Los Angeles Times
A
final tally by the election commission shows the opposition candidate
outpolled President Mugabe but did not win outright.
By Robyn Dixon, Los
Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 1, 2008
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA --
Zimbabwe's ruling party was in turmoil
Wednesday, debating its next step
amid reports that final results would show
President Robert Mugabe had
failed to win reelection and faced another round
of balloting.
But
the results also posed a dilemma for opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai,
who, according to the results, did not win an outright victory.
He has
repeatedly ruled out a second round, maintaining that he won the
first, but
could hand victory to Mugabe if he doesn't run again.
According
to final results reached by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission,
which are
still subject to a verification process in coming days, Tsvangirai
received
47% of the vote to Mugabe's 43% in the March 29 election, with
other
candidates taking the rest of the ballots. Zimbabwean law requires
that a
candidate win 50% of the ballots plus one to avoid a runoff.
The results
were provided by sources in Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, who
requested anonymity
for fear of reprisals for leaking information to a
foreign
journalist.
Many ruling party figures now doubt Mugabe, who at 84
presides over a
collapsing economy and an annual inflation rate of more than
165,000%, can
win a second round, despite a campaign of violence by his
followers against
opposition activists.
But the opposition faces an
obvious disadvantage in a second round after its
activists were forced to
flee violence in rural areas, ruling out a proper
campaign in those
places.
Tsvangirai also has suggested that his safety could be at risk if
he returns
to Zimbabwe from neighboring South Africa, where he is
now.
U.S. and British officials also have raised concerns that violence
in recent
weeks against opposition activists and supporters has made holding
a second
round too difficult and dangerous.
Nonetheless, ruling party
figures were morose Wednesday after the news that
a recount failed to show
any improvement in Mugabe's tally from earlier
unofficial figures. Many of
them had hoped that the long delay in releasing
presidential results might
be a sign that Mugabe would do better in the
final tally.
Over the
weekend, the electoral commission announced that a recount had
confirmed
that Mugabe's party had lost control of parliament for the first
time since
Zimbabwe won independence from Britain in 1980.
In a sign that regime
hard-liners may be preparing the ground for further
wrangles over
parliamentary and presidential results, the Herald newspaper,
widely seen as
a state mouthpiece, reported Wednesday that more than 100
cases of electoral
fraud had been found and that more were being discovered
daily.
Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri, a Mugabe ally, said
police would
leave no stone unturned to expose "this cancerous
treachery."
Although some ruling party followers have said they would be
willing to
accept a government of national unity, others have expressed
determination
to cling to power should the president lose a second-round
vote. Some ruling
party figures fear that hard-liners might carry out a coup
to prevent the
opposition from taking power.
"The issue of a rerun is
a very sensitive one," said a senior ruling party
figure Wednesday, after
confirming the presidential results. "If [Mugabe]
loses, it's the start of a
long story. If the ruling party loses, it will
mean a lot of things will
start happening.
"The issue of the army becomes very real, the issue of
the army taking over
the government," he said. "It's what everybody is
fearing will happen.
People are not very comfortable with it. It's going to
be a big issue."
The ruling party figure said many Zimbabweans who lived
through the 1970s
war of liberation did not want to see another
conflict.
"We don't want war," he said. "War is the last thing we want in
this
country. People are trying to be as cool as possible."
While
Tsvangirai has embarked on an intense international diplomatic tour to
try
to put pressure on Mugabe, there is little evidence that he has gained
any
support at home among top generals and security apparatchiks, whose
support
he would need to govern. Ruling party figures said many were
convinced that
he would sack all the generals on taking office.
Chihuri, the police
commissioner, meanwhile, pledged Wednesday to prevent
further postelection
violence, hinting the opposition was to blame. "The old
trick of claiming
human rights violations when somebody steps on your toe
yet you yourself are
poking other people's eyes will not work this time
around," he
said.
The failed efforts of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change
to
persuade the United Nations to send an envoy to investigate postelection
violence boosted hopes in ZANU-PF that it retains the support of its
southern African neighbors. On Tuesday, South Africa helped block U.N.
Security Council action on Zimbabwe.
In a front-page headline
Wednesday, the Herald called it a U.N. snub of
Tsvangirai's party.
robyn.dixon@latimes.com
VOA
By Peter Clottey
Washington, D.C.
01 May
2008
Zimbabwe’s main opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) has rejected
the latest attempt by the ruling ZANU-PF party to
perpetuate the rule of
veteran President Robert Mugabe. The move follows
claims by government
officials to have seen an as yet unreleased official
tally of the March 29
presidential vote. It suggests the leader of the
opposition, Morgan
Tsvangirai, won 47 percent of the vote, followed closely
by President Mugabe
with 43 percent, and independent candidate Simba Makoni
trailing the two
with ten percent of the vote. ZANU-PF partisans say it is
apparent nobody
won the election and are demanding a run-off.
But the
opposition is dismissing the ruling party’s claims. The electoral
commission is expected to release the rest of the vote count today in
Harare. MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa tells reporter Peter Clottey the ruling
party is playing dirty tricks on Zimbabweans in order to cling to
power.
“It is totally a distortion of the truth on the ground. As far as
we are
concerned, as far as the facts and the truth is concerned the MDC won
well
above the 50 percent threshold and the 47 percent being touted by the
so-called sources within government is just an attempt by ZANU-PF to prepare
people in terms of mindset and a frame of a sort that there is going to be a
run-off, which in fact again is an artificial result, which has been caused
by the ZANU-PF,” Chamisa pointed out.
He said the opposition parties
as well as ordinary Zimbabweans are calling
on the international community
to help resolve the economic and political
crisis.
“We definitely
need multinational approach to the resolution of the crisis.
Certainly, the
resolution lies within our borders, but we need international
help, with
international support and solidarity to resolve all the issues.
We have a
very serious dictatorship in Zimbabwe, which is prepared to
decimate the
entire population for the sake of power. It is really important
for the
region, SADC (Southern African Development Community), for the
continent,
the AU (African Union) to continue putting a helping hand on the
Zimbabwe
problems and to keep an open eye on the behavior and attitude of
this
regime,” he said.
Chamisa said the circumstances in the country are
dire.
“The situation is out of control. It is now a humanitarian crisis.
This is
now a conflict crisis, which has just gone beyond the level during
the
elections. We are almost in the league of Iraq; we are in the league of
Darfur and an almost a genocidal campaign against opposition supporters. The
situation has to stop before it gets out of hand. Otherwise, we are going to
have a bloodbath. And this regime is a vampire regime. It survives on
vampire instincts, sucking blood and wanting to liquidate individuals,”
Chamisa noted.
He dismissed ridiculous assertions that people around
President Mugabe are
the cause of the problems rather than the veteran
leader.
“That could be true, but at the end of the day, the bottom line
is that
President Mugabe has served the country for such a long period. His
service
to the country should just be acknowledged. We acknowledge that he
has risen
to the extent that he did what he could, but of course it is not
enough,
because Zimbabweans are suffering. What he should do is honorably
exit the
political stage and leave those who are young and who have new
ideas to run
the country,” he said.
Meanwhile President Mugabe’s
government is calling the United Nations
Security Council’s meeting aimed at
finding a lasting solution to the
ongoing economic and post-election crisis
“racist, colonial and sinister.”
Zimbabwe Metro
By Roy Chinamano ⋅ April
30, 2008
Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri has threatened MDC secretary
general
Tendai Biti with unspecified action when he returns to Zimbabwe. He
accused
him of illegally declaring results of the March 29 2008 elections
and
“urging and abetting political violence”.
Three days after the
Elections Tendai Biti announced the Presidential poll
projection provided by
the Zimbabwe Election Support Network that showed
Tsvangirai received 47.0
to 51.8 of the vote and Robert Mugabe 39.2 to 44.4.
The Margin of Error was
2.4. State media and some foreign media have since
seized on 47.0 and
ignored 51.8 to say he failed to win an absolute
majority.
Chihuri
had implied in his letter that Biti announced the actual results.It
has
since emerged that Bright Matongo yesterday reportedly told a South
African
paper that Morgan Tsvangirai won with 47% and Mugabe got 43%.
On
Wednesday Chihuri wrote a politically charged letter to Biti and was
circulated to the press and Metro obtained a copy and has since confirmed
that it has not been delivered to the MDC Secretary General or his office at
Harvest House on 44 Nelson Mandela Avenue.
Exceprts:
“What is
very conspicuous in the Zimbabwean political arena today is your
prominent
role in urging and abetting political violence through unbridled
rhetoric of
incitement.
“You know for sure, your violation of the country’s laws by
declaring
presidential results which was, in deed, in contravention of
Section 110 of
the Electoral Act, Chapter 2:13 and is still to be attended
to by the
police.
“Maybe, this you may cite as having been a
deliberate delay in bringing the
culprit to book, but as all know, the swift
arm of the law will always catch
up with the evildoer”
“Surely, the
police have been looking for you so that you could assist in
investigations
surrounding the above-mentioned issue, concerning the
electoral laws and
other matters, but you were nowhere to be found.
“The only time one sees
you is on the international media, making all sorts
of unsubstantiated
allegations against everybody else and the country,
gallivanting all over
the world. This might be the reason why you are out of
touch with the real
issues affecting the people on the ground.”
“Unfortunately, Honourable
Biti, your intention to set a malicious political
agenda against the
Zimbabwe Republic Police by unnecessarily dragging it
into your political
skirmishes cannot be hidden anymore.
“No threats of any kind, manner and
fashion shall deter me as the
Commissioner-General of Police and leader of
the Zimbabwe Republic Police to
strongly act against any orgy of violence
from any quarter in this country.
“I nevertheless urge you to take a
leading role in condemning public
violence, stop harbouring criminals at
your party headquarters and publicly
disband the so-called Democratic
Resistance Committees, which have become a
real menace to our peace loving
citizens, since March 11, 2007.
“Let me hasten to say that I seriously
view your allegations as an
unacceptable political gimmick, in which I
should as a matter of principle,
register my uttermost disaffection and
dismay, more so as it comes from a
person of your standing, who has been a
member of the legislature for a
considerable number of years.
“I
wonder why you should play political games with issues of this nature,
issues that concern the security of this country and its
citizens”
“However, culprits of various criminal activities including
those involved
in the recent failed MDC initiated stay-away were arrested
and taken to
courts for prosecution throughout the country.
“Should
you be so willing to find more facts surrounding the disposal of
these
cases, I do hereby advise you to visit the courts and check with their
records, which are public records in any case”.
New Zimbabwe
By Mary Revesai
Last updated: 05/01/2008 10:32:38
DESCRIBING the
electoral impasse in Zimbabwe sparked by Robert Mugabe’s
refusal to accept
defeat, UK minister of state at the Foreign and
Commonwealth office, Mark
Mallock-Brown, said it was “almost unique in the
annals of
elections”.
The stalemate is indeed unusual, but Zimbabwe’s ruthless and
intransigent
head of state is unique in more ways than one. Not only is he
the oldest
head of state in the world who at 84 years of age still fights to
cling to
power, but he has convinced himself that after almost 30 years at
the helm,
he can enjoy a resurgence in popularity despite having brought a
once
prosperous country to its knees.
Mugabe is also one of a kind as
far as despots go in that he is the only
dictator in the world who wears his
ruthless and brutal governance like a
badge of honour. While other
oppressors and abusers of human rights go about
their business
unobtrusively, Mugabe is loudly determined to go against the
grain to prove
that everyone else is wrong and only he is right as far as
knowing what is
good for Zimbabwe is concerned.
The Zimbabwean leader stands out like a
sore thumb on the world stage in his
hard-nosed refusal to read the writing
on the wall and accept the inevitable
end of his political career.
In
this respect, he outdoes even the last colonial administrators in Africa
who
were obliged to accept that the winds of change that began blowing in
the
1950s when first Sudan and then Ghana attained independence from
Britain,
could not be reversed.
Mugabe loves attacking colonialists for the
injustices they subjected the
local population to, but even the last
colonial leader of Rhodesia, Ian
Smith, accepted the end of his rule by
agreeing to participate in the
Lancaster House talks and accepting the
outcome of the 1980 elections
overwhelmingly won by Mugabe’s
party.
Smith had no choice but to accept that he had reached the end of
the road.
Likewise, when a massive strike by two million workers confirmed
that the
winds of change were irreversible in South Africa, the Afrikaans
“crocodile”,
P W Botha, resigned, paving the way for reformer F W de Klerk,
to take over
and initiate a programme to end apartheid. It is anyone’s guess
what path
history might have taken if both Smith and Botha had chosen to
bury their
heads in the sand as Mugabe is doing and refused to
go.
Mugabe seems to forget that accepting reaching a political cul-de-sac
has
not been the lot of former colonialists alone. Mugabe’s good pal, former
Ethiopian strongman Mengistu Haile Mariam, who has lived in exile in
Zimbabwe since the 1990s, was forced to resign when opposition to his
ruthless regime became too strong to ignore. This was after rebel groups
united under the umbrella of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic
Front in a final push against Mengistu’s brutal rule.
More African
examples abound of leaders who conceded that they could not
pull off the
impossible feat that Mugabe thinks he can achieve -- prevailing
over the
will of the people. Charles Taylor was extradited to Sierra Leone
to stand
trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity long after he had
had
resigned as president of Liberia and gone into exile in Nigeria. Another
Liberian mad man, Samuel Doe, who insisted on clinging to power after
declaring victory in a disputed election, finally paid for his intransigence
with his life when he was put to death in 1990.
