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US withdraws support for Zimbabwe power-sharing deal

http://www.independent.co.uk

By Daniel Howden in Harare
Sunday, 21 December 2008

The United States effectively withdrew support for Zimbabwe's stalled
power-sharing deal today, as the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
warned that it would boycott another sham election.

Jendayi Frazer, the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs,
told reporters in Pretoria that Washington had become convinced that the
embattled president, Robert Mugabe was not interested in sharing power.

To allow him to continue as president in a unity government would leave "a
man who's lost it, who's losing his mind, who's out of touch with reality"
in power, she said after talks with regional leaders. Washington - and
Britain - had signalled a readiness to step in with a major aid package once
a unity government is operational. "We're not prepared to do any of that
now," Ms Frazer said, citing the abductions in Zimbabwe, the deteriorating
humanitarian and economic situation and the cholera epidemic.

The talks between the MDC and the ruling Zanu-PF party have bogged down over
key ministries, and Mr Mugabe has warned his party to be ready for new
elections after failing to push the opposition into a junior role in a unity
government.

The Zimbabwean opposition said it would boycott any fresh elections in the
New Year, unless there is an overhaul of the constitution and a strong
presence from international observers.

The MDC will not take part in "another Mugabe managed election farce," said
party spokesman Nelson Chamisa.

"We welcome and are ready and prepared for free and fair elections," said Mr
Chamisa. "We would be ready to deliver another election blow to them like we
did in March," where the party won more seats than Zanu PF and its leader
Morgan Tsvangirai beat Mr Mugabe by six percentage points in the
presidential poll.

However, he said that if a new vote was simply a rerun of "June chaos" where
the second round was blighted by violence against opposition supporters,
then: "the participation of the MDC cannot be definite."

It remains unclear what the government's next move will be.

The ruling party conference concluded this weekend with calls for Mr Mugabe
to unilaterally form a new government without the MDC, although this would
be illegal under the constitution.

Ms Frazer said that if Mr Mugabe's neighbours were to unite and "go to
Mugabe and tell him to go, I do think he would go," she said. But South
Africa today continued to insist that the best way forward is through a
unity government.

There has been no legitimate government in Zimbabwe since elections in
March, where the ruling party lost its parliamentary majority for the first
time.


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Mugabe warns he's ready to govern alone

http://www.nzherald.co.nz

4:00AM Monday Dec 22, 2008
Daniel Howden

Robert Mugabe is to drop the pretence of power-sharing talks with the
Opposition in Zimbabwe and form a government without them this week.

If he goes ahead, after gaining the backing of his ruling Zanu-PF Party, it
would end any immediate hope of outside help for the country, which is beset
by a series of crises.

The defiant gesture comes shortly after he taunted neighbouring countries
that they did not have the stomach to confront him, capping a week of
increasingly wild statements from the self-styled liberator. He had told
delegates to his party's conference on Saturday that "Zimbabwe is mine", and
accused Britain of wanting a war.

Yesterday the 84-year-old closed the conference with no reference to the
cholera epidemic, economic implosion or the abduction of opponents.

Zimbabwe has been without a legitimate government since March. The official
death toll from cholera stands at more than 1123, inflation has moved into
the sextillions and at least 41 opposition officials and rights activists
have been abducted.

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With an increasing number of international leaders calling on him to stand
down, Mugabe has sought to change the subject by railing against Western
plots to topple him.

He openly mocked the "courage" of neighbouring leaders, saying: "What would
they come and do militarily here? All that they would come and really pose
is a threat to our stability."

For months Mugabe has tried to bully the Opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) into accepting a deal in which he would retain the major
ministries and control the central reserve bank and the security services.
The MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, warned the government to stop its
intimidation campaign and release abductees.

Now Mugabe is signalling he will rule without the Opposition. "We have
waited for too long and our people are impatient and suffering," said a
Zanu-PF official. "With or without the MDC, the government will have to be
formed."

There could even be fresh elections early in the new year, and Mugabe warned
his supporters to be ready to avoid the "disaster of March", in which
Zanu-PF lost its majority, and Mugabe finished a distant second to
Tsvangirai in the presidential vote. That setback was overturned at the end
of June after a state-sponsored crackdown on the Opposition saw thousands of
MDC people beaten up and more than 150 murdered.

- INDEPENDENT


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Zimbabwean gov't threatens to take control of all key economic sectors

http://news.xinhuanet.com



www.chinaview.cn  2008-12-21 16:55:27

HARARE, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Zimbabwe government will soon
establish an Economic Revolutionary Council which will be tasked with
crafting home-grown strategies to tackle socioeconomic challenges brought
about by sanctions the West imposed on the country, New Ziana reported on
Sunday.

Addressing thousands of delegates at the ruling Zanu-PF's 10th
Annual People's Conference on Saturday, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe
said socioeconomic challenges the country is facing requires the government
to take action of a revolutionary nature.

"We are not in a normal situation," he said.

"It is a situation of emergency and we must use emergency
measures," he said.

Mugabe said it was imperative that the government formulates home
grown solutions to tackle the effects that illegal sanctions are causing on
the economy.

He said the Politburo has since approved the model that the
government has crafted to tackle economic challenges the country is facing.

He said the government is working on the document which will be
presented to the Politburo and Central Committee for consideration.

"We are working on a document which will be submitted to the
Politburo and Central Committee on what we propose on establishing a real
economic revolutionary council," he said.

Mugabe said revolutionary measures that the government will
implement involve taking control of key sectors of the economy such as
mining, manufacturing and banking.

He said the government is finding it difficult to reduce the
effects of illegal sanctions since the countries that imposed them control
the key sectors of the economy.

Gaining control of the key sectors will be the next stage of
economic independence after the government reclaimed ownership of the land
from the minority whites and redistributed it to the black majority, the
president said.


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In Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe turned terror into staying power

http://www.chicagotribune.com

Violence gauged to beat threats but not draw world's wrath
  By Robyn Dixon | Tribune Newspapers
  December 21, 2008
HARARE, Zimbabwe - For a very literal example of Robert Mugabe's staying
power, look no further than a recent crisis summit of southern African
leaders designed to settle the political impasse that has seen the longtime
Zimbabwean leader stubbornly cling to the presidency.

The leaders wanted him to leave the room so they could deliberate in
private. He refused.

Between their misguided politeness and his famous capacity to intimidate,
the presidents meekly backed down. Mugabe stayed.

Be it with his fellow African leaders, the West or the Zimbabwean
opposition, the 84-year-old Mugabe has outmaneuvered - and outlasted - his
critics for more than a quarter-century, through a careful calibration of
the international reaction and domestic effect of his actions. As close as
the end sometimes seems, Mugabe has managed to survive.

To help understand his staying power, one need only rewind to the 1980s and
the massacres during his early years in power, when he was a conquering hero
who had thrown out the white minority regime of Ian Smith.

The name of the murderous operation, Gukurahundi, was as lyrical as a haiku:
the wind that blows away the chaff before the spring rains.

Mugabe's political opponents were the chaff. The spring rains were supposed
to signify the golden era of a one-party state (or rather, a one-man state).

Western leaders and news media ignored the massacres of the "dissidents" by
the army's crack 5 Brigade in Matabeleland province in southern Zimbabwe.
Some estimates put the dead at 20,000.

Mugabe drew his most important lesson from the West's blase reaction,
analysts believe: that there's a level of "acceptable" violence that will
escape international condemnation but still destroy any threat to his power.

"He's never, ever been frightened of war," said analyst Tony Reeler of the
Research and Advocacy Unit, an independent think tank in Harare, the
capital. Mugabe learned he could get away with "subliminal terror" that
would not trigger international intervention, he said.

"It's just below the threshold that upsets people, and it's deliberately
so," he said.

The shadow of the Gukurahundi campaign has haunted Zimbabwe since the early
1980s.

"It's painful to remember. It's a story told in blood," said a 61-year-old
retired military officer who was attached to the 5 Brigade when it
"cleansed" villages in 1982, arresting the men, interrogating and torturing
them to identify opposition guerrillas. Like others cited in this report, he
spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing repercussions.

He said he saw thousands of people killed. Women were shut into thatched
huts and burned alive. Even the children were targets.

"They would take these young boys about a year old and they would say, 'This
one will grow up to be a dissident,' and they would smash his head against a
tree."

After his shocking defeat by Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan
Tsvangirai in the first-round presidential vote in March, he blamed traitors
in his ZANU-PF party, according to several party sources.

He told military and ruling party leaders that he was ready to step down,
according to party sources. But rather than ceding control to the
"securocrats" and generals, he has instead strengthened his position with
these hard-line forces in the party, the sources say.

"These are people who depend on Mugabe for their own political existence,"
said a ZANU-PF insider. "They realized they could not afford to let Mugabe
concede."

So, in the most recent echo of Gukurahundi, the military and war veterans
recruited youthful militants and set up hundreds of militia bases, beating
thousands of MDC supporters, burning their houses and torturing and killing
opposition activists. At least 130 people died.

Los Angeles Times


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Kick Mugabe and Tsvangirai out, get a new team

http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke

By FRANCOIS GRIGNON

Posted Saturday, December 20 2008 at 09:01

The world is now fully aware of the catastrophic situation in Zimbabwe.

The economic crisis has led to the highest inflation rate in the world with
most of the population not able to buy even the most basic goods and half of
it in urgent need of food aid; most schools have closed and the 2008
academic year has been written off.

The collapse of the health sector has meant hospitals are not able to treat
patients any more; and now a cholera epidemic is ravaging the country, with
already around 1,000 reported deaths and an actual death toll probably much
higher.

And the future only looks gloomier as politicians are unable to reach an
agreement to implement a power-sharing agreement signed in September. This
is all well known. But no credible solution to that crisis has been
suggested yet.

In a chorus of disapprobation, Western leaders have recently started to call
on President Robert Mugabe to step down and opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai to take over from him. They have also threatened to increase
their targeted sanctions and both the European Union and the United States
have recently done so.

But sanctions have no impact on the regime, which is only using them to
document its claims of Western interference.

