Zimbabwe - A letter from the diaspora

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Friday, 13 February 2009

Dear Friends,
Watching a sour-faced President Robert Mugabe at Prime Minister Tsvangirai's inauguration, it was difficult to believe that anything good would come out of this botched up Government of National Unity. But then no one seemed to be smiling, it was rather like a shotgun wedding where both sides knew that there was no alternative. They had to go through this sham of a wedding to give their relationship legitimacy but no one really believed that the marriage would last. It was a different matter at the 'reception' after the ceremony. Lots of smiling happy MDC faces and shouts of joy from the thousands gathered in Glamis Stadium to welcome the new Prime Minister. "We used to be dead. Now we are alive," said one observer." This is the start of change." That's what we all desperately want to believe that, we all want to hope that Zimbabwe has turned the corner at last but the signs are not good. Right up to the very last moment before Tsvangirai's inauguration we were all longing to see the activists released - but it did not happen. It would have been a sign of Mugabe's good faith, a sign that perhaps we could place some reliance on him to do the right thing. The Prime Minister referred specifically to the plight of the abducted activists but carefully did not say what steps he would take if they were not released. Then on Thursday, the very day that Morgan Tsvangiri became Prime Minister, three of the abductees were taken to the Avenues clinic for medical treatment. Jestina Mukoko, Ghandi Mudzingwa and Fidelis Chiramba were each seen by two sets of doctors from the state and private sector. The doctors all agreed that the three were in urgent need of hospitalization but according to reports they were once again taken back into custody at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison. So much for hope, so much for placing any trust at all in Robert Mugabe and his murderous regime. Hope deferred again! There was one sign that Morgan Tsvangirai perhaps had some influence - if not real power. To his credit, one of his first calls as Prime Minister was to Chikurubi to visit the detainees. Despite the fact that the service chiefs, including the head of the Prison Service, have vowed never to salute Morgan Tsvangirai, the guards on the prison gates apparently gave Tsvangirai a snappy salute and addressed him as Prime Minister. Perhaps that was a good sign, I wondered, but if it was, then it was the last one. As I write on this Friday 13th February the BBC are reporting that Roy Bennet the Deputy Minister of Agriculture in the new government has been arrested, allegedly at Charles Prince Airport while attempting to board a flight to South Africa. The Zimbabwean this morning contained a heart-warming picture of Roy with his arms round a smiling black man. There they were, their faces wreathed in beautiful smiles. It was surely a sign of hope for the new Zimbabwe?
Now Roy is again under arrest. I phoned home immediately. 'Was it true?' I asked and the news was confirmed. 'Pachedu' is indeed in the hands of the Law and Order department. The ZBC, I was told, is also reporting that the new government has not yet been sworn in. The ceremony was due to take place at 10.OO Zim time. It is not hard to understand the reason for the delay; Roy Bennet was one of the MDC's cabinet nominees and without him the swearing in cannot take place. or can it?
It begins to seem that nothing will halt the MDC's progress, if that's what it is, into government; not the violent abduction and imprisonment of activists, not the arrest of their own cabinet members and not the wholesale infringement of human rights. The latest news is that the swearing in is taking place even now - presumably without Roy Bennet. To those who have been saying all week that it was all a terrible mistake getting into a marriage of convenience with Robert Mugabe, I have to admit that it's beginning to look as if they are right; hope and trust are just not in Robert Mugabe's vocabulary. For the rest of us at home and in the diaspora, hope is deferred yet again; none of us will be going home any time soon.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH.



