Mail on Sunday, UK
Last updated at 21:17pm on
14th May 2008
Voters in Zimbabwe face a much longer wait for a say in the
run-off
presidential election.
The government yesterday
changed the law which says the poll must be held
within 21 days of the first
official results being announced.
Under the new rules unveiled yesterday,
this period has been extended to 90
days.
With the official results
of the disputed vote not released until May 2, the
second election could be
held as late as July 31.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat
President Mugabe in the
presidential poll on March 29 but not by enough
votes to avoid a run-off.
In a parliamentary election held on the same
day, the ruling ZANU-PF party
lost its majority to the opposition for the
first time since independence
from Britain in 1980.
The sudden change
of 21 days to 90 was announced by the Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa in
a government gazette.
Movement for Democratic Change spokesman Nelson
Chamisa said the change was
"illegal and unfair".
He added: "It is
part of a programme to give Mugabe and ZANU-PF time to
torment and continue
a campaign of violence."
The MDC says 32 of its supporters have been
killed in the aftermath of the
elections.
VOA
By Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
14 May
2008
The death toll from post-election political violence
among activists and
supporters of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for
Democratic Change has
climbed to 33, officials of the MDC formation headed
by Morgan Tsvangirai
said on Wednesday.
They said activist Better
Chakururama of Murehwa, Mashonaland East Province,
was found murdered on
Sunday but the news only reached Harare on Wednesday.
Opposition sources
said Chakururama, who spent around four months in prison
during 2007 in a
government crackdown on the party, was still recovering
from a beating he
received three weeks ago when he was abducted Saturday and
stabbed to
death.
Elsewhere, the opposition party's security secretary for Harare
province,
Tonderai Ndira, was abducted from his Mabvuku home early Wednesday
morning
by heavily armed and masked men, MDC sources said. He has not been
seen
since.
Mashonaland East MDC Organizing Secretary Piniel Denga
told VOA reporter
Jonga Kandemiiri that Chakururama’s death has stunned
party members.
Elsewhere, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network said two
of its staff were
detained by ruling party youth militia late Monday in
Mudzi district,
Mashonaland East Province, where they had gone to bring a
victim of violence
to a hospital. They escaped after being held for about
six hours, but their
Toyota Land Cruiser was confiscated.
National
Director Rindai Chipfunde-Vava said the group is trying to recover
the auto,
but acknowledged that this might be a dangerous undertaking.
New Zimbabwe
By Staff
Reporter
Last updated: 05/15/2008 08:00:05
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe,
grappling with record-breaking inflation, has
introduced a new Z$500 million
bank note barely two weeks after issuing
Z$250 million and Z$100 million
denominations.
The beleagured central bank has also introduced agro
cheques, which come
into circulation on Tuesday and expire in
December.
The agro cheques are in Z$5 billion, Z$25 billion and Z$50
billion
denominations.
Acting RBZ Governor Dr Charity Dhliwayo last
night said the agro cheques had
been introduced to facilitate the
implementation of the "grain mobilisation
programme" in the face of the
unfolding global food crisis.
She said the special cheques could be used
to purchase any goods and
services in the same manner as bearer
cheques.
“The latest innovation seeks to bring convenience to our farmers
who,
starting this year’s marketing season, are receiving competitive prices
for
their produce,” she said.
She said retailers would be able to
deposit the agro cheques in the normal
banking system and banks would then
deposit them at the central bank for
immediate reimbursement while both
banks and shops could also reissue the
agro cheques, whose date of expiry
will coincide with the end of the
agriculture marketing season.
This
is the third set of high denomination notes to be issued this year, the
last
on May 6 when the Z$250 million and Z$100 were put in circulation. On
April
2, the RBZ launched a Z$50 million note, itself following on the
introduction of a Z$10 million note in January.
The southern African
nation, currently gripped by a post-election crisis,
has been ravaged by
hyperinflation which reached 165,000 percent in
February.
It decided
recently to float its currency to eliminate speculation on the
black
market.
The country's chronic economic crisis has condemned millions to
grinding
poverty with at least 80 percent of the population living below the
poverty
threshold amid mass shortages of basic goods in shops.
Nehanda Radio
15 May
2008
Zimbabwe National Students Union Secretary for Information and
Publicity
Blessing Vava was found on Saturday afternoon in Banket,
Mashonaland West
Province.
He was kidnapped by suspected war veterans
after addressing students at
Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) last
Wednesday.
According to Vava he was picked by war veterans at Chinhoyi
University and
was taken to a place outside Chinhoyi town were he was
interrogated about
ZINASU activities.
He was tortured while his face
was covered. He was then bundled into a car
and dumped in Banket were he
seeks assistance of villagers. During his
entire ordeal he did not eat
anything and his health deteriorated
significantly.
Meanwhile,police
in Chinhoyi failed to raise substantive charges against
detained Chinhoyi
University of Technology students on Friday afternoon.
Faith Mutepfa,
Lothando Sibanda, and Privillege Matizanadzo who briefly
appeared in
Chinhoyi magistrate court had their charges thrown out by court.
