This was sent to us - I do not know the source... would gladly acknowledge same if someone can tell me where it came from.
Reuters
Thu 5 Jun
2008, 17:02 GMT
By Nelson Banya
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean
police detained U.S. and British diplomats for
several hours on Thursday,
slashing the tyres of their cars after they
visited victims of political
violence ahead of a presidential vote.
The United States blamed the
incident on President Robert Mugabe's
government, which Washington accuses
of trying to intimidate opposition MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai's supporters
ahead of the June 27 run-off election.
"It's an effort to intimidate
us so that we won't go out to the rural areas
and then the government can
continue to beat the citizens and the supporters
of the MDC," Jendayi
Frazer, the top U.S. diplomat for Africa said in Cape
Town.
The
diplomats were released after several hours.
Zimbabwe's Deputy
Information Minister Bright Matonga accused the diplomats
of distributing
campaign material for Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic
Change and said
they refused to disembark at a roadblock when ordered by
police.
"The
police simply wanted to get to the bottom of the issue. No force or
violence
was used," Matonga said.
The White House demanded the Zimbabwe government
explain its actions and the
U.S. State Department said it planned to raise
the incident at the U.N.
Security Council.
Britain's Foreign Office
summoned Zimbabwe's ambassador over the incident.
"This gives us a window
into the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans because this
sort of intimidation is
something that is suffered daily, especially by
those who are working in
opposition groups," Foreign Secretary David
Miliband said.
A British
representative at the U.N. food summit in Rome, whose opening
session on
Tuesday was attended by Mugabe, said: "The UK and U.S. delegation
have
jointly expressed our displeasure to the Zimbabwe delegation, who
refused to
listen."
VIOLENCE AND SANCTIONS
Former colonial power Britain,
human rights groups and Zimbabwe's opposition
accuse Mugabe of a campaign of
violence to try to keep his 28-year hold on
power. Tsvangirai says 65 people
have been killed.
Mugabe blames his opponents for the violence and
sanctions imposed by
Western countries for the collapse of the once
prosperous economy. The
opposition says he ruined Zimbabwe.
In an
indicator of Zimbabwe's rapid economic decline, its dollar currency
plunged
to a new low of between 995 million and 1.45 billion to the
greenback on
Thursday from an average 700 million at the beginning of the
week.
The U.S. embassy said the attack on the diplomatic convoy took
place in
Bindura, 80 km (50 miles) north of Harare.
U.S. Ambassador
James McGee said police stopped the vehicles at a roadblock
and slashed the
tyres. He said supporters of Mugabe threatened to set the
vehicles ablaze
unless the diplomats accompanied police to a nearby station.
Tsvangirai
beat Mugabe in a March 29 vote but failed to win enough votes to
avoid a
second round. He was detained for nine hours on Wednesday but
continued his
campaign on Thursday.
Simba Makoni, the ruling party defector who came
third in the first round
called for the run-off to be scrapped to prevent
further bloodshed. Makoni
won more than 8 percent and those who voted for
him could be crucial in
deciding the contest.
South Africa said it
planned to begin sending in election observers this
week as part of a larger
mission sent by the Southern African Development
Community.
In an
unusually harsh attack by an African leader, Kenyan Prime Minister
Raila
Odinga branded Mugabe a dictator and said in Cape Town that Zimbabwe's
run-off campaign was an embarrassment to the continent's efforts to promote
democracy.
It is rare for African leaders to publicly attack Mugabe,
who is still seen
as a hero by millions on the continent for fighting to end
British rule in
Zimbabwe in 1980 and for supporting other anti-colonial
struggles.
(Additional reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe in Harare, Wendell
Roelf in Cape
Town; Luke Baker in London and Paul Simao in Johannesburg;
Writing by Marius
Bosch; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
By ANGUS
SHAW
Associated Press Writer
HARARE,
Zimbabwe (AP) -- A mob of Zimbabwe "war veterans," a group of often
violent
loyalists to President Robert Mugabe, waylaid a convoy of American
and
British diplomats Thursday, beating a local staffer, slashing tires and
threatening to burn the envoys, the U.S. Embassy said.
The diplomats
were looking into political violence before a presidential
election runoff,
and the incident was the latest sign of how tense Zimbabwe
is as Mugabe
prepares to face an opposition leader who led voting in the
first
round.
Opposition and human rights groups accuse Mugabe of orchestrating
violence
to ensure he wins re-election amid growing unpopularity for his
heavy-handed
rule and the country's economic collapse. Police held the
president's runoff
rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, for nine hours
Wednesday.
Officials in Washington and London said the diplomats were
returning from a
trip to investigate violence in northern Zimbabwe when they
were stopped at
a roadblock on the outskirts of Harare, the capital. The
convoy was halted
for some six hours before it was allowed to drive
on.
U.S. Ambassador James McGee, who was not with the convoy, said police
and
military officers detained the diplomats in an "illegal action." He said
they were assisted by a crowd of "war veterans," a group whose members
purportedly fought in Zimbabwe's independence war and are Mugabe's fiercest
and most violent supporters.
"The war veterans threatened to burn the
vehicles with my people inside
unless they got out of the vehicles and
accompanied the police to a station
nearby," McGee told CNN.
A
spokesman for the U.S. Embassy, Paul Engelstad, told The Associated Press
that some in the throng beat one of the embassy's Zimbabwean employees and
slashed the tires of some cars in the convoy.
McGee said five
Americans, four Britons and three Zimbabwean employees were
traveling in
three cars.
The U.S. government said it would take the incident to the
U.N. Security
Council.
"It is absolutely outrageous, and it is a case
of the kind of repression and
violence that this government is willing to
use against its own people,"
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said
of Mugabe's regime.
"While this immediate incident has been resolved, it
will not be forgotten,"
he added.
British Foreign Secretary David
Miliband said the attack on British and
American diplomats underlined the
hardship of life under Mugabe's regime,
which he said is "marked by brutal
intimidation, by torture ... and by
death."
"This is a window into
the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans," Miliband said.
"We have to be concerned
obviously about British staff, but we also have to
be concerned that
intimidation does not become the order of the day" ahead
of the presidential
runoff scheduled for June 27.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena denied
security agents had threatened the
diplomats. He said police at the scene
intervened to rescue the diplomats
from a threatening mob.
"It's
unfortunate when diplomats behave like criminals and distort
information,"
Bvudzijena said. "It is a very sad situation."
McGee said Zimbabwean
officials had been informed about the trip as
required.
Deputy
Information Minister Bright Matonga said that while the U.S.
ambassador had
submitted the necessary documents, the British government had
not.
Matonga also accused the diplomats of handing out election
materials
supporting the opposition.
Mugabe frequently accuses
Britain and the United States of plotting to
topple him and return Zimbabwe
to colonial rule.
In mid-May, McGee led a similar convoy that was briefly
stopped at a police
roadblock. At one point, a police officer threatened to
beat one of McGee's
senior aides and then got into his patrol car and
lurched it at McGee after
the ambassador demanded the officer's
name.
