• Mugabe plays down opposition protests
• Mugabe cracks whip
• Norton residents dig wells as water shortages bite
• Beta challenges Gwaradzimba’s nomination
• ZRP now an enemy of the people
• ZANU PF gangs descend on Dzivaresekwa
• . . As militias terrorise Mbare, Chitungwiza
• Police intervene as fuel dispute rocks taxi firm
• MDC threatens protests over Tsvangirai’s arrest
• ZANU PF digging its own grave
• When will State agents start disobeying illegal orders?
• Zimbabwe’s risk profile worsens
• No army will stop us when we have really had enough
• Borrowed robes
• Why the Witchcraft Suppression Act must be repealed
• MDC morality questionable - The Herald
• Fuel situation remains critical

(CNN) -- Recent opposition protests in Zimbabwe were "just some drama for
the G-8" that "failed to impress anyone," embattled President Robert Mugabe
said in an interview aired Sunday.

The 79-year-old Mugabe has led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980 but has
drawn sharp criticism over many of his policies, including what many allege
are human rights abuses targeting the opposition.

Last week's protests included work stoppages that brought major urban areas,
including the capital Harare, to a standstill but a show of force by
Mugabe's government all but prevented planned marches around the country.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who is on trial for allegedly plotting
to kill Mugabe, was arrested Friday on new treason charges as part of the
crackdown

Mugabe's opponents consider his presidency illegitimate because of what they
say was widespread voting irregularities in the March 2002 presidential
election. International observers also criticized the poll.

The protests, organized by Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, were
launched as the Group of Eight industrial nations met in Evian, France, with
Africa as part of its agenda.

Tsvangirai had called Friday "the final push" in the mass action aimed at
toppling Mugabe.

But Mugabe, in an interview with the South African Broadcast Corporation,
said Sunday: "The final push has failed totally, if it was meant to be a
push at all. It has not been a push of the government to create room for
Tsvangirai to take over."

Mugabe labeled the demonstrations a publicity stunt timed to coincide with
the G-8 gathering.

"It was, of course, erroneous in the extreme for the opposition to think
they could come together, organize people, illegally, and get them to push
the government out," he said. "Unless they knew it was not going to be a
push, but just a matter of doing something that would receive the attention
of the G-8."

Unfortunately, he said, it was "a drama in which the main characters have
failed to impress anyone."

Mugabe also moved to dispel rumors of an early retirement, saying he would
not go "in a situation where people are disunited."

Britain -- Zimbabwe's former colonial ruler -- and the United States must
"refrain from exerting pressures" on his government, he said.

"But as long as there is that fight, I am for a fight," he said. "I can
still punch."

The president blamed Zimbabwe's 269 percent inflation on "highly educated
experts" who stick to "bookish rules and bookish norms" and said massive
food shortages were the fault of drought and sanctions from Britain and
other Western countries.

"The wonder is that we've managed to stay on our feet," he said. "We will
never collapse. ... We will survive."

Critics have blamed the current crisis, particularly the food shortages, on
the violent seizure of white-owned farms by landless blacks -- actions that
have the support of Mugabe's government.

The land grabs, often violent by gangs describing themselves as veterans of
the war for independence, have brought production to a standstill and
Zimbabwe, once known as Africa's breadbasket is now called Africa's basket
case.

Mugabe defended the land seizures, even when asked if the government could
have encouraged the perpetrators of some of the more violent takeovers to
pursue a more legal route.

"What they fought for was freedom, and it was freedom with the land as the
major gain," he said. "The British had never used a legal route to seize our
land -- it was seizures by settlers acting on a charter given by Queen
Victoria.

"They got our land, occupied it by force," he said. "We are now going to
take it by force."

Mugabe also accused the British and U.S. governments of reneging on promises
to provide money to purchase land from whites after the agreement that led
to Zimbabwean independence from Britain.

      By Sydney Masamvu Assistant Editor

      THE police and Zimbabwe’s premier spy agency, the Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO), will spearhead a crackdown against the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
and other perceived anti-government elements in the aftermath of last week’s
mass action, The Daily News has established.

      Intelligence sources yesterday said the crackdown, which would be
co-ordinated by the CIO’s internal branch along with the police, would
target leaders of the MDC and the party’s supporters as well as NGOs,
companies and banks that were closed during the mass protests.

      The government last week insisted that business should carry on as
normal during the five-day anti-government protests that ended on Friday,
promising that State security forces would provide adequate protection
against violence and looting.

      But most of Zimbabwe ground to a halt last week, with the majority of
businesses and other organisations remaining closed, prompting the
government to threaten to withdraw operating licences from businesses that
remained shut.

      The mass action, which the government says was aimed at toppling
President Robert Mugabe, was declared illegal by the High Court.

      However, the MDC insists it only wanted to press Mugabe into agreeing
to dialogue between the country’s main political parties as a means of
resolving Zimbabwe’s economic and political crises.

      Government and intelligencesources said the arrest on Friday of MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who is facing fresh treason charges, was the
beginning of a swoop on opposition party leaders who were involved in the
mass protests.

      Police at the weekend indicated that they wanted to interview MDC
secretary-general Welshman Ncube and were trying to establish his
whereabouts.

      MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi told The Daily News yesterday that
the police also wanted to press treason charges against Ncube.

      “Welshman Ncube is not in hiding contrary to what we are hearing from
the State media. What we know is that the police want to charge him with
treason, charges which our leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, is also facing,”
Nyathi said.

      Sources privy to the government’s plans said more MDC leaders, several
of whom are already facing various charges in the courts, would be arrested
this week.

      The sources said this was supposed to “weaken” the leadership of the
MDC before the resumption of inter-party dialogue.

      They said a senior intelligence official and a top government minister
and ZANU PF politburo member on Saturday night visited Borrowdale Police
Station where Tsvangirai is detained.

      The purpose of the visit could not be established before going to
print yesterday.

      “The swoop is already in motion to bring to book whoever was behind
the illegal mass protests to overthrow the government through illegal
protests.

