AS Zimbabwe hurtles towards another election cycle, fears abound that President Robert Mugabe might resort to his age old tactic of coercion to retain power; last week marked nine years since the June 27 bloodbath in 2008.
BY RICHARD CHIDZA
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) has warned it could force the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to call off the watershed poll if violence flares up again.
It remains to be seen whether ZHRC chairperson Elasto Mugwadi and his colleagues have the wherewithal to keep their word and stop Mugabe’s march towards another shot at the presidency for what could be his last stint given his age and the new constitutional requirements.
Violence begets violence, from colonialism, the liberation struggle, Gukurahundi which left over 20 000 civilians dead, Murambatsvina in 2005, Zimbabwe has known major periods of human carnage inter-spaced with peace in-between.
Asked his views on Gukurahundi, presidential aspirant Nkosana Moyo a former Cabinet minister in Mugabe’s government at the height of the violence at the turn of the century indicated if he won, he would pursue a futuristic policy than “seeking to reconstruct a dark past which could deprive us of the opportunity of building a beautiful future”.
In what has been described as the greatest book on power and politics, Italian philosopher, Niccollo Machiavelli said: “In the actions of men . . . when there is no court of appeal one judges by the result.” “. . . he (the leader of the State) must stick to the good so long as he can, but, being compelled be necessity, he must be ready to take the way of the evil.”
Mugabe seems to have mastered Machiavellian ideals to the letter and spirit using every trick in the book The Prince to power.
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After losing the first round of voting to MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai in March 2008, Mugabe forced through a run-off that turned into a blood-spattered one-man-show before announcing himself winner.
The real results may never be known after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission took weeks to announce the results that showed Tsvangirai had vanquished Mugabe, but failed to garner enough votes to take power.
Mugabe called for the “run-off” on June 27 and the rest as they say is history. Hordes of youths trained in bush camps across the country were unleashed and the carnage began in earnest. The world reacted with fury and forced the Zanu PF leader into a coalition with his arch-enemy.
Tsvangirai said the 2008 scenario shows the extent to which Mugabe is prepared to go in order to keep power.
“We lost many innocent souls. The June 27, 2008 bloody event showed the brutal extent to which Zanu PF can go to undo the verdict and will of the people. Ironically they killed people for exercising their democratic right to vote, which right was one of the reasons the country waged the liberation struggle,” Tsvangirai said.
He added: “But the resilient and heroic people of Zimbabwe will not tire. In 2018 the people will once again show that it is they who are sovereign”.
Only last week, MDC-T MPs moved a motion calling on government to declare June 27 — a public holiday to commemorate one of the darkest episodes in the country’s history.
“Since today is June 27, maybe as Parliament we can propose that this day becomes a national holiday in commemoration of the atrocities and genocide in slow motion which happened in 2008 when we lost more than 200 members,” Chitungwiza North lawmaker Godfrey Sithole said. His move was rejected by stand-in Speaker of the National Assembly and Zanu PF’s Melody Dziva.
Opposition People’s Democratic Party leader Tendai Biti then secretary general of the MDC-T said June 27 remains an epoch in Zimbabwe’s history.
“This day will never be forgotten because it is the day when the army carried out a coup against the people of Zimbabwe and imposed a civilian puppet in the form of Robert Mugabe. We lost heroes such as Tonderai Ndira and Better Chokururama to name, but just a few,” Biti said.
Biti blamed former South African President Thabo Mbeki for the deaths of hundreds of activists and ordinary citizens.
“The blood of those people who perished at Mugabe’s hands is in former South African President Thabo Mbeki’s hands. He and other leaders in the region looked away as Mugabe waged a reign of terror against the citizens of this country. They had power to stop the violence, but never did. They had power to force Mugabe to announce the real results, but never did. Instead they molly-coddled their comrade and lives were lost for the sake of power,” the former Finance minister said.
Party spokesperson Obert Gutu said June 27 was a sad reminder in the “struggle for democratic change in Zimbabwe”.
“Hundreds of innocent opposition supporters were brutally murdered, tortured and raped. Many homesteads in rural Zimbabwe were razed down by marauding gangs of Zanu PF thugs and hooligans. Tonderai Ndira, Beta Chokururama, Abigail Chiroto, Shepherd Jani and hundreds of others were murdered in cold blood in a senseless orgy of politically motivated savagery and banditry,” Gutu said.
The mayhem continued and the MDC-T fingered senior Zanu PF leaders including former Cabinet ministers Didymus Mutasa (now opposition leader), Hubert Nyanhongo, Amos Midzi (now late).
Mugabe has acknowledged somewhat grudgingly the Gukurahundi atrocities describing the period as a moment of madness, but has never said a word about 2008.
Instead on the occasions the Zanu PF leader has spoken about the election, Mugabe has paid tribute to the military for keeping him in power despite the fact that the results of the run-off poll were rejected at home and abroad.
Mugabe was forced into a coalition government with Tsvangirai and the smaller MDC then led by Arthur Mutambara.
In the March election, Tsvangirai, outpolled Mugabe by a 47,9 % vote against the latter’s 43,2 %, the Zanu PF leader in 2014 “erroneously” told his party’s 6th congress that his adversary had won by 74%. This cemented the belief in the opposition ranks that indeed electoral authorities had connived with Mugabe to rob Tsvangirai of a clear victory.
Gutu said such kind of electoral practices should never be allowed in Zimbabwe.
“Today, we remember the historic occasion on which one man participated in a one-man election in which he was declared the winner with an overwhelming 85% victory margin. Never again should our beloved motherland go back to those gory days of politically-motivated violence and intolerance,” Gutu said.
Various non-government organisations continue to help whole villages and families to cope with post-traumatic counselling, but for Mugabe it business as usual. Power remains in his hands, as for the costs of it, it’s a story for another day.