Apart from Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, their African counterparts,
including vocal critics of the regime, have unanimously taken a more
cautious approach and have all called for the pursuit of negotiations in the
framework of the political agreement.

It now appears clear that neither a solution where Mugabe remains in power
and Tsvangirai becomes prime minister, nor one where Mugabe is forcibly
ousted, have the potential to bring the crisis to an end and ease
Zimbabweans' daily lives.

The political agreement signed in September was flawed from the start.

By leaving open critical issues such as the allocation of ministries and by
creating two centres of power with both the president and prime minister
having executive authority, it did not provide for an easy implementation.

Mugabe has consistently opposed any meaningful exercise of power by
Tsvangirai, especially over security-sector ministries.

At the same time, the opposition leader is rightly unwilling to join any
coalition where he would only play a minor part.

Joining such a government would surely only legitimise the status quo as
well as Mugabe's power.

But after he left his country adrift, putting tens of thousands of lives at
risk and even orchestrating gross human-rights violations, Mugabe has lost
that legitimacy.

Months of mistrust have built up to the point that any power-sharing formula
involving Mugabe and Tsvangirai is only likely to result in partisan debates
and total paralysis.

A new approach to the Zimbabwean crisis is possible to avoid the country's
complete collapse if all actors and facilitators accept a radical yet
pragmatic shift.

The core idea would be to establish a transitional administration mandated
to set up new presidential elections in 18 months and to implement crucial
political and economic reforms in the meantime.

It would be run by a chief administrator, a Zimbabwean non-partisan expert
who could come from an international organisation, the private sector or the
civil society, and neither Mugabe nor Tsvangirai would be part of it.

This new structure would be approved by a two-thirds majority in parliament,
the only legitimately elected body in the country.

And even though this might seem unthinkable to some, Mugabe and members of
the infamous Joint Operations Command, responsible for the violent crackdown
on the population, should receive amnesty if they agree to retire and do not
get involved in activities threatening the country's stability.

International involvement is crucial and should come from Africa. But Thabo
Mbeki should not be part of it any more.

Whatever his competence or intent, he has lost his legitimacy as mediator in
the eyes of the opposition because of his perceived pro-Mugabe stance.

The Southern African Development Community should now turn to the African
Union for support in breaking the deadlock and together they should appoint
a new mediator to succeed Mbeki.

They should also identify senior officials who could assist the transitional
administration. If requested by the interim government, SADC countries could
deploy security forces to Zimbabwe to promote stability.

Ending the Zimbabwean crisis requires progress on both the political and the
economic fronts.

A functioning and reliable administration is crucial to attract the
international support critical to ending Zimbabweans' suffering.

After months of stalemate and deteriorating living conditions, Zimbabwean
leaders and SADC countries must recognise that the September political
agreement will not produce such a government and that it should thus be
buried.

Zimbabwe urgently needs a different approach before the dramatic
humanitarian and economic crisis engulfing the country spreads throughout
Southern Africa.

Dr François Grignon is the international Crisis Group's Africa programme
director


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Zim's new legal boss thumbs his nose at SADC

http://www.iol.co.za/

December 21 2008 at 10:35AM

By Peta Thornycroft

Zimbabwe's new attorney-general celebrated his appointment last week with
the prosecutions of white farmers in defiance of a regional court ruling
which was supposed to protect them from eviction.

Johannes Tomana, the new attorney-general, who helped himself to a
white-owned farm, and who led the legal campaign to ban Zimbabwe's only
independent daily newspaper, sent four white farmers to court on Thursday,
accusing them of trespassing on state property, a charge which carries a
two-year jail sentence.

The farmers, all from Chegutu, 100km west of Harare, were prosecuted for
illegally remaining on the small part of their landholding they still use,
despite endless harassment from President Robert Mugabe's supporters.

Prosecutions of white farmers who remained on their property were suspended
before the November 28 judgment from the court of last resort, the Southern
African Development Community Tribunal, which was created by a treaty signed
by Zimbabwe.

The tribunal, with four regional judges, ruled on behalf of the applicants,
78 white Zimbabwe farmers, that they had been improperly deprived of their
land and were victims of racial discrimination.

Mugabe was ordered by the tribunal to cease trying to evict them.

In the first prosecutions since the ruling, middle-aged farmers Brian
Bronkhorst, Ken Bartholomew, Thomas Beattie and Colin Cloete were ordered to
stand trial before a magistrate who had previously seized a white-owned
farm.

Prosecutor Tawanda Zvekare forgot to collect police dockets from Harare and
the case was remanded until January 5.

Lawyer David Drury, who has defended farmers around the country in court
cases for several years, said the previous acting attorney-general "had
expressly or by his conduct given recognition to the SADC Tribunal", as all
cases of trespass against white farmers had been dropped ahead of the
judgment.

"Our new attorney-general has obliterated that recognition and is ignoring
the tribunal and is now fast-tracking prosecutions.

"Mr Tomana is determined to get rid of the rest of them. The trial of the
four Chegutu farmers is the beginning of the end, the last and final push
against white farmers."

Zimbabwe's economic collapse began when its agricultural exports shrunk
after Mugabe started seizing land from 4 500 productive white commercial
farmers in 2000.

The "new" farmers have failed year after year, despite massive state
subsidies to grow even 20 percent of Zimbabwe's pre-land grab harvests.

On Friday, Drury lodged the tribunal's judgment with the Harare High Court
in an urgent application "to try to get written confirmation from the
government that the SADC Tribunal, which Zimbabwe created along with other
member states, and which they said they would respect, has been thrown out
the window".

Two weeks ago, Tomana, who regularly represents top Zanu-PF officials,
quashed a case in the High Court against Mugabe's spokesman, George
Charamba, who was accused of beating his wife on February 24 at their Harare
home.

He also represented the state media commission in a case which lead to the
daily newspaper, The Daily News, being banned five years ago.

After being sworn in, Tomana said Zimbabwe's deepening crisis was caused by
crime.

"We have allowed crime to dominate our lives. I want to promise everyone
that the security services are ready, the judiciary is ready, and I am more
than prepared to help the nation fight crime."

Invasions of farms continues unabated, and one of the latest invasions was
when injured Air Marshall Perence Shiri went onto a majority Malaysian-owned
banana plantation in the Burma Valley in eastern Zimbabwe.

Drury is acting on behalf of the Malaysian company, Rainbow Century, and its
local shareholders.

This article was originally published on page 13 of Cape Argus on December
21, 2008


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SA denies handing over withheld Zimbabwe aid

http://www.nation.co.ke

Posted Sunday, December 21 2008 at 17:43

HARARE, Sunday

South Africa reiterated today it would only hand over $30 million in
agricultural aid to Zimbabwe after a unity government is formed, denying a
Zimbabwe media report it had reversed a decision to hold back the help.

While South Africa and other southern African countries are helping Zimbabwe
deal with a spiralling cholera epidemic, the regional power said last month
it would only provide farming aid to its neighbour after a coalition
government was formed.

The move was seen as South Africa's first punitive measure against Zimbabwe,
which is battling acute food shortages, and as a sign of frustration at its
neighbour's failure to enforce a stalled power-sharing agreement and stem an
economic crisis.

Some analysts believe South Africa and other African nations have been too
soft on President Robert Mugabe and want to see more regional pressure on
him to break a political impasse.

Zimbabwe's state-owned Sunday Mail newspaper quoted Agriculture Minister
Rugare Gumbo as saying farming inputs like staple maize seed, fertiliser and
fuel forming part of the 300 million rand South African package had arrived
in Zimbabwe.

Support facility

"The South African government has sent a consignment of agricultural inputs
to Zimbabwe under its 300 million rand farming support facility," the paper
said.

But Thabo Masebe, spokesman for South African President Kgalema Motlanthe,
said South Africa had not reversed its stance.

"We said we would be able to help with agricultural assistance worth about
300 million rand once a new government has formed, and that has not
 changed," said Mr Masebe.

"In parallel, there have been efforts to assist with the humanitarian crisis
so that may be what they are referring to," he said

Mr Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed the power-sharing
pact on September 15 but the deal has been unravelling over disagreements
about the control of key ministries.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe has sunk deeper into crisis. Hyper-inflation means
prices double every day and a cholera epidemic has killed more than 1,100
people.

South African is leading the regional Southern African Development Community
in providing urgent humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe.

Western leaders blame Mr Mugabe for the crisis and have called on him to
step down but he says economic sanctions are at fault, and has vowed "never
to surrender" to what he says are efforts to topple him. (Reuters)


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Price Controls A Futile Exercise - NIPC

http://www.radiovop.com

HARARE - The National Incomes and Pricing Commission (NIPC) has
admitted price controls in Zimbabwe are futile as government has lost
meaningful control over the country's explosive business environment.

NIPC chairman Godwills Masimirembwa said most business enterprises
continued to willfully increase prices of goods in a bid to keep their
businesses running.
He conceded most business operations were now determined by illegal
foreign currency traders saying government had no practical influence over
them.
"Illegal foreign currency dealers are determining prices to the extent
that the business operator decides to operate outside the law," Masimirembwa
said during a current affairs programme on ZTV Thursday night.
"The business person makes a choice of whether to act within the
provisions of the law or outside the provisions of the law.
"The difficulty that we have is that the country is not generating
sufficient foreign currency from the productive sector, from our industrial
activities, from our manufacturing sector.
Masimirembwa said the foreign currency that comes in to the country is
from the Diaspora; hence it was difficult to set a price for it.
He said it was also practically difficult for government to plan on
Diaspora money which it does not know if it may come or not as it is
entirely up to the sender to decide whether to send or not.
 "At the end of the day, the country is being held to ransom by those
people who have foreign currency who put a premium to the foreign currency.

