ZIMBABWE: MDC wins two by-elections, police step up security
JOHANNESBURG, 31 Mar 2003 (IRIN) - As Zimbabwe's Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) celebrated two by-election victories on Monday, the
country's security forces were setting up road blocks ahead of an opposition
deadline for the government to meet demands on political
reforms.
Delighted over winning the Harare seats of Highfield and
Kuwadzana at the weekend, MDC information director Nkanyiso Maqeda told IRIN:
"We couldn't be happier. This is a victory over oppression. The people have
shown their resilience against all odds. They have had enough of the hunger and
intimidation that has become part of their daily lives."
Electoral
Supervisory Commission (ESC) spokesman Thomas Bvuma told IRIN that in Highfield,
MDC candidate Pearson Mungofa won 8,759 votes against his closest rival
ZANU-PF's Joseph Chinotimba's 4,844. In Kuwadzana, the MDC's Nelson Chamisa
scooped 12,548 to ZANU-PF's David Mutasa's 5,022 ballots.
The seats were
seen as a crucial test for the MDC who had lost a string of recent by-elections
to the ruling ZANU-PF. Losing seats in their urban stronghold would also have
allowed ZANU-PF to inch closer to the two-thirds majority required to make
constitutional amendments.
The conduct of the elections were also seen as
crucial for the future stability of the country. The police and the ESC said
their investigations into complaints of violence and intimidation had not turned
up any evidence. But Bidi Munyaradzi, national director of the human rights NGO
ZimRights, which had been among the poll monitoring groups, disagreed. He said
his organisation would release a report on Tuesday.
Among those arrested
was MDC vice-president Gibson Sibanda, who was picked-up on Monday in Zimbabwe's
second city of Bulawayo. Assistant Commissioner of Police Wayne Bvudzijena told
IRIN that although he was not yet in a position to provide details, Sibanda's
arrest was related to alleged activities in an MDC-run stayaway on 18 and 19
March.
The two-day stayaway, called to protest government policies, was
followed by an MDC ultimatum demanding the release of political prisoners and
respect for civil liberties, backed by the threat of more mass action after 31
March.
Bvudzijena said the police were aware of the MDC's ultimatum and
the Ministry of Home Affairs had ordered increased policing in urban areas in
anticipation of "acts of criminality".
"During the two days of mass
action the MDC said they would be peaceful but it turned out to be something
else," Bvudzijena said. "Three-hundred-and-sixty-two MDC activists were arrested
on allegations relating to dynamite and petrol bombings."
He said this
included some of the party's top leadership.
Zimbabwe's security forces
were widely reported to have cracked down sharply on those perceived to be MDC
supporters in the wake of the stayaway. The two by-election constituencies were
also allegedly targeted.
Reuters
Zimbabwe opposition wins polls
By Stella
Mapenzauswa
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's opposition have won key
parliamentary
by-elections despite what it says was government violence and
electoral
fraud, but deputy party leader Gibson Sibanda was arrested
shortly
afterwards.
Sibanda, a leading organiser of a two-day protest
strike earlier this month
against President Robert Mugabe's 23-year rule,
surrendered to police who
had been hunting for him for several hours in the
southern city of Bulawayo.
"The police officers said Sibanda was being
arrested for contravening (the
Public Order and Security Act) in organising
for the recent two-day stay
away," Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
spokesman Paul Themba-Nyathi
told Reuters on Monday. No police comment was
immediately available.
The MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, has accused
Mugabe of ordering security
forces to crack down on the opposition and says
hundreds of its supporters
have been assaulted or detained.
The strike
was one of the biggest protests in recent years against Mugabe's
rule and
shut factories and shops in the capital Harare and Bulawayo.
The MDC's
by-election wins in two Harare constituencies were a blow to
Mugabe's hopes
of eroding the opposition's urban power base.
A senior official of his
ruling ZANU-PF, which holds none of the capital's
19 parliamentary seats,
said the results showed that Zimbabwe was a
democratic
country.