Over in Europe,
former Yugoslav strongman Slobbodan Milosevic tried to
refuse to accept
defeat when he was beaten in presidential elections by
opposition leader
Vojislav Kostunica in 2000 but was eventually forced to
resign after
accepting the inevitable. Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines
was also
forced to resign and go into exile after initially refusing to
accept defeat
by Corazon Aquino.
Mugabe would be unique in the world if his primitive
and foolhardy antics
against the will of the people of Zimbabwe succeeded.
Mobutu Sese Seko of
the former Zaire, Hissene Habre of Chad, Jean Bedel
Bokassa of the
short-lived Central African Empire and Siad Barre of Somalia
were all forced
to read the writing on the wall and acknowledge that they
had reached the
end of the road politically.
The call on Mugabe is
not that he should be humiliated or forced to go into
exile. What is
required of him is to simply acknowledge the will of the
people of Zimbabwe
as reflected in how they voted on March 29. History
records that when the
end was inevitable even Adolf Hitler, the architect of
Nazism and the
perpetrator of the Holocaust, committed suicide. More
recently, Saddam
Hussein, the once omnipotent ruler of Iraq, was obliged to
flee from Baghdad
and hide in a ditch when the tide against him and his
regime became too
strong.
Haiti, in the Carribean provides more lessons for Mugabe. Both
Jean Claude
“Baby Doc” Duvalier and Jean Bertrand Aristide were forced to go
into exile
when they reached a political dead end. There is a redeeming
quality in
these hard men’s ability to accept the inevitable. Mugabe’s
“fight back”
antics following his defeat in presidential elections last
month show he has
lost the plot.
The $64 billion question, is, will
Mugabe be the first dictator in the world
to remain at the helm by force
after the his disgruntled people have crossed
the Rubicorn?
It might
be instructive for Mugabe to remember that even the dictator
Emeritus of the
world, Fidel Castro of Cuba, had to accept that he could not
rule for ever
when ill health forced him to bow out after 50 years at the
helm.
Mugabe, the oldest president in the world, should take a leaf
out of the
books of other octogenarians who once seemed invincible. Former
Chilean
dictator Augusto Pinochet stood trial before his death for
atrocities
perpetrated by his military junta but this was long after he had
accepted
being rejected by voters and had given up power. Surhato of
Indonesia
similarly resigned in 1989 when the signs became too unmistakable
that the
writing was on the wall. Why can’t Mugabe do the same?
Mary
Revesai is a New Zimbabwe.com columnist and writes from Harare
Paul Salopek
April 30,
2008 5:51 PM
Chicago Tribune
(MCT)
JOHANNESBURG, South
Africa - Suspiciously delayed poll results, army trucks
fanning out through
villages, police ransacking opposition party offices,
and reports of torched
huts and broken-limbed civilians - such has been the
ugly face of democracy
for nearly a decade in Zimbabwe, and by now most
political experts have
given up asking whether millions of Zimbabweans will
ever reach a violent
breaking point.
Indeed, even as fresh reports of government brutality
seep out of Zimbabwe
in the wake of last month's still unresolved
presidential election, there
are virtually no reports of popular unrest on
the streets.
A call for a mass protest two weeks ago by the opposition
Movement for
Democratic Change, which claims it won the vote, fizzled as
usual. Hungry
citizens queued obediently for bread in the capital, Harare,
last week even
as cops rounded up hundreds of opposition activists. And the
lone report of
a violent backlash - an alleged attack by opposition members
on a rural army
barracks on Tuesday - remains unconfirmed. Human rights
activists suspect it
may have been planted by the regime of strongman Robert
Mugabe to justify
further arrests.
This deep well of stoicism - or,
as some critics sneer, passivity - in
Zimbabwe's victimized population has
for years been a source of puzzlement
to many Africa analysts, humanitarian
workers and foreign journalists, who
contrast Zimbabweans' seemingly
inexhaustible acceptance of suffering with
deadly explosions of electoral
fury elsewhere in Africa, most recently in
Kenya.
''This is the
single greatest mystery of Zimbabwe,'' marveled a Western
diplomat in Harare
who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the
sensitivity of the issue.
''In most other countries there would've been
riots and violence years ago.
But not here. These people are just too
nice.''
The latest test
of Zimbabweans' restraint came on Wednesday, when the United
Nations
Security Council announced that it would not dispatch a special
envoy to
Zimbabwe to help resolve the election standoff. South Africa and
China
opposed the measure.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian group Human Rights Watch
reported that Mugabe's
security forces were intensifying violent attacks on
opposition voters in
remote areas. In Manicaland province, the Zimbabwean
army was equipping
Mugabe-allied ''war veterans'' with trucks and rifles,
the group said.
So far, at least 20 people have been killed nationwide,
the opposition says.
Such organized brutality is by no means
new.
Mugabe launched similar attacks in 2000 against white farmers and
their
black workers, as part of the government's disastrous land reform
policy.
Since then, there have been two more dubious elections, reports of
''rape
camps'' for opposition activists, and an economic meltdown that has
seen
150,000 percent inflation - the highest in the world - 80 percent
unemployment, near-starvation and such critical fuel shortages that ox
wagons have replaced ambulances in some areas.
Through it all,
hapless Zimbabweans - who favor sunny first names like
Goodwill, Anyhow,
Primrose and Everjoy - have managed to behave, if not like
Africa's
Tibetans, then at least like the continent's peaceful and
law-abiding
Canadians.
Theories for this abound: Some point to the lack of standing
armies or a
warrior caste in Zimbabwe's majority Shona culture. Others cite
the
debilitating effects of malnutrition and a huge HIV/AIDS epidemic. Still
others note that millions of frustrated young people, the natural base for
an armed opposition, have simply voted with their feet. Between a quarter
and a third of Zimbabwe's 12 million people have fled political intimidation
and economic ruin in their country to seek work in South Africa, Botswana or
other neighboring states.
Another explanation is death by a thousand
cuts. After eight years of
watching their world fall apart in slow motion,
Zimbabweans are ground down,
deeply demoralized. An oft-repeated word in
their conversations is a
toneless ''hopefully.''
''We're also too
proper - more English than the English,'' said Foster
Dongozi, the Secretary
General of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, naming
Zimbabwe's former
colonial overlord. ''Instead of picking up weapons, we go
to
court.''
Dongozi wasn't kidding.
''Mugabe has made a specialty of
sham legality, lots of useless laws, phony
rules that mean nothing,'' he
said. ''He knows how far to push us. He knows
how to distract us with a
veneer of normalcy. He knows how to beat us way
down, but not so far as to
embarrass his African neighbors.''
As an example of calibrated
repression, Dongozi told how two Zimbabwean
journalists were arrested after
the elections on spurious charges of arson;
an electrical fire had charred a
bus in Harare that day. When that charge
didn't stick, police simply
switched the crime to attempted murder, and
finally settled on public
mischief. The reporters remain in jail.
Meanwhile, the city of Harare was
hosting an arts festival this week just as
pro-government militants armed
with guns and machetes were reported to be
fanning out to torch the distant
homes and granaries of villagers.
''Right now Mugabe may be desperately
trying to provoke us into a low-grade
civil war,'' said David Coltart, an
opposition senator from the western
Zimbabwe city of Bulawayo.
''We
won't take the bait. That's where our people's tradition of rejecting
violence pays off,'' Coltart said. ''It's taken us longer to go the Martin
Luther King route, but I think we're close to winning.''
Others
weren't so sure.
Reuters reported Wednesday that Zimbabwean election
officials would soon
announce that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had
indeed won the
election - but without the majority needed to assume power. A
runoff would
then need to be called, and Mugabe could spool out that process
for months.
''This is a regime that won't ever give up power easily,''
said Elinor
Sisulu, a Zimbabwean human rights organizer who lives in South
Africa.
''It's going to require extraordinary things from us to get it
out.''
---
(c) 2008, Chicago Tribune.
Distributed by
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
africasia
HARARE, May 1 (AFP)
Zimbabwe braced on Thursday for the latest twist in a political
crisis that
has racked the southern African state, with election officials
set to verify
results from a presidential election on March
29.
Representatives of the four presidential candidates were to attend a
meeting
with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission starting at 2:00 pm (1200
GMT) in the
capital Harare to compare their vote tallies with preliminary
official
results.
The meeting comes a day after sources close to the
electoral commission told
AFP that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was
ahead in the count, with
between 47 and 50 percent of the vote but no
outright majority.
More than a month after voting day, no official
results from the election
have yet been released. Thursday's meeting is
expected to lead to the
announcement of results but officials could not say
when that would happen.
Tsvangirai, 56, was running against 84-year-old
Robert Mugabe, a former
guerrilla leader and hero of Africa's national
liberation movements who has
ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain
in 1980.
Tsvangirai earlier declared himself the outright winner of the
vote based on
his party's calculations but Mugabe's camp says a second round
will be
required to elect a new president.
"We are prepared for
tomorrow,... all the candidates' election agents are
coming," Utloile
Silaigwana, a spokesman for the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC) said on
Wednesday, referring to the meeting on Thursday.
The difference in
election figures given by the opposition and those from
sources close to the
electoral commission meant the potential for discord at
the meeting was high
but Silaigwana said he did not expect any problems.
Asked earlier what
would happen in the event of disagreements over the
figures between the
different parties, ZEC chief George Chiweshe simply
said: "They must agree,
they have to agree."
Neither the electoral commission nor representatives
of the candidates
wanted to speculate on when the final results could be
published.
"We will only know when the verification process starts," said
Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa, a Mugabe ally.
Chris Mbanga, who
will represent Tsvangirai at the meeting, said: "It may
take one day, it may
take two days, it may take one week, perhaps one
month."
Election
officials earlier confirmed a historic victory by Tsvangirai's
Movement for
Democratic Change in parliamentary elections also held on March
29, which
defeated Mugabe's ZANU-PF for the first time in 28 years.
Critics accuse
Mugabe of imposing dictatorial rule in Zimbabwe and running
the country's
economy into the ground with a policy of often violent land
seizures from
white farmers starting in 2000.
The government blames the country's
economic woes, including inflation at
165,000 percent and an unemployment
rate of 80 percent, on sanctions imposed
by the European Union and the
United States.
New York Times
By CELIA W.
DUGGER
Published: May 1, 2008
Human Rights Watch accused the army of
providing supporters of ZANU-PF, the
governing party, with arms and trucks
for a campaign of violence against the
opposition Movement for Democratic
Change. The group’s researchers said
witnesses and others had told them that
party agents had set up camp at an
army barracks in Manicaland Province and
were mounting raids on the homes of
the opposition riding in army trucks and
armed with guns supplied by the
army. A spokesman for the Movement for
Democratic Change said that 20 of its
members had been killed by
pro-government militias since the election on
March 29. The authorities have
yet to announce who won the presidential
election. Independent monitors say
it was won by the opposition. The
opposition and civic groups have charged
that the military has taken a
leading role in seeking to ensure that ZANU-PF
remain in power and have
described events since the election as a
slow-motion military coup. Western
diplomats have openly questioned whether
President Robert Mugabe, in power
for 28 years, is still in charge.
[Icould not publish all the comments - look at the BBC site to see them all.
Ed]
http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?sortBy=1&forumID=4690&start=150&tstart=0&edition=2&ttl=20080501073637#paginator
BBC
The Electoral Commission in Zimbabwe is due
to start verifying the long
delayed result of the presidential election
which the opposition claims to
have won outright. Will it help resolve the
political crisis?
The move comes as Zimbabwe's police chief has accused
the opposition of
trying to stir violence in the country.
The
verification of election result begins a day after government sources
told
journalists that the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, defeated
President Robert Mugabe, but not by enough votes to secure an outright
victory.
A spokesman for the opposition MDC says this appears to be a
rumour spread
by the government to prepare people for a second round
run-off.
Are you in Zimbabwe? How much confidence do you have in the
election result
verification process? Do you expect a second round run-off?
Should the MDC
take part? What more can the international community do to
help resolve the
crisis?
Read the full story
Published:
Sunday, 27 April, 2008, 11:10 GMT 12:10 UK
COMMENTS
Added: Thursday, 1 May, 2008, 24:29 GMT 01:29
UK
The normal procedure regarding elections is to announce the
results as
they are. If there are any queries they have to be lodged through
the
courts. Verifying which results. You cannot veryfy the results which are
not
known. MDC had a similar problem in 2002 when results were unnounced and
were believed to have been rigged and the case is still pending in courts.
Why then did the electoral commission announce the 2002 result before
listening to MDC complains. Double starndards is what i call it
alois, dublin
Recommended by 1 person
Added: Thursday, 1 May, 2008, 24:04 GMT 01:04 UK
We are elated that
the arms ship has returned to China, but is that so
? who is going to stop
this horrible cargo being delivered by air? as for
results- lets just forget
it as the old man has sorted it out & will remain
the devil he is,
ruling till death. SADAC should be reorganised, to be run
by people with
souls who are fair, firm & not afraid to say what is right no
matter
who.Zim should also stop using money as these zeros are getting
longer by
the day. I can't count that far, can you?
Mrs T. Grant, coimbra
Portugal
Recommended by 1 person
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 23:22 GMT 00:22 UK
The united
kingdom has some responcebility to rectify the problem in
zimbabwe .as they
installed the tyrant...
That is the trouble with Western
do-gooders. They always throw the
brick and hide their hands. Now that
Zimbawens need some on hands help none
can be forth coming from the West.
This is what the Cold War victory brought
to Africa. Can joint governance
help? Maybe it will only bring on a
synthasis of twin
corrruption.
