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Choking
the opposition- ZANU-PF-s grand strategy to re-engagement
* Itai Zimunya
September 06, 2004
The ZANU-PF
government has been isolated both by the people of Zimbabwe and
the international community, mostly the economically mighty Europe
and America. The reasons behind the isolation are numerous both
for the internal and the international scale. Recently, as both
the internal and international isolation has borne some wounds and
pain to the ZANU-PF government, it has adopted a strategy to be
re-engaged both internally by the people of Zimbabwe and most importantly,
by the international community. Deception and coercion are the main
elements of its grand strategy, and they, like the political violence
leading to the 2002 presidential election is likely destined to
fail.
This paper
shall narrate the trajectory of ZANU-PF-s isolation process.
The effects of this isolation shall also be displayed in their raw
form. Issues of governance and democracy take centre stage in this
discussion as they are the focal pillar on which the pendulum of
ZANU-PF-s life rest. In the second part, the paper shall analyse
the current political set up in Zimbabwe. The emasculation of the
private media, the crashing of the opposition and other civic movements
through state repressive apparatus and propaganda are the main issues.
The question
of how, after succeeding to contain and choking the opposition and
the civil society, the ZANU-PF government intends to reengage both
the people of Zimbabwe and the International Community shall be
argued. The strategy of instituting a one party state by Mugabe
is clear. The question of by-elections and the 2005 election therefore
become very critical in this political matrix. Mugabe controls the
judiciary, the media and the state killing apparatus, in addition
to being an executive president. Lastly, it will be important to
project the response of the international community, the African
union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
to Mugabe-s scorched earth policy.
In international
and political affairs, Isolation means, from a scientific thinking,
to separate a unit from its combinations. Separation means loneliness.
The current affairs in Zimbabwe are dominated by Zimbabwe-s
bi-withdrawal from the commonwealth. It is at the core of this analysis
to trace and map the path of the ZANU-PF government-s declarations
of divorce and non-cooperation with the people of Zimbabwe, regional
and international multi-lateral organizations.
Since 1980,
the year of Zimbabwe-s independence, the ZANU-PF government
has been isolating itself in various capacities citing the need
to protect the national integrity and the sovereignty of the republic
and for its people. What better explanation could challenge such
a noble and serious cause to which generations shed their blood
world over. In 1982, ZANU-PF isolated itself from the people of
Matebeleland. In 1987, ZANU-PF isolated itself from the then Marxist-socialist
national students union of Zimbabwe. In 1997, the ZANU-PF government
alienated itself from the workers of Zimbabwe. In the year 2000,
through massive violence and terror, the ZANU-PF government declared
all Zimbabweans that do not support it as enemies of the state.
In the same year, the government declared all whites little Rhodies
and saboteurs in whose hearts fear must be struck and that they
had to go back to little England and leave Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans.
I will not attempt to answer, despite its necessity, what and who
is a Zimbabwean for it is not the principal object of this piece.
The major declaration
of isolation was in March 2002 when the people of Zimbabwe, including
myself, were denied our birthright to choose the president of our
liking. Making the news now is the declared isolation of the people
of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth. What is this again from the ZANU-PF
government-people ask without getting answers. It is not necessary
now to try and argue for or against this recent anger induced and
face covering inevitable isolation of the ZANU-PF government from
the commonwealth. It is not new either. Rather, we shall attempt
to trace and draw a trend on who if any, has been wining in the
myriad of isolations declared hitherto. In fact, to the ZANU-PF
government and the people of Zimbabwe, has isolation been splendid
or fatal?
The declaration
of war against the people of Matebeleland by the ZANU-PF government
in the 1980s must not be removed from the matrix of ZANU-PF history
of isolations. Isolation to ZANU-PF has been modelled in the cast
of selfishness, a lust for a one-party state and an extreme level
of intolerance to any other view, however progressive it is. When
the people of the Midlands and Matebeleland voted for the dear son
Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo, they were incarcerated and butchered by the
North Korean trained 5 Brigade of the Zimbabwe national army. As
this genocide took place, Mugabe and his ZANU-PF government justified
and shouted for assistance as he declared the same old song he sings
today: Patriotism, protecting the hard won independence and in the
National Interest. Pregnant women were pounded, children hanged
and people forced to kill and feed on others, all to protect power
and to fulfil one persons selfish egos.
Much of the
world was hoodwinked into believing, for real that Ndebele-s
were rebels whose chief aim was to get power through the barrel
of the gun against the results of the 1980 elections.
Through this evil act, exacerbated by Mugabe-s pride not to
even swallow his ego and apologise to the nation for this madness,
every reasonable person might painfully though, forgive but definitely
not love him.
