Zimbabwe Information Center in N

By Stanford G. Mukasa

Letter from America

April 7, 2008

Zimbabweans must confront Mugabe

On April 4 America observed the 40^th anniversary of the assassination of civil rights leader, Martin Luther King.

He was shot on this day in 1968 in Memphis where he had gone to lead a protest against the inhumane treatment of garbage collectors.

Dr. King’s message in his speeches was “We have come this far... there cannot be no going back... justice is on our side. Neither the police nor water cannons can stop the tide... of the civil rights movement”

There can be no more fitting message to the people of Zimbabwe than what King said 40 years ago.

The recent elections in Zimbabwe were a conclusive proof that Zimbabweans have decided it’s time for Mugabe and ZANUPF to go.

Zimbabweans made this decision many years ago. But this time they made the final push to get rid of Mugabe and ZANUPF.

According to the figures collated by human rights groups over half the registered voters went to the polls. And Tsvangirai won 50.3 percent of the total votes cast.

In addition to the results posted outside the polling centers around the country Mugabe and ZANUPF, by their actions of withholding the release of the results, proved beyond reasonable doubt that Tsvangirai won the presidential elections.

According to the Constitution, Tsvangirai is now the legitimate and de jure leader of Zimbabwe.

What Mugabe is doing now by staying in office after his mandate has expired is criminally illegal.

And what Mugabe wants to do by way of recounting votes is also illegal because a recount can only be called for within 48 hours after the initial vote count.

In the presidential elections of 2002 the results were announced within three hours of the polls closing.

In the recent elections a week passed without any announcement of the presidential election results. This was a tacit admission by ZANUPF that they had lost the elections.

The events during the week after the elections showed a very erratic and confused Mugabe and ZANUPF.

They had set up laws and made agreements on the electoral process. Now the laws and agreements are hanging around ZANUPF’s neck like an albatross.

Before the elections, they had agreed to have poll results from each constituency posted outside their polling centers.

Now they want a recount of the votes in constituencies where they lost.

If they stuff more ballots in order to increase the numbers of votes for their losing candidates they will need to explain how so many ballots were left out in the initial counting.

Next, the Politburo has voted to recommend Mugabe for a run-off.

How did they know there will be a run-off when the presidential election results had not been announced during the first full week after the elections?

Both Mugabe and ZANUPF are now like cornered rats. They thought they had set up an elaborate rigging machinery. They had succeeded before. They were sure they would pull it off this time.

If only they had listened to Abraham Lincoln’s speech.

You can fool all people some of the time... You can fool some people all of the time. You can never fool all people all the time.

For 28 years Mugabe and ZANUPF have succeeded in fooling Zimbabweans. Initially they appeared to have been successful.

Resting on their laurels Mugabe and ZANUPF thought they had Zimbabweans neatly wrapped around their fingers.

And they took liberties with the country – plundering it, invading farms and distributing them among their cronies.

This orgy of plunder, killings, rapes, corruption and harassment went on unabated for over a decade.

Mugabe and ZANUPF represent the wealthiest minority population in Zimbabwe today.

In the sea of grinding poverty Mugabe and his ZANUPF cronies have become filthy rich.

The delay in releasing the presidential election results is symptomatic of the state of quandary that ZANUPF finds itself in.

For the first time ZANUPF and Mugabe are losing political power which had sustained them in looting the state assets and maintaining their affluent lifestyles.

But Mugabe, like a wounded buffalo, is determined to fight on.

As I have said in my previous postings, this is no longer a question of respecting the Constitution, democracy or rule of law but the survival for Mugabe and ZANUPF. They have amassed incredible wealth for themselves.

They have milked the reserve bank bone dry and have flooded the country with useless currency while they hoard foreign currency in their personal bank accounts outside the country.

For them to lose politically would mean the end of their affluent lifestyles and corruption.

Caught with their hands in the till Mugabe and ZANUPF are not about to give up power easily.

The late Edison Zvobgo stated that when Mugabe and ZANUPF seized power in 1980 it was literally forever.

There was never any intention to hand over power regardless of elections or popularity or otherwise of ZANUPF.

The people ceased to be relevant in terms of power and how long ZANUPF was to stay in power.

Zvobgo called this democratic centrism. What it meant was that once people had voted ZANUPF in power in 1980 that was the only chance they would get.

Any subsequent elections were a mere formality, just to keep the natives happy.

It is against this background that Mugabe and ZANUPF are determined to stay in power regardless of the fact they lost in the recent elections.

Information just received indicates that Mugabe is arming over 1000 youth militia thugs and war veterans. Their mission will be to harass, beat, torture, rape or even kill opposition supporters.

When the run-off begins Mugabe hopes people will have been sufficiently intimidated to vote for him.

What options does the opposition movement have on this?

The most ideal would be for people to take to the streets in hundreds of thousands.

Mass demonstrations have been effective in many other countries where the elections have been subverted by dictatorial regimes.

The potential for the Zimbabweans rising in mass demonstrations exists, if only they can overcome the fear factor.

Many people have suggested that Zimbabweans will never engage in mass action, given the socioeconomic conditions that exist where people have been reduced to abject poverty.

However, history has shown people can and have indeed arisen in mass protests, even when it looked like they were passive and incapable of mass protest.

And hope must never be lost that Zimbabweans can ever stage mass demonstrations.

Efforts must be made to encourage people that they have the power in numbers to reject Mugabe and drive him out of town.

Another option that can be adopted is a civil disobedience campaign. This is another dimension of mass action. It involves people acting individually, in small or large groups.

The message to the Zimbabweans at this point is that they must be part of their own liberation.

It does not help to sit by the rivers of Babylon and weep.

Zimbabweans must come up with innovative ways of resisting Mugabe.

There must be many other non violent activities people can engage in.

This is the time Zimbabweans should be asking themselves how they can be involved in their liberation.

Zimbabweans cannot, as the late Ndabaningi Sithole once warned, sit and hope that the international community will come to their rescue.

And forty years ago Martin Luther King carried a non violent march in Memphis. King did not ask whether people were afraid.

He believed that when justice is on the people’s side they will be motivated to stand up and march for their rights.

This is the challenge Zimbabweans are faced with today. Do they sit down and bemoan their fate, or do they stand up and confront Mugabe.

It’s a question that only Zimbabweans can answer.