SADC won’t fund nor endorse a sham election

By Moses Chamboko

Following the SADC Summit held on 12 June 2011 in Sandton, it became evident that it was no longer business as usual at the regional grouping. Elections in 2011 as agitated for by ZANU PF’s shameless but energetic spin-doctors became elusive.

Nevertheless, Jonathan Moyo and other zealots kept on misleading the nation that elections would go ahead in 2011 without fail. It is now winter 2013!

The historic Livingstone Troika Summit in March 2011, precursor to the explosive Sandton meeting, marked a significant turning point in the region’s seemingly softly-softly approach to the Zimbabwean crisis. It was at these summits that gloves were taken off, so to speak.

Fuming, with rotten egg all over the face, ZANU PF took the fight to Sandton in June of the same year. But SADC did not blink with regards to free, fair and non-violent elections in conformity with the GPA into which MDC was literally dragged. We aren’t forgetful.

Having lost the battle south of the Limpopo, Jonathan Moyo, George Charamba and other pundits, returned home to deliver a free semantic lesson of kindergarten nature around the words “endorsed” and “noted”.

At the instigation of Jonathan Moyo, Jameson Timba was arrested and persecuted for telling the SADC story as it was. Unfortunately for the bigots, Zuma and Sadc developed thick skin with each summit. ZANU PF has got nobody but itself to blame.

On 15 June 2013 in Maputo, a day that some would rather forget quickly, President Mugabe must have wondered if the world was crumbling around him. When he expected SADC to unconditionally unzip its purse, he was bombarded with embarrassing questions related to GPA implementation.

As has been noted by many other commentators, I do not blame him totally for what he went through in Maputo. Rather, I also blame his advisors, most notably the seemingly regrouping Dinyane architects who are determined to expose and disgrace the ageing president at the slightest opportunity.

Late 2009, Jonathan Moyo in one of his articles said “Mugabe is too tired to pull the nation out of the woods”. Given this bold statement, I will leave the rest to your imagination.

An insidious mission to deliver a devastating ending to Gushungo’s presidency by those closest to him is fast unfolding. I’ve heard people argue that there are times when one can redeem their profession by the way they end it. Sadly, for President Mugabe, this might not be true.

He may not leave behind any semblance of reverential legacy unless he does the right thing and step down now.

While this doesn’t worry some of us who ceased to subscribe to ZANU PF ideology many years ago, it is certainly a concern for ordinary Zimbabweans to see their national leader (no matter how unpopular) humiliated in front of the world by less than a dozen bigots with dangerous ambitions.

When Secretaries-General of both MDCs suggest that the president should fire his advisors, they say so as genuinely concerned Zimbabweans with a clear conscience who feel that what transpired in Maputo could have been easily avoided.

Inadvertently, SADC summits have become easy platforms for dressing down the emperor!

Ian Khama, as usual, did not mince his words when he asked President Mugabe why he continued to be preoccupied with the “bush war” that ended 33 years ago rather than economic development, education for kids, disease and poverty eradication, employment creation, free and fair elections.

This, directed at an elder of a much senior generation, must be cause for concern. It appears what has now become known as the “chaos faction” has finally succeeded in reducing the president to a captive leader or mere spectator. For a founding father of his standing, this is both gloomy and unfortunate.

In 2003, President Mugabe unilaterally withdrew Zimbabwe from Commonwealth after the grouping had been unwavering in calling for observance of democratic norms as well as demanding an end to the culture of state-sponsored political violence.

It was then that the mantra “African solution for African problems” became louder and frequent.

On a number of occasions especially during the protracted GPA negotiations, several “analysts” writing from Harare, Tsholotsho, Sydney and other parts of the planet, denigrated MDC for not having respect for African institutions. Paradoxically, Arthur Mutambara’s piercing voice remains discernible in that hymn.

Therefore, the natural question to ask is “Is SADC still an African institution? If yes, does it deserve respect?” As we search for the answer, one thing remains certain (some would say as clear as mud); SADC will not fund nor endorse a sham election in Zimbabwe. It’s either reforms or diamond money.

In the past, out of respect for elders in keeping with our African culture of “Ubuntu”, diplomatic parlance was often deployed with the hope that common sense would prevail. Today, the language and diction have become more direct.

Thanks to frustrating intransigence. In the foreseeable future, words are likely to be followed by or replaced with appropriate action.

In order to identify his worst enemies, Gushungo shouldn’t look beyond Tsholotsho. But, for dismal failure at succession planning, the master takes most of the blame. A few years ago, asked for a comment on the Zimbabwean crisis, Madiba couldn’t have put it better “tragic failure of leadership”.

As for the Constitutional Court, it is now time to deal with the mounting workload it has created for itself.  Aita chake ndihombarume!

Moses Chamboko writes in his personal capacity. He can be contacted at [email protected].