Esther (not her real name), 28, a professional living and working in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, is writing a regular diary on the challenges of leading a normal life. Zimbabwe is suffering from an acute economic crisis. The country has the world's highest rate of annual inflation and just one in five has an official job. It has been a long weekend in Harare. Friday was 'Independence Day'. I watched clips of the broadcast from Gwanzura stadium, where official celebrations were held. The whole time I was wondering: "who is R G Mugabe?" Cabinet was dissolved just before elections, so who is he? I mean what office does he hold? My father went to our rural home in the east of Zimbabwe on Friday, and came back on Sunday with the news that the GMB (Grain Marketing Board) there shut down on the Wednesday after elections. People were told that in future they should purchase grain from the opposition, since they voted for an opposition MP. So even the purchase of grain is politicised. Leaving the church in tears My mother on the other hand went to an Anglican church gathering to celebrate the role of mothers, I think its called Mother Mary's day. She says there were thousands of women, from all over Zimbabwe. The event started at 0900, and as they were having lunch at around 1300, a couple of police officers told them to disperse as they were not supposed to be there, which the women refused to do. The policemen then left but came back a short time later with a truckload of more police officers - this time in full riot gear. They repeated their order to disperse, and this time of course they did. At least none of them was beaten, but my mother was in tears as she told us the story. She says as they drove away from the venue for the event (the Anglican church grounds in Mbare, a township in Harare) most of the women were crying. On Saturday, we got bread from a supermarket for the first time in two or three weeks without having to queue for it. We just walked in and simply picked it off a shelf. Wow! It must have something to do with the new price - a jump from 25m Zimbabwean dollars to 65m. The hottest topic of conversation in Harare at the moment is the shipload of arms. People are wondering when the order was placed, before or after the elections? And where is it now? What if it lands on a coast where the government does not believe in human rights? Will the arms eventually find their way here, despite the efforts of the unions in South Africa and Mozambique? So life goes on in Zimbabwe. We are slowly resigning ourselves to more of RG's rule. It does not look as if he going anywhere. I keep imagining that we are drowning and people on the shore can see we are in distress. But there is someone with us, and this is the person they ask, "Is everything ok?" The person replies, "Yes, yes, no need to worry, I'll have you out in a minute." So the onlookers go on with what they were doing, only to read about how we were found washed up on the shore, dead, the next day.

Zimbabwe's maize harvest should reduce need for food relief, says UN

Business Report

April 22, 2008

By Donwald Pressly

Cape Town - The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is cutting supplies to
Zimbabwe because it has calculated that harvests will come in from this
month.

The programme reported that it had begun to "drastically scale down" its
activities from this month, when the maize harvest began.

About 300 000 Zimbabweans would be supported this month, compared to about
2.4 million who received WFP support in the last few months.

From next month, through the programme's relief and recovery operation, WFP
expected to raise this figure again to 825 000 people each year for the next
two years, but the operation would "seasonally expand its assistance" to
cover as many as another 1 million highly vulnerable people "if they are
affected by crop failure".

Although "early indications" were that this year's harvest might be lower
than expected due to insufficient inputs - in particular fertiliser - and
floods, Marcus Prior, the regional manager for central, eastern and southern
Africa, said yesterday that it was too early to give an accurate estimate of
the harvest - and far too early to say whether WFP would have to scale up
its operations later in the year.

The programme reported that supply routes had not been disrupted by the
unsettled political environment - including post-election violence as the
country awaits, after three weeks, the result of the presidential election.

Prior said from Nairobi that food was procured from Zambia, Malawi, South
Africa and Mozambique for the WFP operation in Zimbabwe "and moved into the
country by road".

He said: "There have not been any problems moving food into Zimbabwe." The
WFP had "no reports" of any of its distributions being disrupted over the
past few weeks.

Richard Lee, of the WFP information office in Johannesburg, said in a
statement that the UN agency had completed food distributions last month,
earlier than usual, to avoid any overlap with the final run-up to the
presidential and parliamentary poll on March 29.

Mugabe’s Political Gambling

Korea Times

By Rejoice Ngwenya

HARARE ― On the 28th anniversary of throwing off colonial rule, we still
cannot throw off one-man rule as President Robert Mugabe's clings to power
after two million Zimbabweans showed him the red card.

