Zimbabwe - A letter from the diaspora

25th April 2008

Dear Friends.
One image more than any other from Zimbabwe, reduced me to tears this week. It was a picture of a little old lady, probably Mugabe's own age, with a bloody dressing on her head. Her hair had been cut away to allow the medics to dress the head wound and her face stared out at the camera beneath the tufts of grey. Apart from the dressing on her head there was no other evidence of the attack. Other victims are covered in blood or burn marks with broken and bandaged limbs but this woman had only the head wound to show what had happened to her. I do not know her name or what 'crime' she was supposed to have committed that earned her such punishment; perhaps a son or grandson had been an MDC supporter and she was punished for nothing more than being the mother or grandmother of a 'traitor' considered by the mindless thugs who are inflicting the violence to be selling out the country's independence. That was, after all, what their president had told them on Independence Day, that the opposition were traitors, selling the country back to the British. Youngsters not even born during the Liberation struggle 'bash' the opposition, beating women and children, fathers and grandfathers for 'voting the wrong way'. They are all victims of this mindless brutality and like the old lady in the photograph their faces reveal the utter confusion and bewilderment that life should be reduced to this cruel parody of independence in the sovereign state of Zimbabwe.
The British did not bring us democracy, Mugabe thundered in his address at Gwanzura stadium on Independence Day, we the liberation forces, brought democracy to Zimbabawe. That is what we fought for, One Man One Vote. For exercising that democratic right the Zimbabwean people are now being 'bashed,' (Mugabe's own word) and beaten to a pulp. Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights report this week that they have treated 323 victims of violence since April 1st. That is Robert Mugabe's response to the democratic voice of the people. One month after the election Zimbabweans still do not know the precise results and the farce of a recount goes on with the docile Zimbabwe Electoral Commission releasing the results drip-by-drip, so typical of the Zanu PF tactics in the past when they have rigged the figures in their own favour. It doesn't seem to be working this time but maybe by the weekend they will have somehow managed it.
As for the Presidential vote, I don't believe we will ever hear that figure; instead we have the idea floated in the government mouthpiece that a fresh election would be pointless in the present climate. A government of national unity is the solution, suggests an unknown 'academic' at the UZ. So that's how Our Dear Old Man is proposing to stay in power? By simply ignoring the will of the people as expressed on March 29th and magnanimously proposing a government of national unity which he will head - of course.
But there's a problem! No one in their right mind believes that Robert Mugabe could work with the MDC or that he could sit down with Morgan Tsvangirai to solve the country's almost insurmountable problems. This week the price of one loaf of bread – if you could find one – rose to one million Zim dollars and one egg, just one, was twenty million. And what does Mugabe's rogue regime do in the face of a desperate and near starving population, they order arms from China to use against an enemy that exists only in Mugabe's paranoid imagination. To him and the parasites who surround him, the enemy is anyone who opposes the ruling party.
Robert Mugabe has never hesitated to show his absolute contempt for Morgan Tsvangirai, He has abused and insulted the MDC leader, verbally and physically, dismissing him as a puppet and stooge of the British, 'They got what they deserved' commented Mugabe when MDC leaders were beaten to within an inch of their lives by his hated state security agents.
We hear that Mugabe was almost prepared to concede defeat when he saw the election results, that was until the hawks in the army and police persuaded him otherwise, fearful that they would lose all their ill-gotten gains and even more fearful that they would face prosecution for their crimes against humanity. I suspect it is the thought of sitting down with Morgan Tsvangirai and acknowledging him as an equal that really sticks in Mugabe's throat. His arrogance and self-belief are so great that he can never acknowledge that he was beaten fair and square by the 'teaboy' of the white man as he calls Morgan Tsvangirai.
The game is lost but Mugabe cannot accept defeat; even one of his own former army generals is now saying, 'We must accept the reality that we have lost these elections to the MDC' and even more tellingly he adds, 'We lost these harmonised elections because of one man. People rejected us because we were campaigning for Mugabe.' Incidentally the general was himself conceding defeat to the MDC candidate in Gutu when he said these words after a recount!
The end is near, I believe. Time to go home Morgan Tsvangirai; you have done a great job informing Africa and the international community but now it is time to be there with your people. They need you, not least that old lady, beaten, frightened and confused; she and thousands like her, they need their true leader.
As I complete this letter reports are coming in of a police attack on MDC headquarters and of hundreds of people being taken away, including the victims of violence who had sought sanctuary at Harvest House. When will Africa and the world respond to the cries of the people of Zimbabwe? They need help now.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle.PH




