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Cholera
toll at 121 in Zimbabwe, doctors say; closing in on Harare
http://www.earthtimes.org
Posted : Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:18:19 GMT
Author :
DPA
Harare - An outbreak of cholera, the deadly diarrhoeal
disease
that doctors say has claimed dozens of lives in crisis-hit Zimbabwe
in
recent weeks, has spread to the city's crowded townships, state media
reported Thursday. One person died in the city's Budiriro township and 20
more from across the city were being treated for the disease in hospital,
the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported. Some of the cases are from
areas very close to the city centre.
The death brings to
121 the number to have died of the disease
this year, according to the
Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights
(ZADHR).
"We are worried by the way is spreading around the country, but
we are
putting in measures to eradicate it," Health minister Dr David
Parirenyatwa
was quoted in the Herald as saying.
Medical sources say the
problem is far more widespread than
President Robert Mugabe's authorities
admit.
Since September, 16 people have died in the dormitory
township
of Chitungwiza on Harare's southern outskirts.
ZADHR said the repeated outbreaks of the disease "indicates the
absence of
capacity and ability of the government to manage public
health."
As the country's economy collapses under the weight
of multi-
billion percent inflation, a health system that was once the pride
of
sub-Saharan Africa is also crumbling.
Observers say
the health crisis is but one facet of a national
disaster, which is claiming
more and more lives from hunger-related
diseases.
Water
supplies to the crowded townships that house most of the
capital's poor have
dried up, resulting in burst pipes and drains that send
rivers of raw
effluent running through the streets, filtering into the
unprotected wells
that people are forced to dig to for water.
Without an urgent
operation to restore water supplies, the onset
of the rainy season "could
result in cholera becoming endemic," ZADHR said.
Cholera outbreak leaves one dead and 20 hospitalised in Harare
By
Tichaona Sibanda
30 October 2008
A wave of cholera in the country that
has affected thousands of people and
killed more than 120 so far, claimed
it's first victim in the capital this
week, amid fears the disease is
proving difficult to contain and has spread
to many cities.
Dr
Henry Madzorera, the MDC Senator for KweKwe, told Newsreel there are
fears
the waterborne disease will become endemic if the authorities fail to
address the water and sanitation crisis plaguing the country. Cholera is an
intestinal infection causing acute diarrhoea and vomiting and, if left
untreated, can cause death from dehydration within 24 hours. He said the
disease is however easily treatable with rehydration salts.
But
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa told state radio Thursday the main
government hospitals faced severe shortages of medicines and
supplies.
Morgan Femai, the MDC Senator for Chikomo in Harare, said
Thursday that the
country has been sitting on a time bomb since raw sewage
started finding its
way into water sources such as streams and rivers, more
than a year ago. The
Senator said he has been to almost every town and
province in the last three
months and the situation was the
same.
'The government tells us there is no foreign currency to buy water
treatment
chemicals but the central bank can, at an hour's notice, raise
US$24 million
for Robert Mugabe to fly to New York for one week,' Femai
said.
He added; 'So where are their priorities. They should prioritize
improving
water and sanitation infrastructures as a long term goal and not
waste the
precious hard currency dashing out of the country on all those
useless
foreign trips'.
Areas in Harare such as in Mabvuku have had
no water for the last two years,
while in Ruwa and Dzivarasekwa, residents
last had water supplies nine
months ago.
According to the Zimbabwe
Association of Doctors for Human Rights the
disease has so far claimed over
120 lives and warned many more will perish
if government fails to take
immediate measures, such as water treatment at
household level.
There
are reports government is suppressing information on the disease,
described
by medical sources as 'spreading like wildfire'. Reports suggest
the problem
is far more widespread than the authorities admit.
Across the country in
recent weeks at least 27 people have died from
cholera, mostly in
impoverished districts, and hundreds have been treated
for the highly
infectious intestinal disease spread by contaminated food and
water.
Treating the condition requires only simple measures, but the
clean water
and rehydration salts required are in short supply in areas
where they are
needed most. An outbreak of cholera spreads very quickly in
areas where
there is poor sanitation and where water supplies are
tainted.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
Pressure grows for African leaders to step up action against Mugabe
By
Alex Bell
30 October 2008
The call for African leaders to take action
in resolving the political
impasse between Robert Mugabe and MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai is slowly
growing in volume; this as the date and venue of
the emergency summit of
Southern African Development Community (SADC)
leaders on the Zimbabwe
political crisis is yet to be confirmed.
The
SADC troika on politics, security and defense failed on Monday to
resolve
the stalemate over the allocation of key cabinet ministries - in
particular
the Home Affairs Ministry which controls the highly politicised
national
police force. The troika then referred the matter to a full summit
of the
14-nation regional grouping, to take place within the next fortnight.
It's
widely believed the meeting will take place in South Africa, which
holds the
chairmanship of the regional bloc.
But as the wait continues, the ongoing
deadlock between the political rivals
is finally ringing alarm bells, as
millions of Zimbabweans continue to
suffer in a country devastated by
economic and humanitarian turmoil. The UN's
shock assessment that almost
half the population will face starvation by
January has not prompted any
form of change on the part of the politicians,
while regional leaders have
also not used their considerable weight to put
an end to the growing
humanitarian disaster.
In response to the impasse UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon urged African
leaders on Wednesday to take "decisive" action to
end the deadlock and told
reporters in the Philippines that the
power-sharing process "has been taking
too long." He added: "I sincerely
hope that President Mugabe will no longer
disappoint the international
community," and said Mugabe "should meet"
international
expectations.
