Christians for justice and peace

The Zimbabwean

We, Christians Together for Justice and Peace, write to express our deep
concern at the confusion that abounds and the extent of the polarisation
among Zimbabweans concerning the Senate Elections. This issue is not only
dividing the nation into antagonistic camps for and against participation
but has also created unprecedented confusion in the minds of many ordinary
citizens whose one over-riding desire is simply to cleanse the nation of
corrupt rule and to make a new start under a radically new servant
leadership of real integrity.
The words of Scripture come to mind; "When he (Jesus) saw the crowds he had
compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep
without a shepherd." (Matthew 9/36) Truly our people are without a wise and
caring shepherd today, and this is evidenced in the divided state of the
nation and the prevailing confusion, as well as in the intensity of
suffering which is being continually ratcheted up.

We share the view of very many Zimbabweans that this is not the time to
introduce a Senate. We are appalled at the way it has been imposed upon a
reluctant nation without any proper consultation or debate. We understand
that it serves the narrow sectional interests of some of the ruling elite,
and no other purpose.

Clearly it will not put one loaf of bread on the table of a destitute
family, nor one shelter for a homeless couple, nor provide medical relief
for one single HIV sufferer among the millions afflicted. Indeed the misuse
of the country's few remaining resources for this elaborate irrelevance is
in our view a scandal in the eyes of the Sovereign God of justice and mercy.
What he requires of us is plainly set out in Scripture:

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of
injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and
break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to
provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked to clothe
him and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?" (Isaiah 58/6-7)

If that was all there was to say about the Senate Election then clearly we
would be urging our fellow Christians to boycott the Poll on November 26.
But we have to acknowledge that some of those who share our desire for
freedom under the rule of law in Zimbabwe, have advanced some good,
strategic reasons for participating. We respect their integrity and their
right to make their own judgment in a complex, almost no-win situation.

Our counsel therefore is that Christians should humbly and sincerely seek
the guidance of the all-wise, all-loving God on this issue and then either
vote or not vote as the Spirit leads them, while at the same time showing
respect for and tolerance of those fellow Christians who may come to the
opposite conclusion.

The way forward

A child displaced by Opweration Murambatsvina is fed mealie pap at a church in Bulawayo.
Credit: Martine Stemerick

What is the way forward for Zimbabwe? Should the United Nations step in to depose Mugabe, and then to hold free and fair elections? And what about a Justice and Peace commission? MARTINE STEMERICK asks ROY BENNETT.

Roy: It was world pressure and pressure from the African region that brought about an end to the apartheid regime and secured the release of Nelson Mandela. Yet Mugabe is not getting that same pressure. If anything, there is quiet support for him from the African region where he is seen as a hero for having done what he has done by using colonial baggage and colonial racism.

The fact that he has never had a Truth and Reconciliation Commission or a Justice and Reconciliation Commission within Zimbabwe after the liberation war enables him to keep using this baggage instead of putting it to bed as was done in South Africa. And sadly, until we have a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he will continue to do what he is doing.

Unless there is international intervention in Zimbabwe and they depose this regime that has declared war on its own people and stop people like South Africa and the rest of Africa supporting Mugabe through financial assistance and through quiet diplomacy – which is basically a word for supporting him and keeping him in power – you are never going to make the rights of the people of Zimbabwe any better.

The only way forward is through democracy. And there has to be a period of 18 - 24 months, where the people can get out of this fear and be able to live a normal life. There needs to be freedom of the press, a freedom of speech, a freedom of association.

You’d have to get rid of POSA, get rid of AIPPA, and the NGO bill. Until we have the freedom for people to speak out openly what they want for the future, we can never have a constitution and we can never have true political representation for the people.

Because under forced circumstances like this, most of the people who would be good honest decent leaders for the people are too scared to get involved or have left the country. And those skills and those leaders are now working in other countries, leading multi-national organizations and multi-national companies into profits. But they are Zimbabweans who should be doing the same for their country.

I’ve always been a very strong advocate of Africa and African people. We Africans have every single ability to be able to empower ourselves and to become economically independent. All we need is the chance of free representation. And that’s the chance that we are not getting.

Yet, at the same time, part of the reason that Africa remains as it is that we have multi-nationals: you know, I’ve always been a very strong advocate of free trade, not free aid.

By that I mean free and fair trade: where people trade with ethics, with morals that empower people and economically take people out of poverty. That is what is needed in Africa.

But you get these multi-nationals that are involved in Zimbabwe. Recently, Patrick Chinamasa’s wife was given an award as tobacco grower of the year by British American Tobacco. And she is occupying a stolen farm. It’s ironic.

Until these multi-nationals realize that they have a responsibility for fair trade, and a responsibility for business ethics, that there are principals and morals involved in business ethics, that it’s not all about profit at poor peoples’ expense, you’re never ever going to turn Africa around.