The
court released the three and ordered the police to proceed if they
gather
enough evidence to press charges. The charges were not warranting
prosecution. The three were arrested during a student demonstration last
Wednesday on cumpus. Students were demand an end to the post election
violence that is rocking the country.
In Masvingo,Courage Ngwarai the
Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU)
secretary for legal and academic
affairs and Hillary Matanga, a student at
Great Zimbabwe University (GZU)
were released late on Saturday afternoon
after paying admission of guilt
fines.
Their charge was ”Disorderly conduct in a public place as defined
in section
41.b of the criminal law (Codification and Reform )Act chapter
9.23 ……..
Wantonly engages in a riotous conduct.” Ngwarai was arrested on 08
May at
the university. This follows a student demonstration demanding that
GZU
authorities stop evicting him from the college. A lot of students were
injured during the clash with armed riot police.
The Zimbabwe
National students Union Vice President Brilliant Dube has
condemned the
victimization of students especially female students .She said
the arrests
were a ploy to stop female students from participating in
academic
struggles. She also urged the Harare administration to stop the
violence
that has characterized the post election period. -ZINASU
New Zimbabwe
By Lebo Nkatazo
Last updated: 05/15/2008 08:47:27
ZIMBABWE'S
sole broadcaster, the state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC),
signalled a step-up of its propaganda drive for President Robert
Mugabe's
beleaguered regime when it fired its chief executive officer, Henry
Muradzikwa on Wednesday.
Muradzikwa, the former boss of the state-run
news agency, Ziana, had only
been in the job for 19 months.
His
tenure at the ZBC was marked by bruising battles with workers' unions
over
poor pay, and he once threatened ZBC employees with "state machinery"
when
they gave notice of industrial action.
Justin Mutasa, the ZBC Board
chairperson, said the government, which is the
largest shareholder, had
expressed "dissatisfaction with the way in which
the national broadcaster
was handling national issues".
Mutasa said the decision to terminate the
veteran newsman's contract
followed a board meeting earlier on
Wednesday.
He said: “We have parted ways with Muradzikwa. We met with him
this
afternoon and we reached an agreement that he leaves ZBC. After the
meeting
we agreed that aziva kwake, aziva kwake (we go our seperate
ways)."
Mugabe's government, in power since 1980, uses the ZBC as its
official
megaphone while refusing to allow independent players into the
industry.
The ZBC is often criticised by opposition parties for its bias
towards
Mugabe's Zanu PF party, and has been known to reject opposition
adverts.
Muradzikwa's demise coincided with an announcement by the
Zimbabwe
government that an overdue presidential election run-off between
Mugabe and
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai would be held before August
1.
Opposition officials say at least 32 supporters have been killed in
violence
since the first round of voting on March 29 which failed to produce
a clear
winner, although parliamentary elections held at the same time
confirmed the
MDC had overturned Zanu PF's majority.
Now, it appears
the MDC will have to comprehend with a renewed propaganda
offensive as
Muradzikwa's successor seeks to keep Mugabe in power
Aid to the Church in Need
ACN News: Thursday, 15th May 2008 –
ZIMBABWE
By John
Newton
FOLLOWING a visit to Zimbabwe, the South African Bishop’s
Conference (SACBC)
has added its voice to those calling for an immediate end
to the beatings,
torture, and deaths which have darkened the country
following its
controversial elections.
The president of SACBC, Archbishop
Buti Tlhagale, Bishop of Johannesburg,
and Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, Bishop
of Durban, heard “first-hand accounts of
systematic intimidation, violence
and torture” when they visited the country
last week.
This confirms
previous reports received by Catholic charity Aid to the
Church in Need that
tell how hundreds of people have been attacked and many
homes destroyed by
supporters of de facto President Robert Mugabe.
Last week ACN paid out an
emergency grant of $30,000 to help needy children
in the archdiocese of
Bulawayo, where demonstrators against the violence
were beaten by police
earlier this month according to ‘Women of Zimbabwe
Arise’ who organised the
march.
Archbishop Tlhagale said: “This ‘reign of terror’ has seen many
deaths,
savage beatings and flight from family, homes and
communities.”
Victims identified the perpetrators of the attacks as members
of the country’s
Armed Forces, the Police, and the Central Intelligence
Organization (CIO),
as well as naming War Veterans, and members of the Youth
Militia.
According to Archbishop Tlhagale, it is not only those believed to
have
voted against Mugabe who have been targeted, but also Polling
Officers.
The President of the South African Bishop’s Conference called on
“all
political parties to reign in their supporters and end this
horror.”
The Archbishop of the South African Bishop’s Conference ended his
statement
by questioning whether a “free and fair” run-off election was
possible if
there was no will to end the violence, and he called for
International
Election Observers to be deployed immediately.
He said: “A
run-off election in Zimbabwe will not be possible without an
immediate end
to intimidation, violence and torture and the deployment of
reliable
international election observers.”
The latest news from Zimbabwe is that the
run-off election is expected in
three months, but some are speculating that
it may be up to a year.
