Appiah Kusi Adomako
2 May 2008
opinion
Accra — Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught up in an escapable network of mutuality. Whatever affects one directly affects one indirectly.
It has been more than a month since Zimbabwe had their presidential and parliamentary elections. The official election results have still not been declared with regards to the presidential election. Most of the parliamentary constituencies have had their results declared with few constituencies still to be decided by the electoral commission and the law courts. One does not need to be a PHD holder to know that the incumbent president-Robert Mugabe and his party Zanu PF has lost the presidential polls. The attempt by
the government of Mugabe to block the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for officially declaring the results of the last month's election has not only become scar on the image of government but also defeats the very purpose of democracy.
Perhaps, there are thousand one and one reasons why final and certified results have not been released. The first reason is that the regime has lost the election to the main opposition party called the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Secondly, the regime is afraid to stand before court to answer questions on the fundamental human rights which characterized the regime.
Over the weekend, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission released the results of recounts in 18 seats, which confirmed that Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since independence in 1980.
Someone may ask why has the TRUMPET OF CONSCIENCE suddenly become a voice in the issue of Zimbabwe. There is saying that when Nigeria sneezes the whole of West Africa catches the cold. Zimbabwe has become an issue which cannot be left to the people of Zimbabwe alone to decide. It affects everyone. It was Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr who said that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Whatever affects one directly affects one indirectly. If the regime of Mugabe is able to succeed in his sinister agenda by pushing the election to run-off and bully his way through to win, it would become lessons for some unfortunate African leaders to emulate.
Already, some constitutionally elected presidents in the continent have attempted to amend the constitution to be in office for more than two times.
The deceased president of Togo called Gnassingbé Eyadema did it. Olusegun Obasanjo attempted to amend the constitution to be able to stay in office for the third time. It has become something like democrats turned autocrats. This new form of threat is more dangerous than military interference in democratic governance. Mugabe has not respected the fundamental rights of the people. The government of Zanu PF party has been using intimidation, harassment and torture as tool to weaken his opponents. All these are happening under a regime which calls itself democratic. If we call what is happening in Zimbabwe democracy, then I do not know how autocracy will be.
Zimbabwe today is no different from what pertained during the regime of Ian Smith. There is no freedom for those who yearn to breathe the air of freedom. If you do not sing from the same song sheet as the regime sings then you are singing discord. In attempt by the regime of Mugabe to do things to tease western powers, it has brought in the wake of dire consequences to the people. Currently inflation in Zimbabwe is almost reaching infinity. Supply of urgent commodities has dully been affected.
The image of the continent has dully been affected by what is happening in Zimbabwe. People watch what is happening in Zimbabwe on the television and conclude that Africa is the same all over.
The people of Zimbabwe have decided in an election. Their choice must be respected. You cannot stop the matching feet to the city of freedom. Victor Hugo once said that there is nothing so powerful in this world than an idea whose time has come. There is nothing than Mugabe and the Zimbabwe state apparatus can do to stop people who are yearning to breathe freedom.
In liberation theology we say that evil carries the seed of its own destruction and that evil cannot permanently organize itself. Historian Charles A. Beard when asked what lesson has he learned from history, he said: First whom the gods would destroy they must first make mad with power. Second, the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceedingly small. Third, the bee fertilizes the flower it robs. Fourth, when it is dark enough you can see the stars.
These are the words, not of a preacher but a hard-headed historian, whose long and painstaking study of history revealed to him that evil has a self-defeating quality. It can go a long way but then it can reach its limit. God is always on the side of those who do the right thing. It was William Cullen Bryant who said that 'truth crushed to the ground would rise again.' Again, James Lowell Russell said that 'though the cause of Evil prosper, yet this Truth alone is strong, though its portion be on the scaffold, wrong forever on the scaffold, yet the scaffold sways the future and behind the dim stands God keeping watching above his own.'
Everyone of goodwill has the right to express his righteous indignation about what is happening in Zimbabwe. I speak and write on behalf of millions of Zimbabwean voters whose decision to choose one to govern them has not been respected.
Today, the Moses called Morgan Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe stands before the Zimbabwean pharaohs-Mugabe, the electoral commissioner and the law court and say LET MY PEOPLE GO.
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Very good article.
But the real problem lies in the struggle for the control of the Zimbabwean resources.
Soon after independence Mugabe murdered 30 000 Ndebeles in the south of Zimbabwe, this came to be known as the world known Gukurawundi Massacres. The West never raised an issue, Mugabe continued to be supported and given red carpet treatment by those calling him a dictator today. They stood by and said thats the independence they wanted let them kill each other.
But all hell broke loose when he started repossesing land and killing a few white farmers(Yes I mean a few - on record no more than 50) WHY? This is the only time when whites started participating in politics - funding the opposition. Because now Bob was messing around with their kith and kin, the West started to hit where it hurts most, the economy. Okay fine its justified. BUT are these not double standards - why didnt they do anything when the 30 000 Ndebele people were killed? Food tor thought for Africans - evidence is in Uganda, Darfu and Kenya. They will do everything to protect their OWN interests.