19th April 2008

Dear Friends.
April 18th 2008 and Independence Day in Zimbabwe. No prizes for guessing what Our Dear Old Man will talk about in his 'keynote speech' at Gwanzura Stadium today. He will attack the British imperialists and their puppets in the MDC. He will make the usual totally unproven allegations of white farmers returning to the country to occupy their stolen farms in a British inspired plot to retake the country. He will of course renew his vitriolic abuse of Gordon Brown ' that little dot on the universe' as he so wittily described the British prime minister much to his friend Mbeki's audible amusement. And the great 'Liberation Hero' will probably boast about the support he has from the rest of Africa. My bet is that he will not even mention the recently held elections; he will behave as he always does on these occasions, as the one man who led the nation out of bondage - the new Moses as one of his creepy clerics once described him.
His 'supporters' will have been bussed in from all over the country and to sweeten the pill there will be the usual football match to entertain the captive crowd. All exits will be firmly closed by armed guards and no one will be allowed out. That's how it works in Mugabe's Zimbabwe. The freedom that Zimbabweans fought and died for in their thousands twenty eight years ago is just a word. When Robert Mugabe talks about 'our sovereignty'- as he undoubtedly will today - he is not talking about you and me, ordinary Zimbabweans. No, he's talking about Zanu PF and the top chefs in the army and the police, the very people who are still keeping him in power three weeks after the elections. Mugabe and his cohorts care nothing for ordinary Zimbabweans; how else can we explain this farcical delay in announcing the presidential results? A delay which is causing untold suffering not only for the hapless victims of brutality in the rural areas up and down the country but for ordinary citizens desperately trying to survive as everything collapses around them. No food, no water, no power and no government officials to carry out their duties as the infrastructure breaks down and inflation shoots ever higher. 165.000% the Central Statistical Office announced this week and the fat cats rub their hands in glee as their bank balances and waistlines get even bigger.
What kind of man can inflict such suffering on his own people? The answer is clear, only a man of cruel and vindictive nature. Sane or insane, the truth is that the one thing Mugabe cannot stomach is rejection. Study the voting patterns around the country, pinned up outside polling stations and you will see very clearly the correlation between the brutal assaults on opposition supporters and the inroads the MDC made into what was once considered safe Zanu PF territory. If you voted against Mugabe you will pay with your blood, that's the message Mugabe is sending out to 'his' people. Even the British media here in the UK has finally got the message, thanks to brave Zimbabweans courageous enough to take photographs of the bloodied victims of Mugabe's terror tactics.
He will mention none of this when he addresses the crowds today. He will not explain to them why a Chinese container ship is moored in Durban harbour waiting to unload its weapons of war destined for Zimbabwe. He will not explain why he needs such weapons in a country that is not at war except against its own people. He will not explain why Chinese troops have been seen patrolling the streets of Mutare, armed and in full military regalia.

African solutions to African problems intones Thabo Mbeki in his pathetic attempts to shield the old man and as each day passes the crisis that Mbeki refuses to acknowledge grows ever deeper and the world looks on in amazement at the sight of grown men behaving like bully boys in a playground. What Mbeki is doing - or not doing - is bringing shame and ridicule on Africa. Mbeki knows, he must know, that Mugabe is bringing the whole region into disrepute. The flagrant abuse of human rights would never be tolerated in South Africa for one minute. Yet Thabo Mbeki turns a blind eye to the chaos in Zimbabwe, denies its existence because the man who is carrying out all the destruction is a Liberation Hero and Africa cannot break ranks with the heroes of the liberation struggle. The African Renaissance that Mbeki promulgated in the early years lies in ashes because African leaders have failed totally and utterly to condemn the excesses of men like Robert Mugabe. It is so much easier to attack the white west for their colonial past than it is to speak out honestly about Africa's dismal record on governance and human rights.
Put not your faith in African leaders is the message I learn from all this, instead put your faith in the people. Zimbabweans have shown their courage in voting for what they want but once again a cruel and ruthless leader is denying them their voice. And in South Africa there is growing evidence that ordinary South African are not behind Mbeki in his support for the Zimbabwean despot. The Cape Times reports today that the trade unions have declared that their members will not unload or transport the Chinese weapons of war to use against their brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe. 'An injury to one is an injury to all' that was one of the slogans of the anti-apartheid struggle but Mbeki appears to have forgotten it. We shall overcome!
Yours in the (continuing) struggle. PH