Mary Gravitt, Iowa City, Iowa, United
States
Recommended by 1 person
Added:
Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 23:15 GMT 00:15 UK
Please excuse my
ignorance but how has it come to an election result
taking 1 month to
produce? normally you hear results within days or on the
night unless the
party holding power thought they would lose in which case
they would change
every bill to make them win... I don't think any normal
person would see
this as anything but a stalling process...
John,
Dublin
Recommended by 1 person
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 22:57 GMT 23:57 UK
The ruling
party lost the elections so they should step down not
continue in the
government. They can make up the opposition now.
j
Recommended by 1 person
Added:
Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 22:34 GMT 23:34 UK
"Sanctions hit the
Zimbabwean people more, so this might get them off
their backside to stop
the people destroying their country" - Bob,
Manchester
Numerous
people 'got off their backsides' to vote out Mugabe, and vote
in somebody
else.. with threats of intimidation, violence and worse, they
did that
because they have a passion for their nation, are fed up of the
poverty,
violence and injustice and wanted change. To say they are passive
is wrong,
they're crying out for our help... we must.
Joel Gill,
Cambridge
Recommended by 1 person
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 22:30 GMT 23:30 UK
We need to
impose sanctions on Zimbabwe,then ask BBC to beam to the
world clips of 'our
boys' giving water and food to starving Zimbabweans.
Just like we did in
Iraq.
Cinikal Ali, York
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 22:20 GMT 23:20
UK
Embarrassing to suggest government of national unity when there
is one
clear winner.UN is a toothless bulldog barking rubbish. what can one
expect
from Mbeki and china. UN and AU should act independently and not to
bask in
self praise. A ditactor should be brought to book for crimes against
humanity, people are dying at this very moment for excercising their rights.
MUGABE to Hague.
mathiya, nottingham
Recommended by 1 person
Added:
Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 21:33 GMT 22:33 UK
Jan Larssen, what a
stupid statement you have made! The U.K. did not
install a tyrant. The
people of Rhodesia voted for Mugabe, thinking he would
be a good leader
after his leading the campaign for independence. The
country became Zimbabwe
& Mugabe it's president. If you want to blame anyone
for the crisis
blame Mugabe & his influential supporter & friend, Mbeki,
who, like
Mugabe, is so out of touch with reality he says there is no
crisis!
ray borge
Recommended by 2
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 20:37 GMT 21:37
UK
the only soldiers who could sort out Mugabe are in South Africa
and
they support the Mugabe dicatorship.
A Kelly, United
Kingdom
Not quite. The "new" South African army got a bloody nose
when it
tried to quell a couple of rebels in Lesotho. The Zim army will snap
them
like a twig. Mbeki is wise not to antagonize Mugabe
A
private organization like Executive Outcomes is needed to sort Zim
out.
BillyBob Kennedy, Philadelphia
Recommended by
2 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 20:20 GMT 21:20
UK
No sanctions, no pussyfooting around just send in the troops who
know
what they are about and remove the dictator and the other evil people
who
have caused all the trouble. The public will welcome them with open arms
unlike the Iraqis!!!!
[bumbleboo], Stuttgart,
Germany
Recommended by 0 people
Added:
Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 20:19 GMT 21:19 UK
>>"What
sanctions "when i lived there we ate wildebeast springboks you
name it its
there and if your clever you dont need annything from annybody
robert
lengkeek, valkenburg, Netherlands <<
Sadly a population of 12
million divided into One Springbok doesn't go
very far!!!" The animal
population has been decimated along with anything
else that
moves!!!!
[bumbleboo], Stuttgart, Germany
Recommended
by 2 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 20:09 GMT
21:09 UK
The united kingdom has some responcebility to rectify the
problem in
zimbabwe .as they installed the tyrant...
jan
larssen
Recommended by 2 people
Added:
Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 20:07 GMT 21:07 UK
A government of
national unity in the case of Zimbabwe is the same as
a criminal
if
caught out, being allowed to keep half of
the stolen goods.This is
Africa. A precedence
has been set. If Zimbabwe follows Kenya, they will
not be the only
African countries that will end up with governments of
national unity after
a period of violence.
In my opinion, most
politicians in Africa are not so much interested
in the people, but they are
mainly after the fat salaries & perks they pay
themselves.
Frank Hartry, Amanzimtoti, South Africa
Recommended by 2
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 20:03 GMT 21:03
UK
The united kingdom has some responcebility to rectify the
problem in
zimbabwe .as they installed the tyrant...
jan
larssen
Recommended by 1 person
Added:
Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 19:01 GMT 20:01 UK
Zimbabwean
Drums
The drums are calling old man, and they are louder by the
day.
They are calling you to judgement and now's the time to
pay
for the wrongs you've done your country and the trust
betrayed.
So hear the drums, old man, and listen to them well,
They foretell of your end days and they have much to tell.
for he who
sows the seeds of hate will reap the grapes of wrath,
so tremble in
your bed at night, at the end of your sorry path.
Unknown
Mike Woods, Ormeau
Recommended by 2
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 18:05 GMT 19:05
UK
They should intervine because all these SADC countries saying a
lot do
not care. People like Mbeki and SA do not even help Zimbabweans or
welcome
them in their country they treat them like Mugabe is doing no wonder
he does
not see the difference. Here is what EU, and USA should do just say
if SADC
continue then we are going to allocate a milion people to each SADC
country
and the SADC country can take care of Zimbabweans like EU USA is
doing and
see them act fast. Don't forget to give a deadline
Ennie Rukarwa, USA
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 17:02 GMT 18:02 UK
Yes a unified
government is the best course, is it likely to happen?
Who knows. if one
side does attempt to work without involving the others you
get terrorism and
all that, so they must work together. The International
Community should
stop trying to interfere in a purely internal problem.
Unless the rest of
the World is willing to allow the International Community
to impose
sanctions on ANY country that poses a threat to Human Rights,
including the
USA. Largest of Food and Money lenders.
[ceindrgn], Laurel, United
States
Recommended by 0 people
Added:
Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 16:40 GMT 17:40 UK
No! Mugabe & Zanu
lost the election. Why should there be a compromise
on the part of those who
legitimately won the election? Mugabe may have been
one of those
instrumental in liberating Zimbabwe, but what he has
single-handedly done to
destroy it since then far outways what he did for
the rebellion. There is
too much of this rediculous power-sharing going on,
where the losing side in
an election cannot peacefully accept the election
result, & threatens or
uses violence to thwart that result.
David Zimlin, Dunedin,
Florida, United States
Recommended by 2 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 16:35 GMT 17:35 UK
The best help
for that country is for the neo-colonialist to stay out
of it. They are the
cause of the problems, regardless of what the media
manipulators tell us:
British, American and Dutch sttlers stoled and
plundered that country.
Finally when an alternative emerged, they do
everything to destroy i and get
back their ill-gained privileges to continue
ripping off that country. It is
the perennial history of Western
"democracy", made up of pirates and
plunderers
Carlos Flores, Canada
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 15:55 GMT 16:55
UK
Zimbabwe is beyond help.
Patrick Powell, San
Jose
Recommended by 1 person
Added:
Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 15:48 GMT 16:48 UK
the opposition have
won,let them be given a chance to rule.
mebara rachel,
Cameroon
Recommended by 1 person
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 15:43 GMT 16:43 UK
Preferably
not. An MDC-ZanuPF government would only help dilute the
message of change.
Mr Mugabe needs to step down that is of course if the
establishment incl.
the army, full of ZanuPF appointees, is willing to let
go
Parrisia Greece
Recommended by 1 person
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 15:41 GMT 16:41 UK
Sanctions hit
the Zimbabwean people more, so this might get them off
their backside to
stop the people destroying their country
Bob,
Manchester
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 14:56 GMT 15:56 UK
Why a
government of national unity with those who are torturing and
killing their
opponents? The murderous Mugabe government has been defeated,
and it should
leave peacefully or be forced out. It has nothing to offer. It
has
devastated the country enough.
nya, US
Recommended
by 1 person
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 14:27 GMT
15:27 UK
I'm so sick and tired of this whole Zimbabwe debacle.
Mugabe and his
bunch of thugs must be removed one way or another, whatever
it takes.
Robert Mattner, Ann Arbor
Recommended by
3 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 14:27 GMT 15:27
UK
In response to P Viljoen I would venture to say that Mugabe will
step
down or be pushed down - who cares, and that the opposition MDC though
not
experienced is competent enough to do a satisfatory job of governing and
will show up even the clowns that are currently governing your own country
which by the looks of things resembles nothing more than a shoddy circus.
What Zimbabwe does not need right now is the validation of it's situation by
the'stature-challenged' government of yours.
M
Greenland
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 13:38 GMT 14:38 UK
Mugabe et al,
will never give up power; they know that they have no
where to go. The new
government is bound to clean up the police and courts
as a top priority, and
then start knocking at Zanu's door.
The only way to get rid of this
dictator, and followers, is to give
them an escape route to another
country.
After the: electoral process is cleaned up, parliamentary
governance
restored, and the 4 million expat's re-enfranchised; MDC should
hold fresh,
free, multi-party elections.
Gary Russell, Gosford,
Australia
Recommended by 0 people
Added:
Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 13:32 GMT 14:32 UK
What more sanctions
can be imposed when Zimbabwe with no access to any
financial institutions
can only trade by batter now? The man on the street
will suffer.
Zimbabwe has morphed into a front in the proxy war between the West
and
China. Sending in any forces will only worsen matters politically; added
to
the fact that African countries will naturally rally around Zimbabwe
militarily because of a shared history of colonisation and slavery.
The only way put is dialogue (even with the "devil")
adam eve,
Reading, United Kingdom
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 13:26 GMT 14:26
UK
I spoke to my sister this morning who lives in Zimbabwe which
was the
first time I have managed to get through to her since the elections
and then
got cut off 3 times. Whilst speaking to her she pleaded with me to
get in
touch with someone to say what was going on and that is people are
being
tortured and starved by Mugabe's henchmen if they are known to have
supported MDC. The UN should intervene NOW without a shadow of a doubt. Help
is well overdue.
Paula Sparling
Recommended by
1 person
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 13:18 GMT 14:18
UK
No, the whole population should get behind whoever wins the
election
and rebuild their country. They should be allowed to do this
without
intervention of any western powers or the U.N. This once productive
country
can only be stable if they are allowed to determine their own future
without
interference.
[dfspace]
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 13:11 GMT 14:11
UK
Sanctions? - Smart sanctions against Zanu-PF should apply,
otherwise
it would hurt the common man. Mugabe prints money to pay his
henchmen, hence
excessive inflation. Cutting off the money printing supplies
to him would
collapse his mercenary support quite quickly. Unity Government?
No, Mugabe
is no liberator , he has always been a self-serving thug,
piggy-back riding
the "Marxist liberation" snake since inception. Can one
side work without
the other?Yes, Zanu-PF only works for power grabbing
!
Anton, Cape Town
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 12:53 GMT 13:53
UK
Well if they impose sanction, what about the inocent people who
doesn't know anything about politics. Before punishing the inocent people
let UN deploy troops and ask mugabe to release the result of the past
election, and let the winner of election take over. there is no need to buy
weapon and used it against your own people, weapon are made to kill bush
meat not human.
Alpha, Boston
Recommended by 1
person
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 12:43 GMT 13:43
UK
i believe that everyone is aware that zimbabweans went to polls
and
that results are not yet out now so i see no reason why there should be
a
government of national unity when people's views are not yet
known.
George Tionge Mkandawire, Mzuzu
Recommended
by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 12:31 GMT
13:31 UK
no wonder why china refused in the UN meeting because they
want to
please Robert Mugabe so that they can get a chance of colonising
this poor
country.why are they so busy bringing in arms and defending
mugabe.please
chinese leave that country peacifully,dont not pretend to be
good samaritans
when you just want to destroy them the already dying poor
man.
zencharacter, lusaka
Recommended by 1
person
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 12:31 GMT 13:31
UK
DEMOCRACY: Bob is practising his own version in zim. CRAZY
DEMONSTRATIONS or whatever u call it. From Hero to Zero. African leaders
should unite to lead him away from the presidential palace. So sad they cant
do it...why??? It may be the other guy's turn tomorrow. So scratch my back
and i scratch yours policy goes on among them. Shame. Mbeki says there is no
crisis in zim when more than 4m are in rsa. he is waiting for suicide
bombing to become the order of the day b4 he knows it as
crisis.
mark spencer, phnom penh
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 12:20 GMT 13:20
UK
Amazing how the World rushes to invade oil-rich nations for no
reason,
yet when serious humanitarian crises occur, nobody does anything.
It's been
pretty clear to me that Mugabe has been trying to start a civil
war to
retain power since the elections were held. A power sharing
government would
be understandably unacceptable to to MDC. Mugabe's party
are now suggesting
it to appear willing to the UN, however, this is just
another ruse to hang
on to power.
bfb,
Midlands
Recommended by 1 person
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 12:13 GMT 13:13 UK
That is the
best way out for Zimbabwe for the movement which can
prevent another civil
conflict. Any sanction against Zimbabwe will only
affect the people who are
going through a long hardship. To make this issue
peacefully S African
leaders must do their best bargaining so the people of
Zimbabwe can trust
them. New leaders of Zimbabwe should unite to give time
for the old
leadership for the gradual power change.
