The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.
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The Times

            Zimbabwe Cricket lodges compensation claim
            By Times Online and PA Sport

            England are refusing to co-operate with Zimbabwe Cricket over
repeated claims for compensation for the cancelled match at the start of the
current one-day series caused by the tourists' late arrival in Harare.

            The media accreditation dispute, which was prompted by the
Zimbabwe Government refusing to allow 13 British journalists entry into the
country, persuaded England to stay in Johannesburg for two days while the
problem was resolved.

            It delayed their arrival in Zimbabwe until last Friday, the date
of the opening match of the series, and the two boards agreed to reschedule
the four matches which are due to be completed with back-to-back games at
the Queens Club in Bulawayo this weekend.

            But Zimbabwe Cricket are now claiming the cancelled match has
cost them US$600,000 in lost revenue - a figure England believe to be closer
to US$50,000 - following the loss of sponsors and television coverage and
are planning to approach the touring side again to settle compensation.

            "We will meet the ECB soon to discuss the matter and deal with
it in an amicable and professional manner," explained Ozias Bvute, the
acting managing director of Zimbabwe Cricket.

            He is expected to receive the same response that he was given by
David Morgan, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, after he
was first approached to discuss the issue of compensation.

            "Zimbabwe cricket have indicated they have suffered a
significant financial penalty as a result of there being one fewer match,"
said Morgan. "We've made it clear we don't think the ECB are liable for that
loss and that it's a direct result of the delay in media accreditation."

            That stance remained unchanged today following the fresh claims
from Zimbabwe Cricket with Andrew Walpole, England's media relations
manager, adding: "We continue to attribute any loss to the delay in
accrediting the 13 UK journalists. The figure quoted is incorrect and a far
smaller sum is at issue."
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CPJ Outraged Over Proposed New Legislation That Could See Journalists Jailed for Up to 20 Years


Committee to Protect Journalists (New York)

PRESS RELEASE
December 3, 2004
Posted to the web December 3, 2004

In a 2 December 2004 letter to President Robert Mugabe, CPJ expressed its outage over the government's continued clampdown on independent media in Zimbabwe, including proposed new legislation that could be used to jail journalists for up to 20 years.

At a time when several other African countries are lifting criminal sanctions for press offences, bringing their laws in line with international standards, Zimbabwe's government is preparing to introduce penalties that are among the harshest on the continent. In the letter, CPJ said that this will only further impede Zimbabwe's media, which already face other restrictive laws.

According to local and international press reports, the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Bill currently before Parliament imposes up to 20 years' imprisonment, heavy fines, or both for publishing "false" information deemed prejudicial against the state. Clause 31 would make it an offence to publish or communicate "to any other person a statement which is wholly or materially false with the intention or realizing that that there is a real risk of inciting or promoting public disorder or public violence or endangering public safety; or adversely affecting the defence and economic interests of Zimbabwe; or undermining public confidence in a law enforcement agency, the Prison Service or the Defence Forces of Zimbabwe; or interfering with, disrupting or interrupting any essential service."

This comes on top of the already draconian Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the Access to Information and Public Privacy Act (AIPPA), which was last month strengthened to impose a jail sentence of up to two years for any journalist caught working without accreditation from the government-controlled media commission. Dozens of journalists have already been detained and harassed under AIPPA and POSA since these laws were introduced in 2002, while AIPPA has been used to shutter Zimbabwe's only independent daily newspaper, the "Daily News".

As well as intimidating journalists, CPJ sources say the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Bill could be used to intimidate their sources. They fear that the law's language could also be used broadly against Zimbabweans who communicate with news outlets and other organizations based abroad.

These moves to tighten already restrictive legislation come in the run-up to general elections scheduled for March 2005.

In its letter, CPJ reminded President Mugabe of Zimbabwe's commitment to the Southern African Development Community principles and guidelines governing democratic elections, which include safeguarding freedom of expression and access to the media (Section 7.4).

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Send appeals to the president:

- calling on him to do everything in his power to ensure that all repressive media legislation is repealed and that the draconian proposals currently before Parliament are dropped

- urging him to do all in his power to allow the "Daily News" to reopen and independent journalists to work in Zimbabwe without fear of reprisal

APPEALS TO:

President Robert Mugabe

Office of the President

Munhumutapa Building

Samora Machel Avenue/ 3rd Street

Harare, Zimbabwe

Fax: +263 4 708 820

Please copy appeals to the source if possible.

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SOKWANELE

Enough is Enough

Zimbabwe

PROMOTING NON-VIOLENT PRINCIPLES TO ACHIEVE DEMOCRACY

We have a fundamental right to freedom of expression!

(www.sokwanele.com)

 

“Mauritius Watch”

 

The Zimbabwean Elections:

(Monitoring SADC Protocol Violations)

 

Issue 6.   29 November 2004

 

On August 17 2004, SADC leaders meeting in Mauritius adopted the SADC Protocol – Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.  Zimbabwe, as a member of SADC, also signed the Protocol and committed itself to implementing its standards.

 

“Mauritius Watch” provides a regular, objective and non-partisan assessment of Zimbabwe’s compliance with the Protocol.  In the run-up to the 2005 Parliamentary Elections we note any significant failures to adhere to the SADC standards.

