The ZIMBABWE Situation
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Even with a New Government, Conditions in Zimbabwe Worsen
Saturday, Apr. 25, 2009
By TIME's Correspondent in Harare
Tatenda Majiri, 22, hoists a calabash of home-brewed beer with some authority
while discussing news of the day. But he has no confidence in the future. The
social work student says he has lost hope of going back to school because the
government-owned University of Zimbabwe (UZ) has been closed since last year.
"Drinking is the only constructive activity I have," he says, as he passes the
time in Nzvimbo rural township in Chiweshe, about 150 km north of the capital
Harare. "What else can I do?"
The UZ has been closed for over six months now. It ran on tuition fees and
government subsidies. But both have vanished. Most of the college's students are
the children of civil servants, who have to live on salaries of $100 a month.
The government is too broke to inject funds into the institution, which was once
the envy students all over Africa. Justifying his beer, Majiri says, "At least I
am not into thievery like most of my colleagues who are subsidizing their income
that way."
Zimbabweans cheered when the government of national unity was formed in
February by President Robert Mugabe and his erstwhile foe Morgan Tsvangirai, who
is now the country's prime minister. But ordinary folks say they are not happy
with what has happened since. Half the population of about 13 million is facing
hunger; a raging cholera epidemic has claimed more than 4,000 lives since last
year; and the economy has continued to be inert, as it has been for
almost a decade now. The world economic crunch has not helped the situation. "We
are yet to see results of this so-called government; rates are too high,
unemployment is alarming and cholera is still claiming lives," says Mazvita
Gonde a vegetable vendor in Harare. She was once a government clerk. (See how the Mugabe regime tried to bully the opposition into
submission.)
Life is expensive and unbearable for the unemployed — who constitute more
than 85% of the working age population — yet they are "expected to pay bills at
the end of the month," says Gonde. Residents in the crowded suburbs of the
capital shell out between $40 to $65 per month for rent. Additionally, water and
electricity bills can be as high as $20 despite the fact that at least half the
time there is no water and electricity. "It defies logic that we pay for
electricity we do not have, refuse they do not collect and water that is dirty
and frequently unavailable," Majiri rails. Meanwhile, he says, "our sick
deteriorate at home and [the politicians] celebrated their 'marriage' in
Victoria Falls using the very few resources we have at our disposal."
"Marriage" is a reference to the strategic planning meeting held by the
government of former foes earlier this month. Mugabe and Tsvangirai, along with
all ministers, gathered in the resort town of Victoria Falls to decide on how to
improve government services in the next 100 days. "The country is cash-strapped
but we hear they had gone to wine and dine," says Majiri. "We read that the
ministers went on boat cruising, helicopter rides and stayed in a five-star
hotel."
It all plays into the Zimbabweans' belief they live in a version of George
Orwell's Animal Farm, where some animals are more equal than others. Just a day after the new government
was sworn-in, all the ministers — almost 40 of them — were driving around in
luxury Mercedes Benzes. They were allocated an all-terrain vehicle each. Their
deputies were each assigned a luxury car as well.
All this happens at a time when Harare cannot supply safe water to its
citizens. Had it not been for international relief organizations, many fear the
death toll from the cholera outbreak would have been much higher, perhaps into
the five digits. Cholera related deaths per day have since gone down but Oxfam's
chief executive Barbara Stocking said the crisis has not ended. Said Stocking
during a recent visit to Zimbabwe: "We have to expect a cholera epidemic and
outbreak to happen again at the end of this year given that the water and sewage
system is not working well. It's not going to be quick and easy to get an
efficient water and sewage system fully working, so all the things that we did
in the fight against cholera will certainly be needed again next year."
Cholera is confined to mostly urban areas; in rural areas hunger and HIV are
wreaking havoc. "We have not had a decent harvest for years now," says a
government official in the rural Chirumanzu district about 250 km south of
Harare. "A number of deaths of people starving have been recorded here." The
official adds, "Had it not been for donor organizations, the situation could
have gone out of hand. The other problem is that with the high prevalence of HIV
in this country, hunger has to be fought. Those taking [Anti-retroviral
medications (ARVs)] need to have nutritious food otherwise the ARVs will not
achieve anything. In fact they will worsen the situation."
