Monsters and Critics
Apr 18, 2008, 8:14 GMT
Harare/Johannesburg -
Zimbabwean soldiers went house to house in a poor
suburb of the capital
Harare Friday, beating up men and youths shortly
before embattled President
Robert Mugabe was due to give his first address
to the nation since last
month's elections.
A Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa correspondent saw
between 30 and 40 soldiers
travelling in two army trucks ordering families
to come out of their homes
in Glenview suburb.
The soldiers then told
the women and the elderly to get back inside and
turned on the men and boys,
raining down blows on them with batons.
A bystander claimed the attack
was in revenge for an assault on a soldier
living in the area earlier this
week - a claim that could not be immediately
verified.
Otherwise
Harare was quiet but the police presence heavy as Zimbabwe marked
the 28th
anniversary of its independence from Britain.
President Robert Mugabe,
leader since 1980, was due to address the nation
for the first time since
March 29 elections the opposition claims he lost at
an annual Independence
Day rally in Harare's Gwanzura Stadium.
A military display, a feast and a
soccer match usually form part of the
celebrations but most people said they
had little appetite for merrymaking
given the uncertainty gripping the
country in the wake of the presidential
polls.
Nearly three weeks
after the vote, the state-controlled Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission is still
refusing to release the results.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai claims he
defeated Mugabe squarely. Mugabe's
Zanu-PF party claims neither Tsvangirai
nor Mugabe won outright and that a
runoff is required, but the MDC is vowing
not to take part.
An independent electoral observation NGO also predicted
neither took more
than 50 per cent at the first round but had Tsvangirai
very close.
Tsvangirai claimed in a BBC interview Thursday the two
parties had been
close to a deal that would have ended Mugabe's autocratic
and economically
disastrous rule a few days after the election.
The
MDC had been approached by Mugabe envoys about the formation of a unity
government but the talks broke down because there were 'others in the
establishment who did not want to accept that.'
Several newspapers
have reported that hardliners in the security forces
opposed Mugabe stepping
down.
International Herald Tribune
The Associated PressPublished: April
18, 2008
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Arthur Taderera marked Zimbabwe's
Independence Day on
Friday in a hospital where he's being treated for
multiple bruises and
suspected bone fractures after being attacked by
government soldiers who
recognized him as an opposition
activist.
"They beat me and tormented me. They said I was a stooge who
wanted to sell
the country to the British and the whites," 56-year-old
Taderera said from
his hospital bed.
In a clampdown against opponents
of President Robert Mugabe since the
nation's March 29 election, scores of
opposition supporters have been
assaulted, beaten and tortured, human rights
groups say.
On Friday, Zimbabwe is to celebrate 28 years of independence
from colonial
rule with a parade, an Air Force flyover and a speech by
Mugabe at a sports
stadium in the impoverished western Harare township of
Highfield. A free
soccer match also is scheduled.
Speaking in
neighboring South Africa, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
said it will
be "the saddest Independence Day since our liberation from
colonial rule."
Already struggling under skyrocketing inflation and 80
percent unemployment,
Zimbabweans now also do not know who won the
presidency.
Zimbabwe
has been waiting for results of the presidential vote for nearly
three
weeks. Independent tallies suggest Tsvangirai won, but not by enough
to
prevent a runoff.
Human rights groups say the ruling party has unleashed a
campaign of revenge
in an apparent attempt to intimidate the populace into
supporting Mugabe in
a runoff. The opposition has said it is reluctant to
participate in a
runoff.
Like hundreds of other opposition
supporters, Taderera fled his home earlier
this week to avoid the ruling
party militants who were seeking out backers
of Tsvangirai's opposition
Movement for Democratic Change, or MDC.
On Wednesday, Taderera became one
of the victims.
That afternoon about 10 soldiers wearing camouflage and
helmets searched his
car in the town of Chitungwiza, 25 kilometers (15
miles) south of Harare.
They pulled out MDC campaign
literature.
Taderera had been a polling agent for the party in the local
district,
observing as the MDC's Felix Mashu unseated a ruling party
opponent.
On finding the campaign pamphlets, a soldier who called himself
"Black
Jesus" threatened to kill Taderera by cutting off his head with a
bayonet,
the victim said. Instead they beat him, boasting as they did that
they were
trained to kill people.
"Just do it, once and for all, I
said. We are suffering and have been slowly
dying for so long, just do it
now," Taderera recounted, groaning in pain as
he spoke falteringly to The
Associated Press at the Harare hospital.
Villagers from outside the
eastern town of Marondera said they slept in the
bush for the past five
nights after attackers destroyed their homes.
Community leader Dominic
Musekiwa said his homestead and three other homes
were torched by pro-Mugabe
militants and left in ruins.
"They wanted to know who we voted for," he
said. Musekiwa said they were
calling the onslaught "Operation
Makavhoterapapi," a phrase in the local
Shona language that means "where did
you put your cross" on the ballot.
The independent Zimbabwe Doctors for
Human Rights organization says at least
200 people have been treated for
severe injuries received in postelection
violence. The group was
investigating at least two reported but unconfirmed
deaths.
Gabriel
Karonga, 38, said he hasn't been able to find his two children since
a group
of men attacked his village in northeastern Zimbabwe. Burning homes
created
a smoke screen through which he couldn't see.
One woman told doctors she
was among 100 people force marched into a school
hall and made to lie face
down on their stomachs, where they were kicked and
beaten with wooden clubs.
They were then made to chant ruling party slogans
and swear allegiance to
Mugabe.
Another villager at a privately run clinic in Harare said he was
whipped and
beaten with fence posts, barbed wire and vehicle fan belts.
Attackers told
him: "There's no protection from police. We do what we like,"
Owen
Tafirenyika said.
Amid the latest surges in prices in the
economic meltdown, any traditional
social festivities aside from Mugabe's
parade were expected to be muted
after prices of scarce food, gasoline and
drinks more than doubled since
Tuesday.
Tsvangirai said he had hoped
for a resolution by Independence Day: "Given
the current state of decay and
the political impasse that we face, I am sure
rather than a celebration
there is going to be serious commiseration."
Waiting in the hospital to
heal, Taderera said he would be trying not to
think of the
holiday.
