adminOne party has already shown its commitment to a violence-free election and is incessantly telling the electorate that “peace begins with me, peace begins with you, peace begins with all of us.” However, a commitment coming from one party is not sufficient to give the peace-loving Zimbabweans the much needed confidence that the pending elections will be free of violence. It takes two to tango.
It has now become conventional that when President Mugabe opens his mouth to speak, the dominant word is peace, peace and peace alone. Peace has begun with the leader of this nation. As one political protagonist has shown his commitment to a peaceful election, let us hear the others say their commitment too.
Let us hear you Mr Tsvangirai.
The MDC-T leader’s silence in this regard is suspicious. Mr Tsvangirai has never strongly and sincerely called for a peaceful election on a public platform. All we hear from him is his encouragement to his supporters to stand firm against any form of Zanu-PF perpetrated violence.
Who told Mr Tsvangirai that Zanu-PF is going to unleash violence on his supporters? The Zanu-PF leader has consistently warned his followers to desist from political violence. Anyone who engages in political violence, despite his claim of a Zanu-PF membership, really ceases to be one. How can one choose to disregard his or her leader’s direction unless they are engaging in the rebellious ‘bhora musango’? President Mugabe has made it clear that anyone who wants to campaign for him or his party is free to do so provided it’s done in a peaceful manner. That alone is enough to show Zanu-PF’s sincerity.
Sources within the MDC-T revealed that the party’s cunning intelligence unit intends to unleash violence camouflaged as Zanu-PF supporters. They have Selous Scouts in their ranks, and this ploy was effectively used during the liberation struggle.
This move is aimed at discrediting Zanu-PF, in particular President Mugabe’s sincere call for peaceful polls. The MDC-T is not ready for elections and might not be ready anytime soon, thus such a move will be used as evidence to the world that the political environment is not yet conducive for credible polls. These are just desperate delaying tactics as the MDC-T has been sent into panic mode by unfavourable but candid research results on its dwindling support base.
MDC-T can never be counted on in the crusade to rid us of political violence in the pending elections. The party itself is plagued by intra-party violence as members jostle for seats. Some, like Pishayi Muchauraya, have allegedly gone to the extent of threatening internal rivals with death. If one can do that to a fellow party member, what more to an external rival.
Reports abound of MDC-T intra-party violence, which is a harbinger of what they will offer in forthcoming elections. As President Mugabe was preaching the gospel of peace on independence celebrations, some police stations were inundated with reports of intra party violence within the MDC-T.
Just two Sunday’s back, an MDC-T restructuring exercises at Gaza Hall in Chipinge had to be aborted after ugly intra-party violence broke out, seriously injuring seven people. One of the victims threatened that unless the instigator of the violence, Prosper Mutseyami the provincial organising secretary was fired, she would quit the MDC-T and join Zanu-PF.
Indeed from a flame of fire you have to drench yourself into a pool of calm water. That woman is conscious and rightly so, that the revolutionary party is peaceful. She and many other victims of such violence are most welcome provided they don’t smuggle in the MDC-T culture of violence.
Imagine a 30-year-old ward youth leader battering a 68-year-old woman for backing a rival candidate. What of the seven MDC-T supporters who assaulted a Zanu-PF supporter in Chitungwiza for wearing his party’s regalia and we talk of democracy.
Political violence should be understood in a very broad context. Provoking and inciting violence are other forms of violence that often escape people’s attention. The MDC-T and its surrogate civil society organisations are very good at provoking the law enforcement agents and cry foul when the full wrath of the law descends upon them. Beatrice Mtetwa, our daughter-in-law tried this cheap tactic when she insulted the police who were doing their lawful duties.
MDC-T national youth leader Solomon Madzore recently insulted President Mugabe, a crime that even the UK, a self styled democrat, could not have brooked also.
Sometime last year, a former Liberal Democrats activist, Mr Stuart Rodgers was sentenced at Glasgow Sherriff Court to carry out 100hours of community service for shouting at Prime Minister David Cameron.
If a country that prides itself in democracy can arrest a peaceful political protestor making a peaceful political point, what then should be done to the militant Madzore who goes to an extent of inciting the MDC-T youths to fight the law enforcement agents during their toy-toying exercises? Addressing cases of political violence that we witness in the villages will not help much because it is like treating symptoms of a disease.
It’s unfortunate that there are some gullible people who still believe this gibberish and they are the same people who are prone to engage in political violence as a form of retribution to the perceived murder being published by this Baba Jukwa. Unless MDC-T stops their evil projects such as Baba Jukwa, there will be no assurance for us that we will vote in harmony.
These cases stream from somewhere and we need to focus our attention on the sources of political violence. The politicians are the ones who incite the ordinary villagers to commit violence.
The media does not escape this blame too. For instance, when Christpowers Maisiri died in an inferno, the MDC-T and the media fingered Zanu-PF with some rogue elements in that party uttering statements that bordered on inciting the MDC-T supporters to take vengeance. Barely a month after the boy’s death, a Zanu-PF district chairman from the same area was petrol-bombed.
The MDC-T, through its intelligence unit is running a facebook page masked as Baba Jukwa whose contents have a potential to cause political hostility if not mayhem. What is on this page are complete lies such as names of people on a Zanu-PF hit list. Some people are warned that so and so want to kill them. There are also false reports of people being killed in some villages.
It’s unfortunate that there are some gullible people who still believe this gibberish and they are the same people who are prone to engage in political violence as a form of retribution to the perceived murder being published by this Baba Jukwa. Unless the MDC-T stops their evil projects such as Baba Jukwa, there will be no assurance for us that we will vote in harmony.
Online Reporter