http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Violet Gonda
27 August
2010
There has been confusion, accusations and counter accusations
between the
rival parties in the coalition government over a controversial
GPA letter
written by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara to President
Zuma,
regarding governors and sanctions.
Speaking on this week's Hot
Seat programme, the Deputy Prime Minister told
SW Radio Africa that he was
mandated to write two letters, one on June 8 and
another on 5 August, to
SADC appointed facilitator and South African
President Jacob Zuma on behalf
of the Principals, prior to the recent SADC
summit in
Namibia.
Mutambara claims the documents sent to Zuma, which were
presented to the
SADC Troika, were fully endorsed by the other two
principals, Morgan
Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe.
He said the
documents stated that the rival parties had agreed to implement
24 out of 27
outstanding issues and that the only three issues that were
still to be
resolved were to do with the appointments of Reserve Bank
Governor Gideon
Gono, Attorney General Johannes Tomana and MDC-T official
Roy
Bennett.
Mutambara said the Principals agreed that: "All other agreed
positions must
be implemented simultaneously and concurrently. This was
meant to make sure
that we don't put conditions on each other."
He
said Mugabe was not moving on the issue of governors, so to encourage him
to
implement what was agreed upon, the three Principals agreed 'to say the
implementation of the formula on governors would be carried out
simultaneously and concurrently with the collective efforts towards the
removal of sanctions'.
But recent comments from both ZANU PF and the
MDC-T show that the political
parties are still worlds apart on issues to do
with the implementation of
the Global Political Agreement.
Soon after
reports of the letter to Zuma emerged, ZANU PF insisted it will
only appoint
the governors after the targeted sanctions imposed by western
governments
are removed. Meanwhile the MDC-T denies endorsing such an
agreement.
However Mutambara accuses ZANU PF and the MDC-T of being
'economical with
the truth' regarding the agreement reached about the
appointment of
governors and the removal of the targeted
sanctions.
"Chinamasa (ZANU PF Justice Minister) is lying when he is
saying sanctions
must be removed before governors are appointed. That is not
the
understanding."
Mutambara added: "The MDC-T, where is their spin?
Where is their lie? It is
when they say there was never a link when their
Principal is part of the
document that went to Zuma that says 'we as
Principals are going to work
collectively on the removal of sanctions and
link it to the governors'."
The Deputy Prime Minister also alleged that
some Ministers (MDC-T) are
urging western leaders in private meetings to
keep the sanctions in place,
in violation of their political
agreement.
However, at a launch of a new party card in Harare on Friday,
Prime Minister
Tsvangirai told guests and supporters that 'the reluctance by
some to abide
by the commitments to which they had agreed in September 2008
is threatening
the future of the nation'.
He said: "The issue of
Provincial Governors is a prime example of this. The
formula for the
allocation of the Governors was agreed by the negotiators
based on the
results of the election. It is for this reason that the MDC was
awarded five
Governors as a reflection of our mandate from the people. To
then
artificially link the allocation of Governors to the issue of
restrictive
measures is a blatant attempt to undermine the GPA, the
inclusive Government
and the will of the people."
MDC-T spokesperson Nelson Chamisa also said
Tsvangirai had never agreed to
the concurrent implementation of governors
and removal sanctions.
The spokesperson said: "Sanctions are an external
issue and beyond our
control, whereas the issue of appointing governors is
an internal event that
is within our control."
Chamisa pointed out
that if the Deputy Prime Minister claims he wrote this
letter on behalf of
the Principals, then obviously all the Principals should
have agreed to the
contents.
Asked to comment on allegations that some Ministers were
lobbying western
leaders, in private, to keep the sanctions in place,
Chamisa responded by
saying: "Professor Mutambara likes shooting and at
times shoots in the wrong
direction."
In a related issue, the
Zimbabwe Independent newspaper reported that the
MDC-T has written an
official letter protesting to the SADC secretariat over
'the alleged
watering down of the SADC communiqué, the blocking of debate on
Zimbabwe in
the just ended full summit, and the implementation of a roadmap
to free and
fair elections in Zimbabwe'.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tererai Karimakwenda
27 August,
2010
The donor organisations that are funding the Constitutional Outreach
Program
have come under heavy criticism for pouring money into a process
that the
NCA says they knew was flawed from the beginning. The harsh
comments came
after it was reported that the parliamentary select committee
managing the
process has said they needed $5 million more, in order to
extend the
outreach exercise by 2 weeks.
Douglas Mwonzora,
co-chairman of the Constitution Parliamentary Committee
(Copac), said the
additional funds would cover the cost of extending the
exercise in Harare
and Bulawayo, where dates were cancelled back in June
after suspicions that
disruptive elements were planning to influence results
by packing the
meetings.
Meetings at several venues around the country have been
cancelled due to
confusion and mismanagement of funds that were allocated to
the outreach
teams to use for travel, accommodation, fuel and
food.
Lovemore Madhuku, who chairs the National Constitutional Assembly which
has
been campaigning for a new people driven constitution for Zimbabwe, said
that Copac is not credible, because the people in charge are corrupt and the
donors can only blame themselves.
Madhuku said: "What we saw in the
beginning, which the donors also saw at
that time, is the fact that the
people who are running Copac are a dishonest
lot. I think most of the ZANU
PF people that have for the past 20 years been
responsible for plundering
the resources of this country were put in charge
of Copac. Donors were aware
of that."
He added: "Which donors do not know Patrick Chinamasa, or
Nicholas Goche, or
Joseph Chinotimba, who are members of that board of the
outreach team. The
donors were simply trying to take a gamble, just hoping
that somewhere along
the line there would be a process of getting Mugabe
out."
Madhuku agrees that there is a need for a new constitution in Zimbabwe,
but
says donors need to find a way of ensuring that their funds are used for
the
specified purposes.
"Copac thinks donors will give them anything.
And that Copac doesn't have to
justify whatever they are doing. They need
more even though everyone knows
that they are not doing anything," said
Madhuku.
A lot of money has been spent already on the original 65 days that
were
scheduled for the constitutional outreach exercise, but Madhuku says he
sees
no valuable return from the investment.
He concluded: "It is
obvious that there will not be constitution that
reflects the views of the
people of this country. You cannot make a
constitution out of this process.
The only thing that makes this look
somewhat like a constitutional process
is the fact that they used the word
constitution in the name Copac."
http://af.reuters.com
Fri Aug 27, 2010 12:13pm
GMT
* Expected 2011 vote not likely, electoral commission
says
* Says funding biggest challenge to holding election
*
Zimbabwe's voters roll in shambles, reforms needed
HARARE, Aug 27
(Reuters) - Zimbabwe's electoral body does not expect
elections planned for
next year to take place because it still needs to
carry out reforms and is
not adequately funded to hold a credible vote, its
chief told state media on
Friday.
