The following article is in today's UK Guardian newspaper.
The culture of impunity that began in the 1980s sowed the seeds for today's crisis, says Mpho Ncube
Article history
Jonathan Steele's suggestion that Robert Mugabe and his henchmen/women might just relinquish power if they are offered a "soft landing" will not bring a lasting solution in Zimbabwe (Softly, softly oust Mugabe, 15 December).
Essentially, Steele is proposing the perpetuation of Zimbabwe's culture of impunity, and we have been here before. When Mugabe came to power in 1980, a similar soft-landing deal was signed by the three warring armies of Zanu-PF,
PF-Zapu and the Rhodesian Front, where human rights abuses in the just finished brutal guerrilla war were swept under the carpet. It wasn't long after that, in 1982, that Mugabe unleashed a crack unit dubbed the Gukurahundi (the wind that washes away the chaff) to maim and murder more than 20,000 civilians in Matabeleland and Midlands.
The seeds of today's political and human rights crises in Zimbabwe therefore have their roots in the culture of impunity that was sown when a deal to end the massacres was signed by Mugabe and his political rival, Joshua Nkomo of PF-Zapu. The so-called Unity deal of 1987 gave a blanket amnesty to all members of the armed and security forces who were involved in the Gukurahundi atrocities, together with their political masterminds. It is therefore no wonder that the same people who masterminded the Matabeleland massacres are in charge of the violence and murder that has enveloped Zimbabwe in the past decade.
The reason Mugabe and his hench-people are so defiant is that they have benefited from previous orgies of violence and have no fear of the consequences. To call for "guarantees of retirement in safety", as Steele does, will be music to Mugabe's ears. Zimbabweans are once again being held hostage by his regime, and so to talk of immunity deals is to reward those who see violence and murder as a legitimate policy tool.
Steele's article makes no reference to the wishes of the many thousand victims of Mugabe's ruthless 28-year rule in Zimbabwe, and herein lies the other problem. Too often, in the discourse on the future of Zimbabwe, the victims' cries for truth and justice are seen as an impediment to a political deal to end the crisis. Steele himself argues that the threat of criminal action may make Mugabe more desperate to cling to power. Yet truth and justice are a prerequisite of any lasting solution. The reward of immunity, retirement in safety, or jobs for Mugabe and his henchpeople is the wrong mechanism for building long-lasting peace and stability.
My organisation is campaigning, on behalf of the victims of Gukurahundi and other state-sponsored abuses, for a Truth, Justice and Healing Commission. Without the direct input of victims of Mugabe's murderous reign, any top-down, expedient political fixes will not prevent abuses by future leaders.
A deterrent must be set in very clear and visible ways, which is why the lesson of the Nuremberg trials after the second world war is very apt. What is required now is for the "never again" principle to be institutionalised in Zimbabwe.
• Mpho Ncube is director of communications for the Mthwakazi Action Group on Genocide in Matabeleland & Midlands, a British-based campaigning group for Zimbabwean exiles ncubem@maggemm.org
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NO AMOUNT OF POLITICAL CORRECTEDNESS CAN CONVINCE PEOPLE THAT MUGABE IS A PATRIOT:
ReplyDeletePersonal reflections on the living conditions of Zimbabweans _____________________________________________
Molefe Lubabalo
During the beginning of November, I undertook a visit to the land of Mzilikazi, the England of Africa – Zimbwabwe. This was to be a country which I have known through history books and through the writings of activists as well as through the media profile it has since got. The excitement of visiting Zimbabwe cannot be expressed by the words that could come out of a man’s mouth. As part of this excitement, all of us could not change the amount of cash we had under the pretext that we are in Africa, in Zimbabwe our noble neighboring country, the country of the great Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo.
We landed in Zimbabwe – Harare, where everything was taking place. It was very dark in the airport, and we arrived at the security check – which is the migration point. As we arrived there (at the check point), there were stickers indicating “visitors”, “VIP’s”, “Zimbabwean Citizens” and “Diplomats”. These were the same check points and there was no difference even if one was a VIP or anything else. We came to the conclusion that this was just for purposes of managing the queue. We were requested to sign blue forms in which some of the questions asked are whether are u a visitor or a citizen, however, citizens are not signing them as a matter of “procedure” it was indicated.
We were requested immediately by the people we visited to stop making political jokes until we are in the transport which will take us to where we are going to relax. This was strange but we agreed and started whispering when we were talking or asking information within the airport. We travelled to the hotel in fact to the guest Lodge as it is known in Harare. Whilst travelling, there was darkness in the beautiful city of Harare, we were interested to know what is happening, and we were told that there were electricity challenges ranging from power cuts to “load shedding”. We were informed that some parts of the country may go without electricity for two to three months.