Last week the Catholic Bishops of Zimbabwe joined
other national Church
leaders to decry the military’s vicious and organised
attacks on civilians
“accused of campaigning or voting for the ‘wrong’
political party in the
March 29, 2008 elections”.
They said: “People are
being abducted, tortured, humiliated … and in some
cases people are being
murdered.”
Aid to the Church in Need is set to pay more than $250,000 in aid
for
Zimbabwe over the course of 2008.
Editor’s
Notes:
Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports
the faithful
wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.
ACN is a
Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through
prayer,
information and action.
Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van
Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named
“An Outstanding Apostle of Charity”,
the organisation is now at work in
about 145 countries throughout the
world.
The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including
providing
transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of
church
buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train
seminarians. Since
the initiative’s launch in 1979, 45 million Aid to the
Church in Need Child’s
Bibles have been distributed worldwide.
Mmegi, Botswana
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
NOAH SALAKAE*
Fourteen long agonising years now separate us
from those days which turned
day into night, life into death, when an orgy
of bloodletting unprecedented
in the history of the Republic of
Rwanda.
The genocide was sparked by the death of the Rwandan
president Juvenal
Habyarimana, a Hutu, when his plane was shot down above
Kigali airport on 6
April 1994. And with him the president of Burundi
Cyprian Ntaryamira and
many chief members of staff were killed.
Some
seconds after this painful ordeal, Leaders of the political opposition
were
murdered, and almost immediately, the slaughter of Tutsis and moderate
Hutus
began. The early organisers included military officials, politicians
and
businessmen, but soon many others joined in the mayhem. Encouraged by
the
presidential guard and radio propaganda, an unofficial militia group
called
the Interahamwe (meaning those who attack together) was mobilised.
Soldiers
and police officers encouraged ordinary citisens to take
part.
Participants were often given incentives, such as money or food,
and some
were even told they could appropriate the land of the Tutsis they
killed. On
the ground, the international community largely left the Rwandese
alone. UN
troops withdrew after the murder of 10 soldiers. Between April and
June 1994
(hardly three months), an estimated 800,000 Rwandese were killed
and many
more fled to the neighbouring countries of Burundi, Tansania and
Uganda in a
space of 100 days.
Just across the border to the north of
our beloved country, humanity is yet
again threatened by these lingering
murder mystery and gruesome crimes
perpetuated against innocent souls, this
time around against the voiceless
and poor ordinary Zimbabweans while the
international community is yet again
trapped into a culture of suffer in
silence. What pains us more is the fact
that the victims of these
occasionally ethnic-ridden tensions are none other
than members of the
so-called minority tribes whose only participation in
many economies is
marked by the casting of a ballot. By so doing, opening
doors to riches for
eventual office bearers and their beloved families who
later turn around and
put knives on these innocent voters' throats as a
token of
appreciation.
A quite regrettable scenario and a sheer act of infamy is a
case where these
voiceless and economically disadvantaged groups often fall
victims of their
own very decisions it is purported they make through the
power of their
vote. They queue lines with little knowledge that they are in
actual fact
spelling doom to their sacrosanct right of existing as humans;
they queue
lines with little knowledge that they are in actual fact sliding
their lives
once more into depression and despair, and other problems that
distort and
mutilate human existence. The vital task therefore, confronting
all those
who desire the creation of a more humane society like Chelwa ya
Shekgalagari
Association is to raise up the banner of hope, to establish
once again in
the popular consciousness the inextricable connection between
elections,
which is basically the inalienable right of choosing a leader of
your
choice, and peace and security, as well as hope for better living. The
challenge is to help restore to peace and security their democratic essence,
their passionate concern with human freedom. At a memorial conference at the
UN headquarters in April 2004, Kofi Annan, then UN Chief of Security Council
(Kofi Annan was UN Secretary-General from Jan 1997 to Dec 2006) said he
realised he personally could have done more to rally support for
international efforts to stop the Rwandan genocide. To quote him verbatim,
he said: "The international community failed Rwanda and that must leave us
always with a sense of bitter regret," and that "the international community
is guilty of sins of omission". We only wish as Chelwa ya Shekgalagari
Association that Annan's painful memories could influence the current UN
Chief of Security Council Ban-Ki-moon (Ban Ki-moon succeeded Annan as the
current UN Secretary-General) to lobby the international community to employ
the political will to achieve the necessary agreement on how to put in place
the type of measures that will prevent a possible genocide that is currently
looming in Zimbabwe from happening to the world in the
future.
African Union (AU) under the Chairmanship of President John
Kufuor of Ghana
(Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete succeeded Kufuor early
this year)
watched helplessly as people were being butchered recently in
Kenya and is
continuing watching helplessly as people are being butchered in
Zimbabwe.
