vindicate - 1. to clear of accusation, blame suspicion, or doubt with supporting arguments or proof. 2. to justify or support. 3. to justify or prove the worth of, especially in the light of later developments.
Since 1999, the official opposition party within Zimbabwean politics has been on the receiving end of endless events in that country. Them - and many accidental observers and members of other bodies. We all watched as Mugabe’s ZANU PF rigged the elections in 2002 and 2005, and the Movement for Democratic Change took much of the blame for those losses.
Incorrectly, as it proved, since various court wrangles not only cleared the party, but in 2005 it is believed that Morgan Tsvangirai, the party’s leader, actually won the Presidential race, but was denied a re-run as the courts decided that because Mugabe had already taken office, they lacked the power to reverse it.
Then came the acrimonious split within the opposition party, which quickly turned very nasty. This was caused by a difference in opinion over whether the party should participate in the Senate election.
The breakaway faction, soon to be led by the parachuted in Arthur Mutambara, a former student firebrand and NASA rocket scientist, spent much of their initial few months arguing with the larger faction.
There was also talk about them commandeering the party name and logo, but in time much of this calmed down as the real aim of the party was thrust once again into the spotlight.
Who can forget the beating that the MDC-Tsvangirai faction took at the hands of the ZANU PF sponsored ZRP, army, war veterans and youth militia last March? Who can forget the heartbreaking photographs of Morgan Tsvangirai, Sekai Holland and Grace Kwinje lying in hospital nursing their wounds?
And they were joined within days by their faction spokesman, Nelson Chamisa, who was set upon, in broad daylight, by ZANU PF thugs at Harare International Airport.
During the majority of 2007, the two factions of the MDC were tied up in ‘mediated’ talks with Mugabe’s ZANU PF, overseen by South Africa’s President, Thabo Mbeki.
Ten months of sustained negotiation - sustained? - ZANU PF refused to attend most of the sessions, and dug their heels in on any compromises to their rule - and the small victories by the MDC factions were very quickly negated by Mugabe who just used Presidential decrees to cancel the advances out.
The South African President, given the mandate to mediate the talks by the South African Development Community (SADC), spent most of the year delegating his responsibility to his underlings and reporting to SADC that the talks were ‘on course’, ‘in progress’ and that a breakthrough was imminent.
Obviously Mugabe’s influence over the South African President was in play then.
And his influence throughout the immediate region has also been noted, with many of the area’s leaders lauding the praise of Mugabe. Indeed, at a SADC meeting in Lusaka, Mugabe was applauded onto the stage by the regional leaders.
But if leadership within the region is one thing, then leadership within a country is another.
For 28 years the people of Zimbabwe have had no choice but to watch Mugabe begin to dismantle and destroy the economy which he inherited from Ian Smith’s Rhodesian government.
Few people had ever dreamed that the opposition party, just 9 years old, and battle-scarred and bruised, would ever displace and dethrone Mugabe.
But dogged determination, which epitomises everything that their leadership has been through since the party’s inception, has been what has carried them through.
Whilst many of their original supporters may have jumped ship or returned to the loving arms of Mugabe’s ZANU PF, more people were beginning the realise that Mugabe’s remaining in control was just going to guarantee a long and lingering death.
And the watching world did precisely that - they watched… Afraid to say a word of criticism against Mugabe or his government, for fear that he may say something scathing back.
The people of Zimbabwe were made to pay the price for that silence.
Three main assaults on the population spring to mind, and I believe that it is these, together with disjointed, impersonal government, that has precipitated the fall of Mugabe. As Roy Bennett stated on his recent interview with SW Radio Africa’s Violet Gonda, the Presidency is for the incumbent to lose, not for an outsider to win.
And Mugabe lost the Presidency as long ago as the 1980’s - he has just been able to hang onto power through all manner and means at his disposal - and has added insult to injury by perpetrating agony after agony on ‘his’ people - people which he lost touch with in the first few years of his reign.
First was the Gukurahundi - the massacre of between 20 to 30 thousand Ndebele people in Matabeleland and the Midlands. Mugabe made the excuse that it was to put the Ndebele people in their place, but in reality it was his way of smashing the hold that Joshua Nkomo had over the Matabele tribe. The atrocities ended in 1987 after Mugabe and Nkomo signed an Accord to work together. Nkomo’s ZAPU was swallowed up by Mugabe’s ZANU.
