details of the agreement remain secret, and at the weekend
Mr Mugabe, Mr
Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, the leader of a smaller MDC
faction, met to
try to settle the distribution of cabinet posts, without
success - although
it is agreed the combined MDC will have a 16-15 majority
in the cabinet.
Deliberations will only resume on Tuesday after the deal
has been signed,
sources said. The MDC is insisting that it be given home
affairs - one
official said that not receiving the ministry, which brings
with it control
of the police, would be a "dealbreaker".
But Mr
Mugabe is under pressure of his own from within his party, a source
privy to
the meeting said, with some feeling he has given up too much and
many of his
ministers facing the imminent loss of their positions.
It was too early
to judge the deal without knowing its specifics, Mr Chiroto
said. But he
added: "We have got no options. It may give an impression that
if you lose
an election the only way you can stay in government is by doing
something
like what happened. We are accepting it because it's the only
option that we
have.
"I think this is going to be quite a relief for a lot of
Zimbabweans.
Zimbabwe needs a settlement.
"We should not have gone
through such a situation. People should have just
vote for a leader of their
choice. But we had a government determined to
cling on to power by any
means."
But nothing should stop his wife's killers facing justice, he
insisted.
"If they are giving amnesty to Robert Mugabe I don't mind," he
said. "But if
the people who came here and boasted about what they did get
off scot free
then it won't be a good deal for me."
The Australian
R.W. Johnson |
September 15, 2008
A CALL for British troops to return to Zimbabwe and
train its army will
provide a crucial early test of whether an agreement to
be signed today by
President Robert Mugabe and his opponent Morgan
Tsvangirai is a
power-sharing deal or merely a fig-leaf for continued
despotic rule.
The Movement for Democratic Change, led by Mr Tsvangirai,
who will become
prime minister under the agreement, will demand the return
of the British
military advisory and training team, which trained Zimbabwe's
security
forces after independence. About 200 British troops were based in
Zimbabwe
from independence in 1980 until they were withdrawn after the
seizure of
white farms began in 2000.
Their presence would reassure
the MDC, whose leaders are worried about the
deal's viability, particularly
after Mugabe told tribal chiefs at the
weekend that putting his ZANU-PF
together with the MDC was "like mixing fire
and water".
British
Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence officials said they were
aware of the
call for military assistance but had not had a request from
Harare.
After independence, the British training force provided
intelligence
capacity and the ability to extract foreign nationals in an
emergency.
Under the power-sharing deal, Mugabe will retain control of
the army, while
Mr Tsvangirai will run policing. The army, which has been
ruthlessly used
with the so-called "war veterans" to attack MDC campaigners,
will need to be
depoliticised to restore law and order.
Already the
war vets, who have made it clear that they do not feelbound by
the deal, are
angry that they were not consulted and some have accused
Mugabe of "selling
out".
The decision on British troops will have symbolic significance,
given
Mugabe's frequent railing against Britain and his insistence that
"Zimbabwe
will never be a colony again".
An MDC MP said: "We'd all
feel a lot safer with even a small number of
British personnel on the
ground, keeping an eye on things and making sure
the old professional ethic
is restored."
Mugabe will chair a cabinet of 31 ministers - 15 from his
ZANU-PF, 13 from
Tsvangirai's MDC, and three from the breakaway faction of
the MDC.
This division of power is hardly generous to the MDC,
considering Mr
Tsvangirai ran well ahead of Mugabe in the March 29
presidential election
and that the opposition has a 110-99 majority in
parliament.
It will be balanced by a council of ministers, chaired by Mr
Tsvangirai,
which will supervise the cabinet's work, though how this double
system of
government will work is anyone's guess, according to officials
close to the
negotiations.
The opposition's main hope rests on a
condition that the new government must
reform the constitution and hold
fresh elections in 18 months.
The MDC also sees the big aid donors as
guarantors of the deal. The
so-called Fishmongers Group, set up on Britain's
initiative and including
the US, Japan, Germany, France, Sweden, Holland,
Norway, Canada and
Australia, will fund an immediate "stabilisation" plan
with humanitarian
aid.
Since the government will depend on their
cash, they will beable to use
their leverage toprevent any backsliding by
Mugabe.
The US has, in effect, led this group during the negotiations,
and the tough
US ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee, a black Vietnam
veteran, received
hourly briefings on the talks and approved the new
settlement almost line by
line.
Among the conditions laid down by the
big donors is the removal of human
rights abusers from office. The question
of the 4000 farms stolen from
commercial farmers by Mugabe's thugs and now
largely in the hands of his
cronies will also have to be
resolved.
The MDC has insisted there will be no general amnesty for
Mugabe henchmen
who were responsible for the Matabeleland massacres in the
1980s and who
have continued to play an equally brutal role.
The
Sunday Times has revealed that in May, Jendayi Frazer, the US assistant
secretary of state for African affairs, flew to Zimbabwe for secret talks in
which Mugabe's top dozen hardmen were offered financial incentives in return
for a settlement. The offer was turned down.
There was gloom in
opposition circles as the first details of the settlement
emerged.
"We always knew we'd never get what we really wanted and
what democracy
required," said MDC MP Eddie Cross. "But it's a new start for
the country
and we have to make the best of it."