"If you try and control that market that source of foreign currency
may completely dry up because the person may then decide to send the foreign
currency in the form of goods or may decide not to send the foreign currency
at all.
"So it is a serious inconvenience which we have to live with until we
increase production.
"As long as we rely on this sector of Diaspora funds which we do not
have control over, we will continue to suffer the consequences of these
price setters because we have no control."
He said they continued to have repeat offenders because the penalty
was very little and not deterrent.
"The fines that are being imposed now are now deterrent at all," he
lamented.
"If a business person is going to be fined for example one million
dollars, and yet in one hour they would have made an unlawful profit of two
billion dollars, they will say it is a worthwhile business risks to break
the law because the fines are meaningless."
Government incepted the NIPC a few months ago in a desperate bid to
reign in escalating prices that have driven Zimbabwe's inflation to record
levels.
But the NIPC has failed to contain the prices often triggered by
increases in cash withdrawal limits by the central bank.
Most business last week ignored calls by NIPC not to hike their prices
on the release of $1 billion, $5 billion and $10 billion notes which were in
line with the increase in withdrawal limits.Prices of most goods short by
more than 150 to 300 percent leaving government with no clue on how to
contain recurrent price increases.


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The moneychangers' flea market in Zim's CBD

http://www.mg.co.za

MARKO PHIRI - Dec 21 2008 06:00

They wear flashy garments and loud perfumes, presenting themselves as uptown
yuppies. Many have that bulging African backside oozing cellulite,
celebrated by women and men alike as the quintessence of beauty.

They flaunt their huge behinds and sagging bellies as they stand by city
sidewalks in broad daylight and make no effort to repress their sexuality.

But wait a minute: they are not soliciting for brazen quickies in filthy
alleys as in the days of Zimbabwe's economic boom. That -- as streetwise lay
historians will tell you -- was during the early years when the one with a
Hitler moustache had just inherited an enviable jewel this far side of the
Sahara and the natives could afford all sorts of luxuries.

"Usiphatheleni bhudi [What did you bring us, bro]?" they chorus as you go
about minding your business -- like ruminating over where you will get your
next meal. Meet Bulawayo's illegal moneychangers.

They yell their solicitations even with a visibly impoverished and
bamboozled cop standing nearby -- never mind that this street trade is
supposed to be illegal, according to the country's central bank. Everyone
knows the poorly remunerated cops now get their bread (minus the butter) in
the streets much like everyone else.

These women have so honed their survival skills that they can be heard
telling off the very poor law enforcement officer who threatens them with
arrest, yelling obscenities about the cops being undersexed, and if the cop
is lucky, he gets off with a pitiable bribe of a few dollars, just enough to
pay for a single trip home.

Moneychangers have colonised virtually every street corner of the CBD,
turning it into a haven of illegal cash transactions. Pedestrians wonder
aloud how many South African rands or US greenbacks flood these mean streets
and whether these locals are causing shortages of the rand in Jo'burg.

It has been whispered that the hopelessly amoral central bank splashes
stacks of local dollars on its foot soldiers in the form of these women
lurking on street corners to purchase foreign currency from members of the
public. It is this foreign currency that, the story goes, the central bank
uses to pay the ever-ballooning debts of public utilities -- like the power
company that has to pay the neighbouring countries from which Zimbabwe
imports its electricity.

While millions toil -- poor residents can be heard cursing loudly -- the
ladies with huge behinds live comfortable lives. They gorge on junk food and
are the elite who can afford takeaways in a country where many households
last had bread more than a year ago. Many here believe the barons are fronts
for well-heeled politicians and high-up bank officials who splash dollars on
these streets and have the whole country complaining about cash shortages.
These women are the types who have friends in high (some say low) places.

In the infancy of the moneychanging business -- which some say can be traced
as far back as the early 1990s -- it was members of a religious sect who
pioneered the trade. The women of the sect could be easily identified by
their white religious garb, but many wondered when they actually made time
to praise and worship.

These pioneering women bought foreign currency so they could cross the
border and purchase goods for resale back in Bulawayo. Now they reportedly
control the trade, alongside incorrigibly corrupt senior government
officials, and the women have retired to their mansions, while the small
fish do their errands.

Because their religious garb became associated with moneychanging, it was
only a matter of time before imitators appeared. Though religion and prayer
were the last things on their minds, they adopted religious garb to woo
customers -- and it worked.

But the trick had its downside. The cops could now easily ID the illegal
moneychangers in this once peaceful CBD, and wearing religious garb soon
became an occupational hazard.

Members of the public also knew whom to target for mob justice when they'd
been conned. The story back then, and now, was that the women would sandwich
fake banknotes -- actually old newspapers -- between genuine Zim dollars,
then rush you into accepting the stash by claiming that plain-clothed police
were watching the illegal transaction. Now, however, the religious garb has
disappeared, but the cons continue.

Believe or not, the central bank expects members of the public to sell their
foreign currency to banks so the impoverished government can have a source
of forex after it decimated all foreign currency-earning sectors of the
economy.

But the ubiquitous women who yell "usiphatheleni" and make a filthy rich
living for themselves have become an important part of the local economy for
thousands here who receive remittances from friends and relatives working
outside the country.


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Residents Call For Dollarisation Of The Economy

http://www.radiovop.com


Masvingo- Residents of Masvingo have called on the Central Bank
Governor Gideon Gono to allow them to bank their money in foreign currency.

 "Gono should only admit that local currency has become useless. We no
longer want to continue using the local currency because once the new note
is introduced, all prices for basic goods will shoot up. Even if the
National Income Price Commission (NIPC) put the legal prices for goods, no
one can listen to that.
"The best solution is to use forex. All workers must be paid in
forex," said Munyaradzi Musarurwa.
Despite the introduction of new monthly withdrawal limit upon
producing a pay slip, most people have been failing to access their money.

"We are very disappointed because we could not withdraw our
money...The whole process is very unfair, only uniformed forces such as the
police managed to get their money," said a resident.
"The money has become completely useless. Gono is a failure and he
should accept that his currency has become equally useless."

Meanwhile soldiers are continuously beating up foreign currency
dealers.

"You fail to get the logic out of it. How can you beat people who help
us with the forex? Why do they (soldiers) forget that we are paid in local
currency but almost every shop need forex? Where can we get the forex if
they beat these guys? They are not solving anything by beating these illegal
dealers," said Mutongi Chirinda.

Meanshile Gono has set a trap for local firms by forcing them to show
their Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) payments to get pay slips.

Gono has been issuing Zd 10 billion for those with pay slips from
their companies.
This was up from Zd 500 million weekly.
Banking industry sources told Radio VOP that he would next week swoop
on firms that did not have payments for the taxation year 2008.
Gono said the withdrawal amounts would increase monthly as inflation
goes up. Inflation is officially estimated to be 230 million percent
although financial anaysts say it is far much more than that.


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IoS Christmas Appeal: In Zimbabwe, porridge once a day makes you a lucky girl

http://www.independent.co.uk
 

At an early childhood centre children play, learn and, most importantly, eat. But for many, this will be their only meal

By a special correspondent in Matabeleland north, Zimbabwe
Sunday, 21 December 2008

Children eat at the centre supported by Save the Children in north-western Zimbabwe

Rachel Dwyer

Children eat at the centre supported by Save the Children in north-western Zimbabwe

The 36 children attending an early childhood centre in north-west Zimbabwe were lucky, and they knew it. They were wearing their best clothes – even if, as in the case of three-year-old Milesh, this meant a shirt that, while clean, was shredded at the back.

Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabwean children the same age are on the brink of starvation, and millions are losing their education as the collapse in government services closes school after school. All are at risk from the cholera epidemic. But Milesh and friends were looking forward not only to playing and learning together, but to getting what for many of them would be their only meal of the day – a plate of porridge.

The children waited patiently under a tree, clapping and singing while the food was prepared. They could not have been more orderly as they came forward, were given a plate and carried it carefully back into the shade. As soon as they were sitting down, the porridge – a special formula called corn-soya blend, or CSB, fortified with minerals and sweetened with sugar – disappeared in seconds.

Save the Children is helping more than 1,000 pre-school children in Zimbabwe in this way, but such is the chaos in the country that it is having to feed the centre's helpers, too. "It would be very difficult for me to travel here on an empty stomach," said one. She was scanning the pupils to see who was missing, and was not surprised that Godgave, four, was absent.

"Godgave is an orphan, and lives with his widowed grandmother," said the helper. "They are very poor. He is often too weak from hunger – he comes for one or two days, then he is away sick. We go and check on him, but we have no food to carry to him." In such a state any childhood disease, let alone cholera, could take his life.

Some of the children at the centre showed signs of malnutrition. While most rushed around once they had eaten, playing on the slide and the climbing frame, Milesh's six-year-old sister Zineth hovered near those with food, until an adult gave her a half-eaten portion of CSB. She made instant work of it. When workers later checked the children's weight-to-height ratio, Zineth was one of seven who fell into the red zone on the chart, showing she was malnourished. Milesh and 12 others were in the green zone, indicating normal development. Another 16 came up yellow, which meant that of the 36 children at the centre that day, 23 were either suffering from malnutrition or were close to it.

It is not uncommon in Africa for boys in a family to be favoured over girls at times of hardship, but when we accompanied Zineth and Milesh home, their grandfather Mathias denied it was intentional. "We want to treat the children the same," he said. "But when we have very little food, we give it to the youngest. It's not because he is a boy."

Mathias and his wife Mary have brought up their daughter's three children since she died five years ago and her husband deserted them soon afterwards. "We haven't had sadza [a mash, made from maize meal, that is Zimbabwe's staple food] for three days," he said. "We've been eating wild fruits and begging a little maize meal from our neighbours. We got a few cupfuls, which we gave to the children to eat. We had nothing for ourselves."

The United Nations estimates that more than five million Zimbabweans, roughly half of them children, urgently need food aid. Save the Children is preparing to set up emergency feeding centres for children under five, where even the severely malnourished can be rescued with a special food called Plumpynut. Neither of these programmes will benefit Mathias and his family, however, because they have livestock, and others are worse off.

"We have three donkeys, which we use to plough our field," he said. "We didn't get any seeds when they were given out, but we managed to barter some with a neighbour, in exchange for ploughing his field. We're living each day as it comes. It's hard for the children – they see others getting food and toys at Christmas, but we have nothing." His wife added: "When they ask us about the situation, we have no answers. We feel very helpless."