Among other accusations, Mugabe is questioning the credibility of the
Zimbabwe Election Committee (ZEC), staffed by his men, and its ability to
count votes.

These are the characters who have taken eight days to pronounce
parliamentary and senatorial results and have yet to tell us who won the
ticket to the presidency, Morgan Tsvangirai or Robert Mugabe.

Of course, Mugabe has no problem accepting that 97 of his parliamentary and
30 of his senatorial candidates won fairly. In fact, his ZANUpf party was
delighted when the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and other
African election monitors praised him for conducting a ``free and fair"
election.

Now, faced with the prospect of relinquishing the presidency to Tsvangirai,
he has resolved to fight him in a presidential run-off ― although we still
do not know how many votes the contestants got.

We can assume Mugabe has had a preview of the outcome and now needs to
subvert the will of the people: ZANUpf is now asking for a recount of the
presidential ballots amid fears they have been tampered with.

The results were compiled at polling stations and signed for by all
contesting parties on official government stationery and transported to the
headquarters of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). How on earth can
Mugabe claim his votes were miscounted in such an elaborate free and fair
system?

Meanwhile, Mugabe still plays president by changing monetary and tax
regulations, arresting foreign journalists and getting the so-called war
veterans to threaten more violence against the few remaining white farmers.

On the other side, the restive Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) has taken his case to the High Court in order to
compel the ZEC to release presidential results.

Tsvangirai is a slow learner. Since 2000, all election results have been
manipulated and the MDC has challenged them in the courts but we have yet to
see any ruling.

Tsvangirai now needs to do everything he can to unite the opposition at this
moment of crisis. He allowed his advisors to scuttle coalition agreements
with other opposition forces, driven by exaggerated expectations of an
outright 52 percent majority win against a beleaguered ZANUpf government.

He should have learnt that in Kenya, Zambia and Malawi, dictatorships were
eliminated by a critical mass of combined opposition, not by a charismatic
opponent. For many months, South Africa's Thabo Mbeki gave him an
opportunity to collaborate against the 28-year-long dictatorship but he
turned it down.

To compound the crisis, Mugabe's people are creating conspiracy theories.
``There have been widespread reports of white former farmers flocking back
into the country,'' the ZANUpf newspaper The Herald said.

Mugabe fuelled the rumors by saying: ``Land must remain in our hands. The
land is ours, it must not be allowed to slip back into the hands of whites."

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa took it further: ``The MDC claim they
have won and they are unleashing former white farmers on farms occupied by
new farmers to reverse the land reform program.''

With an entrenched ruling clique, we must fear that, in the event of either
a presidential run-off or a re-count, MDC members, sympathizers and
exasperated Zimbabweans will take the fight to the streets and, before you
know it, we will be in a Kenyan scenario.

This will be an excuse for Mugabe to declare a state of emergency and rule
by decree until death do us part.

Civil society organizations and parties have so far simply urged citizens to
remain calm, while asking the ZEC to complete its legal mandate. Sooner or
later they will have to say that they are willing to defend the choice that
Zimbabweans made on March 29.

Fearing civil unrest, the National Association of Non- Governmental
Organizations, representing about 500 civil society groups, has launched a
national campaign for peace and respect for the voice of the people.

Communities all over the country will be encouraged to conduct various
non-violent social actions such as marches, prayer meetings and public
meetings. Citizens are asked to wear white ribons, scarfs and clothes as a
sign of support for peace in Zimbabwe.

Rejoice Ngwenya, a Zimbabwean freelance columnist since 1986 and civil
society strategy consultant, has been involved in constitutional research
and electoral supervision from 2000 to the present. He can be reached at
rejoice@earth.co.zw.

Top ANC men off to Europe

The Citizen

Published: 4/22/2008 07:53:04

MPHO DUBE

JOHANNESBURG - The president of the African National Congress (ANC), Jacob
Zuma and a delegation of top ANC officials are visiting three European
capitals (Berlin, London and Paris), as part of a damage-control mission.

The delegation includes ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe,
treasurer-general Mathews Phosa, head of international relations Ebrahim
Ebrahim and national working committee (NEC) member Maite Nkoane-Mashabane.