The Sunday
Times
Details have started to emerge of a power sharing deal in Zimbabwe.
Leaks suggest President Robert Mugabe will still remain head of state and
head of government with curtailed powers, but he escapes being consigned to the
role of ceremonial president. Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition MDC, gains substantial
influence, but not "absolute control". So Zimbabweans are holding their breath. The country is in a state of
suspended animation as the world looks on. Until they have see the small print of what the African Union has hailed a
turning point for Zimbabwe, many of its people are saying nothing. Waiting and
watching. For many, the daily chore of trying to find affordable food is a more
pressing concern. Zimbabweans who have bank accounts are now only permitted to withdraw $1 a
day. Inflation is running at more than 11,000,000%. The black economy is thriving. A woman I spoke to who bought a modest clutch
of vegetables, found she had shelled out $50 by the end of the transaction, for
a lemon, some potatoes and a pack of French beans. And for the poorest Zimbabweans, for whom the staple maize meal is now a
luxury, they are finding themselves going without. First step It comes as little surprise then that there has been an absence of jubilation
on the streets and in the rural areas where the MDC has won over support from
former loyalists of Mr Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF. But many Zimbabweans are quietly optimistic. Those looking for change have said that they would rather no deal than a bad
deal. So the fact that Morgan Tsvangirai has declared himself "satisfied" gives
them some hope. Many Zimbabweans expect a coalition deal to mark the first step towards
salvaging a shattered economy. "I think the future of the economy is going to be better and I think this
deal is going to shed new light on the economy," said one young woman, hours
after South African President Thabo Mbeki announced a settlement had been
signed. A deal "made in Zimbabwe, owned by Zimbawean people" - but under wraps until
Monday. Certainly the hope is that the compact between Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai
will be endorsed by the international community, which has promised billions of
dollars in aid to revive an economy on the brink of collapse. Plucked chicken But so far, the the diplomatic community has given a lukewarm response to the
settlement, making it clear the devil will be in the detail. One MDC supporter described it like plucking the feathers off a cockerel (the
cockerel is the symbol of Zanu-PF). And optimists say the MDC may be able to gain influence by stealth - by
operating inside a coalition government - and exerting influence from within.
But there are other voices who feel the MDC has "sold out", leaving too much
control in the hands of one of Africa's last surviving liberation leaders, who
has clearly demonstrated an unwillingness to go. A reading of an opinion column in the state-owned Herald Newspaper on
Saturday helps to illustrate why sceptics still have fears about what could
emerge in the coming days. Some are anxious that powerful allies of Mr Mugabe, threatened by the deal,
may revive their campaign of violence against opposition supporters. It suggests the settlement was reached under duress by an MDC clearly
frightened about the alternatives. It describes how the opposition had "overplayed its hand" during the
negotiations. Zanu-PF felt they were asking for too much. Three days into
negotiations they became deadlocked, drifting back to what the paper describes
as "hard knuckles". But the MDC "backed down" and in a matter of minutes a deal was done. It is not the kind of language that suggests compromise. Although control of the police and military is expected to be shared between
the two leaders, the fate of the much-feared intelligence services remains far
from clear. Drive through the areas where farms lie derelict after their occupants were
evicted, and the deafening silence is a symbol of the damage which could still
be done.
in Zimbabwe
"A good positive first
step," as one man described it, is perhaps how many pragmatists will respond to
this deal.
Sunday Standard, Botswana
Monday, September 15,
2008
by
Tanonoka Joseph Whande
14.09.2008 9:11:28 P
Reports from Zimbabwe on
Thursday indicated that a power-sharing agreement
had been achieved between
Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai of the
Movement for Democratic
Change.
Needless to say, having been led down this path before, the long
suffering
Zimbabweans greeted this news with a mixture of doubt, disbelief,
joy,
cautious optimism and even fear.
While people are craving for a
meaningful settlement, they are even more
afraid of the possible
consequences of this political union of
inconvenience, especially
considering that the loser was calling the shots
and making demands of the
winners.
Robert Mugabe has never been trusted nor has he ever been
willing to play
second fiddle to anyone.
The continued veil of
secrecy, to which the MDC is party to, is cause for
concern to some of us
who feel opposed to this agreement and still believe
this agreement will
collapse very soon.
And when that happens brand new vengeance will
visit.
Apart from gagging negotiators, Mbeki's disgraced 'quiet
diplomacy' has
presented Zimbabweans with a nerve wrecking four day wait to
hear what these
men agreed upon on their behalf.
A lot of anxiety is
gripping the populace given the fact that the people
have been denied the
chance to be party to the agreement or to offer
suggestions here and
there.
In 2000 when our nation arm twisted a stubborn Mugabe into
agreeing to a new
Constitution, the resultant draft constitution was the
subject of a nation
wide referendum and the people rejected the draft
constitution hands down,
jolting Mugabe and his ZANU-PF out of
complacency.
The well-crafted draft constitution failed to fool the
people who made their
position very clear in spite of intimidations and
briberies.
The rejection of that constitution was the signal to Mugabe to
unleash his
notorious farm invasions and Zimbabwe started on its now
humiliating
downward spiral. It has never been the same since.
