Zimbabwe - A letter from the diaspora

GOING HOME: The year is 2004 and Caleb Dube, the former detective with the Zimbabwe Republic Police has been in exile in the United Kingdom for two years. A letter arrives from his old friend and colleague, Moses Musindo, alerting Dube to the fact that his former teacher and friend, Father Hugh Malloy, is in great danger. Friendship demands no less and Caleb Dube goes home to his native land. With no help from a partisan police force, Dube and Musindo set out to investigate. In the course of their enquiries deep in the rural areas, the two men meet a host of unforgettable characters, including Sami the AIDS orphan and Sami's friend, Tatenda, the hunter. The two boys are an indispensable part of the investigation and the search leads them to an old adversary of Dube's who holds the key to the mystery of the missing priest.
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Countdown is a political detective story. It is fiction but the background is accurate and verifiable. Set in 2001/2 and the start of the land invasions, the book shows how the politicisation of the police force has led directly to the breakdown of law and order. In this hostile environment, two honest cops attempt to investigate a murder. Click here to find out more or buy online

24th April 2009

Dear Friends.
A magnificent photograph (UK Independent 23.04.09) of a long, winding queue outside a polling station in a Johannesburg township on Polling Day in South Africa is a reminder - if any were needed - of how ordinary African people value their democratic rights. We have seen such queues in Zimbabwe, too, but tragically we have not experienced the democratic change that the people voted for. By the time the results were announced we knew yet again that elections in Zimbabwe can never be free or fair while Robert Mugabe is in power. While we may disagree with the people's choice of leader in South Africa, we cannot fault the democratic process that took place in our powerful neighbour just over the border from the brutal and undemocratically elected rule of Robert Mugabe.
Neither is the existence of a Government of National Unity in Zimbabwe any guarantee of a democratic future for the country. Political expediency may keep the MDC in the Unity Government but there few signs that true justice and democracy will emerge from this enforced arrangement. Talk from MDC commentators of GNU being the only 'game in town' ie. that there's no choice other than this present arrangement, suggests that issues of justice and human rights are a long way down the list of priorities. It seems that the MDC's only priority right now is to keep the so-called Unity government in place regardless of the blatant breaches of the Global Agreement by Robert Mugabe. " Be patient" MDC supporters are urged, it takes time to change things. Perhaps the top leadership and all those MP's and Ministers who have jumped on the Zanu PF gravy train need to be reminded that people dying of cholera, AIDS or just plain starvation – in or out of prison - do not have the time to wait for the government to sort out the mess left by years of Mugabe's misgovernance and widespread corruption. Neither are there signs of Zimbabweans in the diaspora retuning to the motherland in any great numbers, persuaded that a GNU signals a brighter future. The truth, as I see it, is that if the MDC has no meaningful power to change anything then there seems little point in being there, walking the corridors of power with men who have no intention of sharing real power with them.
Just a glance at some of the events of the last few weeks illustrates my point. On Independence Day, with Morgan Tsvangirai sitting alongside him on the podium, Mugabe said of the (continuing) land grab that it was one of his major achievements, "We have resolved the long outstanding land question and the land now belongs to its rightful owners, and with it our sovereignty as well." With breath-taking complacency he concluded, "Our people are happy and contented and that is all that matters." 'Our people' presumably refers to his Zanu PF supporters; certainly none of my personal correspondents are 'happy and contented' with the situation. While they may accept that the MDC was forced into this marriage of convenience, the evidence on the ground is sickening proof that the MDC is powerless to change anything.
It was another photograph, in The Zimbabwean this time, of the Deputy Prime Minister, Arthur Mutambara visiting the besieged commercial farmers that seemed at first sight to suggest a genuine attempt by the MDC and various assorted ministers to restore the rule of law on the farms. The delegation saw for themselves the evidence of looting and vandalism, they saw the agony in the faces of the farmers and their wives, they saw the bewildered children whose lives have been disrupted forever by gun-toting men acting on behalf of top Zanu PF ministers to 'reap what they did nor sow'. Still the delgates did nothing, apart from delivering a pious little homily about living together peacefully with the invaders. After the visit, Mutambara is said to have commented that it was enough for him to see the situation for himself, it was not necessary for him actually to do anything about it! No sooner had the delegation left than the invaders were back to their bad old ways. The poster on the farm gates of one farm said it all; 'Our Land, Our Sovereignty' said the words in front of Mugabe's clenched fist.
And the farmers and farm workers, languishing in gaol on ludicrous charges such as 'kidnap' or 'disorderly conduct', are they 'happy and contented'? The workers shot by the police, are they 'happy and contented' as Mugabe would have us believe? Chris Dhlamini and Ghandi Mudzingwa guarded in their hospital beds - despite being released on bail - by thugs in uniform, are they 'happy and contented'? Dhlamini's sworn affidavit to the Human Rights Forum detailing his torture in prison, graphically illustrates the lengths Mugabe and his cohorts will go to retain power.
Yet even that evidence, has not persuaded the MDC to do the right thing. The people are entitled to ask what has happened to the moral foundations on which the Movement for Democratic Change was built? Has the MDC become so blinded by the trappings of power that they no longer recognise evil when they see it? It is getting harder for people on the ground to see the difference between the two parties. Remember how Animal Farm ends and you'll see what I mean!
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH.



