Peering+through+layers+of+Zimbabwe+deception,+Mohau+Phelo,+STimes

Sunday Times, Johannesburg, 18 March 2007
=Peering through Zimbabwe’s layers of deception=


 * Mohau Pheko**

I have become jaded over the Zimbabwe issue.

I’ve been reading Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins, which describes how highly paid professionals lurk in the shadows to cheat countries around the world out of trillions of dollars. When they emerge, their modus operandi includes overthrowing heads of state, rigged elections, manufactured terrorist attacks, payoffs, sex, murder and extortion.

It has me wondering whether recent events in Harare are not the makings of an over- productive mastermind trying, through make- believe scenarios, to evoke sympathy and outrage for what may actually be seeds of deception.

Frankly, the reported situation in Zimbabwe has become the perfect script for a spy movie.

On October 12 2005, Morgan Tsvangirai precipitated a fatal split in his six-year-old opposition when he stormed out of a Movement for Democratic Change meeting, prompting the faction led by the party’s deputy secretary, Gibson Sibanda, to suspend him.

In return, Tsvangirai supporters suspended Sibanda and members of his faction. Stunned by their party leader’s dishonesty and dictatorial tendencies, the MDC found itself divided.

It has to be said that Tsvangirai’s bizarre behaviour that day left many formerly enthusiastic supporters baffled. Why, some question, was he committed to boycotting the election? Why would he not countenance an alternative plan? Why was he dogmatic and unyielding in his view, prepared to trample on the MDC’s constitution, lie to the media and even declare to the national council, “If the party breaks, so be it”? Why has he not done anything since to reconcile the two opposing factions? Could a secret meeting with Zanu-PF kingmaker Solomon Mujuru — husband of vice-president Joyce Mujuru — have changed his mind?

In the tradition of the espionage movie, conspiracy theories abound. The Gibson Sibanda faction has been accused of secretly conniving with President Thabo Mbeki to undermine Tsvangirai. On the other hand, there are those who believe that President Robert Mugabe and Tsvangirai are colluding on a blueprint that is mutually beneficial. There are accusations that Tsvangirai has been colluding with Zanu- PF in a plot by Mujuru’s husband, betraying the MDC by pulling out of senate elections in exchange for undisclosed political rewards.

If one links these events, recent statements by various leaders of the ruling Zanu-PF make perfect sense. The government of Zimbabwe declares its innocence in recent events by implicating opposition forces within the MDC for the latest calamity. In essence, it is said the opposition came with pangas to the recent march to deal with each other. In the interest of public safety, the police had to intervene to stop the altercation.

In the mind of many, this ongoing war within the opposition in Zimbabwe is a perfect cover for the country’s Central Intelligence Organisation to meticulously deepen divisions within the opposition, and undermine any credible opposition or threat to the ruling party.

The government’s response to recent events is consistent with the words of Emmerson Mnangagwa, shortly after the deployment of the Fifth Brigade in Mata beleland North in 1983. As minister of State Security responsible for the CIO, he stated: “Blessed are they who will follow the path of the government law, for their days on earth shall be increased. But woe to those who will choose the path of collaboration with dissidents for we will certainly shorten their stay on earth.”

In trying to discover who is culpable in the Zimbabwe crisis, Mugabe’s statement is instructive: “I would like to see an African country that has gone this length in those directions ... abiding by the rule of law, accepting the reign of human rights and establishing democracy. You also have nongovernmental organisations here telling them [the British government] the opposite of what we are. In the meantime, they are enjoying the freedom of organising our people without hindrance.”

It is clear from this that Mugabe perceives accusations levelled against his government as baseless and unfounded.

As the plot thickens, the sad ending is that after 26 years as distinguished architects of their own liberation, Zimbabweans pin their hopes on the retirement of one man. Even more disappointing, conversations in Zimbabwe have centred on dubious characters for leadership. It is time Zimbabwe ended the personality cult in politics. It is time to pause and not blindly follow popular and charismatic personalities who have already shown that they are seriously flawed as leaders. For outsiders to support and intervene in Zimbabwe, solidarity needs to be built on a vision of a new Zimbabwe.

The lesson to be learnt from Zimbabwe is that a construction of democracy, where the majority vote and the minority elites govern, does not lend itself to participatory democracy where citizens can recall their leaders. Perhaps the real lesson is, presidents do not assume power through an exam. They are the product of the choices made by the governed.

It is incumbent upon all Zimbabweans to elevate the level of debate to provide a vision of their new society. This will reinforce solidarity in the region in such a way that those who find themselves in wrong jobs after 26 years of rule will be conscious of the pressure to step aside in the interest of a new national vision and thereby end the seeds of deception.


 * From: http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Insight/Article.aspx?id=414960**

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