A recent commentary by Eddie Cross caught Dale Doré’s eye. Among other things, Doré suggested:

The MDC must grasp is that they are powerless and that they have indeed been sucked into the ZANU(PF) morass. And, yes, there is something the MDC can do …… GET OUT!

This in turn caught our eye. Yesterday, we included some of Dale’s comments in our email newsletter, and we invited people to email us back with their thoughts. This has sparked a lively debate. The people who are responding to us disagree strongly with Dale, saying things like:

The GPA is cast in stone! We are tired of talks – and we do not want to backtrack and redo the talks. We will not achieve anything, we cant reinvent the wheel! Why should anyone want the MDC to pull out of the GNU when there are signs of progress written all over the wall? I say to this to these peddlers of venom, eat the humble pie. The GNU is here and is here to stay!

Read more here, and leave us a comment to share your thoughts on this debate.

A recent comment by Veritas raises an important question about the prolonged detention of Jestina Mukoko and dozens of other political detainees.

There has been talk over the past two weeks that political detainees and civil rights activists will only be released as part of a general amnesty being demanded by ZANU-PF and the security force commanders. This would certainly explain the delays that that have dogged efforts to get them freed. The political detainees whose release is the subject of purported amnesty negotiations were picked up while a national unity government was being negotiated. So far the police have not produced enough evidence to bring them to trial. This raises the question whether they were picked up deliberately to be used as hostages in a subsequent amnesty deal. This would entail a lopsided trade of a few seemingly innocent people picked up specially for the purpose against all those involved in perhaps up to 30 years of State organised or condoned violence.

There needs to be public debate on the subject of a general amnesty and civil society could take the lead in facilitating this process and in making sure it includes victims of State violence and their families. It is hoped that politicians will listen to these voices before making any deals. A general amnesty would not only affect the present detainees, but all people and the families who have been subjected to political violence – murders, torture, beatings, rape, property destroyed, forced evictions, etc. In addition to those who are recorded, there are estimated to be many hundreds over the last thirty years who have never been accounted for and there, are the dead who have never been identified and buried. Read more

Other recent documents that are worth reading on the question of transitional justice include Transitional justice in Zimbabwe: A pilot survey of the views of activists and victims by the Research and Advocacy Unit, and Pondai Bamu’s comment in Pambazuka this week: Transitional justice without transition in Zimbabwe?

Meanwhile, we’ve had a few more replies to our question about Roy Bennett:

• Roy Bennet should put pressure to have others released. – EM
• Roy should put pressure and refuse to be released! I really advocate that  he better refuse because if he accepts its like a father who runs away from a hungry lion leaving behind his weak, defenseless son to be feasted instead of fighting the lion together. Remember that even the bible says two are better than one. – HC
• I think Roy must stick to his guns. For he will never enjoy freedom with the others still detained, if he has a conscience. – CM

After 12 days in detention, Deputy Minister of Agriculture designate Roy Bennett was granted bail on Tuesday. But he remains in custody as lawyers for the state are appealing his bail order. We just asked our SMS subscribers whether Bennett should put pressure on the state by refusing to be released while Jestina Mukoko and others languish in jail. We’ve had two replies so far, with two opposing points of view:

• roy shld if the wil pwr is there stay in fo others, this is a difficult decision but worth giving a try
• why do u want to use him as a bargaining chip?

Apparently Bennett previously refused to be released in exchange for blanket amnesty for human rights abuses since 2000. Principled position, or bargaining chip? If you were Bennett, could you resist the promise of freedom in solidarity with others in the struggle? info [at] kubatana [dot] org [dot] zw or +263 912 452201.

Like Leonard Matsa, I have my misgivings about this deal and its new government. One of the challenges will be how to measure the success or failure of a government where so much decision making may be based on mistrust and rivalry.

For example, last week Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai started asking for donor support to rebuild Zimbabwe. He estimates it may take USD 5 billion. On Monday, donors pledged USD 100 million / month for 6 months – largely to pay civil servants and to rebuild Zimbabwe’s sewage system.  On Tuesday, this story the same donor called this story as a fabrication.