"People are crying. It is a travesty to talk of independence and
freedom."
Sokwanele
In the
Thursday edition of The Zimbabwean there were revelations that,
“Militant
supporters of President Robert have set up torture camps in parts
of
Mashonaland East province and stepped up a terror campaign against
opposition activists in the province”.
The reason for their
deployment is to ensure a victory for Mugabe in their
planned run-off
election.
Sokwanele is able to report that we are able to verify and
endorse this
information with a report leaked to us by a member of the
defence forces.
This was received yesterday.
There are a variety of
strategies being employed to hoodwink Zimbabweans,
particularly those in the
rural areas. What follows is a breakdown of the
information we have
received.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has been directed to
delay the
Presidential Election results for another two weeks, after which a
further
three weeks need to be added as legally required for the election
run-off.
The run-off election date being proposed is Monday, May 26th –
the Monday
working day set aside as a public holiday to honour Africa Day on
Sunday,
May 25th.
We are told that ZEC is likely to use the excuse of
the 3 by-elections to
delay the Presidential results even further
(Redcliffe, Gwanda South and
Pelandaba/Mpopoma).
Key loyal cadres
from amongst militant war veterans have been assigned to
execute a plan of
intimidation and torture, one for each area in the
country.
This plan
is already in advanced stages, with henchmen deployed down to Ward
level
throughout the country.
All Police officers have been asked to state
their allegiance to the ruling
party, with those suspected of being
opposition supporters rejected. This is
because 4,000 henchmen are required
for “civilian duties”.
Those appointed to ‘civilian duties’ began their
deployment yesterday (17
April) and have been instructed to wear old
civilian clothes, not to shave,
to carry no identity documents and, if
possible, no footwear.
Their job is to gather information and spread
disinformation about the MDC.
These loyal undercover agents have been
instructed to report to the listed
war veterans from the Military already
assigned to their regions in the
country.
They have been told to
focus their attention on the elderly members of
society as soft
targets.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police have also been instructed not to
provoke anyone
in the cities and will only act as intelligence gatherers.
This is to put a
public shine on the perception of the force as an agent of
the government.
As part of their intelligence gathering, they are presently
visiting
businesses in main urban centres demanding to know why certain
companies
were closed during the general strike.
In the rural areas,
each village Headman is to receive Z$ 5 billion and the
traditional Chiefs
Z$10 billion with instructions to gather villagers for at
least 2 meetings
to enlist support for Mugabe in the runoff. This will be
over the 21 day
period. The period covered by bribes to traditional leaders
will be
highlighted with ten Star political rallies.
The security forces hold a
file on each MDC activist detailed right down to
the level of the football
club he or she supports, together with family
members details. We were given
one precise example and the individual
targeted has been warned that his
family is in danger. We cannot reveal
details on this as it would compromise
both the victim and the individual
who leaked this information. Key
opposition personalities are being
identified as targets right across the
country with emphasis on the rural
areas.
Dr Gideon Gono, the Reserve
Bank Governor, will be releasing Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe funds for
cooperatives and other rural ventures to boost Zanu and
Mugabe
popularity.
This information was verified tonight by an announcement on
Zimbabwe State
Television news last night that funds have been allocated to
Matabeleland
North for such projects. This is especially astonishing news
for a regime
that is well known to ignore the needs of this largely ignored
region.
A further directive has been issued that no school fee increases
will be
announced until after the elections and the elections will be held
after pay
day!
The Zanu PF donated urban commuter buses will be sent
back into the rural
areas to offer drastically discounted fares to lure
votes: fares of Z$80
million as opposed to the current fares of
approximately Z$300 million.
The number of polling stations is to be
further reduced in the cities (these
being traditional bases of support to
the opposition) to discourage large
voter turnouts.
In the 21 day
period following the announcement of the new Presidential
election date the
winning Zanu PF candidates for the House of Assembly
election will hold
victory parties and celebrations. Funds will be provided
by the
regime.
Zanu PF is petrified of potential strike action by teachers
because they
would like to use them as pawns in the election process;
teachers lend an
air of respectability to the process because they are
respected in the rural
communities. Accordingly, teachers will once again be
given a pay rise but
we are told they will be dumped after the
election.
Police officers were given their “election bonus” of 900
million on 22nd
January but have not been given their “top up” as promised
after the
elections. This is working against the loyalty the regime is
attempting to
engender.
It is only the few gullible, greedy and
naturally violent who still support
the geriatric leader and his elite group
of thugs.
Once again the regime is working on its time-worn strategy of
divide and
conquer, and of bribery and violence.
But we believe that
this time it is different: this time the eyes of the
world are keenly
focused on the illegitimate regime that has long overstayed
its
welcome.
This entry was written by Sokwanele on Friday, April
18th, 2008 at 5:30 am.
IOL
April 18 2008 at 07:01AM
By Kamini
Padayachee & Sapa
Opposition to a shipment of arms being
offloaded in Durban and
transported to Zimbabwe increased yesterday when
South Africa's largest
transport workers' union announced that its members
would not unload the
ship.
"The union does not agree with the
position of the South African
government not to intervene with this shipment
of weapons," said Randall
Howard, the general secretary of the SA Transport
and Allied Workers' Union.
"Our members employed at Durban
container terminal will not unload
this cargo, neither will any of our
members in the truck driving sector move
this cargo by
road."
'South Africa cannot be seen to be facilitating the
flow of
weapons into Zimbabwe'
He said the ship, the An Yue Jiang,
should not dock in Durban and
should return to China.
"South
Africa cannot be seen to be facilitating the flow of weapons
into Zimbabwe
at a time when there is a political dispute and a volatile
situation between
the Zanu-PF and the MDC. The view of our members is that
nobody should ask
us to unload these weapons," he said.
Political
parties, religious organisations and non-government
organisations on
Thursday criticised South Africa's role in facilitating the
shipment of
goods to Zimbabwe.
Government spokesperson Themba Maseko said the
government would not
take any action to stop the shipment from reaching
Zimbabwe.
Nelson Kamdarami, the Movement for Democratic Change's
vice-chairman
in KwaZulu-Natal, said many Zimbabweans in Durban were
concerned about why
the Zimbabwean government needed arms.
