LONDON - Vigil supporters, like everyone else here, have been closely following the UKs general elections, which left none of the three main parties with an overall majority in Parliament. A bit like Zimbabwe? Surprisingly, Zimbabweans have the right to vote in parliamentary elections here (though citizens of even EC countries cant). The loophole for Zimbabweans is that the British government has yet to update the legislation which allows Commonwealth citizens to vote even though Mugabe took us out of the Commonwealth in December 2003!
Many Vigil supporters voted and some even campaigned for the rival parties. We were interested in the different attitudes towards immigration, which became a main issue in the election campaign. Up to half a million people a year have apparently been settling in the UK in recent years leading to fears of being swamped. There are, by all accounts, more Zimbabweans in the UK than there ever were British people in Zimbabwe.
The immigration question was at the heart of a meeting in London on the Monday before the elections. It was attended by many Vigil supporters. All three party leaders answered for their policies. Vigil people were particularly keen to see Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats, who has come to the Vigil. One of the questions raised was about the welfare of children detained with their parents in immigration centres and there were promises to look into this. Despite the unity government, Zimbabweans make up one of the biggest groups of asylum seekers in the UK.
The whole exercise had much to teach us about how to resolve differences. But it made us depressed about the situation in Zimbabwe where a defeated President has refused to surrender power and the former opposition seems increasingly schizophrenic. Vigil supporters wondered how else to interpret Tsvangirais recent comments at the meeting in Dar es Salaam of the World Economic Forum on Africa. He was reported as saying that, given the chance again, he wouldnt have joined the coalition government but went on to maintain that Zimbabwes political crisis no longer exists. At the same time he admitted that, even though the principals had received a report on the SADC-facilitated talks weeks ago, they had not yet met to discuss it.
On a surprisingly cold day for May, we have just about given up on the interim government. We are settling down in the UK and its becoming ever more difficult to think of going back. New elections, free and fair, as soon as possible are what we want.
It lifted our spirits to welcome back Father Bernard, a Jesuit priest who has helped so many of us. He unfortunately has dislocated his shoulder and had to use a walking frame. We pray for his early recovery.
The Vigil has had an email from James Chidakwa, friend and fellow activist of Tonderai Ndira who was brutally murdered two years ago in Zimbabwe. Tonderai was abducted on 13th May 2008 and his body was identified in the morgue on 22nd May. In a BBC report (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7416933.stm), his brother describes Tonderias body: “His jaw was shattered, his knuckles broken, a bullet hole below his heart, many many stab wounds and a large hole at the back of his head which seemed to have been caused by a hammer.” Other reports state that he had been shot in the heart, with multiple stab wounds, his eyes gouged, his tongue cut out, and his neck, skull, jaw and knuckles broken. James has let us know they will be holding a commemoration for Tonderai on 14 / 15 May. The Vigil joins with Tonderais family and friends in remembering and honouring this brave activist. There will also be a memorial in London, check our Events and Notices section.
For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/. For the latest ZimVigil TV programme check the link at the top of the home page of our website. For earlier ZimVigil TV programmes check: http://www.zbnnews.com/home/firingline.
FOR THE RECORD: 147 signed the register.
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