Zimbabwe: Deputy PM condemns g’vt on tollgate
Africa News
Bruce Sibanda, AfricaNews reporter in Harare,
Zimbabwe
Plans by Zimbabwe's all inclusive government to
introduce toll gates countrywide has been criticized by Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara saying motorist risks being "milked." Mutambara said the roads
are in bad state and they have to me upgraded first.
He is quoted as saying in Masvingo that “You
do not milk people on roads with potholes. You do not do that. You have to fix
the roads first."
Government in March announced that it would introduce
toll gates on all major highways countrywide. The money to be collected
government said would be used to maintain the roads but motorist are
doubtful.
The entire road network is in poor state and most accidents are
attributed to potholes on roads.
Mutambara added:" They are meant to
attract money so that we can fix our broke country. Goche made that announcement
and quickly retracted it. There has to be partners who develop the roads and
then we take away the tender after a few years.”
However, government has
temporarily shelved the collection of toll fees at Zimbabwe's entry ports and
major roads to allow for further consultations and the construction of the
requisite infrastructure.
When operational, government vehicles, those
registered by or carrying a diplomat, belonging to the fire brigade, ambulance
would be exempted from paying toll fees.
Zuma's victory intensifies pressure on Mugabe
Apr 25 2009 07:13
MAIL AND GUARDIAN
Jacob Zuma's election victory in South Africa
has been welcomed by ministers in Zimbabwe as intensifying pressure on president
Robert Mugabe.
Zuma, whose African National Congress (ANC) looked on
course last night to retain its two-thirds parliamentary majority, has been
outspoken in his criticism of Mugabe's autocratic rule.
He has since come
out in support of the power-sharing agreement between Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF
and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Morgan
Tsvangirai. Zuma has criticised his predecessor Thabo Mbeki's approach of "quiet
diplomacy" towards the crisis-torn neighbour.
Tendai Biti, finance
minister in the unity government and secretary general of the MDC, on
Fridaylooked forward to a Zuma presidency. "I don't think it will be quiet
diplomacy," he said.
"That was buried on 22 September 2008, the day Mbeki
was removed. I expect a more forthright, honest and hands-on
diplomacy.
"Jacob Zuma is not Thabo Mbeki and that means a lot. I know
the man and meet him regularly and know the way he thinks."
Unlike
Britain and America, South Africa has thrown its weight behind the power-sharing
agreement, despite concerns that Mugabe and his allies remain dominant. Biti
added: "South Africa is leading the way in supporting us directly, including
financial assistance. They recognise the problem requires international support.
They've been calling for that consistently."
Zuma, who has a track record
on brokering peace deals in conflict areas, is thought to be keen to keep the
ear of Mugabe. But he has family ties with the MDC: last year one of his
daughters married the son of Welshman Ncube, a leading figure in the
party.
David Coltart, Zimbabwe's minister of education and an MDC
senator, said: "The key for us is that Jacob Zuma wins and assumes the
presidency. Of the last three -- Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe and Zuma -- he
has been the most outspoken. I think Robert Mugabe will be fairly nervous about
his relationship with him.
"Zuma and Mugabe are very different
characters. You would never see Mugabe singing a song in front of the faithful
and dressed in casual attire."
Coltart added: "There has been concern
here that, because South Africans have been distracted, elements of Zanu-PF have
been pushing the envelope. I think those who have been blatantly breaching the
agreement will now have to watch themselves."
South Africa has long been
regarded as the democratic anchor of the continent. After the violent crackdown
that followed last year's disputed elections in Zimbabwe, Zuma said: "We cannot
agree with Zanu-PF, we cannot agree with them on values. We fought for the right
of people to vote. We fought for democracy."
