Mugabe refuses to quit: "Zimbabwe is mine"

http://www.monstersandcritics.com

Africa News
Dec 19, 2008, 18:25 GMT

Bindura, Zimbabwe/Gaborone, Botswana - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
defied calls by world leaders to resign, declaring during a gathering of his
ruling party Friday that the country is 'mine.'

'At conscience, at heart, I will never, never sell my country. I will never,
never surrender,' the embattled president told thousands of Zanu-PF party
delegates at an annual conference in the city of Bindura.

'Zimbabwe is mine,' the 84-year-old Mugabe added. 'I am a Zimbabwean.
Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe never for the British.'

Mugabe's remarks came as Nordic countries became the latest on a long list
of nations, ranging from Britain to the United States and Botswana to Kenya,
that have called for an end to his rule. Mugabe has accused the West of
plotting to invade the country.

Zimbabwe has been plummeting towards complete ruin in recent years, marred
by political turmoil and accusations that Mugabe's re- election this year
was a fraudulent 'sham,' and skyrocketing inflation. A recent outbreak of
cholera caused by crumbling water and sewage infrastructure has killed more
than 1,100 people.

The foreign ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden
meeting in Denmark demanded an end to Mugabe's 'misrule' and called for
'human rights be reinstated.' The ministers were 'appalled' by Zimbabwe's
humanitarian crisis and said they held the authorities fully responsible.

The Nordic ministers also said there was an urgent need to form a coalition
government between Mugabe's Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) under the terms of an agreement inked in September.

But MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai continued to resist pressure to join such a
government on Mugabe's terms, telling a press conference in Botswana that he
would break off talks with Mugabe if the state didn't release a group of
missing MDC members and activists by January 1.

Tsvangirai put at 42 the number of people that have been detained without
charge by police or abducted by suspected intelligence agents in recent
weeks and whose whereabouts are unknown. They include Jestina Mukoko,
director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project.

'There can be no meaningful talks while a campaign of terror is being waged
against our people,' Tsvangirai said.

Tsvangirai also repeated that the MDC would not be a junior partner in a
Mugabe-led government.

Mugabe's forces used beatings and intimidation to prevent Tsvangirai's
supporters from going to the polls ahead of a run-off election in June.
Tsvangirai dropped out of the race after concluding his life was in danger.

Mugabe eventually agreed to form a power-sharing government but South
African-brokered negotiations between the two sides have been unsuccessful.
Mugabe has been accused of not seriously pursuing an agreement.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington that any
offer by Mugabe for Tsvangirai to take over as prime minister is 'probably
just a head fake.'

'Based on history, one would take such a proposal with a grain of salt,'
McCormack said. He also said Mugabe's 'mine' comment 'sums up in a concise
way what is at the root of Zimbabwe's problems.'

'Last time the world checked, Zimbabwe belonged to the people of Zimbabwe,'
McCormack said.

Zanu-PF is insisting on keeping the lion's share of power, including control
of the army and shared control of the police that has been used to terrorize
MDC members for years.

If the two parties could not agree, Tsvangirai said, 'an internationally
supervised presidential election must be conducted in an environment that is
conducive to a free and fair poll.'

Mugabe has also floated the prospect of fresh elections because of the
impasse, but analysts say elections called by Zanu-PF on its terms would
probably also turn violent.

Tsvangirai to break off talks with Mugabe unless abductees released

http://www.monstersandcritics.com

Africa News
Dec 19, 2008, 10:40 GMT

Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's prime minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai warned
he would break off all negotiations with President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF
if dozens of his party members and activists that have been abducted by
suspected state agents were not released.

Tsvangirai put at 42 the number of people from his Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) and civil society activists, including Zimbabwe Peace Project
director Jestina Mukoko, that have been detained by police or suspected
intelligence agents in recent weeks and since disappeared.

Addressing a press conference in Gaborone, the capital of Zimbabwe's
neighbour Botswana, where he has been in exile for weeks, Tsvangirai said:
'If these abductions do not cease immediately, and if all the abductees are
not released or charged in a court of law by January 1, 2009, I will be
asking the MDC's National Council to pass a resolution to suspend all
negotiations and contact with Zanu-PF.'

'There can be no meaningful talks while a campaign of terror is being waged
against our people,' Tsvangirai said.

Mugabe, Tsvangirai, and another opposition leader Arthur Mutambara, signed a
deal in September to share power but the agreement has yet to be implemented
as Zanu-PF and the MDC fight over positions.

Tsvangirai repeated that the MDC 'will only enter into an agreement that
enables us to participate as an equal partner.'

Mugabe is currently insisting on keeping the lion's share of power for his
party, including control of the army and shared control of the police,
although the MDC won the last general elections.

Tsvangirai's remarks put paid to South African President Kgalema Motlanthe's
prediction that a unity government could be in place by the end of the week.

If Zanu-PF and the MDC could not agree on an equitable division of power,
Tsvangirai said 'an internationally supervised presidential election must be
conducted in an environment that is conducive to a free and fair poll.'

Mugabe has also floated the prospect of fresh elections because of the
impasse, but analysts say elections called by Zanu-PF on its terms are
likely to be violent, like the June presidential election run-off that
Tsvangirai boycotted.

Zimbabwe is in the throes of an acute humanitarian crisis, including a
cholera outbreak that has killed over 1,000 people since August.

In an apparent bid to divert attention from the crisis, Mugabe's government
has accused the MDC of plotting, together with Botswana, to overthrow his
regime.

Botswana and the MDC have rejected the allegations, and South Africa's
Motlanthe also said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) felt
they were to be taken 'with a pinch of salt.'

Tsvangirai called on SADC to stop pressuring the MDC to join a government on
Mugabe's terms and to work more closely with the African Union and the
United Nations to resolve the impasse.

SADC's mediator in Zimbabwe, former South African president Thabo Mbeki, is
a longtime ally of Mugabe's.

Statement by Morgan Tsvangirai, on the Humanitarian and Security Situation in Zimbabwe

http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Firstly, I would like to thank the Government of Botswana for allowing me to
stay in their country during this difficult time. As I will highlight later,
this does not come without a cost to their country and therefore their
hospitality is especially appreciated.

Secondly, as all of you here know, the situation in Zimbabwe, particularly
from the humanitarian perspective, is now worse than at anytime in our
country's history. The fact that this situation is being publicized around
the world is of the utmost importance to Zimbabweans and is largely a result
of the stories printed and broadcast by yourselves, your colleagues and your
organizations, and I would like to thank you for your courage and
dedication.

Ladies and Gentlemen, in increasingly desperate attempts to hang on to
power, the Mugabe regime has imposed the worst kind of sanctions upon the
people of Zimbabwe. They have deprived our citizens of their most
fundamental rights and, through their political and economic mismanagement,
they have turned Zimbabwe into a country where poverty and disease thrive
and people die.

Cholera is now rife throughout the country, starvation stalks almost every
Zimbabwean family and education and healthcare now exist only for the elite.

The cholera epidemic, which should be an easily treatable disease is
infecting people and taking lives in ever greater numbers. The aid agencies
are doing their best to cope with this tidal wave of humanitarian suffering
but, as the rains continue in Zimbabwe, they are in danger of being
overwhelmed. Only if we simultaneously begin to address the causes and the
effects of this disaster will it be possible for us to reduce the pandemic
to manageable proportions.

Unfortunately, Zanu PF's insistence on removing the responsibility for water
delivery from the local authorities is perpetuating this crisis. Harare is
the epicenter of the cholera epidemic and, if the city council was to have
control of the water reticulation system and its refurbishment returned to
it, then the MDC already has pledges to cover the US$30 million required to
undertake this project that will end the threat from cholera in the capital
city.

Zanu PF has shown itself not to be able to manage donor funding responsibly
or impartially which means that this finance is only available to the
authority that has a direct mandate from the people and that is the
MDC-controlled, Harare City Council. If Zanu Pf truly cared about the
welfare of the people, they would immediately undertake this action and
allow the city council to assume its role of providing adequate services to
the residents. This is a model that could easily be duplicated throughout
the country.

The MDC has already proved that this model can work. At the beginning of
this agricultural season, we undertook a countrywide seed distribution
programme to mitigate the effects of the regime's failed agricultural
policy. The success of this distribution is already, quite literally,
bearing fruit and as a result the MDC will be able to undertake a mid-season
seed distribution that will be double the size of the previous distribution
and benefit 100 thousand families. This is what can be achieved when a
responsible political party puts the welfare of the people first and is thus
able to capitalize on the goodwill that exists in the international
community.

For this reason, and as a result of the delays in implementing the Global
Political agreement which was signed on September 15th, 2008, the MDC will
now work with all United Nations Agencies and NGOs operating within Zimbabwe
to add value to, and increase, their current programmes.

This is of particular importance when it comes to food distribution. While
significant, our seed distribution will not avert nationwide food shortages
in the coming months. The MDC is able to mobilize enough food relief to help
Zimbabweans through this crisis, but only if such aid is going to be
distributed to the most needy in a free, non-partisan manner. To this end,
we will also be working with partners in Zimbabwe on the distribution
mechanisms for this aid to ensure that the international community has the
assurances it needs to donate the food that our people need.

