Soames Stands Tough

Since Britain's Lord Soames became Governor of Zimbabwe Rhodesia last Dec. 12, some 21,600 guerrillas have flocked into Commonwealth monitoring camps in observance of the ceasefire. But Soames has been attacked for many of his political decisions--such as permitting South African troops to remain at the border crossing of Beit Bridge, and using armed "auxiliaries" in remote rural areas. Last week, in his first interview as Governor, Soames spent 75 minutes with TIME Johannesburg Bureau Chief William McWhirter discussing some of the problems he faces. McWhirter'sreport:

Salisbury's elegant Government House, with its summer gardens and antique furnishings, was originally intended as a ceremonial residence rather than a serious workplace. But the desks in its ornate rooms are now piled high with papers, and the lamps burn late into the evening. The man who lives there has few illusions that his will be an easy or popular assignment. "This could blow up at any time," says Lord Soames. "I've got to be blameless in my own mind. I'll never be blameless in everybody else's."

Soames vigorously defends his most controversial actions, such as the Beit Bridge decision. I knew that the South Africans were there," he argues. "In my view, they needed to be there. In no way is this going to interfere with how a single person votes in this country." On the auxiliaries--charged by many African nationalists with using heavyhanded tactics on behalf of Bishop Muzorewa--Soames is equally firm. "If you leave out the accusations of intimidation," he says, "the auxiliaries are doing a lot work that needs doing. They're helping to get the roads redone and get schools open. They're not all good and not all bad but they're there." The Governor insists that their activities are monitored--for example, by spot checks on aux-mary camps. But even greater publicity about this surveillance is unlikely to satisfy many of his critics.

Soames readily asserts that of the two Patriotic Front armies, Robert Mugabe's guerrillas have been the least cooperative about keeping the ceasefire. "My great fear is the number of ZANLA forces outside the country and what their real intentions are," he says, noting that "some of their party pamphlets were inciting to violence." Soames adds that he will question Mugabe after his return to Rhodesia to "find out more than I now know about where he's intending to go and how he intends to get there."

Soames sees toughness as essential to his mission, and experience has so far proved him right. A case in point: his adamant refusal to extend the one-week deadline for the guerrillas to assemble at the cease-fire camps. "If I had suddenly made it two weeks or a month," he says, "the same thing would have happened. They wouldn't have gone in until the last moment. I wasn't budged off [the assembly deadline] and I don't intend to be budged off the election date [Feb. 27-29] either."

Soames does not ignore the dangers that still threaten the elections. Says he: "This is not going to be an election without intimidation. Intimidation Son is an endemic feature of African elections almost anywhere My main fear is of too much intimidation and even violence. I have always said that the last month was going to be the worst." But the Governor's fears are tempered by his belief that Rhodesians themselves are almost desperate tor, lasting peace. "So many people want to see an end to war," he says, "that the desire for peace will, I hope, dominate the bitterness and hatred that still run very deep."

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