But the long-running bribery
and corruption allegations against Zuma, dropped just before the election, left
a nasty taste in the mouths of many, and there are concerns that he lacks
credibility as a democratic flag-bearer.
Anxieties among Zuma's critics
grew yesterday as the ANC remained confident that it would narrowly retain its
two-thirds parliamentary majority, giving it the power to change the
Constitution. With nearly 14,5-million votes counted, the ANC led with a 66,91%
share.
The opposition Democratic Alliance claimed 15,62% while the
Congress of the People (Cope), formed by a breakaway faction of the ANC last
year, was trailing on 7,53%. - guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media 2009
Chinese Assistant FM visits Zimbabwe
www.chinaview.cn 2009-04-25 14:33:45
Zimbabwean President Robert Gabriel Mugabe (R) talks with visiting Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun in Harare, capital of Zimbabwe, April 24, 2009. Zhai arrived in Harare on April 23 for a three-day visit. (Xinhua/Li Nuer)
ZBCNEWS
China to help Zim produce quality
products
Posted: Fri, 24 Apr 2009
19:40:47 +0200
Deputy Prime Minister, Professor Arthur Mutambara, says
government is set to engage China to explore ways of helping Zimbabwean
companies to add value to their products as opposed to relying on exporting of
raw materials.
The Deputy Prime Minister, who earlier met the visiting
Assistant Minister of Foregin Affairs for African Affairs, Mr Jein Jun in
Harare, said China has the potential and expertise to help Zimbabwe produce and
market finished products for the export market.
The Deputy Minister said
he agreed with the visiting assistant minister to work out a programme where
China will export to Zimbabwe quality and not sub-standard products.
In
his message to Zimbabwe, Comrade Jein said the Chinese government is pleased
with the progress registered by the inclusive government so far, saying a bright
future is beckoning for the country.
The visiting assistant minister also
met President Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in the day.
Jacob Zuma: South Africa's enigma
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Editorial
Contradictions, concerns
and controversy surround the man who is soon to be the country's next
president.
April 25, 2009
Jacob Zuma, the man destined to become South Africa's
president after his African National Congress party swept national elections
this week, is a polygamist, a former communist revolutionary with little formal
education, an alleged taker of lavish bribes and a man so stunningly clueless
about his nation's No. 1 public health threat that he once
declared his
belief that he could fend off HIV by showering after sex. Needless to say,
he makes many foreign observers very nervous.
Zuma is in many ways a
contradiction and an enigma, but then, from an American point of view, so is his
country. South Africa is a beacon of democracy and economic strength on a
continent sadly lacking in either. Its comparatively peaceful transition from
white minority rule to free elections, and the remarkable
truth-and-reconciliation process it pioneered, set an example for the rest of
the world. And yet it has consistently tried to block United Nations sanctions
against such human rights abusers as Sudan and Myanmar. Johannesburg's failure
to exert its considerable regional influence over Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe allowed him to turn his country from a breadbasket into a nearly failed
state. And although South Africa's economy grew steadily after the end of
apartheid, it still has among the widest disparities in wealth in the world,
along with a soaring murder rate and a raging AIDS epidemic.
Will Zuma solve any of those problems or make South Africa
a more responsible player on the world stage? Who knows? The freedom fighter who
spent years in prison with national hero Nelson Mandela is a political cipher.
Asked his position on key issues, he replies that they are the same as his
party's. A leftist who promises to improve the lot of the poor, he nonetheless
assures the rich that he won't raise their taxes in an attempt to redistribute
wealth. He has been critical of his predecessor's coddling of Mugabe yet sees
Western attempts to intervene as colonialist meddling.
Because of South
Africa's international influence -- it's the only African country among the
Group of 20, the coalition of leading industrialized and developing nations --
it's easy to forget that its democracy is only 15 years old. The African
National Congress' leaders are for the most part former revolutionaries trying
to make the transition to statesmen, a career that requires very different
skills. About the best thing that can be said about Zuma's ascendance is that if
he fails as spectacularly as many outsiders expect, it could pave the way for a
more robust opposition and an end to one-party rule in a country where new ideas
are badly needed.