At the same time, in a statement released on Wednesday, the
US State
Department said the 21 African leaders who witnessed the signing of
Zimbabwe's
power sharing deal, have a responsibility to ensure the impasse
is resolved
as a matter of urgency. The State Department's spokesperson,
Sean McCormack
said in the statement: "We urge African leaders to work with
the Southern
African Development Community, the African Union, and the
United Nations to
address the urgent needs of the Zimbabwean people." "We
condemn the Mugabe
regime's refusal to implement a genuine and equitable
power-sharing
agreement and its continued use of violence against peaceful
demonstrators,"
the statement read.
The statement also echoed the
concern of the UN's Secretary General about
the negative effect the impasse
is having on the people of Zimbabwe, and
said the US would "continue to
provide food aid and other humanitarian
assistance, to assist the people of
Zimbabwe."
Dr Lovemore Madhuku from the National Constitutional Assembly
said on
Thursday that he doubts whether any regional grouping or
international
grouping would be able to influence the impasse. He said that
SADC "does not
have the power to change the situation, only the power to
make
recommendations that will likely only aid Mugabe." Madhuku also argued
that
Mugabe will not feel any pressure if the talks move to higher bodies
such as
the UN. "Mugabe will not suffer anything, because as far as most
groups are
concerned, he has moved by agreeing to power share in the first
place,"
Madhuku said. "I doubt therefore that the UN will have any power
over him."
Meanwhile, despite no agreement being reached over the
allocation of
ministries for a power sharing government, a South African
delegation is in
Harare to discuss implementing a R300 million aid package
put together to
assist Zimbabwe with farming inputs. South African Finance
Minister Trevor
Manuel last week announced the package in his mid-term
budget to Parliament
and it has since been endorsed by President Kgalema
Motlanthe. According to
the government mouthpiece Herald newspaper on
Thursday, the South African
team arrived in Harare on Monday for
consultations with their Zimbabwean
counterparts.
Former South
African president Thabo Mbeki pledged to assist Zimbabwe with
inputs soon
after he brokered the power sharing agreement, that has so far
done little
to bring about change. The seemingly unconditional R300 million
aid package,
which is set to be controlled and distributed by the still
firmly entrenched
Mugabe government, appears to be yet another signal that
South Africa's
leaders support Mugabe, no matter what the outcome of his
brutal
leadership.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
Youth Forum calls for mass action to pressure Mugabe regime
By Alex
Bell
30 October 2008
The Zimbabwe Youth Forum has added its voice to
the choir of condemnation of
the current political impasse threatening the
future stability of the
country, and on Thursday called "upon all democratic
forces to continue
piling pressure on the Mugabe regime."
There has
been muted response from crisis weary Zimbabweans as the impasse
between
Robert Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai over the allocation
of
cabinet ministries has popped the last bubble of hope for meaningful
change
on the ground. Talks on the deadlock are set to continue at a full
summit of
Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders only in the
next
fortnight, and in the interim millions of people will continue fighting
a
day to day battle for survival as the humanitarian crisis takes hold.
In
a statement released on Thursday, the Youth Forum accused SADC and the
African Union of being "mere paper tigers without the capacity to implement
their decision." The Forum's Wellington Zindove argued on Thursday that the
power to bring about change does not lie in regional bodies such as SADC and
the AU, but rather in the Zimbabwean people themselves.
"We respect
the efforts being made by African leaders to alleviate the
crisis bedeviling
this nation," Zindove explained. "But we feel local
actions are not loud
enough to mount pressure on the Mugabe regime and we
feel all the
pro-democratic forces in the country should join hands on the
streets."
Zindove added there is little belief after the failure of
the SADC Troika
that the full summit will make any difference to the current
situation. He
said the time has come "to divert attention away from the
ongoing talks and
advance the struggle for true democracy and the fight to
end the suffering
of the Zimbabwean people."
SW Radio
Africa Zimbabwe news
Bulawayo Prisoners Go Without Food
http://www.radiovop.com
BULAWAYO, October 30 2008 - Bulawayo
prisoners have been going without
meals since October 24 and relatives have
since been asked to bring food.
Prison officers at
Khami and Grey's Prison in the city told RadioVOP
that relatives were being
encouraged to bring food three times a day.
The prison officers
said Zimbabwe Prison Services (ZPS) had since
recruited public relations
personnel to mann gates at Khami and Grey's
prisons during visiting hours,
advising relatives to bring food for their
loved ones. The public relations
officers were sometimes reported to turn
away visitors who would not have
brought food.
Seven inmates at Mutimurefu prison in Masvingo
died of hunger related
diseases, in August.
A report
released by the Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and
Rehabilitation
of the Offender (ZACRO) recently revealed that at least two
inmates die
everyday due to hunger and disease at two of Zimbabwe's biggest
jails.
ZACRO said conditions in prisons across the country had
deteriorated
over the years with the Zimbabwe Prison Service (ZPS) out of
cash to buy
drugs to treat HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, rampant in jails
because of
overcrowding.
ZACRO said the ZPS had no money
to buy enough food for inmates and in
some cases even failed to raise cash
to pay for pauper burials for those who
succumb to disease and hunger in
jail.
A survey of the country's 55 prisons carried out by ZACRO
this year,
showed that the jails were holding a total of 35 000 prisoners,
more than
double their designed carrying capacity of 17 000
inmates.
ZACRO indicated that an amnesty granted to some
categories of
prisoners by President Robert Mugabe in June appeared to have
had little
impact on the inmate overload.
The organisation
said an outbreak of pellagra disease in 2007 killed
at least 23 inmates at
the notorious Chikurubi Maximum Security prison.
Pellagra is a vitamin
deficiency disease caused by shortage of vitamin B3
and
protein.