ANC spokesman Speed Styn said: “The delegation will travel to London this
afternoon, where they will hold meetings with various business leaders,
opinion makers and civil society representatives. Zuma is also scheduled to
pay a courtesy call on British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.”

Meanwhile, the ANC isgoing over President Thabo Mbeki’s head in a new
initiative to meet Zimbabwean political parties in an attempt to harmonise
the situation in Zimbabwe.

A source within the ANC told The Citizen the decision was taken because
President Thabo Mbeki had failed to act on Zimbabwe, as he had a “soft spot”
for Robert Mugabe, the “caretaker president” of Zimbabwe.

“Mbeki has failed the people of Zimbabwe, African leaders and international
leaders. He also made disturbing comments, saying there is no crisis in
Zimbabwe while people are being beaten up, evicted and killed.

“The ANC had no choice but to take action directly to speak to political
protagonists in Zimbabwe,” said a source. But ANC spokesman Tiyani Rikhotso
said the decision had not been meant to undermine President Mbeki.

mphod@citizen.co.za.

More Poll Officers Arrested

The Herald (Harare)  Published by the government of Zimbabwe

22 April 2008
Posted to the web 22 April 2008

Harare

Two more Zimbabwe Electoral Commission officials, including the provincial
election officer have appeared before a Bindura magistrate charged with
electoral fraud or alternatively breaching the Electoral Act.

This brings to nine the number of ZEC officials who have been arrested in
the province on similar charges.

Thenjiwe Mnkandla (47), the Mashonaland Central provincial elections officer
and Brian Rufu Munakira (62) the Bindura South constituency election
officer, separately appeared before magistrate Mr Charles Murove who
remanded them out of custody to Monday next week.

Prosecutor Mr Emmanuel Muchenga had opposed bail citing the serious nature
of the allegations.

Allegations against Mnkandla are that during the March 29 elections, she
received House of Assembly results for the Mazowe South constituency at the
provincial command centre.

As part of her duties, the State alleged, she was supposed to transmit the
results to the national command centre only after cross-checking and
correcting errors or other anomalies before relaying them to the national
command centre.

But Mnkandla, the State said, allegedly sent the results to the national
command centre and had certified that they were correct. It was later
discovered that the results sent reflected the opposite of what had occurred
on the ground.

Thus the MDC-T candidate Modern Chitenga was declared the winner of the seat
yet Cde Margaret Zinyemba of Zanu-PF party was the real winner. The anomaly
was only discovered after the results were broadcast on national television
and radio.

Members of the provincial elections committee had to revisit the election
results only to discover that Zanu-PF candidate Cde Zinyemba had garnered 4
109 while MDC candidate got 4 052 instead of the initial figures of 3 086
and 3 599 respectively.

In Munakira's case, the State alleged that he overstated results he sent to
the provincial command centre for ward 21 with independent presidential
candidate Simba Makoni said to have got 289 votes on the V23 form instead of
285.

In a related matter, another ZEC official facing allegations of negligence
of duty which prejudiced candidates in the presidential election was
yesterday granted bail by the High Court. Stephen Mukoko (63), the
headmaster of Eastridge Primary School was arrested early this month on
charges of criminal abuse of duty as a public officer or alternatively
willfully failing to perform duty under the Electoral Act.

High Court Judge Joseph Musakwa yesterday granted Mukoko $500 million bail
with reporting conditions after he was refused bail pending trial by the
magistrates' courts. Harare Magistrate Ms Olivia Mariga dismissed his bail
application to give the State time to complete investigations. Mukoko was
the constituency election officer at the District Development Fund in
Manyame in Harare South House of Assembly constituency.

It is the State's case that Mukoko negligently and wrongfully completed a
V23 form, which was then forwarded to ZEC with errors. The form indicated
that President Mugabe polled 6 030 votes instead of 6 035, Morgan Tsvangirai
of MDC-T had 5 407 instead of 5 467 while Makoni had 860 votes instead of
865. The State is alleging that as a direct result of the abuse of duty by
the accused the presidential candidates did not get the correct and true
reflection of their votes.

