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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Officials on both sides of Zimbabwe's
political
divide are vowing to keep talking after regional leaders urged
them toward a
power-sharing deal.
Zimbabwean Minister of
Information Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said Monday that
President Robert Mugabe is
committed to "trying to negotiate a settlement."
Southern Africa's
leaders ended a summit Sunday by calling on Zimbabwean
negotiators to
resolve their political differences quickly and to turn their
attention to
their nation's economic crisis.
They say the negotiations have already
established the basis for a
power-sharing agreement.
Chief opposition
negotiator Tendai Biti had said after the summit that
"dialogue will
continue."
Agence France-Presse (AFP)
Date: 18 Aug 2008
JOHANNESBURG, Aug 18,
2008 (AFP) - Zimbabwe opposition chief Morgan
Tsvangirai will tour southern
Africa this week for talks with leaders to end
a crippling political logjam,
his spokesman said Monday.
"We are aware that the Zimbabwean problem is
an ongoing problem," said
George Sibotshiwe, after a regional weekend summit
failed to resolve a
deeadlock over the composition of the new government
after controversial
polls.
"Therefore our president needs to continue
to engage regional leaders to
continue to assist us in resolving our crisis
back home... He is touring
southern Africa this week".
Tsvangirai and
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe left a weekend summit of
southern African
leaders in Johannesburg still deadlocked over how to share
power, though
talks are due to continue.
Tsvangirai boycotted Zimbabwe's June 27
presidential run-off election
despite finishing ahead of Mugabe in the March
first round of voting, citing
violence against his supporters that had
killed dozens and injured
thousands.
Mugabe, 84, who has ruled since
independence in 1980, defied regional and
international calls to postpone
the election and pushed ahead with it
anyway, handing himself a new term as
president.
Meanwhile, the ruling ZANU-PF party suffered a historic defeat
in the March
legislative election.
Stumbling blocks in the
negotiations include the division of power between
Mugabe and Tsvangirai in
a national unity government, and what authority
they would have as president
and prime minister.
A source in Tsvangirai's party told AFP that the
opposition suggested in
talks that titles were less important than who held
executive power, and
that Mugabe could become prime minister instead of the
other way around.
"We are agreeing that if the role of the president and
the prime minister
are the same and you believe in the sharing of power,
then the role given to
us as prime minister, let Mugabe take those," the
source said.
"Then we will take the role of the president".
Mugabe
furiously rejected the offer, The Star newspaper in South Africa
reported.
chp/mjs/ach
Remarks by South African President Thabo Mbeki on the conclusion of the 28th SADC Heads of State and Government Summit, Sandton, August 17 2008
Ladies and gentlemen of the media, good evening. I am sure that all of you have received a copy of the commniqué that was approved by the SADC Summit earlier today which contains the principle decisions that were taken by the SADC Summit. In that context, I must repeat the strong view of the Summit, all of us wish the President of Zambia Levy Manawasa a speedy recovery, our outgoing Chair.
We discussed off course as is normal at a SADC Summit political and socio-economic issues and on the political front, noted the efforts being made in the region to address issues in that areas - that include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi and off course, Zimbabwe, I will return to this just now.
It is our belief that all these situations in the DRC, the resolution of the electoral dispute in Lesotho, and the constitutional dispute in Malawi, that progress is being made towards the resolution of the challenges in that regard.
As we indicated earlier, the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation chaired by Angolan President Dos Santos and later by the new Chairperson of the Organ, His Majesty King Mswati III, met on Friday, Saturday and today to discuss the situation in Zimbabwe. In that context, the SADC Organ has issued a communiqué that you will receive shortly which among other things, expresses firm opinion that documents that are contained in the Facilitator's Report reflect that framework, spirit and purpose of the SADC and African Union decisions and in view of that, that they are a good basis for a global agreement among the Zimbabwe parties and in that context, therefore, we appeal to the Zimbabwe parties to sign any outstanding agreements and to conclude the negotiations in Zimbabwe and said recognising that while negotiations are continuing it may be necessary to convene parliament to give effect to the will of the people as expressed in the Parliamentary elections in March this year and off course, encouraged the Facilitator to continue the mediation efforts which means that the negotiations will continue and the Facilitation will continue to do its work in this regard in trying to implement this decision of SADC and encourage the parties to conclude these outstanding agreements on the basis, that in fact, the documents that have been agreed to, provide this good basis for the conclusion of the negotiations.
In that context, I must mention that the report of the Facilitator that is referred to in the communiqué of the Extraordinary Summit of the Organ is a comprehensive report which contains all of the documents that have been negotiated and agreed to in the negotiations that started last year and that would include the Draft Constitution that was agreed to in September last year and a whole range of other documents. It is a comprehensive report of the negotiations as they have been going on now for at least 15 months. That is the report to which the resolution refers.
Off course, the outstanding result of the conference with regard to economic matters is the formal launch of the SADC Free Trade Area (FTA) and the critical challenge with regard to that is that we implement everything that is contained in this FTA to accelerate the process of economic integration of the region.
The Summit also then said, that given that we have launched the FTA we must continue the work that would lead to the formation of the SADC Customs Union that would be the next step in that regard.
It also paid attention to two important matters related: the implementation of the decisions that came out of the conference held in Mauritius to address poverty in the region and again, you would see that reflected in the communiqué that was issued earlier and a related matter about food security and again took decisions about what we should do in this regard to act within the region to address food shortages that some countries in the region are experiencing but otherwise to deal with this matter of ensuring that the region is self-sufficient in food production and what specific steps need to be taken in that regard.
Off course naturally, we addressed the matter of energy and what could be done in the region to address this.
As you know, we also signed a number of legal instruments which included the Protocol on Gender and Agreements in Science and Technology, Trade and so on. So, these are some of the principle outcomes and as I had indicated, they would be included in the SADC communiqué as well as the communiqué of the Extraordinary Summit of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation.
It is our view that certainly the Conference completed its agenda and it is our view that it was indeed an excellent Summit that took decisions which are of importance to the political and economic structure of the region and in amending various provisions to the SADC Secretariat which also meant amending the Treaty of SADC also emphasized the point that SADC Summit is very keen that we should indeed have the capacity to implement the decisions that have been taken so that we do indeed accelerate our forward movement with regard to all of these matters that relate to political stability and so on in the region as well as the process of economic integration and the socio-economic upliftment of all the people in our region so, we believe that this was indeed a very successful Summit and I must conclude by saying that we are very pleased that Seychelles came back into SADC and that in itself was confirmation of the relevance of SADC in terms of the future of our countries in the region and that is indeed why Seychelles thought it was important that it should come back into the Community and we are very pleased by this.
Let me then finally thank all of you for your co-operation in covering the Summit and the SADC region in particular and I would hope that we would continue to co-operate in the manner in which we have because we are very interested indeed that our people in the region, in particular, should be familiar with the decisions we are taking and the work that the Community is doing.
Thank you.
Questions and answers
Question: Mr President I would like to know if you have any sense of when we can expect to see a final agreement signed by the negotiating parties in Zimbabwe? Can you also give us a sense of the concerns around the outstanding agreements?
Mbeki: It is clearly not possible to say when the negotiations would be concluded. It is a matter of the negotiating parties convening to look at whatever matter might be outstanding. One cannot allocate a date to this and the SADC Organ did not indicate a date by which this matter should be concluded with regard to the completion of this process, except to indicate the urgency of the matter. So, it is not possible to say when the negotiations would be concluded.
Question: Mr President you said that the Organ agreed that the documents provided form a good basis on which to conclude the negotiations. Does that mean that you feel that there is no need to negotiate over the documents?
