http://www.washingtonpost.com/
By Associated Press, Monday, April 18, 7:53
AM
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s president defended the nation’s bitterly
divided coalition government as the southern African country on Monday
marked 31 years of independence from Britain.
President Robert Mugabe
said the coalition he joined after violence-plagued
elections in 2008 missed
some objectives “here and there” and faced
“outright misunderstandings,” but
strove for national unity despite Western
interference. Monday is the
anniversary of Zimbabwe’s 1980 independence.
Critics blame Mugabe for
stalling reforms under the power-sharing deal and
not stopping surging
political violence.
After recent, repeated medical treatment in
Singapore, Mugabe, 87, strode
the length of two soccer fields to inspect a
military parade in the blazing
sun during independence celebrations on
Monday.
In a robust 30-minute address at a 50,000-seat sports stadium
afterward, he
called for peaceful campaigning ahead of fresh elections he
wants this year.
At a regional summit last month, an ailing Mugabe was
transported around the
convention center in an electric golf
cart.
“Please, let there be no violence, no fighting against each other,”
Mugabe
said Monday.
In the past, calls for his supporters to settle
their differences with
rivals peacefully have gone largely
unheeded.
Mugabe has said he regretted joining the coalition with Prime
Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai, the former opposition leader, and wants early
elections
to bring it to an end.
Tsvangirai, in a separate
independence anniversary message issued by his
party, said the coming year
holds “many challenges, dangers and difficult
choices.
“There will be
many treacherous voices to try and convince you to cast away
your
determination for a new, democratic Zimbabwe,” he said.
International
human rights group Amnesty International said Monday that
Zimbabwe human
rights abuses continue and give rise to fear.
“People in rural areas in
particular remain in fear” after years of violence
orchestrated by Mugabe
party militants and police and military loyal to
Mugabe, Amnesty
said.
An opposition group once allied to Mugabe said three decades under
the
control of Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party had led to worsening poverty, hunger
and a
crackdown on opponents.
“The question is whether people are
really free,” said Methuseli Moyo,
spokesman for the revived ZAPU party in
western Zimbabwe.
On Monday, Mugabe again accused the West of interfering
in Africa.
He accused Western nations of breaching the United Nations
charter with
their bombardment of Libya.
Europe and the United States
wanted to make it their “sacred mission to
interfere” in other countries’
affairs, he said.
“When will they ever realize there is international
law. They tear the U.N.
Charter to pieces” for their own political and
economic interests, he said.
http://www.zimdiaspora.com
Monday, 18 April
2011 14:20
From Daniso Sibanda in Harare
THE aged Zimbabwean
leader Robert Mugabe has warned that more MDC senior
officials would be
incarcerated - in a speech to mark the country’s 31 years
of
independence.
Mugabe, 87, defended the arrests of MDC cabinet ministers
saying the
uniformed forces would deal with “them”.
The National
Healing and Reconciliation minister Moses Mzila-Ndlovu is
languishing in
police cells in Lupane while Energy minister Elton Mangoma
was arrested
twice in a month over corruption allegations.
The Zimbabwean dictator
defended the crackdown against ministers from MDC
formations and activists
saying those who break the law would be punished.
Mugabe also spoke
strongly against political violence which MDC-T blames on
his Zanu PF party
and security forces.
But critics say the arrests of opposition ministers
and legislators were
Mugabe’s part of intimidation tactics ahead of
elections expected later this
year.
Several MDC-T and MDC law makers
and members have been arrested on mostly
trumped up charges in recent
months. Observers say Mugabe’s clampdown on his
political rivals showed that
dangerous times are coming before the
elections.
“If you break the
law you will be arrested; lets respect the law,” said
Mugabe.
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai attended the Independence Day celebrations
at the
National Sports Stadium while Mugabe’s wife who is unwell and is
receiving
medical attention in Singapore was absent.
Mugabe said the national
healing process should continue to promote peace
but the arrest of
Mzila-Ndlovu is in sharp contrast of the ageing president’s
hypocritical
message.
Mzila-Ndlovu was also barred from addressing a national healing
meeting in
Kezi after police constables were unleashed to disperse
villagers.
Mugabe made a summersault on his attack on Sadc, saying the
regional block
has played a pivotal role in promoting peace in Zimbabwe. The
president
early this month attacked Sadc after the block told him to fully
implement
the Global Political Agreement and end violence against political
opponents.
http://af.reuters.com
Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:43pm
GMT
By Cris Chinaka
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe's main rival on Monday
denounced his plans to
nationalise foreign-owned firms as "looting and
plunder" by a greedy
elite.
In a statement for Zimbabwe's 31st independence anniversary, Prime
Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai dismissed as "empty rhetoric" a drive by Mugabe's
ZANU-PF
party to force foreign companies to transfer majority shareholding
to local
blacks.
Mugabe's seizures of white-owned commercial farms
about a decade ago under
the banner of correcting colonial injustices had
ruined the economy and
benefited "avaricious politicians" over the last
decade, Tsvangirai said.
"Now thirty years after independence, we are
being told by
multi-millionaires and multiple farm owners that
indigenisation will set us
free," he said.
"By this, they are not
referring to broad-based empowerment of the ordinary
man and woman, but the
looting and plunder of national resources by a small,
parasitic elite," he
added.
Mugabe, 87 and in power since Zimbabwe's since independence from
Britain in
1980, signed an Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act in
2008, which
forces foreign-owned companies worth over $500,000 to achieve at
least 51
percent black ownership within five years.
Mugabe defended
the policy later in the day at an independence rally also
attended by
Tsvangirai.
The president said a government notice giving foreign mining
companies until
May 9 to submit their plans on the share transfer was part
of a broad
economic empowerment programme.)
Mugabe also denounced
political violence and avoided his usual attacks on
Tsvangirai in a
reconciliatory speech.
Zimbabwe, Mugabe said, had stabilised politically
after a power-sharing
government brokered by regional leaders in 2009 and
could complete
constitutional reforms ahead of elections.
Mugabe has
been pushing for an early poll this year before agreed democratic
reforms,
accusing his opponents of wasting time on petty quarrels over state
appointments.
Analysts say an election without reforms, including a
new constitution, a
free media and improved voter registration, will favour
Mugabe and his
ZANU-PF party. MDC officials warned an early election could
lead to a
bloodbath.
Although Mugabe called for national unity and
peaceful political
co-existence, he made no direct reference to a spate of
clashes between his
supporters and backers of Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change or the
arrest of opposition officials.
Moses
Mzila-Ndlovu, a minister from a small MDC faction led by Industry and
Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube, was detained at the weekend on charges of
addressing an illegal meeting and using hate speech.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Thelma Chikwanha, Staff Writers
Monday, 18 April 2011
10:35
HARARE - There has neither been an economic dividend nor real
political
change which Zimbabweans could celebrate, analysts and ordinary
Zimbabweans
interviewed by the Daily News ahead of today’s Independence Day
holiday said
yesterday.
Hunger, diseases, poverty, human rights
abuses, murder, torture,
unemployment, destruction of the economy,
corruption, nepotism and disregard
of the rule of law among many other
issues have characterised Zimbabwe’s
independence.
While a few
individuals either in Zanu PF or with Zanu PF links are today
feasting on
ill-gotten wealth, millions of Zimbabweans are wallowing in
poverty and
unemployment is over 90 percent.
This has led to the public and analysts
interviewed by the Daily News
arguing that they are still to get real
freedom, three decades after
independence.
Like he has done every
year, President Robert Mugabe will address thousands
of people today – most
of whom will attend to watch the football match
between Dynamos and
Highlanders – where he will attack the West, his
opponents and any other
issues that have affected him personally and his
inner cabal.
Among
those who will be ululating and clapping hands for Mugabe is the bunch
of
looters who surround him and sit in the VVIP section and blasphemously
worship him so that they loot while the 87-year-old is blinded by the
flattery.
But this has not brought food or shelter to the millions
who are suffering
who will not be interested in his mantra.
In any
case, Zimbabweans have not known real peace because soon after
independence,
government forces and in particular state agents and the North
Korean
trained Fifth Brigade unleashed a terror campaign in the Midlands and
Matabeleland provinces where 20 000 innocent civilians were brutally
murdered under the guise of hunting down less than 200 so called Zipra
dissidents.
Since then, government opponents have been cruelly
suppressed and draconian
laws similar to those used by the Smith regime
against the masses are still
being used.
As if to underscore the lack
of real progress in the country over the past
31 years, most of the ordinary
people who were interviewed by the Daily News
did not wish to be identified
or have their pictures taken, for fear of
victimisation, as they slated the
post-independence government for lacking
both the ideas and desire to
empower black Zimbabweans in a real, tangible
and sustainable
way.
