The Nation, Kenya
By KITSEPILE NYATHI
Last updated: 2 hours ago
NATION
Correspondent in HARARE, Sunday
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe set the
tone for a violence riddled
election campaign Sunday when he described the
decision by his former ally,
Dr Simba Makoni to challenge him for the
presidency as a big provocation.
Analysts say Mr Mugabe is not likely to
win a credible election on March 29
against a reinvigorated
opposition.
He desperately needs to win a violence free election that
will enable him to
regain the international recognition he has been craving
for in the past six
years.
Since his controversial victory in the
last presidential elections in 2002,
which were marred by state perpetrated
violence, the United States and
Europe have maintained sanctions targeted at
Mr Mugabe's inner circle for
alleged human rights abuses.
In a rally
to mark his 84th birthday in the border town of Beitbridge, the
ageing
leader, whose party is expected to officially launch its election
campaign
this week, dismissed his opponents as puppets of the West who
threatened the
country's sovereignty.
Greatest challenge
Mr Mugabe faces what is
probably his greatest electoral challenge from
former ruling Zanu PF
politburo member, Dr Simba Makoni and veteran
opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) leader, Mr Morgan
Tsvangirai.
"This is a test
on whether we are still the party that crushed small parties
that came our
way," the President said. "Who is Simba? . In fact, what he
did was the
worst provocation we could get."
Mr Tsvangirai also used the official
launch of his party's campaign to warn
the ruling party that if he wins the
March 29 general election, those who
have been implicated in cases of
political violence, which is becoming
endemic in the country, will be
prosecuted.
Political violence has been a permanent feature in the menu
of any
Zimbabwean election since independence and signs are already abound
that
next month's polls might even claim more casualties.
Last week,
the United States warned its citizens that travelling to the
restive
Southern African country, in the run-up to the election might pose
immense
security risks.
"The national election season in Zimbabwe may pose a
security threat to US
citizens in Zimbabwe," the US embassy in Harare said
in a statement.
"Previous elections in 2000, 2002 and 2005 were
contentions and sparked
food, water and fuel shortages as well as occasional
outbreaks of violence."
"Given the present significantly weaker
Zimbabwean economy, chronic
hyperinflation and on-going shortages, the 2008
election season has the
potential to generate widespread instability and
violence."
Mr Mugabe, who in the past has been accused of bullying
opponents with the
aid of his storm troopers - the veterans of the country's
war of
liberation - is by all means cornered.
Observers say he is
likely to resort to his tried and tested method of
coercing voters to save
his skin - the loyal former fighters.
The war veterans led the veteran
president's controversial farm seizure
programme, beating and killing
several white farmers in a bid to force them
to surrender their
properties.
They threatened to 'deal' with Dr Makoni and his backers in
the ruling party
before the elections, an open admission that they were on
the war path.
The former finance minister's last minute defection rocked
the ruling party
to its foundations as evidenced by the high level
defections and chaotic
primary elections, which were marred by intra-party
violence.
One of the high profile victims was the Minister of Finance, Dr
Samuel
Mumbengegwi, whose official government vehicle was stoned by members
of a
rival faction during the primary elections.
He subsequently lost
the election to a novice and went on to shock the Zanu
PF establishment by
filing his nomination papers to challenge the party's
official candidate -
another recipe for intra-party violence.
As if to prove the predictions
by the American government correct, in
another case, a gun-totting former
minister and a member of Zanu PF was
arrested for leading his supporters in
a protest.
This was after he lost in the ruling party's controversial
primary
elections.
As if that was not enough, when the campaigns
officially kicked of last
week, leaders of the Progressive Teachers Union
(PTUZ), were attacked by
Zanu PF youths as they distributed flyers critical
of the country's
education system.
PTUZ represents about a third of
Zimbabwean teachers, who also have borne
the brunt of previous violent
election campaigns, as they are accused of
sympathising with the
opposition.
Police, who have been accused of bias against opponents of
the ruling party,
picked up the leader of the union, Mr Raymond Majongwe and
his colleagues
accusing them of disturbing public peace.
They are now
fighting for their lives at a Harare hospital under heavy
police guard,
following the clashes with the Zanu PF militias.
Police spokesman,
Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said Mr Majongwe
and members of his
association allegedly provoked the Zanu PF youths by
distributing the
material.
"We condemn violence and we want to warn anyone bent on causing
disturbances
that they will be dealt with accordingly without fear or
favour," he told
the state media. He said a Zanu PF youth involved in the
clashes had also
been arrested.
The clashes coincided with an
announcement that police in the country's two
provinces had banned the
carrying of dangerous weapons in anticipation of an
upsurge in cases of
politically motivated violence in the run-up to the
polls.
Banned
weapons include machetes, spears, knobkerries, swords, knives and
daggers.
In another case, a husband of a long serving legislator who
allegedly
torched the homestead of a party official suspected of supporting
a rival in
the disputed Zanu PF primary elections appeared in court facing
arson
charges.
The issue of political violence is also likely to
dominate the campaign,
with opposition candidates accusing the government of
institutionalising
violence.
Mr Tsvangirai said if the MDC wins the
election it will establish a Truth
and Reconciliation Commission modelled
along the lines of the one set up in
post apartheid South Africa.
He
said the commission will investigate human rights abuses in the country
since independence and recommend the prosecution of perpetrators.
In
the policy document launched with the party's manifesto on Saturday, the
MDC
said there had been four main periods of gross human rights violations,
which were all tied to electioneering.
It added that the commission
would investigate the 1980-7 Gukurahundi
military campaign, where the
government was accused of deploying North
Korean trained troops in the
southern parts of the country to purge
supporters of the then opposition PF
Zapu.