      “Those targeted include the MDC leadership and we have the full
blessing of all those in authority in doing that,” an official in the State
Security Ministry told The Daily News.

      Mugabe on Friday indicated that the government would come down hard on
the MDC and those who had participated in the mass action.

      MDC vice-president Gibson Sibanda said his party was aware that the
government wanted to persecute its leaders.

      “What the regime seeks to do is merely to intimidate, humiliate and
persecute the MDC leadership,” Sibanda said.

      State Security Minister Nicholas Goche, while not confirming or
denying plans to swoop down on the MDC and other elements perceived to be
anti-ZANU PF, however said his organisation was working to ensure “elements”
who wanted to subvert the country through illegal actions were brought to
book.

      “Elements who want to destabilise the country, and in particular the
government of the day through illegal means, will be dealt with within the
confines of the law,” Goche told The Daily News without elaborating.

      Staff Reporter

      SOME residents of Norton have resorted to sinking boreholes and
digging wells because of severe water shortages that experts say pose a
serious health hazard in the small town.

      Residents of Knowe, an up-market residential suburb in Norton which is
located about 40 kilometres outside Harare told the Daily News that they had
been experiencing serious water shortages for close to three months.

      The low-density suburb is one of the areas worst affected by the water
shortages. In Knowe Phase Two, water supplies ceased a month ago. Water
supplies in Norton’s high-density suburbs of Ngoni, Katanga and Flamingo
have also been erratic over the past few months.

      When the Daily News visited Norton on Friday, residents in long queues
were buying water for $5 a bucket from homesteads that had sunk boreholes so
that they could have access to water for domestic needs.

      Norton director of housing and community services, who identified
himself only as A Doga, said he was aware of the water problems, but
referred all queries on the matter to Nhambu Muyambi, the town’s chief
executive.

      Muyambi said the water shortages were a result of rationing. He told
The Daily News: “It is true that we have erratic water supplies, but the
problem is not of our making.”

      “We get our water from the city of Harare, but it is just not enough
and this forces us to ration it,” he added.

      He said the town’s main water line had also burst in May and this had
worsened the water supply situation. He however said the burst had since
been repaired.

      Joseph Musora, a resident from Knowe Phase Two said: “We want a good
explanation from the council because they have been taking us for granted.
You should see our toilets to prove how disastrous this water problem has
become.”

      Most people are said to be using nearby bushes as toilets, which
residents said increased the risk of diseases. Said Agatha Moyo of Ngoni:
“We only receive water between 2am and 4am and that is when we manage to
flush the toilets. I believe this is what happens in prisons, so you can
guess what Norton has become.”

      In Ngoni, raw effluent from burst sewage pipes can be seen spewing out
into the streets, a development residents said they had reported to the town
council two weeks ago.

      Norton’s St Eric’s High School and Vimbai Primary Schools have also
had to rely on wells and boreholes to supply water to pupils.

      “It is bad for school children who have to frequently go home or to
bushes for toilets. Something must be done to rectify the problem,” said one
teacher.

      Norton has in the past had problems settling debts owed to the city of
Harare for water supplied to it. In 2001, the Harare City Council threatened
to cut off water supplies over the small town’s failure to settle an $11
million debt.

      The following year, the town council battled to settle a $23 million
water bill it owed the city of Harare.

      Staff Reporter

      MUTARE Shadreck Beta, a ZANU PF activist and businessman, is
challenging the election of Ellen Gwaradzimba as the ruling party’s
candidate for the Mutare mayoral election.

      Gwaradzimba, the ZANU PF women’s league chairperson for Manicaland,
was elected last week by members of the the ruling party’s co-ordinating
committee ahead of favourites Beta and Kenneth Saruchera.

      Beta, a former ZANU PF provincial chairman in Manicaland, has through
his lawyers demanded that Gwaradzimba’s election be nullified and that fresh
primaries supervised by ZANU PF officials from other provinces be organised.

      In a letter addressed to the ZANU PF provincial chairman for
Manicaland, Beta’s lawyer, Akisayi Dhliwayo, said failure by the party to
nullify Gwaradzimba’s election would force Beta to seek recourse from the
High Court.

      Beta claimed the primaries held last week were not conducted in
accordance with the ZANU PF constitution.

      He said he had earlier been “disqualified” from the race, only for his
name to be included on the ballots, a move he claimed created confusion
among voters.
      Beta polled a paltry five votes against Gwaradzimba’s 48. Saruchera
received 17 votes, while incumbent deputy mayor and war veteran Stanislous
Hakutangwi failed to poll a single vote.

      Charles Pemhenayi, the ZANU PF spokesman for Manicaland, said the
voting was transparent and that Gwaradzimba would soon be presented to the
people.
      But Beta said yesterday: “These were not primaries. To call them
primaries could cause serious distortion of the definition. We have
expressed displeasure and disappointment.”

      The election of Gwaradzimba has also been widely criticised by ZANU PF
district and ward officials who said they should have been involved in the
process.
      “I am not happy with the manner the primaries were conducted,” said
one ZANU PF district executive member from Sakubva. “They were not
transparent. We thought the candidate would come from the people.”

      Said another member from Dangamvura: “Out of those people who voted,
some names do not appear in the voters’ roll. That is how we lose
 elections.”

      By Farai Mutsaka Chief Reporter

      HARARE police officer Teurai Nyanhengo has lost pride in his
profession these days.

      Every day as soon as he finishes duty, he makes sure he changes from
his police uniform into civilian clothes he carries in his small bag.

      He does all this because he does not want people in the volatile
high-density suburb of Mabvuku, where he lives, to know where he works.

      Even the name Teurai Nyanhengo, he confesses during the interview, is
not his real name but a pseudonym supposed to hide his identity as a
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officer.

      “People here in Mabvuku hate the police so much that they can beat you
up if they know you work for the force,” he told The Daily News.

      ”A ZRP police uniform is the surest way to make yourself public enemy
number one these days.”

