You can judge the character of a man by how the individual values the sufferings and lives of others. You have the heartless brute like Mugabe who simply does not give a damn at one end. On the other end, the saintly Martin Luther King who would go out of their way to share in the suffering of others and if necessary put their own live on the line to protect the lives of others.
Tsvangirai has FAILED to demonstrate that he cares about the suffering and lives of others on many occasions, the current political crisis being one occasion. He was pursued selfish political interest instead.
Tsvangirai and a few key MDC leaders have been out of the country for the last five weeks because “their feared for their lives”, so we are told. Did Tsvangirai and the rest feared for the lives of all those who had risked their lives on 29 March 2008 by voting for him and MDC? It is not the first time that Zanu PF thugs have turned on opposition supporter so he should have anticipated their deployment a few days after the March vote. Even if Tsvangirai had failed to anticipate the violence; he still has to answer “What did you do when the violence broke out?” Sadly he has done nothing.
He said he would return to Zimbabwe to contest the presidential run-off. He was prepared to risk his life and lives of those close to him for a chance to be elected president but would not lift a finger to save the lives or the millions of ordinary Zimbabweans whose lives have been turned completely up side down by Zanu PF thugs!
Of course by saying he will contest, Tsvangirai will be asking the Zimbabwe electorate to defy what Mugabe thugs have been coercing them to do. That is a red-rag to a bull and not just any bull but a ruthless and brutal one with the means and ways to show to delivery the punishment!
Zimbabwe has already seen what a heartless brute Mugabe is; over 20 000 innocent lives were lost during the mid 1980s alone. Do we really want another Matabeleland type massacre again!
When Mugabe deployed the war veterans, the green bombers, etc. he was clearly upping the stakes. Experience shows that he was not bluffing, he will beat, burn, terrorise, murder- do whatever it will take to ensure an elections victory. Even if an MDC victory was assured; still it is foolish to gamble with other people’s lives- particularly when these people are totally defenceless and helpless!
Many of us should fell some how responsible for having argued people to “go and vote MDC” before the 29 March 2008 vote. It would be totally irresponsible to do so now.
Yes the need to end the Mugabe dictatorship is even more urgent now than it was before 29 March. Still, there MUST be other ways of ending the dictatorship than throwing human lives like meat to a hungry lion. Lets face it, there is no other end and purpose to the suffering and deaths sweeping Zimbabwe today other than Mugabe’s thugs will get sick and tired of the it all and walk away.
Tsvangirai can also call for a mass-stay away. It has never worked in the past because it was badly organised. This time the nation is dying, physically and literally, for a political response to Mugabe’s campaign of violence. A mass-stay away will force Mugabe to focus his attention on something else other than picking off innocent voters one by one in the dead of night.
Tsvangirai, for good or bad, finds himself in a leadership position at this critical point in Zimbabwe’s history. He should grab the nettle and get on with it.
It Tsvangirai had shown some leadership qualities in the first three days after 29 March 2008 when Mugabe was still in a state of shock of the election defeat all this could have been avoided. The presidency was within his grasp and Tsvangirai, unfortunately let Mugabe snatch it away. So having give it away, why does he not do so now by refusing to take part in the run-off and, this time, save Zimbabwean lives?
MDC have made heavy weather of its parliamentary majority following the March election. The political reality in Zimbabwe is that all political power is in the hands of one man- Mugabe. However for all his political power, canning, rhetoric, brutality, etc. one thing has eluded Mugabe- the economy. In fact it was his ruthless desire for absolute power that made him chose blind loyalty to him over competency and merit. He did achieve his ambition of long years in power but at the price of having the most incompetent and corrupt regime in the world presiding over the worst performing economy in the world!
No doubt Mugabe will “win” the presidential run-off and will have to turn his attention immediately to the economy. Zimbabwe’s battered economy will need international help, particularly the West, to get it back on some form of recovery path. Mugabe will have to get Tsvangirai and MDC into some form of unity government to stand a chance of getting the West to step in.
Even if the unthinkable was to happen- a Tsvangirai win, he too will need to appease Mugabe or the thugs will step up their acts of violence. So either way, the government of national unity is on the cards for Zimbabwe. And it will be one in Mugabe’s own image.
In 1989 when Zanu PFand PF Zapu signed their unity accord, after the lose over 20 000 innocent live and all the other human suffering and material damages, what did the nation get in return? Well nothing really; we ended up with the same incompetent, corrupt and repressive Mugabe regime. Yes of course; Joshua Nkomo and his fellow PF Zapu leadership finally had a seat at the nation’s high table and joined in the looting of the people! Alas! It seems that is all we will get again this time!
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