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Justice for Zimbabwe regardless of the West
Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, Pambazuka News
April 22, 2008

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category//47575

Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem argues that "there is nothing revolutionary in perpetuating personal rule in the name of liberation" and therefore Africans have a duty to see electoral justice in Zimbabwe regardless of where the West stands

A couple of weeks ago it was the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther king Junior. He remains relevant even for generations that never knew him largely because the great injustices and oppression of his days which he confronted with nothing more than exemplary moral courage to take a stand against unjust power. Those injustices still continue to mutate not only in the US but across the world. That's why the words and example of martin Luther King Junior continue to echo as a source of inspiration to all those who speak truth to power. One of his many quotable quotes that I like is: "evil triumphs because good men refuse to speak up". We have to forgive the absence of gender sensitivity in the emphasis on 'men' as typical of the age but it does not deter from the import of the statement. Good people must speak up in the face of injustice no matter the consequences They obligation is not just to speak up it must extend to taking whatever action one is able to.

Zimbabwe and President Mugabe is a situation we cannot in all good conscience continue to pussyfoot about anymore. It is indefensible that one man, no matter his contribution to the country, should be holding the people to ransom. I know that a tree does not make forest. I am quite aware too that Mugabe alone is not responsible for the situation. There are many interests hiding behind him. It is even conceivable that in spite all the rhetoric and masochistic belligerence that the old man has become an executive prisoner trapped in a power system he pioneered which now has him cornered without escape route. This kind of structural analysis is important but it risks underestimating human agency and individual responsibility. Its primitive determinism may even be used to justify any situation rendering intervention impossible. If individuals are not important why do we have heroes and heroines? Why do we have leaders? We are neither zombie not automatons who behave in a predetermined way. Choices are made and unmade by human beings therefore accountability is first and foremost individual. Mugabe is no longer part of the problem of Zimbabwe: he is now the problem. The choice that he makes or not make can either help resolve the crisis or accentuate it. If he decides to step down there will be no body who will force him to remain in office. Neither the v dreaded Security services nor the aged ZANU-PF nomenclatural can force him to remain in the presidential palace. The fact that he has not taken that option is a deliberate personal choice just as his one-man contest for candidacy of the party has always been his choice.

It is simply wrong and unacceptable that weeks after the March 29 general election the result of the Presidential contest is yet to be declared. Meanwhile there is a recount of the declared parliamentary results! Even those who were willing to overstretch their good will to Mugabe must be finding it ridiculous or running out of excuses. Some of them continue to beg the issues further by forcing parallels with other botched elections. They point out that it took 6 weeks and the Supreme Court to declare Bush President of the USA in 2001. why should an avowed Pan Africanist leader vomiting all kinds of anti imperialist attacks be defended by Washington's non standard? They also point at the two months it took before the final results of the 2005 controversial elections in Ethiopia could be released. I am surprised they are not even saying that Mugabe is better than Meles who jailed those who defeated his party! Why should Africans always judge themselves by looking down instead of looking up to higher standards? Other people's bad manners and the hypocrisies of others should not justify the mischief making by Mugabe and his hirelings.

They have now shot themselves not just on the foot but all over the body by this syndicated circus. Whatever the outcome now they are losers because most reasonable people have concluded that they have tampered with and are still tampering with the result. Even if they declare the MDC as winners people will still say it is because of delayed shame or fear of consequences.

It is really sad that President Mugabe who is probably one of the better (if not the best) prepared leader for the job should end like this. He has 7 degrees (not honorary) for goodness sake! A man who acquired a mosaic of degrees in an academic cocktail of humanities and social sciences disciplines and also led one of the most successful liberation movements in Africa could not be accused of arriving in state house by accident. But he is ending his rule and life as a tragic figure hanging on and increasingly sounding and behaving like a man trapped in a time warp. It must sadden all Africans and good ammunition to all enemies of Africa who believe that nothing good comes out us no matter how well and promising the beginning was.

Unfortunately for Africa when one of us fails it is blamed on all of us. No one will blame Americans and other westerners for all the atrocities of George Bush. No one will even blame Brown for Blair's evil fraternity with Bush and other Europeans will quickly wash their hands clean of him. Yet these same people use Zimbabwe and Mugabe to beat our heads all the time. Consequently many Africans whether Presidents or peasants have become defensive about the situation. The fear of not being seen as echoing London and Washington has policed many of us into silence which ZANU-PF/Mugabe hard liners have harvested as popular support among Africans. While it maybe true that many Africans identify with Land reform (including grabbing it from the descendants of settlers who had violently grabbed it from Africans in the first place) and hale Mugabe's anti imperialist posturing we must be painfully aware that the conflicts in Zimbabwe goes beyond Land. It is high time we are more proactive in saying to the old man : thanks for the Land but enough is enough of your personal rule. It is dodging the issue to be constantly saying he is not the only one. Tripoli, Kampala, Douala, Addis Ababa, Luanda, Liberaville , Conakry and other places have long term rulers who really have to be looking at life outside of state house. However the fact that there are other culprits does not mean that those caught should not be dealt with. President Mugabe still has opportunity to exit with some dignity but it requires a level of selflessness and patriotism that may be lacking in him at the moment.

There is nothing revolutionary in perpetuating personal rule in the name of liberation. How many more Zimbabweans have to die before we stop blaming our leaders, the AU, SADC, COMESA, etc? What can you do wherever you may be to show concrete solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe? The workers of South Africa who refused to allow arms from China meant for Harare to be offloaded in the Durban port have shown the way. Their Mozambican comrades have done the same. Now the arms are heading for Angola and the workers of Angola need to also be clear that they will not be party to arming a regime destroying its own people. How can a country that cannot feed its citizens be importing arms? If our governments cannot act what about us in whatever symbolic way possible?

We need to rid ourselves of the anti western default reflexes we have internalized that makes anyone being attacked by the West, is ipso facto, African nationalist and anti imperialist hero or heroine. It is moral cowardice and politically irresponsible for us to hide indecision and inertia behind anti Western postures. London, Paris, Brussels or Washington and New York should not be our moral compass. We need to judge ourselves by higher standards. We have to stop watching our shoulders to see where London or Washington stands before taking a standard on matters of principle. It is is time to speak out and stand up for what we believe in.

*Dr Tajudeen Abdulraheem writes this syndicated column as a concerned Pan Africanist.

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