Zimbabwe opposition says talks with ZANU-PF stuck

Reuters

Sun 16 Dec 2007, 18:08 GMT

HARARE, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's main opposition party said on Sunday
that talks with President Robert Mugabe's government on a new constitution
were in deadlock.

Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party and two factions of the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) are holding talks brokered by the Southern
African Development Community, which has asked South African President Thabo
Mbeki to mediate to try to end an economic and political crisis.

ZANU-PF and the opposition have agreed on the need for a new constitution,
amendment of tough security and media laws and an end to political violence
to ensure that elections scheduled for 2008 will be free and fair.

On Sunday, the top decision-making body of the main MDC wing, led by Morgan
Tsvangirai, said there were sticking points in the talks, but vowed to
continue with negotiations.

"The National Council took note of the ongoing dialogue process and resolved
that we will continue to talk where we have deadlocked," MDC spokesman
Nelson Chamisa said.

He said a timetable for adopting a new constitution was a major sticking
point. He did not elaborate.

Sources close to the talks say the MDC wants the constitution adopted before
the elections, while ZANU-PF says the introduction should be left to the
party that wins.

Tsvangirai has previously said a new constitution is a prerequisite for the
MDC to participate in elections.

Mugabe has said that joint presidential and parliamentary elections will be
held in March next year without fail, which has angered the MDC, which says
the date is under negotiation.

Political commentators say the weakness of the opposition means Mugabe,
Zimbabwe's only leader since independence from Britain in 1980, is likely to
win both votes.

Critics say Mugabe has plunged Zimbabwe into a deep economic crisis through
policies such as the seizure of white-owned farms to resettle blacks and
plans to nationalise foreign-owned companies, including mines and banks.

Mugabe denies the accusation and says Britain is leading a Western campaign
of sabotage to punish him for the seizures. (Reporting by MacDonald
Dzirutwe; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Zimbabwe's ruling party, opposition to sign draft accord for reforms, state media reports

International Herald Tribune

The Associated PressPublished: December 16, 2007

HARARE, Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe's ruling party and the opposition have reached
agreement on a political accord that should smooth the way for elections in
March, state media reported Sunday.

The South Africa-mediated accord includes reforms to sweeping media and
security laws that the opposition claims are hindering election campaigning,
according to the Sunday Mail newspaper, a government mouthpiece.

A spokesman for opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was not immediately
available for comment Sunday.

Parliamentary and presidential elections are set to take place in March in
Zimbabwe amid the country's worst economic crisis since President Robert
Mugabe, 83, led the African nation to independence from Britain in 1980.

Official inflation was reported in September at nearly 8,000 — the highest
rate in the world — but analysts say inflation is closer to 90,000 percent.
The International Monetary Fund forecast inflation reaching 100,000 percent
by the end of the year.

There are daily power and water outages, as well as an acute lack of food,
gasoline and most basic goods. Zimbabweans are swamping border crossings in
search of basic supplies in neighboring countries, and at least 3 million
are believed to be living clandestinely in South Africa.
Political tensions have been high, with opposition leaders accusing Mugabe
and his ruling ZANU-PF party of intimidation, violence and harassment.
Amnesty International said last week that police continued to imprison and
torture pro-democracy activists with impunity.

Zimbabwe's last two elections were widely criticized as fraudulent. After
the last polls, the U.S. and the European Union imposed sanctions against an
increasingly autocratic Mugabe and his chief associates.

Earlier this year, President Thabo Mbeki of neighboring South Africa was
named chief mediator in talks between Zimbabwe's ruling party and its
opposition, setting a Dec. 15 deadline for an accord.

The Sunday Mail report did not provide details about the reforms or say
whether the draft agreement addresses opposition demands for constitutional
changes to ensure that the elections are free and fair.

But it said Zimbabwe's two main government negotiators, Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa and Labor Minister Nicholas Goche, were in South Africa to
sign the accord, and Movement for Democratic Change leaders also were
expected to sign it.

Opposition officials, including Tsvangirai, founder of the Movement for
Democratic Change, have complained in recent weeks that ruling party
negotiators have not gone far enough toward constitutional reforms needed
for free and fair elections.

"Our way forward will be determined by the prevailing of a free and fair
electoral environment and a new constitution," the Sunday Mail quoted Nelson
Chamisa, chief spokesman for Tsvangirai, as saying.

The opposition also has demanded an end to state-orchestrated intimidation
of its supporters. Tsvangirai's faction said it would discuss any possible
boycott — or push to postpone elections — at its party convention early next
year.

Mugabe, unanimously endorsed as his party's presidential nominee at a
convention last Thursday, assured delegates the election would not be
delayed beyond March.

"If some parties are not ready, they have themselves to blame," he said.

Zimbabwe opposition seek 'united front' against Mugabe

africasia

HARARE, Dec 16 (AFP)

Supporters of Zimbabwe's main opposition leader pledged Sunday to bury their
differences with political rivals to build a united front against President
Robert Mugabe in next year's elections.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has been riven by divisions after
nearly half the parliamentary party broke away in 2005 from the main faction
led by former union chief Morgan Tsvangirai.

But after a meeting in Harare on Sunday, Tsvangirai loyalists said they
wanted to mend fences with the rival faction to prevent 83-year-old Mugabe
from exploiting their divisions to secure a sixth term in office in
elections expected in March.

"The party resolved to form a united front of all democratic forces against
the dictatorship," MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told AFP after the party's
national council met in the capital.

"Taking note of the significance of the upcoming elections and aware that
every vote counts, the party will endeavour to achieve unity of purpose by
all democratic forces in the country and field one candidate in every
contested constituency."

Chamisa said the party would soon approach the rival MDC faction led by
Arthur Mutambara and other opposition parties and civic groups with their
proposal for a joint formation.

The opposition meeting came on the back of Mugabe's endorsement as the
ruling party candidate for presidential elections.

Once a formidable force which posed the stiffest challenge to Mugabe's
stranglehold on power, the MDC split following a row over whether to contest
in senate elections.

Chamisa said the MDC meeting expressed hope in on-going talks with the
ruling ZANU-PF party brokered by South African President Thabo Mbeki despite
concerns over the constitution and the voters' roll.

"The party remains committed to the process of dialogue but declares a
deadlock on critical issues such as the constitution and the voters' roll
and the general behaviour of ZANU-PF," he said.

The MDC meeting also sought to make amends with ousted founder member and
women's assembly leader Lucia Matibenga by inviting her to return to the
party and join the national executive.

Her dismissal for alleged incompetence threatened to further fragment the
party.

©2007 AFP

Seed shortage cripples Zimbabwe farming season

Zim Online

by by Farisai Gonye Monday 17 December 2007

HARARE – Zimbabwe's defense department has told President Robert Mugabe that
it can do little to revive food production in the face of a shortage of
seeds that is hampering planting operations, authoritative sources told
ZimOnline.

Mugabe has put the army in charge of agricultural production under a
programme codenamed Operation Maguta aimed at boosting food production and
end hunger stalking Zimbabwe for the past seven years.

Under the programme soldiers have deployed at large farms across the country
to produce strategic crops such as maize and wheat, the country’s main
staples.

