After hours of waiting in the baking sun and then rain thousands watched as generals, church leaders and other top figures queued up to sign the document.
The rest of us must wait our turn, which will come in the form of a door-to-door campaign in which Zanu-PF militants will arrive at our homes and ask us to sign a petition to the European Union and the United States to end sanctions against President Robert Mugabe and his circle.
“Conscious of illegal and unilateral sanctions imposed by the West on my country Zimbabwe, I therefore do hereby append my signature to register my protest at the said illegal sanctions and to demand an immediate end to this form of aggression against my country and my people,” reads the petition. Below this, we must write down our names, give our ID numbers, state where we live, and sign.
The Movement for Democratic Change calls it a “Zanu-PF violence petition”, but Zanu-PF insists it is the document that will put an end to all our troubles. At the “anti-sanctions” rally on Wednesday, Mugabe’s strategy to get the world to take notice of his new crusade was carried by the young men who stood behind us. “Hit list: Old Mutual, Rio Tinto, Standard Chartered, Barclays and many more,” a poster screamed. By threatening foreign businesses, he hopes to make the world more amenable.
Mugabe once said the measures against his ruling elite were a pinprick that would not worry him. But a frenzied propaganda campaign in recent weeks has tried to convince Zimbabweans that all the country’s economic woes are the result of sanctions.
Among the Zanu-PF rank and file, it is taken as gospel. At the weekend, at a district Zanu-PF meeting in Mbare to organise Wednesday’s rally, the district chairperson, Onesimo Gore, blamed potholes on sanctions. A youth leader rose to say if it wasn’t for sanctions, he would have a job.
Campaign of intimidation
Few believe this. But even fewer will refuse to sign the petition when the youths come knocking. There is little doubt this is the start of a new campaign of intimidation.
Zanu-PF sees it as some sort of pledge of allegiance to Mugabe. He has ordered that two million people must sign the petition, which will be handed to Western governments as proof that Zimbabweans are on his side. The road to the two million signatures began on Wednesday, as crowds gathered at dawn at an open ground on the outskirts of Harare.
Many were supporters, but many others had been forced to attend, with their markets shut down by militants and some of them force-marched to the venue. On one side a group that has recently been at the sharp end of Zanu-PF attacks jostled for space, hoping to make sure the powerful people on the podium saw their huge banner: “Nigerian community says ‘NO’ to sanctions!”
Mugabe warned again that he would target foreign businesses if the West did not lift the punitive economic measures. He mentioned foreign banks and mines, which he claims are conspiring to steal mineral earnings. The West depends on Zimbabwe in many ways, he said, and “we are ready to hit back”. “We have been sending our beef to them and they say it’s the tastiest beef they’ve ever had,” he told the rally. “Our tea goes into the blend they call Lipton and they call it English tea.”
Zanu-PF’s campaign has entailed hour-long TV news bulletins dedicated to convincing Zimbabweans that the economic crisis of the past decade is the result of sanctions, not Zanu-PF misrule. The West is blamed for everything, from the poor drug supply in hospitals to the run-down stadiums. Zanu-PF says America’s Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, enacted in 2001, has destroyed the economy.
But the US embassy in Harare pointed out this week that the US had provided more than $1,4-billion in aid to Zimbabwe since 2001. In the five years after the US applied targeted sanctions in 2003 trade between Zimbabwe and the US doubled and Zimbabwe currently runs a trade surplus. The EU and US measures include travel bans and asset freezes on more than 100 Zanu-PF figures and an arms embargo.
However, no asset freezes have been confirmed. Some argue the list of targeted companies includes corporations and banks in which government has only minority shares and other state-owned enterprises that provide basic services.
Recently, one of the country’s largest internet service providers, ZOL, said the sanctions were more general than Mugabe’s critics let on. “Any business will tell you that sanctions are hurting all businesses in Zimbabwe and therefore all citizens. They [the sanctions] raise the cost of supplies since some companies simply refuse to deal with us, whether or not we are on the [sanctions] list,” ZOL said.
“PayPal, an online payment [service] provider, is a perfect example. It has banned anyone in Zimbabwe from using its system on that basis,” said ZOL.