Harare — Security forces are being deployed across Zimbabwe ostensibly to record accounts of the country's liberation struggle against white-minority rule, but both political parties and independent analysts view the tactic as a prelude to political violence ahead of next year's scheduled elections.
In the aftermath of the violent 2008 polls, a government of national unity was formed between President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF and two wings of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). It was decreed that both presidential and parliamentary elections would be held simultaneously between March and October 2013. But no date has yet been set for the elections, and no referendum on the adoption of a new constitution - a prerequisite for the polls - has been held.
Mugabe has been president since the country's 1980 independence from Britain, and, in accordance with the 2009 unity government agreement, ZANU-PF has retained control of all security portfolios.
Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa has told local media the Military History Research Project is an urgent issue. "People must know where this country came from and how we got our freedom. The process of capturing this vital historical information and events is a race against time, as people who have this information in their memories are dying. With the passage of time, the memories naturally fade away or get distorted with age," he said.
The ZANU-PF project involves the deployment of soldiers as well as "historians and researchers" to interview people - such as traditional leaders, chiefs, headmen and veterans of the liberation war - about pre- and post-independence military history.
The deployment of security forces comes after senior military commanders declared they would not serve under any government that was not led by ZANU-PF.
Sticker campaign
Meanwhile, ZANU-PF is embarking on a strategy to visually identify which households support the party.
ZANU-PF chairman for Masvingo Province, Lovemore Matuke, told local media, "You are supposed to have stickers at every household so that we identify you. Our real supporters should have stickers at their homes. If you do not have that sticker at your place, you will be skipped,"
Being "skipped" is thought to mean that those without the markers will be ineligible for agricultural inputs, such as the seed and fertilizer being distributed in a recently launched ZANU-PF initiative.
ZANU-PF wants to remind voters of the role played by the military in the presidential election run-off [in 2008] in which hundreds of people were butchered or maimed
But Pedzisai Ruhanya, director of Zimbabwe Democracy Institute (ZDI), an independent research organisation, told IRIN, "The two exercises [the history project and sticker campaign] are simply designed to harvest fear from the electorate. ZANU-PF wants to remind voters of the role played by the military in the presidential election run-off [in 2008] in which hundreds of people were butchered or maimed."
The 2008 poll saw ZANU-PF lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since independence and forced a second round of voting in the presidential race. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the running to protest the political violence.
Ruhanya said insisting on stickers to show support for ZANU-PF would make those who did not comply vulnerable to political violence. "Deploying soldiers in rural areas just before elections is an excuse for intimidating voters, while the claim of conducting research is ludicrous. Are soldiers researchers? Are soldiers authors of history books? Are soldiers historians?" he said.
Spokesperson for MDC Douglas Mwonzora told IRIN, "This is not genuine research which is being conducted. It is a tactic of intimidation in which war memories are going to be revived, including the 2008 trauma in which the military campaigned for ZANU-PF. History is not written by soldiers but by scholars and historians."
War veterans
Mwonzora said, "We wait to see what they will do about marking people's houses, but the national and international community should not allow that. At this point, we will hope the statement was just a wild remark made by some crazy party official."
Major Mark Mbayiwa, a retired soldier and liberation war veteran, told IRIN there were two possible explanations for the security force deployment.
"The first reason could be that there could be a genuine desire to record the country's military history, given that it has not been properly recorded and that ZANU-PF realizes they will not be in power after elections and they feel that this is the time to correctly record history.
"The second possibility, which is most likely, is that they want to use that as an excuse to intimidate people ahead of elections. These are typical ZANU-PF [election] tactics."
Jabulani Sibanda, chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA), denied his members were involved in political violence.
"What needs to be understood is that, as freedom fighters, we fought against a violent, cruel and evil system of colonialism, and as such, it would be foolish to associate us with violence. While I may support ZANU-PF, I do not tell people to beat anybody up. Why do people question my support for ZANU-PF when descendants of colonialists in Zimbabwe are being funded by western countries?"