 

 

Date

Incidents/Developments

SADC standards breached

26.11.04

MUGABE SCUTTLES LAST FREEDOMS

 

President Robert Mugabe’s regime has rushed through Parliament some of the most repressive laws ever seen in Zimbabwe’s history.  Against spirited opposition from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) legislators, Mr Mugabe’s  ZANU PF party used its numerical majority to ram through the Non-Government Organizations Bill and the Electoral Commission Bill.  The first will effectively cripple human rights groups and allow the regime’s abuses to pass unrecorded;  the second will ensure that Mugabe’s allies run the parliamentary elections due in March 2005.  A last minute concession granted NGOs a six- month grace period to regularize their operations once the Bill is passed, but it is not thought this will assist NGOs concerned with so-called “governance” issues (which include human rights and electoral issues) and which, under the new Bill, are  prohibited from receiving any foreign funding.

 

It is understood the regime has a hit list of between 15 and 20 organizations which it has targeted for closure.  On the list is  every human rights group in the country, including Crisis in Zimbabwe,  the National Constitutional Assembly  (NCA),  the Media Institute of Southern Africa, Lawyers for Human Rights, Amani Trust, Women Of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) and Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN).   Innocent Gonese, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) chief whip, pointed out that all these groups are heavily dependent on outside funding.  He added: “What they (the government) are trying to do is to effectively prevent non-governmental organizations from reporting on their bad human rights record. Abuses of human rights will go unrecorded.”

 

Prior to the parliamentary polls of 2000, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum recorded 37 political murders and 18 000 other abuses, ranging from assault and torture to abduction and rape.  It blamed ZANU PF for more than 90 per cent of all offences.

 

(For further details refer to the Daily Telegraph (November 24) - www.telegraph.co.uk and the Zimbabwe Independent (November 26) -www.theindependent.co.zw

 

4.1.2        Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections

 

7.4.                (Government to) safeguard the human and civil liberties of all citizens including the freedom of movement, assembly, association, expression and campaigning …

 

7.5.                (Government to) take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging or any other illegal practices throughout the whole electoral process, in order to maintain peace and security

 

 

 

 

 

 

27.11.04

HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYERS PETITION AFRICA COMMISSION

 

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has taken the forced closure of the country’s biggest and only independent daily newspaper, the Daily News, and several other cases of alleged miscarriages of justice, before the Africa Commission on Human Rights (ACHR).

 

ZLHR director, Arnold Tsunga, and a human rights law professor at South Africa’s University of Pretoria, Michel Hansungule, travelled to the Senegalese capital, Dakar, at the end of November to present their case to the Commission.

 

Their petition is based on the refusal of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe to hear an application by Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) against the requirement that it register with the government’s Media and Information Commission before being allowed to publish the Daily News. This refusal to consider the ANZ application was a violation of the Africa Charter on Human Rights, ZLHR said.  Until its forced closure in September 2003, the Daily News provided a vital independent voice for the nation.

 

ZLHR also wants the commission to determine whether the government’s Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), which requires journalists and media companies to register before they can operate, is consistent with fundamental human rights.

 

Other cases to be brought before the commission include the unresolved petitions before the courts submitted by Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), challenging “victories” by ruling ZANU PF candidates in 37 constituencies in the 2000 general election.  Although the legal challenges were mounted over four years ago, and the next general election is only four months away,  most remain unresolved.

 

See the report in Zim Online (November 27) - www.zimonline.co.za

2.1.7.            Independence of the Judiciary and impartiality of the electoral institutions

 

2.1.10            Challenge of the election results as provided for in the law of the land

 

4.1.1.              Constitutional and legal guarantees of freedom and rights of the citizens

 

7.4.                (Government to) safeguard the human and civil liberties of all citizens, including the freedom of movement, assembly, association, expression and campaigning as well as access to the media on the part of all stakeholders during the electoral process …

 

 

24.11.04

EU TAKES ZIMBABWE’S HUMAN RIGHTS CRISIS TO UN COMMITTEE

 

The European Union (EU) will ask the Third Committee of the United Nations (UN) to discuss Zimbabwe’s deteriorating human rights situation at its 59th session in early December.

 

A resolution to be presented to the key committee by the Netherlands on behalf of the EU will also request the committee to note that conditions do not exist in Zimbabwe for the holding of a free and fair general election in 2005.

 

In a statement last week, the deputy permanent representative of the Netherlands to the UN, Arjan Hamburger, said: “We are …. concerned about the restrictions on the freedom to operate without fear of harassment and intimidation of members of parliament, independent civil society and human rights defenders.”

 

Reported by Zim Online – November 24 - www.zimonline.co.za

4.1.2.      Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections

 

7.4.            (Government to) safeguard the human and civil liberties of all citizens, including the freedom of movement, assembly, association, expression and campaigning … during the electoral process

 

 

 

29.11.04

HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT HIGHLIGHTS DANGER TO DEMOCRACY

 

A major human rights report released in Johannesburg on November 19 highlights one of the threats to democracy in Zimbabwe caused by the mass exodus of millions of citizens from that country and the Mugabe regime’s refusal to permit them to vote in the forthcoming general election. 

