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Botswana: Whither Botswana?
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
COLUMN
17 April 2008
Posted to the web 17 April 2008
Dan Moabi
Another rigged victory for Mugabe would be totally unacceptable.
President Thabo Mbeki's mediation between Zimbabwe's government and its opposition obviously did not achieve much of what he had hoped to do.
The electoral rolls for the recent elections are good examples of this. The names of many people who had registered for the elections apparently did not appear on the rolls. However, the rolls contained the names of many deceased people, the so-called "tombstone" or "ghost" voters, which were fortunately uncovered by the opposition and reported to the election observers. There were also complaints about the late publication of the rolls, making it difficult to correct them before the elections; and about the printing of millions more election ballots than was necessary. I wonder why such previously known problems were not anticipated during the negotiations, and steps taken to prevent them happening again.
Then there were the pre-election statements by the commander of the army and the commissioner of police that they would not recognise the election of any opposition presidential candidate. Such statements would, of course, have been regarded as treasonable in any other democratic country. This was also not happening for the first time in Zimbabwe elections, and should have been anticipated.
Happily, the desirability of enabling the opposition parties to have access to the state's broadcast media for political broadcasts in preparation for the elections was discussed and agreed during the negotiations. However, it was disappointing that this concession was apparently only granted to the opposition parties less than 20 days before the elections. This raises another fundamental question about the negotiations, namely, why Zimbabwe's "unashamedly partisan" (The Zimbabwean, 20-26 March 2008) electoral commission was left intact. As was the case in Kenya, the president appointed the commission single-handed.
But to be fair to President Mbeki, it could well be that all these issues were addressed during the negotiations but deliberately ignored by the Zimbabwe authorities. This would not surprise anyone.
Just two or three days before the elections, the main opposition presidential candidates suffered similar setbacks. First, the relevant authorities reportedly registered a helicopter hired by Morgan Tsvangirai for the remaining days of his campaign, then grounded it immediately its purpose became clear to them. Then Simba Makoni's South African helicopter pilot was suddenly arrested for no apparent reason. Admittedly, the Mbeki negotiations could not have anticipated this kind of official sabotage.
In the face of such dirty tricks aimed at the opposition candidates, it was significant indeed that they were able to achieve what they did. However, much as the ruling party manipulated things, the people of Zimbabwe frustrated its efforts. They suffered unbearable hardships for too long and now need a break. In response, the government is resorting to desperate tactics such as demanding a recount of ballots before the official results are announced; claiming that President Mugabe was robbed of a specific number of votes; and arresting election officials accused of having been responsible for this!
A major concern regarding this is that another rigged victory for Mugabe would be totally unacceptable to the opposition and could easily spark a spontaneous uprising. Similarly, if President Mugabe lost the election, his supporters might try to overturn such a result by force. They have never disguised their utter contempt for Mugabe's opponents. They are especially contemptuous of those who did not participate in the liberation war, which they believe gave Mugabe exclusive right to the presidency of Zimbabwe. Hopefully, neither outcome will materialise, which would be wonderful news for us all.
However, I hope the SADC leaders are thinking about what could be done in response to either of the scenarios described above. Either scenario would be devastating for SADC as a whole, but especially for Botswana and South Africa. It was therefore encouraging to learn that there was a SADC summit last Saturday, and that President Ian Khama and his foreign minister played some part in initiating it. I send my warmest congratulations to both of them on this excellent initiative. Hopefully, it is a sign of more positive initiatives to come from them, which would greatly improve our image as a democratic nation.
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SADC governments have done immense injustice to the people of Zimbabwe over the past eight or so years. It always saddened me to listen to our previous president and his foreign minister say this country was too weak to do anything about the situation in Zimbabwe. It is even more saddening that no one ever asked them how much weaker today's Botswana is than the Botswana of the 1960s and 70s, which was always so outspoken in its criticism of white-minority injustice in Rhodesia, apartheid South Africa, and South West Africa. It would have been interesting indeed to hear their response to this. But the saddest thing for our nation is that the Zimbabwe people might never forget or forgive this huge let-down.
Its unfortunate that SADC choose to ignore the plight of Zimbabweans and allow a geriatric despot to cling to power. I am however encouraged by the efforts of President Khama and President Mwanawasa. I hope the other regional leaders will see the situation in Zimbabwe as it is (a crisis) and condemn mad Uncle Bob.
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