MPs watch Murambatsvina horrors

The Zimbabwean

BY A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
EDINBURGH - International legislators meeting here this week saw horrifying
video footage of Zimbabweans displaced by Operation Murambatsvina - from
traumatised, near-suicidal adults to hungry, sick and bedraggled toddlers -
in a bid to highlight the humanitarian crisis.
The video, titled Crime of Poverty, depicted the inhuman conditions in which
tens of thousands of victims are existing five months after Robert Mugabe's
police and soldiers rampaged with bulldozers through poor urban districts.

Dutch-based Zimbabwe Watch and the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum organised
the event for parliamentarians from European Union and African, Caribbean
and Pacific nations gathered for the EU-ACP Joint Parliamentary Assembly.
Since the Assembly last met in Japan in April, human rights violations in
Zimbabwe have escalated with Operation Murambatsvina (Drive Out Filth).

"Operation Murambatsvina is a man-made national disaster and should be
declared as such," Pondai Buma, a researcher in Harare for the Human Rights
NGO Forum told the meeting. "It has grotesquely and systematically violated
a wide spectrum of human rights . families have been separated and children
prejudiced of education, health and shelter."

British Member of the European Parliament Glenys Kinnock noted that forced
removals and dumping people in the middle of nowhere was a favourite tactic
of authoritarian regimes to make a population "feel destabilised and
nervous." But still, she wondered: "Why was there no uprising after
Operation Murambatsvina?"

Primrose Matambanadzo, of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human
Rights, the other Harare-based speaker at the meeting, said that a
combination of fear, dire poverty, the sheer daily struggle to exist, a loss
of faith in the political system, and, more recently, splits in the
opposition, had helped induce apathy.

"It really was a purge of the urban poor," she added. "You have a population
which is experiencing deteriorating levels of poverty - just trying to put a
meal on the table. Lethargy has been increased by the opposition being so
fractured."

Several Zanu (PF) supporters, including Walter Mzembi, portly member of
Parliament for Masvingo South, sat in the audience, apparently unmoved by
the video of traumatised, rail-thin compatriots, and occasionally talking
and giggling among themselves. Afterward Mzembi dismissed the video as "80%
lies." He handed out a business card for his company, Rarefield Investments
(Pvt.) Ltd. The company slogan, given the Zimbabwe situation, looked - to it
put mildly - bizarre: "Our ingenuity is putting food on your table."

The video, made by the Solidarity Peace Trust on the post-Murambatsvina
situation up to October, showed families that have been flung in the back of
police trucks up to five times since their homes were bull-dozed and dumped
in fields or holding centres, such as Hopley Farm, with no housing, toilets,
or clean water.

There was the young mother describing how her baby, dragged with her by
police from shelter in a Bulawayo Baptist church, gave up the struggle for
life after two nights in the open; a toddler who had stumbled into an open
fire sat on a her mother's lap, her feet horribly burned, unable to walk and
in constant pain untreated for months.

A widow said simply: "I have reached the point where I want to die because
life is unbearable." Women prepared pathetic meals over fires in the dust.
Some displaced people were shown crawling for shelter under dirty blankets
or plastic sheeting just above ground.

"Ah," said a woollen-capped youth, "these people have messed up our lives.
They started something and now can't put it right."

Letter from America

The Zimbabwean

BY STANFORD MUKASA
WASHINGTON - The pro-senate group in the MDC has launched a campaign on
several fronts in a bid to assert itself as a power bloc. But neither their
logic, campaign nor strategies to justify their position have won any
support from the masses in Zimbabwe, especially the people of Matabeleland.
Reports say the rallies convened by the Welshman Ncube-Gibson Sibanda group
have been very poorly attended. To be exact, on the day Tsvangirai held his
rally at the White City stadium over 10,000 people attended. But Welshman
Ncube's rally in Pumula drew a laughable 70 people. Even more pathetic was
another rally attended by David Coltart, which attracted only 16 people.

We have also received information that these rallies were held after the
rebels had held secret meetings to discuss strategies about how to prevent
Tsvangirai from holding rallies in Bulawayo. One such strategy was to get
some members of the MDC-controlled Bulawayo City Council to write a letter
to the police not to grant permission.

But even more disturbing was the allegation that the group hired thugs to
physically assault supporters of Tsvangirai. A young man who was campaigning
for Tsvangirayi was so severely assaulted that he lost one eye. (see story
and picture P9) Another lost all his front teeth.

The most amazing thing was the unity displayed by the people in the midst of
all this provocation. Had this been during 1960s, there would have been
running battles between supporters of rival parties.