Political analyst Charles Mangongera, said: “ I don’t think
anybody will
stand up and say they are celebrating independence because
Zimbabwe has not
experienced the fruits of independence. The privileged
class have captured
the reigns of the state pursuing narrow interests for
personal gains.
“Human rights defenders are being targeted and persecuted
for standing up
for the poor voiceless people. People are being denied their
freedom of
association and electoral freedoms are also being
violated.
“The right to political participation, e.g. through the media
has been taken
away. Laws like POSA and AIPPA are still there.
“Look at
other countries in terms of electronic media. They have several
radio and
television stations yet we only have one. Radio plays a pivotal
role to give
ordinary Zimbabweans a voice. What about the voices of the down
trodden.
Human rights researcher Pedzisai Ruhanya said he did not
believe there can
be any independent state without sovereign people saying
fundamental human
rights are being violated everyday by a government that
brought independence
from colonial rule.
“We are still not
independent from the colonial system as they have
sustained laws from the
Smith regime. The police, army and CIO behaviour is
a replica of the
behaviour of the police, army and CIO behaviour during the
Smith
regime.
“It is a continuation of a colonial state being presided over by
a black
elite masquerading as a saviour of the people when they are serving
their
parochial egotistic self-interests.
“Prior to independence,
people would go to Mozambique to have their meetings
there because they
could not exercise their right to freedom of association,
expression and
political participation. It is the same now as you can’t
group around to
discuss anything under our own black regime.
“The ethos of the liberation
struggle have been betrayed by this regime and
Zimbabweans should unite to
liberate the country in a democratic, peaceful
way which means they should
be shown the exit via elections,” said Ruhanya.
His sentiments were
shared Reverend Jonah Gokova who said Zimbabweans with
all their
frustrations needed to go back to the original values of why
people went to
war.
“This was once upon a time a good story of heroism and commitment to
national values but now being messed up with politics of survival, greed,
repression and oppression,” he said.
The generality of the population
are not spared in the misery that has
rocked the nation for the past 31
years.
A civil servant in Harare who cannot be named for fear of being
brutalised
said:
“To be honest, real Uhuru (independence) is a long
way off. It has been 31
years of misery for most of us. There was a
fleeting ray of hope in the
first five years of the post-independence period
and it has been downhill
since then.
“It is a shame and it leaves a
large lump of sorrow in my throat to admit
that I was better off when I
started working in government in Ian Smith’s
racist Rhodesia than I am now
in the twilight of my career in an
independent, black-ruled Zimbabwe. What
is there for me to celebrate –
poverty, disease, hunger and more oppression,
this time by my own people,”
said a Harare civil servant.
A Marondera
teacher said that it was not an exaggeration to say that the
story depicted
in the book Animal Farm was “a picnic compared to what is now
happening in
our country”.
“Things are very bad for us teachers. We have no money and
we are not
allowed to have a political choice. We used to be looked upon as
a serious
profession worthy of respect but today we are the butts of the
worst jokes
imaginable, as we have been reduced to beggars.
“What
riles me even more is that there is absolutely no appreciation of the
important role that teachers play in our country by politicians. As a
result, Zimbabwe is going to the dogs, where the future is one of
illiteracy, ignorance and anarchy,” she said.
Indeed, with only 850
000 people formally employed out of an estimated
population of 12 million,
leading Zimbabwean economic analyst John Robertson
revealed the shocking
statistics on Friday, in an interview with the Daily
News, that the number
of formally employed Zimbabweans was at the same level
as that which
obtained in the country in 1970.
“Since 1970, Zimbabwe’s population has
more than doubled, which means the
working populace should have more or less
doubled. The country’s economy
remains distressed,” Robertson
said.
Although the 2011 employment figures are a massive improvement on
the 2008
figures of only 480 000 people who had formal jobs then, just
before the
formation of the inclusive government, the United Nations office
for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), reports that Zimbabwe’s
formally employed population stood at 3,6 million in 2003.
So bad is
the political and economic climate in Zimbabwe that President
Jacob Zuma of
South Africa has warned of revolts and "unprecedented
upheavals", similar to
those recently seen in North Africa, if reforms are
not implemented in
Zimbabwe.
The warning was contained in a damning report handed to Mugabe
and his
partners in the inclusive government last week – which was also
presented to
the recent Sadc troika on the Zimbabwean crisis, that was held
in
Livingstone, Zambia.
Real freedom fighters like Edgar Tekere and
Wildred Mhanda have in the past
also lambasted Zanu PF for throwing away the
ideals of independence through
greed and corruption saying that Mugabe is
now surrounded by bootlicking
looters who never participated in the
struggle.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
by Irene Madongo
18 April
2011
Zimbabweans in the UK marked the country’s 31st Independence Day
with a
protest against the increasing political violence in the
country.
The demonstration was held outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in
Central London
and organised by Action for Southern Africa, the successor to
the
Anti-Apartheid Movement. It was supported by several other
organisations,
such as the Zimbabwe Association, Restoration of Human Rights
Zimbabwe
(ROHR) and the Zimbabwe Vigil, which has been protesting outside
the
Zimbabwe Embassy since 2002 in protest at human rights abuses in
Zimbabwe.
Ephraim Tapa of ROHR condemned the human rights abuses in
Zimbabwe. “We are
here to protest against the direction that the country
continues to embark
on, in as far as human rights and democracy is
concerned,” he said.
Around 150 people attended the gathering.
Demonstrators sang protest songs
and slipped a petition a through the shut
door of the Embassy, which was not
open today.
Despite calls from
local civic groups, international organisations and other
political parties
to stop the violence, ZANU PF’s youth militia and war vets
have continued
with their campaign of bloody aggression.
On Monday Amnesty International
also condemned the political violence and
the partisan role of the
Zimbabwean police force.
“As Zimbabwe’s celebrates 31 years of
independence, Amnesty International
today expressed concern about the lack
of effort by the government to
address the legacy of human rights violations
and respect for human rights
guaranteed in the country’s own constitution as
well as international
treaties,” the organisation said.
“Since
February, Zimbabwean civil society has faced an upsurge in incidents
of
harassment and intimidation in what has been seen as a clampdown by the
Zimbabwe Republic Police, with arbitrary arrest, detention and torture
occurring with alarming frequency across the country.”
The partisan
police are blamed for worsening the troubles, instead of
stopping them. Last
week police broke up a prayer for peace, at the Church
of the Nazarene in
Harare, using teargas and batons to disperse the
congregation, including
children, who had to break church windows to escape.
Four priests were among
those arrested.
Reporting on 31 years of independence the Daily News
said; “Hunger, disease,
poverty, human rights abuses, murder, torture,
unemployment, destruction of
the economy, corruption, nepotism and disregard
of the rule of law, among
many other issues, have characterised Zimbabwe’s
independence. While a few
individuals either in Zanu PF or with Zanu PF
links are today feasting on
ill-gotten wealth, millions of Zimbabweans are
wallowing in poverty and
unemployment is over 90 percent.”
While
several MDC-T ministers and the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
attended
the Independence Day celebrations at the National Sports Stadiums,
the
leadership of the smaller MDC faction, led by Welshman Ncube, tried to
spend
their Independence Day at a Lupane prison with their deputy Secretary
General, Moses Mzila Ndlovu. However police turned them away, saying that
superiors had ordered them to close the premises to members of the
public.
On Friday Mzila Ndlovu, who is also the National Healing
Minister, was
arrested on his way to meet three other co-Ministers in the
Organ of
National Healing and Reconciliation. They were due to make a
presentation in
Victoria Falls on the progress they have made in healing the
nation. But
Mzila Ndlovu never made it there, when police ambushed him at a
roadblock
they had set up at Lupane.
On Monday, MDC-N spokesman
Nhlanhla Dube said ‘celebrating Independence Day
is not synonymous with
attending political gatherings at stadiums where
Robert Mugabe will be
speaking, but is more about doing an activity which
reminds people of the
country’s independence’.
He added; ‘The national executive of the party
decided to drive to Lupane
and celebrate independence with our colleague and
cadre in the liberation
struggle, Moses Mzila Ndlovu, who was arrested for
making a statement akin
to the fact that we must find a common place to
speak to the ills that
happened in this country after independence in the
1980s.”
Dube denied his party was boycotting the celebrations, saying
party members
were free to commemorate Independence Day whichever way they
chose to,
including attending the celebrations at stadiums.
AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC STATEMENT
April 18 2011
AI Index:
46/009/2011
Zimbabwe: Celebrating independence amid fear
As
Zimbabwe’s celebrates 31 years of independence, Amnesty International
today
expressed concern about the lack of effort by the government to
address the
legacy of human rights violations and respect for human rights
guaranteed in
the country’s own constitution as well as international
treaties.
Despite the formation of the Government of National Unity
(GNU) in 2009,
human rights violations have continued unabated.
Unjustifiable restrictions
of the rights to freedom of expression,
association and peaceful assembly
are undermining the stability brought
about by the setting up of the GNU.
For example, six activists,
Munyaradzi Gwisai, Hopewell Gumbo, Antonater
Choto, Welcome Zimuto, Eddson
Chakuma and Tatenda Mombeyarara, are facing
treason charges after organizing
a public lecture to discuss events in Egypt
and the Middle East. If
convicted they face the death penalty. The six were
part of a group of 45
activist arrested on 19 February 2011. The other 39
were acquitted after a
magistrate in Harare dismissed the charges against
them
A political
culture where human rights are trampled upon in pursuit of
partisan
political interests has given rise to fear. People living in rural
areas in
particular remain in fear of the security forces because of their
involvement in the 2008 election violence and continuing failure to hold
perpetrators to account.
State sponsored violence and malicious
prosecutions of perceived opponents
of President Robert Mugabe remain a
major concern.
On 31 March, the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) Organ Troika
on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, in a
communiqué following its
summit in Zambia, called for ‘an immediate end to
violence, intimidation,
hate speech, harassment, and any other form of
action that contradicts the
letter and spirit of [the Global Political
Agreement (GPA)]’.
The sentiments expressed in the communiqué are
undoubtedly a progressive
step. In the past the silence of regional leaders
on human rights violations
in Zimbabwe has encouraged perpetrators to carry
on committing violations
with impunity, but a question remains as to whether
action on implementation
of the GPA will follow words.
Persistent
violations of the rights to freedom of expression, association
and assembly
in Zimbabwe have made a mockery of the GPA. SADC, as a
guarantor of the
agreement, should not just make public pronouncements but
must follow
through on all its resolutions with action against any of the
parties to the
GPA who flout its provisions.
Amnesty International today called on SADC
to ensure that in its
facilitation of the roadmap to free and democratic
elections in Zimbabwe,
human rights protection is prioritized. This is
crucial given the
recognition by SADC of persistent violations which have
continued despite
the formation of the unity government and the extreme
violence which has
characterized recent elections in the
country.
Amnesty International is also concerned that the law to enable
the Zimbabwe
Human Rights Commission to start its work is still to be
enacted. Enabling
the Human Rights Commission to operate would be a good
start in addressing
the human rights challenges facing the
country.
Since February, Zimbabwean civil society has faced an upsurge in
incidents
of harassment and intimidation in what has been seen as a
clampdown by the
Zimbabwe Republic Police, with arbitrary arrest, detention
and torture
occurring with alarming frequency across the
country.
Talk of a possible election in 2011 is also fuelling tensions
within the GNU
and in communities. Very little has been done to address the
tension in
rural communities arising from the 2008 state-sponsored election
violence.
Human rights activists have also come under immense pressure,
mainly from
the Law and Order Section of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, and
face charges
for exercising their constitutionally guaranteed human
rights.
On Independence Day the continuation of human rights violations
in Zimbabwe
is particularly poignant, casting a dark shadow over the
country’s
celebrations. The three Principals to the GPA should act
decisively to
address the culture of impunity for human rights violations
that has stalked
the county for a decade. They should strive to guarantee
the safety and
security of everyone in Zimbabwe. Reforms to end partisan law
enforcement
must be implemented without further delay.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Thelma Chikwanha, Staff Writer
Monday, 18 April 2011
11:00
HARARE - As repression and intimidation against innocent
civilians
escalates, some churches were yesterday barred from celebrating
Palm Sunday
in a move which church leaders condemned as a criminal attack on
the church
and an invocation of the power of God.
Palm Sunday
represents the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem
and is held
on the last Sunday before Easter.
Police barred thousands of Anglican
Church worshippers from the
internationally recognized Chad Gandiya group
from marching in celebration
of the day while the Methodists Church in Ruwa
was also barred by police.
But the controversial and Zanu PF-aligned
Nolbert Kunonga church was allowed
to celebrate Palm Sunday where less than
50 people in central Harare
participated.
Lawyers yesterday
questioned whether under the draconian Public Order and
Security Act,
churches should seek permission from the police to pray.
The latest
attack on the churches comes hard on the heels of the brutal
suppression of
a peace prayer meeting in Glen Norah last week as agitation
in President
Robert Mugabe’s government increases.
It comes at a time when government
is reeling from the rebuke they received
from Sadc for suppressing the
people.
The Christian Alliance of Zimbabwe yesterday led the condemnation
of the
government’s heavy handedness.
The Christian Alliance has
condemned the barring of parishioners at the Chad
Gandiya led Anglican
Church Harare Diocese from celebrating Palm Sunday
calling it a criminal
attack on the church and invocation of the power of
God.
An irate
Christian Alliance Coordinator, Dr Levee Kadenge said barring
Christians
from celebrating Palm Sunday which is celebrated by Christians
all over the
world was extremely unreasonable.
He said it was criminal not to allow
harmless parishioners wielding palm
leaves to gather and to pray at Africa
Unity square, directly opposite the
Anglican Cathedral.
The thousands
of parishioners were shocked when they learnt that they could
walking down
the streets with palm branches in their hands in line with
their
religion.
In Ruwa, Methodists parishioners where also denied permission
to walk about
the city waving and distributing palm branches to
people.
“How can they deny Christians their right to worship? That is
criminal,
whoever denied them permission is a criminal it’s tantamount to
invoking the
power of God. Who has ever invoked God’s power and succeeded?,
Kadenge
quizzed.
Reverend Jonah Gokova also condemned the latest
attack saying it was a sign
that government had decided to target the church
on purely political grounds
in order to silence critical voices in the
church.
“In my view, government has decided to target the church to make
sure that
all critical voices in the church are silenced. They had gathered
to
remember the steps of the cross which is a very important event in the
Christian calendar. This is political decision aimed at frustration the
Anglican Church parishioners who are deemed to be opponents of a certain
political party,” Gokova said.
When the Daily News arrived at Africa
Unity square, a disheartened
parishioner from Anglican St James assembly in
Warren Park was leaving
before the church service had ended as she feared
the situation could become
violent.
“I am now going home, they have
refused to give us permission to march so I’ve
decided to go home now
because maybe the police might come and beat us up,”
said the parishioner
who preferred anonymity.
However a few streets away, parishioners from
the Roman Catholic Church to
which President Robert Mugabe belongs were a
jubilant lot because they were
allowed to march freely in the
city.
Last week police wielding guns, baton sticks and tear gas descended
on
parishioners who had gathered at the Nazarene Church in Glen Norah to
pray
for peace and to remember victims of police brutality of March 11, 2007
which claimed Gift Tundare’s life.
Elderly men, women and children
were not spared as they sustained injuries
from the mayhem that was caused
from the confusion.
MDC activist Shakespeare Mukoyi and two priests where
severely assaulted
before they were taken into custody.
On Friday, the
police arrested co-national healing and reconciliation
minister Moses
Mzila-Ndlovu and a Roman Catholic Church for attending a
memorial service
for survivors of Gukurahundi massacres that took place in
the early 1980’s.
http://www.bulawayo24.com/
by Mafu Sithabile
2011
April 18 12:42:05
On Sunday two Canadian tourist in Zimbabwe were
allegedly stripped naked by
a ZANU-PF thug masquerading as a war veteran in
Mutoko.
The incident happened at Nyamuzizi resettlement scheme as the two
were on
their way to a farm once owned by their grandfather and where he is
buried.
The tourist and his brother, only identified as Palmer, were
stripped naked
by the war veteran identified as Stanley Chinake Mazarura,
who was allegedly
at the forefront of unleashing terror in the area during
the run-up to the
June 27 2008 presidential election runoff.
A report
was made at Mutoko police, but no official comment could be
obtained from
the police. Contacted for comment last night, police national
spokesperson,
Senior Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena, said he had
received no such
report.
"I have not received that report. I am not aware of such an
incident,"
Bvudzijena said.
Our source said: "A war veteran by the
name Stanley Chinake Mazarura of
Village Three in Mutoko stopped two white
men who wanted to check on their
grandfather's grave.
"He stripped
them and deflated the wheels of their vehicle. After that he
ordered his
youths to deal with them while he went to find more youths. He
said white
people were not wanted in Mutoko.
"Some of the youths however sympathised
with the white people and helped
them but demanded $25 protection fees.
However, Mazarura returned and beat
up one of the youths. The assaulted
youth reported the matter to the
police."
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance Guma
18 April
2011
National Healing Minister, Moses Mzila-Ndlovu, remains locked up in
police
custody in Lupane following his arrest last Friday, alongside a
Catholic
priest. Both were accused of addressing a public meeting without
police
approval.
Mzila Ndlovu was arrested on his way to Victoria
Falls where three
Co-Ministers of the Organ of National healing had been
invited to make a
presentation on how far the Ministry has gone in the
process of national
healing. Police set a roadblock at Lupane and laid an
ambush.
Catholic priest, Father Marko Mabutho Mnkandla, was arrested for
holding a
service for victims of the Gukurahundi massacres at his parish.
The service
was also attended by Mzila-Ndlovu.
In a sensational twist to
the case, it’s reported Father Mnkandla will also
face charges of possessing
pornographic material and will next appear in
court on Tuesday. A total of 4
trumped-up charges are being placed against
him.
In addition to the
pornography charge, he’s accused of holding a meeting
without clearance,
publishing false statements and hate speech.
But those who attended the
service said Father Mnkandla preached about the
need for national healing
and accountability over the Gukurahundi Massacres.
“We want the truth of
what happened to be acknowledged and accepted by the
whole nation. We want
the nation to admit that they know what happened at
Silozwi (village) and to
acknowledge it so that we heal. We want to be
allowed to talk about our
pain. That is freedom,” he is quoted as saying.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
18 April
2011
Western calls for an international ban on trading in Zimbabwe’s
controversial Chiadzwa diamonds appear to have been silenced, after a
reported agreement on the country’s trade future was met in Dubai last
week.
It’s understood that officials in China and India have managed to
persuade
the European Union (EU) and the United States to soften their
stance on the
export of the diamonds. The Western states had been resisting
growing
pressure to allow Zimbabwean exports to resume, amid ongoing human
rights
concerns at Chiadzwa, where its feared that at least 20 people are
killed a
month.
But this resistance has been put to the test, with
support for Zimbabwe’s
diamonds steadily growing. Earlier this year, the new
Chairman of the
international trade watchdog, the Kimberley Process (KP),
unilaterally gave
Zimbabwe the green light to start exports. The DRC’s
Mathieu Yamba is
believed to have broken KP protocol by not consulting other
member countries
on the decision, causing the EU and other Western states to
immediately call
for a boycott of Zimbabwe’s stones.
Yamba has
insisted that he will not review his decision until the next KP
plenary
session, expected later this year.
Meanwhile, the KP’s monitoring group
for Zimbabwe met in Dubai for a two day
meeting last week, to try and get
some kind of agreement on what to do about
the situation. The result has
been yet another draft agreement on Zimbabwe’s
trade future, which will set
the conditions for international exports, if
the Zim government accepts it.
It’s understood that this agreement is the
result of the EU, the UK and the
US all relenting on pressure to ban
Zimbabwe from trade.
The new
agreement has reportedly been sent to KP Chairman, Yamba, who will
now hand
it over to the Zim government for approval. It is not yet clear if
the
government will accept this agreement, or what the details of the
agreement
are.
But it’s widely believed that the agreement is pandering to the
Zimbabwean
government, which has threatened to sell its diamonds without
approval.
Diamond rights activist, Farai Maguwu, who heads the Mutare based
Centre for
Research and Development, told SW Radio Africa on Monday that
there has been
a general ‘softening’ towards Zimbabwe. He explained that KP
members have
continued to weaken “to allow trade in (Chiadzwa)
diamonds.”
“The KP is basically businesses oriented and its aim is to
preserve the
diamond industry at all costs. It appears that everyone is
getting very
tired about Zimbabwe, and the KP is lowering its standards to
try and
appease Zimbabwe,” Maguwu said.
Maguwu said the KP is risking
its credibility and risking setting a “very
dangerous precedent,” if
Zimbabwe is allowed to export diamonds “while the
situation on the ground is
appalling.” He said the KP will have lost all
relevance if it does not take
human rights concerns more seriously.
http://www.bulawayo24.com
by Mafu
Sithabile
2011 April 18 08:09:50
The stalemate over rough diamond
exports from Zimbabwe is likely to end soon
with India and China being
successful in brokering a solution with the
United States and European Union
at the Kimberley Process's Working Group of
Monitoring meeting held in Dubai
on April 14. India and China are member
countries of international diamond
regulatory body KP Certification Scheme.
Top sources in the Gems and
Jewellery Export Promotion Council said a
consensual draft of the Joint Work
Plan has been prepared by the member
countries and it was submitted to the
KP chair Mathieu Yamba of Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC).
The KP
Chair is supposed to send the consensual draft to the Government of
Zimbabwe
for acceptance in order to resume the exports of diamonds from the
Marange
diamond field. Zimbabwe's diamonds have been at the centre of
controversy
for three years now with African partners accusing their Western
counterparts of applying unorthodox means to keep out other players from the
lucrative diamond trading business.
Last month, KP chairperson
Mathieu Yamba gave Zimbabwe the green light to
export its rough gems from
Chiadzwa diamond fields. However, the decision
immediately sparked a debate
with Western countries led by Britain and USA
opposing the
decision.
A warning was issued by the US and EU to the diamond companies
in India and
UAE not to buy the rough stones from Zimbabwe. The US and EU
stated that the
names of those importing rough from Zimbabwe will be flashed
on the
government websites and that the Office of Foreign Assets Control,
which
administers all US sanctions procedures, will scrutinise these
transactions.
"India and China have played a key role in brokering a
solution for
Zimbabwe. If the Zimbabwe government accepts the consensual
draft agreed by
the KP member nations, including US and EU, then it could
resume the rough
diamond exports," a senior official from GJEPC said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
18 April
2011
About two million Zimbabweans have had their cell phones cut off by
the
government Telecommunications Authority, for failing to register their
sim
cards.
The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of
Zimbabwe (Potraz)
has announced that at least 2.1 million Econet Wireless
and Telecel
subscribers have been disconnected. The authority had set the
end of March
as the deadline for the registration of the estimated nine
million cell
phone users in the country.
Figures from the authority
show that 1.4 million Econet users have been
disconnected while 700,000 were
Telecel subscribers.
Last August the government authority ordered cell
phone operators to
register all mobile users to “combat criminal
activities,” and abuse of
mobile communications.
But according to
international research firm, IHS Global Insight, this
mobile registration
process has the potential to stall growth in the
telecommunications sector.
The international think-tank warned in a report
that the requirement might
jeopardise the goal of access to mobile phone
service for all.
“The
introduction of mandatory registration of sim cards in at least 10
countries, has resulted in a dramatic slowdown in subscriber growth and will
see the disconnection of millions of unregistered subscribers,” IHS Global
Insight warned in a recent report.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
18 April
2011
MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai has called on his party to unite, to
counter
what he described as ZANU PF’s increasingly authoritarian and brutal
streak
meant to destabilise the country ahead of a planned
poll.
Tsvangirai has been on whirlwind tour of the country to meet with
provincial
party structures following elections that have largely been
disrupted by the
police. In other provinces some elections have been marred
by vote buying.
The MDC leader says some individuals in ZANU PF and
members of the Joint
Operations Command (JOC) are holding the country to
ransom. ‘It is a fact
that there are some among us who are determined to
take this country back to
the dark years of repression, violence and
intimidation,’ Tsvangirai said
over the weekend.
In Chinhoyi on
Friday night, he said people can have different points of
view on many
things ‘but at a time of major challenges ahead, it was
important to
maintain the unity of the party.’
He went on to say; “The MDC should come
out of the third national congress,
stronger and with a clear agenda that it
is a party ready and worthy to
govern”.
5,000 party delegates from
across the country are expected to attend the
congress in Bulawayo from
April 28-30. But there are reports the police are
trying to bar the
gathering.
Our Bulawayo correspondent, Lionel Saungweme, said it appears
the police,
acting on instructions from the top, are hell bent on disrupting
the ‘’rebranding’
of the MDC, because of the threat it creates to ZANU
PF.
‘People should not forget that between January and February, the JOC
met at
Rose camp police station in Bulawayo and ordered that all MDC
functions be
banned. A fractured MDC will not be a threat to ZANU PF but a
rebranded MDC,
with new faces and new ideas, will be bad news for Mugabe.
This is why the
partisan police will want to make it difficult for the party
to have its
congress,’ Saungweme said.
The Zimbabwe Standard
newspaper reported on Sunday that police claim they
don’t have adequate
manpower to cover the meeting and are demanding US$10
000 a day to provide
extra security.
The MDC is also being barred from using education
institutions for
accommodation in the city, raising fears hundreds of party
delegates will be
left without anywhere to sleep.
http://www.bulawayo24.com/
by Ndou Paul
2011 April
18 11:18:36
Following government's finalisation of the indigenisation
thresholds of the
mining sector, small scale miners are considering forming
consortiums to
mobilise capital required to purchase stakes in foreign owned
mines in line
with the indigenisation policy.
The plans are being
made following a directive for foreign owned mining
firms operating within
the country to submit their indigenisation plans
within the next 45
days.
Zimbabwe Miners Federation President Mr. Trynos Nkomo said forming
consortiums will enable small scale miners who are reeling under capital
constraints to raise adequate capital and acquire shares in the foreign
owned mining companies.
Nkomo said small scale miners are ready to
work with relevant government
ministries in ensuring that the
indigenisation of the mining sector
unlocks wealth for the locals and the
economy.
Government has revealed that the indigenisation process will
continue in a
move that is aimed at empowering locals through access to
shares in foreign
owned companies operating within the country.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Business Writer
Monday, 18 April 2011
17:03
HARARE - Tycoon Billy Rautenbach’s lowveld investment companies
have
reportedly clashed with villagers in Chipinge over land
rights.
Through Macdom and Rating Investments, the business magnate
entered into a
joint venture with the Agricultural Rural Development
Authority, Arda, to
build a US$600 million ethanol plant, which is scheduled
for commissioning
this year.
Although company executives insist the
two do not own the land as it is in
Arda’s hands, peasants in Chisumbanje
accuse one of the companies of mowing
down 285 hectares of maize in the past
two seasons.
Claris Madhuku’s Platform for Youth Development, PYD, says
it has been
helping the villagers in reclaiming their land, which
Rautenbach’s companies
were given to grow sugarcane for the multi-million
Green Fuels plant in
south-eastern Zimbabwe.
The lobby group even
claims it has petitioned State Enterprises Minister
Gorden Moyo to intervene
in the matter and bar the company from seizing
communal land.
The
Movement for Democratic Change appointee was not immediately available
to
authenticate the matter.
Green Fuels, which envisages to churn out 100
million litres of fuel from 11
500 hectares of land in the first phase of
the project, says it requires up
to 50 000 hectares of land to build up
enough feedstock for the plant.
At full production — and phase three of
the project — the Brazilian-modeled
plant will spurt out 250 million litres
of product yearly, company
executives say.
With the company spending
nearly US$70 000 a week in fuel money alone for
clearing the lowveld land,
Green Fuels has pushed forward the commencement
of fuel sales and production
due to the late delivery of critical components
for the plant.
At
peak, the company says it will provide about 80 percent of Zimbabwe’s
fuel
needs and there is a huge market for its product in the region going
forth
due to the world’s move or change to cleaner energy.
The project will
augment Zimbabwe’s renewable energy supplies and is also
providing huge
employment opportunities for locals.
Zimbabwe is currently a net importer
of fuels is susceptible to
international price fluctuations which in turn
result in spiral effects in
the economy.
Sugarcane ethanol projects
have been a success story in a number of
countries worldwide, with Brazil
rated among the leading nations.
In 2009, global production reached 75
billion litres, which was a 64 percent
increase from 2007’s output.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Oscar Nkala
Monday, 18 April 2011
11:08
BULAWAYO - Serial political flip flopper, Jonathan Moyo is in
the eye of a
storm in his Tsholotsho North constituency as voters say they
will never
vote for him again for betraying the people by re-joining Zanu
PF.
Moyo, who has in past decade changed political parties between
Zanu PF and
its opponents, campaigned as an independent and duped the MDC
into believing
that he was working with them and easily won the seat after
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out their candidate in support of
the controversial
legislator.
In interviews held at Sipepa, Jimila
and Tsholotsho centre on Saturday, the
people said they had voted Moyo into
parliament in 2005 because to them he
was a hero who had almost buried Zanu
PF at Dinyane High School in the same
district in 2004 when he allegedly
engineered a coup that would have
prevented Vice President Joyce Mujuru from
ascending to her present post.
The failed Tsholotsho “coup” was also
aimed at eventually removing President
Robert Mugabe from
power.
Mugabe himself confirmed that Moyo including the Minister of
Defence and
others had plotted a coup from inside Zanu PF against
him.
"In the last two elections, I voted for Moyo because he was that
hero who
had proven to the world that Zanu PF is not invincible but gullible
in many
ways. He faced down President Robert Mugabe and the entire Zanu PF
and got
away, not only with his life but totally unscathed as
well.
“In 2008, I could see he was finished but I still voted for him
because the
MDC factions produced the worst candidates, so I voted for him
because he
was the incumbent. I was never going to vote him if he was Zanu
PF," said
Johannes Ncube, a businessman at Sipepa Growth
Point.
Others accused the former information minister, the brains behind
the
draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, AIPPA,
of
turning his back on the people by not consulting them when he went back
to
embrace Zanu PF.
"He knows we are angry with him for failing to
consult us about his plan to
rejoin Zanu PF. He did not do so because he
knew that we would have reminded
him that he got our votes back in 2008
because we fully agreed with him that
Zanu PF is our eternal
enemy.
“He was the hero who had single-handedly shaken it to the core,
that was why
we gave him the political life he so desperately needed then,"
said a
villager from Nembe who declined to be identified.
At
Tsholotsho centre, people credit Moyo with leading an intensive
development
campaign which led to great improvements in schools and rural
electrification prior to his 2004-2009 estrangement with Zanu PF over the
Dinyane debacle.
However, they said even that is not enough to pay
back for the betrayal Moyo
committed when he crossed back to Zanu PF where
he is once again causing
shockwaves and has already reportedly been disowned
the party’s presidium
except Mugabe.
"Jonathan betrayed the people.
He was very consultative when he sought our
votes. He did more door to door,
one-on-one engagements with people and he
was very well understood because
he railed heavily against Zanu PF and
people here hate Zanu PF.
“But
by rejoining Zanu PF, he has estranged himself from the people because
he is
dining with the enemy again. We can't forgive him for that," said a
civil
servant at Tsholotsho centre.
Since rejoining ZANU PF, Moyo who views
Mugabe as coward who joined the
liberation struggle by mistake, has only
rarely been seen in Tsholotsho and
reportedly spends most of his time on
party business in Harare.
On the ground Zanu PF structures canvassing for
his candidature are trying
with very little success to explain Moyo's latest
flip-flop which landed him
a seat in the Zanu PF central committee and
politburo.
Moyo, who argues that Mugabe cannot beat a donkey in an
election, has since
settled down to penning long articles spewing vitriolic
criticism of the MDC
and of late has been viciously attacking regional
leaders from the Southern
Africa Development Community (SADC) whom he
rebuked for their sharp
criticism of Mugabe at the recent summit in
Livingstone.
Efforts to get a comment from Moyo were fruitless.
By Jean Liou (AFP) – 17
hours ago
VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe — "Tourists are back!" said Knowledge,
all smiles
at the Victoria Falls tourism office.
His sentiment is
shared widely in this resort town on the edge of the
mile-wide waterfall,
where it's hard to remember that three years ago
Zimbabwe was trapped in a
seemingly endless spiral of hyperinflation, hunger
and political
violence.
Victoria Falls had become a ghost town as tourists opted for
the comforts
and safety of resorts on the Zambian side of the Zambezi River,
where the
once sleepy town of Livingstone enjoyed a tourism boom as Zimbabwe
collapsed.
"The Zambian side has definitively profited from all the
problems in
Zimbabwe," said Sarah, who sells excursions for at the Zambezi
Sun, part of
a South African hotel chain that opened on the Zambian side in
2001.
Hotels, lodges and other tourist attractions have mushroomed over
the past
decade around Livingstone, which became so popular that it now
boasts
several daily direct flights to South Africa.
But a brand new
curio market on the main road lies empty as tourists fly in
and hop across
the border.
"We are not happy, the situation is bad," said the
Livingstone Tourism
Association. "They come here for activities and they go
to Zimbabwe for
accommodation."
Livingstone still runs a brisk trade
in business travel by hosting
conferences and corporate team-building
workshops, but now faces stiff
competition with Victoria Falls for leisure
travellers.
Zimbabwe's tourism earnings jumped 47 percent last year to
$770 million, as
the number of visitors rose 15 percent to 2.3 million
nationally, with
Victoria Falls the country's biggest attraction, according
to the tourism
ministry.
Tourism minister Walter Mzembi hopes to grow
that number to five billion
dollars by 2015.
"However, this is on
condition that the current peace and stability in the
country prevails and
the country is able to spin a more positive image of
itself," he told
reporters last month.
Since Zimbabwe adopted the US dollar two years ago,
prices are lower in
Victoria Falls than in Livingstone, where entrance to
the derelict Railway
Museum costs $15 for foreigners.
"It is cheaper
here, and people can walk to the falls. They don't have to
take a taxi or
whatever," said Duni, a Victoria Falls hawker offering sunset
cruises,
helicopter rides, rafting, bungee jumps and safaris to passers-by
on the
sidewalk.
While Victoria Falls sits at the river edge, Livingstone is 10
kilometres
(six miles) away, with a fleet of blue taxis shuttling visitors
around for
$10 a pop.
Opinion is divided on which side offers the
better view of the 108-metre
(360-foot) high falls, though the Zimbabwean
side has a greater variety of
viewpoints.
Confident in its
renaissance, Victoria Falls has asked for Chinese aid to
expand its airport
to accommodate bigger planes.
But the throngs of street vendors trailing
tourists are a constant reminder
that it's still not business as
usual.
Among the souvenirs on offer, a 100-trillion-dollar note from the
old
Zimbabwe currency, a worthless amount during the age of hyperinflation.
Its
relegation to the trinket shelves is what allowed to Victoria Falls to
welcome visitors again.
(AFP) – 6 hours
ago
GABORONE — Botswana civil servants on Monday began a 10-day strike
over pay
increases, hampering public services across the country as more
than 90,000
workers stayed off the job.
Schools, clinics and public
offices were operating on skeleton staff, as
workers vowed to bring services
to a standstill.
The Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions is
demanding a 16 percent
wage hike, after a three-year freeze on salaries
blamed on the global
economic crisis.
"We are going ahead with the
strike because it is legal and we will continue
until our demands are met,"
said union spokesman Goretetse Kekgonegile.
The economy of the
diamond-rich country was shaken by the global financial
downturn in 2008,
which knocked resources prices and slashed demand for the
gems.
Government says it cannot afford the double-digit hike and is
offering a
five percent increase from September 1.
"The government
cannot afford what the public servants are demanding and
since they have
decided to stay away from work they should know that it's no
work, no pay,"
acting vice president Ponatshego Kedikilwe said on state
television.
Workers complain that salaries have remained the same
despite rising living
costs. Inflation was at 8.5 percent in
March.
The workers have also threatened to shut down the country's major
border
posts with South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
18 April 2011
Zimbabweans have
been left to speculate on the whereabouts of Grace Mugabe,
with her husband
and family still not coming forward to clarify the
confusion.
Mugabe’s wife has recently been conspicuously absent from
the public eye
after she reportedly left the country with him a short while
ago for
Singapore, and has not been seen at official events since. Although
she
usually accompanies Mugabe to state events, on Monday she was not
present at
the Independence Day celebrations at the National Sports Stadium
in Harare,
where Mugabe addressed the crowds. Last Thursday she was also not
present at
the Heroes Acre funeral for the Central Intelligence Organisation
Deputy
Director General, Menard Muzariri.
On Sunday the Standard
newspaper reported that Robert Mugabe’s spokesman
George Charamba claimed he
does not know where she is. When asked whether
she had returned from
Singapore, Charamba said: “I am not in touch with that
side.”
Meanwhile, the Daily News claims that Grace is actually in
China, not
Singapore, and is believed to be studying towards a degree.
“Through the
studies in China, Grace is probably looking at sorting sort out
her future,
as it becomes increasingly clear President Robert Mugabe is
slowly losing
his grip on power due to advanced age,” the newspaper stated.
It also
claimed she is receiving treatment for a hip problem that allegedly
arose
from complications during the birth of her youngest child, Chatunga,
14
years ago.
The mystery of Grace’s whereabouts was stirred up just
over a week ago, when
Charamba said the couple had travelled yet again to
Singapore, Mugabe’s
fourth trip this year. It has been reported that the
trips are for routine
checks after an eye cataract operation. However, for a
while now, others
have said the ageing leader is actually suffering from
prostrate cancer and
gets treated in Singapore.
This time round
Charamba claimed he did not know the reasons why the Mugabes
had travelled.
Instead he suggested that it was possible they had gone to
see their
daughter Bona (who is studying in China).
Monday, 18 April 2011
My Fellow Zimbabweans
It is my
fervent hope that today, as we celebrate 31 years since we liberated ourselves
from colonial rule, we are surrounded by family and friends as we all reflect on
the true meaning and significance of the great struggle that we waged. I hope we
will all have time to reflect on what this nation has gone through and whether
our current status reflects what thousands died for as they sought to bring
freedom, peace and prosperity to a country ravaged by plunder and racial
segregation.
For a peaceful and prosperous Zimbabwe, is the Zimbabwe
that our liberation heroes fought and died for. That is the Zimbabwe that has
now been hijacked by a small group that is determined to betray our heroes who
bravely sacrificed their lives to liberate every Zimbabwean regardless of race,
creed or religion.
This small clique has ensured that people’s freedoms
are repressed and fear and intimidation brought into our homes, our villages and
our townships. I am confident that today, more than at any time in the last 15
years, we are closer to reaching the ideals for which all our true heroes paid
such a dear price to achieve.
But I also acknowledge that we still have
a hard road to travel before we reach the ultimate goal of a peaceful,
prosperous and democratic Zimbabwe. What we have learnt over the past three
decades is that there are some among us who are determined to make this country
slide back to the dark years of repression, violence and intimidation.
We
have also learnt that we are ultimately responsible for our own destiny, even
though we remain heartened by the brave stance of SADC in standing with the
people of Zimbabwe as shown by its recent commitment to ensure and guarantee
peace in this great country that we all love. Just as we decided to take up
arms against the white minority government and subsequently, in 1999, to launch
a peaceful democratic struggle against a regime that had imposed sanctions and
declared war upon its own people, so we today must take responsibility for where
our nation is headed.
We must take responsibility for the type of society
we are trying to build, for the future that we want for ourselves, our children
and our loved ones. It is probable that by the time we celebrate 32 years of
Independence, we will be in an intricate and watershed period that will shape
and decide our collective future.
Thus, we have a momentous and exciting
year ahead of us. A year that will enable us all to choose, determine and put in
place mechanisms to ensure we build a strong foundation for the new Zimbabwe
that we demand and deserve. The coming year will also hold many challenges,
dangers and difficult choices. But we have already shown that we have the
conviction, the courage and the belief in our own capacity to overcome any
hurdles and to build the society that we want.
As we enter our 32nd year
of liberation, there will be many treacherous voices trying to convince you to
shed away your determination for a new and democratic Zimbabwe. All I ask you is
to trust in your heart and to embrace the democratic ideals of our fallen heroes
and to remain steadfast in your dedication to building a truly free society.
Twenty years after independence we were told that the land would set us free.
The same land was later grabbed by avaricious politicians and the well-connected
in our society.
Now, thirty years after independence we are being told by
multi-millionaires and multiple farm-owners that indigenisation will set us
free. By this they are not referring to broad-based empowerment of the ordinary
man and woman, but the looting and plunder of national resources by a small,
parasitic elite.
Let us not be diverted or distracted by empty rhetoric.
Let us not grasp at seemingly easy, short-term gains while continuing to live
under the yoke of repression, by individuals driven by partisan political
motives and personal greed. Our police and armed services should defend the
people and should do their job, without fear or favour, in terms of our
Constitution and by upholding the rule of law will we be nearer to true
freedom.
Only when we are free to fulfill our potential as
employers, entrepreneurs or employees, as mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters
will we be truly free.
Only when our youth are not forced to sacrifice
their education in return for empty promises peddled by the false-prophets of
patriotism will we be truly free.
Only when we begin to enjoy basic
freedoms of assembly, movement, speech and association can we say we have
achieved what our gallant sons and daughters fought and for.
My
fellow Zimbabweans, let us make this 32nd year of our Independence the most
significant time in our history. Let us stand together, work together and pray
together so that we can all experience true freedom, lasting prosperity and
universal security. That is the Zimbabwe we deserve and the nation that I am
committed to building.
And that is the Zimbabwe for which many of our
heroes and heroines lost their lives. I make a commitment today that I will lead
the collective national effort to complete the unfinished business of the
liberation struggle by ensuring that true freedom returns to this great country
of our birth.
God Bless You.
God Bless Zimbabwe.
Morgan
Richard Tsvangirai - Prime Minister and MDC President
http://www.monstersandcritics.com
By Jan Raath
Apr 18, 2011, 14:38 GMT
Harare - The human rights organization Amnesty
International spoke of a dark
shadow over Zimbabwe at the 31st anniversary
of its independence Monday, but
the darkness, diplomats say, has also begun
to envelop President Robert
Mugabe.