 

The Solidarity Peace Trust Report entitled “No War in Zimbabwe” (which takes its name from a statement made by the SA Dept of Home Affairs) chronicles the difficulties and dangers faced by Zimbabwean exiles in South Africa.  It also notes the reasons why such huge numbers have fled their home country.

 

The authors of the report estimate that 300 000 people have been victims of various human rights abuses in Zimbabwe over the last four years, including torture, denial of food, burning of homesteads and the massive displacement of those fleeing political persecution or farm invasions. Around 300 people have been murdered for political reasons.

 

Estimates of the number of refugees now living in South Africa and elsewhere are particularly revealing.   The report says that between 25 and 30 per cent of Zimbabwe’s population have now fled the country. The government’s own estimates put the number at 3.4 million.  Out of a total population of 12 million, approximately half are under the age of 15 and, of the remaining 6 million adults, 1 million are retired.  This means that, out of 5 million potentially productive adults, 3.4 million, or a staggering 60 to 70 percent, are now living outside Zimbabwe.

 

The Mugabe’s regime’s decision not to allow citizens living abroad to vote in the 2005 election, has effectively disenfranchised close to half of the population.  The authors of the report write: “With 50 per cent of voting age adults outside Zimbabwe the implications for democracy are dire. Half the population will be deprived of its vote in next year’s elections.”

 

The Solidarity Peace Trust Report “No War in Zimbabwe” may be viewed on - www.humanrightsfirst.org

2.1.6.      Equal opportunity to exercise the right to vote and be voted for

 

4.1.3.      Non-discrimination in the voters’ registration

 

 

 

 

 

 

28.11.04

AMNESTY CALLS FOR WITHDRAWAL OF BILL

 

Amnesty International (AI) has called for the withdrawal of the draft Electoral Commission Bill on the basis that the proposed legislation is “flawed” and needs to be “appropriately reviewed”. The international human rights group said the Bill lacked key provisions that would ensure the independence of the commission during general elections in March 2005.

 

AI said in a briefing paper that in at least four key areas the provisions fell short of the benchmark for democratic elections agreed to by the Southern African Development Community (SADC).  It noted that the Bill failed to “adequately restrict” top ruling party officials from being appointed as commissioners and provided opportunities for government meddling in the work of the electoral authority.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) legal affairs secretary, David Coltart, said that efforts to get any crucial parts of the bill changed in Parliament had been unsuccessful. Of particular concern to the opposition was the provision in the Bill enabling the commission to force anyone providing voter education to furnish it with information, including funding sources, and the imposition of a criminal penalty (a fine or up to two years imprisonment) for non-compliance.  “This is in complete violation of the constitution, which enshrines the freedom of expression,” said Coltart.

 

Further details in The Standard (November 28)  - http://www.thestandard.co.zw/

2.1.7.      Independence of the Judiciary and  impartiality of the electoral institutions

 

2.1.8.      Voter education

 

7.3.            (Government to) establish impartial, all-inclusive, competent and accountable electoral bodies …

 

 

 

 

On the basis of these and numerous other daily breaches of the SADC Protocol on Democratic Elections, it can be seen that the Mugabe regime has yet to show any serious intent to change its ways or to begin to prepare for anything resembling fair and free elections.  In fact, the reforms they are proposing will result in a situation even worse than that which prevailed during the Parliamentary Elections of 2000 and the Presidential Election of 2002, both of which were heavily criticized by observer missions from the international community.

 

And the March 2005 Parliamentary Elections are now a matter of weeks away …..

 

Ends

 

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From The News Statesman, 3 December

Cricket's shame: the inside story

Des Wilson

How did England's cricketers end up playing in Zimbabwe, where a tyrant
rules and millions starve? Des Wilson blames Jack Straw, as well as the
game's amoral leaders.

In January this year Phil Edmonds, the outspoken former England spin-bowler,
now chairman of Middlesex County Cricket Club, attended his first meeting of
the England and Wales Cricket Board (the ECB). About the planned tour to
Zimbabwe, he was uncompromising. It should be "cancelled forthwith". The
board was "obsessed with money"; it was time to make a moral stand. One
board member, he said, "sounded like a Nazi". It was gloriously over the
top, but welcome to me, who was at that time one of few board members openly
opposed to the tour. I looked forward to Edmonds's support when the debate
was renewed at the following meeting. As I entered the gates of Lord's for
that next meeting, I saw Edmonds climbing into a car and disappearing at
speed in the opposite direction. At the meeting, all was explained: Edmonds
had discovered a business interest in Zimbabwe and was, therefore,
withdrawing from the board until the Zimbabwe matter was resolved. I haven't
seen him since.

The ease with which he was despatched - or despatched himself - intensified
my fear that the ECB was now hell-bent on repeating the debacle of England's
World Cup campaign a year earlier, when the players forced the board to
cancel the Zimbabwe fixture after days of chaos and confusion. Three factors
contributed to that fiasco. First, ever since England kept trying to play
South Africa in the apartheid era, English cricket had never moved from
mindless adherence to the doctrine that "there's no place for politics in
sport". Yet - and this is the second factor - the International Cricket
Council (the ICC) is riven with politics, much of it motivated by dislike of
England. Rather than being sympathetic to England's difficulties over
Zimbabwe, some countries could barely disguise their glee. Third, English
cricket had become totally dependent upon its earnings from international
cricket. Without that money, most of the 18 first-class counties would be
bankrupt. Without a moral dimension to their thinking, those who ran English
cricket allowed money to dictate every decision.