Ladies and Gentlemen, when we signed the Global Political Agreement (GPA) we
believed that we would be undertaking these measures from within an
inclusive government. But a partnership can only be formed when there are
two willing partners and the Mugabe regime has shown itself to be unwilling
to put the welfare of Zimbabwe and its people first.

The MDC can only enter into an agreement that enables us to participate as
an equal partner in order that we can contribute to solving the Zimbabwe
crisis. This is the mandate we have from the people.

Three months after signing the GPA we have to evaluate why there is no
agreement? As an act of the MDC's good faith, we allowed Mugabe to be
President in a coalition government. We are saddened by the fact that he is
still trying to stay in power at all costs and reduce MDC to a junior
partner in the new government. Let me remind you that at the moment,
Zimbabwe has no government. The previous government is refusing to leave or
share office despite losing the March 29th elections and despite the signing
of the GPA. Mugabe himself called his last cabinet the worst in the country's
history - and yet he has retained these incompetent ministers who are
overseeing the humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding in Zimbabwe today.

Throughout the negotiation process, the MDC has shown patience, political
maturity and willingness to make significant concessions to create a
government that can begin to address the suffering of the people. In this we
have constantly been rebuffed by Zanu PF, and the region itself has often
been silent where their transgressions are concerned.

The Mugabe regime has willfully and repeatedly broken the letter and the
spirit of this agreement and the Memorandum of Understanding that led to
this agreement, through both procedural violations and the continued
persecution of innocent Zimbabweans.

In the past two months, more than 42 members of the MDC and civil society
have been abducted and their whereabouts are still unknown. The regime is
conducting a deliberate and targeted national terror campaign to undermine
the MDC's support within Zimbabwe and the work of the pro-democracy and
human rights organizations.

This situation can no longer continue. The MDC can no longer sit at the same
negotiating table with a party that is abducting our members, and other
innocent civilians, and refusing to produce any of them before a court of
law.

Therefore, if these abductions do not cease immediately, and if all the
abductees are not released or charged in a court of law by January 1st 2009,
I will be asking the MDC's National Council to pass a resolution to suspend
all negotiations and contact with Zanu PF. There can be no meaningful talks
while a campaign of terror is being waged against our people.

There is an increasing sense of urgency surrounding the resolution of the
Zimbabwe crisis. Not only is the death toll through disease, hunger, poverty
and oppression rising every day, but Zimbabweans themselves are beginning to
feel that the hope they invested in the Global Political Agreement will
never mature into tangible benefits.

The people of Zimbabwe cannot be expected to continue living under such
appalling conditions indefinitely. Therefore, this negotiation process must
now be confined to a specific timeframe in which all the outstanding issues
are addressed, including, the appointment of Provincial governors, the
composition and constitution of the National Security Council, and equity in
the allocation of key ministries. If this cannot be achieved then
internationally supervised presidential election must be conducted in an
environment that is conducive to a free and fair poll.

A minor matter in terms of the suffering of our people, but a significant
matter when it prevents me from being with them in their time of need is my
passport. I have been waiting for six months now for a simple travel
document that is my constitutional right. This matter has also become a
symbol of Zanu PF's lack of good faith in the negotiating process and it
must be addressed now.

In respect to all these issues, I will be calling on SADC and the African
Union as the guarantors of this Global Political Agreement, to ensure that
these conditions are met in order to alleviate the suffering of the
Zimbabwean people in the shortest possible time.

The regime has also been making baseless and ludicrous allegations that the
MDC is training armed insurgents in Botswana. Let me state that the MDC is
not conducting military training camps in Botswana or any other country as
this would be contrary to the values and objectives of the MDC. In fact the
Zimbabwe parliament is already debating a motion to  condemn Zanu PF for
these baseless allegations. Therefore, I welcome the statement by South
Africa's President Motlanthe who this week stated there was no foundation to
these allegations. I also thank him for taking the regional lead to address
the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.

However, I encourage SADC to become more actively involved in finding a
solution to our crisis once and for all. There is nothing to be gained from
trying to push the MDC into an agreement just for the sake of removing
Zimbabwe from the SADC agenda. The MDC can only enter a new government when
our support from the people translates to substantial gains for them in
terms of democracy, freedom and economic growth.

We are told that SADC is the key to resolving the Zimbabwe crisis but why
then is that key not opening the door to a more democratic dispensation in
our country?

SADC needs to ask itself if resolving the Zimbabwe crisis requires them to
work more closely with the African Union and the United Nations? After all,
this negotiation process was mandated to SADC by the AU and therefore we ask
that SADC makes a formal report to the African body on the state of the
negotiations in general and the outcome of the November 9th summit in
particular.

In conclusion, I would like to address the people of Zimbabwe.

You, the people of Zimbabwe  are enduring a heroic struggle with peaceful
resolve. You are enduring hunger and disease. You are enduring the regime's
betrayal and broken promises. The world marvels at your bravery in the face
of such hardship and oppression.

Mugabe and his regime were convinced that they would defeat you by now. They
thought that by declaring war on the people, by imposing the worst kind of
sanctions on all of us, that we would abandon our struggle and our dreams.
They were wrong.

I know that our belief in our right to live in a Zimbabwe that can provide
us with freedom, food, jobs, education and health care is stronger than the
hate and maliciousness that drives those few who continue to cling to power
so desperately and regardless of the cost to our country.

I salute the health workers you have been on the frontline of the war
against cholera despite working under appalling conditions for very little
pay. In fact, all our civil servants, who continue to do their jobs
regardless of the meager salaries and poor working conditions need our
respect and gratitude.

I  know that the vast majority of Zanu PF members are truly patriotic and
only want what is best for Zimbabwe and are prepared to work with us to
create a New Zimbabwe and a New Beginning.

I know that the majority of personnel in our security forces have genuine
grievances about their conditions of service and they do not want to be used
as a tool of oppression but instead look forward to the day when they can be
the means of our protection.

I know that this is our darkest hour and that the dawn is not far away.

People of Zimbabwe, the MDC will never forsake the mandate that you gave us
to deliver the peaceful, democratic change that you desire.

I thank you.

This entry was written by Sokwanele on Friday, December 19th, 2008

MISSING PERSON: FELEX NYAKUIPA

Sent: Friday, December 19, 2008 10:52 PM

MY BROTHER FELEX NYAKUIPA WAS ABDUCTED YESTERDAY 18 DECEMBER 2008 IN HARARE
AFTER HE HAD RECEIVED THREATS THAT HIS HOUSE AND CAR WERE GOING TO BE BURNED
DOWN.  HE PHONED SO THAT POLICE IN CHITUNGWIZA WOULD BE NOTIFIED AND GUARD
THE HOUSE OF WHICH INDIVIDUAL POLICE OFFICERS WERE TOLD AND THEY ACTUALLY
RESPONDED. HE LATER ON CALLED SAYING THINGS WERE IN ORDER AND POLICE COULD
DISPERSE AND THEY DID.( SUSPECT THAT THE CULPRITS FORCED HIM TO SAY THIS) MY
HUSBAND AND ELDER BROTHER LATER CALLED HIM AND HE SAID HE WILL TALK OF THE
ISSUE IF HE GETS HOME KANA ACHIRIKUGONA KUTAURA. THEY TRIED AGAIN TO CALL
HIM AND HE NEVER ANSWERED THE PHONE. HE HAS NOT RETAINED HOME AND HIS MOBILE
PHONE IS NOT AVAILABLE.  PLEASE HELP IF ANYONE HAS GOT ANY INFORMATION ON
WERE FELEX IS PLEASE CONTACT THE FOLLOWING NUMBERS

0912452264
0912974947
011641116
0912425771 OR ANY NEAREST POLICE STATION

Launched: Operation Chimumumu

Friday, 19 December 2008 18:53

 

Zanu (PF) has launched “Operation Chimumumu” - a nationwide campaign aimed at eliminating MDC officials and activists and some staff of targeted NGOs – in a desperate attempt to force MDC President, Morgan Tsvangirai, into a marriage of inconvenience.

The MDC has continued to resist being pressurized into the formation of an inclusive government in which Robert Mugabe continues to wield all the power – in contravention of the letter and spirit of the agreement signed in Harare on September 29.

Thirty armed men are reportedly being accommodated at a house owned by a senior Zanu (PF) politburo member in Winston Park, Marondera. The gunmen are allegedly dressed in riot gear and have been arresting locals before whisking them away to killing zones.

Mugabe and his military junta continue to thwart the legitimate power-sharing demands of the MDC - with the connivance of former South Africa president, Thabo Mbeki, and other undemocratic regional leaders. 

The operation has already commenced with about 30 MDC supporters and two journalists having been abducted by armed men, carrying AK47’s, driving un-marked cars. All attempts by lawyers and the courts to force the government to bring the abductees to court and to allow access to lawyers, families and doctors, have been ignored by the Mugabe regime.