Mbeki: I am not aware if this communiqué has been distributed. You will see that that particular paragraph expresses the strong opinion of the Extraordinary Summit of the SADC Organ having studied the documents to which I referred earlier, came that conclusion looking at those documents relative to the decisions/resolutions of SADC and the African Union on the matter, expressed that opinion but said that negotiations should continue and that would include concluding negotiations and signing any outstanding agreements as a matter of urgency.
So essentially, what the Extraordinary Summit was saying was that negotiations should continue but of course, having had the possibility for the first time of looking at the entirety of the documentation, the Organ felt it should express its own view about this because bearing in mind, these two resolutions - SADC and the African Union - so, it says that negotiations need to continue but it is off that view with regard to the quality and extent of the work that has already been done by the Zimbabwean negotiators that they have produced a set of documents that in the view of the Organ do indeed address the issues that were raised in these two resolutions and to that extent, they believe form a good basis for a speedy resolution of outstanding matters but that the negotiations must off course, continue.
Question: Mr President what are the outstanding issues in the agreement?
Mbeki: Let me explain something before we get more questions - I am speaking here not as the Facilitator but as the Chair of SADC. Now you are asking me to get involved in a discussion that deals with the Facilitation and I must say that I cannot answer questions posed to the Facilitator - I can answer questions posed to the Chair of SADC but bear in mind that there is an agreement in the Facilitation process arrived at by all the parties and the Facilitation that we would not handle the process of negotiations through the media and indeed I am sure you will remember this because it is also included in the Memorandum of Understanding so to that extent, there is a limitation that is imposed with regard to how much detail we can express but that is a matter that belongs to the Facilitation process.
But with regard to what the Organ discussed I think it is properly and fully reflected in the communiqué of the Extraordinary Summit of the Organ.
Question: Mr President yesterday, when you were speaking as the Chair of SADC, you said that the negotiations needed to be concluded to extricate the Zimbabwean people from the dire situation in which they find themselves. Could you give us an impression of what you see as the humanitarian urgency for a deal?
Mbeki: What drove SADC in the first place, to last year convene an extraordinary Summit of the Organ in Dar-es-Salaam in March last year to discuss Zimbabwe - there were other matters on the agenda like the DRC and so on - was driven by very serious concerns about the matter you have referred to, the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe.
And the discussions that have taken place over the last three days focused us on really trying to assist to speed up the process of the conclusion of the negotiations and the implementation of the agreements that would come from these negotiations.
It is driven precisely by these very deep seated concerns in the region that the political concerns must be created so that with the greatest urgency this humanitarian, economic and social condition in Zimbabwe can be addressed as a matter of urgency by an inclusive government. So it is matter of fundamental concern to the region - this socio-economic and humanitarian condition of the people of Zimbabwe.
But believe that we need this inclusive government to drive this process of addressing these challenges but this consideration of the humanitarian situation of the people of Zimbabwe is fundamental to all of the statements that are made and this decision of SADC emphasizing the urgency of this matter. It is not just to address the political stability but also to create the conditions so that you have an inclusive government that would then address these other urgent issues.
Question: Mr President as the Chair of SADC, do you believe that any deal that leaves President Mugabe with any power is going to be acceptable to the international donor community and is it going to be a long term solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe?
Mbeki:The two resolutions that bind the Facilitation - the first one said specifically that could the Facilitator please get the ruling party and the opposition to meet and discuss in order to resolve the political challenges facing Zimbabwe.
The African Union resolution said the same thing. And so, we have indeed been working over this period with the ruling party and the MDC lead by Mr Tsvangirai and the MDC lead by Professor Mutambara and the decision that will be reached about what needs to happen will come from the Zimbabwean parties.
It certainly would not be correct for the Facilitator to hand down any prescriptions to say that the person or group that should be part of the inclusive government to which these parties have agreed so it would be a matter really that the Zimbabwean parties would agree to - who is in that inclusive government and the role that they would play in that inclusive government.
That must truly come from the Zimbabwe parties because I think of all of us, they know best what is good for Zimbabwe and the thing is that everybody - the Facilitator, SADC, the international community - would have to respect what the Zimbabwe political leadership says about Zimbabwe and I am quite certain that the Zimbabwe political parties would answer the question you have posed on the basis of what they think is right for Zimbabwe, what they think is required in Zimbabwe.
It is not any determination that can, nor indeed should, be made by anybody. Let's really allow the people of Zimbabwe to determine their future. This is critically important because any solution that is imposed from outside will not last, it will not last, unless it is a common product that is owned by this entire collective of the leadership of Zimbabwe. I think if the Facilitation tried to impose any solution we would be creating a situation that actually would amount to creating conditions for the failure of whatever might be incorrectly described as a solution.
Transcript issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Pretoria, August 18 2008
IOL
August 18
2008 at 11:10AM
By Basildon Peta and Daniel Howden
Efforts by southern African leaders to end the Zimbabwe crisis by
breaking
the deadlock between Zanu-PF leader Robert Mugabe and his
arch-rival,
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai,
failed last
night.
The stalemate was a personal defeat for President Thabo
Mbeki, who
assumed the chair of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) on
Saturday vowing to get a deal during the summit.
Mbeki, who faces criticism at home and abroad for his handling of the
crisis, said that the talks would continue.
Even after their
gathering had officially ended, he summoned Mugabe
and Tsvangirai back for a
last-ditch attempt to get a deal, but to no avail.
Mugabe and
the opposition leader are deadlocked about the balance of
power between the
roles of prime minister and president.
Diplomatic sources said the
SADC leaders had tabled their own
proposals in an attempt to break the
impasse. It would have amounted to
Tsvangirai and Mugabe sharing power
equally. Both parties rejected it.
Tsvangirai has come under
intense pressure to sign up to Mbeki's
proposal, which would see Mugabe
retain much of his current authority.
The former trade union leader
argues that the proposal would, in
effect, make him a "ceremonial prime
minister" in a government led by
Mugabe, the man whom he defeated in the
first-round presidential election in
March.
Tsvangirai, 54, is
said to have tabled a counter proposal last night
that would have switched
roles.
"His logic is that since Mugabe is saying the deal currently
on the
table gives the prime minister a lot of powers, then he must assume
that
position and Tsvangirai becomes president," said a diplomatic source.
"That
suggestion made Mugabe furious and he rejected it."
The
dramatic failure of the SADC leaders to broker a deal means that
"we are
back to square one", said an MDC official. Regional leaders said in
their
final communique that Zimbabwe's parliament could now be convened,
apparently indicating their backing for Mugabe to appoint a new cabinet and
a new prime minister.
Previous agreements, including an African
Union accord and a
memorandum of understanding between the two rivals,
required a negotiated
settlement before a new government could be
formed.
Zimbabwe's neighbours fear the consequences if the
country's political
stalemate and economic decline lead to a total
meltdown.
Botswana President Seretse Khama Ian Khama boycotted the
summit. - The
Independent
This article was
originally published on page 2 of Daily News on
August 18, 2008
SABC
August 18,
2008, 15:45
Thulasizwe Simelane, Harare
Zimbabwe's opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) says convening
the country's parliament, before
a political compromise is reached, would be
contrary to the spirit of the
ongoing dialogue.
This follows President Thabo Mbeki's remarks that it
may be necessary to
convene parliament, even before the talks are concluded.
This comes as the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit ended
in Johannesburg
on the weekend, without clinching a power-sharing deal
between Zimbabwe's
rival parties.
Now the leader of the smaller MDC
faction, Arthur Mutambara, is under the
spotlight as speculation grows that
parliamentarians may be sworn in soon.
With 10 seats, Mutambara's MDC holds
the swing in the lower house, where
Tsvangirai's MDC and President Mugabe's
Zanu-PF are separated by just one
seat.
As a power-sharing deal
continues to elude negotiators, Mutambara may soon
be called upon to decide
whether to take part in parliament without
Tsvangirai on board.
