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Home , Arthur Mutambara, David Coltart, Eddison Zvobgo, Gibson Sibanda, Joice Mujuru, Morgan Tsvangirai

ZIMBABWESponsored supplement

“On Saturday, 14 April 2007, The Save Campaign will hold a prayer meeting at St Patrick’s Community Centre in the suburb of Makokoba in . 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, (president); (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 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 , once a strong ally of Tsvangirai but now a On 2 July 2006, , 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 ’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 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, , 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 ) 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. seat, and Mushonga When we reached Msasa, Karimatsenga called got in the passenger Mushonga and wanted me to go back and fetch seat. him, but I asked him to simply follow us and They were calling find us in Mabvuku as we were already late. my name, “Trudy! Trudy! In Mabvuku, Luckson directed us past You’ve gone against Tsvangi- the Circle Cement factory, and pointed to rai!” That’s when I realised it was three youths running to meet us as we drove me they were after. past the gate. We took the dirt road on the I tried to release the anti-theft immobil- left just past the factory, and drove into the iser, but I couldn’t manage before the rocks compound where two or three youths were – and I think bricks – started hitting the bon- waiting for us. They said we were not going net. I kept shouting: “It’s not my car! It’s not to any house, but should just go to the open my car! Please don’t damage the car!” “We need to concentrate ground behind us. By now, they were all around and rocks I backed the car a short way down a path were coming through the windscreen and our efforts on sorting out opposite the big water tank, and the five of the door windows. Mushonga was no longer our national problems, not us got out, to be joined by the youths from in the passenger seat. They shouted: “Trudy, killing each other. It is a the compound. Soon another three or four get out of the car! Trudy, get out of the car!”, members joined us, and then a member on and then I knew that I must stay in the car tragedy that this Mabvuku a bike who had come from the house where to stay alive. attack has enabled Zanu PF we had met on the Tuesday. The rocks were hitting my head all over. to point fingers at the Mushonga, Manyere and I explained Someone tried to pull me out of the car that we were also waiting for the women’s through the broken driver’s window – that’s MDC. Let it not happen representatives, but meanwhile they should how my arm was broken. again, ever.” “huddle” to select their chairpersons who They shouted: “Give us the keys! Give us would be accompanying us to Harare prov- the keys!”, and at first I wouldn’t, but then I ince to link with other structures. realised that if I didn’t, they would pull my This they did – and meanwhile a big arm off trying to pull me through the win- told us she had managed to crawl under the Caterpillar-type digger appeared from behind dow. So I let go of the keys. car to get away from the rocks – we had not the long grass, surprisingly. It turned as though At this point, a woman standing at the had time to unlock the back door for her to come down the path, so I went towards driver’s door (she’s the one who hit my head before the attack began. the car to move out of the way, but it sim- with a big rock) spotted the cord holding But then they had spotted her, pulled her ply went onto the space nearby and stopped. my mobile phone which was hidden under out and kicked her all over. They had tried to The driver waved at me, so I waved back. my jersey, so she grabbed it and pulled and pull her wedding rings off but they had just The group started introducing their twisted it until it broke off and she retreated got her clip-on earnings and twisted another chairpersons when suddenly one of the with the mobile. ring. Again I asked: “Where are the others? youths said: “Here come Tsvangirai’s guys!” Another person – or maybe it was her They shouted “come and help us.” But no I looked up towards the compound, where I also – ran off carrying my briefcase. Now I one else appeared. saw about 10 people spread out quite widely realised that they were all running off. I don’t Suddenly we saw an old blue car driv- advancing towards us, carrying something know what made them retreat so suddenly. ing in along the dirt road, so Mushonga ran (not identified at that stage) in their hands. My head was bleeding profusely and I towards it and managed to stop the driver. I I asked: “Shall we talk to them?”, but the knew my arm was broken, it was just hang- also approached it, and we asked the driver to youth said: “No, we should move away from ing. I managed to get out of the car and please go to the police for help and to phone this place.” Then I saw the advancing crowd Mushonga appeared from somewhere. He my husband to alert him to come and find start running. Mushonga said: “Give me the said they had fled in a getaway car which was me there. Indeed, this kind driver did exactly keys. I will drive!”, but I knew he would not waiting for them. that, as I later discovered from my husband. be able to for two reasons, so I said: “No, I I looked back down the path for the oth- I then had to lie down because I was feel- will have to drive, let’s go!”, and I unlocked ers. The only one I saw was Manyere lying ing sick and faint, so I lay down next to the the passenger door, slid over to the driver’s beside the path a little way off, groaning. She car. Mrs Manyere stayed with me. Mush-