This
time around, citizens are not going to be extended the opportunity to
veto
or agree to the negotiated terms of that agreement. They will just have
to
accept it.
Both Tsvangirai and Mugabe know what the people can do when
confronted with
a choice and I honestly hope their tactic of revealing and
signing the
document at the same time, denying people the opportunity to
study the
agreement and give feed back is not a deliberately designed move
to swindle
the people.
And this is happening while some MDC Members
of parliament are still in
hiding from ZANU-PF.
The MDC, at the very
least, agreed not to extend that courtesy or take the
people's views into
consideration. And to ensure that the people of Zimbabwe
get no chance to
voice their opinions on this agreement, it will be revealed
and signed the
same day, tomorrow (Monday) and once its signed, the people
might find
themselves fighting both Mugabe and Tsvangirai, should the
agreement include
or exclude certain issues unpalatable to their sense of
self.
Signing
an agreement is easy; it only requires the principals involved.
Anyone can
do it.
But to implement the agreed terms is another matter; people's
participation
is required yet the very people who must be the actors in the
implementation
of the agreed terms are the very ones who have been denied
the opportunity
to amend, improve, add or remove parts which they felt to be
unsuitable for
them and the nation.
For starters, the talks were not
people oriented; all the focus was on power
sharing and little was said
about re-establishing or creating space for
democracy. The masses became
spectators as the three groups wrangled over
who gets how much power and
which party gets how many cabinet posts. The
talks were about power sharing
and not about what is to be done.
Clearly, the people were to play no
role otherwise a simple courtesy of
daily or weekly briefings could have
been extended to the supporters who
suffered so much for standing by the
MDC.
In a statement, the National Association of Non-Governmental
Organisations
(NANGO) reiterated the call for transitional justice as a
'critical remedy'
to massive human rights abuses carried out in Zimbabwe
even as the
negotiations were in progress.
NANGO demanded no impunity
for rights abusers.
"Transitional justice in the Zimbabwean context,"
said NANGO, "refers to the
pursuit of comprehensive justice during times of
political transition
through certain strategies."
They explained that
such strategies include 'retributive justice' and 'truth
seeking' "to create
a more just and democratic future in Zimbabwe".
Civil society groups have
listed a set of demands that include no impunity
for crimes against
humanity, torture and gender based violence.
They called for a Truth
Seeking Inquiry "as a foundation for closure,
reconciliation and
healing".
They are clearly worried about what the MDC agreed to during the
days of the
signing of that infamous Memorandum of Understanding.
The
MDC had capitulated and agreed to a blanket amnesty for all Zimbabweans
who
might have committed crimes, including murder and rights abuses, as they
promoted or protected their political party.
The issue of amnesty is
a very unpopular one and civil society fears that
politicians might just
agree to forgive each other of the atrocities
committed and not involve
people who lost their loved ones to political
madness.
Will they
sign?
I personally doubt it. There is too much at stake and the loopholes
resemble
a fishing net.
Most of the things of concern to the people
should have been covered before
the signing. Instead, they are allocating
pieces of a carcass to each other.
I fear the MDC, if it is not careful,
will be heaped in the same pile with
ZANU-PF and start a slow death. Mugabe
is a master at that.
If they sign, then Zimbabweans might as well forget
about opposition
politics. How does Tsvangirai hope to maintain his policies
and
independence? How does he hope to explain his party's policies without
criticizing Mugabe's discredited policies? Because, if he is a member of the
government and cabinet, there is something called 'collective
responsibility'.
He cannot attend cabinet meetings and then dash out to the
masses to
denounce the very policies they had agreed upon in their cabinet
meeting.
He will be part of the Mugabe machine and that will be the end
of him.then
there will be a new political party.or, quite possibly, the MDC
might mutate
into triplets.
Well aware of the lack of alternatives, I
still believe that by signing this
agreement with Mugabe, Tsvangirai and his
MDC have opened a fresh chapter of
unsettling misery for Zimbabweans
because, unless Mugabe is reigned in by
other outside sources, the presence
of the MDC in government will not stop
him from continuing with his barbaric
and harsh rule.
Tsvangirai accepted less than he won, while Mugabe got more
than he won. Why
would Tsvangirai do this when he has the people's support
and at a time when
outside governments were swinging towards him? After
giving Tsvangirai so
much support, even the likes of President Ian Khama and
the Congress of
South African Trade Unions must be wondering what to do
next.
Will this support be there when Tsvangirai comes begging again after
being
jilted by Mugabe, as indeed will happen?
I suspect we have been
laid out on the pyre and they light the match
tomorrow.
The power-sharing agreement of
course dominated discussion at the Vigil and
left us wondering about our way
forward. People were doubtful that Mugabe
will allow Tsvangirai real power.
Others argued that a deal like this was
the only way to get a peaceful
handover.
We were glad at this time to have with us Abel Chikomo,
Executive Director
of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, who arrived from
Zimbabwe on Friday.
He echoed our doubts about the deal and said it may be
about giving Mugabe a
safe exit but "what about you and me?" Mr Chikomo said
he was looking for
changes in the treatment of NGOs in Zimbabwe and an end
to hate speech and
the persecution of MDC supporters. He said the British
government must not
be misled by Zanu-PF, whose militias were still stopping
aid reaching the
rural areas. He hoped the agreement was not just about
power. Mr Chikomo
urged people at the Vigil to "take the risk of returning
home to Zimbabwe to
help our emerging nation". He said that the new Zimbabwe
would require human
resources and perhaps not tomorrow but when the
situation allowed people
should return home.