      Arguably one of the best trained law enforcement agencies in Africa,
the ZRP has in the past three years seen its hard earned image as the
“people’s police force” fall victim to the country’s deepening political
crisis.

      As the government struggles with its worst economic and political
crisis, the ZRP has become the State’s weapon of preference to crush
swelling public discontent, in the process earning itself bitter hatred from
hard-pressed Zimbabweans.

      And as the dust settles this week after five-days of mass protests
organised by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) last week,
commentators say the ruthless manner in which the protests were put down by
the ZRP will only have helped entrench the once revered force’s status as
“an enemy of the people”.

      State security agents led by the ZRP used sheer brute force to crush
the street marches planned by the MDC to force President Robert Mugabe to
agree to a negotiated settlement to pull the country out of its economic and
political crises.

      Two people died while hundreds were injured in the massive crackdown
by the combined police, army and secret service force. Another 800 people
were also arrested in just five days and most of those caught up in the
merciless dragnet complained of being beaten up or tortured while in police
custody.

      Several thousands of ruling ZANU PF party militias and self-styled
veterans of Zimbabwe’s 1970s liberation war also joined the fray, allegedly
beating up and harassing MDC supporters and other innocent Zimbabweans
suspected of backing the opposition protests.

      The Kaguru family from Harare’s high-density suburb of Mbare told
heart rending stories of how a band of suspected ZANU PF militias stormed
their home where they were holding a funeral service for Tichaona, a family
member who was allegedly killed by State security agents during the
disturbances last week.

      The service had to be abandoned as mourners scurried for safety from
the marauding militias. While some managed to escape, several more members
of the Kaguru family were unlucky and many of them sustained injuries from
the attack.

      Nyanhengo said: “Sometimes I regret having to put on the same uniform
as that is worn by people associated with such acts of banditry. It’s
difficult to convince someone whose property has been stolen by a uniformed
policeman that there are still some good guys left in the force.”

      Although the people suspected of attacking the Kaguru family are
known, none of them had by the time of going to print been questioned for
their alleged crime.

      Harare lawyer Archibald Gijima said the brutal campaign by the police
against Zimbabweans had only helped reinforce their negative image among
society as a hostile force at the service of the ruling elite against the
people.

      He said: “They treated the people as enemies and it follows that the
people will also treat them as such. Since 2000, the security forces have
been drifting away from the people and allowing the government to use them
against the people.”

      Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena could not be reached for comment
over the allegations levelled at the police.

      But Bvudzijena in the past week rejected claims that the police had
used high-handed methods and violated citizens’ rights in their bid to quell
the opposition protests.

      The ZRP spokesman said the police were only upholding a court order
issued a day before the protests outlawing the demonstrations.

      But Gijima said the police’s handling of the mass protests might turn
out to have been the last nail in the coffin of the ZRP’s image as a
professional and people friendly police force.

      He said: “Events of last week virtually endorsed their label as
enemies of the masses. They left the people with a lasting impression that
this country’s security forces are basically the same as the hardcore
criminals who prowl the streets in the dead of the night.”

      Political activist Maxwell Saungweme echoed Gijima’s sentiments,
saying it would be difficult for ordinary Zimbabweans to separate security
agents from a rogue movement that attacks and loots from common people.

      Saungweme said: “People can no longer trust security agents. They now
fear the very same security forces that are supposed to protect them from
criminals and this is an untenable situation that has to be addressed
urgently.

      “The other thing is that police officers have shown that they are
willing to be used to crush peaceful demonstrations by hungry people asking
for an improvement in their lives. They have shown that they are prepared to
go the extra mile to defend the status quo.”

      Prosper Chonzi, a doctor with a Harare hospital said: “It is
surprising that some of the poorest paid citizens of this country could use
such force to crush the people from registering their discontent over the
deteriorating situation.

      ”The security agents failed to appreciate that we were also doing this
for them. They should not cry foul when we begin chucking them out of our
homes and refusing to associate with them in any way. They are not with the
people.”

      Commentators pointed out that the police cried foul a few years ago
over reports that landlords were evicting police officers from their houses
to protest against the partisan nature of their actions.

      The opposition MDC’s shadow secretary for defence, Giles Mutsekwa,
however said the police could still redeem themselves in the eyes of the
public if in future they refuse to be used against law abiding citizens
exercising the freedom of expression guaranteed them by Zimbabwe’s
Constitution.

      Mutsekwa, who himself is a former soldier, said “There are a lot of
professional men and women in our security forces, but they are being
overshadowed by the rogue elements within the system. “It is obvious that
the ordinary person views security agents as enemies. What is needed now is
a massive public relations exercise to cleanse this image.”

      By Farai Mutsaka Chief Reporter

      SUSPECTED ZANU PF youths went on the rampage in Dzivaresekwa yesterday
and destroyed several houses, injuring more than 20 people and looting
property estimated to be worth millions of dollars, according to residents
of the suburb.

      They said the attacks were carried out by about 60 youths who were
armed with various weapons. The youths were wearing regalia emblazoned with
the ruling party’s name and T-shirts inscribed with the words: “No to mass
action, Zvakwana”.

      Residents of the suburb who spoke to The Daily News said the youths
descended on several houses in Dzivaresekwa 2 late on Saturday night and
early yesterday morning and carried away televisions, radios, cellphones,
stoves, cash and other moveable property.

      The youths also assaulted residents they suspected of being supporters
of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

      Several of the residents said they had to seek medical treatment after
the assaults.

      One of the residents, Violet Tazvivinga, said the youths had stormed
her house at around 10 pm and accused her of supporting the MDC.

      They demanded that she produce the opposition regalia that they said
she kept in the house.

      She said the youths had assaulted her using batons and chains. They
also stole a radio and a two-plate stove from her house.

      “They surrounded the whole house and started throwing stones before
they forced their way inside by axing the front door. They demanded that I
produce my MDC card and the T-shirts that they claimed I kept,” she
recounted.