Under the power-sharing arrangement between President Robert
Mugabe and
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, fresh elections were set for
next year
after a referendum on a new constitution.
But the process
to write a new charter is nearly a year behind schedule,
government
officials have said.
"The timeframe is no longer what appears to be
envisaged by the political
parties because we have a very big task. The
biggest challenge is financial
resources to conduct elections," Simpson
Mutambanengwe, Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission chairman was quoted as saying
by the Chronicle newspaper.
"We are engaging various stakeholders ... and
the political parties over
electoral reforms. As it is, the voters' roll is
in disarray," Mutambanengwe
said.
Zimbabwe's last election in 2008
ended in dispute after Tsvangirai defeated
Mugabe but election officials
withheld results for five weeks, only to call
for a run-off vote which
Tsvangirai boycotted blaming violence against his
supporters.
Mugabe
and Tsvangirai have separately said elections will go ahead next
year.
Analysts believe the polls could be much later.
http://news.radiovop.com/
26/08/2010
22:06:00
Harare, August 27, 2010 - President Robert Mugabe on
Thursday declared his
late brother in law, Reward Marufu, a liberation war
hero.
Marufu, brother to Mugabe's wife, Grace, died on Tuesday evening
after a
long illness.
Marufu, was a controversial figure in
Zimbabwean politics and made headlines
in the 90s when he claimed huge sums
of money from the War Victims
Compensation fund arguiong that he had been
disabled during the liberation
struggle.
He claimed that he was 95
percent disabled and benefitted from the fund.
In 1999, Marufu, a former
Zanla combatant, was recalled home from a
diplomatic posting in Canada after
the Canadian police raided his home over
charges of severely assaulting his
daughter.
According to the State-owned Herald Newspaper, Marufu will be
buried on
Sunday at his rural home in Chivhu with full military
honours.
Mugabe's Zanu (PF) party said the status was bestowed on Marufu
for his
contribution to Zimbabwe's Independence and his work in the defence
forces
and intelligence services after 1980.
Mugabe said it pained
him that there were people actively working to erode
what the likes of
Marufu had sacrificed for.
Meanwhile Zanu (PF) refused to bestow hero
status on the late co-founder of
the Movement of Democratic Change (MDC),
Gibson Sibanda, who died at a
Bulawayo hospital also on
Tuesday.
Sibanda who died at 66 years old was only accorded a
state-assisted funeral
and is expected to be buried at his rural home in
Filabusi on Sunday.
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara said this week
his party had tried in
vain to convince Mugabe and his party to declare
Sibanda a national hero.
"We have since received communication from Dr
Isiah Sibanda who is the chief
secretary in Cabinet and also from Minister
Didymus Mutasa who is the
Minister in the President's Office saying that the
Zanu (PF) politburo has
decided that Gibson Sibanda is not worthy of being
declared a national hero,
instead they have taken a position where he has
been accorded a state
assisted funeral status," Mutambara told
journalists.
Mutambara said he and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai wrote
two letters
respectively to Mugabe to convince him that Sibanda deserved to
be laid to
rest at the national heroes acre.
"In so far as we are
concerned as a political party, Gibson Sibanda is a
national hero, if there
is any definition of a hero either by way of what
you get from literature or
what you get from political interpretation this
is an epitome of heroism
that we are celebrating today," Mutambara added.
Gibson Sibanda, who died at age 66 in his home city, Bulawayo, was a
life-long fighter for democracy, a former legislator, and a trade unionist who
was detained for his activism by both Rhodesia and Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF
administration.
Sibanda was the deputy president of the MDC when it
became a political party 10 years ago, and had been on a committee promoting
national healing and reconciliation within the 18-month-old unity government
when he died.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who is also president of
the main MDC party, said Sibanda's name "shall remain an indelible imprint in
the sad narrative of our determined and brave march towards a new
Zimbabwe."
Tsvangirai spokesman Nelson Chamisa said Mr. Mugabe's refusal
to declare Sibanda a national hero was motivated by "cruelty, contempt and
revenge."
In a recent interview with VOA in Harare, Sibanda recalled his
detention in the former white-ruled Rhodesia and his eventual release when
former Prime Minister Ian Smith and Abel Muzorewa were leading a transitional
government as peace talks to end the civil war began in London in 1979.
SIBANDA: "I was charged with high treason with some other guys, and
subsequently, and came to the high court and we defended successfully. And we
were discharged, but soon after being discharged we were served with
indeterminate detention until 1979, during the Smith-Muzorewa coalition. That
is the one which reviewed our detention orders, but the talks were already under
way."
Education minister David Coltart says in 1997 Sibanda led the
biggest anti-government demonstration he had ever seen in Zimbabwe.
"Gibson Sibanda deserves to be recognized as a national hero, because
for the last 40 years he has persistently and consistently fought within the
country for the promotion of human rights and for a new democratic Zimbabwe,"
explained Coltart. "He did so against the white minority government and he has
done so for the last 30 years. He was also president of the Zimbabwe Congress
of Trade Unions and during his tenure, he was responsible, with others, for
building it up to a very powerful organization. So, on that basis alone he
should be declared a national hero."
Priscilla Misihairabwi, the
deputy-secretary general of the smaller MDC faction said hero status is confined
to members of Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF Party. She said Mr. Mugabe should tell
taxpayers, who fund state funerals, that they have been supporting "a ZANU-PF
burial society."
Mr. Mugabe's sister, Sabina, who political historians
say played no role against white rule nor any significant part in post-1980
independent Zimbabwe was declared a national hero and buried with a state
funeral last month at Hero's Acre.
Mr. Mugabe told the pro-ZANU-PF daily
newspaper, The Herald, he regretted Sibanda's death and the state would assist
with his private burial.
http://news.radiovop.com/
26/08/2010 20:09:00
Harare, August 27, 2010 -
The 52 squatters whose shacks were torched by
Harare police on Wednesday are
living in fear following threats of beatings
if they talked to the
media.
The squatters who have been released and have since returned to
their base,
have been sleeping in the open.
"Please do not write
anything about us because the police said they will
beat us up if we do so,"
one woman at the settlement told Radio VOP. "The
problem is that when they
come to beat us up you will be in the comfort of
your homes."
The 52,
who were released without any charges, were part of the 55 people
who
included five minor children who had been arrested and detained at
Harare
Central Police Station for more than 15 hours. Three are still in
police
custody in connection with some unspecified crimes.
The ZRP members, some
of whom were armed and also accompanied by police dogs
torched over 100
shacks which had been erected in the posh suburb of
Borrowdale, where
President Robert Mugabe also lives. Some residents lost
clothes and some
property during the arson attack, which was a fresh
reminder to Operation
Murambatsvina, which left more than 700 000 families
homeless.The police
ordered the settlers to remove their possessions from
the shacks and go and
built homes in their rural areas.