Mugabe has led Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980 and
was once
hailed as a liberator who promoted racial reconciliation and
economic
empowerment.
But he has been accused of clinging to power
through election fraud and
intimidation. His order for the seizure of
white-owned farms beginning in
2000 has been blamed for a slump in
Zimbabwe's once-thriving agricultural
industry that has plunged the country
into economic collapse.
Discontent propelled the main opposition leader,
Tsvangirai, to the top in
presidential voting March 29. But while he got the
most votes of the four
candidates, he did not win the 50 percent plus one
vote needed to avoid a
runoff with Mugabe, who finished
second.
Police hauled Tsvangirai off into custody Wednesday and held him
nine hours
at a police station in southern Zimbabwe, his party said. But he
resumed
campaigning Thursday.
In a message to Zimbabweans, Tsvangirai
said his detention was "nothing
compared to the hardships millions of
Zimbabweans have had to endure."
"Today I am saying to the nation that
the rebuilding of our beautiful
country must begin now," he added. "The time
of intolerance and destruction
must end. The time for peace and prosperity
begins with each one of you
voting."
Tsvangirai said in an interview
that he was campaigning in an environment
"meant to frustrate the
opposition. But we are inspired by the enthusiasm of
people who we are
meeting on the ground."
Rights activists said Thursday that suspected
Mugabe supporters fire-bombed
an office of Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change in the southern
province of Masvingo on Wednesday, killing
at least two party officials. The
party says at least 60 of its supporters
have been slain the past two months
The national elections in March were
a blow to Mugabe. In addition to
trailing in the presidential ballot, he saw
his ZANU-PF party lose its
majority in parliament for the first time since
independence as Tsvangirai's
party won control of the
body.
Tsvangirai, who lost a 2002 presidential election that independent
observers
said was rigged in Mugabe's favor, had only returned to Zimbabwe
in late May
to campaign for the runoff. He left the country soon after the
March first
round, and his party has said he was the target of a military
assassination
plot. He has survived at least three assassination
attempts.
In New York, United Nations officials said Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon had
gotten Mugabe's permission to send his assistant
secretary-general for
political affairs to help Zimbabwe try to hold a free
and fair runoff.
Ban plans to send Haile Menkerios, a Harvard-educated
diplomat and former
Eritrean ambassador, to Zimbabwe within days, as soon as
Menkerios obtains a
visa.
Monsters and Critics
Jun 5, 2008, 16:52 GMT
Johannesburg/Harare - Zimbabwe's
police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena claimed
Thursday that police tried to
protect a group of United States diplomats
from 'a mob' after theirs and a
British diplomatic convoy were attacked by
security forces and militia north
of Harare.
The three US diplomats and four British officials were
investigating reports
of violence in rural areas when they were detained for
several hours by
armed police, soldiers and ruling party militiamen who
threatened to assault
them and burn them alive in their cars unless they got
out of the vehicles,
US Ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee told
CNN.
All had been freed by Thursday evening after Zimbabwe's foreign
ministry
sent representatives to the area to mediate in the standoff, CNN
reported.
Britain's government in a statement confirmed its nationals
were no longer
being held. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he
hoped the
incident did not point to increased state intimidation in the
run-up to
Zimbabwe's presidential run-off election on June
27.
Speaking to CNN, US Ambassador James McGee, who was not in the
convoy, vowed
'a very, very strong response.'
'Zimbabwe has become a
lawless country,' he said, blasting the intimidatory
tactics as 'grossly
illegal.'
The vehicles were halted at a roadblock about 60 kilometres
from Harare, on
their way back from visiting the Bindura area about 80
kilometres north-east
of the city.
'Police stopped them. Then war
veterans and soldiers arrived, carrying arms.
They were brandishing weapons
and shouting at the party that they were
trying to 'carry out regime change'
against Mugabe,' a diplomatic source
said.
The Zimbabwean driver of
the American vehicle was pulled out and assaulted,
the source said, and the
vehicles' path was blocked by a trap of spikes.
Armed men slashed the US
vehicle's tyres.
Bvudzijena claimed on national radio police had
'rescued' the diplomats from
a 'mob'.
The incident was the second
time since May 13 that Zimbabwe security forces
have detained Western
diplomats investigating reports of violence by
supporters of President
Robert Mugabe against supporters of Morgan
Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC).
The MDC says over 60 of its supporters have been
killed in pro- Mugabe
militia attacks since March 29 elections, in which the
MDC inflicted its
first ever defeat on Mugabe's Zanu-PF
party.
Mugabe, who is still locked in a bitter battle with Tsvangirai for
the
presidency after neither won an outright majority in March voting, has
recently intensified his anti-British and anti-US rhetoric, threatening to
expel the US ambassador for supporting the MDC.
The state has also
ratcheted up pressure on the MDC, detaining Tsvangirai
for around nine hours
Wednesday for questioning before releasing him without
charge.
Tsvangirai was released after South African President Thabo
Mbeki intervened
on his behalf, Mbeki's office said Thursday.
'Upon
being informed by the MDC of the arrest of its leader, Mr Morgan
Tsvangarai,
in Lupane, Zimbabwe yesterday, SADC (Southern African
Development Community)
Facilitator, President Thabo Mbeki, immediately
contacted the government of
the Republic of Zimbabwe to ascertain the
circumstances of the arrest,' the
statement said.
Mbeki, whose mediation the MDC has criticized as biased
in favour of Mugabe,
had also urged the government 'to do everything
possible' to ensure the
election was free and fair, the statement added.
Press
Association
guardian.co.uk,
Thursday June 5 2008
This is the text
of the statement by the foreign secretary, David Miliband,
about today's
incident in Zimbabwe during which British diplomats were
detained at a
police roadblock:
"I've just spoken on the telephone to our high
commissioner in Harare,
Andrew Pocock. I can confirm that four people were
held at a roadblock in
Zimbabwe. They were going about their business,
properly registered as
diplomats.
"I'm pleased to say that they are
all safe and sound and unharmed and there
was no violence involved in the
incident. But obviously it's a serious
incident and one we have to take
seriously.
"I think that it gives us a window into the lives of ordinary
Zimbabweans,
because this sort of intimidation is something that is suffered
daily,
especially by those who are working with opposition
groups.
"It's a window into lives that in some cases are marked by brutal
intimidation, by torture and, in 53 cases that have been documented over the
last few weeks, by death.
"And I think that's why the message that
needs to go out today is a very
strong one: that the argument in Zimbabwe
today is not between Zimbabwe and
Britain, it's about two different visions
for the future of Zimbabwe.
"It's very important that the international
community plays its role by
ensuring that for the election on June 27 there
are international monitors,
properly accredited, who are able to ensure that
despite the ravages in
Zimbabwe at the moment - ravages economically,
socially and politically -
despite those ravages there is an election that
allows the democratic will
of the Zimbabwean people to be heard loud and to
be heard clear.