The city was quite, like the old white apartheid small towns in South Africa. We arrived at the lodge, immediately one of us asked a question, is the lodge government owned? We were shocked by this question and asked are lodges in South Africa owned by the government. The answer was shocking, as he showed us the picture of Mugabe in the reception area of the Lodge and asked why is Mugabe’s face here then? This led to a whole of conventional arguments about the protocol and the patriotism in the owners of the lodge. The debate ended us getting into a position where one Zimbabwean clarifies us that, it is prudent of many Zimbabwean business people to show their loyalty to Mugabe and that this was apparent going to allow them not to be suffocated in the polarized politics of Zimbabwe. This was another shocking revelation from a Zimbabwean in the lodge. We were given our keys and we went to our rooms and ultimately after washing, came back to eat dinner. Of course there was no buffet the waiter would help you when you have ordered. Be that as it may, we were introduced to our hosts.
We obviously drank some few beers over an interesting debate about life in Zimbabwe and planning where are we going to enjoy the night in Zimbabwe. We then went to a pub in the middle of Harare; young Zimbabweans were busy drinking South African beer Lion, which is in fact their favorite beer. I immediately went to buy and asked the people if South African rand can buy there. The answer was the most welcome Yes and I immediately requested Pilsner – which is the Zimbabwean made beer. I was profusely told that due to the challenges of poverty and unemployment, the pilsner beer was for the “better” and the “rich”. Nevertheless I called the beer and they indicated that they do not have change for the R100 I gave the cashier. I then requested my Zimbabwean friends to please give me the change, one of the cashiers indicated that the amount of money equivalent to this R100 would be One Million and one hundred Zimbabwean Dollars. One of my friends and comrades from South Africa indicated to me that I must open a tab.
This was for the first time in my life to have a tab of alcohol for over a million. The lesson in this regard was simple, Zimbabwean economy has collapsed. The amount of this pilsner was closer to 300 000 Zimbabwean Dollars.However, one thing for sure, Zimbabweans were enjoying themselves with a local band making life easy for everyone. We went to sleep with the itinerary for the next day having read to us during supper time.Our very first information we received at night when we landed was that we should avoid drinking water as it was contaminated and the local news papers were indicating the there have been 14 thousand deaths over diarrhea. We were told that government does not have the necessary capacity and funding to purify water. We immediately in the morning requested to be given mineral water as it was hot as normal to the lovely people of Zimbabwe. We were immediately given still water imported from Libanon. The question remained why does Zimbabwe use Lebanese water?
The answer was there are “sanctions” and due to those “sanctions Zimbabwe was unable to do anything with its economy. This was strange as our unfounded understanding was that when there are sanctions, nothing from outside would be imported to that country. However, that understanding proved to be a layman’s understanding during my visit to supermarkets as everything that is being sold in shops was not from Zimbabwe, from clothing, food, alcohol to lotions and sunlight. The cool drinks were from South Africa including the rice and washing soaps as well as the castle larger and Lion Large. Vehicles are from China and Germany.The queue for every bank equaled the queues during the first democratic elections in South Africa. I was shocked to notice that all these people were just queuing to get 50 000 Zimbabwean dollars. This was the regulation placed by government that irrespective of how much money of their own the people had in the, they can only withdraw the 50 000 Zimbabwean Dollar.
This was interesting, then the next question I asked was how much do they use to travel from their villages and townships to Harare – again the answer was very surprising as it was indicated by the Zimbabwean I asked on the street closer to stanbil bank, it was 30 000 Zimbabwean Dollars. This Zimbabwean was stressed as he was talking to me. I went to see how much was the loaf of bread, the price tag a shocking 99 000 Zimbabwean Dollars which in actual fact was more than the total salary of the teacher which is 70 000 Zimbabwean Dollars. This was the same salary earned by the ordinary police officer or nurse. This was the shock of my life. Talking about the police and the soldiers, every second person one meets in Zimbabwe is either a police officer or a soldier who were wearing worn out uniforms due to the fact that the state is unable to purchase the new furniture. Another terrible shock I saw was the presidential guard training in the streets of the City of Harare. This I was as intimidation of the highest order. The same soldiers were the ones that were coordinating queues in the banks and they were also standing on the queue to get their own money. The roads were uncontrolled any person could cross from where ever he or she feels. It is the law; people cannot stand in groups in town without being questioned by the same soldiers and police.
