author/source:from a reader<
ZWnews :Tue 11-Dec-2001
‘Please’ I said to my diplomat, ‘please DO
something.’ But he just smiled. That’s what diplomats do
Waiting for Africa
It is rare to track down a
Western diplomat in Harare these days, but having done so, on the day that the
Zimbabwean Supreme Court legalised theft and torture, I asked him what the hell
‘you’ (those who claim that they care about Zimbabwe) ‘are waiting for? Why
don’t you do something?’ He smiled wearily: ‘We’ he said ‘ are waiting for the
Africans.’
This would seem to be true. There are many things the
international community and its various components – the EU, the Commonwealth,
the UN – could be doing about Zimbabwe but those components will not move
without Africa, and Africa will not move beyond words. Words, words, words, so
many pebbles off Mugabe’s rhino hide. Why is this? Why do the Africans do
nothing and why does everyone else wait for them?
Firstly there is race.
Mugabe’s thugs have beaten up and killed far more black Zimbabweans than white
but still Mugabe presents his election campaign as a race war, a chimurenga:
this is black against white master and black stooge, black Africans regaining
their lost land. Such arguments sicken and disgust but they are remarkably
effective. For the African leaders to be seen to side with a party that includes
whites is to expose well-fed flanks to charges of treachery.
Look at the
reaction of Mugabe’s media to a few disobliging remarks by Thabo Mbeki: ‘the
South African President gave in to British pressure to protect white and
colonial interests…’ Within hours Mbeki’s spokesman was backing down,
clarifying, retreating. We have to remember that for the likes of Namibia’s
President Nujoma ‘liberation from colonial rule’ is all there is. Take that away
from him and what is there left? Mugabe’s rhetoric seems vile and infantile to
us but it can still whip his fellows back into inaction and indecision.
The EC and the Americans (who do at least have the moral authority of a
black caucus) know that to act without the Africans is to provoke a further
storm of abuse from Mugabe about neo-colonialism and whites against blacks. This
may in turn make it even harder for the African countries to stand up and be
counted against Mugabe. It’s a Catch 22.
And many western countries are
none too keen themselves to be seen to be supporting whites against blacks.
‘Thank God’ an MDC supporter said to me ‘that Morgan Tsvangarai is a man of
principle. Otherwise he’d have ditched the whites a year ago and the Brits would
have had him in State House in no time.’
Secondly the African nations,
SADC, the OAU, have long claimed primacy: ‘Zimbabwe is our problem;’ they say,
‘we can sort it out.’ Some African countries (Mozambique in particular) have
shown wisdom in their bid to climb out of chaos but for the most part African
crises are resolved, if they are resolved, with Western cash and, often, the
application of Western pressure. The Zimbabwe crisis is damaging all of Africa:
let Africa resolve it. Such an argument trips easily from the lips of African
leaders and, of course, they can protest about western arrogance and
neo-colonialism if they are gainsaid. Throughout the last, dreadful, twenty
months there has always been an African leader somewhere saying: ‘let me have a
go – I know the pressure points’ and some western representative saying ‘thank
you so very much, we would be grateful.’
But, thirdly, these leaders do
not dare to go beyond words. In September they sat and watched while Mugabe’s
people vocally dismembered him and his rotten government before their eyes. Even
that was, for them, a leap into the unknown. To go beyond that, to go beyond the
cosy quiver of words such as ‘pressure’ and ‘influence’ and ‘committee’ and
‘delegation’ is unthinkable. Mugabe is one of them, his problems are often their
own little difficulties with human rights and corruption and the legal system
writ large, his media machine is waiting to stab and hack at them. In Africa’s
shifting sands of loyalties and friendships there is always the danger of
isolation – of heading up the delegation and then finding yourself abandoned –
alone with a lunatic. And African leaders are frightened of Mugabe. The best
policy is to wag fingers and hope that, sooner or later, he’ll go away.
Meanwhile Zimbabwe burns and the future of Africa smoulders alongside
it.
The cowardice and inaction of Obasanjo, Mbeki, Chissano, Chiluba,
Mogae and the rest damns not just them but their people too. They should long
since have thrown Mugabe out of SADC and the OAU, lobbied for his dismissal from
the Commonwealth, shut off his supplies, booted out his frenziedly corrupt
diplomats and sought to remove his plundering generals from the DRC. Mbeki’s
policy of gentle engagement has failed, failed, failed. It was always going to.
As he and the rest always knew it would.
The West has done little
better. By treating Zimbabwe as a special case, as a kid gloves job, they have
pandered to corruption and cronyism and, by so doing, revealed themselves as the
racists they are: ‘These are Africans’ is the sub –text: ‘we have to be
especially nice to them’. It is not a philosophy one sees applied to Serbs or to
the wrong kind of Afghan. The EC and the Americans should have passed targeted
sanctions, taken a firm line on the elections and then sketched out their
contribution to Zimbabwe post-Mugabe long, long ago. Instead they have made a
fundamental miscalculation and subsidised African inactivity. By breaking the
rules to serve Africa they do Africa a terrible injustice. Words have achieved
nothing. Any action by any state on Zimbabwe is better than nothing. It is not
as if things here could get any worse.
As for the British? I can no
longer bring myself to write about the British.
‘Please’ I said to my
diplomat, ‘please DO something.’ But he just smiled. That’s what diplomats
do.
MSNBC
U.S. warns Zimbabwe, Mugabe to start campaign
VICTORIA
FALLS, Zimbabwe, Dec. 12 — Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's
government
should ensure conditions are in place for fair elections next
year or risk
U.S. sanctions aimed at the ruling elite, a U.S. official said
on
Wednesday.
Mugabe, who faces his strongest political opposition after
21 years
of power, said on Tuesday a presidential vote would be held in March
next
year.
Critics say Mugabe has chosen a biased state body to
run the
elections, barred millions abroad from voting, and allowed his
militant
supporters to run a violent campaign against the opposition for over
a year.
U.S. secretary of state for African affairs Walter Kansteiner
said on
Wednesday that there was still time to ensure a free and fair vote
in
Zimbabwe, but ''time is running out.''
''We have to see some
action in the next few weeks aimed at
normalising the electoral process,''
Kansteiner told reporters in South
Africa after visiting Zimbabwe on
Tuesday.
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives endorsed the
Zimbabwe
Democracy and Economic Recovery Bill -- a stick-and-carrot approach
to press
Mugabe to ensure free elections and establish land ownership
protections.
The bill provides incentives for Zimbabwe to return to
the rule of
law -- including debt relief, support for new international loans
and
financial and technical support.
But Kansteiner said: ''If the
electoral process is deemed not free
and unfair, restrictions could be
imposed on the government elite.''
These actions could include travel
and investment sanctions against
Mugabe, his family and associates.
Kansteiner said Washington had ''information and intelligence'' on
assets
owned abroad by Zimbabwe's ruling elite.
He said free elections would
involve access for the local and foreign
media, a more objective Electoral
Commission, and an end to intimidation and
state-sponsored
violence.
LAND ISSUE THEME OF MUGABE CAMPAIGN
Mugabe, 77, will
make his land appropriation drive a major theme when
he launches his campaign
at a three-day party conference in Victoria Falls
starting on Thursday,
officials said on Wednesday.
Nathan Shamuyarira, chief spokesman for
the ruling ZANU-PF party,
said Mugabe would seek to drum up support for his
controversial bid to seize
white-owned farms for black resettlement -- a key
plank of the party's
campaign.
''The president will launch a
vigorous campaign around our
unshakeable commitment on the land issue, our
efforts to revive an economy
being sabotaged by our enemies, our
determination to defend the interests of
the majority and our record as
gallant liberation fighters,'' Shamuyarira
said.
Mugabe, who has
led Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980,
will square off against
his main challenger, Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of
the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC), in what is expected to be a
bruising contest.
''Although the outcome of the election is uncertain there is at least
one
thing we are sure about, that Mugabe will give this election all he has
left
in terms of energy, language and strategy,'' said political analyst
Emmanuel
Magade.
Analysts say Mugabe's chances of re-election have slipped as
the
country struggles with a battered economy blamed on government
mismanagement
and the land crisis.
Mugabe, whose policies have been
criticised by Western nations, said
on Tuesday he would allow international
observers to monitor the March
polls.
But the MDC said observers
alone would not ensure a free and fair
vote, saying Mugabe had chosen a
biased state body to run the elections,
barred millions abroad from voting,
and run a violent campaign against the
opposition for over a year.
Militant ZANU-PF supporters, led by some of the country's
independence war
veterans, have continued to occupy white-owned farms
targeted for seizure by
Mugabe's government. Opposition supporters have been
driven from the
countryside, analysts say.
Mugabe, who led a seven-year guerrilla war
for independence in the
1970s, has vowed that the MDC will never be allowed
to take power because it
is a front for minority whites.
The MDC
nearly defeated ZANU-PF in parliamentary elections last year
despite a
violent campaign in which 31 people, mostly opposition
supporters,
died.
New York Times
December 12, 2001
U.S. Warns Zimbabwe That Next
Year's Election Must Be Fair
By HENRI E. CAUVIN
JOHANNESBURG,
Dec. 11 — A senior Bush administration official met today
with Zimbabwe's
ministers of finance and foreign affairs and warned them
that time was
running out to create an environment for fair national
elections next
year.
The mission, led by Walter H. Kansteiner, assistant secretary of
state for
African affairs, followed an overwhelming vote in the House
of
Representatives last week for a bill that would offer Zimbabwe
economic
incentives if it eased its recent authoritarian moves, but would
urge
President Bush to punish Zimbabwe if it failed to act.
Zimbabwe's
president, Robert Mugabe, who has held office since blacks won
majority rule
in 1980, announced today that national elections would take
place in March.