So USD 600 million may or may not be pouring into Zimbabwe any time soon. But either way, this possibility alone raised several questions for me and my colleague when we were talking about accountability yesterday, such as:

1. What about the other USD 4.4 billion? Where will that come from?
2. If it doesn’t come, how do we judge the performance of ministries?
3. If a ministry is in part responsible for its own fundraising, will those whose Ministers are members of Zanu PF be penalised by some donors? If so, who is to blame if that Ministry performs poorly?
4. Into what accounts would that USD 600 million go? How would these accounts be monitored, and that spending tracked?
5. Will the new Finance Minister submit a new 2009 Budget to Parliament?
6. If a Minister fundraises for her own Ministry, is this money added to that Ministry’s budget allocation, or will the money budgeted to that Ministry instead be diverted to ministries that didn’t fund raise for themselves?

In Zimbabwe, we’ve become very used to a polarised analysis of “regime” and “opposition,” in which the two separate entities can be analysed and judged. Now that the two are working together, the task of monitoring government, and measuring its successes and failures in delivering on its promises to us is no less important – and even more challenging.

When we told our SMS subscribers that the MDC had agreed to join the inclusive government, the response was largely relief. People sent us messages saying things like “Thank God,” “at last,” and “This is a good move.”

But three weeks into the new government, the cracks are beginning to show. The arrest and ongoing detention of Roy Bennett, Deputy Minister of Agriculture designate, is particularly worrying for many of our subscribers. Here are some of their responses to the news of his arrest:

As head of government Tsvangirai should enlighten us on the circumstances leading to Bennett’s arrest. Has he been criminal or an enemy of government? Why include him in cabinet when he has arrest warrant? Moreover I think there was a clause telling us to forget the past and open a new chapter in their speeches. If we need to prosecute for past crimes then the whole Zanu PF hierarchy should be arrested.

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Bottom line. Bob has to go. Sorry

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This is totally unacceptable. Let us walk out of this farce.

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What charges are they arresting Bennett? Otherwise this inclusive government is a bluff. Tsvangirai might have been corrupted and sold out. The much needed rescue package is gonna not materialise. So the set up is a failure. We still at zero. If there is no selling on Tsvangirai ‘s part let him be the first protestant so that we have direction otherwise we need to further study the set up before we conclude anything.

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Zanu is undermining the very fragile Political Agreement by arresting a Dep. Minister nominee. They always want to complicate situations. They should release him.

An SW Radio Africa headline caught my eye the other day: MDC say they will not be held ‘prisoner’ in unity deal.

The Tsvangirai MDC has moved to reassure sceptical supporters that it will not be held ‘prisoner’ in a government of national unity with ZANU PF. Speaking to Newsreel on Monday, party spokesman Nelson Chamisa said if for any reason the deal failed to work they would have no hesitation in walking out.

Well. The MDC may not be held prisoner. But Zimbabwe Peace Project Director Jestina Mukoko certainly is. She was abducted over two months ago, on 3 December 2008. She was missing for three weeks, with the police claiming not to know where she was. She was found 23 December – in police custody! Since then, she has been accused of “banditry,” and has had a series of court appearances, none of which seem to be getting her any closer to freedom.

Today, High Court Justice Alphas Chitakunye rejected her latest application for bail, saying that he couldn’t grant bail because Jestina “had yet to be advised by a court on her charges.”

So this woman, who was arrested after the Global Political Agreement was signed now won’t be released, after the inclusive government has been finalised? You’ve had this woman, and her six co-accused, for two months and you haven’t even charged them yet?

Surely the issue of these detainees is a litmus test for this new government. Write to MDC-M and MDC-T and remind them that whilst pro-democracy activists remain detained and disappeared, none of us are free, and that the spirit of the inclusive government is flawed. And if you hear back from them, let us know what they say!