This story is being repeated across Zimbabwe. Millions are suffering, through no fault of their own, as the nation falls into chaos. Unless we help them, they have no cause for hope.

Some names have been changed.

Donations to date

The Independent on Sunday Christmas Appeal has already raised over £25,000, but the plight of Zimbabwe's children means much more is still needed.

£10 will feed 40 pre-school or primary school pupils and teachers for one week.

£25 will provide toys for a pre-school classroom.

£30 will clothe a family of three children so they can go to school.

£40 will buy teaching materials, including pens, paper and text books.

£66 will train a teacher.


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AU calls for urgent humanitarian aid in Zimbabwe


Source: The Zimbabwean

Date: 20 Dec 2008

President Jakaya Kikwete has called upon the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) and the international community to assist Zimbabwe in
fighting an outbreak of cholera which has so far claimed lives of over 800
people.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Bernard
Membe, who spoke on behalf of President Jakaya Kikwete, told a news
conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday that there was an urgent need to
provide humanitarian aid to the people of Zimbabwe who were in unprecedented
economic and political crisis.

In the spirit of supporting Zimbabwe against the outbreak, the minister
handed over drugs and other hospital equipment worth over 75m/- to the
Zimbabwean acting High Commissioner, Ms Taremba Taremba at the Julius
Nyerere International Airport.

The consignment was the second batch of drugs and equipment donation meant
as a response to the urgent need for serious humanitarian crisis
interventions in Zimbabwe. The first batch of drugs and equipment arrived in
Zimbabwe on December 18, this year. Mr Membe also reaffirmed that the
humanitarian assistance should not be treated with a political note.

The main focus at the juncture was to save lives of thousands of innocent
Zimbabweans who were experiencing deep miseries. In recent days, the ZANU-PF
leader president Robert Mugabe was quoted as saying that his country had
successfully contained the outbreak of cholera.

The international humanitarian organizations, however, maintained that
cholera remains prevalent and many people still fell victim to the killer
disease. Meanwhile, the minister for Foreign Affairs and International
Cooperation Bernard Membe said that President Jakaya Kikwete, currently the
AU chairman, continued with diplomatic efforts to find best ways to resolve
the political impasse in Zimbabwe.

He said the AU was spearheading consultation with all key players and the
result on the progress was expected to be released soon. The Zimbabwe's
ruling party ZANU-PF and the opposition MDC, under growing domestic,
regional and international pressure, hammered out a power-sharing deal on
Sept 15, which was widely seen as the only cure of the country's
longstanding economic and political crisis.

But they have since been bickering over which ministries each side should
control. The bickering, mainly centred on control of the powerful ministries
of defense, home affairs, finance, information, local government and
justice, now threatens the power-sharing agreement brokered by former South
African President Thabo Mbeki over several months on behalf of the African
Union and SADC.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai accuses
President Mugabe of attempting to take all the key ministries, leaving his
partners in the proposed coalition government with inconsequential cabinet
portfolios. Tsvangirai has vowed never to accept skewed sharing of power,
threatening to pull out of the proposed unity government in which he has
been designated prime minister, while Mugabe president.


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Harare - Aid workers struggle to stop cholera spreading


Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR)

Date: 19 Dec 2008

They warn outbreak could get worse, as rainwater washes human excrement into
open drains of stricken slums

By Chipo Sithole in Harare (ZCR No. 173, 19-Dec-08)

Shamiso Mushonga, eight months pregnant with her third child, feels like a
prisoner in the two-room shack she shares with her other two children in
densely populated Budiriro.

She said she is so afraid of the cholera that since August has already
killed hundreds in this Harare slum - including her husband in September -
that she cannot allow her children to go out to play. She has not left her
cramped quarters for the past four days, only going to the market with her
children firmly in tow.

The last time she remembers going outside was to buy vegetables, which she
said she boiled thoroughly before cooking.

Budiriro, a vast, squalid wasteland of shacks and refuse, is home to
hundreds of thousands. The shanties resemble a collage of scrap lumber,
rusted metal and chicken wire.

The suburb is part of a semi-complete housing development where neither a
sewage system nor a fresh water supply was ever put in place. Most residents
have no potable water or latrines, and people here relieve themselves in the
bush because the few toilets there are blocked.

The city slum presents a picture of total neglect - stinking pools of
stagnant water, overflowing drains and rotting garbage out in the open.

With the onset of the rainy season, there has been a sharp increase in the
incidence of the water-borne disease in Budiriro.

"It's raining cholera, literally," Mushonga tells IWPR.

Aid agencies warn that in spite of their efforts to try to halt its spread,
the cholera outbreak could get worse, as rainwater washes human excrement
into the open drains.

"People are living in extremely bad conditions here," said a water and
sanitation expert with Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders.

"As you can see, there are mountains of rubbish everywhere. So, when the
rains started coming - and it's been raining heavily here in Harare
recently - the rain has been washing all this rubbish and it is mixing with
all the excreta that is lying around in the community because the people
don't have access to latrines."

Overcrowding in Budiriro compounds the problem. The slum has experienced
massive population growth since Operation Murambatsvina (Drive Out Filth)
was carried out in 2005. The slum-clearance drive left 700,000 mostly
opposition supporters homeless, as bulldozers flattened their homes.

Large numbers of patients throng makeshift health centres set up by aid
agencies, as public hospitals here have been closed.

At a United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, truck delivering clean water,
dozens line up, waiting hours for a few buckets for washing, drinking and
cooking. When the supply runs out, they scoop it out of filthy drains or the
pools of water that have run through the rubbish heaps in the township.

The whole area is plagued by water and sewage problems, notes Professor
Heneri Dzinotyiwei, an opposition member of parliament for Budiriro and a
lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe.

"Health care services are flooded with patients suffering from water-borne
diseases since the onset of the rains," he said.

"Every other day, residents complain about the blocked sewage pipes. We have
appealed to the government department responsible for this and they are not
forthcoming. The threat of an even worse epidemic breaking out is looming
large in my area and the authorities will be held responsible for it."

The situation is similar in other slums and low-lying areas in the city,
including Glen View and Glen Norah, where open spaces are littered with
garbage, which has not been removed for months.

And it's not just Harare which is affected. Since August, cholera has spread
through nine of Zimbabwe's ten provinces. As of December 16, more than
17,000 cases had been reported, according to the United Nations Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA.

Aid agencies say with the onset of the rainy season, fresh cases of cholera
have been detected in Chegutu, 100 kilometres west of Harare, where 60
people have died over the past week. There are also reports of new
infections in Masvingo, almost 300 km south-east of Harare, and in the town
of Nyamapanda, which lies close to the border with Mozambique.

According to the UN, the death toll in country now stands at over 1,000.

When the disease first broke out, President Robert Mugabe appeared to be in
denial, saying he was on top of the situation.

He claimed that sanctions imposed by western countries had prevented the
government from buying chemicals to treat the water supply.

The 84-year-old leader later claimed that Zimbabwe's former colonial power,
Britain, had embarked on biological warfare against the country, branding
cholera part of foreign aggression and attempted genocide against
Zimbabweans.

On December 3, the Zimbabwean authorities seemed to acknowledge the gravity
of the situation with health minister David Parirenyatwa requesting
international assistance to tackle the outbreak.

The response has been immediate, with international financiers and western
governments providing clean drinking water, purifying tablets and medicines.

But donors have voiced outrage at statements by Mugabe that the epidemic has
now been brought under control, even as UNICEF reported that the disease has
spread to two-thirds of the country and has begun spilling over into
neighbouring Botswana, South Africa and Mozambique, mainly because of heavy
rain.

While UNICEF is trucking in fresh water supplies to the country, this is
still not enough to meet the demand.

In areas where the supply runs out, people are forced to buy water from
neighbouring suburbs. The trade in water is rife with profiteering - the
cost is ten times higher than what the residents with piped water pay to the
Zimbabwe National Water Authority, ZINWA.

In a place where many people live on less than 50 US cents a day, most
simply cannot buy it and are forced to scoop it out of filthy drains.

Though the government claims that it is addressing sanitation problems, the
reality on the ground is different.

"The situation is pathetic. Our life has become worse than pigs. The
overwhelming stench is just unbearable," said Raymond Mutasa, a Budiriro
resident.

Mutasa dragged this reporter over to a heap of rotting garbage.

"When we pass this area we pinch our noses to avoid the stench," chips in
Shupikai, another resident, adding that they burn incense at night to make
things bearable in their houses when having supper.

When you ask residents whether government officials visit them, they stare
at you.

"Yes, they have started coming after the media started reporting on the
deaths from cholera," said Patricia Mnkuli, a vegetable vendor,
sarcastically pointing at the heaps of garbage surrounding the dustbins and
a pool of stagnant dirty water that has turned green with scum.

Mushonga said she will remain indoors with her two children until the
situation is under control.

"I cannot lose any more people to this disease," she said.

Chipo Sithole is the pseudonym of an IWPR-trained reporter in Zimbabwe.


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Khupe Calls For Accurate Cholera Information

http://www.radiovop.com

HARARE, December 21, 2008 - The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
Vice President, Thoko Khupe says the country's leadership must not give
wrong information about the cholera outbreak.

Khupe, from the Morgan Tsvangirai Faction, told female
parliamentarians attending a workshop in Harare recently that donors were
willing to help if given all information.

Cholera, which broke out in August, has so far claimed 1 100 lives
with 20 000 more people suffering from the disease, that kills quickly if
not properly managed.

