Zanu-PF crisis deepens: MDC-T

Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba, imitating the usual political carelessness of a beleaguered minority inside Zanu PF that is against change, has irreparably damaged Robert Mugabe’s argument against security sector reform – a necessary step for Zimbabwe to have a credible, legitimate election to cast away its pariah status.

Nyikayaramba acted as the security sector’s point person in Zimbabwe’s electoral management in 2002 after it became clear that Zanu PF was destined for the political cemetery.

The then Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC), chaired by Colonel Sobusa Gula-Ndebele, appointed Nyikayaramba to head its secretariat and save Zanu PF and Mugabe in the heavily rigged and extremely violent Presidential election of 2002.

SADC, which observed those elections and issued a mealy mouthed endorsement of the fraudulent poll, knows that Nyikayaramba is not his own man. He speaks and represents an influential section of the anti-democracy security forces which views Mugabe as a hapless front for Zanu PF’s insecure, timid and dangerous hardliners.

At the recent SADC summit in Windhoek, Zanu PF and Mugabe published a position paper in which they showed utter disdain for security sector renaissance and modern focus.

“Nyikayamba’s statement has exposed Zanu PF’s major weakness,” said a SADC diplomat.

“These views have plunged Zanu PF in trouble. They have no plan or alternative message to what these army guys have declared, judging from their 2008 orders to Mugabe and his colleagues after they lost the election, a position Mugabe confirmed himself.”

Another SADC envoy concurred.

“These soldiers see the party as theirs, nothing else, a fact which has changed the debate within the SADC diplomatic community at the instant. These military men are keen to send out a message that they drive and direct Mugabe and Zanu PF. They think SADC is outwitting and short-changing them. Zanu PF will find it impossible to convince the region that the election it is crying out for is in any way different to what we have seen in the past.”

Nyikayaramba made some starling comments, suggesting that Mugabe must be declared life president, a position that puts paid to the need for a nation election which allows for Zimbabweans to make choices in a democracy. SADC loathes that position and is keen to avert a repeat of the aftermath of 29 March 2008.

The way in which SADC handles Zimbabwe presents a double-edged sword to regional key leaders. Many face an election next year and, naturally, Zimbabwe shall feature as an issue because of our unusually large population scattered in the region.

To make matters worse for Mugabe, Nyikayamba – a serving senior officer – severely dented Zanu PF’s feeble argument that those officers in its ranks only joined and assisted the party after retiring from the military.

President Tsvangirai’s reaction to Nyikayaramba’s interview with the Zimbabwe Independent was swift and unconcealed; describing his utterances as a shameful threat to national security.

Zimbabwe experienced an unprecedented crisis of governance and an economic meltdown in the last decade purely because of the works of Nyikayaramba and a section of the securo-crats who sought to hold the nation to ransom on behalf of Mugabe and Zanu PF.

As the crisis deepened, the people of Zimbabwe rejected the blackmail on 29 March 2008, leaving Nyikarayamba with limited options and forcing the group to refuse to accept the national verdict. SADC, aware of that blot to regional peace and security, flatly refused to endorse once again and gave a desperate Mugabe a chance to buy back his legacy and be part of a lasting solution to the national crisis.

“Statements by service chiefs that they will not respect the expression of the people’s will,” said President Tsvangirai.

“The statements... in which a senior army officer is trying to determine the date of the election, only serve to confirm the uniqueness of our situation and the importance of vaccinating State organs from acting like political entities. “We cannot have peace unless all these issues have been dealt with.”

He added: “Unnecessary election talk leads to dysfunctionality and polarity in the country. It polarises Cabinet, Parliament and the security sector and leads to unilateral actions and selective application of the law.

“I wish to thank SADC and the facilitator, President Jacob Zuma, for their patience and hard work. Despite unnecessary provocation, they have retained their firm and unwavering commitment to the crafting of a road map to ensure a peaceful electoral environment that will not breed another contested outcome.”

From their experience, Zimbabweans have made it known to SADC and the world that they will never accept to be rushed into a fake election by merchants of chaos and violence. Zanu PF can try anything under the sun to railroad an election but this would be impossible, at least this year or before fundamental reforms are visible at home and abroad.

“We all want a new era in this country; where knives, machetes, knobkerries, guns and booted feet as instruments of violence and repression are no longer fashionable,” said President Tsvangirai.

Tsvangirai was addressing a new forum of Zimbabwean elders whose mission and desire is to promote peace and human security. He expressed surprise that Robert Mugabe, a senior citizen, absented himself from such a forum whose main catchment constituency resides in his age group, and slightly below.

“I questioned myself what the age limit in this panel is,” he said. “I see there is someone who is conspicuous by his absence. It’s none other than President Mugabe. It is a serious omission and you should extend an invitation to him,” President Tsvangirai said.

He warned Nyikayaramba and his Zanu PF handlers for engaging in reckless election talk in a nation still hurting from Zanu PF tyranny and dictatorship that inflicted numerous wounds, some still festering, for such a long time.

“As a country, we have been forced to walk the painful road of violence and hatred and we are not prepared to walk it again,” said President Tsvangirai. “We have lost relatives, houses and property. We have State agents actively engaging in shameful acts of violence and unbridled violation of the people’s rights and freedoms.

“We refuse to be cowed and to be distracted from the urgent national assignment of fighting for democratic change in Zimbabwe. Any careless talk of an election before the nation is ready for it puts the country in an unnecessary war mode because any war environment necessitates the suspension of the constitution and the undermining of the civilian authority.”

He called for patience and a political will to rescue Zimbabwe from further damage.

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