The Telegraph
One of Zimbabwe's top tobacco growers has been left camping on the
roadside
outside his farm after being evicted by a senior figure in
President Robert
Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.
By Peta Thornycroft in
Harare
Last Updated: 4:00PM BST 18 Aug 2008
Kobus Joubert, who is in
his 70s, is a former president of the Zimbabwe
Tobacco Association, whose
members used to earn 40 per cent of the country's
export earnings before Mr
Mugabe destroyed commercial agriculture with the
seizure of white-owned
land.
He once farmed 1,200 acres, but he and his wife Maryanna have been
left
sleeping in a lorry, loaded with a few meagre possessions they have
been
able to salvage. Some of his workers have also taken refuge alongside
him.
His farm, Scotsdale, about 60 miles west of Harare, was seized at
the
weekend.
A neighbouring farmer, Bruce Campbell, 42 and his
British girlfriend Grace
Valentine, 29, went to help the couple but were
arrested and accused of
pointing a weapon and threatening Mr
Mugabe.
"I was unarmed and never mentioned the president's name," said Mr
Campbell.
"The police were highly unprofessional."
His lawyer, David
Drury, also represents his father Mike Campbell, 75, who
together with his
wife Angela, 66 and son-in-law Ben Freeth were savagely
attacked on their
farm near Chegutu seven weeks ago.
He said: "There is a mad rush for the
farms at present. I handled 13 cases
last week alone."
A Commercial
Farmers' Union spokesman said Mr Joubert's plight was an
example of "growing
pressure" against Zimbabwe's remaining white farmers
since a memorandum of
understanding on negotiations was signed between
Zanu-PF and the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change three weeks ago.
"It looks like this is a
last minute grab ahead of what many people believed
was a settlement between
MDC and Zanu PF," he said.
Sensing that a GNU deal is nigh, ZANU-PF cronies are now in a rush to
invade the last remaining commercial farms across the country The farm invaders, who believe a GNU
deal is nigh, are not looking for land on which to farm, eyewitnesses say.
Rather, they are invading the farms in order to loot them, taking away the
tractors, the irrigation equipment, the livestock, any asserts that are easy to
sell. A case in point is the plight of
renowned tobacco farmer Kobus Joubert, who is now living in the open after his
farm was seized by a leading ZANU-PF official. The unlawful seizure of Mr.
Joubert's productive farm, analysts say, is an epitome of the decade long deeds
by leading ZANU-PF officials. Mr. Joubert, who now lives in a lorry
with his wife after being evicted over the weekend, was the proprietor of
Scottsdale, a farm west of Harare, 1200 acres in size. The fact that anyone can
take away another person's property is testimony of the lawlessness across the
country. A neighbouring farmer, Bruce Campbell,
42 and his British girlfriend Grace Valentine, 29, went to help Mr. Joubert and
his wife but were instantly arrested and accused of pointing a weapon and
threatening Mugabe by the ZRP police officers. "I was unarmed and never mentioned the
president's name," said Campbell. "The police were highly unprofessional."
His lawyer, David Drury, also
represents his father Mike Campbell, 75, who together with his wife Angela, 66
and son-in-law Ben Freeth were savagely attacked on their farm near Chegutu
seven weeks ago. He said: "There is a mad rush for the
farms at present. I handled 13 cases last week alone." A Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU)
spokesman said Joubert's plight was an example of "growing pressure" against
Zimbabwe's remaining white farmers since a memorandum of understanding on
negotiations was signed between ZANU-PF and the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change three weeks ago. "It looks like this is a last minute
grab ahead of what many people believed was a settlement between MDC and
ZANU-PF," he said. In recent weeks, the CFU has actually
joined hands with ZANU-PF, leaving most farmers with nobody to turn to but their
neighbours. CFU President Trevor Gifford asserted now was the time to join hands
with the government to rebuild Zimbabwe. "The farmers who have taken the
confrontational stance against Government have not done so through the CFU and
are not even members of the union," Gifford said of the farmers who have taken
ZANU-PF to the SADC Tribunal in Namibia over the land reform programme.
"The CFU would rather engage Government
in dialogue so that we all come to a solution to our challenges. We do not want
to reverse the land reform programme but our members would participate in the
exercise. We need to put our differences aside and work as a nation. We are
Zimbabweans and we need to plan for our future as one through dialogue," he
added. Meanwhile, corruption reigns supreme in
the agriculture sector. In Gutu District, ZANU-PF cronies are allocating
themselves farm implements bought by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe at the expense
of deserving farmers. The farm implements that Grace Mugabe
last month commissioned include 100 tractors, 1000 knap sack sprayers, disc
harrows, ploughs and scorch carts. Some of the equipment, gathered at
Hwiru grounds in the sprawling growth point, is slowly disappearing in the dead
of the night amid reports that some senior ruling party officials-who already
have two or more tractors-are snatching away the equipment while leaving genuine
farmers without benefiting. Fingered in the scam includes former
Member of Parliament (MP) for Gutu North, Lovemore Matuke, and Shuvai Mahofa,
who lost in Gutu South, a Mukumbiri, as well as the District Administrator,
Patience Muzenda. Muzenda - daughter of provincial war
veterans chairman Isaiah - is also said to be working in cahoots with provincial
Governor Willard Chiwewe who is also said to be bringing in his new list of
ghost farmers. Sources say the ZANU PF heavies are
deliberately delaying to disburse the equipment as they are working out
strategies to make some of the equipment disappear. It was also said that they
clashed over the matter after Chiwewe decided to take over the role of
disbursing the tractors. “It is a strategy to loot the equipment
so that they will have excuses if there is a shortage, like in this case, they
are saying some of the equipment has been stolen or vandalized,” said the
source. The source added that the ZANU PF
officials are driving the tractors at night to secret locations. “This is not the first time that they
stole the equipment at night. There are some tractors that were commissioned by
Vice President Mujuru in Zvavahera in the run up to the elections. The tractors
were never given to farmers, yet they are nowhere to be seen now,” said the
source. It was also reported that one war
veteran, who was irked by the delay and smelt a rat, literally drove one tractor
away as he said that he had a right to benefit. Masvingo Provincial Governor, Cde
Willard Chiwewe refused to comment on the matter. However, ZANU PF provincial chairman,
retired army major Alex Mudavanhu confirmed the delay of the release of the
equipment, but said they were still working out modalities to see to it that
genuine farmers get the tractors, said to be well below 90 by now -- Harare
Tribune News/VOP/Services ---
http://www.radiovop.com
GUTU - ZANU PF bigwigs are grabbing the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ)-bankrolled tractors and other farming implements at
the expense of
well deserving beneficiaries.
First Lady
Grace Mugabe last month commissioned the tractors,
numbering to 100, soon
after the re-run of the Presidential polls on June
27. Other farming
equipment availed also includes 1000 knap sack sprayers,
disc harrows,
ploughs and scorch carts.
Some of the equipment, gathered at Hwiru
grounds in the sprawling
growth point, is slowly disappearing in the dead of
the night amid reports
that some senior ruling party officials-who already
have two or more
tractors-are snatching away the equipment while leaving
genuine farmers
without benefiting.
Fingered in the scam
includes former Member of Parliament (MP) for
Gutu North, Lovemore Matuke,
and Shuvai Mahofa, who lost in Gutu South, a Mr
Mukumbiri, as well as the
District Adminstrator, Patience Muzenda.
Muzenda - daughter of
provincial war veterans chairman Isiah - is also
said to be working in
cahoots with provincial Governor Willard Chiwewe who
is also said to be
bringing in his new list of ghost farmers.
Sources say the ZANU PF
heavies are deliberately delaying to disburse
the equipment as they are
working out strategies to make some of the
equipment disappear. It was also
said that they clashed over the matter
after Chiwewe decided to take over
the role of disbursing the tractors.