Mugabe, 79, won re-election for another six-year term as
president in polls
last March criticised as fraudulent by both the MDC and
some Western
governments.
A once vibrant economy in the former British
colony has been crumbling in
the face of food, fuel and hard currency
shortages.
MDC CELEBRATIONS
Hundreds of MDC supporters rushed into
the streets of Harare on Monday after
state radio reported the opposition had
won the two by-elections in the
capital.
A MDC official, who asked not
to be named, said riot police beat some
supporters as they cheered outside
party offices. Police were not available
for comment.
"The people of
Zimbabwe have struck a blow for freedom by posting a
remarkable victory...in
the face of concerted violence and electoral fraud
on the part of ZANU-PF and
its illegitimate government," the MDC said in a
statement.
State radio
said the MDC won 12,548 votes in the Kuwadzana constituency,
against 5,002
votes for ZANU-PF. The MDC won 8,759 votes in the Highfield
constituency,
against 4,844 for ZANU-PF.
"We accept the outcome because that is what
democracy is all about," said a
senior ZANU-PF official, who asked not to be
named.
The MDC had accused the ruling party of trying to rig the polls by
using
thousands of "ghost" names on the voters' rolls. Both parties had
blamed
each other for a violent campaign in which hundreds of their
supporters were
injured.
The MDC had set Monday as a deadline for
Mugabe to meet 15 demands,
including an end to arrests of opposition
supporters and a move toward free
elections.
As the deadline expired,
police set up roadblocks on major roads and outside
Mugabe's
residence.
"It is now up to us as the party, backed by the people of
Zimbabwe, to
choose the time, place and mode of resisting this kind of
oppression,"
Themba-Nyathi told South African radio.
In Pretoria,
Britain's Africa Minister Valerie Amos said her government
would carry on
providing food and other aid for poor Zimbabweans despite
Mugabe's
accusations that the former colonial ruler was responsible for his
country's
problems.
"No matter how much abuse we get from Mr Mugabe, we will not
turn our backs
on ordinary Zimbabweans," she told reporters.
Mugabe
says the MDC is a puppet sponsored by the West to subvert his plans
to seize
white-owned farms for black resettlement.
ZANU-PF has a comfortable
majority in the 150-member parliament with 95
seats. Winning the by-elections
would have taken his party closer to the
two-thirds majority it needs to push
through constitutional changes.
Press Statement
March 31, 2003
MDC
Vice-President Arrested in Bulawayo.
Police in Bulawayo today arrested MDC Vice-President Gibson
Sibanda. Officers from the Law and Order Section visited Sibanda’s home in the
morning but did not find him.
Upon hearing the news that the police were looking for him, the
MDC Vice-President went to Bulawayo Central with his lawyer Josphat Tshuma.
Tshuma informed us that Sibanda was formally arrested at about
noon today and would be formally charged later in the day.
"The police officers said Sibanda was being arrested for
contravening Section 5 of POSA in organizing for the recent two-day stay away",
Tshuma said.
This is yet another sign of panic by a regime that is conscious
of its unpopularity. This nervousness stems from realizing that the war they
have been waging against the people is lost. These are the last kicks of this
dying regime.
The people of Zimbabwe must realize that now is the time to
reclaim their power. Every one must remain focused and ready to play their part
in dismantling all the pillars of oppression.
The people are destined for victory against hunger and
dictatorship but every one of us must realize that change demands action.
Paul Themba Nyathi
Secretary for Information and
Publicity.
Zimbabwe Human Rights
Demonstrations
Zimbabweans
in
the Northwest of England will be holding demonstrations because of the
gross human rights violations, being perpetrated by the Mugabe regime in
Zimbabwe.
Date: Friday, 18 April 2003,
Manchester
Venue: March starting from Longsight Flea Market
towards Piccadilly Gardens where the main speaker will give a speech.
Time: 12pm - 3pm
All welcome showing solidarity with and for peace loving people of
ZIMBABWE.