The conflict ended in 1987, with PF Zapu entering into a unity
accord with
Zanu PF after nearly 20 000 civilians were
killed.
Another dark period to be investigated, the MDC says is the 2000
land reform
programme where Mr Mugabe's supporters invaded white owned
commercial farms
whose owners were accused of funding the
opposition.
Urban clean operation
There is also the 2005 urban
clean operation that targeted opposition
strongholds and the "violence and
destruction of property during the
struggle to restore democracy in
Zimbabwe."
"In each of these four periods of intense political
suppression, thousands
of criminal acts were committed, hundreds of
thousands experienced human
rights abuses and even the death of loved ones
or suffered physical injury
of one kind or another."
It added that
the commission would be in place three months after it assumes
office.
The MDC claims since its formation in 1999, thousands of its
supporters have
died at the hands of Zanu PF supporters and state
agents.
However, there is raging debate on whether threatening Mr Mugabe
with
prosecution when he leaves office will help motivate him to give way to
a
new leader.
In 2006, the former guerrilla leader had encouraged
open debate and even
appeared to have anointed his Vice President Mrs Joyce
Mujuru to succeed
him, only to make a u-turn the following year and seek
another term.
This led to speculation that he was afraid of suffering the
same fate as
former Liberian leader, Mr Charles Taylor who is now facing
numerous cases
of human rights violation at The Hague.
In March last
year, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was
forced to
intervene in Zimbabwe when Mr Tsvangirai and several fellow
opposition
leaders were severely tortured after they tried to attend a
prayer meeting
in Harare.
Encouraged debate
South African President Thabo Mbeki
was tasked with bringing the ruling
party and the opposition into the
negotiating table to ensure a free and
fair poll this year.
But after
a year of negotiations that yielded little in electoral reforms,
the MDC
announced that the talks had broken down without any major
breakthrough or
assurances from Mr Mugabe that the elections will be free
and
fair.
"In the circumstances, we hold the firm view that the 2008
elections which
are being held under the same conditions as previous
disputed elections
cannot by any stretch of the imagination yield a
legitimate outcome," said
Mr Tendai Biti of the Mr Tsvangirai led
MDC.
The Zimbabwean government says it will not welcome election monitors
and
observers especially from Western countries who have declared previous
elections as not free and fair.
Zim Online
by Farisai Gonye Monday 25 February
2008
HARARE - Zimbabwe's secret service has provided
controversial cleric and top
government ally Nolbert Kunonga with manpower
and other support in his bid
to stop a caretaker bishop from taking control
of the Harare Anglican
church, sources told ZimOnline.
The sources,
who are members of the police, said the spy Central
Intelligence
Organisation (CIO) assigned agents to assist Kunonga, while a
state-trained
youth militia - known for victimising opposition supporters -
was roped in
to help him seize control of the church's Cathedral of St Mary's
and All
Saints headquarters.
Kunonga - who as Bishop of Harare tried to use the
pulpit to defended
President Robert Mugabe's controversial policies - was
dismissed by the
Anglican synod of Central Africa after he attempted to
withdraw the Diocese
of Harare from the synod.
The synod, the
Church's supreme authority in the region, appointed retired
Bishop Sebastian
Bakare as caretaker head of the Harare diocese, a move
Kunonga is fiercely
resisting.
"Kunonga is protected," said a source, who spoke on condition
he was not
named. "This is why he has been ignoring court orders and using
violence,"
added our source.
He was referring to Kunonga's refusal to
allow Bakare and his followers to
worship in the St Mary's cathedral despite
a High Court order that the two
men's followers be allowed to use the
cathedral.
Kunonga's followers, who have been accused of intimidating and
beating up
Bakare's followers, two weeks ago, locked up the cathedral doors
to prevent
Bakare's followers from entering. This was a violation of a court
order but
police details who were present did not intervene.
When a
court deputy sheriff forcibly unlocked the cathedral doors, the
police
responded by attacking Bakare's followers forcing them to disperse.
The
involvement of the CIO, according to our sources, had weakened the hand
of
police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri who apparently had wanted
Kunonga stopped from defying court orders.
However, police spokesman
Oliver Mandipaka insisted the police were in
control of the situation,
adding the law enforcement agency had held
meetings with both factions of
the Anglican church to urge them to find a
peaceful solution to their
dispute.
"We have been talking to both parties to ensure that they
co-habitat
peacefully until they solve their internal disputes," said
Mandipaka.
Kunonga's spokesman, Reverend Morris Gwedegwe, denied he was
receiving
support from the CIO, saying Kunonga did not need political
backing or to
use violence because he had the full support of the entire
diocese.
Gwedegwe said: "We have not been violent. We do not need
political support
to hold on to what clearly belongs to us. The decision to
pull out (from
synod of central African) was made by the diocese and not by
President
Mugabe or Kunonga. It was a collective decision."
Kunonga
was elected Bishop of Harare in 2001. He has not made secret his
sympathy
for Mugabe's government, which handsomely rewarded his support by
giving him
a farm seized from its former white owner. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
by Lizwe Sebatha Monday 25 February
2008
BULAWAYO - Police have imposed unofficial curfew in some
parts of the
country, illegally restricting movement of people in the
evenings, the
Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) said at the
weekend.
ZimRights said the police forced people to stay indoors after
dusk
reportedly in order to stop them from using the night to campaign for
the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party as next months'
key
elections loom closer.
The rights group cited the suburbs of
Manyame Park, Zengeza and St Mary's
all in the opposition stronghold of
Chitungwiza city where it said it had
received the most reports of police
imposing unofficial curfew, especially
on youths.