Meanwhile  the Harare City Council (HCC) has banned all vending of
food stuffs at the soccer Rufaro Stadium.
A plate of sadza and meat or chicken was going for USd 4 while that
for a plate of fresh chips with chicken or beef was going for USd 5 at the
stadium.
Vendors said they would lose business due to the ban.
However relief agencies were last week still struggling to contain the
devastating cholera outbreak in Chegutu, which has so far claimed at least
160 lives in less than two weeks.
"The current situation in Zimbabwe is extremely worrying but aid
agencies, donors and the government of Zimbabwe are continuing to respond in
an intensive and co-ordinated manner to bring the epidemic under control,"
said John Holmes, chief of the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in New York.
The aid agencies said the epidemic in Chegutu had been the "worst so
far" since the disease was first detected in August with medical personnel
on the ground attending to at least 140 cases a day.
  Last week health workers had reportedly attended to more than 800
cases.  Relief agencies say the death rate in the small town, with a
population of around 150 000, was worrisome.
 In other parts of the country, they said the outbreak was far from
being contained.   In the Harare townships of Budiriro and Glen View, the
epidemic was reportedly still wreaking havoc with at least 100 deaths having
been confirmed in the area.
 The OCHA says more than 20 500 cholera cases have been reported in
Zimbabwe since August.
 The agency also blamed the recurring outbreaks in Chegutu on the lack
of clean drinking water, poor sanitation and worsening conditions in the
health sector.


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Thousands Turn To Sangomas For Medication

http://www.radiovop.com


Masvingo-As the country's health system continues to crumble,
desperate patients are left without any option besides turning to
traditional healers for medication, a survey in the province has revealed.

Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association (Zinatha)'s
provincial secretary Samuel Ndambakuwa said: "We have never witnessed such a
huge turn out before. We are the only people who are helping people in the
province. As an organization, we opened an office at the city centre in Kyle
Building so that people would easily locate us.
"During previous years, people thought that we are associated with
evil spirits but it has come clear that we are dedicated life savers."

He said people who need constant medical check ups such HIV and Aids
together with those infected by sexually transmitted diseases were top on
the list of visits to Sangomas. Even pregnant women were also going to
Sangomas for assistance to deliver.

Prophets in the city also confirmed they were seeing an increased
number of patients due to the closure of state Hospitals.
Posters advertising expertise from different Sangomas are displayed at
different places in town.
"We were shy to seek for treatment and medical inspection from
traditional healers but we are left with no option, these people are helping
us and I encourage people that they move with times and trust these guys
(traditional healers) rather than dying at home.
"I also learnt that people are greatly helped. The consultation fees
are very reasonable, more over besides being cheaper, one can bargain and
pay with other things rather than money," said Tafadzwa Makiwa.
Meanwhile, some hospitals are continuously closing.

Gutu Mission Hospital is on verge of closing as it has run out of
drugs and food.
Member of Parliament for Gutu Central Constituency Oliver Chirume told
Radio VOP:
"As I am speaking, I am in my way to Gutu Mission for a stakeholders
meeting. The hospital is about to be closed but we are going to find out
what we can do to prevent the closure of hospital. Of late the hospital has
been hit by several problems."


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Christmas is missing in Zimbabwe

http://www.hararetribune.com

Sunday, 21 December 2008 17:46 Hon. Eddie Cross

There will be very little to celebrate this Christmas in Zimbabwe if you're
not a Christian. There is very little food - my trousers are all hanging on
me as I have lost so much weight in recent months. There is very little sign
of any progress politically and the economic and humanitarian crisis just
goes on deepening. For thousands this will be a Christmas to forget and many
will spend the holiday grieving over loved ones lost.

Since the start of 2008 some 560 people have been abducted - the bodies of
only 220 have been found, many mutilated and burned almost beyond
recognition. In the past three weeks some 44 people have been abducted -
Gandhi Mudzingwa, a senior MDC activist was taken at 16.00 hours in a busy
street and his companion dumped on the street while the abductors - all men
with arms, sped off. Justina Mukoko was abducted from home at 5 am in front
of her children, was taken dressed only in a nightdress and without her
glasses or heart medicine.

On his way to Parliament a senior MDC leader was the victim of an attempted
abduction in the early afternoon in traffic - the brazenness of these
attacks stands out, the perpetrators are all armed, in numbers, driving
unmarked cars - many without number plates and they show no fear of arrest
or discovery. Just who are they? Of one thing you can be sure - they are
organised, financed and protected by the Junta that runs the country today.

In Parliament this week, MDC legislators hammered the message home - 'these
are violations of human rights, they are crimes against humanity and will
not be forgiven or forgotten'. The perpetrators were put on notice; they
will eventually, be brought to book.

On the political front it was not a great week - at least in public. After
the success of the week before where President Motlanthe had forced the Zanu
PF negotiators to accept a draft of the required constitutional amendments
to implement the SADC Agreement, he had thought the game was over. He wrote
a letter to the Parties saying that they should get on with the amendments
and then immediately form a government.

Mugabe responded by writing to Morgan Tsvangirai and inviting him to come to
Harare and be sworn in as Prime Minister. Tsvangirai's response was that
Mugabe had no right to swear in anybody - he was not President until the
Parliament of Zimbabwe said so after adopting the 19th Amendment. We do not
have a legitimate government at present and do what they will, Zanu cannot
pretend otherwise. Nothing they are doing has any legal foundation, and they
know it.

Instead Tsvangirai demanded that the remaining issues be dealt with by the
negotiators , the structure and composition of the National Security
Council, the equitable allocation of Ministerial Portfolios and the
appointment of Governors. In addition, Tsvangirai added a new demand -
produce all the people abducted by the 1st of January or the MDC will break
off all contacts with Zanu PF.

I have seen comment in South Africa that these are empty threats - they are
not. I can assure everyone that Morgan Tsvangirai is determined not to move
one iota before these demands are met in full. If MDC does withdraw from the
SADC brokered deal then the country and the region have a very real problem.
There can be no solution to the Zimbabwe crisis without the MDC and if a
solution is not found soon, the consequences for the country and the region
are dire.

I represent a constituency with thousands of poor, struggling people in a
high-density area of Bulawayo. I rub shoulders with Zimbabweans from all
walks of life every day. I know of no one - not a single person, who would
advise Morgan otherwise. Even though they must struggle to live and face a
completely uncertain future, Zimbabwe is saying to us do not give in and do
not go in until we have a fair and workable deal with MDC in charge of
Government.

So the ball is now in Motlanthe's court once again. Zanu PF is in turmoil.
On Tuesday night their Harare Province was electing new leadership and
violence broke out. Live ammunition was used and we understand there were
deaths and injuries. Amos Midzi - a former Minister, was forced to run for
his life. The Police were called and fired tear gas to quell the trouble -
the State media completely ignored the incident. Number three in the
military hierarchy and a member of the Junta was driving on his farm in
Shamva when he was ambushed and shot. His car was riddled with bullet holes
and there is no sign of him at present - he is not in any private hospital
and all the State run hospitals are closed. Our information is that this was
an inside job.

This past week the debate in Parliament has been a nightmare for Zanu PF.
Several issues were debated and a resolution on the food crisis by the MDC
was adopted without opposition. Debates on political violence, the health
crisis and on the false allegations about the MDC training militia were also
debated - almost completely without opposition from the Zanu benches. I was
pleased with the quality of the contributions and the courage of the
speakers - after all they were standing three metres away from Emmerson
Mnangagwa who is nicknamed the 'crocodile' and who sits in his place with
his eyes almost closed but listens to every word that is being said.

But I am convinced that South Africa will now take appropriate action to
ensure that the MDC demands are met, in full and quickly. I would not be
surprised to see this happen before Christmas. Then we might, just might,
have something to celebrate.

At this time of the year we celebrate the birth of Christ. He came as an
ordinary baby to an ordinary family and was raised in poor circumstances and
trained as a manual worker. He never held high office, ministered for a mere
three years before being convicted as a criminal and murdered in one of the
most cruel manners still known to man. His death closed a chapter of hope
for his people - a subject community held in abject slavery to Roman
dominance and colonial cruelty. His small band of disciples were shattered
and thought that it was all over, the light of their lives had gone out.

But Christmas was followed by Easter and the miracle of the resurrection
with its confirmation that everything Christ had said and done was true.
Defeat was transformed into triumph, slavery into freedom, colonial
domination to self-government and discipline. Nothing was the same again -
the world was turned the right side up.

We know from history that tyrants always get their comeuppance. We know that
truth and justice always prevails. But we also know that change, real change
takes a lot of pain and that is what we have been experiencing in the past
ten years. Outside my office right now it's a glorious day - about 25 c with
deep blue skies and a light breeze. The veld is a verdant green, the rains
have come and the long dry season is over, perhaps this Christmas will be a
turning point for us, what a gift that would be!


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What I wish for Christmas this year

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=8959

December 21, 2008

By Jane Madembo

CHRISTMAS is a time of joy and peace.  It is time for generosity. This
Christmas, like in any other year, many people the world over will celebrate
the birth of Christ. Gifts will be given and received.

Churches will reverberate with the sound of carols.

While the rest of the world will be celebrating Christmas this year; in
every part of Zimbabwe, there are children who will spend this Christmas
without their parents. There will be parents spending Christmas without
their children.

Zimbabweans in forced exile will spend another solitary Christmas.

A lot of Zimbabweans have died this year, at the hands of Mugabe's hit
squad. They were killed for daring to challenge the Mugabe leadership. They
were killed for exercising their democratic right. Desperate Zimbabweans
panning for diamonds at Chiadzwa were gunned down in broad daylight. Others
died because no one in Mugabe's government felt responsible enough to
provide water purification material. They died of neglect, because the
government doesn't care any more. Long before the cholera outbreak, someone
forwarded me footage of sewage flowing down the streets of Mabvuku. This was
disaster waiting to happen.

Mugabe has the audacity to patronize us with his "it's the British who
brought cholera to Zimbabwe" thing.

In countries where government does its job, lights will light up the skies
and decorate the streets with color. The shops will be busy with people
buying presents for their families. They will be excitement, laughter and
music in the air.

In Zimbabwe, the streets will remain dark, the air thick with the smell of
flowing sewage and sickness. Supermarket shelves will be empty. Mortuaries
and graveyards will be busy as usual.

Instead songs of joy celebrating the birth of Christ, the people will be
singing songs of sadness, loss and despair.

Ever since I was a child in colonial Rhodesia I have always looked forward
to Christmas.  My father, whom I hardly saw during the course of the year
because he was working more than 500km away or a mining company, only came
home at Christmas. He would combine the holiday with his leave days and stay
with us for a month. Although my parents were poor according to western
standards, I knew that I would have a present for Christmas.