This behaviour was clear evidence of what MDC stalwart Gertrude Mtombeni had
said earlier: the people of Matabeleland have a national rather than tribal
or ethnic perspective and are strongly united behind Tsvangirai.

This also exposed the lie that had been peddled by the pro-senate group that
the people of Matabeleland were eager to participate in the elections in
order to maintain control of the region. Perhaps the most persistent peddler
of this pro-senate position has been Trudy Stevenson. Her two articles were
published not only in the pro-senate Newzimbabwe.com but also in the
CIO-controlled Mirror.

It is a cultural misrepresentation on the part of Stevenson to say people
followed Tsvangirayi's position because they regarded him as an elderly
fatherly figure who must be followed. If that was the case then the people
of Zimbabwe should have overwhelmingly voted for Mugabe because he is not
only an elderly person but self-appointed president of Zimbabwe!

Stevenson also argued that the people of Matabeleland wanted for historical
reasons associated with Gukurahundi to participate and not to give Zanu (PF)
any political space in Matabeleland. This is a fallacious argument that is
not supported factually.

However, many people will share Stevenson's view that the MDC is here to
stay and has weathered more than its share of storms in its six years so
far. But Stevenson falters or is conspicuously quiet on the efforts by the
national council and Tsvangirayi to reach out and negotiate with the
pro -senate group.

Information received indicates that several attempts by Tsvangirai to
negotiate have been rejected by the Ncube-Sibanda group. The same group has
also boycotted the national council and executive committee meetings. They
are now said to be planning to boycott the people's congress in January or
February.

It does not take a great deal of imagination to conclude that the
Ncube-Sibanda pro-senate group is scared stiff of the very same people they
are purportedly representing. If they felt they had a very strong case they
would have welcomed this opportunity to appear in the last two MDC council
meetings to plead their cases.

But their strategies and tactics are very similar to those used by Mugabe's
CIO. It is not a surprise that a strong case can be made that CIO has
infiltrated this group. Under Tsvangirai's leadership MDC has been vibrant
and has in fact won all the elections it contested, forcing Mugabe to rig
the elections to stay in power.

Even a confidential memo from the chief of the police to Mugabe warned about
the power that could be unleashed against the government by an increasingly
disillusioned population under the MDC.

It has been argued that if the pro- senate group wins a significant number
of seats that will make them a strong political power bloc in the MDC.
Nothing can be further from the truth. Being in a senate weakens one's
political position and influence in the MDC because the senate is a heavily
discredited institution.

Mugabe is also aware that if the pro-senate group wins any seats it will
legitimize the senate. We have received information from unnamed sources
that are in the know that Mugabe actually plans to reward the pro-senate
lobby by giving them perhaps 18 seats. They will be an ineffective and
pathetic minority.

- Letter from America is a weekly analysis broadcast every Monday evening
(www.swradioafrica.com) and Tuesday morning 1197 Khz medium wave.

More boodle, less booze

The Zimbabwean

BY LITANY BIRD
Dear Family and Friends,

I was at a small local function this week when a father stepped forward and
addressed the gathering about the dire needs of an institutional home for
mentally handicapped people. He told of how the institution had always been
massively subsidised by farmers and businessmen.

Farmers would just arrive with sacks of vegetables, potatoes, meat and
fruit; businesses gave bedding, furniture or cash donations to help with
plumbing, maintenance and upkeep. In the last six years as the majority of
farmers have been forced off their properties and as more and more
businesses have closed in our shrinking economy, it has become almost
impossible for specialist institutions to keep going.

At the end of his short appeal for help, there was clapping and
encouragement from the audience and the man returned to his seat. As he did
so the electricity went off in yet another power cut. But before the candles
had even been found, people were coming forward in the dark. One after
another they passed over handfuls of cash and others gave bottles of brandy
and vodka to be used as prizes in a raffle.

Someone suggested the bottles be auctioned and amid cheering and applause an
auctioneer was nominated and the bottles of spirit came under the hammer.
There was nothing at all special about these bottles, they were the cheapest
locally made spirits with unknown brand names which sell for around
$150,000.

The bidding for the first bottle began at $100,000 and with much jesting,
rose to two, three, six, $800,000. "One Bar" shouted the auctioneer, "I have
one bar" - which is the latest Zimbabwean slang for $1 million. This became
two bars, and then three bars. At last the bidding was done and the sale
made. The hammer went down in the candlelight, the applause was deafening
and a struggling home for mentally handicapped people was given a small
reprieve.

Not long after the impromptu auction, talk turned to the ludicrous situation
these days where the banks are short of big denomination notes. In a country
with galloping inflation, presently at 411 percent, none of us ever seem to
have enough money. A businessman told how he'd been short of $30 million in
cash to pay his small work force. The bank said that at such short notice
they could only provide it in $1000 notes.