We are to have a
management meeting after the Vigil next week when details
of the
power-sharing agreement will be known. We want, in particular, to
know how
long it will be until new elections are held and who will control
the
police. The position of the Vigil will be influenced by whether donor
countries accept the new power-sharing government and provide assistance to
rebuild Zimbabwe. They will only do this if they are confident that
Tsvangirai is running the country.
As an interim measure we have put
a hold on our two petitions calling on
FIFA to move the World Cup from South
Africa and urging the EU to halt
government to government aid to SADC
countries who do not uphold their human
rights obligations to Zimbabwe.
Instead we have launched the following
petition: "A PETITION TO THE UK
GOVERNMENT. In the light of the Zimbabwean
power-sharing agreement, we call
on the UK government to withhold aid to the
Zimbabwe government until it is
clear that it will benefit the people rather
than the corrupt Mugabe
regime." It has already had many signatures.
We were joined by Gillian
Plowman, who spoke about her new play about
Zimbabwe which opens in London
this month (details below). It is set against
the backdrop of Murambatsvina.
There is a special Zim ticket offer from £3 a
ticket. Book by 20th September
for 2-for-1 offers (quote ZIM when booking).
Patrick Dzimba reports that
the Scottish Vigil has been restructured as
follows:
·
Co-ordinators: Patrick Dzimba, Roggers Fatiya, Tafadzwa T. Musemwa
and
Ancilla Chifamba
· Finance Group: Patrick Dzimba, Maud Dzobo and
Bhekithemba Moyo
· PR: Patience Tsungu and George
Murevesi.
For latest Vigil pictures check:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
.
FOR THE RECORD: 135 signed the register.
FOR YOUR
DIARY:
· Next Glasgow Vigil. Saturday 27th September 2008, 2 - 6 pm.
Venue:
Argyle Street Precinct. For more information contact: Patrick Dzimba,
07990
724 137.
· ROHR launch meeting in Liverpool. Sunday 21st
September 2008,
1.30 --5 pm, Venue: Prescot Lodge, 52-56 Prescot Road,
Fairfield, Liverpool
L7 0JA. For further information contact: D Chimuka on
07917733711 or
Paradzai Mapfumo - 07932 216 070.
· "Yours
Abundantly, from Zimbabwe" - a play by Gillian Plowman.
30th September -
18th October at the Oval House Theatre, 52 - 54 Kennington
Oval, London
SE11. After the first night on 30th September there will be a
Zimbabwe
braai and party at the Oval House café / gallery. On 7th October
there will
be a panel discussion on Britain and Zimbabwe after the show.
For more
information: www.ovalhouse.com, 020 7582
7680.
· Sixth Anniversary of the Zimbabwe Vigil. We will be marking
our
Sixth Anniversary on Saturday, 11th October 2008.
· Zimbabwe
Association's Women's Weekly Drop-in Centre. Fridays
10.30 am - 4 pm. Venue:
The Fire Station Community and ICT Centre, 84 Mayton
Street, London N7 6QT,
Tel: 020 7607 9764. Nearest underground: Finsbury
Park. For more information
contact the Zimbabwe Association 020 7549 0355
(open Tuesdays and
Thursdays).
Vigil co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe
Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place
every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00
to protest against gross violations of
human rights by the current regime in
Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in
October 2002 will continue until
internationally-monitored, free and fair
elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.
Journalist Violet Gonda’s guest is political
analyst Professor Brian Raftopoulos,
with an in-depth analysis on the implications of the deal signing by the
political rivals.
Broadcast:
Violet Gonda: South African President Thabo Mbeki has
finally brokered a power sharing deal between the political rivals in
Raftopoulos: Hello Violet, how are you?
Gonda: I am fine. First of all your reaction to the
news.
Raftopoulos: Well I am cautiously optimistic. I think it’s
a step forward in the
Gonda: And some Zimbabweans we have been talking to
are also cautiously optimistic about this development but some feel it may be a
deal that is going to serve the political leaders more than the masses. What
really pushed them to sign? Do you understand what their motivation
was?
Raftopoulos: I think the motivation was that on both sides
there was clearly not much alternatives to a negotiated settlement. ZANU PF
clearly has no answer to the economic decline. They have no answer to the
question of illegitimacy of the presidency. The international isolation has
intensified - even within the region
there are increasing questions about the role of Mugabe and his government.
So I think there was pressure building up for ZANU PF to sign.
On the part of the
And so I think a negotiated settlement had become an
increasing necessity for both sides in the context of this other regional and
international pressure.
Gonda: And many people are saying they
can’t really react because they are still waiting to find out the details of the
deal. I understand that the details are expected to be revealed on Monday after
the formal signing ceremony, but what have you heard? What might the deal look
like?
Raftopoulos: Like many
other Zimbabweans I am anxious to see the details of the agreement. To look at
the fine print of what is there and then we can have a clearer picture of what
this government is going to look like.