A parliamentary committee that toured Chikurubi and
other prisons in
2006 was shocked to find inmates clad in torn, dirty
uniforms and crammed
into overcrowded cells with filthy; overflowing toilets
that had not been
flushed for weeks as water had been cut off due to unpaid
bills.
The committee said in a report that the conditions in
prisons were
inhuman.
Zanu PF violence flares up in Epworth
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 30 October 2008
13:52
by Nelson Chamisa
MDC Secretary for Information
and Publicity
AT least 20 MDC supporters in Epworth in Harare
had to seek medical
attention on Wednesday while five of them have been
hospitalised.
The whereabouts of one is unknown after Zanu PF
youth militia wreaked
havoc following the deadlock between the two major
political parties over
the SADC-brokered political settlement.
Zanu PF youth militia this week set up two torture bases in Epworth
just
outside Harare and on Wednesday afternoon they moved around the area
assaulting known MDC activists.
The bases are located in Ward 4
at Rueben Shopping Centre and at
Maulani.
The assaults started
after losing Zanu PF candidate for the area, Amos
Midzi, was spotted
visiting the bases earlier in the day. Midzi is also the
chairman of the
Zanu PF Harare province.
Those leading the terror have been
identified as Zanu PF youth
chairman for Epworth only identified as Zimbwe.
The others are Garakara,
Chikandiwa and Makangira.
One of the
MDC activists who were attacked is the Ward 4 councillor,
Didmus
Bande.
The behaviour of these Zanu PF thugs is a violation of the
Global
Political Agreement (GPA), which recognises the basic freedoms of
people
such as association, assembly, speech and movement. The latest
violence and
thuggery once again exposes Zanu PF's sincerity deficit in this
political
deal.
The people of Zimbabwe know what they want.
They want freedom,
prosperity and development. No amount of violence will
stand between the
people and their vision.
Operation of Hope Surgical Mission to Zimbabwe
By Staff Reporter
30
October 2008
Some great news for Zimbabweans for a change. The respected
US volunteer
surgical team, Operation of Hope, will be in Harare offering
free surgeries
for children and adults afflicted with facial
deformities.
A statement by the organization said anyone with a facial
deformity will be
evaluated free of charge and if a candidate is selected
they will be placed
on a surgery schedule that runs between November 3rd to
November 14th - and
there is no age or location rules.
Operation of
Hope Doctors said: "Typical deformities include, but are not
limited to,
cleft-lip and cleft-palates." To learn about and see samples of
these
deformities, please visit www.operationofhope.org.
Evaluations
will be held on Sunday 2nd November at 8am at the Harare Central
Hospital in
the pediatric ward. So if you know anyone who needs their help,
please
encourage them to take this opportunity to be assessed.
"This visit will
be the fourth trip made by Operation of Hope dating back to
October of 2006.
The surgical team is very excited to once again help those
in need and
offering some relief to the families of Zimbabwe," the statement
said.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
SA's boost for Zim
farmers
http://www.mg.co.za
JASON MOYO AND PERCY ZVOMUYA - Oct 30 2008 11:01
The South
African government has earmarked R300-million in the foreign
affairs budget
vote to assist Zimbabwe's struggling agricultural sector.
The amount has
been allocated for "the recapitalisation of the African
Renaissance and
International Cooperation Fund for agricultural inputs for
Zimbabwe",
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said. The money is "subject to
acceptance of
an appropriate role for international food relief agencies by
a recognised
multi-party government".
While former president Thabo Mbeki was in
meetings last week to break the
impasse between feuding protagonists Morgan
Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe,
South African officials met the heads of key
Zimbabwean agriculture agencies
as part of a regional drive to save the
country's farming season.
Last month the South African government
established a task team --
comprising foreign affairs, finance and
agriculture officials -- to help
with Zimbabwe's immediate needs. The team
held meetings with key figures in
Zimbabwe's agriculture ministry --
agriculture secretary Ngoni Masoka,
Douglas Nyikayaramba, an army officer
who heads an input allocation
programme, and Stuart Hargreaves, head of the
country's veterinary services.
It is not only South Africa that is
stepping in to save Zimbabwe. The
country's Agriculture Minister, Rugare
Gumbo, confirmed this week that the
Southern African Development Community
and the African Union have asked his
government to specify its needs for the
farming season.
Brazil is also at hand to help. Brazilian leader Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva,
who was in the region last week, sent Foreign Minister
Celso Amorim to
Harare to hold discussions with Mugabe, Tsvangirai and
Arthur Mutambara.
Amorim said Brazil had "pledged cooperation with a new
government on areas
such as agriculture and energy". Investment would
increase with a return to
stability.
Trevor Gifford of the Commercial
Farmers' Union said the country has
produced maize seed to plant about 40
000ha, compared with the one million
hectares that should be put under maize
to meet national needs.
As Zimbabwe's economy deteriorates, peasant
farmers resettled on formerly
white land are being asked to pay up to US$40
for a 10kg bag of seed.
Rhodes University students hold sit-in to support WOZA leaders
By Violet
Gonda
30 October 2008
South African women's rights activists,
feminists and students are stepping
up pressure on their government and
parliamentarians to speak out about the
increasing repression in Zimbabwe.
Women's groups in Johannesburg and Cape
Town coordinated solidarity actions
in support of detained WOZA leaders
Jenni Williams and Magodonga
Mahlangu.
Rhodes University students in Grahamstown held a half hour
solidarity sit-in
on Thursday calling for the release of the outspoken Women
of Zimbabwe Arise
pair and an end to human rights violations in
Zimbabwe.
