Grovel East Chinamasa – Zimbabwe Vigil

via Grovel East Chinamasa – Zimbabwe Vigil Diary ZimbabweSituation Facebook November 17, 2013 at 11:09pm

Finance Minister Chinamasa graciously offered to forgive the West when he briefed diplomats in Harare about Zanu-PF’s latest Zim Asset-stripping programme.

‘We stand ready to allow our economy to talk to yours’, he gushed, quite forgetting that the Zimbabwean economy spoke a totally different language.

‘We need to be clear about indigenisation’, he added. ‘People are put off even by the name indigenisation (though) it’s there in other countries, but called localisation or other terms’. Perhaps Chinamamsa had in mind ‘theft’ or ‘lunacy’ (see: Chinamasa pleads with diplomats to bury the hatchet – https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/news/zimsit_chinamasa-pleads-with-diplomats-to-bury-the-hatchet/).

What is clear is that only a few months after the rigged elections, Zanu-PF has been exposed as having no clothes (apart perhaps from a dunce’s hat). It’s now reduced to begging from the very countries which it continues to vilify despite the aid they have poured into Zimbabwe.

The Vigil suggests that Chinamasa looks East and grovels to China for a handout. After all, the Chinese economic powerhouse has munificently given £1 million to help the neighbouring Philippines devastated by a massive typhoon. By contrast, the miserly UK government gave only £50 million and the UK public donated another £30 million in three days to help suffering people on the other side of the world (who had never even been oppressed by British colonialism!),

As Chinamasa no doubt thought: what a pity illegal sanctions stop us having typhoons in Zimbabwe.

The problem for Chinamasa is that Asian investors have imposed their own economic sanctions on Zimbabwe. Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha complained that – although the government was not ‘sitting on its laurels’ – countries in the East were withholding their money because Zimbabwe was seen as a risky destination. This must surely be discriminatory! (see:https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/news/zimsit_look-east-policy-hits-brick-wall/ – Look East policy hits brick wall).

We were pleased to be joined at the Vigil by Wilbert Mukori, who came down all the way from Manchester. After taking his turn on the drums, Wilbert went on with us to the bi-monthly Zimbabwe Action Forum (ZAF) where we discussed progress in implementing the resolutions passed after last month’s ‘Restore Zimbabwe’ Conference. (See last two diaries.)

ZAF approved the draft letter about the Israeli ballot-rigging company Nikuv published in last week’s diary with the addition of a warning to Israel that Zanu-PF would be quite happy to sell uranium to its enemy Iran. The letter is being sent to the Israeli government and media.

It was agreed to approach Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights for advice on legal options open to us to challenge the rigged elections and take Mugabe to the International Criminal Court in the Hague. The ZAF meeting was told of progress in collecting evidence of the election rigging. Comprehensive dossiers will be submitted to South Africa, SADC, the AU and the UN – all of whom have accepted the stolen elections. Wilbert said the validity of the elections must be challenged or people, seeing how the results were rigged, would not even bother to vote next time.

Also discussed were calls by some MDC leaders for the lifting of the targeted measures against Mugabe cronies on the grounds that these sanctions provided a fig-leaf for Mugabe’s mis-governance. The Vigil’s view is that sanctions should be continued and indeed extended to include those who rigged the last elections. We don’t think for a moment that African leaders are not able to see what is going on in Zimbabwe. Any concessions such as dropping the targeted measures would serve to legitimize the fraudulent elections and the illegal Zanu-PF regime.

Other points

• Following our ‘Restore Zimbabwe’ All-Stakeholders’ Conference we were pleased to be contacted by Moses Chamboko, a Zimbabwean living in Australia. He and other like-minded Zimbabweans in the diaspora have formed ‘Zimbabweans United for Democracy’ (www.zunde.org). We look forward to working with this group to develop an effective pro-democracy movement.
• Thanks to Nicodimus Muganhu and Shylette Chipangura of ROHR Reading Branch for bringing delicious Zimbabwean food. Thanks also to Nicodimus who, along with Kelvin Kamupira, Francesca Toft and Fungayi Mabhunu, arrived early to set up the Vigil. Thanks to Helen Rukambiro for looking after the front table.

For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/. Please note: Vigil photos can only be downloaded from our Flickr website.

FOR THE RECORD: 43 signed the register.

EVENTS AND NOTICES:

• Next Swaziland Vigil. Saturday 30th November from 10 am to 1 pm outside the Swaziland High Commission, 20 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6LB.
• ROHR Reading Branch meeting. Saturday 30th November from 1 – 5 pm. Venue: the Pakistan Community Centre, Park Hall, London Road, Reading RG1 3PA. Contact: Charles D. Ndlovu 07413879590, Eric Eluwasi 07531853066, Nicodimus Muganhu 07877386792.
• Zimbabwe Action Forum (ZAF). Saturday 7th December from 6.30 – 9.30 pm. Venue: Strand Continental Hotel (first floor lounge), 143 Strand, London WC2R 1JA. The Strand is the same road as the Vigil. From the Vigil it’s about a 10 minute walk, in the direction away from Trafalgar Square. The Strand Continental is situated on the south side of the Strand between Somerset House and the turn off onto Waterloo Bridge. The entrance is marked by a big sign high above and a sign for its famous Indian restaurant at street level. It’s next to a newsagent. Nearest underground: Temple (District and Circle lines) and Holborn.
• Zimbabwe Vigil Highlights 2012 can be viewed on this link: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk/the-vigil-diary/467-vigil-highlights-2012. Links to previous years’ highlights are listed on 2012 Highlights page.
• The Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s partner organization based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil to have an organization on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in Zimbabwe. Please note that the official website of ROHR Zimbabwe is http://www.rohrzimbabwe.org/. Any other website claiming to be the official website of ROHR in no way represents the views and opinions of ROHR.
• Facebook pages:
• Vigil: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts
• ZAF: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zimbabwe-Action-Forum-ZAF/490257051027515
• ROHR: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ROHR-Zimbabwe-Restoration-of-Human-Rights/301811392835
• Useful website: www.ipaidabribe.org.zw where people can report corruption in Zimbabwe.

Vigil co-ordinators

The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.