Maravi

Army chief of staff orders soldiers to vote for Mugabe

Army chief of staff orders soldiers to vote for Mugabe
By George Chellah in Harare, Zimbabwe
Monday June 02, 2008 [04:01]

ZIMBABWEAN soldiers have been ordered to vote for President Robert Mugabe in the forthcoming presidential runoff in order to defend the revolution. And the soldiers have been told to either fight and protect ZANU-PF's principles or leave the military. According to the state media, Army chief of staff, Major General Martin Chedondo issued the directive during the Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) Skills at Arms Shooting Championships in Harare.

"The constitution says the country should be protected by voting and in the June 27 presidential runoff pitting our defence chief Comrade Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC we should therefore, stand behind our commander-in-chief," Maj Gen Chedondo said. "Soldiers are not apolitical. Only mercenaries are apolitical. We have signed and agreed to fight and protect the ruling party's principles of defending the revolution. If you have other thoughts, then you should remove that uniform."

Maj Gen Chedondo, who was representing ZNA commander Lieutenant General Phillip Sibanda, said the runoff was an opportunity for Zimbabweans to either protect the country's revolution and heritage or sell-out to the imperialists by voting for Tsvangirai.

He advised those saying the country had crumbled to re-think because its soldiers were sharpening their skills.

Maj Gen Chedondo said the gun was a symbol of protecting the cause of the country's revolution that was fought for by its heroes represented by President Mugabe and the late Joshua Nkomo.

He said the army would be deployed nationwide to help the police maintain peace and stability in places where suspected MDC activists were terrorising people.

And the Carter Centre, Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) has called for national and international election observation in Zimbabwe to monitor the forthcoming runoff.

"The government of Zimbabwe has a democratic commitment to ensure the freedom of movement and association of domestic and international election observers during the upcoming second round of the country's presidential election.

It is also obligated to ensure the overall transparency and integrity of the entire electoral process through commitments outlined in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections (2004) and the African Union Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa (2002)," the EISA stated.

"Yet, since the first round of the presidential election in Zimbabwe on March 29, police have harassed the legitimate, peaceful activities of staff and observers of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), a legally established and widely respected citizen rights group that conducted observation in compliance with the country's electoral laws, code of conduct, and international principles for election observation."

The EISA stated that ZESN members had been arbitrarily detained and interrogated by police and their offices had been searched.

"These actions are a violation of civil and political rights and run counter to the government's responsibility to ensure the freedom of movement and association of election observers throughout the country," the EISA stated. "The declaration of principles for international election observation, endorsed by our organisations at the United Nations in 2005, recognises the right of citizens to monitor their elections through non-partisan organisations like ZESN.

"The declaration underlines that international election observation organisations should advocate for the right of citizens to conduct non-partisan election observation without undue interference or restrictions."

The EISA urged Zimbabwean authorities to observe their international commitments.

"As it prepares for the next round in these crucially important presidential elections, the world looks to Zimbabwe to fulfill its commitment to the universal values and principles of democracy and respect for human rights," stated EISA.

Labels: ELECTIONS, MUGABE

posted by MrK @ 5:24 PM