The crisis deepens

Nine days on, and the mood of despair grows ever stronger

The growing sense of frustration and fear that has overshadowed this election was almost tangible this morning, as Zimbabweans woke to wonder what new ways the Zanu-PF government will find to defeat the will of the people.

Today Judge Tendai Uchena is expect to at last rule on the MDC's petition in the high court for the crucial presidential election results to be released immediately. He finally found time for a hearing yesterday, and this time the opposition MDC lawyers escaped the attentions of the police.

The hearing lasted four hours, during which the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, the agency supposedly independent but actually in the Mugabe pocket, argued that the court did not have jurisdiction over its activities. Or lack of same.

And observers here fear that the judge's decision may also be influenced, if not directly dictated, by Zanu-PF, who are demanding, with their customary impeccable lack of logic, that the presidential vote be re-counted even before the result is known.

This demand remains one of a battery of moves mounted in the last few days by Mugabe and his men, all clearly designed to intimidate, frustrate, and batter Morgan Tsvangirai and his party into defeat and submission, while giving the legal electoral process a good kicking at the same time.

Their main propaganda weapon centres on a totally fictional conception that in the event of the MDC becoming the government, white farmers will launch a mass re-invasion of the land, grabbing back what was taken from them at the start of this century.

The state run newspaper this morning printed quotations from President Mugabe, no doubt dictated down the line from State House late last night, one of which went as follows: "Land must remain in our hands. The land is ours, it must not be allowed to slip back into the hands of whites."

He left even more imaginary statements to one of his lieutenants, the well known and almost comic figure of Jabulani Sibanda, who nominally leads the so-called War Veterans, and who is hated and despised by many in his own party.

Sibanda declared that whites were already re-occupying farms allocated to blacks. "We will defend our sovereignty," he declared. "We will be compelled to repel that invasion."

There is of course no evidence of any such invasion. Quite the reverse. This weekend War Veterans are said to have invaded a handful of the few remaining farms still in white hands, although police are thought to have removed most of them.

The War Veterans may be an unstable and chaotic organisation, but as the police and army are showing treacherous signs of divided loyalties, they are now the one militia Mugabe can rely on.

Their title is typically misleading and illogical. Most of them are too young to be veterans of anything, and the only war many have seen is that which they conducted against defenceless farmers and their families in their own homes.

And some observers believe it is a sign of the inner desperation of Zanu-PF that it should now choose to remind the world of the action which, when it began eight years ago, was undoubtedly the factor that tipped this country into its long slow slide to poverty, degradation and despair.

Comments

[Patrick]

And still the world watches waits. Tut, tuts and does nothing!

[majays]

What next? The imbecile, is now forcing and lobbing for a Kenya style of riots,Zimbabwean are too smart for that kind of a chaotic experience. The out side forces have to intervene. STAY PUT ZIMBABWEANS LET'S SEE WHAT HIS NEXT MOVE WILL BE!!.

[RMacleod]

Below is part of a email received from zimbabwe via NewZealand.

There was a carefully orchestrated war vet attack yesterday on the few remaining white owned farms in Masvingo. The farms that I know were invaded were the Goddards, Connors, Borland, Richards, Sparrows. The whole Pa Nyanda Lodge was taken over and Graham & Cally were given an hour to leave their house. They did so with a few photos and valuables but didn't even have time to pack a suitcase.

[louise pye]

In Ireland and desperately trying to contact Karen and Trevor Gifford, white farmers in Zim, who still have their farm. Is their farm one of those siezed over the weekend? Does anyone in Zim have news of them. There is no means to get hold of them by phone or email as communication with Zimbabwe is virtually impossible.

[Nicholas Folkes]

28 years after independence, what have the blacks gained? The blacks have gained so much; despair, AIDS, mismanagement, nepotism, destruction of industry and loss of a civil society. Britain was so keen to give independence to African nations and what a mistake it was! Africa was better off under white Colonial rule, that's the bloody truth!

[not a rhodie]

Oh man, people like Nicholas Folkes make it so much worse for those who have stayed put. Please, keep your comments to yourself.

[not a rhodie]

Oh man, people like Nicholas Folkes make it so much worse for those who have stayed put. Please, keep your comments to yourself.

[McPaul]

No,let the truth be out. Same with Mugabe, all that was concealed about him is now coming out in the western media, even the liberals are having a go. Before Mugabe came to power he was also butchering his own men whom he suspected of undermining his aims. Carrington, Owen and the rest of the British crew at Lancaster knew all about Mugabe and his evil deeds prior to Independence. Read The Times, The Independant uk newspapers etc.

[Nicholas Folkes]

Oh brain dead potato -"not a rhodie". Keep your PC dysfunctional brain out of this topic. We have decided that blacks and do good leftie trash have created Africa's problems so pls. keep your stoopid comments to yourself.

Africa needs white Colonial rule to survive - that's the truth.

[Sandra Lewis]

I cannot believe my eyes when I see the reported conditions in Zimbabwe. In this modern, experienced society that we're supposed to be living in, how can one such evil dicatator (sharing various attributes as Adolf Hitler) literally get away with murder? I am so angry at this. Everybody knows whats going on, everybody knows that democracy in Zimbabwe is a complete and utter sham. What is the South African President doing? He has no genuine intentions of forcing his old mate Mugabe anywhere. His feeble efforts have sickened me. The international community must act and they must act now. This does not have to equate to another Iraq situation at all but this is a total crime against freedom, peace, democracy and every single dimension of human rights. Obviously the African leaders do not have the balls to do anything for various reasons of self-interest. The Zimbwabewan people are crying out for our help.... I can hear them.