"Mugabe is sitting on the election results and now he wants to use
these
weapons to get rid of MDC supporters and create instability in the
country.
Then he can declare a state of emergency and the election results
will never
be released," he said.
Kamdarami added that Zimbabweans would be
holding a protest march in
the Durban city centre tomorrow to highlight
their concerns about the
weapons shipment and delayed released of the
election results.
The Institute for Race Relations said it would be
unconscionable for
the South African government to allow a consignment of
arms through the
country's borders into Zimbabwe.
"Introducing
shipments of arms into the unstable political climate in
Zimbabwe is a
recipe for armed conflict which would result in direct
negative consequences
for Zimbabwe as well as South Africa," said Frans
Cronje, the institute's
spokesperson.
Diakonia Council of Churches chairman Bishop Barry
Woods said the
council strongly objected to the ship being cleared by the
Durban port.
Political analyst Kiru Naidoo said it was a real shame
that South
Africa could be used as a conduit for arms that could be used
against the
opposition in Zimbabwe.
"If one looks back over the
last decade in the evolution of South
African foreign policy, human rights
used to be a mainstay," Naidoo said.
"Sadly, it now appears that by
acting as a transit point for offensive
weapons it might be interpreted that
Pretoria is aiding and abetting the
discredited regime in Zimbabwe," he
said.
This article was originally published on page 4 of The
Mercury on
April 18, 2008
The Witness
18 Apr 2008
Sue Segar and
Sapa
Lawyers in Durban were last night preparing to launch an urgent
application
in the Durban High Court to stop the trans-shipment of six
containers of
arms from the Durban Harbour to Zimbabwe.
Nicole Fritz
of the SA Litigation Centre in Johannesburg confirmed yesterday
that an
associate professor of international law on the Durban campus of the
University of KwaZulu-Natal, Max du Plessis, and an expert in Maritime
Commercial Law and member of the Durban Bar, Angus Stewart, were last night
consulting with advocate Malcolm Wallace, SC, with a view to bringing the
application on behalf of concerned citizens.
It is believed that at
this stage it is proposed to bring the application in
terms of South
Africa’s Constitution and international law.
Fritz said she does not
expect any evidential problems in establishing that
there is a crisis in
Zimbabwe in view of public statements to that effect by
senior South African
government officials.
Meanwhile, Defence secretary January Masilela told
Sapa that the National
Conventional Arms Control Committee’s (NCACC)
scrutiny committee, which he
chairs, approved the conveyance permit on
Monday.
He said an inspection team from the NCACC will still have to
ensure that the
cargo meets the requirements of the permit before it can be
transported to
Zimbabwe.
The permit will be endorsed by the NCACC
when it meets next month.
Asked about the controversy surrounding the
shipment, Masilela said: “This
is a normal transaction between two sovereign
states. We are doing our legal
part and we don’t have to
interfere.”
In Cape Town, government communications head Themba Maseko
said the country
cannot stop the shipment, as it has to be seen to be
“treading very
carefully” in its relations with Zimbabwe, given the
complexity of
facilitating talks between the Movement for Democratic Change
and Zanu-PF.
Chris de Vos, the secretary-general of the United Transport
and Allied Trade
Union, said the union is “not happy” about the arms
shipment being
transported through South Africa, echoing the SA Transport
and Allied
Workers’ Union, which said its members will not offload the cargo
to be
transported to Zimbabwe.
DA defence spokesman Rafeek Shah said
the government’s approval to allow the
arms to be shipped was “the surest
sign yet that government has completely
lost the plot on the Zimbabwe
issue”.
Shah said: “The world’s astonishment at President [Thabo] Mbeki’s
political
defence of Robert Mugabe will likely turn into outright anger as
we are now
not only denying the existence of a crisis in Zimbabwe, but also
actively
facilitating the arming of an increasingly despotic and desperate
regime.”
Kallie Kriel, AfriForum chief executive, said the organisation
intends to
organise “an extensive campaign of peaceful demonstrations in an
effort to
prevent the trans-shipment”.
The SA Institute of Race
Relations said: “It would be unconscionable for
South Africa to allow an
arms consignment through its borders en route to
Zimbabwe”.
Spokesman
Frans Cronje said that if the shipment goes ahead, “South Africa’s
culpability in the Zimbabwe crisis would then be without
question”.
The cargo, whose existence was revealed by noseweek editor
Martin Welz on
Wednesday, includes three million rounds of 7,62 mm bullets
(used with the
AK47 assault rifle), 69 rocket propelled grenades and mortar
bombs and
tubes, all valued at R9,88 million.
Africa News
Posted on Friday 18 April
2008 - 08:57
By Frank Nxumalo
South Africa’s giant
transport industry union, the South African Transport
and Allied Workers
Union (Satawu) representing nearly 300 000 transport
workers has demanded
that the South African government send back a Chinese
vessels carrying
weapons for the Zimbabwe government which has docked at the
southern port of
Durban.
“This vessel must return to China with the arms on board as South
Africa
cannot be seen to be facilitating the flow of weapons into Zimbabwe
at a
time where there is a political dispute and a volatile situation
between the
ZANU-PF and the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change)”, says
Randall Howard,
the general secretary of Satawu.
“Our members employed
at Durban Container Terminal will not unload this
cargo neither will any of
our members in the truck driving sector move this
cargo by road.”
Howard said Satawu will campaign for the vessel to be returned to China as
this was the only way through which a peaceful solution could be found in
Zimbabwe.
The union demanded that the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission
respect the
will of the people by immediately releasing the results of that
country’s
presidential election held on the 29 th March 2008.
Satawu
said it will formally raise the matter with the Congress of South
African
Trade Unions, its mother body to ensure the return of the weapons
vessel to
China to ensure that no mlitary force is used against ordinary
Zimbabweans.
The South African National Ports Authority has confirmed that a Chinese vessel with sensitive cargo, headed for Zimbabwe, has been cleared to dock at the Durban harbour by the relevant authorities. The SA Police Explosives Unit confirmed yesterday that the cargo includes weapons. The ship, named “An Yue Jiang”, is now expected to enter the harbour.