"That's certainly what we will be working for over the
next few weeks
ress Association
Monsters and Critics
Jun 5,
2008, 17:31 GMT
Washington - The United States blasted Zimbabwean
security forces for
holding up a diplomatic convoy and beating up the driver
on Thursday and
promised to bring the incident before the UN Security
Council.
'It is outrageous. It is unacceptable. And while this immediate
incident has
been resolved, it will not be forgotten,' State Department
spokesman Sean
McCormack said.
McCormack said a total of five US
diplomats and two local employees were
held up along with a British convoy
about 40 kilometres outside of
Zimbabwe's capital Harare. They were
surrounded by 40 armed members of the
country's security, intelligence
forces and retired military personnel.
The Zimbabwean driver was forced
out of the vehicle and assaulted, and the
tyres on one of the two vehicles
were slashed. The driver has since been
released and was back at the US
embassy, but McCormack could give no details
on the extent of his
injuries.
McCormack said the country's foreign ministry had been notified
of the
vehicle's trip beforehand and rejected Zimbabwe's explanation that
its
forces had been sent to protect the group from a 'mob' unrelated to the
government.
'It's clearly organized. This wasn't just 40 people
standing by the side of
the road who decided to take this on themselves,'
McCormack said.
'You have an armed mob that accosts, detains a convoy,
and beats one of the
employees from our embassy there. That is not a random
occurrence,' he said.
The US planned to bring up the incident with
Zimbabwean officials at an
ongoing United Nations meeting in Rome and talk
with other countries on the
UN Security Council in New York.
'It is
an example of the fact that this government doesn't know any bounds.
It
flouted all international convention, as well as protection accorded to
diplomats accredited to their country,' McCormack said.
'While we are
outraged by this incident, it is really nothing compared to
what the
Zimbabwean people suffer on a daily basis,' he added.
Reuters
Thu 5 Jun
2008, 9:06 GMT
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's currency plunged to a
new record low on
Thursday, trading at an average 1 billion to the U.S.
dollar on a recently
introduced interbank market and triggering massive
price increases.
Traders were quoting the Zimbabwean dollar at between
995 million to 1.45
billion against the U.S dollar in Thursday morning
trade.
The currency has depreciated by about 84 percent since the central
bank
effectively floated it in early May, after years of an official
peg.
Analysts say the rapid weakening of the currency was being driven by
inflation expectations as well as huge demand for hard
currencies.
The Times, SA
I-Net Bridge Published:Jun
05,
2008
Standard
Bank's economists said that they maintain a bleak medium-term
outlook for
Zimbabwe and expect the economy to continue to contract in
2008.
"Zimbabwe's political landscape continues to be one of
repression of
opposition, limited freedom of speech and press, patronage and
ethnic-based
politics and complete erosion of domestic institutions. The
scheduled June
27 run-off presidential election continues to overshadow any
genuine debate
on economic reforms in Zimbabwe," they say.
They note
that the governor of their central bank recently acknowledged that
the
country continues to face significant challenges.
"These are worsened by
extremely high levels of inflation, shortages of
foreign exchange, poor
energy supply and shortages of drugs. Productivity
has declined
significantly and coupled with about 80% unemployment,
businesses are barely
managing to keep afloat," say the analysts.
Recent exchange rate
liberalisation will only add to the inflation burden as
the economic
fundamentals are still lacking.
"Overall, any genuine policy discussion
depends on the outcome of the
run-off presidential election. Investor
confidence is also at its lowest and
most international businesses and the
donor community are waiting for a
change in government before they re-engage
with the country.
"However, political changes alone will not be enough as
strong and coherent
macro-economic policies will be necessary to rebuild
what used to be Africa's
model economy," conclude the Standard Bank
researchers.
africasia
HARARE, June 5 (AFP)
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
returned to the campaign trail
Thursday after his detention by police three
weeks before a run-off election
triggered international
outrage.
Although Tsvangirai was not charged, his Movement for Democratic
Change
party called his detention along with two of his top lieutenants
Wednesday
"an affront to democracy" which followed a pattern of intimidation
and
harassment.
With the US leading calls for President Robert
Mugabe's regime to allow a
free and fair election, police said Tsvangirai
had been held in order to
check vehicle registration papers and his
detention was not related to the
poll.
"Our resolve for a new
beginning, and a new Zimbabwe remains unshaken,"
Tsvangirai said in a
statement on Thursday.
"We are convinced of the justness of our cause,
and we will not waiver until
we restore the dignity of all the people of
Zimbabwe."
Tsvangirai was hauled in for nearly nine hours of questioning
at lunchtime
on Wednesday after being stopped at a roadblock in southwestern
Lupane
district along with MDC chairman Lovemore Moyo and deputy leader
Thokozani
Khupe.
All of his entourage were eventually released
without charge although one of
the vehicles in their convoy was
impounded.
"They have impounded a South African-registered BMW car which
Mr Tsvangirai
was using," MDC lawyer Job Sibanda told AFP.
"They said
the driver was not authorised to drive the car saying this is in
breach of
the customs and excise regulations."
National police spokesman Wayne
Bvudzijena said the group had been detained
because officers "wanted
clarification on the South African registered car".
"These people were
moving in a convoy and they came to a roadblock where
they were asked to
produce registration papers for a South
African-registered vehicle that was
part of the convoy," he told AFP.
"Then they produced photocopies which
are not acceptable. They were then
invited to the police station and the
whole convoy came.
"It has nothing to do with any rallies or gathering,"
he added after Sibanda
said Tsvangirai had been accused during questioning
of holding illegal
rallies.
The MDC's secretary-general Tendai Biti
said it was pure fiction to claim
police were only interested in
paperwork.
"Where in the world do you detain someone for nine hours over
a vehicle? If
anything they could have held the driver," he told South
African public
radio.
"It's an affront to democracy, an affront to
the people of Zimbabwe."
Party chairman Moyo meanwhile said Tsvangirai
would not be deterred in his
quest to topple Mugabe at the ballot box on
June 27.
"We are in a struggle and as the leadership we are all prepared
for all of
this," Moyo told AFP.
"We knew these are some of the
problems we are going to face, the brutality,
but like soldiers we are
committed and want to see a free Zimbabwe. But what
it does is give us
courage to fight."
Moyo said Tsvangirai would hold walkabouts on Thursday
in the Plumtree and
Bulilima areas of soutwestern Zimbabwe after giving up
on attempts to stage
rallies.
"The walkabouts give us an opportunity
to meet people where they live rather
than at rallies where we only see
people at a gathering," he said.
News of Tsvangirai's detention provoked
an avalanche of criticism from
abroad, with EU foreign policy chief Javier
Solana warning it would
"heighten further the fears of the Zimbabwean people
and the international
community about the conditions" for the June 27
run-off.
According to the MDC, around 60 of its supporters have been
killed by
pro-Mugabe militias in the build-up to June 27 when the
84-year-old
president is hoping to win a sixth term in office.
The
opposition says the violence is intended to frighten off voters after
Tsvangirai beat Mugabe into second place in the first round of voting on
March 29 but officially fell just short of an outright majority.
In
Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called on the
Mugabe
government "to create an atmosphere in Zimbabwe where those who have
political views different than the government can speak out free from
threats of intimidation or violence.
"Sadly that is not the case but
we are going to continue to speak out about
it."
nasdaq
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP)--There is no prospect
of free and fair
elections taking place in rural areas of Zimbabwe this
month, the U.S.
ambassador to Harare said Thursday, although he added the
opposition should
still contest the ballot.
"In the
countryside, there is no way this will be a free and fair
election," James
McGee told reporters at a briefing following the detention
of a U.S. and
U.K. diplomatic convoy.
"I think Mr. Tsvangirai is very brave to go
out and fight for this
election. No matter what, though, he has to. If he
doesn't, he is going to
just hand this election to those folks who may not
have the best interests
of Zimbabwe in their hearts."
Morgan
Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change, is
seeking to end Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's 28-year rule
at a
run-off election on June 27.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-05-081257ET
Reuters
Thu 5 Jun 2008,
18:18 GMT
(Adds quote, background)
HARARE, June 5 (Reuters) -
Zimbabwe's government said on Thursday it had
indefinitely suspended all
work by aid groups and non-governmental
organisations, accusing a number of
breaching their terms of registration.
The suspension comes nearly a week
after President Robert Mugabe's
government banned some aid groups from
distributing food, accusing them of
campaigning for the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change in general
elections held on March 29.
"It has
hereby come to my attention that a number of NGOs involved in
humanitarian
operations are breaching the terms and conditions of their
registration ...
I hereby instruct all PVOs (Private Voluntary
Organisations)/NGOs to suspend
all field operations until further notice,"
read a notice, written by
Nicholas Goche, Minister of Public Service, Labour
and Social Welfare, to
the groups.
Goche refused to comment when contacted by Reuters.
(Reporting by MacDonald
Dzirutwe; Editing by Peter Millership)
Zanu-PF lost
a string of seats to the MDC in the Manicaland province in
March but that
support will be tested in the presidential election
Sophie Shaw in
Manicaland
guardian.co.uk,
Thursday June 5 2008
Manicaland, in
eastern Zimbabwe, was one of the provinces where Robert
Mugabe's Zanu-PF
party was shocked by the strength of support for the
opposition MDC in
March.
The party lost a string of parliamentary seats and Morgan
Tsvangirai
outpolled Mugabe in the presidential race. But it is hard to
believe the
province is ready to repeat this defiance on June 27.
In
Rusape, Zanu-PF youth militias jog along the streets, singing liberation
songs. Some wave clubs or axes at passing vehicles. Chinese-made Zanu-PF
pickup trucks are everywhere.
In Mutiweshiri, villagers are being
enticed to party rallies by the arrival
of a truck from the government-run
Grain Marketing Board, loaded with
imported maize meal. Only those pledging
support for Zanu-PF will benefit.
Goodwill, a secondary school teacher
explained what this meant. "I should be
apolitical, but the government has
labelled all teachers as MDC
sympathisers, so I won't eat".
Goodwill
has greater reason than hunger for fear. A Zanu-PF youth militia
raided the
school where his wife teaches. The youths, armed with axes and
sticks, led
the teachers out to the playing field, ordered them to lie on
their stomachs
then beat them on the legs and buttocks.
When these beatings began in
April, they were generally superficial, but
attacks with axes, clubs and now
guns causing deaths and serious injuries
are becoming more common. Goodwill
was tipped off that his school would be
raided and has started sleeping out
in the open to avoid attack.
In Nyanga, David, another teacher fleeing
violence is sleeping on a
relative's floor, too scared to live at home. "I
have been unable to access
any assistance," he says. "The international NGOs
are saying there are no
resources for displaced people, Perhaps it is
because we are seen as
political".
Without even his limited income of
£4 per month, David relies on his
extended family for support. But in the
absence of UN refugee centres or
feeding stations, family networks are
coming under strain, as more refugees
arrive from rural areas.
MDC
activists say they are under siege. Promise, a newly elected councillor
in
Mutare, gave an account of a typical attack. "I was asleep at home when I
heard a knock on my door at 4am. I ignored it, but the Zanu-PF people
tricked my mother into opening the door.
"They dragged me into my
back yard and asked my age. When I said I was 36,
they said I would get a
beating for every year. They hung me upside down and
beat me all
over".
Promise has a broken hand and complains that his ears have not
stopped
ringing since the attack.
Promise, like many other MDC
officials, has fled his area and wonders how
his party can campaign with its
activists in such disarray: "Nothing can
stop Zanu-PF stealing the election
now".
The only optimistic thought he can offer is that, "the village
people
surprised us with their courage on March 29 and they may do so
again".
But it will not be easy for villagers to vote freely. According
to Promise,
Zanu-PF has activated "sniffers" in each ward to "consolidate
fear." And
villagers in Honde Valley have been instructed to vote with solid
Zanu-PF
supporters, so their ballots can be monitored.
The police are
careful not to get in the way of Zanu-PF. But many officers
have encouraged
the MDC to resist attacks. Promise recalls one officer
telling him: "You are
the majority now."
The MDC set up self-defence groups in April, which
resisted attacks in parts
of Manicaland and Masvingo. Abendigo, a senior
provincial official still at
his post, said: "For a while we could say to
them, if you burn one house in
Chikuku, MDC will burn two".
But these
groups, armed only with sticks, are now outgunned. Zanu-PF has
deployed army
units and issued its own militias with guns. Reports of
shooting victims are
now streaming in.
In Zaka this week, armed men attacked an MDC office,
shooting those sleeping
inside, then pouring petrol over them, setting them
alight and locking the
office to trap them in the blaze. Two people were
killed and two more
suffered life-threatening burns. The Zaka attack
demonstrates Zanu-PF's new
willingness to use lethal force.
The MDC
is powerless to resist and local officials are confused as to what
response
to offer. Some despair of victory on June 27, as so many supporters
have
been driven from their homes.
Others remain optimistic, but call for a
delay in the voting or the
deployment of peacekeepers. As Abendigo says:
"People are blaming the
leadership for fleeing violence, but leaving the
voters to face it. Many
people say to us, 'Where are you? Can't you save us?
Can't you give us
guns'?"
Karl, a senior trade unionist in Mutare
explains Zanu-PF's tactics. "When
Zanu-PF names you as an opposition
supporter, you have to confess your sins
and hand something over to show
your repentance - your MDC t-shirt or
membership card - to prove you have
been born again and baptised in the name
of Robert Mugabe".
Karl
believes that Zanu-PF is not prepared to relinquish power and has plans
to
respond to all possible outcomes. The violence might be sufficient to
deter
opposition voters, allowing Mugabe to win outright.
Alternatively, Mugabe
could announce victory, despite a Tsvangirai win, and
call for a government
of national unity under his presidency. Karl's
assessment is that many
opportunists within Tsvangirai's ranks would take
the chance of
power.
If, "by some miracle", Tsvangirai is declared the winner, Mugabe's
generals
are signalling their readiness to stage a coup. Mugabe's new
unofficial
slogan is, according to Karl: "There will be war if I
lose".
Two months ago, areas like Manicaland were hopeful, confident that
a change
of government was possible, despite Mugabe's will for power. Hope
has now
faded. The outcome of Zimbabwe's election will depend on whether the
poorest
and most marginalised people defy their hardships.
Names have
been changed. Sophie Shaw is a pseudonym
IOL
June 05 2008 at
07:38PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has gained Zimbabwe President
Robert
Mugabe's permission to send a high-ranking UN envoy to help the
nation try
to hold a free and fair June 27 runoff election, UN officials
said Thursday.
Ban met with Mugabe on the sidelines of the UN food
summit in Rome
earlier this week and "highlighted the need to stop the
violence and to
deploy neutral international observers," UN deputy
spokeswoman Marie Okabe
said.
While talking with Mugabe, Ban
suggested sending Haile Menkerios, a
Harvard-educated diplomat and former
Eritrean ambassador, to Zimbabwe "to
discuss ways of how the United Nations
can help in the election process,"
Okabe said.
Mugabe agreed
to Ban's request, she said.
Ban now plans to send Menkerios, the UN
assistant secretary-general
for political affairs, to Zimbabwe within days,
as soon as Menkerios obtains
a visa.
The opposition and rights
groups have accused Mugabe of orchestrating
violence and intimidation in the
run-up to the vote.
The 61-year-old Menkerios was appointed by Ban
to the No. 2 political
affairs job in May 2007. He previously was deputy UN
special representative
in the Congo and directed one of the Africa divisions
in the Department of
Political Affairs.
In the 1990s, he
represented the Eritrean government in varying roles
as ambassador to the
UN, to Ethiopia, to the Organization of African Unity
and as special envoy
to Somalia and the Great Lakes region.
Menkerios would face a
challenging situation in Zimbabwe, where
opposition presidential candidate
Morgan Tsvangirai placed first in the
March elections and now faces a runoff
with Mugabe.
US and British diplomats were attacked Thursday while
trying to
investigate political violence in Zimbabwe and a US Embassy
staffer was
beaten, an embassy spokesman said. The group was stopped at a
roadblock just
north of Harare.
Tsvangirai resumed campaigning
Thursday after spending nine hours in
police detention Wednesday, when he
was stopped at a roadblock.
Tsvangirai only returned to Zimbabwe in
late May to campaign. He had
gone into self-imposed exile soon after the
March 29 first election round,
because his party said he was the target of a
military assassination plot.
He has survived at least three assassination
attempts since 1997. - Sapa-AP
By Tichaona
Sibanda
5 June 2008
Advocate Eric Matinenga, the MDC MP elect for
Buhera West in Manicaland, was
set free on Thursday from police custody
after a Mutare magistrate ordered
his release.
Matinenga was picked
up from the party offices in Buhera on Saturday for
allegedly inciting
violence in his constituency. Pishai Muchauraya, the MDC
MP elect for Makoni
south and the spokesman in the province, said the
magistrate ordered his
release as the state failed to prove he had committed
any
crime.
Muchauraya said his arrest was politically motivated, as was the case
with
all MDC officials and activists countrywide. Matinenga became the
second MDC
MP in Manicaland to be arrested after Trevor Saruwaka, the MDC MP
for Mutasa
South, spent 21 days in custody facing similar
charges.
'We wish to condemn the police for their overzealousness in
dealing with the
MDC. We know the whole intention is to remove the concerned
MPs from their
campaign programmes. In Matinenga's case the police wanted to
frustrate him,
they wanted to humiliate him as well,' Muchauraya
said.
Another MP, Misheck Kagurabadza of Mutasa South, has been in hiding
for a
month following threats of arrest. But the MDC said no amount of
intimidation or death threats will stop its elected MPs and officials for
campaigning for it's leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
'These arrests will
not deter even the smallest man in the party from
campaigning for the
presidential run-off. Zanu-PF is behaving like headless
chickens, short of
ideas on how to win the hearts and minds of the people of
Zimbabwe. They
used violence in Matabeleland during the Gukurahundi but
Joshua Nkomo went
on to win all seats in the region in 1985,' Muchauraya
said.
Meanwhile the MDC MP for Marondera. Ian Kay is still in custody
at a remote
police post in Murehwa. Kay was picked up from his home in
Marondera two
weeks ago for allegedly inciting violence. He's expected to
appear in court
on Monday next week.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
Attached please find a
copy of the letter that went out to Secretary General
Ban
Ki-moon.
I will also be sharing it with organizations that follow
Zimbabwe, Africa,
and human rights in general.
Tom Mulloy, MSSA,
LSW
Legislative Assistant
Office of Congressman Dennis
Kucinich
2445 Rayburn
Washington, DC 20515
p. (202)
225-5871
f. (202) 225-5745
thomas.mulloy@mail.house.gov
Read the letter here
Monsters and Critics
Jun 5, 2008, 9:07 GMT
Cape Town - The leader of a
faction of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)
Thursday accused President Robert Mugabe of trying
to clobber the opposition
in the run-up to another crucial vote on his
28-year rule.
Arthur
Mutambara was speaking from the audience at the World Economic Forum
on
Africa in Cape Town a day after MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was held by
police for campaigning in the second round of presidential elections on June
27.
Tsvangirai was detained for questioning for around nine hours
with several
other party officials while campaigning in the west of the
country. He was
released Wednesday night without charge, his spokesman
George Sibotshiwe
said.
Harassment of MDC members has intensified in
the run-up to the June 27
election that pits Tsvangirai, 56, against Mugabe,
84, for leader for the
second time in three months.
Tsvangirai took
more votes than Mugabe in the first round of voting on March
29 but not
enough, according to the official results that were held back for
five
weeks, for an outright win.
The MDC says over 60 of its supporters have
been killed in attacks by
pro-Mugabe militia and dozens of its members
arrested.
'He is trying to destroy the capacity of the opposition,'
Mutambara said of
Mugabe, adding, in response to a question, that the MDC
would not recognize
a Mugabe run-off victory that had been achieved through
'genocide.'
Mutambara, leader of a smaller MDC faction that broke away
from Tsvangirai
in 2005 but reunited with Tsvangirai's faction in April, was
arrested last
weekend over an a newspaper article he wrote criticizing the
government and
a High Court decision.
He has been charged with
contempt of court and giving false information
prejudicial to the
state.
On Wednesday African leaders received a dressing down from Kenyan
Prime
Minister Raila Odinga over their handling of Zimbabwe's election
crisis.
'It's unfortunate that in an African country elections can be
held and no
results are announced in more than a month,' he said at the Cape
Town
conference.
'And African leaders are silent about it.'
IOL
June 05 2008
at 10:53AM
Harare - Her voice sounded agitated. The cellphone line
crackled,
making the conversation frustratingly fragmented. Like everything
else in
Zimbabwe, the communication system is disintegrating
rapidly.
"Things are really terrible here and it's getting worse,"
said Kerry
Kay.
"But Iain is strong. David, our son, saw him at
lunchtime. No, he's
not in Mutoko prison, he's at Murehwa. They tried to
transfer him to Mutoko,
which is further away, but the vehicle broke
down."
She gave a wry laugh and then the dubious cell connection
dropped
altogether. That's one of the many remarkable aspects of the Kay
family.
They have maintained a sense of humour that has transcended eight
years of
relentless violence and brutality perpetrated by the Mugabe regime,
wrecking
their own lives and those of people across Zimbabwe.
Previously a successful commercial farmer, Iain was committed to
helping his
neighbours in the communal areas bordering the farm to become
more efficient
and productive.
He was immensely popular - too popular for the
liking of the Zanu-PF
government which had managed to subjugate the rural
areas using a combined
strategy of patronage and intimidation.
After being severely beaten up on two occasions and then forced off
his farm
in 2002, Iain, who is a fluent Shona speaker, was persuaded to go
into
politics. In the March 29 poll, he was elected as the Movement for
Democratic Change MP for Marondera.
The excitement of his
constituents was short-lived. The Mugabe regime
immediately implemented a
brutal operation to eliminate the MDC structures
on the ground.
The MDC has reported that more than 50 of its members have been killed
since
the election and hundreds have been beaten or tortured.
Thousands
of opposition supporters - estimates are as high as 40 000 -
have been
deliberately displaced through the destruction of their homes and
livelihoods.
Iain Kay joins the list of MDC MPs who have been
thrown into jail on
false charges to hamstring their
activities.
The charge against him of "inciting violence" is
clearly preposterous
and the state has been unable to provide a single item
of evidence.
The high court granted Kay Z$60 billion (R700) bail on
Tuesday. -
Sapa-AFP
This article was originally published
on page 6 of The Mercury on June
05, 2008
OUR REF:
OCG/pmd
Thursday June 5, 2008
The Chairman
Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission
HARARE
Attention: The Honourable Justice
Chiweshe
Dear Sir
Re: SENATOR OBERT CHAURURA GUTU: COMPLAINT
AGAINST ZANU-PF
I was elected to be the Senator for Chisipite senatorial
constituency during
the harmonised elections that were held on March 29,
2008.
On Tuesday June 3, 2008, a group of ZANU-PF youths descended on
Mushayavanhu
Business Centre in Gutu, where I own a retail business trading
as Goldstar
Investments. The said youths threatened my shop assistant,
Tendai Tengwende,
with death if he refused to allow them to put ZANU-PF
campaign posters on
the walls of my shop. Fearing for his life, Tendai
Tengwende had no option
but to let the ZANU-PF youths put their campaign
posters on the walls of my
shop. Since I am not a member of ZANU-PF I am
deeply offended by the conduct
of the ZANU-PF youths who forcibly placed
their party's campaign posters on
the walls of my shop.
Needless to
state, the conduct of the ZANU-PF youths is not only unlawful;
but it is
also highly provocative and it was deliberately meant to breach
the peace.
My shop assistant cannot remove the campaign posters from the
walls of my
shop because the ZANU-PF youths threatened to come back and kill
him should
he make any attempt to remove their campaign posters. My shop is
private
property and certainly, I have no desire whatsoever to entertain the
placing
of ZANU-PF campaign posters on my private property. I was elected
Senator
for Chisipite on an MDC ticket and I still remain a member of the
MDC.
By forcibly placing Zanu (PF) campaign posters on the walls of
my shop, the
ZANU-PF youths are seeking to portray me as a ZANU-PF member
and/or
symphathiser when I am definitely not one. Since your commission is
responsible for running and conducting all elections in Zimbabwe in
accordance with your constitutional mandate, I write this letter to you
requesting your office to promptly engage the leadership of ZANU-PF to
ensure that the afore-mentioned offending campaign posters are promptly
removed from the walls of my shop at Mushayavanhu Business Centre, Gutu. By
copy of this letter, I am informing the Commissioner-General of the Zimbabe
Republic Police of my utmost disappointment with the behaviour and conduct
of the ZANU-PF youths and I trust that appropriate action shall forthwith be
taken against the youths responsible for unlawfully defacing the walls of my
shop.
I trust that I will hear from your office urgently and I would
like to take
this opportunity to thank you in anticipation of your
co-operation.
Yours faithfully
O.C. GUTU (SENATOR)
GUTU
& CHIKOWERO
cc The Commissioner General
Zimbabwe
Republic Police
General Headquarters
Harare
cc The Officer-in-Charge
Zimbabwe
Republic Police
GUTU
cc The Secretary for Information
& Publicity
Movement for Democratic Change
Harvest
House
Harare
Attention: Hon. Nelson Chamisa (This is for your
information only.)
The Zimbabwean
Thursday, 05 June 2008 07:14
HARARE - Three of Mugabe's
trusted cadres Economic Development
Minister Sylvester Nguni, Masvingo South
MP and Deputy Water Resources
Minister Walter Mzembi and Governor of
Mashonaland East Ray Kaukonde have
added their voice of concern over
Mugabe's hold on power.
The trio joins former Finance Minister Simba
Makoni and ZANU (PF)
member of Politburo Dumiso Dabengwa in distancing
themselves from Mugabe's
grip on power, even though they have been
beneficiaries of looting and
pillaging of state resources during his
tenure.
Speaking to The Zimbabwean in an exclusive interview Nguni said
Zimbabweans were fed up with hunger and unemployment and said they needed a
government that would bring back glory days of the early 1980s.
"Our people are worried so much of challenges they are facing. The
issue of
hunger, unemployment and life expectancy that has been cut by half
are real
issues facing our citizens and they need to be addressed urgently,"
said
Nguni.
Speaking in a tone that seemed conciliatory Mzembi said
Zimbabweans
needed to grow beyond partisan politics and start tolerating
divergent views
so as to work towards nation building.
"I don't
have problems working in an MDC government; I don't have
problems having an
MDC president as long the needs of our people will be met
and Zimbabweans
manage to leave in peace and harmony again," said Mzembi.
Kaukonde, a
prominent business person who last year had a brush with
Mugabe over price
slashing, said some of the policies he takes collective
responsibility for,
were ill-advised, ill-conceived and misplaced.
"Zimbabwe has crumbled
due to failed production and bad policies that
we pursued in the government.
Whoever wins the coming elections will be
faced by a huge task of national
building and destroying partisan
structures," lamented Kaukonde.
meanwhile well placed sources alleges a number of ZANU (PF) MPs are
meeting
behind the scenes with influential members of the MDC in bid to
secure
cabinet post in a run off that Mugabe is tipped to lose.
The Zimbabwean
Thursday, 05
June 2008 07:16
ROME - Robert Mugabe's request for an audience with
Pope Benedict XVI
has been rejected by the Vatican, and the embattled
leader's entourage has
been confined to a 25km radius of the five-star
Ambasciatore, one of Rome's
finest hotels.
Top Catholic sources
said Mugabe had requested a private papal
audience while he is in Rome to
attend a large UN summit of world leaders to
discuss world food security,
that started on Tuesday and ends today.
Mugabe, whose attendance at the
UN Food and Agriculture Organization
summit in the Italian capital, Rome,
has provoked an angry response, has
been told that other world leaders have
also requested an audience and that
it would be impossible for the Pope to
meet each of them separately as they
will only be in Rome for at least 48
hours.
Informed sources however said the Pope's decision to snub a
meeting
with Mugabe was fortuitous given the veteran ruler's worsening
despotic
rule.
Mugabe, a Catholic educated by Jesuit missionaries,
regularly attends
Mass in the capital, Harare. Zimbabwe's bishops'
conference - the county has
nine Catholic bishops - has regularly slammed
his bad governance, economic
mismanagement, graft and human rights
violations, and has been applying
pressure on him to step down.
"No
doubt the Vatican and the Holy Father would have made allowances
if they
could to meet Mugabe: the Holy See is always open to dialogue with
everyone," said a senior Catholic source. "But it would have been seen by
many as highly inappropriate given his repressive rule. It would have risked
seriously upsetting the Zimbabwean flock."
The Zimbabwean
Thursday, 05 June 2008 07:18
BY TRACY SHOKO
HARARE
The Zimbabwe Republic Police has started forced registrations of
civilians as members of the police force in order for them to qualify to
vote under the postal voting system, in what has been described as vote
fraud ahead of the June 27 presidential run-off election.
This is
in violation of the Electoral Act as wives and the dependants
of members of
the security forces are not allowed to vote under the postal
voting system.
Postal voting is voluntary.
Under the Electoral Act, only members of
the security forces deployed
on duty outside their voting constituencies as
well as civil servants on
duty outside the country are the only ones allowed
to vote under the postal
voting system.
But reliable sources told
The Zimbabwean that civilians - especially
youth militias, wives and
dependants of the police officers - are undergoing
secret forced
registrations as neighbour hood watch committee members in
order to qualify
to vote under the postal voting system.
Wives and dependants targeted
under the forced registrations are those
residing at police camps who have
been threatened with eviction or job
losses for their breadwinners who are
police officers. Morale is said to be
low at the police camps over the
forced registrations.
"This is envisaged to give Mugabe at least 20 000
votes from the
police force," said a senior police officer.
www.zimbabwejournalists.com
5th
Jun 2008 08:13 GMT
By Stephen Kaufman
Washington -- With less than one
month before Zimbabwe's presidential runoff
election, the United States is
calling on neighboring states, such as South
Africa, to use their influence
to exercise "the maximum amount of leverage"
on the government of President
Robert Mugabe in the wake of violence and
intimidation against the political
opposition.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said June 4 that
Morgan
Tsvangirai, who faces Mugabe in the June 27 runoff, was detained by
government forces in the town of Lupane. Tsvangirai was released after eight
hours of detention and was not charged with any crime.
Prior to his
release, McCormack said the opposition leader "should be
released
immediately unharmed, [and] untouched," describing the detention as
"deeply
disturbing" and recalling that Tsvangirai had been beaten while in
police
custody in March 2007. (See "Rice Calls for Release of Zimbabwean
Opposition Leaders (
http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2007/March/20070313165438esnamfuak0.0741846.html
)
.")
Tsvangirai's party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
has seen four
other party leaders arrested ahead of the runoff vote, and the
party claims
that 58 of its supporters have been killed by pro-government
forces since
the March 29 presidential and parliamentary
vote.
According to an MDC chairman, two Tsvangirai supporters were burned
to death
by suspected supporters of the ruling ZANU-PF party June 4 in
Masvingo
province.
CONCERTED EFFORT NEEDED TO ENCOURAGE CHANGE IN
ZIMBABWE
McCormack said the United States has imposed tough sanctions
against
Zimbabwe's leadership that are targeted "in a way that would not, we
hope,
affect the Zimbabwean people in a negative way." However, the Bush
administration and others in the international community are "simply up
against ... the hard facts of international politics" regarding the
situation in Zimbabwe.
"When you are faced with situations like this,
it's a matter of politics.
It's a matter of leverage and trying to create
that leverage and trying to
get those who have it to use it," he said. "And
states like South Africa,
for example, need to use the leverage that they
have."
South Africa is not the only country with leverage over Mugabe's
government,
but Pretoria is "uniquely positioned" to encourage a change in
behavior,
McCormack said.
The United States and other individual
countries can levy sanctions, "but
unless you have a truly concerted,
focused effort to put in place sanctions
and enforce them, leadership of
this kind is going to find a way around
those things to relieve the
pressure," he said.
A senior State Department official told reporters
June 4 that the United
States wants to see election observers in place for
the June 27 runoff vote,
as well as a "truly independent" election
commission and provision by the
military of "a secure atmosphere where
everybody can vote."
The official called for international financial
assistance for the election
observers, saying there is likely a good supply
of individuals in the region
and the international community, but they may
need additional resources to
help them do their jobs.
Although the
Bush administration is hoping for a free and fair vote,
"certainly there's a
healthy suspicion that Mugabe would do everything he
could to stay in
power," based on previous behavior.
"We need to be prepared for a variety
of different outcomes," the official
said. "Prepare for the worst and hope
for the best."
At the White House, press secretary Dana Perino said June
4 that Zimbabwe's
decision to ban the activities of CARE International, Save
the Children and
Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) showed the
government's
"callous indifference" to its people, which could lead to
"government-induced starvation in Zimbabwe." (See "Zimbabwe Suspends CARE
Operations, Leaving 110,000 Without Food (
http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2008/June/20080603162747esnamfuak0.4258539.html?CP.rss=true
)
.")
Under Mugabe's 20-year rule, Zimbabwe has transformed from
being a food
exporter to becoming reliant on international assistance to
feed its people.
A high rate of inflation and shortages of basic commodities
such as cooking
oil and cornmeal have left many, especially in rural areas,
dependent on the
activities of the aid agencies.
Cephas Zinhumwe,
chief executive of Zimbabwe's National Association of
Non-Governmental
Organisations (NANGO), told Agence France Presse June 4
that the aid
organizations had been accused of campaigning for the
opposition, a charge
the agencies have denied.
"If we continue like this, we are going to have
a crisis," Zinhumwe said.
(This is a product of the Bureau of
International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)
IOL
June 05 2008 at
06:05PM
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga described President
Robert Mugabe
as a dictator on Thursday in one of the harshest attacks on
the Zimbabwean
ruler by another African leader.
Zimbabwean
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in a
March election but
failed to win the required majority to avoid a run-off.
Tsvangirai's MDC
party says it won the poll and is taking part in the June
27 ballot under
protest.
"I have advised Morgan Tsvangirai to accept to participate
in the
run-off, which has been called because dictators know no boundaries,"
Odinga
told a news conference at the World Economic Forum for Africa in Cape
Town.
Odinga disputed the victory of Kenyan President Mwai
Kibaki in an
election in December, prompting deadly clashes, but the former
opposition
leader then agreed to a power-sharing deal.
Odinga
said Tsvangirai's decision to campaign in the run-off would
show "how far
Mugabe and his cronies are willing to go."
Zimbabwe's opposition
has said it fears that Mugabe's officials will
rig the results of the
run-off to extend his 28-year rule, as they are
accused of doing in past
elections.
"As a pan-Africanist, I think that I would be failing in
my duty if I
did not point out that what is happening in Zimbabwe is a big
embarrassment
to the entire continent of Africa," Odinga added.
"We cannot be speaking about democracy and democratisation of the
continent
when we condone what is happening in Zimbabwe."
It is rare for
African leaders to publicly criticise Mugabe, who is
still seen as a hero by
millions on the continent for fighting to end
British rule in Zimbabwe in
1980 and for supporting other anti-colonial
struggles.
South
African President Thabo Mbeki has been among those criticised
for taking too
soft a line on Mugabe's government, which has presided over
an economic
meltdown marked by inflation over 165 000 percent and chronic
food
shortages.
Reuters
Thu 5 Jun
2008, 8:05 GMT
By Wendell Roelf
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) -
Zimbabwe's presidential election run-off should be
scrapped to prevent
further bloodshed, the ruling party defector who came
third in the first
round said on Thursday.
Former finance minister Simba Makoni won over 8
percent and his votes could
in theory be crucial in swinging the June 27
contest between opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai and veteran President
Robert Mugabe.
Makoni, who favours a national unity government, told
reporters that
Zimbabwe could not afford another election and it would not
end the
political crisis and economic collapse.
"We are convinced
that the last thing our country and its people need is
another election.
Besides, the violence now gripping the country bodes ill
for a free and fair
election," Makoni said on the sidelines of a World
Economic Forum meeting in
Cape Town.
Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in the March 29 presidential
election but failed
to win the absolute majority needed to avoid a second
ballot.
Makoni's campaign had said before the first round that he would
back
Tsvangirai if voting went to a run-off, but since then he was not
formally
endorsed the opposition leader.
Mugabe's vow never to allow
Tsvangirai's MDC to take power has stoked
opposition fears that the ruling
ZANU-PF will use intimidation and
vote-rigging to extend the president's
28-year rule.
Tsvangirai was detained for nine hours on Wednesday as he
campaigned
southwest of Harare.
BLOODSHED
The opposition says
65 people have been killed by Mugabe's supporters since
the election. On
Wednesday it said soldiers and ZANU-PF activists had beaten
and threatened
to shoot Zimbabweans who wanted to support Tsvangirai.
Mugabe says the
opposition is responsible for violence.
The MDC said Tsvangirai, who has
been arrested and even beaten by police in
the past, had continued his
campaign on Thursday.
He described his detention as "yet another
indication of the lengths that
the Mugabe regime is prepared to go to in
order to try and steal the
election".
Makoni said harassment of
opposition leaders and assaults on lawyers and
people dealing with the
victims of political violence was aimed at creating
a hostile environment
for a free and fair run-off.
"And if the leaders will that the elections
be put off so that we can save
lives ... then it is not beyond us if we will
it that the elections be
called off," he said.
State media reported
on Thursday that the ruling ZANU-PF party and
Tsvangirai's MDC have set up a
joint team to stop political violence.
The state-controlled Herald
newspaper said the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
(ZEC) had facilitated the
establishment of a committee comprising ZANU-PF
and MDC officials to stem
violence.
But MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said the team was unlikely to
stop the
violence.
"This all appears bold on paper, but not in
practice," Chamisa told Reuters.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com
June 5, 2008
By Owen
Chikari
MASVINGO - When 600 Zimbabwean citizens arrived in the border
town of Beit
Bridge on Monday in buses provided by the state, government
officials
promised them a piece of land each.
At least 100 of them
were on Wednesday still stranded in Masvingo city after
the state failed to
transport them back to their original homes.
Many of the stranded
returnees, most of them youths fleeing from the
xenophobic violence that has
claimed more than 56 lives in South Africa, now
vow to return
there.
The returning citizens, who on arrival were all promised an
allocation of
land by Matabeleland South governor, Angeline Masuku, said
they were dumped
in Masvingo, where they have now spent more than three days
without food or
proper shelter.
"When we were told that there were
free buses which were taking us home we
thought we were being taken back to
our original homes", said Tapiwa
Chipinge of Gutu.
"We are now
stranded here in the city and we do not know what to do because
we were just
dumped here. Hunger and shelter have been the biggest problem
since we came
on Monday.
"The best thing for us to do is to return back to South Africa
because life
in our own country is unbearable."
Another returnee
Nhamo Chouriri of Bikita said they had no option but to go
back to South
Africa.
"Despite the xenophobic attacks life in South Africa was good",
said
Chouriri. "Right now we are hungry and the state is doing nothing for
us. We
are going back to South Africa because it is better to die of these
attacks
than to die of hunger".
Masvingo provincial governor Willard
Chiwewe yesterday said the government
was working out modalities to ensure
that the returnees are taken back to
their original homes.
Said
Chiwewe:" We are going to provide transport to ensure that the
returnees are
taken right to their door steps.
"We have been facing a fuel problem
since Monday that is why we could not
take them back to their homes on
time.
Xenophobic attacks in South Africa have claimed the lives of 60
foreigners
and thousands of Zimbabweans are flocking back into the country.
The
Zimbabwean government this week provided nine buses to ferry the
returnees
back into the country.
South Africa is home to millions of
Zimbabweans who have escaped from a
serious economic melt-down in their own
country.
South Africans accuse foreigners of engaging in criminal
activities and of
taking away their jobs and other resources.
The Zimbabwe
National Students Union condemns the violent response by the
riot police at
yesterday peaceful demonstration at the Bulawayo
Polytechnic.It is shocking
that the police had to descend campus armed with
sophisticated artillery
including hand grenades,rubber truncheons,AK
47assault rifles, on the
defenceless students who were only armed with their
books and pens.Students
were severely beaten as riot police tried to
disperse the crowd.This
resulted in about 4students being injured and were
yesterday admitted at
Galen House clinic.The students were protesting among
other things a top up
fees of 75 billion which the college is forcing them
to pay,a demand to an
end to the ongoing political violence rocking the
nation, and the living
conditions on campus.We warn those who are inflicting
pain and suffering on
the students and people of Zimbabwe that justice will
prevail soon,we are
determined to fight for a bright future for our
country,were education will
be accessed by all without favour.We urge the
students to gear up for the
runoff presidential election as it is the day we
are finishing off the
dictatorship of Robert Mugabe.
Blessing Vava
Former Students Union
President
Bulawayo Polytechnic
Zimbabwe National Students
Union
Spokesperson
+263 23 234 650