In an attempt to divert attention from Operation Chimumumu, Mugabe’s junta is reportedly mobilising troops to repel a “looming British invasion”, while at the same time sabre rattling against Botswana for allegedly training MDC guerillas.

Highly-placed sources have revealed that the security forces have been put on “high alert”. Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) sources said Zambia would also soon be accused of providing “launch-pads” for the British attack. 

“Fabricated intelligence reports allege that Zambia and Botswana have offered to help in the invasion and that it would be imminent,” said a member of the army intelligence.

“The CIO also (falsely) reported that Zambia’s crack 2nd battalion troops have been placed at the Tug Argan barracks in Ndola, while its Commandos are at the Mushili depot and that these units have been training with the Botswana army,” he added. 

“All the soldiers have been told to come and live in Barracks. Members of the reserve force are also being mobilised and will soon  be armed,” said another source.   

 “Most of our border patrol officers have received their rations and have joined the national army. There will be troop deployments at the border,” said a senior member of the police Support Unit.

Mugabe’s spokesman George Charamba refused to talk to The Zimbabwean. “Look, I have nothing to say to you. What makes you think that I can discuss such issues with you?” he said. 

Both Botswana and the MDC have denied any involved in training guerrillas outside the country, and the government has failed to produce any evidence. 

Tsvangirai gives Mugabe a deadline

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Violet Gonda
19 December 2008

MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai has threatened to 'suspend' power sharing
negotiations with Robert Mugabe if the campaign of terror against opponents
does not stop and if those who have been abducted are not released or
brought to court by 01 January.

It had been reported that there were at least 26 missing people but in a
shocking revelation, the Prime Minister designate said more than 42 members
of the MDC and civil society have been abducted in the past two months and
their whereabouts are still unknown.

"The MDC can no longer sit at the same negotiating table with a party that
is abducting our members and other innocent civilians, and refusing to
produce any of them before a court of law," Tsvangirai told reporters in
Gaborone, Botswana on Friday.

"Therefore, if these abductions do not cease immediately, and if all the
abductees are not released or charged in a court of law by January 1st 2009,
I will be asking the MDC's National Council to pass a resolution to suspend
all negotiations and contact with Zanu PF."

There are mixed reactions to the MDC ultimatum. Most people say it's about
time Tsvangirai put his foot down and demanded the release of his
supporters, but they are astonished that he has given Mugabe nearly two
weeks to release them. The victims will spend the Christmas period in the
hands of a brutal regime, if they are still alive, and family members will
still have the agony of not knowing the fate of their loved ones.

Glen Mpani, a political commentator said: 'Furthermore, if nothing happens
by January 1st what will the MDC do - walk away and do what? Hopefully there
is a solid plan B. The MDC needs to be careful not to play into Mugabe's
hands, who might be creating circumstances to govern on the basis of an MDC
withdrawal."

Given the fact that the country is now run on pure brutality, co-ordinated
by the army generals, it is extremely unlikely that ZANU PF will accede to
the ultimatum and as usual this will be followed by inaction from the
African Union and SADC - the guarantors of the power sharing deal.

As the MDC leader gave the ultimatum, reports were filtering in that the
army and police had erected road blocks just north of Masvingo on Harare the
road, looking for activists.  Local pastors reported that full searches of
people and vehicles were being conducted. More evidence to show the regime
is continuing with its reign of terror.

ZANU PF has been denying any knowledge of the whereabouts of the missing
political and civic activists, but revealed last weekend that it had
"compelling evidence" allegedly tying Botswana to the training of 'MDC
bandits' to unconstitutionally unseat the government.

On Thursday SADC Executive Secretary Tomaz Salomao confirmed receiving a
dossier from the Mugabe regime that included video evidence on alleged MDC
'militia training' in Botswana.

However the MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti said earlier in the week that
his party was aware that the regime had DVDs of alleged confessions by MDC
activists, in an attempt to justify imposing a state of emergency.

The outspoken Secretary General said several of their activists abducted in
the last few months had clearly been tortured into making confessions about
the 'military training'.

A commentator said: "If SADC indeed does have that video, and considering
the anguish of the missing people's families, and given that the Harare High
Court has issued several orders for these people to be produced, is there
not something SADC can do? At least share information with the families that
their loved ones are still alive?"

UN says Mugabe receiving weapons with the help of SADC countries

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
19 December 2008

While the whole of the Southern African region earlier this year united in
blocking an arms shipment from reaching the murderous regime of Robert
Mugabe, a United Nations investigation has revealed that Chinese weapons are
getting to Harare, via the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The report says
at least two SADC countries are allowing shipments from China to land for
onward passage to Zimbabwe.
The UN says it has credible information that between August 20 and 22 this
year, a Boeing aircraft transported 53 tons of ammunition destined for the
Zimbabwe defence forces, from the DRC to Zimbabwe.
Marty Natalegawa, chairman of the UN Security Council committee probing
conflict in the eastern Congo, said while the transportation doesn't violate
an arms embargo on eastern Congo it does show that Congo is being used as a
transshipment point for weapons destined for other countries.
An attempt by China to transport arms to the country in April was blocked by
a South African labour union that instructed its members to refuse to unload
a shipment that arrived in Durban, South Africa. Attempts to dock at ports
in neighboring countries were also unsuccessful.
But this UN report says new shipments of AK-47 rounds, rocket-propelled
grenades and hand grenades appear to have been routed through countries that
are friendly to the regime in Harare. It says the weaponry was carried by a
Boeing 707 with the registration number 9Q-CRM. The aircraft is operated by
Congolese company EWA, whose owner is closely associated with DRC President
Josef Kabila and Mugabe's right hand man Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Liberty Mpakati, an intelligence analyst, said; 'The information contained
in the UN report is just the tip of an iceberg. This is a very complex
operation involving several Southern African countries. How the system works
is the DRC would purchase the weapons on behalf of Zimbabwe and once they
get hold of the cargo, they would simply forward it to Zimbabwe.'

He added; 'Kabila owes his presidency to Mugabe and he will do anything to
ensure he remains in power. As for the Chinese, you need not look further
than their opposition at the UN to block any moves to impose global
sanctions against Mugabe.'
The UN investigation also found ammunition of Zimbabwean origin in the DRC's
Rumangabo district. Congolese authorities captured a Bulgarian made RPG-7
rocket grenade launcher and 7.62 millimeter ammunition made by state-owned
Zimbabwe Defense Industries under its trade name 'Cheetah.' 7.62 millimeter
ammunition is used in AK-47 assault rifles, the most commonly used weapon in
African rebellions. Zimbabwe deployed troops to Congo during the civil war
in the country to support the government of Joseph Kabila from rebels from
the east, who were backed by Rwanda and Uganda.
The report said authorities in Zimbabwe responded that the ammunition was
made for 'hunting purposes' and that the country had not supplied arms to
the DRC since its troops withdrew in 2002.
Meanwhile, international civic organisations have demanded the immediate
suspension of all Zimbabwean extracted diamonds from the Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme (KPCS) after citing a government crackdown, that has
claimed the lives of at least 70 illegal diamond diggers at Chiadzwa, in
Manicaland province.

Reports said the Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition, which comprises
civic organisations fighting against the illegal diamond trade, last week
piled pressure on the KPCS to impose a blanket suspension on Zimbabwe's
rough diamonds.

The bloody crackdown on illegal diamond miners by a joint operation of the
police, army and secret agents was codenamed Operation Hakudzokwi.
In a damning statement, the KP Coalition claimed that the crackdown was
meant to prop up Mugabe's administration against the backdrop of a worsening
economic and humanitarian situation.

Mugabe claims power-sharing partners trying to oust him

http://www.csmonitor.com

Zimbabwe's peace process is near collapse, amid accusations of guerrilla
training camps and abductions of opposition party members.
By Scott Baldauf | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the December 20, 2008 edition

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Three months after signing an agreement to
share power with the main opposition parties, President Robert Mugabe has
begun to accuse his putative partners of launching a guerrilla war to unseat
him.

In parts of Mashonaland, where the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) made dramatic inroads among disaffected voters who had always voted
for Mugabe's ZANU-PF party before, Zimbabwe police have rounded up 13 MDC
members, on charges of trying to firebomb the homes of ZANU-PF members.
Worryingly, police have not brought the accused MDC members to court to face
formal charges, and police refuse to tell lawyers where the accused have
been jailed.

Combined with Zimbabwe's stark, and unproven, charges that the neighboring
state of Botswana is sponsoring training camps for overthrowing the Zimbabwe
government, Zimbabwe's fretful peace process appears on the edge of
collapse, with the possibility of an all-out crackdown, and, possibly, war.

"Let me state that the MDC is not conducting military training camps in
Botswana or any other country as this would be contrary to the values and
objectives of the MDC," said MDC leader and Zimbabwe's prime
minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai, in a statement released from his
temporary home in Botswana.