SADC under the Chairmanship of President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia
is
helplessly watching as people are being butchered in Zimbabwe. Is the
international community only going to act decisively after a plane carrying
Tsvangirai and his entourage who can be you, or your relative is
courageously brought down by the so-called war veterans? Is the
international community only going to act decisively after the Ndebeles in
Bulawayo, Plumtree and other Ndebele areas are brutally massacred and forced
to flee their ancestral land? It took three months in Rwanda to unashamedly
force close to a million souls to depart from this world before it was their
time! A buoyant Minister of Justice in Zimbabwe, Hon Patrick Chinamasa has
of late been pronouncing that it might take close to a year before the
anticipated presidential run-off takes place! One wonders how many souls
would have unceremoniously departed this world before then because of the
butchering perpetuated by war veterans' militia! What then can we do to help
as Botswana?
To begin with, we kindly request that as you read
through this discourse,
you close your eyes and think deeply about the
situation of Zimbabwe. Think
if it were your mum or kid, how would you be
feeling now? As we speak a
person is virtually sent to a death row by war
veterans' militia in Zimbabwe
without a trial and eventual conviction by a
competent judiciary. The threat
of genocide and with it, of human
annihilation, is greater now in Zimbabwe
than at any time in the
contemporary history of any Sub Saharan African
state. This discourse is
written under the conviction that under the world
now plagued by violence
and war normally perpetuated by lust for power and
greed by fascist-type
dictators so much characteristic in Africa, no African
country can
confidently say its territory is immune to a situation that has
now
bedevilled Zimbabwe. It does not matter the types of names Botswana
would
attract from her detractors, if ever an effort was needed to position
ourselves as caring, compassionate and serious minded human beings or nation
in the face of the world, it must be today. It is becoming a necessity to
determine whether our existence as human beings on the one door created by
one God holds any validity if the very existence of human beings next door
is under siege.
Zimbabweans stand in desperate need of a genuine help
today than ever
before. They have fought to break the chains of domination
that have tied
them to a life of drudgery and misery through a power of vote
but reality
has proven them otherwise. Jacques Roux put it at the height of
the French
Revolution in 1793 that; "Liberty is no more than an empty shell
when one
class of men is allowed to condemn another to starvation without
any
measures being taken against them. And equality is also an empty shell
when
one class of men, have the power of life or death over other members of
the
community".
It is against this background that we pray with peace
loving people of this
country, Human Rights Institutions, Political
Organisations across the
divide i.e., Government and the civil society as a
whole to converge at the
National Stadium and once again condemn the
monstrous acts that were once
attributed to the Late Ian Smith's regime by
none other than Robert Gabriel
Mugabe and his lieutenants. We urge the
nation to unequivocally declare
solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe. God
willing! It is our hope that
Zimbabweans who flee their country and seek
refuge in Botswana shall be
treated with dignity and
respect.
*Salakae, is the Secretary of Chelwa ya Shekgalagari Cultural
Association,
(a non-political association fighting for the emancipation of
the minority
groups).
International Herald Tribune
The Associated PressPublished:
May 14, 2008
WASHINGTON: The United States has protested to
the Zimbabwean government
over harassment of the American ambassador and
other diplomats in Harare,
State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said
Wednesday.
The U.S. envoy and other diplomats were detained for an hour
Tuesday at a
police roadblock after they visited a hospital to check on
victims of
political violence that broke out after last month's presidential
elections.
"Certainly, it is inappropriate behavior and we wanted to make
sure that the
government was aware of our concerns about this issue," Casey
said.
He also said the United States and others, including
representatives of the
Southern Africa Development Council who are in
Zimbabwe, do not "think
conditions are right now to have a safe and fair
run-off" election for
president.
Casey said if a run-off is to be
held, the international community should
push the Zimbabwean government to
make sure conditions are in place for a
fair vote, including independent
supervision of the Zimbabwean electoral
commission and the presence of SADC
observers throughout the country so
violence can be deterred.
VOA
By Blessing Zulu
Washington
14
May 2008
A diplomatic row between the United States and
Zimbabwe widened Wednesday as
the state-controlled Herald newspaper accused
U.S. Ambassador James McGee of
mounting "a spirited campaign to demonize"
the government and breaching
diplomatic protocol by visiting rural hospitals
treating victims of
political violence.
The Herald broadside followed
incidents Tuesday in which police in Mvurwe, a
town in Mashonaland Central
Province north of Harare, attempted to detain
McGee and other envoys at a
hospital after they tried to visit victims of
politically motivated attacks.
The diplomatic convoy was again delayed at a
roadblock on its way back to
Harare.
The Herald stated that McGee, "who has been on a spirited
campaign to
demonize the government ahead of the presidential election
run-off...circumvented diplomatic protocol and went on a "fact-finding
mission" to support his claims of political violence against the
opposition." It said McGee breached diplomatic protocol in traveling more
than 40 kilometers from Harare without Foreign Affairs Ministry
permission.
McGee rejected this contention, saying that diplomatic
protocols allow him
as a diplomat to travel the width and breadth of a
country to which he is
posted.
McGee said he and British, Japanese,
Tanzanian and European Union diplomats
saw "evidence that violence is being
perpetrated against innocent people
who'd done nothing more than vote their
conscience in the last election."
