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By Political Editor
Munyaradzi Huni
WHEN the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, fails to
stop his cricket team from coming to Zimbabwe, what should the world
expect? If the British government is now so uncomfortable with President
Mugabe�s presence at international forums and yet he has been invited to
France for the summit of African heads of state, what should the
international community expect?
If at home, the MDC leader, Mr
Morgan Tsvangirai, and his closest advisor, Professor Welshman Ncube,
attack the South African President, Cde Thabo Mbeki, his party the African
National Congress and also accuse the Nigerian leader, President Olusegun
Obasanjo, of siding with the Zimbabwean Govern-ment, what should
Zimbabweans expect?
When supporters of the MDC attack their leader
for "running out of ideas", what could be in store for the country? When
the National Constitutional Assembly, led by that desperate ex-convict, Dr
Lovemore Madhuku, keeps organising mass stayaways that are always a flop,
where could Zimbabwe be heading to?
And when Mr Tsvangirai
continues to threaten that a bloodbath is looming in the country, what
should the people expect?
In short, when the enemy has been fairly
and emphatically defeated, what else can the enemy do? Isn�t this a recipe
for disaster? This whirlpool of questions has to be answered as a matter
of urgency because the enemy seems to have already decided to try the
dangerous and suicidal option.
After failing to stop the cricket
World Cup games from being played in Zimbabwe, the country�s enemies are
now working flat out to make sure that when the Commonwealth troika meet
in March to review the situation in Zimbabwe, the country would be fully
suspended from the 54-member Club.
The gullible may be fooled by
Mr Tsvangirai�s recent remarks against President Mbeki and President
Obasanjo, but we know that the remarks are a miscalculated effort by the
opposition leader to try and put pressure on the two leaders so that they
take the MDC line when they meet with the Australian Prime Minister, Mr
John Howard. How foolish some people are!
Already, the enemy has
overdosed warmongers, sell-outs and political opportunists with the pound
and, not surprisingly, we hear people like the unashamed former ZBC sports
reporter, Tichaona Sibanda, and the out-of-sorts Portia Gwanzura saying
all sorts of lies about the situation in Zimbabwe. But then the plot is
bigger than the ranting and raving of the Zimbabwean sell-outs that are
seeking political asylum in Britain. It�s funny that these people seem to
forget that one day they would want to come back home.
In
Zimbabwe, where the plot is centred and where everything is supposed to
happen, the MDC is already spoiling for a big fight with the Government as
evidenced by some skirmishes of violence in Harare.
It all started
with the torching of a Zupco commuter bus in Harare�s Willowvale
industrial area by suspected MDC youths who wanted to test the
preparedness of the Government to deal with such incidents.
A few
days later, the MDC MP for St Mary�s, Mr Job Sikhala, was arrested in
connection with the incident together with some MDC hoodlums and brought
to court.
Mr Sikhala told the court that police tortured him while
in remand prison. Zimbabweans described the torching of the Zupco bus as a
"barbaric act".
About a week later after the torching of the Zupco
bus, a Zanu-PF member, Tonderayi Mangwiro, died at Harare Central Hospital
after sustaining severe head injuries when some suspected MDC activists
petrol-bombed the ruling party�s offices in Kuwadzana.
Several
Zanu-PF members, including the party�s youth secretary for Kuwadzana,
Sydney Banda, were injured in the attack that extensively damaged the
ruling party�s offices. But then the incidents were not happening
spontaneously, the puppets were doing what the puppeteer had ordered them
to do.
About three days before the violence in Kuwadzana, Mr Peter
Hain, who is fighting to come back to the British Foreign Affairs
department, had predicted that: "The temperature on the street in Zimbabwe
is rising. Starvation and desperation is widespread. It could well erupt
around the (cricket) World Cup as people demand food and freedom."
The recklessness in Mr Hain�s statement can clearly show two
things. The first one is that Mr Hain is exposing the reasons why he was
demoted from the Foreign Affairs department and, second, that the British
government is praying that violence erupts in Zimbabwe during the World
Cup cricket games so that Zimbabwe will be suspended fully from the
Commonwealth. This is how foolish the Labour Party officials can be when
they are losing a battle.
When the MDC hooligans failed to
jump-start the violence, the British government hurriedly went to the NCA
and ordered Dr Madhuku to call for a mass stayaway to protest against the
Government policies.
Zimbabweans may be facing many challenges,
but when an ex-convict tries to use them to fulfil his greedy ambitions,
they will not sell their soul.
Not surprisingly, most workers
ignored the mass stayaway calls by the NCA, save for a few disturbances in
Glen View, Budiriro and Mabvuku that were spearheaded by some MDC thugs
who thought the time was ripe to fulfil the master�s orders.
Despite his failure to mobilise workers, Dr Madhuku still wants to
please his masters by threatening that violence could erupt during the
World Cup cricket games. Anyone who knows where Dr Madhuku is coming from
will not take him seriously. The ex-convict just loves reading about his
illusions in the papers.
If one wants to understand how desperate
and frustrated the British government and the MDC are, then one has to
read the opposition Press in the country, manned by sell-outs, the
apartheid Press manned by apartheid mamparas and the international Press
manned by imperial mouthpieces.
The oppositional Press is now
writing about a "fast deteriorating humanitarian crisis", the apartheid
Press is writing about "the Zimbabwean dictator" while the international
Press is writing about a "genocide". The statements clearly show
frustration and desperation. But then it looks as if Mr Blair and Mr
Tsvangirai have to brace themselves for more frustrations because besides
the clear fact that the political situation in the country has improved
and that the land reform exercise is almost complete, the regional and
international community no longer believe the lies they read in the
oppositional Press.
The Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Sule
Lamido, and his South African counterpart, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma,
recently visited the country and both left words of optimism and hope to
the Zimbabwean Government. Obviously, this has angered the British and the
MDC. In a few days, Cde Mbeki is set to meet Mr Blair in London and it
looks as if the British leader is set to get more frustrated because the
SA leader has a short message to deliver. The message reads: "Climb down
the anti-President Mugabe horse".
Stubborn as he is, Mr Blair will
try to woo Cde Mbeki to his side, but then he should not forget that the
message is not coming from Cde Mbeki but from all the South Africans that
he represents. Mr Blair can miraculously win Cde Mbeki, but not all South
Africans.
But then Mr Blair has already lost another battle. If Mr
Blair thought it was a joke that the European Union is breaking apart
because of the Zimbabwean issue, then by now he should see the full story.
France has invited President Mugabe to attend a summit of African heads of
state in Paris, ignoring opposition from Mr Blair. This is the first break
of the British-led EU sanctions against Zimbabwe. What else should we say?
Already Mr Tsvangirai has realised that using the EU and the
Commonwealth to push the British agenda is a non-starter and is trying to
lure the United Nations into the equation. Of course, the UN is a serious
and respectable organisation that has members who will not agree to dance
to the tune from Number 10 Downing Street in London.
Yes, for now
the British government and the MDC may appear as if they want to disturb
the World Cup cricket games, but it�s obvious that their target is the
troika meeting scheduled for March.
Remember Mr Blair was very
humiliated when the troika failed to slap Zimbabwe with sanctions and to
fully suspend Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth. Mr Blair thinks this time is
his time.
Once the country�s enemies win the troika game, they
know that their grand plan to make 2003 the final year for President
Mugabe in power will be well on course. But then fools die first.
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