http://www.radiovop.com
19/03/2011 17:16:00
HARARE,
March 19, 2011- Police on Saturday went ahead and banned a rally
organised
by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai,s Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC-T)
party scheduled for Glammis Arena.
The police also beat some of
Tsvangirai supporters when they arrived at the
venue unaware the rally had
been cancelled.The cancellation of the rally has
increased tensions in the
fragile unity government formed in 2008 following
the signing of the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) by President Robert
Mugabe, Tsvangirai and the
then leader of the smaller faction of the MDC,
Arthur
Mutambara.
Tsvangirai on Friday vowed to defy the ban and address the
rally, while his
party said it also would seek a court order allowing their
meetings and
rallies to be left unhindered.Authorities had banned Saturday's
prayer and
peace vigil, saying it posed a risk of clashes because it
coincided with a
Zanu (PF) rally just 500 metres apart.
Police
surrounded the venue west of the city center where hundreds of Mugabe
militants were allowed to gather. There were reports that some of the MDC-T
supporters went straight to the Zanu (PF) rally thinking it was theirs only
to be chased away by their rivals.
On Friday the Prime Minister dared
police to arrest him for criticising
Supreme Court judges after they ruled
against his party in the case of
Tsvangirai had said that the Supreme Court
was packed with biased judges
loyal to Mugabe. He told reporters on Friday
his arrest would be "the final
nail in this whole delicate and fragile
government."
"If there are those who want to arrest me, I am here ... I
don't want to run
away," he said.
Saturday, 19 March 2011
The MDC has postponed the peace rally to
next week after Zanu PF interfered with the meeting through the use of the
party’s traditional terror tactics.
Scores of innocent Zimbabweans were
caught in the violence that occurred today near Glamis Stadium in Harare, the
proposed venue of the MDC peace rally which Zanu PF invaded to block the
assembly.
As a party, the MDC strongly objects to Zanu PF’s lawlessness
and its clear lack of respect for the rule of law. These actions exposed the
unpopularity of Zanu PF as it resorted to violence as an expression of its
desperation. Zanu PF has demonstrated, beyond doubt, that it is afraid of the
people and against a peaceful Zimbabwe.
Unsuspecting members of the
public were battered with heavy logs, metal bars and whips, for merely passing
through the area. Apart from the vicious beatings, several residents said they
were robbed on varying amounts of cash, stripped of their valuables, shoes and
clothing.
The people of Zimbabwe demand justice and
peace.
Together, united, winning, voting for real change!!
--
MDC Information & Publicity Department
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
19/03/2011 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
THE MDC and ZAPU have called for the exhumation of remains
of Gukurahundi
victims said buried in mines across Matabeleland, just days
after government
officials announced they had found over 400 skeletons of
victims of the
1970s liberation war in Mt Darwin.
ZAPU said evidence
of the 1980s crackdown in Matabeleland and the Midlands
targeting President
Robert Mugabe’s opponents was “plenty and fresh”, and
the MDC led by
Welshman Ncube demanded a “decent burial” for the victims.
The calls came
as a government-supported charity, Fallen Heroes of Zimbabwe
Trust, said it
had carried out the exhumation of over 400 victims of
“atrocities” carried
out by the Rhodesian minority government during the
1970s.
The claims
have not been independently verified, and a radical
Matabeleland-based
pressure group -- the Mthwakazi Liberation Front --
refused earlier this
week to take the claims at face value, insisting that
some of the skeletons
may in fact belong to victims of the 1980s genocide in
Matabeleland which
rights groups say may have killed as many as 20,000
people.
ZAPU said
it “fully supports the exposure of war time atrocities”, but a
spokesman
said: “We would be happier if there was also an exposure and
exhumation of
mass graves of our supporters massacred by Zanu PF’s
Gukurahundi forces
between 1982 and 1987.”
ZAPU said the Gukurahundi massacres were “worse
than the Rhodesian
atrocities”, adding: “These were perpetrated by a black
government on black
people, simply because they belonged to a different
tribe or they supported
a rival political movement.”
It added:
“Gukurahundi evidence is plenty and fresh, with some of the
architects of
the genocide, namely Perence Shiri, Emerson Mnangagwa and
others still with
us and can make the task easier by volunteering evidence
and pin-pointing
the mass graves we do not yet know.”