      “It was after I denied that I had these things when they started
beating me up with all sorts of weapons. After destroying my house and
beating me up, they then took away my radio and a stove,” she added.

      When this reporter visited Tazvivinga’s house yesterday morning, the
doors had been broken and the windows shattered, while the interior was
littered with stones, bricks and broken glass.

      Tazvivinga’s attackers are suspected to be part of a group of ZANU PF
supporters that party officials say were bussed into Harare from rural and
peri-urban areas near the capital city to assist the police to deal with
last week’s mass action.

      There have been several reports from Harare residents implicating the
youths in assault and looting.

      Wonder Alfonso, also of Dzivaresekwa, said he had sustained head
injuries after the youths stoned him.

      He received eight stitches from Parirenyatwa Hospital.

      “I had to be rushed to the hospital because I was bleeding. It was a
terrifying situation because they were threatening to kill me. And from the
way they were armed, I didn’t doubt them. The batons they used resembled
those used by the police,” he said.

      Garikai Vhinyu, another resident of Dzivaresekwa, said he lost a
television set, a radio, clothes and $35 000 in cash to the marauding
youths.

      He told The Daily News: “They were dressed in T-shirts written `No to
mass action’ and they were very violent. The only thing that they left was
the bed because they couldn’t drag it out of the house.

      “I have reported the case to the police, but they didn’t seem
enthusiastic about the case. Actually, one of them told me that they were
under instructions not to arrest the youths.”

      A policeman at Dzivaresekwa police station confirmed receiving the
reports of violence perpetrated by the ruling party gangs.

      “We have received quite a number of such reports, but my friend, you
know that I am not supposed to talk to you. Phone the (police) spokesman at
PGHQ (Police General Headquarters),” he said.

      It was not possible to secure comment from the police headquarters
before going to print yesterday.

      Staff Reporters

      RESIDENTS of Mbare yesterday said members of Chipangano, a vigilante
group that is terrorising the Harare high-density suburb, were demanding
money from households in the residential area to feed youths sheltered in
the gang’s stronghold.

      They said about 20 members of the gang, which claims to have links to
the ruling ZANU PF, went on the rampage yesterday demanding a contribution
of $20 from each household.

      The Mbare residents believe the money is being collected for youths
bussed into Harare by the government to help quell opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) anti-government protests.

      Some of the youths are said to be housed at Matapi flats in Mbare,
where the majority of the Chipangano members live.

      A Mbare resident, who identified himself only as Zulu, said: “This has
been going on since Saturday, but we have nowhere to report because the
police treat Chipangano as demi-gods.”

      He said he witnessed three residents who had refused to comply with
the gang’s demands being assaulted.

      A vendor at Mbare long-distance bus terminus said the Chipangano gang
members “are a law unto themselves”.

      “These people come and take our wares without paying, especially when
you don’t have a ZANU PF membership card,” said the vendor, who refused to
be named because of fear of victimisation.

      “This case of the $20s is just a part of a bigger problem,” the vendor
added.

      Officers at Mbare Police Station refused to comment on the matter,
saying they could only do so after investigating the alleged extortion.

      Meanwhile, MDC officials in the Chitungwiza constituency of St Mary’s
yesterday claimed they had received reports of groups in police and army
uniforms confiscating property and money from residents.

      Job Sikhala, the Member of Parliament for St Mary’s, said several of
the 87 party supporters and officials arrested in a crackdown by police and
soldiers last week had complained that they lost various items during raids
on their homes.

      The value of the property involved could not be established yesterday,
but Sikhala estimated that the goods and cash could be worth nearly a
million dollars.

      One of the victims, Musasuwe Ngwarai, said about 30 soldiers and
police officers descended on his home accusing him of organising the
protests that shut down most urban centres in Zimbabwe last week.

      He allegedly lost $140 000 in cash, his national identity card, a
sandwich maker, diaries, a mobile phone handset and a camera. He said he had
also lost musical compact discs, books, an MDC receipt book and burial
society register, as well as traditional cultural paraphernalia including a
hatchet, clubs and a bow and arrow.

      Ngwarai, the former MDC provincial chairman for Chitungwiza, was among
MDC supporters arrested in St Mary’s last Wednesday night.

      He said he reported the loss of his property and money on Friday at St
Mary’s Police Station. He said his report number was CR06-03 OB4234.

      Ngwarai’s colleagues Zach Takapera, Dickson Tavengwa and a third man
identified as Mapfumo are also said to have lost property during the raids.

      “These are only a few of the people I know,” Ngwarai said. “There are
many more cases which I cannot confirm now.”

      Ngwarai and other opposition supporters from St Mary’s were last week
charged with violating the Miscellaneous Offences Act.

      They were released on Friday after paying a $5 000 admission of guilt
fine each.

      “In my case, this was the third time the police or army had assaulted
me,” Ngwarai said.

      ”I was accused of organising the mass action yet I am only an ordinary
member of the party who does not attend any executive meeting.”

      It was not possible to secure comment from the police yesterday.

      The police said last week that they had recovered dangerous weapons,
including bows and arrows, at the homes of MDC activists in St Mary’s.

      Staff Reporter

      THE police were yesterday called in to prevent clashes between members
of a metered taxi co-operative over a 25 000-litre fuel consignment, The
Daily News has established.

      Although the police would not comment on the matter, A1 Taxis
cooperative chairman Kenneth Makamba confirmed that a dispute broke out
yesterday over fuel brought to the co-operative’s Eastlea depot without the
co-operative committee’s knowledge.

      “Police were called in to help resolve potential problems of a fuel
consignment brought into our depot by some members of the co-operative,”
Makamba said.

      He would not elaborate, saying he needed to consult with his deputy
chairman before making a full statement.

      A1 Taxis is one of Harare’s largest metered-taxi firms and has 12
members.

      It owns about 100 passenger cars. Makamba’s executive is made up of
six members.

      Three of the co-operative’s members, whose names have been supplied,
are said to have brought in fuel from South Africa at a cost of $1 200 a
litre.