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. ]
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"THIS SOUNDS LIKE A WELL THOUGHT OUT DESIRE TO EMPOWER BLACK ZIMBABWEANS WITH THIER HISTORY!!!. AS WE SEARCH DOCUMENTED TRUTHS WE FIND THAT WE HAVE BEEN BOMBARDED WITH WHITE MEDIA HOUSES DECIDNG' HOW AND WHAT OUR TRUTHS ARE' AND HOW IT THE NARRATIVE SHOULD SOUND". "THEY SEEM TO WANT TO PATRONISE' THE BLACK MAN AT EVERY OOPPORTUNITY EVEN WHEN QUESTIONING THE WHITE SUPRMACIST AGENDA; THEY STILL MANAGE TO TWIST TI SO' THAT BLACK FREEWIZE FIGHTERS' ARE SEEN AS CRIMINAL ! AS IS WRITTEN IN THIS STORY ??. THIS STORY IS NOT MENTIONING THE FACT THAT WE NEED ACTUAL TRUE SOMETIMES HARSH REALITIES OF REAL DATA FORM BLACK PEOPLE WHO LIVED AND FOUGHT FOR THEIR'FREEWIZE INDEPENDENCE". THE ARTICLE AT A GLANCE ININSINUATES THAT THIS IS SOME CYNICAL PLOY BY ZANU PF TO TERRORIRSE THE POPULANTS LEADING UP TO AN ELECTION?. 'HOW WEAK AND LOW AND LOW IS THAT IN THEORY ????????. "ALL AFRICAN NATIONS THAT HAVE WITNESSED THIER COLONIAL STRUGGLES AGAINST A BRUTAL RACIST DICTATORIAL WHITE SUPREMACIST REGIMES' WHO WERE BARBARIC IN ALL BUT NAME!!!; NEEDS TO IN THIS YEAR SEEK OUT ALL THE LIVING PEOPLE HWO STRUGGLED FORR THEIR INDEPEDENCE." THE CHILDREN THRUOUT AFRICA NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT, TRULY INFORMED OF HOW CRIMINAL THESE COLONIALIST WERE HOW THEY VIOLATED EVERY STATURE OF INTERNATIONAL LAWS',' THEIR RELUCTANCE EVEN TODAY' TO UPHOLD AND ABIDE BY HUMAN RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL LAWS; "THIER INANE DEMEANOURS,' THAT MAKES THEM THINK THEY ARE EXEMPT' FROM THE PRINCIPLED AND INSTITUTED LAWS' THAT GUIDES HTE PLANETS PEOPLE AND PRECLUDES THESE ACTIONS OF IMPUNITY AUTHORITARIANISMS DICTATORSHIPS FACISMS,'WHICH IS NEGATED BY THEM ALLOWING THEM A CONTINUED EMBARKATION OF CRIMINAL ENTERPRISES ".THEY EVEN WENT AS FAR AS TO DEHUMANISE THE BLACK MAN IN THIER VAIN ATTEMPT AT OCCUPYING USING SUBJUGATING THE PEOPLE FOR THEIR NEFARIOUS ENDS". DOCUMENTATION IS A NEEDED FACTOR OF ALL GOVERNMENTS IN THE AU TODAY. THESE WRITINGS SHOULD BE HELD AT UNIVERSITY LEVELS GRADE SCHOOLS LEVELS AND TAUGHT BY EXPERIENCED WELL INFORMED BLACK ACADAMIANS WITH OUT THE WHITE TWIST!!!.THERE MUST BE AN ARCHIVED HISTORY HAILED IN THE VAULTS OF THE AFRICAN UNION STRUCTURE IN ADDIS". WE MUST BE REAL ;"HISTORY IS TAUGHT THROUGH THE EYES OF THE VICTORS", THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT AFRICANS HAVE ACHIEVED THIER PHYSICAL INDEPENDENCE!!!. WHEN THESE ARE DOCUMENTED AND TAUGHT THIS WILL LEAVE ROOM FOR A MORE LITERATE AND MEDITATIVE OBSERVATION A DISTINCTION ENBEDDED IN THE MASSES OF A WELL INFORMED PEOPLE". "THE AFRICAN MIND WILL THEN BE ABLE TO DISTINGUISH DECIPHER PROCCESS HOW THEY CHOOSE TO INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER'; "IT IS MY PERCEPTIION THAT MOST AFRICANS WILL NOT CHOOSE TO IDENTIFY AND BECOME COLLABERATORS WITH THE PAST AND