Sinnathamby Sundaralingam,
Toronto ,Canada
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 12:12 GMT 13:12 UK
No Zimbabwe
shouldnt have a goverment of unity. Why let zanu pf get
away with all they
have done. Why cant the uk send troops in to help out
after all it was them
who handed over independance in the first place.Ballot
boxes were still on
the way to be counted when the uk released the results
they gave zims to bob
biggest mistake ever. the bread basket of africa is no
longer and it is not
the peoples fault its the goverments.bob and his
cronies should be hung even
animals are more human then them
clare austin
Recommended by 1 person
Added:
Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 12:06 GMT 13:06 UK
As a Zimbabwean I
strongly beleive that a reconciliatory Govrnt that
is inclusive to all
productive Zimbabweans is the way forward only in a
transitional sense. The
Mdc should lead the transitional government, for a
period of say 3 yrs,
bring about a new constitution for the people, then
hold fresh elections
under the new constitution. Zimbabweans shudn't sleep
walk into a Gvnt of
national unity and leave a vaccum of opposition,
Remember 1987, and Hell no
to sanctions. Intl Comnty shud b ashamed
Chapfukidza Chapfeka,
London
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 12:04 GMT 13:04 UK
This is a
clear indication that zanu-pf lost the election. Bob can
never accept such a
proposal if he comes close to More. Govt of national
unity cannever work as
long as bob is there.zanu-pf sees govt of national
unity as the only means
to retain bob in power after loosing the election.
The best UN can do for
zim is to remove bob from power since the old man
does not want to respect
himself by stepping down honourably. He does not
realize that he has
outlived his usefulness to the people of zim
mark spencer, phnom
penh
Recommended by 0 people
Added:
Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 11:58 GMT 12:58 UK
Zimbabwe needs a new
fair and democratic government.
National unity? Not with the
present incumbant involved...
Keith Waters, Ely, United
Kingdom
Recommended by 1 person
Added:
Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 11:54 GMT 12:54 UK
I agree that
sanctions must be stopped as the poor people of zimbabwe
are not getting it.
It is just going into the pockets of bob and his
cronies.
Some
people are saying we must go back and fix our own mess it not the
mess of
the people of Zimbabwe it is the mess the goverment have made. If
they had
been living there they wouldnt be saying those things. If you are
not from
Zimbabwe dont critisise the people of Zimbabwe. The people can only
do so
much.
Zimbo
clare austin
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 11:49 GMT 12:49
UK
Casting the vote on Saturday, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe
said,
"If you lose an election and are rejected by the people it is time to
leave
politics." Now he is finding difficult how to implement his own
words.
Hariprasad Bhusal, Titwala-East, India
Recommended by 0 people
Added:
Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 06:42 GMT 07:42 UK
How can the suffering
people of Zim be asked to have a partnership
with a snake that only knows to
bite them.Cut off its head (Mugabe)then its
safe.How can people say
sanctions will hurt the people when they are already
hurt beyond anybodys
wildest imagination.The time of reconing is nigh for
the Mugabies of this
world as God is watching and woe betide those that
stood, watched and done
nothing whilst Gods people died.
eugene granger, london, United
Kingdom
Recommended by 0 people
Added:
Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 06:04 GMT 07:04 UK
A government of
national unity is a joke. My recollection is that the
parties in Zimbabwe
were in a "unity" alliance about 20 years ago. If MDC
agrees to form a
so-called government of national unity, they would be
giving Mugabe an out.
Also, they would simply be consenting to their own
suicide because the party
would just be eaten up by Mugabe's ZANU-PF!!
Joe Akinmusuru, Ann
Arbor, Michigan, United States
Recommended by 1 person
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 06:00 GMT 07:00
UK
Its not in any way necessary to have a government of national
unity
with a dictaitor. The solution is George W. Bush should get in there
and
kick Mr. Mugabbe off the seat unconditionlly. At least George W. Bush
has a
voice compared to the United Nations.
MALINGA FRANCIS,
ENTEBBE, Uganda
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 05:28 GMT 06:28 UK
No Goverment
of National Unity HE will still have a say HE must juat
GO.
Anna, Athens
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 05:28 GMT 06:28 UK
Yes, I
stronlgy support government of national unity is the need of
the hour in
current turmoil to over come in Zimbabwe. The national
government may be
consituted by initiation of Organisation of African Unity
or neighbouring
countries. Zimbabwe has already suffered a lot and the
current crisis now
where leading to Zimbabwe. The both warring factions must
put their
difference set a side work for common good of the people of
Zimbabwe.
Dr-Jetling Yellosa, Warangal/ Nizamabad,
India
Recommended by 0 people
Added:
Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 05:21 GMT 06:21 UK
Mugape must go there
is no other option UN must do just that get him
out of his comfort zone
having a say over the country.
i have seen first hand what he is doing
having spend time there.
.
anna, Athens
Recommended by 0 people
Added:
Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 05:19 GMT 06:19 UK
Mugape must go there
is no other option UN must do just that get him
out of his comfort zone
having over the country.
anna, Athens
Recommended
by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 05:17 GMT
06:17 UK
The opposition leader in Zimbabwe is acting like rebel.At
first they
said names of died people were going to put for presendent Mugabe
but now
they on top.He put him first& country behind him.Are you the one
going to be
leader or the foreigners.there are UN in Congo Iraq Leabon
Afhgan Somalia &
so on but still rate of dies are high in these
countries.To become leader
you do not need please foreigners but to do good
for your nation in both bad
& good time.Where he want to take the
countery?
David, New Town
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 05:11 GMT 06:11
UK
Why should the British gov't impose so much intense pressure on
Zim?
What about Melese Zenawi? Mr Mugabe and Mr Melese are alike in vote
rigging.
Why on earth Zim so important than Ethiopia? The British govt is
doesnot
care about democracy. Instead care about interest. Did the west used
such
intense pressure on Melese Zenawi who brutally killed innocents? When
Mr
Mugabe kills one person the west roar like a lion on world stage? why not
same treatment as Zim?
It is all about the west's
interest
yantala Godda, Ethiopia
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 04:30 GMT 05:30
UK
Well for one mugabe has to go, but everyone knows that, although
the
rest of the zanu pf are probably as bad they would be needed to avoid
civil
war i'd think, and i do think its the best way forward, even if it
takes 10
years to weed out the people who, are really detrimentally hurting
the
country, cooperation is the best way forward, ask ian paisley and gerry
adams
[doctormickeyb], Dublin, Ireland
Recommended
by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 03:51 GMT
04:51 UK
The UK should focus on forcing their favorite African
dictators to
hold elections and not just the leaders like Mugabe that refuse
to do their
bidding.
Ben Ali, Luton
The UK
should keep (our) noses,money and opinions out of Africa
altogether.
Allan Jeffery, world citizen
Recommended by 0 people
Added:
Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 02:49 GMT 03:49 UK
No country can exist
without international trade. Sanctions prohibit
trade between Zimbabwe and
the outside world, Industries and businesses have
seized to exist. The
country is being run by inhuman beings. The only people
to suffer are the
general public of Zimbabwe. This will also put pressure on
other countries
to deal with us Zimbabweans as refugees. If we are to die
anyway we would
rather be invaded by countries that want to help. Military
action might be
better than sanctions.
Stavo
Stavo,
london
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 02:30 GMT 03:30 UK
This nation
needs people to come together and pull towards a single
direction.Ecluding
one party from governance will be like telling people who
voted them that
their vote is useless.THIS will cause a lot of tension and
conflict.After
all all the parties are striving for the upliftment of the
Zimbabwean
society.
manzi, bulawayo
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 02:12 GMT 03:12
UK
"The party's over, it's time to call it a day, It's time to wind
up
this masquarade, and time to find out, the piper must be
paid"
Brian Judge, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Recommended
by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 01:49 GMT
02:49 UK
Zimbabwe is yet another african failed state.
Nothing will work there unless the evil that currently resides there
in the
seat of power is rooted out and dealt with.
Like a cancer, unless
it is all cut out, it will forever try to grow
back and
dominate.
Miami Dawg, United States
Recommended by 1
person
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 11:36 GMT 12:36
UK
No, they should not have a government of National Unity, they
should
have the democratically elected MDC government installed without
delay.
Mark, Reading UK
Recommended by 0
people
Mugabe lost the Parlaiment and the
Presidency so why
should a nyone have to allow him to keep power - democracy
Africa Style?
Only "Black" soldiers would ever be
allowed into South
Africa, because of the "Freedom fighter" tag they all
give themsleves.
It's all a pathetic charade that just
makes Southern
Africa look even more foolish and backward than usual.....
the only soldiers
who could sort out Mugabe are in South Africa and they
support the Mugabe
dicatorship.
A Kelly, United
Kingdom
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 11:16
GMT 12:16 UK
Chidzyausiku is quite out of touch with
the the
electorate.There is absolutely no way in which MDC can work together
with
the corrupt and arrogant Zanu-PF.Zimbabweans voted for a new leadership
not
a recycled one. MDC won these elections outrightly, if Zanu is not
honest to
concede defeat, then let there be another revolution in Zimbabwe.I
know many
people who are eager to join.Why should we trust organisations
such as UN
when they are responsible for many wars in Africa because of
indecision?
Sydney,
Manchester
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 11:14
GMT 12:14 UK
Am I surprised at China opposing. No I am
not because
China has the minerals that it is pinching from Zimbabweans to
lose. Wake up
and smell the coffee, West, before it is too
late.
redkatchana, Milton
Keynes
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 11:12
GMT 12:12 UK
Yes! In fact its long overdue, donot
understand why the
electoral commission can hold elections results for that
longer. The earlier
the unity government is formed the better for
Zimbabwe.
AMRAPHEL,
NAIROBI
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 10:27
GMT 11:27 UK
It might help but it is important to
realise that
Zimbabwe's problems are not due just to Robert
Mugabe.
The idea that this 80 year old is able to
control
everything in the country is of course risible. It would be
perfectly
possible for him to be removed, but elements of his regime to
remain.
It is also glib to assume that forcibly
intervening in
Zimbabwe would be a simple process. We have surely learnt
from Afghanistan
that even the poorest can fight very
effectively.
Simon O'brien,
London
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 10:07
GMT 11:07 UK
While a gorvenment of national unity is
noble, and has
been seen to work in some countries, I doubt it will in
Zimbabwe. Mugabe is
extreme and would not want to be seen to swallow the ego
he has carried all
these years and share a table with Morgan. Morgan has
failed to keep an
opposition party together! How can he then bring together
people of
divergent views if he failed on those that share the same agenda
as he does.
The presidency of Simba could be the best for national unity.
Viva Simba.
Lungisani, Bulawayo,
Zimbabwe
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 10:06
GMT 11:06 UK
In country awash with arms why doesnt a
government
sanction someone just erase Mugabe? Dont tell me civil right are
an issue in
Africa!!!
I can only asume China's arms
imports are opening up the
oppurtunity to create a vacum that China can walk
into and expand the "great
game" between the great nations of the world
currently taking place in
Africa
peter blake,
london
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 10:01
GMT 11:01 UK
It just goes to prove a point of politics
in Africa, maybe
a certain nobel prize winner was right in his view of
Africa
peter blake, london
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 08:57
GMT 09:57 UK
Dont waste more time and lives. Just get
in there and get
this mad man out, by force. I see no other reasonable
option.
esther
Recommended
by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 08:41
GMT 09:41 UK
How can it take for a worm to wriggle out
of sight?
ABBIE WILSON
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 08:28
GMT 09:28 UK
A government of national unity with zanu
pf?NEVER!We will
not accept unity with zanu pf.Mugabe and his goons are
finished.There is no
place in a new Zimbabwe for anything zanu pf.these zanu
pf people have
traumatised us for the past 28 years.Their time is up and
NEVER again shall
Zimbabwe be ruled or held to ransom by a bunch of sadistic
sycomphants.Like
the NAZIs in years gone by, zanu pf and all it stands for
must be
obliterated.
sanctions wont help the people
of Zim.
WANDILE MTHETHWA,
BULAWAYO
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 08:04
GMT 09:04 UK
The mess that is Zimbabwe certainly needs
a govt. of
national unity & that should be organized under the auspices
of the African
nations. The problem is it's difficult to find any African
leader who is
neutral & could be objective. Many think that Mugabe is
doing a fine job &
as long as "whites" aren't in charge & that's the
way it should stay.
But when the time comes "the whites"
will be asked yet
again to dig deep into their
pockets.
David Little, Thon,
Belgium
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 07:58
GMT 08:58 UK
YES & NO! What exactly is this
proposed govt set to
achieve? Without justice we re merely fooling each
other:
a. When will the TRUE presidential results be
released &
when will the runoff be?
c. Who will
head the coalition govt? Will he ve the free
hand to enter into negotiation
with other parties of HIS choice?
d. What MEANINGFUL
role is SADC & the AU playing to bring
this circus to an
end?
e. Too MANY western fingers in the pie hence a
possibility
of a severe anti-neo colonial backlash
Joe, Nairobi, Kenya
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 07:55
GMT 08:55 UK
This boniface guy should be given a big
cup of shut the
.... up !!!
We do not need a government
of national unity .What we
need is the cruel government out
period!!
phanuel galufu
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 07:17
GMT 08:17 UK
Sanctions will only make life harder for
the citizens of
this blighted country. You cannot remove Mugabe because he
is elected TRIBAL
LEADER FOR LIFE. He must be made to understand that title
is apart from that
of President of the country. Governments must recognize
his title and stop
demeaning him. He did the country a power of good in the
first place and
this is being overlooked. He needs to be helped and advised
and not
continuously chided. Annoyance with him will get nowhere.
