vendredi 16 octobre 2009

Time is on Morgan Tsvangirai's side






Should he stay, or resign in protest?
What, ultimately, would be in the best interest of the beleaguered people of Zimbabwe?
Roy Bennett, a white senator whom Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai had nominated to become deputy agriculture minister was sent back to jail Wednesday by a Mutare high court magistrate. He is to be tried on terrorism charges.
As a result, Mr. Tsvangirai postponed all his official duties, and cancelled Thursday’s weekly cabinet meeting.
President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF (Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front) party retains control of the judicial system, as well as the military and the media, in the coalition government now led by his arch rival Morgan Tsvangirai, the former trade union leader and head of the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change). They are alleging that he was the financier in the purchase of firearms. They are also alleging that he kept arms of war to topple the government, but he denies all the charges, Bennett’s lawyer, Trust Manda, said after the hearing.
Mr. Bennet, who owned a coffee farm that was seized in 2003, following the implementation of Mugabe’s controversial land reform policy, the aim of which was to redistribute Zimbabwe’s rich farm land then still largely owned by the white minority, was initially arrested in February, accused of having participated in a plot to assassinate the president in 2006.
Several MDC members were also detained, but eventually released. The evidence against Mr. Bennett is based on a confession by Peter Michael Hitschmann, a former constable, obtained under torture.
Hitschmann, the only party convicted in the case, has refused to testify against M. Bennett, considering the latter to have played no part whatsoever in the alleged plot.
The trial is to open next week.
The rule of law is an alien concept in Mr. Mugabe’s Zimbabwe.
Like all dictators, he uses the law to brutalize and crush all those brazen enough to question the legitimacy of his rule.
Mr. Tsvangirai is well versed in the old despot’s ways.
On March 11, 2007, he and 49 other activists were arrested while attending a rally the authorities deemed illegal.
The MDC leader and many others were savagely beaten by the police.
A police officer who witnessed the brutal assault, which lasted some two hours, told Zimonline but what I saw on Sunday was not assault. It was attempted murder, especially on Tsvangirai, [opposition leader Lovemore] Madhuku and [MDC deputy secretary for international affairs Grace] Kwinjeh.
The attack was perpetrated by a commando unit belonging to the army’s Cranbone Barracks.
Mr. Tsvangirai had to be hospitalized to receive treatment for a fractured skull, and necessitated blood transfusions due to internal bleeding.
Tsvangirai was the first to be attacked. They said they wanted to show the others that they meant business. Tsvangirai's colleagues openly wept as their leader was being beaten, the policeman added.
The opposition leaders then appeared in court, but were released. The lawyers for the prosecution never bothered to attend the hearing…
The attack was filmed by a Zimbabwean journalist, Edward Chikombo, a cameraman for the state channel ZBC. The footage was broadcast around the world, fueling international indignation and embarrassing Mr. Mugabe and his government.
Three weeks later, the body of Mr. Chikombo was found some 50 miles west of the capital Harare.
Many in Zimbabwe suspect that Mr. Chkombo was murdered by the security apparatus, in a clear warning to all those intending to defy Mr. Mugabe.
The March 11 incident was not the first time Mr. Tsvangirai was attacked by the President’s thugs, and harassed by his judicial system.
He has been twice charged with treason, in 2000 and 2003, and in both cases, the charges were eventually dropped.
He has also been the target of several assassination attempts.
The first took place in 1997, when he was the secretary general of the ZCTU (Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions).
Several assailants attempted to throw him out the window of his office, located on the tenth floor of the building.
After months of protracted and contentious negotiations, Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition, whose coalition holds a majority in the House of Assembly, became Prime Minister last February, consenting to share power with the despot Mugabe, who was declared the winner of last year’s presidential election, after the withdrawal of Mr. Tsvangirai, just days before the second and final round.
Mr. Mugabe, a wily and ruthless octogenarian, has ruled the country since its independence in 1980.
A nationalist leader belonging to the dominant Shona people, who initially trained as a teacher before being involved in the struggle for independence, and who was jailed ten years in the 60s and 70s because of his activities, he became the head of the Zimbabwe African National Union in 1974. He actively participated in the guerilla war launched on white-ruled Rhodesia led by Ian Smith.