As I got introduced to some community members who were in town, we were cautioned every time that we should separate and not travel together as a group. This was strange as I understood the leader of the same country I was in as a progressive patriot rare to find in Africa. This belief was an insult in the citizenry of Zimbabwe. Despite this reality of queuing the banks would be closing at 11h00 am.We travelled to the township through Samora Macheal road, which is the main street in Harare. As we travelled we saw a string of soldiers flocking in town. As we perorated to the township, there were no soldiers, I hardly saw a police officer. The conditions of the people in the township were worst that ever. Of course there township was exactly the same with our Thembisa particularly Lifateng section in South Africa. What trilled me most in the township was to see the street names named after Mandela and Tutu. This connected me to my place of birth – Thembisa. They were behaving exactly like South African in Thembisa selling boiled eggs and drinking on the street.
However, the most challenging situation was the sewage perfume that was all over. In spite of these conditions, one of us demanded to purchase banana’s on the street. This was a sign of the closeness of his being with what took place in Zimbabwe. Most of us immediately identified with this situation as some of the places in South Africa are exactly like that.As we went back from the township to town, we saw the difference; I saw the difference between the most poor and the rich. The hotel where the negotiations were taking place is just the last beautiful thing one sees towards the township. The people, live in the climate of fear, they do not know if one of their family members would not disappear due to abduction or not. I also visited the biggest hospital in Harare. The situation was different from that in town where there are many soldiers and police mingling around the civilians. In this hospital there were fewer nurses than the walls of the hospital. To be precise, the only people we could see in pairs of two’s sitting in the windows were student nurses. We could not see the real nurses qualified to do their job. By the way there was no need for their presence, as the hospital was not taking any patients.
This was due to the non – availability of water and nurses. What a surprise, I met with two potential patients outside and asked them why they are sitting outside, they indicated that they needed to die closer to the hospital than in their homes. Otherwise the hospital is no better than their homes.I visited the great University of Zimbabwe, I was excited due to the fact that the Zimbabwean Herald a day before, showed that a picture of President Mugabe in a graduation ceremony of 2500 students as he was individually shacking their hands. As we were travelling to the great university, we passed the state house where the honorable Mugabe is staying. There is a board that indicates that “this road will be closed at 6pm and open at 7am”. Around the state house there are soldiers surrounding it with heavy guns and AK 47. When I pointed at the soldier I was immediately reprimanded by the people on the taxi. I asked what is wrong; I was told that I would be taken for questioning after I have been missed by the bullets. This area is the quietest place in Harare and the most beautiful residential area ever seen in my eyes in Harare. I was requested to close my big mouth until we passed the awe-inspiring residence. When I arrived in the University, there was a more serious climate of fear; there was literally no student in the campus. The leadership of students indicated that we should not walk as a group, rather we must be pairs of two otherwise we would be detained.
I started to be convinced more than ever before that the ANC has done well in South Africa. The university was vandalized and we were told that it had stopped working for the past six months because of the absence of water and electricity. The lecturers were on strike. Students were at home, the majority student’s leaders were suspended, and others were given life suspension that they will never study in any Zimbabwean university for the rest of their lives. Those that were still at the university were being followed almost every day.I also had an opportunity to meet with some of the youth that is in exile in South Africa, well articulate people who can be of quality value to the same crumbling country. As we were going back to the airport during our last day, we encountered the most horrible situation, the Mugabe entourage.
All vehicles on the road needed to be out of road or they will be killed if they defy the rule. The driver of our vehicle did not even want to look at the entourage due to fear. It does not matter even if you have a child that is sick on your vehicle, your own good vehicle must stop. To my surprise in the entourage, there were three motor bikes, an ambulance, soldiers on their truck and three German vehicles one with the honorable Mugabe written ZIM 1. The entourage takes the two lanes in the road. Besides this situation, we arrived at the Airport, one of us was requested to take his shoes out including his belt out when he was being searched in what is called “normal procedure” in the airport. After a long time over the period of our flights back, we were told that the SAA has gone back to South Africa due to the fact that the run way was dark there were no lights. However, just five minutes we heard that the Zimbabwean airplane had landed from Johannesburg. This was a surprise, what became clear was that Zimbabwean Pilots are so strong that they can land in the dark. I with a few of us started to panic due the climate of fear in Harare. We vowed to sleep together in that night to avoid any of us getting abducted.
The honest truth must be told, that in spite of this madness in their country, Zimbabweans are welcoming and warm people who unfortunately do not get the same feeeling and love in their own land. They feel not same in their own country. They feel like outcasts in their own territory, there is generally a climate of fear in Zimbabwe. Can someone help me: what kind of a patriot is Mugabe? The conclusion remains no amount of political correctedness can convince people that Mugabe is a patriot.