RR8046A ZIMBABWE TRIBALISM AND THE TEKERE TRIAL

the man at the center of an affair that has shaken the new state of Zimbabwe he is Edgar to carry him in a surfer man power and planning a number three man in the ruling Zanu PF party of Prime Minister Robert Mugabe mr. to carry together with seven of his bodyguards was accused of murdering an elderly white farmer during a guerilla style operation the trial has focused attention under some major problems facing Zimbabwe which became formally independent from Britain in April the process continues of whites passing on Authority and responsibility to blacks yet here the presiding judge like most of the council is white members of the former guerrilla armies which led the independence struggle have been involved since independence in a number of incidents of violence and lawlessness and mr. dakari the former guerrilla commander has now faced such charges himself and there was the problem of tribalism mr. taqueria Shona has claimed in court that he believes the under Bailey dominated Zipporah forces were planning to kill him mr. to carries presence in the dark was surprising not only because he is a government minister but also because he has been one of Prime Minister mu Garvey's closest friends they spent nine years together in Salisbury central prison until they're released in 1975 while awaiting trial mr. to carry was allowed bail but there was no question of him being given any other preferential treatment meanwhile he was treating news reporters with unaccustomed caution when when it's time to give you a statement or anything we shall be consulting with the police and giving that to you properly please so the police made any attempt to arrest you during a recess the court officials and the defendants made a special trip to Stanford farm Southwest Salisbury in order to reconstruct the events of August the 4th mr. takari had helped to dispel some uncertainty in the minds of his followers who include radical students and formers and lagar illis by admitting that most of the basic facts of the prosecution case were true he and seven bodyguards had carried out an armed attack on that day in August advancing from their own buildings nearby against members of the regular army guarding installations it has been alleged they fired about 300 rounds from their Soviet made a.k automatics during the military-style assault mr. to carry insisted on wearing a military uniform on the farm visit and one of the defense's main contentions was that the attack was in fact of military operation aimed at suppressing terrorism and I witness Ralph Chadwick gave his version of what happened well there was little army base camp with four or six African soldiers on arm looking after the place this was obviously the target and they went for them and then at the same time they thought the takeout that the European homestead at the same time so you think the attack was directed against security force personnel who were actually based at the farm oh definitely the no question about it they were unarmed they were a soft target and why the victim went further and attacked mr. Adams we don't know mr. takari openly accepted responsibility for the attack but denied firing the shots that killed the 68 year old farmer Gerald Adams the defense claimed immunity for the defendants under an act introduced by the old Smith regime which protects government ministers from prosecution if they are acting in good faith to suppress terrorism another defense plan submitted to the court was that mr. two carries men had been fired out the previous noises by a soldier who proclaimed his allegiance to Zipporah mr. and comers guerrilla groups mr. Carey like Mr Mugabe a Shona speaker said his life had been threatened by zebra and he believed the shooting had been a part of a planned attack against him that was why he had led his men out the next day the trial eluded several times to the tribalism which some whites have warned could plunge Zimbabwe into another civil war the government leaders especially Robert Mugabe never cease to renew the call for reconciliation in short comrade German reconciliation can be summarized in this way accept us and we shall accept you it is acceptance for acceptance it cannot be a one-sided affair reconciliation is thus a reciprocal exercise accept us as the peoples rulers and we shall accept you provided your obedient as the subject of the subjects of the people all right I hope comrade chairman I have done justice to the topic on which you desired me to address your mr. Mugabe is call for reconciliation and acceptance of the new black government applies not only to the minority whites of Zimbabwe it's also addressed to the Eaton kurma supporters in the matter fini region in a spirit of reconciliation Mugabe appointed four members of new comers Patriotic Front party to his cabinet including in Como himself as Minister for Home Affairs for his part mr. kuhmo has loyally honored the bargain though he dearly wanted to win the independence elections himself he's repeatedly back miyabi's call for an end to inter tribe hostility we have people beating up people why must people beat each other why must people beat the next person why you must you kiss people to age this is no time to people do it to teach people to hate each other this is the time to teach people to respect each other to accept each other not to hate nothing too raw nor did you kill it is because we don't understand nobody must go about running around with grenades and with aks at this time to try and persuade people by means of that if you go about the running around with a case to persuade people because we have no support if you will have support