According to the State, this had a serious impact on the final results of
the presidential poll.

However, Mukoko's lawyers in papers submitted to the court appealed for bail
on the grounds that he was a family man of an advanced age with property in
Zimbabwe which made it unlikely for him to abscond.

Personal observation

To whom it may concern

I am not sure if this will be of interest, but I felt that I should 
put out there what I observed on a 5 hour drive through Zimbabwe 
today. I drove from Chimanimani near the Eastern border, through 
Mutare and then on to Harare.

The Chimanimani Arts Festival was on over the weekend and the whole 3 
days passed peacefully and successfully by all accounts.

On the 80 km stretch between Chimanimani and Wengezi, at one small 
village on the road there were a crowd of villagers, about 60 strong, 
who had been lined up in seated rows in a clearing under some trees. 
They were being lectured to by a middle-aged man, in plain clothes, 
who appeared to be ranting at them. Church meeting? Village pungwe? 
Or ZANU PF re-education? I am not sure, but I know what it looked like.

Between Wengezi and Harare we also saw one ZANU PF pick up, with 
several males on board, and 4 other trucks with government plates 
with fair numbers of men aboard, 2 large army trucks filled with 
uniformed soldiers, 2 police pick ups with passengers and 4 new 4 x 4 
vehicles with no number plates each with 3 to 4 male passengers.

There were around 8 police blocks altogther, mostly manned by police 
women and we were only stopped at one, at which the officer was very 
pleasant. Quite frankly the police did not seem to be interested in 
much butt buses and trucks.

We travel this road every 4 to 6 weeks and the military traffic on 
the road was unusually high. But what struck us more than anything 
was the exceptionally high number of civilians waiting by the road 
trying to find transport, both in the rural areas and the towns. In 
Rusape there were literally hundreds of people by the road side, all 
with large bundles.

I have heard several first-hand accounts now of beatings and torture, 
from people returning to work from the rural areas after the long 
weekend. Apparently many of them opting for lifts in private 
transport after hearing accounts of thugs getting on public transport 
and berating or beating their, then captive, audience.

I have not personally experienced any of the horror being presently 
inflicted on the people of this country, but feel all those 
Zimbabweans with access to email and internet should be relating all 
they see and hear, to make as many people aware as possible of the 
tragedy being played out here.

The elections are being stolen again, whilst the country bleeds. 
Enough is really enough...

Thanks for the news

Best regards
J.

Say a prayer for Zimbabwe

Jamaica Gleaner

published: Tuesday | April 22, 2008

Devon Dick

Once again Zimbabwe is in a crisis and needs help. In spite of the
pronouncement of Thabo Mbeki, South Africa president, that there is no
crisis in Zimbabwe, there is a crisis and there has been a crisis for a
while. So clear is the crisis that President Mbeki's own ruling party, the
African National Congress (ANC) disagreed with Mbeki and claimed there was a
crisis.

There is an electoral crisis. The opposition party in Zimbabwe, the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) won the parliamentary elections.

Recount wanted

However, the Electoral Commission, after three weeks, has not declared the
result of the presidential election. However, the ruling party, aided by the
Electoral Commission wants to have a recount and, possibly, a run-off.
However, President Robert Mugabe is putting the horse before the cart. There
should not be a recount until the count is declared. The results need to be
known and then there can be recounts, challenges and a possible re-run.

I heard a South African diplomat at the United Nations (UN) trying to defend
what is happening in Zimbabwe by likening it to what happened in Florida,
USA in the 2000 presidential election between George Bush and Al Gore.
However, that is an unfair analogy because in that election the results were
declared and then there was a challenge leading to a recount. The
international community, including Jamaica, should support the UN Secretary
General and call for the immediate release of the results of the Zimbabwean
presidential race.

Strange ruling

There is also a judicial crisis. The Supreme Court made a strange ruling, to
say the least, when it did not force the Electoral Commission to release the
results immediately. One cannot help but feel that the judiciay is an arm of
the ruling party.