But clearly it will involve - as
far as the little information that we have been able to access - involves
sharing of ministries, sharing of responsibilities, the issue of being able to
open up political space within the country, developing a new constitution within
18 months and of course in the longer term preparing the grounds for a new
presidential election.
Now we will need to look in more detail once the
full information regarding the deal is made public and we can have a more
informed discussion around it.
Gonda: Ok. Now Mugabe said on Thursday before the
signing of the deal - that the two parties – ZPF and
Raftopoulos: There is always that
possibility that an agreement like this can stall. That it can lead to more
difficulties in the coming months and the coming years and that old rigidities
can re-emerge or continued rigidities will still be available for political
mobilisation. On the other hand there is the chance that this period will open
up possibilities for new political alliances, for more spaces for the civics to
begin to re-organise and to put pressure on the new government formation to
deliver some kind of economic stabilisation to take place and critically for
humanitarian assistance to be made available to what is an increasingly critical
position for millions of Zimbabweans. So there are both dangers and
possibilities and the outcome of this depends on struggles that will take place
in the context of the next few years.
Any transition like this is also a
fight of struggle, a fight for political contestation and the outcome of that
context one can’t fully predict.
Gonda: What about those
two leaders themselves? You know after nearly 3 decades of unchallenged
leadership do you see Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai working together? And
if so what are the implications of this?
Raftopoulos: Yes it is going to be a
huge challenge. Mugabe is unaccustomed to defence, unaccustomed to sharing this
kind of power and responsibility. So again one hopes that this agreement will
usher in an early retirement for Mugabe. Or at least provide the indication that
this is designed to push him out. But yes there is always a danger that Mugabe’s
penchant for authoritarian ways of doing things will be a problem but this is a
challenge that Morgan Tsvangirai and the two MDCs will confront, challenge and
move beyond.
Gonda: There are
some who feel there is no deal that can strip Mugabe off real power. Is it
possible that he can find ways to manipulate this deal?
Raftopoulos: We don’t know the full
details of how the powers would be shared so it is difficult to answer that. But
one also needs to say that as much as this is a compromise we are a long way
from where we were even a couple of years ago. We are in a situation where ZANU
PF has been forced to sit at the table across from a party that in some way it
still regards as a foreign construction and is deeply suspicious of. In a
situation were ZANU PF now has to very seriously cede some of its powers in key
areas. And perhaps ZANU is not in the same position that it was in even a year
ago. I think it’s weaker than it was and as these things open up and if things
improve the future of ZANU itself is going to be a real challenge for ZANU PF
because the pressure on it to transform itself or to deal with these kind of
political changes will be immense for a party that is not used to that. So we
shouldn’t underestimate the possibilities even while understanding the
challenges.
Gonda: Earlier
on you talked about the economic crisis and we know that starvation and
inflation are still a major risk - so how is
Raftopoulos: I can only speculate but
clearly part of what a new transitional government will immediately have on the
table is an economic reconstruction programme. So I am sure discussions will
open up with various bilateral discussions between this new dispensation and
foreign donors, financiers about what kind of development can take
place.
I don’t think there will be an immediate pouring in of money. I
think people will be very cautious.
There is going to be lots of doom, disappointment
and disillusionment but also I think for where we are at the moment we have a
few alternatives but to try and make this work as best as we can.
Gonda: I saw a report from the European
Union threatening more sanctions. Is it possible to give us your thoughts on the
relation between ZANU PF and the international community? Do you see western
powers endorsing this deal - even though we don‘t know what the details are yet,
but will they be prepared to work with this regime?
Raftopoulos: One doesn’t
know. I think the western powers are having to think and are waiting to see the
details of this report and to try and understand whether this deal offers the
possibilities of opening up of political spaces.
Yes you are right I
have also heard these discussions about continued sanctions and that is partly
because people are waiting to see what the possibilities of this deal are and to
try and work out a safe relationship with this process - rather than going in
100% in one blow is to look at it in different phases. We will have to see what
happens with the sanctions.
I think a lot depends on what kind of powers
the
Gonda: What does this deal
mean for all the groups that were formed around the crisis – like the Crisis in
Zimbabwe Coalition, Women of Zimbabwe Arise and indeed radio stations like SW
Radio Africa, Studio 7 and VOP – and even news websites like NewZimbabwe.com,
the Zimbabwean, the Zimbabwe Times and so on? What will the signing mean to the
cause of democracy?
Raftopoulos: Well I
think the civics as a whole should also be looking at this as a step forward and
what they should be assessing is - when we have the details - they should be
looking at what it would mean in terms of opening up of political spaces. I
think there is going to be a huge need for civics to be strengthened, to
continue their role of critical engagement with the state and build up an
autonomous capacity to always be in a situation where they are able to respond
to injustices, to problems within the State. And so the need for a vibrant civil
society in my view is more current that ever.
I don’t think you will
find that things will change all of a sudden. I think it is going to be a long
slow difficult process and the road for critical civic engagement, critical
media discussions will be as important as ever.
Gonda: And the radio stations that are
out of the country?
