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Mugabe using terror to force us into unity govt: MDC
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Edith
Kaseke Friday 12 December 2008
HARARE - Zimbabwe's opposition
on Thursday accused President Robert Mugabe
of using terror tactics to
coerce it into a unity government, as South
African mediators pressed the
Zimbabwean rivals to conclude a fragile
September power-sharing pact, seen
as the only solution to ending a
political and humanitarian
crisis.
Mugabe and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party
leader
Morgan Tsvangirai have since September been deadlocked over sharing
Cabinet
ministries, as the country spirals towards total collapse from a
crisis
marked by a deadly cholera outbreak and economic
implosion.
The MDC said in a statement Mugabe's ruling ZANU PF party had
killed the
dialogue process "through a litany of shameful acts of gross
insincerity,
parochial pursuit of party interests, arbitrary arrests,
brutality and
abductions of civic society and MDC members and
leaders".
"Either ZANU PF is killing dialogue or has already killed it.
We refuse to
be cowed by wanton acts of terror into succumbing to a warped
political
settlement that is not in the best interest of the people of
Zimbabwe," the
MDC said in a statement.
The agreement between Mugabe,
Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara who heads a
smaller MDC group, had brought
hope that the troubled southern African
nation could finally emerge from its
crisis.
But the agreement brokered by former South African President
Thabo Mbeki has
in recent days looked increasingly in danger of unravelling
as Tsvangirai
and Mugabe wrangle over distribution key government
posts.
Recent abductions of MDC members and human rights activists by
unknown
people who are however thought to be agents of the government's
feared spy
Central Intelligence Organisation have added to doubts over the
agreement.
Tsvangirai's MDC, which holds the majority seats in Parliament
and could
easily block passage of a constitutional amendment Bill meant to
give legal
force to the agreement, has threatened to veto the Bill if
outstanding
issues of the inclusive government agreement were not
resolved.
Among the sticking issues are the allocations of ministerial
portfolios, the
appointment of provincial governors and the constitution and
composition of
a National Security Council, among others.
South
African facilitators were this week meeting the Zimbabwean political
parties
to push them towards a unity government which analysts say can best
tackle
the country's mounting problems.
The Southern African Development
Community (SADC) ruled last month that ZANU
PF and MDC share control of the
disputed ministry of home affairs,
delighting Mugabe but angering Tsvangirai
whose party insists it must get
full control of the portfolio that oversees
the police among other key
functions.
Analysts say while pressure is
on Tsvangirai to accept the SADC ruling, the
former trade unionist is seen
holding out over complaints that Mugabe
grabbed all key ministries and wants
the MDC to enter government as a junior
partner, principally to unlock
international funding.
The opposition party said: "The truth of the
matter is that the allocation
of all ministries remains a bone of
contention. We are arguing that the
allocation of ministerial portfolios
should be based on equity and not power
grab.
"We remain on the side
of the people while ZANU PF remains on the side of
terror. We remain on the
side of the downtrodden while ZANU PF is firmly
etched in the dark corner of
an avaricious, parasitic elite.
"While terror and abductions continue to
visit the innocent people of
Zimbabwe, we remain firmly focused on a future
of democracy, freedom and
economic prosperity."
Western leaders and
some African statesmen, alarmed by rising deaths due to
the cholera
epidemic, have in recent days stepped up calls for Mugabe's
resignation,
demands that have not been supported by the African Union.
In addition to
cholera, Zimbabwe's worsening crisis is also shown in the
world's highest
inflation of 231 million percent, 80 percent unemployment,
deepening
poverty, acute shortages of food and every basic commodity. -
ZimOnline
More MDC
Members Abducted in Zimbabwe's Eastern Manicaland Province
http://www.voanews.com
By Jonga
Kandemiiri & Patience Rusere
Washington
11 December
2008
The formation of Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change led by
Morgan
Tsvangirai said on Thursday that six party members were abducted
early
Wednesday by suspected militia of the ruling ZANU-PF party in
Manicaland
province, on the border with Mozambique.
They said the
abductions in the Headlands constituency were carried out by
eight suspected
militia members circulating in a truck recognized as one
used by ZANU-PF
militia and state security agents in the post-election
period when political
violence was rampant.
The fear among many opposition members, civil
society activists and other
observers is that with the power-sharing process
seen by many to have
dead-ended, ZANU-PF hardliners are again resorting to
political violence to
reinforce the party's grip on power.
The
abductions of the MDC activists brought to nearly a score the number of
party members and human rights activists kidnapped since late
October.
Zimbabwe Peace Project Director Jestina Mukoko was abducted Dec.
3 and her
whereabouts remain unknown. Mukoko, who documented political
violence and
human rights violations, is believed to have been seized from
her Norton
home by state security agents
Makoni South Member of
Parliament Pishai Muchauraya told reporter Jonga
Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio
7 for Zimbabwe that local police had not been
cooperative in the search for
the missing MDC activists, saying that that
matter was political.
For
perspective on the resurgence of abductions, all too common in the
post-election period in April-June of this year, reporter Patience Rusere of
VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe turned to Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
Director Abel Chikomo and Legal and Advocacy Officer Anna Moyo of the
Southern African Center for Survivors of Torture.
Chikomo said the
abductions have triggered fear among human rights
activists.
Studio 7
listener Paradzayi Nyamunda of Bulawayo blamed the government for
the wave
of abductions. Themba Mazhuwa of Marondera said the MDC must do
more to
confront the government over the resurgence of politically motivated
abductions.
MDC
says gunmen trailing official
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=8725
December 11, 2008
By Mxolisi
Ncube
JOHANNESBURG - The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says
unknown gunmen
are stalking one of its senior officials in a suspected
abduction attempt.
The claim comes amid concerns about a resurgence of
alleged persecution of
MDC members by the administration of President Robert
Mugabe.
In a statement, the MDC said that a group of unknown gunmen have
been
hunting for its elections director, Dennis Murira, since last
week.
"On Saturday four armed men in an unmarked car visited his
(Murira's) rural
home in Masvingo and told his mother they were looking for
him. They refused
to reveal their identities," read the MDC
statement.
The party said that a group of about 20 armed men descended on
Murira's
Harare home again Wednesday night, telling neighbours they were
looking for
him, his wife and his child, but again did not identify
themselves.
The armed men allegedly broke into the house and took away an
MDC flag and
an axe, which belonged to Murira.
"The hunt for Murira
comes at a time when suspected State agents have
abducted 22 people since
last month," said the MDC.
"Fifteen MDC activists were abducted in
predawn raids in November and their
whereabouts remain unknown, despite a
High Court order compelling the State
to either release them or charge
them."
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his party defeated Mugabe and his
Zanu-PF
in presidential and parliamentary elections in March.
The
defeat sparked a campaign of reprisals against MDC supporters by
followers
of Mugabe, who had not lost an election since independence 28
years
ago.
Abductions of MDC members and human rights activists have worsened
over the
past few weeks.
Last week, Jestina Mukoko, the national
director of the Zimbabwe Peace
Project (ZPP) and her twowork colleagues,
Broderick Takawira and Pascal
Gonzo, were abducted separately by armed
men.
Mukoko was abducted from her Norton home in the morning last
Wednesday,
barefooted and wearing only a night dress, while Takawira and
Gonzo were
seized from their Harare offices Monday morning.
All those
abducted have not yet been seen since, while police, who claim
that they are
not holding them in any of their cells, have say they have so
far failed to
find them or their abductors.
A Johannesburg-based political analyst,
Professor Brain Raftopolous, says
that the abductions might be a strategy by
Mugabe to decimate the MDC and
then call for fresh elections.
"With
the current impasse, Mugabe might be trying to weaken the opposition
so that
when he calls for fresh elections, opposition supporters would have
been
butchered into submission and vote for his Zanu-PF party, fearing
another
backlash," said Raftopolous, a former lecturer at the University of
Zimbabwe.
"We cannot rule out the possibility of fresh elections next
year or 2010."
Mugabe has been accused of using state agents to
intimidate the opposition
towards elections. Before the ill-fated
presidential run-off vote, Mugabe
allegedly sent soldiers, state secret
agents and police officers on a
campaign of retribution
campaign.
More than 100 were killed and thousands
displaced.
Meanwhile, the MDC National Council, the party's supreme
decision making
body, is expected to meet in Harare this weekend to discuss
the worsening
humanitarian situation.
The cholera epidemic has killed
about 800 people while 16 000 are believed
to be infected since out break in
August.
"The national council will also deliberate on Constitutional
Amendment
Number 19, the increase in abductions of civic and political
activists as
well as the deteriorating political situation in the country,"
said party
spokesman, Nelson Chamisa Thursday.
He added that the
party would also discus starvation, which is affecting
most parts of
Zimbabwe's rural areas.
Zimbabwe, once the bread basket of Southern
Africa, is now the fastest
shrinking economy in the world. The deterioration
has been blamed on
economic mismanagement of the economy by Mugabe.
Another
Showdown Over Debate On Zimbabwe Looms At United Nations
http://www.voanews.com
By Blessing
Zulu
Washington
11 December 2008
The stage is set for another
showdown at the United Nations over Zimbabwe
with China and Russia seen
likely to frustrate the desire of British Prime
Minister Gordon Brown and
other Western leaders to put the Southern African
crisis on the Security
Council agenda.
European diplomatic sources said France and Britain have
been lobbying for
the crisis to be referred to the Security Council. Mr.
Brown said Tuesday
that U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told him a
meeting could be held as
early as Monday to discuss the
situation.
Western frustration with - and outrage at - the Mugabe
government has
mounted with the outbreak and rapid spread of cholera in
Zimbabwe, claiming
nearly 800 lives to date. The epidemic has brought
high-level calls for Mr.
Mugabe to step down or be
removed.
Abductions of opposition members and human rights activists -
including
Zimbabwe Peace Project Director Jestina Mukoko on Dec. 3 - have
also
galvanized world opinion.
But the Western nations looking to
ratchet up pressure on Mr. Mugabe must
reckon with the vetoes wielded China
and Russia which have blocked previous
attempts to put Zimbabwe on the
Council agenda. China says power-sharing
talks in Harare should be
pursued.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who with other members of
the so-called
Elders were barred from conducting a humanitarian assessment
in Zimbabwe
last month, told reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe in an
interview this week that hepersonally referred the abduction
of human rights
monitor Jestina Mukoko to the United Nations.
But
political analyst Chris Mhike of Harare said President Mugabe's friends
on
the Security Council are likely to scuttle any attempt to formally
censure
Harare.
Zimbabwe
military has become a brigand army for hire
http://www.thetimes.co.za
The Editor, The Times
Newspaper Published:Dec 12,
2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authorities
are either powerless to do anything about the tragedy, or they
do not
care
EDITORIAL: THE descent of Robert Mugabe's regime into thuggery has
accelerated as his hold on power slips in the face of total economic
collapse.
But the news of the brutal mass murder of illegal miners by
machine
gun-wielding soldiers in helicopters has shocked the
world.
a.. According to the Guardian newspaper: "Zimbabwean air force
helicopters
swept over the hundreds of fleeing illegal diamond miners and
mowed down
dozens with machine-gun fire.