There is a serious economic crisis in Zimbabwe. When I visited Zimbabwe
about four years ago, as a guest of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair
(ZIBF), I was appalled that they had an inflation rate of 600 per cent. I
realised, then, that Zimbabwe was in a deep economic hole. Any country with
an inflation rate above nine per cent annually is in trouble. By May 2007,
the official annualised inflation rate was 4,500 per cent. By November it
was 26,000 and in February of this year, it was 66,212 per cent. These are
official statistics!

As Jamaicans know, from experience, a high inflation is one of the worst
forms of taxation. It stifles economic growth and erodes the purchasing
power and lifestyle of the citizens. Zimbabwe was in an economic free fall
and President Mugabe was, clearly, not managing the country and even for
that reason he should not have offered himself for re-election.

The country has a humanitarian crisis. Last December, while in England, I
watched a documentary about the plight of Zimbabweans who tried to smuggle
themselves into South Africa. People are suffering in Zimbabwe.

Say a prayer

But do not cry for Mugabe; instead say a prayer for Zimbabwe. Unbelievably,
the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai is offering Mugabe an amnesty.
Mugabe was a great freedom fighter against the oppressive British regime.

However, the oppressed became oppressive, having learnt well from the former
oppressors. However, if we continue to allow oppressive tyrants off the hook
then poor citizens will continue to suffer. Let international tribunals make
ruling on the Mugabes, Bothas, Pinochets, Blairs and Bushes of this world.

The electoral, the economic, the judicial and humanitarian crises are real.
Jamaica and the world needs to confront this present and immediate danger
and say a prayer for Zimbabwe. These problems require supernatural and
superhuman effort to save Zimbabwe.

Rev Devon Dick is pastor of Boulevard Baptist Church and author of
'Rebellion to Riot: the Church in Nation Building'.

Crisis Leaves Zimbabweans Hungry, Beaten

CBSnews

Election Results Still Hidden, Opposition Claims Brutal Crackdown, World
Slow To Help
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, April 22, 2008

(CBS) This story was written by CBS News' Sarah Carter, reporting from Cape
Town, South Africa.

The opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change says Zimbabwe is a
war zone. The MDC claims 10 of its supporters have been killed by President
Robert Mugabe's henchmen, more than 500 attacked, 400 arrested and more than
3,000 families displaced.

Several MDC supporters in hiding described to CBS News seeing camps set up
by military officers and members of youth militias. The claims are confirmed
by a report released on Saturday by Human Rights Watch, which said "torture
camps" had been set up in rural areas.

Three weeks after the March 29 election, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
has not released the results of the presidential race. The MDC has lost
repeated appeals to the High Court to force the commission to announce the
results. Instead, the commission has begun recounting votes in 23 districts,
where Mugabe's ZANU PF party claims there were counting irregularities.

Government soldiers went into the electoral centre last week and removed the
ballot boxes. No independent observers were allowed to remain with the boxes
or given any information about a possible recount. There has been no further
information on the location or security of the ballot boxes since.

Help From A Neighbor:

Across the border in South Africa, the ruling African National Congress
(ANC) party has decided to circumvent President Mbeki and deal directly with
the players in the Zimbabwe crisis. The move came after Mbeki said there was
no crisis in Zimbabwe, following a meeting eight days ago with his long-time
ally Mugabe.

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said his party had decided to
dump Mbeki as chief mediator in the crisis. Tsvangirai has asked the
Southern African Development Community to recall Mbeki as the organization's
negotiator.

Last week the ANC took the unusual step of criticizing the country's
president, saying in a statement that Mbeki, seen at left, needed "to
observe a neutral position in this matter."

Tsvangirai, who left Zimbabwe 10 days after the election, says it's too
dangerous for him to return to Zimbabwe. He has been traveling from his new
base in Johannesburg garnering support from the continent's leaders. Monday
he met in Nigeria with President Umaru Yar'Adua and former President
Olusegun Obasanjo before flying to Accra, Ghana to attend the twelfth
session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Humanitarian Appeal:

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon planned to discuss the Zimbabwe crisis at
the conference. Tsvangirai met Ban Tuesday and pressed him to issue a firm
statement demanding the release of the election results.

While the political situation is volatile, the humanitarian crisis is
reaching dire levels.