Raftopoulos: I am sure there is
something in the agreement. I would think there is something in the agreement
about that - I am not sure we will have to wait for the details about that. But
I think the radio stations will have to respond according to what they feel is
in the agreement and according to what possibilities there are to begin to
operate from within
Gonda: I know you have just talked a
bit about this but still there seems to be a sense of confusion because people
hadn’t really expected this to happen so “suddenly” even though it has taken
several years for us to get where we are right now. What then becomes the
Raftopoulos:
No I think the signature is just the first small step towards a hard long
struggle to roll back the disastrous policies and authoritarian practices of
ZANU PF. No signature, no agreement ever just signals that kind of decisive
change. Certainly it introduces a new dynamic into the process and we shouldn’t
underestimate the importance of this dynamic and seeing the possibilities of
using it to expand spaces.
But the damage that has been done to the
Gonda: And the Diaspora - what about
the Zimbabweans abroad and in neighbouring countries – how do you get them to
repatriate because the brain drain is central to economic recovery?
Raftopoulos: I think this is a very,
very important question. I think it is going to be a long difficult process. I
don’t think people who have left the country - especially professionals will
rush back to
But I think this issue of human resource
development - as it was important in the 80s when a new government began in the
post independence period - I think the question of human resources development
will be one of the central features required to re-develop and to build the
economy and structures of
Gonda: And of course the culture of intolerance to
criticism has been a hallmark of our political life as a nation, and now that
the
Raftopoulos: I think that depends on
what the
Gonda: You
have been one of the few people to have the opportunity to advise the
Raftopoulos: I think the
But I do think we need to – like any other party like
this – give it the opportunity to demonstrate its capacity or lack of it to show
what it is able to do. And to give it a chance to see what can be done in a
situation like this and not try to prejudge too much what we speculate what
might be done.
Gonda: What about the ZANU PF dynamics?
What do you see happening because there are going to be many people who will
lose their jobs especially if ZANU PF will now share the cabinet with the
Raftopoulos: Yes,
ZANU PF has been going through a crisis for several years. A crisis of
succession, a crisis of trying to understand what its long term future is, a
crisis of loss of legitimacy within the population and the problems of its own
organisational structures and I am sure that may well deepen as political
structures and political debates open up in Zimbabwe. We could see a further
crisis within ZANU PF and maybe some very dangerous responses from them. These
are the kind of risks with transitions like this. One only hopes there will be
enough political determination and structures in place to help deal with these
kinds of tensions. But I think it is going to be a very difficult few years.
Gonda: On the other hand is
it possible that this transitional
period can give ZANU PF an opportunity to regroup?
Raftopoulos: It’s possible yes. It is
possible that it can give ZANU PF a chance to regroup, to rethink its role. It
also partly depends on how the
And I think that comes out of the
Gonda: And I know this has been an important issue for
you especially in the last couple of years as you work for the Solidarity Peace
Trust. What does it mean for the
human rights violations perpetrated during the reign of the
regime?
Raftopoulos: I think this is one area where the civic
movement is going to have a key role to play, which is putting the issues of
transitional justice questions on to the political agenda very quickly. It’s
more than likely that issues of impunity and accountability will not have been
dealt with in this agreement. That the people we know were responsible for
orchestrating violence are likely not to be made accountable for what they have
done immediately.
So it is very important that the civics fight that these
issues are brought on the agenda and fight for long term issues of justices for
those who have suffered human rights abuses.
Gonda: What would you see as an alternative if this
whole power sharing deal collapses?
Raftopoulos: If this power sharing deal collapses what we
will get is once again a very repressive ZANU PF. We will see a reassertion of
the role of the military through ZANU PF, a continuing economic decline. And
certainly in the near future a huge attack and further attack and weakening of
the
Gonda: How would you judge Thabo Mbeki’s involvement
in this?
Raftopoulos: I think it has been mixed, I think there was a
certain smugness in Thabo Mbeki’s comments on the signing of the deal because we
know that there has been a lot of problems over the years and there has been the
need to pressure him in many, many ways. But also clearly there has been some
skilful ways in which he has handled the quiet diplomacy. So I think we are
going to have to look more carefully at how this quiet diplomacy has worked
itself out and study it more carefully and once we have done that make a proper
assessment of Thabo Mbeki’s role in the mediation, in the politics of ZANU PF,
in the politics of
Gonda: And of course Zimbabweans have been
waiting long enough for a peaceful solution to the crisis,
why haven’t the details been made public and why wait until Monday to sign? Do
you have any idea?
Raftopoulos: No, but I think the details should have been
made much sooner. I think one of the problems of this mediation has been the
secrecy around it. Zimbabweans had a right to have access to more of this
information earlier. But I am sure that they are waiting until Monday because
there may be more details that have to be finalised - the finer print of the
agreement. The question of the allocation of ministries and a more detailed
picture of what this government would look like in the next few months.
Gonda: And a final word?
Raftopoulos: Well the final word is that I think that we
need to understand that this is a moment of possibility; it is not in my view a
defeat. It’s a demonstration of where the balance of political forces in
Zimbabwe are at the moment and that
therefore we need to now rethink and reorganize in order to make sure that we
don’t regret politically once again to the era we have just come out of, or are
still in the process of coming out of.
Gonda: Thank you very much Professor Brian
Raftopoulos.
Raftopoulos: Thanks very
much Violet.