Since the March 29 general elections in
which the opposition won a majority
in the lower house of parliament and its
presidential candidate Morgan
Tsvangirai outpolled Mr. Mugabe, youth militia
and war veterans linked to
the ruling ZANU-PF party have been attacking
opposition members in rural
communities. The death toll among opposition
members has risen to 33, an MDC
official said Wednesday.
Government
and ZANU-PF officials have blamed the violence on the opposition,
but many
observers have concluded the state sanctions and supports the
violence.
McGee told reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that he
sees "no evidence that the government is determined to stop
this violence."
|
15 May 2008
Zimbabwe Democracy on Trial
A chronology of a stolen
election for fact-checking
29 March 2008
7 p.m. Polls close throughout the country with few reported incidents.
Reconciliation of ballot papers and counting process takes place with few reported incidents.
10 pm. Results begin to be sent to MDC Command Center by MDC polling agents
Throughout the night, after counting is completed, V11 tally forms are posted outside all (+/- 9200) polling station as required by law. MDC heard of few incidents. Some rural counting was stopped until morning because of lack of electricity. This is a consensual agreement of all parties in these polling stations.
29-30-31 March
Counting is completed at all polling stations. The Representatives of all Parties agree and sign off on the results for each Polling Station on a form called a V11, copies of which are posted outside the Polling Station for public viewing as required by law
(MDC polling agents report the results by SMS and phone to MDC election command center after the count is completed. 85% of polling agents report V11 results by 31 March.)
The V 11 forms are then transported by ZEC to the ward level Command Centres where they are summarized into V 23 forms. The Results of these Council Elections are announced and a copy posted outside. Ballot boxes remain at the Polling Stations and are only moved to the Constituency Command Centres at a later stage
These V 23 forms then travel with Police/ZEC vehicles to the 210 Constituency Command Centres for tallying of House of Assembly seats. This process is largely completed by ZEC officials by 31 March. Results for each of the 207 House of Assembly seats are announced by Constituency Election Officers and again the results are posted outside for public viewing
MDC hears of no cases where Constituency Election Officers deviated from this procedure.
These V23 forms travel to the Senatorial Command Centers for compilation of Senate results. Senate election results are tallied and winners announced. This is mostly completed by 31 March.
The V23 forms then traveled to Provincial Command Centres where all the results for each Province are tallied to get Provincial Results. No results are announced at this stage of the process. The V23 forms for each Province are then moved for submission to the National Counting Center in Harare.
Chris Mbanga’s responsibilities only started here…
1 April
Chief Election Agents (or candidates) for President assemble at
the Sheraton Command Center to begin the final verification process which
started at 2.30 p.m.
By 3.30 p.m. verification is completed of Presidential results of both Harare and Bulawayo provinces with minor amendments. Chief Election Officers of the MDC and the Independent parties, (zanu pf was not present), sign off on the figures for these provinces.
Verification process begins for Mashonaland Central. MDC’s chief electoral agent notices some high figures in some constituencies and requests to verify the V11 forms tally with ZEC numbers.
MDC Chief Election Agent is told by ZEC that the V11s are still in the province.
ZEC says, “once the V11s are assembled we will continue with the process.” ZEC notes to the chief election agents, “there will be some logistical problems” in getting the V11s.
MDC offers to loan ZEC some fuel to assist with these problems in retrieving the V11s from provincial centers. This offer is not accepted.
1-8 April,
MDC hears nothing from ZEC at all.
8 April
MDC learns that ZEC Counting Center at the Sheraton has been
dismantled.
Chief Election Agent meets ZEC official, where he is having breakfast, who reports that it had to be closed because of ZEC’s financial constraints but that “the verification team is ‘somewhere.’
MDC was not informed that the Counting Command Center was now closed.
MDC eventually hears “from the grapevine” that the verification center has moved to Room 1611 of the Sheraton.
MDC is told, however, that armed people surround the room and that they “wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near”. (MDC never confirmed that police were armed).
9 April
MDC verification team decides to move out of Sheraton Hotel because of budget
constraints.
9-29 April
MDC hears nothing from ZEC except for Pamire who called
approximately twice in the week on behalf of Chief Election Officer Sekeramayi
to say “they are still working on the V11’s”
29 April
Chief Election Agents and/or candidates are invited to
verification exercise at 2:30 pm on 1 May at the Sheraton Conference Center.
MDC expresses reservations about delay in calling them to the verification center.
Both MDC and Simba Makoni demand to know what they had done with their votes for all these weeks. This was well articulated by Makoni.
MDC Chief Election Agent states, “we need to agree on the methodology of the whole exercise. We should all understand what verification is so we are all clear right from the beginning.”
He states “all must agree that the counting center is like a polling station and processes that take place in a polling station have to apply to the verification exercise.”
After agreement on methodology, MDC request the national vote total according to ZEC.
ZEC complies.
MDC then asks for the national total broken into each province and then each constituency.
ZEC complies.
But then ZEC asks MDC and the other candidates to provide ZEC with their own vote totals.