"After that the police
arrived and unleashed the dogs that tore into the
diggers, killing some and
mutilating others.
"The police fired tear gas to drive the miners out of
their shallow tunnels
and shot them down as they emerged."
This is a
description of one incident and there have been several similar
shootings
over the past month.
The exact death toll is not known, but estimates run
as high as 140,
according to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change,
the Guardian
reports.
But this is not about an exact body
count.
It is about the fact that Mugabe's military has become a grave
danger to the
people of that blighted country.
They appear to be
rapidly descending from being state security thugs into a
brigand army for
hire.
Instead of arresting and prosecuting the illegal miners, they are
unilaterally executing them.
The authorities are either powerless to
do anything about it or don't care.
The right to mine the diamond fields
resides with the state-owned Zimbabwe
Mining Development Corporation,
according to the Guardian.
Perhaps this is why Mugabe and his cronies are
silent - or worse, behind
these brutal killings.
The world must wake
up to this human rights tragedy and take action to
protect the people of
Zimbabwe against Mugabe.
Mugabe
says will not accept peacekeepers
http://www.afriquenligne.fr
News - Africa news
Harare, Zimbabwe
- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said Thursday his
country would not
accept the deployment of international military
peacekeepers, proposed by
Western countries, to deal with a health
humanitarian crisis that has
gripped the southern African nation.
A growing number of Western
countries, led by Britain and the US, have
proposed sending a UN
peacekeeping force to Zimbabwe to help the government
deal with a cholera
epidemic which has engulfed the country.
But reacting to the proposals
for the first time Thursday, Mugabe said the
plans were in fact a disguised
invasion of the country by the big powers,
who are vehemently opposed to his
rule on the grounds of alleged human
rights abuses.
He drew parallels
with the invasion of Iraq by the US and Britain in 2003,
on the grounds that
the executed President Saddam Hussein had weapons of
mass
destruction.
"There should be military intervention...for what? Because
of cholera Mr.
(Gordon) Brown (British Prime Minister) wants military
intervention, Mr.
(Nicholas) Sarkozy (French President) wants military
intervention, Mr.
(George) Bush (US President) wants military intervention,"
he said.
"Shall we also say the mad cow disease in Britain deserves a
war, military
inter vention? Mr. Brown, your thinking must undergo medical
correction,"
Mugabe said, referring to an outbreak of mad cow disease in
Britain a few
years ago.
The Zimbabwean leader, who has been locked
in a bitter tug-of-war with the
big powers for over eight years, said the
country would fight the
peacekeepers should the proposal be pressed
ahead.
He accused the Western powers of planning to topple him to lay
their hands
on the country's immense natural resources, particularly
minerals, using the
cover of a humanitarian crisis.
"We are ready to
fight the invasion. It's (Zimbabwe) not British territory.
It is a republic
of Zimbabwe belonging to Zimbabweans," Mugabe said.
At least 600 people
have died of cholera in the country in the last two
months, widely blamed on
the government's inability to provide clean water
and other social services,
including healthcare.
The epidemic, which has also spread to Zimbabwe's
neighbours, could worsen
if international assistance is not urgently
secured.
The government, after weeks of hesitancy, has declared the
epidemic a
national emergency, and appealed for outside help.
Harare
- 11/12/2008
"SADC
to look for MDC military bases in Botswana"
http://www.afrol.com/articles/31984
afrol News / The Zimbabwean, 11
December - Members of a team employed by the
Southern African Development
Community (SADC) organ on politics, defence and
security allegedly are to be
sent to Botswana's capital on 18 December to
investigate claims that
Botswana is providing military training for youths
from Zimbabwe's
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The claim was made by
the Zimbabwean government during a meeting of the SADC
Troika in Mozambique
on 5 November. Botswana has denied the claims and
invited the SADC
commission to come and see for themselves.
The terms of reference for the
team sent to investigate the alleged training
camps were agreed at an
extra-ordinary SADC summit on 9 November. They
basically call for the team
to establish whether the bases exist and whether
related training programmes
are being run.
According to sources, it is expected that the team will
attend
"stage-managed witness presentations" in Harare, but this is not part
of the
terms of reference agreed upon.
Swaziland currently holds the
rotating chair of the SADC Organ on Politics,
Defence and Security and Dr
John Kunene, the principal Secretary in
Swaziland's Ministry of Defence, is
set to head the team to Botswana.
Relations between Botswana and Zimbabwe
have continued to deteriorate since
Batswana President Ian Khama came to
power last April. Mr Khama has spoken
out against Zimbabwe President Robert
Mugabe's sham one-man presidential
run-off on 27 June and called for fresh
elections in Zimbabwe under the
supervision of the SADC, AU and
UN.
This stance has made the Batswana President unpopular with Robert
Mugabe,
who has shown great reluctance to genuinely share power with the
President
of the MDC, Morgan Tsvangirai.
By staff writers
Zimbabweans to pay US$670 for passport
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Nokuthula Sibanda
Friday 12 December 2008
HARARE - Zimbabweans will now fork
out US$670 for an adult passport up from
US$220, the country's Registrar
General said on Thursday.
Announcing the shocking 305 percent increase in
adult passport fees that is
set to affect millions of prospective travellers
across the country, the
Registrar General's office cited escalating costs in
sourcing the paper to
produce the travel document.
Before the latest
increase, children were paying only US$120 but will now be
required to pay
US$607.
Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede was not immediately available
for comment
but officials at his office said the latest review in fees was
with
immediate effect.
"If an adult loses his his/her passport one
would be asked to pay US$400 to
get a new passport," said an official at
Mudede's office.
An estimated three million Zimbabweans are currently
outside the country
after fleeing home because of political violence and
worsening economic
hardships.
Hundreds of thousands more Zimbabweans
travel to neighbouring countries
especially more prosperous South Africa and
Botswana in search of food and
other basic commodities in critical short
supply in their own country.
A deadly outbreak of cholera that the United
Nations says has killed close
to 800 people has driven hundreds of sick
Zimbabweans to neighbouring
countries where hospitals are
better.
South Africa which has received most of the cholera victims
yesterday
declared its border region with Zimbabwe a disaster zone because
of the
increase in cholera cases as Zimbabweans flee in search of
treatment.
Zimbabwe is in the grip of an unprecedented economic crisis
that is
highlighted by the world's highest inflation of 231 million percent,
acute
shortages of food, fuel, electricity, hard cash and every basic
survival
commodity. - ZimOnline
SA
resumes push for Zim unity government
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Cuthbert Nzou
Thursday 11 December 2008
HARARE - South Africa
resumed the push for a unity government in
Zimbabwe by meeting officials
from its troubled northern neighbour's
opposition on Wednesday, as the
United Nations said a cholera epidemic has
now killed close to 800
Zimbabweans.
The cholera epidemic, coupled with acute food
shortages, has
highlighted Zimbabwe's worsening economic and humanitarian
crisis that
analysts say can only be tackled successfully through joint
effort by
President Robert Mugabe and the opposition in a government of
national
unity.
South African officials led by that country's
former local government
minister Sydney Mufamadi met with the leader of the
smaller formation of
Zimbabwe's opposition MDC, Arthur Mutambara, in Harare
yesterday.
More talks are scheduled with the main MDC formation led
by Morgan
Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU PF party to
impress
upon the Zimbabwean rivals the need to quickly form a new unity
government
outlined under a September 15 power-sharing
agreement.
"The facilitators arrived this morning and have since
met Mutambara
and will met negotiators from ZANU PF and the Tsvangirai-led
MDC," said a
diplomat from South Africa, whose former President Thabo Mbeki
is the
regional SADC grouping's appointed mediator on Zimbabwe's
crisis.
"The facilitators want the parties to agree on the
immediate gazetting
of Constitutional Amendment No19 Bill they agreed on in
South Africa more
than a fortnight ago," said the diplomat, who spoke on
condition he was not
named.
The Bill gives legal effect to the
political power-sharing pact and
provides for the appointment of Tsvangirai
as prime minister and Mutambara
deputy prime minister in a government of
national unity.
However the MDC-Tsvangirai, which holds the most
seats in Parliament
and could very easily block passage of Amendment 19, has
threatened not to
vote for the Bill if outstanding issues of the inclusive
government
agreement were not resolved.
Among the sticking
issues are the allocations of ministerial
portfolios, the appointment of
provincial governors and the constitution and
composition of the National
Security Council, among others.
Mutambara yesterday confirmed
meeting the facilitators.
"I met them in the afternoon and
impressed upon them that the
constitutional Bill should be gazetted
immediately so that we can work on
addressing the worsening humanitarian
crisis in the country," Mutambara
said.
He added: "We said we
need the inclusive government like yesterday. We
can only deal with the
cholera crisis, the political crisis, the hunger
crisis if we have an
inclusive framework.
"The call by the international community for
Mugabe to leave is
stupid. How is he going to leave and under what law? Who
is going to replace
him? We need an inclusive government."
Western leaders and some African leaders alarmed by rising deaths due
to
cholera have in recent days stepped up calls for Mugabe's resignation,
calls
that have however not been supported by the African Union.
Besides
Mufamadi, the facilitation team is also made up of South
Africa's director
of presidency Frank Chikane and Mbeki's legal adviser
Mojanku Gumbi, among
others.
Efforts to get a comment from MDC-T spokesman Nelson
Chamisa on the
arrival of the facilitators were in vain
yesterday.
Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, confirmed the
coming of the
facilitators on Monday. - ZimOnline
Food aid warning over Zimbabwe cholera
http://www.viewlondon.co.uk
12
December 2008
Zimbabwe's cholera
epidemic is in danger of being worsened further by the
distribution of
much-needed food aid, it has been warned.
Aid organisations are
implementing emergency measures to prevent mass food
distributions acting as
the "perfect conduit" for the spread of cholera.
Almost 800 people have
been killed by the latest outbreak, while 16,000 have
been
infected.
Care International said that with half the population of
Zimbabwe expected
to be reliant on food aid by January 2009, the situation
was fraught with
danger.
"More than five million people in the
country need food aid right now," said
the aid group's assistant country
director in Zimbabwe Fridah Kalumba.
"But with the cholera outbreak, we
need to ensure people are protected
during distributions, so the disease
doesn't spread further."
Yesterday president Robert Mugabe insisted the
country's cholera outbreak,
which has caused South Africa to declare its
border region with Zimbabwe a
disaster area, had been contained.
He
said the end of the outbreak meant world leaders such as George Bush,
Gordon
Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy could no longer 'make threats' over the
likelihood
of military intervention in Zimbabwe.
© Adfero Ltd
Limpopo now a
disaster area
http://www.mg.co.za
THEMBELIHLE TSHABALALA AND LINN DAVIS | MUSINA, SOUTH AFRICA -
Dec 12 2008
05:00
The province of Limpopo most heavily affected by
the cholera epidemic
carried across the border by Zimbabwean refugees has
been declared a
disaster area, according to the provincial
spokesperson.