The action comes in the wake of growing activism by South
African civil
rights groups. On Tuesday, women activists in Cape Town held a
symbolic
march calling on their government to put pressure on the
authorities in
Zimbabwe to release the WOZA leaders, and to provide access
to food to all
Zimbabweans and to form a proper power sharing
government.
Women's groups had gathered in Johannesburg also on Tuesday
to mobilise
support for the detained WOZA leaders and also to condemn the
rights abuses
taking place in Zimbabwe.
Sipho Mthathi from the
Feminist Collective said: "We cannot watch while our
sisters are being
unlawfully arrested by a regime that is playing a
duplicitous role because
on the one hand the Mugabe regime is saying they
are negotiating and ceasing
all hostilities to make sure that a new
government is in place and yet they
continue to repress and deny people
freedom of expression."
WOZA
accuses the judiciary in Zimbabwe of working in cohorts with the state
machinery by deliberately delaying a bail ruling of their leaders, who had
been unjustly detained during a peaceful protest. The pair have been in
prison since their detention on October 16th.
The SA women activists
urged their president to play a role in intensifying
SADC pressure on
Zimbabwean leaders to resolve the political stalemate and
said the silence
of South African women parliamentarians and other women in
power, in the
face of massive injustices and suffering particularly by
Zimbabwe women, is
unacceptable.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe must remove cash withdrawal limits
HIV/AIDS, Human
Rights and Law Project
30 October, 2008
The HIV/AIDS, human Rights and
Law Project is gravely concerned with the
current cash crisis in Zimbabwe,
especially as it relates to the issue of
access to health and in particular
access to treatment for PLHIV in
Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has more than 321 000
people in need of ART and currently
only 100 000 people are able to access
ART. The remaining 221 000 are forced
to either source personal funds to
purchase anti retroviral drugs or are
condemned to the disastrous option of
taking none at all. Yet even those
intent on and capable of purchasing
medication have been faced with an
inordinate challenge of accessing their
monies from the bank owing to the
cash limits that have been instituted by
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. The
requirement that people who need to
withdraw more of their money than the
cash limits thus prescribed should
present prescriptions/invoices without
any further substantial
confidentiality safeguards is mischievous and a
guile violation of the right
to privacy of PLHIV. We would like to highlight
that adherence is a critical
aspect of successful ART. Non adherence may
result in drug resistant HIV
strains emerging among PLHIV.
The International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR-
Article12) recognises the right to "the
enjoyment of the highest attainable
standard of physical and mental health"
as does Article 28 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and Article
16 of the African Charter on Human
and Peoples' Rights. More importantly
health facilities, goods and services
must be accessible to everyone. In
Zimbabwe accessibility also implies that
access to cash is (regrettably) an
underlying determinant of the right to
health, but unfortunately for most
Zimbabweans cash is not within safe
physical reach. Adequately understood in
this context, the limit imposed by
the RBZ is a retrogressive measure
incompatible with the core obligations
under the right to health. We call
upon Dr Gono, the Reserve Bank Governor
to urgently address this issue with
the urgency it deserves and lift the
limits imposed on cash
withdrawals.
A Project of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
ROHR activists released from police custody without
charges....
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday,
30 October 2008 05:47
... After 3 alleged attempts by CIO operatives to abduct them
during
detention.
Six ROHR Zimbabwe activists who were arrested on
Monday 27 October 2008
after a peaceful protest we released last night
without any charges. Mercy
Ncube, Simbarashe Sibanda, Joseph Mutizi, Adam
Muchiriri, Tonderai Moyo and
Clever Nyoni spent a night at Harare Central
police station only to be
released yesterday (28-10-08) at 2100hrs after
numerous failed attempts by
our staff to identify and rescue them. Joshua
Mwale, the seventh ROHR
activist was released the same day on Monday. Adam
Muchiriri, who was
earlier on feared to be abducted, had actually been
detained by police.
ROHR Zimbabwe only managed to confirm the names after
their release. From
reliable information made available to our office, their
detention was kept
secret by sympathetic officers who wanted to protect the
detainees from the
Central Intelligence Organisation. An inspector from
inside the station said
that the operatives from intelligence visited the
station three times
between Monday and Tuesday morning looking for them and
demanded their
handover to the CIO. The police told them that the activists
had already
been released on Monday so as to dissuade them from continuing
with the
hunt. On Tuesday afternoon ROHR Zimbabwe liaised the inspector to
secure
their release. They were not beaten or tortured during detention,
except for
Clever Nyoni who was beaten by police during his
arrest.
This comes in the wake of reports from our members and public
that some
police officers also fell victim of Zanu PF violence on Monday. An
eye
witness, a ROHR member who escaped from the Zanu PF headquarters at
night
after an abduction on Monday, saw a police officer in uniform being
beaten
inside the headquarters. She said he was being accused of being
sympathetic
to opposition activists and disregarding Zanu PF instructions.
At the time
of writing this alert the police could not be reached to confirm
if they
have a report of a missing officer.
ROHR Zimbabwe condemns
all forms of violence, lawlessness, intimidation from
anyone, whether law
enforcement agencies, political parties or private
citiznes. It is a gross
violation of people's rights protected in the
constitution and international
conventions such as Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, African Charter
on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR).
rohrzimbabwe@gmail.com
Tel: +263
4 744593
Mobiles: +263 912 426638, +263 912 713410
Foreign currency shops join profiteering
bandwagon
http://www.chronicle.co.zw
Thursday,
October 30, 2008
Business Reporter
MOST consumers countrywide
still prefer to purchase groceries from
neighbouring countries because of
overcharging by businesses licensed to
sell goods and services in foreign
currency, an official has said.
