Reports of political violence continue to flood in. Zanu PF youths stopped an MDC rally in Chitugwiza on Sunday. Hundreds of MDC supporters were beaten up, seven of them are in Hospital for treatment. As has become the norm, the Police did nothing to stop the Zanu PF thugs.
“They watched us as these Zanu-PF youths destroyed our property and assaulted our members," MDC’s Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, told a news reporters later.
Zanu PF is a party that firmly believes in violence as the only way of achieve it’s political objectives. Violence is to Zanu PF what Christ is to the Christians.
Zimbabweans should have asked themselves before taking up arms to fight the racist white regime of Ian Smith; what kind of leaders the armed struggle would throw up? And, more poignantly, will such leaders with victory on the battlefield still ringing in their ears want to listen to the voices of ordinary people.
“What was achieved by the bullet can not be undone by the ballot!” said Mugabe to “justify” the wanton political violence during the sham June 2008 presidential run-off in which millions of Zimbabweans beaten, raped or otherwise had their lives turned up side down. Over 500 Zimbabweans lost their lives!
Mugabe is a ruthless tyrant who would stop at nothing to retain his iron grip on political power and all the privileges that has gone with absolute power. The threat of him and his cronies being called upon to account for their murderous past if Zanu PF should lose power has only hardened their resolved to retain power at all cost.
Anyone who has followed the politics in Zimbabwe is hardily surprised at the growing political violence sweeping the country now. What is surprising is how little MDC has done in the last three years to address this thorny problem. In a way, that is not surprising given just how incompetent Tsvangirai and MDC have proved to be in the past!
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@Madulla
Yes President Mbeki could have played a more constructive role in Zimbabwe but ultimately the blame for the mess in Zimbabwe has to be laid on Tsvangirai's door for two reasons:
1) The GPA proposed by Mbeki gave too much power to Mugabe, everyone said so and warned Tsvangirai and yet he still signed it.
2) Even within the context of the GPA Tsvangirai and MDC had the power, authority and opportunity to take the rogue Police Officers and Army Generals to task, for example, and thus challenge Zanu PF's culture of violence head-on. Again and again MDC has done nothing.
Ultimately it is the people of Zimbabwe, not SADC, NATO or anyone else, who will decide the country’s destiny. Right now MDC is playing a key role in defining that destiny; it is a great pity that the party is led by a weak and indecisive leader!
2 comments:
How long has this problem of political violence been going on? It is an integral part of Zanu PF, so over thirty years.
How many times has Tsvangirai discussed this problem with Mugabe? We have all lost count!
There is one thing one can say about Mugabe; he is a man with a plan. Unfortunately for the nation his plan was to retain power no matter what, an obsession that has landed the nation in this economic and political hell-hole! Tsvangirai, on the other hand, does not have the foggiest idea of the many challenges the nation is facing, has no plan and so has blundered from pillar to post!
@Raymond
I agree South Africans have reason to be worried about President Zuma’s leadership after the shambolic way he continues to handle the Zimbabwe crisis. Still Tsvangirai is not a child who can not be expected to question what ever is put before him. Tsvangirai should have carefully considered the power sharing proposal before he signed it.
Now that the GPA has proved to be unworkable Tsvangirai should admit he made a serious blunder. And it is not him but the ordinary Zimbabweans will pay dearly for it, many of them with their very lives. The least he can do now for him to fall on his own sword!
Tsvangirai is becoming more and more like Mugabe: he will never admit that he failed even with all the evidence of the mess staring him in the face and, worse still, he considers himself the only one competent to sort out the mess! Of course, there will be no mess if he was competent.
I like Morgan Tsvangirai as a man but that should not blind me or anyone else out there from the reality that his incompetency and blundering is now part of the problem and not the solution!
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