At the risk
of being declared people who thrive on chaos and open healing wounds,
we will tell it like it is because we can not build a long life
Zimbabwean democracy on lies, hypocrisy, bad faith and an entrenched
spirit of selfishness to which even capitalisms- sourness
is junior. The 1987 Unity accord between ZANU-PF and PF-ZAPU was
just a statement of surrender according to one junior scholar, Daniel
Molokela. The unity accord simply provided the personal integration
of the vanquished ZAPU leaders into positions of power. However,
the organical and functional conflict areas were not addressed.
It was not only through massacres that the ZANU-PF government isolated
itself from the people of Matebeleland, but the skewed distribution
of resources was clear and very tribal. An act to which no right
thinking person would vote for ZANU-PF in the face of all this evil.
From then, up to now, despite the computers donated to Tsholothso
schools, despite the naming of the former ZAPU vice president Joseph
Msika the National Vice-President and despite shedding tears at
the grave side of Baba Joshua Nkomo, Mugabe and his ZANU-PF will
not be removed from the vice grip. It is for that reason that however
they pour money or torture the people of Matebeleland, ZANU-PF will
remain hated and declared evil to the extend that people might,
given an option, choose to be denied food for ten days than to vote
for ZANU-PF and get a ten kilograms packet of maize meal. The unfortunate
thing, though, is that the world, including some Zimbabweans has
been blind or ignorant to all this madness. It seems the spirit
of selfishness, which local Marxists want to link with socialism,
is in fact, an entrenched culture that has matured over the 90 years
of colonialism and harvested for preservation by ZANU-PF-s
24-year rule.
In 1987, when
the revolutionary students of Zimbabwe declared war on corruption
and demanded the corrupt government ministers to resign, they were
brutally arrested and tormented by the ZANU-PF government. Despite
their consistent support for socialism since independence, the students
of Zimbabwe were ditched and declared overzealous. It is to the
rescue of these students that MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai, then
the Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions was
arrested and jailed for 27 days. True to their principles, the students
union has vehemently spoken out against the hegemonic, very elitist
and narcissist rule of ZANU-PF. This declaration of students as
mischievous simply because they had raised eyebrows and rang the
bell to corruption by the chefs, fits meticulously well with the
ZANU-PF character of silencing and destroying anything that mirrors
their true behaviour. The explanation here is the same: in the best
interest of the nation and to protect the integrity of the government,
the ZANU-PF government could not publish, let alone punish the implicated
ministers in the Willovale corruption scandal.
The Sandura
Commission report was never made public, and praise God if it is
still shelved in the state library. Thomas Tafirenyika Mapfumos
anti-corruption song-Corruption was struck off the radio and banned.
Why, because it threatened the integrity of Mugabe. Since 1987,
it has become a legacy of the students union to be watching over
all government activities. The terror with which the police respond
to student-s protests is evident of this official segregation
by the ZANU-PF government. The violent kicking and booting to death
of Batanai Hadzizi at the University of Zimbabwe in 2001 and the
expulsion of 50 student leaders by the University of Zimbabwe, the
Hitler inspired Midlands
State University-s Gwatidzo led disciplinary committee
and by other colleges Principals also bears testimony to the preparedness
of ZANU-PF to do any evil to whoever to maintain its power.
In 1997, when
the effects of the structural adjustment program soured as the intensity,
severity and incidence of poverty increased, the workers of Zimbabwe
organized under the powerful Zimbabwe congress of trade unions and
engaged the government on issues of national importance. That the
government had to reduce its expenditure on foreign travel, reduce
its expenditure on the military and fund the social sector of health
and education and to provide incentives for the robust growth of
the industrial sector were facts. Patriotic and nation building
facts for that matter.
However, to question the frequency of the international travelling
of Mugabe and his government officials was taboo and taken as a
political challenge. The government closed its ears from the people.
Rather, like all selfish people, the government wanted the people
to keep quite and stick to their radios and televisions to listen
to the governments often unconsulted positions and false promises.
Having noted
this, workers mobilised and withdrew their labour, much to the chagrin
of Mugabe. He unleashed his state terror machine to arrest the trade
unionists. The government even urged the industrialists to fire
all people who asked for more salaries as the brunt of ESAP made
life unbearable. This, coupled with the crumbling of the economy,
the area in which governments fall and rise, the urbanites of Zimbabwe
hated ZANU-PF and have always been suspicious of its actions, promises
and lies.
Despite using
terror, propaganda and declaring the labour backed MDC political
party a front for whites, British backed and terrorists, the people
have endured this provocation. It is very important to note that
many people have been arrested, tortured, maimed, raped and killed
by ZANU-PF for opposing it. The reason is: to maintain the hegemonic
grip of power by ZANU-PF to please the personal egos of Robert Mugabe.
This terror, instead of making the people love ZANU-PF, they in
fact hated it and its violence. It is sad to note that some people
have fallen prey to this propaganda. Some pockets of Pan-Africa
including the South African president Thabo Mbeki are some of the
victims.