When I joined the board, I was asked to advise it on the "Zimbabwe problem"
and to explore ways whereby the tour about to take place could be cancelled
without paying too high a price, financial or diplomatic. I believed it
could be - and still believe it could have - but it called for a principled
stand by both the ECB and the Foreign Office. Alas, that was beyond them
both. The strategy had two parts, one dependent on Jack Straw. While the ICC
rules did not allow tours to be cancelled for "political or moral
considerations", it did allow force majeure. This meant a tour could be
cancelled if the government issued a clear instruction to that effect. It
was, therefore, vital that we received from the Foreign Secretary if not a
firm instruction, at least powerful advice that could be interpreted as one.
Second, the ECB needed what it had lacked for more than 30 years: an
intellectual and moral basis for taking decisions on controversial tours.
The plan was to publish a "framework paper" and then a follow-up paper
applying its principles to the Zimbabwe tour. This, we hoped, would win
support from politicians, the public and the cricket world, and give the ECB
the moral high ground. For that reason, we were keen to publish it before
any Straw intervention so that we didn't appear to be acting only because we
were being forced to do the right thing.

The framework paper argued that "to seek to isolate sport as an activity
that stands alone in human affairs, untouched by 'politics' or 'moral
considerations' and unconcerned for the fate of those deprived of human
rights, is as unrealistic as it is (self-destructively) self-serving..." It
identified five factors that could lead to abandonment of a tour: a threat
to the safety and security of the players; impacts on the integrity of a
tour (racism, or restrictions on freedom of expression); relationship with
British foreign policy; the views of the cricket world; and moral
considerations - in particular, whether the tour would give succour to a
despotic dictator. At every point in preparing the paper and the strategy, I
worked closely with the two men who had involved me in the first place -
David Morgan, the ECB chairman, and Tim Lamb, the then chief executive.
Assuring me that they both believed a majority of board members were opposed
to the tour, they not only contributed to and approved the framework paper,
but also approved the date and the manner of its release.

So, with work on the paper under way, I approached Straw's office. Since the
UK had been instrumental in forcing Zimbabwe out of the Commonwealth and had
been pressing both the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to
impose sanctions, we were optimistic, and were at first encouraged. We were
"all on the same side"; the FO would do "all in its power to help". While it
would not actually instruct the ECB not to tour - Straw did not want to set
a precedent and was afraid of having to pay financial compensation - it was
sympathetic to an alternative idea: the ECB would ask for advice, and Straw
would reply, offering the "strongest possible" advice not to go. We hoped we
could convince the ICC that this was the nearest to an instruction you could
achieve in a democracy. Then I was shown a draft of Straw's letter. Far from
offering the "strongest possible" advice, it offered none at all. It simply
spelled out what we all knew about the Mugabe regime and stated that the UK
was taking "a leading role" in mobilising international pressure for change.
All I could do was persuade the FO to add a sentence. Following the claim
that the UK was "taking a leading role" internationally, it would say: "You
may wish to consider whether a high-profile England cricket tour at this
time is consistent with that approach." This sentence was small consolation,
for while the media could possibly be persuaded to read it as advising the
ECB not to go, there was no chance the ICC would.

to be continued...
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Daily News online edition

      Zanu PF congress delegates sing from different hymn book

      Date: 4-Dec, 2004

      HARARE - President Robert Mugabe on Thursday officially opened Zanu PF's
fourth National Congress, in Harare, with a call to shun tribal division
which is slowly creeping into the 42-year-old party.

      Addressing more than 7 500 delegates at the congress, Mugabe said the
party was concerned with traits of tribalism which were beginning to show in
the party.

      He said party supporters should remain united against what he called
enemies of the unity which was forged between Zanu PF and Zapu in 1987. He
said party detractors had even gone to the extent of creating an opposition
party which was bent on destabilising the country, with some of them even
infiltrating the party.

      His sentiments come in the wake of recent accusations from some
sections of the party who are alleging that his iron hand in dealing with
party issues had also shown traits of tribalism.

      Some of the delegates from Matabeleland, Midlands, Masvingo and
Manicaland Provinces said they had come to the congress only to fulfill
their leaders' wish.

      They also alleged that the last minute suspensions of six provincial
chairmen, on the eve of the congress, had dampened their spirits as they did
not see anything wrong in the Tsholotsho meeting.

      "Our party seems to be living in the past because democracy is always
viewed in the eyes of our leaders with us not being allowed to express our
views.

      "When the chairmen went to the Tsholotsho meeting, they thought they
were exercising their democratic right to participate in the process of
electing a vice president for the party, but look at what has happened,"
said one of the delegates from Masvingo province.

      He also said the suspensions were a calculated move to drum up support
for Joyce Mujuru from all the delegates at the congress.

      "If majority rule is like that, then I think we still have a long way
to go before we realise it," he added.