However, army commanders running the programme are said to have reported to
Defence Minister Sydney Sekermayi that Zimbabwe faced worse food shortages
next year because a shortage of seed and resources for tillage had all but
dashed hopes of a successful farming season.

"In turn, Sekeramayi sounded the warning bells to Mugabe that ZANU-PF risked
going into next year's elections facing an even worse food crisis. He told
him the farming could go to waste,” said a military officer who is part of
Operation Maguta.

Sekeremayi refused to take questions on the matter when contacted at the
weekend. "I am too busy to be talking to reporters," the Defence Minister
said before switching off his mobile phone.

Mugabe’s spokesman George Charamba was not immediately available for comment
on the matter.

Zimbabwe, also grappling with its worst economic crisis, has faced severe
food shortages since 2000.

For example, international relief agencies says an estimated three million
people or about a quarter of the country’s 12 million population in need of
food aid this year, while the World Food Programme (WFP) last week said
Zimbabwe was among seven hot spots in the world where conflict has led to
widespread hunger.

Strife-torn Somalia, Afghanistan, Chad, Sudan, the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea (DPRK), and Bangladesh were the other countries where the
relief agency said it had to regularly step in with food aid or thousands of
people would starve.

Critics blame Zimbabwe ’s food crisis directly on Mugabe’s haphazard
fast-track land reform exercise that displaced established white commercial
farmers and replaced them with either incompetent or inadequately funded
black farmers.

Food production plunged by about 60 percent as a result while chaos in
agriculture because of farm seizures also hit hard Zimbabwe’s once
impressive manufacturing sector that had depended on a robust farming sector
for orders and inputs.

Most of Zimbabwe’s industries have since the beginning of farm seizures in
2000 either scaled down operations to about 30 percent of capacity or
shutdown altogether, in a country where unemployment is more than 80
percent.

According to our sources, Sekeramayi raised the following points with
Mugabe:

•That since the onset of rains two weeks ago, less than a third of
commercial and small scale farmers had started any planting because of a
serious shortage of seed and tillage resources. The situation was worse
among poor villagers.

•That the country had secured only 15 000 tons of seed maize instead of the
required 50 000 tons. That seed shortages were more acute for soya beans, a
key crop used for stock feeds and cooking oils among other products.

•That even those farmers that had secured seed and had planted grains faced
low yields because of an acute shortage of compound fertilizers used for
basal application when planting. Soldiers were only distributing Urea, a top
dressing fertilizer only helpful after germination.

•Urged Mugabe's intervention to ensure that seed manufacturers were paid
market prices to entice them to supply seed to the local market instead of
exporting the product to more lucrative regional markets.

•That the country was forced to import maize and soya bean seed from
neighboring countries, yet local seed houses were exporting the same seed to
the same neighboring countries. Raised a possibility that the country was
importing at a higher cost seed exported by local firms.

•Urged Mugabe's intervention in ensuring that the central bank released
enough foreign currency to import seed to make up for shortfalls. Cited that
only 3 000 tons of the anticipated 15 000 tonnes of imported seed had
arrived in the country. Emphasized that even the 15 000 tonnes were not
enough to meet demand.

The sources say Mugabe promised to look into the issues raised by
Sekeramayi. ZimOnline.

Zimbabwe’s dialysis machines break down

Zim Online

by Nqobizitha Khumalo  Monday 17 December 2007

BULAWAYO – The lives if thousands of renal patients in Zimbabwe are at risk
after all the 18 dialysis machines at Parirenyatwa hospital in Harare and
two at

Mpilo hospital in Bulawayo broke down, ZimOnline has learnt.

The machines at Parirenyatwa broke down last week while those at Mpilo,
which have broken down several times over the past few months, finally
packed up about three weeks ago.

Parirenyatwa and Mpilo are the two major referral hospitals in Zimbabwe with
the latter serving the southern parts of the country while Parirenyatwa
serves the northern half of the country.

Sources at Mpilo told ZimOnline yesterday that the machines were not likely
to be fixed soon as the hospital was struggling to get the necessary spare
parts to fix the machines.

“A lot of renal patients are losing their lives unnecessarily as they cannot
afford the exorbitant fees at private hospitals. So most of them could be
dying silently at home,” said a medical doctor at Mpilo who refused to be
named for professional reasons.

The chairman of the Renal Patients Association, Jabulani Nyathi, said
hundreds of patients have now gone without any dialysis for over two weeks,
a situation which he said puts the lives of the patients at great risk.

“The machines have been down for too long resulting in some of our members
dying in the process.

“The situation is really grave especially for those in small towns as they
have to travel to private hospitals in Bulawayo for treatment,” Nyathi said.

Health Minister David Parirenyatwa could not be reached for comment on the
matter.

Fifty-four dialysis machines donated by Sweden have been lying idle over the
past three years after Harare disagreed with the Swedes over who should
service the machines.

Renal patients should at least have four dialysis sessions a week to remove
urea. Dialysis machines act like kidneys in the process.

Philemon Tafirenyika, a renal patient, said he was paying Z$40 million for a
dialysis session at the Catholic-run Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo, an
amount most renal patients can hardly afford to pay.

“The expenses are too much and a patient has to go for at least one dialysis
a week to clean the kidneys,” Tafirenyika said.

Zimbabwe’s health delivery system, once lauded as one of the best in Africa,
has virtually collapsed after years of under-funding and mismanagement.

An acute economic crisis now in its eighth year has only helped worsen the
situation with the government short of cash to import essential medicines
and equipment, while thousands of doctors have fled the country to seek
better opportunities abroad. -ZimOnline

Uncertainty grips Air Zimbabwe

Zim Online

by Wayne Mafaro Monday 17 December 2007

HARARE – Uncertainty gripped Air Zimbabwe at the weekend as the
International Air Transport Association (IATA) wrapped up an audit of the
troubled airline that could see it barred from European skies if it fails to
meet standards.

IATA began auditing Air Zimbabwe last week. A German firm AQS Audit Firm of
Germany carrying out the audit on behalf of IATA and was scheduled to
complete the “must pass audit” last Friday.

Air Zimbabwe must pass the audit to retain its membership of IATA and to be
allowed to fly into Europe.

However, well-placed sources told ZimOnline that it was likely the national
airline could fail the audit especially because IATA had earlier this year
recorded about 500 cases of non-compliance at Air Zimbabwe.

"When the current chief executive officer Peter Chikumba took over, IATA had
observed about 500 cases of non-compliance at Air Zimbabwe so the situation
is quite tense," said a source, who works at Air Zimbabwe.

ZimOnline was unable to get immediate comment on the matter from Air
Zimbabwe or the Ministry of Transport that oversees the wholly government
owned airline.

The audit was initially scheduled to take place in October before being
moved to last week. The audit covers areas such as safety and reliability,
operational issues, engineering and cabin crew. It also covers fleet
management, qualifications of staff and many other technical issues.

Zimbabwe’s national carrier has since the country’s economic crisis started
in 2000 lost its position as one of the best airlines in Africa due to
mismanagement and interference by the government including by President
Robert Mugabe who often grabs planes to fly him on his countless foreign
trips leaving passengers stranded.