Press contacts:
07876220259/
07939165044
ABC Australia
Last Update: Monday, March 31, 2003. 11:34pm
(AEST)
Zimbabwe police surround Mugabe home as opposition deadline
looms
Police have deployed large numbers of security forces around
President
Robert Mugabe's official residence in the Zimbabwean capital as
an
opposition ultimatum to government is set to expire.
The country's
main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party
have given
President Mugabe's government until today to address a series of
demands
which include the restoration of law and order and an end to
alleged
state-sponsored violence.
It has warned that if the government
fails to meet the demands, the MDC will
march on State House, the official
residence.
An AFP correspondent has seen an unusually high number of
police milling
around street corners leading to the State House located on
the outskirts of
the central business district.
Police are deployed in
groups of around a dozen at each street corner.
Home Affairs Minister
Kembo Mohadi has said the government takes the
opposition threats "very
seriously" and warned that anyone trying to stir
unrest would be "dealt with
severely".
Police set up road blocks along main roads leading into the
city, stopping
buses and searching commuters.
The ultimatum expires as
results from crucial weekend by-elections, preceded
by a period of violence
and tension, are due to be announced
Ananova
Zimbabwe tension mounts as protesters promise 'final
push'
Zimbabwean police have deployed reinforcements to Robert Mugabe's
official
residence as the opposition promised a final push of
anti-government
protests.
State radio quoted Home Affairs Minister
Kembo Mohadi as saying the security
measures have been taken to thwart any
attempts to cause anarchy.
Meanwhile, the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change said its deputy
leader, Gibson Sibanda, has been arrested
in Bulawayo amid claims he helped
organise a two-day national strike earlier
this month.
Lawyer Josphat Tshuma said Sibanda was arrested under
stringent security
laws banning political demonstrations without police
clearance.
Zimbabwe's political crisis deepened at the weekend after
Mohadi threatened
to arrest opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and other
opposition
officials. He accused them of inciting violence by calling for
more protests
against the government.
Tensions were also heightened
during two parliamentary by-elections in
opposition strongholds in western
Harare on Saturday and Sunday.
State radio reports both seats were
retained by the opposition, with 31,000
people voting in the township
election districts of Highfield and
Kuwadzana - a turnout of about 30%. The
opposition said the polls were
marred by intense intimidation from ruling
party militants to discourage
residents from casting their
ballots.
Dozens of paramilitary police have now been posted on routes
leading to
Mugabe's residence and his State House office complex where Mohadi
said
demonstrators had threatened to march.
In a message to
supporters,Tsvangirai said a March 31 deadline for Mugabe to
begin sweeping
democratic reforms was about to expire without progress.
He said: "This
will be the final push that will restore our sovereignty,
liberty and
freedom. It will be a struggle that calls for extreme
sacrifices, indeed even
the supreme sacrifice of death."
© Associated Press
JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM
Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
Please
send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
justice@telco.co.zw with "For Open Letter
Forum" in the subject
line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
1: Below is a poem written by Clive Kay in October 2000, perhaps
appropriate
to the division that is so prevalent amongst us at this
time.
LIFE
Life is too short
to be filled with anger.
Anger
is an emotion
that easily manifests itself
But is difficult to rid oneself
of.
Anger clouds rational thinking,
It provides the opening
for
evil to establish itself.
When one acts in anger,
Remorse and regret and
regret inevitably follow.
I have experienced that anger
in its most
destructive form.
With it came hatred,
a passionate loathing,
of
careless minds and lost souls
who so easily succumb to evil.
It is not
their fault!
They have a brain and the ability to choose.
But how can one
choose what is right
When one cannot distinguish it from wrong?
Evil grows
where good was never sown!
Do not frown on those who frown on
you,
Rather unite to shed light on their darkness.
Help where help is
needed
Because where good turns a blind eye to the helpless
Evil lends a
hand of demise and
destruction.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
2: J Worsley-Worswick
The Senior Editor
The Daily News
Dear
Sir,
In the 25th March 2003 edition of the Daily News on your leader page
(8) in
the commentary column you categorically state and I quote:
"The
government hurriedly put in place the controversial Land Acquisition
Act,
which is being challenged by the Commercial Farmers Union, representing
white
farmers, as it violates property rights as enshrined in
the
constitution".