Yet, very early did he display his ruthlessness.
He did not hesitate to crush a rival liberation movement, ZAPU (Zimbabwe African Peoples Union) led by Joshua Nkomo, of the Ndebele tribe. Some 20,000 people were killed by his Fifth Brigade, trained by North Korea.
Morgan Tsvangirai, against his better instincts, no doubt, accepted the offer to lead the Zimbabwean government in order to alleviate the desperate plight of his countrymen.
Indeed, 90% of the population is unemployed. Nearly half of the country’s population of 12.5 million cannot survive without donations of food. Inflation figures were no longer even released by the government for they had reached unimaginable levels, several million percent per year…Last winter, a cholera epidemic killed over 3,400 people.
In Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, a boy born today can expect to reach the age of…37.
This is what 30 years of criminal incompetence has done to Zimbabwe, a potentially rich nation.
It is now one of the poorest in the world, with a gdp of about $500. Only Liberia and the Republic of Congo are worse off.
Hence, the challenges facing Mr. Tsvangirai would have been staggering, even if he had had full control of the government.
Unfortunately, he must contend with Uncle Bob, as the President used to be called affectionately.
The Bennett case has clearly demonstrated that Mugabe will continue to do all he can to weaken Mr. Tsvangirai and his government.
Had the 2008 (and 2002) elections been free and fair, Morgan Tsvangirai would be the undisputed leader of Zimbabwe.
But it was not to be.
The first round of the presidential election was held the same day as elections to the lower house of parliament, the House of Assembly, on March 29, 2008.
Oddly, the campaign was remarkably peaceful, at first.
I’m going into places I could never go to, Tsvangirai told The Sunday Times.
It was clear that Mugabe and his ZANU-PF were heading towards certain defeat, even though they resorted to their usual tactics. To ensure the voters would make the right choice, Mugabe distributed on one day alone … 300 buses, 500 tractors, 20 combine harvesters, 50,000 ox-drawn ploughs, 680 motorcycles and 100,000 litres of petrol.
The distribution of food was also manipulated for political purposes.
Though ZANU-PF supporters were given access to government-subsidized grain, it was withheld from those suspected of being opposition supporters. I cannot buy government-subsidized maize because traditional leaders suspect I support the Movement for Democratic Change. When I reported this to the police they refused to intervene. The village head said that he had been instructed by ZANU-PF officials not to allow opposition supporters to buy government-subsidized maize, Thami told Amnesty International. In Zimbabwe, only those who support Mugabe are allowed to eat and feed their families.
Yet, even that would not be enough to sway the mood of the country.
We are crying for change, one waiter told the paper.
Look at what has become of us, said one man selling firewood along a highway.
We used to work on a farm but we were kicked off when they threw out the white men and now we hide like animals in the bush, running away from police and hunting for mice, he added.
The mood is such, there’s no way Mugabe can win legitimately, said Tsvangirai. How can he with 90% unemployment, his record of beating people and demolishing their houses, and when he’s an 84-year-old who wants to govern till he’s 90?
According to the official results, the MDC won 100 seats, and the ZANU-PF 99.
Another MDC faction, led by Arthur Muntabara won an additional ten seats, giving the opposition a majority in the House, for the first time since independence.
The presidential election, a more crucial one for Mr. Mugabe, was not so easily conceded.
The MDC announced its own results, since none were forthcoming, April 2, four days after the polls closed.
According to its own tally, Mr. Tsvangirai had won with 50.3%. Mugabe had received 43.8%, and his former finance minister, Simba Makoni 7%.
The authorities announced the official results on May 2, thirty-four days after the first round…
Officially, Morgan Tsvangirai was ahead, but with only 47% of the vote. Mugabe polled 43%.
A second round would thus be necessary, as no candidate had reached the 50% barrier.
It was set to take place June 27.
This time, Mugabe would exploit all the resources at his disposal to ensure he won the election.
All the regime’s supporters, all those with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo were mobilized by Mugabe.
