FCG Internacional Life Achievement 2009: Morgan Tsvangirai, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe

“Because he is a statesman for History to remember. Because he launched a message to the world from Africa, a message of reconciliation and of the fight for democracy. Tsvangirai is an example of personal and political generosity, a beacon of hope for all of Africa. The whole world must lend its support to his striving for excellence and to the dignity of the people of Zimbabwe.”. According to the Jury for the FCG International Award for a Lifetime Achievement that met in Valladolid, Spain (July 10th, 2009), chaired by: Mr. Ángel Expósito Mora; Editor of ABC Newspaper, and made up by the following members: Mr. José P. Castrillo Bernal, Director of Radio Valladolid and SER Radio Castilla Leon; Mr. Guillermo Corral van Damme, Director-General of Cultural Industry Policy; Mr. Julio Fermoso García, President of Caja Duero Savings Bank; Mr. D. Francisco Javier León de la Riva, Mayor of Valladolid, Mr. D. Santos Villanueva Valentín-Gamazo, Secretary-General of the Department of the Presidency of the Junta de Castilla y León [Castilla Leon Regional Government]

 

 

MORGAN TSVANGIRAI -Biography

 
Early Years.

 
Morgan Tsvangirai was born in 1952 to a modest family (his father was a carpenter) in the former Rhodesia. The largest of 9 siblings, he had to abandon his studies very early on due to the premature death of his father. In 1974 he started working as a laborer in a nickel mine, and he gradually assumed more responsibilities until he reached the level of supervisor.

 
 

Political Activism.

 
Although he was never directly involved in the struggle for independence in 1980, once independence was achieved he joined the ZANU-PF Party and little by little he had more responsibilities until he became one of the senior members of the party. However, his position did not limit his faculty to criticize, and he was one of few party members to openly oppose the Gukurahundi operation (in which thousands of ethnic Ndebele were slaughtered in the Matabeleland area).

 

At the same time, he carried on his Trade Union activities and in 1989 he was appointed Secretary-General of the Zimbabwe Trade Union Congress. This caused a shift in his career because he decided to separate this organization from ZANU-PF, which marked his distancing from Mugabe’s Government and his fall from grace. During this period, Morgan Tsvangirai survived at least three assassination attempts, including an assault by unknown attackers in 1997 who tried to throw him out the window of his own office.

 

The Movement for Democratic Change.

 

In 1999 Tsvangirai set up the opposition party called “Movement for Democratic Change” (MDC), whose first success was the defeat of Mugabe in the year 2000 constitutional referendum in which Mugabe had sought to perpetuate his position in power. After the elections, Tsvangirai was arrested and charged with treason, charges that were subsequently withdrawn but were a warning from Mugabe that he would not tolerate any further success by the opposition.

 

In spite of threats and attacks by state agents, these failed to break Tsvangirai’s spirit or bend his principles. In 2002 he was once again a candidate in the presidential elections, which he lost against Mugabe, albeit under the shadow of election fraud supported by a wave of government supported violence and intimidation.

 

The following years were marked by a series of arrests and detentions without further consequences (the charges were always later withdrawn) until, in 2007, when he was arrested and brutally tortured at the hands of security forces. The images of the tortured Tsvangirai, taken by a reporter who was murdered shortly afterwards, were shown around the world and demonstrated the reality of Mugabe’s terror regime.

 

 

2008 Elections.

 

During 2008, elections were held in Zimbabwe. The breakdown of the Mugabe regime made the opposition’s victory possible, even after Tsvangirai's party had split up. The MDC won the elections but an irregular vote recount did not grant him an absolute majority in the presidential elections. The wave of violence unleashed by Mugabe made Tsvangirai decide to withdraw from the runoff election scheduled for June –which had turned into a farce and which the President easily won. The international rejection of this second round led to tough negotiations that set up a National Unity Government shared by the three main political forces (ZANU-PF, MDC-T, MDC-M), among whose first steps were the signing of an agreement for government on 15th September 2008 and the swearing-in of Morgan Tsvangirai as Prime Minister on February 11th, 2009.

 

His Role as Prime Minister.

 

Despite several attempts to murder, assault and torture him, Tsvangirai reached Government promoting a spirit of reconciliation which recalls Nelson Mandela’s attitude in many respects. Standing up to criticism even from within his own party by those who had hoped for a clearer rejection of Mugabe’s staying on as President, the new Prime Minister decided that the future of Zimbabwe was above people’s personal desires for justice, so he did not hesitate to collaborate with those who had been his enemies in recent years.

 

Along with his outstanding qualities as a Statesman, we can also highlight his human qualities, which particularly stood out after the heavy blows he suffered during his first weeks in office. On March 6th, three weeks after his swearing-in, an accident killed Susan, who had been his wife and support for over thirty years. A few days later his grandson drowned in the swimming pool of his home in Harare. These blows did not distance him from his political work and in recent months he has continued with his agenda, the main objectives of which are to seek national reconciliation and the restoration of dignity to the people of Zimbabwe who have endured too many years of repression and injustice.

 

Morgan Tsvangirai’s recent international tour, during which has met with Barak Obama, Angela Merkel, Gordon Brown, Durao Barroso and Javier Solana, among others, has given a new dimension to his overall value as a Statesman and has allowed him to present his vision of the new Zimbabwe that he is building. The impact that his personality has had on those meeting him, according to the embassies of those countries, has been extraordinary.