Feedback can be emailed to violet@swradioafrica.com
News24
14/09/2008 19:17 -
(SA)
Gaborone - Botswana is pleased with Zimbabwe's power-sharing
deal, despite
having condemned President Robert Mugabe's election in June,
its foreign
minister said on Saturday.
"We are obviously happy with
the latest developments in Zimbabwe, because
that is what Botswana has been
calling for," Foreign Minister Phandu
Skelemani told AFP.
Skelemani
said he and Botswana President Ian Khama would go to Harare on
Monday for
the official signing of the accord.
After drawn-out negotiations, the
deal was reached on Thursday by Mugabe's
Zanu-PF party, the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan
Tsvangirai, and Arthur Mutambara's
breakaway faction of the MDC.
"Going to Zimbabwe on Monday would not be
inconsistent with our position,"
said Skelemani, referring to Botswana's
refusal to recognise Mugabe as
president until a deal was
reached.
"We would go there to witness with others" and to show the
leaders of
Zimbabwe we appreciate they are moving "in the positive
direction", he said.
To protest Mugabe's election, the Botswana president
refused to attend a
South African Development Community (SADC) summit in
August and instead sent
Skelemani.
After Mugabe's re-election in a
one-candidate vote in June, Botswana had
called for Zimbabwe to be suspended
from the African Union and SADC.
http://www.radiovop.com
HARARE - PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe of
the ruling Zanu (PF), Morgan
Tsvangirai (MDC-T)and Arthur Mutambara, the
major players in the on-going
talks have agreed on a bloated 31 member
cabinet, still the largest in the
world, Radio VOP can
reveal.
This move could however rile the
Washington-based International
Monetary Fund (IMF), reliable sources have
said.
The three met on Saturday at State House in Harare to pave
the way
forward as far as a new Cabinet is concerned.
The IMF
said Zimbabwe should have a government of not more than 15
ministers when it
suspended balance of payments support to the cash strapped
country.
President Mugabe will have 15 ministers, Tsvangirai
with 13 ministers
while Mutambara will have three ministers in the new
government.
The ruling Zanu PF Politburo also met and agreed to the
new cabinet
which could result in the IMF still with-holdings much needed
fiancial
support.
The IMF stopped giving Zimbabwe much needed
aid because among other
things it said the counry's government was too
large. It also said the civil
service should be cut but this was not done by
Mugabe.
Patrick Chinamasa said Saturday Mugabe, Tsvangirai, and
Mutambara had
met to agree on the new Cabinet which should be announced by
the end of the
week.
Already in government are Mugabe,
Tsvangirai, Mutambara, Welshman
Ncube and Priscilla Misihairabwi of the
Mutambara faction.
The MDC has remained tight-lipped on its Cabinet
line up but sources
say kingpin Tendai Biti, Tapiwa Mashakada, Ian Makone,
and Sekai Holland
will get Mercedes Benz cars for being appointed government
ministers.
Zanu PF will now fire some old guard members which is
likely to cause
a rift in the former ruling party, sources told Radio
VOP.
http://www.apanews.net
APA-Maputo (Mozambique) Mozambique's President Armando
Guebuza will on
Monday attend Zimbabwe's signing ceremomy of a power-sharing
deal of an all
inclusive Government of National Unity involving Zanu-PF and
the two
oppositon formations of the Movement for Democratic Change, sources
said
Sunday.
Guebuza is among several African leaders that have
been invited to
witness the historic signing ceremony following an agreement
on Thursday
between President Robert Mugabe and the opposition
leaders.
The historic pact heralds a fresh era of massive economic
growth and
stability following almost a decade of economic meltdown due to a
political
impasse and sanctions imposed on Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu
PF.
Zimbabweans are desperate for an end to a crisis that has
destroyed
the economy, saddling the once-prosperous country with the world's
highest
rate of hyper-inflation and sending millions of refugees into
neighbouring
countries.
CM/tjm/APA
2008-09-14
http://www.apanews.net
APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba, arrived
in
Zimbabwe on Sunday for the official signing of a power-sharing agreement
between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
scheduled for Monday.
Pohamba was the first regional leader to
arrive for the historic
signing ceremony of the agreement brokered by South
African President Thabo
Mbeki last week.
Other regional leaders
were expected in Harare on Monday in time for
the ceremony.
Those expected Monday include Botswana's President Ian Khama who had
until
now refused to recognise Mugabe's reelection in a controversial poll
boycotted by Tsvangirai in June.
The agreement, agreed upon by
the two men and Arthur Mutambara of a
smaller faction of Tsvangirai's
Movement for Democratic Change, would pave
the way for the creation of a
government of national unity seen as the best
way out of a ruinous
eight-year political and economic crisis.
A meeting of the security
committee of the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) was postponed
last Wednesday to allow President
Thabo Mbeki to conclude his mediation
effort in Zimbabwe.
JN/tjm/APA
2008-09-14
http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com
14th
Sep 2008 16:30 GMT
By Chenjerai
Chitsaru
To put it very mildly, he is being very economic with the
truth.. He must
have been aware that most Zimbabweans, and not necessarily
only those in the
opposition, were dissatisfied with his open support for
Mugabe and Zanu PF..