In a separate statement, the MDC
said it appreciates the “good work being
done by villagers and members of
the Fallen Heroes Trust of exhuming victims
of the liberation war from mass
graves”, but demanded more.
“It is unfortunate to note that the
exhumation process is not transparently
done and is being carried out on a
partisan basis,” a statement from the
party said.
“We are calling for
the decentralisation of the exhumation process so that
all those who were
brutally murdered during and after the war can be
accorded a decent
burial.
“We are demanding the immediate exhumation and decent burial for
thousands
of those Gukurahundi victims who were murdered in cold blood by
the North
Korean trained 5th Brigade.”
The Mt Darwin exhumations have
attracted senior government officials and
Cabinet ministers who have queued
on state television to denounce Ian Smith’s
Rhodesian forces. The officials
have provided Zanu PF with election campaign
fodder against its
rivals.
But the Mthwakazi Liberation Front insists there is still no evidence
the
skeletons belong to war heroes.
“Those who witnessed the horrific
Gukurahundi genocide against the people of
Matabeleland and parts of
Midlands Provinces in the 1980s know that
thousands mysteriously
‘disappeared’ in Harare, Chitungwiza and others parts
of Mashonaland at the
hands of the tribalistic Zimbabwe regime,” said
spokesman David
Magagula.
“The ‘discovery’ of the said skeletons could as well provide a
clue as to
the fate of the said ethnic Ndebele people and ex-ZIPRA force
troops who
disappeared during the same period and still cannot be accounted
for.”
http://www.zimdiaspora.com/
Saturday, 19 March 2011 13:44
Editor News
By Admore Tshuma
THE mass discovery of 280 human
skeletons in Mt Darwin are not victims of
the Rhodesian war as the Ian
Smith’s white regime does not have a legacy of
concealing atrocities, a
spokesman for the Matabeleland Liberation Movement,
David Magagula said in a
Press Statement today.
He was responding to the ZANU-PF regime’s
announcement that it has
discovered 280 human remains at a disused mine in
Mt Darwin and that they
could be as many as 400 more human skeletons in Ruya
village of the same
district.
Mugabe’s regime claims the remains are
victims of the Rhodesian war, while
the MLF argues that Ian Smith’s
government did not have a record of mass
concealing its victims, moreso,
Smith would declare his victims as a
successful Rhodesian military operation
since it was a war situation.
Most of the Rhodesian massacres are of
public knowledge and were declared
and justified by the Rhodesian
government, he said, adding that the issue of
mass disappearances came with
President Mugabe’s regime in independent
Zimbabwe.
Some critics have
said the skeletons could be members of the ZIPRA forces
who were slaughtered
by ZANU-PF during assembly points as there were many
Ndebele cadres who
disappeared during the period of integration of forces.
Magagula agrees
with this theory, he says the ‘discovery’ of the skeletons
could as well
provide a clue as to the fate of ex-ZIPRA combatants who
disappeared during
the same period and still cannot be accounted for up to
this
day.
However, Magagula insists that there was never a situation where
black
Rhodesians would complain of mass disappearances particularly having
victims
thrown into disused mine shafts, a technique which is known to have
been
largely used by ZANU-PF.
“The manner in which these people met
their death is clearly consistent with
the ZANU PF modus operandi during the
Gukurahundi genocide against ethnic
Ndebele people,” he said
He said
those who witnessed the horrors of the Gukurahundi genocide in
Matabeleland
and parts of Midlands Provinces in the 1980s know that
thousands of
“Mthwakazi” people also mysteriously ‘disappeared’ in Harare,
Chitungwiza
and others parts of Mashonaland at the hands of the “tribalistic
Zimbabwe
regime”.
“We therefore call for a DNA analysis of the said remains to
verify the
identity of the victims and the time period within which their
met their
horrific death. We trust that the Zimbabwe regime will be
transparent enough
to accede to our said humble request, “said
Magagula.
