An Ominous Drama in Zimbabwe (by Nontando Hadebe)
It is difficult to make sense of the current ominous political drama surrounding the result of the presidential elections in Zimbabwe.
Let me set the context of the elections, which were held March 29, 2008. These elections were unique in that there were four different elections taking place simultaneously. Each voter had to complete four different voting forms for presidential, senate, parliament, and local government nominations. There were about 9,000 voting stations around the country. According to a new election law, results of the votes had to be posted on the door of each voting station. This was done on March 30 by almost all the voting stations around the country. Opposition parties and civil societies were then able to collate the results. Local communities were also able to see the results.
It became apparent from the results that the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had won in all four categories. The MDC called a press conference and announced their victory based on the results from the voting stations across the country.
The government did not expect that they would lose. Prior to the elections, they used state resources to launch their campaign and were so confident of winning that Robert Mugabe went on TV stating that all parties should respect the outcome of the people as this was the expressed wish of the nation. He even went as far as saying that if he lost he would step down. He never imagined that he would lose to the opposition.
So the government withheld the results and slowly released the results of the parliamentary, senate, and local government elections. They lost in both parliamentary and local government and tied in the senate. There was no word on the presidential elections -- only an ominous silence and then demands for a recount. What is amazing in the delays and demands by the government is that the results have not been released, so how can there be talk of a recount and why should there be a recount!
Clearly the government knows it has been defeated – there is no other reason for them to demand recounts and act in the way they are doing. In the past few days the government has bared its teeth by harassing members of opposition parties, arresting election officers, and invading white-owned farms. The government is relying on its military forces to hold on to power because they have been defeated in the votes. It's frightening to watch the extent to which they are willing to go to hold on to power.
This is the time when Zimbabwe needs the international community to intervene on their behalf. The people have done everything in their power. At great risk they voted, believing that this would bring the change they desperately want, but, to their dismay, this instrument of freedom is turning against them. What else should people do?
Nontando Hadebe, a former Sojourners intern, is originally from Zimbabwe and is now pursuing graduate studies in theology in South Africa.
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Comments
Hi Nontando,
This is a great summary, but what intervention do you suggest? I think we have to delve more deeply into the "forces" that hold the situation in place.
We need everyone and I mean everyone to put pressure on people who matter. We need all the relatives of people listed as commanding the violence to text them and tell them that relative or not we expect them to their professional duty and say No.
We need every church to send messages into Zimbabwe including to those officers.
We need people to ring up their politicians to ask their Foreign Offices what they are doing.
We must put pressure on the newspapers to ask penetrating questions. Where is George Chiweshe, head of ZEC, for example. Rumours have reached London that he is not safe.
We need the Vatican to ring the old man. And we need the head of your college to ring the Vatican. Put pressure on people who can put pressure on people.
Any more ideas anyone?
Posted by: scotchcart | April 9, 2008 11:19 AM
Thanks for the update, Nontando.
Is the UN doing anything about this?
How are other African Nations helping?
Britain has been helping the MDC, what are they and the EU doing now besides making statements?
Bush is planning a trip to Africa.
He should be following the drama in Zimbabwe.
If he could make something happen, he could boost his sagging image.
How do you think we can best help from here?
Push Bush?
Posted by: justintime | April 9, 2008 11:20 AM
From what I am hearing on the BBC World Service there in NO African led coalition that will stand up to this dictator. In light of global opposition to USA action in Iraq (semi-unilateral) how does the International Community take action against this election tragedy - when its neighbors are virtually silent (voice and action)?
Posted by: eneubauer | April 9, 2008 12:20 PM
Nontando, I'm trying to mobilize our large suburban megachurch into forgetting about ourselves and doing the work of Christ internationally. What practical steps can our church take to help?
Brian Jones
www.brianjones.com
Posted by: Brian Jones | April 9, 2008 3:11 PM
Start a propaganda campaign that declares he has weapons of mass destruction. Then take a mocked up resolution to the U.N. accompained by a sack full of lies. Then set a dead-line for him to turn over all WMDs and once the dead-line is not met (since he had none to begin with)launch an all out attack with really cool shock and awe "stuff", capture the dictator, and set up shop as this countries police department. Then move on to the next one. But this is just one suggestion......
Posted by: d.e.sharp | April 9, 2008 3:51 PM
d.e.sharp LOL
More seriously, what is Mugabe's base of power? the military? a certain segment of the economy? a particular tribe?
Posted by: carl copas | April 9, 2008 4:34 PM
Nothabo, when our beloved 30 000 were murdered by the Gukurahundi, Mugabe was never punished. The West looked aside and said well thats the independence they wanted. But when Mugabe started grabbing the farms and displacing their thick and thin(fellow whites) he was labelled a dictator and hence a call for regime chenge.
So Nothabo what makes you think just for election results the world will help. No! there is no oil in Zimbabwe. We have seenn it in Uganda, Rwanda and recently in Darfur and Kenya. Now SA IS ON THE SAME PATH OF LAND CONTROVESY , NO WONDER Mbeki is suffering from action paralisis.
AK IS THE WAY,
When all fails everybody resorts to prayer but in politics the burrel of the gun is the ultimate solution.
'When peaceful change is made impossible, violent change is inevitable'.
Posted by: Meja Zimondi | April 9, 2008 10:44 PM
This situation demands international pressure. If Mugabe resists, I would support international military action to depose Mugabe and his illegitamate regime to liberate the people of Zimbabwe. The U.S. should have done so in Rwanda. It should do so in Darfur, and it should consider the righteous use of force in this Zimbabwean situation to stop this unjust oppression by Mugabe. We are seeing our brother lying by the side of the road, beaten by thieves, and doing nothing to help him or stop further beatings.
Posted by: Help Zimbabwe | April 10, 2008 12:03 AM
Mugabe’s power comes from the few, the armed, the intimidating. The Zanu-PF terrorist group is made up by both the young militia minded rubble-rousers and the older veterans of past unfair military actions. They demonstrate mafia-like tactics in murders, threats, torture, kidnapping, etc, to will their way into power among the unarmed civilians. Even as of this week they continue their onslaught of intimidation by forcing anyone capable of voting to do so yet with the threat of death if they cast their vote for the MDC, opposing party. There is wide-spread stories that tell of the Zanu-PF are dragging the sick, the dying, and the scared to voting booths at gun and knife point in order to overturn the original election outcome. MDC supporter are now being pulled out into public squares and beaten severely as examples of disobedience, yet where is the UN convoy that was sent there early on in the process? Where are the foreign election monitors, (including U.S. citizens) who declared their presence would insure a fair election? Here’s where they are – they’re back home resting comfortable. They left before the results were publicly announced and agreed upon by all parties out of fear that the impending civil unrest may cost them their lives. There should have been more of a forceful policing of this process on the behalf of the U.N. and their presence should have been felt from start to finish, or Zimbabwee should be reported for what it has been for the past six years, a country under the rule of a dictator and not an elected official which continues to receive monetary funding from the world-wide banking industry.
Posted by: d.e.sharp | April 10, 2008 8:11 AM
Saubona Nontando,
We pray every day against this tragic mess and for those trapped in it. We do it with heartache for the loving wonderful people we have known who suffer, and with thanksgiving for those who find faith in God a source of strength in time of enormous need. I am hoping you will be able to recover our email address from this post. We would love to hear from you.
Philip and Carmena
Posted by: Philip L. Capp | April 10, 2008 3:37 PM
Dear Senator Barack Obama,
NOW that you've won the Democratic Party nomination for the Presidency,
you have America's undivided attention.
You are the one who can focus America's attention on the crisis in Zimbabwe.
NOW is the critical time to help the people of Zimbabwe inaugurate their new, rightfully chosen government and help them begin to rebuild their nation.
Can we do this?
YES WE CAN!
.........................................
Send a message to Obama.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/contact2
Posted by: justintime | April 10, 2008 4:59 PM
Ruling party tallies show Zimbabwe run-off vote needed CBC News
Zimbabwe's justice minister said Wednesday a run-off election is needed to determine the country's next president, a result the opposition has rejected.
Speaking to reporters in Harare, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party results from the March 29 presidential vote show there is no clear winner, Reuters reported.
"The total outcome is that none of the candidates has been able to secure polling required by our law in order to avoid a run-off," Patrick Chinamasa told reporters.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change quickly rejected the statement, saying its leader Morgan Tsvangirai is the clear winner of the presidential vote.
Chinamasa also said the country's electoral commission has ordered recounts in five constituencies that defeated ZANU-PF in the parliamentary vote, which happened the same day as the presidential election.
President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF lost control of Zimbabwe's Parliament to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, but the electoral commission has yet to release the presidential vote tallies.
Legislative election results released by the commission last week showed MDC won 109 seats to the ZANU-PF's 97. Final results for the 60 elected seats in the Senate gave the ruling party and the opposition 30 seats each.
Early unofficial tallies suggest the MDC also took the presidential vote, though not necessarily with the 50 per cent plus one majority required to prevent a run-off.
The MDC alleges Mugabe is delaying the release to give his party time to intimidate voters and rig the results.
'Dangerous' to release results
A lawyer for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission told a Harare high court on Wednesday it would be "dangerous" to order the release of the results. George Chikumbirike told Judge Tendai Uchena he would be putting the commission in a precarious position if he ordered it to release results and the commission could not comply, said Reuters.
"It would be dangerous in my view to give an order because it might not be complied with … because of outside exigencies which the party [ZEC] will be unable to control," Chikumbirike was quoted as saying. He did not give any other details.
The high court is holding hearings on a petition by the opposition MDC, which is seeking to force the electoral commission to publish the results.
Chikumbirike refused to tell Uchena when the tally would be announced, saying it was privileged information that would be released when the commission was ready, Reuters said.
................
US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is writing up the decision.
Posted by: justintime | April 10, 2008 9:39 PM
Policeman saw recruits being used to rig Zimbabwe votes for Robert Mugabe
By Peta Thornycroft in Harare / 12:17am BST 11/04/2008
The first solid evidence of ballot rigging in Zimbabwe's presidential election emerged yesterday when a senior policeman told The Daily Telegraph that officers marked extra votes for President Robert Mugabe.
Almost two weeks after polling day, the official result has still not been announced. Independent monitors say that Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, came first.
But the regime's critics believe that the Electoral Commission - chaired by George Chiweshe, a judge and close ally of the president - will announce that Mr Mugabe is leading, although probably falling below the 50 per cent margin needed to avoid a second round.
The MDC said last night that it would boycott a run-off in the presidential poll if one was declared, adding that Mr Tsvangirai won with a share "much higher" than the 50.3 per cent it claimed last week.
The police officer, who cannot be identified for fear of reprisals, saw a number of ballot boxes carried into a room at police headquarters in Harare last weekend, seven days after the election.
Five or six new recruits from Morris Depot, all in uniform, then filled out extra votes for Mr Mugabe. Ballots for Mr Tsvangirai were removed, the officer added, to bolster the president's share of the vote.
"We were in the corridor and saw the ballot boxes being taken into Room 96," the officer said. The police headquaters is only about 300 yards from Mr Mugabe's office in Harare. "We asked somebody who went in there and saw the trainees filling out the ballot papers. I am not the only one who knows this, there are others. The recruits will do anything they are asked to do. They were all desperate for jobs. If they have to beat people they will do that."
The officer said that senior police commanders were desperate for 84-year-old Mr Mugabe to hold power to protect their own interests.