90 n New African May 2007 ZIMBABWESponsored supplement onga went off to the main Arcturus Road to try and get help. About 20 minutes later, a police Landcruiser drove up, with Mush- onga inside. At first, I heard: “We’ve got to get all the details”, but then when the off- duty police officer saw the situation and our condition, he kindly agreed to drive Manyere and myself straight to hospital. I asked Mushonga to stay with my car until help arrived because the windows were broken and it would be easy to steal the car or bits of it. Mushonga stayed with the car until a friend went out much later with spare keys to drive it back to the city – to my new in-laws’ house! What a way to start a new family relationship! At the hospital, we were attended to very The MDC wounded arrive at quickly. Manyere was released after x-rays, Harare Rotten Row Court etc, with medication. I got my head stitched and x-rayed but had to stay in with my bro- ken bones. Mushonga had broken fingers which MDC on MDC were also attended to when he arrived later, and I think he had a head x-ray too. He had To its credit, last year’s attack on Trudy Stevenson provoked lost consciousness at one stage during the heated debate within the MDC. Here are a few quotable quotes: attack, which was when they stole his shoes and other items. To all my family, friends, and colleagues, Welshman Ncube, secretary general of on the MDC officials and attacked them with and the many strangers who have assisted us the MDC faction now led by Prof Arthur an assortment of missiles, which included in any way, and who have expressed their sor- Mutambara: “This brutal attack on a member stones, iron bars and sticks. The thugs row and sympathy over this Mabvuku attack of parliament and our supporters proves searched the victims as they lay helplessly on – a very big thank you. All you people are the that Tsvangirai and his people are a complete the ground. reason I will not give up. I love you all dearly, mirror image of and Zanu PF. “Trudy was hit with a machete on the back and I still believe most Zimbabweans are the They have established no-go areas for other of her head and sustained a deep cut just political parties in Harare and elsewhere. above the neck. Councillor Mushonga suffered very nicest and kindest people on this earth. This vindicates our position that it will make two broken fingers, which doctors say may Your fantastic reaction to this attack merely no difference to elect Tsvangirai as president have to be amputated. Manyere was hit with reinforces my belief in you! because he will prove a worse dictator.” a stone and suffered broken teeth and had a My prayer is that something really posi- swollen face. She had multiple lacerations on tive will come out of all this, most especially , spokesman for Tvangirai’s her face and head.” that it shocks those still in denial into the faction of the MDC: “We condemn this attack. realisation that we simply must deal with the Any blood is special and this attack on a Tendai Biti, secretary general for Tsvangirai’s issue of violence within some groups who call member of parliament is barbaric. If these faction: “We hope and trust that the themselves MDC, as well as in its more tra- people who committed this act masqueraded police will take decisive action against the ditional locus, Zanu PF. We need to concen- as MDC members, I can assure you they are perpetrators of the above barbarism. On our not part of the MDC family.” part, we want to restate our constitutionally trate our efforts on sorting out our national guaranteed position that any member of the problems, not killing each other. It is a trag- Gabriel Chaibva, spokesman for Mutambara’s party who partakes in violence and other edy that this Mabvuku attack has enabled faction: “We have positively identified at criminal activities will be expelled. Those that Zanu PF to point fingers at the MDC. Let it least seven of the assailants and have passed are violent belong to Zanu PF and not in the not happen again, ever. g NA their names to the police… The mob pounced MDC.” g NA

May 2007 New African n 91 Welshman Ncube “We saw an increasing tendency towards dictatorship and violence in MDC” Professor Welshman Ncube, (pictured) secretary general of the MDC, was a close ally of Morgan Tsvangirai before the party split into two on 12 October 2005. In this interview first published by the Sunday News in Zimbabwe, he tells Reason Mpofu why his faction split from Tsvangirai’s. “…You had another precedent on 12 October [2005] where the National Council made a resolution and Mr Tsvangirai stood up and said that he did not care about the resolution. We could call him a dictator if we wanted… The final straw which broke the camel’s back – we asked ourselves ‘if this man could do this now before he was in , what will he be like if he was in State House commanding the CIO [Central Intelligence Organisation), the police, and the army?’.”