Starved of cash for re-equipment, Air Zimbabwe uses mostly obsolete
technology and equipment while nearly all its planes are between 16 and 20
years old. ZimOnline.

Zanu-PF sticks to the script

Sunday Times, SA

SUNDAY TIMES FOREIGN DESK Published:Dec 16,
2007

Afterwards, Mugabe fêted the ANC’s Cyril Ramaphosa at a nearby hotel

THEY came in Hummers, Mercedes-Benz MLs and BMW 7- series wearing Gucci,
Georgio Armani, Hugo Boss and suits from London’s exclusive Savil e Row and
gorged themselves at a lavish banquet.

All to honour a man who has beggared his country.

While most Zimbabweans continued their desperate scramble to eke out a
living this week, 10000 of the country’s ruling Zanu-PF party ignored the
economic and political abuses of President Robert Mugabe’s 27-year reign to,
once again, anoint him their presidential candidate for next year’s
elections.

Under a leaden sky, the 83- three-year-old Mugabe and his young wife, Grace,
arrived at the City Sports Centre in Harare in a newly imported,
armour-plated black Mercedes-Benz S600 — sporting a numberplate reading
ZIM-1 .

While the first couple made their way into the hall bedecked with portraits
of Mugabe, no- one, not even Mugabe’s trusted lieutenants, was allowed to
park next to his vehicle. In fact, a sentry stood guard over it for the
duration, occasionally using a cloth to wipe off raindrops that dared to
fall on the vehicle.

Disdaining the designer gear so beloved of the party’s elite, Mugabe and
Grace sported Zanu-PF regalia emblazoned with his face . Their appearance at
Zanu-PF’s special congress sent delegates into a frenzy, causing them to
chant “Gushungo, Gushungo”, Mugabe’s tribal name.

With his eyes firmly focused on the elections in 2008, Mugabe did not waste
time when given the podium. He immediately dangled the black economic
empowerment carrot in front of the impoverished party faithful.

“We have given you land, now we want you to have majority stakes in the
mining sector, which is still in the hands of imperialists,” Mugabe told
party supporters, causing delegates to chant Mugabe’s name and proclaim that
he was a godsend, and the only person fit to rule Zimbabwe.

“You must not be used as fronts by whites when we give you shares in these
mining companies. We want blacks to at least own 51% shares in all the
foreign mining firms,” he continued.

The previous day he had reminded the delegates that he had given them land
so as to economically empower the landless blacks who, he said, had long
played second fiddle to about 4500 white commercial farmers .

Mugabe also reminded them that he had given them tractors and other farm
equipment in addition to farms.

He promised more equipment was coming to ensure that they voted for him and
his party candidates.

He then turned to his favourite pastime of lambasting former British Prime
Tony Blair, his successor Gordon Brown and US President George W Bush,
accusing them of working with the local opposition to oust him from power.

Then the vote was taken — and it proceeded as expected.

In short order, each chairman of the party’s 10 provincial councils rose to
state that his province had endorsed Mugabe.

There was no dissent, as Zimbabwe’s notorious war veterans had threatened
anyone who stood in Mugabe’s path.

Joyce Mujuru, Mugabe’s Vice- President, and Emmerson Mnangagwa, Minister of
Rural Amenities and Development, lauded as challengers, failed to register
any opposition. In fact, they occupied the same table as Mugabe and dressed
in garb emblazoned with the president’s face.

With events perfectly following the script, the congress ended with
delegates treated to a feast in large tents outside the venue while Mugabe
fêted invited guests, including the ANC’s Cyril Ramaphosa, at a nearby
four-star hotel.

ýThe opposition Movement for Democratic Change’s national executive
committee met yesterday to decide whether to withdraw from the talks with
Zanu-PF being mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki. The MDC had
last week given the ruling party one week to meet some of its demands — or
face having the talks break down.

Two killed in Zimbabwe floods

Monsters and Critics

Dec 16, 2007, 7:22 GMT

Johannesburg/Harare - Two children have been drowned by raging floodwaters
in northern Zimbabwe that have also swept away villages and livestock, state
radio reported Sunday.

The children, aged two and 13, were killed in Muzarabani after rivers in the
district burst their banks and swept away 43 villages in the past two days,
according to the reports.

Some 900 families are in urgent need of relief such as tents, medicine, food
and blankets, it was said.

The floods swept away houses, schools and the local hospital in Chadereka
Ward in Muzarabani, the radio quoted one official as saying.

Some of the homeless have sought shelter at a local school, while others are
reported to be sleeping in the open.

Zimbabwe's Civil Protection Unit and the Red Cross are assisting with relief
supplies. Two Air Force of Zimbabwe helicopters have been deployed to assist
with relief efforts.

Heavy rains have been falling across the country since early December, and
the local meteorological department has forecast more heavy rains this week.

The authorities have been warning villagers living in low-lying areas or
beside dams and rivers to closely monitor water levels and move to higher
ground if necessary.

© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Mutambara goes against his word

Nehanda Radio

By Geoffrey Nyarota
15 December 2007

I HAVE undergone a traumatic and most unusual journalistic experience over
the past week.

I spent the afternoon and early evening of Sunday, December 2, in the
company of one of Zimbabwe’s most controversial and most sought-after
politicians right in my own home here in Massachusetts. I must confess I
have since become guilty of a rather shameful failure. I did not write a
single word about my three and half hours in the enlightened company of a
political figure who most politically astute Zimbabweans must be dying to
read about since what appears to be his apparent withdrawal recently from
the limelight.

My family’s honoured visitor had intended to stay only two hours as our
guest for late lunch. Very unlike a politician, he arrived on schedule at
3.30 pm. By the time he eventually departed at 7.00 pm he was already an
hour and a half late for his next appointment about 10 miles away. Such was
the excitement of the meeting.

As the tail-lights of the car bearing our distinguished visitor disappeared
into the night the group of Zimbabweans, who had travelled from various
parts of Massachusetts to meet and exchange ideas with him about the future
of Zimbabwe, looked at each other and shook their heads in bewilderment,
bordering on shock. They discussed far into the night about the celebrity
they had the rare occasion to meet and to interact with.

Professor Arthur Mutambara, had come to lunch, met 20 fellow Zimbabweans and
had, it was so apparent, left them in a state of greater confusion about
both the state of affairs back in the motherland and about his own plans and
political projections for the future. With landmark presidential and
parliamentary elections scheduled to take place, possibly within the next
four months, their state of puzzlement was understandable.

I had first learnt through the Diaspora grapevine from an informant in
London that the president of the breakaway faction of the Movement for
Democratic Change, MDC, was at Harvard, a stone’s throw away from me. It
turned out that Mutambara was attending a two-week programme at the Kennedy
School of Government at the university.

My last encounter with the learned Professor had been less than cordial. I
will skip the details of that meeting at a conference up in the Rockies, at
Aspen in Colorado. I immediately decided I should make up for the less than
complimentary article that I crafted after Mutambara avoided me like a leper
at the conference. I had mistakenly assumed then that common sense would
dictate that, as Zimbabwean compatriots meeting in the wilderness, we should
honour our cultural custom by sitting down together, at least once, to ask
of each other’s health.