"Some (police)
officers operating within these areas are taking it upon
themselves to
impose unofficial curfew on the youths. Some concerned youths
complain that
some police details are harassing and ordering them to stay
indoors after
dusk, accusing the youths of organising opposition meetings as
if it is a
crime," ZimRights said in a statement.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena
was not immediately available for comment
on the matter.
Under the
government's Public Order and Security Act, Zimbabweans are
required to
first seek permission from the police before gathering in public
in groups
of more than three to discuss politics.
The Act was however recently
relaxed under a raft of legal reforms agreed
between the government and the
opposition under mediation of South African
President Thabo Mbeki and meant
to ensure conditions for free and fair
elections.
The amendments
allow groups or individuals denied permission to organise
political meetings
or demonstrations to appeal the ban before a magistrate,
while the police
are also required to provide reasons for banning meetings.
But human
rights and pro-democracy activists have criticised the amendments
as
piecemeal and inadequate.
Zimbabwe holds local government, parliamentary
and presidential election on
March 29.
Analysts say an unfair playing
field coupled with political violence and
intimidation of opponents
guarantees President Robert Mugabe's government
victory at the polls despite
clear evidence it has failed to break a vicious
inflation cycle that has
left consumers impoverished and the economy in deep
crisis. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
by Chenai Maramba Monday 25 February
2008
KAROI - A senior ruling ZANU PF party politician has
directed a state grain
company in the town of Karoi to sell maize-meal
through councilors - all
members of his party - in what the opposition says
is a blatant vote-buying
scheme.
Zimbabweans elect a new president,
parliament and local councils on March
29, in polls that analysts say the
government will win due to an unfair
political field that disadvantages the
opposition.
John Mafa, who is chairman of ZANU PF in Mashonaland West
province under
which Karoi falls and is also provincial manager of the
government's Grain
Marketing Board (GMB), confirmed ordering the company to
sell the staple
food through ward councilors.
He said the move was
not meant to buy support for ZANU PF but rather to
ensure that all hungry
people got a chance to buy cheaper priced maize-meal
from the
GMB.
''Councillors have well known structures so that undeserving
elements in the
wards cannot take advantage of our sincerity. We have many
people who are
just cropping up in these wards but councilors know who is
who there and who
deserves,'' he told ZimOnline.
In addition, he said
the move was meant to ensure the hungry were able to
benefit from lower
prices offered by the GMB by removing middlemen such as
retailers who would
put a mark-up on maize-meal sourced from the GMB.
Mafa, who insisted
everyone would get a chance to buy maize-meal regardless
of which party they
supported, said he would also try to use local
councillors to distribute
maize-meal in Chegutu town where he is the ZANU PF's
candidate for the
constituency's House of Assembly seat.
However, main Movement for
Democratic Change party provincial officials said
ZANU PF councilors were
compiling lists of people to receive maize-meal
during campaign meetings of
the ruling party, which left out supporters of
the opposition.
''Our
members are being denied maize-meal by ruling party councillors as the
lists
are drawn up during their ward party rallies," said MDC provincial
treasurer
Biggie Haurobi. "Its unfortunate that the GMB is being used to woo
voters
for the ruling party.''
Zimbabwe - also facing its worst economic crisis
- is in the grip of acute
food shortages that critics blame directly on
President Robert Mugabe's
haphazard fast-track land reform exercise that
displaced established white
commercial farmers and replaced them with either
incompetent or inadequately
funded black farmers.
Food production
plunged by about 60 percent as a result while chaos in the
agriculture
sector because of farm seizures also hit hard Zimbabwe's once
impressive
manufacturing sector that had depended on a robust farming sector
for orders
and inputs.
Most of Zimbabwe's firms have since the beginning of farm
seizures in 2000
either closed completely or scaled down operations to about
or below 30
percent of capacity, in a country where unemployment is more
than 80
percent. - ZimOnline
Monsters and Critics
Feb 24, 2008, 14:35 GMT
Johannesburg/Harare -
Voters in Zimbabwe's elections due in five weeks will
have to puzzle through
a blur of alliances, divisions and sub-divisions
among the political parties
before they can decide who is really the
parliamentary candidate they want
to vote for.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, the official election
administrator,
published Sunday a list of 779 candidates for the 210 seats
in the lower
house of assembly, and 197 aspirants for the 60 elected seats
in the upper
house, the senate, from 12 political parties and 116
independents.
The choice is narrowed by the fact that three of those
parties have clear
national support. The clarity ends
there.
Thereafter, voters are faced with numerous candidates claiming to
represent
the same party, others purporting to represent the genuine faction
of one of
the mainstream parties but in fact using the name and symbol of a
different
faction, and independent candidates who are not really independent
but
allied to factions of other parties.
'It's going to be very
confusing to a lot of voters,' admitted David
Coltart, senate candidate for
the smaller faction of the opposition Movement
for Democratic
Change.
The muddle of candidates adds to widespread concern over the
elections on
March 29, where, for the first time, the electorate of 5.5
million people
will have to mark their Xs on four different ballot papers
for presidential,
house of assembly, senate and local government
wards.
Church and civic groups point out that the head of ZEC, judge
George
Chiweshe, has been illegally appointed by Mugabe; that he ignored
legal
procedures for the setting of the election date; that the boundaries
of the
constituencies in the elections were illegally promulgated; and that
there
is evidence of comprehensive manipulation of the voters
roll.
They say that ZEC has carried out almost no voter education on the
complicated new system, the campaign period is far too short and there is
scant hope of all would-be voters being able to cast their vote in a single
day.
President Robert Mugabe, who turned 84 at the weekend and has
been in power
since independence in 1980, is standing for re-election with a
record in the
last eight years of bringing the country's economy to its
knees.
