Sunday Times (UK)

 

SUNDAY JANUARY 13 2002
 
Queen expresses her anger over Mugabe ‘tyranny’
 
CHRISTOPHER MORGAN AND TOM WALKER
 
THE Queen has privately expressed disappointment, dismay and “intense annoyance” at Zimbabwe’s slide towards tyranny under President Robert Mugabe.
A member of the royal household said yesterday that the Queen had received first-hand accounts of the increasing anarchy that is forcing hundreds of white farmers to abandon Zimbabwe as Mugabe pushes through a programme of land redistribution.

 

The Queen is also said to be disturbed by the country’s political crisis, which intensified last week after new legislation went before Zimbabwe’s parliament making it a crime punishable by two years in prison to “denigrate” the president. “She is dismayed,” said the royal household source.

 

Senior Commonwealth officials, who have already taken steps to ensure that the Queen does not meet Mugabe at a heads of government summit in Australia in March, said she was “intensely annoyed” by events in Zimbabwe.

 

Desmond Tutu, the former South African archbishop, yesterday described Mugabe as power mad, saying he had gone “bonkers in a big way” and had placed Zimbabwe on a “slippery slope to perdition”.

 

While the Queen is always careful to avoid making any public statement that may cause controversy, the willingness of household and Commonwealth sources to convey her private views about Zimbabwe suggests the depth of her concern.

 

Mugabe’s crackdown on opposition groups and the independent press during the run- up to the presidential elections to be held on March 9 and 10 is causing growing alarm in the Commonwealth.

 

Ministers from an eight- nation action group who will meet at the end of January are likely to recommend Zimbabwe’s suspension from the councils of the Commonwealth. But no final decision will be taken before the Commonwealth summit in Brisbane, a few days before Zimbabwe’s elections.

 

Officials say that if Mugabe attends, the Queen’s aides will ensure that he is not photographed near her. She usually hosts a banquet at such summits, greeting each head of government personally. On this occasion, however, she will be a guest at a banquet to honour her golden jubilee and will not be obliged to talk to Mugabe.

 

The Queen last visited Zimbabwe in 1991 and Mugabe’s most recent state visit to Britain was in 1994. Diplomats in Harare said Mugabe still had a high regard for her, despite his quarrels with her government.

 

“Ironically, her knowledge of Zimbabwe stems from the successful state visits,” said the royal source. “The Queen is as concerned for the future of black Zimbabweans as she is for the white farmers.”

 

On the campaign trail yesterday, Mugabe shrugged off the international criticism and attacked Tony Blair, saying he had lied about the situation in Zimbabwe. “Mr Blair, don’t be a liar, a Bliar,” Mugabe said.

 

Zimbabwean officials, including a delegation of ministers who held talks in Brussels last week, have repeatedly accused Britain of interfering in their country’s affairs.

 

European Union leaders, however, are considering a series of sanctions understood to be favoured by Britain. They include measures to freeze the assets of senior Zimbabwean officials and visa restrictions that would effectively bar Mugabe from EU countries.

 

 

 

12 August 2002
 
Please note that the trial of the 24 men on charges of public violence is due to be heard on Monday 14 January 2002 at the Harare Magistrates Court in Rotten Row, Harare at 10 am.
 
We are led to believe that the Prosecutor is seeking to apply for a postponement.
 
The courtroom is very small and should you wish to cover proceedings you are advised to come early.
 
Thank you
 
Herewith some background information
The 24 farmers are facing charges of assaulting a group of invaders in a public place although the incident occurred on Linton Shields Farm, owned by Mr. Hamish Barkley.
 
Events unfolded on the 6 August, when farmers in the Chinhoyi district received a distress call to assist the Barkley family who were barricaded in their house after seeing a group of 40 persons brandishing axes and sticks.
 
A confrontation ensued and several occupiers and four or five farmers - were injured, one seriously enough to be hospitalised. 
 
The Mashonaland West region has over 250 farms, mostly wheat and livestock.
 
For more information please contact
Jenni Williams Public Relations Newsmakers
Tel: 011 213 885 / 091 300 456
Email: prnews@telconet.co.zw / jennipr@mweb.co.zw
 

Zimbabwe Standard

Security forces defy chefs

By our own Staff
SECURITY forces say they are ready to serve any candidate constitutionally
elected by the people of Zimbabwe in the presidential election scheduled for
9 and 10 March.

In an interview with The Standard last week, several members of the Zimbabwe
National Army (ZNA), the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and the Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO) dismissed outright a statement by the
defence forces commander, General Vitalis Zvinavashe—on behalf of the entire
National Arms of State Security—in which he hinted at a coup if the
opposition won the election.

A CIO deputy director said it was clear that President Mugabe, who is also
the defence forces commander-in-chief, had sanctioned the statement by
Zvinavashe.

“We know he was told to deliver a speech along those lines to cause chaos
and panic ahead of the election. But this will instead turn against them.

“They should know that not everyone in the force can be of the same
political opinion as they are. In any case, they are forgetting that they
are under a constitutional obligation to respect the outcome of the
election,” said the deputy director.

A colonel in the ZNA said a huge divide existed in the army with the many
educated young Turks preferring a change in government, while those employed
for their allegiance to the ruling party were determined to maintain the
status quo.

“Unfortunately for the commanders, many of us consider ourselves
professional soldiers who will serve this country in accordance with the
constitution. So any coup plotters will find themselves isolated,” he said.

Another soldier, who is a captain, said Zvinavashe’s statement represented
the sentiments of the few individuals who had benefited from the corruption
now rife within the ranks.

“The majority of us are suffering like all other innocent Zimbabweans. We
cannot be expected to support a government which thrives on terror, because
after all they are brutalising our parents and raping our sisters. We are
ready to defend the change that people vote for,” said the captain.

Said a senior police officer: “We all know why those chefs are saying what
they said on Wednesday. They are political appointees and a new government
will mean the end of their jobs, so I am not surprised. But don’t mistake
that to be the general mood of the uniformed forces, especially the police.
Police officers are a disgruntled lot. Our conditions are poor and the
remuneration is pathetic. Even the much talked about 100% pay rise will mean
nothing to us. A constable gets $13 500 a month and you expect that person
to support Mugabe?”

A police sergeant said Zvinavashe’s statement had not surprised him since
Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri had declared himself a Zanu PF member.

“It also shows why those suspected of being MDC sympathisers are being
victimised in the ZRP. It is the people who will decide who will occupy the
office of the president, not the service chiefs,” he added.

Zanu PF is now using the controversial statement by the service chief to its
advantage in the rural areas where, in a two-pronged misinformation
campaign, it is telling peasant farmers that the MDC has been banned by the
army, while on the other hand discouraging people from voting for a party
not supported by either the military or the police.

President Mugabe, 77, faces the biggest challenge of his political life from
the MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai, 49.

Zimbabwe Standard

War vets leader warns Msika

By Chengetai Zvauya
VICE president Joseph Msika has come under attack from the war veterans’
secretary for security, Mike Moyo, who accuses him of corruptly siding with
commercial farmers whose land had been acquired under the government’s
fast-track land reform programme.

Moyo told The Standard that Mayfield Farm in Mazowe had been given to both
himself and Zanu PF’s Harare provincial vice chairman, Chris Pasipamire, but
they were having difficulties moving on to the farm because of the
protection the owner, whom he identified as Stewart, was receiving from
Msika and home affairs minister, John Nkomo.

Moyo said the farm was allocated to them after being acquired by government
last month.

“I am not happy with Msika because he is promoting corruption. What he is
doing is upsetting us as war veterans. As our leader, he is supposed to be
exemplary in his behaviour. Msika is using state machinery to protect the
farmer whose farm was designated and he is using the law and order section
of the state to harass us,” said Moyo.

The war veteran said he would organise the war vets in a demonstration
against Msika’s double standards on the land question.

“Zvekutyityidzirwa zvakapera (They can’t intimidate us any more). This white
farmer is refusing to leave and he (Msika) is being supported by John Nkomo
and a central intelligence officer called Mangono. If there is no
improvement we are going to tell the people that the land exercise is a
gimmick and we are going to demonstrate. We are not going to allow ourselves
to be used anymore.” Msika’s secretary said he did not wish to comment.

Zimbabwe Standard

Lavish reception for Mugabes

By our own Staff
EMBATTLED President Robert Mugabe and his wife, Grace, received an elaborate
welcome dinner at Le Royal Meridien Hotel in Bangkok during his recent trip
to Thailand. This came as a relief from the political turmoil the president
is facing in Zimbabwe.

According to wire reports from the Far Eastern country, a five-course
banquet with Thai traditional dancers was held on the night of 4 January and
was hosted by Kriengsak Chareonwongsak, the executive director of the
Institute of Future Studies for Development.

In an after-dinner speech, Mugabe, said he had been “pleasantly surprised”
at the warm reception extended to him and that he had least expected to be
“exposed to such tremendous friendship” on such a visit.

This is the president’s second visit to Thailand in three months. Aside from
talks on forging trade with Thailand, no firm agreements emerged.

Clad in a formal dinner suit, Mugabe told about 100 prominent businessmen
and politicians that he was looking at “opportunities to be pursued later.”

“I want to assure you that Zimbabwe is an appropriate destination for
investment capital. Despite all that’s said about me and my country, the
fact that I’m here speaks well of what we are doing,” said the 77-year-old
president, in reference to what he called “foreign disinformation campaigns
mounted by developed countries” such as the US and Britain.

Zimbabwe Standard

Chinotimba orders release of Zanu PF militias

By our own Staff
SELF proclaimed commander of farm invasions, Joseph Chinotimba, has secured
the release from police custody of approximately 40 Zanu PF militias
arrested for violence, The Standard has learnt.

Police sources at Kuwadzana’s Blue Base said the youths from Mount Darwin
were arrested two weeks ago for malicious injury to property and for the
looting of property belonging to residents of Kuwadzana and Kuwadzana
Extension.

Chinotimba arrived at the base in a cream Mazda twin cab vehicle and told
officers that he had orders “from the top” to have the youths released. The
sources said when the officers checked with the provincial headquarters they
were told to comply.

The youths are part of a large group which has been moving from suburb to
suburb terrorising Harare residents since the beginning of the year.

Zanu PF has launched a door-to-door campaign in Harare in a bid to coerce
the urban electorate to vote for President Robert Mugabe in the forthcoming
election.
The party lost heavily in the capital in last year’s parliamentary
elections.

War veterans and Zanu PF youth militia members are descending on residents
demanding that they produce party membership cards.

The militias, trained under the recently launched national youth service,
besieged Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital on Tuesday and harassed members of
staff and patients.The youths were camped at the hospital waiting for their
colleagues who were undergoing treatment for injuries sustained during
clashes in the town earlier in the week.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that members of the militia are being paid by Zanu
PF to carry out their campaign of terror. But the minister of Youth
Development, Gender and Employment Creation, Elliot Manyika, largely
considered the brains behind the the campaign, denied the youths were being
paid.

“The youths are not paid but the government does provide them with basic
training and survival and practical skills. So it’s not true that they are
getting any allowances from us,” said Manyika.

Zimbabwe Standard

Lawyers blast army boss

By our own Staff
THE Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) has blasted the commander of the Defence
Forces, Vitalis Zvinavashe, for threatening to stage a coup if an opposition
candidate wins the Presidential election in March.

In a statement, LSZ president, Stanford Moyo, said it was the right of
people to choose a president of their choice and commissioned officers were
free to resign if they found themselves unable to serve under a certain
president.

“Whilst we accept the right of commissioned officers to resign their
commissions in the event of a feeling on their part that they are unable to
render loyal service under a particular President and thereby avoid saluting
him, it must be pointed out that for as long as they retain their
commissions, they are under a constitutional obligation to observe the oaths
of their offices, the constitution and other laws of Zimbabwe,” said Moyo.

Moyo said the power to choose a president is vested in all adult Zimbabweans
who should vote for a candidate of their choice in a free and fair election
without being coerced.

Moyo said the major objective of the liberation struggle was to create a
democratic, non racial, and just society in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe Standard

Local Insight—Fear fills the election road

By Chenjerai Hove
When we were young in the 50s, we used to be warned against going anywhere
near the police or the district commissioner. We used to be in charge of
hiding the dogs for which dog tax had not been paid. We would go into the
hills and hide, holding the mouth of the dog so that it would not bark
inconveniently.

In those days, the police were a serious instrument of fear among the
citizens and now, I hear that the armed forces and the police have had their
salaries doubled in order that they can improve their capacity to instil
fear.

I can only hope that the army and police know better than that. They will, I
hope, refuse to be used for party political work and resort to serving the
people, defending the citizens and upholding the rule of law.

What is happening now is a disgrace to our police and army who are being
retrained to break the laws they are supposed to be upholding. If this
continues, our police and army would have to be retrained in the business of
upholding the law instead of what they are being forced to do now.

Instilling fear in the hearts and minds of the people is not a fruitful
exercise. The people have the right to be free of fear, free to choose the
leaders they want to map the way to their destiny.

On being asked what a blacksmith was, a rural woman first sought assurance
that she would not be arrested before saying: “A blacksmith is Bishop Abel
Muzorewa.”
That was when the Bishop went into the Smith government and was associated
with the fear which Ian smith instilled in the hearts of the citizens.

The question is: were this question to be asked today, to the same woman or
to another, the answer might focus on our President Robert Mugabe and his
militias.
The habit of sowing fear in the land is a double-edged sword. A youth who is
taught to plant fear in the hearts of others is actually being taught to
instil fear in his own heart. The fear begins to weigh heavily in the hearts
of the young whose parents are hoodwinked into believing that their children
are learning useful work skills when in fact they are being taught how to
destroy Zimbabwe.

Those who plant seeds of fear also harvest fruits of fear. Those familiar
with affairs in Latin America will remember the fate of Pinochet. Parents in
Chile used to warn their naughty children that if they continued to
misbehave, Pinochet would come and swallow them, whereupon the children
immediately began to behave themselves.

We had a similar experience when we were growing up. If you were naughty,
the parents would warn that a monstrous beast would come and swallow us
whole. This beast was called dhundundu or zinhu. Once warned, we would find
ourselves having sleepless nights and behaving ourselves rather well. But
what I know is that we never liked this dhundundu at all. We hated it.

The folklore beast had instilled fear in our hearts and minds and even
today, we don’t like dhundundu at all.

Creative as the rural people and those from the township are, I think they
have found another dhundundu in the newly trained Zanu PF militias in their
green fatigues.

Zanu PF will surely harvest the fear they are planting in the souls of the
weak members of our society, people who only look to the state for
protection and defence from any attack. Now they are weaker—poor, neglected,
and in danger of being killed every day.

The planting of fear simply leads to the harvest of fear. Remember how in
Macbeth, the Shakespearian play, Macbeth was worried to death over the fact
that he had created fear and hatred and would harvest these in old age
rather than love.

The new laws being put in place in our country smell of worse dictatorship
and tyranny than was the case in some eastern countries. They actually make
the president equal to God in many ways. To think that an executive
president cannot be criticised is beyond imagination. What we know is that
people even criticise God in times of crisis.

I have always said that dictatorship is, indeed, old fashioned. But
unfortunately, it has descended on us in broad daylight.

A friend of mine was arguing with me over why I was so critical of the
current government. I told him clearly that at the moment there was very
little to praise in a political party which embarked on killing people and
instilling fear so it could be voted back into power.

Oh yes, now we know that Zanu PF ndeye ropa. Unfortunately, that blood is
the blood of the citizens of a nation which expects upright political
leadership instead of death.

The imagination of the ruling party leaders must go beyond current political
power to the history of the future. Every sensible politician must ask
himself how he will be remembered after death. It is sad to think that some
politician’s graves will overflow with verbal curses and human sputum.

Real power is not measured in terms of how many innocent people a political
party has killed but rather, in terms of how many people are saved from
unnecessary death through good governance and compassionate leadership.

As far as the 2002 election is concerned, I see fear and innumerable corpses
strewing the road to the ballot box. I continue to wonder why African
politicians cannot understand the concept of a clean election in which no
one throws even a single pebble at their election opponents.

• Chenjerai Hove is a renowned Zimbabwean writer.

Zimbabwe Standard

Political prospects for 2002

with Chido Makunike
OVER the holiday, I spent an afternoon with an ardent Zanu PF member and
staunch supporter of President Mugabe in his re-election bid. He castigated
me for being “against Mugabe” and for giving comfort to the MDC and their
“imperialist supporters”.

I protested that I was not “against Mugabe” as such, although I did admit
that I thought he was a spent force as far as national problem-solving ideas
were concerned, and that he needed to retire for the sake of Zimbabwe. My
criticisms of him have been based mainly on his refusal to let go of power
despite the bankruptcy of his ideas and his blatant inconsistencies. Any
comfort Mugabe’s political opponents may gain from my criticism of him is
purely coincidental.

An embarrassing example of Mugabe’s confusion came in the last few weeks of
2001, when he fulminated against the European Union’s expressed wish to send
observers to the presidential election in March. Tough-talking Mugabe
disabused the EU of any such notions when talking of how he would not be
comfortable about “some white men” coming to observe the election. It might
have been crudely expressed, in vintage Mugabe style, but I happen to agree
with him that the EU has often been heavy-handed in its self-appointed role
as arbiter of democracy, as shown by its offensively premature declaration
of Anderson Mazoka as the winner of Zambia’s presidential election last
week.

What I thought was hilarious though, was how, within days of Mugabe telling
off the “white men” of the EU, he apparently felt a little irritation in his
eye, and promptly flew off to Spain, as European a country as any, to
reportedly have his eye attended to, presumably by a white man! He scoffs at
the idea of whites—whom he rightly suspects would be sympathetic to the
opposition, if only because of his anti-white raving of the last few
years—monitoring or observing the election, but when it comes to an itch in
his eye, it is only these “white men” he trusts with attending to it! This
would seem to speak volumes of his lack of confidence in his country’s
health-care system, which his government has admittedly brought to the brink
of collapse.

What do those of us who cannot simply commandeer national air planes and
large amounts of foreign currency to go abroad for treatment do when we get
sick?

Secondly, is rushing to Europe, rather than to local, internationally
acclaimed private eye care specialists—one of whom is about a stone’s throw
away from the presidential palace—not evidence of a pitiful colonial
mentality? One of Africa’s most disgraceful failures is in looking to Europe
and the West for everything, including inspiration, while whining about
ill-treatment at the hands of those very same quarters.
To my Zanu PF pal, I say, if pointing out this kind of inconsistency is what
you perceive to be “attacking Mugabe”, then too damn bad.

My Zanu PF buddy also took me to task over my obsession with presidential
propagandist Jonathan Moyo, and asked me to go easy on him in the New Year.
To this charge I pleaded guilty, as I find Moyo an entertaining, fascinating
character. Although some people think I am a detractor of Moyo, I am
actually his number one fan.

I find him to be a tremendous inspiration, and a cure for writer’s block.
There are many times when I do not know how to start or end an article, then
Moyo comes to my rescue with one of his ridiculously over the top, bombastic
statements.

Suddenly the ideas are flowing again. In the run up to the presidential
election, whose outcome will have wide-ranging repercussions for his own
future, I know he will be in fine form, and will not let me down. Keep on
keeping on, Jonathan!

I am, in the meantime, far from starry-eyed about the Movement for
Democratic Change. Most people I know will vote for Tsvangirai in March, but
I am not expecting any miracles from him. I will dutifully go to the polls,
but not with any great enthusiasm. As glad as I would be to see Mr Mugabe
unceremoniously boo-ted out of office electorally, Mr Tsvangirai has
absolutely failed to inspire me. I would be happy and relieved if in the
event of his winning, he proved me wrong and turned out to be a dynamic
president.

But even if he loses and sinks into oblivion, he will have still done an
important national service in getting Mugabe off his high horse and scaring
him like no one has ever done before.

I have said before, and I will repeat here, that I think our problems are
long term, developmental ones not amenable to simple sloganeering or quick
fixes. I also no longer believe that politicians are necessarily the people
most critical to the solutions, although I agree that enlightened rulers are
one of several key ingredients to getting on the road to those solutions.
Regardless of what calibre of ruling party the MDC turns out to be, if
Tsvangirai wallops Mugabe in March, it would be an important step in our
political development to get accustomed to the idea that politicians and
ruling parties come and go. It would be a necessary transition away from the
nauseating Zanu PF idea that they are somehow ordained to rule for ever,
despite their being so incompetent.

Some astonishing signs of that incompetence are the continuing reports from
all over the country of Zanu PF orchestrated beatings. In this day and age,
they still haven’t figured out that the beating and scaring of people is not
the way to win their votes. There was a time when this might have worked,
but we have gone beyond that stage in our political consciousness. The
crude, inept managers of the Zanu PF campaign appear to be oblivious of
this, turning thousands more people into the arms of their opponents every
day.

The next few months will be very interesting.

From The Sunday Times (UK), 13 January

Voters hide their loathing of regime

"Forward with the People and Mugabe Forever", reads the president’s election slogan. The voters do not agree. Only 23% say they want Robert Mugabe’s rule to continue; a mere 17% say they believe his Zanu-PF party will remain in power "forever", writes RW Johnson. The findings emerged from a national survey of 1,900 Zimbabwean voters, which I carried out last November with Gallup. It was the sixth such survey I have conducted in two years, and it has been noticeable that, as the weight of repression has increased, so has the number of voters wishing to hide their opinions. It is now almost meaningless to ask voters directly whom they want to support. In Bulawayo, one of the strongholds of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), 55% refused to answer this question. The figure rose to 74% in Harare. Pollsters are used to assuming that most of those who say "don’t know" are probably non-voters - but this is not true in Zimbabwe. Nearly 90% of those who did not answer nonetheless said they were determined to vote.

The bare statistics are that, among those willing to state a preference, Mugabe is ahead by five points. But we found a way of getting people to say which way they were really leaning. First we asked which were the main problems facing Zimbabwe. Unemployment, rising prices and the fear of famine predominated - with just 3% naming the land issue as the most important. We then asked whose fault these problems were, grouping the government, Zanu-PF and the war veterans on one side and those who blamed Mugabe scapegoats - including whites, the MDC, Britain, and the International Monetary Fund - on the other. Three-quarters of those questioned gave definite answers and anti-government responses outnumbered supportive ones by 63%-37%.

However, the government is attempting to do something unprecedented in a formal democracy: to terrify enough people into line to win. This is what happened in parliamentary elections in June 2000, when 13%-14% of voters admitted in our exit polls that they had switched their vote to Zanu PF under duress. The true figure was almost certainly higher. The question is whether Mugabe can do it again, and whether the world will accept the election as "free and fair". On the face of it, Mugabe looks bound to lose. When confronted with his statement that he will "never, ever allow the MDC to rule", only 13% agreed. Some 64% thought his land reforms would reduce food production. But repression is making voters sceptical that they will be able to vote the way they want. Only a third believed that "the will of the people will definitely be heard".

Business Day

 

 

Zimbabwe has moved to ease EU concerns on civil liberties and electoral openness, despite more strong rhetoric from President Robert Mugabe who launched an attack on British leader Tony Blair.
 
A Zimbabwean delegation to talks in Brussels said Saturday that Harare had "pledged a full investigation of alleged political violence and the promotion of a code of conduct for political parties before the presidential election campaign".
 
However President Mugabe on Saturday shrugged off international criticism ahead of elections in March, unleashing a new broadside against Blair and saying God was on Zimbabwe's side.
 
The veteran Zimbabwean leader accused the British Prime Minister  of lying about the situation in the country, where opposition leaders are complaining of violence at the hands of state forces.
 
"Mr Blair, don't be a liar, a Bliar," Mugabe told a meeting of over 5,000 Christians in the capital Harare. "God is on our side."
"My government has been clear in its condemnation of violence," Mugabe said, in a report carried by the state news agency Ziana. "People should live in peace. We should not fight each other but contest in the ballot," he said.
 
"God gave each one of us land and wealth," Mugabe said. "He gave us Zimbabwe and no aliens should come and dislodge what is rightfully ours." Mugabe has come under heavy fire in the past week after the passage of tough new electoral and security laws seen as effectively preventing foreign observers from monitoring the election, and banning foreign journalists from the country.
 
Mugabe's draconian measures prompted the European Union to insist on two "immediate actions" - "the invitation and accreditation of international election observers, including from the EU," and "full access to national and international media".
 
It said its foreign ministers would review the situation at their next meeting in Brussels on January 28-29. In an apparent concession the Zimbabwean government hinted that it could allow EU observers to oversee the polling, although the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said on Saturday that it was sceptical.
 
"For our part we remain sceptical, and wait to see if they'll comply," said Welshman Ncube, the MDC's secretary-general. "Their sincerity remains in doubt," he said.

 

 

by Dingilizwe Ntuli

 

Accused by the state of demonising Zimbabwe in his articles, Sunday Times journalist DINGILIZWE NTULI has been forced to leave the land of his birth

 

ON WEDNESDAY December 19, I sat down to watch the evening news bulletin, now popularly known as "Moyo at 8" because of the nightly appearance of Zimbabwe's Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo.

 

I felt an eerie sensation creep up my spine upon seeing the Sunday Times masthead on the headlines.

The cameras zoomed in on my article of December 16, in which I quoted Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo confirming the presence of troops in Matabeleland. The article had also stated that the troops were beating villagers.

My anxiety turned to fear when Moyo, almost frothing at the mouth, attacked me and the Sunday Times for publishing the report.

He did not dispute its content but accused the paper of attempting to spread "alarm and despondency" and destabilising the southern African region.

What seemed to have irked Moyo the most was my report that the presence of the troops had sparked fears of a repeat of the Matabeleland massacres in the 1980s, when President Robert Mugabe's notorious Fifth Brigade killed more than 20 000 people.

The following week, independent newspapers who followed up on the story were told by villagers in the Lupane, Nkayi and St Lukes districts of Matabeleland North that army units were harassing them.

The villagers said the soldiers had warned them they would relive the massacres if they voted for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change's Morgan Tsvangirai in the presidential election.

MPs in the affected areas also complained to Defence Minister Sidney Sekeramayi in Parliament about the troops' conduct.

But in his television appearance, an angry Moyo did not deal with the facts but instead accused me and the Sunday Times of provoking ethnic tensions by attempting to equate the troops' mission in Matabeleland to the Fifth Brigade.

Moyo - who has lived in South Africa and certainly knows that the Sunday Times is owned and edited by black South Africans - described me as a naive young reporter being used by ex-Rhodesian editors to demonise my country.

He warned that the government would speed up legislation to check operations of the British and "apartheid" press in Zimbabwe.

The same bulletin showed Sekeramayi telling Parliament that the article was malicious, alarmist, exaggerated and a false representation of facts.

Sekeramayi said troops on the ground were there to ensure that peace and tranquillity prevailed.

He warned that the army would not stand by and watch while journalists "made up" stories that compromised state security.

The legislation Moyo was referring to was his Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill, expected to be rammed through Parliament this week.

It bans foreigners from working as journalists in Zimbabwe and compels local journalists and newspapers to apply for "licences" through a committee headed by Moyo himself.

Those who write critically of Mugabe and his government risk a two-year jail term.

 

Clearly, Mugabe's government has a lot to hide and wants its misdeeds to take place under the cover of darkness.

Having been one of the unfortunate foreign correspondents branded "terrorists" and "opposition functionaries" by Moyo, I took his and Sekeramayi's threats seriously.

Journalists from the local independent media had been arrested on flimsy charges and I was scared of becoming the first "alarm and despondency" victim of this millennium, after Mark Chavunduka and Ray Choto were tortured for writing about an alleged foiled coup plot in 1999.

Moyo had previously summoned me to his office to warn me about some of my stories.

 

He said it baffled him why I, formerly a journalist on the state-run Herald, had joined a "white-run paper with Rhodesian links".

Flanked by a stern-faced Munyaradzi Hwengwere, then principal press secretary, and a personal assistant who was jotting down every word, Moyo also threatened to ban the Sunday Times in Zimbabwe, saying it "denigrated" Mugabe and the country's leaders. The other two joined in the attack.

I chose to listen and refused to be drawn into an argument with them, as any conversation with Moyo invariably lands up in his weekly column in the state newspapers.

When I had to respond, I gave short, non-committal answers.

So after Moyo's bluster on national television that Wednesday night, I consulted the Sunday Times editors about bringing forward my visit to Johannesburg for a scheduled training programme.

 

I left Zimbabwe on December 20 - but before I had even arrived in Johannesburg, Moyo had summoned all foreign correspondents to tell them to wind up their operations.

The following week, a group calling itself the Zanu-PF Supporters Network took out full-page advertisements in the private and state-controlled media calling for immediate action to be taken against me as I had taken sides with Rhodesians to demonise the country.

This week, the demise of what was once a promising democracy gathered momentum as the security chiefs effectively threatened to stage a coup if Zanu-PF lost the March election.

Things are bound to get worse in months to come.

 

Despite these restrictions and brutality, people are voicing their anger at the misery Mugabe has brought on the country.

Skilled workers are leaving for South Africa, Europe and North America.

Unskilled workers are fleeing to take up menial jobs in SA.

Inflation is at 103%, the local currency is 1:250 to the US dollar, unemployment is at 80% and interest rates are above 65%.

Social services are in a mess and the country is facing food shortages.

 

Such indicators would point to the downfall of any leader.

But not Mugabe.

He has put in place mechanisms to retain power, including the legal rigging of the elections.

While the world looks forward to Mugabe's exit in March, realistic Zimbabweans are already preparing for another six brutal years with him - barring divine intervention.

For now, one can only cry for a country that once had so much hope.

News24

 

 

Cris Chinaka

 

Blantyre - Southern African leaders meeting on Monday will consider the deepening Zimbabwe crisis, but analysts say the region has little chance of coaxing President Robert Mugabe to abandon his fight for re-election.

 

Countries in the region, accused of standing silent while Zimbabwe slips into chaos, are under pressure to act decisively and possibly even impose sanctions against the country.

 

But a tradition of solidarity in the face of western criticism and a largely uncoordinated response has undermined the influence of the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) bloc over Mugabe.

 

"I don't think we are going to get the kind of strong statement suggesting that Mugabe is now totally isolated in the region, which he is," Zimbabwean political analyst Brian Raftopoulos said.

 

"The crisis in Zimbabwe has worsened to the level where SADC should have no problem in finding a strong voice, but somehow I think ... we might still be treated to the same mealy-mouthed statements we've been hearing for months."

 

Black Zimbabwean war veterans have occupied thousands of white-owned farms across the country since February 2000, fighting what they see as a battle against lingering colonial injustice.

 

Nine white farmers have been killed, scores of black farm workers assaulted and thousands others displaced since the land invasions. Aid organisations have warned of severe food shortages in rural areas.

 

Ahead of presidential elections in March, Zimbabwe's parliament has now passed legislation granting Mugabe's government sweeping security powers.

 

Trouble ahead

 

Critics warn that worse lies ahead as Mugabe appears determined to cling to power.

 

Zimbabwe's Defence Forces chief General Vitalis Zvinavashe on Wednesday said heads of the country's security services would not accept a president who did not fight in the country's 1970s liberation war against white rule.

 

That is seen as a blow to the hopes of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

 

Mugabe, 77, arrived in Malawi on Saturday in a combative mood, accusing former colonial power, Britain, of trying to help the MDC into power in the March election.

 

In Blantyre, Zimbabwe presidential spokesperson George Charamba said Mugabe's government would not be treated as if it was on trial.

 

"This is not going to be a court in which Zimbabwe will be in the dock. All that is going to happen is that the summit will get an update on political developments in Zimbabwe on the land issue and on how Zimbabwe is fighting to retain its rights as a sovereign state," he said.

 

Malawi President Bakili Muluzi, SADC's chairperson, has called the extraordinary summit to discuss the Congo, but analysts say the meeting is likely to be dominated by backroom talks on the deteriorating political situation in Zimbabwe.

 

An official briefing on developments in Zimbabwe is scheduled as the third item on the summit's agenda.

 

"On the face of it, Zimbabwe might be a peripheral matter, but in effect it is the most pressing issue for SADC at the moment," said one senior African diplomat at the summit.

 

Analysts said except for South Africa the rest of the region is too weak to confront Mugabe and has no reason to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe when South African President Thabo Mbeki does not want to be seen as pursuing what Mugabe calls a white-driven western-sponsored agenda.

 

SADC is made up of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Mauritius, Swaziland, Seychelles and Zambia.

News24

 

 

Pretoria - There was no alternative to quiet diplomacy to handle the situation in Zimbabwe, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad said on Sunday.

 

"We've been working at this for a long time, trying to convince (people) that what is called quiet diplomacy, there is no alternative to that," he said at a news conference in Pretoria.

 

"What is this that everybody is saying South Africa must do that they themselves are either not doing or not willing to do?"

 

Some experts quoted in newspaper reports were telling the government to send an army into Zimbabwe, Pahad said.

 

"It's a crazy notion...

 

"Let's try at this very difficult time to assist to take measures that will help us stabilise the situation."

 

Pahad said he had not been convinced that anything that had been put on the table so far needed international authority. Mandatory sanctions could only come from the United Nations' Security Council.

 

Effectively sanctions already applied, he said. Almost all foreign aid to Zimbabwe had ceased and effectively no new aid was coming forth. Investment in that country was practically frozen, as were exports of Zimbabwean products.

 

"Any sanctions issues to me just tend to become rhetorical."

 

The Commonwealth was talking of making it difficult for individuals to travel, the deputy minister said.

 

"I never thought that useful."

 

Regarding the proposed freezing of Zimbabwe's bank accounts, Pahad said such accounts held abroad, if there were any, were not in South Africa, as far as he knew.

 

"The European Union has all the banks there. If they want to impose sanctions it's their decision."

 

The situation in Zimbabwe, along with that in Angola, and the Inter-Congolese dialogue due to start in South Africa later this month or next month, were expected to top the agenda of the extraordinary Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of government meeting in Malawi on Monday, the deputy minister said.

 

He assumed the task team of SADC ministers that visited Zimbabwe last month would report back.

 

Following the visit in December, the ministers from Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe said they were opposed to the imposition of any kind of sanctions on Zimbabwe.

 

"We have reiterated that the bottom line for Zimbabwe is a just and equitable land distribution, which however must be done in a legally sound and violence-free manner," Malawian Foreign Minister Lilian Patel said at the time.

 

The ministers also "expressed their concern at the distorted and negative perceptions of Zimbabwe projected by the international and regional media".

 

On Sunday, Patel was quoted as saying: "Zimbabwe is a sovereign state. The problem there is an internal problem."

 

Last week two laws described as draconian - one boosting police powers to break up assemblies and to punish criticism of the government, and another disenfranchising at least a million Zimbabweans overseas and outlawing independent election monitors and voter education - were passed despite the opposition of the Movement for Democratic Change.

 

This week more legislation is expected to pass that will impose stiff restrictions on the press, including the banning of foreign journalists and requiring journalists to renew their accreditation with the government annually.

 

Zimbabwe's military leaders last week indicated they would only support a presidential candidate who upheld "Zimbabwean values".

 

Asked what steps SADC could take, Pahad said that would be discussed at Monday's meeting if the agenda and time allowed.

 

Requested to comment on President Robert Mugabe's remarks that Britain had declared war on Zimbabwe, he said: "We just hope that within SADC and other forums we can help to see how we can normalise the situation.

 

"This is no time for war in our region. We are trying to end war."

 

Pahad expressed concern over what he termed "tensions rising all the time".

Yahoo News

 

 

By Cris Chinaka
 

BLANTYRE, Malawi (Reuters) - Southern African leaders meeting on Monday will consider the deepening Zimbabwe crisis, but analysts say the region has little chance of coaxing President Robert Mugabe to abandon his fight for re-election.

Countries in the region, accused of standing silent while Zimbabwe slips into chaos, are under pressure to act decisively and possibly even impose sanctions against the country.

But a tradition of solidarity in the face of western criticism and a largely uncoordinated response has undermined the influence of the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) bloc over Mugabe.

"I don't think we are going to get the kind of strong statement suggesting that Mugabe is now totally isolated in the region, which he is," Zimbabwean political analyst Brian Raftopoulos told Reuters.

 

"The crisis in Zimbabwe has worsened to the level where SADC should have no problem in finding a strong voice, but somehow I think...we might still be treated to the same mealy-mouthed statements we've been hearing for months."

Black Zimbabwean war veterans have occupied thousands of white-owned farms across the country since February 2000, fighting what they see as a battle against lingering colonial injustice.

Nine white farmers have been killed, scores of black farm workers assaulted and thousands others displaced since the land invasions. Aid organisations have warned of severe food shortages in rural areas.

Ahead of presidential elections in March, Zimbabwe's parliament has now passed legislation granting Mugabe's government sweeping security powers.

TROUBLE AHEAD

 

Critics warn worse lies ahead as Mugabe appears determined to cling to power.

Zimbabwe's Defence Forces chief General Vitalis Zvinavashe said on Wednesday that heads of the country's security services would not accept a president who did not fight in the country's 1970's liberation war against white rule.

 

That was seen as a blow to the hopes of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

 

Mugabe, 77, arrived in Malawi on Saturday in a combative mood, accusing former colonial power Britain of trying to help the MDC into power in the March election.

In Blantyre, Zimbabwe presidential spokesman George Charamba told Reuters that Mugabe's government would not be treated as if it is on trial.

"This is not going to be a court in which Zimbabwe will be in the dock. All that is going to happen is that the summit will get an update on political developments in Zimbabwe on the land issue and on how Zimbabwe is fighting to retain its rights as a sovereign state," he said.

QUIET DIPLOMACY

Malawi President Bakili Muluzi, SADC's chairman, has called the extraordinary summit to discuss the Congo, but analysts say the meeting is likely to be dominated by backroom talks on the deteriorating political situation in Zimbabwe.

An official briefing on developments in Zimbabwe is scheduled as the third item on the summit's agenda.

 

"On the face of it, Zimbabwe might be a peripheral matter, but in effect it is the most pressing issue for SADC at the moment," said one senior African diplomat at the summit.

Analysts said that except for South Africa the rest of the region is too weak to confront Mugabe and has no reason to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe when South African President Thabo Mbeki does not want to be seen as pursuing what Mugabe calls a white-driven Western-sponsored agenda.

 

In South Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad rejected calls for sanctions on Zimbabwe calling them rhetoric, and told reporters in Pretoria "quiet diplomacy" was the way to resolve Zimbabwe's crisis.

"We've been working at this for a long time, trying to convince (people) that what is called (for is) quiet diplomacy. There is no alternative to that," the South African Press Association (SAPA) reported quoting Pahad.

He dismissed suggestions for "smart sanctions" -- freezing all foreign assets and banning foreign travel for Mugabe and his ruling elite -- which analysts say would be supported by the European Union and the Commonwealth.

"The European Union has all the banks there. If they want to impose sanctions it's their decision," SAPA reported.

SADC is made up of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Mauritius, Swaziland, Seychelles and Zambia.

 

Leaders from Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo and Lesotho arrived on Sunday while South Africa's Mbeki was due later on the same day.

Independent (UK)

 

Basildon Peta: The sanctions Europe must impose on Mr Mugabe for democracy's sake

'How many people has Mr Mugabe to murder for the EU to realise that it's time to abandon warnings'
14 January 2002

An unfortunate truth for many Zimbabweans is that we can not rely on institutions such as the Commonwealth, the British Government or the European Union, which purport to be custodians of democracy, for relief against wayward leaders like President Robert Mugabe.

 

Even when Mr Mugabe was at his worst this week, frogmarching his Parliament into passing some of the most repressive and undemocratic laws in the world, the EU was entertaining a delegation of his ministers in Brussels. The question that many Zimbabweans are now asking is: How many people will Mr Mugabe murder before the EU realises that it is time to stop issuing warnings and deadlines and instead impose tough sanctions to rein in this dictator.

 

Many of us here hoped that the EU – rather than warning Mr Mugabe again that he should hold a free and fair presidential election in March – would have taken advantage of the Friday meeting to announce tough sanctions on Mr Mugabe unless he reversed the undemocratic laws he passed this week. As things turned out, Mr Mugabe got away with murder and is due to pass other repressive laws this week.

 

An unpalatable truth for Mr Mugabe and his cronies is that he will never win a free and fair election when Zimbabweans elect a new president in two months time. This reality becomes firmer each passing day as Mr Mugabe's politically illiterate and economically innumerate policies wreak havoc on a once prosperous and promising African nation, reducing it to a pathetic basket case.

 

Since it became clear that Zimbabweans had embarked on an irreversible path to evict Mr Mugabe from power – by rejecting his authoritarian draft constitution in a national referendum last February, the first major defeat for Mr Mugabe in a political contest since the end of white rule in 1980 – the beleaguered leader had to find other methods of saving his political career.

 

While the list of Mr Mugabe's human rights violations would fill the pages of this entire newspaper, the response from the international community has been sad and feeble. Apart from endless meetings and threats from the EU, the Commonwealth and even United Nations secretary general, Koffi Annan, Zimbabweans have failed to see concrete action to rein in the dictator.

 

Zimbabweans cannot hope for relief from bodies like the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union for various reasons. Some of the SADC leaders, including its chairman, Bakili Muluzi, seem to be emulating Mr Mugabe by criminalising any forms of dissent. In addition to harassing the judiciary in Malawi, Mr Muluzi is fighting to add an unconstitutional third term to his rein. Namibia's Sam Nujoma is already enjoying an unconstitutional third term, while nothing can be expected from Mozambique's Joacquim Chissano, who won a flawed election and was the best man at Mr Mugabe's wedding to his former secretary in 1996.

 

South Africa's Thabo Mbeki, who could tighten the screws on Mr Mugabe, as Zimbabwe is heavily reliant on South Africa for power and electricity, has used racial scapegoats to excuse his failure to deliver to millions of poverty-stricken blacks. The tragedy of the new African Union (AU) is that it is being bankrolled by dictators such as Muammar Gaddafi, whose countries have never known anything close to democracy. To Colonel Gaddafi, Mr Mugabe is the "ultimate hero" of Africa.

 

As the presidential election looms 9 and 10 March, Mr Mugabe has intensified his blatant human rights violations. Almost every day, Zimbabweans are openly terrorised by Mr Mugabe's militias in the hope that they will cow the entire nation.

 

Six of the 156 dead opposition supporters have been killed in the past 10 days of Mr Mugabe's organised anarchy, which is aimed at stealing the impending election.

 

At the time of writing, Mr Mugabe had circumvented parliamentary regulations and procedures to fast track fascist laws that would entrench his onslaught on opponents and guarantee him re-election.

 

The Public Order and Security Act will impose death and life penalties on people accused of assisting in espionage, banditry, terrorism, treason, subversion and insurgency against Mugabe's government.

 

These offences are broadly defined and include any suspicions that a person is plotting against the government. The Act outlaws publishing or communicating statements prejudicial to the state or that "incite public disorder, violence, affect defence and economic interests of the country or undermine confidence in security forces".

 

The Generals Laws Amendment Bill will see the banning of independent election monitors and forbid private voter education. It will deny voting rights to millions of Zimbabweans living abroad.

 

The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill, which will be passed on Tuesday, imposes hefty sentences and jail terms for journalists publishing information likely to cause "fear alarm and despondency". It will also put journalists on a system of one-year, renewable licences and ban them from publishing information about, among other things, Mr Mugabe's cabinet meetings.

 

The effect of all these Bills is to make Mr Mugabe an untouchable demi god. It will not be possible to vote him out of power, despite his massive unpopularity.

 

It thus becomes imperative that, in addition to suspending Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth, established democracies should add the following measures to their list of sanctions against Mr Mugabe.

 

* Trace and freeze all his assets in Europe and America and those held by his cronies.

 

* Impose permanent travel sanctions on him and his cronies to Europe and America.

 

* Issue an international warrant of arrest for his current human rights violations and for directing the murder of 25,000 innocent civilians when he moved to crush his opponents in southern Zimbabwe in the early 1980s.

 

* Stop the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank from considering any further aid to him, and any new investment into Zimbabwe by European companies, until Mr Mugabe restores full democracy

 

While the people of Zimbabwe would be hurt by some of these sanctions, they have already suffered enough. At times, a big price must be paid for democracy.