Transnet spokesperson John Dludlu says the vessel has complied with all the requisite protocols, including the International Ship and Port Security Code and the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Codes. Customs officials say they will release a statement later today.
The Chinese ship, the An Yue Jiang is carrying three million rounds of ammunitions for small arms and AK-47s, about 3 500 mortars and mortar launchers, as well as 1 500 rockets for rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) it arrived in Durban Harbour on Monday shortly before a permit was issued.
According to a copy of the ship’s cargo documentation, it was finalised on April 1, three days after Zimbabwe’s election.
It was not known when the order for the weapons had been placed.
An inspection by the South African customs authority deemed this consignment “risky” and further shipment was halted for the moment.
According to the South African Revenue Service (SARS), who are responsible for customs control, the six containers in which the weapons had been packed would be inspected by SARS and police officials on Thursday to determine whether they were, indeed, suspect.
Guy Lamb of the Institute for Security Studies said: “It’s not a question of illegality, but rather of morality, in light of the tense situation in Zimbabwe, especially if it was to contribute to the situation exploding.”
The weapons were supposed to be transported by road from Durban to Harare.
Besides the transport permit issued by the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC), a clearance permit from the explosives department of the police is still needed before the shipment can be released.
Minister of Justice Mosiuoa Lekota and Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi, who is also the chairperson of the NCACC, or their directors-general usually issue these kinds of permits in consultation with the National Intelligence Service, the Secret Service and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Mufamadi is also part of President Thabo Mbeki’s mediation team handling the election crisis in Zimbabwe.
The development comes as reports have been confirmed that Chinese troops had been spotted in Mutare.
In October 1980 Robert Mugabe, then Prime Minister, signed an agreement with North Korean President Kim Il Sung to have the North Korean military train a brigade for the Zimbabwean army. This was soon after Mugabe had announced the need for a militia to “combat malcontents.” Mugabe announced the brigade would be called “Gukurahundi”(Shona: “the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains”).
The Zimbabwean Fifth Brigade, led by Perence Shiri, killed suspected members and supporters of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union in the Ndebele provinces of Matabeleland and the Midlands from 1982 to the late 1980s. Most reliable accounts believe that about 20000 civilians were killed.
Most of the dead were shot in public executions, often after being forced to dig their own graves in front of family and fellow villagers. The largest number of dead in a single killing involved the deliberate shooting of 62 young men and women on the banks of the Cewale River, Lupane, on 5 March 1983. Seven survived with gunshot wounds, the other 55 died. Another way 5 Brigade killed large groups of people was to burn them alive in huts. They did this in Tsholotsho and also in Lupane. They would routinely round up dozens, or even hundreds, of civilians and march them at gun point to a central place, like a school or bore-hole. There they would be forced to sing Shona songs praising ZANU-PF, at the same time being beaten with sticks. These gatherings usually ended with public executions.
Those killed could be ex-ZIPRAs, ZAPU officials, or anybody chosen at random.When Prime Minister Robert Mugabe was directly asked the question if he knew what was going on in Matebeleland by British Investigative Journalist, Jeremy Paxman of ‘Panorama’ Programme fame. He vehemently denied it, and called it antique western sabotage tactics.
Friday, 18 April 2008 06:08
Here we are -
three weeks after the election and they are still
refusing to
say
who won the ballot for the post of President. The reasons are
obvious
-
Morgan won and they just cannot work out how to handle the situation.
They know the result and are trying to avoid the inevitable consequences
of
making it public. Had Mugabe won, they would have been crowing 24
hours
after the election!
When the polls closed on the
29th March counting was done at each
polling
station and the
results posted on the doors of the polling stations in
the
form of
a copy of the form V11 that recorded the result of the count
and
from then onwards provided the legal basis of the final tally. While
the
final results of the local government, House of Assembly and
Senate
seats
were determined locally in each electoral district;
the presidential
poll
was tabulated at a national control center in
Harare.
The results of each election were duly announced within 48
hours in
all
electoral districts with the exception of the
presidential one, which
was
national. This final tally was started
on Tuesday morning when all the
results from all electoral districts
had been communicated to the
national
control center. This was done
as required by the law, the 4 Chief
Election
Agents for the four
candidates sat at a table with the ZEC officials
on the
other side
and they scrutinized the results for each electoral
district
working by Province.
Harare and Bulawayo came and went - all were
reasonably satisfied as
the
results of ZEC were more or less in
line with our own records taken by
polling agents at the polling
stations. Then they started Mashonaland
Central. When the MDC team saw
the figures and noted that they were
completely different from the
results for the Cities (very high voter
turnouts, in one case exceeding
the numbers of voters on the voters
roll),
they stopped the
verification and counting process.
The MDC CEA said to the ZEC
officials that he wanted to see the
original V11
forms for every
polling station - over 9000 of them. He went further
and
said that
the MDC had photographed the V11 forms at each station and
had a
record of the poll. He said that their count was to the effect that
Morgan
had won by 50,3 percent and he said that he expected ZEC to
disprove
that
figure. That was the start of the
problems.
ZEC then spent the next three days getting all the forms
into Harare
and by
Friday this process was complete. They did not
start the verification
process but instead did a count behind closed
doors and in complete
secrecy.
Even the Commissioners and
Candidates were excluded from the process.
By
Monday they had a
final result - it showed well over 50 per cent for
Morgan
Tsvangirai and this information was promptly leaked to the MDC.
They then put the damage control system into high gear. The ZEC center
was
closed down and the whole operation including all records moved
to a
secret
location. When this location was discovered, military
guards barred
people
who tried to get to the new center - it was a
"high security area"
they were
told. Publicly the only information
released by the ZEC at this time
was
that the results were
"sensitive" and disclosure was not in the
"public
interest".
Then the ZEC came out with a spurious claim that Zanu PF
candidates
had
lodged appeals against the results in 25
constituencies. This they
said
justified the ZEC conducting a
recount of the 25 electoral districts
to
discover what mistakes had
been made in the count. Remember in all of
these
districts the
results had already been announced by ZEC and made
public on
the
television and radio. By law such appeals had to be lodged within
48
hours - it was now 10 days since the election.
It
was clear to the MDC that this was a blatant effort to overturn its
Parliamentary majority and to distort the presidential vote. We went
to
court to stop the recount, which in our view was both illegal
and
unconstitutional. We won the case but ZEC has insisted that it will
go
ahead
with the recount and has scheduled this for 23
constituencies for this
coming Saturday - 3 weeks after the election
itself and 11 days after
they
had confirmed that Morgan had won the
election by a wide margin.
Then came the SADC summit - Mbeki was
able to bulldoze his way to get
a
resolution that basically
endorsed the stance taken by ZEC, even
though it
was patently
obvious that the whole process was illegal. Behind the
scenes
he
tried to engineer a situation where he would negotiate between the
parties to the "dispute" and arrange a government of national unity in
a
manner similar to what has been negotiated in Kenya. MDC would
never
accede
to such duplicity and countenance a deal with Zanu PF.
and that
initiative
fell flat on its face.
Right now a
full-blown diplomatic storm is taking place as clearly
shown in
the
Security Council debate last night. Mbeki personally chaired the
Council
and it was a massacre for him. He tried to keep Zimbabwe
off the
agenda and
instead it totally dominated the discussions as
leader after leader
hammered
away at the illegality of what was
happening and the serious nature of
this
sort of behavior,
subverting as it does, the whole electoral process
and
democracy in
Africa as a whole.
Just as importantly, at the international
Parliamentary Forum in Cape
Town,
many speakers alluded to the
crisis in Zimbabwe. One said that Africa
had to
define what it
meant by democracy and to decide if this sort of
blatant
abuse of
democratic process was acceptable. It was called a threat to
the
stability and security of Africa as a whole - a very serious charge
and
one
that is absolutely true.
While all of this was going
on, Zanu PF was making its own plans and
they
did not in any way
include adhering to anything the outside world
said,
including the
SADC resolutions. They planned to rig the recount and
this was
put
into action using military bases and compliant officials. Then, in
anticipation of a result that would give them a Parliamentary majority
and
reduce Morgan's vote to less than 50 per cent, they are
planning a
campaign
for the re-run.
We have new
intelligence that it is their intention to delay the
announcement of
the results of the election until the 6th or 7th of
May and
to then
target the 26th May for the re-run. This sleight of hand will
give
them eight clear weeks to implement their "election programme" called
"where
did you vote?" They have deployed commanders to all
electoral
districts
together with militia who have been armed and
are paid special
allowances.
These irregular forces are now
unleashing a reign of terror on the
rural
population. Hundreds are
being beaten and their homes burned. A number
of
people have
already been killed. Food is being tightly controlled and
we can
expect traditional leaders to be co-opted or abused.
Of particular
concern is a consignment of arms from China that has
been held
off
Durban by the South African authorities for three days now and
contains
a large consignment of arms and ammunition destined for
Zimbabwe. The
South
Africans are holding this up because its
documentation was not in
order.
They do not say they will block its
delivery. That we are buying arms
when
we cannot feed our people is
a disgrace. That China can supply this
rogue
regime arms with which
to suppress the people of Zimbabwe is a
demonstration
of their
willingness to support such regimes.
Plans are afoot to rig the
re-run and to restrict the ability of the
urban
voters to cast
their votes. The media is under even tighter control
and MDC
leaders are being specifically targeted. They will again use the
threat
that
if we do not vote for Mugabe in the runoff, they will "go back to
the
bush".
Today they said that Morgan's recent actions were
consistent with
"treason".
Closer to home two activists who were
caught distributing MDC
pamphlets in
Bulawayo were today jailed for
8 months. What a travesty of justice in
any
language.
Eddie Cross
17th April 2008
The Zimbabwean
Thursday, 17 April 2008 14:49
BY MXOLISI
NCUBE
BULAWAYO
Furious students at the National University of
Science and Technology
(NUST) in the city went on the rampage this week,
stoning campus buildings
in protest at the Zimbabwean authorities’ delay in
releasing results of the
presidential elections, held more than two weeks
ago.
In the first violent show of anger by Zimbabweans at the
withholding
of the poll results, the students sang songs denouncing the
regime and threw
stones at the buildings.
"We want election results
because we voted more than two weeks ago.
Mugabe cannot be allowed to rule
us by decree when we have voted him out.
This just cannot be the case. We
kicked out dictatorship out of this country
in favour of a new leadership;
our vote must count.” said a student leader.
“This (demonstration) is a ‘no’
to abnormal fees and slave grants. We want
Mugabe to go now. We no longer
recognise him.”
Although university authorities said that they were
still trying to
quantify the damage that followed the demonstration, the
campus tuckshop had
its windows and doors broken and was looted by
students.
Another student leader, who led the protests, vowed that the
demonstrations would continue until Mugabe allowed the electoral body to
announce the results.
“Till that happens, there will be no classes
at this campus. Mugabe
must know that…we are prepared to die for democracy
in this country. He
should also stop sending his illiterate war veterans to
harass our parents
in the rural areas because we cannot be cowed by them
into accepting him,”
he said.
NUST spokesperson Busani Bafana said:
“I can confirm that we had such
a problem at the college today, but I am not
in a position to quantify the
damage at the moment. We are still checking on
the damage, but I can tell
you that as the university, we are following some
leads.I also understand
that police have picked up some of those that were
involved in the
violence.”
Police sources in the city also
revealed they had arrested some
students and were still following leads into
who had instigated the protest.
“We have arrested five students whom we
suspect to have been involved
in the NUST skirmishes. So far, we have been
told that the Students
Representative Council (SRC) led the riots,” said a
police source.
MDC says ‘no’ to violence
Pamphlets are trick
by Zanu to justify clampdown
VOA
By David Gollust
State Department
17 April
2008
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is calling for
Zimbabwe's neighbors
to step up and press for an end to that country's
post-election political
crisis. Rice said it is time for Zimbabwe to move on
after years of mis-rule
by the government of President Robert Mugabe.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's
opposition leader is calling for South African
President Thabo Mbeki to stop
mediating Zimbabwe's crisis. VOA's David
Gollust reports from the State
Department.
U.S. officials had been
privately expressing disappointment with the seeming
lack of commitment by
southern African countries on the Zimbabwe crisis.
