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BY NELSON CHAMISA - TODAY, it is exactly 90 days since the principals of the three major political parties signed a Global Political Agreement on September 11.

Since then, Zanu-PF commissions and omissions have become the biggest threat to the
SADC-brokered dialogue through a litany of shameful acts of gross insincerity, parochial pursuit of party interests, arbitrary arrests, brutality and abductions of civic society and MDC members and leaders.

While hope and confidence gripped the people on the dawn of a new era of peace in the country, Zanu-PF delivered its first blow to dialogue at the conception stage when it shamelessly altered the Global Political Agreement during the 96 hours-break between 11 September and the September 15 public signing ceremony.

With neither shame nor compunction, Zanu-PF tabled a fraudulent document in front of SADC and African Union Heads of State on September 15.

As if that was not enough, Robert Mugabe unilaterally gazetted all key ministries to himself on Saturday, October 11 even though the principals had agreed the previous day to refer the deadlock on ministerial allocations to the facilitator. Mugabe’s midnight magic and his audacity to grab power further dented any prospect of a genuine power- sharing arrangement.

Another perforation of the negotiation process happened when Zanu-PF failed to give the Prime Minister-designate, Morgan Tsvangirai, a mere passport to enable him to travel for the troika meeting in Swaziland. It was an act of insincerity for Mugabe to leave
the Prime Minister-designate behind while he flew alone on taxpayers’ money to Mbabane.

As Tsvangirai later said, it was impossible to imagine that Mugabe could work together with the MDC and trust the Prime Minister when he could not trust him with his own
passport in his pocket.

Zanu-PF has continuously flip-flopped and deliberately lied to the people of Zimbabwe on the nature of the sticking points during the tortuous dialogue process. Initially, Zimbabweans were told that the only sticking point was the Ministry of Finance before they later sang a new tune to say it was only the Ministry of Home Affairs that was holding down the negotiations.

The truth of the matter is that the allocation of all ministries remains a bone of contention. We are arguing that the allocation of ministerial portfolios should be based on equity and not power grab.

The other sticking points relate to the issue of governors, Constitutional Amendment 19, the appointment of senior government officials and the composition and powers of the National Security Council.

Zanu-PF went a notch up and dealt a further blow to dialogue when it claimed that the MDC was training bandits and sponsoring terrorism. This was illogical in that the MDC could not have trained bandits to oust a non-existent government.

The truth is that there is no legitimate government in Zimbabwe and in any case, it is only those who lose elections who are likely to engage in civil conflict. The MDC
won the election of March 29, we have the majority Parliamentary and local government seats and we have no reason to resort to barbaric methods of ousting a regime that lost an election.

The appointment of senior police officers, the renewal of the term of office of the Reserve Bank governor, the continued hate speech in the public media all point to the fact that Zanu- PF is the greatest enemy to the peaceful resolution of the Zimbabwean crisis.

Zanu-PF is not ready for a peaceful transition that will address the immediate concerns of the people which include the cholera outbreak, lack of clean water and the visible signs of collapse in critical sectors such as agriculture, health and education.

The cholera outbreak, which has so far claimed over 800 lives, showcases the lack of capacity of the caretaker government of Zanu-PF.

But the biggest sucker punch to dialogue relates to the abductions of civic society and MDC leaders and activists, including two-year old children. Twenty-two people have been abducted so far and their whereabouts remain unknown. These include Concilia Chinanzvavana, the chairperson of the MDC Mashonaland West Women’s Assembly, Zimbabwe Peace Project director Jestina Mukoko and Gandhi Mudzingwa, the former personal assistant to MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai.

If these people committed any crime, they must be brought before the courts and be charged. There cannot be any genuine and profitable dialogue in a climate bereft of sincerity, genuineness and respect of the Zimbabwean people’s rights, wishes and aspirations.

Either Zanu-PF is killing dialogue or has already killed it. We refuse to be cowed by wanton acts of terror into succumbing to a warped political settlement that is not in the best interest of the people of Zimbabwe. After all, we won the election and made a big but ignored concession that Mugabe should be President-designate and should lead a caretaker government until the agreement has been consummated in full.

Now those in borrowed robes have sought to deny the people of Zimbabwe their deserved opportunity for national renewal and rebirth.

We remain on the side of the people while Zanu-PF remains on the side of terror. We remain on the side of the downtrodden while Zanu-PF is firmly etched in the dark corner of an avaricious, parasitic elite.

While terror and abductions continue to visit the innocent people of Zimbabwe, we remain firmly focussed on a future of democracy, freedom and economic prosperity.

History will vindicate us.

(Nelson Chamisa is secretary for information and publicity for the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai)

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