Hi All,
Mrs Campbell has asked us to let as many people
know as possible so that the word can get around. The War Vets have today taken
over "Lilfordia School" because they shut down this week. We were only notified
on Sunday not to take the kids back to school on Monday for they could not
guarantee the safety of the children. Anyway the school was closed for that
reason only, and the children were due to go back today (Wednesday). The War
Vets are still there and the Campbell's are trying to negotiate with
them.
We have been asked to keep phoning the school to
see when the kids can go back.
Please pass on.
B
Daily News
Tsvangirai locked
up
6/7/2003 6:54:38 AM (GMT +2)
Staff
Reporter
POLICE yesterday arrested opposition Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai and charged him with treason
for
allegedly calling for the unconstitutional removal of President
Robert
Mugabe.
Tsvangirai's lawyer, Innocent Chagonda of
Harare law firm
Atherstone and Cook, told The Daily News yesterday evening
that the police
were planning to hold the opposition leader
overnight.
Tsvangirai, who called anti-government protests
that shut down
Zimbabwe this week, is already standing trial on treason
charges arising
from allegations that he and two other senior MDC officials
plotted to
assassinate Mugabe in the run-up to last year's presidential
ballot.
Treason carries a death penalty under Zimbabwe's
law.
Chagonda said the police had accused the former
trade
unionist-turned-opposition politician of inciting Zimbabweans to
rise
against Mugabe during rallies held in Mutare and Bulawayo last
month.
He said: "They (the police) are charging him with
treason. They
are saying he urged people to take to the streets violently.
They are saying
he did this to overthrow the government through
unconstitutional means. But
we have denied the charge. There is absolutely no
basis for the arrest."
The rallies at which Tsvangirai is
said to have uttered the
subversive statements are said to have taken place
in Bulawayo and Mutare on
3 May and 25 May respectively, according to
Chagonda.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena told Reuters: "We
picked him
up in connection with the many statements he has been making since
the
presidential elections. We are charging him with
treason."
Tsvangirai last month held countrywide rallies
where he urged
people to join MDC-led demonstrations to pressure Mugabe to
resign or to
agree to negotiations with the opposition to find a solution to
Zimbabwe's
deepening crisis.
The demonstrations were held
from Monday this week and ended
yesterday but were heavily suppressed by
State security agents.
The biggest challenge yet to Mugabe's
rule, Tsvangirai is
jointly charged with MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube
and party shadow
agriculture minister Renson Gasela in the treason case
already before the
courts.
The allegations that the three
opposition leaders plotted Mugabe
's murder stem from a grainy video clip
produced by Dickens & Madson, a
Canadian political consultancy allegedly
hired by the MDC to carry out the
assassination.
Tsvangirai and his officials deny the charge.
Dickens &
Madson head Ari Ben-Menashe is the State's key witness
in the ongoing treason
trial, but defence lawyers have told Zimbabwe's High
Court that Menashe is an
international fraudster.
The matter is still to be concluded
by the court.
The police yesterday picked up Tsvangirai from
his home soon
after he had told diplomats and journalists at a Press
conference in Harare
that the MDC had lined up more mass
protests.
Some MDC officials told this newspaper that their
leader was
being detained at a police station in Harare's Borrowdale
low-density
suburb.
"From now onwards, we will embark on
rolling mass action at
strategic times of our choice and without any warning
to the dictatorship.
More action is certainly on the way," Tsvangirai had
told the journalists
before his arrest.
He added: "From
Monday to today, Mugabe was not in charge. For
the past five days, therefore,
the people of Zimbabwe reclaimed their
sovereignty. They were in
charge.
"As a result, the dictator is now cornered and
reduced to using
hit-and-run tactics of a bandit against defenceless
people."
Several people were injured by State security forces
deployed to
put down this week's demonstrations, while two people are said to
have died
during the mass action.
Tsvangirai said: "Mugabe
has now been exposed as a violent and
illegitimate dictator with absolutely
no pretence to any semblance of civil
mass support.
"His
power now lies completely in the forces of repression
supervised by a coterie
of his bootlickers. He is now a civilian dictator
propped up by sections of a
subverted police and military."
Daily News
Be ruthless with NGOs, Chombo instructs rural district
councils
6/7/2003 7:08:33 AM (GMT +2)
Own
correspondent
IGNATIUS Chombo, the Local Government, Public Works
and National
Housing minister yesterday told rural district councils in the
country to
"deal ruthlessly" with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) he
accused of
working against the ruling Zanu PF party.
Addressing
the fourth biennial congress of the Association of Rural
District Councils of
Zimbabwe in Masvingo yesterday, Chombo said he was
highly critical of some of
the NGOs which he said abandoned their business
to engage in
politics.
Chombo did not name the NGOs nor divulge how the
councillors were
supposed to ruthlessly deal with them.
"I am
highly critical of some of these NGOs which come with their aid
with
conditions attached. It is better not to give people maize than to give
us
maize with labels telling telling us who to vote for," Chombo said.
"These NGOs come and confuse our ZANU PF councillors. Please deal with
them
ruthlessly and then tell us how you will have dealt with them."
Chombo also criticised the councillors for not ensuring that money
provided
by the government for drought relief programmes reached the
intended
beneficiaries on time.
He said: "Some money released in January
this year is still stashed in
rural district accounts. Why do you keep the
money while people are
starving?"
The congress was attended by
rural district councils drawn from eight
provinces of the
country.
The congress was told that this year only $350 million was
allocated
to 32 rural district councils for water and sanitation programmes
while $250
million was released for sewerage reticulation system.
Daily News
Commonwealth still working on resolution to Zimbabwe's
crisis
6/7/2003 7:11:09 AM (GMT +2)
Staff
Reporter
THE Commonwealth has said that efforts to resolve the
crisis in
Zimbabwe were still on course with Club members consulting on how
to end the
country's deepening economic and political crisis, a Commonwealth
official
has said.
The Club of mainly former British colonies
was working with all member
states and parties in Zimbabwe to break the
crisis gripping the southern
African nation, the group's director for
communications, Joel Kibazo, said.
Kibazo said: "It is continuing
in its efforts to work with all member
countries and all parties in Zimbabwe
to resolve the crisis in the country."
Zimbabwe is in the midst of
its worst ever crisis since President
Robert Mugabe's controversial
re-election last year.
The opposition Movement for Democratic
Change, the Commonwealth,
European Union (EU) and the United States of
America have refused to
recognise Mugabe's victory, saying the ageing
Zimbabwean leader won through
violence and downright fraud. Mugabe denies the
charges.
The Commonwealth has suspended Zimbabwe from its councils
while the US
and the EU have imposed punitive financial and visa bans on
Mugabe and his
top officials over charges he stole the ballot and also
because of his
controversial land reform policies.
