HARARE - The announcement that President Barack Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize brought mixed reaction here, where hopes were high that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (pictured) would scoop the US$1,4 million prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee gave the prize Friday to Obama for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” The award comes nine months after Obama took office.
Tsvangirai had been heavily tipped to win the prestigious international peace award, but the MDC congratulated Obama warmly: “The MDC believes that President Obamas inspirational figure; his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples make him a perfect candidate for winning this award,” an MDC spokesman said.
Tsvangirai, speaking from the northern Spanish city of Valladolid, where he was to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Cristobal Gabarron Foundation, said Obama was a deserving candidate and an “extraordinary example.” The International Bar Association also awarded Tsvangirai its human rights award last week in recognition of his efforts to advance rights in Zimbabwe.
Many people thought the prize might go to Tsvangirai, to mark his extraordinary act of surrendering the presidency to President Robert Mugabe in the interests of peace and in honour of hundreds of his supporters who were killed last year and thousands who were raped, beaten and made homeless. Shame Mheza was one of those who were beaten up. He spent months in hiding after he was targeted in his Mutoko rural home for supporting Tsvangirai.
“Of course, I congratulate Obama. But I still feel giving the prize to Prime Minister Tsvangirai might have done more for peace in Zimbabwe,” Mheza said. Greg Mlambo said: “Tsvangirai deserved to win it too because the peace that is being enjoyed in Zimbabwe is because of his ability to accommodate Mugabe the dictator.”
Adriane Stevenson said: “I must say I think Tsvangirai has played a much more substantial role in maintaining peace. Zimbabwe could so easily be at civil war, like the Congo or Rwanda or indeed Iraq and Afghanistan, had it not been for Tsvangirai. I deeply respect him for that.”
A university student said it was a joke that Obama had won the prize when “America is at war as we speak with its troops in Afghanistan and Pakistan. There are also clear signs that George Mitchell has failed to negotiate peace in the Middle East, so where is the achievement?” he said.
Mkhululi Ndlovu said Tsvangirai lost the award for glorifying Mugabe. “He should take a tough stance on Robert Mugabe if he is to be short-listed for another international award,” he said. “We cannot afford a situation where the international community is found on the fore-front of pushing Mugabe to implement the outstanding GPA issues.”
The MDC said the mere fact that Tsvangirai had been short-listed was significant. “For years, the MDC President, the party and the people of Zimbabwe at large have fought tirelessly and tenaciously for a peaceful and democratic Zimbabwe in which all people work and live in harmony. Todays event is an acknowledgement of the peaceful struggle of those who have been killed, those who have been maimed and those who have been harassed or had their houses burnt in their quest for a peaceful and democratic Zimbabwe,” says the statement.
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