17th April 2009

Dear Friends.
Tomorrow April 18th is the 29th anniversary of Zimbabwe's Independence. For the first time the MDC will be officially represented by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change. On the face of it, this seems like a momentous occasion: a so'called Unity Government is in place and there are some slight reasons to hope that at last Zimbabweans may have genuine cause to celebrate Independence tomorrow. Will Robert Mugabe once again use the occasion to remind the country that it was he and his party who, single'handed, brought freedom to Zimbabwe or will he focus on the future shared with his political opponents for the good of all the people of Zimbabwe?

In his book, The State of Africa, Martin Meredith recounts how, in an interview Mugabe gave in 1980, the then Prime Minister expressed his disappointment that the peace negotiations in London, ie. the Lancaster House talks, had "deprived him of the ultimate joy" of a military victory and thus the opportunity to "dictate terms."Mugabe had been compelled by expediency, Meredith writes, to agree to a coalition government with his Zapu rival Joshua Nkomo. The two armies, Zapu and Zanu were merged into one national army but within six months of that first Independence, Mugabe was already plotting to destroy Zapu. He entered into a secret agreement with the brutal dictatorship of North Korea to train the notorious Fifth Brigade to deal with the so'called 'dissidents' in Matabeleland. Using his now familiar technique of the 'discovery' of arms caches, by early 1982 Mugabe was ready to move against his enemy, Joshua Nkomo, "the cobra in the house" as he described the Ndebele leader. And we all know how that terrible story ended with thousands of Ndebele massacred in the Gukurahundi.

It is all in the past, people will say. Forgive and forget! Truth and reconciliation are the new buzz words. I say that without justice there can be no true forgiveness or reconciliation. But now we have a Unity Government, people will say, and Mugabe and Tsvangirai will stand side by side on the podium on Independence Day,2009. My question is will they stand there as equals or is Mugabe already swallowing up his former enemy, the MDC? Despite the hope, Zimbabweans may feel, they must not forget what this man, Mugabe and his band of fanatical thugs, have done and are still doing to destroy the burgeoning shoots of democracy. What Mugabe wanted, what he has always wanted, was a one'party state. He may have failed in that regard but the fact is that since Independence he has ruled Zimbabwe as a virtual dictator. If he has agreed to a Unity Government it is only because he has once again been forced by outside pressure and expediency to accept his opponents as partners. History has repeated itself; supported by a partisan police force that refuses to obey court orders and openly sides with the law-breakers, there is no hope of true unity of purpose in the country. It is unity in name only. Why should the MDC call for sanctions be lifted when the world sees a country where the police force are so lamentably failing to enforce law and order, on the commercial farms and for the generality of Zimbabwean people?