Reason Mpofu: When the MDC entered the grand stage in 1999, it emerged as a vibrant opposition party. What were its strengths back then? Prof. Welshman Ncube: Well, of course the strength of the MDC lay in the [fact that it was an] organisation which brought together political and civil society activists who had worked tirelessly in the 1980s and 1990s for recognition and implementation of a new constitution, [they] had worked in defence of human rights, had worked in defence of the rights of the working people of this country and accordingly [they united] at the working people’s convention in 1999. What you had was the coming together of all those forces

92 n New African May 2007 Welshman Ncube ZIMBABWESponsored supplement “We saw an increasing tendency which regarded themselves as the democratic PF government. That is what basically hap- around him tended to demonstrate to us that forces representing what we thought would pened. we were facing a real possibility that we will towards dictatorship and be a bright future for Zimbabwe. The split that then took place in the have a false beginning in Zimbabwe – a false MDC was a split basically between those change and we did not want a false change; Mpofu: Some analysts have argued that who continued to uphold the founding we did not want another Zimbabwe in violence in MDC” the MDC was simply driven by urban peo- values and the principles of the party, and Zimbabwe. ple’s wish for change and nothing more. those who became seduced with getting into What is your comment? power at any costs regardless of the values and Mpofu: Coming to the issue that led to the Ncube: No, far from it. The MDC was principles of the party. split, what really was the problem? Was it driven by the founding principles and val- the dictatorial tendency of Mr Tsvangirai ues. Essentially, that is to say we recognised Mpofu: Looking at that, would you then or was it a result of the culmination of a that the ideals of the liberation struggle say Tsvangirai is as democratic as he claims host of problems? had remained largely unfulfilled in a sense. to be? Ncube: It was certainly a culmination of a For instance, greater freedom, greater lib- Ncube: Well, let me say that it is not for me whole lot of things which had been going erty, respect for human rights, respect for to judge Mr Tsvangirai. What I can tell you is on for more than a year. In summary, those individuals, and also more importantly the that the conflict that took place in the MDC things were the following: economic prosperity which independence which led to the split was a conflict between There was the issue of the formation had promised had not been achieved by the and use of militants within the party. What had overwhelming majority of the people. happened in [Tsvangirai’s] office is that a group So the support that the MDC drew “We must be democratic of young people had been recruited and were to itself represented the gulf which existed before we are in fact in then being used for violent purposes by people between the promise of independence and government, we must be working in Tsvangirai’s office. For Christ’s sake, the reality on the ground in the country at you had a situation! the time of the formation of the MDC, and non-violent, we must be The then secretary of the Harare prov- the people had hoped that the MDC would transparent and we must ince, the then chairman of the Mashonaland make that leap from the promise of indepen- not be corrupt.” East Province, the then secretary for infor- dence to the reality of that promise. mation and publicity in Mashonaland East Province were in fact abducted from the Mpofu: But now looking at the revelations streets, carried to Harvest House [the MDC that David Coltart is making on how vio- the majority of the members of the National headquarters in downtown Harare], stripped lent the MDC is, would you say this has Council and Mr Tsvangirai. And that split naked and flogged in the headquarters of been one of your founding principles, centred around the question you raised, that the party. considering that since the formation of some of us believed that we must walk the And when the National Council took the MDC, Morgan Tsvangirai has always talk of our values. We must be democratic action to expel these youths and to dismiss threatened violence? before we are in fact in government. We must the workers in Mr Tsvangirai’s office who Ncube: You have got to distinguish between be non-violent before we are in government; had organised that, Mr Tsvangirai reinstated the ideals of what the MDC aspired for and we must be transparent and we must not be these people. And when the Senate debate fought for relentlessly for six years and the corrupt. took place, it was taking place within this perversion which entered into the picture What then happened is that we saw context where the Council was already very through some of the leaders of that party. an increasing tendency towards dictatorship, unhappy with what had happened, in that The MDC always stood for non-violence an increasing tendency towards the use of [Tsvangirai’s] office had embraced violence as – it always stood for democracy and for the violence not even against the party’s enemy, an instrument of political organisation. betterment of the people. What then hap- but the use of violence against members of the We had a precedent where a resolu- pened over the years is that some of us in party who disagreed or who were perceived tion of the [National] Council had already the leadership, having been fighting by all as disagreeing with Mr Tsvangirai and the been reversed in respect of the expulsion accounts a very brutal regime in terms of kitchen cabinet. of the youth [involved] in the dismissal of the use of violence, we ended up ourselves To that extent, you can squarely say that Tafadzwa Musekiwa and Washington Gaga copying some of the methods and, in fact, for some of us, we believed that the ten- who worked in Tsvangirai’s office. admiring some of the methods of the Zanu dencies we saw in Mr Tsvangirai and those And now you had another precedent on