ASSOCIATE THEMSELVES WITH THE SAME TYPES OF PRACTICES INHERRITED FROM THE WHITE SUPRMACIST AGENDA THAT WAS NOT ONLY CRIMINAL!!! BUT INHUMANE!!!!!!!!. TO SPIN THIS ARTICLE WHEN FACTS ARE THE OBJECTIVES, VITAL TO ONES KNOWLEDGE OF SELF , BEING ABLE TO INDENTIFY WHAT IS MORALLY INCORECT WHAT IS INHUMANE WHATS IMPORTANT !!!;TO SUGGETS THAT THIS IS SINISTER IS VERY DISINGENUOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!! " AFRICA IS AT THE CROSSROADS TO DAY AND THERE NEEDS TO BE WRITTEN ACCOUNTS OF OUR HISTORY IN THE PAST 1,000 YEARS. OUR CHILDREN NEEDS THESE IMPORTANT LESSONS FOR SELF DETERMINATION SELF ESTEEM PRIDE AND DIRECTION AGAINST,'HOW TO MIS RULE UNDERMINE, DETERIOATE AND CONTIUE MASS CONFLICT, TRAUMA CHIDLD SUFFERING ETHNIC CONFLICTS AND THE LESSONS GOES ON. THESE TYPES OF LESSONS ARE NOT BEING TAUGHT IN OUR SCHOOLS AS THE CHILDREN DO NOT HAVE A PROPER SENSITISED APPROACH IN FACT; A KNOWLEGEABLE STRUCTURED INPUT ON "AFRICA THE TRUTH". WE ARE STILL OTHER THAN MATERIAL THAT COMES FROM WHITE MEDIA HOUSES RECEIVING BIASSED AND PROPOGATED HISTORY OF AFRICA. THERE NEEDS TO BE AN INVESTMENT IN PRINCIPAL' TO SEEK TO EDUCATE THE CHILDREN OF THIS CONTINENT IN ORDER FOR US TO HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF ALL THINGS THAT WILL DETERMINE OUR FUTURE AND THE GUIDANCE WE SHOULD EXPECT FROM OUR CHILDREN". I WITNESS THAT IN SOUTH AFRICA THIER DOCUMENATTION IS LACKING IN PURPOSE AND DIRECTION. THE MERE FACTS THAT BOOKS ARE NOT ENOUGH IN CLASS ROMS SPELLS OUT A VERY DISTURBING FACT; THE LIBERATORS DID NOT FIND IT NECESARRY TO MAKE SURE THAT THE TRUTH WAS NOT JUST A MERE GLANCE BUT A DETAILED DOCUMENTED IN DEPTH ANAALYSIS AND DATA OF A COMPREHENMSIVE STUDY OF THE BLACK LIBERATION STRUGGLE IN SOUTH AFRICA', IN THE SOUTHERN SPHERE OF THE CONTITINENT AND THE ATTITUDES OF LIBERATORS THROUGH OUT THE CONTITINENT!!!." AFRICANS NEEDS TO HAVE CONNECTTIVITY WITH THE CONTINENT ' AND THIER BROTHERS FROM ABROAD WHO ALSO HAD A VERY PROFOUND ROLE ON THE REVOLUTION AND LIBERATION STRUGGLES. IT WAS THIER ACCUTE SENSITIVITIES IN THE INDENTIFYING OF THE SUBJUGATION THAT WAS BEING PERPETARTED BY THE RACIST COLONIALIST' AND THE NEED FOR BLACK RESISTANTS AND SELF INDEPENDENCE". "THIS GRAND SCHEME SHOULD BE ROLLED OUT ACROSS THE CONTINENT ; "WHICH SHOULD HAVE THIS HISTORY IN SUCH DEPTH THAT IT CAN BE USED FROM GRADE SCHOOLS TO DOCTORATES'!!!!!WELL DONE ZANU PF ANOTHER MILESTONE IN THE EVOLVING REVOLUTION OF THE AFRICAN CONTINENT". WITHOUT DETAILED KNOWLEDGE FOR OUR YOUNG CHILKDREN TO READ AND TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS THEY WILL BE INFLUINCED BY THE PROPOGANDA MEIDA HOUSES THAT ARE STILL RACIST AND HAVE VERY LITTLE TO TEACH IN REGARDS TO BLACK HISTORY". THESE HOUSEES ARE STILL IN DENIAL ABOUT EGYPT AND THE VERY FACT THAT ALL OF AFRICA WAS CIVILIZED WHEN THEY CAME THIER AS GREEKS ROMANS EUROPEANS AND WHOM SOEVER ELSE.THEY STILL REFUSE TO IDENTIFY THE MOORS AS