      Other delegates who spoke to The Daily News Online at the various
resting places dotted in the outskirts of the capital city, said

      the party had failed to observe its own principles of democracy when
it suspended the six provincial chairmen on the eve the historic national
congress.

      "Some of the delegates from the affected provinces are not happy with
what is happening at the congress but they know that if they try to air
their grievances, they will be labeled party rebels.

      "This is not good for democracy because the party should have allowed
the democratic process to take its course.

      "We are in agreement on the issue of a woman vice president for the
party, but are very much against the idea of forcing people to support any
candidate thought to be the right candidate by a section of the party," said
one of the delegates from Matebelelad Province who said people from his
province had only come to the congress for fear of being labelled rebels.

      The delegate also said the party had failed to address the issue of
tribal balance in selecting people into the presidium. He said the

      nomination of Joseph Msika, Joyce Mujuru and president Mugabe into the
presidium, was biased towards a Zezuru hegemony, which the party had failed
to address even during the days of the Unity Accord between Zapu and Zanu
PF.

      The delegate said although Muzenda was not popular with people from
Masvingo, his presence in the presidium was welcome as it partially
addressed the issue of tribal balance.

      He however said people from Matabeleland provinces were not seriously
affected by the problem as they had John Nkomo to represent them, adding
that Msika was not supposed to be given special treatment.

      "In the days of Zapu, it was known that Msika was Zezuru and that he
represented the interests of Zezurus in the party. This tag should have been
removed when we signed the unity agreement but the guy still enjoys the
special treatment which he used to receive in the old Zapu. If we continue
to see each other in that perspective, then the whole issue of unity is just
a pie in the sky," said the delegate.

      He said everyone would have loved a situation where all the tribal
groups were well represented in the party's presidium but what delegates
were now endorsing was the continuation of the Zezuru dynasty.

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Daily News online edition

      Three ministers face the boot amid fears of a Zanu PF rift

      Date: 4-Dec, 2004

      AS the Zanu PF story takes new twists and political intrigue
continues, three Cabinet ministers and a provincial governor face the sack
for their role in the much-publicised Tsholotsho Declaration.

      The Tsholotsho meeting was meant to prop up Speaker of Parliament
Emmerson Mnangagwa as the new vice-president ahead of pre-congress favourite
Joyce Mujuru.

      The ruling Zanu PF party has already suspended six provincial
chairpersons who attended the private and unsanctioned meeting called by
Information minister Jonathan Moyo in Tsholotsho, who has himself been
heavily reprimanded pending a final decision on his fate.

      Authoritative sources in Zanu PF told The Daily News Online on the
sidelines of the on-going party's Congress that the party was in danger of a
serious rift and that President Mugabe will certainly fire three of his
Cabinet ministers and a governor to send a clear message to senior members
on the dangers of dissent.

      The sources said those facing the chop were Moyo, Justice, Legal and
Paliamentary Affairs minister Patrick Chinamasa and Energy and Power
Development minister July Moyo, who was chairman of the Midlands province
and has since been suspended.

      Chinamasa was nominated chairman by most of the suspended chairpersons
ahead of party favourite John Nkomo.

      "The three Cabinet ministers face the chop in a reshuffle expected any
time before the new year and Masvingo governor Josaya Hungwe is not likely
to be re-appointed following his role in influencing the provincial
executive in Masvingo to defy the party directive and voting for Mnangagwa
and Chinamasa," the source said.

      The suspended provincial chairpersons are said to have mentioned
several politicians who had influenced their voting patterns and it is
understood that TeleAccess boss and Masvingo provincial chairman, Daniel
Shumba, told Mugabe that Hungwe had influenced the provincial vote by
heavily lobbying for Mnangagwa and Chinamasa.

      He said for his sins, Shumba was being probed for externalising
foreign currency as well as a separate probe on why his company has failed
to operate the second fixed telephone network despite being awarded a
licence two years ago.

      As part of the plot to deal decisively with Mnangagwa and his
lieutenants, the sources pointed to Thursday's demonstration in Masvingo,
where thousands of ordinary party cadres, war veterans and war collaborators
dissociated themselves from Mnangagwa and said their choice as a province
was Mujuru.

      The protesters urged the party to oust the Shumba-led executive. The
sources said Mugabe wanted to send a clear message that dissent is not
allowed in Zanu PF while at the same making sure that he does not split the
party.

      "It is clear that Mnangagwa was the brains behind the Tsholotsho
Declaration, but he is not likely to face any disciplinary action because he
could turn out to be a rallying point for a new party if the entire bloc is
fired, so the only plausible action is to fire his lieutenants, who are
junior in the party and therefore do not have any potential of forming a new
party which could deal a blow to Zanu PF's chances ahead of parliamentary
elections next March," the source added.

      The revelations come amid separate calls for Mugabe to deal decisively
with Moyo, who is unpopular for his criticism of senior party members
through his various columns in the state media.

      Through his involvement in Mnangagwa's failed bid for vice presidency,
Moyo's detractors have been blessed with a fresh window of attack, urging
Mugabe to fire his trusted information chief if unity is to be maintained in
the party.

      Moyo's critics reportedly want stern action taken by Mugabe since the
acid-tongued information supremo was appointed to the government and the
Politburo at the behest of Mugabe himself.