May 2007 New African n 93 Welshman Ncube (right) and his former close friend, Morgan Tsvangirai

“We saw an increasing tendency towards dictatorship, an increasing tendency towards the use of 12 October [2005] where the Council made individuals who had no mandate from any a resolution and Mr Tsvangirai stood up and violence.” organ of the party, then you had a problem. said that he did not care about the resolution. We could not, therefore, continue to call We could call him a dictator if we wanted, ourselves a democratic party [when], in fact, and he did not care if the party split and was we were rejecting the decisions of the elected not going to accept that democratic decision The last aspect of it is that increasingly, since organs and structure of the party. and he was annulling it. about the middle of 2004, you had a situa- That, therefore, became the final straw tion where Mr Tsvangirai had set up what we Mpofu: But there have been allegations which broke the camel’s back. And we asked called a “mafia kitchen cabinet” which con- against you as well, that you contributed ourselves, if this man could do this now trolled the thugs around him. These people to the split of the party through abuse of before he was in State House, what will he then set themselves above the National Coun- party finances for personal use. be like if he was in State House commanding cil and were reversing and revoking decisions Ncube: Of course, this is garbage and non- the CIO [Central Intelligence Organisation), of the National Council of the party. sense. This is the tragedy of our politics today commanding the police, and commanding You would go into a meeting in which in that if you have a political difference, such the army? a decision would be made with the consent as we had, you have people who begin to And some of us were saying we were not of Mr Tsvangirai himself. He would go out make all sorts of malicious allegations and prepared to take that risk and were not pre- and consult the kitchen cabinet. They would lies against individuals. You have a situation pared to take the chance of continuing to say this would not work, then that decision where the Tsvangirai group, unable to address campaign to put a person in the State House would be reversed. And this caused a great and deal with the issues of democracy and who was failing the democratic practices deal of unhappiness in the party, in that if violence in the party, begins to mark certain even before he wielded state powers. And we had elected structures of the party, which individuals and then you hear claims that that, in fact, went to the heart of the dispute. were then overruled by a unelected, faceless Ncube’s house is guarded by the red berets

