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THERE is a crisis in Zimbabwe!

African leaders’ attitude on elections must change

THERE is a crisis in Zimbabwe!

South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki is at the very end of his second and last term in office. He has spent most of the past 10 years of his presidency engaged in Zimbabwean issues because of the crisis that has been festering in that country for a very long time.

He came up with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and set standards, among which was good governance. But NEPAD folded three days ago and Mbeki had to let go of a failure he created. The comedy continues, though; NEPAD is now to be run by the African Union.

Several years ago, Mbeki introduced ‘quiet diplomacy’ on Zimbabwe as a way of covering for Robert Mugabe’s excesses. Mbeki failed to bring sanity to Zimbabwean politics. Last year, SADC rewarded Mbeki’s failure with another mandate to resolve the Zimbabwean crisis. He accepted and, apparently, went to work.

A few months later, the Movement for Democratic Change wrote to SADC officially notifying the useless body that their emissary, Mbeki, had failed to resolve the crisis and that the talks had long broken down.

Two weeks ago, the world was jolted to attention when newly crowned Botswana President Ian Khama caused Zambia’s Levy Mwanawasa, the SADC Chairman, to convene an extra-ordinary session to discuss the Zimbabwean crisis because, according to President Khama, “we have a problem”.

Mwanawasa said the purpose of the extra-ordinary summit was “to discuss the recent events in Zimbabwe following the elections in Zimbabwe in an open, objective and honest manner.” In this regard, he said, SADC re-affirmed its commitment “to assist the parties to deal with the current situation”.

In its communiqué, SADC itself said that the extra-ordinary summit was held in line with “the SADC’s objectives to promote common political values and systems transmitted through institutions that are democratic, legitimate and effective to facilitate the consolidation of democracy, peace, security and stability.”

But SADC went on to imply, through its retrogressive and cowardly decision, that Khama was wrong. According to SADC, Khama and the region have no problem. According to Mbeki, Zimbabwe has no crisis.

Instead of censuring the culprit and encouraging crisis resolution in the region, SADC stood by a murderous dictator at the expense of a young president who wanted things corrected as a matter of urgency.

Mbeki, the perennial failure in mediation assignments, stood between fellow presidents and the restoration of democracy in Zimbabwe.

Yet, not surprisingly, by the end of the summit, Mbeki accepted yet another mandate to resolve the “crisis inZimbabwe”.

After accepting to assist in resolving the Zimbabwean crisis three times, Mbeki says there is no crisis in Zimbabwe. But everyone, including his own ANC, knows that there is a crisis in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabweans voted peacefully and made their choice as the world and SADC watched. Even the Summit“commended the people of Zimbabwe for their peaceful and orderly manner in which they conducted themselves before, during and after the elections.”
It is not in dispute that Mugabe lost the election. The ongoing shenanigans are a clear testimony to serious irregularities yet SADC did not come down hard on such bad behaviour.

Africa, it seems, is unable to resolve its own disputes.

Now, the body count has slowly started to build up because what SADC did is to encourage the wrongdoer by not censuring him. Zimbabwe’s military chief has ominously taken charge of Mugabe’s “campaign” and Mugabe’s militant supporters have set up torture camps in the country.

SW Radio Africa reported: “Post-election reprisals against MDC activists have spread to nearly every corner of the country, amid reports that the cycle of attacks and retributions are being orchestrated by security forces.”

It went on to say that the violence had escalated dramatically as ruling Zanu-PF party militias, “with the help of army units”, had intensified their reprisal campaign in the rural areas.

It’s Kenya all over again because of wrong priorities, because of African leaders’ reluctance to urge losing presidential candidates to vacate their posts because of, in the case of Mbeki, malicious detachment and indifference to the suffering of the people.

The people of Kenya are still stuck with a president who lost the election, thanks to Kofi Annan.

After losing presidential elections and his parliamentary majority, Kibaki refused to concede and, in the end, got a bigger piece of the cake than the real winners. And now, thanks to Mbeki and SADC, Mugabe feels that whatever Kibaki can do, he can do better.

SADC and Mbeki ditched decency and honesty; they should be smiling now because they knew violence would arise from their confused way of thinking.

SADC and Mbeki let down the people of Zimbabweans and put people’s lives in danger. SADC is going to be the first to seek donor funds to extinguish the conflagration they themselves started. For how much longer can Zimbabweans hold back their frustrations as they now believe that the world is conspiring against them?

Because SADC and Mbeki are listening attentively to Mugabe like kids on the first day of class, Mugabe rants and raves about a run-off election yet the results that should determine such an exercise are being held back. Rather than concede, Mugabe, with Mbeki’s conniving, refuses to release the results of the final presidential vote count.

How do we know that it was Mugabe who came in second? Could it not have been Simba Makoni? But most importantly, is there any need for a run-off election? Are we sure the winner did not surpass the 50% mark, as independent observers are saying?
Africa is setting time bombs for itself everywhere elections are held. Kenya and Zimbabwe are to consecutive election disgraces that have set death traps for unsuspecting, trusting African voters.

Mbeki has caused too much grief in the region.

“SADC leaders have a duty to ensure that what happened recently in Kenya, when an Electoral Commission failed to conduct the polls and ultimately led to untold bloodbaths, does not happen in Zimbabwe,” said the Sunday Standard in its current editorial. “The situation in Zimbabwe has become tense and increasingly volatile. Chances of Zimbabwe further slipping into a civil war or a military coup are everyday becoming a reality. Yet many of the SADC leaders, especially those who have a muscle strong enough to influence events in that country, like South Africa, choose not to intervene.”

Calling Mbeki a “rogue democrat”, the Post said, “South Africa has defended Iran’s nuclear programme and resisted sanctions against it; shielded Sudan and Burma from the sort of pressure the United Nations once directed at the apartheid regime; and enthusiastically supported one-sided condemnations of Israel by the U.N. Human Rights Council.”

Also in an editorial this past Tuesday, Botswana’s Mmegi questioned if Thabo Mbeki is really still in touch with reality, saying that Mbeki has always forced his discredited ‘quiet diplomacy’ approach on fellow SADC members “with devastating effect”.

“Any sane person cannot help but agree with MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, that “unless, of course, they (Mbeki and friends) say the crisis should be demonstrated by bodies on the streets.” However, the way the situation stands, there is no doubt that soon there will be a bloodbath in Zimbabwe.”

So what does this mean to the citizens of SADC who, as the Gazette said in its current editorial, are probably saying to themselves, “Are we going to be the next refugees and displaced persons when our leaders refuse to relinquish power and punish those who have voted against them?”

SADC has denied Zimbabweans a chance to rebuild their nation. What is the whole SADC block about anyway if they cannot recognize problems in their own midst and act on them to protect the citizenry?

Yes, there is a crisis in Zimbabwe and if Zimbabwe erupts, Botswana, South Africa and the region will pay a heavy price. They will be embroiled in it and it will not be easy to manage.

President Ian Khama, however, should be applauded for trying.
There is a crisis in Zimbabwe.

(Tanonoka Joseph Whande is a Botswana-based Zimbabwean journalist.)