The upside to the Jacob Zuma victory:
Zimbabwe
Saturday, April 25, 2009
by Chris in Paris on 4/25/2009 03:31:00 AM
South Africa's Thabo Mbeki was a well known
supporter of Robert Mugabe who never showed an interest in getting tough despite
countless reports of human rights abuses. In Mbeki's eyes, somehow the violence
didn't matter because Mugabe was a fellow liberation fighter. Starvation,
torture, political assassination and election theft were of no consequence. Soon
to be
South African President Jacob Zuma, also of the
liberation movement, sees Zimbabwe in a completely different way. Zuma has been
close to various groups within South Africa who have protested against Mugabe's
terror and assuming he continues along the same path, will change South Africa's
position on Zimbabwe. This will be a very welcome and long awaited change. The
Guardian:
Zuma has been outspoken in his criticism of Mugabe's autocratic
rule. He supports of the power-sharing agreement between Mugabe's Zanu-PF and
the Movement for Democratic Change, led by Morgan Tsvangirai but he has
criticised his predecessor Thabo Mbeki's "quiet diplomacy" towards
Zimbabwe.
Tendai Biti, finance minister in the unity government and
secretary-general of the MDC, is looking forward to a Zuma presidency. "I don't
think it will be quiet diplomacy," he said. "That was buried on 22 September
2008, the day Mbeki was removed. I expect a more forthright, honest and hands-on
diplomacy.
"Jacob Zuma is not Thabo Mbeki and that means a lot. I know
the man and meet him regularly and know the way he thinks."
Another
change - potentially, at least - is the tribal change in power. Mbeki is a Xhosa
as is Nelson Mandela. Zuma is a Zulu from the hear of KwaZulu-Natal. The two
tribes share no love for each other for historical reasons including during the
anti-apartheid struggle. Even today, KwaZulu-Natal is very separated politically
from the other regions of the country. How much this will impact Zuma's term is
a question to be answered but internally, this is a major shift in power.
Failure to resolve outstanding issues threatening unity govt
‘Zimonline’
by
Patricia Mpofu
Saturday 25 April 2009
HARARE – Failure by
Zimbabwe’s three principal political leaders to resolve a host of outstanding
issues is threatening the viability of the country’s power-sharing government,
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party said on Friday.
In a sign of
growing frustration at talks between political leaders that have dragged on for
weeks but with little progress, the MDC said the delays to resolve the
outstanding issues and several other problems that have arisen after the
formation of the unity government had left the country with a “handicapped
government” that was not fully functional.
“Failure to resolve the
outstanding issues means that the global political agreement (power sharing
agreement) and the inclusive government have not been fully consummated. It
means we have a handicapped government,” said the party, in a statement a day
after another inconclusive meeting between President Robert Mugabe, Tsvangirai
and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara on Thursday.
“Brazen acts of
unilateralism, politically motivated chaos on the farms and the failure to take
decisive action on the outstanding issues pose a real threat to the life and
health of the inclusive government,” it said, referring to several decisions the
MDC says Mugabe has taken unilaterally and continuing farm invasions that
threatening to overshadow the unity government.
Among the outstanding issues
that the MDC said should have been resolved soon after the formation of the
government on 13 February are the appointment of provincial governors, permanent
secretaries and diplomats, the rehiring of Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono and
the appointment of Johannes Tomana as Attorney General by Mugabe in
January.
Tsvangirai and Mutambara want the appointments of Gono, Tomana and
provincial governors rescinded and the recruitment of new ambassadors and
permanent secretaries – moves Mugabe and hardliners from his ZANU PF party have
adamantly opposed.
Mugabe has also raised the ire of his coalition partners
with a unilateral decision to transfer a major portfolio from MDC-T minister
Nelson Chamisa to one of his ZANU PF hardliners, Nicholas Goche.
