From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:ZIMBABWE: NATIONAL UNITY STILL ILLUSIVE
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 22:14:37 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: ZIMBABWE: NATIONAL UNITY STILL ILLUSIVE


an inter press service feature

by gumisai mutume

harare, dec 22 (ips) -- a landmark date passed quietly here
tuesday.

five years ago dec. 22, zimbabwe's two best known
politicians, president robert mugabe and former opposition
leader joshua nkomo shook hands at the signing of a unity
accord.

a sigh of relief swept across this southern african state of
over 10 million people as the two leaders buried the hatchet of
a rivalry which had burned for more than 20 years.

after both had led nationalist guerrillas in a war against
minority white rule in the 1970s, mugabe, who emerged winner of
the 1980 independence elections, invited nkomo into an uneasy
alliance in government.

this soon broke up amid allegations of an attempted putsch by
the nkomo faction, under the zimbabwe african people's union
(zapu). the rivalry deepened in the mid-1980s and threatened to
pit the dominant shona-speaking and ndebele people into
full-scale civil war.

overshadowing the unity seal were the atrocities committed
by the north korea-trained fifth brigade deployed to stamp out
dissident activity in nkomo's stronghold of matebeleland.
thousands of civilians are said to have been killed during the
five-year operation between 1982-87.

''this is the beginning of unity. for unity is not just the
signing of documents. unity is what follows'', said nkomo when
he signed the accord.

today, five years on, political commentators snub the accord
as just a deal between the leadership of two parties.

''the unity accord has led to the merger of the elite in zanu
(zimbabwe african national union) and zapu. nothing else'', says
a political scientist at the university of zimbabwe.

''the only thing to show for the unity accord is that dr
joshua nkomo is happy as one of the country's two vice-
presidents, never mind the oddity of the arrangement'', adds
jonathan moyo.

moyo raps the dec. 22, 1987 accord as ''worse than
blackmail''. (more/ips)


zimbabwe: national (2)

the cockerel, the emblem of mugabe's old zanu faction still
dominates the headquarters here of the united and ruling
party, zanu-patriotic front (zanu pf).

this irks supporters of nkomo's zapu faction who strongly
believe they were swallowed in the merger.

the supporters have called for compensation for the victims
of the fifth brigade, more cabinet posts and the elevation of
nkomo's former supporters in the army, the police and the civil
service.

''in my home area, the 1987 issue is only known as 'nkomo's
unity','' wrote one zimbabwean from matebeleland in a daily
newspaper.

his feelings sums up the consensus in the ndebele home-city
of bulawayo, zimbabwe's manufacturing heart, some 500 km west of
here.

other disgruntled ndebeles cite the inequity in development
between mashonaland and matebeleland.

an 80-year-old proposal to harness the zambezi river to water
the drought-prone matebeleland region has still not gained
governmnent approval. this year bulawayo was on the verge of
evacuation as a result of serious water crisis.

among nkomo's former guerrillas delays to handi back farms
and other property confiscated after the alleged putsch
provides further disillusionment and anger.

but nkomo's righthand person, dumiso dabengwa, who was
released from detention in the run-up to the signing of the
unity accord, does not agree.

''although the government has not absolutely made way for ex-
zapu members to be fully involved in the government, this is
being discussed and may not be pleasing to some who are not
aware of government procedure'', says dabengwa.

now home affairs minister, dabengwa says there are bound to
be disgruntled elements in every situation.

opposition parties have also sought to exploit the unity
accord's shortcomings. veteran nationalist ndabaningi sithole,
co-founder of zanu with mugabe who now leads his own zanu-ndonga
party, terms the unity ''selective reconciliation''.

''reconiciliation cannot be genuine if it does not involve
all the people. it should also include other political parties.
this is a shaky unity'', sithole told ips.

but nathan shamuyarira, zanu-pf's publicity secretary and
and zimbabwe's foreign minister, disagrees. ''the two
organisations are now organically linked in the new party,
zanu-pf. there is complete harmony of interests''.
(end/ips/gm)fc/apc/92)
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