Back in 2000 when I was still living in Zimbabwe I embarked on a series of books designed to illustrate this very point. I chose fiction and the detective story as my medium and from the start my purpose was to show that without impartial policing it is impossible for justice to be done. The books are fiction but the factual reality they represent has been lived out over the past nine years. I remain convinced that without an impartial police force and judiciary, true democracy remains an illusion. Until the MDC partners in this Unity Government find the political strength to force through the total restructuring of the police and courts, nothing will change in Zimbabwe.

From what I hear from friends on the ground, the people are putting all their hopes on the elections that must be held within 18'24 months of the signing of the GNU. With commendable patience they are giving the present arrangement a chance to succeed while waiting for the opportunity to defeat Zanu PF at the polls and vote for their party of choice. Sad to say, there is precious little chance of that happening unless the courts and police are truly independent of all political bias and interference and international monitors are present every step of the way. That's how I see it.
Yours in the continuing struggle, PH.

9th April 2009

Dear Friends.
I have never been a farmer or had much sympathy with white farmers who in my experience were often racist in their attitudes and generally treated their African workforce badly. Two events helped to soften my attitude: one was the killing of the white farmer, David Stevens and the brutal assault on the other farmers who went to his rescue. That incident took place in my own hometown and the killers were all known and recognised. The second event that affected me directly was the invasion of my own daughter's farm. Hers was one of the first to be invaded back in 2000. I will never forget the sight of my daughter, hand in hand with her small son; he carrying his little suitcase on their way to school as his mum tried to keep his life as normal as possible in the midst of the fear and chaos all around him, with strange men shouting and drumming at the farm gates. Nine years later the so-called 'land reform' programme is still going on, though it's quite clear that what is happening now has little to do with 'land reform' - if it ever did.

Speaking on February 28th this year, one month after the Global Agreement was signed, Robert Mugabe told a gathering of his supporters that white people who wanted to remain in Zimbabwe must do so on his terms and not oppose the seizure of their land. “ If they want to go we will open the borders for them. We will give them a police escort.” In those two sentences, Mugabe tells us what this final stage of 'land reform' is really all about. White people are only permitted to remain in the country if they are prepared to live under his rules. Whether or not Mugabe is a racist himself hardly matters but he is a vengeful man. His intention is to clear out the last remaining white farmers, not to free up the land to grow desperately needed food, but to dish out more patronage. We should never forget that Mugabe and Zanu PF are in election mode. Anyone who opposes him, black or white, is regarded as the 'enemy' and must be punished. Over the last nine years thousands of people have been the targets of vicious attacks by Green Bombers, questionable war veterans and other assorted Zanu PF thugs, all ably assisted by the police who, if not actually participating, have turned a blind eye to patently criminal behaviour. Mugabe has rewarded them, the police, the judges and magistrates with stolen farms. It is the classic 'politics of patronage' and Mugabe's coterie of elderly Zanu PF comrades from the Liberation Struggle have been his willing accomplices.