This is factually incorrect as, at this time, the
CFU have no
constitutional challenge to the Land Acquisition Act. There are
a number
of small constitutional cases being brought on an individual
basis
necessitated by CFU's reticence to litigate on their members' and
their
workers' behalf. Justice for Agriculture on the 24th June 2002 brought
a
constitutional challenge to the Land Acquisition Act (known as the
Quinnell
case) on behalf of commercial farmers and their workers. This case
raises
eight constitutional points where the government have violated
the
constitution. Appeal was made by farmers and Justice for Agriculture
to
the CFU to bring this challenge as a representative action which would
have
granted the interim relief ruling as handed down to Quinnell to
every
commercial farmer in the country and saved commercial farmers
approximately
$600 million of individual litigation costs.
In light of
the above and in the interest of factual reporting and
upholding the truth I
respectfully request a published correction to this
misleading commentary
that is likely to cause consternation amongst
commercial farmers and their
workers.
I look forward to your response to this request and in the
meantime,
remain,
Yours sincerely,
John
Worsley-Worswick
VICE CHAIRMAN
JUSTICE FOR
AGRICULTURE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
3: D Conolly
Dear Dave,
I thank you for your letter to me as
Chairman of JAG. You use many thought
provoking words and phrases, which
require a calculated, factual and
truthful response, so that, as you
correctly identify, farmers' genuine
interests may be served.
I would
say to you that a united and positive CFU without the correct
consensus
derived policy and the will and strategy to implement it is sure
to fail. I
cannot come to grips with your thinking that an organisation
without policy
direction and strategy can prosper.
To me this is the main reason why JAG
and CFU cannot operate on a united
front. In fact, Made's Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) document as
published in the Herald, and perceived by
most Zimbabweans to be CFU
policy, is a direct result of CFU being devoid of
policy direction and
strategy. Should you choose to go through that document
(MOU), you will be
shocked to see that 95% has been promoted and implemented
by CFU in the
past. I have personally met with CFU on a number of occasions
and pleaded
with them to come out with a policy document and I am sorry to
say as yet
to no avail.
Referring back to your letter and the thought
process behind the creation
of policy and strategy within JAG, you use the
phrases "spurious drivel",
"detached thinking" and "garbage" to describe some
of the information on
the open letter forum (OLF). This encourages me as
open debate is now in
progress, which the closing of The Farmer so
successfully stifled. We at
JAG are convinced that consensus policy created
out of open debate is sure
to succeed. That is why JAG was so frustrated
when CFU never took up the
recent challenge to an open forum debate with JAG
and farmers at Art Farm.
We felt that clear policy would result from that and
this would unite
farmers and their representative groups with a single policy
reflecting
unity of purpose and strategy for the way
forward.
Returning to the OLF and admitting that I have never been one
for history,
I do concede that the situation we find ourselves in today in
Zimbabwe is
nothing new and it would be foolhardy of us not to take note of
how our
ancestry solved identical problems.
Dave, I would encourage
you to come to a JAG policy meeting, held every
Tuesday. I agree
wholeheartedly with you when you say commercial farmers
are diverse in
opinion, formidable and determined. I can assure you at our
meetings there
are no sacred cows, there is much grandstanding and
defending of positions
and most importantly an open door policy of
inclusion and participation by
any farmer. However, when we walk out of
that door there is huge mutual
respect and most importantly a commonality
and unity of purpose and policy
and a consensus strategy for the way
forward.
Returning to your letter
and the use of the phrase "reformed leadership".
As a hunter you should know,
a leopard does not change its spots and a man
will do what is in his heart.
That is why I have great cautious and
guarded respect for the Zanu-PF
leader. He is implementing what was in his
heart when he grew up as a boy at
Kutama (he is a Madota Sibili) even
though this is a complete disaster for
the country we all know and love,
Zimbabwe.