Another bone
of contention between Mugabe on the one hand and Tsvangirai and Mutambara on the
other is the refusal by the 85-year-old President to swear in MDC-T Senator Roy
Bennett as deputy agriculture minister.
The three principal political leaders
and their aides are expected to meet again next Monday to try to resolve the
outstanding issues.
The coalition government is seen as offering Zimbabwe
the best opportunity in a decade to restore stability and end a devastating
economic crisis.
But international political think-tank, the International
Crisis Group, said in report released earlier this week that the unity
government was at risk of being toppled while Tsvangirai himself could be
assassinated by military generals unhappy that the unfolding political
transition could leave them powerless and vulnerable to prosecution for past
crimes. – ZimOnline
Zimbabwe Finance Minister Biti Makes Case to Senior U.S. Diplomats
By Brenda Moyo
Washington
24 April 2009<
Zimbabwean Finance Minister Tendai Biti stepped up efforts Friday to convince
the American government as well as international financial institutions that
enough change has taken place in Harare for them to go past humanitarian
assistance to funding reconstruction.
In Washington for the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and
World Bank, Biti met with U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
William Burns and Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
Mary Jo Willis.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood told Reuters before the meeting that
it "does not signal any kind of change," adding that "there are a number of
things we have to see yet" in Harare before the U.S. government will consider
providing development aid.
Biti told VOA that he was to meet senior aides to President Barack Obama on
Monday.
He told reporter Brenda Moyo of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that he wants to assert the new Harare government's credibility, make
the case for funding its critical programs, and re-establish Zimbabwe as a
full-fledged member of the international community.
MDC Worried About Inclusive Government
Radio VOP
HARARE, APRIL 24 – THE Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) on Friday said it was worried by the continued delay in resolving
outstanding issues affecting the Government of National Unity.
In a statement it said: “The MDC is deeply worried by
the continued delay in resolving the pertinent but outstanding issues, which
should have been resolved soon after the formation of the inclusive government
on February 13 2009. However, 70 days after the formation of the inclusive
government, a fully constituted government has not been put in place thereby
rendering the inclusive government not fully functional.”
This week, the principals Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, President Robert Mugabe and deputy Prime Minister, Professor Arthur
Mutambara, met three times to resolve the sticking points to the GPA but failed
to reach an agreement.
The MDC said critical issues that needed to be urgently
resolved include the appointments of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, the
Attorney-General, provincial governors, ambassadors and permanent secretaries.
It added that also outstanding was the issue of the
re-arresting of senior MDC officials Ghandi Mudzingwa, a former aide to
Tsvangirai and Chris Dhlamini as well as the swearing-in of Senator Roy Bennett
as the deputy Agriculture Minister and the seizure of the telecommunications
department by Mugabe from the Ministry of Information and Communications
Technology headed by MDC's Nelson Chamisa.
“Failure to resolve the outstanding issues means that
the GPA and the inclusive government have not been fully consummated. It means
we have a hung and handicapped government without consensus on its bureaucracy
because of the dispute over permanent secretaries as well as the swearing-in of
Senator Bennett as the deputy minister of Agriculture to enable him to
officially assume his duties. One cannot be half-pregnant. We cannot have a
half-government and only a resolution of the sticking points will lead to a
fully constituted inclusive government,” it said.
“We believe as a party that brazen acts of
unilateralism, unbridled stubbornness, politically motivated chaos on the farms
and the failure to take decisive action on the outstanding issues pose a real
threat to the life and health of the inclusive government.”
The MDC said it hoped that when the principals meet
again on the Monday, the outstanding issues would be brought to finality and the
inclusive government would start to move in one direction for the good of the
country.
“The people of Zimbabwe urgently need a fully
constituted government in place. The people of Zimbabwe do not want
half-measures. They want finality and closure to all outstanding issues so that
the inclusive government begins to address critical issues such as health,
education, human rights, food security and the issue of a new, people-driven
Constitution,” it said.
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