Christmas was special. It was the only time of the year that I could
guarantee that I would get things that I couldn't get at any other time of
the year. I would receive a new dress, shoes or both. I would get to eat a
lot of bread, cake and sweets. Like every other child, my wishes were simple
and attainable. I took for granted the family gatherings, when all the
extended families got together.

As I grew older, and able to provide for myself, I thought Christmas wishes
were for the young. Today I can have all the material things that I ever
wished for as a child plus more.

But I do have Christmas wishes. I wish Mugabe would go. I wish the people
who are supporting Mugabe would see the light that change is like a big
wave. They can fight and resist it, but they won't win. Change is going to
come.

This year the Zimbabwean people dared to hope that they will have a
different Christmas. They hoped that they would have a President of their
choice.

Mugabe went to war to fight for our freedom so that Zimbabweans could be
free to live like other people in democratic societies. That freedom allows
Zimbabweans today to speak out, air their views and to demand for a better
government.

The independence of Zimbabwe was supposed to be the beginning of a new
democratic Zimbabwe. Instead, Mugabe just took over from Ian Smith and
changed the locks.

This Christmas there will be children crying at night because they are
hungry and sick. They will spent Christmas without food, or alone and scared
about the future. They will spend this Christmas longing for their parents
or loved ones, and wishing they were there with them.

It's a shame that Mugabe chose to take the country backwards to the barbaric
ages. Mugabe and ZANU-PF need to wake up to the fact that this is not the
liberation struggle. They are fighting the wrong war, and the wrong people.
The children and relatives of their victims will live on and one day they
will ask for answers.

They are many people who have died at the hands of Mugabe's military,
militia or police. This Christmas their families will wish for Mugabe to go
and for justice to prevail.

During the last ten years, Zimbabwean families have been split apart, and
scattered all over the world. But, wherever they are, I can guarantee you
that Zimbabweans have one wish. They wish Mugabe would go.  Instead of
celebrating the dawn of a new year, this Christmas will reopen the wounds
that have festering in the minds and hearts of Zimbabweans who have lost
their relatives at the hands of the Mugabe regime.

Gono, the Santa Claus of Zimbabwe will be doling out presents as usual to
the ruling elite.  Flat screen television sets for satellite television
programs will be among the gift items. Local television full of ZANU-PF
propaganda is for the masses.

Mugabe and members of his ZANU-PF government members will fly in imported
gadgets, imported food and wine from abroad.  They will throw lavish parties
and feasts fit for a king. Christmas will be celebrated as usual. But
outside the gates of their gardens of paradise, the Zimbabwean people will
be loitering hoping to catch the crumbs from the king's table.

This Christmas, Zimbabweans are united in their pain, and struggles. They
all want and wish for the same thing this Christmas, a decent government
that will secure their future.


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Christmas bleak for Zimbabweans fleeing collapse

Associated Press

Dec 21, 7:32 AM EST

By DONNA BRYSON
Associated Press Writer

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) -- The last Sunday before Christmas was
celebrated with a carol service in a downtown Johannesburg church that has
become a haven for hundreds of Zimbabweans who have fled their nation's
collapse.

While songs in her native Shona and other southern African languages were
being sung in the main chapel of the Central Methodist Church, Takelah
Chakamza sat nearby in a crowed room that doubles as a kitchen by day and
women's sleeping quarters by night, reviewing a bleak Christmas shopping
list.

Cooking oil. Corn meal. Soap. Chakamza's family in Harare, Zimbabwe's
capital, had sent the list that morning by mobile phone text message.
Chakamza, who earns 800 rand (about $80) a month cooking for a Johannesburg
family, would buy the groceries and send them by bus, to be collected at the
main Harare bus station. She had no extra money for presents for her mother,
father, four sisters and brothers, daughter and four nieces and nephews back
home.

"I'm the breadwinner. I'm the one who is supporting everyone," said
Chakamza, who is among an estimated 3 million Zimbabwean economic and
political refugees in South Africa.

The food and cash Zimbabweans abroad send home are a lifeline for a country
where food, medicine and most other basic goods are desperately scarce. To
add to the misery, in recent months, waterborne cholera has spread quickly
because city officials across Zimbabwe can no longer afford to pick up trash
or buy chemicals to purify water, and most hospitals have closed. Cholera,
which is easily prevented and treated, has killed more than 1,000
Zimbabweans since August.

Critics blame Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe for the meltdown in a
country that once boasted the finest health system in the region and
exported food. Agriculture production has plummeted since he ordered an
often violent land reform campaign in 2000 that saw farms go to his cronies
instead of the poor blacks he has championed. Mugabe blames Western
sanctions, though the European Union and U.S. travel bans and orders
freezing bank accounts are targeted only at Mugabe and dozens of his top
aides.

The 84-year-old Mugabe, who has ruled the country since independence from
Britain in 1980, lost March presidential elections, but has refused to step
down. A power-sharing deal proposed by Zimbabwe's neighbors as a solution
has stalled in a dispute over whether Mugabe or his opposition would control
key Cabinet posts.

Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change,
threatened Friday to halt power-sharing talks unless political detainees are
released or charged by Jan. 1. President Robert Mugabe hinted at early
elections Saturday, saying ominously that his supporters, accused of
widespread political violence, should mobilize to avoid a repeat of his loss
in March. Independent human rights groups have accused Mugabe's regime of
stepping up attacks on dissidents in recent weeks.

In Zimbabwe, David Tafa, a farmer in the Bindura region, said: "There's no
Christmas to talk about. There's no water, no food."

While carolers at Central Methodist sang of the peaceful message of
Christmas Sunday, William Kandowe, a 36-year-old teacher from Harare, said
he was becoming convinced Mugabe would have to be forced out by Zimbabweans.

"Elections have failed - those who win cannot rule. If you talk of talks,
there are no talks," he said. "The only hope will be if we Zimbabweans can
stand up for our rights."

Kandowe spent last Christmas at Central Methodist, and would be sheltering
at the church again this Christmas. In the year and a half he has been in
South Africa, the 36-year-old Kandowe has helped Zimbabweans at the church
organize computer classes for adults and a small school following the
Zimbabwean syllabus for children. He also has seen the number seeking refuge
grow from about 1,500 to about 3,800.

So many come every night now that more and more are sleeping outside on the
pavement, he said.

Chakamza, who turns 36 the day after Christmas, would be spending the
holiday and her birthday at Central Methodist, her home since February. She
was hoping to work and earn a few extra rand on Christmas Day, and was
waiting Sunday to hear whether her boss would need her. She said she also
expected to spend next Christmas far from her family.

"I don't think things will change in Zimbabwe," she said. "It will take
years."


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A bleak Christmas, the New Year and poor Zimbabweans

http://www.hararetribune.com
 

These are some of the most vulnerable who depend heavily on food handouts. Will Christmas be as joyful as it should be? Will they get back to school in 2009? Will their parents be able to afford the fees? We all wait and hope.

Another year has gone by and yet again it’s the suffering, the sickness, hunger, starvation and death which have all escalated that signal the worst situation ever to engulf the beautiful country, the beautiful people. This was a year that promised so much but Zimbabwe will still have to wait to be normal yet or at least show signs of returning to normalcy. Zimbabweans are reeling - for at least the eighth year running - under unprecedented economic hardships. This Christmas, for many, is hardly going to be a time for celebrating.

Zimbabweans are predominantly Christian and they take Christmas very seriously. Though, there will be no real Christmas in Zimbabwe. Yes, December 25 will come and go. For many in Zimbabwe, Christmas this year centres on fond memories of the past rather than anticipation of good times ahead. Christmas was good back then, a time of plenty, but now it is just another difficult day to get through. For us Zimbabweans, this will probably be the worst Christmas since we achieved our national independence 28 years ago.

A recent assessment by Caritas Zimbabwe which is also known as the Catholic Development Commission (CADEC) with support from Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) shows there is now very little to distinguish between the most vulnerable and everyone else in the country. The entire country is now virtually on its knees. The survey, carried out in October, revealed 70-90% of households interviewed are on the brink of hunger. In the 21st century we have in parts of the country where there were and are households going for days surviving only on wild fruits, roots and in some cases eating insects. Well over half of Zimbabwe's urban population live below the poverty line.

At Harare's refuse dumps, scores of bedraggled men, women and children move systematically, like vultures, through foul-smelling rubbish, scratching for food and anything that might be sold or bartered. Before 2000, Zimbabwe fed much of southern Africa and massive quantities of fruit, vegetables and flowers were exported worldwide. All of that has come to a standstill, as hundreds of thousands of once-productive hectares now lie idle.

Our traditional understanding of Christmas is that it is an occasion when we think of the Lord Jesus Christ and how through him, humanity has experienced the greatest gift of all. It is through Jesus Christ that we have experienced life in its fullness. I am afraid that the message of "fullness of life" will be hard to understand for Zimbabweans today.

It is without doubt Zimbabweans are experiencing their bleakest Yuletide, it is most heartbreaking. All optimism is almost lost, people are starting to show signs of exhaustion, desperation and utter despair, and they have lost all hope.

As a populace we have reached breaking point. Its either you have or you don’t have "Society is polarised between those who have access to hard currency - such as US dollars or the South African Rand - to buy food, and those who do not," said a CAFOD representative recently.

To date the Catholic Church has been better placed to reach vulnerable people in communities with life-saving food parcels, but the number of the vulnerable continues to grow rapidly, hence the resources available are stretched. Zimbabwe’s health system is in intensive care. From village to national hospitals, patients find that healthcare is not working.

My heart bleeds for those who find themselves between a rock and a hard place, hospitals are ghost towns with nurses and doctors no longer turning up for work, because their salaries do not cover transport costs and they can’t afford to buy basic foods. People are now relying on mission hospitals for their medical and healthcare needs, which too have been stretched beyond their limits.

The education system is in a similar state of collapse, with pupils not able to learn because of the absence of teachers, most schools may not even open in the new year, there will be no one to teach and some may simply not be able to afford the fees.

The cholera crisis has hit the most vulnerable and will only get worse, the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) warns the disease will be more difficult to contain as it spreads from urban to rural areas.