At 77, he is running again for office, and faces a major
challenge from the
Movement for Democratic Change.
In recent months, his government has
cracked down on opposition supporters
and on the independent news media. The
crackdown and Zimbabwe's efforts to
limit international monitoring of the
elections have alarmed many countries.
Mr. Kansteiner said the
credibility of the elections was a principal topic
of the meetings
today.
"Our message was, `You still have time to make this right,' " Mr.
Kansteiner
said by telephone. "If you have a free and fair electoral process,
the
election can reflect the will of the people and the voice of the
Zimbabwean
people will be heard."
The response from Finance Minister
Simba Makoni and Foreign Affairs Minister
Stan Mudenge was, Mr. Kansteiner
said, ambiguous. "It was clear they wanted
to show some flexibility," he
said, "but at the same time, clearly they are
worried about their political
future."
News reports from Harare said President Mugabe had announced
that he would
allow election observers from the Organization of African
Unity, and even
from the Commonwealth, but that only Africans would be
accepted.
Calls seeking further comment from Jonathan Moyo, the minister
of
information, were not answered.
Leaders from the Southern African
Development Community also concluded
meetings today with Mr. Mugabe.
Neighboring countries have become
increasingly frustrated by Zimbabwe's
mounting economic and political
problems, and the development meetings today
and Monday were an attempt to
exert pressure.
But the members of the
development community have opposed sanctions, a step
the European Union is
considering. Southern African nations fear that
punitive steps could unsettle
the region further.
Inflation in Zimbabwe is soaring, AIDS infection and
unemployment are high
and the country, once one of Africa's most
self-sufficient, will need food
aid for hundreds of thousands of people in
coming months.
Still, Mr. Kansteiner said he was encouraged by signals
from regional
capitals in recent weeks. President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa
and others
have increased their criticism of the Mugabe government,
reflecting "a worry
about the way this country is headed," he
said.
Mr. Kansteiner said he made little headway on the question of
foreign new
media, which the two ministers said have been unfair to Zimbabwe.
Many
international news organizations have been denied entry to Zimbabwe.
"I
suggested that if you allowed the international press to come to
Zimbabwe,
you might get more coverage and better coverage," he said.
News24
Mugabe militants force mayor-elect from office
Harare -
More than 50 pro-government militants on Wednesday stormed
municipal offices
in the Zimbabwean town of Chegutu and forced out the
mayor-elect, who is a
member of the opposition MDC, a party spokesperson
said.
The militants
were singing and chanting slogans supporting the ruling party,
and demanded
that mayor-elect Francis Blessing Dhlakama leave the office,
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) spokesperson Learnmore Jongwe said.
Dhlakama
decided to comply with their demands to avoid any violence, Jongwe
said.
Police were present, but did not intervene, he added.
"This seems to be
the continuation of Zanu-PF's violent campaign strategy,"
Jongwe said, adding
that Dhlakama's house was attacked on the first day of
polling on Saturday by
militants armed with stones and axes.
Dhlakama won the weekend election
with 2 900 ballots to 2 452 for Stanley
Majiri of the ruling
Zanu-PF.
Although Chegutu is a relatively small town, about 100
kilometres west of
Harare, it is only about 40km away from Mugabe's childhood
home in the
Zvimba area.
Zanu-PF has previously enjoyed strong support
in that region.
The MDC victory comes ahead of presidential elections set
for March, when
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is expected to face his
toughest-ever
challenge from MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. - Sapa-AFP
News24
Unrest a 'prelude to Zim poll'
Harare - Violence that
rocked the city of Bulawayo in southeastern Zimbabwe
after the murder of a
war veteran there is a harbinger of things to come in
the campaign for next
year's presidential elections, the opposition has
warned.
Speaking in
Harare after the offices of his opposition party, the Movement
for Democratic
Change (MDC), were firebombed on Friday, the party's leader
Morgan Tsvangirai
warned that the violence had "everything to do with the
presidential
election".
Around Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city, buildings and
cars were
burnt out, opposition activists and backers of the government of
President
Robert Mugabe clashed, passers-by were attacked and houses
ransacked when a
group of war veterans went on the rampage on
Friday.
The unrest in Bulawayo and in the northern city of Kadoma
reminded some
Zimbabweans of the violence that rocked the country in the
legislative
elections in June last year.
Violence sparked by
murder of war vet
The violence was sparked by the murder of war veteran
leader Cain Nkala,
whose decomposing body was found on Tuesday near
Bulawayo.
Forty-one-year-old Nkala had been abducted eight days earlier
by armed men
from his home in Magwegwe, near Bulawayo, an MDC stronghold.
Police said he
had been strangled with one of his shoelaces.
No sooner
had his body been found than the government stepped into action
and ordered
police swoops on the MDC. Fifteen party members were arrested,
including one
MP.
While calling for Zimbabweans to remain calm after Friday's
violence,
Interior Minister John Nkomo said that he had "firm indications"
that proved
the "direct and indirect" involvement of MDC members and leaders
in Nkala's
murder.
The MDC, for its part, categorically denied any
involvement in Nkala's
murder, saying that two of the suspects in police
custody who admitted to
having taken part in the abduction and murder of
Nkala only confessed under
torture.
Police 'protecting
perpetrators'
The secretary general of the MDC, Welshman Ncube, has
accused police of
"protecting" the real perpetrators of the
crime.
"What kind of justice is that?" asked Tsvangirai, who will be
Mugabe's main
rival in the presidential elections. The MDC leader added that
Nkala's death
was just an excuse used by the government to "execute" his
party before the
elections, set to be held in April next year at the
latest.
Calling Nkala's death "politically exploited" in the run-up to
the
presidential elections, Tsvangirai said, "We have to face reality:
there
will be no fair and free elections."
The fact that Mugabe's
government has so far barred any foreign observers
from monitoring the
elections and is set to change Zimbabwe's electoral law
to prevent most
Zimbabwean expatriates from voting appears to prove
Tsvangirai's
point.
The government is taking steps now to allow it to run its
presidential
campaign outside of the international spotlight and minimise, if
not
eliminate, the risk of Mugabe being defeated.
The MDC, meanwhile,
wants to avoid a bloodbath and has called on its
activists to show restraint.
MDC members are often reportedly assaulted,
abducted and even tortured by
backers of Mugabe's government.
The question after the unrest in Kadoma
and Bulawayo, where the MDC's
offices were firebombed, is whether Tsvangirai
will be able to rein in his
troops.
Friday's incidents seem to be just
the first flickerings of what is to come
in the presidential campaign, which
independent analysts said will be very
violent.
In the campaign for
Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections in June 2000, 30
people were killed, most
of them members of the opposition. - Sapa-AFP
WOZA
December 12, 2001
US warns that Zimbabwe is headed for
disaster
from IPS
The US Assistant Secretary of State for African
Affairs, Walter Kansteiner,
Tuesday said his government was worried that
Zimbabwe, a once strong
country, is headed for disaster.
Worried about
the breakdown in the rule of law, the US last week proposed a
bill that will
see punitive measures imposed against Zimbabwe's leadership
if it does not
end months of political violence.
But Kansteiner, who had hoped to meet
president Robert Mugabe during his
visit here, failed to meet
him.
Asked if he was disappointed that he had failed to meet president
Mugabe,
the US official could only say they had made a request to meet him if
he was
available.
The US official however met with Zimbabwe's foreign
Affairs minister, the
finance minister and the Speaker of Parliament.
Kansteiner described the
discussions as ''good, free and frank.''
But
addressing a press conference later in the city, Kansteiner said
his
government is deeply worried about the ongoing political violence and
human
rights abuses in Zimbabwe.
''Zimbabwe is a tremendously
important country in Africa and in the southern
Africa region in
particular,'' said Kansteiner.
''It (Zimbabwe) has a great tradition of
being a strong and well managed
country. It's a country that has tremendous
economic potential, wonderful
natural resources and a population base that is
literate, smart and
hardworking,'' noted Kainsteiner.
''Unfortunately,
today the rights and freedoms of Zimbabweans are being
threatened and seeing
the nation's laws not being applied. Journalists are
being arbitrarily
arrested and we have seen opposition candidates
experiencing the same,'' said
Kansteiner.
It is this breakdown in the rule of law, that Kansteiner said
had brought
great concern not just to the US ''but to the international
community who in
the last week have realised that Zimbabwe does not seem to
headed on the
right path.''
Although the Zimbabwean government has
rebuked the threat of sanctions,
Kansteiner noted that there was still time
for the government to avoid the
harmful effects of the Zimbabwe Democracy
Bill.
Kansteiner cited the holding of free and fair elections and halting
of
government supported political violence as some of the preconditions
for
Mugabe's government to qualify for debt relief and additional
funding.
Kansteiner said they would use the benchmark of the
regional
inter-parliamentary SADC-Parliamentary Forum to determine whether
next
year's presidential elections will be free and fair.
President
Mugabe on Tuesday announced that elections will be held in March
but says the
date will be announced in due course.
Political analysts say Mugabe, in
power since independence in 1980, is
facing his strongest threat
yet.
The USAID agency is supporting the SADC Parliamentary Forum to
develop
regional electoral standards and norms that would be used as
yardsticks in
assessing elections.
Suggested standards include having
an independent Electoral Commission,
equal access to public media and the
impartiality of government security
forces throughout the period of
elections.
But at present, all these standards, are not being met by
president Mugabe's
government.
Southern Africa Foreign Affairs
ministers who are meeting here have said
they do not support sanctions on
Zimbabwe as this will have a ripple effect
on the region.
But they
too, stressed that they were greatly worried about the political
situation in
Zimbabwe which they fear could become explosive if not
handled
carefully.
