Cry Zimbabwe: Independence - Twenty Years On

Cry Zimbabwe tells how Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF came to political power in Zimbabwe after British and Commonwealth supervised elections in 1980. Acclaimed by the British Government and others as ‘free and fair’, in reality the process was a sham. It had been seriously flawed by a murderous campaign of intimidation conducted against the black population by the political commissars of ZANLA — ZANU-PF’s military wing. Having got away with it in 1980, Mugabe repeated these brutal tactics in the 1985, 1990 and 1995 election campaigns. The result was a Parliament packed with ZANU-PF MPs, with virtually no political opposition. The constitution was changed at will to suit Mugabe and his ruling elite. Stiff tells how in the 1980s ex-Rhodesians were recruited by the SADF to gather intelligence and destabilise Zimbabwe. How the strike jets at Thornhill Air Base were destroyed in a raid by Special Forces. How its armour came within a whisper of total destruction and how its major armoury at Inkomo Barracks was destroyed and much more. He details for the first time the bitter fighting between ZANU-PF and ZAPU elements of the National Army that occurred in Bulawayo in 1981 and how it was put down by elements of the former Rhodesian Security Forces. How Mugabe suppressed the report of the Commission of Enquiry looking into it. Stiff describes how in the early 1980s the North Koreans formed ex-ZANLA guerrillas into a new 5-Brigade and trained it as a murder machine. It was launched into Matabeleland in 1983. Its targets were unarmed and helpless men, women, children, the aged, the infirm — anyone as long as they were Ndebele. The world stood by, paying lip service to caring, while they systematically murdered some 15 000 people and beat, raped, starved, maimed and tortured countless thousands more. Stiff tells how the SADF armed, equipped and trained Joshua Nkomo’s ZIPRA rebels. How this was done, who did it and why, is explained. Coming right up to date he explains that by the millennium — 20 years on — times had changed. Zimbabweans were dissatisfied with the ruling party’s waste and rampant corruption. They were disillusioned with Zimbabwe’s military involvement in the Congo — where the ruling elite and senior army officers were raking in cash from rich diamond and other mining concessions. The economy was in tatters. The Zimbabwe dollar had slipped to an all-time low. Unemployment was at record levels and there were widespread shortages of diesel, petrol and commodities. Mugabe’s attempt to introduce a new constitution, which would have allowed him to continue in office as President for virtually the rest of his life, was the last straw. Opposition was mobilised by civic groups and a new political party, the Movement for Democratic Change, led by Morgan Tsvangirai. The electorate rejected the draft constitution in a referendum. Mugabe blamed his defeat on the country’s 60 000 whites (out of a population of 13 million), particularly the farmers, whom he accused of supporting the MDC and influencing their workers to vote against the draft. The book tells how Mugabe vengefully launched invasions of squatters led by ex-ZANLA ‘War Veterans’ on to white-owned farms. They embarked on a campaign of murder, rape, beatings, torture and intimidation, combined with a forced political ‘re-education’ programme. It did not work and for the first time since 1980 the MDC became the only opposition party to win sufficient seats to provide a substantial parliamentary opposition. On Mugabe’s orders, despite the election being over and in defiance of his own High Court, the farm invasions have intensified. Footnote: It is impossible to overestimate the importance of Cry Zimbabwe. It was at the elbows of all the US legislators responsible for the passing of the Zimbabwe Democracy Act that legislated selective sanctions against Robert Mugabe and his top henchman. Copies were bought by every foreign embassy in South Africa and copies were in the personal possession of the British Foreign Secretary and the Conservative Party's shadow Foreign Secretary. Peter Stiff was interviewed by Tim Sebastian on BBChardtalk and more than held his own. It generated enormous international interest. The chapters dealing with the Gukurahundi atrocities and massacres in Matabeleland recently formed the foundation for an incisive BBC World programme that called for the arrest and prosecution by the International Court of Justice of both Robert Mugabe and Perence Shiri for war crimes and crimes against humanity. More such moves are bound follow. Robert Mugabe might have won his re-election as president in March 2002 by foul means and a crooked election process, but it is not the end of the story. Sadly, Cry Zimbabwe was an early wake up call as to what was happening in Zimbabwe but the world dithered. That initially it kept on sleeping was a tragedy. That the world has eventually woken up, and that Zimbabwe has been suspended from the Commonwealth, bodes well for the future. One can be certain that it will eventually spell the end of the brutal dictatorship of Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF regime. Cry Zimbabwe is right up to date — it is an important story out of Africa — it is happening now.