The families that were affected by these heinous acts have never received any compensation for those atrocities, whilst the closest they have ever had by way of an apology was Mugabe admitting that the Gukurahundi was a ‘moment of madness’.
The second atrocity visited upon the population that springs to mind is the land grab. In 2000, Mugabe presented the population with a Constitution for acceptance or rejection. In a referendum, the new Constitution was soundly rejected.
In anger, Mugabe set the war veterans - the aging battle force that he had used to fight against the Rhodesian security forces in the 1970’s bush war - sometimes referred to as the chimurenga - on the commercial farms in the country, owned primarily by experienced and very productive white commercial farmers.
This was the beginning of the land redistribution programme which saw some white commercial farmers murdered and even more farm workers killed, injured and losing their jobs.
The land redistribution exercise was, to all intents and purposes, to return the land to the ‘landless’ blacks. Eight years later, only a handful of farms remain in the hands of the original commercial farmers, whilst the overwhelming majority of the land is in the hands of Mugabe and his loyalists in his regime - and officers in the army and the police… The land remains unworked and fallow, but Mugabe’s government uses the land as an excuse to spend money on farm equipment for the new ‘owners’ (which is not used for agriculture) and a system where the ‘farmers’ received discounted fuel, and the banks offer loans against the land whilst they continue to run the country into destitution.
The land grabs continue as I type.
The third example of the atrocities that Mugabe perpetrates against his people, is commonly called Operation Murambatsvina. Remove the rubbish. Take out the dirt.
Something in the region of 700000 people were effected by this demolition.
Mugabe decided that the opposition party was becoming too strong in the urban enclaves in the various cities and towns, and ordered the demolitions of all properties and dwellings that his government considered illegal.
Some unfortunate people died in the ’slum clearance’ and Mugabe refused to acknowledge his people’s heavy handedness, and chose to remain silent.
The economy began to deteriorate and today inflation is gauged at 100000% - the highest in the world outside a war zone.
The problem was that the world-at-large did not realise that within the borders of Zimbabwe is very similar to a war zone. The Mugabe government fought may a battle with many organisations and many institutions and these battles were waged with a ‘no prisoners’ policy.
Today, Mugabe finally lost the majority in parliament and we await the announcement that he has been dethroned from the top office of the land. And replaced by Morgan Tsvangirai.
Morgan Tsvangirai and his party, the Movement for Democratic Change, are on the rise - but we must be sure to emphasise to any protractor, that the fall of Mugabe’s government was enabled by DEMOCRATIC means. That was the MDC’s original intention, and they have not only risen to the challenge, but the party has achieved their target.
Let no one ever hoodwink the good people of Zimbabwe again.
We must be aware that power in Zimbabwe is ours to give - not to be taken from us - and that we must allow no government to ever build up the resources for personal use as Mugabe did.
Freedom in Zimbabwe is a paramount necessity. We owe it to our children, and to our children’s children. No one must be allowed to dictate to us again. No one.
Tsvangirai needs all of us to assist and help where we can - even if that help is only passing on information. Many of us will decide to go home, and again, we need to be aware that the country is in a poor state of repair and that rebuilding is the first priority. And that life will not magically improve overnight. And that the rebuilding will continue for many years - if not decades. It may take as many years to rebuild as it took to destroy.
Some of us may elect (forgive the pun) to remain in our adoptive lands - but we still remain - by default at least - Zimbabwean.
Zimbabweans: a truly democratic, well-meaning - often misunderstood people - people who love life, love people and are able to weather any storm.
My hearty congratulations to Morgan Tsvangirai and his party. And to the people of Zimbabwe who had the belief in their hearts and the hope of democracy to guide them in their vote. I am proud to be led by a man and a party that ‘does what it says on the tin’…
This afternoon I sit in front of my machine typing this, and the reality of the moment has not yet hit me. But it will and I may even break my aversion to alcohol (brought on by my necessary use of pain killing drugs) to celebrate. I will probably wait until victory is complete, and then I will happily drink to the best health of our President, his party and all God-fearing, like-minded Zimbabweans the world over.
The real struggle starts now…
Democracy loving Zimbabweans the world over must feel entirely vindicated.
Take care.
‘debvhu
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