Is ZANU-PF's Point Man in the Police Staying or Going?

Harare, Zimbabwe:

During the run-up to Zimbabwe’s 2008 presidential elections, Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change party (MDC-T) and now Prime Minister, was arrested and beaten by police officers. Other critics of the incumbent president Robert Mugabe suffered a similar fate as a partisan police force sent a message loud and clear to Mugabe’s potential challengers.

Now, as Zimbabwe awaits a new set of general elections to be held some time this year or the next, a window of opportunity has presented itself for Zimbabwe to avert history repeating – the Mugabe-supporting Commissioner General of the Zimbabwe Republic of Police, Augustin Chihuri, may be stepping down as his term of office reaches its conclusion.

Staying power

However, the debate over appointing a new police commissioner and whether or not Chihuri will in fact be replaced before the elections has become a sticking point within the coalition government. After all, if Chihuri were to leave office, the ZANU-PF could lose its ability to easily use the police to suppress opponents.

Professor Lovemore Madhuku, chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly and frequent victim of police brutality, told journalists two weeks ago that opposition hopes of Chihuri leaving office might not come to fruition as Mugabe still retains the power to extend Chihuri’s contract. “The reality is that power resides with the president,” he said.

Indeed, last week, presidential spokesperson George Charamba said that Chihuri would most likely leave office in 2014, although Tsvangirai responded by insisting that any decision could not be made unilaterally by Mugabe.

Although there have been conflicting statements on Chihuri’s current status, he continues to work in an acting capacity. And it seems likely that ZANU-PF will do all it can to ensure Chihuri stays in his position, with Mugabe insisting that appointment of senior security chiefs is in his exclusive purview. Since the power-sharing agreement with the MDC, ZANU-PF has similarly refused to retire any of its point men in influential positions.

ZANU-PF, for example, have refused to retire Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, a man former US Ambassador James McGee described as a “ZANU PF poster boy for corruption and financial mismanagement” in a wikileaks cables and who is widely thought to have printed Zimbabwean notes to buy Mutare diamonds.

Military top brass who made it clear that Morgan Tsvangirai would never rule Zimbabwe under their watch have had their terms extended, while Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba, who described Tsvangirai as a security threat, was recently promoted by Mugabe. Similarly, Attorney General Johannes Tomana – who has been accused of engaging in a “criminal abuse of office” by cancelling cases against four individuals (including a ZANU-PF official) – was also reappointed by President Mugabe. Tomana is now threatening to arrest any journalists who claim that Tsvangirai’s consent regarding police commissioner role is required for any decision to be legal.

Partisan policing

If the combination of Tomana and Chihuri remain in their highly influential positions, we can expect the election to take place in a highly politicised and partisan environment as ZANU-PF fights to retain total control of the government.

In the power-sharing government’s three-year history, the police has banned MDC rallies, raided private meetings and charged some participants of those meetings with treason. Former MDC MP for Highfield Munyaradzi Gwisai and 45 other activists, for example, were arrested for allegedly plotting an “Egypt style revolution” in February 2011.

Journalists and civil society activists have also faced jail time. Members of the women’s group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) have frequently been arrested and beaten by police and just yesterday were violently attacked by police when on a peaceful demonstration in Harare. They were marching to the offices of the Joint Operations, Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) in Bulawayo with a petition on police mistreatment and brutality.

“The environment under which we work is not friendly to human rights defenders. Our members continue to be arrested, tortured and persecuted by police officers,” said WOZA in a statement.

Watching the watchmen

With Chihuri clinging on to the police top job there will be continued misrule and selective use of the law to suppress the press, civil society and political opposition.

Warning shots have already been sent to the media, with the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) threatening to confiscate and ban unregistered foreign newspapers. Papers such as The Sunday Times, The Mail and Guardian (both of South Africa) and The Zimbabwean (published in the UK and printed in South Africa) could see a repeat of what happened to The Zimbabwean in 2008 when its trucks were seized and newspapers burnt as they entered the country.

There have already been attempts to arrest allies of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on corruption charges with Chihuri directly involved in some parts of the investigation. In June 2011, these were thrown out of court, but judging from Chihuri’s past history, the case may not be dead and buried just yet.

So far the only clear route that can be taken by the opposition on the Chihuri issue is to take the matter to President Jacob Zuma’s facilitation team and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), although this offers no concrete guarantee of a change of fortunes.

A lot rides on whether Chihuri stays or goes, a fate which remains highly uncertain at this point in time. If Chihuri stays in office, the ZANU-PF will find it easy to continue its suppression of opposition and critics of Mugabe. If he goes, it will be a landmark victory for opposition politicians who may begin to feel increasingly optimistic as they look ahead.

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