Many of Zimbabwe's poor say they simply won't have Christmas this year. However, it won’t be all gloom though, with some people saying they were keeping the spirit of Christmas alive. But for all Zimbabweans, this is just Christmas. It will not be a "happy" Christmas. Most Zimbabweans are really happy that 2008 is at last coming to a close, but they also have serious trepidations about 2008. It is really sad because there's nothing on the horizon indicating change for the better, at least anytime soon.

Against all odds may I wish all Zimbabweans a happy Christmas and a blessed New Year. It is my heartfelt hope and conviction that Zimbabwe shall be a different place in 2009. All we can do is pray… God Bless Zimbabwe at Christmas.

For all those who have been with us through these difficult times, on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe, from the bottom of my heart, Thank you!


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As Bad As It Gets, Until It Gets Worse

http://www.newsweek.com/id/176410

By Rod Nordland | NEWSWEEK
Published Dec 20, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Jan 5, 2009

When you hear the brutal details about Zimbabwe, it's hard to imagine how it
can get any worse without the government collapsing, or Robert Mugabe
resigning. The hyperinflation, the millions going hungry, the canceled
anti-AIDS programs, the 3 million (out of a total 11 million) who have fled
the country. Then you go there, as I did in June, and the most striking
thing is the normalcy amid all that hardship. There's the group of nine
high-school graduates meeting with the American ambassador before they head
to the United States for college; at night they hide from marauding
enforcers looking for opposition voters. Young men with clubs chant as they
trot along a road after dark, looking for victims, but a white woman pushing
a child in a stroller crosses just in front of them, unmolested. Mugabe is
an Anglophile, and so are many Zimbabweans. Everyone's talking about the
forthcoming elections-which Mugabe was clearly going to steal (and did)-and
the vanishing or murdered opposition politicians, but they also crowd around
TVs to watch Britain's Andy Murray advance to the semifinals at Wimbledon,
and debate loudly whether he's too obnoxious to deserve victory.

When I was there, I moved underground with striking ease, in a land where
being a foreign correspondent is a criminal offense. Zimbabweans hid me,
helped me, even fed me-sometimes when they had too little to eat themselves.
The car-rental agent winked when I changed cars-again and again. They tipped
me to the secret policeman sitting next to me at a hotel business center.
Once, the police nearly caught me, at a demonstration, and put me in the
back of their pickup truck with other prisoners. Unlike them, I wasn't
cuffed and they advised me to just run, so I did, with the police in hot
pursuit; we all jumped into our vehicles, and I had my first, and I hope
last, car chase. The police didn't have a chance. I careered around a
corner, and a crowd of onlookers wandered into the street and blocked the
cops' way, just long enough for a clean getaway and another visit to the
car-rental agency.

Unfortunately, it has gotten much worse there since June, and one can't help
but think that these must really be the very last days. A cholera epidemic.
Two million people on the World Food Program feeding rosters. A central bank
accused of stealing the entire $136 million donated to AIDS victims. Police
and Army troops fighting one another, after unpaid soldiers broke into money
changers' shops and paid themselves. Since 1998 people have been saying that
Mugabe's Zimbabwe can't possibly get worse, and yet, it always does.


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Bishop's Tour A Resounding Success

http://au.christiantoday.com

Posted: Sunday, 21 December 2008, 13:11 (EST)

All CDP Members of goodwill are entitled to feel proud at the success of the
Australian Tour of Rt Rev Dr Sebastian Bakare, Anglican Bishop of Harare,
Zimbabwe. The Bishop arrived in Sydney on 20 Nov 08 and returned from Perth
to his homeland on 5 Dec.

Bishop Bakare travelled nearly 4,000 km in NSW, his itinerary embracing 33
venues from Wagga Wagga in the south to Coffs Harbour in the north. Perhaps
uniquely among Anglican Bishops, he preached at St Mary's Cathedral and St
Stephen's Uniting Church on the same day. In Perth on Thu 4 December Bishop
Bakare addressed a major event at the Churchlands Christian Fellowship,
organised by CDP WA.

Bishop Bakare shared his message with clergy including one Anglican
archbishop and five brother bishops plus a cross section of pastors and
priests. He met the Premier of NSW and State Ministers and parliamentarians,
fifteen Federal parliamentarians, Mayor of Shoalhaven Paul Green and half a
dozen other Lord Mayors and Mayors, local groups of expatriate Zimbabweans,
very many CDP members and supporters and large numbers of interested
Australians. He appeared in a major SBS TV report and was interviewed by
Christian radio and by prominent media personalities from networks operated
by 2GB, the ABC, 2UE, 2SM and even the BBC. Through the Bishop's sincerity
and eloquence, many more Australians now understand how serious is the
plight of our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe. By bringing Bishop Bakare to
Australia, the Christian Democratic Party has demonstrated its compassion
and exhibited its willingness to take the lead in a vitally important issue.
This has been our most successful project since the 2007 State Election.

Tour organiser Michael Darby reported: "The Bishop inspires everyone he
meets, and while alerting Australians to the horrors of starvation, cholera
and brutality suffered by Zimbabweans, he never ceases to express his
profound Christian Faith. Bishop Bakare and Reverend Fred Nile make a great
team."

During Bishop Bakare's visit more than $15,000 was raised to support the
Bishop's Christian charitable efforts in Zimbabwe. With your help and
prayers and through the Grace of God, we can be confident that the flow of
donations will continue. CDP and the Bishop will ensure that money donated
to save children from starvation will reach those children in the form of
nourishing meals. Bishop Bakare has identified several priorities in saving
lives in Zimbabwe. CDP is energetically supporting the Bishop's school meals
program, which beginning with the Anglican Schools in the Harare Diocese,
will with God's help spread throughout the nation and save countless lives.

Readers may donate to save children from starvation and promote Bishop
Bakare's Christian message of peace and hope by sending a generous cheque
to: Christians Saving Children, c/o CDP, GPO Box 141, Sydney NSW 2001.


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African churches 'disturbed' by inaccurate reporting

http://www.inspiremagazine.org.uk

The All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) says it is disturbed by news
that "African churches request God to take Mugabe", carried by certain
international media  and allegedly emanating from the recently concluded 9th
General Assembly of the AACC in Maputo (7 to 12 December). They say this
statement is inaccurate.

The AACC, at its General Assembly, discussed with serious concern the
deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe and called on the member churches to
continue working and praying together with the brothers and sisters in
Zimbabwe for an end to the human suffering of the people and for justice,
peace and reconciliation to prevail.

The AACC acknowledged with self-criticism that not enough has been done so
far and called on the AU and its member states to intensify pressure on
President Mugabe to relinquish control of the Zimbabwe government and to
facilitate healing and recovery.

In his sermon at the closing worship of the Assembly, the Rev Dr. Sam Kobia
(WCC General Secretary) affirmed the role played by the SADC appointed
facilitator to the Zimbabwe crisis, former President Thabo Mbeki, who gave
the closing address to the Assembly. Rev Dr Kobia also acknowledged Mr Mbeki's
very difficult task and called for perseverance in the efforts to end the
Zimbabwe crisis.

The AACC says it reiterates its call on its members and the international
community "to continue manifesting their love and support for the suffering
people of Zimbabwe through relentless prayers, humanitarian support and all
possibly peaceful advocacy actions".


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Zimbabwe : Once upon a Mugabe

http://www.tribune.com.ng

By Adia Ukoyen with agency report

The key to understanding Mr Mugabe is the 1970s guerrilla war where he made
his name.

World opinion saw him as a revolutionary hero, fighting racist white
minority rule for the freedom of his people.

Since Zimbabwe's independence in 1980 the world has moved on, but his
outlook remains the same, if not slightly backwards. The heroic socialist
forces of Zanu-PF, are still fighting the twin evils of capitalism and
colonialism.
His opponents, in particular the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), are
labelled "sell-outs" to white and foreign interests and, as during the war;
this tag has been a death warrant for many MDC supporters.

Elections in Zimbabwe, which held in March brought to fore the country's
deepening political and economic crisis. The corruption, policies and
repressive governance of President Robert Mugabe who has been in power for
28 years and his ZANU-PF party bear primary responsibility for the severe
economic slide, growing public discontent and Zimbabwe's international
isolation.

For the first time since independence in 1980, Robert Mugabe came second in
the presidential voting, and the opposition, the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) won control of parliament from Mugabe's ZANU-PF. Rather than
allow democracy to run its course, Mugabe fought back by withholding the
presidential results and launched a vicious countrywide crackdown ahead of
the June 27 run-off against MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. But severe state
repression led Tsvangirai to withdraw, and Mugabe ran as the sole candidate
in a poll condemned by African observers as neither free nor fair. Mugabe
started his sixth term in office on 29 June, amid a chorus of international
condemnation and increasing regional pressure.

Mugabe came to power in 1980 as Africa's most feted leader, after a
UK-brokered agreement ended a protracted guerrilla war against the white
minority government of Ian Smith. The early 1980s were marked by a five-year
brutal repression in Matabeleland and Midlands against the minority Ndebele
population that supported rival ZAPU. ZAPU was later forced into a merger,
leaving Mugabe head of a de facto one party state, under ZANU-PF, by 1987.

State violence escalated since early 2000, when Mugabe lost a constitutional
referendum on presidential powers and controversial land reforms, as the
people voted in clear protest. The forcible acquisition of mostly
white-owned farms by ZANU war veterans beginning in the 1990s, also spiked
after that electoral defeat, Mugabe's only, crippling the economy and
leading to chronic shortages of basic commodities. In the context of
spiralling inflation and 80 per cent unemployment, the government launched
"Operation Murambatsvina" in 2005 to forcibly clear urban slums, depriving
over 18 per cent of the population of their homes or livelihoods.

The opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) entered the
political scene in 2000, but failed to break Mugabe's majority in the 2000
parliamentary elections. Elections in 2002 and 2005 were marked by gross
manipulation and suppression of dissent. The MDC split in November 2005 over
whether to boycott elections for the newly formed senate.