The move will free up resources to help the health services
straining to
cope with at least 680 reported cases.
The move came
hours before the leader of Zimbabwe¹s Zanu-PF party, Robert
Mugabe,
reportedly said that there was no cholera in Zimbabwe.
Agence
France-Presse reported that, in a broadcast speech, Mugabe said: "I
am happy
to say our doctors have been assisted by others and WHO [the World
Health
Organisation] -- so that now there is no cholera."
The WHO said that 775
people have died of cholera in Zimbabwe, and there are
about 16 000 reported
cases of the disease.
The WHO warned that the disease could affect up to
60 000 people in the next
few weeks. A Mozambican newspaper, Notícias,
reported that about 20 people
were being treated for cholera in that country
and at least four people had
died of the disease. The economic crisis in
Zimbabwe means that even cholera
victims who receive medical attention
through private doctors are likely to
be sent to South Africa because no
drugs are available in Zimbabwe.
For Sheneterai Gotore the diarrhoea,
vomiting and severe dehydration she has
endured because of cholera are less
than the emotional and spiritual torment
she was going through in
Zimbabwe.
"It is a blessing to be sick here. Now I am receiving medical
treatment I
wouldn't even have dreamed of getting in Zimbabwe," she said. On
Wednesday
there were 46 cholera admissions in Limpopo province, 10 of them
at Madimbo
clinic, 40km from Musina. "We assess the conditions of the
patients and if
they are severe they are transferred to Musina where they
will get full
medical attention and treatment," said Khuphelani Sigidi, the
area district
communications officer for the health and social development
department.
Gotore did not come to South Africa to seek medical help. She
left her
children and parents in Zimbabwe to seek work. After getting under
the
border fence she broke her knee when running from soldiers on the
look-out
for refugees. Before she could be deported back Gotore was treated
for her
broken knee. "I was taken to the clinic in the Madimbo village and
that is
where I think I got cholera." She is being treated now in Musina
hospital.
On Wednesday Musina hospital admitted eight children with
cholera under the
age of five. Mothers stay in a marquee at the hospital
while they wait for
their children to recover. Adult patients sit under
trees with their
rehydrating intravenous drips. "I am so much better now.
When I came here I
couldn¹t even speak," said Nyambeni Munzhelele from
Madimbo village. She
said that she was not sure where she got cholera from
because she uses tap
water. "I live with three of my grown-up kids, I
wouldn't say that one of my
children went to play in a dirty river," she
said.
Showgrounds provide temporary shelter
The showgrounds in Musina,
Limpopo province, are a no-man's-land, yet they
are filled with people.
Several hundred asylum-seekers sit in the sun-baked
dirt fields. The
refugees, most of whom come from Zimbabwe, said they cannot
walk more than
100m from the grounds without risking arrest and deportation.
They are
permitted to stay at the grounds without papers indefinitely.
Indeed, some
refugees claimed that home affairs officials are deliberately
prolonging the
asylum application process as a deterrent.
Officials from the Department
of Home Affairs did not respond to the Mail &
Guardian's requests for
comment on claims made by asylum-seekers.
Musina, a border town of 20 000
people, is straining to cope with the
immigrants from Zimbabwe where hunger
and cholera now mushroom like
inflation. Shops and streets are clogged with
people and some residents
suggest that desperation among refugees has led to
an increase in crime.
International NGOs and local churches are supplying
healthcare and food at
the showgrounds, where refugees wait weeks to be seen
by a mobile unit from
the department of home affairs. Clean water is
available at several taps at
the site and the Musina town council has
donated a dozen portable toilets.
Despite these efforts some refugees
said they have not eaten in three to
four days, while others complained of
intestinal illnesses, heat exhaustion
and hunger-induced dizziness. Albert
Masango, a boiler operator from Harare,
said he had been in the camp for two
weeks waiting for his asylum
application to be considered. He hoped to find
work and send remittances to
his struggling family. "I have two kids in
Harare, and now here I am
sleeping on the ground," he said. Several refugees
estimated that about a
quarter of those at the camp grounds have received
asylum papers but have no
money to leave the camp.
Some
asylum-seekers said they had travelled from Johannesburg to renew their
permits in Musina, which was believed to process them faster. Most of the
refugees, however, had paid guides about R200 to be led through electric
fencing and armed soldiers from both countries to get to the showgrounds.
They said that criminals often victimised immigrants, extracting money for
bogus travel services, work promises, stealing from them down to their pants
and shirts and raping women. The asylum-seekers said that they risked these
dangers because a passport or emergency travel document in Zimbabwe would
cost about R2 000 -- or R300 in bribes -- that have to be paid in foreign
currency. The overcrowding and poor conditions at the showgrounds
understandably cause tension. News and rumour travel fast. On Wednesday a
home affairs security guard was seen chasing refugees away from a food
donation area, sjambok in hand, and some refugees claimed a guard had beaten
a refugee the previous day. There are reports of prostitution and robbery.
According to one asylum-seeker, a suspected thief was stoned to death on
Wednesday by fellow camp residents.
Smith warns over Zimbabwe migrants
http://www.ananova.com
A British Red Cross appeal to tackle
cholera and chronic food shortages in
Zimbabwe got under way amid
speculation that the crisis could prompt people
from the country to head for
the UK.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has reportedly warned the Cabinet of
a possible
mass influx of Zimbabweans as a result of the cholera
outbreak.
According to the BBC, she said that some people were obtaining
fake
passports from neighbouring countries where, unlike Zimbabwe, citizens
do
not need UK entry visas.
The disease has already killed 800 and
affected 16,000 in the southern
African country, according to the United
Nations.
In Angola, 10,000 people have been affected, with 229 deaths,
and Mozambique
has more than 8,000 registered cases and 93
deaths.
Money from the Red Cross appeal will be used to supply
community-based
health, water, sanitation and hygiene projects, delivering
aid and education
to those most in need across the region.
In the
past two weeks, Red Cross volunteers have reached more than 11,000
people
with health and hygiene information. Donations have also been used to
provide cholera kits and water purification equipment.
Matt Cochrane,
a delegate from the International Federation of the Red
Cross, returned from
Messina, on South Africa's border with Zimbabwe,
earlier this
week.
He said: "We're right on the cusp of the rainy season. That is
typically
when we see the first cases of cholera. Now we have an already
serious
situation and rain coming on top of that.
"There's no room
for complacency. We have to hope for the best but we have
to continue to
plan for the worst."
UK urges Mugabe to help unlock vital aid
http://www.businessday.co.za
12
December 2008
Hopewell Radebe and
Karima Brown
BRITAIN has urged Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
to form a credible
unity government to secure urgently needed aid to deal
with the economic and
humanitarian crisis aggravated by a cholera
epidemic.
British Minister for Africa Mark Malloch Brown said yesterday
his government
did not believe Mugabe would leave office, but if a
transitional government
was formed and proper powers given to the opposition
Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) and the prime minister-elect, Morgan
Tsavangirai, the UK would
be "willing and ready to assist".
Last
night, Health Minister Barbara Hogan made an impassioned plea for
solidarity
with the people of Zimbabwe, saying that country was "on its
knees".
Hogan visited Musina this week to assess the cholera
crisis in the border
town.
In her keynote address to the Young
Communist League national conference in
Johannesburg, Hogan said: "You can't
walk into the veld (in Zimbabwe)
without coming across bodies. People are
eating ants because there is no
food. The hospitals have no
medicines."
Hogan is the first member of the cabinet to describe the
crisis in Zimbabwe
in such graphic terms.
She said that the sewerage
system at Beit Bridge had been broken for the
past six years.
"We can
no longer ignore the situation. Yes we are making progress, but it's
only a
short- term solution," Hogan said of the joint efforts to stem the
devastating cholera outbreak.
"The violence of hunger we are seeing
must be addressed," she said.
Malloch Brown
said Mugabe would have to show his willingness to transform
his country by
giving Tsvangirai genuine administrative powers with key
decision-making
capacity before donor countries released funds pledged for
Zimbabwe's
economic recovery.
He said his government understood that it was
possible to help Zimbabwe pull
itself out of its misery if Mugabe respected
the MDC's strength, shown in
the March 29 election, and its leader,
Tsvangirai.
This differed from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's
call last weekend
for "international" action to remove
Mugabe.
Malloch Brown said the British government supported a
multilateral approach
to Zimbabwe. The plight of Zimbabweans was so
desperate that one individual
or country would not be able to resolve
it.
Already there has been a meeting of concerned parties and
countries in
Canada that sought to chart the essential steps necessary to
rebuild the
economy, including land reform.
"All these are crucial
multilateral efforts that the UK is part of and will
work within that
environment to help rebuild Zimbabwe," Malloch Brown
emphasised.
The only certain thing is that this disease is not under
control
http://www.independent.co.uk
Lynn
Walker
Friday, 12 December 2008
If one thing is glaringly
clear amid the humanitarian chaos of Zimbabwe, it
is that the cholera
situation is not under control. We have been responding
to the deadly
outbreak from the start, and what we're seeing is a crisis
getting worse,
not better.
One health clinic I visited tells the desperate story. Cholera
patients were
lying on the filthy floor, drips precariously hung from
rusting window
frames. In one room lay the corpse of an old lady. A little
three-year-old
boy had died the day before in the room next
door.
According to the latest figures, 775 people have died from cholera
so far in
Zimbabwe. But we know that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Many of the
deaths we've seen are not even reflected in the official
statistics. In the
remote places we are working in to tackle the outbreak,
deaths are not being
recorded. The health system is in tatters, clinics have
virtually no
resources and no food, and patients are suffering - and dying -
at home.
The situation is now so desperate, with so many weakened by
hunger, that
those who contract cholera have a much lower chance of survival
than is
normal for this disease. With the help of even basic healthcare,
cholera has
a death rate of 1 or 2 per cent. In some areas of Zimbabwe, a
third of those
who have contracted the infection are dying.
The
cholera isolation "camp" I recently visited was a typical case. In a
derelict house with no water or furniture, many patients were lying on the
floor in squalid conditions. The health workers looking after them, who were
equally scared for their own health, were doing their best but with no
water, cleaning materials, disinfectant or bedding, they simply could not
make the patients any more comfortable.
The distress of families who
have lost family members is hard to witness.
Mothers are seeing their babies
die. Children are losing their parents.
If more money isn't pumped in
quickly through aid agencies, this disease
will continue to
spread.
Lynn Walker is Save the Children's deputy country director and is
based in
Harare
nternational Medical Corps Preparing to Distribute Cholera Kits in Areas
Badly Hit by Zimbabwe's Deadly Outbreak
I12 Dec 2008 00:48:00 GMT
Source:
International Medical Corps (IMC) - USA
International Medical
Corps
Website: http://www.imcworldwide.org
December
11, 2008, Los Angeles, Calif. - International Medical Corps is
deploying
cholera kits that include antibiotics, intravenous fluids and oral
rehydration salts, as well as basic health supplies to Zimbabwe to treat
severe cases of cholera. Nearly 800 people have died from the disease so
far, though some authorities place the number of deaths over 1,000. The
World Health Organization has called it the worst outbreak in the country
since a 1992 epidemic that killed 3,000.
