Zimbabwe

Ian Paisley Excerpts

Wednesday 27th April 2011 Westminster Hall

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

May I begin by thanking you, Mr Robertson, for calling me in the debate and giving me the opportunity to serve under your chairmanship? May I also congratulate and thank the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey) for securing this debate on Zimbabwe, a part of the world with which I have had a long association since I was 19? I lived in southern Africa for several months in 1979, and I was there when, following the Lusaka Commonwealth conference, this country’s Conservative Government announced the setting up of the Lancaster House conference. In 1994, I spent nearly a month in neighbouring Malawi with my hon. Friend the Member for Ribble Valley (Mr Evans) observing the campaign that saw Hastings Banda lose the first presidential election he had ever contested. That experience taught me that fighting elections in Africa is very different from fighting elections in the United Kingdom, because the roles of the chief and the village leaders, as well as access to balanced radio, are vital if the Opposition are to triumph.

Having spent 13 years as a Conservative party agent in south London, I found the trip with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to strengthen parliamentary links most stimulating and rewarding, but it was also deeply worrying. Last month, while the eyes of the world were focused on Libya and the middle east, I, the hon. Member for Vauxhall and Lord Joffe, who was Nelson Mandela’s and Jacob Zuma’s lawyer during the apartheid years, spent three days in meetings with the Prime Minister, MDC and ZANU-PF MPs, human rights lawyers and members of Zimbabwe’s civil society. I should say that at one stage during a dinner with some of the human rights lawyers I asked what they would do for a living should the whole situation be cleared up, and they did not have too much of a response. The trip also gave me an opportunity to have a refresher course in Zimbabwe’s politics, and I am grateful to the hon. Lady, Lord Joffe and David Banks, who is the all-party group’s convenor, for all their briefing and advice.

As many Members might be aware, the Chinese are investing heavily in Africa, particularly in Zimbabwe. They are financing the building of the Robert Mugabe national school of intelligence, a military academy just outside Harare, which is likely to contain communications equipment similar to that which one might find at GCHQ.

[Ian Paisley (North Antrim) (DUP)]

The hon. Gentleman raises a most interesting point about Chinese investment in Africa. Does he agree that our Government should do all they can to ensure that any Chinese investment overseas is used for good, not for bad?

[Oliver Colvile]

I thoroughly agree, and I will come to one or two points about that in the next few moments.

There is a real danger that Zimbabwe, sitting on South African borders, could become a Chinese-compliant nation. It should be noted that the Chinese are now South Africa’s largest trading partners. Unless we are careful, the Chinese could easily have access to the submarine base in Simon’s Town and therefore have an opportunity to control the all-important cape routes, which we need to send our trade to the far east. That is why what happens in Zimbabwe matters, and why it is important that there are free and fair elections.

Fairly soon after my colleagues and I arrived, we grasped the fact that two campaigns were going on in Zimbabwe: the air war to place pressure on SADC and President Zuma to encourage peaceful, free and fair elections; and a ground war to ensure that the MDC and other Opposition parties can campaign on a level playing field in the general election expected this autumn. The first process, which is intended to encourage SADC and the African Union to support the efforts of President Zuma and his facilitation team to plan and implement a road map towards credible and internationally recognised elections, will be much easier said than done.

It is part of African culture always to be deferential to leaders, who are seen as heroes and warriors. Whatever else we might feel and think, I am afraid that President Mugabe is seen as one such warrior and as someone who successfully fought for Zimbabwe’s independence after years of colonial rule. During his recent visit to a South African football stadium, he gained a standing ovation from the general public. Jacob Zuma’s desire to find ways of returning the 2 million Zimbabwean refugees in South Africa is being hindered by the fact that he faces local council elections in the summer and is likely to suffer some fairly heavy defeats, especially in some of the urban conurbations.

If we are serious about creating an environment for fair and peaceful elections, we must provide Mugabe and his supporters with a face-saving solution. Mugabe’s disappearance as President will not be the end of the matter, as too many people around him, especially those in the army, including senior army officials, have too much invested in his presidency. ZANU-PF sees him as its greatest asset in the forthcoming election. Whatever happens, the role of the army and the high command will be important, because they will be keen to hold on to their investment, especially their farms and other assets. They want to use Mugabe to secure their future for a few more years.

Within minutes of arriving in Harare, my colleagues and I were astonished to learn that 26 MDC MPs had been arrested, that the Speaker, Lovemore Moyo, was being forced to face re-election, and that beatings had started again in rural communities in the run-up to the general election expected later this year. Hon. Members can imagine what the outcry in this country would be if 27% of MPs from one political party were arrested, placed in prison and forced to raise funds to pay their bail. That would be the equivalent of 83 Conservative MPs or nearly 60 Labour MPs being arrested. I have no doubt that there would be an absolute outcry about that in this country and throughout the world—and rightly so.