The CFU leadership has
been implementing what is in their hearts for the
last 3 years, the majority
of which can be found in Made's MOU. This
explains why they will not come
out with a policy document that they are
prepared to defend in an open forum
debate. It also explains why they
proceed with the Zanu-PF plan for
compensation only as opposed to
restitution/compensation (i.e. the so called
land reform process is
irreversible). It also explains why, during the
national stay away, for
the top echelons of Zanu-PF, CFU and ZTA it was
business as usual. It
explains why CFU will not put its name to a
representative legal action
proving that the breakdown of the rule of law in
the commercial farming
areas of Zimbabwe is state inspired, or to any legal
action for that
matter. Dave, you ask us to support this unconditionally, I
say to you the
proof of the pudding is in the eating. Get into bed with the
CFU and when
you wake up in the morning you will be lying next to Zanu-PF and
Zimbabwe
the country we all know and love will have passed you by. There is
ample
historical evidence to prove this.
Your contention that we have
dropped the ball we refute categorically. In
fact we are still running with
all the balls we set out with which include
not only the various litigation
initiatives (primarily the Quinnell
Constitutional Case and the Rule of Law
Case) but also the publicity and
accountability initiatives to the extent in
fact that CFU are using this as
a very comfortable excuse to do and implement
nothing on these fronts.
Dave, JAG has a policy of challenging the
unconstitutional laws of Zimbabwe
where they hinder viability and production,
holding people accountable for
their actions where these infringe the
constitutional law through the loss
document, and taking advantage of the
once in a lifetime opportunity that
we now have in creating a unity of
purpose for agriculture that can benefit
generations to come. These
generations will hopefully include members of
the JAG team's families. We
have no desire for positions of influence or
recognition, simply a future in
a new Zimbabwe amongst free and empowered
people.
Yours
sincerely
Dave Conolly
CHAIRMAN
JUSTICE FOR
AGRICULTURE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
4:
The letter by Dave Joubert.......he makes a valid point. Criticism
ceases
to be constructive once the reason that prompted the censure in the
first
place has been removed.
However, having made his point he should
have left it at that. It was a
shame to stoop to badmouthing the one person
who had the courage to voice
his feelings. Willie Robinson has committed to
writing the sentiments that
most of us have felt and he was also asking the
questions that most of us
wanted to ask.( And doing it with humour and
style).
It would be nice if the CFU hierarchy has seen the light and
found some
courage to stand firm. We await their "Mission Statement" and to
see
whether they carry it through or not -- there are "Mission
Statements"
lying in tatters all over the country......you just have to visit
any
Police
camp.
ARB-W.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
5: J L Robinson
My dear Worswick,
I am now an ex farmer, and an ex
union member - having returned my Licence
Card in terms of the conditions of
a farmer that ceases to farm - as per
the reverse of the card. I think that I
no longer qualify to participate in
that chapter. As an emancipated farmer I
have been studying Mr. Fiske's
assessment of the problems we face in this
country - please do not write
them off as garbage just because you might put
them on the Open Letter
Forum.
"Honesty and Justice are the most
valuable business assets. All capital is
man made. The supply of land is
finite and constant - there will always be
the same amount. All
macro-economic talk of `land shortages' and `land
surpluses' is therefore
ridiculous. To blame human poverty on a shortage of
land and expect men to
solve the problem is crying for the moon. No one can
increase the supply of
land or reduce it. All we can hope to do about land
as an economic resource
is to make better use of it. The richest places on
earth are densely
populated. The supply of labour can vary modestly."
His assessment of our
poverty is a bitter pill to swallow:
"Wherever communities are poor it is
always because people and their
governments have been trying to take a short
cut to wealth and affluence.
When they down play honesty and justice on a
modest scale we recognize them
as thieves and fraudsters. When they conspire
to get their governments to
do it for them, we get confused. In reality, the
only difference between
theft and `redistributive taxation' is the size of
the gang."
His clinical analysis of us "becoming confused" really hurts
and he has
probably been watching from the sideline for three years
now.
