We need harmony before polls

Columnists
President Robert Mugabe is preparing for harmonised elections as early as March 2013, according to submissions made by Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa at the Supreme Court recently.

President Robert Mugabe is preparing for harmonised elections as early as March 2013, according to submissions made by Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa at the Supreme Court recently. According to media reports, Mugabe is citing lack of funds to run elections in three vacant House of Assembly seats.  Though the Government of National Unity brought much relief to us, the main parties seem not happy with the marriage of convenience. Their only way out is by going to the polls.

  Since the signing of the Global Political Agreement, most outstanding issues are still outstanding. For example, we are still to conclude the new constitution with parties holding different views on the Copac draft which they are taking to the Second All-stakeholders’ Conference next month. Talk of election is already being thrown around. When election talk dominates conversations, I have nightmares about violence.

  I cannot quantify how much ground has been covered by Jomic and the Organ on National healing to restore confidence and fruitful relations in rural areas where even close relatives turned against each other for supporting different political parties in the past.

 

The scars are not just physical, they run deep. In 2008 my brother spent the better part of his days and nights in the mountains hiding in caves.

  He sneaked into his mother’s kitchen to look for food and back into the woods like a criminal. His only crime was supporting the MDC.

  Opposition supporters were tortured and raped at terror bases. Huts were burnt and livestock was rustled to feed the militia manning bases. I can still visualise the charred remains of MDC supporters at Jerera growth point in Zaka. Survivors of the arson attack, maimed for life, are still nursing injuries and broken hearts.

  The Standard, not too long ago, reported that in Buhera a family was rejecting a Zanu PF daughter-in-law because her brother beat them up during the 2008 elections.

 

The undercurrents of suspicion and hurt are still evident. There is need for serious work in the outlaying areas, otherwise the elections will be characterised by voter apathy for fear of victimisation.

  It is not enough to denounce violence on national TV. I wish the president and prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai could do more to steady my heart and assure voters that they will be free to choose, support and vote for any candidates who represent their aspirations.

Mai Sam Harare South.