TO WHOM THEY TRULY WERE ?? " BLACK NUBIAN AFRICANS" ..THE TRUTH ABOUT BIBLICAL HSITORY WHICH WAS ALL FOUND IN AFRICA EGYPT AND THRUOUT IS BEING MISREPRESENTED AS THE MID EAST AND BECAUSE OF TEH COLOUR SCHEME OF WHAT THEY ACLL THE MID EAST WE ARE BEING MISLED BY PROOGANDA. THE AUSTRALIAS IS POPULATED BY MAJOURITY WHITE EUROPEANS YET THE OPRIGINAL PEOPLE WERE BLACK AFRICAN AUSTRALOIDS AND SOEM NUBIANS YET WHEN WE LOOK AT THE HISTORY WE WOULD NOT THIS; THE SAM FOR CANADA THE U.S.A.. THE DEMOOGRAPHICS HAS CHANGED SIGNIFICANTLY. EVEN USING THIER BIBLICAL HISTORY PRESENT DAY SYRIA JORDAN PALESTINE WERE ALL CAANAN THE HAMITIC OR BLACK PEOPLE. WE MUST REMMEMBER THAT ISRAEL WAS FROM CANAAN!!!!!!!. WHICH BY ALL RECORDS WRITTEN BY WHITE HSITORIANS WERE BLACK PEOPLE ; YET!!! THEY TELL US THAT THE PRESENT DAY JEWS ARE THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL ??? THEY WANT TO WIN SO BADLY THAT THEY IMPEROSNATE RETARCT DENY REFUTE MISINTERPRET MISLEAD ; WE MUST BE THE AUTHORS AND TRUTH TELLERS OF OUR OWN HISTORIES. FACT ONE IS THAT THE MID EAST AFRICA WAS ALL BLACK WITH THE STORY WRITTEN AS A GENEOLOGY OF THE BLACK ISRAELITES AND THE FACT THAT SEMITES HAMITES WERE ALL CHILDREN OF NOAH WHO WAS INDEED A BLACK MAN. MY DOCUMENATION OF AFRICA SHOWS ME BEFOR THE SAHARA THERE WAS FERTILE LANDSA THAT STRETCHED FROM CAIOR TO CAPETOWN WHICH WAS THE SAID EGYPT. ZIMBABWE AS PART OF THIS SAID VAST EGYPT THAT WAS EGYPT. THERE WAS NO SEGREGATIONTHERE WAS ONE. ALL THESE SEGRATED ARAEAS THAT WE KNOW TODAY IS PART OF MODERNITY. MODERNITY BEGINS WITH WHITE INTERACTION WITHIN THE PAST 2500 YEARS; THY HAVE MNISINTERPRETED EVERYTHING TO HAVE BEGAN 5000 YEARS AGO. THIS AS WE KNOW IS A FALACY SCIENCE AND ARCHAEOLOGY HAS DIPUTED THIS PROFOUNDLY. OUR HISTORY BEGINS WITH TIME MEMORIAL, THIS SI ANOTHER PART OF BLACK HISTORY ALL TOGETHER. THE MAIN SYMETRY IS TO SHOW WITH FACTS THE LIBERATION AND STRUGGLE THAT PRECEDED INDEPENDENCE". "THIS WAS AN HONOURABLE STRUGGLE AGAINST A DISHONOURABLE PEOPLE". RESPECT TO ALL AFRICAS LIBERATORS MAY THEY ALSO EMBARK ON SUCH REFINED JOURNEY OF DOCUMENTING THIER DETERMINED STRUGGLES AGAINST ALL ALL ODDS, AS THE EVIL FORCES THAT BE TIRED TO THWART AT EVERY LEVEL THIER FIGHT FOR AN ELUSIVE INDEPENDENCE" THESE LESSONS MUST BE ATUGHT ON A CONTINENTAL SCALE WITH DEPTH OF THE STRUGGLE USED AS A CATALYST FOR GOOOD HUMANE SOCIAL INTERACTIVE GOVERNMENTS THAT PUTS HUMANITY BEFORE MATERAIL WEALTH THINGS THAT DO NOT PRECEDE YOU TO YOUR FINAL EMBARKATION".
"The one and only thing that matters to us, and the thing these people are paid for by the state, is to have ideas of history that strengthen our people in their necessary national pride. In all this troublesome business we are only interested in one thing--to project into the dim and distant past the picture of our nation as we envisage it for the future."
- Heinrich Himmler, Reichsführer of the Nazi Schutzstaffel, "The Past as Propaganda"