He would have had to be thick-skinned to the extent
of being moribund if he
could not smell the whiff of suspicion that he was
hostile to Morgan
Tsvangirai because of his trade union
background.
There is a man called Cyril Ramaphosa who comes top
mind.
If Tsvangirai, despised by people of Mbeki's political orientation
for
having no recognisable liberation credentials, had not rallied most of
the
people of Zimbabwe, and the rest of the caring world, behind him, Mbeki
could have handed Mugabe the country on a platter..
In fact, the
truth is that had Tsvangirai and the rest of the MDC leaders
been less
committed and less tenacious in their positions than they turned
out to be,
Mbeki would long have long concluded a deal with Mugabe and the
Arthur
Mutambara formation of the MDC.
At this point, it is important to bring
up the suspicion that Mbeki, at one
time, preferred to deal with Welshman
Ncube rather than Tsvangirai, strictly
on the basis that the former had
ethnic links with South Africa, while the
latter did not.
Mbeki's
reference to other mediation situations in which he has been
involved is not
entirely valid as, without the help of more powerful
countries, he might not
have succeeded.
If he fancies himself as this great mediator, then he
must be disabused of
that crazy notion There are many Zimbabweans and other
Africans who are
convinced Mbeki's snail's pace diplomacy contributed to
more death and
destruction than to stability in Zimbabwe..
In his own
country, Mbeki squandered an opportunity to achieve political
nobility after
the one-term star performance of Nelson Mandela. It remains
to be seen how
he will erase the huge blot on his presidency in the fight
against HIV and
Aids.
The nadir - his lowest point - was his failure to retain the ANC
presidency,
which his deputy, Jacob Zuma, captured, in spite of the mountain
of alleged
scandals weighing him down.
Today, after a judge ruled
last week that there was something irregular in
the attempt to prosecute him
over a corruption case, Zuma must smell, if not
like a rose, then most
certainly not like poison ivy.
As to the agreement itself, it remains to
be seen whether by Monday, when it
is due to be signed, Mugabe will still
feel the same way about it as he did
last week.
Let's remember that
this man harboured so much contempt for Tsvangirai for
such a long time that
he must often have to literally pinch himself every
once in a while to
confirm it is this same Tsvangirai with whom he will be
sharing
power.
On the one hand, this could be taken as a sign of magnanimity in
defeat. On
the other, it could raise the suspicion that Mugabe has an ace up
his
sleeve, that once Tsvangirai blinks, something could happen to him that
could suddenly transplant them both to the time before 1990, when Mugabe was
virtually king of the realm.
Nobody should be in any doubt that
Mugabe and Zanu PF are capable of the
most outrageous acts of sabotage if
they believe their grip on power is
about to be loosened. People have been
killed in that cause.
In fact, that is one aspect of Zanu PF that Mbeki
has refused to recognise
as impeding any attempts for a peaceful transition.
The party has never
thoroughly adjusted to civilian life.
Each time
there is a situation the party fails to win in a flash, it has
resorted to
violence. In 2000, after it had lost the constitutional
referendum, it
launched a nationwide campaign of violence in which people
were
killed.
After the 29 March elections, which it lost, Zanu PF decided at
the highest
level to kill people, because most of them had voted against its
candidates,
including Mugabe,
At one time, Mbeki was reportedly
outraged at the level of violence, but his
period of grief was woefully
short. Later, it was back to normal - Mugabe
had to be persuaded to continue
with the talks.
It is true that if there was no forgiveness in the world,
there would be no
hope for salvation for many people. Fortunately, the human
soul is endowed
with such a capacity for compassion this is why, in spite of
the wars raging
all over the world, there are still people engaged in
mediation - all over
the world.
For that, Zimbabweans have to be
grateful for the Mbekis of the world,
people who may genuinely believe in
their powers of persuasion, to end
conflict and bring peace to the
world.
But, in the case of Thabo Mbeki, there ought to be a period of
reflection.
If you are going to be a peace broker, it is essential, from the
very
beginning, to be utterly impartial. Mbeki was not. He may protest until
he
is blue in the face, but there can be no argument about his bias in
favour
of Mugabe and Zanu PF.
There was always the link going back to
the days of the struggle, a
similarity in experiences. In some ways, this
link, may have been a
hindrance of sorts. Politicians from the period of the
struggle have a much
lower regard for both human life and democracy than
those entering the fray
fresh from the civilian sector.
Mbeki was, at
one time, the head honcho of the ANC in Zambia. That position
can influence,
forever, your perception of what leadership ought to be - in
a military
rather than a civilian culture.
It might actually have been responsible
even for his lack of urgency in
reaction to the HIV and Aids pandemic, It
should be remembered that Zanu PF
itself did not react to the scourge as
urgently as it ought to have. It wasn't
until key members of the party and
government started dropping off like
flies that a thorough-going campaign
against the disease was finally
launched.
Many observers are anxious
to know what guarantees are in place to ensure
that Zanu PF does not renege
on its commitment to the new deal. These are
not people you can trust at
first sight. In fact, they are not good people
to do business with, at the
best of times.
The MDC is to be congratulated for sticking out until the
end.
Congratulations for Mbeki ought to be put off until there is solid
evidence
that he and Zanu PF are not trying to pull the wool over the
world's eyes -
for the umpteenth time.