For most people, holding a one on one meeting with Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe is not only risky but also pointless.
The 84-year-old who has led Zimbabwe for the last 28 years is not only stubborn but also notoriously wicked. Famously, negotiating with Mugabe simply never yields results.
South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki has been shuttling between Pretoria and Harare for the last three and half years and still has nothing to show for it. Yet the Zimbabwe opposition leader says there is no other option but to continue to engage Mugabe. A meeting with Mugabe is what he will do, “if that is what it will take to save Zimbabwe.”
“Mugabe is my countryman. If I have to meet him I have no other choice but to sit down with him and talk out our differences,” says Morgan Tsvangirai.
For the past week Tsvangirai has been hopping all over Southern Africa trying to convince regional leaders that this time around Mugabe “has gone too far.”
He has spent almost a week in South Africa meeting the various pieces that hold power in that country and trying to win their support.
This morning, together with a small team of newsmen from the South African broadcaster, SABC, we meet him in one of the houses in the leafy suburbs of Gaborone Central. It’s clear from the arrangement that Botswana government takes Tsvangirai’s security as an issue of serious concern.
We are marshaled in by an efficient and well dressed team of security personnel from the Intelligence and security Services who are supported by protocol officers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
After some formalities which included searching the heavy bags and cameras of the television and radio crews, we are shown behind the house to make ourselves comfortable before Morgan Tsvangirai arrives.
He quickly moves in. He is dressed in a pin striped suit and looking more or less like a State President he says he is.
After short greetings in Shona and English he gently nudges the team of reporters to start posing any question they may have on Zimbabwe.
For the last two weeks he has had to answer so many questions from the international journalists that he now seems to have answers to every question on his finger tips.
What is really going on in Zimbabwe?
“The situation in Zimbabwe is very dire. No one knows what will happen next,” is the direct answer he gives to the first question.
For the first time, Tsvangirai concedes that he fears for his life and will not be returning back home until he is sure Mugabe’s forces will not make any attempts on his life.
This is altogether surprising, given that those who have worked with him from his days as a trade unionist says he is so brave that the last thing that ever crosses his mind is that he could be hurt let alone get killed. He says he will only be going back to Zimbabwe, where he says he won the elections after making an “assessment of the security situation there.”
He says he is worried that people’s patience has been stretched too far.
“We do not want violence. But I am worried that people have waited for far too long.”
“The military in Zimbabwe has a roll out plan to intimidate people and as a leader of the opposition naturally I would be a prime target for them,” he says as a matter of fact.
To drive home the fact that the military roll out plan cannot be dismissed as a routine exercise, he says that initially his party, the Movement for Democratic Change, mistook the military presence on the streets as a preparation for the possible election run off.
“But we have since come to the conclusion that it is something much more than that.”
He does not rule out a military coup.
“Circumstances in Zimbabwe have assumed a totally new paradigm. The situation has not been helped by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission which has totally undermined public confidence on the electoral process,” he says seriously.
Zimbabwe went to the polls almost two weeks ago and still no news has come forward of who among the three presidential contenders has won the polls.
To make matters worse, even before the results are known Mugabe is calling for a recount, accusing MDC of forgery.
He says he is particularly disturbed by calls from the ruling party for a recount and a re-run.
“The elections have been won by MDC. Because there is a distinctive winner there is absolutely no reason for a run-off,” he emphasises.
“The 50 % that people like to talk about is not sacrosanct. It only applies when there is not distinctive winner. In this case the MDC is a distinctive winner.”
Another thing that clearly rattles him is that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has since moved into a secret place from whence it is secretly trickling information exclusively to the ruling ZANU-PF.
Naturally this raises fresh doubts not only about the independence of ZEC, but also about verification of the results.
“ZANU is reaching conclusions based inside information which the other contenders do not have access to.”
But has the regional leaders been heeding his call?
“I met President Khama and he feels very strongly about this issue. His view is that the election results should be released and the will of the people of Zimbabwe has to be respected.”
For the first time Tsvangirai says he would be too happy to meet Robert Mugabe to reassure him that when MDC takes over power there will be no time for retribution.
“We will be too busy reconstructing the country to think about retribution. Mugabe should concede and allow the country to move on.”
But are you sure Mr. Tsvangirai that you would want to meet Robert Mugabe who has inflicted you so much pain and suffering?
“Why not? I have no choice. He is my countryman. I have to meet and confer with him on matters of national interest.”
With regard to the meeting to be held in Zambia, he says the leaders have to make it clear to Mugabe that the days of quiet diplomacy are over.
“Circumstances have moved on. What we need now is a robust action against Mugabe. I expect the regional leaders to tell him to his face that he has become an embarrassment and has put the region’s name into disrepute.”
