Tsvangirai and MDC delegation tell supporters they are ready to die for Zimbabwe

By Tererai Karimakwenda and Violet Gonda
29 May 2006

On Sunday a community school in the South Camden area of London played host to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC delegation that is calling “the liberation team”. The event was an MDC rally that was attended by nearly 500 supporters. There was drumming, singing and dancing which were not native to this part of the world, and some servings of sadza ne nyama as well. Tsvangirai told his supporters that the leadership were ready to die for Zimbabwe. He said: “We are going to be at the forefront. Mugabe aka threatena zvikanzi Tsvangirai is dicing with blood and with death and all that. I said one thing- If Tsvangirai has to die to save the people of Zimbabwe let him be the sacrificial lamb...”

Accompanied by the party’s Secretary General Tendai Biti, Deputy Secretary for International Affairs Grace Kwinjeh and Deputy Treasurer General Elton Mangoma, he said the MDC refuses to be a violent party and as such, he urged the international community to continue to assist Zimbabweans as they take action themselves to get rid of tyranny. He said SADC and South Africa must take the lead and along with the rest of the world continue to isolate Mugabe and force ZANU-PF to the negotiating table.

Kwinjeh started off the proceedings by painting a bleak picture of life back home. She reminded the crowd that life expectancy for Zimbabwean women according to UN figures was now 34. Sounding emotional, Kwinjeh said this meant she could only expect to live 2 more years since she was 32 years old. “Tabviswa hunhu” she went on to say meaning “we have lost our dignity” as she talked about the extravagant cost of sanitary pads for women. Kwinjeh then turned to the destruction of education by the Mugabe regime. She said student leaders have been brutalised simply for asking the government for affordable tuition rates. As a result of the deterioration of many sectors, the MDC was joining hands with many organisations and the people will fight back. She ended by declaring that if the government attacks the people for demanding their rights, then the leadership will take the lead and “They will kill us first.”

Biti followed with an analysis of the events that led to the grim situation Zimbabwe is in today. He chronicled the internal struggles within ZANU-PF that led to the subversion of the people’s will, the weakening of the ZANU-PF central committee and eventual collapse of the power that the politburo had. Biti said this created the Mugabe dictatorship and it led to the militarization of every governmental institution. But when corruption and greed penetrated these institutions and they began to fail, Biti said it became necessary for the Mugabe regime to then destroy any other institution that was functioning well. So if the judiciary was working well, it had to be destroyed. If agriculture was succeeding it had to be destroyed. Biti said now they were after mining, which was the last institution in Zimbabwe that was still bringing in foreign currency.

Regarding the split that occurred on October 12, 2005, Biti said the national mood was against the creation of a senate. He explained that the MDC’s national executive committee should not have been subjected to a vote on the issue, because according to the party’s constitution, the executive council is an implementing and administrative body that does not have the power to make decisions on policy issues.

Tsvangirai explained the party’s roadmap to freedom which he had also revealed at The House of Commons on Friday. He said the MDC refuses to be a party of violence and as such he urged the international community to stay engaged with Zimbabwe. Tsvangirai would not be drawn into a discussion about the Mutambara MDC faction and their claim to the MDC name and assets. He said there is no need to deal with this issue because the people on the ground know the real MDC and the results in the Budiriro by-election showed this. On the same subject, Grace Kwinjeh had earlier said there were many ZANU-PF ministers in Budiriro offering computers and mealie-meal during the elections. But she said the people had refused to sell their votes and voted against ZANU-PF in Budiriro.

The rally ended with a question and answer session, some photo opportunities and a lot of hand shaking. Tsvangirai urged Zimbabweans in the diaspora to become organised so the party can begin to lobby for better opportunities for them while they are in the UK. And addressing the issue of proposed electronic tags to be worn by failed asylum seekers he said: “Kuiswa chi tag fanika imbwa. That is no life.” This means “to wear a tag like a dog is no way to live.”