Later that night with a large sheet of paper, a calculator and kitchen scale
I worked out what this entailed - 30,000 bank notes, 3000 paper clips and 30
elastic bands. This large pile of paper weighs a staggering 45 kilograms and
when the businessman got to the bank to collect his money, they had to loan
him a tin trunk and two security guards to carry it.

And what can you buy for$30 million in Zimbabwe this week: 1200 loaves of
bread or 90 frozen chickens or a drum and a half of petrol on the black
market. Until next week, Ndini shamwari yenyu

Zanu here to stay, unless .

The Zimbabwean

BY M M NGWENYA
LONDON - Zanu (PF) has systematically designed a sophisticated mechanism
meant to keep them in power for another decade if not two. This mechanism
has been used to force its opponents to support the regime. Violence has
been used to instil fear.
All Zimbabweans are witnesses to the hideous penalties inflicted on
perceived opponents by youths and State machinery in the run up to all
elections.

In addition, large sums of State money is disbursed and distributed to the
weak and gullible members of the opposition to persuade them to cause
division in the party obviously to the advantage of Zanu (PF).

Welshman Ncube and club have fallen pray to this tactic. This strategy
should never be underestimated by the would-be opposition. My advice to
serious opposition parties is to take the route taken by Zanu in 1969. When
Ndabaningi Sithole wanted to denounce the armed struggle against the
Rhodesian forces, a vote of no confidence was conducted which saw the rise
of Mugabe.

People in Matabeleland should be warned, the pro-Senate guys are bent on
enriching themselves, and nothing else. The people who won in the past
parliamentary elections did so because they were MDC, not that they deserved
so as individuals.

Zimbabweans need change. Bingley Sibindi (The Zimbabwean 18- 24 Nov. 2005)
should not be fooled. Those who dine with Zanu (PF) should learn their
lessons from comrades Kuruneri, Makamba. And soon Murerwa, Gono and Pasi
will follow suit.

Related to the disease above is factionalism. This concept is usually used
in its restricted sense to apply to what we witnessed recently in the MDC.
All groupings of people who believe in democracy and rule of law must of
necessity work together. Zimbabweans from all organisations must put their
heads together to mount civil disobedience.

Why should Lovemore Madhuku be arrested? Where are the leaders of the other
organisations? We have reached a stage where we need to be prepared to die
for the cause of all, including the Militia, the army, and those who support
blindly.

Thabo Mbeki is another enemy of Zimbabwe who deserves to be ignored. He is
aware of the problem in Zimbabwe but would rather play a delaying tactic
until his term of office is over.

Another puzzle which requires attention is the Chinese presence in Zimbabwe.
Reporting for the Guardian, Paul Redfern informed the world that the UK and
America are worried about China's massive investment in Africa. The reason,
he says, is that African governments appreciate China's tendency to keep its
nose out of domestic affairs of the host countries.

There are two if not three lessons that Zimbabweans should learn from this
situation. China has the highest record of human rights abuses. Chinese
nationals demonstrated recently in London against their visiting president.
America and Britain cannot dare challenge China in Africa for fear of
confrontation. As a result, they have adopted a wait and see attitude while
the situation continues to deteriorate in Zimbabwe.

Where shall our help come from? I feel very strongly that, unless
Zimbabweans mount serious civil disobedience, Zanu (PF) may be with us for
ever.

Our situation demands self-sacrifice. We can no longer afford to be
individualistic in our approach to the situation in Zimbabwe. Why should we
sit back and watch as Zanu (PF) removes constitutionally elected MDC
leadership? As long as we fear imprisonment, Zanu (PF) will be with us for
life. Mugabe needs to be taken head on.

An exercise in futility

The Zimbabwean

Editorial comment

This weekend's Senate elections are, like the Charge of the Light Brigade,
an exercise in utter futility. They mean nothing. They will change nothing.
Millions will continue to suffer. Mugabe and his henchmen have not even
bothered to go out and campaign. Surely that should tell us all something?
They probably won't even bother to rig them. What's the point? It's much
more fun to sit back and watch the two warring MDC factions fight it out
between themselves.

The only thing that can hurt the ruling thievocracy now is a massive
stayaway from the polls. Always in the past Zanu (PF) has been happy with a
fairly low turnout - knowing that a high poll will favour the opposition.
But this time around they need the people to vote.

If they don't, the whole thing will be seen for the meaningless sham it is -
an elaborate, and costly, exercise to warehouse the party geriatrics who
have been rejected by the people but who refuse to die quietly. And as power
inexorably slips away from him, the aging Mugabe indulges in one more
desperate throw of the dice to buy influence and support.

We would like to throw our weight behind the ZCTU, reported elsewhere in
this paper as urging people to "find something else to do on Saturday". This
election has nothing to do with the people of Zimbabwe. It will serve only
to impoverish them further.