Also standing for the presidency are former national labour leader
Morgan
Tsvangirai, head of the larger faction of the Movement for Democratic
Change
who since 2000 has been beaten by Mugabe in the last three elections
- all
dismissed by independent observers as fraudulent - and former ruling
party
politburo member Simba Makoni, the surprise candidate denounced by
Mugabe as
a prostitute.
Makoni describes himself as an independent
without a political party, but
has asked disgruntled members of Mugabe's
ruling ZANU(PF) party to back him
by registering themselves in the
parliamentary elections, also as
independents.
In eight of the
constituencies for the two chambers of parliament, the
ruling party appears
to have registered two candidates under its name.
However, in all cases,
one of the two is an angry would-be candidate
fighting against the official
ZANU(PF) candidate imposed by the party
hierarchy after its primary
elections that were riddled with bribery and
cheating.
The
development is unprecedented in the party's history, and observers say
it
indicates the deep divisions over corruption and the state of the economy
that threaten to destroy the organization.
Tsvangirais faction of the
MDC, formally registered as MDC- Tsvangirai, also
has double candidacies
facing each other in 11 constituencies, the result of
two new separate
sub-factions that developed since the popular original
party sundered in
2005.
Other discontented MDC-Tsvangirai candidates have had themselves
listed just
as MDC, to distinguish themselves from the former labour boss
faction.
Unfortunately, this is also how the other faction of the
original MDC has
been registered, and there are 16 constituencies where
candidates
representing different groups will appear on the ballot paper to
be
representing the same party.
'We have a problem,' said
Coltart.
MDC
23rd February 2008
- MDC Pressroom
HARARE---A record crowd of 60 000 people turned up today
at Sakubva stadium
in Mutare in Manicaland province for the MDC"s election
campaign launch
ahead of the watershed plebiscite on 29 March
2008..
Thousands more had to be turned away by riot police as they tried
to make
their way into the full stadium where a carnival atmosphere of song
and
dance brought a deafening din to the tranquil environs of the working
class
suburb of Sakubva.
Thousands came from all corners of the
country to attend the launch, where
the MDC unveiled its manifesto as well
as the party's candidates for the
forthcoming election, who are dubbed "the
winning New Zimbabwe team."
The party also unfailed a music album with
party messages which was well
received by the thousands who came from all
the 12 provinces to witness the
launch of the party's election campaign
ahead of the watershed poll.
They came by train, by road, on food, on
bicycles, on buses and in their
private vehicles to witness the start of the
big journey to a new Zimbabwe.
President Tsvangirai assured the huge
crowd that he would not betray them.
He said the MDC was a people's project
aimed at total transformation and not
reform. He said he was alive to the
national mandate on him and the party to
deliver a new Zimbabwe and a new
beginng.
Vice President Hon Thokozani Khupe and the secretary-general Hon
Tendai Biti
also addressed the mammoth crowd.
The town of Mutare
ground to halt as the MDC juggernaut rolled into the
eastern border town to
launch the people's campaign for food and jobs; it is
a campaign to reclaim
our dignity, to bring back real money and the values
and ethos that we have
lost during 28 years of misgovernance and
dictatorship.
Starting this
week, the MDC's election tsunami rolls into life in all
corners of the
country. The party's manifesto, which prioritises a new,
people driven
Constitution as the foundation for a new Zimbabwe, was given
out to
delegates who attended the launch. The party is also flighting
advertisements in national newspapers to publicise the party's manifesto and
policy programmes to showcase what we will do in critical sectors such as
the economy, land, communications, transport, health and
education.
The people's campaign has just rolled into life. A New
Zimbabwe, a new
beginning. Now is the time!
------------
PRESIDENT
MORGAN TSVANGIRAI'S ELECTION LAUNCH SPEECH
23rd February 2008
-
Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr Chairman I am proud to stand before you on
this
historic day.
Thank you for the great courage you have shown by
coming here today.
There are two gatherings in Zimbabwe today.
The
dictatorship of Robert Mugabe is gathering in Beitbridge.
The free people
of Zimbabwe are gathering here.
The dictatorship is gathering to
celebrate the 84th birthday of the
dictator.
The people are gathering
here to bring about the birth of a new Zimbabwe.
The dictatorship
celebrates that they have gotten away with it for another
year.
The
people celebrate the spirit of our nation that will not die.
The
dictatorship is a gathering of the satisfied.
The people here is a
gathering of the hungry.
The friends of the dictatorship are satisfied
with the past five years of
Zimbabwe.
They are satisfied with the
highest inflation rate in the history of
mankind. They are satisfied that a
million of our children are out of
school.
They are satisfied in cities
without electricity, and farms without crops.
They are satisfied that a
million have died and three million have fled.
The people are not satisfied.
The people are hungry.
The people are hungry for jobs. We are hungry for
education. We are hungry
for justice. We are hungry for change. We are
hungry for hope. We are hungry
for land.
We are hungry.
Each of us, as
we leave here, must leave here with a question. As we return
to our towns,
our villages, our cities and our farms, we return with a
question.
We
must ask this question to everyone we meet.
Across the length and breadth of
Zimbabwe, we will ask the great question
facing the voters of
Zimbabwe.
Are you hungry? Are you hungry for jobs? Are you hungry for
justice? Are you
hungry for change?
ARE YOU HUNGRY?
If you are
angry ad hungry then it is time you controlled your destiny and
be part of
history. Be part of this movement whose proud legacy is that it
is the face
of change in the country. We remain the legitimate drivers of
the
democratization of this country. We are aware of the historical burden
placed on shoulders but we will walk the path and complete this
change.
In March 2007, we briefly became world figures-our picture appeared
on
television screens around the world.
Why were our pictures shown
around the world? We were not rock and roll
musicians; We had not won the
Olympics.
