Undeserved Kudos?
Zimbabweans have received praise galore for their patience as they wait interminably for the results of the presidential election held on March 29, 2008. Pity there is no prospect of bestowing kudos on SADC leaders as they met in Lusaka to consider the ‘crisis’ in Zimbabwe. They couldn’t even agree to use a word as strong as ‘crisis’ to describe this debacle.
Luckily, the light is dawning for many of us that our patience could be our downfall.
Consider this ridiculous scenario. Mugabe’s government gets to:
- Set the election date
- Handpick the head of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (an old friend)
- Set the constituency boundaries
- Monopolise government-run radio and television
- Accredit press and election observers
- Undermine uniformed forces’ right to a secret ballot
- Raid foreign currency accounts to finance their well-timed pre-election giveaway of tractors, scotch carts and fuel etc
- Use a politicized and discredited police force to ‘guard’ the ballot boxes – they’ve had at least 12 days free and clear to tamper with the contents of the ballot boxes
- Print money to pay all and sundry – Since the announcement on Jan 25, 2008 of the date for the 2008 ‘Harmonised’ elections the parallel rate for the Zimbabwe dollar to the USD has gone from 4,750,000 to 65,000,000.
And then they have the cheek to claim they’ve been disadvantaged by a system of their own design!
One thing is clear – in spite of all their advantages, Zanu (PF) and Mugabe have lost their gerrymandered elections.
Now we know:
- The Mugabe regime will not leave quietly
- SADC will be of no assistance
- Mbeki is unbecomingly biased towards Didymus Mutasa’s ‘dear old man‘ – Robert Mugabe
- We can no longer afford to wait patiently for Zanu(PF) to rig its way around the Zimbabwean people’s vote for change
In spite of our many differences, the people of Zimbabwe now more than ever need to pull together to demand that our voices, raised through the recent elections be respected.
The MDC have apparently called for a rolling national strike from Tuesday April 15 in the event the presidential election results have not yet been announced by then. At this point in time it seems impossible to accept any further result that comes from the discredited ZEC – whether or not it is delivered on Monday, April 14. Should the impossible happen and the ZEC declares Morgan Tsvangirai President of Zimbabwe I will happily apologise for doubting them!
Monday, April 14th 2008 at 2:21 am
When we say patience, what are we referring to? It is a malleable word that takes different forms, if shaped by an angry fist or a careful sculptor.
One should consider patience a virtue in oneself, and not require it in another. This makes congratulating somebody for patience of doubtful service.
Patience is often conflated with passivity. It is not helpful to congratulate passivity.
In some cases, times, and in some people, patience is equivalent to great discipline. One is in control of emotions and acts as she chooses, and can not be provoked into violence or foolish moves. One considers actions carefully, and practices, by habit, a form of mental discipline and self control to act when needed and to act as the situation calls for. This is patience as a discpline — a nonviolent discipline.
Kurt Shock’s quote above is relevant in comparing — as Shock admits, country cases can not be strictly compared apples to apples, except to ask questions about important differences — is that people can disruptively help change when they are in mass and in synch and in action behind change, as in Philippines. It goes with the direction of the political change selected at the ballot box. If people are not behnd their selected vote with action, it may be possible to subvert their will, as in Burma. Burma’s misatrributed patience was passivity. Victory was not enforced. Perhaps you selected the passage to suggest that widespread action of ordinary people, of voters, is needed to defend the electoral will of the people.
Wednesday, April 16th 2008 at 12:08 pm
[...] In an earlier post I remarked on how the Zimbabwe dollar had devalued hugely on the parallel market in the run up to Zimbabwe’ ‘harmonised’ elections. [...]