Back to Index

This article participates on the following special index pages:

Mugabe's diversionary tactics
Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, International Herald Tribune
April 14, 2008

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/14/opinion/edmono.php

The Movement for Democratic Change won the March 29 parliamentary and presidential elections in Zimbabwe.

That fact needs to be stated time and time again, for it is in danger of being gradually buried in a haze of obfuscation and bluff by Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party.

Democracy, so battered and abused in Africa, is being forced once again to endure the harshest treatment. How does democracy take root in Africa if this is the soil it is expected to grow in?

Zimbabwe at this moment exists in the midst of a coup led by the loser of the elections and aided by inaction on the part of the global community. The victims have names and faces, such as the few remaining white farmers now being evicted from their homes, or the MDC supporters being roughed up by ZANU-PF thugs.

And there are other victims. They are the many Africans who are looking to Zimbabwe to watch one of the few local opportunities for democratic change. They are looking to our country to present a model of moving from dictatorship to democracy, from authoritarianism to the rule of law.

They are seeing not only if this can be done, for it isn't a common event in Africa, but whether it can be done peacefully, an even rarer phenomenon.

They are being disappointed. What they are seeing are the self-serving tactics of a spent leader and they can take no solace from the fact that Africa has seen it all before.

It's unlikely a solution will arrive as a result of more talking. The regional conference on Zimbabwe just concluded in Zambia is useful as a general focus, but such a talking shop was never going to be a remedy to the impasse Zimbabwe finds itself in.

In Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe has upturned democracy. This is not a matter of discussion or in need of high-level analysis. It is a fact and it needs no solution other than the removal of Mugabe himself.

It is clear that this needs to be done strategically. This we can accept. Mugabe and his powerbrokers have the potential to wreak havoc on the country should they be slighted in the changeover process. It is a sad truth that dictators rarely respect the law, only doing so when they themselves are threatened by it.

But first, Mugabe must agree to release the full election results and leave the presidency when those results reveal his demise. This is the single bottom line requirement before any further progress can be made in Zimbabwe.

It is telling that the ZANU-PF mouthpiece, the Herald newspaper, has been fishing for what it has called a coalition government, which envisages a shared government between the MDC and the defeated ZANU-PF.

This has been unfortunately picked up by various media outlets around the world as a potential circuit breaker in Zimbabwe.

But this move, along with the attempts to maneuver for a presidential run-off, are political charades, not factors in a democratic process; more examples of Mugabe roping all Zimbabweans to the mast of his sinking ship, threatening to take the whole country down with him.

As these diversions are wound tighter they trap the democratic process in Zimbabwe. This is of course the intention from Mugabe's point of view, but what is remarkable is that many in the international community seem to have entrapped themselves.

For many Africans, this is a sideshow. As they look on through jaundiced eyes at Zimbabwe as it lurches about under the weight of its expectations, many will note that for all the world's talk about democracy and due process, it means little in reality. Most will no doubt return to their lives after watching another moment in African democracy pass by.

Others might observe that dictatorship meets few barriers in this part of the world. They might be motivated to try their hand at winning power through similar means and then develop their means of holding power via a template derived from the handbook of Robert Mugabe.

So, as discussions continue around regional summits and presidential run-offs, it cannot be forgotten that Africa is watching and it is learning the hard facts of global geopolitics. They are seeing behind the façade of international diplomacy.

The message being transmitted from Zimbabwe today will send those hopeful of democracy away, and will encourage those seeking to draw on Mugabe's model of power.

History may well look back on this moment and blanch. So far, it represents a moment lost. Zimbabwe sits awaiting a resolution, not distractions.

The people of Africa are waiting too. Zimbabweans, on behalf of all Africans, have spoken and they want a new deal.

*Eliphas Mukonoweshuro is the foreign affairs spokesman of the Movement for Democratic Change.

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP