Mystery of the Missing Media - solved

Some of you will have noticed by now that my story about the Zimbabwe elections did not appear in the National Post last week. How embarrassing :) But I only heard back now from the editor as to why. Slightly unprofessional, but no hard feelings. He indicated that it was because there wasn't enough space, which is a perennial problem, and not because there was anything wrong with the story. There were 4 other Zimbabwe stories in the paper that day, all written by their staff writers, so as a little fish, I was punted.

But guess what! You lucky bastards get to see what was never printed! Enjoy...

March 29, 2008

Zimbabwe on the Brink of Violence

VICTORIA FALLS, ZIMBABWE -- It is clear that seventeen year old Akim is desperately struggling to make a living as he rushes down the street to greet me in hopes that I will buy the crafts that he is hawking. When I decline, his pleas shift to, "Please give me your sunglasses... your shoes... your trousers. Zimbabwe is an economic basket case after years of destructive leadership by long time President Robert Mugabe and the ZANU-PF party. The country's population is out of patience.

Despite his desperation, or perhaps because of it, Akim has developed a strong understanding of the issues defining Zimbabwe's upcoming elections on March 29th. "When you go to the shops, you can't buy many things. There is no cooking oil, no clothes right now. And what is there is very expensive." Today was the first in five that fruit was available in the market, and milk is still nowhere to be found. Malnourishment and even starvation is a reality for many children wandering the streets in cities across the country, begging for food. Up to eighty percent of Zimbabweans work outside of the formal economy, which suffers from the highest rate of inflation in the world. Doctors and teachers are attempting to do the impossible with limited resources and fuel shortages compound every aspect of this nation-wide crisis.

Zimbabwe is a country on the edge - its citizens overwhelmingly hopeful for political change, yet fully aware of the likelihood that this will come at the cost of bloodshed. "People are tired, we can't last another 5 years," says a visibly exhausted man who was hours ago released from jail, being put there for espousing his political views. Mr. Mugabe has remained president for twenty eight years, and while he began this career a liberation hero, his waning popularity has led to the use of vote rigging, intimidation and violence in recent years. People on the street laugh when asked if this election will be free or fair. And yet despite the risks of being politically active for the wrong side in this country, several strong opposition parties have mobilized and are fighting for change. Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change party (MDC), is one of the leading opposition candidates. A target of 3 assassination attempts and a victim of brutal torture as recently as March 2007, the MDC leader is still facing harassment. Expected to attend a rally of7,000 supporters in the North-West last week, he was detained by police on trumped up charges.

A third colourful presidential candidate, running as an independent, but backed by a splinter faction of the MDC, is also making waves despite only announcing his intentions as recently as February 2008. Simba Makoni has already garnered a sizable following, yet many distrust his motives. As a long-time ZANU-PF member of cabinet, MDC members are united in their belief that his candidacy is simply a Mugabe-orchestrated ploy to split the opposition vote. "It's a trick to confuse people," claims Gift Mabhena, a hopeful for the Hwange West MP seat, who was also detained last week on trivial charges and without access to a lawyer. Mugabe has also sharply denounced his former Finance Minister and is railing against what he believes Mr. Makoni's candidacy to be: a British-led effort to sap support away from his party through vote splitting.

The tension around the country is palpable. Police and military leave has been canceled until further notice in preparation for violence. Officers in full riot gear are stationed every second block in Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo, and there is a police vehicle on every corner in the capital, Harare. Tear gas has allegedly been distributed. Every day, it seems fewer people are comfortable being outdoors - police now outnumber civilians. Their mission today: to chase down groups of street children. Locals claim that 'undesirables' like these are regularly beaten, suffering bruises and cuts to their feet and backsides - some being only ten years old.

These abuses are allowed to continue in part because freedom of speech is non-existent. Foreign journalists are at risk of physical harm. I have been warned several times, "be careful who you talk to." Interviews have to be handled discreetly. On one occasion I was instructed to lay down in the back of a pickup truck during the drive to interview MDC Vice-President Thokozani Khupe so as not to be seen -"there are police watching us." Had I been exposed as a journalist, I would certainly be detained or worse. Thankfully I give the appearance of a harmless tourist and kept my notepad out of sight; as I discovered later, undercover police were watching us from across the room. Instead of feeling fear, I could only think about how dire, even bizarre, Zimbabwe's situation is. Asked what will happen if this election is stolen again - as she believes it will be - Ms. Khupe responded that "things are different this time around... Zimbabweans have learned a lesson from Kenya," a reference to the violence that broke out late last year after electoral irregularities were observed in that country.

Despite concessions made by the Mugabe government in the name of openness on election day, several have been rescinded just days ago, indicating that those promises were made in bad faith. Police will now be stationed at polling places on the 29th, creating fears of voter intimidation, and ballot boxes for the presidential vote will be transported to Harare for the count, rather than being done on-site. And while the government assured voters sufficient fuel would be available to allow travel to the polls, areas of the country are still without gasoline.

Being here, one gets a clear sense that popular support has all but abandoned Mr. Mugabe. Although he enjoyed a base of rural support in the last election, this has dwindled as economic disaster spread beyond urban centres. Yet the ruling elite is not prepared to let power simply slip from its hands. Mugabe recently commented that out of twenty-eight ways he knows to win an election, he's only used two... so far. Out of this situation comes no easy solutions, only a question: not *whether* violence will break out after the 29th, but,"how bad will it be?"