Mugabe says
he is fighting British sponsored terrorists in the form of opposition
supporters who want to reverse the gains of the land reform. This
argument is laughable despite it having confused many. The idea
of distribution of resources to create an egalitarian society is
noble and not a subject of contest. Yes, our land we need. The revolution
was declared, and unfortunately, instead of being a national process
that saw no colour, no tribe, no gender and no age, the ZANU-PF
system of patronage was implemented.
Give land to
those in the ruling party first with less than 10 000 surviving
war veterans claiming 40% of the land. To be white meant no land.
Not to carry a ZANU-PF card meant no land. How, honestly could we
call this a national process? Not only suspicious of the process,
a glance at the product of the much celebrated and publicized land
reform program, the ZANU-PF chefs emerge the big winners with big
farms on prime soils while the peasants were squashed on small holdings
on relatively poor soils. The loud declaration of a resettled 600
000 peasants disappeared quickly when the still biased Utete report
found only 130 000 resettled. Where did the rest go? The Porta farm,
Kondozi farm, Charlsewood estate cases vindicate our assertion.
On the economic
front, the government has disappointed many people as inflation
continues to oscillate above the 300% mark as of March 2004, formal
unemployment fluctuating around 75%, hospitals dilapidating, schools
and colleges being commodified and pegged beyond the reach of many.
Fuel and food are getting very expensive and sometimes have erratic
supply. This tragedy is not reconcilable as the government, instead
of stocking food and medicine, is stocking teargas and military
wear to choke the people into silence. Resultantly, the people of
Zimbabwe and their government have been polarized. The government
takes its way and no one really cares to know what their minister
or president has done. ZANU-PF and MDC people maintain bitterness
that if the current repression continues, we fear, there will start
the holocaust and a destructive civil war.
Polarisation
means opposite, just as the North Pole is to the extreme opposite
of the South Pole. Mugabe-s isolation of the people of Zimbabwe
has caused him a myriad of embarrassments. He, up to now is not
considered president of Zimbabwe. He got the humiliation and shame
of using terror and awe to be re-elected president. ZANU-PF had
to use obnoxious pieces of legislation to silence the people.
Mugabe can no
longer pull, without force, a gathering of 10 000 willing people
in Harare, a city of more than 2 million people. Compare this to
the street theatre in the first street of Harare that pulls more
than a thousand spectators at a live show and you confirm the extend
to which Mugabe has withdrawn himself from the people. This is isolation.
Who has ever seen the first lady Grace walking around in public
helping the need as Queen Sally used to do. Mugabe has been associated
with death, force arrests and the like. If you note how Nelson Mandela
is so popular with the people and Mugabe is so feared, you will
concur with this assertion. Interesting enough is that Mugabe also
fears people in that he made a law that demands everyone to stand
still and freeze when the fuel guzzling motorcade is roving past.
Be that as
it may, Mugabe is still a darling of many in Africa and the third
world. Mugabe talks the language of liberation to the oppressed
Aborigines of Australia. Mubage repeats the songs of Black Power
to the blacks in Europe and the Americas. Mugabe talks the art of
the poor. This is a fact and no one can stop him, as he will be
addressing real issues. In Africa, Mugabe celebrates the successful
states and aligns with other former liberation movements such as
the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa, the South West
African Peoples Organization (SWAPO) of Namibia, FRELIMO of Mozambique
and Chama-Chamapinduzi party of Tanzania among others. To align
with these parties and or former liberation movements is not an
area of contest. The trickery of Mugabe of telling the people of
Africa what they want to hear whilst he does the opposite to the
people of his own country is clear, and that is the major problem
that confronts the people of Zimbabwe.
Mugabes drive
leads towards a ZANU-PF majority in parliament either through whisking
his way in the by elections or during the 2005 parliamentary elections.
The current frenzy about electoral reforms are a true gimmick to
appear sane in the face of the African Union and the international
community whilst simultaneously, using POSA, AIPPA and the proposed
NGO law, intimidate the people and watch them withdraw before the
elections.
ZANU-PF are
dying for a two-thirds majority in parliament. A two thirds majority
in parliament will give whoever appointed or anointed to succeed
Mugabe, whenever he is leaving, to wield the same executive powers
that Mugabe currently enjoy. This, if it happens, will be another
disaster and might mean another two decades of suffering for Zimbabwe.
Not to be a pessimist, whom I am not, the MDCs stand to boycott
all elections until ZANU-PF reforms its attitude of terror and the
electoral law in line with the SADC standards is another thorn in
the flesh of ZANU-PF.
Disengagement and the "we-go-it-alone" manifesto has created
a host of problems, internal, regional and internationally for ZANU-PF.
This is the deathbed of ZANU-PF stay in power. Thus, it can be concluded
that, while disengagement has caused untold suffering to the people
of Zimbabwe, ZANU-PF has emerged the greatest loser.
*Itai Zimunya is a former student leader and human rights activist,
now with the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition.
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