After a brutal government crackdown on the opposition in March 2007, the
Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) mandated South African
President Mbeki to mediate between the government and the MDC, aiming to
secure a new constitution and free and fair conditions for elections. Talks
stalled in January 2008, when Mugabe called snap polls for March despite the
MDC's call for postponement until the new constitution was adopted.

Zimbabweans continue to face economic turmoil and corruption, food shortages
and the collapse of vital services. HIV/AIDS among adults stands at over 20
per cent. In May 2008 the annual inflation rate stood at over 2 million per
cent, the world's highest by far , making day-to-day life for Zimbabweans
increasingly difficult.  The government's sticking plaster approach,
including removing ten zeros from the Zimbabwean dollar in August, has done
little to stem the economic crisis.

Up to a third of the population is thought to have fled over recent years,
and remittances from the growing diaspora have become a lifeline for many
remaining. The U.S. and EU extended sanctions against members of the ZANU-PF
regime on 22 and 25 July. Despite pledges from the Group of Eight (G8)
states, on 11 July a UNSC resolution to extend multilateral targeted
sanctions was blocked by vetoes from China and Russia.

But Mr Mugabe's critics, who have increased in number in a country where he
was once an untouchable figure, say that despite his socialist rhetoric, his
rule has been one of state capitalism which has not materially benefited
ordinary Zimbabweans. Mugabe cuts the picture of a cartoon figure of the
archetypal African dictator.

Despair pervades the streets of Harare, Zimbabwe's capital city. Inflation
has reached a mind boggling 231,000,000%. Money is worthless almost as soon
as it is printed. It is estimated that the black market accounts for 80% of
all trading in Zimbabwe. The country is also suffering an acute water
shortage. Cholera is a constant threat.

Mugabe's party, ZANU-PF, lacks "sincerity and commitment" in their
negotiations for the allocation of government ministries. Zimbabweans now
live in an environment characterised by hunger and starvation and we are
days away from seeing people dropping dead on the streets.

In June the UN predicted that 2.04 million people in rural and urban areas
would be threatened with hunger between July and September 2008. This number
would rise to 3.8 million people between October and December and again to
over 5 million at the height of the hungry season between January and March
2009. This is approximately 45% of the population. The UN has reported that
maize production in Zimbabwe for 2008 will be an estimated 575,000 tons.
That is 1.5 million tons too little.

World Food Programme made an emergency appeal for $140 million to provide
food aid to Zimbabwe. The food crisis is most critical in rural areas. A
government ban on all operations by the non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) earlier this year made the situation worse. Food and seeds that
should have been distributed did not reach those who needed them most. The
ban was lifted on August 29th but some organisations are still encountering
difficulties returning to the field and that lack of seeds, in particular,
mean expectations for a low harvest.

Zimbabweans are notoriously resilient. They have been through so much. But
many are asking, how much longer can they endure this hardship? President
Mugabe knows that the country's desperately needed external assistance will
flow as soon as the new government is able to demonstrate genuine commitment
to democracy and reform. But while ordinary Zimbabweans are in frantic need,
how long can he afford to wait? And how long does he hope to continue to run
the country amok? If he stays in power for the full six-year term, he will
rule the country until the age of 84. The last thing most octogenarians
would want is the onerous task of running a country in economic free-fall
and facing international isolation. Yet, he seems determined to run the full
course of his dictatorship. It only tells the story of a man set for death
by the hands of the gods; he goes mad first. Is Mugabe mad?


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South Africa's Crime

http://www.washingtonpost.com

The government is enabling Robert Mugabe's destruction of neighboring
Zimbabwe, at the cost of thousands of lives.
Sunday, December 21, 2008; Page B06

SOUTH AFRICAN President Kgalema Motlanthe concedes that the situation in
Zimbabwe is "very dire." No doubt he's familiar with what the United Nations
is reporting: that more than 1,000 people have died of cholera in a
spreading epidemic, that 17,000 others are infected and that more than half
of the country's remaining population requires emergency food aid to avoid
starvation. Hospitals have closed, 80 percent of the country lacks safe
drinking water and school attendance is down to 20 percent. Inflation was
last registered at 231 million percent; as a practical matter the economy
has stopped. As U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon put it last week,
Zimbabwe "stands on the brink of economic, social and political collapse."

So is Mr. Motlanthe at last ready to use South Africa's considerable
leverage to end the nightmare in its neighbor? Will his government finally
join those of Zambia, Botswana, Kenya, the United States, Britain, France
and Canada in calling for 84-year-old strongman Robert Mugabe to step down?
Well, no. "It's really not for us," the president told reporters Wednesday.
"I mean, I don't know if the British feel qualified to impose that on the
people of Zimbabwe, but we feel that we should support and take our cue from
what they [Zimbabweans] want."

Actually, what Zimbabweans want, desperately, is an end to the humanitarian
emergency in their country -- which can come only with Mr. Mugabe's
departure. What South Africa wants is something else entirely: to
resuscitate Mr. Mugabe's dying regime through a bad deal cooked up by
"mediator" Thabo Mbeki, Mr. Motlanthe's predecessor. The plan calls for a
"unity" government between Mr. Mugabe and the winner of last March's
presidential election, Morgan Tsvangirai. Yet it long ago became clear to
all but the South Africans that the formula is unworkable. Mr. Mugabe has no
intention of sharing authority, especially over the military and police,
which have been waging a violent campaign against the opposition. "I will
never, never, never surrender . . . . Zimbabwe is mine," he said Friday.

The terror apparatus is the last functioning part of Mr. Mugabe's
government. According to Amnesty International, two dozen opposition
activists have disappeared in the past six weeks. Mr. Mugabe lately has been
claiming that the opposition is training fighters in Botswana and trying to
assassinate his ministers (the air force chief was mysteriously wounded in
the hand by a gunshot). The opposition believes that Mr. Mugabe may soon
attempt to impose emergency rule, using those false allegations as an
excuse.

The outgoing Bush administration and Britain tried again last week to have
the U.N. Security Council take up this crisis. Once again they were stopped
by South Africa, with support from Russia. Instead Mr. Motlanthe has
announced a vague initiative by South Africa's neighbors to supply
humanitarian support. What's happening here is pretty clear: South Africa, a
country that aspires to continental leadership, is allowing a depraved
strongman to utterly destroy a neighboring country, at a cost of thousands
of lives. Mr. Motlanthe's government has the economic, political and
military leverage to rescue Zimbabweans from their leader; yet it not only
refuses to act but actively blocks intervention by other countries. Mr.
Motlanthe, Mr. Mbeki and those in South Africa who support this
unconscionable policy have become accessories to a grave humanitarian crime.


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Mugabe must go now

http://www.bdafrica.com

Sunday, 21 December 2008   [NAIROBI]

 Editorial:
      Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe's latest posturing that nobody has the guts
to remove him from power is ill-mannered and we believe that  time has now
come for him to leave the political stage -at least to salvage the southern
African nation from more economic ruin.

      There comes a time when even good generals retreat to save the
battalion. The Zimbabwe President should surrender now. We all accept that
Mugabe, once a darling of the Western nations when he was maintaining the
status quo, is today a victim of his own bravado and ego.

      We also acknowledge that Zimbabwe, on its part, is a victim of Mugabe's
own fears of losing power coupled with Western nations economic blockade
that has seen the local currency collapse and inflation shoot to mad
heights.

      Mugabe had a chance to redeem his image but he is sabotaging that
effort by failing to cobble up  a coalition with Western-backed Morgan
Tsvangirai. That means that the country will continue to sink further into
economic ruin. His only chance to redeem his image now is to let go the
presidential mantle.

      Clinging to power at a time when the nation's economy is on its
deathbed is both myopic and insensitive.

      We believe that time has come for Mugabe to go and leave the
leadership to another generation. For that is the only way to save the
Zimbabwe nation from himself and others.


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Sorry, Mugabe, Obama is not going to love you

http://www.gather.com/

by Chris W.
December 21, 2008 10:25 AM EST

Robert Mugabe, Geriatric Insane Tyrant of Zimbabwe, is looking forward to
the end of the Bush Era. In a speech made yesterday, Mugabe noted that harsh
critic George W. Bush is nearing the end of his term, and that Gordon Brown
of the United Kingdom, another harsh critic of Mugabe, may soon lose his
position of leadership. "They are all going to their political graves"
crowed Mugabe. "But I will remain the president of this country."

Well, Robert, you might want to take a realistic look at Barack Obama. He is
not going to become your best bud. Do not let the skin color fool you.
Barack Obama is not your brand of dark skinned person. Barack Obama does not
subscribe to the revolutionary rhetoric of yor ZANU Party, similar to the
traditional ANC talking points of South Africa, that the greatest struggle
of history is now complete, and that the white devils have finally been
chased out of the councils of power in Africa and that everything will
therefore be fine. That is not the world that Barack Obama comes from.

If you had bothered to read "Dreams from my Father", Obama's memoir of his
formative years, you would realize that Obama does not buy the White Devils
theory. Obama recently mourned the death of his grandma Toot, who he
considered a White Angel. So do not make the White Devils speech where he
can hear you.  Obama's mother lived her ideals of racial equality, not
racial blame gaming. She mixed the river of her blood with two other rivers,
the Kenyan river of Obama's Dad, and the Indonesian river of the Dad of
Obama's sister. That view of the world, which helped to form Obama's
character, is 180 degrees from yours.

There is another factor at work here. Obama's brown skin serves as the
ultimate protection for a politician willing to take you on. Think about it.
It will take the racism card out of your deck. If Obama starts to give you a
hard time, you could try to call him a racist who advocates the enslavement
of Africa, but anyone listening to that particular speech would have a
lovely belly laugh.

So, if you figure that you just need to hang tough and things will get
better for you, keep on hoping, dude. Just let the cholera epidemic run it's
course until there are no more victims left alive, just let the starvation
rage through Zimbabwe until there are fewer mouths to feed, the cavalry is
coming over the hill in the form of new leadership in the West who will
accept your role as elder statesman of the Black Revolution. Good luck with
that, Robert. Watch your back, and sleep lightly.

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