MDC rejects this request, telling ZEC that ZEC is the official authority running the election.
MDC notes that its figures are not necessary to provide because it is ZEC’s numbers that must stand in the court of law, not MDCs which were gathered from V11 forms posted on polling stations.
Makoni and zanu pf provide all their count figures to ZEC.
MDC gives only its own National Total and Morgan Tsvangirai’s Total. ZEC then punches these figures into their computer and they themselves come up with the percentage figure of 50.3%
ZEC asks MDC for its Provincial and other candidate’s breakdowns. MDC says it is not its business to provide ZEC numbers for its competitors. Chief Election Agents says “I have come to tell you, I am telling you now, MDC won this election.”
MDC sees no need for ZEC to produce every V11 tally sheet for the entire country. It requests ZEC to provide V11s only in places where it believes that turnout spikes indicate MDC may have been cheated.
ZEC continued to tell MDC, “give us your numbers.”
Finally ZEC says “we don’t seem to be making any progress.”
ZEC then asks MDC to bring its figures “tomorrow or they will be excluded from the process.”
MDC tells ZEC that its secretariat had not included the number breakdowns in their briefing packs that day and would return with them. Verification then adjourns and arguments postponed until the following morning.
2 May
ZEC again calls upon MDC to present its detailed figures as ZANU and Makoni had done. The fourth candidate had no figures at all so MDC said “we will help you.”
MDC agrees to provide ZEC the provincial breakdowns.
ZEC then says “we have a big problem with figures, what’s the way forward?”
MDC requests the V11s to verify the numbers provided by ZEC, especially in Mashonaland West Province.
MDC agents says “we need to agree on the number of wards and polling stations in that province” in order to ensure its receives the full compilation of V11 forms.
The process of verification then starts soon after 10.00 am.
First V11 form: No problems.
Second V11 form: No problems.
Third V11
form: Problems. Form has no MDC signature. ZEC explains this could be for two
reasons, either the polling agent wasn’t there or he refused to sign. MDC says
“okay. We will investigate but give them the benefit of the doubt.” MDC notes
down this anomaly.
Fourth V11 form: No problems.
Fifth V11 Form: Problems. “Form” is actually handwritten piece of paper, not an official form, but the MDC polling agent had signed it. MDC tells ZEC it needs to identify and query the polling agent for this polling station.
Sixth V11 form: No problems.
Seven V11 form: No problems.
After reviewing only seven V11’s, the verification process is then abruptly stopped at 11.20 by the Chief Election Officer Sekeremayi who states, “we can no longer continue this process. If we continue this process it will take four weeks.”
MDC election agent responds, “you have had our votes for four weeks; we are prepared to wait four more weeks. We want a credible and transparent verification process.”
The meeting is adjourned until 2:00 pm
When Chief Election Agents return it is a markedly hostile environment. Chief Election Officer Sekeremayi simply reads a statement saying he will announce result. He states “if parties are dissatisfied with the results, they can go to court.” He then proceeds to formally announce the result, despite voluminous protestations, (including protests from Makoni himself)
MDC responds to the announcement telling Sekeramayi it will reject the result because the legally-mandated verification process has not taken place. Accordingly, MDC does not sign the results verification form as required by law, and as mandated at the SADC Extraordinary Summit in Lusaka. SADC rep Kingsley Mamabolo and Salamao are also present when the verification was precipitously stopped. (The SADC Reps indicate that they are only here to observe and therefore cannot do or say anything).
Zim Online
by Ntando Ncube Thursday 15 May 2008
JOHANNESBURG – More than
60 Zimbabwean immigrants who were left injured and
homeless in xenophobic
attacks in Johannesburg on Wednesday appealed to
immigration authorities to
send them back home to Zimbabwe, saying it was no
longer safe for them to
stay in South Africa.
“We are now appealing to Home Affairs to take us
back. We want to go back to
our country, it’s not easy to stay in South
Africa. Anywhere in South
Africa, we are not safe . . . we came here for
jobs and this is what we
get," said Tariro Mudavanhu, a victim of the
xenophobic attacks.
She added, "They insulted us. They screamed, they
shouted and said get out .
. . they said leave everything. They demanded
cellphones and money?.”
Xenophobic violence broke out in the Johannesburg
township of Alexandra when
a group of South African men attacked foreign
nationals around midnight on
Sunday setting off ugly scenes of assault,
looting, rape and destruction of
property.
Foreign nationals mostly
from Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe had to seek
refuge at Alexandra police
station after they were assaulted and driven off
out of the shacks in which
they were living.
A Zimbabwean pressure group National Constitution
Assembly (NCA), which has
an office in South Africa office, other human
rights organisations and well
wishers yesterday, distributed blankets,
clothes and food to victims now
based at the police station.
“The NCA
is concerned over the failure by the local security authorities to
protect
both local and foreign nationals living in the country,” NCA
coordinator
Tapera Kapuya said yesterday in Alexandra.