      But analysts added that whatever the bold declarations at Congress and
Mugabe's calls for unity, Zanu PF would remain scathed by the revelations of
vote-buying and secret meetings by its power hungry senior members.

      "The party has been seriously dented and regardless of these moves to
rid the Cabinet of Mnangagwa's lieutenants, the cohesion within Zanu PF will
never be the same again after the Tsholotsho declaration," one political
observer noted.

      "The problem is that despite the Mnangagwa faction being vilified for
being power hungry and for defying party directives, there are others who
believe they have a point especially as it is certain that the Presidium
will have three Shonas in Mugabe, Mujuru and Msika if the nominations are
ratified at Congress. These people believe they have a point in that other
tribes should be given a chance at the top echelons of power."

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SABC

Chissano pledges Mozambique support for Mugabe

December 03, 2004, 16:15

Joaquim Chissano, the retiring Mozambican president, said today that
democracy could not be "forced" on Zimbabwe from outside and that Robert
Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president, should not be expected to follow his own
example by stepping down.

Chissano, due to retire as president in January after 18 years in power in
Mozambique, told a congress of Mugabe's ruling ZANU(PF) party his country
would continue to support Zimbabwe because of their shared liberation
struggle. Zimbabweans should find solutions to their own problems and must
not be forced into asking when Mugabe - now 80 years old and in power for 24
years - would be going, he said.

Neighbouring Mozambique offered Zimbabwean liberation war fighters military
bases from which to fight the Rhodesian government in the 1970s. The former
British colony was known as Rhodesia before independence in 1980.
Mozambique, riven by its own civil war that ended in 1992, held its third
democratic elections this week to choose a successor to Chissano who
declined to stand for a third term, saying the country needed change to
allow democracy to thrive.

Mugabe shows no sign of stepping aside. He has already been endorsed by
ZANU(PF) leaders for another term as party chief and his presidential term
does not end until 2008. Mugabe has retained a firm grip on the party
despite an economic crisis widely blamed on government mismanagement, and
characterised by record inflation, unemployment and shortages of foreign
currency and fuel. - Reuters
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IOL

Mugabe rhetoric has delegates in stitches
    December 03 2004 at 02:00PM

By Peta Thornycroft

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, speaking at the ruling Zanu-PF's annual
congress in Harare, roused his party supporters with rambling tales about
Tony Blair, Adam and Eve, and claimed that 400 British companies in Zimbabwe
were remitting profits.

It was a familiar script, and for 90 minutes a robust-looking Mugabe, 80,
addressed about 9 000 Zanu-PF delegates who gathered in a purple and gilt
auditorium in Harare to rubber-stamp new executives to run the party for the
next four years.

He had them rolling with laughter when he referred to a familiar theme,
homosexuality: "Perhaps a new kind of demon to be found in Britain has
spread its own little demons across the globe.

ow a woman can be a man, and a man can be a woman, just imagine what sort of
people they are who can turn a man into a woman.

"I am glad in Africa we have not been persuaded to accept this new teaching,
that although God created a man and called him Adam, and another person born
out of the rib, called Eve, with different biological characteristics...
that God was wrong. Amen."

The squabbling in Zanu-PF which last week led to "exposure" of an alleged
plot to try and prevent Joyce Mujuru, 49, a former fighter in the liberation
war becoming vice-president of the party, was quelled by Mugabe in a mere
couple of sentences.

The main "plotter", Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, was reprimanded by
Mugabe. Six more provincial party chairpersons and a leading war veteran
were suspended from the party.

Mugabe stitched over any divisions and opted instead to praise the unity of
Zanu-PF which he said had reduced the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change to "extinction" and said its president Morgan Tsvangirai was forced
to seek support from Europe.

"Our enemies and detractors ... resorted to various machinations, including
the formation of stooge opposition parties, they have come and gone ... and
just now the way is very clear for the extinction of yet another stooge
party. Most of its senior leaders are not in the country, they have gone
where they think they belong, to Britain.

"That's where Tsvangirai is, in Europe, let him enjoy the status of Europe,
that is why he is revered as the leader of Zimbabwe, but here you can't even
spell his name, can you?"

Tsvangirai visited several heads of state in Africa before moving on to
Europe after he was acquitted of treason six weeks ago.
He is expected to return to Zimbabwe on Saturday and will decide before the
end of the year whether his party will contest the elections in March.

Several banners in the auditorium reflected Mugabe's slogan for the general
election in March: "2005 - anti Blair vote." Another read: "MDC Blair's
running dogs."

Mugabe told the congress that 400 British companies traded in Zimbabwe. "I
don't know if Mr Blair knows that and they are making profits, their
dividends are being remitted to Britain.

"So one would hope the British government will renege on its course of
wanting the Zimbabwe economy to collapse and instead try to ensure that our
international environment is such that Zimbabwe can prosper, and the
prosperity of Zimbabwe will be prosperity for Britons here."

In a rejoinder, economist John Robertson said on Thursday: "I doubt very
much whether British companies are allowed to remit their dividends as
Zimbabwe has been terribly short of foreign currency for a long time."

On Thursday journalists and a camera crew from the BBC were accredited to
cover the congress.