Mugabe has
seized land from white Zimbabwean farmers without paying
for it and parcelled
it out to landless blacks under a programme he says is
meant to correct an
unfair land tenure system that left a tiny minority
white community owning
the best land in Zimbabwe while blacks were cramped
on poor and arid
soils.
Kibazo denied suggestions that there was growing consensus
within the
Commonwealth that Mugabe should leave office by September this
year in order
to facilitate the resolution of Zimbabwe's crisis.
Daily News
MDC's 'final push' questioned
6/7/2003
7:13:08 AM (GMT +2)
JOHANNESBURG The Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) called yesterday
the "D-Day" of the "final push" in
their mass action campaign against
President Robert Mugabe's
government.
However, at least one opposition lobbyist is openly
saying that the
MDC may have been naive in its strategy.
A heavy
police and army presence on the streets was a major reason
there were no
serious protest marches through Zimbabwean cities this week,
said National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA) leader Lovemore Madhuku. The NCA
is a coalition
of civil society organisations fighting for a new
constitution for
Zimbabwe.
Prior to this week's mass action the MDC had placed
adverts in
newspapers appealing to the security forces not to suppress
protests and
demonstrations.
Madhuku said while the NCA had
supported the week-long mass action, it
did so "not in the context of the
'final push' to remove Mugabe we supported
the concept of mass action so
people must get out and reclaim their rights".
"We knew removing
Mugabe would not be achieved. We are fighting for
democratic rights, for a
society in which you can get food. Once you make
Mugabe the target, knowing
that Mugabe controls the security forces, then
you are asking for a clear
confrontation between the people and the army.
And the people are not yet
ready to confront the army with their bare
hands."
As for
adverts placed in the Press on Thursday, calling on people to
"rise up in
your millions to demonstrate publicly your utmost disapproval of
this violent
dictatorship" and proclaiming "Friday 6 June 2003 is D-Day",
Madhuku said:
"It's not right to portray it as D-Day, just as it was not
right to portray
these past few days as the final push.
"We should not trick the
public about what is possible, we should make
it clear to them that it will
be a very long and painful struggle.
"But eventually we will reach
our destination, which is to create a
free and open democracy. Our
destination is not to have (MDC leader Morgan)
Tsvangirai as President, our
destination is a just society, and we have to
be patient with
that."
However, MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube denied that
the aim of
the "final push" was to oust Mugabe.
"Mugabe's
removal was not the objective. The whole purpose of all this
action is to
force ZANU PF to come and negotiate the issue of (Mugabe's)
legitimacy
unconditionally, so that (we can resume) dialogue and a way
forward can be
found," he said.
Mugabe had earlier said he would be willing to
talk to the MDC, but
only if his legitimacy as President was recognised. The
MDC believes Mugabe'
s presidential poll victory last year was rigged and
refuses to accept his
election.
The MDC would give "(South
African President Thabo) Mbeki and company
time to go back to Mugabe, and if
he's still unwilling to negotiate
unconditionally there will be further
action", said Ncube.
"In terms of our strategic targets this (week)
has been very, very
successful. Everything happened as per expectation . . .
we expected
demonstrations would be broken up."
Police had
earlier warned that the MDC's protest campaign was illegal
under the terms of
the Public Order and Security Act, and they would respond
to people breaking
the law.
"The security presence on the ground was one of the main
reasons
people did not come out, the other was (the lack of) mobilisation
of
people," Madhuku said.
He stressed that "any sensible
politician must have seen that the
security forces are still very loyal to
Mugabe".
"Before Monday there was a false assumption that there is
support for
the democratic movement in the security forces. Yet there has
been
retribution in the past days, with security forces beating up
people,
arresting people . . . the various methods they (the security forces)
have
themselves decided to
use shows they are quite determined to
support the Mugabe regime,"
Madhuku explained.
On Tuesday the
police confirmed to IRIN that over 200 people had been
arrested, while the
MDC said the figure was much higher. Zimbabwe's Lawyers
for Human Rights on
Thursday called on the police to comply with the legal
requirements of having
a reasonable suspicion that an offence had been
committed before arresting
anyone. They also reminded police that torture
was an international
crime.
"Even though the police may be seeing themselves as going
through a
challenging period in the history of their profession, they must
remain
professional, objective and impartial in the discharge of
their
responsibilities. Anything less is not acceptable," the lawyers said in
a
statement.
Mugabe, meanwhile, told the South African
Broadcasting Corporation
television news that the use of force against
protesters was regrettable but
necessary. "We regret using tear-gas against
Zimbabwe's youth, but it is
necessary in order to maintain peace and
stability in our country." IRIN
Daily News
ZANU PF youths, police thwart protesters
6/7/2003 7:13:37 AM (GMT +2)
Staff Reporter
ANTI-GOVERNMENT marches scheduled for yesterday were thwarted around
the
country by a massive show of force by the State.
Yesterday's
demonstrations were to put the lid on mass action that
began on
Monday.
The protests, called by the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC), were to press President Robert Mugabe to agree to
talks to end the
country's political stalemate and resolve the economic
crisis. In Harare,
thousands of ruling ZANU PF supporters thronged and sealed
Africa Unity
Square in the city centre, where demonstrators were supposed to
gather.
The ZANU PF supporters, most of them youths brought into
the capital
city from rural and peri-urban areas close to Harare, marched
through the
city yesterday clad in white T-shirts inscribed with the slogan
"No To Mass
Action".
ZANU PF officials say the youths, said to
number about 2 000, were
brought into Harare to assist the police to quell
the opposition's mass
action, declared illegal by the High Court last
Saturday.
The youths, who had the full backing of heavily armed
police and
soldiers, descended on several news-stands and harassed vendors,
tearing
copies of The Daily News, which they accused of supporting
the
opposition-organised protests.
The ruling party supporters
have seized and destroyed copies of the
newspaper throughout this
week.
In most Harare high-density suburbs, Zanu PF youth militia
members
patrolled the streets yesterday, singing songs in praise of the
ruling party
and intimidating most residents into staying
indoors.
The youths are accused of assaulting residents of
high-density areas
around the country during this week.
People
attempting to march into city centres on Monday were also
assaulted and
tear-gassed by State security agents, who are also reported to
have used live
bullets in some areas.
Most of the country was calm yesterday,
although the army and police
force, which have maintained a heavy presence in
urban areas this week,
could be seen still patrolling the
streets.
In Bulawayo, most shops remained closed despite attempts
by the police
and army to force them to open.
Several shops
around the country that had closed because of the mass
action were forced to
open this week by teams comprising the army and
police. The Ministry of
Industry has also threatened to withdraw the
licences of those businesses
that remained shut during the anti-government
protests.
In
Gweru, law enforcement agents sealed off the Gweru Civic Centre as
early as
6am in anticipation of mass demonstrations. Members of the public
were
ordered to keep a safe distance from the police while army troops
gathered at
the Gweru Theatre.
Daily News
Arrests as Archbishop Ncube conducts service for
Mafuyana
6/7/2003 7:14:07 AM (GMT +2)
From Our
Correspondent in Bulawayo
Police arrested 30 passers-by just
outside Bulawayo's Saint Mary's
Cathedral where a church service for the late
Vice-President Joshua Nkomo's
widow, Johanna Mafuyana, who died this week,
was being held.
Bulawayo Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube, an
outspoken critic of
President Robert Mugabe and his government, conducted the
service.
Dozens of armed police cordoned off the church while a
helicopter
hovered above. Johanna, a devout Catholic, will be buried at the
National
Heroes' Acre in Harare today to become the second woman to be
interred at
the national shrine.
A defiant Ncube told the
congregation he would continue to pray for
the country until there was change
for the better.
"The country is in a serious crisis and no one will
stop me from
praying for the goodwill of the country," the clergyman
said.
More than a wooden dozen crosses were carried from the back
of the
church to the altar, symbolising the death of those killed during this
week'
s mass protests organised by the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change.
Two people are believed to have been killed during the
protests.
Earlier, at Mafuyana's funeral wake in Matsheumhlope
suburb,
Vice-President Joseph Msika warned the Roman Catholic Church from
meddling
in politics. "You people of the church should do what you can but
when it
comes to politics, you should keep away," he said.
Daily News
State seeking to raise US$1m weekly from
exiles
6/7/2003 7:14:44 AM (GMT +2)
Staff
Reporter
THE government is considering an ambitious plan to tap
more than US$1
million ($824 million) every week from Zimbabweans living
outside the
country, a move immediately dismissed by analysts yesterday as
another
futile exercise to boost hard cash inflows.
In a paper
presented on his behalf at a National Economic Consultative
Forum meeting in
Harare on Thursday, Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa said
the government had
begun discussions with interested parties to bring the
grand plan into
life.
"Government is holding discussions with interested parties
for
purposes of mobilising foreign currency from Zimbabweans in the
diaspora,"
Murerwa said.
"Indications are that a minimum of US$1
million can be collected on a
weekly basis," he added.
In his
2003 National Budget statement in November, Murerwa said the
government was
targeting Zimbabweans abroad to help ease the country's
four-year hard cash
squeeze.
Lovemore Kadenge, president of the Zimbabwe Economics
Society (ZES),
dismissed the government's plan, saying Zimbabwean economic
refugees were
unlikely to be interested in bailing out President Robert
Mugabe's regime.
Most Zimbabweans who have left the country because
of security fears
or in search of better employment opportunities abroad hold
the government
responsible for the crises that have forced them to leave
Zimbabwe.
Kadenge said: "The desperate bid will not take us
anywhere unless
government is prepared to sort out the current political
crisis in the
country."
The ZES president said Zimbabweans
abroad needed to have confidence in
the political and economic situation at
home before sending their money into
the country.
He said it was
necessary for the government to uphold the rule of law
and for the main
political parties to engage in dialogue to resolve the
country's crisis.
Daily News
Police arrest 800 in massive crackdown
6/7/2003 7:15:16 AM (GMT +2)
Staff Reporters
STATE
security agents have since Monday this week arrested more than
800 people
across the country in a ruthless attempt to crush
opposition
protests.
The clampdown has drawn strong criticism
from the United States of
America and other countries.
By the
end of the day yesterday, the last day of week-long mass
protests that shut
down Zimbabwe, police had arrested 814 people they
accused of participating
in the mass demonstrations and job stayaways called
by the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
By the time of going to print
last night 145 people had been released
from police custody after being made
to pay admission of guilt fines ranging
between $3 000 and $5 000. But the
number of those still being held by the
law enforcement agency could not be
ascertained.
Many of those released by the police complained of
being beaten and
tortured by police officers to force them to admit they had
contravened the
law.
The police could not be reached for comment
on the allegations of
torture and ill-treatment raised by the MDC
supporters.
But several people, including some who were not
participating in the
mass demonstrations were severely assaulted and injured
by heavily armed
police officers and soldiers who descended on residential
areas in Harare
and other cities in a bid to stifle the opposition
protests.
The Daily News saw several of the victims of alleged
police and army
brutality at Harare's Avenues Clinic where they were
receiving treatment for
injuries incurred during the beatings.
The police yesterday confirmed that two people had died in the
disturbances
and said they were investigating the death of one of the two
people who the
MDC claims died after being assaulted by members of the army.
US
State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker this week condemned
Harare's
use of strong arm tactics to crush the protests by its citizens.
Reeker said in Press statement: "The United States strongly condemns
the
Zimbabwean government's suppression of its citizens' efforts to
protest
peacefully against a collapsing economy and a deteriorating human
rights
situation.
"While the opposition's calls for a work
stoppage succeeded in closing
most shops and businesses, its efforts to
organise peaceful marches were
broken up with teargas and
beatings."
The US official called for dialogue between the MDC and
ZANU PF to
break a grinding economic and political crisis gripping
Zimbabwe.
He said: "Political forces, including the ruling ZANU PF
and the
opposition MDC must enter into unconditional dialogue on an urgent
basis to
address the political and economic crisis afflicting the
nation."
Britain and the European Union have also condemned the
government's
use of strong arm tactics to break the opposition protests and
urged the MDC
and ZANU PF to negotiate a solution to the country's
problems.
The MDC said the mass demonstrations were meant to force
President
Robert Mugabe to resign or agree to negotiate with the opposition
party a
solution to Zimbabwe's crisis.
Reeker called on African
states to exert pressure on the stakeholders
in Zimbabwe to peacefully
resolve the crisis in the country.
He also said Mugabe should allow
peaceful protests, stop human rights
abuses, reverse disastrous economic
policies, and restore the rule of law.
Reeker spoke as police in
Harare yesterday arrested MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai on fresh charges of
treason. Tsvangirai is already facing trial
for treason over allegations he
and two other senior officials of his party
plotted to assassinate Mugabe
last year.
Other senior MDC officials picked by the police in the
last five days
include the party's legislator for St Mary's constituency Job
Sikhala,
Bulawayo Mayor Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube and Harare East Member of
Parliament Ten
dai Biti.
In Bulawayo and Masvingo the police
also arrested senior MDC officials
among them Esaph Mdlongwa, Silas Mangono,
Tichaona Munyanyi and Milton Gwetu
all of them legislators for the opposition
party.
Nearly all of the MDC senior officials had by yesterday been
released
from police custody.
Biti, Munyanyi and four MDC
supporters were granted bail ranging
between $15 000 and $20 000 each by a
Harare magistrate.
In Bulawayo, magistrate John Masimba yesterday
granted Gwetu a $100
000 bail but denied bail to provincial chairman, Abraham
Mdlongwa and
national executive member, Gertrude Mthombeni.
Sikhala was released without any charges being pressed. The outspoken
MP
yesterday said, "Most of the arrested people were severely assaulted to
the
extent that they will limp for life due to the injuries they
sustained."
Some of the lawyers representing some of the arrested
people said most
of their clients were being held illegally following the
expiry of the 48
hours allowed by law to keep suspects before they appear in
court.
Following the alleged brutal assaults by the State security
agents,
the MDC on Thursday said about 400 people had received medical
treatment
since Tuesday for injuries. At least 10 people have been
hospitalised, with
three of them reported to be in critical condition.
Daily News
Leader Page
Merchants of death stalk the
land
6/7/2003 6:55:17 AM (GMT +2)
IT is
disturbing that Zimbabwean officials are justifying the use of
violence
against unarmed and peaceful anti-government protesters this week
by saying
they want to prevent anarchy and chaos in the country.
Yet it must
be clear to most Zimbabweans that the government itself is
creating
conditions for anarchy and lawlessness by using ruling ZANU PF
supporters to
enforce law and order.
The nation has been told by none other than
ZANU PF information
secretary Nathan Shamuyarira that the ruling party is
using some of its
supporters to assist the police to "protect the people"
from demonstrators.
"It was agreed that we should use the manpower
in our movement to stop
the MDC from disrupting the economy," said
Shamuyarira, referring to mass
action of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change, which brought most
of industry and commerce to a halt this
week.
Several of these supporters, bussed into urban areas from
rural areas
where ZANU PF still has a semblance of support are accused of
harassing and
assaulting law-abiding residents of Harare and Chitungwiza in
particular.
And the government has the nerve to claim that it is
concerned about
the rule of law.
What law and order is there
when vigilante groups break the law before
the very eyes of the
police?
Since the beginning of the mass action on Monday, ruling
party
supporters have seized and torn or burnt thousands of copies of The
Daily
News every day while police officers witnessing these acts of vandalism
have
not even lifted a finger.
All because The Daily News is
considered to be anti-ZANU PF.
The government cannot claim to be
upholding law and order when it
allows vigilante groups to roam the streets,
intimidating and instilling
fear in the citizens of this
country.
Residents of Harare were yesterday alarmed to see bands of
youths in
white T-shirts inscribed "No to Mass Action", who had virtually
taken over
pavements in the capital and had also seized Africa Unity Square
in full
view of the police.
That they were allowed to stage
their own protest while the police and
army troops cracked down hard on other
peaceful demonstrators speaks volumes
about law enforcement in
Zimbabwe.
A country cannot lay claim to law and order when its
citizens are
afraid to go about their business lest they are beaten up or are
publicly
humiliated by people who have been set above the law.
Clearly what little law enforcement remains in Zimbabwe is being
applied
selectively, as dramatised by the violent clampdown on MDC
would-be
protesters this week.
However, the government's double
standards must come as no surprise to
anyone.
But the
implications of allowing political brigades to take over law
enforcement
should be a matter of grave concern to all the people of
this
country.
The government is allowing these brigades to
believe that it is okay
to use violence as a means to an end. When they have
served their purpose,
these people will be returned to their wretched lives
to endure poverty,
unemployment and hunger.
What will stop them
from returning to their communities to put into
effect the lessons they have
learnt from the very rulers of this country by
stealing for their survival
and bludgeoning anyone who stands in their way?
Will the police be
able or willing to deal with these rogue elements
or will mounting cases of
murder, rape, assault, robbery and intimidation
become merely "political
cases", a label attached to crimes perpetrated by
ZANU PF supporters who are
above the law?
Justice is once again being denied to countless more
Zimbabweans, as
it has been denied to victims of violence perpetrated by war
veterans and
their allies in the past three years.
The
government is laying the groundwork for rapacious bandits who owe
allegiance
to no one and who are motivated purely by self-interest.
Zimbabwe
might live with the consequences of the government's actions
long after ZANU
PF is history.
Daily News
Leader Page
Pub censorship killing little freedom
still left
6/7/2003 6:57:16 AM (GMT +2)
By Takura
Zhangazha
A colleague of mine and I decided as usual on a Saturday
afternoon to
go to some city pub in First Street Harare and get ourselves a
couple of
beers.
We had been to the pub one previous weekend and
had asked the barman
to play a couple of sassy tunes from Thomas Mapfumo's
new album Toi Toi, to
which he had replied that he didn't have the album but
that if we were to
bring our own cassettes, he would gladly play them for
us.
Being Mukanya aficionados, we duly returned the next weekend to
ask
the good barman to play a couple of tracks from the Chimurenga Explosion
CD.
He played the first song that incidentally is a bonus track
called
Pataibva Kuhondo. As the song was playing and we were sipping away at
our
lagers, a man in a grey shirt with an equally grey tie, who seemed to be
a
manager of sorts in the pub, came and had a brief chat with the
barman.
My colleague and I commented on the "greyness" of the man's
outfit and
we didn't even think the man could have been discussing the song
that was
playing.
In our excitement, we loudly asked the barman
to play song number 12,
which incidentally is another bonus track called
Zvichapera. This is a very
strong song that asks the general question "when
shall this end?" as its
title suggests.
The song also makes
reference to Chaminuka and asks how shall "it" all
end. These lyrics do not
vary, but their repetitive nature and the beautiful
mbira in the background
is enough to get any person that is in a position of
influence to
worry.
The barman duly played Zvichapera and we soon became lost in
political
talk about what the song really means as well as how Mukanya's
music
generally touches the core of ills in society, be it HIV/AIDS,
politics,
alcoholism or family matters.
My colleague was busy
belabouring the point that if there is a change
of government or leadership,
Mukanya would still find something to sing
protest music about, when the
barman came to us at the counter and said that
he had been asked to stop
playing the Zvichapera song.
We laughed at him in what I now regard
as a fairly reasonable
assumption that the man was joking. He repeated a
number of times and we
also refused to believe him a number of times until he
just went and stopped
playing the song.
We were shocked until we
saw the man in a grey outfit stroll into the
bar and pretend to chat up all
the other customers except us.
I told my colleague that there were
two gentlemen who were glancing at
us and that the plot could actually
thicken if we stayed in the censorship
pub. Our conversation took the
direction of weighing what the likely
scenarios in the pub would be if we got
drunk and decided to give the barman
and the manager a lecture about freedom
of expression and information.
But we figured we would get thorough
beatings from some hired thugs
and the last thing we wanted was a reputation
for being involved in
dangerous altercations in pubs.
We took
our CD and finished off our beers in slight shock and left the
pub, which is
supposed to have as its clientele the all-powerful Central
Intelligence
Organisation. Because we were still far from getting tipsy, we
decided to go
to our regular pub where there is no problem with playing some
honestly good
music that is not Tuku Music.
The conversation there as we listened
to some powerful Chimurenga
vibes drifted toward the issue of censorship in
Zimbabwe and how it
permeates every strata of our society (even bars and
pubs). To censor a
musician of as much stature as Mukanya is tantamount to
censoring the World
Cup.
The fact that the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation decides to play
none of Mapfumo's contemporary music is something
that bodes ill for freedom
of expression in the country.
This is
a man who has given Zimbabwean "Chimurenga" music
international stature that
has no parallel and yet the multitudes of
Zimbabwe cannot have a decent
sample of this unique brand of music due to
the queasy feelings in some
politically correct person at Pockets Hill.
Perhaps if there were
alternative radio and television stations we
would have someone braving the
Broadcasting Services Act and the Access to
Information and Protection
of Privacy Act to play all types of music
that emanate from our
country.
The future of Zimbabwe's culture does not only depend on
the
politically acceptable music of the likes of Elliot Manyika or that of
Andy
Brown and Bryn Mteki. It depends more on our acceptance, not only
of
different types of instrumentation that is found in songs, but also on
our
showing tolerance to whatever messages emanate from the music of
various
artistes.
The proprietors of pubs and nightclubs need
not keep a hawkish eye on
the political correctness of the music they play
because, whether out of
fear of having our now notorious army raiding their
clubs and beating up
their patrons in the middle of a gig, they begin to play
a part in the heavy
censorship that is now being undertaken by the
government.
Places of enjoyment and relaxation such as bars,
football grounds and
community halls need not join the censorship
crowd.
Censorship in such places kills the little freedom that
people have
left. It is at community level, be it in the form of your regular
pub or
your regular church and your regular community theatre ground, that
people
first begin to exist as free and equal human beings.
If a
community-based centre that is essentially meant to be apolitical
begins to
place greater emphasis on being politically correct, then it may
as well shut
down and go and operate in places where they can carry out
activities that
suit the proprietor's needs.
Takura Zhangazha writes on political
and social issues
Daily News
Crisis-hit Zimbabwe resorts to
fire-fighting
6/7/2003 6:51:36 AM (GMT +2)
Business Reporter
THE government has resorted to crisis management
instead of
sustainable planning to resolve Zimbabwe's worsening economic
crisis,
according to Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa.
In a
speech read on his behalf at a meeting of the National Economic
Consultative
Forum (NECF) on Thursday, Murerwa said the government and
private sector also
had to share the burden of fuel procurement.
Zimbabwe is battling a
serious liquid fuel crisis, worsened by severe
hard cash shortages. Shortages
of petrol, diesel, electricity and foreign
currency have crippled the
operations of many local companies.
The government has failed to
adequately address the energy and hard
cash crises, adopting fire-fighting
measures that analysts say are
inadequate to deal with the fundamental causes
of these problems.
Murerwa said: "We have virtually moved to the
practice of crisis
management in place of sustainable planning for
development.
"The burden for fuel procurement has to be shared in
order to improve
fuel supply in the country. Government is therefore inviting
eligible
private companies to participate in the importation of some
petroleum
products."
He was speaking at a meeting that brought
together representatives of
the government, labour, business and civil
society.
The NECF meeting is one of several that will discuss the
government's
latest economic recovery blue-print, the National Economic
Revival Programme
(NERP).
The finance minister told the meeting
that the government was
committed to NERP, which was launched in
February.
Under NERP, the agricultural sector, hard hit by drought
and a
controversial land reform programme that has slashed output, is
earmarked as
the engine that will drive Zimbabwe's economic
recovery.
Murerwa said the private sector and the government should
be prepared
to make major sacrifices in the resolution of the economic
crisis.
Daily News
Subduing people different from winning their
hearts
6/7/2003 7:03:02 AM (GMT +2)
Whether
the ZANU PF government cares to admit it or not, the week's
stayaway chalks
up a resounding victory for the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC). The fact that we have become a military state
overnight shows the
state of panic that Zanu PF is in.
Even when they were waging a
bloody civil war against white
supremacists, the occupants of State House
never found it necessary to
barricade themselves in or even impose a
night-time curfew around its
perimeter.
Surely Ian Smith and his
ilk were at a much greater risk of attack
from the heroic guerrillas of the
struggle than Robert Mugabe is from the
adoring population he believes that
he commands.
ZANU PF may be able to control the population using
State security
agents to achieve their own ends, but they know the hearts of
the people,
just as they know how they lost the elections and in which
constituencies,
even though they will not admit the fact.
They
may beat the population into submission, but they will never win
their
allegiance.
I know with certainty that their time has come. ZANU PF
talks of
finding solutions to the problem, but they cannot even recognise
what the
problem is.
They cannot blame the British, the MDC, the
whites, the farmers, etc,
etc, for the fact that there is insufficient food,
fuel, electricity and
foreign currency to sustain the economy.
Their communist rhetoric will not repair the damage. This regime will
end up
on the same pile as all their other like-minded comrades.
The MDC
and the people of Zimbabwe just have to sit back and wait.
Change is just
around the corner.
Joseph Smith
Harare
Daily News
Letters
Moyo, why did the people obey puppets'
stayaway call?
6/7/2003 7:03:22 AM (GMT +2)
Congratulations to the MDC for showing the Mugabe regime that this
state is
for Zimbabweans, not the ZANU PF regime.
We were tired of their
endless threats about arrests and the so-called
rule of law.
The
MDC really showed the regime the real test. If they are not
scared, why did
they bus the war vets from rural areas to deploy them in
the
cities?
To you ZANU PF: your days are numbered as we are
really on the move.
To the MDC: we are really behind you and don't be put off
by the regime.
Jonathan Moyo, why don't you explain to the nation
why the masses
obeyed the so-called puppets' call? I know you have the fuel
to drive to
Dead BC and bread to eat before you tarnish your own image on
TV.
Not Fooled Student
Bulawayo
Daily News
Letters
Force members, compile secret reports of
abusers
6/7/2003 7:03:50 AM (GMT +2)
I would
like to add my voice to that of the director of ZimRights (The
Daily News,
Wednesday, 4 June).
In that article, he urges members of the public
to report any
violations of their rights by the armed forces.
I
think it would help much more if those members of the armed forces
and there
are many of them who know in the deepest of their consciousness
that such
violations are wicked, to secretly report perpetrators of
such
violations.
Why let yourself and your family forever be
condemned by your nation
for acts of brutality that were committed by rogue
members of the forces in
your presence?
That revelation alone
will one day save you.
Simbarashe Kasukuwere
Bindura
Daily News
Feature
Stayaway leaves Harare's street kids
starving
6/7/2003 6:53:47 AM (GMT +2)
By Ray
Matikinye Features Editor
A LONE child hops from one street to
another pleading for alms from
the trickle of motorists who have ventured to
drive out into Harare's
deserted central business district.
On a
normal day the child, who later identified himself as Tomasi
Podorayi, would
be in the company of several children or street kids as most
residents
of this sprawling city call them, weaving and ducking
between vehicles at
robot-controlled road intersections, hassling motorists
for donations in cash
or kind.
And when there is a break in traffic Podorayi and his
friends love to
idle away the time sniffing glue or playing
catch-me-if-you-can on the
pavements of Harare, seemingly oblivious of their
hard lot.
But not so today.
Podorayi, hunger and
distress deeply etched on his face, slowly edged
towards a blue sedan that
pulled up at the intersection of Nelson Mandela
Avenue and Angwa Street in
central Harare.
For a moment he hesitated, probably unsure how the
motorists would
react. And then he asked: "Please help me with a few coins to
buy food
because I have not eaten since Monday."
With tears now
forming in his eyes, Podorayi pleaded with the
motorist: "An empty Coke or
beer bottle would still do if you do not have
loose money. I can go and
exchange that for cash at the shop."
Mass job stayaways and
demonstrations called by the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
party to protest against President
Robert Mugabe's management of the economy
this week brought Zimbabwe to a
halt.
MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai says the mass demonstrations are meant to
force Mugabe to resign
or that he should concede that he had failed to run
the country and agree to
work out with the opposition party a solution to
Zimbabwe's deepening
economic and political crisis.
Since last Monday when the mass
demonstrations and job boycotts began,
Harare and other urban centres across
the country have resembled ghost towns
as Zimbabweans stayed at home in
response to Tsvangirai's call.
But for Podorayi and hundreds of
thousands of other beggars and street
people loitering the streets of Harare
and other cities life has never been
harder because the mass job stayaways
has driven away the motorists and
other people who are the only source of
livelihood for Zimbabwe's street
people.
"Since I came
onto the streets life has never been this desperate,"
Podorayi said. "Even
during weekends, the roads, streets and sanitary lanes
have never been this
empty," he added, fighting back tears.
On weekends some restaurants
open for the occasional shopper providing
a welcome reprieve to Podorayi and
his friends when they throw away
left-overs.
With most business
and food outlets closed this week, the number of
people living on the streets
has somehow mysteriously dropped, appearing to
back claims by social workers
and some Zimbabweans that the majority of
street people are actually not
homeless, but are people who have made
begging a profession with homes to
return to after their daily forays in the
city centre.
"Otherwise, how else can one explain their absence during the work
boycott?"
remarked Jack Mingo, a Harare motorist.
Mingo believes the problem
of street kids will never be resolved as
long as the children and their
parents are profiting from alms donated by
motorists and other
passersby.
But many other Zimbabweans believe the burgeoning
problem of street
kids is only a symptom of the country's fast-deteriorating
economic
situation which they squarely blame on Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF
party's
policies.
Once one of the brightest prospects for
success in Africa, Zimbabwe's
economy faces total collapse because key
development and trading partners
are shunning the country owing to
differences with the government over its
land policies and other governance
issues.
Foreign investors left the country in droves fearing for
the security
of their investments after the government embarked on a
controversial
programme to seize privately owned land for ostensible
redistribution to
landless blacks. Some of then best land the government
seized ended up in
the hands of powerful politicians.
The
disruptions on farming operations caused by the government's
chaotic land
redistribution scheme combined with poor rains to cut food
production by 50
percent, leaving nearly eight million Zimbabweans or about
half the country's
population facing starvation.
Only the timely intervention of
international food relief
organisations saved the country from an
unprecedented famine.
Meanwhile, an acute foreign currency crisis
persists since the
International Monetary Fund cut balance-of-payments
support to Zimbabwe in
1998 after disagreeing with the government over fiscal
policy and several
other issues of governance.
The hard cash
squeeze has manifested itself through severe shortages
of essential drugs,
fuel, electricity and now the local Zimbabwean dollar
because the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe does not have hard cash to pay for
imports of the special
ink and paper used to print money.
Tsvangirai says Zimbabweans must
rise in mass demonstrations or job
stayaways as they did this week to force
Mugabe and his administration to
resign or agree to negotiate a way out of
the fast-deepening crisis. He may
very well be correct.
But for
Podorayi and other street kids caught up in the whirlpool of
political high
stakes game between the opposition leader and his MDC party
on one hand, and
Mugabe and his ZANU PF party on the other, mass action only
means yet another
hardship in the daily test of endurance that is life on
Harare's streets.
Daily News
Feature
Why Jonathan Moyo is wrong about
MISA
6/7/2003 6:58:26 AM (GMT +2)
By Takura
Zhangazha
THE statements made by Professor Jonathan Moyo, the
Minister of
Information and Publicity in the President's Office, during a
meeting he
held with journalists in the city of Bulawayo about the Media
Institute of
Southern Africa (MISA) are most unfortunate.
In his
speech, the junior minister accused MISA of being a
foreign-based
organisation acting as a front for foreign interests because
its headquarters
is in Namibia.
He went further to claim that MISA is full of
"sell-outs" who
consistently misinform the public by claiming that the
Broadcasting Services
Act (BSA) is an undemocratic Act that seeks to entrench
the monopoly of the
State-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.
Whilst the minister has the right to freedom of expression that we
anticipate
he shall continue to freely utilise to the best of his ability,
his
accusations against MISA are completely unfounded and reflect a
partisan
understanding of the role that civil society organisations play in
the
development of a democratic Zimbabwe.
Moreover, his
accusations are entirely out of step with the freedom of
expression, freedom
of information and freedom of the Press that are the
bedrock upon which the
United Nations decided to accord 3 May of every
calendar year as World Press
Freedom Day.
By taking the grand stage and accusing MISA of a
number of false
things, the minister proved his lack of tolerance of opposing
views and,
therefore, cannot be an ally to journalists that are committed to
Press
freedom.
For the record and for the purposes of
enlightening the minister as
well as his permanent secretary, George
Charamba, MISA is a media advocacy
organisation that has been in existence
for the last 11 years throughout the
whole of Southern Africa.
It is an organisation that is recognised and respected by governments
that
are democratic and those that do not fear civil society. Its
national
chapters are found in Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia,
Tanzania,
South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana and
Zimbabwe.
All of these chapters are membership-based organisations
and they seek
to pursue the interests of journalists as opposed to those of
foreign donors
as erroneously stated by the minister.
These
chapters also aim to bring the agenda of a free media as well as
freedom of
information to the public in the anticipation that the citizens
of all
Southern African Development Community member states not only
understand the
right to freedom of expression, but are also prepared to
fight to retain or
acquire this cornerstone human right, for any country
that purports to uphold
the principles of democracy.
The minister apparently threatened all
those that are working
hand-in-hand with MISA. In this threat he stated that
all those that are
working with the MISA in seeking community radio licences
are bound to fail
to acquire them because they are associating with
sell-outs. This is
obviously a serious threat, coming as it does from a
minister who has a
known track record of being vindictive, but the argument
is that the
minister is playing the age-old political tactic of
divide-and-rule.
This is a tactic that, unfortunately, cannot work
any more, especially
when it comes to the essential community development
issue of community
radio. It is not easy for the minister to switch off
public demand for
community radio as he did with the Joy TV saga because
community radio does
not belong to any one person nor is it for commercial
purposes.
It is a people-based endeavour that can only remain
afloat if it
remains relevant to the community it claims to
serve.
In this sense, the minister's threats to those that work
together with
MISA in realising their own community's dream of having a
community radio
station, is null and void because it is not MISA that creates
a hunger for
community-based media, but communities themselves that request
to work
together in an equal relationship with MISA.
In dealing
with community leaders, MISA has never tried to impose upon
communities what
it thinks they should do. It has assisted in strategic
planning processes,
public awareness campaigns and outlining what is
contained in the
BSA.
This approach has not raised the ire of any self-meaning and
serious
community leader.
Perhaps the intention of the minister
is to control the formation of
community radio stations along the lines of
information kiosks that the
Department of Information and Publicity has been
vainly trying to celebrate
as an endeavour in bringing the media to the
people.
Such a move is unsustainable because community radios are
about
capturing community life in an uncensored manner that is
self-sustainable
and involves the direct participation of the members of the
community.
The Zimbabwe Chapter of MISA is a vibrant and relevant
institution
contrary to the frivolous accusations being levelled against it
by the
permanent secretary in the Department of Information and Publicity,
George
Charamba.
In an article recently published in The Sunday
Mail, Charamba accused
a member of staff of MISA as being a front for the
establishment of foreign
media interests in Zimbabwe. This was clearly not
only a blow below the belt
for our colleague in the struggle for Press
freedom, but also a blue lie.
There is no sinister ploy on the part
of MISA Zimbabwe to try and
undermine the right of Zimbabwe's own media to
exist within our borders.
If anything, the threat in Zimbabwe has
come from none other than the
permanent secretary's desk who obviously played
a critical role in the
crafting of the draconian BSA as well as the Access to
Information and
Protection of Privacy Act.
Whilst Charamba
points a shaky accusatory finger at MISA, the other
four fingers are pointing
directly back at him because the truth is
self-evident: it is the government
that is undermining the media in Zimbabwe
and acting as a front for the
interests of one political party over and
above the national
interest.
MISA Zimbabwe acts responsibly in dealing with media
issues in our
country. It has dealt with Parliament and even the Executive in
an amicable
manner.
If MISA Zimbabwe had posed a threat to
Zimbabwe's sovereignty then it
would have been one of the most unpopular
organisations in Zimbabwe.
Moreover, its membership base would
logically have begun to decline,
but alas for the minister and his senior
officer, MISA Zimbabwe's membership
is increasing by the day and these are
members that are committed to the
protection of freedom of expression and
information.
It is our hope that the minister's statements have
been placed in the
right context after this short explanation about what MISA
is all about.
Regardless of the accusations being laid against
MISA, the
organisation will not flounder in its defence of Press freedom and
in
promoting media diversity for the benefit of the region as well as
for
Zimbabwe.
Ministers and permanent secretaries like Moyo and
George
(respectively) come and go, but freedom of expression is a God-given
right
that one needs not intellectualise with pain about, but that one must
always
assist the people in realising and protecting.
Takura
Zhangazha is a member of Misa Zimbabwe.
ABC Australia
Downer condemns Zimbabwe's decision to crack down on
protestors
The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, says the situation in
Zimbabwe is
progressively deteriorating and President Mugabe's arrogance has
reached new
levels.
Mr Downer thinks the arrest of Morgan Tsvangirai,
the leader of Zimbabwe's
opposition Movement for Democratic Change, is
worrying.
He says the latest development reinforces Australia's view that
the
international community has to apply practical pressure on the
regime.
"I think the situation in Zimbabwe is progressively deteriorating
to the
point where now the government of President Mugabe is simply
suspending
democratic processes," he said.
"The army and policy have
endeavoured to stop demonstrations, demonstrations
are a legitimate part of a
democratic society.
"President Mugabe's arrogance has reached new levels
where he doesn't want
any demonstrations against him anymore."
Earlier, Mr
Tsvangirai was arrested in the capital Harare.
Opposition officials say
Morgan Tsvangirai is being held at Harare's central
police station.
He was
arrested at his home, after addressing a press conference where he
announced
plans to stage ongoing anti-government protests.
It is the second time in
less than a week that the leader of the opposition
Movement for Democratic
Change has been arrested.
Zimbabwe slips deeper into chaos as cracks in regime show
Saturday June
7, 2003
The Guardian
She said her name was Dora and she had come for
the revolution. Jaw
clenched, staring straight ahead, she gripped her handbag
and sat on the
bench in downtown Harare, willing herself to stay.
Africa
Unity Square was the assembly point for what the opposition called
D-Day, the
climax to a week of protests against Robert Mugabe's regime. Dora
arrived
yesterday just before the appointed time, 10am, and realised she was
on her
own.
But not alone. From different corners of the square hundreds of
youths in
white T-shirts - militia from the ruling Zanu-PF party - streamed
into what
was supposed to be the crucible of the revolution.
Around
the city roved at least 2,000 militia, backed up by police and army
units,
even helicopters, in an unprecedented show of strength.
This was
President Mugabe pulling out all the stops, for he sensed this week
of
general strikes and street demonstrations was perhaps the gravest threat
to
his 23-year rule. Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, was
yesterday
arrested for the second time since Monday and charged with treason,
which
carries a possible death sentence. He is already on trial on a
separate
treason charge.
The opposition ran full-page adverts in
yesterday's independent Daily News:
"We are winning against the dictator!
This is the moment you have been
waiting for. Protest peacefully - march for
your freedom." They called for
millions to turn out.
But, unlike
economics, the government does repression rather well: it
declared the
protests illegal, stopped people entering cities and those who
did make it to
the assembly points were too intimidated to do anything.
Dora was an
exception. In her early 30s, dressed in a business suit, she was
about the
only person in Africa Unity Square without a white T-shirt saying
"No to mass
action". She was visibly nervous but the voice was steady: "I
came because it
is my duty to be here. It is time to make a stand."
The interview ended
when seven militants surrounded me and demanded to know
which newspaper I was
holding. "It's the Daily News," shouted one, and
another raised a stick. When
they saw it was not, they stepped back and
smiled. "My friend, you're OK
now."
In fact it was the Zimbabwe Independent, a Mugabe critic, and the
splash
headline said "Govt lashes out as protests spread". To be beaten
for
possessing one paper and not the other made no sense, but then little
does
in today's Zimbabwe.
What consistency the Mugabe regime had -
reward friends and punish real or
perceived opponents - seems to be
unravelling as the crisis bites. Anecdotal
evidence suggests the chain of
command is fraying.
This week Zanu-PF militants invaded a privately run
school outside Harare,
forced staff to sing and dance in praise of the regime
and slaughtered one
of their goats. Two of the pupils are children of the
president's sister,
Sabina Mugabe, and when told she "hit the roof", said one
teacher, but the
militants continued harrassing.
Police told Duke De
Coudray, the owner of a hardware store, that he would be
charged with treason
for not opening his store in support of the general
strike, but Zanu-PF
members said they would attack if he did open.
Yesterday's show of force
ensured that D-Day passed without deliverance for
the opposition but analysts
said the level of repression was unsustainable.
Most of the time the
helicopters cannot fly for want of fuel and salaries
are running out for the
men with guns and clubs.
A police unit which raided the University of
Zimbabwe stole not only the
students' mobile phones and jackets, but biscuits
and bread, which they
devoured on the spot. "They seemed starving. It was
amazing," said one
student.
Three years after government-sponsored
farm seizures started devastating the
agriculture-led economy, rock bottom
seems in sight.
To add to the mile-long queues for scarce petrol now
there are queues
outside banks for scarce cash - the central bank cannot
afford ink for
banknotes, among other things. Annual inflation is
269%.
After a series of one-day stoppages the main opposition group, the
Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC), had called for a "final push" this
week, with
five days of strikes and demonstrations to force Mr Mugabe's
resignation.
The security forces crushed the protests by detaining MDC
leaders and
beating hundreds of activists. At least one, Tichona Kaguru, 33,
died from
his injuries, and dozens more were beaten again while being treated
at
Harare's Avenues clinic.
The more traditional tactic of beating
people at home under cover of night
continued, said the MDC, which published
graphic pictures of bruised and
broken limbs.
About 3,000 students who
tried to march from Harare's university were
dispersed by teargas and live
rounds fired over their heads.
Before his arrest Mr Tsvangirai voiced
defiance: "From now onwards we will
embark on rolling mass action at
strategic times of our choice and without
any warning to the dictatorship.
More action is certainly on the way."
The crackdown succeeded in crushing
demonstrations but not the strike, one
of the deepest and longest in African
history, which turned cities into
ghost towns. It was a message to the
Zanu-PF factions plotting to succeed Mr
Mugabe to hasten the 79-year-old's
exit.
Speaking from a new safe house Roy Bennett, an outspoken MDC MP,
claimed
victory. "We showed who has the power in the country, who rules. To
be able
to shut down major cities for five days shows where the power
lies.
"The damage to the economy was massive and weakened the ruling
party's
position and should force them to the negotiating table."
By
the time Mr Bennett and his wife made it to Africa Unity Square, Dora
had
gone and they were the only MDC representatives. "The scale of the
security
intimidated people," he said.
Extract from :
 |
| Washington
File |
 |
06 June 2003
Transcript: State Department Daily Press Briefing, June 6
|
..... [questions and answers on other
topics..........]
QUESTION: In that case, how about Zimbabwe? Yes? I
think Mr.
Tsvangirai has really been arrested this time, rather than
merely
detained. Do you know?
MR. BOUCHER: That's what we believe, he
was arrested Friday afternoon
in Harare at his home, reportedly on charges of
inciting public
violence in regard to this week's mass action.
We
strongly condemn this arrest. The heightened climate of
confrontation and
violence in Zimbabwe this week, we think, heightens
the urgent need for a
dialogue between the government and the
opposition. The government's
continued intimidation and repression of
the opposition, its violent
oppression of peaceful public protest, are
not conducive to beginning such a
dialogue.
We call on the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic
Front
Party and the Opposition Movement for Democratic Change to
commence
talks on an urgent basis to seek solutions to Zimbabwe's
worsening
political and economic crisis.
The United States, in
addition, continues to urge the international
community, and African states
in particular, to help foster such a
dialogue between the government and the
opposition, and to promote
political change and economic recovery in
Zimbabwe. Countries in the
region must facilitate this dialogue between
Mugabe and the
opposition, the people of Zimbabwe, and the stability and
prosperity
of the region cannot afford further delays.
Zimbabwe and
its broad adherence to the week's opposition called "work
stayaway," reflects
a pervasive frustration with the government's
ruinous economic policies.
Inflation is at 269 percent and rising.
It's outpacing the government's
ability to print currency, and there
is a rampant black market that reflects
widespread shortages.
So the situation is getting worse and worse,
unfortunately, through
the actions of the government. We think it's time for
the government
not to be arresting people, not to be putting the opposition
into
further confrontation, but rather for both the government and
the
opposition to sit down together and try to do what's good for
the
people of the country.
Sir.
QUESTION: Which countries, in
particular, do you want to see
facilitate the dialogue?
MR. BOUCHER:
As I said, the neighboring countries of Africa and the
neighboring
countries.
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR. BOUCHER: Yeah.
QUESTION: Do
you want to be specific?
MR. BOUCHER: No, I'll leave it at that. We know
that some of them have
been involved already.
QUESTION: Not to the
extent that you wanted them to be. I'm just
wondering if you want to -- I
mean, if you want to put pressure on
them, it might be nice to use their
names.
MR. BOUCHER: I think I'll leave it the way I did right
now.
QUESTION: So the situation isn't -- isn't -- for the people
of
Zimbabwe, isn't yet bad enough to start naming names?
MR. BOUCHER:
I think we already named the names of the people that
have to solve this. The
fact is that anybody in the region -- it is
bad enough that anybody in the
region who can help out ought to be
helping out. It's not a matter of
--
QUESTION: Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't hear you say Mugabe's
name,
though.
MR. BOUCHER: Yeah, I did say Mugabe's name. But it's not
a matter of
picking one or two governments and say, "You go do it," and
everybody
else is off the hook. It's a matter of saying everybody ought to
step
up to the plate and realize that this is a very serious situation
that
requires some effort by Mugabe and the opposition parties, and
that
countries in the region should be
-- everybody in the region should
be telling him that, too, in the
international community, as well as in --
especially Africans -- to
tell the government and the opposition it's time
for them to sit down
and resolve this for the benefit of the people of
Zimbabwe.
Okay, David.