“On one hand, we wonder why would the ZANU PF aligned Fallen
Heroes of
Zimbabwe Trust all of a sudden concern itself with the exhumation
of human
remains from a recently “discovered” mass grave and claim that it
is
evidence of a Rhodesian sponsored “genocide” against black people when it
has left the human remains of an estimated 100 000 ethnic Ndebele victims of
Gukurahundi genocide in various well-known mass graves in the Matabeleland
and Midlands regions at the mercy of nature for the past two decades. To add
insult to injury, the same regime still refuses to publicly acknowledge that
the Gukurahundi massacres qualify as genocide and prefer to vaguely refer to
same as “the 1980s disturbances”.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Fungi Kwaramba
Friday, 18
March 2011 08:46
HARARE - The ministry of Education, Art, Sport and
Culture will soon
establish night schools to reduce the debilitating effects
of more than a
decade of decay in the education sector precipitated by
President Robert
Mugabe’s ruinous policies.
Speaking last week at an
electricity commissioning programme at Westlea
Primary School, Education
Minister David Coltart said his ministry had
successfully equipped schools
with books and was now turning its attention
to the electrification of
schools.
“We have realised that it is essential to establish night schools so
that
people who dropped out of school can go back and at least get basic
education that will enable them to fend for themselves,” said
Coltart.
Hundreds of thousands dropped out of school before the inception of
the
Government of National Unity (GNU) as parents battled to pay school fees
in
the face of unprecedented hyperinflation and economic meltdown, and
thousands of teachers left the country to escape poverty and political
persecution by Zanu (PF) militias and state agents. Coltart is determined to
reintroduce night schools that were once popular in the 80s and 90s.
Many
teachers have now returned and Coltart has promised that they will be
paid
for teaching extra lessons.
“We have secured funding from donors for the
night school programme.
Teachers will be paid with the funds that we secured
recently,” he said.
The night schools are expected to equip people with the
necessary basic
education in line of the government commitment to education
so as to achieve
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Coltart also
urged schools not only to concentrate on education but also
other core
values of the ministry such as sports and art.
“If we become narrowly focused
on education alone we will not wholly benefit
the student. Sport is business
and parents should encourage students to
consider sport and art,” said
Coltart.
Harare West legislator Jessie Majome, who used her
ConstituencyDevelopment
Fund (CDF) to electrify the school, said the
provision of electricity was
critical for all schools in the country.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Friday, 18 March 2011
11:14
Staff Reporter
Zimbabwe’s cash-strapped government is
pushing for debt relief, with Finance
Minister Tendai Biti expected to seek
assistance from an International
Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation in the
country for routine Article IV
consultations this week. The IMF cut off
balance of payments support to
Zimbabwe in 1999 over protracted arrears to
the fund and alleged fiscal
indiscipline.
Government statistics indicate
that Zimbabwe’s arrears to the IMF had
ballooned to US$140 million, despite
frantic efforts by Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe governor, Gideon Gono, to clear
the arrears over three years ago.
Biti said during a Euromoney investment
conference last Tues-day that after
improving repayments to the Bretton
Woods institution from US$200 000 in
2009 to US$1,3 million last year, his
ministry was now considering taking
its case to the IMF for possible debt
relief.
“We will have key discussions on debt. We have done a lot for people
to
understand that a debt relief strategy can work in Zimbabwe,” Biti
said.
An IMF team that visited Harare in October acknowledged the improved
repayments but warned that the country’s ability to pay had remained
weak.
Following the visit, the IMF said Zimbabwe’s co-operation on policies
had
“weakened significantly” and its co-operation on payments remained poor,
although the country had beaten its dismal record in 2009 after committing
more cash towards arrear clearance than it had agreed with the Fund.
The
IMF executive board had urged the authorities to take corrective action
to
maintain cash budgeting and a path to medium-term sustainability and to
contain the rising systemic banking risks among a host of issues.
Most of
these issues have been dealt with by government.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Sunday sees the wooden spoon match to decide the
weakest team in this World
Cup. Ireland, Holland and Canada have extended
major opposition at least
once, but Kenya and Zimbabwe have not competed
against the Test-playing
countries at all.
By Scyld Berry 2:00PM GMT
19 Mar 2011
Nothing wrong with that: we are all allowed to play
cricket badly. The snag,
however, is that Zimbabwe are about to resume
playing Test cricket after a
break of almost six years. This is, whatever
the diplomatic words are for
‘stupid’ and ‘ridiculous’.
Zimbabwe
deserve a lot of encouragement, and a bit of praise for putting
their
administrative house in order. But the salient point is that Zimbabwe
have
only one cricketer who could possibly be called Test standard.
That is
Ray Price, still crazy about bowling flat left-armers in his 35th
year. A
couple more Test wickets, in addition to his current 69, will make
him the
second highest Test wicket-taker ever for Zimbabwe, for what that
title is
worth: for the country, even in its halcyon days of the late 1990s,
has only
ever had one bowler of indubitable Test standard: Heath
Streak.
Zimbabwe’s current batting line-up consists of some dogged but
very limited
batsmen who can push forward and score some runs against
medium-pace. But
the moment an international fast bowler pitches short, they
are out of their
depth, as they never see bowling like that back
home.
So catastrophic was the last decade for Zimbabwe’s cricketers, not
to
mention the rest of the population, that it is impossible to say their
national team are any better now than when they played their last Test match
in September 2005.
In the two years before their self-suspension they
had not scored 300 in any
Test innings except against Bangladesh, their
fellow strugglers, but at
least they still had Streak to lead their
attack.
Common sense suggests that Zimbabwe should be given a prolonged
course of
four-day first-class cricket: of ‘A’ tours by concerned countries,
and
playing abroad, for example in the West Indian domestic first-class
competition, as the England Lions are.
Only when Zimbabwe’s batsmen
have learned to play long innings against real
pace and spin, and only when
they have unearthed some speed of their own,
should they return to Test
cricket.
But that, of course, is not how cricket politics work.
Officially, Zimbabwe
withdrew from Test cricket in 2006 of their own
volition — the ICC did not
suspend them — and to Test cricket they will
voluntarily return after this
World Cup.
One tour by Australia ‘A’
will be deemed sufficient preparation, then they
will embark on Test series
that are currently being arranged with
Bangladesh, New Zealand and
Pakistan.
Even at their peak in the late 1990s, Zimbabwe seldom won a
Test: of their
eight victories in 83 Tests, half came against Bangladesh,
and two more wins
came in circumstances that could perhaps be called a
trifle strange, against
Pakistan.
Marshalled around Andy Flower,
their one batsman of indisputable Test class,
Zimbabwe then at least had
enough decent players to tough out a few draws.
And the ultimate
absurdity is that the weakest of the ICC’s 10 Full Members,
or Test-playing
countries, is the one that has lost the highest proportion
of native
cricketers. It was not only Graeme Hick who emigrated: so have
Sean Ervine
and Anthony Ireland and plenty of others.
Ervine, who was going to rejoin
Zimbabwe for the World Cup before a
last-minute change of mind, has scored a
double-century for Hampshire;
Ireland, who left Gloucestershire for Surrey
during the winter, is a sharp
enough fast-medium to make a batsman play
back.
These two solid county cricketers would at least give the rest of
Zimbabwe’s
players a batsman and bowler to play around.
For
Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket not to be a pointless farce, a special
dispensation is necessary: the England and Wales Cricket Board have to allow
all county cricketers born in Zimbabwe to play for their native country
without classifying them as overseas players.
In addition to Ervine
and Ireland, even the 38 year-old Murray Goodwin, and
James Cameron of
Worcestershire, are - if the truth is allowed to intrude
into these politics
— much better players than those Zimbabweans who have
stayed at home.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Reagan Mashavave, Staff Writer
Friday, 18
March 2011 18:53
HARARE - With general elections looming in Zimbabwe,
the question of who
will lead the country for the next five years – and
whether President Robert
Mugabe, aged and plagued by health problems, can
viably continue to contest
for power – has become a burning issue among
Zimbabweans.
The field of aspirant leaders in that ballot is indeed
wide and varied: from
the long-ruling Mugabe, to Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) leader
Morgan Tsvangirai, to the likes of Welshman Ncube,
Dumiso Dabengwa, Job
Sikhala, et al.
Speaking to the Daily News this
week, in the wake of Zanu PF’s nomination of
Mugabe as the party’s choice of
national leader for the elections, medical
experts said at his advanced age
of 87, and with health concerns around him
mounting, it was advisable that
Mugabe stepped down now.
Political analysts also raised the same
sentiment, expressing fears that
Mugabe was now being manipulated by
hardliners in Zanu PF, who were now
perceived to be effectively running the
country.
Speculation around Mugabe’s state of health has intensified
recently after
Mugabe criss-crossed the Indian Ocean, to Singapore, three
times in the past
month, for what his spokesperson George Charamba said was
for “a minor
cataract operation”.
However, diplomats, doctors and
Zanu PF insiders said that it appeared
certain that Mugabe had more serious
health problems – which was normal for
people of Mugabe’s age.
Mugabe
himself admitted at his televised birthday bash two weeks ago that
his body
was now spent, although his mind remained sharp.
The medical experts who
spoke to the Daily News said cataract operations
were simple procedures
which did not require one to travel all the way to
Singapore for reviews,
adding that if Mugabe was indeed suffering from a
more serious health
condition then it was advisable for him to take it easy
and
retire.
One of Zimbabwe’s leading eye surgeons, Dr Solomon Guramatunhu,
recently
told the international media that after a cataract operation, it
took a few
hours before one could be able to use the affected eye
again.
A local doctor, who understandably preferred anonymity, said that
anyone
aged 87 would be prone to different kinds of afflictions such as
prostate
cancer. He added that common diseases which were normally easy to
treat in
people who were younger became difficult to treat in
87-year-olds.
“Dementia and amnesia are also very common at this age,”
the doctor said.
University of Zimbabwe lecturer and political analyst,
John Makumbe, it was
common cause that the country was now being run by the
military under the
Joint Operations Command (JOC). Mugabe was now merely
there to rubber-stamp
and implement their decisions.
“He (Mugabe) is
now a liability to the nation. He is no longer in charge. He
is now like a
wall flower. JOC is the one which is in charge. Mugabe is no
longer capable
of running the country. He is not in good health, so it is
left with others
to run the country” Makumbe said.
“Zanu PF can endorse Mugabe to be a
candidate all they like, but he will
lose as he did in 2008 (March
elections). He will still lose any coming
election. Zanu PF is free to
endorse him again but they must know that he
will lose to Morgan Tsvangirai
and it will be left again to the securocrats
to decide whether to hand over
power or retain it like they did in 2008.”
National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA) chairman Lovemore Madhuku said Mugabe
should have retired two
decades ago, adding that the normal retirement age
was 65
years.
“There is no doubt that at 87 years he should retire. It is clear.
There is
no question about that. The person at that age must rest. It is not
about me
saying that. It is the nature of people when they are created by
God, they
get old and should rest,” Madhuku said.
“In Zimbabwe 65
years is the normal retirement age and for the judges it is
70 years. Even
if the judge is sharp or bright, at 70 the law says they
should retire. You
cannot have 17 years above the maximum retirement age and
still run the
country.”
However, Zanu spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said the decision by
the party to
endorse Mugabe for another term, despite his advanced age, was
reached by
Zanu PF and no-one could change that.
“First of all the
decision that he (Mugabe) runs for another term is decided
by the party. The
party saw it fit that he runs as a presidential candidate.
The issue of who
determines who runs is done by the party and not by
outsiders, full stop,”
Gumbo said.
“The succession issue is also for the party to decide. It
does not have to
be decided by outsiders.”
In the meantime, it has
been suggested repeatedly that Mugabe’s ill health
and advanced age have
intensified the battle for succession in Zanu PF –
with camps linked to
Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and that of retired
army general Solomon
Mujuru – fighting to take control of the party.
http://www.ifex.org
Washington
18
March 2011
A new survey of public opinion in Zimbabwe has revealed
that despite the
risk of higher levels of violence and intimidation
associated with an
election campaign, the majority of Zimbabweans would
prefer to hold
elections in 2011 rather than maintain the current government
of national
unity.
The poll, Changing Perceptions in Zimbabwe, was
conducted by Freedom House
and the Mass Public Opinion Institute in Harare,
and consisted of interviews
with a nationally representative sample of 1,200
adult Zimbabweans during
November and December 2010. The survey included
questions on political
power, elections, intimidation, violence, the
constitution, and
socioeconomic conditions.
"The message from this
poll is striking - Zimbabweans want elections even
though they expect
elections to come with violence," said Daniel Calingaert,
deputy director of
programs at Freedom House. "The large numbers of
respondents who have
experienced violence, and who do not feel free to
express political views,
are very troubling. And we see the crackdowns
continuing to this day, most
recently on Zimbabweans who have expressed
support for the pro-democracy
protesters in the Middle East."
Key findings of the survey:
-
About 11 percent of respondents stated that elections should be held
"immediately," while another 46 percent chose 2011, meaning the total share
of respondents who want elections this year is 57 percent.
-
Respondents clearly stated that the constitution must be drafted and
subjected to a referendum before elections.
- An overwhelming 89
percent of respondents report that they have to be
careful about what they
say, and that they do not feel free to express
political views.
-
Some 74 percent believe that fear affects how people vote, and 55 percent
of
respondents stated that fear of violence makes Zimbabweans abstain from
voting.
- A solid majority of 58 percent reported that they had
experienced violence
and intimidation in their communities in the past two
years.
- In comparison to the previous Freedom House survey, Zimbabweans
are less
optimistic about the future. In 2009, a strong majority of 65
percent felt
that economic conditions in the country would improve in the
following 12
months, while only 49 percent voiced similar expectations in
2010. In 2009,
63 percent of Zimbabweans reckoned that their own economic
situation would
be better after 12 months, but by 2010 this group had shrunk
to 48 percent.
- Since the previous survey, the main faction of the
opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) has suffered an apparent
drop in support, from 55
percent to 38 percent. President Robert Mugabe's
Zimbabwe African National
Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party seems to
have gained support, rising
from 12 percent to 17 percent. Support for the
MDC faction led by Arthur
Mutambara has effectively disappeared, with less
than 1 percent of
respondents expressing their allegiance. The Zimbabwe
African People's Union
(ZAPU), headed by Dumiso Dabengwa, continued to
receive the endorsement of
less than 1 percent of respondents.
-
Notably, some 42 percent of respondents chose not to declare their voting
preference. This marked a substantial increase over the figure of 31 percent
in 2009, and may stem from fear of violence.
Zimbabwe is ranked Not
Free in Freedom in the World 2011, Freedom House's
survey of political
rights and civil liberties, and Not Free in Freedom of
the Press 2010.
http://www.newstime.co.za
Saturday, March 19,
2011 |
By Michael Trapido ;
The partisan police of Zimbabwe either
don’t have access to television,
radios or the internet or someone capable
of understanding the events
currently taking place in North Africa and the
Middle East.
In very basic terms dictators who overstay their welcome are
being removed
from power along with those who support them – including the
police and
army.
On Thursday the United Nations passed a historic
resolution that will usher
in a new era on how the international community
responds to regimes exactly
like the one in Zimbabwe.
The U.N.
Security Council resolution authorised the use of military force to
protect
civilians against attacks by Muammar al-Gaddafi's troops.
The first time
in history that the U.N.S.C has authorized measures
specifically designed to
protect civilians under Chapter 7 of the U.N.
Charter.
In layman’s
terms it now means that the measures may be enforced militarily.
In
logistical terms it would mean that given the go-ahead it would take the
United States and Britain about an hour to neutralise the Zimbabwean army
from the air and leave those who have brutalised a nation for decades to the
mercy of their victims.
In Zimbabwean terms it means that now not
only are the people of that
downtrodden country able to see what other
countries on the continent are
doing to rid themselves of oppression but
that the world body will intervene
to stop the police and army who try to
employ violence to enforce the status
quo.
Zimbabwean Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai has been warning of a return to
the dark days of the past
– not that the present is exactly wonderful – as
President Robert Mugabe's
Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front
gear up for
elections.
Aid agencies, human rights groups and local foreign embassies
are already
reporting violence and abuse by Mugabe’s supporters.
In
the last two elections both Mugabe and the Zanu-PF were soundly beaten
but
used a combination of violence and election chicanery to cling to
power.
Nothing that is presently happening in that country would indicate
that the
man who has ruled for over 30 years has any thoughts of handing
over this
time around.
On Saturday his police banned a prayer and
peace vigil planned by
Tsvangirai's party, the MDC, in Harare on the basis
that it coincided with
an event planned by the Zanu-PF
nearby.
According to reports Tsvangirai supporters were chased away and
several were
assaulted while police surrounded the venue where hundreds of
Mugabe
militants were allowed to gather.
Unfortunately for Mugabe and
the Zanu-PF this time around continents and
regions are shedding their
dictators, the UN is authorising military
response to their forces and, as
may be seen by the response in The Hague to
Ivory Coast and Libya, there
won’t be offers of a golden handshake to
tyrants this time around.
The recent developments in Zimbabwe at a time when the new wind of change is
blowing against the dictators of the world, is no surprise. What is of
surprise is the attitude of UK government in not only burying its head in
the sand against the surge of violence in Zimbabwe but legally appeasing the
brutal regime. The recent ruling against current country guidelines of RN
and the decision to resume Zimbabweans deportation by the upper tribunal is
not only a violation of human rights but a lip service to the democratic
dispensation.
Contrary to raging debate that it is a
constitutional matter, my research
has shown that this is a political
decision by Conservatives to appease
Robert Mugabe. The Immigration minister
Damian Green hinted a week ago that
the government intends to resume
Zimbabweans deportation before even the
court hearing. Unless the court is
the minister and the minister is the
court, it is hard not to qualitatively
conclude that the two are working in
cohorts. To draw parallels, when
Mugabe was asked at the eve of British
election as to which party he would
prefer winning the elections, he didn’t
mince his words, “We have a better
chance with David Cameron than with
[Gordon] Brown…We have always related
better with the British through the
Conservatives than Labour,” I don’t want
to be subjective, but Cameroon will
have difficulty stance to convince us
that he is not in bed with Mugabe.
The second phase is that of diplomatic
pressure on the Prime Minister David
Cameroon. Those willing to be part of a
powerful delegation to confront
Cameroon in his capacity as both Prime
Minister and leader of Conservative,
please contact me, I stand ready and
wounded!!
The details of the ruling delivered by Justice Blake, president
of the Upper
Tribunal of the Immigration are shocking, as quoted by Belfast
Telegraph of
14 March 2011, “[There was now] significant less
politically-motivated
violence in Zimbabwe” and in a decision likely to
polarise Zimbabweans
further, in the paper he commented that people in
Matabeleland are unlikely
to face persecution if returned, here is the full
quotation, “Those
returning to the rural areas of Matabeleland North or
Matabeleland South
would also generally be highly unlikely to face
significant difficulty from
Zanu-PF elements, including the security
forces”
If UK had a will to deal with Mugabe’s brutality, they would
after all
Mugabe’s pariah state is totally at its weakest position,
paranoid,
geriatric, strategically bankruptcy, senile and marooned, but
never the less
dangerous. To prove to you that Mugabe of late has stepped
up violence, I
refer you to the recent country violence report by a well
respected human
rights group;
http://us-cdn.creamermedia.co.za/assets/articles/attachments/32100_hrw_zimbabwe0311webwcover_0.pdfFurther
more as recently as Friday 18 March 2011, the Prime Minster MorganTsvangirai was
quoted on Radio Netherlands, “Prime Minister MorganTsvangirai warned Friday that
Zimbabwe could slide back to "dark days" ofviolence unless regional leaders help
save the power-sharing deal withPresident Robert Mugabe…Tsvangirai said he told
SADC leaders of "the renewed sense of siege mood inthe country, arbitrary
arrests, crackdown on democratic forces and theculture of impunity."If ministers
who are suppose to be respectable service chiefs of theircountry are being
arbitrary arrested, detained and under draconian laws,what makes you think that
a small fish will survive the onslaught of theZANU(PF) brutal machinery? MDC
meeting are being cancelled and activistsabducted, tortured and detained. I urge
all Zimbabweans of all persuasionsto heed this call to show solidarity with the
struggling masses of Zimbabweby converging in mass at Zimbabwean embassy and
demonstrate to the entireworld that we Zimbabweans still have the capacity to
free ourselves and thatall we need is international solidarity. I am aware that
some of us mighthave work commitments due to a short notice but urge all those
able toattend to do so with pride.Elliot PfebveThe Man on a mission, Zimbabwe
being the destinationepfebve@yahoo.co.ukwww.pfebve.blogspot.com