We made the news because we were bleeding. After a peaceful prayer
meeting,
after three days in the custody of the dictatorship, some of us
were
released and we were still bleeding.
We appreciate the attention
given to us by the world news media, but that
really wasn't news.
All of
Zimbabwe is in the custody of the dictatorship and we are all
bleeding.
Every one of us.
We are beaten, but we are unbowed, we are bleeding, but we
are marching.
We are weak with hunger, but we are strong with anger.
When
we leave here, we leave here with two questions. We will ask every
person we
meet, are you hungry? And are you angry?
We have a lot to be angry
about.
As the people gather here, and as the dictatorship gathers over
there, each
group has a political party. The party of the dictatorship has a
political
party-Zanu-PF. And the people have a political party-MDC.
The
Movement for Democratic Change was born out of the failure by ZANU PF to
implement the ideals of the liberation struggle, in particular the extension
of freedoms to all as well as economic emancipation of Zimbabweans.
The
working people's convention of February 1999, laid the foundation for
our
historic movement and placed in our hands the peoples mandate to deliver
change and usher in a new government that is accountable to the
people.
The recent people's convention has reaffirmed the desire of the
people of
Zimbabwe not to reform but to transform our nation.
Some day
Zimbabwe will be a democracy. When it is, it will have many
national,
democratic parties.
When it does, those national, democratic parties will
move in and out of
power as they solve, or fail to solve, the problems of
the people. That is
for the future, today is now.
Today, the only
alternative to the party of the people is the party of the
dictatorship.
Some mornings, when I have nothing else to do, I read the
Herald. You should
try it.
I especially enjoy reading the Herald when
they say that the MDC has no
program.
The dictatorship has a program,
or course. Poverty, exile, starvation,
disease-that's been the program of
the dictatorship for the past five years.
And the Herald says we can't top
it.
They say that the MDC has no program-and they say one other
thing-that the
president of the MDC is a union leader and a miner and a man
of no
education.
Well one successful political leader worked as a
waiter in a restaurant. He
said that politics is a lot like being a
waiter-you listen to the people-and
you bring them what they want. That's
not a bad definition of democracy.
For the last few weeks l have been
around the country and I've been
listening to the people. When I was a
miner, I learned to listen to what
people are saying. That's something that
professors who have degrees in
economics sometimes never learn.
I
have been there under a tree, in small little huts, at the dip tank and in
the various communal fields. I listened to the people.
What the
people have been saying to me is that they are having to walk for
many miles
because of the unavailability of transport. They are having to go
for days
without eating a single meal.
On this listening tour l have been
witnessing unprecedented cases of
deepening poverty, collapse of general
infrastructure and the desperation
with which people have tried everything
possible in order to survive. I was
touched by the sincerity of their
desperation.
The people are not talking about parliamentary seats,
senatorial seats or an
opportunity to go to the state house. l agree with
them, that the focus of
this campaign and indeed the ideals of our struggle
is how we can serve the
people.
So based on my listening-and the
listening of the other leaders of the MDC,
we have developed our program,
our MDC manifesto.
The MDC manifesto puts the issue of the constitution at
the centre of our
struggle. The autocratic state in Zimbabwe has vandalized
and abused its
citizens and created weak institutions. We therefore need a
new constitution
to articulate a new dialogue and discourse. A constitution
that will
engender trust and confidence amongst our brutalized people. That
constitution should be made by the people and for the people.
We
believe the Zimbabwean economy is an enclave economy that is uneven,
unequal
and virtually dead. The challenge of the MDC is to craft an
alternative
human centered , auto-centric economic program that is based on
domestic
demands, use of local resources, domestic savings ad people based
regional
integration. A t the centre of this alternative economic program
must be
institutionalized stake holder participation through the Zimbabwe
Economic
development Council which we created in our full economic blueprint
RESTART.
Restart still remains our fundamental economic recovery vehicle
whose key
tenet is strong Social Democratic state based on three
pillars.
-Participatory Democracy based on constitutionalism and the rule of
law.
-A strong economy based on sound social economy.
-A progressive
growth with oriented redistributive state.
Thirdly, we need to trade in our
centralized government for local autonomy
and devolution.
In
democracies, people feel safe. They know and trust their local
leadership,
and public confidence in more distant government builds on the
confidence
people have in the government they know.
The Dictatorship does not want
people to be confident-it wants them to be
afraid. Decisions are taken away
from the people and made in dark and
distant places because they cannot
stand the light of day.
Our next point is the rule of law. At its most
fundamental, the rule of law
means no one is above the law. The dictatorship
thinks that Robert Mugabe is
above the law. He thinks he can do whatever he
wants, that the law must be
applied selectively and some getting away with
impunity, murder, arson, and
rape.
The rule of law means that no one
in government can do anything that the
people have not authorized government
to do. An MDC government will remember
that all of us are under the
law.
The rule of law leads directly to our next point-the end of
corruption.
Government should serve the people, not steal from them. Zanu is
a
kleptocracy. That's a fancy word that means a government of
thieves.
Zimbabwe is one of the world's great humanitarian crises-we need
food,
drugs, medical care. The nations of the world are helping-but we need
more.
Zanu cannot ask for more because the dictatorship does admit there is
a
problem.
Beyond humanitarian aid, we need the help of the world to
rebuild our
economy but more than anything else we must look after our
own.
Today, the devastation is much greater, and the funds we need will
be
larger. Nations from the East and West will be called on to help. We need
$10billion-not $10 billion Zimbabwe, but $10billion US.
The world has
watched as Zanu has destroyed our nation. They know that
Robert Mugabe is
one of the great tyrants of the 21st century. When we bring
him down, they
will be there to help.
As we raise money to rebuild our nation, we need
to focus on four groups of
our society have a special call on our
resources.