"With nine of the country's
10 provinces reporting that people lack basic
medical care, cholera kits are
an essential and immediate means to treat a
large number of cases," says
International Medical Corps' Patrick Mweki, who
arrived in the capital of
Harare last week to assess the need. "Some areas
have as many as 7,500 cases
reported, so local clinics and hospitals require
enough supplies and
medicines to treat hundreds of people, which these kits
provide."
Supplied by International Relief Teams (IRT), the cholera
kits contain units
of medicines, supplies, IV units, and oral re-hydration
salts. International
Medical Corps is now planning how it will most
effectively distribute these
kits.
A spokeswoman for the UN's Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs said: "The entire health system
is collapsing; there are no more
doctors, no nurses, no specialists." Many
health workers are reportedly on
strike because they have not been paid or
have simply deserted hospitals and
health centers as the crisis
grows.
Hundreds of people each day are streaming into neighboring South
Africa,
sparking fears that the epidemic could spread beyond Zimbabwe's
border. The
World Health Organization says the average death rate among
infected
Zimbabweans was 4.5 percent in November, and as high as 20-30
percent in
remote areas. The normal fatality rate, where clean water and
medication are
available is below one percent.
Since its inception
nearly 25 years ago, International Medical Corps'
mission has been to
relieve the suffering of those impacted by war, natural
disaster and
disease, by delivering vital health care services that focus on
training.
This approach of helping people help themselves is critical to
returning
devastated populations to self-reliance. For more information
visit our
website at www.imcworldwide.org. ***
Zimbabwe
neighbors should seal borders: U.S. official
http://uk.reuters.com
Thu Dec 11, 2008 8:02pm
GMT
By Ross Colvin
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe
could be forced to step down
if South Africa and other neighbors take the
bold step of sealing their
borders with the landlocked country, a senior
U.S. official said on
Thursday.
The United States has been pushing
African states, particularly the
15-nation Southern African Development
Community, to take firmer action on
Zimbabwe, where the economy and
infrastructure have collapsed, spawning food
shortages and a cholera
epidemic that has killed nearly 800 people so far.
Zimbabwe's neighbors
are divided over what approach to take, with Mugabe
still viewed by many as
a hero for liberating the country from white
minority rule. This week the
African Union rejected tougher action in favor
of more
dialogue.
"There is a continued outcry from African nations that this is
an African
problem and it needs an African solution. But so far they have
been
unwilling to step up and show us what that African solution is," the
senior
U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"That
African solution is very simple -- get rid of Mugabe."
Once hailed as a
model African democrat, Mugabe has clung to power for
years, despite the
worsening economic crisis that critics blame on his
policies. After losing
parliamentary elections in March, he reached a power
sharing deal with the
opposition, but talks on implementing it have stalled.
The U.S. official
said a popular uprising to oust Mugabe was unlikely as the
"real
risk-takers" had already fled to neighboring countries to seek work
there.
"Somebody from the outside is going to have do this. ... At
the end of the
day South Africa," he said, referring to the continent's
biggest power which
has borne the brunt of Zimbabwe's refugee
crisis.
"It takes something as simple as closing the borders. Zimbabwe is
a
landlocked country. The closure of the border, literally in a week would
bring this country to its knees," he said.
"There is still a formal
economy in Zimbabwe -- $2 billion still flows into
this country through
various means, and even a lot more in the informal
economy. A lot of that
money flows across the borders, illegally or legally,
with South
Africa."
"EPIDEMIC MAN-MADE"
He said the U.S. government, which
has urged Mugabe to step down, was
working behind the scenes with South
Africa "to do what they think is in
their best interests." South Africa has
so far favored dialogue over
confrontation with Mugabe.
South Africa
declared a stretch of its border with Zimbabwe a disaster zone
on Thursday
because of the increase in cholera cases but did not appear to
have sealed
it.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Thursday he
expected
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has urged Mugabe to step
down, to
raise the Zimbabwean crisis with her colleagues during a visit to
the United
Nations next week.
At a separate news conference in
Washington, the U.S. ambassador to
Zimbabwe, James McGee, said Zimbabwe was
rapidly becoming a failed state. He
also blamed the cholera crisis on the
government's mismanagement, saying it
was "man-made."
At the same
briefing, Henrietta Fore, the administrator of the United States
aid agency
USAID, said the epidemic was worsening, contradicting Mugabe's
assertion in
a televised speech earlier in the day that it had been
contained.
She
said USAID was providing an additional $6.2 million toward health, water
and
sanitation programs and had deployed. This was on top of the $4.6
million it
was already spending.
Another USAID official, Ky Luu, said the agency was
bracing for the epidemic
to spread with the onset of summer rains, which
would contaminate wells, and
the annual Christmas migration of urban
residents to their rural family
homes.
(Additional reporting by Sue
Pleming; Editing by David Wiessler)
The four horsemen of Harare
Posted on December 11th, 2008
The modern city of Harare has descended into hell as
the four horsemen of the Apocalypse have descended into Zimbabwe.
The traditional four horsemen are war, anarchy, famine and disease.
War? Not a war so much as Mugabe using his henchmen to destroy his enemies.
Harare has seen riots of soldiers in the capital, terror by the military, police
and “green bomber” militias in rural areas, and destruction of civilian housing
two years ago to punish those who didn’t vote correctly in “operation take out
the trash”. Then there were the pro MDC voters beaten and threatened in
“operation place your x”, and now there is the open
kidnapping of opposition leaders.
The latest rumors are that the 78
miners killed at a diamond mine were killed not by an accident but when
landlords and the military attacked the illegal miners.
Anarchy? Well, how else can you describe a country where money is worthless,
the schools don’t open, the hospitals lack medicine and people to help the sick,
and where basic services such as water and sewage have stopped?
Famine? The rains are late again. This shouldn’t bother a country if
irrigation, modern hybrid seeds, tractors or handplows, and fertilizer were
available. However, even though the small
farmers who benefitted from land reform have been productive, the failure of
the government to support them with roads (to export grain and import seed)
fertilizer and irrigation means that these farms produce less than the previous
larger farms. To make things worse, much of the confiscated land goes not to the
workers of the land, but to government cronies of Mugabe and is not being
utilized at all.
The collapse of the economy means that many of those with education have fled
to other countries in order to support their families, leaving behind the young,
the old, the pregnant, the less educated, and the sick.
The obscene inflation rate means salaries are worthless; instead, there is a
thriving black market in exchanging foreign currency and many live off of
subsidies by overseas relatives, by bartering personal items, or get groceries
by taking the bus to grocery stores in nearby countries.
But when you combine no money to pay doctors and nurses, no money to repair
sewer systems or buy chemicals for water processing, and poorly nourished
people, it is just a matter of time until disease hits.
The UN has a
time line on the problem:
2004 - Interruptions in reticulated water supplies, burst
sewage pipes and contaminated reservoirs are blamed for an outbreak that kills
40 people and infects 900 others.
2005 - About 14 recorded deaths and a further 203 infected
during the low-risk months from May to June. Shortages of medicines hamper
treatment.
2006 - Civic organisations in the capital, Harare, warn of a
“cholera time-bomb” after an outbreak in March kills 27 people; refuse
collection is poor and burst sewage pipes remain unrepaired. Government
dismisses the concerns of civil society.
2007 - February - Erratic reticulated water supplies are
blamed for an outbreak in Harare that kills three people and infects another 19.
2007 - August - Reports that the Zimbabwe National Water
Authority (ZINWA) has dumped raw sewage into Lake Chivero, Harare’s main water
supply source. Public clinics report they are treating about 900 cases of
diarrhoea daily. Burst sewage pipes remain unrepaired.
2007 - September - Severe water shortages in Zimbabwe’s
second city, Bulawayo, with about 400 people treated for cholera and dysentery.
About 40 cases reported in Harare. Residents dig shallow wells as erratic water
supplies continue. Hygiene and sanitation become increasingly compromised.
In other words, the problem has been known for years.
We are not talking about a country who is starting from scratch trying to
establish sanitation, nor are we talking about refugee camps, where the huge
influx of people stress the limited supplies. We are talking about a country
that had a healthy infrastructure, but has allowed it to disintegrate.
Ah, but the government lacked money, and it’s due to the sanctions,
right?
Except that there was money for Mugabe to hold a lavish birthday party
for himself every year, and for his wife Grace
to spend on goodies like Ferragamo shoes.
At the same time,
his cronies are hiding millions of dollars in foreign banks. (the Pope’s
recent condemnation of banks and
greed was misreported and ridiculed; Pope Benedict was referring to politicians and businessmen in many
countries who make money from bribes and kickbacks, and the banks that
assist politicians in this type of plunder and hide money from criminals in
order to make a dollar).
The bad thing is that it is not Mugabe and Mbeki who will suffer from the
collapse of Zimbabwe, but ordinary Zimbabweans—and if the cholera spreads, as
feared, ordinary citizens of South Africa, Botswana and Zambia.
I am religious enough to hope there is a place in the Inferno for those who
are behind the collapse of Zimbabwe, starting with Mugabe; and a lot of the
blame has to go to South Africa’s former president Mbeki, who as president
protected Mugabe from reprisals, and later, under the guise of “negotiations”
and “peaceful settlement” has been allowing Mugabe to get away with murder.
—————————-
Nancy Reyes is a retired physician living in the Philippines. Her website is
Makaipa
Blog.
Mugabe
agents surrender themselves to Malawi authorities
http://www.nyasatimes.com
Nyasa Times 12
December, 2008 01:00:00
Two Zimbabweans employed at President Bingu
wa Mutharika's Guardian
Newspaper this week told Malawi immigration
department in Lilongwe that they
were in the country on President Robert
Mugabe's Zanu-PF party special
assignments, and not as the paper's permanent
workers.
Ms Ruby Goneso Mutendera and Mr Alban Masora, who
voluntarily went to
immigration following last week's Nyasa Times revelation
that President
Mutharika's daughter, Duwa was bullying officials to issue
them and a Kenyan
national Ricky Shayo work permits, apologized to the
Ministry of Home
Affairs for accepting jobs without following proper legal
procedures.
The immigration interrogation team which refused to be
named said Mutendera
and Masora revealed they were operatives of Mugabe's
Zanu-PF sent to Malawi
on party assignments.
The confessed that
they asked President Mutharika's daughter to employ them
since they were not
getting any financial assistance from home and the
Zimbabwe High Commission
in Lilongwe.
"They said their presence at The Guardian offices was on
Duwa's kind gesture
who also offered to use her connection to obtain them
temporary resident
permits and work permits, and that it was unfair to drag
her into the
problem," said senior immigration official.
He said
both Mutendera and Masora currently working as Administration/Human
Resources Manager and reporter at the newspaper respectively did not
disclose the nature of their Zanu-PF duties in Malawi, but indicated that
they closely work with another Zimbabwean national working as a hotel
manager at Cresta hotel in Lilongwe.
But information provided by
some asylum seekers in Lilongwe reveal that
there is a group of Zimbabwean
Central Intelligence Office (CIO) agents
spying on their countrymen
suspected of belonging to opposition MDC.
"These Zanu-PF spies follow
us everywhere to listen to what comments we make
on Mugabe and the situation
in Zimbabwe, and once our names are sent to
Harare our relatives are
immediately detained without trial. My parents are
in jail right now just
because this group submitted my name as one of
opposition sympathizers,"
said one Zimbabwean living in Lilongwe.
Meanwhile, President
Mutharika has ordered immediate removal of Kenyan Ricky
Shayo from The
Guardian, and directed security forces to bar him from
visiting his daughter
at the New State House.
Shayo who flirts with one of President
Mutharika's daughters is linked to
Al-Qaeda network in the Horn of Africa
has also stopped using Mutharika's
personal vehicle.
Of late
Shayo has been seen in company of senior members of President
Mutharika's
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and spends most of his time
at the DPP
secretariat and given security clearance to take pictures at
presidential
functions.
$500m note on cards
http://www.herald.co.zw
Friday, December 12, 2008
Herald
Reporter.
THE Government yesterday indicated its intention to introduce a
new $500
million note, ahead of the increase in the maximum cash withdrawal
limit to
$500 million a week with effect from today.
According to
Statutory Instrument 174 of 2008 published in an Extraordinary
Government
Gazette yesterday, the new note will go into circulation in terms
of the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act.
"There shall be issued, in terms of the
Act, a five hundred million dollar
banknote," the notice, published by the
Minister of Finance, Cde Samuel
Mumbengegwi, said.
The new note will
have the RBZ logo of three balancing rocks on the front.
On the back it will
have an impression of dairy cows being milked
mechanically and a miner
drilling underground.
It will be purple in colour and have an iridescent
strip with the letters
"RBZ" embedded on the front of the note.
The
notice, however, did not say when the $500 million note would go into
circulation.
Last week, the RBZ gave notice to introduce a new $200
million note, which
is largely expected to go into circulation today when
the maximum withdrawal
rises to $500 million weekly.
Dr Gono last
week reviewed the cash withdrawal lim-it following a meeting
with the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. - Herald Reporter.
A week ago, the RBZ
unveiled new $10 million, $50 million and $100 million
notes.
This
followed a review of cash withdrawal limits for individual account
holders
from $500 000 to $100 million per week and $1 million to $50 million
weekly
for companies.
Dr Gono recently announced that the central bank was
working to ensure
workers have enough cash during the festive
season.
However, the new higher denomination notes have spawned sharp
price
increases while change had become extremely difficult to get owing to
the
scarcity of lower denomination notes. - Herald Reporter.
Zimbabwe Officials Plan Breakaway Party
http://online.wsj.com
DECEMBER 11,
2008, 2:34 P.M. ET
By FARAI
MUTSAKA
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Several senior ruling party officials here said
they
would launch a breakaway party this weekend amid a deadly cholera
outbreak
and mass starvation, putting further pressure on President Robert
Mugabe as
he clings to power.
The decision comes as a growing number
of nations, including the U.S. and
Great Britain, call for Mr. Mugabe to
step down amid a deepening
humanitarian crisis. The embattled leader is also
facing further unrest at
home as army soldiers, the cornerstone of his
power, protest unpaid wages
and poor living conditions.
Mr. Mugabe,
in a rare concession, also said that he would accept new
elections. The
president has until now clung to his victory in a one-man
election held in
June. His rival, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai,
pulled out fearful for
his supporters' safety after winning most votes in an
earlier round of
voting -- but not enough to win the election outright.
Independent observers
derided the June vote as a farce.
"Let's settle things here," Mr. Mugabe
said Thursday, speaking at the
funeral of a friend. "We can go to an
election if elections are desirable.
The people are the deciders, and we
will never reject their verdict. We have
always accepted their
verdict."
The new party isn't likely to have much of a political impact,
as most
opponents of Mr. Mugabe are allied with Mr. Tsvangirai's party. But
it is a
symbolic break. The Zimbabwe African People's Union is named for a
rival
party that Mr. Mugabe once destroyed.
When he came to power in
1980, Mr. Mugabe unleashed a military brigade that
massacred at least 20,000
ZAPU members and their supporters within eight
years. The group finally
agreed to join Mr. Mugabe's party.
Since August, more than 700 people
have died of cholera, according to the
United Nations, sickened by
contaminated water and unable to get proper
care. Food is so scarce that
many Zimbabweans have been reduced to
scavenging for wild fruit or picking
through trash heaps.
In recent weeks, hundreds of soldiers rampaged
through parts of Harare and
Mutare, looting markets and chanting slogans
against the central bank
governor, a close Mugabe ally. Mr. Mugabe has tried
to keep the army happy,
but that appears to be increasingly difficult for
the cash-strapped
government now.
Since Mr. Tsvangirai won the
first-round of presidential elections in March,
Mr. Mugabe has hunkered
down. A power-sharing deal signed in September,
ceding Mr. Tsvangirai some
power, still exists only on paper.
Britain
must not abandon the Zimbabwean people to Robert Mugabe
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
The people of
Zimbabwe have suffered long enough. They have had little
choice but to stand
by helplessly as a corrupt, anti-democratic and
incompetent regime has
brought their country to its knees.
Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State
for International Development
Last Updated: 8:27PM GMT 11 Dec
2008
Robert Mugabe, thirty years ago the darling of the African
liberation
struggle, is now exposed as a desperate tyrant intent on
preserving power at
all costs.
When Ian Smith's government was forced
from office it seemed Zimbabwe's
future was bright - and initially it was.
The bread basket of southern
Africa, its strong economy was underpinned by
manufacturing, mining and
tourism sectors which were the envy of many more
developed nations.
Gradually, greed and political interference of the
basest kind wore away
those advantages and the past decade has seen Zimbabwe
accelerating towards
the abyss.
The cholera outbreak which has so far
claimed nearly 600 lives - and
possibly many more - is just the starkest
symptom of that collapse.
Soldiers are rioting, doctors, nurses and
teachers striking. Five million
hungry people will need food aid this month.
Approximately one third of the
population have fled its borders and cholera
outbreak is now afflicting its
neighbours - South Africa, Botswana,
Mozambique and Zambia.
Inflation on a scale unseen since the days of the
Weimar Republic has driven
teachers, health workers and other vital public
servants away from their
jobs as they search for food.
In the
hospitals which do still operate there is a shortage of basic
medicines and
as the cholera outbreak has shown now even the water system
has
failed.
So, faced with this growing humanitarian catastrophe, how should
the world
and the United Kingdom respond? Certainly not by "foolishly"
sending aid as
your leader column suggested.
I believe strongly that
we in Britain have a moral responsibility to help
out those who are worst
affected by the crisis in Zimbabwe - the young, the
poor and the
ill.
We are providing £47 million in humanitarian aid this year. It is
being
spent on feeding the hungry, battling HIV and AIDS, helping small
farmers
grow more food and on protecting orphans, vulnerable children and
migrants.
Around £10m has been targeted on the immediate health
crisis.
Contrary to your leader article's suggestion, not a penny of our
bilateral
aid is channelled through the government. We work instead through
the UN and
NGOs. Any attempt by the Mugabe's regime to divert our aid would
be swiftly
rebuffed.
And I am confident that we are making a real
difference. In one of Zimbabwe's
few success stories, we have helped bring
down HIV rates from over 22 per
cent to just over 15 per cent in the past
five years and have made treatment
available to 30,000 infected people. We
have helped hundreds of thousands of
smallholders increase food yields by up
to 40 per cent through better
farming methods.
The truth is, though,
that we can only scratch the surface while Mugabe
remains in
power.
The people of Zimbabwe made their choice at elections in March
this year.
They voted for change, but Mugabe turned a deaf ear. A call for
change is
now being echoed by African political leader. Mugabe's time is
up.
Even if he goes tomorrow the mess he leaves behind will take years to
clear
up. We will play our part in helping Zimbabwe find a way through that
long
and difficult process. We will not abandon our commitment to the
Zimbabwean
people.
But we now need concerted international action.
Britain and the EU have
nailed their colours to the mast, the same cannot be
said for others.
We urged the UN Security Council to take a stand on
Zimbabwe back in July,
arguing that the UNSC could not shirk its
responsibilities. Our argument is
even stronger now.
Even more
crucial is the need for African nations to make their voices
heard. The old
ties of the liberation movement, which have for so long muted
criticism of
Mugabe, must be swept aside by the ties of common humanity.
In the last
week I have pressed the case with President Kikwete of Tanzania,
the current
chair of the African Union, and Kofi Annan, a member of the
Elders. In a
recent meeting with Jacob Zuma, leader of the ANC, I similarly
stressed the
need for South African leadership.
The countries of southern Africa
collectively have the power to bring an end
to the regime in Zimbabwe - a
power denied to the West because Mugabe has
shown himself repeatedly to be
impervious to wider international pressure.
If they can find the
political will to back the call of Archbishop Desmond
Tutu and Raila Odinga,
the Kenyan prime minister, to challenge Mugabe they
can end this
injustice.
After more than a decade of misery the Zimbabwean people have
a right to
share in the benefits of true African solidarity.
Mugabe's old tricks are not working
http://www.independent.co.uk
Leading
article:
Friday, 12 December
2008
Even by recent standards in Zimbabwe, the contrast is grotesque.
The
country's President, Robert Mugabe, declared yesterday that the cholera
epidemic is over. But at the same time, the South African government was
designating the border with its northern neighbour an official disaster area
because of the rapid spread of the disease.
Mr Mugabe is, of course,
lying to his people yet again. United Nations
observers on the ground claim
that the cholera epidemic is, in fact, getting
worse. Testimony from
ordinary Zimbabweans supports this. The South African
health minister,
Barbara Hogan, also warned yesterday that the epidemic is
likely to continue
to worsen until a new regime takes over in Harare.
Mr Mugabe has accused
Western governments of trying to use the outbreak as
an excuse to depose
him, presenting himself as a victim of neo-colonial
persecutors. It is a
trick he has used countless times in the past to rally
regional support and
deflect the blame for Zimbabwe's afflictions.
But there are signs that Mr
Mugabe's traditional survival tactics are no
longer working. The riot by
soldiers last week is an indication that the
regime's control of its own
security apparatus is not what it was. And the
dictator is also running out
of friends in Africa. The leaders of Kenya and
Botswana have both called on
him to step down.
The South African government, it is true, still refuses
to join this chorus
of disapproval. And the deposed South African President,
Thabo Mbeki, who is
chairing the power-sharing negotiations between Mr
Mugabe and the Movement
for Democratic Change, is failing to demand
meaningful concessions from the
Zimbabwean leader.
But the expected
next leader of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, will take a much
sterner approach
to Mr Mugabe and his murderous regime. And if Mr Zuma is
faced with a
growing public health emergency on South Africa's doorstep on
taking office,
the case for withdrawing all support will be overwhelming.
The pressure
on Mr Mugabe is growing both from the outside and within.