But Rice, in a news
conference here, took U.S. concerns public, saying
regional organizations
like the African Union and the Southern African
Development Community need
to take the lead in pressing for the release of
presidential election
returns in Zimbabwe, and if necessary a peaceful
transition of
power.
"The longer they hold the results of the election, the more
suspicion grows
that something is being plotted and planned by the ruling
party. And frankly
the United States and the European Union and others have
spoken out about
this and made calls," said Rice. "But it is time for Africa
to step up.
Where is the concern from the African Union and from Zimbabwe's
neighbors
about what is going on in Zimbabwe."
Rice said U.S.
concerns about the situation have been heightened by new
accusations of
treason by the Mugabe government against opposition
presidential candidate
Morgan Tsvangerai, who claims he won the March 29
election.
Rice
stopped short of flatly calling for the departure of President Mugabe,
who
has run the country since independence. But she used her strongest
language
to date to characterize his administration.
"Obviously this is a matter
for Zimbabwe as to whether he steps down. But I
think he has done more harm
to his country than would have been imaginable,
if you look at what Zimbabwe
was 15 just years ago or so," said Rice. "I
know the role that he played in
liberation of Zimbabwe, but the last years
have really been an
abomination."
Rice said Zimbabwe, once a food exporter, will apparently
be requiring a
dramatic increase in food aid from the international
community.
She described Zimbabwe as "a country that really needs to move
on, and get
on with its future."
Mbeki held talks with Mugabe and assured the world that there was no crisis in Zimbabwe |
President Thabo Mbeki returned from New York
yesterday with the backing of the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU)
in his mediation role in the Zimbabwean crisis.
Mbeki rejected
suggestions that the South African Development Community (SADC) leaders are
unable to resolve Zimbabwe's crisis because of their liberation loyalty to
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Mbeki says the regional body has intervened
in Zimbabwe to correct the situation rather than protect Mugabe.
After a
meeting with Mugabe on Monday, Mbeki was quoted as saying that there was 'no
crisis' in Zimbabwe. However, he says he has made it clear that he believes
there is a political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe, but not an election
crisis. He told journalists in New York that SADC would not have held a special
meeting on Zimbabwe if there was no crisis in that country.
Results from
last month's presidential elections in Zimbabwe are still outstanding, more than
two weeks after the poll.
The Mirror, UK
18/04/2008
Pity the poor people of Zimbabwe, struggling to
survive under the jackboot
of dictator Robert Mugabe.
South African
premier Thabo Mbeki has shown himself to be as weak as water
(of the kind
already passed by a man).
His "quiet diplomacy" has merely entrenched the
monster in power.
In Harare, the democratic opposition fighting Mugabe's
regime is dismayed
that the "international community" has done nothing to
help. Alas, there is
no such thing as the international community - only
nation states that
sometimes act together, usually for selfish military or
commercial purposes.
Advertisement
Just occasionally, the United
Nations breaks through this vicious circle of
self-interest with a genuine
humanitarian mission to feed the starving.
Gordon Brown has shown the
way, accusing Mugabe of stealing the election and
appealing for
international action.
The UN should respond now, with an airlift of food
and essential supplies,
if necessary dropped by parachute to the hungry
hands waiting below.
This would inevitably involve entering Zimbabwean
airspace, but if Mugabe's
ageing MiG fighters take to the skies, then the
USAF can deploy its war
skills for a mercy operation.
Anything is
better than standing by while a tinpot Hitler crushes his
people's hopes of
freedom.
18 April 2008
Media Release
Marching to Musina for Zimbabwe’s Independence Day
It’s a
long and tiring drive from Pretoria to Musina, close on 540 km, but
if you
walk the distance it poses a significant challenge.
That’s exactly what a
group of about 50 dedicated Zimbabwean activists in
exile have been doing
this week – trudging along the never-ending tarmac
road that shimmers in the
midday heat – heading north towards South Africa’s
border with
Zimbabwe.
Their goal is to arrive in Musina around 11h00 today. April 18
is the day
that they and their fellow countrymen should be celebrating 28
years of
independence at home together.
One again this year there is
nothing to celebrate. Zimbabwe’s economy is in
tatters, the country’s
infrastructure has virtually collapsed, the
heath-care system is in chronic
decay and the commercial farms lie fallow
and forlorn.
There is
hunger and depravation everywhere, especially in the rural areas.
And the
people are dying. More than 3 500 a week or 14 000 every month.
That’s a
shocking statistic for a country with a population as low as 7-8
million,
according to recent estimates.
Last month Zimbabweans voted for a change
of government, and for a new
president. Former President Mugabe was given
the proverbial red card.
The marchers say everyone knows that Morgan
Tsvangirai, the leader of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) party won the election.
However, three weeks have passed and the Zanu
PF regime is still refusing to
release the results.
The entire
country is in limbo.
They have read that the Joint Operations Command
(JOC) took over control of
Zimbabwe when the MDC’s victory became
irrefutable and that the JOC, in
collaboration with Mugabe, imposed the
blackout of the results.
What is even worse than the state’s blatant
attempts to rig and then steal
the election they say is the terrible orgy of
violence taking place across
the county.
Appalling injuries have been
reported as a result of vicious beatings of
opposition members or even
perceived opposition supporters and there have
also been a number of
deaths.
The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR)
reports rising
violence-related statistics, including 157 cases of injuries
caused by
organised violence and torture.
This week 30 patients
remained in hospital. ZADHR is concerned that some of
the individuals
sustained injuries that can lead to permanent disability.
It is against
this appalling backdrop – one that the exiles believe could
have been
avoided if the region had responded quickly and decisively – that
they
decided to organise a protest march.
The group is participating under the
banner of the Peace and Democracy
Movement of Zimbabwe. One of the
spokespeople is Remember Moyo who also
heads up the Zimbabwe Action Support
Group.
“It is difficult to be a refugee in South Africa when unemployment
is high
here and some people are afraid we will take their jobs,” says Moyo.
“Rebuilding a shattered life when you have no money or resources is also
challenging and there are many setbacks along the way.”
However, the
encouragement and support that the marchers have received on
their long walk
for freedom has been outstanding, Moyo says, with farmers in
4x4s and
bakkies driving behind them, hooting, waving and cheering them
on.