"It is a strategy to loot the
equipment so that they will have excuses
if there is a shortage, like in
this case, they are saying some of the
equipment has been stolen or
vandalized," said the source.
The source added that the ZANU PF
officials are driving the tractors
at night to secret
locations.
"This is not the first time that they stole the
equipment at night.
There are some tractors that were commissioned by Vice
President Mujuru in
Zvavahera in the run up to the elections. The tractors
were never given to
farmers, yet they are nowhere to be seen now," said the
source.
It was also reported that one war veteran, who was irked by
the delay
and smelt a rat, literally drove one tractor away as he said that
he had a
right to benefit.
Masvingo Provincial Governor, Cde
Willard Chiwewe refused to comment
on the matter.
However, ZANU
PF provincial chairman, retired army major Alex
Mudavanhu confirmed the
delay of the release of the equipment, but said they
were still working out
modalities to see to it that genuine farmers get the
tractors, said to be
well below 90 by now.
http://www.radiovop.com
HARARE - RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) governor Gideon Gono, accused
of compromising the independence of the
judiciary by pampering them with
goodies such as state-of-the-art
televisions, cars and cash, has defended
his actions saying there was
nothing wrong with rewarding the country's
judges.
Describing the doling out of basic commodities, cars and electrical
goods to
all the country's Supreme and High Court judges as the enhancement
of their
working conditions, Gono said his actions were within the
provisions of the
Reserve Bank Act.
"Those who take time to read the Reserve Bank
Act, however, are aware
that the central bank is legally authorized to
assist government programmes
from time to time," said Gono in a statement to
the media.
The independent media accused Gono of compromising the
judiciary by
giving them the goodies at the expense of the generality of the
population
reeling from serious food shortages, adding that the RBZ's
governor's
actions were unlawful and unconstitutional.
But Gono
has hit back, saying the RBZ's actions was within its
responsibilities as
outlined in the Reserve Bank Act.
He said specifically, the Reserve
Bank Act Chapter 22:15, Section 8
(2) stated that "nothing in this section
shall prevent the State from
carrying on transactions in such a manner as
the state my require and if so,
requested by the State, the Bank shall make
the necessary arrangements to
this end."
Gono said the central
had to move into the judiciary to avoid a brain
drain in the
sector.
"In the same vein, no successful economic turn-around can
be achieved
in an environment where the judiciary system is acutely
under-funded," he
said.
Apart from televisions, cars and cash,
Gono last month lavished all
the country's Supreme Court and High Court
judges with sugar and mealie
meal, among other scarce basic
commodities.
http://www.radiovop.com
Bulawayo - Villagers in rural
Matabeleland say they were taken for a
ride by the ruling Zanu PF and the
government when they introduced state
buses which have since been withdrawn
from the roads.
The buses named Gushungo after
President Robert Mugabe's totem, had
been introduced during the run up to
the March 29 elections to chose a
President and members of Parliament,
Senate and local government.
Most roads to rural areas were flooded
with state buses which were
charging fares much lower than public
transporters in the run up to the
elections, but most of the buses were now
off the roads.
"Those buses are no longer available. We are back to
square one, may
be it was just a campaign tool for Zanu PF," said a villager
from Kezi.
However, a senior official at the Central Mechanical and
Engineering
Department (CMED), which was running the fleet in conjunction
with the
Reserve bank of Zimbabwe, said buses were removed from most roads
because of
shortage of spare parts and fuel.
He said it was
uneconomic to continue providing transport countrywide
for "free", yet there
were more pressing matters that the Government had to
attend
to.
"As expected, it was going to be a very futile exercise and we
had to
stop most of these buses because there is no fuel. Some government
departments are going for weeks with a drop of fuel and what more these
buses, which are making losses everyday.
"The majority of them
have broken down and we don't have spares to fix
them. There is no forex to
order spares from outside the country because as
you know, most leading
spare parts companies in the country no longer
entertain us because the
government takes time to pay and by the time the
money is out, it would have
lost value," he said.
Villagers are now resorting to the expensive
public transport, which
gets fuel from the parallel market or service
stations that sell the
commodity in foreign currency.
SABC
August 18, 2008,
14:15
The Botswana foreign ministry has denied reports that the country
is
considering plans to grant Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai,
a
diplomatic passport.
There have been reports that the Zimbabwean
government is refusing to renew
his passport. Last week the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) leader's
emergency travelling documents were
confiscated at Harare airport. They were
later handed back to him. However,
foreign affairs spokesperson Cliff Maribe
says Botswana cannot give a
foreign national such a passport.
Tsvangirai is in Gaborone today as part
of a tour to Southern African
Development Community (SADC) countries to
encourage regional leaders to
become involved in Zimbabwe's power-sharing
talks.
By Violet Gonda
18
August 2008
Outspoken civil leader Dr Lovemore Madhuku has called on MDC
President
Morgan Tsvangirai to pull out of the controversial interparty
negotiations,
saying it is obvious that Robert Mugabe will not give him the
responsibility
to be the executive leader. Madhuku was speaking a day after
the Zimbabwean
political rivals failed to strike a deal at the SADC summit
in Johannesburg
at the weekend. The chairman of the National Constitutional
Assembly said
politicians are taking Zimbabweans for granted and excluding
everyone in
these talks, and yet they have failed to deliver
results.
"They promised to come to some agreement in two weeks and they
have not done
that. They have not even told people what the reasons are.
This is really a
display of politicians, collectively - both ZANU PF and MDC
- being
extremely arrogant," Madhuku said.
The constitutional law
expert believes Tsvangirai should be going back to
the people to tell them
that talks have failed and re-organise a united
front with civic, student,
churches and labour groups. Madhuku added: "If he
wants to run the country
he must get back to what has always been the way
forward. He must put
pressure here and build a force here that pushes Mugabe
out. So he should
pull out of the talks."
Morgan Tsvangirai walked out of talks with Robert
Mugabe last Tuesday
because of Mugabe's unwillingness to cede any real
power. The political
rivals were then invited to the SADC summit, but that
meeting was also
unsuccessful in breaking the impasse. Madhuku said Mugabe
is not the sort of
person who will compromise and SADC is not a body that
will force him to.
Meanwhile the SADC organ on politics, defence and
security said: "While
negotiations are continuing, it may be necessary to
convene parliament to
give effect to the will of the people as expressed in
the parliamentary
elections held on 29 March 2008." This statement has been
viewed by the MDC
as an attempt by the regional body to pressure the MDC
into signing a deal,
as convening parliament without consensus would be
breaching the Memorandum
of Understanding by the parties.
Madhuku added
that if implemented, this would be a scenario that would work
in Mugabe's
favour. He said collectively ZANU PF has more seats in Senate
and
Parliament, including the appointed chiefs. "Remember that the smaller
component of the MDC will never vote Tsvangirai in a closed session. I think
they have always been against Tsvangirai," he added
Madhuku warned
that if the MDC does not go back to its constituency and
re-organise people,
Mugabe will reconvene parliament and constitute cabinet
with no
accountability.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
Mens News Daily
2008-08-17 at 8:38
pm
I watched Mugabe last night at the SADC Summit in Johannesburg as he
listened to the Zambian Foreign Minister lambaste him for his disregard for
any sort of democratic principles in his effort to hold onto power. Mugabe
had his eyes nearly closed, the camera was focused right up close and you
could see his teeth were clamped shut. You could almost feel the animosity
and anger. Just down the line was the vacant seat of Botswana - Ian Khama
had refused to attend the summit if Mugabe was invited.
None of the
other SADC leaders would have been very happy to have Mugabe in
their midst,
he has disgraced the region, undermined our reputation as a
progressive
democratic group of States that should be taken seriously when
it comes to
the questions of democracy, openness, security of assets and the
rule of
law. For most Zimbabweans, the man once regarded, as a hero of the
liberation struggle is now a failed despot.
When you dine with the
devil you better use a long spoon - in our case that
has not really been an
issue until the last few days when MDC leadership
have at last come face to
face with Mugabe in the negotiations. But on
Sunday we had the first really
substantive exchange with Mugabe since the
talk's process began more that 15
months ago. They took place at the Rainbow
Towers Hotel in Harare and the
first session lasted 14 hours.
At the next session on Monday afternoon
the talks ran into what always was
going to be the major sticking point, who
was going to drive this
transition? No agreement was reached and the parties
agreed to break away to
think through the issues. When they gathered on
Tuesday Mr. Mbeki presented
Morgan Tsvangirai with a draft text that had
already been agreed and signed
by Mutambara and Mugabe. He took the text to
his team and on return he
tabled an alternative MDC version of a draft final
text.
He told the other parties to the talks that as far as the MDC was
concerned,
this was the core of the arrangements for the transition and that
the MDC
would not change its stance significantly. Mugabe belligerently
threatened a
unity government with Mutambara and said Morgan would be
excluded from such
an arrangement. Morgan walked out of the talks and left
the building.
Mbeki then spent some time explaining to the other two
leaders why a deal
without Morgan's signature on it simply would not fly. He
announced that he
would take the dispute to the SADC leadership for
mediation when they met in
Johannesburg on Saturday. Then he flew to Luanda
to consult President dos
Santos.
On Saturday and Sunday the talks
have gone on more or less continuously -
with neither side moving very far.
We could have told Mr. Mbeki some days
ago that MDC would not move from the
position that it had agreed at the
outset. This is a negotiation to enable
the orderly transfer of power from
Zanu PF to MDC and to create space for
that process through a transitional
arrangement that would end when a new
constitution had been agreed and
promulgated. That process would be followed
by our first free and fair
election under a universal franchise since
1980.
The latest position is that Mr. Mbeki has announced the talks are to
continue under the guidance of the SADC Troika until a deal is reached. The
issue dividing the parties is tantalizingly narrowly based; it's really just
the question of powers and duties for the President and the Prime
Minister.
But it is the key issue and the whole deal revolves around the
question.
As we have always said, there is no purpose in negotiating an
agreement just
to have the outcome repudiated by the international community
who in the end
are going to be asked to pick up the tab for Mugabe's
delinquency. Since
this has been the main point of contention from the
beginning, I am
surprised Mbeki had the nerve to even float the arrangements
that he did for
the structure of the new government - he should have known
better.
But the one thing the past few days have shown is that Mbeki has
to have a
deal and is willing to go to great lengths to get the final
hurdles
resolved. If he can, it will save South Africa from having to deal
with the
floodtide of refugees that are on their way to South Africa and the
possibility of losing the World Cup in 2010 as well as what is left of his
personal legacy after 8 years in office as President.
As for the rest
of us stuck at home and glued to our radio and television
sets, we can do
little except wait and pray. But of one thing I am
completely sure - the
vast majority of Zimbabweans are saying to us -
"vasbyt" - do not give in
and do not allow Mugabe to retain any sort of
residual power and influence.
I am amazed at the near total consensus on
that position across the
country.
When it became known that Mutambara had signed a deal with the
regime, there
was outrage in all parts of the country. I can imagine that
Mutambara
himself must have felt the blast of hot air! Certainly our mails
have been
full of condemnation and worse. He tried to deny that he had done
a deal,
but both Mbeki and Mugabe confirmed that he had agreed to share
power even
if Morgan walked away.
So now we wait and watch. I have
been telling people that if they see that
Morgan has agreed to a deal then
they can take it that it is all over. The
MDC will run the new government
even if at the same time it has to work
together with Zanu PF. If no deal is
struck then we will walk away even
though we dread the thought of what it
will cost all of us. But for us there
is simply too much at stake and we
will do this in the memory of all those
who have died and suffered in the
past 10 years during our struggle for
democracy and freedom.
We can
sense that even if we do have to walk away from a deal, that the end
is now
in sight and that time is running out for the monsters that have
destroyed
our country. We can see that it is only a matter of time before we
can
celebrate the dawn of a new Zimbabwe.
Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 17th
August 2008.
IOL
August 18 2008 at
07:24AM
By Hans Pienaar and Basildon Peta
The Southern
African Development Community (SADC) has offered Morgan
Tsvangirai a 50-50
power-sharing deal as prime minister with President
Robert Mugabe, but the
Movement for Democratic Change rejected this,
offering the prime minister
post to Mugabe instead.
A furious Mugabe rejected the
counter-offer, sources said last night.
But the MDC scored a
symbolic victory in the "recognition" by the SADC
that parliament may have
to be convened even as talks continued - based "on
the will of the people"
as expressed by the results of the March 29
parliamentary elections, which
the MDC won.
However, such a move might scupper the dialogue
between the three
negotiating parties because it means Mugabe would
immediately have to
appoint a new cabinet. Doing this before the
negotiations are completed
would entail Tsvangirai being excluded from a new
government, contrary to an
African Union resolution demanding the formation
of an all-inclusive
government.
The latest bargaining came at
an extraordinary "summit organ troika"
meeting of the SADC's organ for
politics, defence and security co-operation.
This meant that 14 leaders -
minus Botswana, but with new member
Seychelles - met under the chair of
Swazi King Mswati the Third to discuss
the Zimbabwe crisis.
According to impeccable sources, the meeting, which included Mugabe,
offered
the 50-50 deal to try to break the latest impasse in the talks,
which
President Thabo Mbeki last night said were about 15 months old.
The
MDC came with a counter-proposal, saying that since Zanu-PF was
now willing
to share power equally, it could just as well accept Mugabe as
prime
minister.
However, Mugabe rejected this and the meeting adjourned.
The meeting
came after the closing ceremony of the 28th SADC summit in
Sandton, where
Mbeki took over as the new chair of the SADC.
Mswati took over as chair of the organ in the place of Angolan
President
Jose dos Santos.
At a press briefing after the SADC meeting, Mbeki
indicated that the
negotiations were continuing, but said it was impossible
to say when an
agreement would be reached.
He read from a
communique that expressed the organ's view that
parliament might have to be
convened.
Sources at the meeting said certain leaders were
concerned that the
legality of dealings in and with Zimbabwe might be
affected by the continued
failure to convene parliament. In terms of
Zimbabwe's constitution, the
deadline for convening parliament has
expired.
This article was originally published on page 1 of The
Star on August
18, 2008
iafrica
Article By:
Mon, 18 Aug 2008
15:27
Regional leaders' failure to resolve Zimbabwe's crisis has raised
questions
over whether President Robert Mugabe is prepared to cede enough
power to
make a deal possible, analysts said Monday.
A summit of
southern African leaders with Mugabe and opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai
in attendance ended on Sunday with no final deal between
the two rivals
despite a push from heads of state to bring them to an
agreement.
Divisions remained over how power would be shared between
the two men in a
national unity government, including what authority they
would have as
president and prime minister.
"He is definitely
choosing for the hardline and he has always done that, and
I think it is
particularly unlikely for him to concede powers over the
security
establishment," said Olmo Von Meijenfeldt, an analyst with the
Institute for
Democracy in South Africa.
Zimbabwe's military and security chiefs are
strong backers of Mugabe, who
was a hero of the country's liberation
struggle against white minority rule.
Some analysts argue the powerful
Joint Operations Command of security chiefs
call the shots to a large degree
in Zimbabwe, and Mugabe's position at the
negotiating table depends heavily
on them.
"I think the question to ask from where I'm sitting is whether
it is
Mugabe's decision," said Aubrey Matshiqi of the Centre for Political
Studies
in South Africa.
An obstacle to a settlement to end the
crisis that intensified after
Mugabe's widely condemned re-election in June
may be the Joint Operations
Command, he said.
"It would be very
difficult for the JOC for instance to give up ministerial
posts if this
includes giving up the security portfolios."
Tsvangirai in June claimed
that Zimbabwe was being run by a "military
junta", and he boycotted the June
run-off vote, citing rising violence
against his supporters that had left
dozens dead and thousands injured.
The opposition leader has held out so
far against accepting a deal that he
sees as not granting him real
power.
"It's better not to have a deal than to have a bad deal,"
Tsvangirai told
The New York Times in an interview published
Sunday.
Pressure has increased on Tsvangirai, and South African President
Thabo
Mbeki, the mediator for the Zimbabwe talks, said Sunday parliament may
have
to be convened as negotiations continue.
The ruling party lost
its parliamentary majority for the first time since
independence in 1980 in
March elections.
However, Mugabe's Zanu-PF and a smaller opposition
faction led by Arthur
Mutambara would have a parliamentary majority if they
combined forces.
Despite the differences between the bitter rivals, some
analysts say some
type of deal will eventually come out of the
discussions.
Eldred Masungure, a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe,
told AFP that "a
deal is inevitable".
"There will be an immense
pressure on both parties to reach a deal," he
said. "Failure is not an
option as all other exits are blocked."
But where a deal will leave the
opposition is unclear, and some analysts
argue Tsvangirai will never accept
an agreement that does not give him a
workable share of
power.
"Robert Mugabe might be willing to give some power to Morgan
Tsvangirai, but
that power will only translate to 25 percent of real power
and that would
not include him giving Morgan control of the army, police and
the
intelligence," said Takavira Zhou, a political analyst in
Zimbabwe.
In the meantime, Zimbabwe's economic meltdown continues. Once
seen as a
regional breadbasket, the country now has the world's highest
inflation
rate, officially put at 2.2 million percent, and major food
shortages.
Some argue Mugabe's party may be willing to accept a deal if
only to free up
international aid.
"Zanu-PF seems to have a problem
in giving real power to the MDC, but
eventually they will have to," said
Takura Zhangazha, director of the Media
Institute of Southern
Africa.
World Bank and IMF support will be needed "to get the economy
back on
track", Zhangazha said.
AFP
SADC leaders have hailed the FTA as a major
breakthrough Economists have warned of economic pain and even job losses in the short-term
because of the historic Southern African Development Community (SADC) Free Trade
Agreement (FTA) signed in Johannesburg yesterday.
August 18, 2008, 18:30
The agreement sees the
establishment of a regional common market of more than 247 million people, where
goods and services will move freely without tariffs. However, some economists
say many companies will not survive the opening of the flood gates and they say
it will lead to job losses.
SADC leaders have hailed the FTA as a major
breakthrough.
Besides goods moving freely across the region, the
agreement will also see faster economic growth and job creation throughout the
region. Regional trade in agricultural products and other processed goods are
expected to pick up immediately and consumers stand to benefit handsomely from
lower prices resulting from increased competition.
Ironically, Zimbabwe
also joined the FTA, even though it has very little to offer the region from its
collapsed economy. On the other hand, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo
and the Seychelles have decided not to join until they put their economic houses
in order.
Reuters
Mon
18 Aug 2008, 9:41 GMT
Aug 18 (Reuters) - Southern African leaders failed
to secure a power-sharing
deal between Zimbabwe's ruling party and the
opposition at the weekend.
But the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) said it believed
talks with President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF
would be concluded soon and
that failure was not an option.
Following
are comments from political analysts:
ADAM HABIB, POLITICAL ANALYST,
UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG.
"A collapse of the talks would be a real
disaster for the region."
"The main sticking points (are) the powers
between Tsvangirai and Mugabe. I
think that's the big issue."
"In
principle they've agreed that Mugabe should be president and Tsvangirai
should be prime minister. The real issue is what are the lines of
authority."
"Unless Tsvangirai signs on the dotted line the crisis
continues, not only
simply because the billions of foreign aid does not
become available, but
also because he does represent a significant majority
of the Zimbabwean
population."
ELDRED MASUNUNGURE, POLITICAL
SCIENCE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE
"A deal is still in sight,
despite the weekend setback. Even the parties
recognise that failure is not
an option and that there should be compromise.
"I don't see any exit
route from this protracted crisis, other than a
political settlement. It
appears the parties are getting closer with each
meeting, despite there
being unresolved issues.
"The two main protagonists, Mugabe and
Tsvangirai, need more prodding. The
circumstances compel that a political
settlement be found.
"ZANU-PF and the MDC will find a common ground,
probably this week. There is
urgency.
LOVEMORE MADHUKU, HEAD OF
NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONAL ASSEMBLY (NCA) PRESSURE
GROUP
"I dont think
it (the weekend regional meeting) changes anything. The
sticking points
remain and it is completely unacceptable for two politicians
to hold the
nation at ransom".
"It is unthinkable for Mugabe to sign away his power.
He is not going to
budge as he probably thinks he has gone far enough by
offering Tsvangirai
the prime minister's post and some
ministries".
"So this process will either collapse or the MDC will
capitulate. The fact
that they have stayed in this process this long shows
they could eventually
capitulate and be swallowed by
ZANU-PF".
STEVEN FRIEDMAN, POLITICAL ANALYST, UNIVERSITY OF
JOHANNESBURG
"I suppose what is interesting is that there was an
expectation that there
would be a lot of pressure from most of the SADC
heads of government on the
MDC to settle. If there was that pressure it
obviously didn't work out."
"We know publicly that Botswana and Zambia
feel that Mr. Mugabe is not a
legitimate president of Zimbabwe. We know that
Angola and Namibia feel that
he is. It's clearly public that there are
divisions within SADC on this
issue."
"As long as there are divisions
within SADC it becomes much more difficult
for Southern African heads of
government to pressurise the MDC into a
settlement."
(Reporting by
Nelson Banya in Harare; Phakamisa Ndzamela in Johannesburg)
The Nation
(Nairobi)
17 August 2008
Posted to the web 18 August
2008
Kitsepile Nyathi
Harare
Zimbabwean strongman, President
Robert Mugabe has always been regarded as
something of a political enigma.
For most of his 28 years in power, he has
virtually run the once prosperous
Southern African country as a de-facto one
party state.
In the eyes
of millions of subdued Zimbabweans he is a dictactor who brooks
no challenge
even from his former liberation movement or the army.
But after an
embarrassing electoral set back during the historical March
elections where
his ruling Zanu PF lost its parliamentary majority to the
opposition for the
first time since independence, a new profile of a leader
who is a hostage to
very powerful forces is emerging.
Presented with a golden opportunity to
revive his tattered legacy by
reaching a political settlement with his main
rival, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai of
the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change, Mr Mugabe dug in his heels at
the last minute.
His image of a
man with sole and absolute power was brought into question.
South African
President Thabo Mbeki spent four days holed in a Harare hotel
after Zanu PF
and MDC negotiators produced a draft agreement that many
believed was a
panacea to the impasse that has kept Zimbabwe without a
government for five
months.
He went back home empty handed after Mr Tsvangirai walked out of
the talks
protesting that he no longer "understood the language" Mr Mugabe
was talking
at the negotiating table.
Reports have since emerged that
defence forces commander, General
Constantine Chiwenga told Mr Mugabe that
the army was not prepared to honour
any arrangement that leaves Mr
Tsvangirai as the dominant figure in
government.
Gen Chiwenga is the
leader of the Joint Operations Command (JOC), which is
made up heads of the
army, police, prisons and intelligence that has
effectively usurped power
from Mr Mugabe since Mr Tsvangirai defeated him in
the presidential election
held on March 29.
Another threat
Then another threat came from
former liberation war fighters who are said to
have ordered the 84 year-old
president not to accept any power sharing deal
with the opposition, warning
that he risked dire consequences including the
invasion of commercial
farms.
The warnings were separately delivered to Mr Mugabe on Monday,
while
Zimbabweans expected that the three leaders including Professor Arthur
Mutambara of the small faction of the MDC were close to signing the
anxiously awaited power-sharing deal.
"The outcome of the talks
hinges on the army generals and Mugabe is only
there as a figure head," said
a researcher at the Department of War and
Strategic Studies at the
University of Zimbabwe who could not be named for
professional
reasons.
"The military remains deeply suspicious of Tsvangirai and some
commanders
feel that they have sacrificed a lot for Mugabe to lose out their
positions
just like that."
He said Zimbabwe's political transition
from the Lancaster House talks that
brought the country's independence in
1980 to an accord that ended a civil
war in 1987 had always been negotiated
by soldiers who must be involved if
the current talks were to
succeed.
Another source of trouble for the talks is from Mr Mugabe's
failure to
manage his succession in the ruling Zanu PF.
"A ZANU-PF
clique is now seeking to subvert the process as they think
President Mugabe
made too many concessions," the Financial Gazette newspaper
said.
"That is why you see that even though the principals are bound
by the terms
of the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) not to leak
information to the
media, confidential information is now finding its way to
the state media.
"They hope that Tsvangirai maintains his
stance."
That was demonstrated by the uproar that followed reports that
Prof
Mutambara's faction was prepared to sign an agreement without Mr
Tsvangirai
that would pave way for Mr Mugabe to form a new
government.
Seven of the faction's 10 MPs threatened to resign from the
party rather
than work with Zanu PF.
And, about Mr Tsvangirai: "If he
makes the wrong move he will be finished
politically because Zimbabweans
will never forgive him for selling out to
Zanu PF," says Thomas Ngwenya, a
former PF Zapu member.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Monday, 18 August 2008
15:50
JOHANNESBURG - Rev Kenneth Meshoe, M.P. and President of the
ACDP,
today lashed out at some African leaders for their cowardice in not
confronting Robert Mugabe and in letting down the people of Zimbabwe
again.
"The ACDP is disappointed at the failure to reach an
agreement in the
Zimbabwe talks. It is shameful that African leaders at the
SADC conference
did not have the guts to stand up to Mugabe; they know that
he cheated and
stole the presidency thus he does not qualify to be treated
as Head of
State. Because the SADC observer mission did not declare the
Zimbabwe
election free and fair, SADC leaders could not openly endorse
Mugabe's
presidency, but they did so behind closed doors during the SADC
meeting.
It shows they do not have a heart for ordinary Zimbabwean
citizens who
are suffering; they are only intent on protecting one of their
own. SADC has
failed Southern African states again. The people expected them
to confront
Robert Mugabe about the atrocities still being committed by his
armed forces
and police junta, by ZANU-PF party supporters and particularly
by the youth.
It is disgraceful that a leader with blood of his own
people on his
hands should be celebrated like a hero. African renaissance
will remain a
pipe-dream for as long as cruel dictators like Robert Mugabe
are treated
like heroes.
Our leaders should emulate the courage
of the Botswana President, Ian
Khama, who was courageous enough to make a
stand for justice in defence of
the Zimbabwean people, by refusing to
endorse the illegitimate presidency of
Mugabe.
Zimbabwe can never
have peace with a cruel dictator at the helm - for
peace to prevail they
need a leader who believes in equality, liberty and
justice for
all."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
For more information, contact
Dr Kenneth Meshoe, M.P. and President of
the ACDP,
082 962 5884
Or
Ms Libby
Norton
ACDP Press Attaché,
Parliament.
07 25 70
636l
lnorton@parliament.gov.za
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Monday, 18 August 2008
11:01
Arthur Mutambara an Idiotic Moron or a Patriot?
By Peter Mutanda wa-Ndebele
Arthur Mutambara, a robotics scientist
and a leader of the splinter
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Party is
becoming a villain or hero?
This man, some people declared a perfect
leader who is untarnished by
the power struggles that has rocked MDC in the
past and others opposed
saying he is too much of an outsider who has lost
touch with the realities
of Zimbabwean politics. Others also questioned
about his credentials and
experience as a genuine mainstream
politician.
"He has a good history as a student leader but will need
time to grow
into the position of national leader," political scientist
Brian
Raftopoulos, told the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper.
Arthur Mutambara became popular in 1988 - 89 when he was a student
leader at
University of Zimbabwe where he organised anti-government protests
that led
to his imprisonment. Since then he disappeared into the oblivion,
15 years
later he appeared to lead the splinter group after MDC had splinted
over
disagreements on whether to participate in 2005 senate elections. In
February 2006 at a Congress of the breakaway MDC faction Mutambara admitted
that he was against the elections "My position was that the MDC should have
boycotted those Senate elections. I guess then that makes me the anti-Senate
leader of the pro-Senate MDC faction. How ridiculous can we get? That debate
is now in the past, let us move on and unite our people."
So is
Mutambara an opportunist or elitist? Whose interests will he try
to serve
then, the people's or his? Only he can answer these questions.
During
his early days of joining the splinter bandwagon, he became
part of smear
campaigns and bitter war of words led by Welshman Ncube, Paul
Themba Nyathi
and followers like Gibson Sibanda etc. Arthur Mutambara once
proclaimed
doomed Morgan Tsvangirai to repent by joining his splinter group.
How can
the President of the main faction repent by joining a splinter
faction? Only
Arthur can answer that question.
Now on every opportunity that he gets
he preaches about the
indecisiveness of Morgan Tsvangirai and forgetting
about his own
indecisiveness or simply lack of wisdom to make quality
decisions.
In the March 2008, Mutambara decided not to run for
President instead
ran for parliamentary elections for a seat in Zengeza
which he lost
dismally. His faction decided to back Simba Makoni, a ZANU-PF
affiliate
running as an independent Presidential candidate, for what
reasons? Only
Mutambara can answer that.
In April after Tsvangirai
and his MDC faction had won the elections,
Mutambara blown by this euphoria
pledged his faction to support Tsvangirai.
However now it seems he is
teaming up with Thabo Mbeki and Robert Mugabe to
pressurise Tsvangirai to
sign a farce of a deal that will repeat the same
history of ZAPU that was
swallowed by ZANU. Why is Mutambara in a hurry to
agree on a quick deal with
these two beleaguered leaders who have failed
their own people in their two
respective countries? Zimbabwean people have
been patient with the
leadership failure for the past 28 years; they can't
be impatient now in
this 1month of very important make or break talks.
Arthur Mutambara in
his article, Exalting the Heroic Revolution meant
to be a heroes' day
message attacked "the irritating ignorance, political
insensitivity, double
standards, and patronising arrogance" of the west. He
also accused the west
of trying to pinpoint their preferred Zimbabwean
leader to lead the new
government.
But questions still stand, who is he trying to impress of
late,
Mugabe, Mbeki or the Zimbabwean people? Whose interest is he serving,
his
personal or Zimbabwean people's? Is he a traitor or a
patriot?
Readers Comments
Traitor No, Patriot No,
c**kroach Yes
written by Chief (SA), August 18, 2008
Mutambara is a confused c**kraoch in a bowl of milk. He has shown the
Zim
people and the rest of the world, that he doesn't know what he is doing.
He
is a mere opportunist looking to enrich himself which ever way the
outcome
of the talks.
Hachisi chi UBA ichi this is politics at National
level, it requires
one to have a soci-econimic and political understanding
inoder to make
informed decissions.
Ibharanzi to
conclude
Traitor
written by wevhu, August 18,
2008
He is an inexperienced idiot at Zim politics. He should be
told
Zimbabweans are not robots. He should go back to studying
robotics.
Idiot
written by Mordekai, August 18,
2008
I can't understand what a professor of Robotics is doing in
politics.
At best he should be a traffic cop!
...
written by kiki, August 18, 2008
Mutambara is an opportunist. all
he wants is power by whatever means.