It will not reduce inflation, now over 400%, create jobs, build homes, heal
the sick, provide seeds or fertiliser or repeal unjust laws. Even if MDC
wins all 26 seats it is contesting. Zanu (PF) already has 24 in the bag
(uncontested) and 16 to be appointed by the President - a total of 40 out of
the 66-member Senate.

Silent genocide

The Zimbabwean

EDITOR - I have just heard a first-hand account of an old woman, in Soswe
who was very ill. She went to Dirihori Clinic where there was no medication
available. She had no food and just managed to get back to her humble
dwelling on the hill where she died 24 hours later. Talk to anyone in the
streets and you will hear a similar story. Didymus Mutasa must be delighted
that his shameful words spoken a couple of years ago are coming to man-made
fruition.
This is the silent insidious genocide that I have talked and written and
lobbied about for the past three years - is NO ONE listening? Who gives a
damn that people are dying like flies - NO ONE because the deaths go
unreported by desperate, hungry, despondent people. And what difference
would it make if they were reported?

Another "sudden death", not worth the Police's effort to open a docket, get
a PM done and anyway there is no fuel in their vehicles - except for moving
the hundreds of riot police into positions to beat hell out of peaceful
protesters.

And to add insult to Zimbabweans injury is a huge banner being displayed
outside the GMB head office in Harare saying " Celebrating 25 years of
service and democracy in Zimbabwe" - what lying swines. No service, no
maize, no wheat and certainly damn all democracy.

May these evil tyrants reap their just rewards in this life and the next.

K KAY, Zimbabwe

Who is the dictator?

The Zimbabwean

EDITOR - Many have branded Tsvangirai a dictator, simply because he dared
overturn a national council resolution that sought to have the MDC
participate in the forthcoming senatorial elections.
I don t really know what they mean by that because in a democracy the wishes
of the majority are respected, and it is very clear that Tsvangirai has the
backing of the majority of MDC supporters (as opposed to council members).

Now who's being dictatorial here, the one who's simply following the wishes
of the majority or the other group that is trying to use the constitution to
suppress majority sentiment?

Tribalising the issue will not help the Ncube faction because they certainly
don't have the support of the people as Tsvangirai does, even in Bulawayo.
You should have witnessed how their proposed rallies in Bulawayo flopped. I
urge the Ncube faction to see reason and return to the fold.

CHARLES DUNCAN, Bulawayo

Stop insulting Ncube

The Zimbabwean

EDITOR - It really hurt every one of us to see the MDC leader loosing
direction. He doesn't want to admit that he made a mistake by not respecting
the National council resolutions. There's no tribalism in MDC, but lack of
thinking capacity. MDC as the opposition party is there to challenge all
factions of Government.
We in Matebeleland do not want Zanu (PF) senators - that's why we are
supporting the national council resolutions. In Zimbabwe we are fighting
dictatorship, so don't be another one President Tsvangirai. Follow what the
MDC constitution says .We cant let Zanu senators to go to the upper house
undiluted.

We are saying No Zanu (PF) in Matebeleland. Stop insulting Welshman Ncube -
he is not the National council.

Z.N, Bulawayo

Pro-Senate faction will fail

The Zimbabwean

EDITOR - The decisions made by the Welshman Ncube faction to decide to run
for elections did not come as surprise to us in the United Kingdom. I had
several verbal and communication clashes with Welshman Ncube for the past
four years since he has been behind the MDC Executive's decision not to have
UK and South Africa as provinces. His argument is that external branches are
not covered in the constitution of the MDC. If these external branches had
been accorded Provincial status, the Ncube plot could have been exposed as
early as 2001.
If MDC UK elections are done in UK and there is no Welshman Ncube confidant
in key positions, he could not recognise these elections. He did this for
years until MDC structures collapsed in UK. Manchester Branch managed to
block his final push of having structures in the UK run by his stooges.

The pro-senate group is just another useless bunch of tired and useless
politicians. At least, the MDC now knows who are the genuine ones and the
party should stand firm and expel the 26 candidates. If they are true
democrats as they portray, why are they scared of attending the congress?
This crisis has made Tsvangirai stronger from both inside and outside
Zimbabwe. Don't let them destroy what we built, the pro-senate is a bunch of
Mugabe sympathisers who wants power at the expense of democracy in Zimbabwe.

DURANI RAPOZO, Manchester

Home for babies

The Zimbabwean

EDITOR - A home for abandoned babies and HIV orphans has been established in
Suburbs, Bulawayo. Some of these babies have been at Mpilo Hospital for
quite a few years and about 30 of them will soon be moved to the home.

