Zimbabwe Information Center in North America
A project of the North American Coalition for a Free Zimbabwe (NACFREEZ)
Letter from America
June 4,
2007 Strategies for mass action
While Zimbabweans appear on the surface docile and fearful, there can be no telling what will ultimately trigger that built- in anger which has been rising for the past seven years.
. But before any strategy for mass action can be undertaken it is important to define the enemy, for that is what Mugabe has become in as far as ordinary Zimbabweans are concerned.
What are Mugabe’s strengths? What are his weaknesses? People who watched the TV Star Trek series will have noticed that each time the Star Trek team encountered an unknown and potentially hostile force the ship’s first officer Mr. Spock always used his computer scanners to try to identify the source of the force’s energy and power. Once it had been identified the next task was to work out strategies to destroy it.
In the same vein Mugabe’s strengths and weaknesses must be identified.
In terms of strength Mugabe now relies very heavily on the military to protect him. But what about his weaknesses? For one, the economy is Mugabe’s Achilles’ Heel. And it is the economy that sustains the army. With the economy in a tailspin there is a likelihood this will undermine the army which is reported to be losing thousands of soldiers through resignations. A campaign on the economic front, like targeting companies that supply military equipment to Mugabe’s army could seriously erode the army’s ability to maintain its strength at the level that can comfortably protect Mugabe and his cronies.
A combination of factors can potentially trigger the outburst of that anger among Zimbabweans .
The first and most important is that it is anyone’s guess which of the actions by Mugabe, now or in future, could be the spark that set off the anger dynamite within the people. This is what Mugabe fears the most. In some cases Mugabe is like a child playing with fire in a explosives shop. Nobody can tell for sure at what point that fire will set off the fireworks.
The second is a series of civil disobedience campaigns involving small but effective groups. This is more or less what is happening now in which the Women of Zimbabwe Arise WOZA, the NCA and student organizations have started all kinds of political brush fires.
What is particularly significant about these acts of civil disobedience is if they are sustained they will grow into a national uprising, especially if they are spread throughout the country. WOZA has been particularly effective in their campaigns because they touch on the bread and butter issues that affect the ordinary women and households. The student organization is also gaining momentum because they have focused on the deteriorating standards and conditions of their education.
There is another dimension of the civil disobedience campaign. It involves a far wider network of agitators than those in formal or informal groups like WOZA and MDC. Here, one is looking at the strengths Zimbabweans in influential positions can mobilize.
A French philosopher once said information is power. In today’s information age those who possess the means of communication and information gathering have infinitely more power and influence than those with arms of war.
The task here would be look at the sources of strength of the Mugabe regime. Who supplies the arms of war to this regime? What companies, specifically, are trading arms with Mugabe? Who are Mugabe’s bankers? In what companies have Mugabe and his cronies invested their money and other resources? Where do Mugabe and his cronies send their children to school abroad?
But more importantly, what are the names and addresses of the thugs who have tortured, killed, maimed and raped innocent Zimbabweans?
For each question above someone somewhere inside or outside Zimbabwe has the capability to access information.
I once met a Zimbabwean a few years who said he had worked in the then PTC and was in the unit that maintained secure lines of telecommunication among Mugabe and his top military people. He revealed shocking information about what Mugabe said and to whom. In that information was clear evidence of Mugabe plotting with some of his top leadership to kill an opposition supporter.
There are now effective monitoring systems that can retrieve this information in the interest of the human rights campaign against the brutal dictatorship of Mugabe.
On the diplomatic front the success MDC achieved in lobbying the African Union parliamentarians is a text book case of how mobilizing the international community can be an effective aspect of mass action.
The Zimbabwean Diaspora community has a critical role in the multifaceted strategy of mass action. They can mobilize the resources and an information campaign to discredit any of Mugabe’s cronies who may be visiting their areas.
The Zimbabweans in Diaspora must establish a research unit that will investigate organizations and institutions that support Mugabe. If the names of these organizations could be revealed and details of their operations that support Mugabe widely publicized on the Internet the institutions or companies would have a major public relations disaster on their hands.
Many farms and companies that were seized by Mugabe’s cronies are doing a roaring business abroad. The research unit of the Zimbabweans in Diaspora could expose such companies and let members of the public know the sources of some of the produce they buy at their local supermarkets.
If there is a network of Zimbabweans in Diaspora who will share this information then the institutions and companies that are bankrolling the Mugabe regime will be widely publicized.
Military might has not made Mugabe stronger. He suffers from insecurity, hence he travels in convoys of up to 30 cars sometimes and a heavy military escort.
There is talk that Mugabe is no longer in control and the military chiefs are the ones who effectively run the country. There is credibility to this because his cronies and security people are painfully aware that , at the age of 83, Mugabe is living on borrowed time and anything can happen to his health. It may well be that some of them are probably clandestinely negotiating with the opposition movement in order to guarantee their security in the post- Mugabe Zimbabwe.
Even a sizable chunk of Mugabe’s supporters know that ZANUPF and whatever it stands for is now a lost cause in Zimbabwe. The so-looked East policy, the promised aid from China, the farm invasions and other half baked measures to try to control the runaway inflation have not brought the desired results to the country.
ZANUPF cronies who seized farms and other businesses have failed dismally to make them productive.
The economy has shrunk by over 40 percent. Over 500 businesses have shut down and or migrated to other countries where there is a better investment climate.
These are some of Mugabe’s weak points that the opposition movement should analyze for the purposes of evolving new and more effective strategies for mass action.
Mugabe is in what Gramsci once called an organic crisis. The institutions of the state that he controls are now being threatened left, right and center. In this unstable situation Mugabe’s survival is on the line.
Faced with this untenable situation Mugabe has now drawn a laager around him and is mobilizing all the forces at his command to lash out. His brutal assaults on the opposition members is symptomatic of this state of an organic crisis. Like a cornered animal, Mugabe is determined to fight using whatever means at his disposal. But that does not make him indefinitely superior because he has limited resources to sustain his oppressive rule for ever.
But what are the chances of Zimbabweans actually assembling in thousands and marching to the State House to bring popular pressure to bear on Mugabe?
If we were to put together all the challenges I mentioned earlier that Mugabe is facing today, they could collectively constitute a form of civil disobedience or protest, a variant of mass protest. As long as those challenges remain they will gradually wear out Mugabe who has another battle on his hands at the age of 83.
Secondly as long as Mugabe genuinely fears a mass uprising, the challenges of a runaway inflation, a decadent economy and a general deterioration of socioeconomic conditions in the country will force him eventually to concede defeat by an early exit from politics.
To this extent the Zimbabweans may not need to actually march on the streets. What is important is they show Mugabe in no uncertain terms that they have the motive, the will power and the intention to stage a mass demonstration. A sense of logic and maturity will dawn at last on Mugabe.
They are reports that Mugabe has seen the light and might be preparing an exit at some undetermined but very near future.
MDC