For the past two years, Zimbabwe has endured direct
and indirect economic
sanctions after it fell out with the international
world over differences in
upholding the rule of law and Zimbabwe's costly
decision to send thousands
of troops to the DRC.
But the US insists
the Zimbabwe Democracy Bill is not a sanctions bill.
''The bill has a good
many provisions that in fact bode very well for
Zimbabwe in fact if the rule
of law is restored and there is an electoral
process that is free and fair.
There is tremendous benefits waiting for
Zimbabwe in terms of serious
consideration of debt relief and additional
funding in a number of areas,''
said Kansteiner.
''It does have potential restrictions that will be
imposed upon government
elites only. The people of Zimbabwe will not be
affected by those
restrictions and in that sense it is not a sanctions bill
and we are glad
its not,'' he added.
Though SADC countries have said
they do not support sanctions against,
Zimbabwe Monday cautioned them against
supporting calls for sanctions.
''There can be no sanctions smart enough
to affect Zimbabweans alone. Our
destinies are intertwined,'' Stan Mudenge,
Zimbabwe's foreign ministers said
Monday.
''We are being opposed for
not accepting the mini-dosages of justice being
offered our people, when in
fact doing so would perpetuate the deprivation
of our people,'' added
Mudenge.
Lillian Patel, the Malawian foreign minister and head of the
SADC team, said
the regional economic bloc was greatly worried about the
situation in
Zimbabwe.
''We are here as your friends because we are
greatly concerned. We do not
support sanctions.''
The Age Melbourne
African ministers back Mugabe after talks on Zimbabwe
crisis
HARARE, Dec 12 AFP|Published: Wednesday December 12, 7:36
PM
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe won a pat on the back today
from visiting
African ministers when they ended talks by backing his land
reforms and
opposing potential sanctions imposed by the
West.
Ministers in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
"welcomed the
legislative and other mechanisms the government was putting in
place to
guard against violence and to ensure transparency" ahead of March
elections.
The embattled Mugabe, who has run Zimbabwe since independence
in 1980 and
has come under increasing fire for stifling dissent, yesterday
announced
that a presidential poll will be held in March next year but gave
no precise
date.
SADC ministers concluded two days of talks with a
statement in which they
also "expressed their concern at the distorted and
negative perceptions of
Zimbabwe projected by the international and regional
media".
They reiterated their opposition to efforts to impose sanctions
on Zimbabwe
for alleged rights abuses.
The communique, issued early
today, stood in sharp contrast to recent
statements from European, South
African and US officials, who have warned of
a breakdown of law in Zimbabwe.
The US House of Representatives had endorsed
a bill proposing
sanctions.
Mugabe's government has proposed legislation that would ban
foreign
journalists and require Zimbabwean journalists to adhere to a strict
code of
conduct.
Another "anti-terrorism" bill, which threatens the
death penalty for anyone
convicted of acts of "insurgency, banditry, sabotage
and terrorism," is
widely perceived as a tool to crack down on the opposition
party.
Speaking to state media yesterday, Malawi's Foreign Minister
Lilian Patel
said that SADC supports Mugabe's plans to seize mainly
white-owned
commercial farmland to benefit the black majority -- a program
which has
been wracked by violence for almost two years.
"We are not
being influenced by the West," Patel said. "We have come here as
SADC, not
under some Western forces to demonise Zimbabwe."
The two-day talks came
three months after a heads of state summit in Harare,
where Mugabe had
assured his counterparts that he would rein in the
violence.
This
week's follow-up meeting was attended by ministers from Angola,
Botswana,
Malawi, Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Daily News
FEATURE Wednesday 12 , December
Muddling through’
not very good for success
12/12/01 9:15:35 AM (GMT
+2)
‘THE urban jungle teems with as many morality folk tales as
the communal
areas, with their Paivapo . . . dzepfunde tales of the baboon
and the hare.
Here are two unforgettable ones from the townships:
Benson arrived at the
offices of the long-distance haulage company for which
he worked one early
morning, quite excited at the prospect of once again
driving his beloved
18-wheeler along the long and winding road to Lusaka. He
had bade his wife
an explosive farewell, punctuated with hugs and kisses,
back at their three
bedroom house in New Location.
“Hurry back,
darling,” she cooed as he prepared for the long bicycle ride to
the heavy
industrial sites. No longer could he afford the bus fare. Now, in
the office
of the manager, he stands stunned. The trip is off because his
giant truck,
with which he had built up an almost human relationship, is
sick. They have
to give it a complete overhaul, something as crucial as a
heart transplant.
But because there is no foreign currency for the spares,
they have to wait.
He walks out of there, speechless with grief. Outside, he
stands looking at
the shiny grille of the huge, sick monster and can almost
see the tears
dripping down the huge headlights. “I am so sorry,” it seems
to say, “we
can’t make that trip today.”
Benson cycles back home in distress. But
remembering his wife and the
surprise he would give her, he brightens up. His
legs start pumping away
faster in glorious anticipation of his wife’s
welcome. Which is where the
story gets really depressing. She is in bed with
her lover when he bursts
into their bedroom, expecting her to be deep in the
arms of Morpheus, not
this scoundrel who dashes out of there like a bat out
of hell.
The story ends with her suicide near the Mukuvisi river because
for the next
seven days he does not speak of the incident, does not
interrogate her, does
not touch her and continues as if nothing had happened.
The moral of the
story? Muddling through life can lead to disaster. But my
favourite is the
son who lives with his parents in Highfield and is a petty
criminal,
waylaying drunken old men near a wooded area of the suburb and
robbing them
of anything, including their underclothes.
He belongs to
this small-time gang of unemployed youth, which smokes mbanje
and drinks all
kinds of alcohol, including kachasu and skokiaan, because
their families have
all fallen on hard times. Who has not fallen on hard
times? The war veterans
and their mentors. On this night, their victim has
to be someone with the
potential to put them on Easy Street for life.
They have to study him
closely before they strike, to ensure that when they
do pounce, it is all
worth the energy and the mental anguish - they have
consciences too, as we
all have, except with the drugs and the alcohol,
their consciences tend to
take long holidays. Such a man does come along and
they coldly disable him,
except that because he looks so prosperous they
ensure he will never be able
to identify them.
The young man’s reward, apart from the cash, is the
brand-new sports jacket
the man was wearing, still smelling as if it had just
come off the shelf in
one of those big upmarket fashion shops where a suit
costs enough to build a
small classroom block in Binga.
In the small hours
of the morning, feeling rather good about his night’s
work, the young man
turns up at their home. He gives some of the money to
his mother, who knows
his profession, but is too ashamed to scold him. They
need the money. She
accepts the money, before looking closely at his sports
jacket. “That jacket
looks familiar,” she says, her voice choking with
emotion.
“Your father
received his pension two days ago and bought a similar jacket.
You would
not have seen him, as you are always busy with . . .” Then they
look at each
other in horror. She pursues him all over Highfield, both of
them wailing in
horror at the top of their voices. Absently, the boy wonders
why he didn’t
take the underwear. Eventually, not being a so-called war
veteran, he is
hauled to court, together with his accomplices, but the trial
has a special
poignancy for him . . . patricide. The moral of the story?
Muddling
through life can be disastrous. “Muddling through” is something of
a special
talent of the government today. For instance, with Esap, they were
pledged to
reach the targets set by the IMF and the World Bank. Whatever we
may find
deplorable about their formulae (they have been called The New
Imperialists),
with their emphasis on devaluation and massive cuts in public
expenditure, if
you undertake to meet the targets in return for their
balance of payments
help, you cannot wriggle out of the commitment without
suffering the
consequences.
The government policy, as soon as they decided they didn’t
have the stomach
for the tough targets - seeing as their political religion
is steeped in
opulence - was to try and muddle through - or Do Nothing Till
You Hear Me.
Today, we are all paying the price of that non-policy. The same
non-policy
of muddling through was applied when the United States first
hinted at some
punishment for the killings and mayhem in the 2000
parliamentary election.
Some of us said it was unconscionable for the
government not to feel remorse
for what had happened. But with breathtaking
contempt and arrogance, they
didn’t evince any desire for contrition or
remorse. If the US government and
their European Union allies were so angry
about the killings and expected
Robert Mugabe to make any moves towards
fence-mending, then they could wait
until hell froze over.
If they
applied any sanctions, the government would muddle through.
Moreover, they
had their trusted Coltrane (I still hope he’s not related to
the jazz
saxophonist legend John) Chimurenga and his colleagues at that
church in
Harlem to help them persuade the US Congress not to pass the Bill.
Then they
had Andrew Young, the all-American African-American, on their
side.
This
man, a former US ambassador to the UN, has clout in the
Democratic
Party.
Of course, it really didn’t matter that it was now
the Grand Old Party (the
Republicans) in power. He made a pitch for Zimbabwe
to the House of
Representatives before they voted on the Bill: “Zimbabwe is
much like
Georgia (really - who is their Joseph Chinotimba?). The cities are
rather
sophisticated (with so much rubbish in Harare?), middle class
and
economically opposed to Mugabe’s economic policies (he has such
policies?
What about the corruption in high places?) which, I agree, should
be
modified.
Mugabe is a Christian socialist (give us a break, Mr
Young - this man boasts
of many degrees in violence) who has focused on the
distribution of the
wealth . . . Which was where I gave up on Mr Young. No
wonder the men and
women, black and white, in the House, did not believe him.
I think he too
was trying to muddle through, a disastrous mistake.
bsaidi@dailynews.co.zw
Daily News
South Africa told to pull plug on Mugabe
12/12/01
8:13:24 AM (GMT +2)
By Sandra Nyaira Political Editor
SOUTH
Africa must pull the economic plug on Zimbabwe to push its government
out of
power and avoid war, Moeletsi Mbeki said this week.
Speaking on
the eve of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc)
Ministers’
meeting on Zimbabwe’s land crisis which opened in Harare on
Monday, President
Thabo Mbeki’s younger brother said Sadc was too weak to
deal with an errant
President Mugabe. But South Africa had enough “muscle”
to stand up to
Zimbabwe, he said. The younger Mbeki, like his brother,
Thabo, spent years in
exile during the struggle against apartheid. For some
years, during the
1980s, he worked as a journalist in Harare, for the
government’s newspaper
conglomerate, Zimbabwe Newspapers.
Excerpts of his interview with the
South African Broadcasting Corporation
(SABC)’s Newsmaker programme were made
available to The Daily News. Mbeki,
speaking as deputy chairperson of the
South African Institute of
International Affairs, said the time had come for
more drastic measures
against Harare to defuse the looming danger that could
engulf southern
African.
One way was for South Africa to pull the
economic plug on Zimbabwe, he said.
The South African government had a long
history of doing nothing in the face
of provocation by the Zanu PF
government.
“South Africa is the one country that is going to be hurt the
most by the
Zimbabwe crisis. So, it is the country that has to take most of
the action,”
said Mbeki. He cited as one example the government’s failure to
pull the
plug on Zimbabwe over “the whole issue of the electricity bill
payment”. The
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority has for a long time owed
South Africa’
s power utility, Eskom, billions of dollars, unpaid because of
the foreign
currency crisis.
“The overall perception on the Zimbabwean
side is that the South African
government is weak - from 1996 to now this has
been the perception in the
mind of Zimbabweans.” Zimbabwe is South Africa’s
largest trading partner.
Stan Mudenge, the Foreign Affairs Minister,
yesterday warned South Africa at
the Sadc meeting in Harare meeting it too
would suffer if sanctions were
imposed on Zimbabwe. Mudenge said: “There can
be no sanctions smart enough
to affect Zimbabweans alone. Our destinies are
intertwined.”
But Mbeki told the SABC: “We can stop the Zimbabwean
economy tomorrow if we
wanted to. We have the muscle.” Asked if this would be
in South Africa’s
best interests, he said: “I expect it will, because if the
Zimbabwean
government is not able to deliver a modicum of welfare to its
population,
then there is only one way of staying in government, and that’s
through
force.” On the prospects of a free and fair Presidential election
next year,
Mbeki said:
“Elections will definitely not be free and fair. I
understand the Libyans
have moved elements of their military there, and the
Angolans are sending
small arms to Zimbabwe to arm the militias that Zanu PF
is training. “It
looks like there is preparation for a major onslaught
against the
population, and against the supporters of the opposition
movement. “So
Zimbabwe could, in fact, become another battlefield like the
Democratic
Republic of Congo, with armies from all over the place slogging it
out.
Because if there’s a firefight in Zimbabwe, you can’t expect Rwanda and
the
countries that are opposed to Zimbabwe not to take advantage of
that
situation.”
Asked his opinion on what would happen if Mugabe won
next year’s election,
he said in his view the situation would get “worse and
worse”. “The only way
he can win is if the elections are not free and fair,
and all indications
are that they will not be. I think the United States and
the European Union
will impose sanctions, South Africa will have to do
something or the
situation in Zimbabwe will deteriorate,” he
said.
Daily News
UN lambasts State media
12/12/01 8:01:53 AM (GMT
+2)
From Our Correspondent in Mutare
A UNITED
Nations-commissioned report has hit out at Zimbabwe’s State-run
media for
being overly partisan as the country braces itself for next year’s
crucial
Presidential poll.
The 2000 Zimbabwe Human Development Report,
commissioned by the United
Nations Development Programme, accuses the
government-controlled media of
reflecting mainly one-sided political views.
“Although there is no formal
censorship in the media, it is common knowledge
that the diversity of views
which is reflected in the publicly-owned media is
much narrower than should
be the case,” says the report. “The challenge is
for the publicly-owned
media to reflect the diverse perspectives represented
by the different
shades of political opinion.” The 256-page document was
prepared by the
University of Zimbabwe’s Institute of Development Studies and
the Poverty
Reduction Forum, a non-governmental agency.
It was
unveiled at a workshop on good governance in Mutare on 7 December,
jointly
hosted by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social
Services. The
report says charges of political partisanship are often
exchanged during
occasions such as election campaigns when opposition
parties complain of
inequitable access to the media. “This is the case with
radio and television,
and the State-controlled newspapers,” says the report.
It observes that
the growth of a vibrant independent media has partly
redressed this weakness
and partisanship in the publicly-owned media. But,
the independent media too
was criticised for reflecting some degree of
“partisan tendencies”. The
report urges the State and the independent media
to mend their “cool”
relations. “The present atmosphere of mutual suspicion,
recrimination and
sourness should change,” it says.
However, the media has a responsibility
to ensure accurate and balanced
reporting rather than sensational and
partisan reporting. “There is still
some ground to cover before it can be
conclusively stated that there is
uninhibited freedom of expression in
Zimbabwe.”
Daily News - Feature
Could this be Mugabe’s last
congress?
12/12/01 9:09:24 AM (GMT +2)
By Sandra Nyaira
Political Editor
ZANU PF goes into camp this week in Victoria Falls to
discuss its flagging
fortunes and come up with ways through which to revive
the 38-year-old party
whose leaders were once regarded as the heroes of the
struggle for
independence.
Unfortunately, for many restive
Zimbabweans, the heroes have lost their
lustre and in many households are now
largely considered a liability rather
than an asset. The cost of living
continues to rise with living conditions
plummeting. As the conference dates
get closer, speculation is growing over
President Mugabe’s health. The ageing
leader is under pressure following
public censure - three times - against him
by South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki,
the passing of the Zimbabwe Democracy and
Economic Recovery Bill, looming
sanctions from the United States and the
European Union (EU).
The President must also be having sleepless nights
over the increasing
possibility of Morgan Tsvangirai eclipsing him in next
year’s election. The
MDC is basking in the delivery of a Christmas present
from Francis Dhlakama,
who won the Chegutu mayoral poll on the party’s
ticket. Mugabe’s party has
so far lost all the mayoral elections held this
year in Masvingo and
Bulawayo. Victory is also certain for the MDC in the
Harare mayoral
election, which the High Court said should be held by 11
February next
year - all these are issues set for debate at the
congress.
It seems Zanu PF has run out of steam and would meet against this
background
to come up with fresh ideas of rejuvenation. Sources in the party
say
77-year-old Mugabe’s health has off late been of major concern
with
dissenting voices from within saying it is high time he relinquished
power
to those still energetic.
Sources say Mugabe consulted an
eye-specialist during a visit to Spain last
week while doctors from France
had to be flown to treat him for unspecified
ailments. There has also been
speculation that Mugabe’s trip to Spain may
have been an attempt to heal a
rift with the EU. The rift widened after he
stormed out of a meeting with
senior EU officials and politicians in Harare
recently. The Zanu PF
conference comes against a backdrop of international
and local pressure
piling up against party’s ageing leadership, especially
Mugabe.
The
people want Mugabe, at the helm of Zimbabwe for 21 years now, to take a
cue
from his counterparts across the region who have either relinquished
power or
have announced their intention to do so. Namibia’s Sam Nujoma, his
strong
ally, especially in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, has
announced
he will not seek re-election after his current term ends. Joaquim
Chissano of
Mozambique is also stepping down and Nelson Mandela of South
Africa set an
example for southern African leaders when he stepped down
after serving one
term only.
Mugabe and his Zanu PF party have recently been on the receiving
end of
unprecedented attacks, with almost all of their neighbours in the
region
excoriating them for the lawlessness caused mainly by Mugabe’s quest
to hold
onto power through the fast-track land reform programme. From the
quiet
Festus Mogae of Botswana, Chissano, Bakili Muluzi of Malawi to Mbeki,
all
have become impatient of Mugabe’s policies and have openly castigated
the
once revered leader as his policies threaten instability throughout
the
region.
The retreat in Victoria Falls will no doubt give the Zanu
PF leaders a
platform to reflect after the passing of the sanctions Bill that
will soon
see their children being deported back home from Europe and the US.
Zimbabwe
is increasingly becoming a pariah state with no friends at all.
Therefore,
the Zanu PF congress should take advantage of this meeting and
avoid once
again missing a golden opportunity to remould itself in a new
image.
Political pundits say the congress should refuse to endorse Mugabe
and come
up with another candidate for next year’s presidential election.
Political
analyst, Masipula Sithole, said: “Mugabe is a liability to Zanu PF.
I have
said this before and I will say it again. I cannot see how they are
going to
change him into an asset before the election. He is a political
banana skin
on which they are going to slip.”
A whopping $30 million
has been budgeted for the upkeep of over 10 000
delegates expected to attend
the Victoria Falls retreat. Mugabe is expected
to shake up his party’s
supreme decision making body, the politburo, at the
annual meeting.
Currently, the 55-member politburo has 22 full secretaries
and sources say
Mugabe will expand it to allow relatively junior members to
take positions on
a number of sub-committees. Mugabe hopes this will
strengthen his party’s
campaign strategy. The commissariat desk, formerly
headed by the late Border
Gezi, is expected to be revamped and broadened to
include more
people.
Eddison Zvobgo, the Masvingo South MP who has since declared he
will not
campaign for Mugabe, is expected to be drafted back into the
politburo.
“Mugabe is slowly realising the folly of listening to everything
that is
said by the Josaya Hungwe faction and their patron, Vice-President
Simon
Muzenda. These people have no political clouts at all hence the
party’s
waning star in Masvingo. This can only be addressed by bringing
Zvobgo back
into the mainstream of the party,” a senior party member
said.
Zvobgo had been relegated into Zanu PF’s political Siberia by
Mugabe,
obviously under Muzenda’s influence. Party sources said Mugabe,
despite his
age, will seek endorsement as candidate to stand against the
MDC’s Morgan
Tsvangirai in next year’s election. “The party is, however,
going to
conference divided once again because the succession issue is and
has been a
topic of major debate within party circles,” a source close to the
party
said.
“The issue that Mugabe is now a liability to the party
cannot be contested.
People are going to the congress and there is discord
over his candidature
and people are fighting to place themselves in case he
may just shock us and
announce he is quitting due to ill-health.” Sources in
the party said
questions were also being raised about some former party
stalwarts like
Dumiso Dabengwa, Webster Shamu, Zvobgo, Dzikamai Mavhaire and
others.
“Some of them have always been making comments critical about the
party and
some, like Dabengwa, have been so extra-ordinarily quiet that the
party
wants to find out where they stand to avoid going into the election
divided.
The reality is that there are so many cracks in the party at the
moment,”
the source said.
Dabengwa lost his Bulawayo South constituency to
David Coltart last year and
Mugabe did not consider him for any of the 12
Non-Constituency seats in
Parliament.
The land issue will remain Zanu
PF’s rallying point to woo a restive
electorate that appears more concerned
with a steadily declining standard of
living which has worsened with
government’s chaotic land reform programme.
The government has for the past
year gone on a crusade to crush dissenting
voices, especially in the rural
areas and commercial farming areas, that
have been identified as potential
MDC hubs.
With the EU, Commonwealth and other international organisations
saying they
will not recognise the results of next year’s presidential
election if the
government does not implement the minimum conditions for the
holding a free
and fair poll, the Zanu PF congress has a steep hill to climb
in order to
force Mugabe to adhere to acceptable terms.
Political analysts
said the congress will be another personal victory for
Mugabe if his
candidature is endorsed, but a disaster for his party and
the
country.
Daily News
Farm disorder continues: CFU tells Sadc
ministers
12/12/01 8:20:54 AM (GMT +2)
Farming
Reporter
THE Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU) says there are still
disturbances on
most farms despite government’s undertaking to stop violence
and that will
result in an acute decline in the agriculture sector production
and the
economy in general.
This was said by Doug
Taylor-Freeme, CFU acting president, at the Southern
African Development
Community foreign ministers’ meeting in Harare
yesterday. The ministers are
exploring ways of resolving the land issue in
Zimbabwe. Taylor-Freeme said:
“Since September 2001, the situation on
commercial farms has continued to
deteriorate, with ongoing incidents of
violence, intimidation, extortion and
disruption to farming activities. “In
an escalating number of cases,
commercial farms are being shut down, already
well into the agricultural
season, to make way for fast-track resettlement.
“In addition to the
estimated 20 000 farm worker families that have been
forced off through
eviction or through retrenchments brought about due to
the shutdown of
farming operations, an increasing number of commercial
farmers are being
systematically forced off their farms.” Taylor-Freeme said
recently the
Supreme Court of Zimbabwe declared that the land acquisition
programme has
been and is lawful. “In passing judgment, the Court observed
that law had
been restored to the commercial farming areas. The CFU
continues to receive
reports daily of violence, burning, looting, poaching,
crop slashing and
wholesale extortion,” he said.
“In many cases, moveable assets are being
illegally held by potential
beneficiaries as leverage to persuade landowners
to comply with their
demands. Since there is no recourse to police protection
from this type of
extortion, these farmers face an impossible situation.”
Taylor-Freeme said
as a result of the disturbances, Zimbabwe will now have to
import most
agriculture goods it has been exporting. “Soya beans, 5 percent
of which is
produced by commercial farmers, is already reduced by 60 percent.
Zimbabwe,
which over the past few years has been an exporter into the region,
will now
become an importer,” he said. “Settlers are planting small patches
of cotton
and maize under sophisticated centre pivots and in irrigation
blocks. These
crops will not be harvested in time to produce wheat. So
Zimbabwe can expect
a significant decline in wheat production.” Commercial
farmers produce 90
percent of Zimbabwe’s wheat.
Daily News - Leader Page
What terrorism is the government
fighting?
12/12/01 9:06:34 AM (GMT +2)
Over the weekend
the leader of the MDC, Morgan Tsvangirai, made a challenge
to his rival,
President Mugabe, which, with a Presidential election looming,
he and the
ruling party can ignore only at their peril.
Addressing a political rally
in Chitungwiza, Tsvangirai proposed that Zanu
PF and the MDC should sign a
non-violence pact ahead of the election.
He challenged Mugabe to join him
in urging supporters of their respective
parties to shun violence in the
interests of a free and fair Presidential
poll.
With the emergence of
the MDC and the threat it poses to his position,
Mugabe has, far from
condemning violence, tended to condone it.
But, back in 1985, Mugabe was
secure in his position, with his popularity
both undisputed and
unchallenged.
After Zanu scored a landslide electoral victory that year,
supporters of the
party went on the rampage and, in an orgy of violence,
pounced on members of
the opposition, mostly PF Zapu.
The extent of
the mayhem prompted Mugabe, then Prime Minister, to issue
a
statement.
He said politically motivated violence was most
unfortunate and certainly
out of step with Zanu PF policy. Apparently there
has been a shift in Zanu
PF policy on violence since then.
Mugabe
himself has since articulated his now notorious boast about his
degrees in
violence.
Back in 1985, Mugabe urged Zanu PF supporters not to vent their
frustration
and anger on supporters of opposition parties who dared to vote
against Zanu
PF by subjecting them to violence, but through "an all-out
programme to win
over the confidence of those who still cling to the belief
that their
parties will one day come to power".
Mugabe said that his
party's landslide victory was evidence enough that the
losers had been
rejected by the people . . . and the electorate had
expressed its
will.
Mugabe will presumably seize on the opportunity presented by this
week's
Zanu PF conference in the salutary ambience of Victoria Falls to
respond in
the national interest, to Tsvangirai's weekend challenge to
him.
We hope he will speak out again on the theme of violence, to enjoin
his
followers to respect the will of the people in any election, to accept
the
choice of the residents of Chegutu who have elected a new mayor from
outside
the ranks of Zanu PF, to facilitate the holding of a peaceful and
timely
mayoral election in Harare and, above all, to urge his supporters to
refrain
from a violent campaign ahead of the forthcoming Presidential
election.
Mugabe should desist from his now trademark arrogance and
respond positively
to Tsvangirai's positive overture over the weekend. For a
man of the
President's stature and character it will, obviously, be a bitter
pill to
swallow, but anything done or said in the interests of his country
and his
people would, at this juncture, be a step in the right
direction.
Mugabe should then proceed to rein in the purveyors and
perpetrators of
violence within the ranks of Zanu PF. In this regard, he
should bypass the
junior Minister of Information and Publicity and issue a
directive to ZBC-TV
restraining them from continued display on our television
screens of such
violent slogans as the most unfortunate "Fighting terrorism"
which now
disgraces television news broadcasts.
Anyone who seriously
believes that the government of Zimbabwe is fighting
terrorism anywhere needs
to have their head examined.
The people behind this insidious campaign
are the same officials who
complain that the independent Press and
international media have conspired
to undermine the image and discredit the
good name of Zimbabwe overseas.
What tourist or sane foreign investor
would have anything to do with a
country where the government, of its own
admission, is engaged in a
relentless campaign against terrorism?
Daily News - Leader Page
Mugabe - a test case of whether Africa will
police itself
12/12/01 9:07:44 AM (GMT +2)
By Norman
Reynolds
SOUTH Africa has learnt that things can change quickly in
international
relations and, therefore, military investment is a good
precaution.
The government of Zimbabwe needs to note this. Its huge arms
deal may need
urgent rethinking and President Mugabe has given just cause to
do so.
The first "Democratic Defence Paper, 1996", provided no
satisfactory
explanation for the nature and size of the arms deal. It saw no
discernable
foreign military threat and placed poverty reduction ahead of
military
spending.
If the state in 1996 could not define the enemy,
neither could South
Africans.
The 1998 Defence Review, "Defence in a
Democracy", contained vague options
but no clear choice upon which to act.
Parliament did not debate the matter
so as to lead to implementation or to
clear the way for legal purchases or
loans.
Without parliamentary
clearance, government then instituted the arms deal.
It did so long
before the "Affordability Study" was ready (August 1999).
That report
warned that the following were likely and high risk:
* Expenditure by other
departments would have to be cut to carry the arms
deal;
* The industrial
participation programme carried no guarantees and could
disappoint.
Government "waxed lyrical" about the programme as if, in the
face of any
enemy it justified the arms deal!
? As 75 percent of the cost is by way of
imports, South Africa is severely
exposed to foreign exchange risks.
Zimbabwe's crisis has already raised the
total cost considerably as it has
caused the rand to plummet.
?
The Economists Allied for Arms Reduction
(with eight Economic Nobel
Laureates and a ninth Nobel Peace Laureate,
Desmond Tutu, on its Board of
Trustees) has now gone to court in Cape Town to
argue that this saga of
"illegality" and of failure to adhere to good
governance makes the arms deal
illegal. It may well be that quite soon the
arms deal is in jeopardy in
court. This will be highly embarrassing for the
government.
It could lead to vast contract breaking charges, to even more
insecure
industrial participation projects and to a further rapid slide in
the rand,
making any restored arms deal cost considerably more.
Is
government ready to handle a lost court case? Or the loss of public
and
investor confidence uncertainty will cause if the legal manoeuvres
take
time?
If the court does not declare the arms deal illegal, at the
least it is
likely to be harsh about the way Cabinet ignored Parliament,
procedures and
rushed the deal ahead of the Affordability Study that it then
locked in the
drawer. Other legal cases could then follow. It may be that we
shall soon
see the South African government scrambling to overnight present
something
to the court to address the policy, procedure and programme gaps
the court
might determine exist and need to be filled.
What new
vision, what definition of the enemy, what great public or other
purposes can
it present to save face? What argument can gain it the space to
rework an
acceptable military preparedness programme at least cost in budget
terms and
optimum benefit in public confidence and in regional peace and
economic
terms?
The answer lies in two directions: military and economic.
A
new strategic sense of South Africa's diplomatic and military role
in
southern Africa is needed. The news from London is of "building
coalitions"
and "obtaining consensus" within the Commonwealth and the
Southern African
Development Community (Sadc), on a joint response to the
Zimbabwean crisis.
President Thabo Mbeki's anger at the impossibility of
a free and fair
Presidential election while people are being "beaten and
disenfranchised" is
noteworthy.
Acting to provide economic security to
African citizens under duress is the
other answer. Zimbabwe is the test case
for both. The two measures can
reinforce each other. After all, major arms
acquisitions are part and parcel
of both foreign policy and of economic and
industrial policy.
South Africa is learning that its future is linked to
progress in Africa.
Its moral and economic lead becomes imperative for
domestic success.
Good governance, democracy and sound economic policies lie
at the core of
the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NPAD). But where
is the steel
in the kid-glove? What does it say and promise to
people?
The Organisation of African Unity is gone. Colonel Muammar
Gadaffi has
hijacked the African Union.
Mugabe represents a serious
and urgent test case as to whether and how
Africa will police itself. He may
be the undoing of the NPAD, making it
stillborn. His cost to the region is
already far greater than many arms
deals.
Mugabe, who so "cleverly"
brands the opposition and journalists as
terrorists and proposes the death
sentence to silence them, may soon have
the blood of countless citizens on
his hands as likely massacres take place
in Harare or Bulawayo following
food, civic rights and civil disobedience
protests. Zimbabweans, at last it
seems, will be on the streets in their
masses.
Mugabe provides the
focus South Africa needs to reinvent the arms deal in
publicly acceptable
ways, in service to Africa. He is "Africa's terrorist,
the enemy" of good
governance and prosperity.
South Africa, with allies and international
backing, should act to bolster
Zimbabwean rights by undertaking military
exercises on its borders with the
clear intention to enter Zimbabwe if things
do not improve.
This would force a split in Zanu PF and in the army and
police. Let
confusion and killing be there, at its rotten core, not in the
physical and
economic deaths of citizens and of the region.
On the
economic front, Sadc and the international community must begin to
talk and
to deal with Zimbabweans above Mugabe's head. It must take the
lead, leapfrog
his endless nefarious game playing.
It is extremely worrying that the
United Nations still has no food programme
in place and no agreement that
Mugabe will not distribute food through State
and party agencies. A stand-off
exists as famine and massive exodus nears by
year-end.
With Zimbabwe
falling apart and the Presidential election headed for
failure, South Africa
cannot afford not to recast its military role to stand
next to Africans
against despotic rulers!
Daily News
No joy for thousands of voters
12/12/01 8:02:58 AM (GMT
+2)
Staff Reporter
Thousands of people have been turned away
at voters’ roll inspection and
registration centres throughout the country
since the exercise began on 19
November because they cannot prove that they
live in their constituencies.
The exercise, which should have ended on 9
December, has been extended to 19
December.
There were nasty
situations at some centres in Harare over the past two
weeks as officials
turned away people without proof of residence. In
Zengeza, Chitungwiza,
Cosmas Tsamwai was told by the officials to obtain a
new identity card to
reflect his second name, Muneinazvo, which appears on
the voters’
roll.
He voted in past elections without a problem. Margaret Harvey, a
married
Harare lawyer, was turned away at the inspection centre in Mt
Pleasant on
Monday and yesterday because her identity card is in her maiden
name,
Margaret Stewart. She said: “Despite having all the required documents
- my
marriage certificate, title deeds and passport - they said they will
not
register me. They told me to go and get an identity card in my
married
name.”
She said would consider a court application if all
else failed. The
government introduced new restrictions for registration two
weeks ago in a
move seen as disenfranchising millions of urban voters, who
overwhelmingly
voted for the opposition MDC in last year’s parliamentary
poll
Daily News
War vets on rampage
12/12/01 8:05:13 AM (GMT
+2)
ABOUT 50 suspected war veterans and Zanu PF supporters armed
with sticks on
Saturday night beat up revellers at Katanga bar in Highfield
and several
nightclubs in Kuwadzana after accusing them of holding MDC public
meetings.
A Kuwadzana resident, who refused to be named, said the
group, which arrived
at the scene in a big white truck, was led by a
suspected war veteran,
identified only as Moyo, who allegedly introduced
himself to the revellers
before accusing them of holding MDC meetings and
then said he would teach
them a lesson for that. The group then attacked the
patrons willy-nilly.
Kuwadzana police refused to comment.
- Staff
Reporter
US Department of State
11 December 2001
Transparency
International Rep. Reviews Zimbabwe Political Situation
(Says system favors
Mugabe as only viable national candidate)
By Charles W.
Corey
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Zimbabwe's ruling
Zimbabwe African National Union
Patriotic Front or ZANU-PF Party -- run by
President Robert Mugabe --
has dominated that country's legislative and
executive branches of
government since Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, and
operates today
as a liberation movement and not as a democratic political
party.
Dr. John Mudiwa Makumbe, a professor of political science
and
administrative studies at the University of Zimbabwe and a
widely
published expert on Zimbabwean politics, made that point in a
December
7 lecture at the Center for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS)
in Washington. Makumbe also serves as the Zimbabwe representative
for
Transparency International, a non-governmental organization
dedicated
to increasing government accountability and curbing both
international
and national corruption.
Makumbe told his audience of
area experts and diplomats that ZANU-PF
still operates under strict rules of
regimentation. "President Mugabe
is the party and the party is him," he said.
Party bosses are
permitted to operate only in their own regions or districts,
and for
that reason, Makumbe said, it is Mugabe who, by intent, emerges as
the
nation's only national leader.
"None of [the regional party]
leaders is really free to address a
political rally outside their
constituency" or district, he said,
because the system serves to nationally
promote only President and
Party Leader Mugabe. Makumbe termed such a system
a "serious drawback"
for ZANU-PF because although it promotes Mugabe, it
"makes succession
very difficult" in the long term.
Unfortunately,
according to Makumbe, Mugabe "essentially and
shamelessly sees himself" and
not the ZANU-PF party as being capable
of fulfilling a broad array of tasks,
such as returning seized land to
the people.
Makumbe said that such an
attitude by Mugabe, emphasizing his personal
role in government, represents
the "height of arrogance" and suggests
he thinks, "As long as I am alive I
will be president."
Looking ahead to the nation's next presidential
election, Makumbe
speculated that no one in ZANU-PF besides Mugabe would be
able to win
in 2002 because, currently, "Mugabe stands head and shoulders
above
all of his colleagues" and those as well in the principal
opposition
party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Makumbe
termed the MDC an omnibus party, uniting a wide and diverse
coalition that
ranges from farm workers to engineers to academics. The
group was formed in
December 1999, he said, to embrace change and
allow people to voice their
dislike for ZANU-PF.
Taking questions from the audience, Makumbe was
asked about the very
controversial land seizure issue. He said that issue is
the "primary
card" Mugabe is playing for the 2002 election, and he noted that
the
MDC has also issued a policy document on the subject. Sadly, he
said,
the MDC policy paper -- which stresses that "there will be no
going
back to the original landowning system" -- is little known beyond
the
party faithful.
The MDC, according to Makumbe, agrees that "there
is a legitimate need
for the land to be redistributed," but cautions that
such
redistribution must be done in a "rational way, within the law ...
and
in a transparent manner."
Asked if Mugabe might impose martial law
rather than risk holding an
election he might lose, Makumbe speculated that
Mugabe's choice would
be to hold the election. "To declare a state of
emergency and say
there is no election is not his style. It grinds against
his ego -- he
has a huge, oversized ego. ... He wants the election. He wants
to win
it. He wants to run around the world and say, 'I am a
democratically
elected president.'"
Even though he was the only
candidate for president in 1996 following
the withdrawal of his competitors,
Makumbe said, Mugabe still insisted
on holding the election. "So I don't
think there will be a
postponement," Makumbe speculated. "In fact, the
legislation we are
seeing coming out of Harare indicates there will be
elections -- and
most likely right on time."
Asked about Libyan leader
Muammar Qadhafi's interest in Zimbabwe,
Makumbe said Qadhafi "does not like
the way he is treated in the Arab
League" and thus sometimes "toys" with
sub-Saharan Africa. Although
the leader has some interest in acquiring land
in Zimbabwe and in
supplying the country with oil, Makumbe said, "at the end
of the day,
it is really a meaningless relationship."
Commenting on
the recently passed "Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic
Recovery Act of 2001,"
Makumbe said it has "meaningful teeth,"
providing reasonable guidelines for
U.S. engagement with Zimbabwe.
(The law expresses the United States' interest
in assisting the
Zimbabwean people with economic development, and it provides
funding
for such efforts, but only when the climate is right -- that is,
when
the rule of law has been established and when free and fair
elections
are possible.)
On corruption, Makumbe said, "We have done
what we can at Transparency
International to raise the people's awareness of
corruption" and make
it an election issue.
"What you do with corrupt
leaders is still a very big problem for most
African countries," he readily
acknowledged. "We expose corruption. It
is published in the media, but there
are no mechanisms for bringing
the corrupt leaders to justice. ... In the
case of Zimbabwe, the
president's own family and several ministers are named
in corruption
cases, and there has not been any
punishment."