The home is under the auspices of the Baptist Church and urgently needs
anything and everything to do with babies - cots, prams, push chairs, high
chairs, baby blankets, linen, nappies, car chairs and toys. We need your
help. Please phone 011 622 363 email - jack@zol.co.zw

KIM BARROW, Bulawayo

Media fails to cover demos, arrests

The Zimbabwean

BY A CORRESPONDENT
HARARE - Inept coverage by both the private press and state mouthpieces of
this month's arrest, detention and release of trade unionists, university
students and other national civic leaders provided more depressing testimony
of the parlous state of Zimbabwe's battered media.
The state media handled the Nov. 8 demonstration against the soaring cost of
living by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) by not covering it.

The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ) in its report for Nov. 7-13
noted that, instead, on the day of the demonstration The Herald and The
Chronicle bombarded readers with denunciations of the trade unionists by
members of the Mugabe regime. They resorted to the well-worn tirades against
any critic as Western lackies etc.

Neither paper reported on the demonstration itself or the reasons for it,
and when news of the arrest of 152 trade unionists filtered out, The Herald
buried it in a story accusing Britain of rallying its Western allies to
demonise Zimbabwe. No suggestion, of course, of questioning whether the
arrest of peaceful demonstrators violated their right to free expression
which is supposed to be guaranteed by the constitution.

"Rather, it (The Herald) sought to malign the ZCTU as one of the
organisations used by Britain to 'incited people to go into the streets to
kick-start a Ukranian-style Orange Revolution'," the MMPZ said.

The separate arrests of Chitungwiza Mayor Misheck Shoko and National
Constitutional Assembly chairman Lovemore Madhuku were also handled as if
expressing dissent were a crime. The Herald did later report that Shoko,
Madhuku, trade union leaders and 33 demonstrators were released, but said
nothing about what had happened to the others. ZBH went one better -
censoring all news of the arrests, detentions and releases.

The MMPZ said the private press was little better, generally failing to give
a comprehensive picture of the scale of the protests or to relate the
arrests to yet another violation of citizens' basic freedoms. Only the two
outlawed radio stations, SW Radio Africa and Studio 7, provided informative
detail.

The state media continued to vent its fury on US Ambassador Christopher Dell
for his landmark speech accusing the regime of mismanagement and corruption.
Their technique of reporting the authorities' sound and fury, but not
details of the ambassador's remarks, presented ZTV with a problem. Several
of 11 people it interviewed for a vox pop about Dell's speech showed little
knowledge of what they were being asked to comment on.

The private media did a better job on the Dell row, said the MMPZ. For
example, The Financial Gazette did not simply quote Foreign Affairs Minister
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi as lambasting Dell, but also carried a quote from the
Embassy saying Dell had spoken out after repeated attacks on the United
States by Mugabe. Similarly, the Zimbabwe Independent quoted economist Eric
Bloch as Dell's comments were "nothing but fact."

The state media continued its dishonest coverage of the crisis bedevilling
the farming sector - blaming anything or anyone other than the authorities
and the chaotic seizures of white-owned farms.

The MMPZ said that, in contrast, the private media carried instructive
reports exposing the extent of the "mayhem" and warning that the coming
season will be a disaster.

The private media also reported the seizures of the last 18 white-owned
farms in Karoi; the theft, led by an assistant police commissioner, of
equipment from white-owned farms in Mwenezi; the allocation of farms to
Chinese enterprises, and the eviction of 100 "new" farmers from Hunyani Farm
to a white-owned farm, Montgomery, in Mashonaland West. The government media
turned a blind eye.

Dignity or poverty asks Woza

BY OWN CORRESPONDENT

The brave women of Woza - keeping hope alive in Zimbabwe with humour, courage, and guerilla tactics.
Credit: WOZA

HARARE – Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) is running its own senate vote - distributing and collecting thousands of ballot papers with a simple question - Dignity or Poverty?

The sheets, with room for up to 50 signatures or marks, are part of a campaign to boycott the elections.

WOZA conceived the parallel ballot idea because it does not believe in calling for a boycott without a plan of action. “WOZA has decided to implement a series of activities to show that the Senate is irrelevant to daily existence of a starving nation,” it said.

The courageous women’s group is seeking to encourage ordinary Zimbabweans into action by providing an alternative to voting in the Senate elections. It also hopes that thousands of Zimbabweans in the diaspora will join in, possibly through an electronic vote and protest votes at their embassies.

The plan is to hold the referendum at various locations, such as churches, workplaces and mobile polling stations, and for Crisis Coalition to count the votes.

The bubble bursts - $44 trillion lost

The Zimbabwean

It was only a matter of time before the stock market bubble would finally
burst and result in miserable faces. After reaching an all-time high the
previous Friday, the market collapsed losing $44 trillion worth of market
capitalisation in five days.

The self-perpetuating nature of the stock market also accelerated the rate
of collapse. The collapse left several investors in bull traps with the
worst affected being those in FML. As the week progressed it became evident
that the buffer made from multiple-fold gains was beginning to be eroded for
many and hence the sales began to show some signs of desperation.

What could have triggered this collapse besides the market being overweight
could be the 180-day Treasury bills that were floated at 360% and the rumour
that even shorter dated paper was likely to return to the money market. The
release of the COTTCO, DELTA and PGI September results also led to a
relative re-rating process on the valuation of stock prices.

Technical analysis shows that the short-term support level for the
industrial index is at about 15 million points while the 3-months support
level is at about 9 million points. We expect the market to hit a false
bottom sometime this week, which could result in some prices appreciating
briefly before they begin to fall again.

The market should go into a quiet period similar to a graveyard market where
those who are in cannot go out and those who are out do not want to get in.
Investors are likely to reach capitulation by month end in which they will
be glad to sell at whatever price (even at a loss). Thus there could be
opportunity to make snap up value though the timing will be quite critical.
However after capitulation there should be a number of oversold stocks.

Only seven counters recorded advances against the 54 that declined. The
gains were an unusual line up that was led by KINGDOM, which advanced 20% to
$1200 while CELSYS advanced 18% to $94 after reaching an intra-week high of
$110.
PELHAMS put on 14% to $120, POWERSPEED put on 13% to $900 while ZIMPLOW
advanced 7% to $1500.

Leading the declines in the week was FML, which collapsed 63% to $600 after
the rumour on the acquisition by Sanlam of South Africa was found to be a
decoy. The stock reached a peak of $2000 on Monday before heading for the
freefall.

We expect the price to continue to come under pressure and possibly find
support at about $400. Other top declines were reported in MASH which
slipped 68% to $630 while ASTRA and TRUWORTHS each lost 55% to $1700 and
$1800 respectively. TURNALL lost half of its value and closed at $700 and
BARCLAYS lost 46% to $1300.

Minings HALOGEN came as the surprise when it was the only counter that
advanced after putting on 41% to $120,000. The company remains a shell with
an NAV of £1.14.

The freedom moment

The Zimbabwean

BY GRAHAM SHAW
"Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard
our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the Lord brought us
out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror
and with miraculous signs and wonders." (Deuteronomy 26/7-8)
The story of Israel's epic struggle for freedom is an encouragement to all
the enslaved peoples of the world. It is certainly a story to inspire the
crushed and almost despairing people of Zimbabwe who today suffer under a
cruel tyranny. Was the Egyptian Pharoah any worse than our dictator?
Probably not. In fact most dictators display a marked "family likeness", and
ours fits the universal pattern - fear-driven, ruthless in pursuit of power
and totally insensitive to the extremes of suffering he causes. So we can
take heart from this classic account of liberation.

But the Biblical account of the freeing of the Israelite slaves is more than
a classic tale of liberation. It is the Biblical paradigm or model of how
the God of justice and freedom intervenes to set free those who are crushed
by any dehumanising structure or system of oppression. It addresses a word
of hope like none other to all oppressed peoples - a promise that the
sovereign Lord feels our pain and suffers with us; indeed that he will
ultimately deliver those who put their trust in him.

Therefore let dictators beware! You may have been bewitched by your own
propaganda into believing that the awesome powers you wield will save you,
but the truth is that you have set yourself up against Almighty God himself,
and therefore your doom is already sealed. One day your powers will be
stripped from you, the subjects whom you have terrorized will be set free,
and for all your dark and terrible deeds you shall be held to account,
before the sovereign Judge if not also before any human court.

As I was reading the book of Exodus recently a question loomed for me: at
what point in the dramatic narrative did it become clear that the Israelite
slaves would indeed be set free? There is no evidence of a turning point at
which the mood of the slaves suddenly turned from despair to hope. Having
lived in slavery for so long, even when they were promised a new world and
beckoned on the road to freedom, most remained sceptical. As in Zimbabwe
today.

But I am asking a different question here - not when did the popular mood
change, but rather at what moment in time (whether it registered in the
national consciousness or not) did it become clear that freedom was coming ?
At what point in time would a truly perceptive Israelite have said, "Now I
know that freedom is coming and nothing, and no one, can stop it"?

Imagine yourself in conversation with one of the recently liberated, former
slaves who has now safely crossed the Red Sea. You ask: At what point did it
become clear that your people would be set free and that nothing could stop
the process?

Was it that moment when you had miraculously crossed the Red Sea yourselves
and, looking back, you saw the chariots of the pursuing Egyptian troops
getting bogged down in the mud, the waves ready to sweep them to their
death?