94 n New African May 2007 ZIMBABWESponsored supplement of Zanu PF. You have things placed on the were from . The overwhelming concerned, we inherited overwhelming struc- internet – scandalous, malicious things – and majority were from Mashonaland. tures of the party right around the country, the claims that you referred to. If the party is represented by the National and we believe that when people have under- Of course I am not the treasurer of the Council and the overwhelming majority – stood what happened on 12 October [2005 party. The treasurer is Mr Fletcher Dulini- almost one to four – are from Mashonaland, when the party split into two], and the causes Ncube through whom the funds of the party how does that party then become an Ndebele for the split, they will stand with us because are processed, and as far as I know all those party? And you can see that the whole prem- we represent what the people of Zimbabwe funds have been properly accounted for to ise is a lie concocted by the stupid hope that want. Democracy, freedom and prosperity each and every donor that has given money, you would then be able to mobilise the Shona – and in practice, not just in theory. and properly accounted to the national exec- vote against us because you would then have It’s very easy for anyone to stand up and utive of the party. labelled [us] an Ndebele group. say I am a democrat when in fact you practise It is sad and pathetic that when people the contrary, and we believe what we repre- are unable to address real issues, they mark Mpofu: There is a perception that you sent is what the people of Zimbabwe in fact the man. We had a dispute between Mr tricked Mutambara into joining your seek and desire. When we get the next major Tsvangirai and the National Council and you camp, yet you knew it was very weak on election, be it in 2008 or 2010, whenever it had a group which then sought to transform the ground. Comment? will occur, the people will ultimately speak. the dispute [into] a Tsvangirai and Ncube Ncube: Let me say that, first of all, we are dispute, so as to present that dispute as an Mpofu: You have been there since the for- ethnic dispute, so that you can then mobilise “Whether it is a Zanu PF mation of the MDC, along with the likes support on the basis of ethnicity. of . Why then did you or government or an MDC Sibanda not vie for the faction’s top post? Mpofu: But your faction has repeatedly government, the people Ncube: First of all, I, as an individual, have been labelled as a Ndebele faction. Any must always have an always said, and some of you in the journal- comment on that? ism fraternity refuse to believe it, that I have Ncube: One of the tragedies of this thing is option to say, ‘you have never ever had an ambition to be a leader of that when we first had a dispute between Mr messed us up. We want any political party, or the president of this Tsvangirai and the National Council, you had someone else and we want country in the past, now or in the future. a group which then sought to transform the And that is a fact. I am entitled not to desire dispute [into a] Tsvangirai-Ncube [dispute] to try another party’.” or to aspire to that office. The reason I did so as to present [it] as an ethnic dispute. And not aspire to that office was that I, as a person, for us, we found this extremely hurtful, that has never been interested in that position. having worked with people for more than six years who claimed that they recognised not weak on the ground. As far as we are con- Mpofu: Going back to the formation of no ethnicity, no racism, no tribe, no colour, cerned, we are very strong on the ground. the MDC, Tsvangirai was under Sibanda. [and] no sex, when you, in fact, scratch the We are more organised. We have the struc- We saw Sibanda become the vice-president surface you find instinctive hardcore racists tures of the party in virtually every corner while Tsvangirai took over. Now coming and tribalists. That is the sad thing of this of Zimbabwe, unlike the other side which to your faction, when everybody thought whole [case]. has structures in Harare. People must not either you or Sibanda would become the confuse Budiriro for Zimbabwe or Harare president, in comes Mutambara. Does this Mpofu: Is Prof Arthur Mutambara the for Zimbabwe for that matter [Ncube’s faction mean that in your dispensation top posts convenient Shona face of a Ndebele had lost a string of local and mayoral elections are strictly for Shonas? faction? in Bulawayo and Chegutu, and a parliamen- Ncube: I do not believe so – that any position Ncube: And that is precisely the tragedy of tary by-election in Budiriro weeks before this in Zimbabwe can be reserved for any ethnic this country. What is it which is Ndebele interview]. group. We are all Zimbabweans and all equal about the party? What is it which is Ndebele? If Harare were Zimbabwe, Zanu PF and indeed that is part of the struggle here. What is it which is Ndebele about the split? would have lost power long back. Zimba- We are all Zimbabweans with equal entitle- At the time of the split, we had 40 members bwe is larger than Harare; and the premise, ments to aspire to any office. I believe if there of the [National] Council who stood with us. therefore, that we are weaker because of the is a person from Matabeleland who aspires to And of those 40 members, only nine of us outcome in Budiriro is a lie. As far as we are lead a political party or to be the president

May 2007 New African n 95 The pot calling the kettle black: Last year Dr changed the NCA constitution to entrench himself in power, and yet does not want Mugabe to do the same. “I can’t see any respectable person taking him seriously”, says Ncube

ZIMBABWESponsored supplement [and] presents themselves to the people, they should be allowed to contest and to present themselves to the people. I do not believe there is any position in Zimbabwe which is reserved for any one ethnic group.

