Election Process Begins in Zimbabwe By Peta Thornycroft
Harare 20-January-2005
As Zimbabwe's election campaign
period gets under way, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change says it
is unable to prepare for the March poll because of restrictions and
obstructions. Inspection of voters rolls began this week, but opposition
members of parliament are unable to get copies and few people know they
check that they are registered as voters.
The ZANU-PF government has not
run any announcement on state-controlled radio, which is the only radio in
Zimbabwe, telling people where to go to to check that their names are on the
voter rolls.
According to the latest research into advertising trends in
Zimbabwe, 90 percent of Zimbabweans get their information from the Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation's four radio stations. No privately-owned stations
are allowed in Zimbabwe.
There have been two advertisements about
this process in state-controlled newspapers, which have limited urban
circulation and are too expensive for most people.
Few people have
turned up in Harare to see if they are registered.
Thoko Kupe, an
opposition MDC legislator in Bulawayo says she was unable to get a copy of
the voter roll for her district. She said she has been told to travel 500
kilometers to Harare to pick one up. As a result, she says she has no way of
checking whether the registration list for her district is
accurate.
Ms. Kupe says the government changed the boundaries for her
long established voting district for the 2005 poll which has caused
confusion and she has no way of informing people of the changes.
She
also says it is impossible to get permission to hold rallies and her
requests for meetings have been repeatedly refused. Government restrictions
on campaigning, she says, are insurmountable.
Another opposition
legislator in Eastern Zimbabwe says police refused to allow him to address
any political meetings after 5:00 in the afternoon or on
weekends.
Priscilla Misihairabwi, an MDC legislator in a high density
area in Harare, said it took eight days and immense effort before she was
allowed to buy a copy of the voter roll for her district. She says
government officials have refused her permission to pick up copies for
colleagues far from Harare.
Voter registration lists have been one of the
main points of contention in the previous two national elections. The MDC
claims there are hundreds of thousands of duplicate voters on the
roll.
The Southern African Development Community, SADC, pledged last
August it would send observers at least 90 days before elections of member
states. The SADC secretariat in Botswana did not respond to a written
question on whether the Zimbabwe Government had sent it an
invitation.
Several opposition legislators say they have evidence that
some of their supporters have been assaulted this week when they went to
check if they were registered as voters.
The opposition, says it has
tried to pay for advertisements on national radio and television, but
requests have been refused by the state broadcaster.
Justice minister
Patrick Chinamasa who is responsible for steering recent electoral
legislation through parliament said he was on holiday at present and
therefore unable to comment. The telephones at the Registrar General's
office, which runs elections, went unanswered.
The opposition MDC
says it hopes that by taking part in the election it will cement the
regional electoral principles signed up to by President Mugabe last August.
But the opposition says it will not make a final decision to take part in
the vote until after a SADC delegation visits Zimbabwe to evaluate electoral
laws and processes.
Zimbabwe Appoints New Electoral Body for March Poll Thu Jan
20, 2005 11:27 AM ET
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert
Mugabe on Thursday appointed a new electoral commission to run parliamentary
polls due in March under a law which the opposition says does not guarantee
a free and fair vote. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said in a statement
Mugabe had appointed a 5-member "independent" body under the chairmanship of
High Court judge George Chiweshe to supervise the March elections.
No
precise date has yet been set for the March polls, which the main opposition
has been threatening to boycott if the political playing field remains in
favor of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.
January 20,
2005 Posted to the web January 20, 2005
Harare
ZIMBABWE and
Iran yesterday signed agreements to co-operate in transport, power,
telecommunications, agricultural equipment manufacturing and security, which
will see the two countries jointly implement the construction of the
Chitungwiza-Harare railway line, the extension of Kariba Power Station and
establishing a tractor manufacturing plant.
Ministers and senior
officials from the public and private sectors signed the agreements at State
House yesterday at a ceremony witnessed by visiting Iranian leader President
Seyed Mohammad Khatami and President Mugabe.
The signing ceremony marked
the end of President Khatami's three-day State visit meant to cement
bilateral relations between Iran and Zimbabwe.
Transport and
Communications Minister Cde Chris Mushohwe and the Iranian Minister of
Co-operatives Mr Ali Soufi signed a memorandum of understanding on the
construction and electrification of the Harare-Chitungwiza railway line,
which is envisaged to ease transport problems for workers and other
commuters.
The two ministers signed another co-operation agreement in
telecommunications and postal services before officials from TelOne and
their Iranian counterparts also signed a co-operation
agreement.
Energy and Power Development Minister Cde July Moyo and Mr
Soufi signed the agreement for the expansion of Kariba South 7 and 8 Power
Generation.
Industrial Development Corporation chief executive Mr Mike
Ndudzo and managing director of Iran Tractor Manufacturing Organisation Mr
Arab Baghi signed an agreement to jointly establish a tractor manufacturing
plant in Zimbabwe.
Acting Minister of Finance and Economic
Development Cde John Nkomo and Mr Soufi signed a memorandum of understanding
on the avoidance of double taxation of goods being exported to either of the
two countries.
Home Affairs Minister Cde Kembo Mohadi and Mr Soufi signed
a memorandum of understanding on co-operation in internal
security
The Governor of the Reserve Bank, Dr Gideon Gono, and Dr Karzadi
of the Iran Export and Import Bank signed a financing agreement, while Jewel
Bank chief executive Mr Nyasha Makuvise and Dr Karzadi also signed an
agreement for provision of lines of credit.
Officials from the
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce and the Iran-Africa Co-operation
Council also signed a memorandum of understanding for co-operation between
the private sectors of the two countries.
Speaking at the signing
ceremony, President Mugabe said Mr Khatami's visit did not only exhibit the
fruition of the country's "Look East" policy, but also the co-operation of
Third World countries.
He said although the visit was short, it achieved
a substantial lot in regard to implementation of projects which would become
part of co-operation between the two countries.
Cde Mugabe said
because Iran was a much bigger and developed country than Zimbabwe, Harare
would benefit more from the agreements, which were, nonetheless, signed on
mutual basis.
On its part, Zimbabwe would undertake to fulfil its
obligations in the agreements, he said.
"We are a small country that
is ambitious and raring to go. We are fully conscious all the time of our
identity and we know our friends and Iran is one of our friends, a great one
for that matter. We shall never fail it," said President Mugabe.
He
said he had told Mr Khatami that after independence in 1980, Zimbabwe
invested massively in education to develop its human resource base and its
education system was now ranked among the best in Africa.
But the
country needed the help of such partners as Iran to develop in the field of
science and technology as it was lagging behind in that sector.
This
would help in adding value to raw materials produced in the agricultural and
mining sectors, Cde Mugabe said.
"When all is said and done, the visit
has consolidated our relations," he said.
In response, Mr Khatami
said the agreements signed yesterday, provided a window of opportunity for
Iran and Zimbabwe to exploit their potential.
"We are going to further
enhance co-operation on a mutual basis," he said.
Mr Khatami described
President Mugabe as one of the greatest leaders to emerge from the African
continent who helped to liberate their people from the yoke of
colonialism.
He said it was because of the leadership of revolutionaries
like President Mugabe that "today, Zimbabwe belongs to the people of
Zimbabwe".
A joint communique issued on the State visit said the two
leaders expressed satisfaction with the successful conclusion of the land
reform programme in Zimbabwe.
They welcomed Iran's participation in
the mechanisation of agriculture through the provision of lines of
credit.
On regional and international affairs, the two leaders expressed
concern at the continued military incursions and destabilisation of the
Democratic Republic of Congo and called for the withdrawal of foreign forces
from that country.
They urged the international community to support
the efforts of the African Union to resolve the crisis in Darfur, Sudan, and
reiterated their backing for South African President Thabo Mbeki's efforts
to find a lasting solution to the Cote d'lvoire crisis.
On the Middle
East, the importance and solidarity with Iraqi people was underscored as
well as the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Iraq. They supported
United Nations efforts to ensure free and fair elections in Iraq.
The
two leaders hailed the recent elections in Palestine and called on the
international community to respect the Palestinian people's right to
self-determination. They condemned the establishment of the "wall of shame"
in the occupied territories and called for Israel to accept and honour
resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the verdict of the International
Court of Justice.
In Afghanistan, they called for further action by
the international community on the reconstruction and numerous challenges
facing the country.
Presidents Mugabe and Khatami condemned all forms of
terrorism and agreed that the scourge was complex and needed to be dealt
with by all members of the international community.
They declared
their opposition to unilateralism and interference in the internal affairs
of other countries and called for the reform of the UN to ensure it was
truly representative and reflects present realities.
The two leaders
noted the dangers of nuclear weapons and called for the ban of weapons of
mass destruction.
Foreign Affairs Minister Cde Stan Mudenge read the
communique, which he signed with his Iranian counterpart, Dr Kamal
Kharrazi.
President Khatami and his delegation left Harare for Iran
yesterday afternoon.
He was seen off at the Harare International
Airport by President Mugabe, Vice President Joyce Mujuru, senior Government
ministers, service chiefs, members of the diplomatic community and Zanu-PF
supporters.
Just before his departure, the Iranian leader was treated to
entertainment by a traditional dance group following which he inspected a
guard of honour mounted by the Presidential Guard.
Jan 20th 2005
| JOHANNESBURG From The Economist print edition
Africa's recovery
largely depends on South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki. But his influence
abroad may be undermined by his intolerance at home
HE IS no "big man",
but Thabo Mbeki is undoubtedly Africa's most powerful politician. Earnest,
academic and remote, he lacks the charisma of his predecessor, Nelson
Mandela. Yet, under him, the African National Congress (ANC) scooped a
record 70% in last April's election, and his poll ratings are still high. He
has another four years in office, presiding over Africa's richest and
best-organised country.
Mr Mbeki is also determined to make Africa as a
whole stable, democratic and less poor, and this is a good moment to try. He
has the ear of world leaders. George Bush calls him America's "point man" in
Africa, and seems inclined to channel more aid and help there. This week
Britain's finance minister, Gordon Brown, toured the continent to promote
Britain's Commission for Africa, a body set up last year to devise a plan
for development. He wants annual aid from rich countries doubled to $100
billion and poor-country debt worth $80 billion to be written off, much of
it to Africa's benefit: a scheme that meshes well with the UN's Millennium
Development Goals (see article).
If donors increase their help,
however, who will ensure that African countries respond? Only Mr Mbeki (who
himself is still unknown to many Africans) stands much chance of influencing
other leaders on the continent. And yet he has extremely worryingly
autocratic and reactionary instincts, which are clearly on display in the
way he runs his own country. If they are a clue to his future leadership,
then the hugely ambitious plans of the developed world can probably be
consigned to the dustbin brimful with previous ideas to "Save
Africa".
Abroad, Mr Mbeki is willing to use his weight to knock heads
together in the name of peace. It is often a losing game, but at least he
tries. So far in 2005 he has been to Kenya, Sudan, Congo, Gabon and Côte
d'Ivoire for peace parleys and truce-signings. Last year he made 22 trips
inside Africa. If the continent is becoming less bloody, it is sometimes
nothing to do with him (he played no part in the recent ending of conflicts
in Angola, Senegal or Sierra Leone). But in other places-especially Congo
(see article)-his efforts have made a difference.
Mr Mbeki can chalk
up some personal successes. Last year, his spies foiled a coup plot against
Equatorial Guinea. The year before, he helped organise the exit of Charles
Taylor, a tyrant, from Liberia and helped reverse a coup in São Tome and
Principe. He has hosted talks between warring parties in Burundi, Côte
d'Ivoire and elsewhere. Most successful (though it did not stop the actual
killing on the ground) were some, held in a casino, for Congo's warmakers in
2002. Against the odds, they agreed to a power-sharing government. Mr Mbeki
then coddled warlords who muttered of going back to the bush. He even sent a
fleet of limousines to Kinshasa to soothe grumpy ministers who had no
official cars.
Mr Mbeki feels it is his business to micro-manage peace
efforts all over the place. South Africa has 1,300 peacekeepers in Burundi
and 1,500 in Congo; the country is a fairly big troop contributor to the
United Nations, but is running short of soldiers not infected with HIV/AIDS
(a scourge in which Mr Mbeki, as it happens, does not believe). Around 200
other troops have been sent as observers to Ethiopia, Uganda and Sudan. The
diplomatic corps is also spread thin, as embassies open all over the
continent. When an African is sought to oversee peace talks, it is usually
Mr Mbeki who leaps in his presidential jet, Inkwazi, to answer the
call.
His interventions can be controversial. On a recent trip to Côte
d'Ivoire, where a civil war is ready to re-ignite, a banner draped from a
hotel cheerfully declared "Welcome to Thabo Mbeki, a genuine African hero".
Diplomats and locals were less laudatory. Some said that Mr Mbeki had only a
loose grasp of details of the conflict. Others said he was naive, too quick
to take rotten politicians and rebels at their word. But at least he helps
to get them talking.
Perhaps as important, he pushes the reform of
regional bodies. In 2002, with one or two others, he orchestrated the death
of the hopeless old Organisation for African Unity and the birth of the
African Union. The new AU is far from perfect, but at least it favours
democracy and has set up (or plans) potentially useful things, such as a
standing African peacekeeping force, observer missions to conflict zones, a
Security Council and a continental parliament.
The Southern African
Development Community, a 13-country group, may yet become useful. Mr Mbeki
leads efforts to give it some clout, especially in promoting democracy. He
used it to nudge leaders in Zambia, Malawi, Namibia and Mozambique to quit
office when their constitutions, or voters, said so. He has notably failed
in Zimbabwe, which he likens to the intractable problems of Northern
Ireland; though if Mr Mbeki stopped giving Robert Mugabe free electricity,
Zimbabwe's appalling leader would surely not last
long.
Redeeming the continent His intimates say that Mr
Mbeki has a fervour to do good in Africa. Why? Not just because it is a
worthy end in itself, but because he despises the idea of a hopeless black
continent. According to Mark Gevisser, his biographer, Mr Mbeki's extreme
prickliness about racism makes him long to "redeem" Africa in the world's
eyes.
His hopes for doing so are pinned on the New Partnership for
Africa's Development, Nepad, launched in 2002. This sets out the
conditions-respect for laws, good government, less corruption, and so
on-necessary to attract private capital and aid to African economies starved
of investment. Its content is mostly copied by Britain's Commission for
Africa, but Nepad is Africa's half of the deal: Africans promise change in
order to gain from the aid, trade and debt relief promoted by
Britain.
But Nepad, or any successor plan for Africa's redemption, will
work only if functioning states with reasonably good leaders (South Africa,
Botswana, Senegal, Ghana, Mozambique) can be set apart from the awful ones
(Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Sudan, to name but some). That means breaking a
tradition, half a century old, of blind solidarity between African
presidents, including Mr Mbeki's tolerance of Zimbabwe's appalling Robert
Mugabe.
One potent idea in Nepad is "peer review". This encourages
African experts to visit each others' countries to investigate what economic
and political reforms are needed and to offer constructive advice. So far,
though more than 20 countries have signed up for peer review, only the
better-run have had a visit from the experts. Nepad, or its successor, now
needs to put pressure on recalcitrant places to submit to similar reviews
and to take action.
Zimbabwe is the most glaring test-case; but Mr
Mbeki balks at it. He resents what he sees as outsiders' obsession with
Zimbabwe's white minority (now thought to number only about 20,000), and
distrusts the opposition MDC, which he suspects may be a stooge for white
interests. Instead, he tends to tell Zimbabweans to solve their own
problems. This week, for the first time, came a change of tune: the
secretary-general of South Africa's ANC, Kgalema Motlanthe, told Zimbabwe's
government to stop restricting and intimidating the opposition. Without more
pressure of this sort, Nepad's peer review will not count for
much.
Elsewhere in Africa, Mr Mbeki tries to buy improvements. He
chivvies investors to take risks in the continent, flying teams of tycoons
with him to trouble spots such as Congo. South Africa makes up a third of
sub-Saharan Africa's total GDP, and is also a big source of capital for the
whole continent. The South African Reserve Bank estimates that South African
firms invested $1.2 billion in the rest of Africa in 1996, which rose to $4
billion a year by 2001. Many of these now earn healthy profits in phones,
construction, retailing and banking in other parts of the continent. Between
1994 and 2004, South African trade with the rest of Africa grew by more than
300%; between 1994 and 2003, exports to the rest of Africa rose from 8.6
billion rand a year to 38.8 billion ($5.1 billion).
Because of that
economic weight, and because he has no rivals, Mr Mbeki is increasingly able
to present himself as Africa's ambassador to the world. That helps him lobby
for a permanent seat for his country (and hence a voice for Africa) on the
UN Security Council. It gives him weight when, with Brazil and India, he
demands reforms to the global trading system to favour poorer countries. It
justifies his regular place at meetings of G8 leaders, which he enjoys. But
his growing influence on the world scene also makes his patent flaws all the
more alarming.
Hail to the Chief The face the president shows
within South Africa is decidedly less benign. Domestic critics feel that he
is becoming so over-mighty, and so intolerant of criticism, that he may
undermine the vibrant democracy that the ANC helped create.
They note
that he has held power a long time. He became deputy-president under Mr
Mandela in 1994 and was left to run much of domestic policy, especially
economic affairs. Mr Mbeki and a team of friends-Trevor Manuel as finance
minister, Tito Mboweni at the central bank-pushed through a set of tough
economic reforms, known as GEAR (the Growth, Employment and Redistribution
Plan), to cut the deficit, lower inflation, cut tariffs and bureaucracy and
privatise some state firms.
These reforms left opponents reeling. Those
who wanted to see a state-dominated economy were barged aside. Trade union
demands for job protection were ignored. Ronald Suresh Roberts, an author
close to Mr Mbeki, half-jokingly describes the economic reforms as
"equivalent to what Pinochet did to the economy in Chile, but without a
dictatorship; in fact, it was done while building a larger democratic
mandate." Mr Gevisser suggests that the president's uncompromising style of
leadership is "Leninist vanguardism": leaders who understood market
economics imposed policy on the rest.
The new policy was slow to work,
and the costs were high; the broad definition of the jobless rate is still
roughly 40%, and half the population still lives below the poverty line. But
the economy has now started to blossom. Growth is higher than its historical
average, and has been sustained for the longest period since the middle of
the last century. Now Mr Mbeki's advisers talk of halving unemployment by
2014 and of creating 400,000 net new jobs a year.
The battle to
impose liberal economics was won, however, at a high political cost. Mr
Mbeki clamped down on policy debate (including debate on how to fight AIDS,
or of what to do about Zimbabwe) and he enormously increased the power of
his office. Two issues now worry even members of the ANC and allies of Mr
Mbeki: the bitter and unforgiving tone of the president himself, and how the
structures of power have been usurped.
In the past six months Mr Mbeki
has carried out a series of personal attacks on soft targets, mostly through
the medium of a long weekly column which is posted on the ANC's website. He
first lashed out at Tony Trahar, the boss of Anglo American, the biggest
firm in South Africa, for saying that some political risk persists in the
country. Then he snapped at a white journalist, a rape victim who has
written about the terrible rates of sexual abuse in South Africa, saying
that she was a racist and out to denigrate black men. (Commonly, Mr Mbeki
accuses his opponent of racism if he is white, or of supporting a "white
agenda" if he is black.)
There followed an odd outburst this month
against Winston Churchill, in which Mr Mbeki called for a "cold war" against
whites who, like Churchill, think bad things about black-run Africa. At
other times, AIDS campaigners who lobby for useful drugs for patients are
accused of being stooges of foreign drug companies. Mr Mbeki has now stopped
espousing his dreadful view that AIDS is not caused by a virus, but still
shows little enthusiasm for the anti-AIDS measures that almost everyone
believes are needed.
The archbishop complains The biggest row,
however, came in November, when Archbishop Desmond Tutu dared point out that
a culture of "sycophantic, obsequious conformity" is emerging under Mr
Mbeki. An "unthinking, uncritical, kow-towing party line-toeing", he said,
"is fatal to a vibrant democracy." If yes-men surround a leader, who will
tell him that his policies on AIDS, Zimbabwe and pro-black business are
useless or dangerous?
The archbishop has a gift for riling pompous
leaders. He upset apartheid's white rulers, Mr Mugabe (who called him an
"embittered little bishop") and now Mr Mbeki. Sadly, Mr Mbeki chose to ally
himself with the Zimbabwean tyrant against the genial and democratic
clergyman. He snapped at Mr Tutu that he was not a member of the ANC, and
should therefore keep quiet. "Those who present themselves as the greatest
defenders of the poor", he added, "should also demonstrate decent respect
for the truth, rather than indecent resort to empty rhetoric."
The
editor of the Sunday Times newspaper in Johannesburg, Mondli Makhanya, sees
a case of presidential paranoia. "His is a feared pen, full of anger and
invective...Mbeki's writings betray a person who believes he is powerless.
They are laments of weakness and victimhood. Of conspiracy and fear. They
betray a mind that is permanently on a war footing." Mr Mbeki's allies
retort that the president, known as "Chief" to close advisers, is only
having fun and provoking debate. Do not assess the Chief by these incidents
alone, they say. But since Mr Mbeki rarely talks to journalists, there are
few other public pronouncements to judge him by.
Others note a long
history of intolerance. During his exile from South Africa, he sidelined
rivals by having them sent to distant posts. He had Max Sisulu, a rival
economist, packed off to represent the ANC in eastern Europe. Back in South
Africa he barged aside his main rival for leadership, Cyril Ramaphosa (the
man Mr Mandela wanted to succeed him). When control of the ANC was formally
handed to Mr Mbeki in 1997, Mr Mandela gave a prescient warning: "The leader
must keep the forces together, but you can't do that unless you allow
dissent."
Mr Mbeki holds grudges. He previously clashed with Mr Tutu for
recording abuses by the ANC during the struggle against apartheid. He
attacks a mysterious cabal of rich whites who, he suspects, "set the agenda"
of debate. He famously despises the leader of the opposition, Tony Leon,
refusing to respond to him or even to acknowledge him.
The president
has also used party and state structures to bolster his own power. William
Gumede, whose new book, "Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the
ANC", details Mr Mbeki's fierce desire for party discipline and centralised,
presidential control, claims that the space for debate is rapidly narrowing,
both within and beyond the ANC.
The state broadcasting company is docile
and uncritical of the government. Journalists, judges and others are told to
"work together to build the nation", rather than carping at the government
or uncovering corruption. Many opposition politicians are co-opted. The old
party of apartheid, the New National Party, slipped into the arms of the ANC
last year. Its opportunistic leader, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, justified his
move by saying that the future of South Africa will be decided "within the
ANC, and not outside."
But internal party reforms have weakened the
ANC and strengthened the leader. Local branches and national policy
conferences, which have influenced policy and leadership for much of the
party's 93 years, have lost much of their power. Mr Mbeki now appoints all
nine provincial governors, and directly controls the chief posts of the
civil service. He also has his own spies at his disposal, alongside the
intelligence network of the state.
Most alarmingly, he uses organs of the
state against party rivals. In 2001 he told the police to investigate three
men-Mr Ramaphosa, Tokyo Sexwale and Matthews Phosa-for plotting to
"overthrow" him. It was a ludicrous accusation, but it pushed the three men
out of politics. Mr Gumede worries that all this threatens the young
democracy. "We are going to get a false consensus, with nothing aired in
public, which is a real danger," he says.
Moeletsi Mbeki, a businessman
and the president's brother, is blunter. He sees a "stubborn and
self-righteous" president drifting away from the ANC tradition of
multi-racial social democracy. Mr Mbeki is creating a narrow "capitalist,
black-consciousness party" obsessed with promoting the interests of one
racial group. He even interprets Mr Mbeki's tacit support of Mr Mugabe as
solidarity with a fellow black leader.
That may be putting it too
strongly, but it is a warning to heed. When Mr Mbeki pushes for reform and
development abroad, he speaks as the leader of Africa's most successful
democracy. And tolerance for debate, dissent and opposition is vital if
domestic-and foreign-success is to be sustained.
'Historical suffering' unites Zimbabwe and Iran by
the RN Internet desk, 20 January 2005
Iranian President Mohammed Khatami
has given his country's support to Zimbabwe. While on a state visit to the
African nation, he spoke of how the two countries share "historical
suffering" in the face of Western hostility. Zimbabwe was the sixth stop on
the Iranian president's seven-country tour of Africa, which included Mali,
Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone. He arrived from Benin on 17 January for a
three-day tour of the country, where he met high-ranking politicians, signed
trade deals worth millions of euros and held talks with President Robert
Mugabe. Look East On Wednesday, President Khatami vowed that Iran would
stand by Zimbabwe, which is the subject of international isolation because
of severe criticism of President Mugabe's rule. The administration in Harare
has been accused of vote-rigging and human rights abuses. Partly as a result
of this ostracism, Zimbabwe has adopted a 'Look East' policy, cultivating
relations with Muslim and Asian countries in an attempt to revive an economy
which has been in recession for five years. During the visit, government
officials in Zimbabwe, the heads of both countries' banks and a number
private sector executives signed ten trade agreements. Iran has already
given 15 million euros in credit to Zimbabwe for medical supplies and
farming equipment; the new treaties will pledge another 20 million euro for
agriculture and communications, including the construction of a commuter
railway into the capital. Trade troubles Political Analyst Lerato Mbele of
The South African Institute of International Affairs says Zimbabwe's turn to
the East has come about because of the problems it encounters in trying to
trade with the West: "There have been travel sanctions on senior executive
members of the Zimbabwean government - and that includes senior business
executives in Zimbabwe. It's become increasingly difficult to do business
within the EU and also within the United States." President Mugabe says
that his country's economic difficulties are the result of sabotage by
Western countries and by opponents within Zimbabwe who want to see him
overthrown. Necessity not choice She also believes that it is necessity
rather than choice which has thrown the two countries into
alignment: "The Zimbabwean Government is now looking for alternative markets
and playing on political sentiment to do so. Iran is known as one of the
countries in the so-called 'Axis of Evil' in the international campaign
against terror. Zimbabwe is seen as this racist anti-colonial regime.
Together, they are the 'black sheep' of the diplomatic community and by
virtue of that mutual pariah status they have now forged a common
link." How will Iran benefit from trade with Zimbabwe? South African
political analyst Lerato Mbele thinks that, despite recession and poverty,
the African nation is relatively prosperous compared to other states on the
continent:
"Zimbabwe is still a valid market within the southern African
region and was for a long time the second-largest economy after South
Africa. So, in terms of having a critical mass, a buying-power base,
Zimbabwe might offer Iran an alternative market.
And it may provide
Iran with more leverage on the international stage:
"It also gives Iran a
[.] way of saying 'we may not be a friend of the west but we have friends
elsewhere within the south." Suspicion Lerato Mbele also thinks the "Look
East" policy is a deliberate attempt by Harare to show that both Zimbabwe
and other countries viewed by the West with suspicion can prosper without
Western assistance: "For Zimbabwe, its going to be: 'If I can't do business
in the West, I'll do it in the East, because we have no ideological
barricades.' Asians want to enter the African market; it's still virgin
territory, they want to do business here. So, as Asian countries look to
expand their markets, they may overlook certain ideological principles. And
the same will happen with countries in the Middle East that have
increasingly become pariahs within the international community, and they
will look for another place to do business."
The Zimbabwe
government has said it is not bothered after the United States named it as
one of the world's six "outposts of tyranny". "When comments like that
come from fascists, we are not really worried," Anti-corruption Minister
Didymus Mutasa told the BBC.
He also said that the US would be in
trouble if it tried to invade Zimbabwe. The US comments were made by
Condoleezza Rice, President George W Bush's nominee as secretary of
state.
"The Iraqis did not treat them at all well. Let them come to
Zimbabwe and they will face it," Mr Mutasa told the BBC's Network Africa
programme.
Western plot
Ms Rice said the US would help
bring "freedom" to Zimbabwe, along with Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Burma and
Belarus.
The US has imposed targeted sanctions on the Zimbabwe
leadership - banning President Robert Mugabe and his associates from
travelling there and freezing any of their assets.
The US,
along with the European Union, accuses him of rigging the 2002 elections,
using violence against the opposition and mismanaging the
economy.
Mr Mugabe in turn accuses the US and the EU of
opposing black rule and in particular, his seizure of land of white farmers
for redistribution to blacks.
He says the west has conspired to
ruin Zimbabwe's economy in order to discredit him.
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- A government crackdown on dissent is
deepening Zimbabwe's climate of fear ahead of parliamentary elections due in
March.
Security forces shut down bars and businesses perceived as hotbeds
of opposition. Police punish a careless remark about the nation's autocratic
leader with a stint in jail. Undercover cops eavesdrop on conversations in
cafes and buses.
"What we are seeing is undeclared martial law," said
Alouis Chaumba, director of the Roman Catholic Commission for Justice and
Peace. "It is tearing whole communities apart."
Ever since he took
power in this southern African country in 1980, President Robert Mugabe has
tolerated little dissent. But with the looming elections, the government has
been tightening its control apparatus, and opposition politicians say they
are being hounded out of existence.
At least 45 opposition party rallies
and civic group meetings were banned last year, human rights groups say.
Government critics are now routinely jailed, and the only independent daily
newspaper was recently shut down.
In Senate hearings Tuesday, President
Bush's nominee to be secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, cited Zimbabwe as
one of several countries that remain "outposts of tyranny" in the
world.
At least 200 people have died in political violence and tens of
thousands have been chased from their homes since Mugabe's government began
seizing white-owned farms for redistribution to black Zimbabweans -- many of
them presidential cronies -- in 2000. The often-violent campaign helped
plunge the country into its worst political and economic
crisis.
Mugabe has used his parliamentary majority -- secured in
elections which independent observers said were marred by intimidation and
vote rigging -- to pass sweeping security and media laws.
Police and
soldiers, once seen as protectors, have become "tormentors," Chaumba
said.
Security forces order bars and sidewalk markets to close early,
claiming the opposition Movement for Democratic Change supporters who
patronize them are fomenting resistance.
Cars and buses are searched
at checkpoints for any sign of support for the party. Those found with
fliers or T-shirts are dragged out of their vehicles -- and even their
homes.
Witnesses recounted how two men were forced to do push-ups at the
side of the road while they were thrashed with sticks last week. Their
offense was not clear to the witnesses, who gave the scene a wide berth,
fearing they too could be targeted.
One woman said she ran home and
locked herself inside until morning. "I was frightened," she said, refusing
to give her name.
At least three people have been arrested for insulting
Mugabe. Two of them were overheard by secret police agents while traveling
on public buses.
Mishek Tirivayi, a janitor in the capital, said, like
most of his compatriots, he won't take to the streets to protest government
repression, fearing "they'll kill us or beat us."
Church leaders,
among the government's most outspoken critics, say the ruling ZANU-PF
party's youth militia has posted informers at state grain depots, police
stations, post offices, district government offices, schools and clinics
across the country.
Militia members -- estimated to number more than
50,000 -- and other informants are rewarded with food handouts and other
commodities, according to local priests.
Teachers, civil servants and
even some police suspected of supporting the opposition have been fired for
"defiling" the districts where they worked, Chaumba said.
The Human
Rights Forum, a coalition of 17 human rights and advocacy groups, has
documented 7,591 cases in which they say government opponents were tortured
last year. At least 12 people died in political violence, and thousands more
were threatened or assaulted, the forum said in its annual
report.
Now even this group is under threat. Parliament has approved
a new law that bans human rights groups and other non-governmental
organizations from receiving foreign funding or engaging in "issues of
governance."
The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe Monday January 10th - Sunday January
16th 2005 Weekly Media Update 2005-2
CONTENTS
1. GENERAL
COMMENT 2. ZANU PF AFFAIRS 3. FOOD SECURITY 4. ECONOMIC
ISSUES 5. THE JUDICIARY
1. General Comment
THE
impression that the government-appointed Media and Information Commission
(MIC) is serving as an instrument for muzzling alternative sources of
information was reinforced in the week under review by recent reports of its
threats to close the newly established Weekly Times under the guise of
upholding AIPPA.
According to The Financial Gazette (13/1) MIC chairman
Tafataona Mahoso wrote to the paper threatening to suspend or cancel the
privately owned paper's licence because the publishers had allegedly misled
the commission about their "true intentions in setting up the Weekly Times".
Mahoso alleged that the paper had pledged to "spearhead development" and
"cover general news" but was now "running political commentary through and
through" while making "no attempt at impartial reporting". The Zimbabwe
Independent (14/1) also carried the story. But, as the Gazette noted,
Mahoso's threats are not a new phenomenon in the country's media
landscape.
The Daily News and its sister weekly, The Daily News on
Sunday, were both shut down in September 2003 under AIPPA. The Tribune met
the same fate in July 2004. If the MIC fulfils its threat against The Weekly
Times, the paper will become the fourth publication to fall prey to the
draconian media law in 16 months. Besides the closure of papers, many
journalists working for the private media have been arrested and charged
with breaching a variety of harsh security and media laws. Notably,
during the week, the courts removed from remand four Zimbabwe Independent
journalists after the State failed to establish a case against them. The
journalists were on remand for almost a year charged under old criminal
defamation laws for allegedly defaming President Mugabe in a story in which
the paper said the President had "commandeered" an Air Zimbabwe plane for a
trip to the Far East in 2003. The Herald (11/1), which was among the
government media that prominently carried the Minister of Information's
angry denial at the time, did at least inform its readers of this
development. But ZTV didn't bother in the bulletins monitored.
The
authorities continue to use these laws to intimidate and silence the private
media but ignore many cases of unethical journalistic practice committed by
government-controlled media organisations. Such selective application of
these laws clearly indicates government's underlying intention for
promulgating such patently repressive legislation that have no place in the
statutes of a country that claims to be a democracy.
2. ZANU PF
Affairs
PROFESSIONAL passivity and sheer partisan reporting characterized
the government media's generous coverage of the circumstances surrounding
the ruling party's primary elections to select candidates for this year's
parliamentary elections. These media carried 63 reports on the issue. But
their charitable coverage of the matter did not translate into critical,
independent analysis of the in-house skirmishes and general chaos that
typified the selection process.
This was left to the private media, which
carried 39 stories on the matter, all exposing the internal bickering and
thereby contradicting the impression created by the government media that
the ruling party's elections had been democratically held under an enabling
environment. They also pointed out, contrary to official claims that the
selection process demonstrated ZANU PF's democratic nature, that the
regulations were meant to purge dissenting voices, especially those involved
in the Tsholotsho fiasco. The government media's biased reporting was also
reflected in its over dependence on ZANU PF voices for comment almost to the
exclusion of other observers, as exemplified by ZBH (ZTV and Radio
Zimbabwe)'s sourcing patterns versus that of private radio stations. (See
Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 Voice Distribution by ZBH and Private Radio
Stations
This meant that these media's presentation of
developments in the ruling party, unlike those from the private media, were
always one-sided. Moreover, although ZBH categorized Chen Chimutengwende as
one of its alternative voices representing Global Africa Network, the former
Information Minister is actually a ruling party MP for Mazowe East. The
same sourcing pattern was mirrored in the way the government and Private
Press reported on the issue as shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 Government and
Private Press voice distribution.
Notably, although the private Press' sources
were also predominantly ZANU PF (39 voices or 64%), they spiced their
stories with comments from diversified backgrounds.
Meanwhile, the
government media's preoccupation with the political activities of ZANU PF
resulted in them paying scant attention to other political developments,
particularly those involving the opposition MDC.
This was illustrated by
the fact that these media carried only six stories on the MDC. Half the
reports portrayed the party in bad light, one was on MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai's trip to Zambia, while the other two quoted Chief Justice
Godfrey Chidyausiku blaming the opposition party for the delays in the
finalisation of their court petitions in which they are challenging some of
the 2000 parliamentary election results. The private media accorded greater
publicity to the opposition. For example, the private radio stations Studio
7 and SW Radio Africa together carried seven stories on the MDC's election
preparations. Their reports however, were biased because they were based
exclusively on MDC sources. Notwithstanding this, SW Radio Africa (10/1 and
12/1) aired four stories that recorded four incidents of politically
motivated violence and intimidation against MDC activists and commercial
farmers. Those responsible for the crimes were reported to be ZANU PF
supporters and traditional chiefs. But all the stories lacked official
corroboration.
3. Food Security
ZIMBABWE'S food security
position remained as hazy as ever with the government media downplaying the
matter in 20 (83%) of the 24 stories it carried on the issue. These
stories were mainly public relations reports on the progress of the
agricultural season and government's commitment to helping farmers overcome
the "challenges" they were facing, especially the shortage of fertilizer. In
the process, the problems facing the agricultural sector were not adequately
addressed or related to the country's diminishing capability to feed
itself. This was exemplified by the way in which ZBH, for example, devoted
only four stories (17%) to highlighting farmers' concerns over the recent
dry spell and shortages of equipment, labour, fuel and inputs, among other
problems. Even then, these stories failed to fully assess and quantify the
potential damage the problems were likely to have on food production in the
country.
The private media, on the other hand, paid closer attention to
the precarious food situation in 15 stories they devoted to the issue,
noting that some crops had already started wilting because of inadequate
rainfall. They revealed that the situation was critical in Masvingo,
Midlands and Matabeleland. Moreover, these media, as exemplified by
Studio 7 (12/1) and the Zimbabwe Independent (14/1), publicized scientific
findings by the Famine Early Warning System Network (Fewsnet) warning that
the country is in a state of emergency as far as food availability is
concerned. The report indicated that the country had no more food in some of
the rural areas. The government media ignored the findings.
4.
Economic Issues
THE official media's reluctance to inform their audiences
about the deteriorating economic situation was evident in the way they
underplayed the spate of price increases on various commodities and services
that rocked the New Year by drowning them in positive stories about the
perceived revival of the economy. For instance, although the government
media highlighted some of the symptoms of the country's economic ills in
eight (36%) stories out of the 22 reports they carried on the matter, they
covered them in isolation and failed to view them as a reflection of an
ailing economy, Fig 3.
Fig. 3 Media coverage of Zimbabwe's Economic
performance.
Rather, these media, as epitomized by ZBH simply
hailed the reported drop in inflation to 137.7 % in December without
explaining its relevance to the galloping cost of living in the
country. Although the private media did not share the official media's
optimism and instead focused solely on the problems dogging the economy,
they also did not explain to their audiences how yet another drop in
inflation related to the plunging living standards of
Zimbabweans.
5. The Judiciary
THE official opening of
Zimbabwe's legal year brought into greater perspective some of the problems
bedeviling the sector. But the government media downplayed some of these
problems, particularly those perceived to be politically sensitive, in the
17 stories these media carried. The official media merely regurgitated
official pronouncements made during the official opening as illustrated by
The Herald and the Chronicle (11/1) and The Sunday Mail (16/1), or
restricted themselves only to highlighting the poor working conditions in
the sector. As a result they ignored concerns raised by independent observers
that the judiciary had been heavily compromised by the undue interference in
its work by the Executive arm of government (Studio 7, 10/1).
In
fact, five of the six stories the private media carried on the official
opening of the legal year were critical of the present set-up in the
judiciary, while the remainder supported newly-appointed Attorney General
Sobusa Gula-Ndebele's concession that his office needed more resources to
effectively execute its duties. In addition, it was only the private
media that accorded the MDC and independent commentators the opportunity to
respond to comments from the Chief Justice, Godfrey Chidyausiku, made during
his official opening of the legal year. They were responding to
Chidyausiku's statement that the MDC was to blame for the delay in
finalizing its electoral court petitions challenging some of the results of
the 2000 parliamentary election. The commentators were adamant that the
judiciary was to blame for the delays. Ends.
The MEDIA UPDATE was
produced and circulated by the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe, 15 Duthie
Avenue, Alexandra Park, Harare, Tel/fax: 263 4 703702, E-mail: monitors@mmpz.org.zw
Feel free to
write to MMPZ. We may not able to respond to everything but we will look at
each message. For previous MMPZ reports, and more information about the
Project, please visit our website at http://www.mmpz.org.zw
African National Congress secretary-general Kgalema
Motlanthe has played down reports that the ANC was turning up the heat on
the Zimbabwean government ahead of the March poll. Comments that he made at
a press conference in Johannesburg on Monday - in particular that the
treatment of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was not
conducive to free and fair elections - were widely reported as a signal that
the ANC was hardening its stance against Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF. This
coincided with media reports that a South African intelligence agent had
been arrested in Zimbabwe for spying. In parliament yesterday, Motlanthe
deflected questions from Independent Newspapers about whether the ANC had in
fact toughened its stance. "It is actually a fiction to claim there is
something like quiet or loud diplomacy," he said. "We have dynamic
discussions with both parties in Zimbabwe and we believe we are very
diplomatic." Motlanthe, accompanied by the ANC's head of Presidency, Smuts
Ngonyama, said the ANC was speaking to the parties in Zimbabwe "in a manner
which they would listen to". "We should not conduct ourselves in a way where
we shout and issue invections," he said.
Motlanthe held extensive
discussions with ANC chief whip Mbulelo Goniwe and addressed MPs in an
informal caucus yesterday. Asked whether parliament would send an observer
team to Zimbabwe, Goniwe said South African MPs intended getting involved in
the election only under the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
banner. Meanwhile the head of communications in the Presidency, Murphy
Morobe, said he was not aware of any trip to Zimbabwe planned by President
Thabo Mbeki. Rumours that Mbeki would visit Zimbabwe to lead a SADC
fact-finding mission were fuelled by a statement from a group calling itself
Concerned Zimbabweans, as well by as a statement from Democratic Alliance MP
Joe Seremane yesterday. But several government officials said they were
unaware of any proposed visit by the president. Mbeki and his cabinet
ministers went into a three-day lekgotla today, in which Zimbabwe is among
the issues to be discussed in the context of regional developments in SADC
and Nepad. Seremane, in his statement yesterday, welcomed Motlanthe's
comments that the MDC should be afforded basic democratic freedoms such as
the right to hold public meetings and access to state media.
Johannesburg - South Africa
believed the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would destabilise Zimbabwe
even further and therefore wanted to rather co-operate with "progressive
elements" within Zanu PF to speed up reform in that country. This was the
opinion of experts regarding the prosecution of five senior Zanu PF members
on espionage charges after they allegedly sold "state secrets" to a South
African spy. The five were generally seen as part of the "rebel" element in
president Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party. Chris Maroleng of the Institute for
Security Studies in Pretoria said the decision to send a spy to Zimbabwe was
an attempt to get "inside information" about the "intrigues and scheming"
within Zanu PF. "Government apparently believed that an MDC government would
destabilise Zimbabwe even further, therefore they probably rather tried to
use progressive elements within Zanu PF to encourage change within the
party. "We have already lost credibility with the MDC earlier through 'quiet
diplomacy' and now attempts to influence Zanu have also failed." Dr Nhamo
Samasuwo, director of multilateral affairs at the Institute for Global
Dialogue, said South Africa would have to "be very careful in its choice of
words" and convince Zimbabwe that it wasn't planning to destabilise that
country through espionage. "Quiet diplomacy might become even more quiet.
Before the spy drama, it was already difficult for the ANC (African National
Congress) to criticise Zanu. It could become even more difficult now. "The
link between the South African and the Zanu 'rebels' is creating a serious
diplomatic problem for the ANC."
Max Ebrahim, Zimbabwe's controversial chief selector, has
been accused of using his power to coerce players to defect from local sides
and play for Universals, where he happens to be chairman. The claims have
been made in a letter sent to Peter Chingoks, Zimbabwe Cricket's chairman,
by Stephen Mangongo, the chairman of Takashinga and Ebrahim's predecessor as
the head of Zimbabwe's selectors. Mangongo alleges that Ebrahim has been
threatening Takashinga's players. "Alestair Maregwede and Chamunorwa
Chibhabha have told Takashinga that they have been instructed to play for
Universals by Ebrahim with immediate effect," Mangongo claimed. "As I write
this letter Alestair and Chamunorwa have played for Universals for fear of
victimisation and loss of playing contract. We have also been told that
other six of our players who have not agreed to the kofve by Ebrahim have
been threatened with withdrawal of contracts." Mangongo asked Chingoka to
investigate the claims, concluding: "If there is any extortion, this is the
extortion at its highest level. How the ZCU allows Macsood to bully people
left, right and centre leaves a lot to be desired concerning the
professional image of the organisation."
The situation represents
a remarkable decline in the fortunes of Takashinga. Less than a year ago it
was Zimbabwe's leading club side, and with Mangongo an influential figure
within Zimbabwe cricket, it carried tremendous influence and was at the
vanguard of the politicisation of the game. In April, Telford Vice reported
how the club's players had been "sent home from development clinics by the
national coach Geoff Marsh for turning up in T-shirts and bandanas
supporting the ruling party Zanu PF." One interviewee told him: "Every time
they play against white or Indian clubs there are problems. There are always
racial things said, and arguments on the field. They are so political it's
frightening. The sledging is so aggressive." But in recent months there have
been stories fed to the press alleging that all is not well, and Mangongo's
recent demise within the ZC powerbase, and subsequent allegations of
financial mismanagement with the club, have had an effect. In October,
Tatenda Taibu, Zimbabwe's captain, walked out on Takashinga for reasons that
were less than clear. And the club was recently at the forefront of the
attempted rebellion against ZC over its rebranding.
So much of the
daily process inside Zimbabwe relies on who has the power. Mangongo did and
now he doesn't, and Ebrahim, who can play these games as well as anyone, is
taking full advantage. The most likely scenario is that Chingoka will ask
Ozias Bvute, ZC's general manager, to investigate. But Bvute and Mangongo
have a history. Back in May, they had a heated row in front of journalists
over the make-up of the national side - Bvute wanted more blacks, Mangongo
wanted to pick the best side. The discussion allegedly ended with Bvute
forcing Mangongo into an arm lock to show who was in charge. Since then,
Mangongo's star has rapidly waned. It doesn't take too much imagination to
speculate what outcome any ZC investigation into his claims will produce
JOSEPH Made,
the Minister of Agriculture, has won the ticket to represent Zanu PF in
Makoni West in the March election - thanks to the Grain Marketing Board
(GMB).
The GMB, a parastatal, distributed tonnes of
agricultural inputs worth hundreds of millions of dollars to restive
villagers in Makoni West as an inducement to vote for Made. The GMB falls
under Made's ministry.
He completely outpolled his
opponents, Gibson Munyoro, the incumbent MP, and Mandi Chimene, a Zanu PF
central committee member and war veteran, in the primaries held last
weekend.
Workers from the GMB allegedly moved around the
constituency distributing an array of agricultural inputs to peasants and
imploring them to vote for Made. The GMB workers, from the Rusape depot,
reportedly promised to distribute more inputs if Made was voted
in.
Made is also being accused of mobilising youthful
workers from the GMB Rusape depot to assault and intimidate villagers
percieved to be supporting his opponents.
"The GMB
campaigned for Made," said a senior Zanu PF member based in Rusape.
"Agricultural inputs were distributed like confetti in Makoni
West."
Another senior ruling party official in Mutare
added: "There was nothing Munyoro and Chimene could have done because if you
give villagers agricultural inputs for free then you are a God to
them."
Although Munyoro and Chimene were not immediately
available for comment sources close to both politicians said they were
bitter at the manner in which Made abused the GMB for his personal
gains.
Several GMB workers in Rusape abandoned their work
and camped in Makoni West campaigning for Made.
Meanwhile, Oppah Muchinguri, the Zanu PF women's league boss, won the Zanu
PF ticket in Mutasa South amid allegations she bused people from outside the
constituency when she was faced with imminent defeat.
Muchinguri beat Irene Zindi, a tough-talking former MP when she polled 4 126
votes against 3 203. Zindi is said to be livid after top Zanu PF officials
ignored her pleas for a re-run citing irregularities. Zindi, is reportedly
contemplating standing as an independent candidate in the March
poll.
However, Zanu PF insiders said Muchinguru could
have easily lost to Zindi had she not resorted to underhand
tactics.
"Oppah could have lost but she bussed people
from other constituencies to vote for her," said one source from Mutasa.
"All was not well for her because how can she lose even at her own village,
Zongoro. I do not know why she is unpopular among her
relatives."
The sources said if the problems in Mutasa
South were not ironed out before March then Muchinguri's quest to return to
Parliament may be jeopardised.
"These problems have
to be ironed out because I can assure you that Oppah will not make it in
March," said a Zanu PF activist in Mutasa South. He said Zanu PF was so
polarised in Mutasa South that it was impossible for Zindi's supporters to
vote for Muchinguri come March.
Zindi was scheduled to
address a press conference in Mutare on Wednesday to announce her future
plans after her controversial loss to Muchinguri. However, she did not do so
for reasons yet to be known.
Attention has also been
focused on Mutare Central where two Zanu PF central committee members,
businessman Esau Mupfumi and top tobacco farmer Charles Pemhenayi, lock
horns in fresh primaries after the Zanu PF national election directorate
nullified Shadreck Beta's weekend victory.
Beta beat
Mupfumi but the victory was annulled amid allegations Beta dished out Zanu
PF membership cards that were not sanctioned by the ruling
party.
Pemhenayi, who had earlier on stepped down in
favour of Mupfumi, has thrown his hat into the ring. Beta, in the meantime,
has urged his supporters to boycott the primaries, scheduled for
yesterday
RELATIONS between the
Islamic Republic of Iran and the secular republic of Zimbabwe could be said
to be based on a mutual dislike of what one Islamic leader once called "The
Great Satan", the United States of America.
During his
three-day visit to Zimbabwe this week, the Iranian president, Seyed Mohammad
Khatami, did not berate US policy under George W. Bush in as inflammatory a
tone as has been used by some of his more extremist Islamic fundamentalist
compatriots.
Khatami is considered a moderate among many of his
people. He has been criticised, sometimes openly, for not being as rigidly
Islamic as his critics believe an Islamic leader ought to
be.
Some of his supporters have been persecuted for being
rather lukewarm in their approach to the regimentation of Iranian society as
a bastion of extremist Islamic fundamentalism.
Zimbabwe's
new policy of "looking East" has been described as opportunistic. Its
traditional ties with the West soured - to put it mildly - over Zanu PF's
policies of shutting out dissenting voices.
The government
chose to single out its land reform programme, in which blacks and whites
were killed, as the main cause of the estrangement.
Yet even
within the country itself, there were loud voices raised, not necessarily in
opposition to the land reform programme, but against the sometimes violent
denial of fundamental human rights to most citizens who felt strongly that
Zanu PF's political and economic policies were leading the country into an
abyss of international isolation.
Conveniently, Zanu PF would
not ascribe the emergence of the opposition Movement for the Democratic
Movement (MDC) to a spontaneous protest against its policies, but to the
influence of the West. Basically, what Zanu PF would like is for its allies
not to criticise its policies.
There are very few Muslims in
Zimbabwe and it would be incredible if the Mugabe government actually
launched a campaign against them for being anti-government or anti-Zanu PF.
But there could be other areas of disagreement between the political and
economic allies.
Most of the countries with which Zimbabwe
enjoyed good relations, until 2000, were surprised at Harare's reaction to
their criticism of the conduct of the parliamentary and presidential
elections in 2000 and 2002 respectively.
Certainly, there
were African members of the Commonwealth who were amazed at Zimbabwe's
pull-out from the Commonwealth after that grouping decided not to lift its
suspension.
Most of them thought this was an extremist response
which brought into question Zimbabwe's commitment to the doctrine of
consensus in international relations. Iran now has a huge stake in Zimbabwe.
Yet, at the end of the day, Zimbabwe needs Iran more than that the oil-rich
country needs Zimbabwe.
If Zimbabwe is careless in its
relations with Iran, it could find itself alienating that country's' leaders
as grievously as it did the leaders of the other countries with which it is
now at loggerheads.
In many ways, Zimbabwe would be
well-advised to behave properly towards Iran. It has lost many friends
because of a lapse in correct diplomatic conduct.
In that
respect, Iran is no different from Australia or New Zealand or Canada - or
even Britain and the US.
South African 'quiet diplomacy' tested by recent events
[ This report
does not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 20 Jan 2005 (IRIN) - Recent events may test
South African President Thabo Mbeki's 'quiet diplomacy' approach towards
neighbouring Zimbabwe, analysts have told IRIN.
News of the arrest of
an alleged South African intelligence agent in Zimbabwe; more hard-line
pronouncements from the United States regarding Zimbabwe; and recent
comments by South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC), urging
the opening of 'democratic space' in the country, have all occurred in the
space of three weeks.
These developments, analysts said, could change the
dynamics of South Africa's engagement with Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party
over how best to solve the ongoing political and economic crisis.
In
mid-January reports surfaced that a South African man, allegedly a spy
cultivating a network of ZANU-PF MPs and officials, had been arrested in
Zimbabwe last year. His reputed network included Phillip Chiyangwa, a
ZANU-PF MP and Mashonaland West provincial chairperson, who is also a nephew
of President Robert Mugabe, and Itai Marchi, the ZANU-PF director of
external affairs. Both have also been arrested. South African officials have
declined to comment on the alleged spying activities in Zimbabwe.
ANC
secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe expressed concern this week that the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe's main opposition party,
still required permission to hold public meetings. "The MDC is a party that
participates in parliament and it controls several municipalities. This
position impairs their ability to interact with their constituencies,"
Motlanthe pointed out.
During her senate confirmation hearings this
week, US secretary of state designate Condoleezza Rice labelled Zimbabwe "an
outpost of tyranny", signalling continuance of the Bush administration's
hard-line attitude towards Mugabe's government.
Commenting on Rice's
statements, professor John Stremlau, head of the department of international
relations at South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand, told IRIN that
the US would continue to voice "rhetoric" but at the same time, "Bush's
policy has been to follow Mbeki's lead. In terms of policy and action, I
don't expect any radical changes in Bush's second administration," said
Stremlau.
He described the engagement of South Africa and the US with
Zimbabwe as 'good cop, bad cop' - "South Africa will not be vocal, but the
Bush administration will. [Both countries] have a strategic convergence on
Zimbabwe: it does not suit South Africa's purposes to have Zimbabwe as the
counterpoint to all that the AU [African Union] and NEPAD [New Partnership
for Africa's Development] stand for," Stremlau added.
Regarding the
arrest of the alleged South African spy and Motlanthe's statements, Stremlau
said that "it is certainly the case that South Africa has every reason to be
impatient, concerned and frustrated - Mugabe does not appear to have lived
up to his understandings with Mbeki".
Chris Maroleng, a researcher at the
Institute for Security Studies, told IRIN that "in terms of the fallout for
South African foreign policy, [these developments] now place South Africa in
a very difficult position".
Some analysts have alleged that South
Africa's Zimbabwe policy has been aimed at transforming ZANU-PF from within,
through the emergence of a reform-minded leadership.
"I think, when
you look at the recent arrest of an intelligence operative in Zimbabwe, and
recent developments in terms of ZANU-PF succession dynamics, linkages can be
made between factions in ZANU and the trajectory of South African foreign
policy: South Africa was trying to create change from within ZANU, and was
attempting to gather information on possible threats and opportunities
within ZANU," Maroleng said.
Faction fighting in ZANU-PF intensified
ahead of the party's congress in December 2004, at which Joyce Mujuru was
chosen as Mugabe's vice-president and potential successor. Six provincial
chairpersons were suspended from the party after it emerged that they had
attended a meeting to back parliamentary speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa, and
three ministers who attended the gathering were also barred from contesting
the party's primary elections for parliamentary candidates.
The South
African government has come under increasing pressure from its political
partners, who favour more robust engagement with Zimbabwe, especially
concerning the issues of governance and human rights, ahead of the country's
March parliamentary poll.
Zimbabwe's political crisis dates from
legislative elections in 2000 and a presidential ballot in 2002 which most
international observers said were marred by violence and
irregularities.
Maroleng pointed out that "pressure from ANC alliance
partners COSATU [Congress of South African Trade Unions] and the SACP [South
African Communist Party]" meant Motlanthe's statement regarding the MDC had
become a necessity.
COSATU has said it will send a second mission to
assess the situation in Zimbabwe, after its first delegation was deported
for involving itself in the internal affairs of the country.
Noting
the union's plans, Motlanthe was quoted as saying: "COSATU can send a
fact-finding mission every other week if they want, but you cannot just defy
the laws of the country you are visiting." The ANC disapproved of COSATU's
first mission, questioning its motives.
While news reports said Mbeki
would soon lead a Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission to
Zimbabwe, his office said no such trip was diarised.
But Maroleng
remarked that, "given the allegation of spying, the recent developments
would make it very difficult for South African authorities to engage in a
meaningful way with their [Zimbabwean] counterparts".
HARARE, Jan. 20 (Xinhuanet,by Victor
Nyamwanza) -- Over the past three to four years, Zimbabwe, sanctioned by
western countries, has managed to forge close economic and political ties
with Middle Eastern and east Asian counties. Now, the "Look East" policy is
reaping what it sowed, following the visit by Iranian President Mohammad
Khatami this week.
Although Middle Eastern countries like Iran
have always voiced support to Zimbabwe, no high profile visits have ever
been undertaken until Khatami broke the ice.
The visit saw
the signing of cooperation agreements in the areas of transport, power,
telecommunications, agricultural equipment manufacturing and
security.
Western countries, riled by the Zimbabwean
government's land reform, imposed sanctions against the southern African
country.
Under such circumstances, the Zimbabwe government
adopted a "Look East" policy for alternative markets and trade
partners.
Zimbabwean Lands Minister Joseph Made said the
advantage of having friendship with countries such as Iran was that it would
be for mutual benefit.
He said Zimbabwe's agricultural
products had a market in the East, which also had the technology the country
requires.
National Economic Consultative Forum spokesperson,
Nhlanhla Masuku, said it was important for people to realize that there were
many friends besides western countries.
He said Asian
economies were some of the fast expanding economies in the world and it was
timely that Zimbabwe expands relations with those
countries.
With agriculture as the mainstay of the
Zimbabwean economy, thecountry is interested in acquiring equipment and
machinery from Asian countries to increase production and achieve food
security.
Countries such as India, Iran, China and Russia have
made tremendous developments in technology. Zimbabwe is interested in
acquiring tractors, combine harvesters, irrigation equipment as well as
electricity transformers and generators from Asia. Enditem