Last week, determined that the two of us should not miss the God-sent
opportunity to make amends provided by our juxtaposition in Massachusetts, I
promptly dispatched an email message to invite him to lunch in our home away
from home.

The following correspondence exchanged between the MDC factional president
and me over the past two weeks is a veritable tale of subterfuge on his part
and frustration on mine. The correspondence is printed here in the public
interest as a prelude to a more comprehensive article on one of the men
vying to be President of troubled Zimbabwe.

The article will be published tomorrow, Friday, December 14.

Nyarota, Thursday, November 29: I understand that you are currently in
Massachusetts while attending a programme at Harvard. I would deem it an
honour to break bread with you during your stay, while discussing many
issues of mutual and national interest.

I would be failing in my responsibilities if I did not request an interview
with you on the vexing crisis currently bedevilling our nation. We could
perhaps do a Q&A, either through my submission of written questions or
through a live interview, which ever is more convenient to you.

Very kind regards and welcome,

Mutambara, Thursday, November 29: Thanks for the note. We should definitely
catch up. I am in sessions most of the time but I am on cell number……. I
should be free on Sunday.

Nyarota, Friday, November 30: Your compatriots in this part of the Diaspora
are, presumably, keen to meet you as well. If this meets with your approval
we will proceed to invite Zimbabweans in the area who might be interested in
meeting one who is campaigning to become President of their country. I am
sure you too would be delighted to seize on this opportunity to make or
renew acquaintances with them.

This would be a very informal gathering of compatriots. But you should, of
course, expect questions on the burning issues of our country. This would be
a God-sent opportunity for you to interact with your countrymen so that they
hear an account of the current situation in Zimbabwe right from the horse’s
mouth. I believe we can expect an optimistic figure of around 30 people to
come around and listen to you at short notice.

I would still expect you and me to deal with the separate issue of a Q&A for
publication in The Zimbabwe Times.

Nyarota, Monday, December 3 after Sunday meeting: I remain mindful of the
point which you made during yesterday’s meeting about the role allegedly
played by the media in aggravating our current crisis through a failure to
report adequately or accurately on the important events unfolding. In that
regard, as agreed, I am finalising the list of questions that we agreed
after the meeting that I should submit to you in the interests of wider
dissemination of the important views that you expressed yesterday.

Nyarota, Monday, December 3: Please find attached the list of (14) questions
that I have compiled for your urgent attention. I would be most grateful if
you can let me have your responses by Thursday morning, December 6, at the
latest.

Nyarota, Wednesday, December 5: Sorry to overload you, but just another two
more important questions:

1. What, briefly, is you vision of a future Zimbabwe? (Don’t feel too
constrained. We can serialise, within limits, of course, if necessary.)
2. What is your view on the vexing issue of the granting of amnesty to
President Robert Mugabe?
3. Any other important issue you feel compelled to raise?

Nyarota, Sunday, December 9: I am still anxiously waiting for your response
to the questions that I submitted to you last week in terms of the
arrangement agreed upon before our meeting on Sunday, October 2. I
appreciate you must have been busy while preparing for your departure last
week, but I am sure you will also appreciate the need for my assignment to
be completed within reasonable time.

I am now extending our deadline to Tuesday, December 11. If I have not heard
from you by the end of that day I will assume you have decided not to
co-operate after all. I will then proceed on the basis of the questions
submitted to you in writing and my own recollection of the many interesting
statements you made during Sunday’s meeting.

Incidentally, I have just two more questions to add to those already
submitted.

1. Is it true that you left Standard Bank in Johannesburg under a dark
cloud?
2. Is it true that a few days before your return to Zimbabwe from South
Africa in February 2006 you dispatched Mrs Mutambara off to Atlanta in the
US, there to deliver a baby?

Mutambara, Monday, December 10:

Thank you very much for the meeting we had at your house. It was great
meeting with you all. Thanks for your note attached below. As discussed at
the meeting, everything was off the record. It was a friendly discussion
among Zimbabweans. The negotiations in Zimbabwe have reached a delicate
stage, consequently I will not be able to do a proper Q and A. Once again
thanks a lot or your hospitality. Let’s keep in touch.

Nyarota, Tuesday, December 11:

I think you misunderstand me. Apart from the first three questions, the
focus of my interview is you, not the ongoing talks about Zimbabwe. It
appears you want to have it both ways - have your cake and eat it. I stated
right at the beginning that there were questions that I wanted to put to you
for your attention. We agreed the meeting on Sunday December 2 would be off
the record on the understanding that there would be a comprehensive Q&A
subsequently. It appears you now seek to avoid both, which is clearly
unacceptable.

I have put to you a number of very pertinent questions, honest answers to
which could actually affect the course of the talks you refer to, if
published. It is only fair that you respond to these questions as fully as
possible or I will resort to the course of action outlined in my last
message to you.

These questions are being put to you in the public interest. Not only are
you are a public figure, you actually seek to be our country’s next
President. Surely, you should be delighted to sit down for interviews and to
answer questions about yourself and your plans for us, the citizens, in the
public interest. You cannot make your way to State House through some secret
strategy.

I have just one last question. It is said that when you returned to Zimbabwe
in February 2006, after spending many years abroad, you were met at the
airport by a vehicle from the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper. It is said
further that your first port of call in Harare was the office of the
publisher of that paper, Mr Trevor Ncube, who apparently had flown to Harare
just ahead of you from Johannesburg. It is alleged that you spent roughly
two hours in a meeting with the said publisher. After this you then
proceeded to Bulawayo where you were publicly proclaimed as the leader of
the newly formed other MDC party.

Is this an accurate presentation of events and their sequence?

I look forward to hearing from you by the end of the day.

Mutambara, Tuesday, December 12:

There will be no Q and A from me at the moment. Our discussions at your
house were an off the record friendly talk among Zimbabweans.

At this point I decided that Professor Mutambara was clearly attempting to
take me for a ride when I was going out of my way to accommodate an
important and very newsworthy politician. Apart from suddenly withdrawing
from the public arena, he has a number of legitimate questions to answer in
the public interest as Zimbabwe approaches the country’s first combined
parliamentary and presidential elections. He will most likely stand as a
presidential candidate, unless as he disclosed during the meeting on Sunday,
December 2, he now fully endorses MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai’s
candidature against President Robert Mugabe of Zanu-PF.

While journalists have an obligation to protect their confidential sources
of information, politicians on the election campaign trail are not, by any
stretch of the imagination, confidential sources of information when they
express their political views and aspirations or when they address questions
asked by members of the public..

Tomorrow the list of questions that Prof Mutambara seems to have difficulty
in addressing will be published on this website, to be accompanied by the
fascinating highlights of his encounter with a group of Zimbabweans based in
Massachusetts.

New laws a first step for Zim

From News24 (SA), 16 December

Johannesburg - President Robert Mugabe's government appears to have taken
first steps towards amending controversial press and security laws under
pressure from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and African
negotiators, it emerged on Saturday. The Zimbabwe authorities published
three key bills which are likely to be fast-tracked through parliament soon:
the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Bill, the
Public Order and Security Amendment Bill and the Broadcasting Services
Amendment Bill, according to legal sources. It was not immediately possible
to obtain copies of the proposed legislation to see how far-reaching the
amendments are. During several months of delicate inter-party talks mediated
by South African president Thabo Mbeki, the MDC has been pushing for changes
to the press and security laws as a key condition for its participation in
parliamentary and presidential polls next year. Unconfirmed reports this
week suggested the talks were near collapse because of what MDC negotiators
saw as the Mugabe party's unwillingness to meet some of its demands. The
opposition complains that the security laws, which forbid all public
gatherings without police permission, have been used selectively to clamp
down on opposition rallies. The press laws, brought in shortly after
Mugabe's disputed presidential win in 2002, have been used to chase out
reporters from the private and foreign press, and to close down at least
four newspapers sympathetic to the MDC. In a summary of the proposed new
legislation, legal sources said the AIPPA Amendment Bill provided for the
revision of procedures whereby journalists are licensed. The
highly-controversial Media and Information Council could also be
reconstituted. Changes to POSA would allow those wishing to hold rallies
urgent access to a magistrate to appeal against prohibition orders.

Zimbabwe Vigil Diary - 15th December 2007

The sight of the day was a group of Father Christmases signing our petition
demanding that the UN Security Council investigates human rights abuses in
Zimbabwe.  What a wonderful present this would be!  With Christmas around
the corner our thoughts were on our suffering families back home.  In the
words of the Advent hymn, we pray to God to save a ruined nation.

 We have received a reply from the British government in response to the
petition we sent the Prime Minister on our 5th Anniversary calling on the EU
to suspend government to government aid to SADC countries until they carry
out their obligation to protect Zimbabwean human rights. We will put the
letter on the Vigil Diary during the course of the week.

Many new faces again in a crowd which spilled from between the four maple
trees and spread over most of the piazza outside the Embassy.  The few
embassy staff around on a Saturday looked daunted.  Despite the icy cold,
everyone was buoyed by the success of our demonstrations at the Lisbon
Summit.  We were glad someone brought at extra drum as we have beaten yet
another one to death.

In between the magical singing and dancing, Stendrick Zvorwadza, Fungayi
Mabhuni and Rose Benton reported on the Lisbon trip. It was also announced
that 3 extra people had been appointed to the Vigil management team to help
cope with the increasing attendance. Gugu Ndlovu-Tutani and Arnold Kuwewa
will be looking after the back table, keeping an eye on the register in
particular. Fungayai has been put in charge of security. (Vigil dog Chai
will report to him!)

This new setup worked well today.  Gugu noticed someone studying the
information in the register. When asked he said he was looking for a
relative's phone number.  She asked Fungayi to deal with this.  Fungayi
explained to the person in question that the register was not available for
general study as we had a duty under the Data Protection Act to keep
confidential any personal information given to us.  The procedure should be
that the enquirer approaches the Vigil management team to phone and ask
whether the person in question wished to be contacted.

We are pleased to let you know all the pictures for last and this week's
Vigil and for the Lisbon trip are now posted on our photo website, check:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.

FOR THE RECORD: 188 signed the register.

FOR YOUR DIARY:  Monday 17th December at 7.30 pm. Central London Zimbabwe
Forum. Tor Hugne of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum and a surprise guest
will give us feedback on the just ended Human Rights Council. This is the
last forum of 2007. Venue: downstairs function room of the Bell and Compass,
9-11 Villiers Street, London, WC2N 6NA, next to Charing Cross Station at the
corner of Villiers Street and John Adam Street.

Vigil co-ordinator

The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place
every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of
human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in
October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair
elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk

I ripped up my dog collar to help topple this brutal tyrant

John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, explains the urgent need to rescue
Zimbabwe from Mugabe and save its children from starvation

Sunday December 16, 2007
The Observer

A friend of mine who has just returned from Zimbabwe wrote to me quoting
what TS Eliot wrote in The Waste Land in 1922: 'Unreal city/ Under the brown
fog of a winter dawn,/ A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,/ I had
not thought death had undone so many.'
What strikes those who visit Zimbabwe is how many have been undone by death.
Zimbabwe has the highest proportion of orphans in the world (1.3 million),
largely due to the devastation caused by HIV and Aids and their related
illnesses, which kill 3,200 people each week. Then there are the needless
deaths every day which occur because most of the doctors have fled a health
system in ruins. Most have no transport to get to hospital, or, in the
unlikely event that they reach one, money to pay bills. Added to all of this
is hunger and malnutrition. It is no accident that the average life
expectancy of Zimbabweans hovers around 35, lower than any war zone.

The very identities of individuals, of families and the nation, are eroded
daily by the struggle for life. This is the most tragic part of the history
of Zimbabwe, which so successfully struggled to liberate itself from a
racist rule that limited the identities of citizens to the colour of their
skin. Now racism has returned to haunt Zimbabwe in a different form as the
world looks on, cowed by the fear that to criticise those who rule over a
land so steeped in death is to enter into the shoes of former colonial
masters. Such misplaced fears must be put aside.
It is not colonialism that is to blame, but rather the ruinous policies of
President Robert Mugabe. For all his bluster against Britain and those
anti-colonial tirades that play well with those former freedom fighters and
soldiers who now occupy government positions in Africa, the wail of
suffering and the stench of death are evidence enough of the failures of a
corrupt and brutal regime, bent on staying in power at all costs.

As a clergyman I am identified by wearing a dog collar. Last Sunday I cut it
up during a television interview and will not wear it again until Mugabe has
gone. The people of Zimbabwe have lost their identity. Until democracy and
good governance return, the spiral of poverty, brutality and economic chaos
will continue. At a political level, change will come when the United
Nations makes Zimbabwe a priority. Those European leaders who sat down with
Mugabe must now bring his appalling treatment of his countrymen and women to
the UN and provide the moral and legal framework for a response that puts an
end to his tyrannical rule and frees the people of Zimbabwe. Our government
needs to hear our voices raised as one to take action and put pressure on
the UN.

As the UN works to implement the plans brought by Britain to the
international community over Darfur, so the UN must now start the necessary
work to place pressure on Zimbabwe. By bringing pressure to bear on Mugabe,
the UN also provides cover to Thabo Mbeki, the South African President, to
whom Britain has looked to solve the crisis. Any progress report on Mbeki's
efforts might suggest that he has, at best, been ineffective in his efforts
to advise, cajole and persuade Mugabe to reverse his regime. At worst, Mbeki
stands offering the other cheek in complicity, failing to lead the charge
against a neighbour who is systematically raping the country he leads.

There are many who wonder how it is that the people of Zimbabwe survive and
cope. We do well in this season of Advent to make clear that in a country in
which the majority are Christian that it is through faith that God remains
with them, even when all the instruments of government stand against them.
The scandal is how the voices of a few heads of African nations are heard
over the cries of millions of ordinary and suffering people. The churches at
times have led bravely and at others been complicit, co-opted by the
politicians. They must struggle against their own temptation to a quiet
piety in the face of threats and bribes and a culture of political terror.
The churches in Zimbabwe and their leaders are one of the few mechanisms
left to support both advocacy for change and delivery of vital services.
They need the full support and ears of leaders within Zimbabwe and around
the world. They are nearest to those for whom Jesus cares most: those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness' sake. They also know best how to heal
the trauma of those undone by death, and how to fill the hungry with good
things and send the rich away empty.

