LONDON - How long will we continue to endure a president willing and it seems able to bring an entire country to its knees?? How, in this day and age is one man allowed to have such a sense of entitlement to a country that the rule of law is held in such disregard. A country where he himself is seen and understood to be the law.
In spite of the coalition government agreeing to a constitution amendment under their political agreement known as the Global Political Agreement {GPA}, and the agreed consultations between the President and Prime ministers with regards to appointments of provincial governors, diplomats ,ambassadors and senior government officials, this has been flagrantly disregarded by Mugabe to achieve his political ends. The man has no regard for the rule of law at all. The GPA is very clear in its
detail and since it was agreed in principle by both parties, one would logically conclude that the detail would be followed. SADC now with Jacob Zuma as the official mediator on this Zimbabwe government major stumbling block has not acted with the necessary decisiveness to deal with a dictator who is bent on a divide and rule mentality. Mugabe refused to meet with the mediators that Zuma had sent to try and resolve this political hot potato. Mugabe and ZANU-Pf have gone on to say that they will not abide by all the requirements of the GPA until western sanctions against him and 200 or so of his cohorts have been lifted!! SADC’s credibility is at an all-time low in terms of dealing with Mugabe who just grows more emboldened and outrageous the more he is held with kid gloves by the international community.
The land grabbers are back {had they ever left} with minister Clemence Makwarimba of ZANU-PF claiming a farm with millions along with 200 head of cattle leaving a farmer destitute in Masvingo as fresh farm invasions are embarked upon. The issue of land grabs is being protested by the MDC against the reappointments of ZANU-PF governors by Mugabe which once again is unconstitutional in terms of the GPA. ZANU-PF are now worried that with an MDC governor appointed this would mean the end of this nice little earner of free farms. Police are still raiding NGOs confiscating solar powered radios set to be distributed to rural areas in the Midlands province in their efforts to stop the free flow of information.
One of the problems with Mugabe is that he is at that stage where no one within the international community has his ear unless they agree with his ethos. . If Nelson Mandela with all his skill as a negotiator and influencer could not deal with him effectively, Jacob Zuma and the western world have no chance. We as Africans and African Leaders are allowing Mugabe to singlehandedly ruin a once prosperous country with little or no resistance. Zuma himself is under pressure to release the report of the Army Generals who investigated state sponsored violence in Zimbabwe in 2008 and to release the names of people who were in the fore front of investigating violence and intimidation. To date he has failed to do so. Other powerful Southern African countries like Mozambique, Angola and Namibia are now showing support to the Zimbabwe Government when it is under fire from the west even though they do not agree with some of the more severe and repressive of its political activities. The Government of Zimbabwe is now in the grips of a man who by fair means or fowl will cling to power assisted by his cohorts who are there to ensure their wellbeing by intimidating and eliminating any would be revolutionists. Even junior policemen are now being threatened, harassed and terrorised by their superiors as the election nears to ensure they rig the elections. Internal mails and memos call for commanders to ensure that voter registration/inspection are carried out on any working day at the Register generals local offices. This all flies in the face of the Police Act which prohibits active participation in politics by police officers and is a chargeable offence. But once again we are dealing with Mugabe as the leader where the buck must stop. But of course he will never allow the buck to stop with him and will as is his nature pass it onto the West, with no accountability to rest on his elderly shoulders. For a man who liberated a country, how he has fallen, I struggle to figure how a country like South Africa, which is a direct casualty of the situation in Zimbabwe as millions of Zimbabweans head out to the neighbour in search of work whilst SA, themselves are facing real difficulty with employment.
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