      They are said to have intended to sell the fuel on Zimbabwe’s thriving
black market for $1 700 a litre.

      Sources close to the matter said the police and top officials had
recommended that the fuel be distributed at the official pump price of $450
per litre or be removed from the company’s premises in Eastlea.

      Police are also reported to have made an undertaking to investigate
the matter to determine how the fuel was brought into the country.

      Zimbabwe is facing severe fuel shortages that have prompted the
government to encourage the private sector to import diesel and petrol. The
shortages have led to a lucrative black market where fuel is selling for
more than $1 800 a litre.

      Staff Reporter

      THE Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) yesterday threatened to renew
anti-government protests unless the police release its leader, Morgan
Tsvangirai, who is facing fresh treason charges.

      Tsvangirai, already on trial for treason for allegedly plotting to
assassinate President Robert Mugabe prior to last year’s presidential
election, was arrested on Friday.

      He is facing a further treason charge for allegedly making statements
calling for the unconstitutional removal of Mugabe from office.

      Speaking at a Press conference after a meeting of the opposition party
’s national executive, MDC vice-president Gibson Sibanda told journalists:
“To the regime we have one message: Release President Tsvangirai
immediately. If our president is not released immediately, the dying regime
must brace itself for a long winter of intense but peaceful protests.”
      He would not elaborate on what such protests would involve, saying the
details would be announced in due course.

      Tsvangirai was arrested at his Harare home on Friday soon after he
told diplomats and journalists at a Press conference that the MDC was
planning “rolling mass action” following last week’s protests, which brought
most of the country to a halt.

      He was scheduled to appear before the Harare Magistrates’ Court on
Saturday morning, but the remand hearing was postponed to today following
what the prosecutor said were “administrative problems”.

      The police say Tsvangirai uttered subversive statements at rallies in
Bulawayo and Mutare on 3 May and 25 May respectively, and yesterday said
they were also looking for Welshman Ncube, the MDC secretary-general, in
connection with the same charges.

      Sibanda said the MDC leader was in high spirits during the weekend and
had urged the party to “remain focused, united and resolute in our goal to
regain our sovereignty”.

      Tsvangirai is jointly charged with Ncube and Renson Gasela, the MDC’s
shadow minister of agriculture, in a treason trial currently underway in the
High Court.

      Sibanda told journalists yesterday that only dialogue would resolve
the Zimbabwe crisis.

      He stressed that the aim of the opposition party’s mass action was to
press Mugabe to sit at the negotiating table with the MDC to resolve the
country’s problems.

      Sibanda also condemned the State’s use of force against protesters
last week.

      The army and police last Monday used batons and teargas to prevent
demonstrators from marching into city centres around the country. They are
also accused of firing live bullets in some areas, injuring some protesters.

      On Friday, ruling ZANU PF youths and members of the State security
forces sealed off areas to which demonstrators had targeted to march.

      More than 200 people were arrested last week in connection with the
mass action.

      “It is clear that Mugabe is no longer in charge,” Sibanda said.

      “He has lost the blessing and support of the people. He relies on his
repressive machinery. The regime has reacted in the most irresponsible
manner to the people’s democratic right to demonstrate their anger.

      “We expect more arrests but we have nothing to fear. We have suffered
so much and we are as good as dead. This reckless action will not stem the
tide of change that is in the air. The people have spoken. They will
continue to speak, this time with greater intensity and frequency.”

      Sibanda added: “It’s not going to be an event but a process. The
shortages and the suffering that the people are going through are clear
testimony that the crisis can only be resolved by the parties’ coming
together to talk.”

      Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) condemned Tsvangirai’s arrest,
saying it demonstrated increasing repression in Harare.

      “The EU is deeply concerned by the arrest of Mr Morgan Tsvangirai,”
the EU presidency said in a statement.

      “This step clearly demonstrates that the government of Mr Mugabe is
increasing its repressive and intimidating measures against the opposition”.

      The 15-member economic bloc added: “As a friend of Zimbabwe, the EU
urges the government in Harare to find a peaceful solution to Zimbabwe’s
internal political conflict through a policy of national dialogue and
respect for human rights.

      “The presidency reiterates the EU’s position in favour of every effort
made by political parties in Zimbabwe and by its neighbours to facilitate
and promote democratic dialogue and national reconciliation.”

            FACED with glaring evidence of the people of Zimbabwe’s
dissatisfaction with his government, President Robert Mugabe is maintaining
a belligerent attitude, threatening the opposition and participants in last
week’s mass action with retribution.

            Speaking at a rally in Mamina in Mhondoro on Friday, the
President vowed that Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan
Tsvangirai and the party’s followers would be “taught a lesson” in the
aftermath of the anti-government protests.

            Tsvangirai has, of course, since been arrested and detained by
the police, who are pressing fresh treason charges against him for allegedly
making statements advocating for the unconstitutional removal of Mugabe from
office.

            Zimbabweans would be forgiven for interpreting the MDC president
’s arrest as merely another attempt to cow the opposition and the people of
this country by a government that is clearly running scared.

            Mugabe on Friday also indicated that schools and businesses that
closed during the five-day anti-government protests would be “taken to task
over their actions”. The government has already threatened to withdraw the
licences of companies that remained shut during the mass action.

            Yet it must be clear even to the ruling ZANU PF that such
heavy-handedness, especially towards already struggling firms, would again
send the wrong signals to local and foreign investors.

            Foreign investors have deserted Zimbabwe in droves in the last
three years, but their support is crucial if the country is to put its
embattled economy back on track.

            We fully appreciate the government’s need to show that it is
still in charge following a mass action that humiliatingly demonstrated that
force alone is keeping the ruling party in power.

            But we would urge prudence in the aftermath of last week’s
protests, for the good of the nation and indeed for the government’s own
good.

            The Zimbabwean economy, already on its last legs, cannot afford
the blow that would be dealt to it if the government was so reckless as to
put its threats against companies into action.