First are the war veterans, those who served our nation in our
war of
independence. The war veterans gave their loyalty to the cause of our
liberation and they have remembered Zanu as the party for liberation for
these twenty eight years.
But the truth is the war veterans are among
the most exploited of our
people. Their courage is no defense against the
devastation brought by the
dictatorship.
If the war veterans want to
know what the government could have and should
have done for them, they need
to look at the other nations of the world. In
those countries veterans are
loved and respected by all the people. Veterans
are represented in the
cabinet, honored for their serviced, and helped with
medical care, housing,
and education for their children.
Our veterans have been neglected for
twenty eight years-and they are not
getting any younger. The time to help
them is now.
Second, are victims of Operation Murambatsvina. We need a
fund to help those
people rebuild the homes and businesses that were
destroyed, including
grants to buy building materials. The world community
watched the Operation
Murambatsvina in horror and are especially ready to
offer assistance.
Third are the people of Matabeleland. We cannot restore
the life that was
lost during the Gukurahundi. But we can rebuild the
devastated communities.
We can build roads and schools and make loans to
people to establish income
generating projects.
We can also create
special economic zones, exempt form taxation during the
period of
rebuilding.
Fourth, those small businesses that were crippled and closed
by the policies
of the past year. Supermarkets, butcheries, grinding mills
are essential to
life in the rural areas. Bus fleets and bus operators must
be put back to
work.
An MDC government will establish national trust
funds to aid each of these
three groups within our nation. We must rebuild
our nation as one family-but
take special care in our family for those who
have special claims on us.
The MDC has a program of land reform. The
dictatorship's land policy has
created famine in one of the best farming
nations of the world.
Here are six things an MDC government will do as
our promise to the people.
First, we will carry out an independent audit
of land to establish the
physical and legal status of all holdings. After
the disasters of the past
eight years, every land owner must answer two
questions for the people.
Where did you get this land-how good is your
claim-and what are you doing
with it? Are you using land productively for
the people?
Second, based on the principle of need and ability, we will
implement and
coordinate a participatory all inclusive and well planned
resettlement
programme.
Third, we will design and define the
recommended minimum and maximum land
holdings per region.
Fourth, we
will ensure the enactment of laws that guarantee the ownership of
one
household per one land holding.
Fifth, we will introduce an equitable
Land Tax to discourage land wastage.
Sixth, we will carefully manage the
transition to a people driven and human
centered land market.
So much
of Zimbabwe's current problems started with dictatorship's land
policy. And
those policies cannot be changed until the dictatorship is swept
away.
Zimbabwe can and will feed itself again-for the good of the
nation and all
those who work upon the land.
The five killer diseases
of childhood our in retreat around they world;
except in Zimbabwe. Our child
mortality rates our now the highest in the
world. The dictatorship has
destroyed our once strong health care system.
Our trained health care
professionals have been forced into the diaspora. An
MDC government will
rebuild our medical system and bring our doctors,
nurses, and other health
professionals.
After independence, education and literacy spread across
our land. That was
one of the proudest achievements of the new
government-one of the best
records in all of Africa. Now, we are one of the
worst-1.5 million children
out of school, and the government throws teachers
in jail.
We need to change our foreign policy. We need to replace our
warrior foreign
policy with a commercial foreign policy. We won our
independence twenty
eight years ago-but the dictatorship continues to engage
in a battle with
shadows. The dictator is engaged in a long running battle
with Britain-with
Tony Blair as long as he was in power, and now that Blair
is gone, maybe
with the Queen. This battle cuts the people of Zimbabwe off
from the world's
commerce and does no damage whatever to the Queen of
England. It's time to
take Yes for an answer. Yes we are independent; and
Yes we are ready to
participate in the prosperity that other English
speaking nations have
enjoyed.
We need to present Zimbabwe once again
as the best tourist destination in
Africa. Zanu, of course, does not really
want people from Europe or America
to come to Zimbabwe-we welcome
them.
We need real money. The Zimbabwe dollar, once the strongest
currency in
Africa, is now the weakest in the world-indeed some say the
weakest in the
history of the world.
The new Zimbabwe will have a new
Zimbabwe dollar. A dollar that has value
again; that the people can
trust.
With the destruction of our currency has been the destruction of
our
pensions. Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans need to know that we will
pay
their pensions in those new Zimbabwe dollars.
Our civil servants
must be paid in real money. Our soldiers and policemen,
our doctors and
nurses, our teachers and professors-and all those who work
hard for our
countries good and cry silently at night, weeping at what has
happened to
their country and their families-they will be paid in real money
in the new
Zimbabwe.
Real money is also essential for our national security.
Fortunately we live
at peace with our neighbors-even the bravest soldier
cannot defend our
nation without modern equipment. Today we have no foreign
currency to buy
the basic requirements of a modern defense force.
In
addition to equipping our soldiers and police, we need to address their
needs. They too have families that need schools and hospitals; and we want
them to be loved and admired by their fellow citizens as they once
were.
Twelve points from the MDC manifesto. Not just promises-things
we will do.
And each is something Zanu cannot do-because each one undermines
the system
that keeps Zanu in power.
Now, I want to speak
directly to the people of Zimbabwe.
This election is about dealing with
generational and political transitional
challenges.
We have to
understand that this election is a referendum on Mugabe's misrule
over the
past thirty years.
We are not the cause of our poverty. The dictatorship
is the cause.
We need to move away from the political culture of patronage,
corruption and
intolerance.
We want to work. The dictatorship has
destroyed our jobs. Are you angry?
We want to teach our children. The
dictatorship has destroyed our schools.
Are you angry?
We want to eat.
The dictatorship has destroyed our food. Are you angry?
Are you hungry? Are
you angry?
