Zimbabwe Independence Day – What Independence, Whose Independence?

IN my previous post on this section, I mentioned that some Zimbabweans were excited about a possible new president and a new speech on Independence Day, April 18.
It would seem as if the people were doomed to think like that. It would seem as if I was also doomed to even entertain such thoughts.
April 18, Zimbabwe’s Independence Day is upon us and God knows what will happen on that day.
We hoped March 29, the election day, would solve that puzzle for us but Robert Mugabe (I do not know whether I should still prefix his name with the word President) thinks otherwise.
The Movement for Democratic Change (aint sure either if I should still prefix their name with the word “opposition”) has since announced its president Morgan Tsvangirai won the presidential race and should be endorsed as the legitimate president of Zimbabwe. The opposition also won majority seats in parliament that most people here now talk of the ruling party MDC and the opposition Zanu (Pf) the latter being Mugabe’s party which is clinging to power despite confirmed defeat.
As for Mugabe, it seems as if he is far from surrendering. So far,about seven polling officers have been arrested on allegations of robbing him of some votes and inflating Tsvangirai’s. Elections administrator, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has been ordered to recount the votes and Zanu (Pf) continues to talk about an impending run-off between Mugabe and Tsvangirai. What baffles most people here is that the result for the first round is not yet known although people believe Mugabe lost the election and hopes to win in the second round. But if the next round is held in a transparent manner, Mugabe is likely to be more humiliated because even those who had shunned the box on the first round are determined to help vote him out.
But the question now is who will preside over the Independence celebrations? Since 1980, Mugabe has led the nation in these celebrations although last year there were two separate gatherings to mark this day, one presided over by Mugabe and another by labour body Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) which was protesting against the attrocious Mugabe regime. People are already pinning their hopes on April 18 to see what twist the country’s troubled life takes.
So far, ZCTU has called for an indefinite national strike starting today and the armed forces, including soldiers and the police are out terrorising people. The judiciary has rejected MDC’s application for an announcement of results for the first round of the presidential race and ZCTU says a nationwide strike could help bring the results, and most people hoped that will happen before April 18 although it is now clear that this is just one of those many unfortunate dreams of this troubled nation.
In fact, most people think April 18 has since lost its significance. They feel it is unworth celebrating, with others saying they would rather celebrate independence from the Mugabe regime than from Britain as Mugabe’s excesses have since overshadowed most of the events in the pre-1980 period when Zimbabwe was a British colony.