The squatters said they were still to
recover from the shock they suffered
during the police operation.They said
police fired live bullets into the air
threatening to shoot at anyone who
resisted their actions.
"The police do not want anyone to know about what
is happening here. They
said they will come at night and deal with us. We
are all afraid here," said
an elderly woman.
They said a
non-governmental organisation had assisted them with blankets
and food
handouts.
Influential rights group, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
(ZLHR) assited
with the release of the arrested squatters.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
27 August, 2010
08:25:00 Staff Reporter
HARARE - The interim President of Zimbabwe
opposition party
Mavambo.Kusile.Dawn Simba Makoni has dismissed reports
circulating in the
media saying ailing President Robert Mugabe has chosen
him as his successor.
In a statement to The Zimbabwe Mail, the party's
Communications Directorate
said, "over the past week, there have been
reports on some websites,
suggesting that President Mugabe has held talks
with Dr Simba Makoni,
Interim President of Mavambo.Kusile.Dawn (MKD), in
connection with Simba
succeeding Mugabe, both as leader of ZANU (PF) and of
the country. These
reports have generated intense debate among Zimbabweans
at home and all over
the world."
The statement went on to say, "Simba
Makoni wishes to advise that these
reports are totally false, unfounded,
mischievous and malicious. Simba
Makoni last met Mugabe on Jan 21 2008, just
before he left ZANU (PF) to
launch his campaign for President, in the March
2008 elections."
"Simba Makoni also wishes to inform Zimbabweans and
others with an interest
in the country, that he and other members of his
party, Mavambo.Kusile.Dawn,
are busy building the Party, with the view to
offering Zimbabwe an effective
vehicle for genuine change, so we can get the
country working again.
"It is dismaying that the peddlers of this
falsehood chose not to contact
Simba Makoni, to verify their story; despite
his availability. This suggests
that the authors were motivated by ill will
and dishonourable intent."
"We believe that the story was created with
the intention to damage the
integrity of Simba Makoni, to demoralise members
and supporters of Simba
Makoni and M.K.D, into believing that their leader
is abandoning them."
"Whereas Simba Makoni would dearly love to serve the
people of Zimbabwe, he
is seeking to do so on the democratic mandate of the
people themselves; not
as a back door favour from anyone, least of all,
those discredited and
rejected by the people. Simba Makoni and other members
of M.K.D have been
willing and ready to lend support to the so-called
Inclusive Government, as
patriotic citizens, seeking to contribute to
alleviating the suffering of
the people."
"Simba Makoni wishes to
re-affirm to M.K.D members, all Zimbabweans and
others interested in the
affairs of our country, that he remains committed
to building M.K.D as a
dynamic, modern, democratic party, that will lead
the:
- recovery and
growth of Zimbabwe's economy;
- removal of fear and attainment of honest
reconciliation and healing of the
people;
- eradication of
corruption;
- restoration of the dignity, respect and esteem of
Zimbabweans;
- genuine empowerment and self-reliant development of all
its people; and,
- re-engagement of international partners to build
positive and mutually
beneficial relationships.
"Once again, we state
categorically that the story doing the rounds on the
internet, alleging
`negotiations' between Simba Makoni and Robert Mugabe,
are false."
A
report published on an online publication said Zimbabwe President Robert
Mugabe is actively considering successors after his doctor told him he is
losing the battle against cancer.
The African Aristocrat reported
that his urologist Awang Kechick visited him
in Zimbabwe and told him that
his condition is advancing faster than any
treatment could delay
it.
The report also said Mugabe has been struggling with undisclosed
health
issues for a long while, although he has returned to public life
looking
healthy. It also said his health was deteriorating dramatically in
the last
months.
In the report Mugabe is alleged to have surprised
everyone by dumping
presidential hopefuls and selecting Simba
Makoni.
Makoni left the Zanu-PF to start his own party, and he is alleged
to have
support from both the Zanu-PF and its opposition the MDC, as well as
the
media, the report said.
Once a breadbasket of southern Africa,
Zimbabwe's food shortages have been
brought on by drought and Mr Mugabe's
crippling land-reform programme.
Speculation regularly surfaces over the
health of the aging Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe who has been in power
since independence in 1980.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
27 August, 2010
06:00:00 By Trymore Makwara
HARARE - Zimbabwe President Robert
Mugabe is heading for the wheelchair as
health problems mount, an impeccable
senior State intelligence source in the
President’s office revealed to The
Zimbabwe Mail.
A special wheel chair and other electronic gadgets are
being designed in an
unnamed Asian country, the source told our reporter in
Bindura at the
funeral of the First Lady Grace Mugabe’s brother, Reward
Marufu.
In the weeks to come, specialists medical engineers will fly to
Harare to
prepare ground work for internal structural changes to be carried
out at
President Mugabe’s private residence in Borrowdale and his offices at
Munhumutapa Building to accommodate state of the art high-tech
gadgets.
The senior intelligence officer also confirmed that in future,
the veteran
Zimbabwean leader will be on his fit only on special occasions,
alongside a
medical doctor and a special jab will be used to keep him fit
for a small
walking distance.
The source also disclosed that a number
of the President Mugabe’s close
security agents have undergone a special
training to help them manage an
extraordinary situation with regards to his
mounting health problems.
President Mugabe’s health is taking a battering
due to old age, family
problems and a punishing schedule for a man of his
advanced age and as a
result swollen ankles, knees and all sorts of problems
are mounting as the
endgame looms.
A few weeks ago Mugabe collapsed
into a pile in Uganda, Kampala during the
Summit of African Union Heads of
State and, in China, a week after; he had
to be way led by Chinese security
agents from the podium after addressing
delegates at the Chinese at the
Shanghai World Expo.
His sister Sabina died a few weeks ago and another
sister Bridgette is in
the intensive care in a Harare hospital.
Over
the years, for a man of his advanced age President Robert Mugabe has
looked
remarkably active and ostensibly fit.
Closer inspection, however, reveals
that while he is actively making it
business as usual for continued stay in
power, advanced age appears to have
finally caught up with him. Like the
rest of the body, the brain
deteriorates with age.
At 86 and with 30
years as head of state behind him, Mugabe remains
surprisingly in control of
his mental faculty, at least during those
occasions that he appears on
television and on International Summits.
But of late pictures of Mugabe
have appeared in the media that reveal a
condition that would automatically
rule him out as a serious contender for
the presidency in a less
authoritarian country.
In most countries, for instance, presidential
candidates are required to
pass what is tantamount to a rigorous public bill
of health.
