Zim out of the spotlight … but SADC will stand firm – Coltart

Zimbabwean

Written by Chief Reporter

Tuesday, 31 May 2011

With the attention of the international community firmly fixed on the fall-out of the North African revolution, the plight of Zimbabwe, once “Africa’s Breadbasket”, has been largely ignored.

Many Zimbabweans fear the country is hurtling towards another disaster of catastrophic proportions in the forthcoming elections.

“I fear for myself, my family and for my country” Mike Bhemba, an MDC activist said. “Surely Zimbabwe cannot go on like this we ask incredulously. But day after day we do.”

Stacey Moyo, a mother of three says the prospect of an election on its own is scary. Such are the messages coming from many ordinary people whose lives have, in the last two years, been infused with some modicum of stability after being  thrown into chaos and uncertainty in the late 1990s by an increasingly tyrannical leader desperately clinging to power.

In recent months, while the world’s gaze has been captivated by the on-going Libyan war and by a Western crusade to unseat, in the words of Nicholas Sarkozsky, “one of the most revolting regimes in history”, Zimbabwe has descended further to a level at which daily life is characterised by, at best, serious water, electricity and currency shortages, and at worst, starvation, torture and death.

Zimbabwe, once celebrated as the “breadbasket of Africa”, was hailed as the post-colonial success story. Robert Mugabe, a committed socialist and leader of the ruling Zanu (PF) party was hailed for his policy of racial reconciliation and his plans to improve the health, living standards and education of black Zimbabweans.

Stranglehold

A little over 30 years later, and Mugabe’s grip on the nation has become a stranglehold. The economy lies stagnant and state repression is the order of the day.

The harassment of journalists is spiralling out of control. A statutory body regulating the media has announced plans to set up a Media Council to handle complaints against the Press and sanction errant journalists. This comes against a backdrop of escalating repression of the media. There was a suspicious a break-in at the offices of leading independent daily NewsDay just last month, in which computer hard drives of senior editorial staff were “stolen.”

Intruders took NewsDay Editor Brian Mangwende’s laptop and stole the hard drives of the computers belonging to 11 senior editorial staffers in the paper’s newsroom in Harare. Mangwende, who writes a critical column on current affairs, said the computers contained sensitive information on stories journalists were working on. Two of the journalists whose computers were targeted were Assistant Editor Wisdom Mdzungairi and Senior Parliamentary Reporter Veneranda Langa.

Both were summoned for interrogation by the military on April 19. They were questioned about their sources for a story on the health of Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander Gen. Constantine Chiwenga.

Repression

Meanwhile, several human rights reports describe increasing acts of rape, torture and “the repression of the opposition” by the regime ahead of the election.

The horrors do not stop there. Human rights campaigners cite that there have been resurgent cases of abductions of MDC supporters in the past few weeks, a chilling reminder of 2008.

Draconian and repressive legislation such as the 2001 Broadcasting Services Act, which gives ministers the authority to interfere with the content of broadcasting programming, has given the regime the tools to silence critics. And silence it does.

The Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe has remarked that the state media is little less than a propaganda arm of  Zanu (PF). It continues to insult the MDC and black out its activities, sowing fear of the unknown if Mugabe loses elections.

If fear of the national police and the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation does not sufficiently paralyse the opposition, then the daily hunt for that extra dollar amid record high unemployment preoccupies most.

Unemployment stands at 90 per cent and more than10 per cent of the adult population are living with HIV or AIDS with scant access to treatment or medication.

A debate last weekend’s debate at a local hotel attempted to address this very question, and to identify to whom the blame should be attributed and the way forward in light of threats by Mugabe to call elections this year.

Hopes in SADC

David Coltart, a human rights campaigner, legislator and minister in the GNU, said he firmly believed that the present regime was responsible, saying Mugabe has failed to fulfil his end of the GPA bargain.

Coltart belives SADC will ultimately call Mugabe to order despite his remonstrations.

“SADC has various processes that it has put in place to be implemented by all member states,” Coltart said. “These include and are not limited to principles and guidelines governing democratic elections. Whether we like it or not, these are rules that SADC has put in place and it shall not entertain any member state that tries to subvert them.”

Coltart said Zimbabwe needed to sober up to the fact that the GPA was crafted according to SADC guidelines.

“If our GPA and roadmap, which are still being negotiated, do not fall in line, the region shall keep us on our toes until we follow its dictates. Until SADC feels that it has had its way, the region will not accept any proposals that allow Zimbabwe to hold polls anytime this year or in 2012. Any planned polls prior to the full implementation of the GPA will be in violation of SADC dictates and SADC will not sit by and watch its protocols being violated.”

George Mheza, who fought for Zanu (PF) in the war of liberation, is now an outspoken critic of Mugabe. He acknowledged that the President had used his power in the past for good ends, but said his objectives became “appalling” around a decade ago when Mugabe began to use the “issue of land reform as a useful alibi” to disguise the steps he was taking to consolidate his own power. “He is doing the same right now with the Indigenisation issue – now targeting mines and banks,” said Mheza

“Mugabe is the linchpin – if he goes, the system will crumble,” he added. But it seems Mugabe not going anywhere.