A wave of fear is sweeping across Zimbabwe as terror reigns, not only in towns and cities but also in rural areas, where people are beaten and otherwise punished for having supported the opposition. Cathy Buckle this week quotes one victim from a small country town telling her, “…it is terrible, there are injured people everywhere.â€Â
Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party thugs have prevented the publication of results of the presidential elections, because the Zimbabwean people have “voted incorrectlyâ€. (That means the people didn’t vote for Mugabe.) A leaked memo from among the military hierarchy quotes the head of Zimbabwe’s police force, air vice-marshal Henry Muchena as saying that Zanu-PF did not “fight a liberation war to have Zimbabweans vote incorrectly…†(Christina Lamb, Sunday Times.)Â
Now the full force of Zanu-PF’s military, police and so-called “war vets†has been unleashed on those parts of the country that supported Mugabe’s opposition. A seventy-six year old farmer was abducted last week by war vets who attempted to lynch him before releasing him after six hours of terror. These same thugs have burnt down farm workers’ homes (Douglas Marle in Harare, Sunday Times).Â
I predicted this reaction by Mugabe’s henchmen as a likely scenario in my post, Mugabe “admits defeat†on April 3, after it had become clear that Mugabe had lost the March 29 elections, and again when I wrote Zimbabwe – “Exhausted and Betrayed†on April 7. Mugabe’s military, police and paramilitary thugs are in control now and they are fighting for Zanu-PF – not for the people of Zimbabwe.Â
During the weekend, Mugabe refused to attend a special meeting of regional leaders, called by neighbouring Zambia. (One wonders – if Mugabe leaves Zimbabwe, might he be prevented from returning?) But Mugabe has a powerful friend in South Africa’s ANC – the ruling party in that country, and stable-mate to Zimbabwe’s Zanu-PF. It is not in the ANC’s interest that Zimbabwe’s ruling Marxist party should be replaced.Â
South African president Mbeki held a meeting with Mugabe on Saturday before flying on to the meeting of southern African leaders and emerged to announce that “there is no crisis in Zimbabweâ€. After their meeting, regional leaders snubbed president-elect Tsvangirai, and held talks instead with Simba Makoni (until recently a member of Zanu-PF’s politburo) as their preferred replacement for Mugabe. Makoni was once finance minister in Mugabe’s government, and stood as an independent candidate against Mugabe and Tsvangirai in the recent presidential elections – some suspected as Mugabe’s “stalking horseâ€. But Makoni received less than 6 percent of the votes against Mugabe’s 43.8 percent and Tsvangirai’s 50.3 percent, so he has absolutely no legitimate claim to succeed.Â
Having voted “incorrectly†during the elections, are Zimbabweans now having their future decided by the Marxist leaders of their neighbouring Southern African countries? The theory is that – after the runoff (which, of course, Mugabe will “winâ€) Mugabe will then restore ‘prodigal son’, Makoni to Zanu-PF so that he can be made Prime Minister under Mugabe and Mugabe’s heir apparent.Â
END
Author, Peter Davies was a soldier in Rhodesia from 1963 to 1975, where he took part in the capture and interrogation of terrorists.  His novel, Scatterlings of Africa, is based on his own experience during Rhodesia’s war on terror, and personal observations of how terrorist activities impacted Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and its people. http://www.peterdaviesbooks.com
Readers who would like to make a contribution to help innocent pensioners, who are unable to buy food and other basic necessities in Zimbabwe, should please contact Patricia Williams by email patashnix@btinternet.com.
2 users commented in " Peter Davies on Zimbabwe – wave of fear "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackI have read with interest this article by Peter Davies. Firstly I would like to state that the author of this article is less qualified to talk about beatings and killings in Zimbabwe. This culture was inherited from colonial Rhodesia where killing was really killing not what we are being told today. I for one my peasant father was killed for no apparent reason while weeding his field in 1979 by the likes of Davies and I had to grow up in abject poverty. With sheer grace of God I managed to reach ordinary of education. I had to toil to eventually get my Masters degree.
Secondly I want correct Davies that Henry Muchena is not the Head of police nor is he a policeman either. Please do not distort facts to the world. I am not a ZANU PF apologist nor did I vote for Mugabe but I am a true Zimbawean who stand for the truth. I feel a lot of pain if wrong facts are said.
Thirdly, Moragn Tsvangirai did not attain 50.3% in the recent election. Using their own figures in their statement of 02.04.08 where they proclaimed victory and stated that they attained 50.3% , if you take your calculator and compute percentages no-one reached 50%. Please visit their website to satisfy yourself. I am therefore at loss as to how they got 50.3%. In fact my calculations on their figures gives them 49.1%
Finally I wish to point out that we need to objective in our assesments. I am resident in Zimbabwe and travels a lot and I have not seen this high level beatings being talked about. I know ZANU PF can use violence and vengeance but this report is exaggerating the situation.
I made no mention of “killing” in my post above and wonder where “gamautoe” got the word “killing” from – he mentions in no less than three times in his comment. I now worry what gamautoe knows something that I don’t about the current situation. Are Zanu-PF thugs killing people as well as beating them up? (The only killing that took place in Rhodesia in my days was of terrorists or by terrorists.)
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