12th April 2008

Dear Friends.
The phone rang at six thirty this Friday morning and I knew before I even lifted the receiver that it was bad news. Let's face it, there's never any other kind of news from Zimbabwe these days. I can't say that I wasn't prepared; yesterday's detailed article in The UK Guardian by Chris McGreal had vividly described what was going on in Mutoko just fifty kms down the road, so I knew it was just a matter of time before Murehwa received the same treatment.

What do you do when a friend phones you at that hour to tell you that he and his family are in big trouble? You are thousands of miles away and down the line you hear the quiet desperation in your friend's voice as he describes the situation in the centre of the small town in Mashonaland East that used to be your home. 'We feel betrayed,' he said. ' When is someone going to intervene and help us?'

I couldn't answer that question, no one can, it seems. I could only listen as he told me of the men who were systematically hunting down MDC supporters and threatening them for 'Voting the wrong way'. Five activists were badly beaten at a nearby mission yesterday; the police cannot or will not do anything to intervene, they too have been threatened and intimidated they say. Not by Green Bombers this time but by a much more organized group in plain clothes. They emerge from expensive four by fours that are parked on the dusty streets of this little town. They have sleeping bags and mattresses in the back of their vehicles and that's where they sleep at night. They are fed by the local Zanu PF chefs who provide them with mealie meal and meat while everyone else goes hungry. And they are armed, the men in the double cabs, a mobile hit squad ready to punish the people who dared to exercise their democratic right and vote for Morgan Tsvangirai and the opposition. Despite the fact that Zanu PF still won in this area, they didn't like the fact that more people than ever before had voted for change. So they called a meeting my friend told me and lectured the people about how to vote next time. 'Taka chinga' the people replied. We have voted for change. Like the wonderful WOZA women who demonstrated this week in Bulawayo, such courage just takes your breath away but the men in the double cabs won't give up, they are acting under orders, part of task force organized at the highest level, that's what the people believe.

Mutoko/Murewha was once considered Zanu PF heartland. I lived and worked there for twelve years and I know and love the place. I even built a little house there, it was my home and I could picture every detail my friend talked about; I could feel his pain and anxiety for his wife and children, his ailing mother whom he cannot leave even if his life is in danger. All I can do to help him is tell the story, alert the news media, make sure that as many people as possible know what's happening in Murehwa.

It's not the first time Murehwa has been in the news. It was there that the first white farmer was murdered back in 2000 in the original farm invasions. Four of his colleagues from the Macheke area were brutally tortured as they tried to rescue their friend David Stevens. I remember that weekend as if it was yesterday, 'The Weekend from Hell' is how Cathy Buckle describes it in her book Beyond Tears.
It was April 16th, just two day before Independence and I woke on the Sunday to a peerless African morning with sun shining down on the granite gomo behind my house. I turned on my radio and there was the BBC World Service telling me that a white farmer had been murdered in Murehwa, of all places. But I should not have been surprised, Murehwa was the place where Chengerai Hitler Hunzvi had his headquarters and as well as being white, David Stevens had been a supporter of the Movement for Democratic Change.
Now, eight years later, Zanu PF continues to harass and intimidate opposition supporters in Murehwa and all over the country. It doesn't matter what colour they are, if they are opposed to Robert Mugabe they are the enemy. But I have one memory of that weekend that reminds me of why I love Zimbabwe; it is the innate courtesy and loving human kindness of ordinary Zimbabweans. On the Monday morning, a group of women came to my house to offer their sympathy and comfort for a bereavement in the African way, even though I had personally never met David Stevens. 'He was a good man' they said as they shook my hand.

How many more good men and women have to die before Zimbabweans can rebuild their shattered lives and live in peace again? Will the SADC leaders think about that when they meet tomorrow or will they be congratulating Our Own Dear Leader on yet another stolen election which they had described as free and fair even before the first vote was cast.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle. PH

5th April 2008

Dear Friends.