He urged the 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) to
restart power-sharing talks in earnest. "I encourage SADC to become more
actively involved in finding a solution to our crisis once and for all."

While few regional experts would support the outbreak of a new conflict in
Zimbabwe, most would admit that MDC's hopes of sharing power with Robert
Mugabe is unrealistic and that when all democratic peaceful means have been
shut out, the military option is often the only option left. Yet the MDC -
an ad-hoc collection of civic activists, human rights workers, trade
unionists, and disaffected farmers both white and black - simply does not
have the capacity to launch a guerrilla war now if they wanted to. And by
all public accounts, the MDC does not have the inclination, either.

"We'd be fools to do that right now, because we'd lose all credibility,"
says one senior MDC leader, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We are a
democratic movement, and we are still trying to do things the right way."

If the Mugabe government seems a bit paranoid these days about external and
internal threats, it may be because of the government's deep unpopularity
and inability to handle the country's severe problems. Faced with rising
inflation and lack of faith in Zimbabwe currency, the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe simply prints more money. (The newest denomination, a $100 million
bill, is equivalent to about $50 and would buy about 50 loaves of bread, if
they could be found.)

Similarly, the Zimbabwe government has tackled its growing cholera epidemic
by announcing that there is no epidemic, and if there were, it is a
"chemical biological warfare" launched by Britain against its former colony.
And when unpaid soldiers went on a rampage in the streets of the capital
Harare, the government simply called out the police, prompting sporadic
gunfights.

Nearly one-third of Zimbabwe's population now lives out of the country.
Another third lives in constant hunger. Even the Zimbabwe Army cannot feed
its own. Soldiers are sent home to eat with their families.

A government in such disarray would appear to be a pushover. But regional
security expert Richard Cornwell says that Mugabe is a master at using
internal problems to strengthen his own standing and power.

"It would be counter productive to launch a guerrilla war," says Mr.
Cornwell, a senior analyst at the Institute for Security Studies in Tshwane.
"Even if you had a foreign military intervention, what would they do? What
they would do is galvanize opinion around Mugabe. You see what happened in
Iraq. There was lots of dissent toward Saddam, but the minute foreign boots
hit the ground, everybody is an Iraqi."

Mugabe's regime has already demonstrated its policy toward internal threats,
especially threats toward its own hold on power, says Steven Friedman,
political analyst at the Institute for Democracy in Southern Africa in
Tshwane. In the early 1980s, after having defeated the white Rhodesian Army,
it extended olive branches toward its former enemies and turned its military
ire against former allies, the ZAPU liberation movement of Joshua Nkomo.

From 1983 to 1987, Mugabe's ZANU launched a counterinsurgency campaign
called Gukuruhundi in the Matabeleland region, where Nkomo's movement drew
its support. Villages thought to be feeding and sheltering ZAPU were
targeted for wholesale slaughter. At least 20,000 civilians died in this
campaign, before Nkomo agreed to dissolve ZAPU and join ZANU-PF.

"What they did in the '80s to ZAPU was that they unleashed such a campaign
in the Matabeleland, and when they had softened up ZAPU, they became
compliant junior partners in the government," says Mr. Friedman. "What is
happening now is the same thing. They have no desire to share power."

Zimbabwe cholera victims die of thirst as bodies pile up

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

Cholera patients in Zimbabwe have been dying of thirst in a government
clinic as bodies pile up around them.

By Sebastien Berger, Southern Africa Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:26PM GMT 19 Dec 2008

The "grim" discovery at a government-run cholera treatment centre in
Chegutu, south of Harare, was made by the aid agency Medecins Sans
Frontieres, which found patients with no supply of food or even water.

"Dead people were lying everywhere," said Luis Maria Tello, MSF's medical
co-ordinator in Chegutu, which has one of the highest cholera fatality rates
in the country.

"The situation was absolute chaos. There were no beds and patients
everywhere. People were dying of thirst because there was no water."

MSF has since set up a separate, isolated clinic because of the
contamination in the original treatment centre.

Zimbabwe's rotting infrastructure, the result of years of neglect by
President Robert Mugabe's government, is the main cause of the spread of the
disease, with untreated sewage infecting informal sources of drinking water.

According to United Nations figures earlier this week, more than 100 people
have died in Chegutu, but MSF gave warning that many people had died at
home, implying that they may not have been included in official statistics.

"So many people died in the clinic they were afraid to come," said Grant
Anthony, an MSF technician.

According to the latest UN figures, 1,123 people have died, with almost
21,000 cases recorded. The situation was improving in some places, such as
the suburbs of Harare, but worsening in others.

Hunger greater than previously thought

Photo: Foto Mapfumu/IRIN

Scavenging for food

JOHANNESBURG , 19 December 2008 (IRIN) - The number of Zimbabweans requiring food assistance in the first quarter of 2009 has been revised upwards to 5.5 million people.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) spokesman for southern Africa, Richard Lee, told IRIN that "the situation was worse than anticipated", and the number of intended recipients had increased by 400,000, from an original figure of 5.1 million beneficiaries.

Food assistance is being provided by the WFP and the US-funded Consortium for Southern Africa Food Security Emergency (C-SAFE).

The April 2009 harvest is not expected to relieve to the country's food insecurity. Initial expectations were for "a poor harvest; how poor we don't know yet," Lee said.

"In all likelihood, another large-scale [feeding] operation will be needed throughout 2009, into 2010," he said.

In all likelihood, another large-scale [feeding] operation will be needed throughout 2009, into 2010

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, the current chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a 14-member body of regional states, told reporters in Pretoria on 17 December that SADC members would be canvassed "to take urgent action to attend to the humanitarian crises in Zimbabwe and in the Democratic republic of Congo".

Motlanthe did not give any further details, but R300 million (US$31 million) in assistance to Zimbabwe, promised on condition that a power-sharing deal between rival political parties was finalised, has fallen by the wayside because of the delays.

"The R300 million was specifically for agricultural produce and, as you know, the planting season is almost over," he said.

The leader of the Zimbabwean opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, who is in Gaborone, the capital of neighbouring Botswana, threatened on 19 December to withdraw from a power-sharing agreement on 1 January 2009 if 42 MDC members, allegedly abducted by security forces, were not released by President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF government.

British PM presses African leaders over Zimbabwe

http://www.canada.com

AFP
Published: Friday, December 19, 2008
LONDON - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on southern African
leaders Friday to distance themselves from Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and
called the deteriorating situation there a "tragedy."

Zimbabwe's neighbours had to make clear their backing for the country's
opposition, which won first-round presidential elections earlier this year,
said Brown.

"Zimbabwe continues to be a tragedy," he told reporters at his monthly press
conference in London.

"The situation, contrary to what President Mugabe says, from all the
evidence we have, is deteriorating and deteriorating rapidly," he said,
adding that 1,100 people had died of cholera and 20,000 were infected.
"My call over the next few days is to the southern African governments to
work with us to make sure, first of all that we get the humanitarian aid
into Zimbabwe, to help people," he said.

Secondly he urged African leaders to "make sure that it is absolutely clear
to the people of Zimbabwe that we support those who are the democratically
elected politicians," he added.

Mugabe has come under increasing pressure from world leaders to step down in
recent weeks.

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pushed Mugabe into second place
in the first round of a presidential election in March, but withdrew from a
run-off after scores of his supporters were killed.

Mugabe, who has ruled the former British colony since independence in 1980,
signed a power-sharing deal in September with Tsvangirai that has yet to be
implemented amid disagreements over who should control key ministries.

Brown said the cholera epidemic highlighted how Mugabe's government was
failing.

"We now know that the methods being used to treat the disease are
antiquated, and that they cannot bring the hope and the health to people who
are suffering," he said.

"We're dealing with the failure of a regime."

Sense of a deja-vu as Zimbabwe issues new 10-billion-dollar note

http://www.monstersandcritics.com

Business News
Dec 19, 2008, 10:48 GMT

Harare - Zimbabwe's central bank Friday issued a 10-billion- dollar
banknote, as inflation drove the value of the currency to new depths,
according to state radio.

A bulletin said the 10-billion-dollar note, issued simultaneously with
1-billion and 5-billion-Zimbabwe-dollar notes, 'would go a long way in
improving workers' access to cash.'

Only a week ago new notes of up to 500 million Zimbabwe dollars in value
were issued in a bid by the Reserve Bank to ease mammoth queues at banks
around the country caused by acute cash shortages.

Zimbabweans try to draw as much money as possible because inflation,
officially listed at 231 million per cent but estimated in the quadrillions
of per cent (18 zeroes), erases the value of their salaries in a matter of
days.

The new note comes 141 days after the bank slashed 10 zeroes off the
currency because the multiplicity of noughts made it impossible for
computers and checkout tills to compute.

'What I can only let you know is that in the next couple of days these
things will be a thing of the past,' central bank governor said at the time.

Economists say that each new issue of ever larger value banknotes triggers a
new surge in inflation and a nosedive in the currency.

The price of bread shot up Friday from 300 million Zimbabwe dollars to 500
million Zimbabwe dollars (1 US dollar).

