I had first-hand experience of just how that order was carried out on
the ground. I was living and working in Murehwa, Mash East at the time
and a good friend of mine was a policeman. He had been hastily
transferred from Murehwa to Mudzi, the epicentre of the violence in the
province and I remember him telling me that the police actually had the
suspects in the cells when the order came from Police HQ that the men
were to be released. All charges were to be dropped; there would be no
prosecutions. My friend had been a cop for twenty years, proud to wear
the uniform of the ZRP. Now he was deeply ashamed to be part of this
patent travesty of justice. Three months later he left the police and
began the long hard slog to survive and keep his family together. He
could not, he said, any longer live with his conscience and continue to
be part of the forces of so-called law and order. Inspired by the
example of this honourable man, I began to write a series of detective
stories designed to show how impossible it is for an honest policeman
to operate in a country where the police have become nothing more than
a political arm of the ruling party. The Dube books are fiction but
they were born out of the reality of what was happening – and is still
happening – in Zimbabwe.
Chihuri's latest directive to drop all investigations into the murders
committed during before and after the June 2009 elections illustrates
only too well that nothing has changed. With sickening hypocrisy,
Chihuri's directive concludes with the following sentence, The
decision has been made in the spirit of promoting national healing in
view of the inclusive government. ( The Zimbabwean 19-25 February
2009). I fail to see how the release of men accused of murder, rape,
mutilation and torture can possibly be seen as promoting anything other
than the culture of impunity that has characterised Zimbabwean society
for the past nine years. If national healing' is indeed the motive
then how does the arrest of Roy Bennett fit into that noble' aim? And
what of the continued detention of all the other activists held on
spurious charges of banditry and possessing weapons of war? Just
yesterday, 19.02.09, a High Court judge ordered that one group of
detainees be granted bail only to have the order immediately revoked by
the Attorney General's Office on the grounds that the judge's order was
in contravention of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act. The
accused are back in gaol again and Roy Bennett will also be
incarcerated until March when his trial opens.
The issue of Roy Bennett is making headlines worldwide. I wonder why,
says Robert Mugabe. This is a court case. Let the courts decide for
themselves. This from the man who has more than once affirmed that
court decisions have no validity if they go against his government's
policies, the same government which has ignored the SADC Tribunal's
ruling on white commercial farmers' right to stay on their farms. Even
now those farmers are being harassed and intimidated to quit their
properties; rumours are that they must all be off their farms in time
for Mugabe's 85th birthday. Another lavish gift for the old man, no
doubt, so that he can boast yet again that his land reform' programme
is successfully completed. The new Minister of Agriculture is none
other than, Joseph Made, he of the eagle vision who claimed he could
see flourishing maize crops where there were none when he flew over the
country in a helicopter back at the height of the land invasions.
Little or nothing has changed in Mugabe's Zimbabwe. Â
The MDC will hold a rally in Gweru tomorrow, February 21st and Mugabe's
birthday, to celebrate' their progess along the road to democracy.
Thousands are predicted to attend but looking in from the outside I do
not see much cause for celebration. Yes, the MDC are now in government
but Robert Mugabe and/or his generals will see to it that they have no
real power. The fact that hundreds of MDC supporters are dead or
rotting in gaol while their killers and torturers walk free is evidence
of that. I am sure that Morgan Tsvangirai is a man worthy of respect
but if he is not very careful, he will be seen as Guilty by
association' with Mugabe's murderous regime. The question has to be
asked, how far will Tsvangirai and his party go before they stand up
and say Enough is Enough to Robert Mugabe? How many more arrests of MDC
people will be tolerated? Inclusive Government is a sham if it cannot
protect the rights of all Zimbabwe's citizens.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH. aka Pauline Henson author of
Countdown a political detective story set in Zimbabwe and available on
lulu.com.      Â