Joy
Joy Pattinson, ROLLE,
Switzerland
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30
April, 2008, 01:06 GMT 02:06 UK
For those of you
suggesting that the UN go in, you do
realize that the UN has no army?! The
UN has to ask member nations to
provide a force!
The simple fact is that the UN is only as strong as the
major powers allows
it to be, it is not an independent power!
Also, for
those revisionist history writers, had Smith and
his ilk not taken over and
declared independance, just perhaps there could
have been a better
transition. Many former UK colonys have managed ok. The
racist Ian S begat
Mugabe
Lee, Canada
Recommended by 2 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 24:50
GMT 01:50 UK
A governemnt of national unity - one which
incorporates
those who are not implicated in inciting violence against
Zimbabweans. How
can Zimbabweans ever trust their persecutors. Never! How
can they ever trust
Mugabe ever again. Never. How can they ever trust
Mugabe's ring-leaders of
violence. Never. They can never earn it back after
their betrayal of the
people. This is just a ruse to protect Mugabe and his
fellow guilty
criminals from prosecution. They're running out of options.
They must pay!
Elliot Murray, Cambridge, United
Kingdom
Recommended by 4
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 24:36
GMT 01:36 UK
The epithet "neo-colonialism" is 30 years
out of date, as
is everything Zanu-PF are. The new word should be "state
colonialism "
because that is what Zanu-PF practice. A government of
national unity helps
the elites, not the masses, and will only stall
revolution.
mwana katwe
Recommended by 2 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 24:33
GMT 01:33 UK
Sanctions might work but only if
accompanied by a stream
of diplomatic missions to Africa. South Africa must
be pressurised - they
supply political support ,power (often not paid for),
fuel and a market for
Zimbabwe's meagre exports.
The other key player that has to be pressurised is the new
colonial power
China, selfishly trying to get its hands on the Zimbabwe's
resources by
propping up Mugabe, promising arms and placing Chinese
nationals in the
country's factories and fields.
Godfrey Barker,
Christchurch
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 24:30
GMT 01:30 UK
Never, never, never should sanctions be
put on Zimbabwe to
hurt the poor people there. In fact, the West should send
in funds and
investment and training to help them in their farming and
development
endeavours. The people can learn to farm their land. There is no
need to
chase Mr. Mugabe out. He fought for his country. Why so much hatred
and
hostililty towards helping the people there become self-sufficient?
Please,
no sanctions. Stop the hatred! Help them. Kindness begets kindness
and love.
D.T. Rener, St.
Louis
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 24:02
GMT 01:02 UK
Sanctions on Zimbabwe will yield bitter
fruits for the
common citizenry. It is not a constructive approach to the
political impasse
of Zimbabwe at this pointing time. If someone is offensive
to a community
and we go and set the community ablaze and pulverize it, have
we actually
helped that community? Better, we can fish out that offender
with the help
of the community, and deal with him. This is simple logic.
Zimbabwe needs UN
action, not sanctions. And Zimbabwe needs prayers
too.
Vasudev Das, New Jersey, United
States
Recommended by 3 people
Added: Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, 24:01
GMT 01:01 UK
The UK should focus on forcing their
favorite African
dictators to hold elections and not just the leaders like
Mugabe that refuse
to do their bidding.
Ben Ali,
Luton
Recommended by 1
person
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 23:56 GMT
00:56 UK
Please don't help us.We don't need your help.
Just stop
supporting & arming our dictators.
Many
here pretend to care about Zimbabweans just because
its dictator is ordering
arms from China and not UK.
Who arms these
dictators:
Omar Bongo - 1967 (Gabon) - 41
years,
Hosni Mubarak - 1981 (Egypt) - 27
years,
Ben Ali - 1987 (Tunisia) - 21
years,.....
It's the US & UK.
Omar Binjo, Birmingham
Recommended by 2
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 23:49 GMT
00:49 UK
Any sort of functional government would be a
welcome
change.
Joe Runciter, Santa Fe, United
States
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 23:33 GMT
00:33 UK
As an ex - Zimbabwean and a family that was
forced out of
a country that we loved I am saddened and appalled to see that
Bob is still
in power. Come on someone do something
please.
Sad Ex- Zimbo, London
Why aren't you and all the other educated africans not
going back to fix the
mess, Why do you want others to clean up your mess.
Your
country needs you, go and fix it up or quit whinning
about
it.
If it was my country, Bob would in the ground pushing
up
flowers.
Get some Balls
Jack Hammond, Canada
Recommended by 3
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 23:24 GMT
00:24 UK
Can we get beyond Zimbabwe already? Either
send in the US
Marines or forget the whole thing and let Mugabe die of old
age in office as
permanent dictator. This is another "crisis" issue that
will go nowhere past
the first hysterical news cycle like
Tibet.
Sick of Zimbabwe, New
York
Recommended by 2
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 23:04 GMT
00:04 UK
I do believe that Zimbabwe should have a
government of
national unity because it allows all parties and their
followers to be
represented in the political system - presumably, this would
account for the
views of all Zimbabweans. However, I can potentially see
disagreements and
an unwillingness to compromise among these different
parties ceding all
process and leading to further violence and unrest. If a
national unity
government is to be implemented, mediation by a third party
may be
necessary.
Diane,
Toronto
Recommended by 1
person
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 22:53 GMT
23:53 UK
The international community is quick to pay
lip service
when it comes to sanctions, which really do nothing to change
the
problematic situation in the first place. The ordinary people of
Zimbabwe
are the real losers, Do you really think that the so called smart
sanctions
will make Mugabe blink? They should be called Daft sanctions, ever
since
they were imposed Zimbabweans have suffered more more, and Mugabe is
still
there. How about Britain being mature about this whole thing and
honour
Lancaste
Chapfukidza Chapfeka,
London
Recommended by 2
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 22:51 GMT
23:51 UK
Mugabe will never step down. The moment he
does, he will
be charged with Genocide for the Matabeleland Massacres and
risk being
executed.
The MDC has no experience of
running a country and no-one
with even the theoretical knowledge. However,
ZANU-PF have proved they are
even more incapable. Things look
bleak.
P. Viljoen, Mossel Bay, South
Africa
Recommended by 3
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 22:14 GMT
23:14 UK
Yes it is the best way to solve this shameful
problem.
ansumariam
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 22:05
GMT 23:05 UK
A government of National Unity ? To
include Zanu-PF?
Hardly a recipe for peace & growth.... R Mugabe“s time
is over, imo M
Tsvangirai very reasonably said it was time for the old man
to step down. If
only the neighbouring leaders had supported this
call.
Sanctions did not prevent R Mugabe et al doing as
they
wanted & satisfying their needs, thus further sanctions are
pointless.
Lastly, the Lancaster Hse agreement was a
contract,
requiring perfomance for payment... check who broke
it.
Antony Webb
Recommended by
1 person
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 21:42
GMT 22:42 UK
Zimbabwe Run by a despotic ruler,using
every dirty
underhand method to stay in power. watched by an emasculated
international
community joins a long line of corrupt, dysfunctional
countries in Africa
that will continue to blunder along due to political
weakness in the united
nations( read useless nations)
due to political expediency, self interest, nepotism,
greed, and stupidity
yet another African country bites the dust! ( it`s to
depressing to list the
litany preceding. Mbeki what a disgrace!
pete gaze,
gloucester
Recommended by 3
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 21:25
GMT 22:25 UK
I believe Mugabe's obstinacy is not about
Power,but Fear
that a new Govt will Buckle to Outside Pressure.Opposition
Lacks
CONFIDENCE,one minute GO,next STAY. Sad FACT is UK & US have a
history of
Re-NEGGING. Plus a definite Dis-Connect between those who Fought
& Died for
Independence & those who only Heard about
it.
WHINERS about FOREIGN AID should learn: It's the
Perfect
vehicle for getting rid of SURPLUS stock quoted in $Millions.CASH is
RARELY
involved,rather,Prices are INFLATED for PR
Flinkus, Streatham/Canada
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 19:28
GMT 20:28 UK
Given that the Zanu-PF regime has been
corrupt and
murderous, a government of National Unity including them, is
unthinkable.
The MDC have won and should take power. There will be
difficulties because
the police and armed forces were Mugabe's henchmen and
will not take readily
to returning to their rightful role in the
society.
Tsvangerai must be magnanimous in victory and
cultivate an
atmosphere of forgiveness. Perhaps then, this once great (
British
administered) country can be regenerated.
[Degreeofhope], Pretoria, South Africa
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 19:09
GMT 20:09 UK
"Government of National Unity" is now a
catch-word for
crooked, despotic and recycled politicians in Africa after
FAILED ELECTIONS.
GNU can NEVER ever work in Zimbabwe.
There's nothing in
common between the victors and the cheats. The agenda for
ZANU-PF in GNU
will be to buy time to re-organise itself, further entrench
power, and if
succeeds in creating GNU, make sure it finishes MDC for
good.
AU AND SADC, STOP 'I SCRATCH YOUR BACK, YOU
SCRATCH MINE'
SYNDROME. ACT! TIME IS NOW.
Yusuf,
Lusaka
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 19:05
GMT 20:05 UK
A "government of national unity" means
there is no
opposition, right? Isn't this what Mugabe is
running?
[MilwaukeeRay], United
States
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 19:05
GMT 20:05 UK
Jendayi Fraser who is an African /
American should know
that further implementation of UN sactions, will only
hurt our locals.
Zimbabweans have suffered since the white owned farms and
farm land was
invadered. Mugabes' view/policy was that he was addressing the
land issue, I
like so many other Zimbabweans are of the opinion, had he done
it early, the
current problems in Zimbabwe would have been experienced
sooner. Mugabe
might now be pondering his desision to invade the farms as
great error
Keith Smith, Peterborough
U.K.
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 18:50
GMT 19:50 UK
Why? Mugabe and his cronies lost. I don't
recall Mugabe
wanting to share power with Ian Smith in 1979 do you? That
would have been
far more of gesture of "national" unity than this phony ploy
to cling to
power to complete his utter destruction of the former
Rhodesia.
Speedbird, USofA
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 18:49
GMT 19:49 UK
The UN must speak with strong authority,
The African Union
is hamstrung with feeble excuses, mostly by rulers that
also want to hold on
to power, the people of Zimbabwe cannot be left to
struggle with the current
dictatorship of police and army. If so, conditions
in other African nations
will follow Mugabe. If he gets away without
accountability, others will
emulate. This is a last chance for sanity and
accountability to be enforced.
In fact there is already a de facto military
dictatorship.
Clive Shiff,
Gweru
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 18:47
GMT 19:47 UK
Is this not putting the cart before the
horse? Should not
the results of the Presidential contest be announced
first, despite it
taking ages, which makes it look
sinister.
Saravan, Merton
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 18:29
GMT 19:29 UK
We have been funding African leaders and
their suspect
governments for decades, it is time they stood on their own
feet and dealt
with their own problems and those of
Africa.
Peter Marton, Middlesbrough, United
Kingdom
What you are saying, it should be put in the
following
correct way:
Bribing African leaders to
loot their resources. This is
the reason African countries are so far behind
economically.
UK museums are full of this loot from all
the British
Colonies.
Shahid Shahid, Chicago,
United States
Recommended by 1
person
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 18:24
GMT 19:24 UK
As long as Mugabe or Zanu PF cronies
return an influence
in the next gvt then they will not allow any meaningful
change. They will
return the control of key resources such as land, the
seized from white
commercial farmers - 80% is now in their
control.
We need a clean start and not to have
everything
whitewashed. My fear is MDC does not have the political spine to
stand up to
Zanu PF, they never had and it is naive to think they will after
the unity!
Wilbert Mukori
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 18:20
GMT 19:20 UK
Pressure if it has to be brought should be
against the
United Kingdom which has been a less than honest broker, to
settle the
unfinished business of the Lancaster House Agreement with the
incoming
Government while quietly avoiding loss of
face.
DENNIS HARVEY, Staines, United
Kingdom
Stop blaming us for pete's sake. I don't
understand why
people in this country feel we are to blame for everything.
Blame Mugabe he
is responsible, its his supporters who murder and
intimidate.
Mark,
Manchester
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 18:12
GMT 19:12 UK
Robert Mogabe has to accept that he has
lost the
elections. He is simply a very big looser who can't have it that he
has
lost. Any compromise such as a government of national unity doesn't
recognize the roots of democracy. The people have choosen their delegates so
let those delegates speek for them.
marinus
verkaik, Tilburg
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 18:11
GMT 19:11 UK
Of course they should. The gutless UN
should make it so.
john, boynton beach,
florida
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 17:59
GMT 18:59 UK
Pressure if it has to be brought should be
against the
United Kingdom which has been a less than honest
broker
I have lost faith in honest
brokers.
Mary Gravitt, Iowa City, Iowa, United
States
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 17:59 GMT
18:59 UK
What a truely stupid idea put forward by the
agents of the
regime. It shows how desperate Zanu PF are. When the MDC takes
power it must
seek out and visit vengance on the Zanu PF members. The MDC
has agreed the
Mugabe will be hanged when they take power, and only the
execution of Mugabe
will improve the situation. The time for Zanu PF to pay
for thier misdeeds
is close.
Georgy Zhukov,
Krasnodar, Russia
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 17:57 GMT
18:57 UK
Sanctions, maybe.
Government of National Unity, NO WAY!
Mugabe and zanu-pf
had their chance and blew it!
His foreign bank accounts
should also be exposed and the
funds used to rebuild
Zimbabwe.