In an interview, the National Incomes and
Pricing Commission chairman, Mr
Godwills Masimirembwa, said the commission
was disappointed that some
businesses licensed under the Foreign Exchange
Warehouse and Retail Shops
(FOLIWARS) programme had joined the bandwagon to
profiteer instead of
supporting the Government's efforts of improving the
economy.
"The Government has gone out of its way to license some shops to
trade in
hard currency but the prices charged by shops are just
unreasonable.
"While we understand that these shops cannot charge the same
prices charged
where the goods are sourced, we have noted with concern that
prices are
beyond profiteering and the reach of majority. That is why the
majority of
people are still flocking outside the country to buy their
groceries which
proves to be far much cheaper," he said.
Mr Masimirembwa
said NIPC would monitor these shops to ensure that consumers
were not
exploited.
The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe regional manager for
Matabeleland, Mr
Comfort Muchekeza, said the council had made similar
observations.
"The retailers selling in hard currency should know that they
are competing
with neighbouring countries if they overcharge because as we
are close to
the border, consumers would prefer facing hustles of travelling
to buy where
it's cheaper rather than buying locally.
"These shops seem
to be missing the idea behind trading in foreign currency,
that's why some
shops are fully stocked because they are pushing away
customers in the way
they price their goods. The foreign currency that is
supposed to circulate
locally will continue to be taken to other countries,"
he said.
The RBZ
introduced FOLIWARS last month to allow designated businesses to
sell their
products in foreign currency to increase formal foreign currency
inflows in
the country and increase supply of commodities and services in
the
economy.
Journalists Barred From Covering Talks
Media Institute of
Southern Africa (Windhoek)
PRESS RELEASE
29 October 2008
Posted to
the web 30 October 2008
Several journalists were barred from covering
the SADC Troika-mediated talks
held in Harare on 27 October 2008 as part of
efforts to break the impasse
over the allocation of ministerial positions in
accordance with the terms of
an agreement for an inclusive government signed
by the Zimbabwe African
National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and the
two Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) formations.
Security details
manning the entrance to the premises of the Rainbow Towers
Hotel, where the
talks were being held, turned away a number of freelance
journalists who are
not accredited with the statutory Media and Information
Commission (MIC) and
demanded they produce MIC accreditation cards allowing
them to cover the
event. Accreditation of journalists by the MIC is no
longer compulsory
following the December 2007 amendments to the repressive
Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).
Previously, on 15
and 16 October 2008, an official from the Ministry of
Information and
Publicity approached Brian Hungwe and Peta Thortnycroft, who
freelance for
foreign media organizations, and ordered them to leave the
hotel where they
were mingling with other journalists who were maintaining a
vigil on the
talks that were being facilitated by former South African
President Thabo
Mbeki. The official reportedly told the journalists that he
was acting on
instructions from his superiors.
MISA-Zimbabwe calls upon the Parliament
of Zimbabwe to repeal the AIPPA as a
matter of urgency as it poses serious
violations to media freedom and
freedom of expression and also violates the
2002 Banjul Declaration on the
Principles of Freedom of Expression in
Africa, which frowns upon statutory
regulation of the media as is the case
in Zimbabwe under the MIC.
The Banjul Declaration states that
self-regulation is the best system of
instilling professionalism in the
media. MISA-Zimbabwe reiterates that
journalists have the professional
mandate to cover and report on the
country's socio-economic and political
developments as they unfold without
any hindrance.
Zimbabwe
Bishop Bakare receives prize for human rights work
http://www.episcopal-life.org
By Matthew Davies, October
30, 2008
[Episcopal News Service] Bishop Sebastian Bakare of the Diocese of
Harare,
Anglican Church in Zimbabwe, has been awarded Sweden's 2008 Per
Anger prize
for his "committed work for human rights in a politically
unstable
Zimbabwe."
The Living History Forum -- known locally as
Forum för Levande Historia --
has been commissioned by the Swedish
government to award the prize in memory
of ambassador Per Anger, a Swedish
diplomat who participated in efforts to
rescue Hungarian Jews from arrest
and deportation by the Nazis during World
War II. The prize was first
awarded in 2004 and is worth 150,000 kronor
(US$19,700 dollars). Bakare will
participate in the prize-giving ceremony in
Stockholm on November
10.
Bakare replaced the controversial former bishop of Harare, Nolbert
Kunonga,
in December 2007, and has repeatedly spoken out against human
rights
violations in his country and condemned the "brutality" of the
government-backed police who have persecuted and assaulted Anglicans in an
attempt to stop them from worshipping. Bakare is supported by the majority
of Zimbabwe's Anglicans and has been praised by Archbishop of Canterbury
Rowan Williams as "a deeply respected and courageous elder statesman of the
Zimbabwean Church."
The prize citation acknowledged that Bakare has
"given voice to the fight
against oppression and for the freedom of speech
and of opinion in a
difficult political situation, with courage and personal
sacrifice."
A news release from the Living History Forum described Bakare
as "an
incredibly important voice in the Zimbabwe of today," which is
characterized
by a political and humanitarian crisis, record inflation and
growing famine.
"Bakare has himself received threats as a result of his open
and clear
criticism of the government, his condemnation of local police
brutality and
his defense of human rights."
Eskil Frank, director of
the Living History Forum, said the prize is awarded
to persons displaying
great bravery and initiative and who have acted for no
personal gain and
often at great personal risk. "With this award, we want to
inspire people to
make a stand, to dare to contradict and to show moral
courage. Good role
models are important," says Frank.
-- Matthew Davies is editor of
Episcopal Life Online and Episcopal Life
Media correspondent for the
Anglican Communion.
