Referendum no litmus test – Zimbabwe Vigil

One polling station where there was no apathy was outside the London Embassy where more than 100 Zimbabwean exiles gathered on Referendum Day.

We were joined by Mark Beacon of Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA), formerly the Anti-Apartheid Movement, who said ‘we must make sure that the world does not see the referendum as a litmus test for the elections’.

Mark said a peaceful referendum was no guide to what will happen in the coming elections. The next few months would be crucial given the telltale signs already present of intimidation and violence which characterized Zanu PF’s electioneering in the past.

He insisted that for the elections to be credible there would have to be assurances that the security forces were prepared to accept democratic change and that the army and the police would not be partisan, that there would be an accurate voters’ roll, a free media with equal access by all parties, a repeal of restrictive legislation and international as well as regional observers in place 3 months before and 3 months after the elections.

The Vigil and ACTSA marked Referendum Day by inviting people to write messages of hope for free and fair elections on red paper roses which were deposited in a transparent voting box. They will be used to form a montage which we will display before the elections expected in July. The only sour note was cast by President Mugabe (played by Fungayi Mabhunu in our Mugabe mask) who, asked to vote for freedom, voted no.

The main event of the day was the presentation of a petition to 10 Downing Street by the Vigil’s sister organization Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR). The petition appealed to the UK government not to send home failed asylum seekers in the face of likely election violence.

A letter to the Prime Minister, David Cameron, said there had been a disturbing campaign of police harassment of civil society organisations ahead of the elections, accompanied by increasing violence.

The letter went on ‘We expect the situation to worsen as polling approaches because President Mugabe’s Zanu PF thugs are given impunity by the police to terrorise opponents’ (for text of letter, see: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk/vigil-news/press-releases/480-uk-zimbabweans-appeal-to-cameron).

An arresting image were the skirts in Zimbabwean colours worn by ROHR ladies. They treated us to an exuberant dancing display outside 10 Downing Street. Thanks to Consolata Ngwenya for making the skirts. She was one of the 6 delegates who presented the petition. The others were: Cynthia Mutede, Zenzile Chabuka, Helen Rukambiro, Mary Muteyerwa and Bryne Mashonganyika.

ROHR spokesperson Fungayi summed up our view: ‘The referendum is a charade. President Mugabe has once again outwitted the Movement for Democratic Change. Four years and more than $100 million have been wasted on this defective constitution when what is really needed is action to ensure free and fair elections’.

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