Opening the annual conference of his Zanu-PF party in the town of Bindura,
80 kilometres from Harare, President Robert Mugabe said 'better times were
beckoning.'

The country is experiencing a prolonged economic, political and humanitarian
crisis, marked by a cholera epidemic that has killed over 1,100 people and
widespread hunger.

Furious Mugabe blasts supporters over theft of meat

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

NOT HAPPY: Mugabe says Zanu PF beset by rampant indiscipline

Delegates Steal Food At Zanu PF Conference

http://www.radiovop.com


Bindura - Eight beasts and other food stuffs were stolen at the
on-going Zanu PF annual conference in Bindura.

Before presenting his official report to delegates, the party's first
secretary, Robert Mugabe said it was embarrassing that some delegates had
shown lack of discipline by stealing eight beasts and some food stuffs.
"I am aware that some of you slept on empty stomachs...the beasts
...meant for relish and some other food stuffs went missing yesterday. We
know that we are going through difficult times, but that does not give you
as leaders an excuse to be so irresponsible," said Mugabe.
He said the beasts had been recovered but did not go further to
explain who the alleged culprits were and if any action would be taken
against the offending party officials.

Over a hundred beasts were slaughtered for the 6 000 delegates who are
attending the two day annual party conference.
Mugabe also castigated senior party members whom he said were using
their positions in the party to enrich themselves.
"We are aware that some of our people are stealing maize meant for the
starving people. This type of behavior is embarrassing to the party,' said
Mugabe at the conference that ends Sunday.

Zimbabwe is going through a serious economic and political crisis that
have seen acute shortages of food among others.

Work stops on 2010 Beitbridge hotel as FIFA urged to cancel SA venue

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
19 December 2008

Construction on the new Beitbridge hotel, set to accommodate football fans
during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, has been halted, with seven
artisans working on the building's construction being struck down with
cholera.

The area has been one of hardest hit by the deadly cholera outbreak that
officially has claimed more than 1000 lives. The life-threatening
water-borne disease eventually hit the labour camp of Costain Zimbabwe, the
main contractors on the luxury hotel, and, with seven workers already
infected, the site was shut and the remaining craftsmen sent home early for
Christmas.

South African World Cup officials had asked Zimbabwe to supply 2 000 hotel
rooms to cater for a projected overspill and accommodation shortage in South
Africa during the premier football event. But while the country's two
governments no doubt started counting the money expected to pour in as a
result of 2010's football tourism, the life threatening situation in
Zimbabwe has continued unabated, with no end in sight to either the
humanitarian disaster or political crisis ravaging the country. An estimated
5 million people are already starving because of the crippling food shortage
in Zimbabwe, while the cholera outbreak is also expected to get worse with
the onset of the rainy season.

Pressure is now beginning to build for the International Football Federation
(FIFA) to move the World Cup away from South Africa, because of the country's
proven inability to intervene in the political crisis in Zimbabwe. In the
light of the devastating cholera crisis in Zimbabwe and its spread into
South Africa and other parts of the Southern African region, several
pressure groups have decided that if South Africa is unable or unwilling to
resolve the Zimbabwe crisis, the ideal solution would be to boycott the
international event in South Africa.

FIFA itself has already cast a critical eye on the situation in Zimbabwe,
and has discouraged football supporters from setting up base there during
the World Cup if the economic and cholera crises persist. The federation has
so far denied it was considering pulling the event out of South Africa, but
the official 2010 FIFA hospitality group has reportedly struck Zimbabwe off
its country-wide tour list - deeming the country unsafe for tourists.

The situation in Zimbabwe has seen pressure group 'Citizen Alert ZA' as well
as 'Petition Online' deciding to unite in calling for a boycott of the World
Cup, with Citizen Alert ZA challenging people who want to go to the event to
be 'sport fans or statistics'. Petition Online has circulated a petition to
be signed and sent to FIFA, with the intention of removing the World Cup
from South Africa. This has joined a number of other petitions already
piling pressure on the football body.

Professor John Makumbe, a political analyst with the University of Zimbabwe,
said on Friday that taking the World Cup from South Africa, and effectively
the entire region, is completely 'the wrong approach'. He argued that the
event should take precedence over anything else in the region, saying "there
are other ways to resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe that does not include
removing an event that will benefit the whole region."

"The people that will benefit most are the common people, who can sell
t-shirts and fruit and earn money from the influx of tourists," Makumbe
said. "FIFA itself has just as much power to change the situation in
Zimbabwe as Zimbabweans themselves do, and that is not a lot."

Makumbe also argued that the estimated 3 million Zimbabweans living in South
Africa would come under threat of attack if the World Cup was pulled away
from the country, saying such pressure is 'myopic and selfish'.

Remove Mugabe or lose 2010?

http://www.politicsweb.co.za

Clapperton Mavhunga
19 December 2008

Clapperton Mavhunga says South Africans must pressure their govt to act on
the Zimbabwe crisis

It baffles the mind that instead of sending a commission to find out where
Jestina Mukoko and other abducted and missing human rights activists are,
SADC is busy going to Botswana to investigate useless claims about
non-existent dissidents.

Because, if South African President and SADC chair Kgalema Motlante says
that the regional body does not believe that Botswana is training MDC
dissidents, why is the region wasting time and money investigating what is
already known?

In fact, is it not shocking that SADC admits to receiving and watching
videos of the tortured activists "confessing" to such training when the
entire would is shouting hoarse for their release?

It borders on the absurd that the body is not taking action on what is
already factual: that people have disappeared, are being abducted almost
daily for exercising their democratic right, and meanwhile those who have
not been disappeared are dying of cholera like flies.

South Africans, please be warned that today it is us, you're next! Your
government is complicit in the suffering of Zimbabweans. By your inaction,
you are responsible for what is happening in Zimbabwe, because it is your
government that is protecting Mugabe.

If you say 'No More!', Mugabe will be history. How about putting pressure on
the ANC, which is facing an election next year, to tell them that you can
only vote for them if Mugabe goes first?

As Zimbabweans, we are no longer sure where you, South African citizens,
really stand. During apartheid, you knew where ordinary Zimbabweans stood:
we demonstrated in the street for your freedom. We know where your
government stands: with Mugabe.

This is no longer a case of begging. Despite FIFA saying "Plan is Dead",
there CAN be a Plan B.

If you feel as Zimbabweans do that this is Africa's World Cup and not just
your own, how about using the Cup to demand that you, my brothers and
sisters, will not let your country host the World Cup unless your government
gets Mugabe out?

What is a soccer game at FNB when your brothers and sisters are dying of
cholera because of a tyrant your government is protecting-in your name?

Just as the dockworkers and unions in your country teamed up to stop the
Chinese ship from offloading weapons that would pass through SA to kill
Zimbabweans, so too with a "Get Mugabe Out Or No 2010 World Cup" campaign.

It is a cause that, with your help can torch every soccer, rugby and cricket
stadium in the world, from a Kaiser Chiefs and Sharks game to the English
Premier League and baseball in north America. "Get Mugabe Out or Else the
World Cup" is a dirty game!

We know that industry and your government has pumped in billions of rands,
all of which will go to waste if it loses the right to host this cup. There
is no bigger issue upon which an entire world is united than soccer, the
Fifa World Cup in particular.

Realize that the pressure will still mount without your participation. Just
like ordinary citizens redeemed America by electing Barack Obama, you, the
South African people, can redeem the image of SA on the Zimbabwean issue by
forcing your government to change course and kick Mugabe out.

If your government is convinced it is doing the right thing on Zimbabwe, how
about putting the issue of intervention-by sanctions or force-to a
referendum? Does the Freedom Charter not say "The Shall Govern?" Or, why not
get out into the streets and tell your government and the world that you
want your government to "Get Mugabe Out or No World Cup"?

The worsening poverty in your country is being caused overwhelmingly by the
increase in immigrant populations which is not budgeted for. This is eating
into money that is supposed to create your jobs, alleviate poverty, and
invest in your future. It's simple economics. Every year you pay tax, the
state calculates the next budget based on that amount relative to the needs
of the country's citizens. Where do you suppose the services the
undocumented immigrants are coming from when they are not part of the
budget?

Zimbabwe is no longer an issue of "the sovereignty of a next door state". It
is now a domestic problem for South Africa if all a country can export is
bugs and problems, if it has no budget whatsoever and all services are gone.
When a next door neighbor can comes to feed breakfast, lunch, and supper at
your house every day, is he still a neighbor or part of the family? Is his
still a neighbor's welfare or your own? Think about it.

If your government does not act, your own lives will get worse. Zimbabwe has
collapsed. Citizens are fleeing to your country to get medical treatment and
nonexistent jobs which you yourselves can't get anyway.

It's not that Zimbabweans are doing nothing. They are fighting to get the AU
and UN to act. Even the UN Secretary-General has agreed that action must be
taken. But your government is blocking every effort towards UN intervention.
Nothing has changed since Mbeki.

