2008 Articles 25 Dec Kingdom Come 21 Dec Christmas 15 Dec Step Forward 5 Dec Beginning 1 Dec Amendment 30 Nov Facilitation 26 Nov Genocide 24 Nov Running Out 17 Nov Crisis 15 Nov Somalia 12 Nov What Next? 8 Nov Leadership 2 Nov Chipo 1 Nov Rome Burns 29 Oct Failure 25 Oct High Noon 19 Oct Never Easy 10 Oct Abyss 8 Oct Filibustering 4 Oct Chaos in Zim 29 Sept A Mule? 21 Sept On Step 16 Sept The End 12 Sept New Beginning 11 Sept Deal? 6 Sept Consequences 3 Sept Need a Deal 2 Sept Dollar Died 31 Aug Steering 29 Aug Unstuck 23 Aug Betrayed 18 Aug The Devil 13 Aug 13 Aug 08 12 Aug Today 11 Aug Cliffhanger 8 Aug Whats Going On 27 Jul Progress 22 Jul Agree to talk 21 Jul Mbeki kicks 16 Jul Crunch Time 13 Jul Economics 9 Jul Reality Looms 2 Jul Where? 30 Jun Looking Glass 26 Jun Battle 22 Jun What Now? 21 Jun The Commitment 16 Jun Do or Die 13 Jun Morning After 10 Jun Closing Doors 26 May Current Outlook 24 May Fan Club 19 May Tyranny 17 May End Game 15 May Flushing 8 May Violence 6 May Bizarre Process 25 Apr Cornered 20 Apr Electoral Fraud 19 Apr Jesse 17 Apr This Farce 11 Apr The Devil 6 Apr Wounded Buffalo 1 Apr Dying Kick 31 Mar Politcl Tsunami 27 Mar Current Situ. 26 Mar 4 days to go 21 Mar 8 days to go 15 Mar Election Time 27 Feb Games Begin 17 Feb Public Office 11 Feb Choices 4 Feb Decision Time 26 Jan Ambushed 25 Jan The Struggle 20 Jan Truth or Fiction 12 Jan Mugabe Mistake 8 Jan Surprise 2 Jan Kenya Lessons
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The Failure of African Leadership
Nothing could illustrate the failure of African leadership more clearly than
the farce that took place in Harare this weekend. Following the debacle last
week when Morgan Tsvangirai refused to travel on an emergency travel
document restricted to Swaziland, the SADC organ on politics and security
convened in Harare this Monday. It was attended by the Presidents of South
Africa and Mozambique as well as the Prime Minister of Swaziland and an
official from Angola.
They know exactly what the problem is - in March the MDC beat Zanu PF in a
closely contested election and its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai beat Mugabe by
a wide margin. These leaders know that Morgan got more than 50 per cent of
the vote - I understand his actual vote was 54 per cent but after five weeks
of procrastination and desperate efforts to falsify the poll the Junta was
forced to admit that Mugabe had been beaten but that Tsvangirai had received
less than 50 per cent and would have to face a run off.
The South Africans know full well that the real result was a clear victory
for MDC and a humiliation for Mugabe, but went along with the charade and
allowed the run off to take place. What followed was three months of intense
political violence unleashed on the population by 100 000 youth militia
under military leadership in over 2000 camps spread throughout the country.
When finally it became apparent that any attempt by the MDC to monitor the
election would be faced with violence and even the murder of MDC polling
agents, the MDC decided to pull out of the contest. Zanu PF went ahead and
in complete contrast to the March election, Mugabe was declared the winner
in 48 hours and sworn in, in unseemly haste.
The African observer missions then turned Zanu's world upside down by
declaring that the election had 'not been a reflection of the people's will'
and stating that Mugabe had not been elected President. Battered and
bruised, the MDC and the hapless electorate picked themselves up and were
then faced with a demand by SADC leaders that they 'resume' the talks with
Zanu PF under the mediation of Thabo Mbeki.