Anyone who wishes
well to Zimbabwe can only hope that this brings an end to
Mr Mugabe's
wretched misrule sooner rather than later.
Situation in Zimbabwe
Henrietta Fore,
Administrator, United States Agency for International Development
U.S.
Ambassador to Zimbabwe James D. McGee; Director of the Office of Foreign
Disaster Assistance Ky Luu
On-the-Record Briefing
Washington,
DC
December 11, 2008
View
Video
MR. WOOD: Okay, everyone, as promised, we have with us
today USAID Administrator Henrietta Fore who's going to talk to you about the
humanitarian situation on the ground in Zimbabwe. She will take - she will make
some opening remarks and then take some questions, and then we'll turn it over
to Ambassador McGee, our Ambassador in Zimbabwe. He's going to talk to you about
the political situation. So without further ado, Administrator Fore.
ADMINISTRATOR FORE: Thank you. Good morning. We offer our deepest
condolences to those who have lost loved ones in the cholera outbreak in
Zimbabwe. We are very concerned about the situation, and we are working to help
contain the spread of the disease.
Today, I am pleased to announce that USAID has allocated an additional 6.2
million U.S. dollars to help combat the cholera outbreak. This is in addition to
more than $4.6 million in USAID we already have in country providing emergency
water, sanitation, and hygiene programs.
To manage the United States response effort, USAID has deployed a Disaster
Assistance Response Team, a DART team, to Zimbabwe. This team includes water and
sanitation, public health, and emergency experts from USAID, as well as from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In coordination with the international community, the DART team has completed
rapid assessments and has identified ways the United States can best assist. The
United States will support international coordination efforts by funding the
World Health Organization's command- and-control center, and a health
coordinator position for the United Nations coordination structure. We will also
work to intensify community health and hygiene promotion and education.
In addition, the DART has already identified shortfalls of necessary
commodities. Over the coming days, USAID will provide emergency relief supplies,
such as soap, rehydration tablets, and water bladders to address the most
pressing needs. Our programs are focused on clean water, sanitation and hygiene,
and public health. The DART will provide technical assistance to the
international community and make recommendations for additional United States
assistance to help combat cholera in Zimbabwe should it be needed.
We also have USAID experts traveling to the border areas in neighboring
countries where Zimbabweans are going to seek cholera treatment and other
necessary services. We will continue to monitor the situation in those areas,
and are prepared to provide assistance should it be necessary.
I want to make one thing clear: This cholera outbreak did not happen
overnight. Over the years, Zimbabwe's healthcare system has deteriorated and
infrastructure has collapsed. Poor water and sanitation systems, coupled with
increasingly inaccessible health and other services, have caused the cholera
outbreak in Zimbabwe. This outbreak is a breakdown of the Zimbabwe's Government
services, pure and simple.
In light of the deteriorating conditions, the United States, working
alongside the international community, has been preparing for a cholera outbreak
for quite some time. Before the disease was widespread, USAID began building
contingencies into its ongoing emergency programs, allowing us to quickly direct
our assistance to specific target for cholera outbreaks.
In total, today's contribution brings the total United States humanitarian
assistance to Zimbabwe's food and health crisis to more than 226 million U.S.
dollars since October 2007. This emergency assistance is in addition to the
approximately 32.2 million U.S. dollars that we have in a development program in
Zimbabwe for the fiscal year 2008.
Again, I want to express our deepest sympathies to the people of Zimbabwe.
The United States remains committed to helping you in your time of need. Thank
you.
Yes.
QUESTION: President Mugabe said on television, I think either last
night or today, that the cholera outbreak had stopped. What are you seeing on
the ground?
ADMINISTRATOR FORE: We are not seeing that it has stopped. We
currently have a report that there are approximately 800 deaths, 16,000 people
infected. This is a cholera outbreak that is ongoing and urgent.
QUESTION: Madame Ambassador, you spoke about a UN coordination
structure that is - is it being envisioned or is it already on the ground? Can
you explain a little bit about that?
ADMINISTRATOR FORE: The Ambassador can talk a bit more about this in
just a moment. But the United Nations does have operations on the ground, but
they need to be strengthened. And so our intent with this assistance is that we
gather as an international community, that we support the United Nations that we
support government infrastructure, because the health systems within Zimbabwe
need to be reestablished and rebuilt. We are taking the place of government
services here.
QUESTION: Going back to President Mugabe's remarks about the crisis
being over. If you disagree, why would he - why would he say that and what does
that tell you about the situation - the political situation?
ADMINISTRATOR FORE: Well, we're just deeply concerned. I will let the
Ambassador talk more about the political situation. But this is clearly a
humanitarian crisis. There are a great number of people who are in need, and
people are losing their lives. And so we, as a community, must act.
QUESTION: Can you tell us a little bit more about the DART teams, when
they were deployed, how many people are involved, and where they are exactly?
ADMINISTRATOR FORE: Yes. In fact, we can give you a complete brief on
this one. I will ask Ky Luu to come up in just a minute --
QUESTION: Okay.
ADMINISTRATOR FORE: -- on the individuals we have on the team, when
they were deployed, what they are doing, and then what their future is.
QUESTION: Good.
ADMINISTRATOR FORE: Yes.
QUESTION: Can you talk about whether or not they are having any
problems having access, getting into --
ADMINISTRATOR FORE: Access remains a difficulty. For many of these
areas, they are rural. For many of the people in rural areas, they are not going
into the health clinics. So it means that health workers and aid workers need to
go out to the people. Finding them, knowing where they are, getting
communication out, is going to be a challenge for everyone.
Some of the message is for good sanitation. It is that you use soap, that you
use tablets that will - rehydration salts and solutions. So getting information
out to health workers, to community workers, to individuals in the communities,
is going to be extremely important, and this will be a challenge.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) the Zimbabwean Government officials were putting
restrictions on your movements.
ADMINISTRATOR FORE: Yes, this also. So it's going to be a challenge
for all of us.
QUESTION: But has the government committed to you to allow, you know
access to the DART teams and, you know, all of the kind of things that you -
have they pledged cooperation with you to get what you need to get done?
ADMINISTRATOR FORE: Yes. We - we hear the words. I think what's
important now is that we see the actions. We just have a great number of people
that are in need.
QUESTION: But they allowed the teams into the country.
ADMINISTRATOR FORE: They have allowed the teams into the country. They
are working as our partners in country. This is a - this is a national
challenge.
All right. With that, I will turn it over to Ambassador McGee and then to Ky
Luu, the head of our Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, to further follow
up. Thank you all very much.
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: Good morning. I'd just like to expand and amplify a
little bit on some of the things that the - that Deputy Secretary[1] Fore had talked about. This truly is a humanitarian
crisis, but I don't think that you can - you can delink the current humanitarian
crisis from the political crisis that Zimbabwe finds itself in. And this
political crisis is nothing more than the result of the failed economic
policies, corruption, and human rights abuses on the part of the Government of
Zimbabwe.
Now this is a fairly common theme and something that I've talked about quite
a bit before. I will today echo the sentiments and the statements made by Prime
Minister of Kenya Odinga, Archbishop Tutu, President Bush himself, Secretary
Rice, the French President Sarkozy, and the UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
They've all said in the last week that it's time for Mugabe to go, and I think
that what we're seeing right now with this continued humanitarian - manmade
humanitarian crisis, that they're absolutely correct. It is time for Mugabe to
go. He has outlived his usefulness in Zimbabwe.
When I left the country last week, the cholera situation was bad. Since I've
left, it's gotten worse. As the Deputy Secretary[2] has said, there are now over 16,000 confirmed cases
and over 780 confirmed deaths. The issue with that is we still don't know how
bad the situation is because we just don't have accurate reporting capabilities
from the countryside. So the extent of this situation with the cholera itself
could be a heck of a lot worse than the reports that we're getting.
What we do know is that the government hospitals remain closed. All the
government hospitals in Harare are closed. The ability of the government to
collect garbage is zero. People are either using boreholes wells for drinking
water or they're picking it up out of the sewers themselves. The rainy season is
somewhat late in starting in Harare. We had some initial very heavy rains, and
then we had nothing for the last ten days before I departed country. The
situation is truly grim.
One man and his cronies, Robert Mugabe, are holding this country hostage. And
Zimbabwe is rapidly deteriorating into failed state status. Someone mentioned
this morning at a funeral, at Elliot Manyika's funeral this morning, that Mugabe
said that there is no longer a crisis. I think this just shows how out of touch
he is with the reality on the ground in Zimbabwe. So President Mugabe needs to
step aside. He needs to respect the will of the people of Zimbabwe as expressed
in the March election, and let a representative government form, take place in
Zimbabwe that will take care of the needs of the people.
And with that, I'll be happy to try to answer any questions you may have.
QUESTION: You're asking President Mugabe to step aside and form a more
representative government, but so far, he has just ignored the international
community, as he has for the last few years. So what can the international
community - or what should it be doing? Because it - from the outside, it looks
as though the international community is failing the people of Zimbabwe. They're
living in unimaginable misery and it just seems to be getting worse.
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: I think what we're doing is exactly the right steps
to make - you know, we continue to put the pressure on the Government of
Zimbabwe. We continue to work with our colleagues in SADC, the African Union,
and the United Nations to bring pressure on this illegal and illegitimate regime
of Robert Mugabe. And I think that this is finally starting to take hold. The
government, despite what they say in public, is reeling from these actions.
QUESTION: But what are these actions? You say you're putting pressure.
What sort of pressure are you --
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: We're hearing calls from - especially from African
leaders that Mugabe has to go. Today, South Africa declared an emergency on its
border. It has not actually closed the border, but this is the next step from
that, which is declaring an emergency on the border of South Africa.
The cholera crisis has gotten so far out of hand the South African Health
Minister actually went to the border on the South African side of town called
Messina, on the Zimbabwe side of town called Beitbridge, which is the actual
border. She toured the South African side, looked at the facilities there, and
it's no secret that the South African Government is expending a massive amount
of its resources trying to care for the people of Zimbabwe. I think that the
Minister had no choice but to declare this health emergency in this area.
And these actions are finally starting to resonate throughout Africa. People
are starting to see that we do have a failed government with failed policies in
Zimbabwe, and the hue and cry is raising throughout Africa that Mugabe has to
go.
QUESTION: So what are you - what do you expect these states to do?
What do you expect South Africa to do?
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: What we expect the SADC, the regional body, to do is
to uphold its own laws. I mean, Zimbabwe is signatory to all the - all the laws
of SADC that says that, you know, government should take care of its people,
government should respect human rights. You know, that's an issue that we can
talk about in a little bit, but, you know, the human rights situation in
Zimbabwe is off the chart right now. Here we are talking about a global
political agreement. We have a titular prime minister in Morgan Tsvangirai, who
can't even get a passport from his own country. We have people, activists in
this country, who continue to disappear. Two weeks ago, we had 14 people
disappear.
