African Civil Society Leads The Way

PROMINENT African leaders from across civil society yesterday issued a public call for an end to violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe ahead of the presidential run-off elections at the end of the month.

In so doing they have put Africa's political leadership - so loath

to take a stance to date - to shame.

An open letter, signed by former heads of state, business

leaders, academics and leading campaigners, calls for appropriate

conditions to be met for the citizens of Zimbabwe to express their

political will.

 

With few exceptions, African leaders, especially on the southern

part of the continent, have adopted a cautious approach to the

Zimbabwe situation, resorting to what was termed 'silent diplomacy'

in trying to deal with an intransigent long-serving head of state,

Robert Mugabe.

 

At the time of going to press, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai had

once again been arrested; MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti, was

also held on his return from South Africa, and there were rumours

he would be charged with treason.

 

The MDC has been largely unable to hold rallies in the election

run-up, with their meetings constantly banned or being broken

up.

 

These are hardly conditions promoting free and fair elections,

and Zimbabweans continue to struggle to eke out a living and

exercise free choices in the oppressive atmosphere which

prevails.

 

Among others, the letter from civil society leadership called

for: * An end to the violence and intimidation and the restoration

of full access for humanitarian and aid agencies; * An adequate

number of independent electoral observers, both during the election

process and to verify the results; and * A call to African leaders

at all levels - pan-African, regional and national - and their

institutions to ensure the achievement of these objectives.

 

The letter is supported by signatories which constitute a

veritable who's who of Africa's most respected personalities.

 

They include two former UN Secretary Generals, Kofi Annan and

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Professor Kwame

Appiah, Professor of Philosophy at Princeton, several former

African Presidents, including Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique,

Ketumile Masire of Botswana, Jerry Rawlings of Ghana, Salim Ahmed

Salim, former Prime Minister of Tanzania and former Secretary

General of the then OAU, Richard Goldstone, former Judge of the

Constitutional Court in South Africa, Graca Machel, as well as

artists and musicians such as Angelique Kidjo and Youssou n'Dour;

and civil society activists such as Wangari Maathai, Nobel Laureate

and founder of the Green Belt movement in Kenya, and the list goes

on.

 

The appeal is an African initiative supported by the Mo Ibrahim

Foundation.

 

The letter says that "as Africans we consider the forthcoming

elections to be critical.

 

We are aware of the attention of the world.

 

More significantly, we are conscious of the huge number of

Africans who want to see a stable, democratic and peaceful

Zimbabwe".

 

The run-off elections will be held on June 27, and it is of

course a well-known fact by now that the opposition Movement for

Democratic Change (MDC) polled the majority of votes in the

presidential ballot, but (apparently) not enough to avoid the

re-run, although said results were never officially disclosed.

 

All citizens and civil society groups are invited to

counter-sign the letter at a special website

www.zimbabwe-27June.com, and we would encourage Namibians to add

their voice to the call for a free and fair election process in

Zimbabwe, especially in the absence of any definitive leadership

from our political elite in this regard.

 

An open letter, signed by former heads of state, business leaders,

academics and leading campaigners, calls for appropriate conditions

to be met for the citizens of Zimbabwe to express their political

will.With few exceptions, African leaders, especially on the

southern part of the continent, have adopted a cautious approach to

the Zimbabwe situation, resorting to what was termed 'silent

diplomacy' in trying to deal with an intransigent long-serving head

of state, Robert Mugabe.At the time of going to press, MDC leader

Morgan Tsvangirai had once again been arrested; MDC Secretary

General Tendai Biti, was also held on his return from South Africa,

and there were rumours he would be charged with treason.The MDC has

been largely unable to hold rallies in the election run-up, with

their meetings constantly banned or being broken up.These are

hardly conditions promoting free and fair elections, and

Zimbabweans continue to struggle to eke out a living and exercise

free choices in the oppressive atmosphere which prevails.Among

others, the letter from civil society leadership called for: * An

end to the violence and intimidation and the restoration of full

access for humanitarian and aid agencies; * An adequate number of

independent electoral observers, both during the election process

and to verify the results; and * A call to African leaders at all

levels - pan-African, regional and national - and their

institutions to ensure the achievement of these objectives.The

letter is supported by signatories which constitute a veritable

who's who of Africa's most respected personalities.They include two

former UN Secretary Generals, Kofi Annan and Boutros Boutros-Ghali,

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Professor Kwame Appiah, Professor of

Philosophy at Princeton, several former African Presidents,

including Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique, Ketumile Masire of

Botswana, Jerry Rawlings of Ghana, Salim Ahmed Salim, former Prime

Minister of Tanzania and former Secretary General of the then OAU,

Richard Goldstone, former Judge of the Constitutional Court in

South Africa, Graca Machel, as well as artists and musicians such

as Angelique Kidjo and Youssou n'Dour; and civil society activists

such as Wangari Maathai, Nobel Laureate and founder of the Green

Belt movement in Kenya, and the list goes on.The appeal is an

African initiative supported by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.The

letter says that "as Africans we consider the forthcoming elections

to be critical.We are aware of the attention of the world.More

significantly, we are conscious of the huge number of Africans who

want to see a stable, democratic and peaceful Zimbabwe".The run-off

elections will be held on June 27, and it is of course a well-known

fact by now that the opposition Movement for Democratic Change

(MDC) polled the majority of votes in the presidential ballot, but

(apparently) not enough to avoid the re-run, although said results

were never officially disclosed.All citizens and civil society

groups are invited to counter-sign the letter at a special website

www.zimbabwe-27June.com, and we would encourage Namibians to add

their voice to the call for a free and fair election process in

Zimbabwe, especially in the absence of any definitive leadership

from our political elite in this regard.

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