“People have offered us food, water and even money, although this is
not a
fund-raising project. Our objective is to raise awareness of the
ongoing
crisis in Zimbabwe and the rapidly escalating violence which
threatens to
get out of control,” said Moyo.
When they arrive in
Musina, believed to be around 11h00, the marchers will
light three torches
and carry them through the streets of the town to
symbolise the need for
freedom in Zimbabwe.
They plan to meet with Zimbabweans working in the
area, South Africans and
representatives of organisations which are
assisting the refugees, as well
as newcomers fleeing the escalating violence
and vicious terror tactics of
the regime.
Many of the people who
leave Zimbabwe fall into the category of “border
jumpers” because they cross
illegally into South Africa, a dangerous and
sometimes fatal undertaking.
Passports are difficult to acquire and have
become so expensive that they
are no longer affordable.
The marchers are scheduled to combine an
address with prayers for a peaceful
transition to democracy below a giant
billboard closer to the Beit Bridge
border post. The controversial
billboard was erected prior to the
elections by a Zimbabwean organisation
called Zimbabwe Democracy Now.
Colleagues of the marchers will also meet
with senior police officers in
Musina since it is vital that a good working
relationship is maintained with
the police.
For the marchers, their
Independence Day across the border from Zimbabwe
will be marked by tired,
sore feet and aching muscles.
But they will use the occasion to highlight
to the world the plight of
Zimbabweans who are being beaten or tortured – or
whose homes and
livelihoods are being wantonly destroyed by the
regime.
“We are not going to stop here. We will continue with our
campaign of
action until we have a legitimate government in power,” says
Moyo. “Morgan
is our President – the people have spoken. It is time for
Mugabe to step
down.”
ENDS
Please note:
1. It is
important to phone to confirm the times and final arrangements.
2. The group
plans to return to Johannesburg on Friday afternoon and would
welcome
interviews.
For further information:
Remember Moyo - Cell: 072
032 4223 Spokesperson for the Peace and
Democracy Movement of
Zimbabwe.
Mathula Masinga - Cell: 084 744 7272 Programme officer for the
Peace and
Democracy Movement of Zimbabwe
Diyani Ncube -Cell: 074
434 6008 Acting Project Co-ordinator for the
Peace and Democracy Movement
of Zimbabwe
Belfast Telegraph
Friday, April 18, 2008
By Chris Thornton
When seven
machete-wielding thugs burst into Kevin Pope's farmhouse in
Zimbabwe, two
things stood between him and a bloody death: his pistol and a
picture of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Pope, a British Army officer who'd carried the
religious icon through
encounters with the IRA in South Armagh and
Fermanagh, held up both to the
men who'd come to force him off his
3,000-acre farm five years ago.
"I said 'I swear on this Sacred Heart
that I will shoot if you don't leave
the house'," recalled Captain Pope, now
serving with the Army in Belfast.
They left, but so did he. Six weeks
later he was back in the Army and
serving in Iraq - left only with the title
deeds to his wrecked farm and the
hope that he could one day
return.
As Zimbabwe independence day returns focus to the country's
turmoil, Captain
Pope spoke of his fears that Robert Mugabe will unleash a
violent crackdown.
He is particularly concerned for his elderly parents and
other relatives who
remain in the country.
But now the 46-year-old
also carries hope - because he says the recent
elections in the country
signalled a decisive shift against Mugabe.
Captain Pope is now based in
Belfast with the TA's 253 Medical Regiment. He
grew up in Zimbabwe, joining
the British Army in 1982, shortly after the
civil war that brought down
white Rhodesia and brought Mugabe to power.
"I'd always wanted to a be
soldier and a farmer and follow in my father's
footsteps," he said. He
became an officer in the King's Own Scottish
Borders, serving in Northern
Irealnd and the Middle East in the first Gulf
War.
But Army cuts and
a deadline on a deal for white farmers in Zimbabwe
convinced him to return
home while he could.
After a year at agricultural college in England, he
returned to his father's
farm, about 95 miles northwest of the capital,
Harare.
He worked his father's farm - "Because of the Army, I was
nicknamed the
Colonel by my African neighbours" - and saved up for his own
place.
He bought Kaduna Farm in 1999 while working for his father, nine
miles away.
A "Certificate of No Present Interest" should have guaranteed
him immunity
from any land grabs by Mugabe's regime. He dug trenches with
his labourers.
"It was back to my Salisbury Plain days," he said, referring
to the Army
training sites. "But I wanted to show them I could dig
too."
Tobacco was his main crop, but as a non-smoker he wanted to move
into other
areas and spotted the potential of the organic beauty industry -
producing
tea tree oil, lavender and lemon grass, and other crops.
He
also moved into safari tourism, promoting horseback tours to see ancient
bush paintings, zebra and leopards on the farm. "All my money went back into
build- ing up the land," he said.
In 2003, he fell victim to Mugabe's
push to redistribute white farmers'
lands to Africans - a policy linked to
current food shortages in the
country. Youths burned the wheat crop Pope
shared with a black settler.
"The police came and took them away," he
said. "The next day they were back.
That's Mugabe's influence."
The
youths pulled up his tobacco seedlings, then began intimidating his 60
workers.
"I was one of six farmers left," he said. "It was a form of
ethnic
cleansing, but I was determined to stay."
Captain Pope got a
letter signed by Mugabe's sister, the MP for the area,
that said his farm
should not be touched. "Especially with that letter, I
thought I was
ok."
But when he returned to the farm, accompanied by two veterans from
Mugabe's
army, he was attacked by 20 men.
"They attacked the war vets
first. That gave me 30 seconds to get in the
house. All I had was my weapon,
a mobile phone and my Sacred Heart."
He phoned police but they said they
were unable to come because they had no
diesel.
As seven of the men
prepared to attack him, he phoned an Army buddy who
said: "think of your
children".
"I think because of that and my Christian belief, I didn't
pull the
trigger," he said.
"I actually cocked the weapon twice -
mainly for my own confidence, but also
so they could see the bullet and know
I meant business."
Police arrived eventually, but Pope realised he could
not continue: "I
loaded tractor and trailer with whatever I could. My
workers were beaten up
and intimidated. The cattle boy helped me by getting
out my Rhodesian
ridgebacks and the horses, and the tractor driver and the
maid who looked
after my children all helped. They were beaten
up."
