Lovemore Matombo and Wellington Chibebe, respectively the President and General Secretary of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trades Unions (ZCTU), were being charged with ’spreading falsehoods prejudicial to the state’. Those falsehoods are, in fact, criticisms they made on May Day of Mugabe’s government and telling the truth about the violence today in Zimbabwe.

The TUC, the UK equivalent of ZCTU, and ITUC, the international version, organised a mosaic depicting Lovemore and Wellington made up of faces of trades unionists from around the world. You can see it at WeAreZCTU.org. There are also tools to spread the word, add your support and to lobby for justice. There are model letters to send there as well.

xD.

I think statements like this can make a difference. True, the protestations of the UK are batted away by Mugabe as propaganda from a would-be irredentist colonial power. It is much harder to dismiss that message if it comes from an African leader; the means by which some criticisms are deflected become useless. For such things to work, however, the criticisms need to reach the mass of the people. With no free press, poor electricity, hunger and flight across the country, it is of little surprise that the messages coming from Tshwane, Luanda and New York will not reach the people who need to hear them most.

Had Mbeki spoken out more forcefully while it could have made a difference, it might have encouraged Mugabe to leave. I may be being unfair; there was quiet diplomacy between Tshwane and Harare and it is impossible to know, until the history books are written, whether it was an idea that was never going to work or a gamble that didn’t pay off. It looks, though, like too little, too late.

xD.

On Monday, Lovemore Matombo and Wellington Chibebe, respectively the President and General Secretary of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trades Unions (ZCTU), will stand trial to face charges of ’spreading falsehoods prejudicial to the state’. Those falsehoods are, in fact, criticisms they made on May Day of Mugabe’s government and telling the truth about the violence today in Zimbabwe.

As part of their bail conditions, they may not address any political or public gatherings until the conclusion of their case, effectively removing them from the election campaign. The ZCTU has been increasingly opposed to Mugabe since the 1990s and were involved in setting up the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. The MDC President, Morgan Tsvangarai, is a former general secretary of the ZCTU.

This is where you come in.

Lovemore and Wellington may be unable to campaign, but you can express your support for them. The ZCTU’s equivalent in the UK, the TUC, are making a giant photo mosaic of Lovemore and Wellington, using pictures of hundreds of their supporters from around the world. It will be printed up to be used as a large banner for the London demonstration on 23 June and the image will be made available to other international demonstrations and to the media.

Take a photo of yourself with your digital camera and email it to zim@tuc.org.uk or take a photo of yourself with your cameraphone and send it by MMS to 07546 229055 (0044 7546 229055 from outside the UK)

If you’re able, please take photos of your friends and colleagues as well, and send all of those to us in the same way – the more the merrier. Please just one person in each photo – not groups. If possible, make it just a head and shoulders shot, in the centre of the image (like a passport photo). Smaller photos are better if you’re emailing one in. If you can avoid it, please don’t send large megapixel images. Of course, if you’re in doubt about how to do any of this, just send whatever you’re able to – it will all be very helpful. More information is available here.

In case the picture doesn’t show up, it reads UK 60p; SA R5.00; Z$100 million; €0.90. Click for a larger version. It makes the point about the disaster that is Mugabe’s Zimbabwe rather well.

xD.