How Sadc and AU has betrayed the people of Zimbabwe
Opinion by Candice Maunganidze
By Saturday, the African Union and Sadc, in their preliminary reports on the Zimbabwean elections, endorsed the Zimbabwean elections.
The move must have baffled a majority of Zimbabweans who were still reeling from the shock of what is now turning out to be blatantly rigged election.
What must have shocked Zimbabweans more was that in their statements, the two bodies clearly stated the serious irregularities that could have completely discredited the poll.
They raised issues like the late production of the voters’roll, the high number of voters turned away, the voters’ slip fiasco, and the unacceptably high percentage of excess ballot papers among others.
Yet they went ahead and okayed the process despite the fundamental flaws that they even noted, which raised questions over their sincerity and impartiality in dealing with the Zimbabwean crisis.
An old woman in Chendambuya must have asked if Sadc and AU had simply come to rubber stamp a seriously dented election.
For the past five years, the generality of Zimbabweans had always looked up to Sadc and AU as key in solving the transitional and economic crisis faced by the country after the discredited 2008 polls .
While analysts throw brick bats at each over who erred in the 2013 elections- with some pointing fingers at Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC-T, villagers out there feel betrayed, not by MDC-T or Zanu PF, but by Sadc and AU which presided over the transition.
In Uzumba, for example, what Stanley Muskwe only believes is Sadc and AU should have made sure the just ended election was credible in whatever way possible.
“They (Sadc and AU)should have made sure they finished what they started in a perfect way, even if it meant postponing it for another year.”
Stanley’s mood sums up the atmosphere in even some of the Zanu PF strongholds where unemployed youths and victims of Zanu PF’s destructive policies had hoped for a chance to speak out through the ballot.
They all sound devastated. The mood is sombre and it is like a huge cloud has just engulfed our country. Uncertainty hangs thick in the air. They all fear we might go back to the old days of repression and trauma. They feel cheated, abused and hopeless.
Because it is the same Sadc that only ‘suggested”without strongly pushing- Mugabe to push the election date to August 14. It is the same analysts who are now blaming Tsvangirai who, a month ago, said the MDC-T was just supposed to go ahead with elections without reforms.
Anna Mapfumo of Bindura where violence against MDC-T members was reported early this week thinks the country has not moved an inch since the 2008 bloody election.
“It shows those who set up this transitional set up did not do a thorough job as what happened in 2008 is just beginning to happen when we were made to believe the unity government was meant to end manipulation of the electoral process,”she says.
Dozens of people I have talked to said they were in a grieving mood as they felt their dreams were shattered by the results of this poll.
Those who experienced the 2008 political violence and the devastating economic decline must be feeling a sense of de javu right now as things appear set to return to chaos.
Tsvangirai has called for fresh polls, which makes sense because what Zimbabweans witnessed on July 31 remains the biggest theft of all. And as long as Sadc and AU close their eyes, the bitterness in people who feel cheated remains forever and will not help in nation building.
Even those calling on people to move on cannot find audience as people need to see justice before they can let go of such a loss of a life time.
So, while Zanu PF is savouring its victory, with the MDC-T re strategising, AU and Sadc hanging their head high and analysts throwing blame at each other, the ordinary man out there is bitter and awaits justice from Sadc and AU.