“As we condemn the Ministry of
Safety and Security's failure to put in place
measures in townships where
foreign nationals live despite early warnings
over violence that took place
in Pretoria, the NCA urges the South African
government to urgently show
political will in protecting the rights of
non-nationals,” he
added
South Africa’s official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party
urged the
government to deploy the army to help calm the situation in
Alexandra.
“The army should only be used in a civilian context in case of
serious
emergency. But I believe we may have reached that stage. They should
either
be reinforced so that they can, or the army should be brought in to
back
them up,” a DA provincial legislator John Moodey said after visiting
some of
the victims.
The violence in Alexandra is the latest in a
series of attacks on foreigners
in South Africa’s poor townships, where
residents often struggle for scarce
resources.
Gauteng Member of the
Executive Committee for Finance and Economic
Development Paul Mashatile,
ruling African National Congress (ANC) party and
Gautengprovincial leaders
on Wednesday visited Alexandra and met with
community leaders, ANC branch
members and religious groups in an attempt to
find a way of avoiding further
violence.
Meanwhile South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on
Wednesday
condemned the attacks on innocent immigrants labelling them as
“anti-working
class”.
NUM secretary general Frans Baleni said: “It is
totally unacceptable and
inexcusable that immigrants could be attacked for
being immigrants in a
country which purports to support human
rights.
“The working class and the poor should be united against the
common enemy
such as oppressive regimes and capitalist exploitation. We
cannot wage war
against each other. Workers of the world should unite and
therefore we must
discourage this malady.”
NUM urged its members to
take part in street marches called by the umbrella
Congress of South African
Trade Unions (COSATU) later this week to protest
against rising food prices
in South Africa and against the deteriorating
situation in Zimbabwe, which
was forcing many of that country’s citizens to
flee to neighbouring
countries.
An estimated three million Zimbabweans are living in South
Africa and other
neighbouring states – many of them illegally – after
fleeing their home
country because of political violence and worsening
economic hardships. –
ZimOnline
The Times, SA
Nkululeko Ncana and Thabo Mkhize
Published:May 15, 2008
Attacks now in Diepsloot, Alex tense
Senior ANC
leaders, including Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, have condemned the xenophobic
attacks in Alexandra and have apologised to its victims — but late last night
police confirmed that the violence had spread to Diepsloot, another township
north of Johannesburg.
Four people have been killed and dozens injured since
the attacks on foreigners began in Alexandra on Sunday night.
Late last
night, Metro police spokeswoman Superintendent Edna Mamonyane confirmed that men
in several bakkies, apparently from Alexandra, drove to Diepsloot and opened
fire on residents.
She said: “ It seems like it is the same thing that is
happening in Alexandra.”
Several injuries were reported as residents clashed
with police.
Not far from Diepsloot, the epicentre of the latest upsurge in
xenophobic violence, Alexandra was quiet, but tense last night. Heavily armed
police patrolled the streets and ordered residents to remain indoors.
Earlier
in the day, Madikizela- Mandela, Gauteng finance MEC Paul Mashatile, housing MEC
Nomvula Mokonyane, transport MEC Ignatius Jacobs and sports MEC Barbara Creecy
met police and community leaders in Alexandra .
Madikizela-Mandela apologised
to the immigrants who have been targeted .
However, President Thabo Mbeki and
ANC president Jacob Zuma have said nothing.
And no concrete plans to end the
violence have been announced.
“It is criminals and not South Africans who
don’t want you. But please forgive us for what has happened to you. We will help
you as long as you are still here,” Madikizela-Mandela said.
Firoz Cachalia,
Gauteng MEC for safety and security, said it was clear criminals were taking
advantage of the tensions in Alexandra.
He said: “This is not just
xenophobia. South African families have been displaced from their homes. It is
clear that a criminal element is involved. South Africa represents emancipation
from tribalism and discrimination. We are embarrassed by what has happened.”
At least 66 people have been arrested for taking part in the violence in
Alexandra.
The ANC leaders visited the families of two men killed in the
violence and the refugees who have been forced to flee their homes.
Nelson
Chaminga, one of hundreds of immigrants taking refuge at the Alexandra police
station, told Madikizela-Mandela the foreigners would rather leave South Africa
so they “could die closer to home ... because things are equally bad
there”.
She responded: “The government and the ANC will do everything in
their power to see that stability is restored here. It is most tragic that
xenophobia should be used as an explanation for the crisis .”
She said there
were deeper reasons for the violence in Alexandra. These were linked to
frustrations about living conditions, which had not improved since the advent of
democracy in 1994.
“There are serious problems that should have been
addressed before now and this [violence] is a cry from the people that we must
speed up [service] delivery ,” Madikizela-Mandela said.
She said: “I
criss-crossed the country [in] 1994 and assured people that the problems they
were experiencing would, 14 years down the line, at least be reduced …
“It
is particularly painful for me because I promised them. I promised a better life
for all, and that we were going to push back the frontiers of poverty. And here
I drive through the streets of Alex and I am on the same muddy streets and in
the same filth — I was here in 1994 and the people of Alex gave us the highest
votes, so it is very personal for me.”