The force, he added, was "very, very corrupt because surely we cannot survive on what we earn". Despite recent salary rises, policemen earn only £10 a week, before tax.
Shortly before the election, the ruling Zanu-PF regime changed the rules to allow police to "assist voters" inside polling stations. The police were also responsible for transmitting the presidential results to the Electoral Commission's "command centre" in Harare.
Tendai Biti, the secretary-general of the MDC, said the party had evidence of nine million ballot papers being printed before the election, despite Zimbabwe's registered electorate of only 5.9 million.
Figures from the parliamentary election, held on the same day as the presidential poll, show that some 2.5 million people voted.
Mr Biti said: "They want to re-engineer the results. They have re-stuffed these ballot boxes. An illegitmate government is in place. The failure of the regime in Harare to give in to those who were elected in our view constitutes a constitutional coup d'etat."
The election crisis will be the subject of an emergency summit of southern African countries in Zambia's capital, Lusaka, tomorrow. Both Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai could attend, raising the possibility of a public row.
.................
There were international election observers but they left Zimbabwe after the polls closed, in fear of their safety.
Posted by: justintime | April 10, 2008 9:54 PM
Zimbabwean President Mugabe Reinstalls His Pre-Election Cabinet
By Carole Gombakomba / Voice of America / 10 April 2008
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has reconstituted the cabinet which sat before the recent presidential and general elections, despite having dissolved it before the March 29 polls and despite the loss of parliamentary seats by some members.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, who lost his house seat, and Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, said the constitution has a provision allowing previous cabinet members including at least seven ministers who lost their parliamentary seats, to resume their duties so long as a new cabinet has not been appointed.
Tinoziva Bere of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and the Law Society of Zimbabwe told reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that although Mr Mugabe dissolved the cabinet prior to the elections, a loophole in the constitution seems to have caught the opposition and the public off guard.
...................
Is Mugabe following US DOJ Counsel John Yoo's memo on the Powers of the Unitary President?
Posted by: justintime | April 10, 2008 10:09 PM
Thanks Nontando -
Much of what you report I have heard from my sisters room mate in England. She was born in Rhodesia but her family had to leave for SA because they are white and her father was military. They had many friends and relatives that were 4th and 5th generation Rhodesian and owned farms. They now have lost their farms that employed many and the farms are wasted and destroyed. Many of the animals have been killed off so there is no milk, eggs or stock to produce off-spring to feed people.
Mugabe has raped financally the Zimbabweian people and will continue to do so with the assistance of the UN and others. Should we do something - yes! These are our brothers and sisters - but what should we do? if we do something are we just creating another situation where members of the UN and elected officers of that organization will be able to subvert our efforts and add to their personal fortunes.
What to do -
Blessings - (and if that offends you - deal with it)
.
Posted by: Moderatelad | April 14, 2008 8:26 AM
welcome back ml.
Please explain how the UN is helping Mugabe rape Zimbabwe.
That's a new one.
Posted by: justintime | April 14, 2008 10:38 AM
Posted by: justintime | April 14, 2008 10:38 AM
Thanks -
The UN is giving millions in aid to Zimbabwe and they know that he has and is taking millions out of Zimbabwe dollors and putting them into landholdings - banks - etc all over the world. Many complain about Iraq should be paying for some of their protection out of the oil money they make - and I agree. Zimbabwe could be doing a lot better and their ecconomy growing if Mugabe was out of office. This is why so many companies that could or have invested in Africa are now pulling out. The political drama that is going on over there is too much and makes it an area of the world that investors are backing away from. NOW - I personally believe that the next great revival movement in the Christian Faith will come out of Africa and then you will see that area becoming an area that will atract investors, they will be doing commerce with the rest of the world and be a mover and shaker in world events.
Praying that it happens sooner rather than later.
Blessings -
.
Posted by: Moderatelad | April 14, 2008 10:52 AM
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