Zimbabwe on slippery slope toward civil
conflict
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
DR
ALEX T. MAGAISA
Last updated: 10/31/2008 15:31:34
THERE was a time, in the
1980s, when villages across Zimbabwe became hosts
to young men like Mukoma
Zhuwawo. These were young men from Mozambique,
having crossed the border to
eke out a living far from the raging war in
their homeland. They worked
hard, these young men, tilling the land and
herding cattle.
There was
a time, too, in the 1990s, when we received young men and women
who had
travelled thousands of miles, hitch-hiking along the way, from the
genocide
in Rwanda.
Some of them became good friends when they joined university.
They were
decent young men and women who sought shelter and comfort in our
home.
I remember speaking to our guests and asking about the conditions
they had
left behind. Their stories weighed heavily on our hearts. They
carried many
wounds of war - they had lost families and friends.
I
remember wondering at the time whether we, too, could find ourselves in a
similar situation. At the time, that Zimbabwe could descend into absolute
poverty and utter chaos was far from the mind. It is not far
anymore.
There has been a reversal of fortunes. The likes of Mukoma
Tendai are now
foraging in the Mozambican hinterland, perhaps Mukoma Zhuwawo
is now his
host. Young Zimbabweans are paying the last penny; they are using
the last
of their energies to cross borders into Botswana, South Africa and
thousands
of miles away into Britain, Australia, USA, etc.
But what
are the chances that Zimbabwe could also descend into civil
conflict, the
type that made young men and women run from their homes in
Rwanda, Somalia,
Mozambique and the DRC into Zimbabwe?
The possibility is certainly no
longer far-fetched. There are already
situations we thought we could never
have. I remember the wild laughs when
visitors from Zambia in the late
eighties brought the worthless Zambian
Kwacha. Yet it never quite fell to
the depths that the Zimbabwe Dollar has
reached.
At this rate, that
Zimbabwe could descend into civil conflict is therefore
not beyond
imagination. It is no longer something to be easily dismissed.
There are
number of reasons why the situation may deteriorate to the state
of
conflict:
Political Failure: Zimbabwe has failed and continues to fail to
find a
political solution to its problems. Normally, questions of leadership
are
decided through elections. This has, so far, not worked in
Zimbabwe.
The other option, as we saw in Kenya earlier this year, is to
submit to a
negotiated settlement. This has not worked either and holds
little prospects
of success.
When politics fails and when politicians
fail, this creates opportunities
for military strongmen to take power. This
will not allay fears of conflict;
it will only heighten
them.
Desperation: With political failure comes desperation and
desperation causes
people to think of crazy things. Desperate men develop
very dangerous minds,
especially when coupled with poverty and a paucity of
options for survival.
Zimbabwe is reaching, if not so already, the
Hobbesian state of nature where
life is 'nasty, brutish and short'. In this
kind of world it is only the
fittest who survive by virtue of
force.
Big Men and Lords of War: Beyond and, indeed, within the large
political
party structure, the Zimbabwean political landscape is
characterised by deep
cracks along regional and tribal lines. This is an
often understated reality
but only because it is an inconvenient reality.
Zanu PF's unity, or what
appears on the surface, is driven by the common
desire to retain power and
the mutual benefits accruing to rival factions.
If the equilibrium that
sustains the mutual interests shifts, there is
likely to be chaos between
the rivals.
For its part, the MDC (already
divided since 2005) is united only by a
common desire to drive out Zanu PF
from power, perhaps less so by any common
vision or ideology that would
withstand the challenges of a post-Mugabe era.
The different factional
conflicts, which simmer under the surface like a
volcano, could erupt at any
time.
When it all breaks down, the Big Men, especially within or
connected to the
military who have their spheres of influence could easily
mobilise
impressionable and desperate young men to engage in a free-for-all
brawl.
There is a huge reserve of unemployed young people, the type that
Frantz
Fanon referred to as the Lumpen Proletariat which is vulnerable to
manipulation and easily led.
Militarisation of Society: Violence has
always been employed by the powerful
to suppress the largely pliant majority
of ordinary people. There is a
growing pool of desperate young men who in
their crucial teenage years who
have been led to believe that violence is a
perfectly legitimate way of
resolving disputes. The then burgeoning middle
class of the nineties has
been severely eroded and in its place is the
growing Lumpen Proletariat.
They have very little to lose; nothing but their
lives to protect and when
it comes to the worst, who knows what risks they
could take?
Add to this the large numbers of Youth Militias, better known
as the Border
Gezi Youths or Green Bombers, after their olive green garb,
who have been
indoctrinated in the virtues of the fist. They have killed,
raped and
assaulted at will without fear of the law's enforcement. Then
there is also
the growing number of deserters from the military, as recently
reported in
parts of the media. These are poor young men who know how to use
arms; they
are desperate and who knows what they might do if they got hold
of arms?
An unhealed nation: Zimbabwe has experienced a tumultuous
history since it
was founded as the colony of Southern Rhodesia in 1890. The
culture of
violence and impunity did not commence in the Zanu PF - MDC era
as is often
presented. Right through the violence of the colonial era, the
bloodshed of
the liberation war in the 1970s, to the unmitigated atrocities
in
Matabeleland during the 1980s, Zimbabweans have endured pain, loss and
suffering. There are divisions and suspicions along the fault lines of race,
tribe and class. The nation has not healed.
The post-2000 violence
has undoubtedly received greater coverage and
intensified the hostilities.
People naturally want to account for what
happened; they want justice and
accountability in order to have closure. If
there is no proper system in
place, people could easily resort to chaos,
where they take the law into
their own hands, with devastating results. All
these episodes in the history
of the nation are festering wounds and chances
are that they will burst, and
when they do, it will not be a pretty sight.
