Zimbabwe's Odd Man Out

...TROUBLE IN MATABELELAND Zimbabwe's Odd Man Out BY NORMAN GELB London Kenneth Kaunda is highly regarded here, his views are generally received with interest and respect Yet the Zambian President's recent visit to this capital cannot be considered much of a success It was marred by the widely publicized, embarrassing presence in Britain of Joshua Nkomo, also a veteran of the African liberation struggle, who had only a short while earlier fled (for his life, he believes) from his Zimbabwe homeland During his stay, Kaunda told the British that apartheid is inexorably leading South Africa to an explosion of violence Far more attention was paid, however, to the fact that for diplomatic reasons he was conspicuously avoiding a London meeting with Nkomo, his old friend whom he had given sanctuary in the days before Zimbabwe was freed from white minority rule Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia) and Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia) enjoy very close relations, as befits neighbors who have to an extent shared the decolonization process Kaunda could not risk a display of camaraderie with a man who just had his passport confiscated by Harare (Salisbury), and who was branded as a villain by Prime Minister Robert Mugabe The much acclaimed 1979 agreement reached at Lancaster House in London now seems light years away That British-engineered accord ended the "war of liberation" in white-ruled Rhodesia and laid the groundwork for the birth of Zimbabwe The country was to be guided toward a peaceful future by the two political groupings that had grown into dynamic organizations during the guerrilla struggle As leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union (zanu), the party that the majority Shona-speaking people identify with, Mugabe was expected to head the government—and he was soon elected Prime Minister As leader of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (zapu), the party mostly of the Ndebele minority, Nkomo was to play a key role in the former British colony, as well From the very beginning, though, the possibility of a harmonious dawn for Zimbabwe was remote For even during the battle for independence, rivalry between zanu and zapu was so pronounced that it occasionally reached the point of armed clashes between their respective military wings The white settlers must take part of the responsibility for these troubles They rejected British Prime Minister Harold Wilson's efforts in the mid-1960s to initiate a policy of "one man-one vote," in the former colony Had they not done so, the gradual emergence of a national identity might have precluded the sharpening of antagonisms between the zanu and zapu leaders who, after years of hard fighting, Norman Gelb, the NL's London correspondent, is author of The British, recently published by Everest House suddenly found control of the country up for grabs at the end of 1979 By that time both their armed units were experienced, well supplied, bubbling with combative spirit, and reluctant to accept the compromises necessary in the transition to peace At war's end, the new government invited the British to supervise the merger of the two guerrilla forces (and remnants of the old Rhodesian troops) into the newly established Zimbabwe Army Unfortunately, their success, at first impressive, quickly proved fragile Tribal divisions, intensified by the angry passions of the war, revived with a vengeance Ndebele "dissidents," feeling strongly that the Shona majority was denying them a rightful role in the government and the Army, returned to guerrilla activities in Matabeleland (in the western part of the country) The Mugabe government became convinced that elements of the zapu leadership were supporting these dissidents and actually storing weapons for a concerted insurrection, perhaps for an effort to secede Some such stores were reported uncovered Mugabe then ordered units of the Zimbabwe Army to counter the perceived threat When some Ndebele among the troops thereupon deserted, the Army's notorious North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade, composed almost exclusively of Shona recruits, was sent to do the job This was no way to soothe Ndebele and zapu feelings of exclusion from the government, nor was it meant to Stones began to emerge of ruthless search and destroy operations Hundreds of innocent Ndebele civilians were murdered, it was said, relief supplies for drought affected areas were being cruelly withheld, and troops had put homes and villages to the torch It is widely thought that South Africa has been actively encouraging the Ndebele dissidents, supplying them with weapons and perhaps training The London Times reports at least one "reliable sighting" of a white man with a radio accompanying an Ndebele patrol Oliver Tambo, president of the African National Congress has suggested (in The New Leader, January 24, 1983), that Pretoria is trying to destabilize Zimbabwe because it does not want a nonracial state to succeed on its northern border Still, it would be a mistake to assume that without South Africa's encouragement of the turmoil the situation would today be different From the outset of the liberation campaign Mugabe showed signs of believing that shared leadership would make it impossible to build a modern nation in Zimbabwe He may well have decided that the discontent being exhibited by some of zapu's adherents provided an airtight pretext for establishing a one-party state Ironically, he may also have been moved to act now because of the precarious position of many whites who were the strongest resisters to black rule in Rhodesia White farmers in Matabeleland have been the prime targets of the zapu insurgents Several whites have been killed and others, terrified, have (with Mugabe's blessings) armed themselves to fight off attacks They have tended to applaud the seventies of the Fifth Brigade in crushing the dissidents, and have been careful not to criticize the impact those measures have had on innocent Ndebeles Mugabe entertains no great fondness for the people who opposed black rule Nevertheless, he realizes that at this stage Zimbabwe needs the skills of the whites—long-established merchants and technicians in the cities and farmers in the countryside Like Lenin, with his New Economic Pokey (NEP) in 1921, Mugabe is prepared to at least temporarily cater to a class he considers unduly privileged He does not intend to let a relatively small number of disgruntled ex-guerrillas send valuable citizens fleeing to South Africa, where they would be warmly welcomed (and where, despite Kaunda's dire London warning, there would be no immediate danger to them) Mugabe has told zapu that it must fall into line (not become an opposition party) or move off the stage altogether To be sure, there are dangers for Zimbabwe's Prime Minister if he ends the pretense of a multiparty state that currently exists and formally establishes a one-party system The bid to govern Matabeleland by decree and terror, and the threat to abolish zapu altogether, has sharply heightened tribal bitterness and could lead to open civil war In addition, the undisguised imposition of a dictatorship might have a depressing effect on the Western aid Mugabe receives Finally, although his Marxist ideology has so far not scared off those who wish to invest in Zimbabwe's vast natural resources, this could change if they got the impression that he is about to transform his political philosophy into programs Nonetheless, the next stage of Zimbabwe's revolution may be upon us Should that prove to be the case, Joshua Nkomo, despite his past prominence in that revolution, will probably find himself compelled to watch from afar It would be a pity if there is no longer room in Zimbabwe tor a man who did so much to close the book on minority rule It is already sad that after a decade in detention plus years of exile while fighting for black liberation, Nkomo is deemed an embarrassment by Black Africa—and that he had to sneak out of Zimbabwe like a thief and escape to London by was of South Africa...