Mugabe's Signature Is A Lie Within Itself

This is an article looks at the Global Political Agreement and why it has all but failed. Apart from the fact that the SADC appointed mediators are shamwari akanaka (good friends) with Mugabe, it is more than apparent that Mugabe would never cede power to anyone, elected or otherwise, let alone concede anything to a political party that did not represent the policies of ZANU PF.

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"Some of us knew all along that what Thabo Mbeki and the SADC had managed to do with Zimbabwe’s three major political parties was too good to be true.

Almost two years since the inauguration of the so-called government of national unity (GNU), the weakest link has finally emerged and it is causing the whole nation to move backwards, instead of forging ahead like other decent countries are doing.

Desperate not to lose or share any more power, Mugabe and his burial party are doing all they can to frustrate the MDC-T to get out of government and be labelled the spoilers of the SADC guaranteed resolution of the infamous Zimbabwe crisis.

Fortunately, the MDC-T leadership has wisely decided to stay put in government and slug it out with the dictator.

The MDC-T’s decision not to recognise officials that were unilaterally appointed by Mugabe is bound to cause all sorts of problems for all the three political parties that constitute the GNU. We wait to see how the Finance Minister will relate to the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. There is likely to be what Americans call gridlock in government. But the action is likely to send a powerful message to Mugabe, that the time for kid gloves is over. The same message is also sent to all Mugabe’s cronies in the GNU."

Mugabe has ignored the SADC 30-day deadline to resolve the obstacles between the parties in the negotiations - and SADC find themselves powerless to do anything, because, in real terms, what could they do?

"But most importantly, a strong message is being sent to Jacob Zuma, the South African President, that his lacklustre performance in mediating the Zimbabwe crisis has brought about the near collapse of the GNU. The message being sent to the people of Zimbabwe is simply that both Mugabe and his waning political party are making it impossible for the GNU to work for the benefit of this nation.

But Mugabe and his wives are not going to all of a sudden go on their knees and beg Tsvangirai and his party to re-think their decision. On the contrary, Mugabe is likely to make use of this decision to dissolve Parliament and the Cabinet and call for elections, possibly this year, but more likely March 2011. Such elections would have to be held under the highly defective Lancaster House Constitution, which strongly favours ZANU PF.

The question is whether the MDC will be ready for such an eventuality. Perhaps the only saving factor here is the fact that the nation would find it very difficult to hold national elections when there is very little money for such an undertaking. But who knows how much money ZANU PF has accumulated from the illegal sale of the Chiadzwa diamonds?

We may all be surprised to hear good old Gono announcing that there is adequate money for conducting the elections. The ZANU PF war machinery will then go into top gear, and innocent citizens will have to run and take cover."

Mugabe rules by fear and intimidation, threats and violence. In the 30-year tenure he has enjoyed, he has become perhaps one of the wealthiest people in Zimbabwe, believed to only be pipped by Emmerson Mnanagagwa who is believed to have made the majority of his money in the illicit and illegal deals undertaken when the Zimbabwean army was active in the DRC.

"Should this happen, the nation will be thrown back to the year 2008; Mugabe and ZANU PF will "win" the elections and illegitimacy will be reinstated all over again. A new round of desperate Zimbabweans leaving the country will commence, and SADC countries will have to brace themselves for the influx of political and economic refugees from this country.

The formation of the GNU had camouflaged the dictator’s true colours for some two years, but now those colours are emerging every day and they are ugly. For Mugabe and his generals to refuse to implement all 24 of the agreed issues on their matrix is a clear demonstration of their contempt for the SADC, the MDC and the people of Zimbabwe as a whole. History shall judge them very viciously one day."

Why is it that although issues have been agreed upon, that Mugabe refuses to have them implemented? Why hold back? If he is the 'benevolent' leader that he attempts to portray himself as, then one would think that the implementation would become a priority...

It becomes ever more evident that Mugabe never intended to participate in a power sharing government, even if his signature on various agreements suggested otherwise.

Robb WJ Ellis

The Bearded Man