Mashatile said: “We can’t solve the
problems overnight, but we will work very hard to make sure that the situation
is under control in the next few days. ”
Thabo Masebe, spokesman for the
Gauteng legislature, said accommodation was being sought for the scores of
displaced foreigners seeking shelter at the police station.
Zimbabwean Regina
Dube said she had lived in Alexandra for 13 years without incident.
“Now I’m
scared of the people I’ve lived with. I wish I could go home but I don’t have
enough money. I’ve already sent some belongings back to Zimbabwe, but the
situation [there] is not any better,” she said.
South African Monica Mshiywa,
34, is one of many locals whose shack was ransacked by the marauding mob. She
also sought shelter at the police station.
“I’m a South African and I’ve been
forced out of my house. I think this is just a crime,” she said.
The
Anti-Privatisation Forum and the Alexandra Vukuzenzele Crisis Committee joined
the chorus of condemnation.
They said : “It is a tragedy that such attacks
are happening in poor working-class communities, where the poor are fighting the
poor.
“Blaming foreigners and launching violent attacks on [ them] will
benefit no one except those who feed off the desperation and poverty of the
poor.”
Sapa reports that the DA wants the army to help the over-stretched
police to stop the violence.
“The army should be used in a civilian context
only in an emergency, but I believe we might have reached that stage,” said
party spokesman John Moodey.
zimbabwejournalists.com
15th May 2008 00:24 GMT
By Ian Nhuka
BULAWAYO -
The Electoral Court has ordered President Robert Mugabe to
gazette in the
next fortnight, the date for the sitting of a nomination
court to accept
prospective candidates for the Pelandaba-Mpopoma Lower House
constituency
by-election.
Justice Nicholas Ndou made the ruling at the High Court in
Bulawayo last
Friday, in a case brought to the court by an independent
candidate in the
constituency, Job Sibanda.
The House of Assembly
election in the constituency was postponed on the eve
of the March 29
general election after the death of Milton Gwetu, who was
representing the
Movement for Democratic Change faction led by Professor
Arthur
Mutambara.
Sibanda, a prominent Bulawayo lawyer, had approached the
Electoral Court to
compel, President Mugabe, the first respondent to fix the
date for a
by-election in the Bulawayo constituency.
The applicant
contended that by delaying a by-election in the area,
President Mugabe was
violating the Electoral Act.
In his judgment, seen by
zimbabwejournalists.com Ndou also ordered President
Mugabe to bear the costs
of the application.
“The respondent be and is hereby ordered and
directed,” said Ndou in the
judgment, “to take steps to publish in the
government gazette in the
shortest possible time in not more than 14 days of
this order,
the sitting of the nomination court in order to accept
nominations for the
Pelandaba-Mpopoma parliamentary
constituency.”
The judge said Mugabe must also take the necessary steps
in terms of Section
39 (2) of the Electoral Act to have a by-election
conducted in the
constituency.
Sibanda is one of the eight candidates
who successfully filed their
nomination papers in February this year, ahead
of the general election.
Information and Publicity Minister, Sikhanyiso
Ndlovu, who has lost in the
constituency since 2000, veteran opposition
politician, Paul Siwela are some
of the other candidates who has
successfully filed their nomination papers
before the election in the
constituency was deferred.
Ndou said the applicant is being prejudiced by
the delay in the holding of
the by-election.
“After the nomination
court sitting in February 2008, and during the
campaign period,” said the
judge, “the applicant traveled the length and
breath of the constituency,
canvassing for support. He addressed
numerous meetings and gatherings. The
applicant avers that his support was
growing with each meeting that he
addressed. He distributed thousands of
fliers in an effort to sell himself
to the electorate.”
Sibanda also composed a song in his honour while a
play has also been
written and staged.
The judge said, although the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), chief
elections officer,
Lovemore
Sekeramayi had, in terms of sections 39 (2) b, and 50 notified the
president
of the death of Gwetu well before the March 29 elections, the
respondent had
not gazetted the date for the sitting of the nomination court
within the
required 14 days of such communication from the ZEC
head.
The Pelandaba-Mpopoma Lower House constituency is one of the three
where
by-elections are pending following the deaths of two candidates. Both
candidates like the Pelandaba-Mpopoma one belonged to MDC-Mutambara
camp.
The other constituencies are Redcliff in Midlands province and
Gwanda North,
in Matabeleland South.
No dates have also been set yet
for the sitting of the nomination courts in
Redcliff and Gwanda North. Ndou
found no merit in the argument by a defence
lawyer, a U. Mabhiza that ZEC
does not have funds to hold the by-election in
the time the applicant
sought.
The judge said since ZEC is an autonomous body, in terms of
Section 61 (5)
of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, President Mugabe’s lawyer
cannot speak on
behalf of ZEC on matters that concern the
electoral
management body.
“In the circumstances,” said Ndou, “the
respondent cannot use this argument
of lack of resources to ward off the
order sought in this
application. It is really up to the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission to fight
its battles, so to speak. In the circumstances, this
argument of lack of
funds should fail.”