Mpofu: But we are looking at a practical situation here, as evidenced by your party since its inception. Looking at your fac- tion, where you are said to be the architect, was it not logical for you to have Sibanda or yourself taking over, considering the seniority in your line of leadership? Ncube: As far as we are concerned and this MDC is concerned, it is not, and has never, been an ethnic question. What we looked at, as the leadership of the party, the problem was who is likely to provide that extra gravi- tas, that extra push for us to be able to win the next election, and we needed that extra energy. We needed a person we believed was strong in terms of what he has got to offer to the general public. If that person had been Ndebele, we would have elected that person. It so happened that the consensus of all the provinces of the party was that Mutambara would be that right person. As far as I am concerned, it is a mere coincidence that he happened to be Shona.

Mpofu: Moving on to another issue, as a past National Constitutional Assem- bly (NCA) leader, what do you make of Dr Lovemore Madhuku’s latest actions [President Robert] Mugabe needs to have a Ncube: That’s precisely the point. We cer- [in changing the NCA constitution and limited term? Who will listen to you when tainly won’t, and I do not see any respectable entrenching himself in power]? you say we need a constitution that should person taking them seriously. What would Ncube: We have already publicly said have limited terms? Who will listen to you make me believe that you are concerned about through a statement issued by the party that when you say the constitution should not be democratic constitutionalism when you are we were dismayed and we continue to be dis- amended willy-nilly to suit specific leaders or not walking the talk yourself, and this is mayed by the constitutional amendments particular times? partly the problem that we had in the MDC. which were proposed and effected for the And for us, basically, what has happened You must hold yourself to the standards re-election of Dr Madhuku. Remember that to the NCA is tragic because it has under- you want to hold others to; if you cannot hold this is not just a question of a third term. This mined the constitutional movement’s moral yourself to those same standards, then there is someone who has actually manufactured a authority to take on the government, and we is no reason why people should take you seri- five-year term, which is more than twice the insist on the values that should underpin a ously. Whether it is nice, whether it is painful terms which were previously permissible. democratic constitution. or good, holding yourself to those standards is Whereas in the past you could only serve the hallmark of good leadership. The moment a two-year term, which made four years, Mpofu: In light of what Madhuku has you don’t, then basically you are an oppor- now in one stroke, someone doubles those done, can anyone, let alone the govern- tunist, seeking power for the sake of power; years. Who will listen to you when you say ment, take him seriously? and some of us have never been in it for that.

