Witnessed on Monday outside the Sheraton
September 17th, 2008
Many people have said to me over the past two days, “at last we have HOPE”. I hope and pray that this works but Zanu’s (and Mugabe’s) track record for trust and compliance, or lack of, is legendary.
Outside the Sheraton on Monday some war vets were singing “You sold out!” to Mugabe during the signing ceremony.
There were tens of hundreds of MDC supporters gathered singing and waving outside the hotel entrance. They completely blocked out the few Zanu supporters. The mood was electric, tangible with excitement and joy. Even the Presidential guard were looking relaxed!
When the ZPF dignatories left the hotel in their cars they were faced with a sea of waving open hands, chanting “chinja” (change) and just loving every bit of the rare window of freedom of expression.
A small group of (brave, stupid!) ZPF youth split into two groups and surrounded a small group of MDC supporters and started stoning them. Well, it was a matter of seconds before the wider crowd of MDC retaliated angrily on the spot. The ZPF youth were seen to go to the Presidential guards standing nearby complaining they had been beaten by the MDC. The guards response was, “what were you doing going into their group in the first place? !!”
Later some Vapostori women, wearing their usual white but with ZPF regalia, had to walk past hordes of MDC supporters to leave the hotel grounds – they were boo’d from beginning to end.
Also during the course of the day, the MDC chased a group of stone throwing ZPF youth right into the grounds of the ZPF headquarters. Armed guards fired shots in the air to stop the MDC from going right into the ZPF HQ car park. A group of about 500 MDC held an impromptu rally right there.
On Tuesday I voluntarily stopped at a Police road block set up in the vicinity of Bob’s palace and offered my hand in congratulations to the Police saying, “now you will have a better deal with MDC running Home Affairs”. They vigorously shook my hand and they were over the moon!!
September 17th, 2008 19:10
Here’s a recent commentary on the deal by William Gumede who argues:
“The fact that this is a deal worked out by Africans themselves should not obscure its inherent flaws. The big worry remains that in the power-sharing agreement in Zimbabwe, like the one in Kenya, the opposition party and leader that actually won the poll got short-changed, while the sitting leader and government that cheated are richly rewarded.
That itself is a recipe for future instability. It means African dictators can rig the vote but retain their power by threatening more violence and by agreeing to African mediation. Instead of a short, transitional government Mugabe is now entrenched for a full term in office. ”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/17/southafrica.zimbabwe
I’m sure there will be a lot of anger that Mugabe has got away with this absurd compromise, particularly from those MDC supporters; but I’d have thought that in some situations compromise – however absurd – is the only sane way out of a situation spriralling towards violence.
September 17th, 2008 19:35
Hope, that songbird that perches in the soul, and sings a tune without words, and never gives up. Hope will never abandon you, you abandon it. Hope, like faith, is there for you in the dark, holding out its hand. It is the most exiting thing in life, it is the dream of your awakening soul.
September 18th, 2008 00:11
@True Grit
Hope is a sweet word,unfortunately in our despair we use it when we have been tired out of reason. Believe me there is something still sinister about zanu.
Never sign an agreement with them. Like a snake they need crushing (the head) rather than keep them in your house and expect honesty and goodwill.
Remember for 28 years plus they have killed and manipulated and tainted reason with madness in the name of sovreignty and Afrocentricism.
Please do not hope. Be either sarcastic, cynical or downright negative because as long as the virus called robert mugabe and his JOC are in the system expect death and chaos.
Can’t you see this a ploy to get international aid while still appeasing the dictator and his swine.
I will not hope but will be content when the scum is desolved into nothingness.
September 18th, 2008 02:30
I keep remembering what happened in East Germany in the short period between the downfall of Communism and the unification with West Germany. Once the public perception of government changed, its power was reduced and in some aspects ceased to function at all.
Not an exact parallel by any means, but a reminder that political power, like monetary value, is a function of people’s perception of it, and not something that anyone can control personally. In an earlier story there was this quote:
‘There were signs of change to the cronyism of the Mugabe era. A suburban supermarket received a large consignment of sugar on Monday, and a long queue formed. A gang of Mr Mugabe’s “war veteran†militia arrived and, as is usual, demanded the lion’s share. “Police were already there, controlling the queue,†said a witness. “They ordered the war vets to get into the queue like every one else. They obeyed.†‘
All it took for the country to change, all it ever needed for the country to change, was for people to believe that change was here. That’s why Maneru’s rumblings about the West are so absurd: there is no more ability for people in the faraway West to influence things, than there is for people in the former ruling party to influence things, once their picture of absolute power is no longer projected to the people. Power doesn’t come from big men wielding it, it comes from people believing it is being wielded.
Of course it will take a time for everyone to get to the same place in terms of where they believe the power is, just as it takes time for financial markets to adjust when there have been persistent and long-term distortions of value. Some of those adjustments may even be painful. But it will come.
Mike
September 18th, 2008 19:12
Matibili – It is natural to be pessimistic about Mugabe, he is a contortionist and can twist in many ways. But do not abandon hope. While there’s life there’s hope. Not?
Mike – Quite right. Once the dungeon door is unlocked, it takes time for people to tip-toe out. And power is indeed as much in the eye of the beholder as it is in those wielding power. They need people to feel that there is no alternative. Once there is a perception that there is indeed an alternative the hold on power weakens.