Mbeki picked up from where his previous mediation had left off, as if
nothing had happened in the interim. We are now 4 months down the road on
that new initiative and having agreed and signed a power sharing agreement
on the 15th September; we are still trying to get the deal implemented. In
signing the deal, the MDC massively compromised its rights as the Party that
had won the elections outright in March.
Mugabe, who by all accounts lost the election in March and certainly has no
legal or democratic justification to call himself President, continues to
act as if he had won the election and Hansard still lists all Zanu PF
ministers and Deputy Ministers as Ministers of Government. No doubt they are
still on their full salaries and perks even though a number of them were
defeated by MDC in the election in March and all of them were stood down as
Ministers when Parliament was sworn in a few weeks ago.
Just to compound this situation Mugabe is treated as a State President by
SADC and given full political and diplomatic recognition. The so called
'Global Agreement' provides for a clear separation of powers between the
Prime Minister and the President and also sets out in precise terms how the
different arms of government are expected to work together.
Only an idiot could interpret the agreement as meaning that Zanu PF is still
in charge and MDC is the junior partner, It is self evident that the
allocation of ministerial portfolios should be divided equitably, So when,
after weeks of pointless argument Zanu PF published an allocation of
Ministerial portfolios that gave Zanu PF complete control of the security
machinery of the state as well as all resource ministries and left the rest
to the MDC, it was a step too far.
That brought the region back into the process and gave us the hope that the
regional leadership would recognise the illogical and unacceptable nature os
such an allocation and impose a solution on the local players that made
sense. First it was Mbeki and he made a hash of things - actually endorsing
the Zanu PF allocation of posts! Then came the Troika and the aborted
meeting in Swaziland.
Morgan had raised the issue of his passport with the negotiators and when he
was issued with a Emergency Travel Document with a single destination
restriction he refused to travel. In fact the issue goes far beyond just the
question of withholding his travel documents (the passport has been ready
for weeks and is sitting in the desk of the Registrar General) it was just
the latest of a series of incidents that show that the Junta in Harare has
no intention of allowing the new government to be formed.
They are continuing to restrict and interfere with food distribution by the
international community. They have retained tight control over commercial
food distribution. The security forces continue to attack any attempts by
civil society to support the negotiation process and the media is as warped
and restricted as ever. There has been no attempt to implement the 'Global
Agreement' in any form up to now.
When Morgan Tsvangirai failed to attend the Troika meeting it was aborted
and reorganised for Harare a week later. In Harare the key player was always
going to be the new President of South Africa, Mr. Motlanthe. This was his
first real test when it comes to foreign affairs and for most of us it
seemed completely logical that he would step up to the plate and smash a
home run.
But no - after 13 hours of intense 'negotiations' they came out of the
closet and issued a statement that did not change one single element in the
situation. The issue would go a full meeting of SADC Heads of State in two
weeks time. What an even larger group of hopeless leaders will do is
difficult to imagine. The key player remains Motlanthe, he alone has the
power and influence to force a resolution and it just that that is required.
The Junta will never give up power without the use of force in whatever form
and if that is not going to come from the streets, it has to come
diplomatically behind closed doors.
In 1976 that pressure came from the South Africans in support of an
initiative by the American Secretary of State, in 1979 it was pressure from
Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania. The only question now is who will do the
necessary in 2008?
While this charade is being played out, southern Africa burns. In the midst
of the global financial crisis, we look indecisive and ineffective. By
failing to take crucial decisions on issues such as inter Party violence in
South Africa and the resolution of the crisis in Zimbabwe - all within our
own clear competence, we are failing our respective countries, the region
and our people's best interests.
It was up to the Secretary General of the United Nations to spell out what
was needed. He called for an equitable allocation of Ministerial portfolios
and the formation of a new government in Harare as soon as possible. He said
that only such a move would bring the political and economic crisis under
control. He is right, are our leaders up to it this time? Failure is just
that would be 'too ghastly to contemplate'.
Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 28th October 2008
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