Mugabe says violence must stop
March 10, 2009
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai during the church service for his wife Susan on Tuesday.
By Ian Raath
HARARE – President Mugabe today called for peace between his supporters and those of his Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, as he joined hundreds of Zimbabweans mourning the death of Mr Tsvangirai’s wife, Susan.
“We are sincere that we would want peace and a conducive environment in the country,” he told the packed Methodist Church in suburban Harare where the Tsvangirais were regular worshippers.
“Political violence amongst our supporters must stop, and we must work together to make sure that we have a good country and good lives for everybody.”
Mr Mugabe has rarely shown such a human, conciliatory side since 1980 when he made an impassioned appeal for reconciliation after the bloody civil war against the former white minority Rhodesian government. He spoke then of “the age of love” and of “turning swords into ploughshares”.
Yesterday he assured the Tsvangirai family and Mr Tsvangirai’s party, MDC, that “we are mourning with you, our hearts are with you”.
“This is a difficult moment for our colleague. He has lost a partner and we must all rally to support him and lessen his burden. It will take him time to recover from this shock. I plead with you to accept it, it’s the hand of God,” he said..
“To our supporters we want to say violence should stop. That’s what [Mrs] Tsvangirai would have wanted, for us to co-exist peacefully.”
He added: “This issue of politics has been affecting our lives and families badly. People don’t know the troubles and dirty wars that we fight.
“We have just started a new life after years of fighting each other and insulting each other. We have said let’s give peace and harmony a chance and work together.”
Mrs Tsvangirai was killed last week when the car she and her husband were travelling in collided with an aid vehicle 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of Harare.
Mr Tsvangirai, 57 today, was badly bruised in the crash and appeared grave and worn out. He uttered one sentence: “Let us celebrate her existence as God’s gift to me and us.” He occasionally dabbed his bloodshot eyes with a handkerchief during the ceremony.
Mr Mugabe and his wife, Grace, who was also at the service, visited Mr Tsvangirai in hospital shortly after the collision.
The crowd of 15 000 MDC supporters that later attended a farewell rally for Mrs Tsvangirai was in no mood for tolerance, however. They jeered every mention of Mr Mugabe and his administration and roared when a student leader, Jonah Bere, told them: “Zimbabwe’s history is littered with politically motivated accidents.”
They also cheered the MDC secretary-general, Tendai Biti, who is now Finance Minister, when he cried out: “Why? Why? Why?”, but it stopped when Mr Tsvangirai’s eldest son, Edwin, 30, spoke: “I want to thank His Excellency, the President for his words that changed my understanding of him.” The crowd applauded enthusiastically.
Mr Mugabe’s appeal for peace comes amid rampant suspicion that the accident was an assassination attempt by his secret police, who have tried repeatedly to kill Mr Tsvangirai over the years. Mr Tsvangirai made the first move towards reconciliation yesterday when he declared that the collision was “an accident”.
Observers say that Zimbabwe’s Coalition Government is in desperate need of trust between the two groups. Mr Mugabe’s side has been engaging in a war of attrition to curtail the MDC’s new authority by blocking the release of political prisoners, trying to usurp the powers of MDC ministers and making unilateral appointments of old Zanu-PF loyalists to powerful positions in the new administration.
MDC supporters, for their part, have over the last six weeks carried out attacks across the country to avenge the violence they suffered at the hands of Mr Mugabe’s supporters in the run-up to elections last year. Mr Tsvangirai withdrew from the second round of voting because of the brutal campaign of violence directed at his supporters.
A Western diplomat said: “Mugabe’s gesture is remarkable, there really seems to be a sign of genuine sincerity and a willingness to work with the MDC. But he has a shocking record on meeting his undertakings. Behind him there is also a huge reservoir of ill-will against the MDC among the Zanu-PF hard-liners.
“It’s also very important for him to win the MDC’s trust. This could well end up with an MDC government and Mugabe and his cohorts in the dock for the misery they have brought on Zimbabwe.”
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I have to acknowledge the gesture shown by Mr Mugabe.I thank him for this great posture of concern and I believe he meant what he said. Anyhow is just human like anybody else and I believe that if the death of Mrs Tsvangirai could touch so many hearts, why not his? Despite anything and everything, I respect what Mr Mugabe has done and with fervent hope that this is the beginning of better things to come. I believe that in Zimbabwe we can rise beyond cheap politics that has crippled our country for far too long.
Kombo, it was Mugabe’s decision not to prosecute Ian Smith, who by the way, died last year.
You can go ahead and love him, it is your choice. However, the truth is his 29 year reign has been littered with the corpses of his people – black people. Apart from the outright murder of Ndebeles in the 1980s and MDC supporters since it’s birth, Mugabe has killed through failure to provide food and health services to his people. It is the job of government, by the way, to provide for it’s people and when 60% are being fed by the west and 94% are unemployed, it means the president is a complete failure. It is a wonder that he is even proud to call himself president.
Mugabe jnr, you can shout till you are hoarse, calling upon us to support the GNU but until it proves that it is different from the Zanu P.F. government which presided over the spectacular collapse of our country, on what basis would it deserve support? So far, land invasions have continued and we have not heard any talk of the repealing of repressive legislation such as POSA and AIPPA. We have not heard talk of bringing to book those who stole and continue to steal from the country, or those who killed amd maimed their country men. Support has be earned.
Abbie Mphisa and Tanonoka Joseph Whande
Great minds think alike!
Mugabe is a ruthless dictator and continues to exercise and enjoy his dictatorial powers. We should not sweep that aside now just because he now wants to live in pearce and harmony!