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Prayer Meeting Or Political Rally?

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ZIMBABWESponsored supplement “On Saturday, 14 April 2007, The Save Zimbabwe Campaign will hold a prayer meeting at St Patrick’s Community Centre in the suburb of Makokoba in Bulawayo. The prayer rally will commence at 0900hours till 1200hours. Representatives from labour, the church, students unions, political for- mations and other pro-democracy groups are expected to converge in Bulawayo to pray for the nation currently facing a deep-seated and multi-layered national crisis. Speakers include the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leaders, Morgan Tsvangirai (president); Arthur Mutambara (president); National Constitutional Assem- bly (NCA) chairperson, Dr Lovemore Mad- huku; Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) president, Promise Mkwananzi; Christian Alliance chairperson, Dr Rev Levy Kadenge; Paul Siwela (Zapu FP), Arch- bishop Pius Ncube; the Zimbabwe Congress Prayer meeting of Trade Unions (ZCTU) among others. We call upon the people of Zimbabwe or political rally? to attend this rally which shall shape Zim- babwe’s destiny. For people outside Zimbabwe who might still be debating The leadership of the Campaign once the difference between a “prayer meeting” and a “political again reiterates its commitment to the resolu- tion of the Zimbabwean crisis in total defi- rally”, below is a taster. It is an advertisement published in ance of the brutality being perpetrated by the the Zimbabwe Independent on 13 April by The Save Zimbabwe state security agents. Campaign, calling on people to attend a “prayer rally” in We deplore the use of violence by those Bulawayo on 14 April. Headlined, ‘The Save Zimbabwe who are in power not by peoples’ consent but through coercive means. The state has Campaign Bulawayo Prayer Rally’, the advertisement said: an obligation to protect the citizenry and to respect the human rights, including the civil and political liberties of the people. We denounce the current attempts by the state-sponsored terror group, Chipangano, to abduct the widow of the late Gift Tandare. The Mbare-based group descended on the “We don’t want to create a socio-legal order “The state has an Tandare residence in Glen View in the eve- in the country in which people will go to bed obligation to protect the ning of 5 April 2007 and threatened to rape after having barricaded their doors and win- and torture Tandare’s wife. dows because someone from the special police citizenry and to respect the As The Save Zimbabwe Campaign, we branch will visit them during the night; no human rights, including demand to vote in 2008 under a new demo- we are tired of it, that’s why we are in this the civil and political cratic and people-driven constitution. The revolution for as long as it is going to take” – elections must be held under regional and Dr Eddison Zvobgo 1974. liberties of the people.” international norms governing democratic elections.” g NA May 2007 New African n 87 When Trudy was attacked attempt to convict” other persons and politi- cal parties without any due process. “In a bid to establish the truth, we have set up an independent internal enquiry chaired by Advocate Happias Zhou. The team also consists of two prominent law- yers, Irene Petras of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, and Kay Ncube of Gill Godlonton and Gerrans, while Kudakwashe Matibiri is the secretary. “We hope and trust that the commission, which begins its work with immediate effect, shall work with speed and be ready to present its findings at the end of July [2006]. We also hope and trust that the police shall also act Trudy Stevenson in hospital after being with speed and bring the culprits to book so beaten by her party’s (MDC) activists that they are brought before the courts.” However, Professor Welshman Ncube, once a strong ally of Tsvangirai but now a On 2 July 2006, Trudy Stevenson, an MDC white member of senior figure in the rival faction [headed by parliament, was brutally assaulted by youths loyal to Morgan Arthur Mutambara], dismissed the promise of an enquiry as “a ruse to divert attention Tsvangirai’s faction of the MDC. The international community from Tsvangirai’s culpability in this savage barely noticed, but some MDC members took special umbrage, brutality”. which lends weight to David Coltart’s concerns (see preceding Said Ncube: “To date, we have had sev- article). Violence, which violence? This report was first eral commissions of enquiry into violence within the MDC dating back to 2001 published by the website, newzimbabwe.com. when MDC MPs and activists, including Priscilla Misihairabwi, Gabriel Chaibva, Edwin Mushoriwa and Janah Ncube, were set upon by hired thugs during a Harare pro- vincial meeting. “We had another commission of enquiry organ Tsvangirai, the founding into the attempted murder of the MDC’s leader of Zimbabwe’s feuding “They were calling my security director, Peter Guhu. Another main opposition party, said he name ‘Trudy, Trudy, enquiry related to an attack on other senior had set up an “independent” get out [of the car]!’