It is of great comfort to me that Mr. Joubert has joined the game.
I
honestly thought that we had placed the ball in the High Court on 24th
June
last year - not dropped it. It is now in the Supreme Court ready for
June
this year. Perhaps with our focus on the price tag of this treat -
in
excess of thirty five million dollars - he feels that we, as a new
team
"became confused" about indulging ourselves in this `luxury' of Honesty
and
Justice. I think not.
I believe that Mr. Joubert's ball skills and
fresh ideas will be most
welcome at the reformed leadership team, and I urge
him to scrum down with
them at his earliest convenience for this country's
benefit, to help them
play their game.
I trust that my suggestion is
taken in good faith, and not deemed to be
divisive by any player or
team.
Best
wishes,
Willy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
All
letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.
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For immediate release 31 March 2003
Psychological Warfare Mugabe Style:
Movement for Democratic Change Vice
President Arrested
Gibson Sibanda,
the Vice-President of the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) in Zimbabwe
was arrested earlier this afternoon, but has yet to be
formally
charged.
A Save Zimbabwe campaign spokesman said today, "Robert Mugabe,
a
self-appointed Hitler, said only this month that he wants to smash
the
opposition. In light of the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC's)
electoral victory in 2 local by-elections over the weekend, it is
not
surprising that the government has stepped up its assault on the
MDC
leadership."
"The regime is now showing signs of desperation, and
we are entering very
dangerous times. The weekend bi-elections are a further
rebuff to the
regime. Candidates and voters were intimidated and detained,
electoral
rolls were reportedly falsified, an election official kidnapped on
the eve
of the weekend poll, and in a country where nearly half the
population is
facing starvation, food was again used as an incentive for
voters to vote
for the ruling party, ZANU-PF. But people still voted for the
Opposition".
"Today is also the deadline for the government to meet 15
pre-conditions for
the restoration of democracy and human rights established
by the MDC
following the stay away on 18-19 March. As the government has
not
delivered, more peaceful demonstrations have been planned. We have
already
seen Mugabe unleash his fury on those who dared express
their
dissatisfaction with the political and economic situation in
Zimbabwe.
Following the stay away, more than 250 people were hospitalized and
one was
man was murdered after being beaten by government agents. With
more
peaceful opposition planned, we can only expect the worst from
Mugabe's
regime", he added.
"The latest arrest could be the start of a
wider crackdown to break the MDC
leadership. Zimbabwe is extremely tense at
the moment, and a concerted
attack on the opposition leadership could result
in country-wide violence",
he said. Police and militias are already
anticipating violence and they are
ominously concentrated in urban
areas."
"The people of Zimbabwe have shown their patience, their
commitment to
non-violent means of expressing their dissent, and their
commitment to human
rights and democracy. This is a remarkable feat in the
most difficult of
circumstances. It merits the respect and support of all
nations committed
to the freedom and independence of its people in the face
of tyranny".
For press enquiries please contact
Helen Campbell +44
(0)7905917459
Fiona Wickham +32 (0)498292502
www.savezimbabwe.com
JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE PR COMMUNIQUÉ - March 31, 2003
Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
CAUTIONARY
STATEMENT
A Press advertisement was placed in The Sunday Mail of March
30th 2003, by
the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement,
listing over 300
farm names from all Provinces - quote "The below schedule
summarises
details of farms whose owners or representatives should contact
the
Department of Lands and Rural Resettlement discuss the position of
their
farms as a matter of urgency".
JAG has had a number of enquiries
about this advertisement but we are
awaiting information from some farmers
who are following up. You will be
advised as soon as we have the necessary
feed back, as to what this
initiative pertains to and how to
proceed
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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for Agriculture mailing list
To subscribe/unsubscribe: Please write to jag-list-admin@mango.zw
SOKWANELE - ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - ZVAKWANA
Well well well. It was really
necessary to watch ZBC's News Hour tonight. As was expected, they managed to
once again subvert the crushing defeat of ZANU PF in both the Kuwadzana and
Highfields by-election. We were subjected to 11 minutes of the success of the
Zimbabwe football team beating the Seychelles 3-1. Whilst this effort is
commendable, albeit against a somewhat inferior team, to fly this as a TOP STORY
is just another example of the selective and unbalanced reporting carried out by
the Governments propaganda machine.