When are you, fellow brothers and sisters, going to demand that South Africa
respects the will of the people of Zimbabwe to fight their own dictator
without your government deliberately protecting him?

People of South Africa, if you care deeply for the World Cup, tell your
government to act on Mugabe. Because if you do not, just like countries
boycotted your country to fight apartheid, that same world is beginning to
think that the World Cup should go some place else.

Because, fellow brothers and sisters, the argument Nelson Mandela used to
plead for South Africa to host the world cup was that it would be "Africa's
World Cup". It would benefit the entire region and continent.

How would it feel to fill the stadiums in 2010, satisfied that this was the
Cup that brought down Mugabe? Or would you rather that this was the Cup that
Mugabe brought down?

Unless, of course, Mugabe is right that no African nation is "brave enough"
to fight him.

Nigel's Story: The tragedy of Zimbabwe's cholera outbreak

© UNICEF Zimbabwe/2008/Myhren

Nigel Chigudu, 15, lost five siblings to cholera in one night. UNICEF has appealed for help to contain the epidemic that has been sweeping Zimbabwe.

By Tsitsi Singizi

HARARE, Zimbabwe, 19 December 2008 – Deep grief is evident in Nigel Chigudu's eyes. In a tortured voice, he slowly recounts the harrowing tragedy that saw him lose five siblings in five hours to the cholera epidemic that has been sweeping across Zimbabwe.

"They started vomiting and had serious diarrhoea," recalls Nigel, 15. "The youngest, Gamu, was 14 months old, and Lameck was 12 years old. It was in the middle of the night; I could not take them anywhere. I just watched them die.

"Two days later, my grandmother also passed away," he adds.

Cholera epicentre

Nigel lives in Budiriro Township, Harare, the epicentre of Zimbabwe's latest cholera outbreak. Across the road from his family's home, at a UNICEF-supported cholera treatment centre, a grieving mother collects the body of her two-year-old baby who has also succumbed.

These stories are not unique. They echo in the lives of an increasing number of people across Zimbabwe—the stark consequence of water outages, a failed sewer and sanitation system, and garbage piling up on the streets.

In Budiriro, burst sewage pipes have left puddles and a permanent stench while months of uncollected refuse litter the streets. Filthy conditions like these have prompted UNICEF to make an international appeal for help to control the epidemic, which is spread by contaminated water.

Disease spreading fast

Across Zimbabwe, in high-density urban areas such as Budiriro in Harare and Dulibadzimu in Beitbridge, cholera is spreading like wildfire. Nine out of Zimbabwe's 10 provinces have reported cases. More than 16,000 cases and almost 800 deaths have been reported since August.

"Zimbabwean children are already vulnerable, a quarter of them are orphaned, most have fewer meals than their peers across the globe," said UNICEF Representative in Zimbabwe Roeland Monasch. "These children now feel the severity of a national cholera crisis, which in some instances is robbing them of their lives. It is vital that we bring them life-saving interventions now."

As urgent relief, UNICEF has provided hundreds of thousands of water treatment tablets with a capacity to treat and purify water in more than 3 million households. It has also distributed thousands of oral rehydration salts, IV fluids and drips to treat diarrhoeal dehydration, as well as washing soap and buckets.

'A window of opportunity'

In addition, UNICEF is trucking safe drinking water and mounting community-based water tanks in cholera-affected communities. There is also a drive to intensify hygiene education and health promotion.

"The cholera outbreak is symptomatic of the general collapse of infrastructure and services," said Mr. Monasch, "Health and education sectors face immense challenges and require support."

To galvanize this critical support, UNICEF has embarked on a $17 million emergency programme for the next 120 days. This programme will fund medicines for 70 per cent of the population; scale up community-based therapeutic feeding; carry out outreach immunization services, and provide incentives for teachers and nurses to return to work.

"In the next four months, we have a window of opportunity to reverse the deterioration of the social services. We cannot afford to miss this chance," said Mr. Monasch. "However, we cannot do it alone; we need support in raising the funds required for this response."

Dollar is key to Zimbabwe survival

Friday, 19 December 2008

Zimbabweans queue for the new $500 million banknote in Harare By Karen Allen BBC News, Zimbabwe Last week the reserve bank issued a new Zimbabwean banknote - a $500m bill. Its value changes by the day, but a rough estimate of its worth now is about US $50 (£33). Its release was enough to see a surge of people flock onto the streets and form huge queues outside the banks. Harare's pavements were gridlocked for most of the day. But increasingly it is only US dollars that are accepted in Zimbabwe's shops. Petrol stations are among those now turning away people who offer fistfuls of local currency. Even water bills - for what little clean water there is - have to be paid in hard US cash. And bread is now a dollar commodity in many parts of the country. 'Dollarisation' There has been a surge in cross-border trade in recent weeks with the lifting of restrictions on US dollar transactions. Consumer goods, food and cars are being brought across from neighbouring South Africa. To get (US) dollars I have to do assignments abroad… there are not many Zimbabweans who can do that Professor John Makombe, University of Zimbabwe Supermarkets are now stuffed with food, filling shelves that just a month or so ago were empty. These supermarkets are for Zimbabwe's tiny dollar elite - the type that drive brand new cars into the car parks as others try to fend off starvation. They only accept US dollar bills in these swanky shops. John Makombe, professor of political science at the University of Zimbabwe, estimates that 80% of the population here has no access to US dollar bills. "Even I sometimes don't have foreign currency and I'm a university professor. To get dollars I have to do assignments abroad," he says. "There are not many Zimbabweans who can do that." The value of Professor Makumbe's monthly salary, he reveals, is equivalent to US $30. That is just a little more than the price of a jar of instant coffee in the supermarkets which have become a refuge of the dollar rich. The "dollarisation" of the Zimbabwean financial system is propping up a collapsed Zimbabwean economy. But it has created an unwieldy free market where the government, unable to control basic prices, is merely a bystander. A shortage of change and small US banknotes is now creating a new US dollar inflation. "Zimbabwe is like a house of cards… one puff and it could come down," says a Zimbabwe-based Western diplomat with a depressed tone. "The problem is… there isn't the puff to blow it down." It seems to be an accurate observation. Massive food shortages, hyperinflation, cholera and continued political turmoil are a heady cocktail. In any other country in the world, this combination might have triggered a coup. But not here. People are simply too scared. Critics vanished Journalists, human rights activists and other critics of Robert Mugabe's presidency have recently vanished. Many Zimbabweans do not have access to foreign currency More than 20 people have disappeared in just the past few weeks - people are terrified. Reporting the Zimbabwe story is risky for all concerned - not least those on the other side of the microphone. Not surprisingly many are reluctant to speak out - yet thankfully, some still do. Like Elliot and Molly - a retired couple now living on a small farm, whose geographical details I dare not divulge for fear they are punished for speaking to me. "Africa needs to be responsible for its own problems," says Elliot boldly. "It's about our own mismanagement… we can't blame former colonies like Britain." It is a sentiment that runs deep here, though few will speak openly about it. When I arrived tensions were high following the disappearance of Jestina Mukoko - a prominent human rights campaigner and former journalist, who had allegedly been abducted. Her safety has been playing on the minds of so many here ever since. Yet Zimbabwe's neighbours continue to offer legitimacy to Robert Mugabe. Despite a power-sharing deal back in September, he still holds all the cards. He is revered as a liberation hero by many influential figures on the continent, with just Botswana and Kenya breaking rank and speaking out. One political campaigner for the opposition MDC described the present climate in Zimbabwe as "coerced control" - an environment where intimidation rules. It means that ordinary Zimbabweans, already enduring so much, may still face the prospect of worse to come - resisting the instinct to revolt with a sense of fear.

New Wave Of Price Hikes

http://www.radiovop.com

HARARE-There were new wave of price hikes on Friday following the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)'s increase in the cash withdrawals.

RBZ governor Gideon Gono introduced new one, five and ten billion
dollar notes that will see depositors getting Zd 10 billion a month, up from
Zd 500 million a week.

The Zd 10 billion is about USD 10.
But the new notes have seen prices of almost everything shooting
astronomically as businesses started speculating even before people had
accessed the cash from the banks.
Long and winding queues formed as early as four in the morning as
people jostled to get a chance to take their cash, but many depositors had
not been served by end of day as the banks were overwhelmed by demand.
"I came here in the morning, but still I am yet to be served, there
are many people, while the uniformed forces are disregarding the queue,"
said Memory Sithole from Kuwadzana.
But as she was struggling to get her money, shop owners were busy
reviewing upwards the prices in line with the new cash limits.
A survey around town revealed that most goods and services had shot up
as the Zimbabwean dollar crashed further against other currencies.
A decent shirt that was pegged at Zd 5 billion as of Thursday was now
costing Zd 15 billion on Friday, while a plate of sadza in town at a decent
eating place costs not less than Zd1 billion.
Commuter fares have also risen to Zd 300 million, up from Zd 150
million.
"The foreign currency rates have changed, due to the availability of
the cash, so we also have to push our porices upwards," an owner of a
clothing shop at Ximex Mall said in an interview with Radio VOP.
Meanwhile, economic commentators said the RBZ is fighting a losing
battle against inflation when it increases the maximum cash withdrawal
limits as the prices will just skyrocket.