In the United States, such serious concerns were raised about
the advanced
age of the Republican presidential nominee John McCain that his
campaign
managers were forced to assure the nation that he was still fit not
only to
campaign but also to assume office as President of the United States
of
America. They handed over to the Associated Press 1 173 pages of medical
documents spanning the period from 2000 to 2008.
Mugabe was a 12
year-old boy at Kutama School when McCain was born. Unlike
his American
counterparts, details of whose health make news headlines, the
state of
Mugabe’s health has been elevated to the status of a state secret
closely
guarded by him and those who surround him.
A research into the subject of
the swelling of feet reveals that "systemic
diseases and conditions are
associated with foot and ankle swelling and are
characterized by fluid
retention or, less commonly, by an increase in
thickness of the skin.
Diseases of the joints, such as arthritis, can also
affect the joints of the
ankle and foot, leading to swelling of the involved
areas."
Swelling
of the extremities can be an indication of underlying chronic
conditions,
starting from the less frightening such as deep venous
thrombosis (better
known as blood clots) to the more severe and
life-threatening conditions
such as congestive heart failure. A reported
recent visit to China by Mugabe
can only lead to speculation as to where in
this spectrum his health
currently lies.
The abnormal buildup of fluid in the ankles, feet, and
legs is called
peripheral edema, or swelling of the lower extremities. This
condition can
be painless or painful.
Apparently the painless
swelling of the feet and ankles is a common problem,
particularly in older
people. The condition may affect both legs and may
include the calves or
even the thighs. Because of the effect of gravity,
swelling is particularly
noticeable in these locations.
The following are listed as other common
causes of foot, leg, and ankle
swelling: prolonged standing, long airplane
flights or motorcar rides,
overweight and increased age. Among women
menstrual periods and pregnancy
may also cause swelling. Zimbabweans have
nick-named their President Vasco
da Gama because of his knack for excessive
travel, which has taken him to
every corner of the world. The imposition of
travel sanctions on Mugabe and
his colleagues has done nothing to reduce his
penchant for travel to distant
lands, mostly in the Far East of
late.
He has just returned to Harare from a visit China and shopping trip
to China
where he was reported to have undergone a medical at a private
clinic.
Surprisingly, starvation or malnutrition may also cause the
swelling of
feet, medical experts say. It is not conceivable that a Head of
State would
develop peripheral edema because of starvation while resident in
State
House, unless there were issues of entirely inappropriate dietary
guidelines.
The experts say that swollen legs may, in fact, be a sign
of heart failure,
kidney failure, or liver failure. In these conditions,
there is too much
fluid in the body.
Heart failure is a
life-threatening condition in which the heart can no
longer pump enough
blood to the rest of the body. Hypertension or high blood
pressure is one of
the most common causes of heart failure, a disease which
is almost always
chronic and becomes more common with advancing age. People,
who are
overweight, have diabetes, smoke cigarettes, abuse alcohol, or use
cocaine
are at increased risk for developing heart failure.
Among the most common
symptoms of heart failure are weight gain, swelling of
feet and ankles and
decreased alertness of concentration.
Apart from swollen feet and ankles
Mugabe now appears to have another health
issue. His voluble but not
particularly commonsensical Information Minister,
unwittingly let the cat
out of the bag about the President’s failing vision.
He said Mugabe’s sight
had deteriorated so much that he could no longer read
the
newspapers.
Apparently Mugabe had complained that his effort to keep
himself informed
about events in Zimbabwe through reading the
state-controlled Herald was
frustrated by the small size of the
print.
Describing the newspaper’s font as "the size of ants", Mugabe,
unbelievably,
appealed to the minister to advise the editors of the state
newspapers to
increase the font size for his benefit. Always eager to
please, the minister
apparently promptly summoned the editors and duly
delivered the President’s
message.
"We could not believe it when the
minister said the President had told him
to ask us to increase the size of
the font," said one of the editors. "We
all looked at each other amazed at
what he had just said. We could not hold
ourselves and openly giggled about
it."
But the minister was not to be easily deterred.
"The
President clearly said he could not read stories in The Herald. Once
when he
wanted to read a story on page two about MDC and Zanu-PF he failed.
He
called me and said ‘what is this?"
The editors respectfully held their
ground, pointing out to the Minister
that there was nothing they could do
about the font size, as it was a
worldwide standard and could not be
changed.
Notwithstanding his advanced age and deteriorating heath Mugabe
appears
determined, not only do battle with, Morgan Tsvangirai, but to
defeat him
and manage Zimbabwe’s affairs of State for more years.
At
57, Tsvangirai is almost four decades younger than his rival
Meanwhile,
an unconfirmed report published on an online publication says
that Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe is actively considering successors
after his doctor
told him he is losing the battle against cancer.
The African
Aristocrat reported that his urologist Awang Kechick visited him
in Zimbabwe
and told him that his condition is advancing faster than any
treatment could
delay it.
The report says that Mugabe has been struggling with
undisclosed health
issues for a long while, although he has returned to
public life looking
healthy. However, his health has deteriorated
dramatically in the last
months, with some images showing him unable to walk
without help during a
recent trip to Uganda.
Mugabe’s condition is
allegedly so volatile that his physicians don’t leave
his side, and the
State House has been equipped with state-of-the-art
resuscitation
facilities.
There are also assertions that Zanu-PF officials ’are aware’
of Mugabe’s ill
health, and the succession issue has been high on the list
of topics
recently.
According to the article, Mugabe seems to have
surprised everyone by dumping
presidential hopefuls and selecting Simba
Makoni.
Makoni left the Zanu-PF to start his own party, and he seems to
have support
from both the Zanu-PF and its opposition the MDC, as well as
the media.
If Mugabe wins the elections in 2011 and institutes Makoni as
president,
Makoni will most certainly make an impression with the public,
while, with
Zimbabwe’s economic growth due to increase over the coming five
years, he
will also take credit for these developments.
This might be
bad news for the MDC though, as four years is enough to
rebrand the current
ruling party.
Once a breadbasket of southern Africa, Zimbabwe's food
shortages have been
brought on by drought and Mr Mugabe's crippling
land-reform programme.
Speculation regularly surfaces over the health of
the aging Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe who has been in power since
independence in 1980.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona
Sibanda
27 August 2010
Two state prosecutors who were based in Matobo
in Matabeleland South
province fled the country earlier this month, after
they were severely
tortured for their role in sending three war vets to
prison for stock theft.
SW Radio Africa can reveal that the two public
prosecutors, Samkeliso Moyo
and Freedom Chaita, are now safe in
Johannesburg, South Africa after the
state turned against them.
They
are said to be highly traumatized at what they went through when
members of
the dreaded CIO set upon them after they successfully proved in
court that
the three war vets were guilty of the crime charged.
In July, the state
eventually convicted the war vets and sent them to serve
15 year jail terms
for stealing cattle from a farm that belonged to the late
Matabeleland South
Governor, Stephen Nkomo. A younger brother to the late
Vice-President Joshua
Nkomo, Stephen died in 2003.
But mystery surrounds the release of the
three war vets from incarceration
after barely three weeks into their long
prison terms. When they were
released they reportedly teamed up with CIO's
in Matobo to crackdown on Moyo
and Chaita.
The two public prosecutors
were picked up and held incommunicado at a
torture house, where they were
severely beaten by the state security agents.
It was alleged they had been
sent by the MDC to ensure that the war vets
were convicted.
Human
rights activist John Chikwari, speaking on behalf of the prosecutors,
told
us the CIO's then 'cooked up' charges against the two.
'They were taken
to court facing flimsy charges, but were released on bail.
This is when they
decided to flee Zimbabwe,' Chikwari said.
Chikwari who was part of a
group of Zimbabweans who organised safe houses
for the prosecutors, told us
the two were slowly recovering physically but
'psychologically are still
very much traumatized.'
'What they don't understand is how could
convicted criminals be
clandestinely released from jail and come back to
haunt them with the aid of
CIO's without state intervention. The two ended
up facing charges and having
to spend some days in police cells just for
prosecuting war veterans,'
Chikwari said.
He added; 'We were informed
of their plight when they were still in Matobo
and once we knew they were
planning to flee the country, we set up a
welcoming committee that
intercepted them when they crossed over into South
Africa.'
Chikwari
said; 'It's only now that we've released information about them as
we didn't
want to jeopardise their chances of escaping from Zimbabwe. I
think it must
have been a tough experience for Samkeliso as she's always
crying. We've
made sure though that the two have been seen by doctors and
some
professionals to help them through their ordeal.'
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
27 August, 2010
A report in The Daily News this week said
that the MDC-M was dealt a
humiliating blow Monday when technicians from the
Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply Authority (ZESA) turned up at the party's main
office in Bulawayo and
cut off the power supplies, due to unpaid
bills.
According to newspaper the ZESA technicians said that the MDC-M
had not paid
its electricity bills since November 2000. The party is headed
by Professor
Arthur Mutambara, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister in the
coalition
government.
Investigating further, the paper said it also
discovered that four out of
the five telephone lines in the office have been
disconnected, due to bills
totalling $16,562 that is owed to Tel One, the
fixed line service provider,
as of 31 July 2010.
The Daily News
quoted the technicians as saying that several statements
demanding payment
earlier this year had all been ignored.
To restore power the MDC-M will have
to pay ZESA at least half of the
arrears, plus reconnection and deposit
fees.
Always quick to create laughter out of problems, Zimbabweans are
already
joking about the incident, saying if the MDC-M win an election, we
would all
remain in the dark about bread and butter issues.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
Staff Writer
27 August
2010
Controversial Attorney-General Johannes Tomana has set himself on a
collision course with the MDC-T party after he poured scorn on their 2008
report documenting political murders.
In June 2008, MDC President
Morgan Tsvangirai had to pull out of the
Presidential election run-off due
to unprecedented levels of political
violence, abduction and torture of MDC
activists and human rights defenders.
More than 500 MDC members were
killed at the height of the political
violence and close to half a million
were forced to flee their homes in a
campaign that was led by the
military.
However the MDC was able to document almost all the atrocities
including the
dates, times and places where the crimes occurred. On
realising the police
were taking no action on the document, the MDC sent a
copy to Tomana to
follow up on the investigations.
But Tomana on
Friday brushed aside the report, telling the weekly Zimbabwe
Independent
that he did not take it seriously, because it should not have
been sent to
him in the first place.
'Why are they disrespecting our systems? I will
not be one of
those that will be in the forefront to bring the systems down.
It shows that
they are not serious,' Tomana said.
The MDC has since
2008 fought the appointment of Tomana, a 'blue-eyed boy'
of the ZANU PF
regime, as the Attorney-General.
He took over as the country's chief
prosecutor from Justice Bharat Patel,
who was the acting AG following the
unceremonial dismissal of Sobusa
Gula-Ndebele, whose dismissal was linked to
ZANU-PF in-fighting.
An MDC insider told us on Friday that the party
hierarchy was deeply
incensed by his remarks and were waiting for an
appropriate occasion to
reply to his statement.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Ray Matikinye
Friday, 27 August 2010
17:31
BULAWAYO - Zapu interim leader, Dumiso Dabengwa has lambasted
President
Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party for continuously failing to
uphold the
principles of freedom and democracy that motivated thousands of
Zimbabweans
to sacrifice their lives in an armed struggled against colonial
rule.
Dabengwa, who is likely to emerge substantive leader of a
revived Zapu told
thousands of Zapu delegates to an elective congress in
Bulawayo today that
Zanu PF had failed to promote democracy and equitable
development for the
benefit of all Zimbabweans.
"Zimbabweans fought
for a democratic country, free of government sponsored
terror of the nature
that we witnessed during Gukurahundi and the March and
June elections in
2008. Zimbabweans need a government that respects the
sanctity of human
life,"
He said former Zapu members decided to pull out of the Unity
Accord which
most members had joined reluctantly hoping to stop brutal
treatment of
people and promoting reconciliation when it discovered that it
was
impossible under the conditions to promote democracy and multi-party
democracy.
Zanu PF had violated the peace necessary for development
and the rights of
indigenous people to work, Dabengwa said, amid applause
from delegates from
South Africa.
"We as Zapu want to create a state
where citizens have equal rights,
regardless of colour, culture, creed and
political belief. We want to
establish a country where citizens have freedom
of association, freedom of
speech and where citizens are protected from
arbitrary arrests. We also
want to establish a state owned by all citizens
not a few individuals,"
Dabengwa said.
He criticized the government's
land reform programme which he said began
well in 1980. But when it came to
the Midlands and Matabeleland, it excluded
the indigenous people in favour
of people from outside, contrary to the
spirit of nationalism that motivated
people to dislodge colonialism.
The Zapu congress comes after former
members of ZAPU pulled out of a Unity
Accord signed in 1987 in line with
resolution made at an earlier congress in
Bulawayo on May 16, last
year.
Under discussion is the issue of Zapu properties confiscated by the
government at the height of political disturbances in Matabeleland. Recently
government promised to return all the cattle that were impounded from the
late Chief Kayisa Ndiweni who was buried in Ntabazinduna a fortnight
ago.
The congress will also discuss whether the party should uphold the
practice
of having the party president become state president in the event
of the
party winning elections or whether he should relinquish that post
when that
happens.
The congress, which was attended by the First
secretary at the British High
Commission in Harare, Keith Scott, the US
Ambassador , Charles Ray and
representatives from the South African High
Commission as well as
representatives from the South African National
Congress (ANC) was briefly
disrupted when ZESA cut off electricity to the
venue.
Organisers said they had been assured that there would be no power
cuts
during the three day congress by the power utility.
The congress
ends on Sunday
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Stanley Gama, News Editor
Friday, 27 August 2010
16:43
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has accused his
deputy Arthur
Mutambara of misleading facilitator President Jacob Zuma of
South Africa by
claiming in a letter that the principals had agreed to
appoint provincial
governors concurrently with the removal of
sanctions.
The letter has stalled progress in the full implementation
of the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) with Zanu PF's President Robert
Mugabe steadfastly
announcing that he will not swear in Provincial Governors
from both factions
of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) until
sanctions are removed.
In an interview with the Daily News in Harare
,Friday, Tsvangirai dismissed
the contents of Mutambara's letter, saying it
was not a true reflection of
what they had agreed to as principals.
Tsvangirai said to link the issue of
Governors and the sanctions was an
attempt to undermine the GPA.
"The letter written to President Zuma is a
misrepresentation of the truth.
It is not accurate. The issue of sanctions
and the issue of provincial
governors are two separate issues which are not
related.
"What I know is that we have agreed on a formula in which we are
going to
get five Governors and they are supposed to be in office by now.
This issue
of restrictive sanctions and Provincial Governors is a new
pre-condition. I
am not sure why Mutambara did this," said
Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai had earlier spoken about his concerns with the
failure to fully
implement the GPA while addressing his supporters at a
function to introduce
new membership cards for his party in
Harare.
He said the reluctance by his colleagues to abide by the
commitments they
had agreed last year was threatening the future of the
country.
"Such an attitude threatens the legacy of our war of liberation
which was
waged to empower each and every citizen, to provide all of us with
the
privileges and protections which are our inalienable
right.
"Therefore, the only way forward is for all signatories to the GPA
to abide
by the agreement that we signed. Continued failure to fully
implement the
GPA betrays the trust and the hope the people placed in this
inclusive
Government.
"The issue of Provincial Governors is a prime
example of this. The formula
for the allocation of the Governors was agreed
to by the negotiators based
on the results of the election. It is for this
reason that the MDC was
awarded five Governors as a reflection of our
mandate from the people.
"To then artificially link the allocation of
Governors to the issue of
restrictive measures is a blatant attempt to
undermine the GPA, the
inclusive Government and the will of the people,"
said Tsvangirai.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Mutambara
said he had been
mandated by Mugabe and Tsvangirai to write a letter to Zuma
as facilitator
explaining that they had reached an agreement where
Provincial Governors
would be sworn in concurrently with the removal of
sanctions.
"What I wrote to President Zuma, I did so on behalf of the
three principals
after consultations, if you have checked, none of them have
challenged the
letter.
"I would be very interested if the two deny
that. I was tasked to write two
letters, one on June 10 and another one on
August 5 and Zuma's report was
based on my letter," Mutambara was quoted as
saying.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Sidney Saize
Friday, 27 August 2010
15:56
HARARE - Manicaland province's ten COPAC teams failed to go on
the
constitutional outreach programme, Friday,for the second day after Zanu
PF
members boycotted Fridays' visit scheduled for Nyanga North over a
dispute
on allowances.
Members of Zanu PF within the outreach teams
pulled out demanding payment
of their outstanding allowances of U$240
first.
Some members of the teams were paid US$240 as part payment,with
the balance
to be paid later.
On Thursday the outreach teams did not
travel to Nyanga after they failed to
get fuel.
Zanu PF's Manicaland
vice chairperson Dorothy Mabika refused to speak saying
"I do not speak to
the media."
The MDC formations said they were ready to go to Nyanga but
would not
travel on their own.
Patrick Chitaka, the MDC-T Manicaland
province chairperson said they were
let down by their partners.
"Our
desire was to go and finish business today and take our deserved break
tomorrow (Saturday) but we cannot go it alone. We have to be together on
the outreach programme," said Chitaka.
Chitaka said the teams would
break Saturday for a week-long holiday despite
a call from the COPAC head
office in Harare that they should not take a
break and continue on a
marathon programme to finish the outreach work.
The teams were supposed
to take a break beginning tomorrow after a 65-day
outreach work, but a
memorandum from Harare has instructions against taking
the break. The
memorandum directs that the COPAC teams in all provinces
should continue
with work and to do two visits a day instead of a single
visit a day in
wards.
"We will just go ahead with our break as planned. We need to rest
and also
the two proposed visits in a day are not practical in most cases as
we are
overburdened by the existing one outreach programme a day," Chitaka
said.
Sondon Mugaradziko, the provincial chairperson of the other MDC
formation in
Manicaland said his party was for going to
Nyanga.
Cephas Makuyana, the co-chairperson for COPAC in Manicaland
province said he
was still trying to get to the bottom of the matter with
the respective
teams on the way forward.
"I am aware of the positions
taken by the parties concerned. On the visit
today Zanu PF members refused
arguing that they would not go until they are
paid in full. The MDC members
were ready to go.
"On the issue of a break tomorrow the two teams are in
agreement and I have
informed head-office about it and am still to hear from
them," said
Makuyana.
http://news.radiovop.com
26/08/2010
20:04:00
Harare, August 27, 2010 - The director of the National
Gallery in Bulawayo
Vote Thebe has been served with summons to appear in
court next Tuesday on
allegations of breaching the Censorship and
Entertainment Control Act over
an exhibition on gukurahundi conducted by
Owen Maseko.
Thebe was confirmed two weeks ago as the director of the
Gallery after
serving in an acting capacity since the departure of Adelis
Sibutha last
year to join the office of Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani
Khuphe.
Thebe confirmed receiving the summons.
"The papers
came...and will be going there next week. We will see how it
goes," he
said.
Thebe is accused of allowing Maseko to hold an art exhibition on
the
atrocities of the Gukurahundi by the Robert Mugabe regime.
Maseko
was also arrested and granted bail at the end of March after
spending a
weekend behind bars.
The artist was arrested at the National Gallery in
Bulawayo along with the
gallery curator, BBC southern Africa correspondent
Karen Allen.
According to human rights campaigners, the Public Order and
Security Act is
being used to stifle political dissent in
Zimbabwe.
Maseko's arrest came just days after police closed a
photography exhibition
in Harare showing recent human rights violations by
President Robert
Mugabe's supporters. One of the main subjects of the
Bulawayo exhibition was
the massacre of tens of thousands of ethnic Ndebeles
in Matabeleland by the
Zimbabwe military after the country achieved
independence in 1980.
They were accused of supporting Mugabe's political
rival, Joshua Nkomo.
Mugabe is currently in a power-sharing government with
another long-time
opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai. But Tsvangirai's supporters
say they are still
being persecuted by the security forces.
Meanwhile
the Censorship Board has announced that it is now a crime for
artists to
perform without
an entertainment licence issued by them.
The latest
move by the Censorship Board is seen as an attempt to muzzle
artists.
The entertainment licence which is also applicable to public
places
providing entertainment such as cinema houses shall be renewable
every year.
Individual artists are required to pay USD 25 a year
while
institutions will be required to pay USD 155 a year.
Officials
at the Censorship Board told Radio VOP that the move had always
been
provided for under the Censorship and Entertainment Act Chapter
10:04.
"This is not a new thing it has always been there but it's just
that it was
not applied strictly and artists have been performing
illegally," said
Solomon Chitungo an official at the Censorship
Board.
"The certificate will be valid for 12 months. It's just like a
drivers
licence, we are also just issuing a licence to provide entertainment
and if
one is to be found without the certificate we will stop the show and
confiscate their equipment."
The Censorship law that the board is
using to regulate performances of
artists is an outdated piece of
legislation which was enacted during the Ian
Smith Unilateral Declaration of
Independence (UDI) era in 1964. It was later
amended by the National Arts
Council but still retains most of the clauses
that criminalise artists for
creating critical works of art.
Many artists have fallen prey to the law
from musicians, theatre
practitioners to poets.
For example artists
such as Leonard Zhakata still can't get airplay on ZBC
since the time he
released his Mugove album while theatre practitioners such
as Silvanos
Mudzvova have been arrested and arraigned before the courts for
producing
critical theatre plays such as Waiting for the Constitution.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/
27
August, 2010 09:52:00 By Oscar Nkala
BULAWAYO - The Mutambara led
MDC is heading for an explosive congress as
factionalism deepens in the
party.
A potentially divisive final battle for the party control control is
set
between president Arthur Mutambara and secretary-general Professor
Welshman
Ncube who is openly campaigning for the party
presidency.
Party sources in Bulawayo said the congress will most likely
lead to a
disintegration of the party and a mass exodus of supporters and
disgruntled
Members of parliament, four of whom are reported to be moving to
the MDC-T
while one senator is headed for ZAPU.
The wrangling centres
around the jockeying for top posts ahead of the
congress in which
secretary-general Welshman Ncube has already set up his
own allies to take
up key posts in a plot which, if successful, would leave
out national
chairman Joubert Mudzumwe and deputy secretary
Priscilla-Misihairabwi-Mushonga and party treasurer Fletcher-Dulini
Ncube.
Massive discontent has reportedly set in at grassroots level while
top
leaders are fighting vicious boardroom wars. If the alleged plot
succeeds,
post-congress top five leadership will feature Ncube as president,
Edwin
Mushoriwa as deputy-president, Goodrich Chimbaira as national
chairman,
Qhubani Moyo as secretary-general and Moses Mzila-Ndlovu as
deputy-secretary-general.
"Ncube intends to create a Council of
Elders to accommodate Mutambara,
Mudzumwe and Dulini-Ncube but this may not
succeed as they are quietly
plotting to shatter these plans at congress. The
late VP GibsonSibanda would
have been accomodated in this
group.
Generally, people see Ncube as a proprietor of the party," said
the source.
Deputy-secretary-general Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga has
reportedly
threatened to quit if Qhubani Moyo, seen as Ncube's right-hand
man, lands
the post of secretary-general ahead of her.
"Of late,
there is a flurry of replacements of party chairpersons loyal to
Mutambara
and this is linked to Ncube's ascendancy plot because chairpersons
will vote
on behalf of their blocks and anyone with a majority of loyal
chairpersons
will win the leadership.
However, Ncube's opponents are working hard to
replace block votes with
individual voting instead," said the
source.
Party spokesman Gifford Sibanda told The Daily News that the
party remains
intact as it gears up for congress early next year.
"We
cannot dignify rumours of plots by commenting on them but here people
are
free to run for whatever posts at congress, so I will not be surprised
if
Ncube or anyone runs for the presidency. We are a democratic party where
leaders are elected by the people, so there are no plots except in the
negative minds of those who want posts but fear losing them because they
lack popular support," Sibanda said.
The MDC has lost a majority of
its supporters to the MDC-T since the 2008
elections and is clinging to a
few parliamentary and senatorial seats in
Matabeleland North and South.
Political analysts have predicted that further
losses in the next election
will lead the party into political oblivion. -
Daily News
http://www.mg.co.za
RAY NDLOVU - Aug 27 2010
14:34
Zimbabwe's parastatals are paying executives and senior
management monthly
salaries of up to US$15 000, despite reports of
mismanagement, corruption
and crippling debt.
The pay levels have
been widely condemned as not reflecting the country's
economic reality,
which includes a civil-servant salary freeze at $165 a
month, poor service
delivery and a weak economic recovery. In addition, 44
of the 76 parastatals
have not submitted audited financial statements or
held annual general
meetings for the past five years, as stipulated by
Zimbabwe's Companies
Act.
In an interview with the Mail & Guardian, Gorden Moyo, the newly
appointed
state enterprises and parastatals minister, said: "We have given
parastatals
three months to comply with the directive to rationalise
salaries and after
that we will issue a report on the progress made." The
clampdown on
parastatals follows proposals made by Moyo and approved by
Cabinet last
month that include restructuring, submitting salary scales for
approval by
line ministries, releasing audited financial statements and
holding AGMs.
Government figures project that, if properly managed,
parastatals could
account for 40% of GDP. In a case that underscores the
gross overspending by
parastatals, the Financial Gazette reported that the
National Railways of
Zimbabwe spent at least US$240 000 buying luxury
vehicles for its six
executives.
It also revealed that the salaries
for its 9 000-strong workforce had not
been paid for two months. Wellington
Chibhebhe, the secretary general of the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions,
criticised the salaries of the parastatal
executives, who, he said, were
"swimming in wealth" at a time when most
workers were hard-pressed to make
ends meet.
Another problem besetting the country's loss-making
parastatals is a bloated
wage bill although operations have been cut back.
Air Zimbabwe's bid to
retrench 500 workers earlier this year was overturned
by a labour court.
The cash-strapped airline faces a court demand of
US$5-million by workers
for unpaid salaries. The government has resisted
calls to privatise
state-owned enterprises, with the result that many
survive on government
handouts.
President Robert Mugabe has also
appointed retired military personnel to key
directorship positions in the
parastatals to influence their policies.
Observers argue that their presence
could lead to directives from the
coalition government being
ignored.
Moyo responded: "It would be unfortunate if the parastatals
choose to defy
the law and Cabinet, as these reforms have no underlying
political agenda
but only serve national interests."