Once he is out, more ex pats will be encouraged
to return
home and help get Zimbabwe back on its feet.
UN troops should be used as peace keepers to maintain
order once Morgan is
President. It's simple...NO MUGABE AND NO ZANU PF!
PAUL
CMMMMMMM
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 17:53 GMT
18:53 UK
Why would the US intervene here and not in
Darfur to stop
the killings? Besides, unilateral military intervention with
out security
council approval is illegal under Article 2 of the UN
Charter.
Michael, Atlanta
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 17:50 GMT
18:50 UK
UNITY GOVT MAY SOUND GOOD NOT FOR ME HERE IN
KENYA!!
Already i feel cheated we did not want the Kibakis back in govt but
they
remain to continue corruption, wealth grabbing, old grandpas in govt
while
young graduates are jobless tribalism.they won't correct land issues
coz
they are the land grabbers so this govt helps me with what? I need a new
constitution where is it??
when Kabaki sits there! ZIMB
refuse it get rid of grandpa
Mugabe for good The U.S made a mistake we
should have re-voted
nelly amua, nairobi,
Kenya
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 17:50 GMT
18:50 UK
to all mugabe supporters; are you aware that
it now costs
over 30,0000000,000000..,oooops sorry I've run out of space to
print the
correct amount of Z$ to buy a UK£.
Is this
the freedom from the 'colonial oppressors' that
you are all so proud
of?
maybe you think that by gettin Z$30,000000,00000
.....ooops sorry not enough space, for your pound makes you
rich.
Anyone with a thread of intelligence will know that
you
can generally assess a country's performance by the strength of it's
currency.
John Combe
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 17:10 GMT
18:10 UK
Of course the UN should impose sanctions...
it's proven to
be so effective thus far! And exactly what else is the UN
really capable of?
They should take some lessons from the dock workers in
SA. The UN needs NEW
employees and NOW.
Coalition
govt in Zim? Yay.... let's send the message to
all tyrannical dictators....
be nasty and you will be rewarded and still get
some
limelight.
Are morons running the
world?
No End In Sight
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 05:43 GMT
06:43 UK
Further sanctions against Zimbabwe will not
work but
rather play straight into the hands of it's creditor China which is
currently milking the Country for all it's worth just as it does in
Burma.
Pressure if it has to be brought should be
against the
United Kingdom which has been a less than honest broker, to
settle the
unfinished business of the Lancaster House Agreement with the
incoming
Government while quietly avoiding loss of
face.
DENNIS HARVEY, Staines, United
Kingdom
Recommended by 5
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 05:34 GMT
06:34 UK
"What sanctions "when i lived there we ate
wildebeast
springboks you name it its there and if your clever you dont need
annything
from annybody
robert lengkeek,
valkenburg, Netherlands
Recommended by 3
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 05:31 GMT
06:31 UK
Its time Britain for one took a stand instead
of being
politically correct and looked after its former nationals living in
Zimbabwe. Is it also not time that Mugabe,s bank accounts be brought to
light and the funds returned to the country where they belong ?
?
Andy Page, Durban
Recommended by 8 people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 05:30 GMT
06:30 UK
If you combine the efforts of Thabo Mbeki and
the other
African leaders and sanctions, the net effect on the meglomaniac
Mugabe will
be zero.
African leaders are spineless
and gutless, scared stiff of
an 80+ year man blaming all around him for his
own incompetancies.
We have been funding African
leaders and their suspect
governments for decades, it is time they stood on
their own feet and dealt
with their own problems and those of
Africa.
Peter Marton, Middlesbrough, United
Kingdom
Recommended by 8
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 05:21 GMT
06:21 UK
Should the UN impose sanctions on
Zimbabwe?
Who do you think this embargo will hurt most?
Mugabe and
his henchmen, or the common - already nearly starved - man on the
street?
If the international community really want to
help the
people of Zimbabwe, it is time to "take out" the current unlawful
administration. The resulting more food in the stomachs of the hungry will
begin the return to normalcy.
ps - Time to dump the
unrealistic "cannot interfere with
the internal runnings" etc
..
Fat RadioMan, London, United
Kingdom
Recommended by 5
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 04:44 GMT
05:44 UK
Africa is a basket case..I am fed up of my
hard earned
taxes going in aid to tin pot dictators like Mugabe...corruption
and hunger
are endemic in Africa and always will be
Akimbo, Global
Recommended by 6
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 04:37 GMT
05:37 UK
there are certain leaders like that in the
world
they will think they are the real leaders but they
are
just nothing among their countrys people
axim,
maldives
Recommended by 1
person
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 04:25 GMT
05:25 UK
Zimbabwe's economy lies in ruins, the
population is
unemployed and hungry, and yet Mugabe remains in control. To
me, this is a
clear sign that economic sanctions imposed by western
countries will not
affect Mr. Mugabe in his bid to cling to power. What
would be far more
helpful would be if the countries neighboring Zimbabwe,
particularly South
Africa, unequivocally demanded that the results of the
contested election be
shown. Only then will Mr. Mugabe realize how isolated
he has become.
Jake,
Montreal
Recommended by 7
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 24:40 GMT
01:40 UK
UN sanctions means nothing when it is not
effectively
intervening in Sudan, Iraq, Palestine, and in all places where
wanton
massacre is taking place. The Zimbabweans have had enough problems
with the
Europeans involving in their politics. Please, leave Zimbabweans
alone and
hopefully they will figure out their
destiny.
Fasahath Husain, Chennai,
India
Recommended by 4 people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 24:27 GMT
01:27 UK
I don't believe that sanctions will achieve
anything in
Zimbabwe but I also don't believe that the west should do
nothing. I think
that the people of Zimbabwe should have the final say, if
Mugabe is to be
ousted, then be prepared to fight. After all, Ian Smith was
ousted in the
midst of a war. People in Zimbabwe lived better lives under
Ian Smith than
they have under Mugabe so if freedom is what they want - then
stand up and
be counted.
Warren,
Perth
Recommended by 5
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 24:08 GMT
01:08 UK
of course.
I always
support democracy.
J,
Japan
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Tuesday, 29 April, 2008, 24:01 GMT
01:01 UK
No. The colonialist imperial British should
pay just
compensation to the white farmers who lost their land, not
Zimbabwe.
Zimbabweans were promised that land and the Brits
welched.
bill g, annapolis,
md
Recommended by 4 people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 23:55 GMT
00:55 UK
To quote lyricist Tim Rice, "My how the worm
begins to
turn. When will the chorus girl ever
learn?"
40 years ago Rhodesia tried to get the UK to
suppress
gangs of terrorists who massacred missionaries and killed farmers
and
villagers. When Britain failed to act, the Rhodesians declared their
independence and tried to stamp out Robert Mugabe's North Korean-trained
gangsters, hindered by an embargo placed upon Rhodesia until Mugabe's thugs
took power. Isn't an apology to the Rhodesians
overdue?
Christian Shea, Hollywood, California, United
States
Recommended by 11
people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 20:04 GMT
21:04 UK
Zimbabwe will never be a colony again are
favourate words
by President Robert Mugabe, Looking at events that are
happenning cerrently
it looks like he President Robert is the new
COLONIALIST.
Denis Nyamukapa,
HARARE
Recommended by 15
people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 20:00 GMT
21:00 UK
Firstly, don't ask us, ask the countries
around Zimbabwe.
They're the ones who would have to impose the
sanctions.
Secondly, who would the sanctions affect, only
the poor
lowe classes. The elite will take care of things for themselves, as
always
Ralph Phillips, Rishon Le Zion,
Israel
Recommended by 6 people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:59 GMT
20:59 UK
Why are we giving money or support to Rhodesia
anyway?
They used to be know as the Breadbasket Of
Africa until
that murderer Mugabe drove out the people who actually knew how
to farm the
land effectively.
Sanctions hurt the
poor - not Mugabe who was "banned" from
visiting our EU Dictatorship but
frequently has 'waivers' so that he can
attend conferences and his wife can
shop.
Any action against Rhodesia is blocked by the
President of
South Africa who doesn't think HIV becomes AIDS.
Idiot.
Geoff V
Recommended by
13 people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:58 GMT
20:58 UK
Instead of sanctioning Zimbabwe, the UN should
task
African Union to do something about the situation in Zimbabwe. It is
disturbing and intriguing that African leaders seem to have formed the habit
of keeping quiet about the ills of other African leaders. They either
support it or are passive or indifferent. I wonder why it is so. On the
other hand, Africans should realize that their liberation from dictatorship
and undue suffering from their leaders lies in their own hands. They should
act.
SAM NDU,
PORT-HARCOURT
Recommended by 5
people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:55 GMT
20:55 UK
Its Britain that created the problems in
Zimbabwe.
Lukwago Ishmael Ntegana,
Kampala
Britain didn't create them, one man did, his
name Robert
Mugabe. As he happily points out, "Zimbabwe is independent" and
"Our land
our sovereignty". Well with independence, with sovereignty comes
responsibility and if there is a crisis in a country the buck stops with its
leader. They and they alone are responsible for the safety and well being of
that country. Blaming others will get you knowhere.
Mark, Manchester
Recommended by 12
people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:46 GMT
20:46 UK
Who would sanctions actually affect? They guys
clinging to
power with probably very large sums of money stashed in various
banks around
the world, or the folk who can barely afford a loaf of
bread?
Matthew Meeking, Puerto Princesa,
Philippines
Recommended by 2
people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:46 GMT
20:46 UK
'Its Britain that created the problems in
Zimbabwe.'
Lukwago Ishmael Ntegana,
Kampala
Don't be ridiculous – Zimbabwe was a successful
country
when Britain ran it. It's the flipping Africans that have ruined it,
just
like they ruin every other country they attempt to
run.
anon., UK
Recommended
by 21 people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:45 GMT
20:45 UK
Impose sanctions on the autocratic leadership,
not
Zimbabwe.
Nathaniel Ondiaka, Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada
Recommended by 4
people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:43 GMT
20:43 UK
STRUGGLE is between Colonist UK Exerting
PRESSURE on
Independent ZIMBABWE to DICTATE Policy. Opposition HAMPERS it's
cause by
Throwing-in with Mugabe's nemisis.To pretend Mugabe DETESTS UK
without
Just-Cause is to seek Fresh-Air up a pigs
Colon.
Those Blaming Mugabe for Food Shortages &
Economic Crisis
OVERESTIMATE his powers.Only mis-step was LAND-RETURN in
One-Swoop. Was
there any other way?
ALL Else is
INFLICTED by UK/US/EUROPE to Kill Ideas of any
Uppity AFRICANS wanting their
LAND Back.
Lord Banners,
Canada
Recommended by 1 person
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:42 GMT
20:42 UK
I say we do nothing. I keep hearing people say
we
shouldn't impose our evil western culture on people in Africa. Fine with
me,
pull out entirely, stop all aid and let them enjoy their superior
cultures
without our interference. After all they now have all that lovely
farmland
to feed themselves.
No Aid To
Ingrates
Recommended by 7
people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:42
GMT 20:42 UK
Mugabe will have to be hounded out of
power.Zimbabwe is
being dragged into a spiral of doom,gloom.As he does not
understand decent
norms of behaviour and does not respect the will of the
people through
democratic elections,he will have to be taught basic
acceptable standards.He
cannot be allowed to hold his country to ransom.The
UN should step in into
the fray, impose tough sanctions against the
leadership, the cohorts of
Mugabe and forcibly restore democracy. Zimbabwe
is on a slippery slide.
Pancha Chandra, Brussels;
Belgium
Recommended by 1
person
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:34
GMT 20:34 UK
I disagree with Wendy of London, Ontario,
sanctions did
help bring down the apratheid regime in South
Africa.
============================================
Nope.
Sanctions as they existed again RSA only reduced
jobs for
the masses and had no effect on the ruling party of the
day.
It was the fall of the Berlin Wall and the fall of
the
USSR that made it possible for the National Party in RSA to finally let
go
of the laws as they existed.
Neither sanctions
nor the actions of the ANC.
Kevin Ritch, New
York
Recommended by 2
people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:29
GMT 20:29 UK
Yes to sanctions on arms, Swiss bank
accounts, (British)
school education for the children of Zanu PF supporters,
the endless
shopping trips of Mugabe's wife, and everything else that makes
life
comfortable for the tyrants (there's more than one of them) who have
reduced
life expectancy to 37 for Zimbabwe's women. Charles MacDonald
(surely not
his real name) must be one of them - "Enlightended" (sic) he
called himself
and can't even spell the word. So glad you removed his
objectionable post.
Bronwen,
Aberdeen
Recommended by 6
people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:23
GMT 20:23 UK
Sanctions? To do
what?
Cripple the economy? Inflation is already 100,000%
and 4
in 5 people are unemployed. Sanctions may have had a place quite a
while ago
but now it sounds like just a "Oh, do we really have to get
involved?" sort
of reaction.
But relax, They're only
"contemplating" sanctions anyway.
Even if it were proposed today, how long
do you think it would take for the
UN to actually vote on it? Weeks?
Months?
Zim elections make a good evening news story, but
the
interest ends there.
Ingemar,
Stockholm
Recommended by 0
people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:21
GMT 20:21 UK
Why is the so called UN suggesting another
sanction on
zimbawe, this will be an humantarian tsunami to the people of
zimbabwe, they
are not sanctioning the mugabi regime but rather the odinary
zimbaweans.
please i urge the UN and US to reconsider their decision on the
issue of
zimbawe.
