OUTSIDE LOOKING IN: A letter from the diaspora

For Zimbabweans and the Ndebele people in particular who experienced the horror of Gukurahundi, there is some solace in knowing that Mugabe and his followers will one day face justice not revenge but justice. It may be a long time coming but one day there will be justice for the 20-30.000 people massacred by the Mugabe regime.
Only Mugabe forever and ever goes the latest Zanu PF slogan, echoing Brigadier General Nyikayarambas claim earlier in the week that Mugabe, as Father of the Nation could never be replaced any more than a natural father could. Mugabe should be president for life, Nyikayaramba declared. Not everyone in the former ruling party agrees with him; but then they all have their eyes on the top job. Still Mugabe shows no signs of handing over the reigns of power and each time he offers another reason why he cannot go: Yes its true he is 87 years old but he is fit and strong, he claims, and could live to 100. The Third Chimurenga is not yet complete, ie. we have not yet taken all the white owned farms. Zanu PF would collapse without him and patriotism demands that he should remain in post, ie. the country needs him. The police are of course 100% behind Mugabe and this week we have seen the extent to which they will go to prove their loyalty.
Last Sunday a policeman, Inspector Mutedza, was killed in the Harare suburb of Mbare. As always with a state-controlled media it is hard to get to the bottom of what actually happened but the police claim that the ZRP Inspector was killed by a crowd of MDC supporters. Even before any investigation had taken place, a police spokesperson had rushed into print in the state-controlled newspaper to place the blame on the opposition. Since then dozens of Youth Militia have turned Mbare into a war zone beating up MDC supporters and displacing known MDC members from their own homes. The musika in Mbare is a vital means of earning a livelihood in the suburb but MDC vendors have had their stalls destroyed and their goods looted by gangs of youths trained at Inkomo army barracks for the sole purpose of attacking the opposition party which has a strong following in the suburb. So far, at least 20 MDC supporters have been arrested. The Commissioner of Police, Augustine Chihuri said in a barely concealed reference to the MDC as the killers of the police Inspector, those who live by the sword will die by the sword. Unless the comment was intended as irony which I somehow doubt -thats pretty rich coming as it does from a man who is on record as saying, This country came through blood and the barrel of the gun and it can never be recolonised through a simple pen which costs as little as five cents. Chihuris contempt for the democratic process is evident in the treatment of MDC activists who have been brutalised in prison. Lawyers representing the activists have been refused permission by the police to see their clients. An application to the High Court has been made but whether the police will obey a High Court ruling is by no means certain judging from recent experience of police behaviour.
Regardless of Zimbabwes all too obvious lack of peace and stability, the AU this week declared that the country will take over the Chair of the Peace and Solidarity Council in accordance with alphabetical procedure! Peace and solidarity are not words that readily come to mind when one considers the actions of Mugabes fanatical followers. People like Bishop Kunonga can get away with anything not excluding murder if they demonstrate their loyalty to the Old Man. Kunonga is wreaking havoc in Bishop Chad Gandiyas Harare parishes but the police arrest not the perpetrators but the priests who report that they have been kicked out of their homes and their families are traumatised by Kunongas thugs.
All that decent men and women can hope is that Kunonga and others of his ilk will one day stand trial for their misdeeds. Augustine Chihuri, the head of the police for the past how many years has been complicit in the destruction of the rule of law in Zimbabwe and together with so many others deserves to stand trial for as the ICC Prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo says, There is no alternative to the rule of law.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH. aka Pauline Henson author of the Dube books available on Lulu.com