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POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: President Mugabe On War Path
By Chris Anold Msipa
HARARE, Dec 9 (IPS) - Zimbabwe, already in a dire economic,
political and social situation, faces another bitter year
ahead. The ruling ZANU-PF has declared war against the
opposition, the West and the Commonwealth.
ZANU-PF, in power since independence from Britain in
1980, has threatened tough action against what it calls
agents of Zimbabwe?s opposition and its western allies. It
has also ordered the government to withdraw its membership
from the Commonwealth.
?The message is clear. The Commonwealth is not vital for
Zimbabwe to exist. We have decided to leave it because it
is racist and does not respect our hard-won independence,?
said one ex-combatant of the Zimbabwe?s 1970s war of
liberation.
The commonwealth is an organisation of about 53
independent states which were formerly parts of the British
Empire, established to encourage trade and friendly
relations among its members.
Tapiwa Padera, a war veterans? leader, said there was no
going back on the road ZANU-PF had taken to redress the
hardships facing the majority of Zimbabweans.
He was speaking in a telephone interview with Inter
Press Service after this year?s charged annual conference
of the ZANU-PF at the weekend in the southeastern city of
Masvingo.
President Robert Mugabe, who until the meeting had kept
people guessing on his exit plans, has praised his party
support for him, its decision to leave the Commonwealth and
its backing of his land reform programme.
The former guerrilla leader celebrates his 80th birthday
in two months. But he has dashed hopes for a new face to
replace him, arguing that he is still fit, has the mandate
of the people and will rule until they want him out, or
when he feels too tired to go on.
Media commentators had predicted Mugabe would take
advantage of the two-day conference and allow the ruling
party to decide on his successor. He says that was never
his idea.
Instead he has chosen war. ?Icho!? Mugabe shouted.
?Charira!? his followers responded, vehemently.
The slogan, coined during the liberation struggle of the
1970s, means ?The War Has Erupted? and ?direct
confrontation?. It was abandoned in 1980 after Mugabe
declared national reconciliation with the white minority
settlers in Rhodesia (now renamed Zimbabwe), following
independence.
One political commentator says its invocation now smells
bad, especially for the labour-backed Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC). And President Mugabe has made it
clear the threat is genuine.
?Anyone who has a thought to destabilise us must take
care that we can unleash (security) forces on him. I think
the MDC have learnt their lesson,? Mugabe said.
?If they want to violate our rule, the law of the
country? We can unleash legal violence, which we are
permitted to do to correct violence. If they are throwing
stones, naturally, some measure of force must be used to
term them.?
Mugabe said Zimbabwe had taken the stance after London
continued to use the MDC to remove him from power and stop
seizure of farms owned by about 4,500 whites, who held more
than half of the country?s prime land.
He said the opposition, to fulfil the scheme, has since
launched ?strikes, demonstrations and senseless protests?.
The white-run industry joined in, creating artificial
shortages and hiking prices, while interest rates are
shooting up at commercial banks.
Mugabe said the continued gold production also fails to
reflect in the national reserves. The amount of the yellow
metal the state handled annually in the recent past have
since dwindled from between 27 and 29 tonnes to just 10
tonnes.
?But now, with the measures we took, I understand from
the Reserve Bank that gold has now started flowing in,? he
said, referring to the recent crackdown on illegal gold
dealings in the country.
Mugabe said ?numerous factories? have also closed down
for political reasons, to cause anger among the people and
turn them against the government for the benefit of the
Movement for Democratic Change.
He has announced measures to empower blacks for more
goods production, which will cause competition and force
prices down to counter the alleged sabotage. The state will
now take full control to acquire inputs and make them
available to the new producers.
Mugabe has lashed out hard at some senior members of his
party who he says have become too greedy for money and
adopted double standards, with ?one leg in the MDC and
another leg in ZANU-PF.?
He accused the members of seizing plots allocated to
ordinary people for either their own use or for relatives
and friends.
Mugabe said his government had set up a committee to
probe such people, who face unspecified action if they did
not surrender the extra farms.
His administration, he said, would also deal with white
farmers like the ?Nicole Brothers? in his home area in
western Zvimba District, who are resisting the agrarian
reforms.
Mugabe also said the state would intervene to ensure
interest rates, which have now reached 400 percent, are not
only harnessed but are also reversed immediately.
His pullout from the Commonwealth has been communicated
to the group meeting in Nigeria, which media reports say
received the statement Sunday, hours after it had further
extended the suspension of the Southern African country.
President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria has been given
personal charge to monitor the political climate in
Zimbabwe, with hope to restore its membership. But the
Southern African nation has already taken a stand.
Obasanjo, as well as the South African Head of State,
Thabo Mbeki, and the Malawian Leader, Bakili Muluzi, is
mediating between ZANU-PF and the MDC to bring them into
talks to end their impasse. The three maintain their
efforts are proceeding well and a solution is possible
soon.
However, the MDC dismisses the statements as misleading.
It complains against continued rights violations, while its
petitions against the presidential and legislative poll
results stand in the High Court.
The state has also not dropped treason charges against
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, accused of plotting to kill
Mugabe before last year?s presidential poll. He faces the
death penalty if convicted.
ZANU-PF?s conference had raised hopes for an end to
Western-led sanctions and normalisation of the strained
international ties, to return the economy back on track.
But the party?s weekend declaration to quit the
Commonwealth has shattered those expectations.
The Commonwealth last year suspended Zimbabwe after
accusing the ruling party of grabbing white-owned farms,
vote rigging and rights violations against the opposition.
Mugabe, who enjoys support from some developing countries
like South Africa and Cuba, says the accusations and the
sanctions are racist plans to derail his land reform
programme.
Zimbabwe used to export food surplus. But the land grab
and poor planning, as well as sanctions, the Cyclone Eline
of 2000 and two successive dry seasons, have forced the
country to beg for its staple grain, maize. About six
million people, half the country?s population, need food
aid now. (END/2003)
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