            This could further devastate an economy that is also likely to
be adversely affected by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s suspension
of Zimbabwe’s voting rights on Friday.

            The suspension of the country’s voting rights could lead to
Zimbabwe’s expulsion from the IMF at a time when it desperately needs
foreign support to stem severe economic haemorrhaging.

            There is also a real possibility that Mugabe’s threats against
the opposition on Friday could be seen by ZANU PF supporters as giving the
nod to severe punishment of MDC activists.

            This is how the ruling party has in the past responded to
successful MDC-organised mass action.

            There are already reports of State security agents and ZANU PF
supporters allegedly assaulting people and destroying their property as
payback for participating in last week’s anti-government protests.
            The world is watching Zimbabwe very closely and such a response
from the government speaks volumes about the rule of law and human rights
abuses in the country.

            It also amply demonstrates, as did the government’s harsh
reaction to last week’s mass action, ZANU PF’s loss of the people’s support
and its inability to come to terms with this loss.

            The government’s iron-fisted response to the mass action and a
violent campaign of retribution in the next few weeks will only harden the
people’s hearts against the ruling party, which is clearly playing into the
opposition’s hands.

            If ZANU PF continues to display its lack of maturity, it will
ultimately dig its own grave.

            But that is not our concern.

            Our concern is the physical and emotional damage that will be
done to individual Zimbabweans and the country as a whole if the government
persists on the course it seems eager to follow. A concern, unfortunately,
that doesn’t seem to be shared by this country’s leaders.

      6/9/2003 1:57:28 AM (GMT +2)

      FACED with glaring evidence of the people of Zimbabwe’s
dissatisfaction with his government, President Robert Mugabe is maintaining
a belligerent attitude, threatening the opposition and participants in last
week’s mass action with retribution.

      Speaking at a rally in Mamina in Mhondoro on Friday, the President
vowed that Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai and
the party’s followers would be “taught a lesson” in the aftermath of the
anti-government protests.

      Tsvangirai has, of course, since been arrested and detained by the
police, who are pressing fresh treason charges against him for allegedly
making statements advocating for the unconstitutional removal of Mugabe from
office.

      Zimbabweans would be forgiven for interpreting the MDC president’s
arrest as merely another attempt to cow the opposition and the people of
this country by a government that is clearly running scared.

      Mugabe on Friday also indicated that schools and businesses that
closed during the five-day anti-government protests would be “taken to task
over their actions”. The government has already threatened to withdraw the
licences of companies that remained shut during the mass action.

      Yet it must be clear even to the ruling ZANU PF that such
heavy-handedness, especially towards already struggling firms, would again
send the wrong signals to local and foreign investors.

      Foreign investors have deserted Zimbabwe in droves in the last three
years, but their support is crucial if the country is to put its embattled
economy back on track.

      We fully appreciate the government’s need to show that it is still in
charge following a mass action that humiliatingly demonstrated that force
alone is keeping the ruling party in power.

      But we would urge prudence in the aftermath of last week’s protests,
for the good of the nation and indeed for the government’s own good.

      The Zimbabwean economy, already on its last legs, cannot afford the
blow that would be dealt to it if the government was so reckless as to put
its threats against companies into action.

      This could further devastate an economy that is also likely to be
adversely affected by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s suspension of
Zimbabwe’s voting rights on Friday.

      The suspension of the country’s voting rights could lead to Zimbabwe’s
expulsion from the IMF at a time when it desperately needs foreign support
to stem severe economic haemorrhaging.

      There is also a real possibility that Mugabe’s threats against the
opposition on Friday could be seen by ZANU PF supporters as giving the nod
to severe punishment of MDC activists.

      This is how the ruling party has in the past responded to successful
MDC-organised mass action.

      There are already reports of State security agents and ZANU PF
supporters allegedly assaulting people and destroying their property as
payback for participating in last week’s anti-government protests.
      The world is watching Zimbabwe very closely and such a response from
the government speaks volumes about the rule of law and human rights abuses
in the country.

      It also amply demonstrates, as did the government’s harsh reaction to
last week’s mass action, ZANU PF’s loss of the people’s support and its
inability to come to terms with this loss.

      The government’s iron-fisted response to the mass action and a violent
campaign of retribution in the next few weeks will only harden the people’s
hearts against the ruling party, which is clearly playing into the
opposition’s hands.

      If ZANU PF continues to display its lack of maturity, it will
ultimately dig its own grave.

      But that is not our concern.

      Our concern is the physical and emotional damage that will be done to
individual Zimbabweans and the country as a whole if the government persists
on the course it seems eager to follow. A concern, unfortunately, that doesn
’t seem to be shared by this country’s leaders.

      By Cathy Buckle

      When does obeying an order stop and doing the right thing start?

      Where is the line between acquiescence and morality? What is the
defining moment which makes a person say: “No, that order I simply will not
obey”?

      If you are told to abduct an innocent and unarmed man called Tichaona
Kaguru in the middle of the night and beat him until he is almost dead,
would you do it?
      And if the man then died and you were promised you would not go to
prison for his murder, would Kaguru be the only victim, or would you spend
the rest of your life being a victim of your own conscience?

      If you were a nurse on duty at the Chikurubi clinic the night Kaguru
was brought in, dying, desperate for medical help, would you help him? Or
would you say: “Sorry, shamwari, we are only allowed to treat policemen at
our clinic”?

      Would the abductors, and then the nurses, be able to say “we did what
we did because we were obeying orders” or would they be plagued by
nightmares, hearing Kaguru’s screams, smelling his blood, knowing that they
killed another human being because they were obeying orders?

      It is surely a sign of immense immaturity when grown men and women,
supposedly educated and trained professionals, continue to do the bidding of
their masters when they know without a doubt that their actions will not
only hurt others, but also themselves.

      For three years President Robert Mugabe and members of his Cabinet
have said that they will never again allow the master-and-servant
relationship to exist in Zimbabwe. Perhaps I am confused, but is it not
exactly this master-and-servant relationship that our leaders so despised
once that now exists in Zimbabwe?