Now, in April 2009, with a so-called Government of National Unity in place, the farm invasions continue unabated as the vultures gather to devour what remains of the carcass of commercial farming. It is impossible to see the suffering in the face of Mike Campbell or hear the weary despair in his son-in law's voice as he describes their ordeal and not feel pity for their plight. What crime have they committed, apart from having a white skin and successful farming operations, which some greedy 'big man' now has in his sights? The truth is that Mike Campbell and Ben Freeth dared to challenge Robert Mugabe in the courts and were successful. A SADC tribunal ruling clearly found in the farmers' favour but that means nothing to Robert Mugabe. Such rulings, he says, cannot override Zimbabwean law. The farmers have nowhere to turn for justice; a farmer's wife is arrested by the police and openly told that she is the 'bait' to flush her husband out of hiding so that they can charge and prosecute him, for daring to remain on his own farm, presumably? Farm workers are imprisoned without charge and tortured to extract information by a police force that has become a law unto itself. The maintenance of law and order, the protection of the citizens is no longer their concern; all they are concerned with now is to keep Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF in power.
Despite their appeals to the MDC 'partners' in this sham of a Unity Government, the farmers can get no help even from the party that promised to bring the farm invaders to justice. When is the MDC leadership going to find the moral courage to do the right thing? They should be there on the farms to see for themselves the anguish of the farmers and their workers and to order the police to do their duty and arrest the wrong doers. Instead, the police continue unchecked as they have for the past nine years; the guilty are set free on the orders of some 'big man' in Zanu PF. And meanwhile, all the MDC top brass can do is to echo Mugabe's call for the lifting of sanctions – whose existence the MDC was denying until they entered government - and the restoration of relations with the west as if none of this chaos on the farms is happening. 'There are no farm invasions' Zanu PF ministers assure foreign visitors, 'You can invest here with absolute safety.' The talk is all about 'rebranding' Zimbabwe as if it were a product for sale and, together Zanu PF and MDC attend expensive 'bonding' workshops at Victoria Falls while Zimbabwean citizens, men and women, black and white, suffer sleepless nights of terror and dread as violent farm invaders drum and shout outside their doors. In the villages too there is no peace as the anti-Inclusive Government thugs continue their violent campaign against MDC supporters while the police look the other way. By doing nothing to address the problem of lawlessness, the MDC have become complicit, morally no better than the party they have joined in government.

I was accused recently of being 'blind' when it comes to the MDC. 'Time to see them for what they really are' my accuser told me. 'Nothing more than Zanu PF in different clothes, just out for power and privilege.' I really don't want to believe that but, I admit, doubts are creeping in. Once, I admired the MDC for their courage, for their integrity and the moral high ground they occupied. Now I see them in their elegant Mercedes cars with all the trappings of power but none of the moral authority that true political power must entail. This hybrid government may call themselves 'Team Zimbabwe' as they dance the night away at the luxurious Elephant Hills Hotel in a 'bonding' exercise – directed no doubt by some highly paid Management Consultant – but from where I stand they look more like politicians on the make while the people's lives remain unchanged. What was it we used to say in the old days of economic structural adjustment? 'Eternal Suffering for African People' As we approach Zimbabwe's twenty ninth Independence Day, it seems nothing has changed and once again, disillusionment is setting in. When will freedom ever come for Zimbabwe?
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH.

3rd April 2009

Dear Friends.
"Don't make us pay for working with Mugabe"- that was the heading given to an article Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai wrote in The Times on April 1st. The article was presumably aimed at the world leaders as they gathered in London for the G20 Summit. Despite all the razzamatazz, with leaders jetting in from all over the world, the chances of the Summit succeeding were not reckoned to be high. By Thursday, however, when the Summit ended there was an agreement of sorts with the world leaders agreeing to a one trillion dollar package to rescue the world's economies. Will any of that money come Africa's way and perhaps there is some hope in the fact that the World Bank and the IMF will directly benefit from the one trillion dollar package. There was also the provision of Special Drawing Rights of 250 billion which would make loans available to lowest-income countries depending on their contributions to the IMF (and we all know Zimbabwe has not done too well in that area). There was a good deal of rhetoric about the necessity of avoiding protectionism in trade but it remains to be seen whether developed countries battling the recession will be either willing or able to encourage the free trade which is the lifeblood of capitalism.