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Maxwell Sibanda
Thursday, 26 August 2010
14:21
HARARE - The Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF) kicks
off on 27
August and runs until 5th September with all documentaries and
short films
being screened at the Alliance Francaise in Harare.
There
will be three screening sessions throughout the day.
The annual 10 day
film platform showcases feature films, short films,
documentaries from all
over the world and hosts a number of workshops and a
variety of exciting
events that feature film and other artistic genres.
Films and
documentaries to look forward to include Voices of Healing
(Zimbabwe); In
On the Cobbler (Zimbabwe); Sex in the city (Zimbabwe) Cubs
of Gir
(Kenya); Foresees His End (India); The 1st Kid To Learn English In
Mexico
(USA); Bronx Princess (USA); Schadeberg- white black (Germany);
Foresees His End (India); Driving With Fanon (South Africa); Jerusalem
(Palestine); Sea Point Days (South Africa); Tribute to Rome (Italy); Congo
In Four Acts (DRC); Burning the future: Coal in America (USA); Forest of
Crocodiles (South Africa) and Motherland (UK).
This year marks the
13th edition of ZIFF and the showcase has been
recognised as a premier arts
and cultural event in Zimbabwe's festival
calendar.
Over the years
ZIFF has continued to provide access to skills training and
exhibition
platforms for more aspiring and professional Zimbabwean
filmmakers.
It has also provided opportunities for young people from
all backgrounds
with special inference to gender to make films and enhance
their audiovisual
literacy thereby increasing their chances of enjoying
success.
The ZIFF runs a number of programmes that include The Film Forum
(FF), a
training and development arm of the Zimbabwe International Film
Festival
Trust.
This programme offers film makers and film
enthusiasts the opportunity to
discuss issues pertaining to film and to
learn new techniques in video
production in conjunction with renowned
international filmmakers.
The Short Film Project (SFP) is another
initiative that identifies aspiring
and established filmmakers with stories
to tell so as to develop their
skills through the production of short
films.
The Short Film Project has produced over thirty short films and
documentaries to date.
Other projects include Postcards From Zimbabwe
(PFZ), an educational video
training programme for young people and Outreach
Screenings which takes film
to the people in the density areas, rural areas
and orphanages.
Friday, 27 August
In Zimbabwe, as events this week graphically demonstrated,
everything
changes but nothing changes.
Some time around midnight on
Tuesday August 24th 2010 police from Harare
Central assisted by members from
Highland Police Station, some of them armed
with AK 47s and accompanied by
police dogs, descended on a squatter camp at
Borrowdale Race Track. Sleeping
residents were ordered out of their shacks
into the cold night
air.
They were not allowed to collect their few possessions and within
minutes
100 shacks were torched by the cops and the people were either taken
to the
police cells or told to "Go home to their rural areas and build
houses
there." It was that instruction to these former victims of Operation
Murambatsvina which served to remind Zimbabweans that history was repeating
itself.
Five years ago, on May 19th, 2005, the then Chairperson of the
Harare City
Council announced the launching of an Operation designed to
clean up the
urban areas of the city on the grounds that they had been
overrun by
criminals and illegal squatters. Her announcement marked the
beginning of a
nation-wide exercise designated Operation Murambatsvina -
'Clean out the
filth' - which would be carried out in conjunction with the
Zimbabwe
Republic Police. On that day, May 19th, the state-controlled Herald
in its
editorial urged "All urbanites to go back to their rural homes and
earn an
honest living from the soil our government has repossessed under the
land
reform programme."
Three weeks later, on June 10th, when the
Operation was in full swing and
thousands of people had already been made
homeless and jobless, Robert
Mugabe opened parliament with all the pomp and
ceremony reminiscent of the
former colonial regime. In his speech Mugabe
referred to Murambatsvina as,
"A vigorous clean-up campaign to restore order
in urban areas where small
businesses operated outside the regulatory
framework and in undesignated and
crime-ridden areas that could not be
countenanced much longer."
Interestingly enough, the MDC boycotted the 2005
Opening of Parliament on
the grounds that Robert Mugabe was not the
legitimate president of Zimbabwe.
Now that same MDC is part of the
government but as Senator Mishek Marave
bravely commented this week, it
makes no difference to the ZRP. Senator
Marave was one of a group of MDC MPs
in Masvingo arrested on police
allegations of public violence. The Senator's
words deserve quoting: "Since
we joined the Inclusive Government, not a
single day has gone by without the
police harassing, intimidating and
persecuting MDC officials and
supporters.The same police force treat us with
contempt, disrespect and
scorn while showing favouritism and granting
special privileges to Zanu PF
and its supporters.., they (Zanu PF) have a
free pass to do as they please
and are never held accountable.they are
simply untouchable." The truth of
the Senator's words was borne out this
week in Robert Mugabe's refusal to
confer 'Hero' status on the late Gibson
Sibanda, one of the founders of the
opposition party and a gallant trade
unionist who died on Tuesday. While
Mugabe's sister Sabina was declared a
national hero within twenty-four hours
of her death, Gibson Sibanda was
denied that 'honour'. The fact is that only
Zanu PF supporters will be
granted that accolade. However bloody their
history, only those who have
remained loyal to Robert Mugabe deserve the
glory of being laid to rest in
Heroes Acre alongside men like Doctor Death,
Chengerai Hunzvi, one of whose
torture chambers was just metres away from my
house in Murehwa, or the
founder of the notorious Green Bombers, Border
Gezi, and so many others
whose blind allegiance to the former ruling party
is their only
qualification to that dubious honour. The fact that Zimbabwe
has still not
signed up the UN Convention Against Torture is a very clear
signal that for
Mugabe and his followers, human rights are simply not an
issue. Their
over-riding concern is getting rid of Sanctions which they
claim are causing
untold suffering for the masses of Zimbabwean people. In
an extraordinarily
bad-tempered exchange between the Zimbabwean Foreign
Minister Mumbengegwi
and the German Ambassador this week, the latter
reminded Mumbengegwi that
the very countries being lambasted by Zanu PF for
EU sanctions were
themselves donors of massive aid to the impoverished
country. With the
arrogance that characterises Zanu PF the German Ambassador
was told in no
uncertain terms that Zimbabwe - as a sovereign nation - didn't
need foreign
aid. "We are the victims of sanctions" Mumbengegwi ranted. Tell
that to the
100 families burnt out of their shelters by the police in Harare
or the 40
families evicted this week from the Chiadzwa diamond fields and
dumped in
empty tobacco barns on once thriving commercial farms or the
thousands of
ordinary Zimbabweans struggling to survive in the country that
Zanu PF has
reduced to chaos. But still Zanu PF maintains it will not
implement the GPA
until sanctions are lifted.
In Zimbabwe everything changes but nothing
changes.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH aka Pauline Henson.