African leaders, for so long reluctant to speak out about the crisis in Zimbabwe, are finally running out of patience with President Robert Mugabe over fears of being tainted by the fallout.
Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, suffered a suspected skull fracture, brain injury and internal bleeding, doctors reported on Wednesday after what lawyers and other activists said were savage beatings while in police custody.
Tsvangirai told the BBC in an interview from his hospital bed that police beat him on the head, and that he suffered body blows to the knees and back, and that his arm was broken. He said he ”lost a lot of blood” and that he was given two pints.
”I think the intent was to inflict as much harm as they could,” he said.
Tsvangirai said his beating at the hands of the security services should serve as an inspiration for the campaign to topple Mugabe.
”For the struggle, I think it’s an inspiration to everyone. There is no freedom without struggle, and there is no freedom without sacrifice.”
Tsvangirai (54) was moved to a unit where he could be more closely monitored and was awaiting the results of a brain scan carried out earlier on Wednesday, said Tafadza Mugabe, one of his lawyers.
‘Heavy price’
Meanwhile, Mugabe’s government on Wednesday warned that the opposition would pay ”a heavy price” for what it called a campaign of violence to oust it from power.
In a statement on Wednesday, Mugabe’s government was unapologetic, and suggested that Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) colleagues had been assaulted for resisting arrest and for launching a violent drive to overthrow his Zanu-PF party.
”Those who incite violence, or actually cause and participate in unleashing it, are set to pay a very heavy price, regardless of who they are,” Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said in the statement.
”The Tsvangirai faction of the MDC has a long record of unleashing violence to achieve political goals. It has publicly restated its wish to use violence to overthrow government and as a means to power,” Ndlovu said.
”This will come to grief,” he added.
Ndlovu also said that Western governments, including the United States and Britain, are trying to topple Mugabe by funding the MDC.
He said there was clear evidence Harare’s long-time foes were working with the MDC.
”The government has noticed with utter dismay the unconditional statement of support to the violent MDC by a number of Western governments, including those of Britain, America and New Zealand,” Ndlovu said in a statement.
Embarrassed
African Union chairperson John Kufuor said on Wednesday that African leaders are embarrassed by the situation in Zimbabwe and perhaps could do more to help, but have met stiff resistance from Harare.
”The African Union is very uncomfortable. The situation in your country is very embarrassing,” Kufuor, who is President of Ghana, said in response to a question from a Zimbabwean at the Chatham House think-tank during a state visit in London.
”I know personally that presidents like [Nigeria’s Olusegun] Obasanjo, [South Africa’s Thabo] Mbeki and others have tried desperately to exercise some influence for the better. But they came against stiff resistance,” said Kufuor.
As images of a badly beaten Tsvangirai led the news bulletins in neighbouring South Africa, Pretoria finally abandoned its ”quiet diplomacy” on Tuesday by urging Mugabe to respect the rights of the opposition.
A similar rebuke came across Zimbabwe’s northern border when Zambian leader Levy Mwanawasa voiced his ”concern”, adding that ”when the economy of Zimbabwe coughs, ours also coughs”, in reference to the 1 730% inflation rate.
The barbs stop far short of the outright condemnation heard from the likes of Washington and London but nevertheless indicate leaders are distancing themselves from a man who was once regarded as a liberation hero.
”African leaders understand that Mugabe has become a bloody embarrassment and has gone past his sell-by date,” said Hussein Solomon, a professor at Pretoria’s Centre for International Political Studies.
Comments by South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad, urging Harare to respect the rights of ”all Zimbabweans and [party] leaders” came hours after the US ambassador to Pretoria condemned the so-far muted response.
”We are disappointed we have not heard from many of the SADC [Southern African Development Community] countries speaking out about it and taking some action because the people of Zimbabwe are suffering,” said ambassador Eric Bost.
But even before the events of the weekend, when Tsvangirai and dozens of his supporters were rounded up while trying to attend an anti-government rally, there were signs Mugabe was being cut loose.
Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba made a clear dig at Mugabe during a state banquet for the Zimbabwean leader last month by urging him to ”re-energise efforts to strengthen democratic governance and the rule of law”.
And asked about Mugabe and other veteran African leaders at a conference on democracy last week, AU commission president Alpha Oumar Konare pointedly said that ”it serves no one if they stay in power for 30 years”.
According to Zwelethu Jolobe, an Africa expert at Cape Town University, Mugabe has become ”a clear liability to anyone associated with him”.
”People are getting to see that having Mugabe as an ally damages your reputation internationally. The sad thing is that it has taken people ten years to realise this and only when things have gone too far.”
South Africa has previously insisted the problems of Zimbabwe should be resolved among the Zimbabwe people, but the stance has been heavily criticised.
‘Abject failure’
As the African National Congress (ANC) expressed concern at the situation in Zimbabwe on Wednesday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said the government’s response to the situation was shameful.
”The ANC is concerned about the current situation in Zimbabwe, including reports of the alleged assault of opposition leaders while in police custody,” party spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said in a statement.
The ANC trusted that a thorough investigation would be conducted into these allegations, and that any necessary action be taken in accordance with the law.
He reiterated the ANC’s call for all in Zimbabwe to respect and uphold the Constitution and law of the land, and work to safeguard the rights of all citizens.
”We further reiterate our call to all stakeholders in Zimbabwe to continue to seek peaceful and inclusive solutions.
However, DA spokesperson Douglas Gibson was more forthright.
”For South Africa to opine that Zimbabwe must ‘observe the rule of law’ is like telling criminals the same thing and expecting them to behave.
”South Africa’s quiet diplomacy is an abject failure and it is time that our country made it clear to President Mugabe that he is in no sense a friend,” Gibson said.
Firstly, Mugabe and other Zanu-PF members should not be invited to attend the ANC’s congresses or conferences.
Secondly, the government should tell Mugabe that the human rights abuses, police brutality, arbitrary arrests and beatings of opposition politicians had to stop.
”These actions remind us of the worst days of apartheid repression and the South African government should be ashamed of its limp-wristed and meek response.” — Sapa-AFP, AP, Reuters