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Civic groups back Tsvangirai's call for Mugabe ouster
ZimOnline
March 23, 2006

http://www.zimonline.co.za/headdetail.asp?ID=11846

MUTARE - Zimbabwe's labour movement, churches, student and civic groups on Wednesday endorsed calls by main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai for a popular uprising against President Robert Mugabe, stocking up tensions in a country already on edge.

The groups that met in Mutare included the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) that campaigns for a new and democratic constitution for Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU), Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), Women's Coalition and Bulawayo Agenda.

The civic groups' decision to support Tsvangirai's calls for mass protests came the same day the state-controlled Herald newspaper published a stern warning to the opposition leader by Mugabe's ruling ZANU PF party in which the party said anti-government street protests could lead to bloodshed.

Mugabe's government has in the past used the army and police to ruthlessly thwart protests by civic groups and Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.

But ZLHR director Arnold Tsunga, among prominent leaders who were at the Mutare meeting, said the civic groups had resolved to mobilise Zimbabweans to free the country from its "political and economic woes" and to pay with their lives if need be.

Tsunga said: "People have said they have had enough of praying in the hotels and churches, they said they wanted to translate that into some activity .. we have a regime that can deal with us heavily hence we want to put mechanisms and strategies to minimise that.

"Of course there will be a price to pay - even of lives. But ultimately, failure is not an option."

Human rights activist and NCA leader, Lovemore Madhuku, said civic leaders would now go to the ground and mobilise Zimbabweans for the mass demonstrations but hinted the protests would take time to organise.

"We are living in misery: politically and economically all because of the way we are governed," said Madhuku. "We will organise demonstrations but not today or anytime this week."

Earlier in the day, prominent Bishop Trevor Manhanga had urged civic leaders to take up the cudgels and fight for human rights and democracy in the country saying no one but Zimbabweans could save the country.

Addressing his party's congress last week, Tsvangirai urged Zimbabweans to save food and money ahead of what he called a "cold season of peaceful democratic resistance" to end Mugabe's
26-year-old rule.

He repeated the same threats to lead a popular revolt against Mugabe and his ZANU PF party during a Press conference with journalists in Harare on Tuesday.

Responding to the threats, ZANU PF warned Tsvangirai that it will use the law to punish him and upping the tempo told the opposition leader that it alone had "the gruelling experience of war."

Calls in the past by Tsvangirai and his MDC for mass revolt have fizzled out with only a handful of people heeding such calls while the army and police have always been more than ready to prevent people from taking to the streets against the government.

But analysts and observers say Zimbabwe - in the grip of its worst ever economic crisis that has seen shortages of literally every basic survival commodity from fuel to food and electricity and with inflation beyond 700 percent - may just be ripe for a revolution.

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