There are many at work in the UK lending essential support to the people of
Zimbabwe. Agencies such as Christian Aid, Tearfund and World Vision support
those on the ground with community development programmes. Ordinary
Zimbabweans long for the day when their international relations become again
what they were: when Zimbabwe inspired the world with its post-independence
commitment to reconciliation and when neighbouring countries were fed from
its bounty. The process for justice and peace around land distribution is
yet to be completed and cannot be avoided.

So as you get ready to do your Christmas food shopping this year, spare a
pound, from your trolley or your pocket, and ask the supermarkets and shops
to match your donation. Ask them to give something of your spending to those
who cannot even buy bread. Without our help, the starving, malnourished and
sick children of Zimbabwe might not see another Christmas. By using our
voices to call for change and our money to secure the future of its
population, we can each of us bring Christmas hope to those people living
under tyranny.

Comments

FoxandDuck

December 16, 2007 2:04 AM

What a beautiful country and what a shame. The question I had for a long
time was why local African leaders seemed to support Mugabe, at least
tacitly. Perhaps I gained some slight understanding recently and here's a
repeat of information I posted last week in The Guardian:

Ex President Kaunda gave some background to the BBC a few months ago -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6728015.stm and quote:

"The Thatcher government had begun to deal with the land issue, as did her
successor, John Major. But when Tony Blair took over in 1997, I understand
that some young lady in charge of colonial issues within that government
simply dropped doing anything about it."

I think the young lady may have been Claire Short (British Secretary of
State for International Development) and this may be her letter:

http://maravi.blogspot.com/2007/03/zimbabwe-claire-shorts-letter-nov-5th.html

DeadLetterDrop

December 16, 2007 3:10 AM

He never bothered to rip up his dog collar over the million extra dead in
Iraq, so why should we listen to him now.

BrienComerford

December 16, 2007 3:19 AM

Robert Mugabe is arguably the most vile and malevolent tyrant in the world.
His animosity against whites gradually exacerbated into a malicious contempt
for the enlightened blacks who oppose him. In the last ten years he has
destroyed the nation's economy. Aids and starvation are rampant. Zimbabewe's
majestic wildlife species are being massacred on a daily basis. It's very
unsettling to notice that the vast majority of people who vehemently
protested against the former White Goverment in South Africa don't say a
word against Mugabe. He's just as bad if not worse. Disgraceful hypocrites
afraid to confront a mass murderer .Mugabe has committed crimes against
humanity and nature.

Brien Comerford

ZCTF Xmas Report

         

    

 

Hiked passport fees fuel illegal border jumping

Mmegi. Botswana
 Friday, 14 December 2007

RYDER GABATHUSE
STAFF WRITER

FRANCISTOWN: Officials and resident Zimbabweans fear that raised passport
fees in that country could cause escalation of illegal borderjumping into
Botswana.

This follows press reports emanating from Zimbabwe that the country's
Registrar General, Tobaiwa Mudede had directed that with immediate effect
adults applying for passports would pay US $ 220 (P1 320) while minors would
be required to pay USD$120 (P720). "The changes have the backing of
President Robert Mugabe's cabinet," reports ZimOnline. Whilst the adoption
of the US dollar was only temporary and meant to raise foreign currency to
import production materials, it has attracted condemnation from Zimbabweans
living in Botswana and some political commentators.

They condemn this as an unnecessary move which would also affect
neighbouring countries like Botswana. Samson Muumba, chief executive and
chairman of Marknorth Corporation said yesterday that through the new move,
the Zimbabwe government "is trying to stop people from traveling to places
of their choice." He stressed: "Look, even with me based here in
Francistown, I just cannot afford to pay US$ 220. The economy of Zimbabwe
makes it impossible for people to afford that much.

"He felt that what the Mugabe-led government was doing amounted to
"oppression and denying the people of Zimbabwe the right to obtain
passports.

"He feared that the new passport fees would very much encourage border
jumping because obtaining a passport would be almost impossible to many.

"Imagine, people have been jumping the border in large numbers when
passports were reasonably priced. With the new prices it means thousands and
thousands of them would find their way into the country". Muumba wondered if
the Botswana government was really going to cope with the situation of
illegal immigrants given the latest developments.
Jacob Ncube sells traditional artifacts across the border in Francistown. He
has been coming to Francistown for six months now. "There are so many
illegal aliens from Zimbabwe in Francistown and the rest of the country,
perhaps they are even more than Zimbabweans whose stay is above board. The
newly effected fees would make the situation even worse," observed Ncube.
Andrew Martin is a taxi driver who plies his trade just near the Meriting
Spar car park.

He operates a pirate taxi but he has all the requisite documentation to stay
in Botswana because he has recently married a Motswana woman and lives at
Monarch. "The Zimbabweans are all over the place here. Now that they are
denied an opportunity to obtain passports through the high fees, hell is
likely to break loose possibly forcing the law enforcers who would have to
double up now."

He fears that even people with passports would choose not to use them and
instead join the masses across the fence. A 22-year-old Zimbabwean from
Bulawayo who identified herself, as Mariah Jericho fears that with the new
passport fees the Zimbabwean government could "become brutal and monitor the
movement of its people across the border and make sure that travelers have
valid passports.

"Jericho travels on a valid Zimbabwean passport and posits that life is
likely to become very tough for habitual border jumpers. "If a single
passport application means US$220, for adults and US$120 for minors, then
the Zimbabwean government desperate to acquire foreign currency as it is, it
would have to ensure that it curbs border jumping which is prevalent across
the Botswana and South African borders. "University of Botswana (UB)
political science lecturer and political analyst Dr. Zibani Maundeni says
for Zimbabweans who have been coming here with their valid passports there
is no worry at all.

"Those who will be applying for passports for the first time would
definitely have a tough time because they have to pay the new high fees. For
these people, the legal way of coming into Botswana would be difficult and
this might therefore, encourage border jumping," says Maundeni.

He feared that the hiking of passport fees might even prompt the development
of a situation where the law enforcers would end up dealing with
'unidentifiable' illegal immigrants because they do not have means of
identification." They will be coming here to commit crimes and even on
arresting them it would be difficult for the law enforcers to positively
identify them since obtaining a passport would be a difficult thing," added
Maundeni. He agrees that hiking of passport fees has a potential to
exacerbate the problem of border jumping "because it would be difficult for
Zimbabweans to obtain legal documents anyway". Zimbabwe's runaway inflation
is estimated at about 7, 000 percent and the highest in the world so far.
Zimbabwe has one of the highest number of people living in the diaspora
because the country cannot generate the requisite jobs and other needs.
Another UB academic and social work lecturer, Log Raditlhokwa shares similar
sentiments with Maundeni. "Botswana has always grappled with the problem of
illegal immigrants particularly among the group of the youth.

Now with the escalation in passport prices, you expect a lot of illegal
aliens to continue breaking the law". He feels the issue of passport prices
hiking has another element to it: A lot of people would possibly prefer to
remain in Botswana after entering illegally or entering legally and
remaining in the country illegally for fear of what might befall them once
they return home. Raditlhokwa fears that Zimbabwe's neighbours like Botswana
and South Africa are now going to bear the consequences of Zimbabwe's
immigration laws and regulations. The UB academic says it was disturbing
that the SADC countries were aware of the troubles bedeviling Zimbabwe but
were unfortunately reluctant to take a decisive action. The southern African
region instead prefer the silent diplomacy which is not helping the
situation and instead has left SADC condemned from some quarters as a
'toothless bulldog". "Botswana must be part of the solution to the
Zimbabwean problem. We must have a constructive solution to this problem".
Raditlhokwa condemns Zimbabwe's stance describing it as "a desperate mission
by the government to raise foreign currency that is in short supply." He
adds that Mugabe's government wants to discourage people from leaving the
country in large numbers."It's shameful that Mugabe has abandoned the Zim
dollar for the US dollar and on the other hand claims that Zimbabwe is
sustainable. This is the same man who has always claimed that he is in
control of his country and yet he is claiming that the Zim dollar is
worthless," concludes Raditlhokwa.Contacted for the government's view on the
issue yesterday, Assistant Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Gaotlhaetse
Matlhabaphiri, under whose docket the Department of Immigration falls, said
they have not taken any position yet. "We have not made any decision on
Zimbabwe's passport price hike from the ministry nor has the relevant
department come up with any position," said Matlhabaphiri yesterday.

"May be we would come up with a position at a later time. The station
commander for Kutlwano police station, Superintendent Silton Fidzani
commented: "I cannot provide a 'yes' or 'no' answer. Although supporting
statistics were not immediately available, previous records show that
several thousands of the illegal aliens were arrested and deported with some
of them involved in incidents of crime.

Zanu (PF) grab all

The Zimbabwean

 Sunday, 16 December 2007 12:41

By Tracy Shoko
A traditional leader in Matabeleland North has accused senior ruling Zanu-PF
officials in the province of grabbing all the farming inputs like fertiliser
being distributed by the Zimbabwe government for free to boost agricultural
production after successive years of food shortages.

 Traditional leader Chief Madliwa in Nkayi, Nesigwe area says the government
should probe the unfair distribution of farming inputs saying some deserving
cases were left out.
 Chief Madliwa told The Zimbabwean during a visit: “There was no
transparency in the distribution of farming inputs as most of the ordinary
people were excluded from the list of beneficiaries by senior Zanu-PF
officials.”
 The government says the distribution of farming inputs which has seen
beneficiaries take delivery of fertiliser and maize among other agricultural
implements is meant to bolster the food security situation.
 Zimbabwe has battled with a gripping food crisis after agricultural
production plummeted to low levels after President Robert Mugabe seized
white commercial farms and parceled them to landless blacks without any
farming expertise.
 Chief Madliwa added: “Most ordinary people have also not benefited anything
from the agricultural mechanisation programme as most of the machinery was
taken by Zanu-PF officials.
 “The government should probe the unfair distribution of the farming
implements as they are meant to benefit everyone and not a select few
people.”
 Chief Madliwa’s area of jurisdiction borders Kwekwe, Zhombe, and Gweru in
the Midlands Province, Chief Sikobokobo to the West and Chief Tshugulu to
the South. There are five headmen under him.
 The agricultural mechanization programme has received ‘massive’ airplay on
both state radio and television through musical jingles after every hour.
Musical jingles praising government policies have in the past been dismissed
by analysts as propaganda material.

Second exile for Zim journalist

Mmegi. Botswana
 Friday, 14 December 2007

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
CORRESPONDENT

When Zimbabwean journalist, Tanonoka Joseph Whande returned to his country
in 1984 after 12 years of exile in the United States, he did not think he
would be forced to flee again.

But 20 years later, he was on the run from the same government that
liberated the country from colonial rule. He is currently a refugee in
Botswana.

When Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980, there was euphoria about Uhuru
and the end of the war.

Whande like many other Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora were encouraged to
come back and help to develop their newly liberated country. So four years
after Zimbabwe gained independence, he returned to the mother land. He had
studied journalism in the United States where he worked. Before he left the
US, he had already secured a job at the state-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation (ZBC) as a reporter. Unlike most Zimbabweans of his generation,
he is not a war veteran. Neither was he in the struggle.

Whande recalled that during the early days of independence, things were fine
and the economy was flourishing. "We inherited a solid economy from the
white rulers and our currency was stronger than the US Dollar. The country
was benefiting from the government that we had. It was given a consensus by
the people and not by one man," he reminisced.

At the ZBC, Whande worked with the current Zimbabwean ambassador to
Botswana, Thomas Mandingora. But the two former colleagues do not see
eye-to-eye nowadays. Whande said at the ZBC, they worked with former
guerrillas and this caused problems. The former guerillas had their own way
of doing things and did not want to listen to professionals. They were more
interested in pleasing the powers that be. "There was a lot of self
censorship," said Whande who ended up quitting the government broadcaster.
He stated that things started to go wrong in Zimbabwe in the mid-1980s. He
said in 1987-1988, the country was showing signs that something was terribly
wrong. "Those who knew Rhodesia and Zimbabwe noticed that things were not
going well. But then no one would criticise President Robert Mugabe. It was
tantamount to treason," said Whande. He thinks the accolades once heaped on
Mugabe by the international community changed him and made him power-hungry.
He says Mugabe claimed personal glory and attributed the country's
achievements to himself and sidelined his lieutenants. This is when Mugabe
changed from running the country as a humble servant and became a hardened
ruler.

He said the Zimbabwean leader could no longer take constructive criticism
and those who advised him were afraid to tell anything that he did not want
to hear.

Whande said in the 1990s, corruption became prevalent in Zimbabwe and the
country started to experience a shortage of goods. "We started to import
things that we used to export and this was eating at our foreign exchange.
Luckily for us, we had inherited a solid infrastructure in almost every
department. In most areas, we did not have to improve what we inherited but
just to maintain. But we failed to do this." Whande said the government
started to became paranoid and harassed perceived enemies including
journalists. Mysterious accidents which claimed lives became the order of
the day. He said one of the first journalists to become a victim of state
repression is the former Chronicle editor, Geoff Nyarota who exposed the
Willowgate scandal. The scam involved government ministers and other top
officials buying motor vehicles from a dealer at subsidised prices and later
selling them exorbitantly to the public. One of the ministers committed
suicide after he was exposed.

The mood had changed and people were no longer afraid to speak their minds.
Some journalists who were working for the private media were arrested and
tortured.

Whande wrote a column for the Daily News, a privately owned newspaper seen
to be anti-government. After a period of harassment, it was banned by the
government.

After the closure of the Daily News, Whande found it difficult to find a job
due to his poisoned pen. But another privately-owned publication, the
Independent took him on board. He contributed material to a clandestine
radio station established by Zimbabweans in exile. By now he was based in a
town called Masvingo. He tried to send an article to the Independent by
e-mail but he realised that it was intercepted. The article never reached
the editor even when he tried to send it by fax.