In conclusion l want to say that the people of Zimbabwe
are not fools. They
have been in the trenches for a long time. They know the
dictator and his
many forms. They are hungry and they are angry. They have
been beaten with
us, they have bled with us. We promise them hope and love,
justice and
truth..
We have a covenant with them. We will not break
it. I as Morgan Tsvangirai
will not break the promise l have made with and
to the people.
That promise is that together we will walk to the
motherland of change, to a
new Zimbabwe.
Vote MDC. The time is
now.
Zimbabwe Today
Zimbabwe's police don't think
Makoni is worth protecting - and they've told
him so
Simba Makoni,
controversial candidate for the Presidency and the man on whom
so many are
pinning their hopes in Zimbabwe, has had his request for routine
protection
turned down by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP)
Makoni applied for
protection for himself, his family, and his close
associates - a normal and,
in the circumstances, advisable step - this week.
He received an immediate
reply from Deputy Commissioner Innocent Matibiri,
who runs the VIP
Protection Unit.
I was shown the letter, dated February 19, yesterday. In
it, Matibiri is
blunt, to say the least. "Please be advised accordingly Dr.
Makoni that
police protection is only awarded to individuals with VIP
status.
Regrettably you do not hold such status." This is an extraordinary
statement
to make to someone who's in a two-horse race for the Presidency,
and
Matibiri then continues with a remark that is frankly
chilling.
He says that as Makoni has yet to be confronted with any
violence, he will
remain under the "general protection of the police as with
other
Zimbabweans." Those of us who also enjoy this "general protection"
will know
exactly how much that's worth. We have the bruises to remind
us.
Makoni has good reason to fear for his safety, and that of his
family. As I
revealed recently, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO)
is gearing up
its surveillance and harassment operations for the run-up to
the election,
and Makonis is now a specific target.
My CIO source
told me that a total of 61 operatives have been asigned to
watch his every
move, at his Mandara residence, his workplace in
Graniteside, and his party
offices in Belgravia.
Additionally, Dr. Ibbo Mandaza, believed to be his
chief adviser, has been
assigned 12 operatives, and retired major Kudzai
Mbudzi, another key member
of the Makoni team, is being watched by
four.
Meanwhile, as the plotting and scheming develops, the war of abuse
has also
begun. Our venerated President appeared on television in person on
Thursday
night, and described his opponent, Makoni, as a "political
prostitute."
That's what this election needs - the scintillating cut and
thrust of
intellectual debate.
Posted on Friday, 22 2008
Washington Post
By Craig Timberg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday,
February 24, 2008
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Karonga Chakanetsa moved through
the trash-strewn
streets of Zimbabwe's decaying capital with the swift, easy
grace of a
predator.
His prey? Soap. Cooking oil. Bread.
Salt.
If Zimbabweans need it, Chakanetsa buys it and sells it. With
inflation
exceeding 100,000 percent, the almost daily price increases are
too dizzying
for most shoppers to track.
Dressed like a junior
executive in an oxford shirt with an open collar, dark
slacks and brown
loafers, he searched block by block, shop by shop for
essential goods still
selling at the government's low official prices. A
small nylon rucksack
crumpled in a pants pocket waited for the right
bargains.
They don't
last long. Because once a bottle of cooking oil or a bar of soap
hits the
streets, black marketers can make nearly twice what they paid. Such
tactics
allow some Zimbabweans to survive -- or even thrive -- in a nation
where 80
percent of the population has fallen below the official poverty
line.
"People don't buy clothes these days," said Chakanetsa, 39,
with the knowing
tone of a businessman who understands his
market.
After cruising through a warehouse-style shop with high ceilings
and long
shelves -- dominated by such superfluous goods as corn puffs, cream
soda,
green plastic cups and cotton balls -- he walked right out, his
rucksack
still tucked away.
"Big store," Chakanetsa said
dismissively, "but there's no basic
commodities."
President Robert
Mugabe often blames illegal traders for Zimbabwe's
troubles, saying their
frantic buying and selling have pushed up prices. But
since Mugabe imposed
price controls in June, the black market has thrived
and many traditional
stores have gone out of business.
Customers such as Annamore Mukwena, 34,
have suffered.
"There's no mealie meal in the stores," she said,
referring to the finely
ground cornmeal used to make sadza, the porridge
that is Zimbabwe's staple
food.
The smallest bag costs 12 million
Zimbabwean dollars on the black market,
more than her weekly earnings, said
Mukwena, a widow who is raising her two
children on her meager earnings
selling snacks on a street corner. When the
mealie meal runs low, she feeds
her family nothing more than a thin gruel
made with the
leftovers.
The economy began its free fall when landless black peasants
invaded
white-owned farms in 2000 with the support of Mugabe, who said the
redistribution would undo colonial inequities. The often violent process
decimated the country's most crucial industry and biggest earner of foreign
exchange, triggering hyperinflation that has rarely paused on its staggering
ascent.
Today, it's not unusual to see a wadded-up 10,000-dollar bill
lying on
Harare's filthy sidewalks. Though officially worth about 33 cents
in U.S.
currency, the real value is about one-tenth of a penny.
As
Chakanetsa moves through the city, downtown Harare's most established
retailers look as if a cyclone blew through, sucking out the inventory,
leaving mostly empty shelves and bare clothing racks. Yet the most crucial
goods can be had, for the right price, on the black market.
The
leather school shoes impossible to find in shops are plentiful at the
rollicking Mbare market, an outdoor bazaar. The fuel that often runs out at
pumps can be bought from the young men lingering near most gas stations. The
vegetables missing from a grocery store's shelves are offered, at
black-market rates, in the shop's own parking lot.
Trader Atson
Karwenya, 31, said store managers phone him when they expect
the arrival of
basic goods and offer to divert them for the right price.