Was it when the Egyptian task-masters were struck down with the dreadful
plagues - the frogs, the flies, the locusts, the boils and the rest? Or,
more likely, when the last and most terrible plague struck, and the home of
every Egyptian (including Pharoah's) was visited by the angel of death, who
took away the firstborn from each, but leaving unharmed those homes of the
Israelites whose doorframes were marked out with the blood of a lamb? Was
that the freedom moment?

Or was it when Moses and Aaron first appeared before Pharoah, daring to
ask - no, demand - in the name of the God of freedom "Let my people go"?

I believe our perceptive former slave would take us right back to the story
which appears in Exodus chapter 3, when Moses was tending his father-in-law's
sheep on the quiet hillside, and the living Lord startled him with a word of
divine revelation from the flaming bush that was not burning. As he stood
there silently, no doubt trembling before the awesome presence of the holy
God, Moses heard a voice saying: "I have indeed seen the misery of my people
in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I
am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from
the hand of the Egyptians ."

There was more in that holy conversation, about the land promised to these
fugitive slaves, about the blessings they would receive and about Moses' own
part in the liberation struggle, but this was the core of it. God had seen
the suffering and heard the cries of his beloved children. And God himself -
the God of justice and freedom - was coming to the rescue.

From that moment onwards there was never any doubt that the enslaved
children of Israel would be set free. Though the manner and the timing of
God's great plan of deliverance was still to be revealed, and though many
dangers, frustrations and setbacks still lay ahead on the journey to
freedom, the outcome of that struggle was already settled. And to anyone
possessing a degree of spiritual insight, and trust, it was now clear. God
himself had spoken the word of liberation. "He who has ears, let him hear."
The slaves will be free!

I believe it is essential to our whole mind-set as a people who have been
reduced to the level of slaves in Zimbabwe for so long, and disempowered by
our fears, that we grasp the significance of that freedom moment. The moment
that comes a long way ahead of the final liberation but which declares what
the outcome will be - inescapably.

But the point is that, because of what the God of justice and freedom has
already revealed of himself and of his plan of salvation for the poor and
oppressed of this world, we can be confident even now of the final outcome.
We can bet our lives upon it. We know that as God abhors dictators, as he
hears the cries of his suffering children and feels their pain, just so he
has come down among us. And be assured, he will deliver us from power of
evil that now rules in our beloved country.

That is not an invitation to sit back, arms folded, and wait for our Saviour
God to rescue us from the hands of our Pharoah, as some cowardly Christians
are inclined to do. No, the wonderful assurance of God's ultimate victory
should never be taken as an excuse for cowardly inaction; rather is it a
word to inspire us to bold and confident action.

Surviving the challenges – 90 years

The Meikles Hotel when it was first built

Harare’s five-star Meikles Hotel celebrated its 90th anniversary last week, marking nine decades of operation as one of Africa’s most respected hospitality establishments.

To mark the occasion, the hotel initiated a tree-planting ceremony in Africa Unity Square, over which the north-facing bedrooms and suites have a view and which has been associated with the hotel since it was first built. In addition, staff marked the occasion with a special mid-morning tea and a display of vintage and classic cars will be set up in the hotel’s front area for the day of the anniversary.

The hotel was built by the Meikle family almost a century ago and was aimed at being the country’s premier accommodation, dining and events venue. It was originally a two-storey building adjacent to the current hotel complex, dominated by a cupola featuring what became known as the Meikles lions.

Development work has been undertaken regularly, most notably the construction in 1958 of what was originally the six-storey East Wing and the construction nearly 20 years later of the 12-storey South Wing, which followed the demolition of the original hotel and the renaming of the East Wing as the North Wing. A major renovation and refurbishment project in the mid-1990s saw the doubling of the North Wing and an extensive modernisation exercise throughout the whole hotel. The Meikles lions, in storage after the old building was demolished, were replaced in public view, this time in a ground floor cupola overlooking Africa Unity Square.

Now a world-class five-star hotel and a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, Meikles has played host over nine decades to tens of thousands of visitors, among them some of the biggest names in entertainment, sport, business and politics. In recent years these have included people like Michael Jackson, Hillary Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Andre Agassi and John McEnroe.

Meikles’ status as the country’s premier hotel has come with its receipt of a large number of respected local and international awards, including the coveted Best City Hotel title in the prestigious Association of Zimbabwean Travel Agents a record 11 consecutive times.

Meikles management is particularly keen to ensure that visitors get the most from their stay in Harare and they encourage local sightseeing visits to areas of interest, with special emphasis on shopping, cultural attractions and sights ranging from game parks to botanic gardens.

“Harare is a diverse and interesting city, with a wealth of attractions for visitors and we help ensure that our guests obtain full enjoyment of all this,” said Isaac Mpala, general manager of the hotel.

“Despite the many challenges we all face, we look forward to overcoming them and to a time when our hotel again enjoys the numbers of international visitors we saw in the 1990s.”