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Mpofu: There are allegations that apart any difficulties in engaging the international from getting funding from the UK, you community. got money and cars from Tony Leon [the When we are competing for politi- MDC’s electoral white South African opposition leader]. cal office, we need to have rules which are Ncube: Well, certainly not this MDC. This agreed to by all the contesting parties, your strength MDC has never got any funding from Tony constitution and your electoral law. It is just Leon or any other rightwing elements in like a game of football. You cannot go and An impression has been created worldwide or anywhere else in the world. play a game of football where the rules of the that Zimbabwe is ruled by a “dictatorship”, We are a social democratic party. Our friends game are imposed unilaterally by the other but a dictatorship with an opposition are naturally the social democrats in Zimba- team and those rules give an advantage to represented at all levels of government – bwe and across the world. that one team. local, mayoral, parliamentary (both lower At the end of the day, you will have a house and senate) – is a contradiction Mpofu: The MDC called for sanctions and war in that game, endless disputes and you in terms. The MDC currently has seven senators in now the people of Zimbabwe are suffering. will not enjoy that game. That is all we are the upper house of parliament, representing Any regrets? saying about Zimbabwean politics. Let us Pumula-Luveve, Phelandaba-Mpopoma, Ncube: First of all, again, this is one of the sit down as Zimbabweans, let us agree on a Bulawayo-Nkulumane, Lobengula-Magwegwe, big lies that is repeatedly told. We have always new constitution and electoral laws that will Matobo-Mzingwane, Bulawayo-Makokoba, said we are opposed to economic sanctions even out the playing field, and once we have Lupane-Nkayi, and Binga. against Zimbabwe at all times. Our view done that, we can engage the international In the lower house (House of Assembly), which we supported was that the interna- community as a united country, as a united the MDC has 41 MPs (as against Zanu-PFs 78). tional community needed to take some mea- force, and I have never been able to under- When it comes to the municipal level, sures to show its disquiet and its opposition stand why Zanu PF finds great difficulty MDC has five mayors, in Bulawayo, Kwekwe, to the manner in which elections had been in actually saying let us come together and , and Kariba. They used to have mayors also in Harare, run in the country. And it was, therefore, establish a national consensus. and Chitungwiza until the Councils' non- necessary as far as we were concerned to actu- Once you have free and fair elections, performance compelled the government to ally have what we called “personal targeted whether people elect Zanu PF and Zanu PF appoint commissions to run the cities. sanctions”, which basically means travel bans messes them up, that is their problem. It is In addition, the MDC has 82 local and nothing more than that. their sovereign right. We don’t have a prob- councilors, spread over the following That is what we called for, and we do not lem with the majority of the people electing provinces: Midlands 8, Manicaland 15, believe that banning a militia leader from vis- Zanu PF or electing any other party. Mashonaland South 19, Matabeleland North iting the amounts to economic 33, Mashonaland Central 1, Mashonaland sanctions against Zimbabweans. Again, it Mpofu: Finally, what is the future of oppo- West 2, and Masvingo 4. is one of those unfortunate things that you sition politics in Zimbabwe? In the 2000 parliamentary election, the party’s best performance so far, the MDC won have a government that has failed to conduct Ncube: Well, it’s just like asking what is the 57 seats as against Zanu PF’s 62, the MDC was effective foreign policy, blaming everyone future of Zimbabwe? Opposition politics is later pinned back to 51 seats after losing a else for its bad relations with the interna- about the alternatives that the people of Zim- series of by-elections. With the constitution tional community other than itself. If you babwe have at any given time. Whether it is empowering the president to appoint a have a terrible foreign policy, you then end a Zanu PF government or an MDC govern- further 20 MPs and 10 more elected by up being isolated by the international com- ment, the people must always have an option traditional chiefs, the government increased munity, then you turn around and blame to say, ‘you have messed us up. We want some- its standing to 98 seats (including the six by- other people. one else and we want to try another party’. election victories over time). Before the 2000 For some of us, the most important thing For us, as long as there are people, there elections, the government had 147 seats as is that the people of Zimbabwe must be able will always be a future for opposition poli- against three held by the then insignificant opposition. But everything changed with the to make peace among themselves before tics. Whether we are the ones in opposition birth of the MDC in September 1999. you can ask the international community to or someone else in opposition, that is the In the March 2005 parliamentary election, make peace with you. The things that divide essence of democracy. The people should the MDC won 41 of the contested 120 seats. us as Zimbabweans are not big, if there was always have the alternative to say no to the Zanu won 78 and with the additional 30 a willingness on the part of the Zanu PF to government in power which has not deliv- appointed seats, the government’s strength address them, I do not believe there will be ered on its promises. g NA increased to 108 seats in parliament.

May 2007 New African n 97 “Media hype more Western froth and bubble”

Peter Mavunga, a Zimbabwean journalist based in Britain, writes about the “single-minded preoccupation of the Western media with demonising Zimbabwe and propping up the opposition, especially Morgan Tsvangirai, well above his station.

he British government and Western media campaign against Zimbabwe is notable for its rabid bias; what is said or written has no concern for T the truth or balance, that is getting the other side’s point of view. It has a single-minded preoccupation with demonising Zimbabwe and propping up the opposition, especially Morgan Tsvangirai, well above his station. All this is at variance with the age-old notion of British fair play, if ever it existed. When I was studying journalism in , my tutor was at pains to emphasise that there were always two sides to a story and the views of both sides ought to be reported. From what has been written about Zimbabwe over the past few weeks, though, you might be excused to think that Morgan Tsvangirai, the “blameless” leader of one fac- tion of the MDC, was the head of state while the president of the republic has a monopoly of doing wrong. The disturbances that occurred in the Harare suburb of Highfield at the beginning of March this year caused injuries to both sides, yet the way the story was reported tells a different story. British newspapers have a selective memory. Police officers who were petrol-bombed by MDC youths are real peo- ple serving the people of Zimbabwe, but they do not exist in the psyche of the British media. of the British media, neither is it given any comes to reporting Zimbabwe? More to the British journalists saw only Tsvangirai as consideration by those who serve in the gov- point, how are they able to report so much the victim of the “violence” of Zimbabwe’s ernment led by . about Tsvangirai then? state apparatus. In their newspapers, they If you asked them, the journalists would A few years ago, there was media frenzy splashed Tsvangirai in a hospital bed with say they are banned from Zimbabwe and, in the UK when featured a “serious” head injuries but giving long tele- therefore, cannot report what they don’t see. frontpage story asserting that a female MDC phone interviews to journalists abroad. They The question is, why were they banned in supporter had been decapitated by a bunch did not see anything else. The violence by the the first place? Was it something to do with of Zanu PF youths in Magunje, Karoi. The opposition never features in the vocabulary their amnesia and selective memory when it story was a complete fabrication but as it fit-