Activists claim food is being denied to opposition supporters. Prior to last
month's election, more than 3 million people in Zimbabwe were being fed by
the World Food Program, according to MDC Secretary-General Tendayi Biti,
seen at left. With government soldiers now handing out much of the food aid,
basic food supplies have become scarce and unaffordable.

In a bid to gain favor Mugabe printed trillions of Zimbabwean dollars to
fund what's reported to be a 700 percent pay-rise for civil servants - this,
in a country with a 100,000 percent inflation rate that economists project
could grow to five-times that by May.

What little money the Zimbabwean government has cobbled together seems to be
going, not to food aid, but to arms.

Deadly Cargo:

The International Transport Worker's Federation (ITF) said Monday it was
organizing unions across Africa to prevent the unloading of a Chinese ship
carrying weapons destined for Zimbabwe.

The ship left the South African port of Durban on Friday after the country's
high court ruled it could be offloaded in Durban, but barred its cargo from
being transported to the boarder with Zimbabwe.

A South African newspaper published a list of the ship's inventory, which
includes 3 million rounds of AK47 ammunition, 1,500 rocket propelled
grenades and more than 3,000 mortar rounds. It's reported the ship is now
heading towards Luanda, Angola where it will send its contents by land to
the Zimbabwean Ministry of Defense.

The Associated Press reported Tuesday that the Bush administration was
intervening with governments in the region to prevent the ship's cargo from
reaching Zimbabwe.

Jendayi Frazer, the top American diplomat for Africa, was to meet leaders in
southern Africa this week to voice U.S. concerns over the deadly payload.

U.S. intelligence agencies were tracking the vessel, according to the AP
report, and American diplomats were under instructions to press officials in
South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia and Angola not to let it dock.

Weapons meant to 'butcher' Zimbabweans: MDC

SABC

April 22, 2008, 09:00

The weapons on board the Chinese ship which fled Durban harbour last week
were clearly meant to "butcher" innocent Zimbabweans, the country's
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said today.

"Those weapons were not going to be used on mosquitoes, but (were) clearly
meant to butcher innocent civilians whose only crime is rejecting
dictatorship and voting for change, and change they can trust," the MDC said
in a statement ahead of talks with the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu).

In those discussions, it would convey its "appreciation" of the refusal by
the Cosatu-affiliated SA Transport Workers' Union to be party to the
movement of the weapons to landlocked Zimbabwe, it said.

Biti to brief Vavi on crisis
The MDC's secretary general Tendai Biti is to meet with Cosatu general
secretary Zwelinzima Vavi in SA today. Biti would brief Vavi on the crisis
in Zimbabwe as part of the MDC's "diplomatic offensive, informed by the need
for African solutions for African problems".

Biti would also convey appreciation for the solidarity Cosatu and South
African workers had shown the Zimbabwean people as they struggled to free
themselves "from the painful hand of the vampire dictatorship".

"The hour of change has come. We are confident of victory. However long it
may take, we have a date with Zimbabwe's prosperity and we will not be late,
neither will we miss it," the MDC said. The MDC won the majority of seats in
Zimbabwe's parliamentary election, but the results of its presidential
election have yet to be announced with recounts underway in several areas.

However, the MDC contends that this is an attempt by President Robert Mugabe
to "steal" the election. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has already claimed
victory. - Sapa

Mugabe clearly stealing election: Smith

Sydney Morning Herald

April 22, 2008 - 1:42PM

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe will do anything in his power to steal
the recent election, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says.

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) claimed victory
in the March 29 parliamentary poll but that result could be overturned by a
recount.

The MDC believes its leader Morgan Tsvangirai also won the presidential poll
and has accused Mugabe of attempting to cling to power by refusing to
declare the results.

Mr Smith on Tuesday said the Australian government was increasingly
concerned about claims of violence against MDC supporters.

"It is now absolutely apparent that Mr Mugabe will do anything to steal this
election," Mr Smith told reporters.

"It is quite clear that their so-called recount is nothing but a sham," he
said.

"A blatant attempt by Mr Mugabe to either avoid a presidential run-off, or
have a presidential run-off in which intimidation, threats, thuggery prevent
the will of the Zimbabwean people."

Mr Smith urged the African Union and the international community to maintain
pressure on the "ruthless Mugabe regime" to ensure he could not get away
with stealing power.