None of this offers much comfort to Africa and the developing world.
In truth, it could not be a worse time for an appeal to the G20 to help Zimbabwe, bearing in mind the fact that Zimbabwe's troubles are self-inflicted: the result of gross mismanagement by Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party. In Prime Minister Tsvangirai's article he set out the principles that underpinned his participation in the Inclusive Government: "To create a country where…we are united by our respect for the rights and dignity of our fellow citizens…Our success on this journey will depend on this new transitional Government, our people and the international partners who will work with us to realise this vision for our country."

Noble sentiments, but the truth is, that however noble and sincere the sentiments expressed by Morgan Tsvangirai, the distrust of Robert Mugabe, his partner in the Inclusive Government, is deep rooted. Gone are the days when Mugabe was ‘the blue eyed boy' of the west. They see very clearly what he has done to his country and why we are now in such a desperate state. Zimbabweans themselves who have been the victims of Mugabe's ruthless abuse of power share the distrust and while they may welcome the easing of the everyday miseries of life, the more perceptive among them recognise very clearly that the leopard has not changed its spots.

Even as world leaders were gathering, perhaps with Morgan Tsvangirai's words ringing in their ears, the Zimbabwean police continued their violent abuse of human rights. The Zimbabwean Human Rights Forum, issued a report showing that "The formation of the Inclusive Government did not bring an end to civic repression". On the contrary, there were 435 incidents of political discrimination and repression reported in February compared with just 78 in January. Until the MDC ‘partners' in this government can stop the blatant partisanship of the police and restore the rule of law in the country, I can see little hope that Morgan Tsvangirai will get the financial assistance Zimbabwe so desperately needs; even SADC, which pushed, some say forced, through the so-called Global Agreement cannot raise the money to help the new Inclusive Government.

} Meanwhile, little changes in our poor, benighted country. Hidden behind high prison walls there is unbearable suffering and degradation with as many as twenty prisoners a day dying from a combination of starvation and disease. SABC sent a secret camera team in to film the horror over a three-month period in three different prisons. I watched extracts from the film on Channel Four last night and can only agree with Roy Bennett - and he should know having experienced prison life at first hand - the resulting images resembled nothing less than the nightmarish images of victims of the holocaust. And what was the response of our esteemed Minister of Justice? Patrick Chinamasa totally denied that the film shown on South African television last week, was an accurate portrayal of reality. His lame explanation is that the film was shot in some other part of Africa! It could not have been Zimbabwe says Chinamsa because "cameras are not allowed inside Zimbabwean prisons"! Chinamasa's ridiculous excuse typifies the kind of Zanu PF logic we have all become used to. He and many of his colleagues in the once all-powerful ruling party simply cannot accept the truth even when it stares them in the face. Paradzai Zimondi the man in charge of the prisons joined in the chorus of denial, this despite the fact that both men had earlier admitted that the prisons were in a dire state. Zimbabwean commentators refer to this Zanu PF habit of denying the truth as ‘being in denial' but I prefer to call it what it is: just plain lying. Too many innocent Zimbabweans have suffered incarceration in these hellholes to be deceived by Chinamasa's lies. While Zanu PF ministers lie and steal, Robert Mugabe himself is the picture of smiling reconciliation these days. He leaves it to his ministers to tell the lies, denying the brutality of the police or the violence of the ongoing land invasions. They seem unaware that in this age of mass communication anyone can see what is really happening in Zimbabwe. Watch the You Tube video of one particular farm invasion in Chegutu and you see the horror being experienced on a daily basis by the remaining white farmers. It is no good Morgan Tsvangirai saying that he will stop these invasions when we all know that he is powerless to prevent the downright theft that is going on. While he and his party may be absolutely sincere in their desire to restore the rule of law, his partners in government are content to go along with business as usual. Police brutality was demonstrated again only yesterday when HIV and AIDS patients were attacked with batons for daring to demonstrate against excessive hospital fees. The words of one demonstrator sum up for me the precise reason why Morgan Tsvangirai's appeal to the west may fail, "We did not imagine such kind of behaviour from them( the police) in this new political setup."
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH.