Whether 2,2 million signatures were really collected is immaterial. What is important is that the majority of the signatories were forced to sign the petition against their will. There are cases that have reported of people who were arrested or attacked for refusing to sign the petition.
The march to the Ministry of Finance offices where war veterans besieged the offices wanting the Finance minister to sign the so-called petition has been well documented in both the private and public media, and organisations such as the United Nations need to be constantly reminded of such developments, especially as we prepare for elections. Thanks to Rugare Gumbo and his Zanu (PF) for wanting to take the issue to regional and international forums.
It is difficult to tell if there is anyone with a brain left in Zanu (PF), because everything the former ruling party is doing exposes it ahead of the elections.
It is my hope that all pro-democracy groups, political parties and civic society organisations included, will compile the evidence around the manner in which the so-called anti-sanctions petition signatures were collected and distribute the information to all SADC embassies and the United Nations offices in Harare to pre-empt Mugabe's presentation.
The people of Zimbabwe and the world cannot be fooled again. – BENJAMIN CHITATE, by e-mail
Post published in: Letters to the Editor