Two choices face the man who has
ruled the country since independence, they
said. He can follow the demands
of his Southern African neighbours to end
the reign of fear and violence he
has inflicted on Zimbabweans for the last
11 years since he first
encountered a strong opposition, or he can tell them
to go to hell, as he
has often told the West, the World Bank, the IMF and
the
Commonwealth.
The first choice means holding free and fair elections
under international
supervision, which he appears almost certain to lose. In
March 2008, the
country was able to hold its first violence-free elections
and he lost.
He held his grip on power by unrolling a savage campaign of
violence against
his pro-democracy opponent Morgan Tsvangirai in the
following second-round
vote. In opinion polls since then he has lagged way
behind Tsvangirai, now
his prime minister in a coalition government to which
Mugabe was forced by
his neighbours to agree.
If he makes the second
choice, the diplomats said, it will be so he can hold
elections his way, as
they have been held since 2000, marked by violence and
rigging, and he can
stay in power. Defiance to his neighbours, united under
the 15-nation
Southern African Development Community, carries the high risk
of being
banished by the group.
'It will entail total international isolation,'
said one Harare- based
Western envoy.
Mugabe and his cronies are
already under targeted sanctions imposed by the
West, and he withdrew from
the Commonwealth in 2003 when it threatened to
kick him out for cheating in
elections.
He found himself facing these uncomfortable choices not three
weeks ago when
a group of four SADC leaders, led by South Africa's President
Jacob Zuma,
told him to stop the violent persecution of Tsvangirai's party,
the Movement
for Democratic Change, and to carry out a wide range of
long-overdue
democratic and electoral reforms. SADC had kept silent about
Mugabe's abuses
for over a decade until the leaders meeting on March 31, and
Mugabe was
shocked.
Mugabe is finding himself in a world that has
shifted position radically
only since January, said the diplomat. Mugabe was
specifically warned by
Zambian President Rupiah Banda at the March meeting
of how the popular
uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East had shown
what could happen
when leaders do not listen to their
people.
Mugabe's ministers and militias have been warning that in the
next
elections, which he says he wants held by September, the violence will
be
worse than the second-round ballot in June 2008 when more than 200 of
Tsvangirai's supporters were massacred and thousands brutalized and maimed.
This was followed by the crash of the economy and the currency, collapse of
infrastructure, national famine and one of Africa's worst cholera
epidemics.
The economy has staged a modest recovery since then, the
currency has
stabilized and both basic and luxury commodities have become
widely
available since the MDC took control over the country's finances in
the
coalition government.
'Over the last 31 years Mugabe and his
ZANU(PF) (party) have evolved a
regime that is corrupt through and through,
and the state is their private
cash box,' said the diplomat. 'Mugabe having
unfettered control over the
economy means chaos again.'
Any
respectable legacy the aged and ailing Mugabe had to leave is now long
gone,
observers say.
But he still has a chance to redeem something by letting
the right things
happen and conceding gracefully, the diplomat
said.
If he doesn't, he's got the example to look to of Laurent Gbabgo,
the loser
in elections in Ivory Coast late last year, who fought to hold on
to his
elapsed presidency, causing the loss of thousands of lives, until
foreign
troops had to dig him out of a bunker.
'Does Mugabe want to
be like that?' asked the diplomat. 'I don't know, but
the prognosis is not
good.'
ROHR Zimbabwe joins the
rest of the nation in commemorating the gallant sons
and daughters of the
soil who sacrificed sweat and blood for the birth of
Zimbabwe from the yoke
of colonial rule by the white settler community. We
honor those across our
borders, from the neighboring countries who stood in
solidarity with the
noble cause for attainment of sovereign rule,
territorial freedom, and equal
distribution of wealth, upholding of human
rights and among other things
fighting the gangrene brought about by
discrimination.
In
commemorating this year’s independence celebrations, we are forever
conscious and we do not take it lightly, what we have in mother earth our
beloved country Zimbabwe, she is blessed with some of the most gifted minds
and talents in human resource; she boast of amazing wonders in scenery,
minerals, fertile farming land, tourist attractions resorts among other
things.
Cognizant of the significance of the times we find ourselves
in as a nation
in our 31 years journey, we emphasize that Zimbabwe would not
have been, if
not for the relations she enjoyed with other progressive
forces who
subscribe to the incorruptible principle of people’s freedoms.
Once again as
the nation is battling to go unto maturity to champion the
freedom of her
people, Zimbabwe is again calling upon those in the region
particularly the
Southern African Development Community SADC and the entire
international
community to provide progressive development, people oriented
support.
Looking back to the road we have traveled, our 31 years journey
has been
littered by stunted growth and it does not reflect where we would
have
wanted to be as a people. If we use the baseline of what drove our
heroes to
take up arms during the liberation struggle, it’s unequivocal that
we have
remained in the past and in the process suffered from hysteric
amnesia. The
ideals of the struggle have been sacrificed for precedence,
power hunger,
entitlement, monopoly on resources by a small elite,
partisanship and as a
result an oppressive system has taken root on our land
denying the people
the fruit of the liberation struggle.
As we
commemorate this year’s independence we are reminded of the heroes and
heroines who continue to tumble in the hope to realize and safeguard the
gains that were unanimously celebrated by Zimbabweans from all walks of life
on April the 18th of 1980 when Zimbabwe got her independence.
We are
further reminded of the oppressive Ian Smith regime which has now
become
synonymous with the system that people find themselves battling with
today.
The sacred right to life and human dignity has been violated with
impunity.
Rights to association and free political engagement are still a
pipeline
dream despite the contradictory unsinkable thought that the country
has
obtain self rule as opposed to the pre-independence regime.
Who would
have thought that our sons and daughters overthrew an oppressive
regime
which sought to rule by coercion and brutality, only to realize that
the
same forces have now became part of the governance model that is
operational
in our present day beloved country Zimbabwe.
Women were the cornerstone for
the liberation struggle in all things, bore
the brunt and carried the weight
of some of the most unimaginable crimes
against humanity so that one day
they would enjoy a liberated Zimbabwe but
sadly they continue to suffer as
their rights are fiercely trampled upon on
selfish grounds of political
gain. Women have become the largest community
of victims of political
violence as they are literally made the battle field
in times of violent
conflict in an independent Zimbabwe.
An independent Zimbabwe still
questions the principle of the equality of all
persons before the law. The
right to a free trial has been politicized to
discriminate on grounds of
political affiliation.
The ever growing friction between the parties in
the coalition government is
a smokes screen of the immaturity that has
dominated our body politic since
we found independence. Politicians can not
distinguish duties and roles in
which they have to serve the people and the
nation above partisan parochial
interest. The conflicts and crises that the
nation has endured in principle
they have not sharpened us to be stronger
but we continue to be haunted by
the ghost from our past. Contested
elections marred by violence perpetrated
by Zimbabweans against fellow
countrymen resulting in internal displacements
also reflects gross lack of
maturity and unity on behalf of the citizenry.
For what Zimbabwe has gone
through for the past decades, she must have
stories to tell about what she
has learnt from the past and where she came
from having conquered the
enemies of development. At independence in 1980
the government of Zimbabwe
took over arguably better infrastructure from the
white settler regime but
as years fell by the signs of immaturity in lack of
development have
surfaced in the evidence of poor road system, run down
railway system,
dilapidated water system, under equipped hospitals and
schools. As human
rights defenders, we note with grave concern that in the
midst of lack of
maturity and development, it is the ordinary people who
suffer the most. The
economic and social welfare of Zimbabweans and the
standards of leaving
continue to tumble not to mention that the life
expectancy is reported to be
49 years .
Having obtained independence and freedom from colonialism,
Zimbabwe has
faced a major crippling crisis of bad managers who have been
entrusted to
govern and manage resources on behalf of the entire nation
attest to the
stunted growth in most things.
As ROHR Zimbabwe our
deepest desire is to see the country go unto maturity,
for the state to be
people conscious, for the government to be accountable
to the people, for
human rights to be protected, up holding of the rule of
law, for people to
exercise their universal right to vote freely in peace
and engage in
political activities without persecution.
--
ROHR Information
Department
For Peace, Justice and Freedom
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, 17/04/11
As Zimbabwe celebrates 31years of
independence on 18th April, succession
concerns have re-surfaced amidst
reports of deep divisions while the
biological clock ticks loudly for the
Supreme leader and those in his inner
circle. A Mugabe ally Jonathan Moyo
once declared ‘ Zanu-pf does not have
any ‘rule-bound, transparent and
democratic succession plan’.
Volatile and unpredictable
Media
reports suggest that ‘the situation around Mugabe is getting very
volatile
and unpredictable largely due to what is happening in the Middle
East and
North and West Africa’, (Timeslive ‘Knives out for Mugabe’,17/04/11).
While
this may be seen by the naïve as purely a Zanu-pf problem, it is
actually a
Zimbabwean problem because without a smooth transition from the
ageing
leader, there can be no guarantees of political stability in a
post-Mugabe
era.
What is more curious about the power-games behind the scenes is the
current
position of Mugabe’s propagandist Jonathan Moyo who once observed
when he
was his critic that it was ‘the God-given truth that their boss is
made of
weak human flesh and has a temporary spirit just like the rest of us
and is
therefore not immortal. In view of Mugabe’s clear old age, he can
succumb to
the inevitable’, (Time running out for Mugabe to step aside,
http://prof-jonathan-moyo.com).
Dishing
out patronage
Jonathan Moyo accused Mugabe of creating a crisis by
‘dishing out patronage
which he confuses with patriotism .. and breeding
cronysim and instilling
fear all over the place’. In a rare statement of
courage, Moyo claimed that
no-one ‘wants’ to build bridges with Mugabe to
help him escape consequences
of his misrule.
‘As things stand’, he
wrote, ‘all hell would break loose and there would be
blood on the floor
should Mugabe not wake up tomorrow precipitating a
presidential election
within 90 days. Zimbabwe would be on fire under these
explosive
conditions.’
Moyo argued that when made aware that Zimbabwe could slip
into anarchy and
chaos within 90 days of Mugabe meeting his God, his
propagandists and
securocrats take the delusional view that the country’s
security forces have
an unparalleled capacity to maintain law and order by
nipping any trouble in
the bud as they did during the dreadful Operation
Murambatsvina.
Delusional security men
He warned: ‘What this means is
that there are some delusional security men
in our midst who do not
understand how, for example, the Soviet Union, East
Germany or apartheid
South Africa collapsed when their security agencies
were among the world’s
most feared and most notorious in terms of their
brutality.’
Contrary
to claims of success peddled by the regime’s propaganda in the
areas of
indigenisation and land reform, factual revelations suggest
otherwise. For
example, the exemption of Chinese firms from the
controversial
indigenisation regulations means there is one law for everyone
else in
Zimbabwe and another law for the Chinese. Furthermore, on realising
its
errors, the Zimbabwe government has bowed to pressure from timber
producers
and agreed to evict thousands of illegal settlers from the country’s
prime
timber plantations in the eastern districts (Fingaz, 15/04/11).
Prime
land
Critics argue that Mugabe and his allies own 40 percent of prime
land in
Zimbabwe and in particular him and his wife own 14 farms, worth at
least 16
000 hectares in size (Zimonline, 30/11/10) and that by 2009 Mugabe
and his
family had amassed a secret personal farming empire comprising about
12
large commercial farms (Timeslive, 17/10/09). After the collapse of the
Zanu-pf leadership code the gap between the rich and poor within the ruling
party has widened. One striking example is that of the poor living
conditions at Geneva flats in Harare’s surburb of Highfields where a
correspondent of the Financial Gazette said a family of four shared a room
that is divided by pieces of cloth or cardboard boxes since independence. On
the other hand a good source of assets owned by the inner circle appears to
be court records of their divorce cases.
Messy divorce
For
example, in a messy divorce, one of Mugabe’s Ministers, Ignatius Chombo
was
said to own 15 motor vehicles, 2 houses in Glen View, 2 flats in
Queensdale,
a property in Katanga Township, a stand in Mount Pleasant
heights, 4 Norton
business stands, 3 Chinhoyi business stands, 4 Banket
business stands, 1
commercial stand in Epworth, 2 residential stands in
Kariba, 1 stand in
Ruwa, 1 stand in Chinhoyi, 2 stands in Mutare, 2 stands
in Binga, 4 stands
in Victoria Falls, 1 stand in Zvimba Rural, two
residential and 2 commercial
stands in Chitungwiza, 2 stands in Beitbridge,
20 stands in Crow Hill,
Borrowdale 10 stands in Glen Lorne, 2 flats at
Eastview Gardens, 1 flat at
San Sebastian Flats in the avenues and many more
(Zimbabwemetro,
05/11/10).
Recently, one of Mugabe’s ministers, Sylvester Nguni was
reportedly fighting
tooth and nail to keep his ex-wife’s hands off his
millions which include
eight houses, a South African flat, and a Norton
plot, one house in
Borrowdale, two in Mandara, two in Alexandra Park, one in
Newlands, one in
Norton and a flat at Northfields in the avenues among other
accumulations of
wealth (The Zimbabwean, 08/04/11).
Sadly, as some
people celebrate, the tragic legacy of Mugabe’s land reform
programme is
represented by the recent death of the ‘White African’ Mike
Campbell who led
a historic legal battle against Robert Mugabe in the
regional human rights
courts.
Food shortages
Ironically, Zimbabwe is facing food
shortages and has reportedly stepped up
maize imports from Zambia (RadioVop,
02/03/11). Major sectors of Zimbabwe’s
economy have operated at 40% capacity
since 2006, starting with the freight
industry which was operating at about
40 percent in October 2006 as a result
of ‘continued dislocation of
macro-economic fundamentals’ (Zimbabwe
Independent, 20/10/06).
As of
September 2010, quoting the London-based researcher GFMS Ltd, the
state
owned Herald newspaper reported that the gold sector was operating at
around
40 percent of installed capacity and that it required US$4 billion to
‘re-capitate its energy sector to boost output of the precious
mineral’.
Zimbabwe’s trade deficit widened last year as imports
outstripped exports by
US$2.4 billion according to Zimstats. Like a patient
recovering from a deep
coma, the country is emerging from an economic slump
in which the economy
contracted by more than 50 percent from 1996-1998 peak
of US$ billion to
about US$2.5 billion in 2008 (The Herald,
07/04/11).
Strong earnings
While manufacturing counters on the
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange reported strong
earnings during the year ending 31
December 2010, there was not much cause
of celebration as capacity
utilisation was still below 50 percent having
increased from 10 percent in
2009 to 43 percent in August 2010 (Financial
Gazette, 31/03/11). With
unemployment at 70 percent, erratic power supply
and poor governance, the
country will need to heed the warnings by industry
experts to shelve the
indigenisation campaign in order to improve the
investment climate and
tourism.
Political Governance
Similarly there is an urgent need
for the country to improve political
governance and create an environment
that is conducive for free and fair
elections. According to media reports
hundreds of people were Thursday
force-marched to attend the burial of the
late Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO) deputy director-general,
Menard Muzariri, at what the
opposition prefers to call ‘the Zanu-pf
cemetery in Harare. Contrary to
Muzariri’s hero status , political parties
and civil society groups in
Matabeleland allege Muzariri was involved in the
Gukurahundi killings in
which at least 20 000 civilians mainly Ndebeles who
supported PF-Zapu were
killed by the Fifth Brigade (Timeslive, 17/04/11; The
Zimbabwe Mail,
17/03/11).
As some Zimbabwean ambassadors and their
guests would be lifting their
glasses in a toast to 31 years of independence
shouting ‘Bottoms-up’ many
sober displaced nationals would be asking: “Will
Zimbabwe be toasting to 31
years of self rule or moral
decline?
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London,
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
Ephraim
and Tony with anniversary card
Slipping card under Embassy door
ZBN
interviews Tony Dykes Can’t keep
Zimbabweans down
Some
150 people gathered outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London on Monday
18th April to protest on Zimbabwe’s Independence Day against
increasing Mugabe violence.
Vigil
founder member Ephraim Tapa summed up our mood on the 31st
anniversary of independence: ‘we have nothing to celebrate’, he said. Ephraim,
who is President of Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR), went on to
say: ‘We are here to remind ourselves of our power for
change’.
The
demonstration was called by Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA), the successor
organization to the Anti-Apartheid Movement. The Director of ACTSA, Tony Dykes,
delivered an anniversary card to the Zimbabwe Embassy calling
for an immediate
end to the violence, free and fair elections and justice for the
people of Zimbabwe.
We
leave comment to the Daily News reporting
on 31 years of independence: “Hunger, disease, poverty, human rights abuses,
murder, torture, unemployment, destruction of the economy, corruption, nepotism
and disregard of the rule of law, among many other issues, have characterised
Zimbabwe’s independence. While a few individuals either in Zanu PF or with Zanu
PF links are today feasting on ill-gotten wealth, millions of Zimbabweans are
wallowing in poverty and unemployment is over 90 percent.”
For pictures check:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
For ZimVigil TV coverage check http://www.zimvigiltv.com/.
Vigil
Co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside
the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00
to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The
Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until
internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.