'What is it that makes a man want to stay in power forever?' asks Hugh Masikela the wonderful South African jazz trumpeter in a song recorded some years ago. In the song, Masikela lists the African dictators of the time, Robert Mugabe's name was there then - and still is there now. Did any of us really believe that the old man would just pack his things and quietly fade away into the sunset? I for one admit that I thought that HE was intelligent enough to recognise when it was time to go. I thought this week's official ZEC announcement that the MDC has won a majority in the House of Assembly would be the time for the old man finally to admit to himself that now is the time. There were stories on Wednesday night that he was going to broadcast to the nation and like everyone else here and at home I sat up till the small hours waiting for news that never came.

It has been like that all week; waiting for news that never came, an endless week of hope alternating with despair. Desperate phonecalls between the UK and Zimbabwe but none of us here or there really knowing anything. I understand ZTV has been its usual moribund self; When it happens we'll be there - as long as it's not real news of course. Everywhere else in the world and specially in the UK there's been wall-to-wall coverage on all channels and endless column inches in the papers but the truth is that none of these so-called analysts and intrepid (!) foreign journalists know any more than we do. We are in the dark, quite literally. One of the funniest sights of the week was the BBC's John Simpson doing his piece to camera by the light of torches held by his colleagues. Where were the dreaded CIO spooks, I wondered? There was this large white man 'somewhere in Harare' he told us very mysteriously, doing his thing in full view and yet he hadn't even been threatened let alone picked up by the men in dark glasses! Another BBC man was shown talking, so he said, to former war veterans on a once thriving commercial farm telling him how they no longer supported Mugabe.

But for me, it was the interview with the indefatigable Dr John Mukumbe that rang the first warning bell of trouble ahead. In the event of a runoff, Mukumbe warned, Mugabe's men will have three weeks to terrorise the rural population. HE will once again unleash his war veterans and Youth Militia on the thousands of rural people who so bravely voted against the dictator and voted instead for Change. Mugabe could use his Presidential powers to extend the three weeks even to three months, Mukumbe told the BBC and that would give Mugabe and his black boots and Green Bombers plenty of time to silence the hungry and angry masses.

Six days after the elections ZEC has still not announced the Presidential results and Mugabe is still there in State House. 'He's not going anywhere' declared a gloating Bright Matonga, Zimbabwe's Deputy Minister of Information, to the BBC who faithfully reported his words and showed his toothy grin on just about every news bulletin. Why, I wondered has the Deputy Minister been chosen to do all the talking, where's the Minister himself? Then I remembered when I had first become aware of the Bright one. Zimbabweans will remember Matonga hit the headlines at home when he violently invaded a farm aided by the usual mob of youth militia. His wife was with the Bright one; it so happens she's a white woman from Essex. As the mob struck up their usual chorus of hate and anti-white rhetoric, she was heard yelling, Give us back our land. You stole it from us. 'It struck us as odd,' commented the farmer's wife, an understatement if ever there was one but typical of the sort of madness that has prevailed over the last ten years under Mugabe's leadership. Unlike Morgan Tsvangirai who talks of love and reconciliation, in his old age Mugabe speaks of nothing but hatred and vengeance against his perceived enemies

Last night viewers at home had their first glimpse of Mugabe since the elections. We in the diaspora saw him too, saying Farewell to the team of African observers. The sound quality was poor but we heard Mugabe telling the team 'We don't cheat, we don't do that…but the other side. Ooh, aah'! Along with all his other 'skills' – those degrees in violence - what a consummate performer he is. Today he meets with the Polit Bureau, I wonder if Simba Makoni will be there? Will they be thinking at all about what is right for the country, do they even care about the welfare of Zimbabwe's people or are they thinking only of themselves? These Big Men have so much to lose and Robert Mugabe has more to lose than any of them. I remember Bishop Lamont, that brave fighter for justice who was tried for treason by the Smith regime and kicked out of Rhodesia because he chose to stand with the suffering black people. 'rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic' was how he described the dying days of the Smith regime. History repeats itself it seems. The question now is whether Mugabe's men will choose to go down with his sinking ship or whether they will find the courage to tell the old man that it's time to go. And that brings us right back to the question: What is it that makes a man want to stay in power forever?
Yours in the (continuing) struggle. PH