We Zimbabweans have long
thought of ourselves as a sophisticated nation. We
got independence late in
the day, long after our African counterparts had
experienced the political
and economic demise of the post-colonial period.
We had our sunshine years
when dark clouds hung over most of Africa. We
never thought we would get to
their sorry state. But they have moved on;
they are moving on and we are
where they were in their dark days, only
worse.
If we still think
civil conflict is unimaginable in Zimbabwe, perhaps it is
time to wake up
and smell the coffee. There are too many factors building up
to create a
very dangerous situation, largely because politics and
politicians seem to
be failing.
Now after the failure of the SADC Troika, we have to wait for
the SADC
Summit. The question is: what if that, too, fails? But even if it
does
succeed, there is little evidence of good faith and political will on
the
part of politicians to make things work. No amount of beautiful clauses,
not
even control of 'key ministries' will transform Zimbabwe's fortunes
unless
the politicians invest sufficient trust, confidence in each other and
act in
good faith. Things could get much worse. Politicians have the
responsibility
to halt the slide on the slippery slope toward civil
conflict.
Alex Magaisa is based at Kent Law School, The University of
Kent. He can be
contacted at wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk
Mad Bob won't change his spots
IOL
Rich
Mkhondo
October 30 2008 at 02:21PM
Used well,
democracy guarantees peace, liberty and prosperity. Used
arrogantly and
wrongly, democracy can be dangerous and backfire to become a
handmaiden of
the worst kind of dictatorship. This is what we are seeing in
neighbouring
Zimbabwe today.
Testimonies to the flagrant disregard of the
principles of democracy
by Robert Gabriel Mugabe, president and persecutor
of Zimbabwe, have been
catalogued in atlases and history books.
President Mugabe is an example of how a single twerp can cause
instability
around an entire region and get away with it.
His people are
starving and dying, his country has no functioning
economy or government.
What does he say to his people and fellow leaders on
the continent and
around the world? Burn with your hatred of
Zimbabwe.
For me, insistence on a government of
national unity (GNU) in Zimbabwe
is making a mockery of any democratic
process.
In a region not known for its improving democratic
processes or
governance, the declarations that Mugabe's election was
legitimate are only
symptoms of a larger malady.
The nations
that are willing to overlook the obviously flawed
electoral process in
Zimbabwe have little credibility left on the subject of
democracy and
legitimate governance.
Everything was there for everyone to see.
The illegitimacy of Uncle
Bob's re-election could be traced to long before
polling day last March.
Let us recap: Thousands of arrests and
about 100 politically motivated
assassinations marked the months leading up
to the election, as Mugabe
sought to consolidate his power and prevent any
truly organised opposition
from functioning.
New legislation
prevented opposition political rallies and private
voter education, and
independent journalists were intimidated and driven
from the
country.
Everybody knows that President Mugabe has sacrificed
economic wisdom
for political expediency in his desperate quest to stay in
power through a
government of national unity.
Any insistence on
a GNU is not only a blow for the country; but it
also dashes confidence in
elections for the whole SADC region and our
continent.
After
the forced government of national unity in Kenya, and now
possibly in
Zimbabwe, elections in Africa may become a farce with losers
refusing to
relinquish power in exchange for a power-sharing deal or GNU.
Zimbabwe's power-sharing will not work because the strongman refuses
to
release or share control of the state's security forces and other key
levers
of power.
His intransigence comes as no surprise. After three
decades of
tyrannical rule that transformed one of Africa's most promising
economies
into a disaster zone in which the annual inflation rate runs at
millions, at
least a third of the population has fled the country and its 95
percent
unemployment.
Under the terms of the deal, which is
supposed to end the debate about
Mugabe's brazen theft of the recent
presidential election and several others
before this one, his party is
supposed to control 15 ministries,
Tsvangirai's MDC 13 and a splinter
opposition party three.
The mistake our former president Thabo
Mbeki made was that he did not
specify to the Zimbabwean leaders how the
powers were to be divided between
Mugabe, who retains the role of president,
and Tsvangirai, who becomes prime
minister.
So why are we
surprised that negotiations for the composition of a
government of national
unity have been bogged down because the strongman
insists on retaining
authority over both the powerful security and
information portfolios in the
new cabinet?
Those are the same tools that the autocrat has used to
intimidate the
general populace, brutalise political opponents and maintain
his iron grip
on power.
If any power-sharing or credible
government of national unity is to be
successful, it is essential that
Tsvangirai gains control of either the army
or the police, preferably the
latter. That would help quell the violence
that has killed hundreds and
driven tens of thousands from their homes.
It would also enable
relief workers to start delivering food to the
estimated 2-million
Zimbabweans who are in danger of starvation - a number
that is expected to
more than double by the end of the year.
One of the most important
challenges facing Mugabe's successor will be
to reverse the disastrous
agricultural policies that seized the country's
white-owned corporate farms
and handed them over to Mugabe's cronies.
Those policies
transformed Zimbabwe from being Southern Africa's
breadbasket into a land of
famine and desperation within the course of a
decade.
Mugabe
will not yield control of the army. Even if he did, his
generals would not
submit to Tsvangirai's authority, despite his pledge that
they will not face
criminal charges for the murder, rape and torture of
Mugabe's political
opponents.
But an agreement to give Tsvangirai control over the
police and to
order the army to steer clear of domestic politics would be a
major
breakthrough.
So why are our former president and our
leaders within the 14-nation
Southern Africa Development Community
tolerating Uncle Bob's antics?
The answer is that they are beholden
to the dynamics of international
relations, which state that despite
President Mugabe's erosion of state
sovereignty, they still have to respect
the internal and external
sovereignty of their neighbour.