Commenting on the accountability of leaders, Makumbe
charged:
"President Mugabe has committed crimes against humanity. If they
did
it to Slobodan Milosevic [arrested him and brought him to justice
at
The Hague], why can't they do it to Mugabe?" he asked
rhetorically.
"We have to start creating a culture where leaders are
accountable to
their people," he stressed, while dispelling any idea of an
amnesty
offer.
"This idea of toying with an amnesty ... -- if he
leaves quietly --
must never be entertained. ... People must account for
their actions,
even when they are dead! We need to make them pay for how they
ran the
affairs of the nation, and the international community must read
the
riot act to President Mugabe."
Actions that could be taken against
leaders like Mugabe, he said,
include imposing selective or "smart
sanctions," freezing personal
assets, suspending attendance at all
international summits, and
scaling down diplomatic relations.
Asked
about Zimbabwe's participation in the conflict in the Democratic
Republic of
Congo (DRC), Makumbe said, "The DRC conflict is strongly
opposed in Zimbabwe.
We have seen a number of soldiers come home in
body bags."
He said
casualty figures have been "very hard to obtain," but
acknowledged that at
the present time, the majority of Zimbabwe's
soldiers are dying in the Congo
from malaria rather than bullets. He
added, however, that there has been "a
huge exploitation of resources"
with "huge business contracts" being signed
between Zimbabwe's defense
industries and the DRC government. The contracts
are "very lucrative,"
he said, for select individuals and ZANU-PF-owned
companies, which
never publish any publicly audited statements.
(The
Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information
Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
Telegraph
Squeeze Mugabe, say Tories
By Andy McSmith, Chief Political
Correspondent
(Filed: 12/12/2001)
BRITAIN should consider
sanctions against Zimbabwe if President Robert
Mugabe rigs the impending
presidential election to retain power, say the
Conservatives.
Michael
Ancram, the shadow foreign secretary, in a letter to The Daily
Telegraph
today, accuses Tony Blair's government of ducking difficult
decisions posed
by the crisis in Zimbabwe.
A victory for Morgan Tsvangirai, candidate of
the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change would bring the country back
into "the community of
civilised nations", he writes. "It is not overstating
the case to describe
next year's elections as make or break."
Under
the MDC, Zimbabweans would enjoy prosperity and justice. "If,
by
gerrymandering the democratic process, Mugabe retains power against the
will
of his people, we shall see years of misery for Zimbabwe's citizens and
the
economic and political destabilisation of southern Africa."
Mr
Ancram says America understands the dangers and the House of
Representatives
has joined the Senate in passing a Bill with the option
of
sanctions.
The key to international action, he writes, is the
attitude of Zimbabwe's
neighbours, particularly South Africa, which could
make sanctions work. "We
must play our part. The time for fudging is
over."
Telegraph
Mugabe U-turn on foreign election observers
By Peta
Thornycroft in Harare
(Filed: 12/12/2001)
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe
said yesterday he will allow foreign observers at
Zimbabwe's presidential
election next March.
His U-turn, under intense international and regional
pressure, came at the
end of a visit by ministers of the Southern African
Development Community.
He told them that observers from the region, the
Commonwealth and individual
European countries would be welcome.
He
ruled out observers or monitors from the European Union itself. He added:
"I
will have some difficulties in inviting some white men here. I would
rather
invite the Asians and Caribbeans."
Political sources in Harare said he
would bar Britons from playing any
official role in the poll in which he will
face Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of
the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change in the toughest challenge yet
to his 21-year rule.
The MDC will
file papers in the High Court today in an attempt to overturn
an electoral
law under which voters are required to prove their residence
and register and
vote in their home constituencies. This means that millions
of people are
excluded from the voters' register.
A survey last month gave Mr
Tsvangirai a five percentage-point lead over the
77-year-old Mr Mugabe, who
has governed Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.
- MDC man murdered - News24
- US warns on elections -
NYTimes
- ZDERA will only hurt elite -
DJones
- March election - FTimes
- Farms to top brass -
News24
- Friendly observers only -
DTel
- War on press -
Star
From News24 (SA), 10
December
Anti-Mugabe activist found
dead
Harare - The body of an opposition activist has been found at a
dam in central Zimbabwe, after he was kidnapped near the town of Shurugwi at the
weekend, the privately owned Daily News reported on Tuesday. Unknown attackers
kidnapped Augustus Chacha, a member of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
from his home in Gonye village, about 240 kilometres south Harare, late on
Saturday. His wife and five children were present during the kidnapping. The
attackers accused Chacha of supporting the MDC when they kidnapped him, the
paper said. His body was found floating at the nearby Gonye Dam on Monday, the
paper said. Chacha, 29, was the MDC's youth organiser in the town of Gokwe,
200km west of Harare, but fled with his family in August after a major outbreak
of political violence there. Gokwe has suffered some of the worst political
violence this year in Zimbabwe. Chacha's brother Lazarus told the paper he
suspected that Augustus was killed by supporters of the ruling Zanu PF party.
The MDC has posed the most potent challenge ever to Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe's 21-year rule. Rights groups have repeatedly blamed Muagbe's supporters
for politically charged attacks that have left dozens dead in the last two
years.
From The New York Times, 12
December
US Warns Zimbabwe That Next Year's
Election Must Be Fair
Johannesburg - A senior Bush administration official met today
with Zimbabwe's ministers of finance and foreign affairs and warned them that
time was running out to create an environment for fair national elections next
year. The mission, led by Walter H. Kansteiner, assistant secretary of state for
African affairs, followed an overwhelming vote in the House of Representatives
last week for a bill that would offer Zimbabwe economic incentives if it eased
its recent authoritarian moves, but would urge President Bush to punish Zimbabwe
if it failed to act. Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, who has held office
since blacks won majority rule in 1980, announced today that national elections
would take place in March. At 77, he is running again for office, and faces a
major challenge from the Movement for Democratic Change. In recent months, his
government has cracked down on opposition supporters and on the independent news
media. The crackdown and Zimbabwe's efforts to limit international monitoring of
the elections have alarmed many countries.
Mr. Kansteiner said the credibility of the elections was a
principal topic of the meetings today. "Our message was, `You still have time to
make this right,' " Mr. Kansteiner said by telephone. "If you have a free and
fair electoral process, the election can reflect the will of the people and the
voice of the Zimbabwean people will be heard." The response from Finance
Minister Simba Makoni and Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge was, Mr.
Kansteiner said, ambiguous. "It was clear they wanted to show some flexibility,"
he said, "but at the same time, clearly they are worried about their political
future." News reports from Harare said President Mugabe had announced that he
would allow election observers from the Organization of African Unity, and even
from the Commonwealth, but that only Africans would be accepted. Calls seeking
further comment from Jonathan Moyo, the minister of information, were not
answered.
Leaders from the Southern African Development Community also
concluded meetings today with Mr. Mugabe. Neighboring countries have become
increasingly frustrated by Zimbabwe's mounting economic and political problems,
and the development meetings today and Monday were an attempt to exert pressure.
But the members of the development community have opposed sanctions, a step the
European Union is considering. Southern African nations fear that punitive steps
could unsettle the region further. Inflation in Zimbabwe is soaring, AIDS
infection and unemployment are high and the country, once one of Africa's most
self-sufficient, will need food aid for hundreds of thousands of people in
coming months. Still, Mr. Kansteiner said he was encouraged by signals from
regional capitals in recent weeks. President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and
others have increased their criticism of the Mugabe government, reflecting "a
worry about the way this country is headed," he said. Mr. Kansteiner said he
made little headway on the question of foreign news media, which the two
ministers said have been unfair to Zimbabwe. Many international news
organizations have been denied entry to Zimbabwe. "I suggested that if you
allowed the international press to come to Zimbabwe, you might get more coverage
and better coverage," he said.
From Dow Jones, 11
December
Restrictions Target Zimbabwe's
Ruling Elite
Harare - Proposed U.S. restrictions on
Zimbabwe were
aimed mainly at pressuring the ruling elite to restore democratic freedoms and law
and order, Washington's top official on Africa said Tuesday. Zimbabwe has been
plagued by political violence since March 2000, when militants began violently
seizing white-owned farms - a program sanctioned by the government in a bid
to shore up its waning popularity. The Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic
Recovery Bill, which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Dec. 4
but still has to be signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush, followed
failed diplomatic efforts to persuade the government to change course. Travel and
diplomatic embargoes proposed in the bill would be worked out by
the State Department and other U.S.
executive departments, said visiting Assistant
Secretary for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner.
"It has potential restrictions that would be imposed on
the
government elite only. People of Zimbabwe would not be affected, and in
that sense it is not a sanctions bill," he said. Most of the bill's terms offered
U.S. incentives to Zimbabwe to return to an orderly land reform program
and ensure free and fair presidential elections early next year. "Zimbabwe
can be put on the right path. There is time to put it right,"
Kansteiner told reporters at the end of a four day visit. "We are eagerly waiting
to see how Zimbabwe government officials and civil society reacts." The bill also
proposes a freeze on new investment in Zimbabwe and compels U.S. representatives
to international financial institutions to try to block aid, loans or
debt relief. Kansteiner said the International Monetary Fund and
the World Bank had already frozen their support for Zimbabwe. Most Western
investment, aid and loans have dried up since last year.
From
ZWNEWS: The Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Bill, which
was approved by the US House of Representatives last week, is now on its way to
the White House. The version of the Bill passed by the House contained small
technical differences compared with the version passed by the US Senate earlier
this year. The reconciliation process between the two version was completed
yesterday, and the Bill has now been sent to President Bush for signature. and
enactment into US law.
From The Financial Times (UK), 12
December
Presidential election set for March,
says Mugabe
Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party will endorse Robert Mugabe as
its candidate for next March's presidential elections when it meets at the
holiday resort of Victoria Falls tomorrow. Mr Mugabe, who turns 78 weeks before
the poll, said it would definitely be held in March, the first firm indication
of the election date. It means that the Harare City Council and mayoral
elections, scheduled for early February, will be held only weeks before the
presidential poll. Since the opposition Movement for Democratic Change is tipped
to sweep the board in the capital, the local government election is expected to
give Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC's presidential candidate, a tremendous
boost.
By the time the country votes, Mr Mugabe will have been in
power - first as prime minister and for the last 12 years as executive president
- since April 1980. Two recent opinion polls show him trailing Mr Tsvangirai by
six percentage points. However, at least 20 per cent of those questioned were
either unwilling or too frightened to state their preferences, suggesting that
the race is wide open. The party congress, which will be attended by 7,000 party
supporters, is expected to focus on three interlinked issues - the presidential
elections, the country's increasingly chaotic land resettlement programme and
international relations, especially with Britain. In the last few days, Harare
has turned up the heat in its verbal attacks on Britain, with Patrick Chinamasa,
the justice minister, telling ministers attending the Southern African
Development Community's two-day review of Zimbabwe's land programme that the
forces of colonialism are still alive on the continent. He warned his SADC
counterparts of the dangers of falling into the "trap of the machinations of the
British government" which he said is using "dollar diplomacy" to split SADC.
There will be plenty of similar rhetoric at Victoria Falls this week, which is
surprising given that it is increasingly apparent that the urban electorate is
unimpressed with the government's efforts to blame foreigners, especially
Britain, for the country's deepening social and economic crises.
The Mugabe government was embarrassed by one of the frankest
statements yet from the country's largely white Commercial Farmers Union. In its
evidence to the visiting ministers, the CFU said that the September Abuja
agreement on land was not being implemented by the government. "The situation on
commercial farms has continued to deteriorate, with ongoing incidents of
violence, intimidation, extortion and disruption to farming activities," the CFU
said. More farms were being shut down and an increasing number of commercial
farmers are being systematically forced off their farms. The CFU confirmed media
reports that the government had begun to allocate farms on 99-year leases, with
an option to buy, to senior officials and politicians. Far from making the land
available to landless peasants, the CFU said the list of recipients included the
commissioner of police, other senior ranking police and defence forces
personnel, ministers, members of parliament, senior civil servants and ruling
party officials.
From News24 (SA), 11
December
Zim farms go to top
brass
Johannesburg - Among the "lucky applicants" who received
white-owned farms in Zimbabwe are the country's police commissioner, other
senior police and defence force officials, cabinet ministers, members of
parliament and civil servants. This was disclosed in a presentation by the
Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) to a ministerial delegation of the Southern
African Development Community (SADC), which visited Zimbabwe. CFU Deputy
President D Taylor-Freeme said land was given to Zanu PF loyalists in accordance
with the so-called A2 commercial resettlement scheme. The A2 scheme allows the
minister of land, agriculture and rural resettlement to bypass official
procedure by signing a letter granting an applicant land for 99 years with an
option to buy. Moreover, the new "owners" force farmers to enter into
"partnerships" with them: Work for the new master, or leave the farm.
Taylor-Freeme said this "alarming turn of events" made it
ridiculously easy for the government to confiscate white-owned farms - even
easier than the controversial presidential decree which compels farmers to leave
their farms within three months after receiving a seizure order. At least 90% of
all commercial farmers in Zimbabwe have already received such an order. It
deprives them of any legal protection and those who do not comply could face a
two year prison term. Taylor-Freeme told the SADC ministers that the situation
on commercial farms had only worsened since the CFU's presentation to SADC heads
of state on September 10. Violence, intimidation, disruption of agricultural
activities and threats against farmers continue unabated. More than 20 000 farm
workers had to be dismissed or were chased off farms, while more and more
farmers are systematically being deprived of their land.
Furthermore, a judiciary bench in favour of Zanu PF had
recently legalised President Robert Mugabe's accelerated land reform programme.
"This ruling by the high court effectively depraved commercial farmers of every
possible opportunity to appeal." Taylor-Freeme said that due to the disruption
in the agricultural sector only about 220 000 tons of maize - Zimbabwe's staple
diet - would be produced this year, in comparison with the normal yield of 850
000 tons. The tobacco harvest would only comprise 165 million kg, compared with
the 235 million kg harvested two years ago. Farm invaders slaughtered
approximately 30% of Zimbabwe's beef cattle. Many of these animals were cows
from stud herds, which meant that the quality of the national herd would
deteriorate. The wildlife industry was especially hard hit by poachers and the
destruction of natural habitat. If 90% of Zimbabwe's farmers ceased production,
the country would lose at least 13% of its gross domestic product and 34% of its
export income.
The possibility for economic recovery dwindles by the day. "The
infrastructure is more or less still in place and there is still time to
recover, but soon there will be no turning back." Taylor-Freeme said the
government also failed to honour its agreement with the SADC to negotiate with
farmers. "The CFU was not consulted on recent issues such as new legislation and
price control." Despite the extremely difficult circumstances of the past 21
months, commercial farmers were still adamant to continue production, and the
CFU was committed to orderly and lawful land reform, Taylor-Freeme said.
From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 12
December
Mugabe U-turn on foreign election
observers
Harare - President Robert Mugabe said yesterday he will allow
foreign observers at Zimbabwe's presidential election next March. His U-turn,
under intense international and regional pressure, came at the end of a visit by
ministers of the Southern African Development Community. He told them that
observers from the region, the Commonwealth and individual European countries
would be welcome. He ruled out observers or monitors from the European Union
itself. He added: "I will have some difficulties in inviting some white men
here. I would rather invite the Asians and Caribbeans." Political sources in
Harare said he would bar Britons from playing any official role in the poll in
which he will face Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change in the toughest challenge yet to his 21-year rule. The MDC
will file papers in the High Court today in an attempt to overturn an electoral
law under which voters are required to prove their residence and register and
vote in their home constituencies. This means that millions of people are
excluded from the voters' register. A survey last month gave Mr Tsvangirai a
five percentage-point lead over the 77-year-old Mr Mugabe, who has governed
Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.
From The Star (SA), 11
December
Zimbabwe declares war on
press
Zimbabwe's government has declared virtual war on the media a
head of next year's presidential election, labelling some reporters terrorists,
expelling several foreign journalists and refusing to let most others in. Dozens
of local reporters have been arrested by police and beaten by ruling party
militants. Proposed legislation would ban all foreign reporters from Zimbabwe
and expand the government's power to arrest the journalists it does not like.
"We are treating Zimbabwe as a war zone," said Zoe Titus, an official at the
Media Institute of Southern Africa, which campaigns for press freedom. Titus
accused President Robert Mugabe of seeking an "information blackout" that would
allow his government and its supporters free rein to intensify their campaign of
intimidation and violence before the election, which has been tentatively marked
for March next year. Human rights workers accuse the government of trying to
frighten people away from voting for the opposition, which poses the strongest
threat to Mugabe's rule since he led the country to independence in 1980.
Presidential representative George Charamba did not return
repeated calls from The Associated Press this week. The government has refused
requests from many foreign reporters, including several representing Associated
Press, to enter Zimbabwe. Officials have described previous attempts at
regulating the media as aimed at making sure reporters act responsibly. The
crackdown on journalists has coincided with government threats against
opposition officials and some judges. In the election, Mugabe will face Movement
for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai, whose party won 57 of 120
elected parliamentary seats last year after an election campaign rife with
political violence, mainly blamed on ruling-party militants.
Mugabe tightened his government's clampdown on journalists
earlier this year, warning foreign reporters to keep their "dirty, interfering
hands" out of Zimbabwe's affairs. An anonymous presidential representative,
quoted in the state-owned Herald newspaper last month, accused journalists who
reported on an attack by ruling-party militants against whites and opposition
officials of aiding the "terrorist" opposition. "We would like (reporters) to
know that we agree with US President Bush that anyone who in any way finances,
harbours or defends terrorists is himself a terrorist," the representative said.
A week later, details of Zimbabwe's proposed Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Bill were revealed.
The bill would require journalists to get an annual license
from a government-appointed panel. The legislation also allows the government to
ban foreign reporters from the country and imprison journalists who violate
as-yet unspecified standards. "It's a fascist piece of legislation," said
Basildon Peta, secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists and
special projects editor of the independent Financial Gazette. "It's in my
opinion, the final nail in the coffin of the media of Zimbabwe." But it is only
the latest nail. Just this year, the journalists' union has recorded more than
40 cases of reporters from Zimbabwe's five independent newspapers being attacked
by ruling party thugs or being arrested by police. Many independent journalists
are too frightened to report on political violence in the countryside, Peta
said.
The government has deported three foreign correspondents,
banned the British Broadcasting Corporation and implemented regulations forcing
foreign reporters to get accreditation before entering Zimbabwe. It also passed
legislation effectively banning independent radio stations, thereby preserving
the government's monopoly on disseminating news to rural areas. The Daily News,
the most popular newspaper in the country and the only independent daily, has
perhaps suffered the most. Its printing press was destroyed in a bombing in
January after the government called the paper a threat to national security. The
paper continued printing - in greatly reduced numbers - on other presses. Daily
News reporters have been beaten or detained; editor Geoff Nyarota was arrested
twice, but charges were quickly dismissed. "It's an ongoing campaign of
harassment," Nyarota said. "Journalists can't run away from their work because
the government has become hostile. We have an obligation to our readers, an
obligation to the public, an obligation to our
country."