For your own record do you know 75% of the economy and two thirds of productive agricultural land in Zimbabwe is controlled by the settlers(whites).
However that does not make Mugabe a Saint, he is a murderer as much as he used to be hero to most of us. But now the real hero of the Zimbabwean struggle is Joshua Muqabuko Nkomo(R.I.P).
African
Whites protect their kith and kin, and blacks kill their kith and kin.There is a lesson to be learned from whites.
kjrs120. It does not seem true especially when you look at yugoslavia, kosovo, northern island, unless these are all countries of the black skined. However, there is still a lesson to learn: Whites protect their interests by any means possible- but mainly by 'divide and rule'.
m-ndembwenda. What the people of Zimbabwe need with regards to such unfortunate events is reconciliation, forgive each other and join hands in a unit of purpose. Those who have to apologise have to do just that if they haven't done so. But lets not forget that the Gugurahundi was in response to a 'war' by the so called dissidents- some digruntled former ZIPRA forces who decided to wage a war against Mugabe,s government. Still the force used was dispropotionate and reckless. And before all this, in case we forget, there used to be some regular Ndebele raids of the 'Amasvina'. These were driven by merely the desire to rob the Shona people of their harvest and any of their beautiful women. These events are well documented in the history of Zimbabwe. People of Zimbabwe need to forgive each other and work together to develop their country.
Morgan Tsvangirai and the West are complicit in Mugabe’s genocidal rule. In the early 80s, Mugabe exterminated 20 000 innocent villagers. The international community neither intervened nor chastised him. Scotland’s Edinburgh University, University of Massachusetts and Michigan State University awarded Mugabe honorary degrees in 1994, 1986 and 1990, respectively. In 1994, Mugabe became the Knight Commander of the Order of Bath, knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
Zimbabwe’s political juggernaut is about failed leadership and unsuitable political character. Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC and the West's blameless darling, is Robert Mugabe in democratic disguise. He was a fully subscribed member of Mugabe’s Zanu PF party during the 80s Zimbabwean genocide when the dictator killed 20 000 innocent villagers. He even held the rank of "political commissar". He never spoke out. As recently as 2004, he confirmed that Mugabe was his hero (The Independent (UK), June 20, 2004). His dictatorial rule split the MDC in 2005 and hence the opposition could not form a united front during this past election.
Zimbabweans in Zimbabwe know these unspoken truths and hence refused to give Tsvangirai an outright victory. If anything, the result shows that the dictator still has a lot of clout and cannot be easily brushed aside. The lesson for the rest of us is that: someone's dictator is another's hero-for-life.
Zimbabwe’s “genocide” grabbed global headlines only after the post-1999 killings of 300 opposition supporters. But now these killings included about a dozen whites. The dictator had also started repossessing white-owned farms to give to landless black peasants. suppose the West expected a Kenya-style scenario, or, worse still, another Rwanda. Not in Zimbabwe. After the re-run, things will definitely change with Mugabe's departure, but the will stay the same. While Mugabe represents the last detour toward Zimbabwe’s final descent into hell, Tsvangirai represents a false beginning. One hopes that the international community will not let Tsvangirai suppress Mugabe's undying supporters when and if he wins the next election and becomes president.
Morgan Tsvangirai and the West are complicit in Mugabe’s genocidal rule. In the early 80s, Mugabe exterminated 20 000 innocent villagers. The international community neither intervened nor chastised him. Scotland’s Edinburgh University, University of Massachusetts and Michigan State University awarded Mugabe honorary degrees in 1994, 1986 and 1990, respectively. In 1994, Mugabe became the Knight Commander of the Order of Bath, knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
Zimbabwe’s political juggernaut is about failed leadership and unsuitable political character. Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC and the West's blameless darling, is Robert Mugabe in democratic disguise. He was a fully subscribed member of Mugabe’s Zanu PF party during the 80s Zimbabwean genocide when the dictator killed 20 000 innocent villagers. He even held the rank of "political commissar". He never spoke out. As recently as 2004, he confirmed that Mugabe was his hero (The Independent (UK), June 20, 2004). His dictatorial rule split the MDC in 2005 and hence the opposition could not form a united front during this past election.
Zimbabweans in Zimbabwe know these unspoken truths and hence refused to give Tsvangirai an outright victory. If anything, the result shows that the dictator still has a lot of clout and cannot be easily brushed aside. The lesson for the rest of us is that: someone's dictator is another's hero-for-life.
Zimbabwe’s “genocide” grabbed global headlines only after the post-1999 killings of 300 opposition supporters. But now these killings included about a dozen whites. The dictator had also started repossessing white-owned farms to give to landless black peasants. suppose the West expected a Kenya-style scenario, or, worse still, another Rwanda. Not in Zimbabwe. After the re-run, things will definitely change with Mugabe's departure, but the will stay the same. While Mugabe represents the last detour toward Zimbabwe’s final descent into hell, Tsvangirai represents a false beginning. One hopes that the international community will not let Tsvangirai suppress Mugabe's undying supporters when and if he wins the next election and becomes president.
What a brilliant article. I found this really inspiring. As a Zimbabwean person, I thank you for raising these points to the attention of the world.