Beware, another Lancaster con is nigh

Beware, another Lancaster con is nigh

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By Khanyisela Moyo

INDEPENDENCE Day revelations by New Zimbabwe.com that President Robert Mugabe -- in connivance with the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC faction and with the anticipated blessing of the UN, Americans and British -- has agreed in principle to a negotiated transitional government are unsettling.

In view of the political and economic imperatives, a negotiated settlement would appear to many as the most favorable transitional path.

However, this initiative might not address the problems that our country is facing. It might simply be a repetition of the imposed 1980 policy blunder. Old grievances will merely be shelved, only to resurface later.

What is disturbing about this development is the admission by Nelson Chamisa, on behalf of the Tsvangirai camp, that they are now prepared to participate in future elections and to engage all stakeholders, including Zanu PF.

We should bear in mind that Tsvangirai and his supporters sought political mileage from accusing the Welshman Ncube/Gibson Sibanda camp of negotiating with Zanu PF.

How then do we account for this political volte-face? In my opinion, this is an admission by the Tsvangirai faction that they lack the strength to eradicate the regime entirely. Thus contrary to their previous radical stance, they are now prepared to engage in a bargaining process that will facilitate a non-violent surrender of power.

In order to avoid being confined to the dustbins of political history, and in a bid to entice Robert Mugabe to step down, the Tsvangirai led faction is likely to leave certain privileges to Zanu PF. It is reasonable to assume that the most critical of these will be a promise not to prosecute and punish human rights atrocities committed by the Mugabe regime. Put simply, in order to have a slice of the cake it would appear that the Tsvangirai faction is now prepared to absolve Zanu PF of any responsibility regarding the Gukurahundi atrocities together with the post-2000 human rights abuses.

The Lancaster House agreement provided the country with a framework for getting rid of Ian Smith and UDI, but not what they stood for. The white minority remained in control of the country’s resources and of the judiciary. The colonial regime was also given a blanket amnesty for crimes that they committed.

The current anticipated negotiated transitional process might well repeat similar blunders. It will not get rid of the old nationalists’ guard and their institutions. There is also a likelihood that there would not be any mechanism for accountability. Since we are likely to have a group of men sitting at the negotiating table, women’s interests may not be meaningfully articulated. Similarly, in view of the ethnic bias of the contemplated negotiators, once again, Matabeleland may well be left out in the cold. The region will lose an opportunity to decide how it wants to be governed. I submit that tokenism in tribal and gender representation cannot suffice.

Tsvangirai's faction (acting as though they have the mandate of the whole country) has tried to make their deal more enticing by suggesting that a new constitution for Zimbabwe is in the pipeline. While acknowledging that there are some clauses in our current constitution that could be amended, it is my submission that a mere prescription of norms cannot be a panacea for Zimbabwe’s problems. Our current constitution contains a justiciable bill of rights, thus a person who alleges a contravention of any of the civil and political rights enshrined in the constitution can approach the Supreme Court directly for redress. Zimbabwe has also ratified or acceded to most of the core international human rights conventions. It is also signatory to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. The independence of the judiciary is guaranteed in the constitution.

Despite these good laws narratives of human rights atrocities by the current government have dominated the discourse of regional and international human rights bodies in the last six years. I am therefore, of the viewpoint that what is needed is not just a constitution but also the establishment of the rule of law, including the protection, promotion and the fulfillment of human rights. Institutional reform and capacity building are also essential. The prosecution of those individuals who have been complicit in the abuses of human rights and gross disgard for the rule of law in the past 26 years might well be a desirable transitional justice tool that can further this goal. A negotiated transition might however rob us of the use of this mechanism.

In conclusion, I aver that we must be wary of a negotiated settlement. Whilst this may well serve to entrench the positions of the two groupings, an opportunity to rebuild the rule of law in tandem with reforming tainted institutions will be lost. This would perpetuate the already existing culture of gross disregard for the rule of law, artificial redress of gender and ethnic biases, amnesia and impunity.

Khanyisela Moyo is a Zimbabwean lawyer currently doing a PhD in transitional justice in Northern Ireland. The views expressed above are hers must not be attributed to any organization or association that she is part of. She can be contacted on: knowlegdepursuit@yahoo.co.uk
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