Ben Freeth and his wife Claire visited the Vigil (see pic above) and urged us to keep up the struggle. “We are encouraged because every week we see you are still there. Zimbabwe continues to burn yet we are four years into the new government. The country has not really moved forward. Huge problems continue and no real reforms are taking place,” said Freeth.
One disturbing reminder of how difficult things were becoming in Zimbabwe was from a supporter at the forum who said her parents in Zimbabwe had appealed to her not to go to the Vigil because they had been threatened. People agreed that we must nevertheless focus on getting our message to relatives in Zimbabwe. They must realise how much the diaspora, with regular remittances, is helping to keep the country going.
Vigil co-ordinator Dumi Tutani expressed anger at reports that Morgan Tsvangirai was staying in a luxury hotel nearby, the Savoy, which charges a minimum of £400 a night. He asked why Tsvangirai had not contacted the diaspora, who would have liked to have asked him why the MDC was denying them the vote. Dumi suggested that the Vigil should make the UK an uncomfortable place for anyone from the Government of National Unity. After the meeting he and several others headed off to protest at the Savoy.
Post published in: News
Ben Freeth is wrong, real reforms are taking place. The land his father in law acquired in 1974 when Rhodesia was ruled by a supremacist white regime will never be his.