In Harare, members of the ruling ZANU-PF youth militia and war veterans moved from house to house, ordering people to go and vote for Mugabe, according to The Christian Science Monitor.
With Tsvangirai abroad seeking foreign support, and aid in pressuring Mugabe to allow a free and fair election, the regime’s security apparatus was unleashed on the MDC and its supporters.
In late April, some 250 police officers invaded the MDC’s headquarters, Harvest House, and arrested hundreds of people, including women and children who had sought refuge in the building. Computers and documents were also seized.
In a statement, the MDC said these armed police have taken hundreds of people that were now staying at the party headquarters running away from the different parts of Zimbabwe, where the regime has been unleashing brutal violence.
In a report on the post-first-round election violence, Human Rights Watch declared, torture and violence are surging in Zimbabwe. ZANU-PF members are setting up torture camps to systematically target, beat, and torture people suspected of having voted for the MDC in last month’s elections.
In June, after his return, Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested for seeking to attend a political rally without authorization. A week later, the MDC’s Secretary General, Tendai Biti, was arrested on charges of treason.
Today’s election is being held against a backdrop of widespread killings, torture and assault of perceived opposition supporters. Zimbabwe has been allowed to operate outside the African Union (AU) and UN human rights framework for far too long.
It is time for effective African and international solidarity with the victims of human rights violations in Zimbabwe. The people must not be left alone to suffer this ongoing violence
, declared Amnesty International in a statement on election day.
Between the first and second rounds, over 80 Zimbabweans were killed, almost all MDC supporters.
According to the MDC, 20,000 houses were destroyed, 200,000 driven from their homes, 10,000 injured in the violence, and 2,000 supporters arrested.
Given this context, one of rampant violence and intimidation, Morgan Tsvangirai decided to withdraw from the election five days before it was to take place, because Mugabe was waging a war against the people of Zimbabwe, he declared in a statement. The Zanu PF candidate has no respect for the MDC, observers, the regional and international community. He has made public pronouncements to the effect that he will not accept defeat. He has declared war by saying that the bullet has replaced the ballot. The statement by General Chiwenga and Commissioner of Prisons Zimondi that they will not respect and accept the will of the people is regrettable and is a clear manifestation that a free and fair election is impossible, he added.
The militia, war veterans and even Mugabe himself have made it clear that anyone that votes for me in the forthcoming election faces the very real possibility of being killed, he concluded.
In such conditions, he simply could not continue…
On election day, serial numbers were included on each ballot so as to monitor the votes of all participants. The youth militia were saying if I don't submit my serial number and identification number I will be in big trouble, so I did as they wanted, a young voter told The Christian Science Monitor. This is persecution, it should not be allowed to happen in a civilized country like Zimbabwe.
Mr. Tsvangirai sought refuge from the violence in the Dutch Embassy.
Running unopposed, Robert Mugabe easily won a sixth term.
A month later, an effort to reconcile the two leaders and induce them to share power was launched, mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki, and the SADC (the Southern African Development Community).
An agreement was reached September 15, 2008.
Morgan Tsvangirai was formally sworn in as Prime Minister February 11, 2009, and his government two days later.
It was on February 13 that Mr. Bennett was arrested for the first time on terrorism charges.





The old man and his sycophants will never relinquish power voluntarily.
They have much too much to lose. They have committed far too many crimes to be allowed to retire peacefully, as they well know.
A cell at the International Criminal Court in The Hague would most likely await Mr. Mugabe and his Generals were the former to fall….
There is no freedom without struggle, and there is no freedom without sacrifice, Morgan Tsvangirai once said.
Zimbabwe has long struggled, and greatly sacrificed. Its people earned the right to a better future long ago.
In the current context, how can Morgan Tsvangirai be the most useful to the hapless Zimbabwean people?
Should he remain Prime Minister?
Perhaps it is only in this function that he can at least attempt to undo the untold damage brought about by thirty years of Mugabe misrule and repression…
We can only wish him luck, and assure him that time is on his side….
(the photograph of Morgan Tsvangirai being sworn in as Prime Minister by Robert Mugabe is by Alexander Joe, AFP/Getty Images)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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