      The only difference is that 23 years ago it was white masters and
black servants. In 2003 it is black masters ordering black servants to do
their bidding. The masters are the President and his ministers, the servants
are the police, army, war veterans and youth militia.

      What have the servants achieved in their week of violence against
ordinary Zimbabweans?

      What did their helicopter gunships, tear-gas, batons, arrests and
threats achieve that will benefit them? It certainly did not put petrol,
diesel or aviation fuel in the pumps.

      It did not put bread, maize-meal, sugar, oil or margarine on the
shelves of our supermarkets.

      It did not make the prices of groceries go down in cost and it did not
put money into the banks so that they could withdraw their own salaries,
pensions and savings.

      The only thing that was achieved by the civil servants who did their
masters’ bidding in the past week was just to ensure more of the same:
hunger, unemployment, inflation and immense suffering.

      Mugabe said that it was “sad” that State agents had to use force to
silence Zimbabweans.

      It is indeed very sad that our government is now so scared of its own
people that it had to ring high-density suburbs with the police and army.

      It is sad that our leaders knew they did not have enough of their own
security forces to silence people and had to bus 2 000 of their supporters
into the capital city. It is sad that ZANU PF secretary for information
Nathan Shamuyarira had to admit to his own government’s inadequacy.

      Asked why untrained people had been bought in to do the so-called
“work” of the police and army, he said: “The police will be protecting
people, we needed people who could help them.”

      The saddest thing of all about the events of the week is that for the
people who held the guns, batons and tear-gas canisters, nothing whatsoever
has changed. Soldiers, police, the Central Intelligence Organisation, war
veterans, youth militia and 2 000 party supporters still have to queue for
food, fuel and their own money along with all the rest of us.

      The ordinary people of Zimbabwe showed enormous courage in trying to
make their voices heard. The ordinary people, hungry, tired and desperate,
put the legal and illegal law enforcement agents in Zimbabwe to shame.

      It is the ordinary people of Zimbabwe, and not the men and women with
guns and truncheons, who were brave and dignified.

      They have shown enormous maturity and demonstrated that they know just
exactly when that defining moment arrives; the moment at which you refuse to
be used anymore and instead do the right thing.

      Cathy Buckle is a social analyst.

      Business Reporter

      THE suspension of Zimbabwe’s voting rights in the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) will worsen the country’s international risk profile at
a time it desperately needs foreign investment and aid to avert economic
collapse, analysts and business executives said yesterday.

      The board of the IMF voted to suspend Zimbabwe’s voting rights at a
meeting in Washington on Friday. The decision was made after the southern
African country failed to make headway in clearing arrears on its debt to
the Bretton Woods institution.

      Zimbabwean analysts and business executives yesterday said the IMF’s
decision was expected and would have little impact on the country, which has
had no support from the multilateral institution for about four years.

      The IMF suspended balance-of-payments support to Zimbabwe because of
the government’s failure to carry through economic reforms and policies that
eroded the rule of law and property rights.

      William Nyemba, group chief executive of Trust Bank, said: "I don’t
think it makes any difference. There’s very little, if anything, coming out
of the IMF."

      Anthony Mandiwanza, president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe
Industries, however said the suspension would further knock the country’s
risk profile.

      "It heightened the country’s risk profile," he said.

      He pointed out that local companies had already been forced to
"operate on a cash-basis" with international suppliers because of Zimbabwe’s
alienation from the IMF, whose opinion about individual countries is often
used by other multilateral agencies and foreign investors to determine risk
status.

      The suspension of aid to Zimbabwe by international organisations and
the decline in foreign direct investment have worsened the country’s severe
foreign currency shortages, which have affected the government’s ability to
meet its foreign commitments.

      The hard cash crisis has also affected the ability of local companies
to pay for imports.

      Zimbabwe owes the IMF more than US$305 million (about Z$251,3
billion), and the suspension of its voting rights means the country will not
be able to cast votes in decisions on IMF policy or country matters.

      It also can no longer appoint a governor or alternate governor to the
IMF or participate in the election of an executive director for the IMF
board.

      Analysts say the suspension of Zimbabwe’s voting rights could be the
beginning of a process that could lead to the country’s expulsion from the
fund, which would further knock its risk profile.

      Local commentators have stressed in the past year that Zimbabwe has to
mend fences with the IMF and other international agencies if it is to curb
economic meltdown.

      The country is experiencing its worst economic crisis since
independence in 1980, dramatised by rampant inflation, severe foreign
currency shortages, unprecedented company closures and record unemployment.

      There is nothing as painful as watching your country die. The
powers-that-be did not allow us to do what had to be done to save it while
we could.

      And now that Zimbabwe is on its deathbed, we are not allowed to mourn.

      The various doctors lingered around, whispering prognoses and
administering painkillers that seemed to ease the discomfort but only
worsened the situation.
      Instead of finding out why the dollar was losing value so fast, they
were quick to fix it at a rate that was ridiculously high.

      Instead of allowing whoever could to import food to feed the starving
populace, they squeezed shut the doors to the world, hurling abuse across
the borders as they did so.

      Instead of letting business people fuel the country as best as they
could, they leave the biggest scandal-house to dry up the land.

      Instead of enriching the sons of the soil with good agricultural
diplomas with productive land, they parcelled out the cream to themselves,
leaving bloody ruins in their wake. All in the name of correcting colonial
injustice.

      And now they tell us “Rambai makashinga” (Be steadfast) while
deploying soldiers to beat the living daylights out of us the same soldiers
who were just yesterday sharing the queues with us, also wondering
sorrowfully how to feed the children, clothe them and educate them.

      Haven’t we had enough yet?

      No.

      If we are still whispering fearfully in our bedrooms about how bad
things are, we haven’t had enough.

      If we are still creeping to work in casual clothes hoping to fool
people that we are staying away, we have not had enough.

      We shake our heads at the prices of margarine, milk and eggs, but we
still put them in our baskets.