Mahoso Evicted From His Westgate House

http://www.radiovop.com


HARARE, December 19, 2008- Media Information Commission chairperson
Tafataona Mahoso was evicted from his lodgings in Westgate Plush Suburb of
Harare by a Messenger of Court on Wednesday for failing to pay monthly
rentals, Radiovop can reveal.

Mahoso, a Zanu PF apologist, does not own a property in Harare despite
spending most of his time in the United States.
His employers have been paying for his rentals as part of his
benefits.
Close sources told Radiovop that Mahoso, who was staying at Number
1871 Area D in the plush suburb was evicted by Messenger of Court in the
afternoon.

"They (officials from Messenger of Court) came and threw Mahoso's
goods outside. It was embarrassing," a source said.
Mahoso previously stayed in Hillside where he was evicted for the same
reasons.

It was not immediately clear where he was currently staying.

The former media lecturer was thrust at the helm of the MIC in 2002
following the passing of the draconian Access to Information and Protection
of Privacy Act (AIPPA) that requires that journalists have to be registered
before operating in Zimbabwe.

Under Mahoso's tutelage, MIC have closed four titles- The Daily News,
The Daily News on Sunday, Tribune and Weekly Times.

Mugabe not my comrade

From The Star (SA), 19 December

Moshoeshoe Monare

Jacob Zuma says he can no longer call Zanu PF and Robert Mugabe "comrades",
and thinks pressure should be brought on them to effect change in Zimbabwe.
And the ANC bemoans the effect of the Zimbabwean cholera outbreak on South
African resources. The party said yesterday: "The time for hoping for change
must come to an end. Neither the people of South Africa nor the people of
Zimbabwe deserve the devastation that the political deadlock is creating."
While Zuma is still against regime change or military intervention, he told
the ANC national executive committee's closed meeting that the party's
liberation ties with Zanu PF would be strained by the regime's actions. The
ANC president said the "right pressure" should be applied to Mugabe and Zanu
PF. Zuma said inasmuch as he could no longer call former ANC members who
joined the Congress of the People "comrades", he also could not call the
Zimbabwean ruling party and its leaders "comrades".

Zuma said the humanitarian crisis, including the cholera epidemic, had
prompted him to take a tough stance. He was delivering his political report
to the NEC meeting, the last this year, in Kempton Park. Although the media
statement was later watered down to avoid diplomatic ructions, the ANC came
out strongly against the Zimbabwean government. "The NEC discussed the
situation in Zimbabwe and the dire straits of its people, as well as the
impact of the situation in Zimbabwe on the plight of South Africans,
particularly those living in Musina and other border towns. The reality of
the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe is affecting our own population, and the
lack of facilities in Musina, where hundreds of people are escaping the
disease and seeking much-needed healthcare, is fast stressing the capability
of our own health institutions," the ANC said. "The reported cases of
abductions and detentions without trial (in Zimbabwe) test the very fabric
of the liberation we fought for in this region of Africa. We call on the
political leaders in Zimbabwe to stop the infighting and put the (country's)
people first," the ANC said.

Party secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said they would "step up engagement
with the parties there". He said the ANC had had a "face-to-face" meeting
with Zanu PF a fortnight ago, as well as regular communications by phone.
Meanwhile, Sapa reports that the Southern African Catholic Bishops'
Conference said mediation in Zimbabwe's crisis had failed, and SA must now
force Mugabe to step down. "We are deeply saddened that, after eight years
of mediation, all the talks have borne no fruit," it said in a statement.
Mugabe was "clearly willing" to watch his people die of starvation and
cholera as long as he was able to retain his 28-year hold on power. The
South African government has the capacity to force Mugabe to go. All that is
lacking is the political will. We are extremely disappointed at the
inability of SADC (Southern African development Community) leadership,
including SA's new president, Kgalema Motlanthe, to make any headway."

Nordic nations call for end to Mugabe misrule

http://www.nasdaq.com

(RTTNews) - In one more combined effort to pressure the present dictatorial
regime of Zimbabwe, Nordic foreign ministers called on President Robert
Mugabe to end his "misrule" and to restore human rights in the perishing
land-locked African country.

A meeting of the foreign ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and
Sweden held in Copenhagen Thursday said they were "shocked by the grave
situation in Zimbabwe."

Blaming the authorities in Zimbabwe for the tragic situation the country is
facing, they promised assistance to help victims of the recent cholera
outbreak that claimed the lives of more than 1000 persons.

A joint statement issued at the end of the meeting expressed concern over
"violence and intimidation against the critics of the Zimbabwe government."
It cited the case of Jestina Mukoko, head of the Zimbabwe Peace Project
(ZPP), who is reportedly missing since early this month.

It emphasized the need to expedite attempts to form a coalition government
incorporating the ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) under a deal they signed in September.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Mugabe: Rich nations bribing Africans to condemn me

http://www.apanews.net

APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Friday accused
rich countries of bribing African leaders to condemn his government but
vowed that not even the threat of indictment by the International Criminal
Court (ICC) would sway him away from his stance to defend his country.

Stung by criticism from some fellow African leaders during the past month
over his government's handling of a cholera outbreak that has killed more
than 1,100, Mugabe said former colonial master Britain and her allies were
using their financial leverage to influence Zimbabwe's neighbours.

"African countries are being told that they must criticise Zimbabwe if they
want aid," the Zimbabwe leader told supporters of his ZANU PF party during
its annual conference in Bindura, 70 km northwest of the capital Harare.

His comments came a day after he openly attacked Botswana President Ian
Khama for being the mouthpiece of Western countries by making "stupid
 noises" about Zimbabwe's political affairs.

Khama has stood out as the fiercest African critic of Mugabe's regime and
has refused to recognise the legitimacy of the Zimbabwean leader's
reelection following a violence-marred presidential run-off in June.

A few other African countries, notably Zambia, have also criticised the
Zimbabwe government.

A defiant Mugabe said he was not worried by the hostile international
reception of his policies and vowed to press on with the defence of Zimbabwe's
territorial sovereignty and the correction of historical imbalances.

"I will never be intimidated. Even if they threaten to cut off my head
tomorrow, I will never be made to throw away my principled stance to defend
my country," Mugabe, in apparent reference to calls by some human rights
activists for his indictment by the ICC at The Hague in The Netherlands,
said.

  JN/nm/APA 2008-12-19

A letter from the diaspora

http://www.cathybuckle.com

19th December 2008

Dear Friends.
This will be my last Letter from the diaspora for 2008. It has been a truly
terrible year for Zimbabwe culminating in the cholera outbreak that is now
sweeping the country, creating a humanitarian crisis of massive proportions.
It is unutterably painful to be here in the UK and see the collecting boxes
out in the charity shops and realise that Zimbabwe has fallen so low that it
has now become the subject of public charity. Somalia, Dafur, the DRC have
all been on the list of failed states requiring charity for their suffering
people. Now we have Zimbabwe, the once 'shining jewel' of Africa' added to
the list. Starvation and disease, state violence and political repression
now reign supreme where once was peace and plenty. The truth has been
subverted for lies and propaganda as greedy, power-hungry men and women prey
on the nation and leech on its human and natural resources. It seems on the
face of it that all that is good and fine in our African culture has been
devoured for the sake of short-term gain for the few.
But hope is not lost. Listening to stories from inside Zimbabwe, I am
constantly struck by the way Zimbabweans, black and white, help each other
out in the incredible hardship of everyday living, sharing the little they
have with each other. Away from the media and the glare of publicity,
neighbours look out for each other, mindful that they are all in the same
situation. While government ministers sound increasingly demented and
deranged in their pronouncements about how it's all the fault of the Brits
or the Americans, ordinary people get on with their lives as best they can
in the nightmare of poverty and near-starvation that Mugabe and Zanu PF have
created through sheer bad governance and lack of leadership.

Sadly, what 2008 has shown us once again is that the Zimbabwean people can
expect no help from the AU or SADC. Their only interest appears to be in
protecting Robert Mugabe and attacking the west's racism and 'neo-colonial
intentions' South Africa, which might have been expected to be more than a
little concerned about the flood of refugees crossing its borders - not to
mention the spread of cholera - says nothing about the brutal abduction of
Mugabe's political opponents or the disappearance of journalists. Instead,
the Secretary General of SADC announces that SADC will investigate Patrick
Chinamasa's claims of 'compelling evidence' that the MDC has training camps
in Botswana for what he calls 'opposition rebels' preparing for war in order
to bring about regime change. The hypocrisy and double-speak of the South
African government is breath-taking. Once again they block any move to
censure Mugabe at the UN yet continue to push for the formation of a
Government of National Unity in the apparent belief that the political
crisis in the country will be solved by Mugabe's virtual retention of power.
Zimbabwean soldiers are fighting and dying in the DRC and South Africa
utters not one word of condemnation of Mugabe's intervention in a war which
is none of his concern unless it is to protect his diamond mines and ensure
that he keeps his generals sweet.
Zimbabweans are a deeply spiritual people and the events of the last two
weeks:- the death of Elliot Manyika; the shooting in mysterious
circumstances and the motor accident which has put Joseph Chinotimba is
hospital - have not gone unnoticed or unexplained. The spirits are angry and
those with innocent blood on their hands are paying the price.

As we move into 2009 and resistance to the Mugabe regime mounts as it surely
will, there will no doubt be more innocent blood shed. Mugabe 'threatens'
the country with an election and we all know what that entails. He is fond
of telling people that the liberation war was won through the barrel of a
gun- nderopa, through blood but as he becomes increasingly isolated in his
paranoid delusions he would do well to remember that he too is just as
mortal as the rest of us. Despite what he may claim, Mugabe has not been
granted the gift of immortality; Zimbabweans are a patient - some might even
say passive - people and Mugabe takes full advantage of that. He 'knows his
people' he would say, but he would do well to remember that the people's
patience is not endless. They may be slow to anger but fearsome when the
anger boils over. The Old Man needs to make his peace with the ancestors
before it is too late.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH.

World Press Freedom Committee letter to Robert Mugabe

Dec. 19, 2008

President Robert G. Mugabe
Office of the President
Munhumutapa Building
Samora Machel Avenue
Box 7700 Causeway
Harare, Zimbabwe

Dear Mr. President:

The World Press Freedom Committee (www.wpfc.org) -an organization
representing 45 press freedom groups from throughout the world- is
profoundly distressed by the systematic repression the Zimbabwean
independent media is subject to by agents of your own government, including
judicial harassment, threats, intimidation campaigns and also abductions,
such as that of independent photojournalist Shadreck Manyere.

According to press reports, Mr. Manyere was abducted on Saturday, Dec. 13,
from a car garage in Norton, 40 km. west of Harare, where he went after
receiving a phone call from a person who wanted to meet him. That was the
last time Mr. Manyere was seen.

According to information provided to WPFC, on Sunday, Dec. 14, a group of
men identifying themselves as members of the Law and Order section of police
went to his home and requested to search it alleging that Mr. Manyere had
died in a car accident. His wife refused to let them in, but they returned
shortly afterward with a search warrant. Then they proceeded to ransack the
house and took his laptop, video camera and some tapes with them.

We must emphasize that Mr. Manyere's is only one of a number of abductions
of political activists, human rights workers and journalists reported in
recent days and that such extra-legal abductions must cease if Zimbabwe is
to be seen as a country that respects the rule of law, both in terms of its
own national legislation and in terms of international legal standards by
which Zimbabwe is bound.

On a separate incident, your chief spokesperson, George Charamba, has
threatened to ban the accreditation of all members of the foreign media,
accusing them of "playing little gods" on the country's affairs and of
having embarked on a propaganda assault on Zimbabwe. The Media Institute of
Southern Africa (MISA) has stated that Mr. Charamba "was on a war path after
accusing the foreign bureaus accredited in Zimbabwe of quoting President
Robert Mugabe out of context, following his Dec. 11 remarks that the country
had 'arrested' the cholera outbreak."

According to MISA , the foreign media outlets that are under threat of being
banned include "Britain's Reuters, Agence France Presse, Associated Press of
the USA, France 24 International and Al Jazeera from Qatar, which are
accused of misrepresenting facts about Zimbabwe to suit the agendas of the
news organisations' host nations."

Mr. President, your country is going through the worst crisis in its
history. Zimbabwe, the former breadbasket of southern Africa, is on the
brink of famine and suffering the worst cholera epidemic in memory. The
country's economy has melted away, with hyperinflation rates so astronomical
they are hard to comprehend. In these critical times, a free and independent
media seeking the truth and duly informing the public constitutes a critical
component of any dreams of recovery.

The Zimbabwean independent media, however, live in perpetual fear of
fulfilling their moral, professional and constitutional duty to keep society
informed about matters of, all too often, life or death in a country where
the most basic civic rights are systematically violated.

The harassment and abduction of members of the media represent grave
violations of free speech and freedom of the press, rights that are
protected in the Zimbabwean Constitution and in international covenants,
such as the African Convention on Human and Peoples' Rights and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which your country is signatory.

Therefore, Mr. President, we urge you to put the necessary measures in place
to guarantee that the members of your country's independent media, both
national and international, can fulfill their duty to keep the public
informed without any fears for their safety or their lives.

Respectfully,

E. Markham Bench

Executive Director

World Press Freedom Committee

CC: To the members of the Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom
Organizations:

Committee to Protect Journalists

Commonwealth Press Union

Inter American Press Association

International Association of Broadcasting

International Federation of the Periodical Press

International Press Institute

North American Broadcasters Association

World Association of Newspapers

World Press Freedom Committee

To the members of the Zimbabwean government and national and international
media.

Poor leadership and the axis of evil in Africa

http://www.nation.co.ke

By DONALD KIPKORIRPosted Friday, December 19 2008 at 16:37

Africa tops the world in all the negative indices of development, but
Somalia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe take the cake.

If you draw a line on the Africa map linking Mogadishu, Khartoum, Kinshasa,
Harare and then Mogadishu, you get a perfect parallelogram.

It is no coincidence that these four cities are a blight on the continent.

Since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960, the DRC has known only
poverty and strife.

It is estimated that in its soils, lies mineral wealth valued at more than
$23 trillion, yet when he took over in 1965, Joseph Mobutu oversaw the most
shameless kleptocracy Africa had seen.

Out of paranoia, he refused to build roads connecting the cities and towns.
The country, with an area of over 2,345,410 square kilometres, has a paltry
2,000km of tarmac road.

Current president Joseph Kabila may not be as thieving as Mobutu, but he is
no different as he never travels out of Kinshasa, nor has he turned the
country around.

SOMALIA'S TRAGIC FATE WAS SEALED by dictator Mohammed Siad Barre who, for
nearly 30 years, ruled the country like a personal bistro. He destroyed all
institutions of democracy and governance.

Although it is a homogenous society, Somali clans are bitter enemies as if
they are different ethnic communities.

Under its current Transitional Federal Government, led by warlord Abdullahi
Yusuf Ahmed, with a cabinet of 90 other warlords, Somalia's future is bleak.

At the moment, the only functioning system is piracy.

The tragedy with Sudan is its misguided and short-sighted Arab domination.

Arabs form only 39 per cent of the population, yet Khartoum behaves as
though all Sudanese are Arabs.

The civil strife in Southern Sudan, Darfur in particular, are
government-engineered to perpetuate the Arab domination. America's Central
Intelligence Agency predicts that by 2015, Sudan will be a failed state.

The Khartoum junta leaders may bury their heads in the sand, but their
racist policies are sowing the seeds of implosion.
When it gained independence in 1980, Zimbabwe's achievements and level of
development were unmatched in Africa.

Its literacy rate was over 90 per cent and the roads were first-class, with
more than 18,000km of tarmac.

Kenya, twice the size of Zimbabwe, has only 6,000km of third-rate tarmac
roads.

Zimbabwe's farms were the envy of any country, producing enough wheat, maize
and tobacco to feed its people and supply the world.

The media and the Judiciary could have found a home in Europe or the US. But
since 1994, Robert Mugabe, with wife Grace Marufu in tow, has destroyed the
country in what appears to be a Samson-Delilah pact.

What joins the four countries is their disdain for democracy and
megalomaniac leadership. Each is gifted with immense natural resources and
resilient people.

The leaders are giving their people no alternative leadership; instead, they
are offering themselves as the only saviours.

The countries' situation has pulled the neighbouring countries down. The
Somali instability and its piracy have impacted negatively on the Indian
Ocean maritime trade, and Kenya bears the greatest brunt.

The racist policies in Sudan cannot allow Kenya and Uganda to have any
meaningful relationship with Southern Sudan or the country as a whole.

The DRC is a source of trouble and unease to Rwanda. And Zimbabwe is
exporting refugees - and now cholera - to its neighbours.

WE MUST CALL THE LEADERSHIPS in Mogadishu, Khartoum, Kinshasa and Harare by
their real names.

They are all criminals masquerading as leaders as they watch over implosions
in their countries.

We must call the countries what they really are - a parallelogram of evil.

In each of them, nearly 10 per cent of the population has been killed,
internally displaced or made external refugees. In the DRC alone, over five
million people have been killed.

Kenya and other progressive countries in Africa, such as Botswana and Ghana,
must stand up and be counted. Africa has for long pampered its dictators at
the expense of its people.

Europe protects its own, as it did in former Yugoslavia. In Africa, we watch
our own being devoured.

It is time we asked Presidents Omar el-Bashir, Kabila, Abdullahi and Mugabe
to step down, or a price of only $1 be put on their heads for their capture
dead or alive.

It is time the evil brought about by national leaderships was tamed in
Africa. And we have the places to begin from.