Where are the African leaders as Zimbabwe teeters on the brink of anarchy?

The elections were conducted by the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) the newly established body that is mandated in terms of Zimbabwean domestic law to run elections in the country. The results for the council and parliamentary elections have already been announced. Noteworthy is that for the first time in 28 years ZANU PF lost its parliamentary majority to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

The results for the Presidential election were supposed to have been announced within 48 hours of the elections being concluded at 7pm on 29 March 2008. They were not. It is now 11 days after the elections. Counting was done at the polling stations immediately after the close of polls. The results have still not been announced. There is no indication that they will be announced any time soon. The MDC has approached the High Court on an urgent basis with a request for an order to compel the immediate release of the Presidential results. The court has not resolved the matter. Meanwhile reports from Harare indicate that the ZEC has now dismantled its national results collation centre before it has concluded its mandate and obligations of announcing the results.

The MDC has expressed severe discomfort at this state of affairs. It has pleaded with the world political leadership to take decisive and possibly democracy and life saving measures against Mugabe. ZANU PF has meanwhile launched a propaganda campaign that it was cheated in the elections. It is demanding a recount even before the election result is announced. ZANU PF must therefore know the results somehow even though such results are not in the public domain. The Zimbabwean public even though restless has remained largely patient and not fallen into the trap of demonstrations in a manner that would give Mugabe a pretext to clamp down using the army that remains loyal to him largely because of the entrenched system of patronage that have seen the upper echelons of the army benefiting from looted and expropriated assets while the junior rank and file wallow in extreme poverty.

The military and security have been very categorical before the elections that they will not accept the election results if President Mugabe and his party ZANU PF do not win the elections. They have been consistent about this position since the year 2000 when a real opposition party emerged in Zimbabwe.

Many non-military elements and part time workers of ZEC are being arrested throughout the country. They are being charged with electoral fraud and prejudicing Robert Mugabe in the election even before the Presidential election results have been announced and ZEC state publicly that they are still verifying the results. Prosecutors dealing with these matters are arguing that they are under instructions to oppose bail and to insist that the court deals very firmly with these cases in order to avoid Mugabe being prejudiced again in the impending election run off.  ZANU PF, the military, police and security leadership are implementing a run off campaign and strategy even before ZEC announces the Presidential election results.

The arbitrary arrests and detentions of the non-military elements in ZEC is to totally paralyse them from being able to act independently in the run off. It makes ZEC a quasi-military institution. Many people have already argue that it is. It is headed by Justice Chiweshe a former soldier. He took over from Brigadier Nyikayaramba. In Manicaland it is headed by Retired col. Masabeya whose claim to fame was the army invasion of former opposition MP Roy Bennett’s farm at which two workers were allegedly shot and killed at point blank and a number of women allegedly raped and sexually attacked. Roy Bennett was forced into exile. Masabeya now happily lives on Roy Bennett’s property. He has the responsibility to run ZEC in Manicaland where lawyers have reported the highest arrests and detentions of the non-military staff of the ZEC.

Violence and intimidation have increased dramatically according to reports by credible domestic human rights defenders in Zimbabwe. The situation is increasingly becoming volatile. If there is a spark or trigger, then the situation is very ripe for extremely serious widespread violations of human rights with potential deadly consequences to humanity. The world watches seemingly helplessly. One cannot but help but to notice that this month in 2004 in Rwanda, the world witnessed the consequences of failing to act when the danger signs are there for all to see.

Globally, human rights defenders and civil society has spoken fairly firmly and coherently on the need for urgent intervention in this highly volatile state of affairs.

The African political leadership is as usual maintaining deafening silence in the face of such serious threats to humanity and democracy. Mugabe seems to draw strength and inspiration from this apparent conspiracy of silence. He and the army leadership who according to unconfirmed press reports have already deployed themselves to work with militias nationally until the run off have subverted the constitution of Zimbabwe and the peoples will. The people of Zimbabwe want the country to take a new political and economic direction where respect for human rights and human dignity is at the centre of governance. Is it not time for appropriate firm intervention by the world political leadership as the people of Zimbabwe has spoken as firmly as they can through the only weapon that they have, the ballot? African political leadership need to be at the forefront of defending the peoples will as expressed democratically through elections. Where are the African leaders as Zimbabwe teeters on the brink of anarchy?