I looked closely at Mugabe’s ‘hand of friendship’ speech this week, and realised that it is just the same old rubbish regurgitated with a few tweaks to make it suit the current situation.

Much as I would dearly like the new unity government to succeed, I fear that Mugabe is just leading all Zimbabweans everywhere on a grand dance. He makes the right noises, but in the background he does little more than whatever he wants.

The arrest of the Deputy Minister (in waiting) of Agriculture, Roy Bennett, is a prime example of Mugabe’s true intentions.

He says that we should forgive and forget - but has Bennett arrested in a supposed 2006 plot to assassinate Mugabe.

If that is the case, then what has Mugabe (or any of his senior loyalists) done about securing justice for the twenty to thirty thousand people killed by the Fifth Brigade in the early to mid 1980’s in Matabeleland and the Midlands - known as the Gukurahundi?

Are the families of the victims just meant to bite their tongues and accept that it will never happen?

What about the farmers and their workers killed during the ongoing land grab?

Farmers shot dead in cold blood. (Mugabe initially tried to excuse the deaths as being murders carried out by ‘criminal elements’… It was - except that the ‘criminal elements’ were/are members of his war veterans…)

What of those that lost their houses and their lives in Operation Murambatsvina? Is there no justice for them?

What about the numerous murders of MDC activists - where the perpetrator is a known member of the army of the police? Is there no justice for them because they were activists?

What of the one hundred and thirty people plus that lost their lives in the ZANU PF perpetrated political violence that was orchestrated leading into the run-off between Mugabe and Tsvangirai last year - violence that saw Tsvangirai pull out of the race?

At least, as far as my argument goes, there is evidence of the crime just waiting for the police to collect, whilst an assassination conspiracy allegation is a little more difficult to prove – unless the investigating officers are on Mugabe’s side, and then evidence is easily fabricated.

The perceived victim of the assassination conspiracy is Mugabe - and he continues to rule without hindrance. The victims of the Gukurahundi, the land grab, Murambatsvina and the political violence are dead. In some cases buried in mass graves and unmarked plots.

Are their lives - numerous they be - worth less than the members of ZANU PF, the now disbanded Fifth Brigade, the war veterans, the police and army and Mugabe’s militia?

The MDC should be pushing for those that perpetrated, orchestrated and ordered these deaths to face justice.

And that needs to start with Mugabe, Chiwenga, Shiri, Chihuri and Zimondi - the Joint Operation Command - who, interestingly, are the not only the instigators of this violence (an example is Shiri, who may lead the Air Force today, but was the commander of the Fifth Brigade during those bloody days all those years ago), but, unsurprisingly, are the biggest in opposition to the unity government.

Justice is a two-edged sword - and perhaps the people of Zimbabwe need to consider this option - long and hard. Justice has to serve all people, not just the chosen few.

Robb WJ Ellis
The Bearded Man