ISMAILA,
Lamin
Recommended by 1
person
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:20
GMT 20:20 UK
The EU has sanctions, well sort of against
the Mugabe
Regime, except when Mugabe wants to visit Europe, then they are
waived !
The UN has once again FAILED miserably in the
very essence
of it's being. The elections in 2008, more to the point the
previous
elections should have been overseen by UN Blue Helmets, with the
vote
counting undertaken by an independent commission. That would have
solved a
lot of problems in the Southern African
Region.
Imposing sanctions now ? A bit late
!
Adam W, Surrey
Recommended by 0 people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:17
GMT 20:17 UK
The poor will only suffer further pain. i
beleive the
Southern African leaders should now move swiftly to relieve
Zimbabwe of this
insane person who cares little for his people. The Southern
African leaders
who have not effected his removal are complicit in the
violation of the
children and innocent peoples of Zimbabwe. The peoples of
Zimbabwe should be
given a fresh start to share in the natural wealth of
such a beautiful
country. Sadly, there is no example to follow in Africa,
not even in SA.
Grant,
durban
Recommended by 1
person
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:16
GMT 20:16 UK
Can someone please explain why imposing
sanctions on
Zimbabwe is a bad idea, yet it was exactly the right thing to
do to South
Africa at the time of apartheid? In particular, it seems that
sanctions
would hurt the people of Zimbabwe and not Mugabe. So I have to
suppose that
sanctions did not hurt the majority black population of South
Africa, or if
they did, it was a sacrifice that we white Westerners were
willing to make.
Mitchell
Inman
Recommended by 1 person
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:15
GMT 20:15 UK
"Its Britain that created the problems in
Zimbabwe."
Lukwago Ishmael Ntegana,
Kampala
What utter nonsense! UDI was declared in 1965.
Democracy
came 15 years later thanks to the Lancaster House talks. Mugabe
then became
a tyrant and Zim suffered. Britain had nothing to do with it.
Where, I ask,
are all the protests against China for trying to supply arms
to Mugabe? If
the UK or US had done that there would be uproar from the
left, and rightly
so. It's just easier to blame the
West.
Neill Monaghan, Maryville, United
States
Recommended by 2 people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 19:13
GMT 20:13 UK
History has proven that Ian Smith was 100%
correct. Thank
England for bowing down to the communist funded African
despots in the
Commonwealth at the time for the present
situation.
Hoboken Matt, NA
Recommended by 8 people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 17:30
GMT 18:30 UK
I disagree with Wendy of London, Ontario,
sanctions did
help bring down the apratheid regime in South
Africa.
In Zimbabwe's case the people are suffering
enough. I
would just ensure that all Mugabe's assets abroard are frozen, and
that he
hopefully lives his remaining years in poverty like that which he
has
brought on his people.
As an ex South African I
am ashamed of Mbeki supporting
that tyrant!
A
Barter, Toronto, Canada
Recommended by 9
people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 17:19
GMT 18:19 UK
obviously, it is not good task to santion
on some one but
we should understand the facts.Now throught out the world
merely we can find
few leaders who are seriouse with their public because
leader always care
for chair rather than for the problems of
masses.
According to my perspective UN should play that
role due
to which the problem would solve and country saved from sanction
but be
impartial despite of the interest of any country.By virtue of this
people of
the country we live in prosperity
Shah
Mandokhail, Quetta, Pakistan
Recommended by 1
person
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 17:18
GMT 18:18 UK
Sanctions have never worked, they only
make the poor even
poorer. Sanctions are merely a way for rich countries to
ease our
consciences for a problem which cannot be laid at our doorstep. For
better
or for worse Zimbabwe is an INDEPENDENT country and should sort out
its own
backyard, it has enough natural resources to allow its citizens to
have a
lifestyle equal or better than Britain. Our ancestors fought for our
rights,
without help from Africans, now it's their
turn.
John Larkin, Madrid,
Spain
Recommended by 4 people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 17:18
GMT 18:18 UK
Should the UN impose sanctions on
Zimbabwe? No. Should the
UN impose sanctions on the Mugabe leadership of
Zimbabwe? Yes, and without
delay. The people of Zimbabwe have suffered
enough while Mugabe and his
thugs thumb their noses at the world. Impose
sanctions that freeze assets of
the leadership, ban travel outside of
Zimbabwe, and blockade the ridiculous
shipment of arms to Zimbabwe. What are
we waiting for?
Mitch Sprague, Ottawa,
Canada
Recommended by 4 people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 17:11
GMT 18:11 UK
I think,the West should leave Africans to
solve African
problems. Why didn't the UN help the people in Rwanda in 1994.
Its Britain
that created the problems in Zimbabwe.
Lukwago Ishmael Ntegana, Kampala
Recommended by 3
people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 17:10
GMT 18:10 UK
No to sanctions. Yes to dialogue and
HONEST diplomatic
intervention. The UN has to show that actual
disfranchising of Zimbabwe
citizens and abuse of human rights ocurred in the
election process to
consider sanctions. Jendayi Frazer is not SUPREME, that
whatever she says
about Africa must goes. If the election process (under
Zimbabwe
constitution) is still in process, then I fail to see her point.
Bob is old
and he won't live forever - there is no need to instill more
suffering in
Zimbabwe.
John, Kenyan,
Washington
Recommended by 2
people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 17:09 GMT
18:09 UK
Absolutely pointless. Sanctions are
ineffective and
largely aimed at making the proponents feel as though they
are taking strong
action. Mugabe and cronies are totally immune. It will
only deepen the
hardship of the population at
large.
Bob, Denver, USA
Recommended by 4 people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 16:57 GMT
17:57 UK
I would appreciate an arms embargo for a
little while but
nothing else.
Leaders from Africa
should insist the arms embargo.
Any diplomatic move from
the UK could fuel unneccessary
emotions because Zimbabwe is a former UK
colony.
Jasper, Budapest
Recommended by 3 people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 16:57 GMT
17:57 UK
Should the UN impose sanctions on
Zimbabwe?
Sure, why not make life even worse than it
is. Does anyone
really think this will affect Mugabe one
iota?
Andrew Davis, Miami, United
States
Recommended by 2 people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 16:56 GMT
17:56 UK
I think people need to generally realise that
"my enemy's
enemy is not my friend." One the one hand, right-wingers believe
that a
return to white minority rule is the only solution to Zimbawe's and
South
Africa's problems. The issue was never one of the efficiency, but
rather of
the morality of such rule. Likewise, left-wingers need to (and
usually do)
acknowledge that the solution to a dictatorship is not
necessarily its
replacement with another
dictatorship.
Prashant, New
York
Recommended by 3
people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 16:46 GMT
17:46 UK
Did I not read a couple of years ago that a
reporter
investigating Robert Mugabe,said as far as he was able to
discover,Mugabs's
hidden wealth made him among the richest men in
Africa-Freezing access to
his stolen money would have more effect than
sanctions,that can only hurt
the poorest.
Frances
Stannard, Lanzarote
Recommended by 4
people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 16:36 GMT
17:36 UK
The behavior of Mbeki leaves a lot of
questions. Of
fundermental value is whether he really want change in
Zimbabwe.From the
looks of things heseems to want Mugabe to stay and prolong
the situation in
zimbabwe , Why ? is the question that we might all be
asking, Is it because
South Africa is benefitting economically from the
situation in zimbabwe?
There is no doubt that most people are now shopping
in SA including basic
commodities. Many proffesionals left Zimbabwe for SA
as well ???????????
peter,
wirral
Recommended by 3
people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 16:27 GMT
17:27 UK
The U.S always tries to do the right thing but
doesn't
always get it right. According to the UN nothing can ever be done at
anytime
other than talk. Anything else is illegal. The people of Zimbabwe
need
someone to help inspite of International law. Who cares if it is legal
or
not legal? What matters mostly is doing the right thing. Similar to what
the
US did at the end of WW II, we ended the dam thing once and for all.
Count
us out of Zimbabwe. Go for it UN - do the right thing for
once.
Todd B, Virginia, United
States
Recommended by 4 people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 16:24 GMT
17:24 UK
There are already sanctions in place that have
done
nothing, Mugabe doesnt care about the people he cares about power and
punishing his people will do nothing to him.
The whole
of Africa is a disaster zone with corrupt
leaders turning east to fund
themselves and and their regimes. There are a
lot more pressing problems in
Africa than Mugabe but he is indicitive of
your standard african
leader.
John, Dublin
Recommended by 2 people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 16:18 GMT
17:18 UK
The ZANU-PF government has blamed the targeted
sanctions,
which they call "illegal sanctions", for the demise of the
Zimbabwean
economy. Further sanctions will only give greater credability to
their
propaganda (which a large proportion of the population believe!) that
the
opposition is working hand-in-hand with the former colonial power and
other
western nations. Publically announcing the removal all sanctions
against
Zimbabwe will have a more desireable effect...they will have no-one
to
blame!
Basil Green,
Harare
Recommended by 1
person
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 16:17 GMT
17:17 UK
The only sanction that would work is an arms
embargo on
Zimbabwe. The only thing keeping Mugabe in power is the loyalty
of the
military and police. Remove their ability to use weapons and we`ll
see a far
more level playing field.
[mediamogul],
Medway, United Kingdom
Recommended by 4
people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 16:01 GMT
17:01 UK
I am a Zimbabwean who is fortunate enough to
travel,but I
have family back home and sanctions is not for Zim people we
are
suffering,we try to go to other countries like the UK but they turn us
back
they dont want us but we need help from other countries .Zimbabwee is a
beautiful place but very bad management.Other countries please
.Help.
mel, beijing
Recommended by 4 people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 16:00 GMT
17:00 UK
No to sanctions, the average Zimbabwean has
suffered
enough. Sanctions didn't work to end apartheid in South Africa, why
would
they work to unseat Mugabe in Zimbabwe?
Wendy, London, Ontario
Recommended by 1
person
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 16:00 GMT
17:00 UK
However what we do know is that a military
threat from any
NATO member would result in Tsvangirai becoming Prime
Minister like Raila
Odinga.
Ella,
Nairobi
Thanks to an impotent UN in dealing with the
crisis in
Bosnia, Clinton went way outside its parameters to stop a
potential
genocidal war. Rightly or wrongly the US has been criticised ever
since,
much of it from member nations, and it added fuel to the fire of
"world
police" argument. Zimbabwe, like Kenya, must sort itself
out.
M C Durant, United States
Recommended by 5 people
Added: Monday, 28 April, 2008, 15:55 GMT
16:55 UK
Well, Duh!!??? Why are they JUST considering
this? The
people there have nothing as it is. Mugabe and his cronies have it
all.
People are leaving for fear of their lives, they are hungry, they want
to
work and there are no jobs, there are no services -- there is nothing.
Why
do the Western world leaders (who have NEVER been poor or
disenfranchised by
the way) wait until the last possible second to do
anything if anything when
it comes to Africa?
Gene
David, Oranjestad, Aruba
Recommended by 0
people
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 30 April 2008 14:12
HARARE - As Mr Robert Mugabe and members
of his military junta
desperately hang onto power against all odds, the Zanu
(PF) party underneath
this ruse is degenerating into further divisions and
chaos.
The Zimbabwean learnt this week about consultations at various
levels
within the party as its rank and file have been waiting as the
military
junta usurped power and played games with the election results
during the
past month. It is believed that some sections within Zanu (PF)
have
expressed concern over the further decline of the economy-affecting the
majority of Zimbabweans and the tide is rising against Mugabe, viewed to be
implementing his personal survival plan at the expense of the whole
nation.
Many within Zanu (PF) are said to be concurring with former
army
commander Vitalis Zvinavashe, who recently publicly called on the party
to
accept defeat and allow for the rebuilding of the country.
The
Zimbabwean has it on good authority that some senior officials in
Zanu (PF)
are calling for an emergency meeting of the leadership to
challenge Mugabe
"to come out clean and explain whether the position to
impose a military
junta has the backing of the party", according to an
insider.
A
senior Zanu (PF) official said, "It is increasingly becoming clear
to many
party members that the path we are being led to takes us nowhere as
a
country and yet we are further descending into economic decay. Our
children
are hungry and it's affecting almost everyone now. We went into
elections
and got what we got but if the electorate chose the MDC to govern
we simply
have to accept."
The source hinted that "there are a lot of goings-on
at the lower
levels as well as within the party leadership and it is
possible some might
decide to break away or openly denounce all this
uncertainty and chaos".
Zanu (PF) political commissar, Elliot Manyika
denied there were
problems in the party. "The whole party is solidly behind
the leader, Robert
Mugabe," he said.
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 30 April 2008 14:24
As schools reopen this week, The
Zimbabwean takes a critical look at
the crumbling and neglected education
sector, once the finest in Africa. Now
teachers struggle to supplement
inflation-beaten salaries with part-time
jobs ranging from skokian-brewing
to currency dealing; school buildings fall
into neglect; kids fight over
chairs at the once-prestigious Highfield High
School.
BY TAPIWA
ZIVIRA AND MELODY CHAITWA
HARARE - Justin Mutume*, a teacher at a rural
secondary school in
Shamva, rises daily at 5 a.m and walks to a pig farm
nearby where he
brush-clean pigs due for slaughter. In return, he gets a bag
of maize a
week.
"I am doing this dirty work because my salary can
no longer afford to
buy food for my family, I have since lost my dignity as
a teacher in a
community," said Mutume, a father of three. With the schools
reopening, he
is negotiating shifts with his "second boss" to fit in with
school times.
Another teacher, identified as Chihota, is brewing
skokian, a one-day
home made brew, at his school home in Bindura to augment
his salary.