The day before I left, coming to the United States, I presided over an HIV
and AIDS ceremony for the first lady in the country to declare her status, a
very, very brave lady who unfortunately died two years later. But we celebrate
her bravery every year. The person who was supposed to moderate that awards
ceremony was picked up by a dozen people at her home, 5 o'clock in the morning,
in her bedclothes. She has disappeared. We have not heard from her since.
Now, these are the types of things that go on with regularity in Zimbabwe,
and these are the types of things that have to stop.
QUESTION: Yeah, but what can they do materially - SADC - except to
say, okay, this is bad? What can they do?
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: Well, SADC can - SADC has a lot of options at its
control. What they're - you know, we're not going to try to dictate to SADC what
they should do. You know, what we're saying to SADC is, you know, you can see
that the situation in Zimbabwe is bad; the same that we can see the situation in
Zimbabwe is bad. SADC has stepped up to the plate before with other countries
and made a difference, and we're hoping that they're going to do the same thing
with Zimbabwe.
QUESTION: Is there any consideration of invoking the UN responsibility
to protect? I mean, certainly, it's a humanitarian crisis that has, you know,
regional implications.
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: We - I don't think that we're at that point that
you're alluding to yet. We're getting closer, I think, to it. The dialogue
continues with the United Nations, as I mentioned, with the African Union, and
with SADC. And we're hoping that these bodies will finally just say enough is
enough in Zimbabwe.
QUESTION: Well, what - I mean, but what are the practical implications
of that? I mean, everyone could say enough is enough. Everyone - the whole
United Nations could call for him to go and he could not --
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: And that's exactly what we would hope would happen.
QUESTION: And - but, I mean, he's certainly - I mean, short of some
kind of military action or revolution, which certainly the Zimbabwean people
don't seem that fast --
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: Well, let me say this. You know, we're looking for a
peaceful solution in Zimbabwe. The one thing that we do not want is more of what
has happened year after year after year in Zimbabwe. You know, there are a lot
of people in Zimbabwe in this government with very, very bloody hands. And, you
know, the government is not above doing whatever is necessary to retain power.
We have seen this all the way since the early 1980s in Zimbabwe. We don't want
to see a repeat of this again.
So we're looking for peaceful solutions, and we feel that the best way to
achieve these peaceful solutions is through the regional and international
bodies. They do need to step up. They need to step their efforts up to continue
to put the pressure on Zimbabwe to reach a peaceful solution. Short of that,
then we'll have to see what does happen.
QUESTION: You said they have several options. What are these options?
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: For the - for the regional bodies?
QUESTION: Yes.
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: I'm not going to try to speak for them on those
options, but, you know, I think that everything is on the table. Literally,
everything is on the table.
QUESTION: Sir?
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: Yes, sir.
QUESTION: Back on the cholera crisis, you said it's getting worse and
President Mugabe said it's over. Does that concern you that he may be intending
to either further restrict or, in fact, inhibit the humanitarian assistance
efforts that are underway?
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: As Secretary[3] Fore said earlier, no, we have not had any
indication that the humanitarian effort is going to be restricted whatsoever. So
far, despite issues, and there are always issues in Zimbabwe even at the best of
times, our colleagues in the NGO community are doing an excellent job of getting
the assistance out to the people that it's intended to reach.
That said, because of the failed government systems themselves, we just don't
have an effective partner to work with. We're trying our best to work with the
Government of Zimbabwe, but their hands are tied. They're very limited on what
they themselves can do.
QUESTION: Thank you.
QUESTION: When was the last time you actually met face-to-face or
talked to Robert Mugabe? And I wonder if you could reflect a little bit on your
tenure there?
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: It's probably been six months when I first arrived.
I've been in country now for a year. It seems a lot longer. I presented my
credentials November of 2007. As a matter of fact, it was on Thanksgiving Day. I
won't forget that for a long, long time.
I've seen things deteriorate tremendously in a one-year period. When I
arrived in Zimbabwe, the stores - I can't say they were full, but there were
stores. You could buy things in the supermarkets. Inflation was at a figure I
still can't quite get my head around, but it was in the hundreds of thousands of
percent. Now, it's officially in 261 million percent or some ridiculous figure
like that. And our private economists that we talk to tell us that it's in the
trillions of percent.
And I don't know what that means. What I do know is this. You know, I talk to
people who - my gardener comes to work in the morning, and he lives out in an
area called Chitungwiza, which is about 20 kilometers outside the city. And he
tells me that it costs him the equivalent of 50 cents to take public
transportation into the city. But on some days, that price has gone up in the
time that he works at my house from 50 cents to a dollar. That's how rapidly
inflation is taking over in this country.
And even though the economy is totally dollarized now - I mean, it's a rare
place where you can go and pay in Zimbabwe dollars. I cannot find them. I try to
play by the letter of the law and use Zimbabwe dollars. I can't find Zimbabwe
dollars. I've opened a local bank account, but bankers tell me no Zim dollars to
be had. So everything -- all transactions are made in U.S. dollars. I'm getting
a collection of small U.S. dollar notes, one-dollar bills now to carry back to
me - with me to Zimbabwe because nobody can make change. And that's the other
issue there.
So yeah, there has been a continued downward spiral in Zimbabwe. I think one
of the things that impresses me most in the wrong direction that this country is
going is in the education system. Fifteen years ago, Zimbabwe had a higher
literacy rate than United States of America, absolute higher literacy rate.
People really place tremendous importance on getting an education, ensuring that
their kids have a better chance at an education than they did.
Twenty five percent of the national budget in 1992 went towards education;
today, 18 cents per child. It's a ridiculous figure, 18 cents per child. And
this is coming from a man who himself was an educator. Robert Mugabe started his
career as a teacher. This is also coming from a man who has a daughter who is
studying in Hong Kong and costing the people of Zimbabwe millions of U.S.
dollars for her stay in Hong Kong. But they can only find 18 cents per child for
the kids in Zimbabwe to get a higher education. Again, I think he's just totally
out of touch with reality with what's happening in his own country.
QUESTION: And he once threatened to kick you out, but has that ever
come back?
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: I'm still there so far. My bottom line is this: I'm
just not going to stand idly by and not say what needs to be said. If things are
bad in the country, things are bad. If things are good - are improving, we're
more than happy to work with the Government of Zimbabwe, we're more than happy
to pass out the kudos where they're necessary. But they're so few and far
between.
Yes, sir.
QUESTION: I wanted to ask about the abductee issue. Is this something
-
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: I'm sorry?
QUESTION: The abductee issue. Is this something that we've raised with
Zimbabwean officials, and can you comment on any efforts that are being made to
find these people?
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: We've raised this. The international - I should say
the diplomatic community has actually raised these. Let me be exactly precise
for you. Seventeen MDC activists, including a baby, were taken over a month ago,
and those folks are still unaccounted for despite - despite court orders to -
for the police or any other government agencies that hold them to locate them
and bring them forth. I mentioned Jestina Mukoko, who was abducted on December
the 3rd and whose whereabouts are still unknown. Two other staffers
from the Zimbabwe Peoples Party, a fellow named Broderick Takawira and Pascal
Gonzo, were abducted from their offices on December the 8th by five
men. Their whereabouts, still unknown. A lawyer - the brother of a lawyer,
Harrison Nkomo, was abducted by four men from his home near Masvingo on December
the 5th, whereabouts unknown. And then we have an MDC advisor, Gandhi
Mudzingwa, who was abducted from his home on December the 9th. And
again, no one knows - no one claims to know - the whereabouts of Mr. Mudzingwa.
The Zimbabweans have lost confidence in their law enforcement system, and the
government cannot ensure the safety and security of the people of Zimbabwe. As a
matter of fact, the government may even be complicit in many of these issues.
Right now, we just don't know where these people are, and we continue to call
upon the Government of Zimbabwe to bring these people forward. If they've
committed a crime, put them into the justice system. It's ready to work.
I'm sorry, ma'am.
QUESTION: I was wondering if you were disappointed that it's taken so
long and it's taken a cholera outbreak that is affecting Zimbabwe's neighbors
now for Zimbabwe's neighbors to actually start saying enough is enough?
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: I'm not going to use the word "disappointed." That's
not my word. You know, whatever it takes is what it takes. And you know, we are
pleased to see Zimbabwe's neighbors taking a much more proactive stance on the
excesses of this government. We've heard calls from Kenya, from Botswana, from
Tanzania, from Zambia. Malawi recently stood up and said, you know, enough is
enough; Zimbabwe has to clean up its act or President Mugabe has to go. This is
what we're really desperate to hear, and these are the types of things that
we're very pleased to hear.
QUESTION: But not from South Africa, though.
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: We have not heard that from South Africa. You know,
again, we work behind the scenes with South Africa. South Africa, as everyone
knows, is the - let's call it what it is. It's the big dog on the block. And we
expect South Africa to take an active stance on everything that happens in the
southern tier of Africa. We do continue to work quietly and behind the scenes
with South Africa to make that happen.
QUESTION: Thank you.
AMBASSADOR MCGEE: Thank you.
MR. LUU: Just to follow up on the question regarding the DART, we have
a five-person DART team on the ground. They've been on the ground now for almost
a week. The DART team does include a health advisor and a water sanitation
expert. They have been able to travel around. They have carried out field
assessments. They've gone to areas of high reported cases to verify, to
coordinate with other donors and the nongovernmental organizations.
I would note that as the Deputy Secretary[4] announced this morning, that the DART team has
confirmed that from what they have been able to see that the situation is
worsening. There are reported case fatality rates of 4.8 percent. This is far
and above the emergency threshold, which is 1 percent. In certain areas, they
are noting 50 percent case fatality rates. This is really unacceptable because,
for cholera, this is easily treatable. Those who are coming down and
(inaudible), it's rehydration.
The problem that we're facing here is that those cholera victims are either
not getting treated, they're not going to the clinics in time, or they're not
going at all. And this is, again, compounded by the fact that there are lack of
salaries to pay for healthcare workers within the system, so there's a lack of
faith that if they show up that they're going to be treated.
So, you know, we're watching the situation very closely. We're hoping that
the announcement of the $6.2 million this morning will go to address kind of the
immediate needs here, looking at coordination to strengthen the existing
structure on the ground right now, also looking at - to health education,
increasing access to water, and also bringing in much-needed emergency supplies
like water purification tablets, jerry cans, these sorts of essential supplies.
And one thing to look out on the horizon here is that the rains have started,
and we can expect that with the rains that there will be a further spread of the
cholera because of the lack of the infrastructure here where many of the
citizens are - have resorted to digging boreholes for water. When the rains
come, they will flood and contaminate the boreholes. So this is something that
we're very concerned with.
And another thing to keep in mind here is with the Christmas migration, where
the Zimbabweans will be moving back from their urban areas out to the rural
areas for the holidays that may contaminate areas that have not been
contaminated to date.
So that's all to say here is that the DART is working with the international
community, with the United Nations, our NGO partners to continue to provide
surveillance and to continue to provide much-needed essential, life-saving
services.
QUESTION: USAID announced 600,000 on Friday. Is the 6.2 million in
addition to that?
MR. LUU: Yes, this is all new money, $6.2 million today.