The BBC was expelled from Zimbabwe in July 2001.
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Zanu-PF plots path to polls amid wrangling
          December 03 2004 at 08:07PM

      By Stella Mapenzauswa

      Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ruling party met on
Friday to plot strategy and reinforce discipline after an unexpected
succession struggle rocked the party a few months ahead of parliamentary
elections.

      The ruling Zanu-PF party's co-Vice President Joseph Msika, also
Mugabe's deputy, called the five-day congress a reminder of Zimbabwe's
bloody war for independence from Britain, which he said some party members
were now taking lightly.

      "These people... take things for granted. They don't seem to see that
it was a protracted struggle," Msika said in an emotionally charged speech.

      Analysts say Mugabe and Msika, both in their 80's, have come under
increasing pressure within the ruling party to quit and make way for younger
blood as the country grapples with a political and economic crisis widely
blamed on the leadership. Mugabe, who still retains a firm grip on the
party, has already been endorsed by Zanu-PF leaders for another term as
party chief and his presidential term does not end until 2008. Msika has
also indicated he is not ready to retire any time soon.

      Mugabe threw the party into disarray last month by bowing into
pressure to select Joyce Mujuru as the first woman co-vice president of the
party, sidelining speaker of parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was seen as
his heir apparent.

      Earlier this week the ruling party suspended seven top officials and
reprimanded another for their role in an alleged plot to push Mnangagwa's
bid for the post, seen as a stepping stone to the helm of the party and the
country's leadership.

      The wrangling could leave Zanu-PF weak as it faces up to the main
opposition Movement for Democratic Change in parliamentary elections
scheduled for March next year.

      On Friday, outgoing Mozambican President Joachim Chissano threw his
weight behind Mugabe's leadership, telling the congress he had kept the
country and party united both during the liberation struggle and after
independence.

      Chissano - due to retire as president in January after 18 years in
power - said Mugabe should not be expected to follow his own example by
stepping down.

      "Don't say because Chissano has pulled out, so and so must pull out.
It is because my country is now stable," he said.

      "It is because within our party we have reached harmony and it was
easy for us to select a successor," he added in a tacit reference to
Zanu-PF's succession wrangles. The five-day congress ends on Saturday.

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Revist Zanu-PF Code of Conduct: Nkomo

The Herald (Harare)

December 3, 2004
Posted to the web December 3, 2004

Harare

ZANU-PF National Chairman Cde John Nkomo yesterday said there was need to
revisit the party's code of conduct and reprimand wayward members that were
using money to buy people's support and causing division in the party.

Cde Nkomo was speaking at the ruling party's Fourth National People's
Congress that is being held in Harare.

"We need to revisit the party code. We have seen the use of money and
attempts to undermine the party and create divisions.

"All those responsible for wayward behaviour must be properly sanctioned,"
said Cde Nkomo.

The party this week suspended six provincial chairmen who took part in the
controversial Tsholotsho meeting two weeks ago.

The party also suspended Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans'
Association chairman Cde Jabulani Sibanda for four years for participating
in the same meeting and over previous cases of indiscipline.

Cde Nkomo said although Zanu-PF had faced numerous challenges in the past,
it has emerged stronger, making it a confident and rejuvenated party.

Said Cde Nkomo: "The land reform programme has been successful. The
foundation has been laid and the process is in motion.

"We have to be aware that the enemy is analysing every act and utterance."

Cde Nkomo said President Mugabe, who is the President and First Secretary of
Zanu-PF, has resolutely led the party and the nation.

Speaking at the same occasion, Harare Metropolitan Province Resident
Minister Cde Witness Mangwende said the capital city was facing challenges
such as of water supply to nearby towns like Chitungwiza and Norton, refuse
collection and street lighting.

He said more land was also needed for the housing programmes that the city
has embarked on. Cde Mangwende said Harare was initially designed for a
small white population during the colonial era and rehabilitating some of
the city's infrastructure required huge capital injection.

Acting Mayor of Harare Councillor Sekesayi Makwavarara hailed Government for
the support it is giving to council.

Clr Makwavarara, who defected from the opposition MDC to join Zanu-PF and
formally announced her new political affiliation on Heroes' Day in August
this year, said relations between Harare and the Ministry of Local
Government, Public Works and National Housing had improved and both parties
were working together for the improvement of the city. She thanked President
Mugabe and the party for the nomination of Cde Joyce Mujuru to the post of
Vice-President.

Seven provinces nominated Cde Mujuru, who is Secretary for Education in the
party, as one of the candidates for the Presidium.

She is tipped to be endorsed by the party to the post that fell vacant
following the death of Cde Simon Muzenda last year.