Before Zimbabwe's economic downfall through the past
decade, teachers
were among highly paid professionals. Now they are virtual
beggars with
salaries almost always way below the Poverty Datum Line (PDL).
This month
the regime increased the war veterans' monthly allowance to $8.7
billion
compared with teachers' salaries averaging $3 billion, below the PDL
of over
$5 billion.
For most of last term teachers were on strike.
The state promised huge
pay increases that never came.
Morale is
low in schools, as many teachers have lost enthusiasm,
preferring to do
extra work like selling freezits, sweets, operating small
phone shops or
dealing in foreign currency.
Some teachers take off on cross border
trading stints, and usually
there are no replacements. At Rutope Secondary
School near Harare there has
been no mathematics teacher since last
year.
More than 200 000 teachers, it is estimated, have left Zimbabwe.
Many
of the vacancies are filled by untrained school-leavers who are
struggling.
Some teachers are in Britain, doing jobs such as caring for
the old.
Others work as farm labourers, housemaids or gardeners in Botswana
and South
Africa. The lucky ones have found teaching jobs in these
countries.
Rita Kambasha, a teacher newly returned from South Africa,
said her
life there as a general hand on a citrus farm is far better than
being a
teacher in Zimbabwe.
"I can buy my family and parents back
here groceries and clothes and I
can sustain myself pretty well," she said
in an interview.
But Kambasha fears for her daughter's education. "Our
children are
victims of a regime that does not have a heart for the
education system and
to expect them to become fully educated like we did in
the past is a
miracle.''
A snap survey in several schools revealed
critical shortages of
chalks, textbooks and ballpoint pens. In many Harare
schools visited, paint
is peeling, light bulbs are broken, ceilings have
large holes, gutters are
falling down, windows are broken, floors are
potholed and roofs are falling
in.
At Highfield High School they
have coined the term 'furniture war' as
pupils have to fight for
desks.
"What happens is when pupils go for their practical lessons at
the
laboratories or workshops, they find their classrooms empty because
another
class would have taken their desks and chairs and they have to find
their
own from another empty classroom," said a teacher at Highfield High,
revered
as the top-performing high density school.
"How can a
school afford to replace broken windows when there is not
enough chalk for
the teachers?" said retired teacher Jonah Kaswamunzira.
Meanwhile,
parents face rising fees, plus top-up fees mid-term.
Boarding schools
struggle to source groceries.
Currently many boarding schools are
charging fees of $6 billion up to
$30 billion for the term but with the
hyper- inflation, parents will need to
top up the fees
N.B * Not
his real name because the Education Ministry bans teachers
from speaking to
the press.
The Zimbabwean
Thursday, 01 May 2008
06:36
As I type this article the radio in our office is hunting the
airwaves
for any confirmation of who will be Zimbabwe’s next president. The
presidential poll results are still unknown hence making the task of selling
tourism, or predicting tourism trends in Zimbabwe, a challenging
one.
Mugabe may still secure the presidency and in doing so will
make it
possible for his tenure in office to extend to 34 years
(coincidentally,
this is what the life expectancy of a male living in
Zimbabwe has come down
to). Should Mugabe remain in power our next article
for Travel and Tourism
in Zimbabwe may very well be a one liner – ‘closed
until further notice’.
In the event that a fresh face takes the
reigns of Zimbabwean politics
the potential for economic recovery will be
tangible as soon as the
opposition sits in office. The capital injections
to get the country up and
running again from foreign aid has already been
put in place. According to
News24.com ‘former colonial ruler Britain has
said it is ready to help
Zimbabwe if it judges the country has returned to
democracy. "We are working
with the World Bank and other donors in preparing
to support recovery as
soon as positive political change comes," a
spokesperson for Britain's
department for international development said.’
They have pledged a whopping
USD$ 1 billion per year. That will most
certainly rebuild the tattered
infrastructure. The cogs will be re-greased
and slowly the wheels of
industry will begin turning.
Irreversible damage has been done to the tourism industry but for the
most
part all corners of the industry will become hot property again. Fences
will
be rebuilt and roads redone. Government departments protecting Zimbabwe’s
heritage will get much needed cash injections and will become geared to
welcome foreign inbound tourists. The finances to facilitate the change will
be both public and private investment. Up until a change occurs in office it
is impossible to lure foreign investment because their investments were too
risky with haphazard government policy that did not respect property rights
or the rule of law. Now, for the first time in almost a decade, a change in
power is a possibility and with that a change in the fortunes of all
Zimbabweans as opportunities begin opening.
As a region
Mozambique’s coastline has seen tremendous activity (and
sometimes damage).
Namibia is saturated and the best of Botswana safari
lodges are reserved for
the wealthy. Zimbabwe has been left behind for the
better part of a decade
which means that its tourism potential is untapped.
The vast shore lines of
Kariba could be dotted with lodges, the Zambezi
river could boast luxurious
camps and Harare’s Hotels will be bustling
again.
In complete
contrast to the current situation should there be a change
in office the
only problems the authorities will have is to police the
amount of
investment and building applications they receive. They would be
able to
induce community based investment with regulations that benefit the
people
living in the areas that could become tourist hotspots. The tourism
authorities would need to be mindful however, not to fall victim to
exploitation from ruthless investors. They have the potential to turn the
country’s fortunes around and it will be a revolutionary week for Zimbabwe
politics. The radio is still on, hunting for any news of which way it will
sway.
Rian Bornman
Rian@venues4africa.com
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
22:58
Price controls introduced by Robert Mugabe were
counter-productive.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor has
said price controls
introduced by his boss, President Robert Mugabe were
counter-productive.
In a monetary statement review, RBZ governor
Gideon Gono said the
price controls which government introduced last June as
a way of fighting
the hyperinflation were contributing to the shortages of
the basic
commodities and affecting production of the goods.
"They
(price controls) must be used with extreme caution, otherwise
they sink many
basic goods and make them out of sight in the formal market
and only appear
in the parallel market where they will be out of reach of
the majority of
the people," Gono said.
"Price controls undermine economic activities.
While I understand the
social welfare responsibility of the government,
there must be mutual trust
between government and business.
"There
must a suitable formula (to replace price controls) and not to
thumb sack
prices that are sometimes wild and not related to cost of
production. That
will not make us move as a nation."
In the past Gono has clashed with
the finance ministry for
interfering in the fiscal policy. He said on
Wednesday he would continue to
interfere in 'any area of the
economy.'
In the same statement Gono said there must be a 'radical
reforms' in
order for the country to get out of its economic quandary.
"There is a need
for decisive and bold actions on critical areas such as
fuel, daily price
increases, under utilised land and foreign currency," said
Gono.
He said he wanted the mining and agriculture industry to increase
production tenfold for the economy to get back on track. The RBZ would be
repossessing all farming implements that it gave to farmers who are not
utilising them.
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 30
April 2008 13:55
'Is this the road to wealth for a select few,
nourishing themselves
like fat caterpillars on green Mopani trees to the
exclusion of the masses?'
'Thabo Mbeki, who should have had a towering
image and an enduring
legacy second only to that of Nelson Mandela, now
finds himself labelled a
coward'
BY B NGWENYA
The recent
elections have demonstrated one thing only – that Zanu (PF)
has lost the
grip it once had on Zimbabweans.
If I were to characterise the
situation in my country in one word, it
would be FEAR. From Dante comes the
following quote: 'The hottest places in
hell are reserved for those who, in
time of great moral crisis, maintain
their neutrality."
It is clear
that there is a deficit of courage in the leadership both
of Zanu (PF) and
SADC at large. For too long, Thabo Mbeki, has shown moral
cowardice in his
failure to make it clear to Robert Mugabe that the path he
had chosen to
lead the country along, was a road leading to nowhere. The
economy is now
retreating at a pace never before seen in peacetime in modern
history?
Current state inflows, such as income and sales tax,
import and export
revenues, can't meet government's outgoing commitments and
have to be topped
up by printing money. You cannot peg a currency and hope
to solve
inflationary pressures that way. Furthermore, going for controlled
prices on
items that you have no control over their production is a motley
fool's
joke.
You have this 'loony' syndrome of an exchange rate
pegged at a rate
that is less than a million times below the market rate,
which simply allows
for the rape of the foreign currency inflows.
Consequently mines,
manufacturing and business at large have shrunk,
throwing as many as 80% of
the working population onto the streets.
Proxies of Zanu (PF) big wigs sell most of our gold and diamonds
outside of
the country, a trend that has manifested itself in the last four
years. Is
this the road to wealth for a select few, nourishing themselves
like fat
caterpillars on green Mopani trees to the exclusion of the masses?
All
the foregoing point to a lamentable absence of moral courage
within the
party and those mediating on the issue. All that Zanu (PF), Mbeki
and SADC
need have done was to promote sound and tried economic practices to
oppose
foolish and unsustainable policies being imposed on the economy.
This
absence of moral courage, the fear to reign in gluttonous
behaviour and
personal enrichment at the expense of the country by our
leadership now
exceeds that of the Nigerians. The use of unbridled power to
suppress
justifiable dissent, amass wealth and promote a philosophy of
unchecked
tenure in leadership all point to a country and region in fear, an
inoculate, that has achieved passivity in the country and region.
So those who dare to oppose them like us will endure an unprecedented
economic decline of calamitous proportions? If so, then the lack of moral
courage to face up to that fact and engage them is also sadly absent. Why
roast in hell when diplomacy might be the panacea required to extract you
from it?
The fact of the matter is that Thabo Mbeki, who should
have had a
towering image and an enduring legacy second only to that of
Nelson Mandela,
now finds himself labelled a coward, an ineffective leader
to the extent
that his own party has demonstrated how eager they are to be
rid of him by
voting him out of the ANC presidency.
Tsvangirai
emerged from the shadows and shot into limelight soon after
the brutal
battering he received last year, a terrible miscalculation by low
I.Q.
elements within Zanu (PF).
Haiti's ruler, Papa Doc Duvalier and
Romanian ruler Nicolae Ceausescu
were both examples of what happens when
fear emboldens the oppressed.
The guarantor of a long tenure in
leadership is delivery of
people-driven solutions, not imposition. After an
election that has
distilled into the open the long-held belief that Zanu
(PF) had lost the
people's support, we are now witnessing the typical
behaviour of a timid
leadership both internally and regionally.
When will we gain leadership that is not self-centred, but is oriented
toward steering the country to the glory that it so deserves? There is only
one outcome that is necessary for Zimbabwe's problems to be resolved and
that is the departure of Mugabe.
The Zimbabwean
Thursday, 01 May 2008 06:29
“While the country awaits results of the
March 29 presidential
elections, security forces including some military and
police, as well as
war veterans are creating a climate of intimidation and
fear across the
country, particularly in rural areas and high-density
suburbs. There have
been attacks on opposition supporters, renewed farm
invasions, and arrests
of election officials accused of vote tampering.
There is a continued risk
of arbitrary detention or arrest.
Americans should be particularly aware of using still, video or
telephone
cameras in any urban setting, or in the vicinity of any political
activity,
as this could be construed by Zimbabwean authorities as practicing
journalism without accreditation, a crime punishable by arrest,
incarceration and/or deportation.”
This travel warning on http://travel.state.gov/ is not a stretch of
the imagination by any means. The government of Zimbabwe is cracking down on
opposition and as I type, reports stream in over the airwaves of riot police
ransacking the MDC headquarters in Harare.
Travel and tourism
in Zimbabwe is now very much on hold. Feedback from
operators and
accommodation suppliers throughout the industry is that their
reservations
teams are being bombarded with cancellations for bookings. Even
Harare’s
hotels are again empty after Western reporters were made to leave
and close
the door behind them (Zesa switched off the light long ago).
The
effect on the region will be that tourists who want to immerse
themselves in
the African bush will opt for Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique
instead of
Zimbabwe (and many more fickle tourists will give the whole
region a skip).
Zambia has seen a flourish of fishing lodges open along the
mighty Zambezi
and Mozambique’s coast is being commercialised further North
in places like
Bartholomew Diaz Point in Mozambique experiencing rapid
growth. Until
Zimbabwe has a legitimate government its tourism will be left
behind. A
Venues4Africa.com’s reservations consultant had a call today from
a client
for whom she arranged accommodation in Zambia and then in Hwange.
The two
ladies on tour from the States were adamant after news reports that
they
were cancelling the Zimbabwe leg of their trip and adding more days to
their
itinerary in Zambia.
The current powers that be will painstakingly
wallow in the usual
rhetoric that Zimbabwe’s heritage is for Zimbabwean
people only and not for
the Western world. Sustainable ecotourism can make
Zimbabwe a truly unique
destination and will guarantee Zimbabwe’s heritage
is kept alive for future
generations. Green tourism is the new buzzword and
tourists now look to see
where they can visit without leaving a ‘footprint’
in the environments they
visit. It is both good for the ecological
sustainability of a country’s
natural resources as well as being a lucrative
means to raising foreign
currency for the State. Typically Mugabe and his
lapdogs can’t see the wood
for the trees. Nigeria profited from poaching
expelled farmers from Zimbabwe
and neighbouring countries to Zimbabwe will
experience increased growth in
tourism and foreign exchange due to
Zimbabwe’s demise.
One can only hope that the government coffers
will now truly dry up
and there won’t be anything lucrative to hold onto,
not even for the elite
few, making life in Zimbabwe totally unbearable for
all and therefore change
inevitable.
Rian Bornman
rian@venues4africa.comThis e-mail
address is being protected from
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view it
www.venues4africa.com
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