QUESTION: Okay. Is the 600,000 included in that or -
MR. LUU: No, no. This is above and beyond the $600,000.
QUESTION: Okay, thanks.
QUESTION: And how long the team will stay in Zimbabwe? For how long?
MR. LUU: The team right now, in terms of the DART, it will stay on the
ground, given what we're able to see in terms of tracking the progress of the
outbreak. They've noted, for example, in areas where there have been high
incident, it has tapered off. But the tapering off in these areas is because the
disease has run its course, and they're very concerned that it's moving into new
areas. So what we're hoping to do here with the money that we've announced that
will support WHO's control-and-command, also working with UNICEF in terms of
water sanitation coordination sector, that if we can beef up that coordination
sector, we may downsize the DART. But the point here is that if the situation
gets worse, we are prepared to send in additional technical staff, as needed.
MR. WOOD: Thank you all very much.
----
[1] Correction- Administrator
[2] Correction- Administrator
[3] Correction- Administrator
[4] Correction- Administrator
2008/1041
Released on December 11,
2008
WDC: Stop natural resources theft in
Zimbabwe
From Idex (US), 10 December
Edahn Golan
The World Diamond Council said on
Wednesday that it is concerned by reports
that diamonds are smuggled out of
Zimbabwe. On Monday, Dutch Foreign
Minister Maxime Verhagen accused Zimbabwe
president Robert Mugabe of
profiting from illegal diamond trade. Saying it
is appalled and dismayed at
the humanitarian crisis in the country, the WDC
expressed concern that "some
natural resources in the country, including a
small number of diamonds, are
reportedly being exported illegally for the
personal gain of a few."
According to the WDC, Zimbabwe's diamond production
is estimated at 0.4
percent of world production. In 2007, the country
produced 695,016 carats
worth $31.4 million, according to official figures
published by the
Kimberley Process. The majority of the country's production
is reportedly
exported legitimately through the Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme.
Some goods are however smuggled out to neighboring
countries by traders that
buy them from artisanal diggers.
The
Council said it finds it unacceptable that even a small volume is being
traded illegally. "The international diamond industry has already taken
action and is providing customs authorities, diamond bourses and the Chair
of the Kimberley Process with expert instruction and photographic examples
to assist in identifying the type of diamonds being illegally exported, and
several parcels of rough diamonds have been successfully seized," the WDC
said. "However, we call upon these authorities and other governments to
redouble their efforts and bring those responsible to justice." Global
diamond exchange members have been instructed to exercise caution and inform
the authorities of suspect parcels. "Furthermore, industry organizations
have reminded their members that they risk expulsion if they are proven to
be trading in these illegal diamonds." At a meeting Monday, foreign
ministers of the European Union expanded travel sanctions set on Zimbabwean
officials. French President Nicolas Sarkozy called on Zimbabwe's President
Mugabe to resign. The country's population is facing a cholera epidemic,
continuing violence and runaway inflation that has prevented it from
functioning normally.
I tried and failed. It's time someone else arrested Robert
Mugabe
http://www.timesonline.co.uk
December
12, 2008
We flunked an opportunity to jail Mugabe in 1999 and prevent eight
years of
murder, mayhem, starvation and disease
Peter Tatchell
When
Gordon Brown condemns the Zimbabwean tyrant Robert Mugabe I can't take
him
seriously. He's all talk, no action. I had Mugabe under citizen's arrest
in
London in 1999, but the Government allowed him to return to Zimbabwe to
continue his murder and mayhem.
If Mugabe had been put on trial in
1999, Zimbabwe would have been spared the
past nine years of torture, rape,
kidnapping, murder, rigged elections,
hunger and now disease. Tens of
thousands of lives might have been saved.
Labour funked the opportunity
to prevent this terror. It failed to prosecute
a leader who, a decade ago,
was already guilty of crimes under international
humanitarian
law.
While I applaud Archbishops Desmond Tutu and John Sentamu when they
call for
Mugabe to be indicted, why didn't they urge this in the late 1990s?
The
Zimbabwean dictator's human rights abuses were evident by then. He had
massacred 20,000 civilians in the Matabeleland region of Zimbabwe during the
1980s in a Stalinist-style purge designed to crush support for his rival
nationalist leader, Joshua Nkomo.
It was hearing about these
massacres that fired me up to do something to
support the brave Zimbabweans
who were resisting Mugabe's despotism. I was
appalled that the international
community had ignored the Matabeleland
slaughter and was doing business as
usual with the Mugabe regime.
The 20,000 murders in Matabeleland were the
equivalent of a Sharpeville
massacre every day for more than nine months.
Since then, the killing fields
of Zimbabwe have continued to flow with
blood. Mugabe has murdered more
black Africans than even the apartheid
regime in white-ruled South Africa. A
liberation hero turned despot, he is
Ian Smith with a black face - only many
times worse.
I was shocked
that liberals and leftwingers who had campaigned so honourably
against
apartheid were silent. They were outraged by a white racist regime
killing
black people, but not when the killing was being done by a black
tyrant.
This double standard and indifference to mass murder appalled me.
My
determination to act was compounded when, in 1999, two respected black
Zimbabwean journalists, Ray Choto and Mark Chavunduka, were arrested and
tortured. According to Amnesty International: "Military interrogators beat
both men all over their bodies with fists, wooden planks and rubber sticks,
particularly on the soles of their feet, and gave them electric shocks all
over the body, including the genitals. The men were also subjected to 'the
submarine' - having their heads wrapped in plastic bags and submerged in a
water tank until they suffocated."
Choto and Chavunduka's
interrogators told them they were being tortured on
Mugabe's orders. The
President subsequently refused to condemn their torture
and publicly stated
that they deserved it.
Since governments were refusing to bring Mugabe to
justice, I decided to
have a go. My plan was to make a citizen's arrest of
President Mugabe on
charges of torture, with the affidavits of Choto and
Chavunduka as evidence.
The first attempt was in late 1999, when Mugabe
came to London on a private
shopping spree. As the President's limousine
left his hotel, by pre-arranged
plan, my three OutRage! co-conspirators -
Alistair Williams, Chris Morris
and John Hunt - ran into the road, forcing
it to halt. I ran from behind,
opened the rear door, grabbed Mugabe by the
arm, and read him the charge:
"President Mugabe, you are under arrest on
charges of torture." Mugabe's jaw
dropped. His face was contorted with fear.
I thought to myself: now you know
how your victims feel, except we aren't
going to kill you.
I then phoned the police. When they arrived, officers
ripped the Amnesty
International dossier from my hands, arrested us and gave
Mugabe a police
escort to go Christmas shopping at Harrods. We were held in
the cells at
Belgravia police station for nearly seven hours until the
Government and
police stitched up a deal to let Mugabe return to Zimbabwe,
where he resumed
his assaults on democracy and human rights.
My
second attempted citizen's arrest was in Brussels in 2001, when I
ambushed
Mugabe in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel. This time his bodyguards
were ready
for me. I was beaten unconscious. At one level, this was a good
thing,
because TV film of the beating helped to alert the world to Mugabe's
brutality.
I was left with chipped teeth, and this week I was at the
dentist again
having more treatment to repair the damage. The beating has
also affected my
eyesight, memory, concentration, balance and co-ordination.
I can still
cope, but I am a bit slower than I used to be. These injuries
are, however,
nothing compared with the terrible tortures inflicted on
Mugabe's critics
inside Zimbabwe.
Some people say that my attempt to
arrest Mugabe was brave. Not so. Real
bravery is the courage of Zimbabweans
who defy police whips, tear gas and
bullets.
My questions to Gordon
Brown are the same as I put to Tony Blair in 1999:
what is the point of
having human rights laws if tyrants like Mugabe can
violate them with
impunity? How many people does he have to kill and torture
before he is
bought to justice? If Slobodan Milosevic can be indicted and
put on trial,
why can't Robert Mugabe?
Zero hour
in Zimbabwe
http://www.csmonitor.com
Military intervention tempts, but there are other ways to oust
despot
Mugabe.
By The Monitor's Editorial Board
from the December 12,
2008 edition
t may not be genocide, but what strongman Robert Mugabe has
unleashed on
Zimbabwe is right up there in mass misery. The humanitarian
crisis is so
acute that Kenya's prime minister now says outside troops must
oust the
intransigent ruler. That's an understandable response, but one
fraught with
pitfalls.
The world seems at a loss about the autocrat
who will not go despite
rejection at the polls. It has pressured with
sanctions, cajoled with
negotiations, and stamped its foot. This week,
President Bush demanded the
octogenarian step down, echoing statements from
the leaders of Britain and
France.
But Mr. Mugabe clings to power as
tightly as his hungry citizens grasp wild
berries and even rats - anything
they can get their hands on to eat. In his
nearly 30 years at the helm of the
country he liberated from white rule, he
has run one of Africa's most
prosperous nations into the dirt.
Mugabe says sanctions did this, but
it's his ill-conceived policies and
despotism that have caused millions of
Zimbabweans to flee the world's
highest inflation, a jobless rate of 80
percent, life expectancy of 36
years, and political violence.
Bungled
land redistribution in 2000 has exacerbated an ongoing food crisis
that the
UN expects will affect 5 million Zimbabweans by early next year.
Now the
country's facing a cholera epidemic that has killed about 800, and
which is
related to poor water and healthcare.
Doesn't all this justify
invasion?
In 2005, the UN adopted a resolution endorsing "responsibility
to protect,"
which allows for international intervention to prevent mass
atrocities.
Think Rwanda in 1994, when intervention didn't happen, and Kosovo
in 1999,
when it did.
Despite the urgency in Zimbabwe, troops probably
won't march to the rescue.
The West is occupied in Iraq or Afghanistan, and
besides, it can't appear to
act as a colonial-era bully. The UN can't even
get enough peacekeepers for
Congo, its largest mission. The African Union,
busy in Darfur, is likewise
stretched. The AU announced this week that it
will not use force in
Zimbabwe; it urges more dialogue.
The UN's
enthusiasm in 2005 to intervene in humanitarian crises has fallen
as risks
have increased. If, for instance, NATO had to face the more
assertive Russia
of today, would it have bombed Kosovo? Iraq and Afghanistan
show
interventions don't always turn out as hoped. Those examples make
countries
wary about messing with sovereignty. Aid groups in Zimbabwe
remind
intervention backers that war itself causes casualties and can worsen
a
situation.
Military action should always be a last resort. As much
as various players
may think they've done all they can short of that, they
haven't.
Mugabe's neighbors, particularly South Africa, can move him. But
they've yet
to apply enough pressure to implement a power-sharing deal with
his
opposition or to get him to resign or to peel away his layer of
top
supporters with concrete negotiations - all ways out.
The pressure
on the region to act more assertively increases daily as
Zimbabwe exports
refugees, and now, cholera. Might it be upped by the West,
with an
announcement, perhaps, to boycott the 2010 World Cup in
South
Africa?
Until Africa acts, it will be heroes such as aid workers
and Zimbabwe
expatriates who will do what they can to alleviate Mugabe
misery.