“Zimbabwe unity cabinet talks fail,” read a headline on the BBC website Sunday morning. “Both sides said they would meet early next week to resume negotiations” added the BBC.
Which is which? Delayed, postponed or failed?
This is the same BBC which reported that peace talks take a long time to negotiate when successive British governments were involved in the Irish Peace Process.
In Ireland, the historic enemies of republicanism and unionism finally agreed to share power just a few weeks before the end of Tony Blair’s prime ministerial term after years of acrimony. Never did we hear, or read from the BBC that “talks were deadlocked”. There was an oft repeated term: “The Irish Peace Process”.
Why is the “Zimbabwean Peace Process” expected to score successes overnight?
The same BBC wrote in May 2007: “It would be foolish to allow the automatic scepticism of our age blind us to the possibility that Tony Blair saw that there was good to be done in Ireland and committed himself to doing it.”
Is that the same “automatic scepticism” that guides the BBC’s reaction to the “peace process” in Zimbabwe?
Unity talks between opposing groups that are diametrically opposed cannot be viewed as an “event”, but a “process” and contentious processes take time to be resolved. If this logic is applicable to the Irish problem, why is it not applicable to the Zimbabwean problem?
Surely Tony Blair’s role in resolving a conflict that stretches back to the early Plantagenets should be comparable to former South African President Thabo Mbeki’s role in resolving a crisis that started from the Pioneer Column of 1896, or from the Berlin “Africa partition” Conference of 1884, or from the Transatlantic Slave Trade of the 16th to the 19th Century.
A friend from Ireland I spoke to recently expressed shock at the BBC’s reporting of the Zimbabwean unity talks.
He said: “I cannot understand the media negativity that surrounds the all party talks in Zimbabwe. My own party, Sinn Féin, has been involved in crisis talks for as long as I can remember. I don’t know how many impasses we had before the final agreement, but the media was very optimistic a deal would be struck eventually.”
He continued: “Sinn Féin's peace strategy evolved over a period of ten years. It began with the key documents, Scenario for Peace (1987) and Towards a Lasting peace in Ireland (1992). Since that time there have been many political engagements and negotiations involving the Irish and British governments and the political parties in the north of Ireland. If any of these events had been called ‘deadlocks’, I don’t think we would have scored the successes we scored ultimately.”
How many 'deadlocks' in the all-party talks in Zimbabwe have now been reported by the media, yet the process still continues?
There are many parties that wish the Zimbabwean unity process to falter. The Zimbabwean problem has never been about parties not being able to work together. The National Land Question has never been adequately addressed and the acrimony between the MDC and Zanu PF was necessitated by outside forces.
Those outside forces who opposed Zanu PF for the last ten or so years are likely to remain opposed to the new arrangement. This is because their agenda has been about the removal of Mugabe and Zanu PF and not necessarily the achievement of peace and development in Zimbabwe, for the Zimbabweans.
Whatever the final makeup of the unity government now being formed between Zanu PF and the two MDCs, it is certain to fall short of demands by Britain and the United States.
Although the U.S. and Britain, the media in these countries and other interest groups threaten to undermine the unity government through isolation and sanctions, this power-sharing arrangement is the best chance for Zimbabwe to move towards peace and stability and to regain its original glory.
No matter how much negativity the process meets from the BBC or any other western media, the process is still very much Zimbabwean and African. It is still very much a triumph of African diplomacy, whether the rich countries and their accompanying media, support it or not. The same cannot be said about the Grand Coalition in Kenya, which as events in the last few weeks have shown is beginning to show serious cracks because of its inadequacy and how divorced it is from reality on the ground.
Maybe the BBC should revisit some of its prior glossy reports on Kenya, rather than pessimistically focus on a Zimbabwean process that is looking very optimistic.
The international community has the responsibility to allow, at least temporarily, the unity government access to funds that will give it a chance to show the world it can function. And the unity government must convince the international community that it is more than just a vehicle for Zimbabwean recovery and the preservation of Zanu PF or MDC. It must show that it can be a means to achieve a comprehensive peace and development through diplomacy.
Omugabe • Dziva@sanandresano.com Subject: Look Inward & Look East for Self-development, Zim Patriots! Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:48:17 • Who in their right mind expects that their HISTORICAL ENEMIES are going to 'give them a chance'? lol
Your enemies are EXPECTED to give you hell!
Europeans have been sworn racist enemies of Africans for centuries.
Therefore, what is to be expected; and what should be militated against is the ANTICIPATED enmity that will arise from the wicked West!
Mhofeti • pasizw@yahoo.co.uk Subject: Zimbabwe vs Mugabe Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:26:16 • Melusi, are you for real or you just want to while up time? How do you mean giving Zimbabwe a chance is like giving Mugabe a chance? A chance for what? Please don't say something that you don't mean on such important matters. Don't forget that Zimbabwe was put under sanctions BUT the ones responsible for them were telling the world that it's just a travel ban on Mugabe and his Zanu PF cronies. Maybe you swallowed that hook, line and sinker?
mavhiyangwena • n/a Subject: media report Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:09:20 • Mr Editor
Mr Editor You arrived just in time. The media will remain so negative about Africa and other developing countries.
In Western countries the media sees no evil, hears no evil. When they look to Africa esp Zim. My Yea Gods. With all the chaos in Sudan, Iraq, Pakstan,etc its Zim alaways..Why? Agenda =Mugabe must go. Lets open our eyes Ma Africa.Zvikuru isu maZimba
melusi • melunkomo@yahoo.com Subject: n/a Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:31:53 • 'Give Zimbabwe a chance'...Mr Editor its like saying give Mugabe a chance..We all know what has happened the last 28 years of independance...Mugabe is still wanting a chance to establish his legacy LOL..The MDC and the masses at large would be naive to think that Mugabe wants to best for the nation...This is a man with the agenda of saving his skin...But he shall die a miserable man with blood of thousands of Matebelez and MDC activists on his hands...Mugabe made his bed, so let him lie on it!!
Zeina • ziena@yahoo.co.uk Subject: Media has destroyed Africa.. Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:46:47 • This is the kind of news that should be headlines in all the press in the world...Media has exacerbated the image and position of Africa!
while people can still not see the negative part the media plays in the world,this Zimbabwe situation could be one example of the effects of media.
ZanuPf and MDC were once considered as parrarel parties,worst enemies of the century. Agreeing to negotiate a power sharing government is has proven African diplomacy.
How do you define Africa? a poverty stricken continent,high levels of unemployment,starvation,economic instability,civil war..!
the international media should give Zimbabwe a chance..a quick decision on the power sharing deal won't guarantee success..let them take time to straighten things out and flatten all the disagreements between them.
yes,we all want the sanctions to be lifted but we don't want the birth of civil war as a result of a premature decision.
l as a Zimbabwean say the international media should BACK OFF!u have done enough.
kayceedunn • n/a Subject: media Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:33:25 • good one mr editor,journalism with out partiality.unity is strength for sure ,let no-one ever break zimba remabwe.
SUBMITYOUROPINION
Please make sure you fill in all sections for your post to be submitted. Use n/a if not submitting details. The submission code below is case-sensitive. Also make sure you get confirmation that your comment has been submitted.