At least 7 000 delegates from all parts of the country are attending the
conference which began on Wednesday and ends on Sunday.
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From The Cape Argus (SA), 2 December

Mugabe livid over Moyo's Zanu-PF 'plot'

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has turned against and blasted his
one-time top propagandist, Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, accusing him
of attempting to stage a coup in Zanu PF. Moyo endured the scathing attack
and humiliation at the ruling party's central committee meeting which took
up almost the entire day yesterday. Mugabe, according to a source within the
committee, was so furious with Moyo that he said the party would disregard
all that Moyo had done for Zanu PF and the Zimbabwean government in the
past. The attack came a day after Zanu PF's police committee reprimanded
Moyo and suspended six provincial chairmen for convening an "unauthorised"
meeting in Tsholotsho, Matabeleland North, two weeks ago. The meeting,
dubbed the Tsholotsho Declaration, was intended to defy Mugabe's endorsement
of Water Affairs Minister Joyce Mujuru as the first female candidate for
Zanu's vice-presidency. Moyo and his six supporters were lobbying for
Zimbabwe's speaker of parliament, Emmerson Mnangagwa, but Mujuru has the
overwhelming backing of seven of the 10 provinces. The highly contested
position of Zanu PF's second vice-president was left vacant when Simon
Muzenda died last year.

The Tsholotsho seven were also plotting to replace Zanu PF chairman John
Nkomo with Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa. It is alleged that Nkomo was
targeted for speaking out about Zanu PF leaders who had grabbed more than
one farm in the controversial land reform programme. Nkomo told Zanu PF's
official newspaper, the Voice, that the divisions within the party were so
rife that some of the "comrades" had resorted to paying delegates to vote
for their favourite candidates. Mugabe accused Moyo of masterminding a
leadership coup in Zanu PF, an offence the president described as
"unforgivable". The source said Moyo had opened old wounds that reminded
Mugabe that Moyo was the same man who used to write academic papers and
articles for newspapers criticising Mugabe's presidency and Zanu PF.

This morning a diplomat described the situation as the beginning of the end
for Moyo in Zimbabwean politics. "He has given his detractors in Zanu PF,
the old Zanu PF veterans, ammunition for finishing him off, because he has
never been welcome in the organisation, they never forgave him for what he
used to write and say about the party and Mugabe before his Damascene
conversion. "He will be reminded that he is not that powerful after all. Now
is the chance. He is finished," said the diplomat. Moyo has been tacitly
stripped of his role as a propagandist in favour of Zanu PF's old warhorse,
the party's publicity secretary Nathan Shamuyarira. Shamuyarira has
accredited foreign journalists to cover the congress and the current cricket
tour by England. Shamuyarira warmly welcomed the foreign press corps last
night, a gesture that is alien to Zanu PF and the Zimbabwean government.
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From Business Day (SA), 3 December

Moyo breathes fire on 'palace coup' enemies

Beleaguered Zimbabwean Information Minister Jonathan Moyo hit out at his
colleagues yesterday, accusing them of engineering a failed palace coup in
the Zanu PF power struggle. Moyo, his cabinet colleague July Moyo and six
other senior ranking Zanu PF officials were either suspended or heavily
reprimanded for defying a party resolution to support a woman candidate,
Joyce Mujuru, for the post of second deputy president. They are said to have
been part of a faction within the party campaigning for Mujuru's rival,
Emmerson Mnangagwa. They are said to have held a meeting at Moyo's rural
village in Tsholotsho to map a strategy for the elections. Mnangagwa has
since lost the bid. Moyo, President Robert Mugabe's propagandist and
spokesman, described the accusations against him as "ugly lies" and "pure
fiction". Moyo's angry reaction came as Mugabe further warned at his party's
congress yesterday that those with "misguided ambitions" for power would be
dealt with. But Moyo said the allegations against him were similar to "false
intelligence used by US President George Bush and British Prime Minister
Tony Blair to invade Iraq to remove non-existent weapons of mass
destruction". "It is pure fiction that does not help anyone," Moyo wrote in
a report to Mugabe. Moyo said there were no sinister motives behind the
Tsholotsho meeting, which was allegedly disguised as a prize giving
ceremony. "What we have here is an allegation whose purpose is to smear
imagined or real opponents in order to attack their integrity."
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The Mercury

      ANC pledges 'firm support' for Mugabe's Zanu-PF
      December 3, 2004

      By Moshoeshoe Monare

      Harare: The ANC has displayed its unequivocal support for Zanu-PF and
its political and economic policies

      In a message at Zanu-PF's fourth congress yesterday, the ANC's
representative and former deputy secretary-general, Henry Makgothi, said the
South African ruling party still had great confidence in the Zanu-PF
government.

      "Our national executive of the ANC and the people of South Africa
(are) confident that Zanu-PF as a party of revolution will continue to play
a leading role to assert the political and economic independence of
Zimbabwe.

      "As the ANC we take pride in the bilateral relations that we have
forged over the years of the struggle and we are confident that this
conference will emerge with concrete measures to respond to the challenges
that the people of Zimbabwe face.

      "The ANC wishes to reiterate its firm support for the people of
Zimbabwe under the leadership of Zanu-PF," said Makgothi.

      In Cape Town, the Democratic Alliance's Joe Seremane said in a
statement: "The ANC's attendance can only be viewed as a visible endorsement
of Zanu-PF's patently undemocratic policies and practices.

      "The ANC's decision to be present in Harare today is also the clearest
indication yet that the ANC's loyalties lie more closely with Zanu-PF than
they do with its own alliance partners."

      He said it also directly contradicted a recent statement made by
Deputy President Jacob Zuma that the government had never taken sides
between ZANU-PF and the opposition MDC.
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