      We chat cheerfully to the policemen and women we know about non-issues
so that they think we are politically correct, so fearful are we of them.

      We watch our friends and relations dying of AIDS without a peep of
protest for the deafening silence of the government on the scourge among us.

      No, Zimbabweans, we have not yet had enough. We will know when we have
had enough.

      No one will put adverts in the paper to round us up. No one will
distribute pamphlets. No soldier, policeman or security agent will stop us.

      Because they’ll have seen the light.

      That day is not yet, but it is soon, very soon.

      And woe on the doctors who try to stop that day. Freedom is coming!

      The Prophetess
      Mutare

      Is it going to be safe for businesses to reopen today given all the
threats from Nathan Shamuyarira, Ignatius Chombo and President Robert Mugabe
himself?

      Will there will still be ZANU PF youths at “Shake-Shake” house ready
to “visit” the businesses when they open?

      Businesses have already been threatened with permanent closure through
the withdrawal of licences.

      I have also noticed that virtually all the police patrolling the city
centre are in brand new uniforms. They also appear to be young and don’t
stand like policemen and some are very short. Are they ZANU PF functionaries
dressed as policemen or are they genuine recruits? Where are the proper
policemen deployed?

      A McCormick
      Harare

      By Professor Gordon Chavunduka

      Zimbabwe does not have an effective law against witchcraft. The
present Witchcraft Suppression Act may have prevented some innocent people
from being accused of witchcraft, but this has not solved the problem of
witchcraft because it has also prevented guilty parties who actually bewitch
others from being accused, convicted and punished for their crimes.

      The Legislature made it clear in the Act that, although certain people
may genuinely believe in witchcraft, it regarded the whole practice of
witchcraft as a pretence and a sham, something which in actual fact has no
real existence at all. Thus in the Act, witchcraft is referred to as
“so-called witchcraft”.

      Because many people regard the Witchcraft Suppression Act as a very
unjust piece of legislation, they have continued to deal with cases of
witchcraft in their own way. One example is the witch-hunts taking place in
many parts of the country. The decision reached by the legislators was wrong
because they were not provided with a correct definition of witchcraft.

      In the Witchcraft Suppression Act, witchcraft is defined as “the
throwing of bones, the use of charms and any other means or devices adopted
in the practice of sorcery”.

      As a matter of fact, this definition says nothing about witches and
witchcraft. Throwing of bones is one way of carrying out a diagnosis in
African traditional medicine. Many charms have nothing to do with
witchcraft.

      In fact, a large part of the traditional healer’s practice is
concerned with prescribed preventive charms that confer or are believed to
confer immunity against specific types of illness or to protect the
individual against misfortune.

      Other charms confer or are believed to confer positive benefits such
as physical strength, attractiveness to the opposite sex and other desirable
qualities. Other charms are believed to protect an individual or a group of
individuals against witchcraft.

      Another problem that seriously bedevils attempts to discuss and find
workable solutions to the problem of witchcraft is the terminological
confusion on this subject.

      The terms “witchcraft” and “sorcery” are used interchangeably
throughout the Act and at times the term “wizard” is used to include both
witches and sorcerers. Academic writers have unfortunately been some of the
worst perpetrators of this confusion. The terms sorcery and wizard are
meaningless in the African context.

      The only distinction which some Africans make, when pressed, is
between a witch who operates at night and one who operates during the day.
But some witches that operate at night often operate during the day as well.

      In Africa, witchcraft includes the use of harmful charms, harmful
magic and any other means or devices in causing any illness or death in any
person or animal or in causing any injury to any person or animal or
property. Cases of this nature have been reported from time to time in
various African countries.

      Many cases of witchcraft are not easy to prove in our present formal
courts because some aspects of witchcraft are not empirically provable. Many
witches have been set free over the years for what the court said was lack
of concrete evidence.

      Even where some people have made a confession of witchcraft in court
and even exhibited human bones, harmful medicines, hair, fingernails and so
on, which they said they had used, formal courts have tended to regard such
people as insane, emotionally unstable or seeking to cause sensation.

      The formal courts have tended to view this sort of evidence as of
doubtful relevance. It is true that some people might say that they are
witches in order to build up a reputation as powerful individuals, but
others are saying the truth.

      Witchcraft that involves the use of harmful medicines or poisons is
fairly easy to demonstrate since the medicines used by such witches are
derived from plants or other ingredients that can be pointed out and
examined.

      Formal courts, in fact, often investigate this type of witchcraft,
although these cases are not labelled as such. Where an individual has died
and it is believed that a poison may have been used, the courts usually make
an attempt to discover the actual cause of death. They rely on the
post-mortem examination.

      Many people have been sentenced for murder or attempted murder, rather
than witchcraft, as a result of such investigation. Where the witch has
indicated to the police the plants or roots used to harm another individual,
such plants or roots are sometimes tested in order to determine whether they
are poisonous.

      There are difficult cases such as those involving indirect witchcraft.
A witch can cause illness or kill others by blowing harmful medicines
towards them; by concealing poisonous objects on a path where the victim
will pass; by leaving a harmful charm in the victim’s bedroom and so on, or
by the use of witchcraft techniques which operate at a distance without
actual physical contact. Present court officials have very little knowledge
of these issues.

      The country needs a new law that will empower all courts to deal with
cases of witchcraft effectively rather than merely attempting to suppress
beliefs in witchcraft.

      A massive mindset change on the part of the court officials is
required in order to allow for situations that are currently disallowed,
such as the use of evidence of a person in a trance and the use of
traditional healers as expert witnesses or assessors. State enforcement of a
Western world view which denies the reality of witchcraft has not worked.

      A massive mindset change is also required on the part of many leaders
of the Christian Church.

      By denying the existence of witches, the Church lost an opportunity to
remove evil spirits from society. Their attitude has not helped the cause of
 Christ in Africa. They mislead society.

      Gordon Chavunduka is a sociologist and head of the Zimbabwe National
Traditional Healers’ Association