Zimbabwe’s agony

Jun 26, 2008 Editorial

We reported earlier this week that Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change—Tsvangirai (MDC-T) announced his withdrawal from Friday’s presidential election run-off.

He asserted that conditions do not exist for a credible election – and more specifically that he does not want to risk more of his supporters losing their lives.

The MDC says more than eighty of its supporters have been killed by militias of the ruling ZANU (PF) party, as the regime used intimidation to recoup the electoral reverses it suffered in the first round of the presidential polls on March 29. The first round in March was relatively peaceful but the mood has changed since then.

Mr Tsvangirai garnered more votes than Mr Mugabe of ZANU-PF, and the opposition says its supporters have subsequently been targeted, assaulted and killed in a bid to ensure the president remains in power.

With the withdrawal of Mr Tsvangirai, it is expected that Mr Robert Mugabe will be “re-elected” to the Presidency of his devastated land.

While some may conclude that Mr Tsvangirai might not have been as resolute as he could have been in the struggle for democracy in Zimbabwe, the opposition leader best understands the extent to which Mr Mugabe will go to remain in power.

As one Zimbabwean commentator said, “Morgan Tsvangirai is clearly a man who carries the burden of moral responsibility more heavily, and he has decided that he is not the kind of leader who can ask his people to die in his battle to win a leadership contest.”

When Mr Mugabe won independence for then Southern Rhodesia from Britain in 1980 he was a hero to most of the Third World.

He had stood resolute in defeating Ian Smith who had unilaterally declared “Independence” in 1965 on behalf of some 200,000 white settlers who occupied most of the arable land while the Black majority languished in poverty.

The war had cost some thirty thousand Rhodesian lives.
Most outsiders, however, ignored the fact that Mugabe’s government was totally dominated by members of his tribe the Shona (and party ZANU) and completely excluded his political rival Josuah Nkomo and his tribe the Ndbele (and party PF).

Mr Nkomo as a point of fact was a senior politician to Mr Mugabe and acted as opposition in the new government.

In January of 1983, however, Mr Mugabe ordered his North Korea-trained Fifth Brigade to carry out what he called a gukurahundi or “wiping out” against the Ndebele people, who accounted for about one-fourth of the country’s population. By some accounts some twenty-five thousand Ndebele were slaughtered.

Most of the Third World ignored this atrocity in the spirit of “solidarity” – which is still the sentiment that prevents a more forceful reaction to the latest outrages in Zimbabwe. Nkomo later joined the government in 1987 but never wielded any influence.

Mr Tsvangirai is also a Ndebele and it was the success of his new party, Movement for Democratic Change, in the 2000 parliamentary elections that galvanised an up to then seemingly moderate Mr Mugabe into hostilities.

Seeking to solidify his base, Mr Mugabe launched a “land to the people” campaign against the white farmers who had been allowed to keep their farms.
Overnight, with the backing of the army, “settlers” camped out on the farms and forcibly took them over.

The fly in the ointment, which was once again ignored by Third World states, was that most of the occupiers/owners were from Mr Mugabe’s tribe and more specifically from his close circle, including his wife. The result was that the country once dubbed “the breadbasket of Africa” is now on the verge of famine.

The United Nations Security Council agreed to a statement on June 23 condemning the violence but it is unlikely that Mr Mugabe will listen to the US and Britain who are leading the condemnation.

In fact his strongest card is “anti-imperialism”! Most of the responsibility for reigning in Mr Mugabe and working out a modus vivendi with the opposition falls on SADC [the Southern African Development Community], which is comprised of the surrounding states.

Countries like ours can place some pressure on SADC since we are all members of the Commonwealth. Let us show some solidarity with the Zimbabwean people rather than with any one leader.

Latest News

Zimbabwe’s agony

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | January, 10th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Savory, Persaud show class ahead of Regional C/ships with fifties

Spectators experience and playing standards high...

Archery Guyana’s 2024 Senior Barebow Open...

Body of Chinese national who fell from new...

Athanaze posts 98 as Windies start positively in...

Youngsters seize opportunity, rubbing shoulders...

Features/Columnists

Jagdeo’s press conferences are about grievance rather than governance

Clarifying misconceptions about the Panama Canal

From ethnicity to Exxon, race to renegotiation

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Zimbabwe’s agony

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | January, 10th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]