Politics is not robotics Arthur. This
is our life and please you have messed
us up enough, and enough is
enough.
Professor
written by Peter Machado, August 18,
2008
Mutambara is imposing himself on people.Why did he not even
contest
his home area constituency.No right thinking Zimbabwe has time for
this
selfish guy.It should be made clear to him that he needs to stop
monopolising knowledge about what is right for Zimbabweans.Auther's conduct
reflects the pre-occupation ,obssession and the wrong notions about being an
educated individual.Robotics has no relevance to the current
crisis.Mutambara makes a lot feel sick as he has nothing to offer.He should
not be in the talks anyway.
mr
written by mugabe,
August 18, 2008
Authur in fact urimhata nekuti yu are no longer
employed saka
urikutsvaga basa by what ever means manje tsvangs ndewepovo
hahaiti madhodhi
ako ayo
Mutambara
written by Hapana,
August 18, 2008
Will those who parachuted Arthur in, please send a
helicopter to
casavac him out. He is way out of his depth almost and a real
worry to some
of us who think he can be easily be manipulated by
Mugabe
pathetic Arthur
written by zvakwana kani, August 18,
2008
Could you go back to your so-called Professorship? You could
be more
useful there. Just a pointer - you are playing on the wrong turf
right now.
...
written by Juga, August 18, 2008
Asina kudzidza arinani. This is a disgrace. Now the stupid professor
is
exposed for what he really is...Power hungry. We know the outcome of all
this....Remember another professor. Jonzo Moyo? Ring a bell? That is what
will happen to you Authur. I thought professors read and learn from history.
Apparently not. Not you two. You are just as dim witted as they come....some
mothers have them!
Mr
written by Pat M, August 18,
2008
Just another shameless a*s-licker. Very soon he will be
singing the
hymns of his financial saviour and soon -to-be benefactor, the
blood
stinking Robert Mugabe. a Judas Iscariot. Our people shall not be
sold!
To Morgan I say stand firm, the criminals are on
auto-destruct. It is
just a matter of time. Do not throw them a line. Arthur
will sink with them!
unbelievable
written by mbukeli,
August 18, 2008
l can not believe that he is now singing with those
in the sinking
boat.he can not talk about violence,hunger,murder on his
doorstep but opens
his mouth loud and blames the west.am certain him and the
sinkers dream
about the West everyday.
where did he come from to
start this confusion in MDC?
please has anyone lost a professor we have
found one and we cant keep
him any longer he is toxic
What a
tool
written by Mendizim, August 18, 2008
He needs to go
back and play with his robots ASAP because he has no
place in
Politics!!
Dude can't even answer a question with any semblence of
maturity
AGO confused
written by Muchinja Akakwana, August
18, 2008
He follows the wind , when he thinks MT is gaining ground
he is for
the people, and if he thinks matibili is gaining ground then he is
for
posts. He supported Simba although Simba publicly distanced himself. He
is
busy running around touting ten seats but those mps have no allegiance to
him. Usatambe nezanu now Jonzo has been dumped by zanu since he has no ten
seats. Although he has said it is his constituitional right to rejoin zanu,
zanu yacho has barely taken note of him. Zanu inokushandisa.
Morgan Ndizvo
written by Samdala Ngenkani, August 18, 2008
Mutambara is a very stupid idiot who doesnt know where he
stands.Please
Morgan dont allow him to join you no matter what cause it
seems like he is
just mweya wetsvina urikutsvaga pekugara.Never ever allow
him.
http://www.radiovop.com
Mutare - A senior Zanu PF official
and prominent Mutare bus operator
Esau Mupfumi is charging bus fare in
foreign currency as Zimbabwe's economic
woes continues amid stalled talks
aimed at finding a political situation in
Zimbabwe.
President Robert Mugabe and opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC)
leader Morgan Tsvangirai failed to sign a political settlement deal at
the
weekend at a Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional
meeting
at the weekend as planned. The mediator, South African President
Thabo
Mbeki, had been so confident that a deal would be signed. The talks
are
however expected to continue.
Mupfumi, who is Zanu PF's National
Consultative Assembly member for
Manicaland province, owns a fleet of buses
which plies along the country's
main highways.
" Last week I
was forced to pay 100 rands for a trip from Bulawayo to
Mutare, " said
Charity Mutambanengwe. "I tried to argue with the bus crew
that it is
illegal to charge passengers in forex but they could not listen
to my
arguement. They even threatened to drop me in Zvishavane if I did not
give
them the money,' she said.
Another passenger Elijah Matiki also
claimed he had been been forced
to pay in rands as bus fare when he was
coming from Mutare going to Botswana
two weeks ago.
"The crew
normally target potential cross border traders. They do not
ask everyone to
pay in forex but the criteria they normally use is those
people who have got
large goods and are coming from outside the country."
Last week the
Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Gideon Gono
warned business people
not to charge goods and services in foreign currency
saying the practice was
illegal.
Due to the high inflation in the country most people were
preffering
to deal in hard currency as compared to the local currency, which
many see
as valueless. Zimbabwe, currently has one of the highest in the
world at 2,2
million percent. Some economic anaylysts say the figure is much
higher than
that.
Most Zimbabwean shops have no food, where it
is available it is out of
reach of many.
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare - The Zimbabwe Open University's (ZOU)
John Boyne building
offices in Harare have been closed due to shortages of
running water and
appalling conditions.
ZOU is the
only open university in Zimbabwe used by thousands of
students throughout
the country. The university's building is situated at
corner Speke avenue
and Innez Terrace in the central business district.
Oficials from
the city of Harare's health department descended on the
building last Friday
and ordered the closure of the structure which houses
the university's Human
Resources, Academic registry and Information and
technology
departments.
' Our senoirs have told us to stay at home untill
alternative offices
have been sought in town.The place had become a health
hazard. Imagine we
last have running water in May and all along we have been
using public
toilets,' said one of the university workers who refused to be
named for
fear of victimisation.
The seven storey building
which housed more than 500 people is also
reportedly said to have developed
serious structural defects, further
risking the lives of the
occupants.
" The lifts are not functioning . The ceiling of the
building is also
falling apart and there are lots of rats in the ceiling
which always make
this fun sound. We are happy that at least something has
been done,' said
another worker .
Last week three people died
while several others were injured when a
building which houses a night club
in Harare curved in and collapsed.
Serious water shortages have hit
Harare with residents going for weeks
or months without the precious
commodity.
From cricinfo, 17 August
Cricinfo staff
Peter Chingoka, Zimbabwe Cricket's
chairman, will travel to Dubai for talks
with David Morgan, the ICC
president, after the Zimbabwe board failed to
endorse Chingoka's offer that
his country would stay away from ICC centenary
celebrations in England next
summer and the ICC World Twenty20 which
follows. Last month, Chingoka told
the ICC executive that Zimbabwe would
withdraw from the events so as not to
force a stand-off in the likely
scenario that the British government refused
him and his players entry to
the country. At the time, it was hailed as a
breakthrough which would allow
the two events to proceed without the threat
of a Zimbabwe ban overshadowing
them. However, Cricinfo has learned that the
ZC board failed to give
Chingoka its backing, and after several meetings he
has been instructed to
go back to the ICC to clarify a number of issues.
Chingoka will travel to
Dubai with Tavengwa Mukuhlani, ZC's vice chairman,
and Wilson Manase. It is
expected he will meet Morgan as well as Sharad
Pawar, the vice-president,
and Haroon Lorgat, the ICC's chief executive. If
the ZC contingent fails to
get answers to appease their own board then the
whole issue of Zimbabwe
visiting England in 2009 is likely to resurface.
Since the ICC meeting
Chingoka has been added to the European Union list of
Zimbabweans banned
from entering the EU because of their links to the Mugabe
regime.