Does the government really think that
after so much propaganda build up of the ruling party's expected success plus
intimidation, unlawful arrests, torture, harassment etc.etc., that the
government can sway Zimbabweans into believing that 11 minutes of football can
cover up a total failure on their part to win two important
by-elections?
The people have spoken with one voice. Even if ZBC only
allowed 2 minutes to air the MDC success and only interviewed Chinotimba, who
incidently does not accept the result, it can not be hidden that the People have
the strength to create the Change
We must remember the power of the
People in the hard times ahead. It is everyone's duty as a Zimbabwean to follow
the call to effect the necessary change to create a better life for all
Zimbabweans. The success in winning the two contested seats under extreme
circumstances, is evidence that Zimbabweans will not be beaten into submission
by a dictatorship that introduces draconian and unjust laws to quash freedom and
democracy.
Let us continue our just demands for freedom of speech,
freedom of association, a return to a just rule of law and democracy and a
respect of human rights.
When the next call comes for action - HEED
IT!
Mike Lander - Bulawayo
SABC
EU, G8 countries could lose confidence in
Nepad
March 31, 2003, 15:45
Baroness
Valerie Amos, the British Minister for Africa, says the
lenient attitude
towards Zimbabwe by the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) could
lead to the European Union and the G8 countries
losing confidence and
enthusiasm in the New Partnership for Africa's
Development (Nepad). Amos was
addressing the National Press Club in
Pretoria.
She says
promises of action on Zimbabwe made in private by South
Africa have not
resulted in visible progress. Amos says pressing issues in
Zimbabwe include
the resumption of the inter-party dialogue, a re-look at
land reform and
preparation for free and fair elections.
Dismissing
allegations that Britain reneged on the 1980
Lancaster House agreements, Amos
said Britain had to withdraw its financial
support for land reform because
Zimbabwe did not have tangible policy
proposals.
28 March 2003 15:21
Action !!
1) Subject: Wear black on the
18 April 2003 ...
Many Zimbabweans are deeply saddened and angered by what
has happened and is still happening to our beloved country Zimbabwe. We are
campaigning for people to show their disapproval of what is happening. We are
asking all Zimbabweans at home and abroad to wear black on 18 April as a sign of
mourning for the death of democracy in Zimbabwe. We are asking everyone who
reads this letter to spread the message. Zimbabwean Patriots in the UK (and all
over the world) (Let's all do this to make it work - diarize the date and WEAR
BLACK)
2) The next phase of Action for National
Survival is likely to begin in the next week -10 days. This will be more
sustained, more widespread and possibly more violent, as the forces of
repression become more cornered and fight for survival. Already the reprisals
for the 2-day stay-away have been under way for several days and have resulted
in deaths, torture, rape, abductions and imprisonment of both activists and
innocent by-standers.
This is the price we are paying
for showing the regime that it is we the people who have the power! This is the
price we will continue to pay to return our nation to sanity. However, many of
these reprisals could have been avoided if people had taken minimum precautions
- a safe house is essential if you are a likely target.
Prepare for the
next phase now - stock up on food, fuel and whatever else you might need. Have
your own survival plan in place, and remain alert at all times. Find out what's
happening - don't wait for someone else to tell you!
Dear friends all over the
world,
Pray for us Zimbo's. When we start getting e-mails like this, who
knows what is in store for us next? Add to the above information that there was
a bomb scare at Border Timbers, Mutare, 24 March 2003, (causing the entire
company, both Paulington and Nykamete branches to evacuate their premises) and
live hand grenades were discovered on the shelves of TM and Jaggers. Apparently
these companies refused to take part in the 2-day national mass action stay away
last week. I fear worse things are to come.