... party officials, including the Bulilimamagwe M enquiry to look into a brutal attack on Harare MP, Moses Mzila Ndlovu. When the find- North MP, Trudy Stevenson, which has been They wanted me. They ings were revealed, the party expelled some blamed on his supporters. Stevenson was tar- wanted to kill me.” of the youths involved but they were rehired geted with four other officials of a rival MDC by Tsvangirai. faction led by Professor Arthur Mutambara “We have positively identified Trudy’s in the poor suburb of Mabvuku. She was attackers as people previously expelled from later hospitalised with machete wounds to officials, Tendai Biti, said a commission the party, so this commission that they have her head and a broken arm and wrist. of enquiry on the matter had been set up, just announced has nothing to do with ascer- “They were calling my name ‘Trudy, headed by a top Harare advocate. Biti, sec- taining facts or the identity of the assailants. Trudy, get out [of the car]!’,” she said from retary general of Tsvangirai’s faction, said: The pretence of trying to appear concerned her hospital bed. “They wanted me. They “Whilst we condemn the attack which we and finding the truth is just a diversion and wanted to kill me.” One of Tsvangirai’s top dismiss as barbaric, we equally condemn the people can see through that.” g NA 88 n New African May 2007 ZIMBABWESponsored supplement The reason we did not return to that “Trudy! You’ve same house on Sunday 2 July was because when we left the house that Tuesday, we gone against spotted a certain Munyaradzi supposedly in a building gang just next door. This Munyaradzi had caused Simangele Tsvangirai!” Manyere (treasurer, MDC Harare province) and myself considerable grief before and Morgan Tsvangirai is portrayed by Western during the Senate election last year, when governments and their media as the “blameless” he showed himself to be very plainly on Tsvangirai’s side despite having been identi- leader of one of the two opposition MDC factions. fied by Harare province as our point person But some MDC stalwarts who know what in Mabvuku. goes on inside the now divided party Manyere immediately recognised him, as think otherwise. One such stalwart did both Councillor Linos Mushonga (pro- vincial organising secretary) and Mr Kari- is Trudy Stevenson who matsenga (provincial secretary for security), recounts here how it feels to all of whom spoke to him as we were leav- get on the wrong side of ing. We then decided it would be unwise to the supposedly return to the same house for the follow-up, as Munyaradzi was likely to disrupt our visit, “blameless” leaders of at the very least. the “blameless” party. We, therefore, tasked our young This article was first Mabvuku member, Luckson Mudachira, to arrange a meeting point elsewhere, and published by the we agreed that we would then proceed website, from that point with key members of the newzimbabwe.com. Mabvuku structures to the provincial offices in Hillside. I was out of touch with the team for the next few days, as I attended the ZNCC congress in Victoria Falls. Indeed, had I kept to my original itinerary, I would only have returned Monday evening, but I managed to get onto a Saturday flight – luckily in some ways, unluckily in others! On my return, I arranged to drive with Manyere to Hillside to collect Luckson, Trudy Stevenson tells how she was attacked Mushonga and Karimatsenga to go to the two o’clock rendezvous. Manyere complained bit- terly en route that arrangements for another t is indeed a sad day when I have to write I have been persuaded to give an eyewit- trip to Kuwadzana had failed when she had a sequel to my report on the MDC ness account of the attack. Here is my own walked more than two hours for the driver meeting on 12 October [2005], but recollection. and then abandoned the trip. there is nothing else for it. Many people Five of us travelled in my car – which Karimatsenga was not at Hillside when I from all over the world – of various political I had borrowed from my new in-laws – to we arrived, and after waiting some time persuasions – have sent their sympathy and Mabvuku to make a follow-up on a small we decided we should proceed to Mab- good wishes for a speedy recovery to the three house-meeting we had held the previous vuku without him as we were already late. of us who were injured in Mbavuku. Tuesday afternoon, 29 June 2006. Tawanda Udzerema (youth deputy orga- May 2007 New African n 89 Trudy Stevenson: “I will not give up” nising secretary) accompanied us instead.
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