6th February 2009


Dear Friends.
Another week of waiting for an end to the nightmare that is Zimbabwe in 2009. When I wrote last week we thought we were on the verge of a solution - however imperfect it was. After all SADC in their wisdom had even given us the precise dates when all the various steps would be taken that would install a so-called Government of National Unity. Surely nothing could be easier; rather like a kids' picture book game, all the politicians had to do was to join up the dots and the picture would emerge. The cameras showed us hundreds of people waiting on the streets outside Harvest House for Morgan Tsvangirai to tell them that he had done his part. He had agreed to join the GNU subject to the settlement of outstanding issues. Was Zimbabwe at last on the way to a settlement that would bring Zimbabwe back into the community of democratic nations?
As the week progressed, it became very clear that Zanu PF were playing their usual childish but deadly games. First, they delayed the necessary tabling of the Constitutional Amendment that would install Morgan Tsvangirai as Prime Minister and Arthur Mutambara as his Deputy. Zanu said it had no mandate to take such a step; what they really meant was that Robert Mugabe was out of the country and without his presence they were unwilling to act. And where was the Dear Leader at this crucial time in the country's history? No sooner had Morgan Tsvangirai announced he would join the GNU Robert Mugabe had flown off to the AU summit in Addis Ababa where his old comrade, Muammar Gaddafi was installed as the new head of the AU. In reality, of course, Mugabe was touting for support - or was it for fuel and arms - from his African brothers. Meanwhile, at home the police and the courts continued to act as if nothing had changed: Jestina Mukoko and the other activists were refused bail again; students were arrested for demonstrating against the announcement by the University of Zimbabwe's announcement that they would all have to find $400 US entrance fee to sit their end of semester exams. MDC's Star Rally, due to be held last Sunday was cancelled by the police and even more significantly, Tendayi Biti's treason trial was postponed. Biti faces two charges: one, that he pre-empted the announcement of election results by announcing that the MDC and Morgan Tsvangirai had won the March election. This was after the ZEC had delayed announcing the results for five weeks and two, that Biti had written and published a letter calling for the unconstitutional overthrow of Robert Mugabe's government. It is no coincidence that Tendayi Biti is one of the chief negotiators in the MDC's team. By holding the threat of a treason trial over his head and by refusing bail for the other activists it is clear what game Mugabe and Zanu are playing. Once again they are using the judiciary and the police to ensure they have the upper hand; it is in effect blackmail: play the game according to our rules or your people will face capital charges which, incidentally, carry the death sentence in Zimbabwe.
However much people, and I include myself, want to believe that the GNU will bring peace to our troubled land, what is abundantly clear is that we are dealing with a vicious and corrupt regime that simply does not know the meaning of the word 'Truth'. All along the state-controlled media have sought to portray the MDC as a party of western puppets bent on bringing back colonial rule to Zimbabwe. The truth is that the only unity Zanu PF is interested in is one that will allow them to get their hands on international investment. Here's what Bright Matonga said to the BBC, "We will respect property rights, we will respect the issue of declaration and repatriation of dividends. So really we are inviting people in manufacturing, in tourism, in farming, in mining." And in the very week Matonga made this remark, the President's wife seized the farm of one Judge Ben Hlatshwayo. The learned judge had himself seized the farm from a prominent and highly successful white farmer and is said to be furious at Grace Mugabe's action. She apparently wants the farm as a gift for her son from her first marriage. So much for respect for property rights; rumour has it that Judge Hlatshwayo will sue Grace Mugabe. How will they ever find an honest judge to preside when we all know the judges have themselves been guilty of similar thefts! No honour among thieves is the phrase that comes to mind.
Finally, on Thursday the Constitutional Amendment was passed unanimously in the Lower House and subject to its passing through the Senate, Morgan Tsvangirai will be sworn in as Prime Minister on Wednesday February 11th. Despite this, the US and the EU will not lift sanctions or resume financial aid until they are convinced that there is genuine power sharing. They say that a week is a long time in politics; in Zanu PF politics it can be a death sentence and who knows what dirty tricks they may still have up their sleeves before this next week is out. As Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC prepare to share power with Zanu PF the 'political analysts' will be out in force no doubt, predicting doom and condemning Tsvangirai for 'selling out' but for the suffering masses it is a tiny glimmer, no more, of hope. " Let us make no mistake," said Morgan Tsvangirai in his statement announcing his party's decision, "by joining an inclusive government, we are not saying this is the solution to Zimbabwe's crisis, instead our participation signifies that we have chosen to continue the struggle for a democratic Zimbabwe in a new arena…We have the majority in parliament, we control all the main urban councils and many rural councils, we will have control of 13 ministries and a presence in the key decision-making bodies of the executive…The struggle continues."
If this is not the end of Zimbabwe's nightmare it is perhaps the beginning of the end?
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH