Zimbabwe's upcoming elections will be fixed, the boxes stuffed with surplus ballot papers just as the people's pockets are stuffed with worthless money
As Zimbabwe slithers towards another fixed election, Zimbabweans who have seen their country dismantled and destroyed, must ask themselves two things - how has Robert Mugabe got away with it for so long, and how much longer can he continue?
The cause of Mugabe's power and Zimbabwe's undoing has been the humble printer. After repossessing white-owned farms in 2000, Mugabe dealt with the ensuing chaos by printing worthless money that has to be carted around in sacks, to buy food from fast emptying shelves. As Zimbabweans saw their children starve and their life expectancy plummet, he printed millions of surplus ballot papers to stuff into boxes in rigged elections.
Meanwhile, he used the language of the black liberation struggle to mute international criticism of his actions. As a result, Mugabe has stayed in power for 28 years. He has taken that mood of heady optimism that created Zimbabwe from Rhodesia, and turned it into one of despair. He has used the army and police to crack down on protests, changing laws to allow his officers to arrest and beat up people involved in the mildest forms of opposition, and repeatedly redrawn constituency boundaries to suit his ruling party.
It is hard to see just how Zimbabwe can be saved.
The opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), is too divided to be effective. Its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has only a weak grip on the party. During internationally mediated talks about the constitution, the MDC went to war with itself and allowed Mugabe to use the talks to again consolidate his power base.
There is some hope in Simba Makoni, the former finance minister who has decided to run against Mugabe. He has the same credentials as the president - raised in the countryside and politicised through the liberation struggle - but does not yet have the ability to reach thousands of voters through rallies and campaigns. Most depressingly, the army and police force have said they will support only Mugabe. After years of being starved and impoverished, most Zimbabweans do not have the strength for battle.
The EU and the US have protested, withdrawn aid, imposed sanctions, but this is not a problem that can be solved by the west. This really is an African problem that has to be solved by Africa.
Thabo Mbeki, the South African president, has always been careful not to embarrass Mugabe, preferring a sustained, quieter dialogue with his old ally. In many ways, South Africa's ANC has more in common with Mugabe and his friends than with Morgan Tsvangirai, a former union leader who led mass protests in the 1990s. This common background and understanding may eventually lead to a political solution.
This is also a test for the Southern African Development Community and the African Union. It is their responsibility to argue and coax Mugabe into allowing free elections, and to have measures in place to calm down any violence that may break out before or after the results are declared.
Zimbabwe was and still can be one of the most
prosperous, modern countries in Africa, with the political, cultural and
economic clout to power the whole region. Its friends and allies need to guide
it back onto the right path.
Zim Online
by Simplicious Chirinda Thursday 27 March
2008
HARARE - The South African Development Community (SADC)
Tribunal will decide
on Friday whether to accept 77 more applications by
white Zimbabwean farmers
contesting seizure of the land by the
government.
The regional court last December temporarily barred the
Harare government
from confiscating land from a white farmer, Michael
Campbell, pending the
hearing of an application by the farmer challenging
the legality of
President Robert Mugabe's programme to seize white land for
redistribution
to landless blacks.
Tribunal Registrar Charles
Mkandawire this week told ZimOnline that 77 more
farmers had appealed to the
court to hear their cases together with that of
Campbell, which is scheduled
to be heard at the end of May.
Mkandawire said: "The applications by the
77 farmers who want to have their
cases joined with the Campbell case were
heard (on Tuesday). The case has
now been adjourned for ruling on whether
they should be joined and whether
they should also be granted a relief in a
ruling to be delivered on Friday."
Campbell, whose case was initially set
for March 26 but had to be
rescheduled because of Zimbabwe's March 29
elections, wants the Tribunal to
declare Zimbabwe's land reforms racist and
illegal under the SADC Treaty.
Article 6 of the regional Treaty bars
member states from discriminating
against any person on the grounds of
gender, religion, race, ethnic origin
and culture.
A ruling declaring
land reform illegal would have far reaching consequences
for Mugabe's
government, opening the floodgates for thousands of claims of
damages by
dispossessed white farmers.
Such a ruling could also set the Harare
government on a collision course
with its SADC allies particularly if it -
as it has always done with court
rulings against its land reforms - refuses
to abide by an unfavourable
Tribunal judgment.
Farm seizures are
blamed for plunging Zimbabwe into severe food shortages
after the government
displaced established white commercial farmers and
replaced them with either
incompetent or inadequately funded black
farmers. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
by Farisai Gonye Thursday 27 March
2008
HARARE - The United States (US) on Wednesday ruled out
free and fair
elections in Zimbabwe citing widespread cases of "pre-election
irregularities" that had been recorded ahead of the Saturday
elections.
In a statement to the media, US State Department spokesman,
Sean McCormack,
said the Zimbabwe government should take "concrete actions"
to address
serious shortcomings in the election management
system.
"We are concerned that actions of the Zimbabwean government will
preclude
free and fair elections on March 29," said
MacComarck.
"Independent organisations report extensive pre-election
irregularities,
such as inaccurate voter rolls, violence and intimidation of
competing
political parties and civil society, overproduction of postal
ballots for
police, military, diplomats, and electoral officials," he
added.
MacComarck said the US was also worried by the issue of inadequate
polling
stations in urban areas that are strongholds of the main opposition
Movement
for Democratic Change party and the outright bias shown by
state-controlled
media.
Zimbabweans go to the polls on Saturday to
elect a new president,
parliamentarians and local government
representatives.
President Robert Mugabe, accused by the US of rigging
previous elections, is
facing his biggest electoral test in the polls from
his former finance
minister Simba Makoni and popular MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Mugabe however rejects charges of rigging previous elections
promising his
supporters a thunderous victory to silence the
opposition.
Responding to the US statement, Justice Minister Patrick
Chinamasa said the
US was seeking to incite Zimbabweans to remove Mugabe
through violent street
protests.
"They wish for a Kenya here because
they know President Mugabe will win this
election. This whole business is
meant to create doubts about our elections
so that the results are rejected
before they are even out," said Chinamasa.
Chinamasa said the government
would not allow Kenya-style post-election
violence in Zimbabwe adding that
the security forces were on high alert to
forestall such a
scenario.
At least 1 500 Kenyans died in post-election violence following
a disputed
election last December.
There have been fears that
Zimbabwe could explode in similar violence if
Mugabe, who is trailing
Tsvangirai in opinion polls, were to rig the
election in a desperate bid to
hold on to power. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
by Tawanda Chiweshe Thursday 27 March
2008
HARARE - One of Zimbabwe's few remaining independent
newspapers has
suspended a senior reporter in connection with a leak to the
spy Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO) last week.
The Zimbabwe
Independent yesterday suspended Augustine Mukaro after it
emerged his e-mail
address had been used to leak a story - detailing
political troubles at the
spy outfit - to CIO director-general Happyton
Bonyongwe.
The
Independent had to pull out the story last week after the CIO boss
sought a
High Court order to stop the newspaper from publishing the
article.
Experts from an Internet service provider this week confirmed
Mukaro's
Zimbabwe Independent e-mail account had been used to route the
story to the
CIO via the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ).
The
printout of the story attached to the CIO's ex-parte application showed
the
article had been sent through the union's email address -
admin@zuj.org.zw.
Mukaro is the ZUJ
treasurer. ZUJ president Mathew Takaona has promised a
full inquiry into the
allegation that a union email was used to channel the
leaked story to the
CIO.
His suspension letter indicated he would continue to receive full
benefits
until a disciplinary hearing was held where he is expected to
defend
himself.
Mukaro is also expected to explain how and why he
absented himself from work
without permission last Thursday and on Monday
this week.
Independent chief executive Raphael Khumalo confirmed Mukaro
was on
suspension pending a disciplinary hearing into the matter.
The
CIO boss claimed the story was malicious and compromised national
security.
"Publication of a detailed version would cause irreversible
harm, loss of
cohesion, alarm and despondency, indiscipline and multiplicity
of adverse
consequences, which have the potential of militating against the
operation
and effectiveness of the security organisation," Bonyongwe said in
his
affidavit.
Bonyongwe last week came out fighting after he was
linked to presidential
aspirant Simba Makoni, whose breakaway from ZANU PF
has caused commotion in
the ruling party.
The CIO boss pledged his
allegiance to President Robert Mugabe, seeking to
extend his 28-year rule in
weekend elections. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
by Simplicious Chirinda Thursday 27 March
2008
HARARE - The Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned a
government ban on a
journalist, saying the state's Media and Information
Commission (MIC) had
not followed correct procedures when it imposed the
one-year prohibition on
the journalist.
The MIC banned award-winning
journalist Brian Hungwe from practising his
trade for one year as punishment
for allegedly working without accreditation
from the state media body as
required under the tough Access to Information
and Protection and Privacy
Act (AIPPA).
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku said the decision to ban
Hungwe was
un-procedural and was therefore null and void.
"I am
satisfied (that) in suspending applicant, the MIC did not comply with
section 85 (3) of AIPPA. The requirements of section 85 (3) of Act are
peremptory and failure to comply with them renders the actions of MIC a
nullity," ruled Chidyausiku.
The judgment will certainly come as a
welcome relief to Zimbabwe's small but
vibrant independent press that has
come under a barrage of attacks over the
past five years.
President
Robert Mugabe's government has over the past five years shut down
four
privately-owned newspapers and arrested over a hundred journalists as
it
sought to keep dissension in check.
The Harare authorities have barred
several media organizations from covering
Saturday's landmark elections
alleging that the media groups were pushing a
regime change agenda against
the government. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
by Tafirei Shumba Thursday 27 March
2008
HARARE - Police have charged two artists for
breaching government
censorship laws when they performed a political satire
depicting Zimbabwe's
worsening political crisis.
The case, the
first known case in which President Robert Mugabe's
government has hauled
artists to court for breaching the repressive colonial
era Censorship Act,
has been set down for hearing on April 17 at the
magistrates'
court.
The artists, Sylvanos Mudzvova and Anthony Tongani, were on
Tuesday
served the indictment documents in a case that will certainly make
or break
Zimbabwe's small but vibrant protest arts.
"Yes, I can
confirm the indictment which is basically outlining the
charge against the
artists for breaching the Censorship Act and the State is
the complainant in
the case set for 17 April at the magistrates' courts,"
the artists' lawyer,
Philip Nyakutombwa told ZimOnline.
The artists were first arrested
in Harare in October last year during
a public performance of the satire
entitled The Final Push and detained at
Harare Central police station for
two days while their lawyer sought their
release.
The police
did not immediately charge the artists saying they wanted
to carry out
further investigations. Five months down the line, the police
say the
artists have a case to answer for violating the 1964 Censorship Act
that is
widely seen by journalists and artists as a repressive and draconian
law
stifling artistic freedom and individual liberties.
"It is a test
case that we have to win at all cost because the State,
the police and the
whole system want to fossilise political artists and we
are resisting that,"
said Mudzvova, commenting on the case.
Mudzvova and Tongani's
touchy satire is named after the 2003 mass
protest march against Mugabe's
government that was organised by the Morgan
Tsvangirai-led Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party. The demonstration
failed after heavily armed
police and soldiers were deployed on the streets
of Harare.
Hard hitting political performances, satirising Zimbabwe's political
woes
blamed on Mugabe's government, have in recent years increasingly caused
some
serious consternation within the Harare administration resulting in at
least
a dozen performances being banned by the police and several artists
arrested
in 2007.
Two weeks ago, Zimbabwe's paranoid police officially
banned the
performance of toyi-toyi, a song and dance genre generally
associated with
political activism saying the dance style would incite
political violence
ahead of Saturday's combined presidential and
parliamentary elections in
which President Mugabe is seeking his sixth-term
in office since coming into
power in 1980.
Meanwhile, police in
Harare on Tuesday night banned the premiere of a
play Sahwira - Spirit of
Friendship saying the production could be staged
only after Saturday's
election.
Theatre buffs, arriving for the play celebrating the
fight for human
rights, were turned away as the police stood guard at the
venue at
Theatre-In-The-Park to enforce the ban.
The police
refused to take questions on the matter. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
by Patricia Mpofu Thursday 27 March
2008
HARARE - Police late on Tuesday night released
without charge a
Zimbabwe opposition candidate in Saturday's election and a
South
Africa-based pilot who had been arrested at Charles Prince
airport.
Jameson Timba, who is standing for the Morgan
Tsvangirai-led Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) party, was arrested at
the airport while picking
his party's election campaign
material.
"We were all released late yesterday without any charges
put against
us," said Timba. "The pilot is already back in South Africa," he
said.
The helicopter, which belongs to a South African aviation
company, had
still not been released to its owners yesterday.
State security agents arrested Timba, his aide Garikai Chuma, and the
pilot
Brent Smythe, as they prepared to off-load the campaign material from
the
helicopter.
Timba said they had chartered the helicopter to enable
Tsvangirai to
fly around the country for his last-minute campaigns ahead of
the elections
on Saturday.
"The motive for our arrests was to
frustrate our last minute campaigns
by holding us in custody from 7am until
late Tuesday. No amount of police
harassment is going to stop the winds of
change," said Timba.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena refused to
comment on the incident
saying he would issue a statement on the arrest of
the trio on Thursday. -
ZimOnline
So much going on it¹s difficult to keep
track.
On the economic front things go from bad to worse. Inflation
continues to
escalate and now stands at something over 400 000 percent.
Prices are
changing daily, even by the hour. Quotations are valid for a few
hours, you
pay when you take delivery. I heard of someone who was at lunch
and while
they were eating, the price went up!
Mugabe has continued to
breathe fire and brimstone against the private
sector. After signing the
Indigenisation Bill into law, he went on to
threaten all remaining British
companies with expropriation of their assets
and to force all companies to
freeze their prices at some arbitrary date in
February. The Indigenisation
Act provides for all foreign owned companies to
sell 51 per cent of their
equity to indigenous businesspersons, 25 per cent
to the State for no cost
and 26 per cent to be paid from future dividends.
51 percent means the
loss of control over the appointment of management and
the determination of
policy. For every dollar invested, investors get 49
cents of value and no
control. No company, local or foreign owned, will
accept such a draconian
measure. Most firms would rather just windup and
close down.
These
statements and measures have simply frozen private sector activity in
its
tracks. No investment is taking place nor any maintenance and
development.
The entire business community is now simply waiting for the
outcome of the
election. Even the many companies owned by previous
supporters of Zanu PF are
now sitting back and watching events. They know
the present situation is so
dire that change is inevitable.
On the food front the regime had placed
huge orders with Malawi and Zambia
Malawi actually offered to sell us maize
on credit, Zambia also offered
terms. Now Malawi, after delivering part of
the order, has discovered that
they overestimated their crop and has
hurriedly shut down the operation. I
hope they have been paid. I suspect that
Zambia is in the same position and
is also now ³going slow² on
deliveries.
This coupled to the global tight market for basic foods,
wheat, maize and
soybeans means much higher prices and longer supply
positions. We have run
out of food. Beef is Z$100 million per kilo; milk is
Z$40 million plus per
litre. If you can find it, maize meal is costing Z$80
to Z$120 million
dollars for 10 kilos. On top of this there is a real
physical shortage of
basic foods of all kinds. Fresh vegetables are scarce
and expensive.
One interesting aspect of this food situation is that what
Zanu PF had
counted on, as being an electoral asset the ability to control
and direct
basic food supplies on a patronage or political affinity basis,
has in fact
become a liability. Hungry people, who cannot find food for their
families
or simply cannot afford the very high prices, are angry
people.
Signs of accelerated decay are all around us schools closed
early and will
be closed for 6 weeks, many have less than half their
establishment of
teachers and of those, half or more are just out of school
themselves and
are untrained. The roads are in dire straights and grass
verges have not
been cut for months, small trees are growing on the verges in
many areas.
Sewerage systems are not being maintained and water quality and
availability
to all urban areas has declined, despite full dams and
reservoirs. Health
services are incapable of dealing with even routine
needs.
The flood of refugees continues to pour out of Zimbabwe into
neighboring
States mainly South Africa. There, Xenophobia and economic
tensions
between migrants and local populations are giving rise to violence
and
retribution.
On the electoral front Mugabe is in a state of panic.
What is all this ³red
card² business he plaintively asked, at a rally on
Sunday in Bulawayo
attended by a small crowd dominated by school kids. He is
looking his age
and has to be assisted to walk and climb stairs. An
increasingly defiant
population is ignoring his demands and
threats.
The authorities continue to do what they can to intimidate
activists they
are arrested and beaten for putting up posters, doing
door-to-door
campaigns. Meetings are routinely banned or the organizers
arrested for
holding an ³illegal gathering². I ran over the time limit for
one of my
meetings and in the morning I got a phone call to say do not do
it again!
On Friday we brought in a helicopter to help Morgan carry out
the remaining
flurry of rallies 15 rallies were planned for three days
the aircraft
moving a small group quickly from one rural venue to another. We
cleared his
first day¹s programme in Harare but Bulawayo refused to accept
that and the
aircraft stayed on the ground 4 rallies were missed, including
a large
gathering at Victoria Falls. We then cleared a flight plan for 10
rallies in
Manicaland and the Mashonaland East.
The aircraft flew to
Harare; a small group who were helping with the
operation planning the
refueling stops and so on, met the pilot on the
ground. The pilot asked me
³just keep me out of jail². I joked with him that
he should not worry we
(MDC) fed prisoners quite well and he would get
legal help and then free
medical assistance if he was beaten!
At six on the first morning of the
new programme he was arrested together
with the volunteer group and is still
in custody as I write! The second
round has had to be aborted unless Morgan
can try and do some of the
meetings by road. 15 rallies, probably 70 000
people, denied the chance to
see and hear their next President. Hey, welcome
to the Democratic Republic
of Zimbabwe! Police even visited the elderly widow
in Bulawayo who had given
him a bed for two nights yesterday!
So goes
the count down three days to go, 72 hours to freedom!
Eddie
Cross
Bulawayo, 26th March 2008
Introduction:
In early
2006 a constitutional challenge was launched in the Zimbabwe courts
against
Amendment No. 17 of the Zimbabwe Constitution, which removes the
right of
those courts to adjudicate in any way in relation to forced
acquisition
(i.e. confiscation) of land in Zimbabwe by the Mugabe regime.
The effect of
Amendment 17 is that a person whose land is seized by the
Mugabe regime
without payment of compensation, is not permitted to apply to
a Zimbabwe
court for relief.
After all legal remedies available in Zimbabwe
were exhausted, the
applicants lodged the present application before the
SADC Tribunal. The
Republic of Zimbabwe signed and ratified the Treaty of
the Southern African
Development Community in 1992.
The case
is being brought by William Michael Campbell on behalf of himself
and as the
managing director of Mike Campbell (Pty) Ltd, the owner of farm
land in
Mount Carmell in the rural district of Chegutu, Zimbabwe and on
behalf of
the employees of that company, and their families, who live and
work on the
farm. The Government of Zimbabwe ("GoZ") is attempting to seize
Mount
Carmell without payment of any compensation.
The respondent is
Robert Gabriel Mugabe in his capacity as the President of
Zimbabwe.
The final hearing of the main action in the SADC
Tribunal case has been set
down to be heard on Tuesday 25 March 2008. What
follows is a brief summary
of the main arguments to be made on behalf of the
applicants.
The GoZ has filed no heads of
argument.
Summary of Facts:
The GoZ has
been trying to seize Mount Carmell since 22 July 2001. These
attempts were
at first thwarted by the High Court of Zimbabwe.
On 14 September
2005 the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (no 17) Act 2005
came into
effect. On 15 May 2006, the applicants launched proceedings in
the Supreme
Court of Zimbabwe challenging the constitutional validity of
Amendment 17.
This served to delay the eviction of the applicants, but it
became clear
that no permanent protection would be found within the Zimbabwe
legal
system.
On 5 October 2007 the application was lodged before the
SADC Tribunal. On
15 December 2007, the Tribunal issued an interim
order.
On 22 January 2008, the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe finally
delivered its
judgment in the 15 May 2006 case. The effect was to dismiss
the applicants'
entire challenge. This serves to confirm the applicants'
prior contention
that all legal remedies within Zimbabwe had been
exhausted. The only
objection to the jurisdiction of the SADC Tribunal
advanced by the GoZ is a
failure on the part of the applicants to exhaust
domestic remedies.
Meanwhile, the GoZ has instituted criminal
proceedings against William
Michael Campbell. The prosecution has been
stayed following the 15 December
2007 interim order.
Main
issues:
The issue before the Tribunal is whether the Amendment 17
or the related
conduct of the GoZ comply with the Treaty obligations of the
GoZ. In
determining these issues, the Tribunal will be asked to consider
issues
regarding the following:
1. The
interpretation of the SADC Treaty.
2. The place
in the SADC Treaty of the principles of human
rights, democracy and the rule
of law.
3. Does the exclusion of access to the
courts offend the
rule of law?
4.
Discrimination.
5.
Compensation.
1. The Interpretation of the SADC
Treaty
The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969 should
be applied to the
interpretation of the SADC Treaty. The ordinary meaning
of the text of the
SADC Treaty should be interpreted in light of the objects
and purposes of
the Treaty. The Article 4 respect for principles of "human
rights,
democracy and the rule of law" is recognized in the text as
essential to
achieving the Article 5 objectives.
The context
should also be taken into account. This includes a threefold,
integrated
commitment of the Member States of SADC to attaining economic
development,
encouraging regional peace and co-operation and ensuring
respect for basic
human rights and the rule of law. The context further
includes other
international legal instruments which the Member States have
ratified, such
as the Charter of the African Union and the African Charter
of Human and
People's Rights.
The SADC Treaty is binding on Member States in
terms of the Treaty itself
and the Vienna Convention. Article 27 of the
Vienna Convention provides
that a party may not use its domestic law as a
justification for its failure
to perform a treaty.
The
Tribunal is granted legal authority to ensure adherence to the SADC
Treaty
by virtue of Article 16(1).
2. The Place in the SADC
Treaty of the Principles of Human Rights,
Democracy and the Rule of
Law
In terms of Article 4, Member States must act in accordance
with principles
including "human rights, democracy and the rule of law".
Article 6(1) gives
Member States a mandate to promote the achievement of the
objectives of the
SADC and the implementation of the Treaty provisions.
Article 6(2) requires
that Member States refrain from discriminating against
any person on various
equality grounds. Article 3(h) includes the promotion
and protection of
human and peoples' rights in accordance with the African
Charter on Human
and Peoples' Rights and other relevant
instruments.
The SADC Tribunal should interpret Article 4(c) of
the Treaty as requiring
Member States to act in accordance with the basic
human rights, democratic
practices and rule of law principles established by
international human
rights instruments. This would give effect to the
objectives and purposes
of the Treaty and is compatible with the approach
taken by other
international courts, such as the European Court of
Justice.
3. Does the Exclusion of Access to the Courts Offend
the Rule of Law?
Amendment 17 violates the SADC Treaty in that it
violates the rule of law
itself. Section 16B(3) of the Zimbabwe
Constitution puts into effect an
ouster of the jurisdiction of the courts.
The provision precludes access to
the courts by individuals wishing to
challenge the form, manner or
legitimacy of the compulsory acquisition of
their land. It prevents a
challenge to the deprivation of their rights to
equality and property before
the courts as well as a judicial assessment of
the substantive fairness of
compulsory land acquisition
decisions.
The rule of law includes both the right of access to
the courts, and the
right to a fair hearing before an individual is deprived
of a right,
interest or legitimate expectation (the right to 'due
process'). Both are
regarded as fundamental human rights and are
well-established and protected
within the national constitutional frameworks
of SADC Member States and
international human rights case
law.
In South African case law, the Constitutional Court in Zondi
v MEC for
Traditional and Local Government Affairs and Others 2005 (3) SA
589 (CC)
discussed Section 34 of the South African Constitution and noted
that:
"Section 34 is an express constitutional recognition of the
importance of
the fair resolution of social conflict by impartial and
independent
institutions. The sharper the potential for social conflict,
the more
important it is.that disputes are resolved by
courts".[1]
The amendments to the Zimbabwe Constitution
constitute a fundamental
deprivation of the core of the rule of law in
precluding any judicial
scrutiny of decisions to take property, and
represent a negation of the
objective, purposes and principles of the SADC
Treaty. They expressly
violate Article 4 of the SADC
Treaty.
The ouster clause (i.e. Amendment 17) is also
incompatible with Article
7(1)(a) of the African Charter on Human and
People's Rights. The African
Commission on Human and People's Rights has
placed considerable importance
on the right of access to courts, emphasizing
that it should be respected
even where sharp social and political conflict
exists.
Ouster clauses of a scope and extent similar to section
16B of the Zimbabwe
Constitution should be considered a denial of the right
to access the courts
under the SADC Treaty.
The right to a
fair hearing before an impartial tribunal is expressly set
out as a
fundamental human right in many constitutions and international
instruments.
In its recent judgment, the Zimbabwe Supreme
Court revealed:
"To stop what was considered obstructive
litigation and secure finality in
cases of compulsory acquisition of
agriculture land for public purposes, the
legislature enacted the
Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Act (No 17) on 14
September
2005".[2]
Now that Zimbabwe's highest domestic court has
confirmed that the very
purpose of Amendment 17 was to suppress pending
challenges to it by the
owners of the 157 pieces of land listed in Schedule
6, there can be no
debate as to whether the amendment complies with the rule
of law. Zimbabwe's
SADC Treaty obligations do not permit such a
course.
4.
Discrimination
Amendment 17 and its enforcement targets only
white farmers, irrespective of
their attributes, land-use and
circumstances. Schedule 6 is inherently
arbitrary and is based solely on
race and ethnic origin, as well as the
political affiliation of the intended
beneficiaries. An annexure to the
applicants' papers sets out a large
number of utterances by those
responsible for policy in Zimbabwe showing
clearly that the policy of land
acquisition was premised on a racial basis.
The policy was designed to
redress the ownership of land created during the
colonial period.
In 2000, the (then) Full Court of the Zimbabwe
Supreme Court stated:
"We are not entirely convinced that the
expropriation of white farmers, if
it is done lawfully and fair compensation
is paid, can be said to be
discriminatory. But there can be no doubt that
it is unfair
discrimination.to award the spoils of expropriation primarily
to ruling
party adherents".
Currently, this is exactly the
case and the present situation stands in
sharp contrast to that in 2000.
The national policy of racism offends the
SADC Treaty and the established,
enforceable norms (jus cogens) of
international law. There is an absolute
prohibition of racial
discrimination in Article 6 of the SADC Treaty. The
prohibition against
discrimination based on race or origin has become jus
cogens and ranks with
crimes against humanity as contrary to fundamental
international law.
Consequently, it cannot be derogated from no matter the
excuse, and the GoZ
has offended its SADC Treaty
obligations.
5. Compensation
The GoZ
does not dispute the right to compensation.
The following is
common cause:
· No compensation has been paid to the
Applicants.
· No assessment of compensation has been made and the
procedures laid
down in domestic legislation have not been
followed.
· The GoZ does not have the financial resources to pay
all the
compensation due in respect of farms acquired since
2000.
Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
guarantees that no
one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his
privacy, family or
home nor attacks upon his honour and reputation. The
principles of SADC
incorporate this guarantee.
Article 17 of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees the right
that no
person shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property. Amendment 17
to the
Zimbabwean Constitution was drafted so that no consideration is given
to
individual farms and merely a blanket listing was done. The deprivation
of
the applicants' land was arbitrary and contrary to international
law.
The effect of Zimbabwe's Land Reform Programme has been to
take land and
improvements without proper compensation for either. In
enacting section
16A of the Zimbabwe Constitution (the section brought into
law by Amendment
17), the GoZ limited its obligation to pay compensation for
improvements to
property, and imposed the obligation to pay for the land
itself on the
former colonial power. This offends the principles of
international human
rights law in general and the SADC Treaty in
particular. The GoZ is the
expropriating authority. The GoZ is dealing
with land which for the most
part (and certainly in the applicants' case)
was lawfully acquired by virtue
of a commercial transaction, and not by any
favour of the former colonial
power. In these circumstances it was not
permissible to fail to compensate
the owner for the land itself. The GoZ
cannot pass to a third party the
obligation to pay for something which in
terms of international law, as the
acquiring authority, it is required to
bear.
No legislative procedure exists in Zimbabwe for the
assessment of
compensation of the properties acquired in terms of Amendment
17. Prior to
the amendment, at the time that the preliminary notices of
compulsory
acquisition were sent to the applicants, there were legislative
procedures
in place. These were not followed.
When deciding
whether or not to make a compulsory acquisition, the acquiring
authority
must have available resources to pay compensation. The very fact
that the
acquisitions by the GoZ of thousands of farms in terms of Amendment
17 is
far outside the financial resources of the GoZ renders that form of
acquisition invalid.
The issue of compensation is so
interwoven with the abrogation of the right
to property that the failure to
provide for and pay compensation is fatal to
the compulsory acquisition
exercise. Two years have passed since the GoZ
claims to have obtained
ownership of the applicants' property, and the
failure to pay compensation
leads to the inevitable conclusion that the
compulsory acquisition was not
done in terms of the norms of international
human rights
law.
Final Relief Sought:
1. The
Government of Zimbabwe is declared in breach of its obligations as
a Member
State of the SADC through its purported implementation of Amendment
17.
2. Declaring the purported seizure of Mount Carmell by
the GoZ to be in
violation of Zimbabwe's aforesaid obligations as a Member
State of SADC and
as a party to the SADC Treaty.
3.
Declaring the official Zimbabwe Land Reform Programme a violation of
Zimbabwe's aforesaid obligations.
4. Directing the GoZ to
comply with such obligations within a period of
six months from date of the
final order, to the satisfaction of the
Tribunal.
5.
Authorising the secretariat of the SADC to investigate and report upon
the
GoZ's compliance with the final order, and to make further
recommendations
regarding further steps to be taken.
6. Directing the GoZ to
pay the applicants' costs in relation to the SADC
Tribunal
proceedings.
7. Directing the GoZ to take no steps, and permit
no steps to be taken, to
evict from or interfere with the peaceful residence
on and beneficial use of
Mount Carmell by the applicants, and their
employees and
families.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1]
At paragraph 58.
[2] Mike Campbell (PvT) Ltd v Minister of National
Security Responsible for
Land, Land Reform and Resettlement (SC49/07) at
13.
Three scenarios have been developed based on slightly different assumptions. The major assumption is that Tsvangirai still has major support in urban areas, whilst Mugabe still has strong support in the three Mashonaland rural provinces. It is assumed that Makoni will have the support of his home province, as well as of the three Matabeleland Provinces.
The figures are based on the 2002 Census. It is assumed that the Census provides an accurate ratio of the population by province, and that the percentage of voters will be close to the population ratios.
Scenario 1, Assumptions A, B and
C
Province |
Pop. 2002 Census |
% of Total Pop. |
Assumption A : % for
Makoni |
As % of 2002 Census |
Assumption B: % for Mugabe |
As % of 2002 Census |
Assumption C: % for
Tsvangirai |
As % of 2002
Census |
Mash West |
1 224 670 |
10.53 |
15 |
184 000 |
70 |
857 000 |
15 |
184 000 |
Mash Cent. |
995 427 |
8.56 |
15 |
149 000 |
70 |
697 000 |
15 |
143 000 |
Mash East |
1 127 413 |
9.69 |
15 |
169 000 |
70 |
789 000 |
15 |
169 000 |
Harare |
1 896 134 |
16.30 |
35 |
664 000 |
15 |
284 000 |
50 |
948 000 |
Manicaland |
1 568 930 |
13.49 |
60 |
941 000 |
15 |
235 000 |
25 |
392 000 |
Masvingo |
1 320 438 |
11.35 |
50 |
660 000 |
40 |
594 000 |
10 |
132 000 |
Mat South |
653 054 |
5.61 |
70 |
457 000 |
5 |
33 000 |
25 |
163 000 |
Bulawayo |
676 650 |
5.82 |
70 |
481 000 |
5 |
34 000 |
25 |
169 000 |
Mat North |
704 948 |
6.06 |
70 |
494 000 |
5 |
35 000 |
25 |
176 000 |
Midlands |
1 463 993 |
12.59 |
45 |
659 000 |
45 |
732 000 |
10 |
146 000 |
Totals |
11 631 657 |
100.14 |
|
4 858 000 |
|
4 290 000 |
|
2 622 000 |
% of votes for each
candidate |
|
|
|
41.77 |
|
36.88 |
|
22.54 |
Scenario 2, Assumptions D, E and
F
Province |
Pop. 2002 Census |
% of Total Pop. |
Assumption D: % for Makoni |
As % of 2002 Census |
Assumption E: % for
Mugabe |
As % of 2002 Census |
Assumption F: % for
Tsvangirai |
As % of 2002
Census |
Mash West |
1 224 670 |
10.53 |
30 |
367 000 |
55 |
674 000 |
15 |
184 000 |
Mash Cent. |
995 427 |
8.56 |
30 |
299 000 |
55 |
548 000 |
15 |
149 000 |
Mash East |
1 127 413 |
9.69 |
30 |
338 000 |
55 |
620 000 |
15 |
169 000 |
Harare |
1 896 134 |
16.30 |
35 |
664 000 |
15 |
284 000 |
50 |
948 000 |
Manicaland |
1 568 930 |
13.49 |
70 |
1 098 000 |
15 |
235 000 |
15 |
235 000 |
Masvingo |
1 320 438 |
11.35 |
50 |
660 000 |
40 |
500 000 |
10 |
132 000 |
Mat South |
653 054 |
5.61 |
70 |
457 000 |
15 |
98 000 |
15 |
98 000 |
Bulawayo |
676 650 |
5.82 |
70 |
474 000 |
15 |
102 000 |
15 |
102 000 |
Mat North |
704 948 |
6.06 |
70 |
494 000 |
15 |
106 000 |
15 |
106 000 |
Midlands |
1 463 993 |
12.59 |
45 |
659 000 |
45 |
659 000 |
10 |
146 000 |
Totals |
11 631 657 |
100.14 |
|
5 510 000 |
|
3 826 000 |
|
2 305 000 |
% of votes for each candidate |
|
|
|
47.37 |
|
32.89 |
|
19.82 |
Scenario 3, Assumptions G, H and
I
Province |
Pop. 2002 Census |
% of Total Pop. |
Assumption G: % for
Makoni |
As % of 2002 Census |
Assumption H: % for
Mugabe |
As % of 2002 Census |
Assumption I: % for
Tsvangirai |
As % of 2002
Census |
Mash West |
1 224 670 |
10.53 |
35 |
429 000 |
55 |
674 000 |
10 |
123 000 |
Mash Cent. |
995 427 |
8.56 |
35 |
348 000 |
55 |
548 000 |
10 |
100 000 |
Mash East |
1 127 413 |
9.69 |
35 |
395 000 |
55 |
620 000 |
10 |
113 000 |
Harare |
1 896 134 |
16.30 |
50 |
948 000 |
5 |
171 000 |
45 |
948 000 |
Manicaland |
1 568 930 |
13.49 |
70 |
1 098 000 |
15 |
235 000 |
15 |
235 000 |
Masvingo |
1 320 438 |
11.35 |
50 |
660 000 |
40 |
500 000 |
10 |
132 000 |
Mat South |
653 054 |
5.61 |
70 |
457 000 |
15 |
98 000 |
15 |
98 000 |
Bulawayo |
676 650 |
5.82 |
70 |
474 000 |
15 |
102 000 |
15 |
102 000 |
Mat North |
704 948 |
6.06 |
70 |
494 000 |
15 |
106 000 |
15 |
106 000 |
Midlands |
1 463 993 |
12.59 |
45 |
659 000 |
45 |
659 000 |
10 |
146 000 |
Totals |
11 631 657 |
100.14 |
|
5 962 000 |
|
3 713 000 |
|
2 103 000 |
% of votes for each candidate |
|
|
|
51.26 |
|
31.92 |
|
18.08 |
Zimbabwe, Makoni Scenarios,
7 March 2008
International Herald Tribune
By Robert
I. Rotberg Published: March 26, 2008
This weekend President
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is expected once again to
rig elections in order
to hold onto power while neighboring Botswana,
Africa's oasis of peace and
good governance, will celebrate the retirement
of President Festus Mogae
after two productive terms. The contrast between
Botswana and Zimbabwe could
not be more stark, or more illustrative of good
and evil in
Africa.
Botswana, one of Africa's wealthiest countries per capita thanks
to
diamonds, tourism and sensible management, has enjoyed more than four
decades of honest, practical government under three popular presidents. On
Monday, Mogae will give way to Vice President Ian Khama.
Guided by
Mogae and two other democratic presidents, the small country has
flourished
and become the envy of all of Africa. Despite high HIV numbers,
its
hospitals and clinics provide retroviral drugs to all sufferers. Its
schools
and universities provide increasing numbers of local and neighboring
peoples
with instruction.
Rule of law is observed and corruption hardly exists.
Botswana's secret is
high quality leadership, broad levels of political
participation, and
extensive accountability.
Across the Shashe River,
Botswana's border with Zimbabwe, all is tragedy.
Where Botswana's presidents
made their desert bloom, Mugabe - president
since Zimbabwe's independence in
1980 - has turned his once lush, prosperous
nation into a desperate,
desiccated despotism, with hunger and bitterness
everywhere.
Zimbabwe's hospitals have no medicines or sutures, its
schools no textbooks
or teachers. Life expectancy is the lowest in the
world, age 34 for women.
Electricity and water are available only
occasionally. The difference again
is leadership.
Mugabe, 84, falsified
the parliamentary elections in 2000 and 2005 in order
to prevent a victory
of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, led
by trade unionist
Morgan Tsvangirai, 56. Mugabe blatantly rigged the
presidential election of
2002 to prevent another victory by Tsvangirai. On
Saturday Zimbabwe's
beleaguered voters again go to the polls to cast ballots
for president and
for parliament.
This time Mugabe is running against Tsvangirai and Simba
Makoni, 58,
Mugabe's one-time minister of finance. Throughout Zimbabwe,
Tsvangirai is
drawing large crowds to meetings that, too often, are broken
up by the
country's police. Wherever the meetings can be held, there are
spontaneous
shouts of "chinja" - "change." Makoni's rallies are much less
well attended,
and Mugabe's listeners are trucked in from distant villages,
escorted by
police. A nationwide opinion poll taken last week in a country
where polling
is dangerous reported 28 percent for Tsvangirai, 20 percent
for Mugabe, 8
percent for Makoni, and the rest undecided or "too scared to
vote."
Although Mugabe promised the African Union that the elections
would be fair,
it has been clear for months that Mugabe intends to win, by
fair means or
foul. No independent foreign observers will be allowed to
watch the election
or the centralized counting at a "command center"
controlled by Mugabe.
Police are being sent into each polling station to
question potential
voters. There are no independent safeguards for ballot
boxes, or for the
count.
There are other ominous signs. More than 9
million paper ballots have been
printed for about 6 million registered
voters. Zimbabweans in neighboring
countries cannot vote, but 600,000
ballots have been printed for the 20,000
Zimbabwean diplomats and soldiers
abroad.
Intimidation is rife. In Bulawayo, officers of the Central
Intelligence
Organization arrested MDC supporters and made them eat an MDC
poster that
they were affixing to a wall. Human Rights Watch reported that
teachers
distributing flyers were assaulted with iron bars and pieces of
furniture by
ruling party thugs. In areas where hunger is prevalent, the
ruling party
distributes corn meal only to persons promising to vote for
Mugabe.
The commander of the Zimbabwean army says that he will not permit
Mugabe to
lose, and will stage a coup if there is an adverse vote. The
commissioner of
police, not to be outdone, promises to fire live ammunition
at anyone who
protests the conduct or result of Saturday's
poll.
Zimbabweans will have to brave heavy odds and the veritable
horsemen of the
apocalypse to oust Mugabe and turn their once proud country
into a reborn
Botswana.
Robert I. Rotberg is director of the Kennedy
School's Program on Intrastate
Conflict at Harvard University and president
of the World Peace Foundation.
BBC
Wednesday, 26 March 2008, 15:37 GMT
Esther (not her real name), 28, a professional
living and working in
Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, is writing a regular diary
on the challenges of
leading a normal life.
Zimbabwe is
suffering from an acute economic crisis. The country has
the world's highest
rate of annual inflation and just one in five has an
official
job.
"Easter was good and we had a fun family gathering despite
having no
power some of the time and no running water almost all of the
time.
We cooked our meals over an open fire and tried to minimise
our trips
to the loo!
My sister arrived bearing gifts: cheese
and many, many other treats.
It was so GOOD to taste
cheese!!
And my sister brought baked beans, bacon, mushrooms and
even butter as
well. I last ate bacon and mushrooms more than six months
ago, so that was a
real treat.
Even, my parents who grew up
Catholic bent the rule of no meat on Good
Friday to get a taste of bacon
after so long.
Price hikes and mixed feelings
We are
all groaning over the latest hike in prices.
There is
talk that some in the army plan to vote for change
But I have not
heard anyone blaming it on elections - except Bob
[President Robert Mugabe]
at his rallies. Most people are blaming it on
recent salary increases for
civil servants and the armed forces. Hey, the
Central Bank governor is on
record for saying salary increases drive
inflation.
With days
to go till we can vote, our city, Harare, is full of mixed
feelings.
There is high excitement in anticipation of an
opposition victory.
But there is also despondency from quite a
number of people who
believe the election has already been rigged either in
favour of Simba
Makoni who may maintain the status quo, or Bob
himself.
The last prospect is what really depresses people...
no-one can see
how we can possibly survive another term.
So
many stories
On the whole though the mood is light, no-one will
beat you up anymore
for wearing an MDC t-shirt or attending a rally so
people are doing that in
their thousands.
And ooooooh I am
hearing so many stories - people are really talking
again these
days.
For instance, this woman I work with has relatives in the
armed forces
and she has been telling us all about what is being said in
those circles...
how so many of the comrades are sick and tired of the
present situation and
how they are going to vote for change.
I
am excited!
I think this year will see the dawning of a new
political era in Zim.
And just based on rally attendance, Mr
Tsvangirai has this one won
hands down.
Snakes
I
missed Tsvangirai's Harare rally which I felt so disappointed
about.
But my uncle in the rural area went to an
MDC-Tsvangirai one and he
says the numbers there were amazing - as had never
been seen before for an
opposition rally in the rural areas.
People appear divided on Makoni though. One man I know described him
by
saying in the local chiShona language: Mwana we nyoka inyoka chete - the
offspring of a snake is a snake.
Many people are worried about
rigging but I and everyone I know are
being as encouraging as possible and
telling people who are worried that
they must vote anyway as this will make
it more difficult to rig.
There are lots of posters all over vying
for the attention of us
voters.
But the best part is that the
state controlled media has been ordered
to print adverts for all the
presidential candidates.
We never saw that in the last election...
full colour, full spread
opposition adverts in the Herald.
Wow!
"
zimbabwejournalists.com
26th Mar 2008 14:36 GMT
By Ian Nhuka
BULAWAYO - Bulawayo
City Council's entire transport fleet could be grounded
from tomorrow if the
National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM) does not
scale up its fuel
allocations to the local authority by the close of
business by tomorrow
(Thursday), acting town clerk, Gilbert Dube has warned.
If this happens,
it would be the first time in the history of the local
authority that
business would virtually grind to a halt. Already, the local
authority has
indefinitely suspended provision of fire and ambulance
services, among other
critical services owing to NOCZIM's failure to supply
the local authority
with enough fuel.
This is the second time in three months that the
cash-strapped local
authority has suspended provision of fire and ambulance
services, refuse
removal, water maintenance and inspections because of lack
of fuel.
Dube said NOCZIM is only providing the council 2 000 litres of
diesel
weekly, instead of 20 000 litres of both diesel and petrol, resulting
in the
second suspension since January.
"Council's fuel stocks have
run out," he said. "This follows the failure by
NOCZIM to allocate council a
weekly average of 20 000 litres of both petrol
and diesel over the last two
months. Of late, council has been getting 5 000
litres of each product
weekly at best and fortnightly at worst."
The suspension in the provision
of the critical services puts to great risk
the lives and welfare of the
city's estimated 1, 5 million residents because
the council is unable to
assist, in case of emergencies such as
life-threatening accidents or fire
outbreaks.
"This past week," he added, "only 2 000 litres of diesel have
been
allocated and none of petrol. Council will inevitably have to suspend
even
essential services until the situation improves. The services to be
suspended include: fire and ambulance services, refuse removal, water
maintenance and various other inspections."
Bulawayo used to enjoy
the distinction of being one of the country's most
smoothly run local
authorities, but has in recent years struggled to provide
the most basic
services because of the economic crisis, blamed on President
Robert Mugabe's
economic mismanagement.
With inflation at more than 100 000 percent, and
rising, foreign currency
and fuel in short supply, local authorities like
the rest of the economy are
barely surviving. Furthermore, since December
last
year, Bulawayo has been almost operating without a budget as the
government
delayed in approving its $27 trillion supplementary budget. At
the time,
council went to the extra-ordinary length of issuing a public
appeal for
assistance.
When the budget was finally approved early
this month, service delivery in
the city had almost ground to a halt. All
local authorities in the country
as well as other essential services, such
as hospitals and clinics, obtain
cheaper fuel from NOCZIM as they generally
do
not have enough money to buy the commodity from the black market where its
price is very high.
A litre of fuel on the thriving black market
costs at least $30 million
while NOCZIM sells it for as little as $3
million. A NOCZIM source, who
cannot be named for professional reasons
yesterday said the fuel utility is
struggling to provide fuel because most
of the deliveries are being
channeled to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
(ZEC) for the smooth running
of Saturday's general election.
"Fuel is
coming into the country, but it is being given to ZEC as you know
there are
elections coming. It is there but is not enough. But I hope
after this
commitment (elections), supplies would normalise," he said.
This week,
ZEC started deploying the more than 70 000 polling officials and
transporting election materials countrywide, a mammoth exercise which needs
large amounts of fuel.
But meanwhile, Dube said: "The last drop of
fuel will be channelled towards
the current sewer bursts and chokes
maintenance exercise."
IOL
March 26 2008 at
04:30PM
By Phumza Macanda
Whatever public words of
support Zimbabwe's government wins from its
neighbours, they will be hoping
this week's election puts southern Africa's
trouble maker on a path to
change.
Zimbabwe is holding back regional growth and economic
integration,
spilling millions of economic migrants over its borders,
straining regional
diplomacy and making the whole neighbourhood look bad for
failing to end the
crisis.
Once one of the region's most
dynamic economies, President Robert
Mugabe's Zimbabwe has gone from helping
drive the agenda at the Southern
Africa Development Community (SADC) to
consistently topping the agenda as
the problem child.
"SADC
countries have had to spend a lot of energy doing two things:
finding a
solution to the Zimbabwe situation and trying to anticipate the
impact of
the meltdown on themselves," said Siphamandla Zondi, programme
director at
the Institute for Global Dialogue.
"That is
the energy that should have been used to build and to create
things we need
to go forward," Zondi said.
Mugabe faces the toughest challenge to
his 28 years in power because
of the economic cataclysm and ruling party
defections, but opposition
divisions and the hold he has over the state
apparatus mean he is still hard
to beat.
While the region
certainly does not want a result that pushes Zimbabwe
to violence - Mugabe
has warned rivals against Kenya-style protests if they
dispute the outcome -
nobody wants a continuation of the current decline
either.
If
Mugabe's challengers, ex-ally Simba Makoni and long- term rival
Morgan
Tsvangirai, make serious inroads against the ruling Zanu-PF party, it
could
open the way for policy reform and help end the Mugabe era even if he
wins,
Zondi said.
"It might propel the ruling Zanu-PF towards some form
of internal
renewal and that could mean allowing Mugabe to retire and inject
new blood,"
he said, suggesting the party might then be ready to listen to
advice from
the region and further afield.
"People are not even
focused on democracy any more... All they want is
normality," he
said.
Southern African countries have generally taken a soft
approach to
Mugabe, a hero of the struggle for independence in Africa. The
quiet
diplomacy has contrasted with Western demands for rapid reform, but it
has
also delivered limited results.
Zimbabwe's economic woes
have left shelves empty at home, the currency
all but worthless and
inflation at around 100 000 percent - the world's
highest.
Farms and industry that once exported to neighbouring countries,
helping
drive their own growth, are ruined. Mugabe's critics in particular
blame his
policy of seizing white-owned farms to give to landless blacks.
"For smaller countries that relied heavily on Zimbabwe imports, taking
Zimbabwe out of the food picture has been devastating," said Tony Twine,
economist at Econometrix.
Sub-Saharan Africa's gross domestic
product grew almost 90 percent
between 1997 and 2007 in purchasing power
parity terms, according to IMF
estimates. Zimbabwe's shrank over 30
percent.
The economic crisis has sent a flood of Zimbabweans abroad
- many
illegally. Some 3,5 million people are estimated to have fled the
country,
most of them to South Africa. Many have also gone to
Botswana.
These economic refugees are placing added pressure on
social and
economic infrastructure in those countries and are increasing
xenophobic
tensions, said Chris Maroleng, senior researcher at the Institute
for
Security Studies.
"In South Africa, there has been an
increase of sporadic violence in
communities where you find high numbers of
mainly illegal immigrants. Locals
look at them as taking their jobs," he
said.
The immigrants have also been blamed for the high levels of
violent
crime in South Africa, although Maroleng said there was no evidence
Zimbabweans were disproportionately involved.
Analysts say
Zimbabwe's crisis has also put issues such as improving
intra-regional trade
and infrastructure on the back seat even though in some
ways the region
remains Mugabe's biggest defender to the rest of the world.
The
SADC electoral observer mission is the main body monitoring the
ballot in
the absence of Western observers - Zimbabwe banned election
monitors from
any countries that are critical of Mugabe.
The regional observers
have been at pains to say they see the
electoral process as fair so far
despite opposition complaints and concerns
raised by human rights groups,
the European Union and former colonial power
Britain.
But
Zimbabwe's crisis is also making relations within the region more
difficult,
with countries such as Botswana being heavily critical.
The lack of
clear success for the diplomatic strategy championed by
South Africa's
President Thabo Mbeki over Zimbabwe has been a blow to his
credibility and
to all those in the region who have followed his lead.
(Editing by
Marius Bosch and Matthew Tostevin)
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
Vibrant campaign to encourage migrants to go back and vote falls
flat as
diaspora Zimbabweans talk of hardship and wasted ballots.
By
Sandra Nyaira in Johannesburg (AR No. 162, 26-Mar-08)
With only days
before Zimbabweans elect a president, parliament and local
councils,
activists in Johannesburg are going all-out to encourage the
estimated two
million or more expatriates living and working here to return
home and
vote.
Loud music accompanies a "Rock the Vote" event taking place just
outside
Park Station, a busy transport hub in the centre of this South
African city.
Many of the expatriates who work in Johannesburg pass
through Park Station
on a daily basis, while cross-border traders and people
doing some grocery
shopping in South Africa use the coach stations and taxi
ranks.
Pitched in front of the station is a white tent decorated with
Zimbabwean
flags, where artists and poets take it in turns to sing, declaim
and
entertain passers-by.
Attracted by the music, diaspora members
are handed leaflets by civic
activists urging them to go home and
participate in the March 29 elections,
which many hope will bring an end to
the rule of President Robert Mugabe and
his ZANU-PF party.
Under
current rules, Zimbabweans abroad are not allowed to vote, apart from
embassy staff and others such as policemen serving with the United Nations
duty.
The "Rock the Vote" campaign includes billboards scattered
around areas
where large numbers of Zimbabweans live, especially inner-city
suburbs like
Berea, Hillbrow, Yeoville and Ellis Park. Similar billboards
have been
placed on the Zimbabwe-South Africa border.
"Power to the
People - We demand: one citizen, one vote, independently-run
elections and
an end to political violence," reads one large poster outside
Park Station,
posted up by the non-government group Zimbabwe Democracy Now.
Other
organisations supporting the get-out-the-vote campaign include the
National
Constitutional Assembly, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, the
Zimbabwe
Exiles Forum and Crisis in Zimbabwe, CIZ.
CIZ hosted a "Rock The Vote"
concert last weekend in Johannesburg, featuring
artists from Zimbabwe who
played to an audience of mostly young economic
migrants.
Mathula
Lusinga, who is in overall charge of the voter education campaign,
said it
would run until election day.
"We are saying that those who can go home
should go and vote, and those that
cannot go should pick up the phone and
urge their relatives not to forget to
go and vote," said
Lusinga.
Nixon Nyikadzino, CIZ's media spokesperson, said he was
optimistic that the
concert and other efforts by civil society groups would
prompts many
Zimbabweans in South Africa to go home and vote. The idea is
that as many
registered voters as possible should turn up at the polls to
subvert any
attempt by the Mugabe administration to rig the poll by
appropriating the
votes of absentees.
"We think the message has been
well served. We are also happy with the
turnout we have been receiving. I
hope all these numbers will translate into
votes," said
Nyikadzino.
At the concert, Nyikadzino urged the crowd to persuade
friends and relatives
to go back home. He called on the religious to pray
for their country, and
people who believed in ancestor spirits to should ask
them for guidance.
On the streets of Johannesburg, however, many
Zimbabweans who have made the
difficult journey to get here said they would
not be crossing back over the
border. In any case, many said, the elections
were unlikely to be free and
fair.
Most of the people interviewed for
this report said the risks of returning
were too high, especially given the
tough requirements and high price set
for obtaining a South African
visa.
Bree Street, Johannesburg's busiest thoroughfare, is a good place
to meet
Zimbabweans. There are hundreds of them, either visitors shopping
for goods
they cannot buy in the empty shops back home, or migrants on their
way to
work.
At several hairdressers' salons run by Zimbabweans on
Bree Street, female
staff and customers said they would not be going back
because they believed
their votes would count for nothing.
"What
difference is it going to make if I go home and vote?" asked one
hairdresser, Martha Jani. "I voted in 2002 and nothing changed. I was in the
queue for a very long time, but look at me today. I have relatives that died
for Zimbabwe's independence but what do I have to show for it? Besides, I
went through a lot to reach this country and I'm not willing to go through
that again."
Another hairdresser, who gave her first name as Nyasha,
said life in South
Africa might be far from rosy, but she had no choice but
to stay. She said
she hoped family back in Zimbabwe would vote on her
behalf.
"Life here is tough. We play cat-and-mouse games with government
authorities
on a daily basis. Just yesterday, I was arrested for being here
illegally,"
said Nyasha. "Luckily I was arrested with a girl whose boyfriend
is an
officer so we were set free, but we had to pay, of course.
"I
have no money right now and have to start working again to earn and pray
that I won't be picked up again. I need to feed the people back
home."
Nyasha was dismissive of Mugabe's main challengers, Morgan
Tsvangirai of the
Movement for Democratic Change and Simba Makoni, the
ex-finance minister and
ZANU-PF stalwart who infuriated the president by
announcing his election bid
in February.
"Tsvangirai and Makoni will
not feed my family if I risk going back to vote
for them. They all make
promises like Mugabe did at independence. Where is
the milk and honey?" she
said.
At Park Station, Jonasi Phiri was selling passport holders, marker
pens and
other small items. He reacted angrily to the suggestion that he
should pack
up and go home to vote.
"One thing I want to know from
them - will they buy clothes for my children
so I can carry a box full of
goodies, food and all?" he said. "No, they won't,
but they want me to leave
the opportunity that I have to be here doing what
I'm doing to feed my
family. I do not even have money for transport and they
tell me to go to
Zimbabwe. I'm not going there."
When he learned that CIZ has promised to
provide buses to ferry those who
want to go and vote, Phiri softened his
stance.
"I would love to vote in my country, but look at the situation
here. We are
suffering and the people back home are worse. I do not like
being here,
selling to people who do not even want to talk to me, but it is
making my
family survive so I would rather concentrate on that than on
Tsvangirai,
Mugabe and Makoni."
Another vendor, who gave her name as
Susan, said she enjoyed the music from
the "Rock the Vote" campaign but
could not risk going back as she could not
afford a visa and was in South
Africa illegally.
"I crossed into South Africa illegally and may not be
able to find the same
guts that made it possible for me to come here in the
first place," she
said, turning to serve another customer.
Susan is
one of the many Zimbabweans who have risked life and limb to cross
the
Limpopo River in search of a better life in South Africa. Many are
rounded
up and deported by South African police on a daily basis. The
International
Organisation for Migration says it assisted 126,000
Zimbabweans at its
reception centre in the Zimbabwean border town of
Beitbridge in 2007, and
the figure continues to rise.
At Park Station, migrant worker Spiwe
Chiutsi was touched by the coalition's
message. She was one of a few who
said they would go home.
"I have been saying all along that I will not go
to vote, but I have just
changed my mind," she said. "I'm tired of being
abused in this country,
working in a restaurant, serving the rich and famous
in Sandton but getting
peanuts out of it. I live in squalor here because of
the poverty in my
country.
"If they [CIZ] help me to go and vote,
then I will go. What happens next, I
do not know. I will try to come back
again after that, but I hope my vote
will help bring change to
Zimbabwe."
Sandra Nyaira is a Zimbabwean journalist based in Britain.
FROM THE ZIMBABWE VIGIL
Press Release - 27th March 2008
Preview of stuffing the Ballot Box at the
Vigil on 22nd March
Zimbabwe's President Mugabe is to defy "illegal
sanctions" and appear in
person in London to vote in the Zimbabwean
elections on Saturday 29th March.
He said "Stuff Brown, I will stuff my own
boxes". Comrade Mugabe will be
played by a Zimbabwean exile Fungayi Mahhunu
wearing the Mugabe mask he wore
at a protest in Lisbon in December against
Mugabe's attendance at the
African / European summit.
The mock
elections, staged by the Zimbabwe Vigil, will be held outside the
Zimbabwe
Embassy in London from 6 am to 6pm. Apart from President Mugabe,
other key
players will be present, including Zimbabwean security forces in
uniform
turning away election observers and ushering in dead voters
springing from
coffins.
Vigil Co-ordinator Rose Benton said "Mugabe is in place to rig
the
elections. The uncertainty is whether people will go along with
it."
Event: Zimbabwe Vigil Mock
Elections
Venue: Outside the Zimbabwe
Embassy, 429
Strand, London WC2
Date / time: 6 am
- 6 pm, Saturday, 29th March 2008
Media stunts: 11 am
and 3 pm featuring Robert Mugabe,
election observers, Zimbabwean soldiers
and police, dead voters springing
from coffins..
Photo
Opportunities: Zimbabwean singing, dancing and drumming.
Interview
Opportunities: Torture and rape victims, first hand news from
polling
stations in Zimbabwe with which we will be in constant touch.
Further
information: Contact Rose Benton (07970 996 003, 07932
193 467),
Dumi Tutani (07960 039 775), Ephraim Tapa (07940 793 090)
Vigil
co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand,
London, takes place
every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against
gross violations of
human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The
Vigil which started in
October 2002 will continue until
internationally-monitored, free and fair
elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
From The Cape Times (SA), 26 March
Moshoeshoe Monare
Harare -
The chairman of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Judge George
Chiweshe has
reassured worried opposition parties that the counting of
Saturday's crucial
elections results would be done at polling stations. "The
results will be
signed by elections officers and witnessed by observers at
the polling
station. I am saying this because I am aware of a section of the
society who
misconstrued what we said. Results will be posted outside
polling stations
but collated at various centres. The presidential elections
results will be
counted at polling stations but collated by the chief
electoral officer at
the central command centre. We did not mean that all
ballot boxes will be
carried to the national centre. Those suggestions are
without basis, they
are not genuine concerns," said Chiweshe. He was
addressing election
observers from SADC countries yesterday.
MDC leader and presidential
candidate Morgan Tsvangirai said last week he
would not be part of the
elections process if presidential elections were
counted at a central
command. Tsvangirai told supporters on Sunday that he
was aware that
President Robert Mugabe would want to rig the elections on
Saturday, "but we
are ready for him". Chiweshe also allayed fears that there
was a technical
loophole regarding a second round of elections in the event
that there was
no clear winner in the presidential polls. Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights
raised this concern a fortnight ago and threatened to go to
court to
challenge the Electoral Act. Their concerns were that the act did
not
specify the majority of votes needed by the presidential candidates, but
just specified "a greater majority". But Chiweshe said yesterday that: "A
candidate should get a greater number of votes than those cast for all his
competitors combined (50 plus 1 vote). The law provides for a rerun after 21
days if any of the contesting candidates fail to get a majority."
Comment No. 1225374
March 26 11:53
GBRWell of course it'll be rigged, it's the only way Mugabe could win!
On the other hand, what does it matter? Something like a third of the population has fled the country, the economy continues to nosedive.. Mugabe seems eager to go down with the ship.
Comment No. 1225381
March 26 11:57
GBR"This really is an African problem that has to be solved by Africa"
That's it in a nutshell, Africa's leaders have completely failed to live up to their responsibilites, the same as they did in Dafur, and Rwanda.
The same as the majority of political elites in Africa continue to steal from the people, and live in the lap of luxury whilst their people starve.
Comment No. 1225407
March 26 12:06
GBRDeleted by moderator
Comment No. 1225417
March 26 12:11
GBRZimbabwe's elections have been recognised by the UN. Yous understandings me Meera.
Comment No. 1225423
March 26 12:15
GBR"What did Zimbabwe ever do to deserve such a plotless bore."
..so you don't agree that Mugabe's handling of the economy has been catastrophic?
Or would you rather avoid the question, I suspect..?
Comment No. 1225425
March 26 12:16
GBRDeleted by moderator
Comment No. 1225433
March 26 12:19
GBRIt's worth adding that the voters know from previous experience that food aid will be withheld from districts that vote for the opposition.
Comment No. 1225464
March 26 12:29
GBRManVanTshwane -
"Zimbabwe's elections have been recognised by the UN"
no they haven't! In addition Mugabe is refusing to let the official election monitors into the country, and has shut down paper that disagree with him.
How in gods name can you defend this tyrant, ManVanTshwane? He's screwing Zimbabwe in the name of black power!
Comment No. 1225482
March 26 12:37
GBRSo Kosovo was our problem but Zimbabwe isnt?
So Millions live and die because of Geography.
When history is written I dont think the Geography provision is going to make it alongside "We will fight them on the beaches...."
However difficult it is, this is a battle that can be won, it is a battle that should be fought lest a peoples be destroyed. Am with Tony lets do Mugabe.
Comment No. 1225503
March 26 12:44
GBR'...upcoming elections will be fixed, the boxes stuffed with surplus ballot papers just as the people's pockets are stuffed with worthless money...'
Yes - our postal ballot system here in the the UK does need a complete overhaul. Oh sorry, just realised you were talking about Zimbabwe.
Comment No. 1225505
March 26 12:44
GBR"Thabo Mbeki, the South African president, has always been careful not to embarrass Mugabe, preferring a sustained, quieter dialogue with his old ally."
What dialogue? Mugabe doesn't do dialogue.
Comment No. 1225533
March 26 12:52
GBRMugabe is 84 years old now. Only old age, infirmity and death will get rid of him. We must hope that in a
post - Mugabe Zimbabwe, there is no power vacuum and that whoever steps into his place is better than he has been. The only good thing to say about him is that he can't last for much longer.
Comment No. 1225541
March 26 12:53
GBRZimbabwe being a land locked country only the countries around it can help it but they have turned a blind eye to the plight of the people. Zimbabwe biggest export is it citizens who have left the country, this has hollowed out its most creative and best people as they have left for other countries. Who ever takes over will find that the countrys human capital is depleted as well as infastructure, so rebuilding will not be easy as its best people have left and established new lives elsewhere. Even if uncle bob wins eventually he will die and then the scamble for power will begin, unless his own supporters turn on him like a pack of hungry dogs and depose him. Uncle bob has survived so long because the leaders of many other african countries are not shining examples of democracy and the finger could point in their direction next. I would suggest that ManVanTshwane goes to live in Zimbabwe and the scales will fall from his eyes as to the reality of the situation of the day to day lives of the people.
Comment No. 1225574
March 26 13:03
I was in Zimbabwe during the last presidential election.
In the cities, the number of polling stations were cut back
at short notice, with the rate of processing voters deliberately at a snails pace. Many people queued for two days and nights to vote.
The courts ruled in favour of a third day of voting,
after which the police promptly moved in with teargas to disperse and disenfranchise these voters.
In the rural areas, the returns were astonishingly high,
considering many people on the registers had either died,
moved to the cities, or emigrated.
The MDC were prevented by intimidation and violence from having representatives at many of the rural polling stations.
Yet, one of the SADC election monitors stated that the
election was free and fair, according to 'African standards'.
It's time for higher standards from other African leaders.
They should have found a gracious path to retirement for
this tinpot dictator after the last stolen election.
Comment No. 1225640
March 26 13:27
ITAZimbabwe needs thinking in other way. There's no doubt someone's done many mistakes whereas all of them have got to forget the past. Today it's essential to look up the economic situation and to have a politic stability. It should be done this lest new incidents happen. According to me Zimbabwean people ought to help the government so as to change the things. In this contest there hasn't got to be corruption unless they want to create other problems. All of us have seen in Africa wars and corruption. What is the instability being fostered for? Why don't African people solve these problems? Inasmuch as African Union has got power, it's responsible about security. Notwithstanding there's much poverty in Africa, African people increase their problems with new wars and violences. This has been seen in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Somalia and so on. I can most distinctly say that international community hasn't been able to tackle this situation. Surely UN isn't being helped by African people and this has to be told. What they need is more openness rather than selfishness. Having been done many mistakes they ought to learn the lesson. If all of they do that there will be well-being otherwise just poverty and war. In fact the violence won't allow them to do a good life. International community will have to accompany African people in order to reach this purpose.
Comment No. 1225677
March 26 13:37
GBRIt is misinformed, misguided and delusional people like this journalist who are the problem for Zimbabwe not Mugabe.
Why is it that you have come to the stupid conclusion that the only free election is one in which Mugabe loses?
How many Zimbabweans must perish because of western sanctions before you admit that these sanctions have failed to turn rural voters against their President?
Mugabe DOES NOT rig elections. He wins because he is excellent orator who knows what message to give to the rural electorate who are the backbone of his regime.
He wins because he is the only courageous black African leader who can stand up and tell stupid capitalists like you Meera and your manipulative Western rulers to go to hell.
He will win next week because the old people in the rural areas who fought and survived the evil white colonialist regime of Smith will see to it that no Rhodie sympathizer and apologist like the stooges in the MDC get to form a government in a country we fought hard to liberate.
He will win because the MDC is a band of dim witted fools who think Western support can be translated into votes on the ground.
For your information the MDC or what's left of it is only popular with slum dwellers that happen to be foreigners and few middle-class sell-outs who cannot resist the easy access to the American dollar that MDC membership brings with it.
For us true Zimbabwe we now hope and pray that after this election, Simba Makoni will move on to form a truly home grown principled and true Zimbabwean opposition party to rival Zanu-PF.
We are tired of charlatans like Morgan and their insatiable taste for praise from the capitalist and neolibs in the West.
So Meera before you attempt to soil the name of Zimbabwe do a bit of research first. If you had done that, you will not have come to the silly conclusion that the election will be stolen. Zimbabwe is not the Maldives where you could write and report your way into an award or a scholarship Meera.
It is a country with a proud revolutionary history and you do yourself no favour by seeking to soil the name of its founding president.
It is up to us Zimbabweans to judge the success or otherwise of Mugabe not foreign busy bodies like you.
What a shame on those who continue to pour millions into MDC coffers. You and they are backing the wrong horse. Like has happened every time since 2000, MDC will loose again and this time by a VERY HUMILLIATING MARGIN. After this then we patriotic Zimbabweans can sit down and sort out the issue of founding a genuine opposition party. Hopefully Dabengwa and Makoni will not do a Tsvangirayi on the country too, for every country does need a proper opposition party.This MDC thing will be securely thrown away into the rubbish bin of history come next week as it will be routed out of all relevancy.
Comment No. 1225695
March 26 13:42
GBRMDELELWA -- wow, are you for real? And are you actually real?
Do we have a Zimbabwean PresidentD on our hands here?
Comment No. 1225715
March 26 13:46
Mdelelwa has been at the magic mushrooms... Too bad his great anti-colonialist leader Mugabe can't even feed his people, isn't it?
Comment No. 1225750
March 26 13:54
GBRMDELELWA - "For your information the MDC or what's left of it is only popular with slum dwellers"
Mugabe has made sure all Zimbabweans are slum dwellers these days, no?
I'll bet my last Zim Dollar (not worth much after Mugabe's great work) that you drive around the streets of London in a black diplomatic S-Class Mercedes reg ZIM 1
Comment No. 1225877
March 26 14:30
GBRMDELELWA
You're really grasping at straws aren't you..?
"It is misinformed, misguided and delusional people like this journalist who are the problem for Zimbabwe not Mugabe"
Right, so it's this journalist's fault that Mugabe has sent the economy down the pan?
"Why is it that you have come to the stupid conclusion that the only free election is one in which Mugabe loses?"
Because he's completely ruined Zimbabwe's economy and driven his people down into grinding poverty?
"How many Zimbabweans must perish because of western sanctions before you admit that these sanctions have failed to turn rural voters against their President?"
Aaaah, I see, so it's the fault of 'western sanctions' that
Mugabe's thugs invaded all of those farms, thus grinding the economy to a halt? Or perhaps it's the fault of the west that inflation has gone through the roof?
"Mugabe DOES NOT rig elections"
For goodness sake, you could at least try and come out with a convincing lie! Do you seriously, honestly believe that?
WAKE UP, Mugabe is destroying Zimbabwe, it's got nothing to do with the evil westerners and you know it.
Comment No. 1225886
March 26 14:33
GBRBut yes MDELELWA, what the hell, vote Zanu PF! And then watch your country fall even futher into the abyss.
It's your choice.
Comment No. 1225902
March 26 14:36
MDELELWA - "For your information the MDC or what's left of it is only popular with slum dwellers"
Actually Mugabe's program "Clean out the filth"
which destroyed thousands of dwellings,
made homeless tens of thousands of these slum dwellers.
So, according to MDELELWA, Mugabe, being the great
African leader he is, brought an end to slums in Zimbabwe.
And with the title of the program told us what we already know, how he feels about the people of Zimbabwe,
particularly those that disagree with him.
MDELELWA, welcome to CIF, where we look forward to you
continue to defend the indefensible.
Comment No. 1225950
March 26 14:48
USAWe in South Africa have been caught up in a bit of a dilemma. What do you do when your favorite uncle goes crazy? The guy who helped you grow up and sheltered you in the dark days? What do we do about our crazy uncle Bob? not so easy - http://angryafrican.wordpress.com/2008/02/04/my-uncle-bob/
Comment No. 1225952
March 26 14:49
BHSMDELELWA doesn't care if Mugabe stays in power because he/she is living in Britain where the negative situation in Zimbabwe doesn't affect him/her.
Perhaps you should go and live in your wonderful country if you consider yourself a patriotic Zimbabwean.
Comment No. 1225977
March 26 14:55
GBRAngryafrican, please explain to me because I can't understand this.. Despite Mugabe's status as being one of the original revolutionary brothers, why on earth have Africa's leaders not intervened? Why are they allowing Zimbabwe to collapse?
South Africa's response in particular has been very odd, they've got millions of refugees flooding over the border and yet neither Mbeki or Zuma see the situation as urgent..?
Comment No. 1226070
March 26 15:17
GBRArent you glad you can oppose this article without fear?
Wouldnt it be great if it could happen in Zimbabwe?
Comment No. 1226143
March 26 15:33
GBRSome people are so naive.
Does it really matter who is elected? The prevailing culture will still be the same. Read animal farm and you might understand.
Comment No. 1226172
March 26 15:41
Nobody does delusion better than the left - Meera's previous four articles cover - chaos in Kenya - a fragile ceasefire in Uganda - violence in Chad - tragedy in Darfur.
Her solution in each article? Peace, mutual understanding and goodwill must carry the day. Yeah Right!
And this time?
'Zimbabwe was and still can be one of the most prosperous, modern countries in Africa, with the political, cultural and economic clout to power the whole region. Its friends and allies need to guide it back onto the right path.'
Comment No. 1226182
March 26 15:44
GBRWell ok CongestionCharge, if all us hapless lefties have got it so wrong, what's your solution?
Far be it from me to suggest that the right wingers who frequent this site are happy to throw the mud but are short on answers themselves..
Comment No. 1226190
March 26 15:47
GBRterryuno -
"Does it really matter who is elected? The prevailing culture will still be the same."
Well considering how far down the path to oblivion Mugagbe has taken Zimbabwe, terryuno, yes I think it would make a huge difference if somebody else took over! The opposition wouldn't be beaten and intimidated for a start.
Comment No. 1226289
March 26 16:15
GBRThe idea that Zimbabwe problems are down to one man is ludicrous. If that was truly the case then surely he could have been taken out and everything would be roses.
Whoever replaces him will have to act in a similiar way to Mugabe because that is the language of Zimbabwean culture. Some people thought just getting rid of Saddam Hussein would turn Iraq into a democracy.
European intervention is the only hope for Zimbabwe. Europeans have the skills and knowledge to turn Zimbabwe into a successful nation. In other words DIVERSITY & MULTICULTURISM.
Comment No. 1226311
March 26 16:22
GBRThe idea that Zimbabwe problems are down to one man is ludicrous. If that was truly the case then surely he could have been taken out and everything would be roses.
Whoever replaces him will have to act in a similiar way to Mugabe because that is the language of Zimbabwean culture. Some people thought just getting rid of Saddam Hussein would turn Iraq into a democracy.
European intervention is the only hope for Zimbabwe. Europeans have the skills and knowledge to turn Zimbabwe into a successful nation. In other words DIVERSITY & MULTICULTURISM.
Comment No. 1226327
March 26 16:27
GBRFinite187 write "Well ok CongestionCharge, if all us hapless lefties have got it so wrong, what's your solution?
Far be it from me to suggest that the right wingers who frequent this site are happy to throw the mud but are short on answers themselves"
Finite187 what bloody breed of lefty are you trying to exactly brain wash us with...the pretendy-lefty desparado or the degenerated Tony Blair variety. Next you'll try and slip it in that the Rhodesian SS were somehow lefties. Get over it fascist, the dead Nazi state of Rhodesia and Tonyblairia both failed and Zimbabwe lives on. Blairofascist creep.
Shona-Ndebeles 5
Anglo-Saxons 0
Comment No. 1226332
March 26 16:29
GBRAfrica free and fair democratic elections.......Don't make me laugh!
Comment No. 1226371
March 26 16:43
GBRTerryuno - do you know much about the History of Zimbabwe? It doesn't sound like it. Also using phrases like 'If that was truly the case then surely he could have been taken out and everything would be roses' does nothing to lend any weight to your argument. If you look at the history and politics of Zimbabwe you will see that it is indeed one man, Comrade Bob, that has sent Zimbabwe into a downward spiral.
ManVanTshwane - Zimbabwe lives on? yeah keep on believing that if you like. Where are you writing from, your living room in Twickenham? Stop your ranting, it makes you sound like an idiot
Comment No. 1226372
March 26 16:44
GBRManVanTshwane
"Next you'll try and slip it in that the Rhodesian SS were somehow lefties. Get over it fascist, the dead Nazi state of Rhodesia and Tonyblairia both failed and Zimbabwe lives on. Blairofascist creep."
hahahahaaaa, you must be a windup, ManVanTshwane.. I can assure you, all of us evil anglo saxons would like nothing more than to keep out of African affairs, but would you not agree that Zimbabwe is in serious economic trouble at the moment?
Would you also agree that this economic collapse is the fault of Robert Mugabe? It wasn't us evil westerners who invaded all those farms and caused the collapse of Zimbabwe's agricultural system.
Similarly, western nations had nothing to do with sky high inflation. Or the intimidation and beatings of opposition activists.
Tell me ManVanTshwane, do you live in Zimbabwe? Somehow I suspect not..
Comment No. 1226380
March 26 16:47
GBRA depressing set of comments here, that only seem to underline a)how limited the possible solutions are and b)how polarised people's positions are.
The only workable solution I can see would be for the ANC to negotiate secretly with Zanu PF to remove Mugabe - ironically, it's like South Africa all over again - Zim is going to have to haul itself back towards democracy the longer, transitional, way. There will be no velvet revolution. Sadly.
PS: every Saturday, from 2-6 they hold a vigil outside Zim House on the Strand. Go to support, or at the very least to hear how beautifully they sing Nkosi Sikele iAfrika.
Comment No. 1226399
March 26 16:53
GBRTerryuno - You may well be right about a legacy of African 'strongmen', Idi Aminn, Mubutu, now Mugabe.. But the fact of the matter is that Zimbabwe (by African standards) was doing ok before Mugabe decided to start invading the white-owned farms. They were producing enough food to feed most people, in fact they used to export food to the rest of Africa.
What's going on now is out of the ordinary, definitely.
Comment No. 1226434
March 26 17:04
GBRGet real peeps.
Mugabwe wouldn't have survived for so long if he didn't have widespread support.
Zimbabwe needs to open itself up to the outside world through mass immigration. It needs new ideas and fresh blood. People like Mugabwe are relics of the past and need to be sidelined.
Comment No. 1226442
March 26 17:10
GBR"Mugabwe wouldn't have survived for so long if he didn't have widespread support."
You're absolutely right, but that's because until fairly recently, he wasn't displaying these facist tendencies!
I think the bigger problem is that all of these revolutionary movements have suddenly found themselves in power all over Africa, but these guys are clueless ex-marxists who haven't the first idea how to run an economy. When things go wrong, they respond with 'strongman' tactics.
There's also a tendency to end up with virtual one-party states, the ANC and Zanu PF being good examples.
Comment No. 1226448
March 26 17:13
GBRTerryuno, you're nothing short of a genius, in fact you should be running Zimbabawe instead of 'Mugabwe'
Comment No. 1226474
March 26 17:22
GBRSorry, Mugabe, although I prefer Mugabwe.
Comment No. 1226495
March 26 17:28
GBRhilarious contribs from ManVanTswane and mdelelewa...
clearly they are bitter individuals - a remnant of those old africanist pseudo-leftists who whine about the wicked west and who, like mugabe, are still fighting yesterday's battles...all this while their dreams of african liberation are as worthless as a barrel full of zim banknotes.
its not the west wot dun it mates, its the sheer thievery, thuggery, incompetance and general stupidity of those leaders you idolize - this, sadly, is what the great zimbabwe Chimurenga has been reduced to....and of course you will be the last to realize this.
It is also deeply, deeply saddening to realize that Ian Smith was right...
Amandla Awetu?? HA HA HA!
Comment No. 1226618
March 26 18:07
GBRBe careful what you say Mugabe might be a cannibal that would come as no surprize, Amin was.
Comment No. 1226634
March 26 18:13
GBR@austint
Yes I am for real-a true patriotic Zimbabwean who will not just sit down in peace and quiet when foreign mischief makers plot mayhem and disaster in my country.
Every election time, you have all these parachute journalists and armchair experts like you predicting bloodshed and civil war when results are announced.
Every election time the Western cable news organizations send their star presenters to the country to witness the bloodshed they wish to see happen in vain.
Some diplomats go as far as paying fools like Morgan to confront law enforcement agents in the hope of provoking civil war.
All what you posters here wish to see is civil strife in Zimbabwe because you cannot accept that an African country can tell you to go to hell and eject white colonialist settlers like we did. You have no real concern for Zimbabwe. If you were genuinely concerned you would be urging your governments to lift illegal sanctions they imposed on Zimbabwe.
You need to accept that you cannot fool all the Africans all the time. From time to time a Mugabe will rise up and tell you where to take your racist tendencies and policies. Not all Africans are clueless political idiots like Morgan your favoured stooge of the moment.
You can wail as much as you like but I tell you events in Zimbabwe are beyond your control. You cannot simply walk in and do the silly orange thing like in Ukraine or execute another Rose or purple or whatever colour your so-called revolutions are called elsewhere. Zimbabwe is different for it is a country born out of revolutionary sacrifices of its people and leaders. The thuggery, the racism and evil of the former colonialist settlers is still fresh in our minds.
Our country can never be a colony again. There is no going back to Rhodesia. Our people maybe hungry but at least they are free and proud of their revolutionary heritage. The sooner you lot accept that the better for you. ZIMBABWE IS NOT FOR SALE!! If you are looking for another piece of Africa to buy, try Botswana where you lot prefer to keep quite whilst its government poisons off the Khoisan people in order to protect Western diamond concerns. And remember even there, real Africans are beginning to challenge their sell-out leaders and are reclaiming what belongs to them. Zimbabwe has shown them its possible to challenge centuries of western domination. You can vilify and demonize the likes of Mugabe but the truth is that your power and influence in Africa is waning. No other country in Africa has ever told your spies and political agitators and subversives pretending to be election observers to go to hell. So I am not surprised you are pissed off with RGM. After he thwarted grand Western plan to partition the DRC he is at it again driving the last nail on the coffin of Rhodie remnants in Zimbabwe. What an African!!!!!!!!
Comment No. 1226637
March 26 18:15
GBR@austint
Yes I am for real-a true patriotic Zimbabwean who will not just sit down in peace and quiet when foreign mischief makers plot mayhem and disaster in my country.
Every election time, you have all these parachute journalists and armchair experts like you predicting bloodshed and civil war when results are announced.
Every election time the Western cable news organizations send their star presenters to the country to witness the bloodshed they wish to see happen in vain.
Some diplomats go as far as paying fools like Morgan to confront law enforcement agents in the hope of provoking civil war.
All what you posters here wish to see is civil strife in Zimbabwe because you cannot accept that an African country can tell you to go to hell and eject white colonialist settlers like we did. You have no real concern for Zimbabwe. If you were genuinely concerned you would be urging your governments to lift illegal sanctions they imposed on Zimbabwe.
You need to accept that you cannot fool all the Africans all the time. From time to time a Mugabe will rise up and tell you where to take your racist tendencies and policies. Not all Africans are clueless political idiots like Morgan your favoured stooge of the moment.
You can wail as much as you like but I tell you events in Zimbabwe are beyond your control. You cannot simply walk in and do the silly orange thing like in Ukraine or execute another Rose or purple or whatever colour your so-called revolutions are called elsewhere. Zimbabwe is different for it is a country born out of revolutionary sacrifices of its people and leaders. The thuggery, the racism and evil of the former colonialist settlers is still fresh in our minds.
Our country can never be a colony again. There is no going back to Rhodesia. Our people maybe hungry but at least they are free and proud of their revolutionary heritage. The sooner you lot accept that the better for you. ZIMBABWE IS NOT FOR SALE!! If you are looking for another piece of Africa to buy, try Botswana where you lot prefer to keep quite whilst its government poisons off the Khoisan people in order to protect Western diamond concerns. And remember even there, real Africans are beginning to challenge their sell-out leaders and are reclaiming what belongs to them. Zimbabwe has shown them its possible to challenge centuries of western domination. You can vilify and demonize the likes of Mugabe but the truth is that your power and influence in Africa is waning. No other country in Africa has ever told your spies and political agitators and subversives pretending to be election observers to go to hell. So I am not surprised you are pissed off with RGM. After he thwarted grand Western plan to partition the DRC he is at it again driving the last nail on the coffin of Rhodie remnants in Zimbabwe. What an African!!!!!!!!
Comment No. 1226649
March 26 18:20
GBR@austint
Yes I am for real-a true patriotic Zimbabwean who will not just sit down in peace and quiet when foreign mischief makers plot mayhem and disaster in my country.
Every election time, you have all these parachute journalists and armchair experts like you predicting bloodshed and civil war when results are announced.
Every election time the Western cable news organizations send their star presenters to the country to witness the bloodshed they wish to see happen in vain.
Some diplomats go as far as paying fools like Morgan to confront law enforcement agents in the hope of provoking civil war.
All what you posters here wish to see is civil strife in Zimbabwe because you cannot accept that an African country can tell you to go to hell and eject white colonialist settlers like we did. You have no real concern for Zimbabwe. If you were genuinely concerned you would be urging your governments to lift illegal sanctions they imposed on Zimbabwe.
You need to accept that you cannot fool all the Africans all the time. From time to time a Mugabe will rise up and tell you where to take your racist tendencies and policies. Not all Africans are clueless political idiots like Morgan your favoured stooge of the moment.
You can wail as much as you like but I tell you events in Zimbabwe are beyond your control. You cannot simply walk in and do the silly orange thing like in Ukraine or execute another Rose or purple or whatever colour your so-called revolutions are called elsewhere. Zimbabwe is different for it is a country born out of revolutionary sacrifices of its people and leaders. The thuggery, the racism and evil of the former colonialist settlers is still fresh in our minds.
Our country can never be a colony again. There is no going back to Rhodesia. Our people maybe hungry but at least they are free and proud of their revolutionary heritage. The sooner you lot accept that the better for you. ZIMBABWE IS NOT FOR SALE!! If you are looking for another piece of Africa to buy, try Botswana where you lot prefer to keep quite whilst its government poisons off the Khoisan people in order to protect Western diamond concerns. And remember even there, real Africans are beginning to challenge their sell-out leaders and are reclaiming what belongs to them. Zimbabwe has shown them its possible to challenge centuries of western domination. You can vilify and demonize the likes of Mugabe but the truth is that your power and influence in Africa is waning. No other country in Africa has ever told your spies and political agitators and subversives pretending to be election observers to go to hell. So I am not surprised you are pissed off with RGM. After he thwarted grand Western plan to partition the DRC he is at it again driving the last nail on the coffin of Rhodie remnants in Zimbabwe. What an African!!!!!!!!
Comment No. 1226669
March 26 18:28
Mdelelwa, you are such a patriotic Zim that you live in Britain. Get over yourself. Nobody believes you, you may as well say that the sun sets in the North... You really are creepy.
Comment No. 1226716
March 26 18:41
MDELELWA
How can you, hand on heart,
call yourself a patriotic Zimbabwean?
Patriotic Zimbabweans, of which there are many, black and white, despair at the collapse of the country caused,
not by Britain, nor by 'unpatriotic whites',
but by the disastrous policies of Mugabe and
his ruling black elite, who have replaced the white racism
of Rhodesia with their own brand of racism,
something, I see, you have bought into,
hook, line and sinker, repeating the Mugabe mantra:
"Zimbabwe will never be a colony again".
Britain and the West had sanctions against RHODESIA,
supported the independent state of Zimbabwe,
(the Lancaster House agreement), provided development aid (and still provides humanitarian aid) to Zimbabwe.
Britain, the country in which you are fortunate enough
to reside, to be able to work, that has a functioning
healthcare system, a social welfare system,
you still want to see as your enemy !
You have spent too much time in the youth camps, shamwari!!
Comment No. 1226722
March 26 18:42
GBRterryuno: You are the one who needs to get real. Mugabe rules through extreme violence, which began in the mid 1980s, and would never win a free and fair election. The Constitution allows the President to chose 30 MPs, which means the opposition has to win at least 30 more seats than ZANU PF. Opponents cannot get the weaponry to depose him from sympathetic neighbouring countries like he did, so the people of Zimbabwe are stuck with him.
Mugabe narrowly lost the only free and fair election to be held in Zimbabwe - the Referendum on a new Constituition in February 2000. That's why he rigged the parlimentary elections a few months later after intimidating the rural population. He 'won' that vote by a very narrow margin and if the law had been allowed to take its course and some election results overturned, he would have lost. I was there at the time and have hundreds of newspaper cuttings detailing the attrocities committed on his orders.
However, There are plenty of Zimbabweans who could run the country far better than Mugabe. I've had the honour of working with some of them. They used to make regular visits abroad, many have been educated abroad and have plenty of 'fresh' ideas.
See www.cryzimbabwe.com
MDELELWA: Zimbabwe was for sale quite recently. Gaddafy was given chunks of it in return for oil.
And as you rightly say, Botswana cleverly sells its diamonds so Botswanans can eat. Meanwhile, Police Chiefs, Newsreaders, and politicians sit in the farmhouses of the former white farmers in Zimbabwe and discuss life after Mugabe instead of putting 'their' land to productive use. Pure Genius.
Why are you in Britain if life in Zimbabwe is so good and you are so patriotic?
Comment No. 1226738
March 26 18:49
GBRMDELELWA
"Yes I am for real-a true patriotic Zimbabwean who will not just sit down in peace and quiet when foreign mischief makers plot mayhem and disaster in my country"
'Foreign mischief makers' haven't needed to do anything Mdelelwa, Mugabe has done a very good job of wrecking the economy all on his own. If you actually lived there you'd appreciate that a bit more.
Comment No. 1226797
March 26 19:10
USAIf only Zimbabwe had something worth stealing, the the USA would be there championing the spirit of "Democracy". . . poor shame - and shame on the West.
Comment No. 1226810
March 26 19:17
GBRTo waazpi, to terryuno, to Finite187 and to
all Rhodies and Rhodie sympathizers,
Get it through your thick skins.
You have failed since 2000 to kill off Zimbabwe.
What makes you think this time around you will succeed?
This is much more than Mugabe. It is about Zimbabwe's pride-a people saying we will not be told what to do by those who sought to keep us in perpetual servitude. This is about Africans standing up tall and proud and telling oppressors to get lost from their midst.
I do not need Mugabe to tell me that Western interference in Zimbabwe is down to evil intentions.
Over five million people, FIVE MILLION Africans, 5000000 million innocent civilians 5m Congolese people have died in the DRC since the 2000.
Why are you lot not voicing concern about that? Why are you not staging these vigils that you are staging over Zimbabwe in respect of these millions? The millions of people dead in the DRC in less than ten years are more than the entire population of Ireland. Where is your shock at this statistics? Obviously, because your governments are implicated in the death of these millions I do not expect you lot to comment on that.
Instead you pick on Zimbabwe where only a handful have unfortunately died usually due to violence sanctioned and perpetrated by the puppet opposition.
If there is a God somewhere, when judgment day comes you lot will occupy the deepest and the hottest depths of hell.
VIVA ZIMBABWE!!!!!!!
Comment No. 1226815
March 26 19:18
GBRTo waazpi, to terryuno, to Finite187 and to
all Rhodies and Rhodie sympathizers,
Get it through your thick skins.
You have failed since 2000 to kill off Zimbabwe.
What makes you think this time around you will succeed?
This is much more than Mugabe. It is about Zimbabwe's pride-a people saying we will not be told what to do by those who sought to keep us in perpetual servitude. This is about Africans standing up tall and proud and telling oppressors to get lost from their midst.
I do not need Mugabe to tell me that Western interference in Zimbabwe is down to evil intentions.
Over five million people, FIVE MILLION Africans, 5000000 million innocent civilians 5m Congolese people have died in the DRC since the 2000.
Why are you lot not voicing concern about that? Why are you not staging these vigils that you are staging over Zimbabwe in respect of these millions? The millions of people dead in the DRC in less than ten years are more than the entire population of Ireland. Where is your shock at this statistics? Obviously, because your governments are implicated in the death of these millions I do not expect you lot to comment on that.
Instead you pick on Zimbabwe where only a handful have unfortunately died usually due to violence sanctioned and perpetrated by the puppet opposition.
If there is a God somewhere, when judgment day comes you lot will occupy the deepest and the hottest depths of hell.
VIVA ZIMBABWE!!!!!!!
Comment No. 1226824
March 26 19:20
IRL"Our people maybe hungry but at least they are free and proud of their revolutionary heritage. The sooner you lot accept that the better for you. ZIMBABWE IS NOT FOR SALE!!"
Free to be beaten, raped, murdered, starved, made homeless, die from simple sickness for want of water and aspiran....yes they are free to a suffer a miserable existence.
Proud of the revolution - what a crock, what revolution..
Criminals and drunks given arms by russia, who never engaged in a stand up fight in their lives. Murdering familys and civilians and running away ...... what a joke. It was the UK and world pressure on South Africa that gave Mugabe a chance at the helm - how wrong we were.
Of course the majority wanted an end to white rule, but they didnt sign up for this madmans reign.
Zimbabwe is not for sale, thats the best line Ive heard. Mugabe has sold off every scrap of worth in Zimbabwe to keep himself in power. China now owns anything of value left, namely minerals and mining rights.
Mugabe belongs in the Hauge. And the people who supported him will not be forgotten.
Comment No. 1226856
March 26 19:39
USA> It is hard to see just how Zimbabwe can be saved.
So true. With the passing of Ian Smith, Zimbabwe can never go back to the days of prosperity where the country fed most of sub-Saharan Africa.
Thanks to the malfeasance of the UK government, a once-prosperous country now starves.
Comment No. 1226862
March 26 19:42
USAWell what do you know? Scratch some Brits and you might just find a colonial homunculus tricked out in pith helmet and jodhpurs. I thought was our gig these days.
Comment No. 1226866
March 26 19:44
GBRMDELELWA
Personally, I don't give a toss about lost causes like Zimbabwe.
Also, thank you for illustrating my point about nothing changing if Mugabe left. There would still be people like you to destroy the country.
Comment No. 1226881
March 26 19:48
GBR@ kickinbird
you say, "Free to be beaten, raped, murdered, starved, made homeless, die from simple sickness for want of water and aspiran....yes they are free to a suffer a miserable existence".
You could not have better described the situation in 1937 when my parents were driven out of their ancestral land any better.
They not only lost their livelihood and way of live but were subjected to terrible horrors. I am proud to say that a few weeks ago I walked a free man on those lands now back to my people all because of the revolutionary sacrifices of all Zimbabweans.
Mugabe to the Hague? Whilst Mugabe let the tyrant Smith die a free man? Ever ask yourself why we did not hang smith in 1980? Because we Africans are better humans than our oppressors.
Mugabe to the Hague? To that notorious so-called international court of justice? You must be joking. If anyone deserves to be put on trial and be shot before dawn it is Rhodies who killed thousands of Africans.
Mugabe to the Hague? What about Tony Blair and Bush? Why are you not protesting about the violence they have visited on Iraq? Or their complicity in the genocide in the DRC?
Comment No. 1226900
March 26 19:54
BHSMDELELWA: "This is about Africans standing up tall and proud and telling oppressors to get lost from their midst."
And once the 'oppressors' are gone from your midst back to Europe you'll just follow them to wherever they go because the country will turn to sh**.
That's why you're in Britain right now instead of Zimbabwe right?
There will probably be a flood of black South Africans moving to Britain soon as that country turns to Sh** under Zuma.
Comment No. 1226918
March 26 20:01
BHSMDELELWA: "Why are you not protesting about the violence they have visited on Iraq? Or their complicity in the genocide in the DRC?"
A lot of people have protested against the Iraq war and condemned Bush and Blair for their actions. Why can't you condemn Mugabe for some of what he has done?
And how do Bush and Blair get the blame for the war in the Congo when it started before they were in office?
I know that Mugabe sent soldiers to fight in the DRC but did Bush and Blair?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/611898.stm
Comment No. 1227023
March 26 20:41
GBRImperialist wrote "So true. With the passing of Ian Smith, Zimbabwe can never go back to the days of prosperity where the country fed most of sub-Saharan Africa."
Seriously Imperialist have you been eating your own feces? What is it about Euros and their love affairs for fascist big men. You need to grow up and get a life you derranged nutcake.
Comment No. 1227043
March 26 20:47
GBR@WAAZPI
"There will probably be a flood of black South Africans moving to Britain soon as that country turns to Sh** under Zuma".
There are many reasons why people migrate. But at least the Africans coming here do not come to plunder and loot the Western countries. They do not come here to rape your sisters and mothers like those evil settlers who went to Africa did to my people. Africans come here to work and earn an honest penny. I think that is what globalization is about-one global village hey! You do not complain about outward migration from places like UK. So why talk of a flood of blacks when you people flooded the world, colonized and multiplied like insects in NZ, USA , RSA, ZIM and Australia to the extent of almost breeding out the real owners of those lands.
Comment No. 1227049
March 26 20:50
GBR@WAAZPI
"There will probably be a flood of black South Africans moving to Britain soon as that country turns to Sh** under Zuma".
There are many reasons why people migrate. But at least the Africans coming here do not come to plunder and loot the Western countries. They do not come here to rape your sisters and mothers like those evil settlers who went to Africa did to my people. Africans come here to work and earn an honest penny. I think that is what globalization is about-one global village hey! You do not complain about outward migration from places like UK. So why talk of a flood of blacks when you people flooded the world, colonized and multiplied like insects in NZ, USA , RSA, ZIM and Australia to the extent of almost breeding out the real owners of those lands.
Comment No. 1227060
March 26 20:54
GBRMDELELWA & ManVanTshwane,
next time someone stops me to in the street collecting for africa I will say that i will not assist them as i do not want to be an imperialist, supprting post colonial rule or to be seen as supporting foreign agencies trying to undermine african countries. We should also assist individuals such as yourself to return to these countries as it is such a hardship in the west and you are being treated badly.
I believe the west should get out of africa and leave it alone. Africa can then have the rulers they deserve and the economic consequenses. Goodbuy africa missing you already (not).
Why do so many zimbabwe citizens want to remain in the UK if we are so bad, they have voted with thier feet.
Comment No. 1227070
March 26 21:00
IRLGovernment of national unity. Rule of Law. Economic crash plans. Emergency aid projects to establish secure supply of food, water and power. Redistribution of land. Training for farmers.
Simple things being suggested by fellow black Zimbabweans. The MDC are indigenous, the Matabele are indigenous.
Its not about whites - its about the greatest african weakness, tribal power, that is brutish and uncomprimising.
Until you stop being a victim you will not be any use to the country you profess to love.
Comment No. 1227079
March 26 21:06
MDELELWA: There are many reasons why people migrate.
Like trying to get an education, a living, freedom and many other things not available in the utopia that is Zimbabwe where everyone is fed well, owns land, has freedom, education and access to a good economy...
Nhasi ndoda kuparidza nezvedenga
Comment No. 1227080
March 26 21:06
BHSMDELELWA, many Africans have come to 'plunder and loot' by selling illegal drugs on the streets of Europe, pimping out white girls, mugging people on the streets, etc...
They are also raping white European women probably to a greater extent than black women in Africa were raped by white men. I find it difficult to believe that a white person would rape a black woman anyway.
Look at the statistics on sexual assault and rape in the US:
Rape/Sexual assault:
Number of white victims 111,490
Offenders:
white on white 44.5% (49,613)
black on white 33.6% (37,460)
Number of black victims 36,620
white on black 0% (0)
black on black 100% (36,620)
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cvus0502.pdf
(page 30 of 38)
Comment No. 1227083
March 26 21:07
MDELELWA: There are many reasons why people migrate.
Like trying to get an education, a living, freedom and many other things not available in the utopia that is Zimbabwe where everyone is fed well, owns land, has freedom, and access to a stable equitable economy...
Nhasi ndoda kuparidza nezvedenga
Comment No. 1227084
March 26 21:07
MDELELWA: There are many reasons why people migrate.
Like trying to get an education, a living, freedom and many other things not available in the utopia that is Zimbabwe where everyone is fed well, owns land, has freedom, and access to a stable equitable economy...
Nhasi ndoda kuparidza nezvedenga
Comment No. 1227102
March 26 21:14
@MDELELWA -- you've ignored the question about 5 times now, so let's be blunt: If you love Zimbabwe so much, and it's such a wonderful place to live -- then why aren't you back there with all your revolutionary brethren kissing Mugabe's feet instead of ACTUALLY living in Britian amongst all the white imperialist warmongers???
I.M. Kaffir
Comment No. 1227123
March 26 21:25
Hmmm....why isn't anyone asking China to lead a multi-national force to restore stability? Russia? India? What about France? Better yet, let Africans fix Africa -- where's Egypt? South Africa?
In a related topic, how is the Sudanese regime responding to all the hand-wringing going on?
The point is -- to actually enforce the policy of "never again" requires military force or the threat thereof. Do you really think Mugabe or the janjaweed care about what Angelina Jolie or Mia Farrow think? Or do you think that a NIMITZ-class aircraft carrier steaming off the coastline might be a better method of getting their attention? All those years Europe etc. cashed in on the peace dividend and let the US do all the heavy lifting around the world might be coming back to haunt you.
For the record -- I don't support US intervention in Zimbabwe or Darfur -- primarily because change has to come from within, but also because the US has been vilified to the point that even destroying the execrable Mugabe regime would be used against us. Europe, China, Russia, Africa -- you figure it out.
Comment No. 1227142
March 26 21:35
USAUSNCDR:
keep your racist shit to yourself
Comment No. 1227201
March 26 22:00
GBR@waazpi
you state
"I find it difficult to believe that a white person would rape a black woman anyway".
And you think your views on Zimbabwe on Africa on Black people are not affected by racism? If whites did not rape our people during the evil colonialist days why was Zimbabwe full of the so-called "coloured" people. If you know anything about Zimbabwe you will surely recall that in Byo we have a whole township called Thorgrove. Here the regime rounded and settled these "coloured" people. Some were born out of loving mixed relationships but the majority were off-spring of house girls/maids raped by their white bosses.
Comment No. 1227205
March 26 22:02
GBRWell wotcha make of this, eh:
Mugabe opponents forced to eat election posters:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/26/zimbabwe1
Comment No. 1227260
March 26 22:28
GBRwolfiesmith wrote "next time someone stops me to in the street collecting for africa I will say that i will not assist them as i do not want to be an imperialist, supprting post colonial rule or to be seen as supporting foreign agencies trying to undermine african countries. We should also assist individuals such as yourself to return to these countries as it is such a hardship in the west and you are being treated badly.
I believe the west should get out of africa and leave it alone. Africa can then have the rulers they deserve and the economic consequenses. Goodbuy africa missing you already (not).
Why do so many zimbabwe citizens want to remain in the UK if we are so bad, they have voted with thier feet."
Thank you. Fuck you and Europe adieu to you too. Do you get it thicko?...now go suck Smith, Hitler, Leopold and Blair.
Comment No. 1227263
March 26 22:29
IRLMDELELWA
dont bother with the easy answers, about stupid racist stuff... rape is not the issue
answer my questions, why is the black majority in Zimbabwe wrong?
They have no food, but Mugabe is forcing them to eat their election posters....
Have you no shame sir, start fighting for your own people - they would be Zimbabweans of every tribe, colour or political stripe.
I say again .... brutish tribalism is the real problem, Mugabe is no more than an ignorant Tony Soprano, without the charm.
Comment No. 1227264
March 26 22:29
BHSMDELELWA: "If whites did not rape our people during the evil colonialist days why was Zimbabwe full of the so-called "coloured" people. If you know anything about Zimbabwe you will surely recall that in Byo we have a whole township called Thorgrove. Here the regime rounded and settled these "coloured" people. Some were born out of loving mixed relationships but the majority were off-spring of house girls/maids raped by their white bosses."
Why do you assume it was rape rather than consensual?
There's a lot of mixed race children in Britain from black male/white female relationships.
Were all of those white women raped if the children were conceived out of wedlock?
Comment No. 1227292
March 26 22:41
GBR"Printing deceit"...you said it Meera Selva, you said it. The bare faced irony of it all. Unless it was some sort of coded SOS in response to editorial pressure(?) every honest media student in Britain should get a copy of your article. Crumbs!
Comment No. 1227320
March 26 22:51
GBRkickingbird wrote "MDELELWA dont bother with the easy answers, about stupid racist stuff... rape is not the issue
answer my questions, why is the black majority in Zimbabwe wrong?
They have no food, but Mugabe is forcing them to eat their election posters....
Have you no shame sir, start fighting for your own people - they would be Zimbabweans of every tribe, colour or political stripe.
I say again .... brutish tribalism is the real problem, Mugabe is no more than an ignorant Tony Soprano, without the charm.
Kickingbird what is wrong with you, what is the meaning of all the pointless gibberish your talking. What has it got to do with Zimbabwe. Indignant Irish tribesman.
Comment No. 1227354
March 26 23:03
GBRManVanTshwane, you still here? Funny that, why aren't you in your beloved Africa, if you love the place so much? Oh yeah, because the UK is where the money is. Fancy that, eh?
You'd rather stay here in the UK and accuse the rest of us of racism because we believe most of Sub-Saharan Africa is a God-forsaken tribalist hell-hole?
Comment No. 1227359
March 26 23:05
GBR@KICKINBIRD
You are right, VERY RIGHT. People are starving in Zimbabwe. Children are dying from starvation and poor malnutrition.
Many are dying from AIDS because there are no drugs to contain the HIV virus in their bodies.
Diseases that were banished from the midst of people long ago have come back to haunt Zimbabwe. Raw sewage runs in the streets. Dams and other water reservoirs are full but cities still face water shortages. Cholera outbreaks threaten daily.
Women cannot get their hands on any sanitary pads. Their hygiene situation is dire.
The Zim dollar has become useless.
The list is endless the pain unbearable. That is what happens when arrogant Western countries slap illegal sanctions on a country. The West is responsible for all the funerals that will be happening up and down the country tomorrow. Until your kind has the guts to face truth and campaign against these illegal sanctions, more Zimbabweans will die. Why? Because they dared drive out four thousand white farmers who were running little Rhodesias in those farms.
God is watching!!!!!
Comment No. 1227369
March 26 23:07
GBR@KICKINBIRD
You are right, VERY RIGHT. People are starving in Zimbabwe. Children are dying from starvation and poor malnutrition.
Many are dying from AIDS because there are no drugs to contain the HIV virus in their bodies.
Diseases that were banished from the midst of people long ago have come back to haunt Zimbabwe. Raw sewage runs in the streets. Dams and other water reservoirs are full but cities still face water shortages. Cholera outbreaks threaten daily.
Women cannot get their hands on any sanitary pads. Their hygiene situation is dire.
The Zim dollar has become useless.
The list is endless the pain unbearable. That is what happens when arrogant Western countries slap illegal sanctions on a country. The West is responsible for all the funerals that will be happening up and down the country tomorrow. Until your kind has the guts to face truth and campaign against these illegal sanctions, more Zimbabweans will die. Why? Because they dared drive out four thousand white farmers who were running little Rhodesias in those farms.
God is watching!!!!!