Therefore, military intervention, armed conflict, cross-border raids,
propaganda, isolation, severe economic sanctions, coercion and the violent
removal of Uncle Bob and his cohorts are the only remaining
options.
All members of the Southern African Development Community
have armies.
Why are we paying for these armies if not to use them in times
of need?
The need is now. The SADC must please send a force in to
remove him
from power and install a caretaker government excluding all the
current
politicians to prepare for fresh elections.
President
Mugabe has contravened every single principle and value that
decent people
should believe in. Ridding the world of Uncle Bob would be an
act of
humanity.
For me, it is leaving him in power as the leader of a
purported
government of national unity or power-sharing arrangement that is
inhumane.
Yes, there are consequences to removing him by force. If
he is removed
by force, people will die. But every region, every country,
should be
prepared to live with the consequences of an armed invasion, even
the
unintended ones.
A government of national unity in Zimbabwe
will be a damp squib.
Either President Mugabe must be forced to go
peacefully, or once and
for all, through bloodshed.
*Rich
Mkhondo, writer, author and former editor and foreign
correspondent, is an
independent marketing communications and public
relations
strategist.
This article was originally published on page
18 of The Star on
October 30, 2008
Ongoing
repression shows Mugabe not sincere
http://www.nehandaradio.com
30 October 2008
By Fortune
Tazvida
Ongoing state sponsored repression is a clear indicator
Zimbabwe's power
sharing accord is doomed from the start and President
Robert Mugabe lacks
the sincerity to make it work. WOZA leaders Jenni
Williams and Magodonga
Mahlangu are still in police custody 12 days after
embarking on a peaceful
demonstration.
This week 47 women from the
Women's Coalition were arrested before being
released by an embarassingly
partisan police force. Another 7 activists from
the Restoration of Human
Rights in Zimbabwe pressure group were arrested on
Monday during their own
demo against the delay in forming a government.
In other reports the CIO
are said to have taken over the weekend burial of
murdered Zimbabwe Election
Commission (ZEC) official Ignatius Mushangwe.
Instead of the burial taking
place at Granville Cemetary in Harare as
initialy stated on the burial
order, CIO agents moved the body from his
Waterfalls home and took it to
Mukumba Village in Chihota for burial.
Information trickling through is
that Mushangwe was assassinated by members
of the military intelligence led
by a Sergeant Makwande. Mushangwe is
alleged to have exposed information on
how the Mugabe regime planned to rig
the June 27 presidential run-off this
year by printing surplus ballot
papers.
Analysts say events this week
alone show that Mugabe has no intention of
sharing power. In taking part in
the SADC talks aimed at breaking the
cabinet deadlock, he is simply buying
time for the next outrageous move.
Mugabe's Zimbabwe
Thursday, 30 October 2008 07:30
Celia Coleman
Harrare, Zimbabwe. The 1000 bed Parirenyatwa teaching
hospital, in the capital city Harare in Zimbabwe, once a showpiece with the best
equipment, teaching and treatment available is now a filthy, crumbling shell and
practically empty under the dictator Robert Mugabe's rule.
The handful of doctors and nurses who have not fled the country are unable to
treat patients as there are almost no drugs, bandages or working equipment and
no food. Patients who do make it to the hospital have to pay in wads of cash
before they can be treated and even then without the medication or equipment,
many who should have lived just die.
A patient is given a list of supplies needed to be purchased from a pharmacy,
before returning to the hospital for treatment. Pharmacies however are also
short of supplies and the costs staggering. Special clearance from the Reserve
Bank is required as the cost runs into millions of Zimbabwe dollars. Even if one
has the money the delay in actually obtaining the cash could, and in many cases
does, cause the unnecessary death of loved ones.
Due to the hyperinflation in Zimbabwe, shops that have to buy their stocks
using foreign currency are now refusing to accept the local currency. Shops too
are no longer accepting checks or debit cards as they take too long to clear.
Credit cards are not accepted anywhere. Most people don't have access to foreign
currency such as the US dollar or the South African rand, now demanded by most
shops. So even if one has the money, they cannot buy any food. The only place
food is available for local currency is from a street vendor.
Shopkeepers say they do not know how to mark up goods as the Zimbabwe dollar
is worthless. It is too difficult to sell in local currency as the rate changes
by the hour. All goods except meat and most vegetables are imported from South
Africa. These goods are subject to a 75% government tax, payable only in foreign
currency, making basic items four to five times more expensive than in South
Africa even with a low mark up.
Zimbabwe, which was once the bread basket of southern Africa, able to totally
feed itself and its neighbors, is now a basket case. Life has become impossible
for ordinary Zimbabweans. Hyperinflation is driven by the central bank creating
more money to fund the government's activities. At independence in 1980, the
Zimbabwe dollar was worth more than the US dollar, but Robert Mugabe's regime
has destroyed the economy with the slide accelerating in recent years, months
and weeks. It is now a valueless currency said independent economist John
Robertson.
The aid agencies, banned from operating in Zimbabwe for three months by
Robert Mugabe during the violent election period have now been allowed back.
However they are struggling to feed even a tiny fraction of the people in need.
Aid workers are frequently stopped at road blocks, harassed by police and part
of the food donated for the starving people stolen. Children are dying from
malnutrition; people have resorted to eating rats, grubs, leaves and berries.
The tragedy of Zimbabwe is unbelievable and yet while his people suffer Robert
Mugabe, who has a history of outmaneuvering his political opponents, continues
to exploit events to his own advantage. The so called power sharing agreement
signed with the opposition some months ago still has not been implemented. It's
time the world sat up and did something.