His nephew told him that a friend who worked for the fearsome Central
Intelligence Organsiation (CIO) said he was being trailed. At some stage,
Whande said he was detained for five hours for questioning by the CIO after
he wrote that one politician was better than Mugabe. The CIO warned him that
he should never compare Mugabe with anybody because he is committing
treason. He was also cautioned not to write about Mugabe's wife. He skipped
the country in 2004 to evade state agents because he did not want to die. On
arrival in Botswana, he was locked up for six months at the Francistown
Centre for Illegal Immigrants waiting for his asylum status to be
considered. He had to wait for another six months for his application to be
approved. Whande spent more than a year at the Francistown centre, which he
says is just like prison.

"We were treated like prisoners. We were sleeping in cells and not allowed
to make telephone calls."

He said it was traumatising for him to be kept in incarceration when he was
not a criminal. However, he does not blame the Botswana government because
the country has to protect its own interests. "Botswana is protecting
itself. I am not bitter," he said.

Whande is still concerned about his security. He said at times he receives
strange telephone calls and e-mails from people he does not know.

Whande has every reason to always look over his shoulder because of what
happened to the South African-based Zimbabwean Abel Mubakani, a former
editor of the Daily News.  Mubakani, now editor of ZimOnline, was shot by
unknown people who left him for dead.

However, Whande said he cannot be silenced. He said that this is why he
keeps writing hard-hitting articles for local publications about Zimbabwe.

SA must take tougher stand on Zim - report

IOL

      Edwin Naidu
    December 16 2007 at 02:02PM

President Thabo Mbeki and the South African government have been
called upon to show stronger leadership in a new report that says the
current atmosphere of fear and intimidation in Zimbabwe has cast doubts
about whether presidential elections scheduled for March 2008 will be free
and fair.

The report, released on Wednesday, said Mbeki should do more to oppose
abuses in Zimbabwe and should use his role as mediator to oppose torture and
political violence, and to promote free and fair elections and basic human
rights there.

Zimbabwe's 2008 presidential campaign has begun amid fears of an
escalation in violence in which prominent opposition leaders, ordinary
Movement for Democratic Change members and local community organisers are
being systematically targeted.

The report said victims of torture and political violence for whom it
is not safe in Zimbabwe should be granted political asylum consistent with
the protection of international law.

"Appropriate access to medical, mental-health and social services
should be ensured and South Africa must provide protection for Zimbabweans
fleeing persecution and political violence. Given recent events and
historical increases in violence prior to Zimbabwean elections, the South
African government and refugee organisations should prepare for an increase
in the number of Zimbabwean victims of torture and political violence," the
report said.

We Have Degrees in Violence - A Report on Torture and Human Rights
Abuses in Zimbabwe was published by the Open Society Initiative for Southern
Africa, the Open Society Institute and the Bellevue/NYU Programme for
Survivors of Torture.

The report, the first conducted by international health professionals,
provides evidence that the Zimbabwean government is systematically using
torture and violence as a political deterrent.

The report documents how victims of political violence have been
tortured and subjected to other human rights abuses, causing devastating
health consequences. Victims were detained under inhuman conditions and
denied appropriate access to medical and legal assistance.

"Members of civil society, including doctors and lawyers assisting
victims of political violence, also described being subjected to harassment
by government authorities. These findings raise profound concerns as to
whether elections scheduled for 2008 will be free and fair," the report
said.

The report carries testimony from 24 Zimbabwean victims of torture and
political violence. "All had clear physical and psychological evidence of
torture and abuse corroborating their testimony. These victims of political
violence included both men and women. They were not randomly targeted, but
included national and local leaders of the political opposition, community
organisers and ordinary citizens.

"Zimbabweans who were arrested and detained for their political
activities described being detained under filthy, inhuman conditions as well
as being denied basic necessities such as food, water, light and blankets.
This torture and political violence has devastating physical, psychological
and social health consequences.

"At the time of evaluation, all 24 of the Zimbabwean victims of
torture and political violence evaluated for this report continued to suffer
from substantial and often debilitating physical and psychological symptoms
as a result of their abuse … Victims frequently described profound fear of
further torture or death as well as threats to their family."

The report said Zimbabwean victims of torture as well as Zimbabwean
advocates in South Africa described the many problems that Zimbabwean
refugees encounter upon their arrival in South Africa. This includes
problems with obtaining refugee status or political asylum; problems with
attaining adequate food and shelter; difficulty getting appropriate and
necessary healthcare; and ongoing fears of deportation and discrimination.

At least 459 cases of human rights violations were documented by human
rights organisations between March and May, according to Douglas Gwatidzo, a
human rights activist, who said the government was targeting leaders and
organisers. "They come in the middle of the night, pick you up, beat you and
leave you there. They don't care if you die; that is one way they are
beating people into submission," he said.

Dr Reginald Matchaba-Hove, who served as chairman of the Zimbabwe
Election Support Network until April 2007, said violence would have an
effect on the outcome of the election. "Firstly, it is a tool of
intimidation. By beating up people like [MDC leader Morgan] Tsvangirai they
are sending the message that no one is safe. And when word gets out into the
rural areas that you are not safe, this will have enormous impact. There is
already intimidation in past elections by local tribal leaders who are loyal
to the government - if you don't vote for the government party you won't get
food aid," he said.

Sekai Holland, a 64-year-old MDC leader, who was among those beaten up
in March, said: "There was one woman who was jumping on the women. She made
a hole in me which required plastic surgery. She was calling us prostitutes
of [former British prime minister] Tony Blair."

This article was originally published on page 3 of Sunday Independent
on December 16, 2007

Racial claims return in Zimbabwe selection

Cricinfo staff

December 16, 2007

The selection problems that have frequented Zimbabwe over the past years
have returned to haunt them again with the latest row being the make up of
the team to travel to South Africa to play the SA Composite XI starting on
Thursday in Paarl.

Sources say the usual hardliners in Zimbabwe cricket, one being a member the
team's technical staff, and who are blamed for the devastating rebellion by
15 senior white players four years ago, are at it again - and it is feared
to be racial this time around too.

Our sources say the latest issue stems from the inclusion of batsman Sean
Williams in the SA-bound side, a week after being declared to have recovered
from a virus which has kept him out of action for some weeks.

Williams' inclusion, and the return of veteran spinner Ray Price, it is
said, has irked some officials, who have accused selectors of bias, and
arguing that "there are too many white players in the side again."

It is feared the latest politicking could scuttle coach Robin Brown's work
plan. Having to deal with some of the forces on a daily basis, Brown has had
to contend with the hostility on a personal level, and particularly
regarding Williams' selection, which he is accused of influencing.

The hardliners are accused in some quarters for wanting to impose their own
players on selectors, with players from the all-powerful Takashinga club
being heavily favoured in selection.

Selection wars have contributed hugely to the downfall of the Zimbabwe team
in recently years, with the height being the rebel issue which left the team
hardly able to compete acceptably even against equal opposition.

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