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“Robert Mugabe chewed up”
THE Financial Mail interviews Edgar Tekere, a founding member and former secretary-general of Zanu-PF, founding president of the Zimbabwe Unity Movement and, of late, a founding member of Dr SImba Makoni's Mawambo Project.
The controversial Tekere was expelled from Zanu-PF by President Robert Mugabe in 1988. He spoke to Amarnath Singh about the Zimbabwe elections. Were the elections fair?
The ending shows they did not go well. But whatever happens, one thing is clear: Robert Mugabe lost, he got chewed up by Morgan Tsvangirai, and now he is trying all sorts of tricks to hold on. But he is finished and can never be an effective head of state again. He is resorting to criminal and outright treasonable things, on top of his many other human rights abuses. The intelligent thing would be for him to ease himself out, but I do not credit him with much intelligence.
Will Tsvangirai be president?
Tsvangirai won the elections. He ought to be president. It's up to him to sort it out. There is talk of a government of national unity to lift the country out of the mess it has been put into by Mugabe. We need brains and resources beyond any one party, but absolutely not Mugabe. The people have said no to him because he has destroyed the country in every respect.
Has Thabo Mbeki's mediation helped?
I don't think much of Mbeki - he is a colourless character. He is not helping our situation at all. He behaves like Mugabe's running-boy. I don't know what animal quiet diplomacy is. He had no cause to insult ordinary Zimbabweans by saying there's no crisis in this country.
Is the army an obstacle to change?
There’s a lot of speculation about that, but on a slightly amusing note, would General (Constantine) Chiwenga (head of the army) accept Tsvangirai as head of state after Mrs Chiwenga publicly assaulted the MDC leader when he was inspecting food availability at a supermarket in Harare some time ago?
Will the army prevent him?
If any commanders don't like him they must resign. We have rules.
Is the land question settled since farms were seized from whites?
I said to Tsvangirai this act of land reform was a revolutionary move and that he should use his platform to smooth out the things that were left unsettled, such as the element of corruption, some top people having more than one farm, and to make the resettled farmers more productive with the help of the agricultural research and extension service. But the seizing of the farms was not illegal. It should not be reversed, but polished up.
What party do you support?
I am a founder member of Simba Makoni's project, Mawambo, which means dawn or the beginning - a name inspired by the fact that almost everything has been destroyed by the Mugabe regime and will have to be rebuilt.
Was the last election reminiscent of 1990 when your party, the Zimbabwe Unity Movement, challenged Mugabe but saw the results "managed"?
The 1990 "election" was a very significant happening, which was not an election because at the counting stage Mugabe, typically, was jolted when he thought I was running ahead, so the whole process including the ballot boxes disappeared into State House. It was extremely vulgar. In the 2008 election, the same thing happened but it was a bit less vulgar. It's the same old Mugabe - he does not like contests.
In one line, what will his legacy be?
Disaster
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