Memorandum of Understanding?
Zimbabwean dictator, Robert Mugabe, and opposition leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday, 21 July. Pictures were posted in the government run newspaper of Mugabe and Tsvangirai shaking hands after signing this ‘historic’ agreement. Both parties, Zanu PF and MDC, have agreed to talk through possible power-sharing solutions, and will focus on reducing violence, easing political tension, and solving the hyperinflationary economy.
Yet in the days following the agreement, ’shock and suspicion’ has permeated the streets of Harare according to the UK Times. Was this truly a memorandum of understanding or a ploy of trickery? All over Zimbabwe, citizens have looked on in wonder, skeptical of Mugabe’s willingness to enter into talks with the opposition. Reports of a national unity government have raised fears that the past will repeat itself.
In the late 1980s, Joseph Nkomo’s Zapu party was assimilated into Zanu PF after a Mugabe-backed pogrom left 20,000 civilians dead. The violence targeted the Ndebele people of western Zimbabwe, most of whom were supporters of their leader Nkomo and his Zapu party. Tsvangirai cannot allow this to happen to his MDC if there is to be a positive change in the current crisis.
Yet despite the past, there is always hope in the future. Perhaps the memorandum is the first stepping stone in the right direction. Ideally, the talks following the memorandum will constitute a transitory government that will oversee new democratic elections. As long as these elections are free and fair, Zanu PF will be ousted and hope will rise for Zimbabwe.