He returned to Britain, where his children were living with his
ex-wife. Six
weeks after facing down the thugs, he was spending Christmas in
Iraq. He
still believes he will return to his farm.
"My nightmare is
that Mugabe will rig the election, because there's no food.
"Enough's
enough and it'll burst. I can't see how he'll keep oppressing
people. I
still think the will of the people will win. I'd love Zimbabwe to
given a
legitimate, fair, transparent election and the chance to be the
jewel of
Africa that it is."
By Thabisa
Sibanda
thezimbabwetimes.com
April 18, 2008
ONCE again we have been
given another ridiculous dose of some nauseating
descriptions of Morgan
Tswangirayi by that puppet of Robert Mugabe called
Patrick
Chinamasa.
It comes as no surprise that the most active defender of our
ageing dictator
is none other than this failed lawyer. I was reminded of
that famous
parliamentary comedy where Job Sikhala promised to marry his
unborn baby
girl to Chinamasa if he ever wins a parliamentary
election.
It came as no surprise that even after being imposed on the
people of Rusape
by his party he was thrashed by a political novice. He had
all the
government resources at his disposal but failed to buy even a
quarter of the
voters. I am happy that Job Sikhala’s seven year old daughter
has been
spared the agony of being married off to such a
character.
Today, we had the shameless Chinamasa describe Tsvangirai as a
puppet of
Gordon Brown. Tsvangirai does not need to be anyone’s puppet
because he has
been popularly elected by Zimbabweans. Only the failed lawyer
would stoop so
low as to become the puppet of an ageing dictator. If
Tsvangirai is a
puppet, he is my puppet and that of more than 60 percent of
bona fide
Zimbabweans.
The people who want to know the results of our
presidential elections are
Zimbabweans who spent hours to elect a government
of their choice on the
March 29. If Gordon Brown and others share our
agitation, we welcome their
concerns. Any person who has lost an election
would naturally not be eager
to have the results publicized. Mugabe and his
puppets are no exception.
My colleague, David Parirenyatwa won an
election in a constituency where
Mugabe was rejected. I would have expected
him to be more vocal about what
the people of Zimbabwe want. I am not
surprised at his silence because he is
a professional who knows he has been
elected to represent people’s wishes
and not those of one man. There are a
lot of other professionals who lost in
this election who are now busy trying
to rebuild their lives. Why can’t
Chinamasa try and rebuild his private
practice?
My idea of a puppet is one who has no ideas of their own. They
usually only
repeat what their master says. Who actually originated this
silly idea that
Tsvangirai is a puppet? Who is in the forefront in insulting
anyone who
criticizes him for being undemocratic? Anybody who regurgitates
these stale
speeches word for word is nothing else but a puppet.
As a
lawyer, Patrick Chinamasa should be ashamed to call himself a
government
minister. Unfortunately as he is just a puppet, he proudly
attended the SADC
summit as a minister in the government of an unelected
president. He finds
no contradictions in his comment that MDC is afraid of
an election run-off
because they know they would lose.
Does he not realize that the whole
world is aware that the reason why his
master is blocking the release of our
presidential results is that he lost
the election to Tsvangirai?
The Zimbabwean
URGENT SECURITY ALERT
Thursday, 17 April
2008 06:54
The Zimbabwe Exiles’ Forum is calling for an emergency
meeting with
the South African Minister of State Security and the Minister
of Home
Affairs to discuss the escalating victimisation of Zimbabweans in
this
country.
Incidences of xenophobic attacks on Zimbabweans and
other foreigners
are rife in the vicinity of Pretoria, notably in the
Mamelodi, Denneboom and
Soshanguve localities. Recent attacks in other
areas have left several
Zimbabweans dead, including a child of nine who was
burnt to death.
Yesterday the situation appeared to be spiralling out of
control with
violent attacks on Zimbabweans in both Mamelodi and
Soshanguve,
We have been informed that road blocks were set up in those
areas and
that mobs of rampaging locals threatened Zimbabwean exiles,
forcing a number
to seek sanctuary in Marabastad area. The lives of women,
pregnant mothers
and children have been put at risk, which is totally
unacceptable. At this
point there are also unconfirmed reports that two
Zimbabweans died in the
violence.
The pattern emerging suggests
that these are not isolated incidences
but are in fact systematic and
co-ordinated. The response of the South
African Police is of growing
concern, with reports of their being either
afraid to respond or complicit.
As previously, we call on the South African
Police to execute their duties
efficiently and bring to account those who
are responsible for these heinous
crimes.
It is ironical that South African President Thabo Mbeki should
be
chairing the UN Security Council in New York this week when Zimbabweans
and
exiles from other African countries continue to face victimisation in
South
Africa.
We believe that President Mbeki is sending the wrong
signal to the
citizens of this country by stating that there is no crisis in
Zimbabwe.
Instead of condemning the atrocious human rights abuses committed
by the
Mugabe regime, he chooses to imply that we are here voluntarily.
This
approach creates confusion and serves to fuel the criticism levelled at
Zimbabweans that they are stealing jobs from South Africans and are placing
an unnecessary burden on state facilities.
Furthermore we are
deeply distressed that President Mbeki attempted to
stop the Zimbabwean
crisis from being included as an agenda item at the UN
Security Council. The
Zimbabwean crisis is now so grave that it requires
immediate international
intervention.
The Zimbabwe Exiles’ Forum expresses serious concern that
certain
newspapers are publishing stories which are xenophobic in nature and
serve
to further heighten tension. It is highly irresponsible to imply that
Zimbabweans are responsible for increased levels of crime and
HIV/AIDS.
The Zimbabwe Exiles’ Forum believes it is essential for civil
society
organisations, faith-based organisations, the SA Police and the
Departments
of Home Affairs and State Security to analyse the situation and
explore
workable solutions.
Finally, we call upon the South African
government to invite the UN
Special Rapporteur on Refugees, Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs) and
Asylum Seekers in Africa, Commissioner Bahame
Tom Nyanduga, to visit South
Africa.
GABRIEL SHUMBA
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ZIMBABWE EXILES’ FORUM