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the old [of Harare], should be band, retired General Solomon Mujuru was replicated the world over without checking. behind all this. Then the news was that the What is also interesting is that British former army commander had been arrested. Ambassadors speak in signs: US newspapers never bother to correct their mis- Then it was said that both Zanu’s politburo ambassador, (left) plans strategies with his British takes when it comes to Zimbabwe. When it and central committee were divided. From counterpart Andrew Pocock became common knowledge that they had the spin, the British media concluded that, Below: Zanu PF supporters show what they feel about Western media wrongly attributed the death of the so-called for President Mugabe, the end was nigh. reporting of their country “decapitated” woman to Zanu-PF youths, They were, however, forced to report, they never retracted the rubbish they had albeit grudgingly, that the president had been been spreading. endorsed as the sole candidate of Zanu to Retractions are done in other circum- fight the next presidential election in 2008. It stances but when the lies are in respect of was like an anti-climax for the British media Zimbabwe, no correction is necessary lest though it never dampened their spirits. The it weakens the campaign of discrediting the Times, for instance, went to town regurgitat- government. Truth should never get in the ing the same old story of disunity as if it was way of running a good story. Running the reporting it new. government down is the overarching objec- Clearly, President Mugabe had a good tive. SADC conference in Tanzania, and one Brit- British newspapers also change their tune ish journalist was forced to concede that he faster than a chameleon changes colour. In returned home “with a spring in his step”. the build-up to the flopped stayaway on 3-4 The media hype had proved to be no April 2007, the papers were reporting confi- more than the usual British froth and bubble. dently that this would be the largest demon- They had anticipated that President Mugabe stration Zimbabwe had ever seen. would be told in no uncertain terms that his With “80% unemployment” so the story time was up. They expected the SADC lead- went, “the people of Zimbabwe, angry with ers to tell him he should not seek re-elec- the Mugabe regime, were going to demon- tion. strate because they have nothing to lose”. It was said President of Their tune changed when the numbers, South Africa was going to use his muscle to by the papers’ own accounts, turned out to bring Mugabe down. But the meeting came be far lower than they had anticipated. They and went, leaving the SADC even more now said the people did not want to lose a united. The SADC rightly did not think it day’s wage and that many preferred to go was its duty to dictate what should happen to work where they got their only meal of in Zimbabwe, which it has always said is a the day. I did not realise that companies in matter for Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe are so generous that they now give This was terrible proof of emerging Afri- their employees not just wages but lunch as can unity and the more progressive British well. people I speak to, do accept that President According to the British media, every- Mugabe and his team’s principled stance on ted neatly into the agenda of the British gov- thing bad happens in Zimbabwe. The media the land question is to be admired. ernment and media, it received widespread campaign is persistent and unrelenting. They But the current British government hates coverage. have tried very hard, but unsuccessfully, to that principled stance with a vengeance and A serious political party aspiring to con- foster discord within the ranks of the ruling that hatred dates back to 1997, just before vince the electorate that it is fit to govern Zanu PF party. It was said that Vice-Presi- the Commonwealth conference held in should think about its integrity and avoid dent Amai had resigned not Edinburgh. The has using people’s tragedies to achieve its politi- because she wanted the top job for herself, been in difficulties since then, and the British cal ends. But it is an indictment of British but her husband was calling the shots. use all the tricks in the book to put the blame journalism that such falsehoods, initiated by We were told the vice president’s hus- on President Mugabe. g NA

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