you don't do things like that the Mugabe and Como rivalry dated back to a split in the nationalist movement in the early 1960s based partly on ideological and partly on tribal divisions but the two leaders officially buried their differences after the independence elections in August the principle of Xan Lazaro unity was symbolized by a solemn ceremony in honor of two dead guerrilla leaders one from each guerrilla group both Mugabe and kammo had lost close friends one of them comas deputies Jason Moya was killed at one of tsipras bases in Zambia and the overall commander of Mr Mugabe sanli forces Josiah Tonga Gaara died in a road accident in Mozambique late in 1979 he was recognized as a key figure in military and political affairs and had been expected to play a leading part on the Rhodesian ceasefire commission in the pre-independence period Tonga gara was also respected by Zipporah commanders and he was the leading proponent of complete Patriotic Front unity he insisted the war had not been about personalities or parties but only about basic principles of freedom and justice even in death Tonga gara symbolized more than anyone the hopes for a united Zimbabwe like to know that unity would also been here to integrate these formerly divided guerillas into the new Zimbabwe National Army or not President Michelle of Mozambique watched this training during his recent official visit details of which were pushed out of the headlines while the announcement of de Kerry's arrest the official policy is to absorb as many former gorillas as possible into the regular army some 35,000 men gathered at the assembly points in the run-up to independence and the frustrations of camp life led to serious outbreaks of fighting and lawlessness a difficult transition from guerrilla activity to the discipline of an organized army bobby fischer's say a new joint san lazaro battalion is being formed every two weeks this means that by the end of 1980 about 10,000 former guerrillas would have been integrated into the regular forces in recent weeks thousands of former guerrillas have been arriving by the truckload of the Salisbury Township of CEQA come from assembly points around the country these are the premier loyal to incur MO and like nearly all the former fighters in camps they still carry their arms but have an attempt to have all weapons surrender to a central Arsenal but with little success you there are powerful factions within both former guerrilla armies which filled of the changeover to majority rule has not brought with it all of the things they fought for Zipporah and the Patriotic Front politicians are not completely satisfied with having core cabinet posts and mr. kemeras Home Affairs Minister they have been further incensed by speeches and media statements by hardline xarna officials who carry out a continuing war of words against mr. and KOMO and his followers a campaign which must be seen in part against the background of local elections to you before the end of the year the guerillas have now been moved into barracks near the main towns where they can live in comparative comfort and eventually be integrated into the Regular Army and to work on rural projects or even back into civilian life but their rivalry has continued mr. tan coma made a personal visit to the SEC a barracks where five thousands of pro men are stationed meant the celebrations he warned of the dangers that lie ahead if the two former guerrilla armies failed to integrate I've been brought to this edited at list to have some shelter which you have bloody marys four-year newcomer I've been insane unfortunately you come in zip Lara and Islamorada and there are this important series contending for the science means I dreaded a tragic example of the rival armies failure to unite erupted on November the 9th into the worst factional violence since independence the place the entering been a Township outside Bulawayo in the heart of the matter Billy region in cinder Bailey Bulawayo means place of slaughter police and regular troops sealed off the area to contain the exchange of fire between Zipporah and Xan lay units garrisoned in adjacent camps well they must not cross the road the Czech people must come down here if they don't do them then they're going to have a confrontation this our orders on nobody is to cross the road officials from both sides did their best to mediate but the fighting went on for 36 hours it had started following a rally by zanu-pf in Bulawayo which was seen as a provocation by the local Zipporah supporters shouting and scuffles eventually led to exchanges of mortar machine gun and small arms fire many of the casualties were civilians caught in crossfire while others appear to be the victims of political assaults the death toll timed to over 50 with 10 times as many injured in spite of high-level calls for unity there are officials and even ministers who clearly are ready to continue the San lázaro struggle if they cannot be restrained the chances of persuading the former guerrillas to lay down their arms are slim indeed

Channel: AP Archive

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Keywords: AP Archive, w010321, 8375f0a20adb6d43bf75c794b875f95d, 14.11.80, 8046A, ADAMS, MR*, ARMY, BLACKS, BUILDINGS, BULAWAYO, CAMPS, COURTS, EYEWITNESSES, FARMS, FUNERALS, GUERRILLAS, HOSPITALS, HOUSES, INTERVIEWS, MOYO, MUGABE, ROBERT, MURDER, NKOMO, JOSHUA, POLITICAL, PRESS, ROVING REPORT, STUDENTS, TEKERE, EDGAR, TONGOGARA, TRAINING, TRIALS, WOUNDED, ZIMBABWE, ZIPRA, ROVING REPORT ZIMBABWE, Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe, Southern Africa

Id: J_CQBfCOIcE

Length: 15min 32sec (932 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 21 2015