Delivery trucks
sometimes drop off bags of scarce products at Karwenya's
home in a
working-class Harare suburb, allowing him to stockpile the most
valuable
goods, he said.
Mugabe's government occasionally cracks down, as it did
in its 2005
"clean-up campaign," when police rampaged through the nation's
slums,
demolishing hand-built shacks and flattening illegal marketplaces.
Chakanetsa's business partner, Victor Chidatsi, 25, said he spent five days
in jail then.
More commonly, though, police -- who, like other
government workers, earn
the equivalent of only a few U.S. dollars a week --
generally can be bribed
for a few cents.
Chakanetsa's mornings begin
with long, expensive bus rides from the
hardscrabble slum of Epworth to
Harare's lush northern suburbs, where
gardeners sell cans of gasoline
siphoned from their employers' cars.
Chakanetsa then heads to a fruit
distributor on Harare's industrial southern
edge, where he buys 40 pounds of
bananas to sell to hungry workers downtown.
If he manages to sell them all,
his profit will approach $10 -- the
foundation of a good day of
trading.
The fruit stand also offers a convenient cover for his illegal
trade in
price-controlled groceries. On this afternoon, Chakanetsa had an
order to
fill: A customer had requested a large bottle of cooking oil and a
stick of
all-purpose green soap about the length his forearm.
Two
days ago, green bar soap was going for 7 million Zimbabwean dollars. But
at
the first shop on this day, it was 11.9 million, at the second 12.8
million.
A sign at the third shop boasted: "1 Kg Greenbar Soap $8,500,000,"
but there
was only an empty pallet on the floor and a single broken bar
left.
Chakanetsa kept moving south, toward the railroad tracks that
run along the
edge of Harare's downtown. A cluster of distributorships there
offered goods
at discount prices but few amenities for shoppers, just bare
walls, concrete
floors and long lines.
Finally, he stepped into a
small, dark shop that reeked of curry. On a shelf
behind a lone clerk, a bar
of green soap was priced at 8.5 million
Zimbabwean dollars. And a bottle of
cooking oil was marked at 38 million, a
bit more than at a busier shop but
cheap enough to make a profit.
Chakanetsa handed over several grungy
10-million-dollar bills and slipped
the loot into his rucksack. Order
filled.
"Everybody is hungry," he said. "If you're not working, you will
die."
A few hours later, as massive white storm clouds began to build,
the
customer who ordered the soap and oil had not appeared. A promised
delivery
of mealie meal, diverted from a local college, had not arrived. And
Chakanetsa had seven bananas left to sell.
"There's no profit today,"
he said, dejected.
Chakanetsa slung his rucksack over his shoulder,
hoisted the box of bananas
and began searching for bread to sell. He hoped
to find 10 loaves for 3.2
million Zimbabwean dollars each and sell them near
his home for 3.8 million.
But at the first shop, no bread. At the second
shop, it was too expensive.
At the third were only a few stray
rolls.
So as the sky darkened to a dusky orange, Chakanetsa turned south,
toward
the bus home, his hands empty but for a few spare bananas to feed his
family.
africasia.com
HARARE, Feb 24 (AFP)
Zimbabwe's biggest state hospital has stopped
surgical operations because of
a breakdown of equipment and shortages of
drugs, a rights group said Sunday.
"There is a critical shortage of items
ranging from anaesthetics to surgical
equipment at Parirenyatwa hospital,"
Douglas Gwatidzo, chairman of Zimbabwe
Doctors for Human Rights told
AFP.
"Surgeons can carry out operations but they are saying they cannot
risk
their profession and increase the risk on the lives of the
patient.
"They are not prepared to be blamed for an operation which goes
wrong
because it was done without the necessary equipment, and operating on
a
patient when there are no painkillers to relieve their pain amounts to
subjecting that patient to torture."
The state-owned Herald newspaper
said Parirenyatwa Hospital was referring
patients requiring emergency
operations to Harare central hospital which is
battling with its own
shortages.
Those who can afford it are referred to expensive private
hospitals.
Deputy health minister Edwin Muguti blamed the shortages on
western-imposed
targeted sanctions.
"Government is aware of the
serious anaesthetic drugs shortages that have
hit our central hospitals,"
Muguti was quoted by the Sunday Mail as saying.
"These are results of
western-imposed sanctions that we are always talking
about. We can't promise
when the situation will return to normal but we want
to assure the nation
that we are treating this as an urgent matter."
The deputy minister said
the last stocks of the widely-used ketamine and
propofol drugs were donated
and have since run out.
Zimbabwe is in the throes of economic crisis with
annual inflation
officially at over 100,000 percent. There is a chronic
shortage of basic
goods and the majority of the population live below the
poverty threshold.
From The Sunday Independent, 24 February
Peter Fabricius
The South
African government says that if the Zimbabweans implement
everything they
agreed to in their negotiations mediated by President Thabo
Mbeki, their
March 29 elections should be free and fair. But who is going to
ensure they
comply? The Zimbabwean government made it clear on Friday that
only friendly
governments and organisations would be invited to observe the
poll. The
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) believes the
elections
cannot be free and fair because President Robert Mugabe has
already refused
to implement important things he agreed to in the
negotiations, especially a
new constitution. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the
foreign minister, was asked at
a press conference on Monday what the
prospects were for free and fair
elections in these circumstances. She
replied: "Well, the view of the South
African government is that if the
Zimbabweans implement everything that they
have agreed upon during their
negotiations. (if they implement the laws
passed by parliament around
security, information, media and all those laws)
. the prospects for free
and fair elections should be good."
But,
leaving aside the MDC's concerns about the lack of a new constitution,
who
will be in Zimbabwe to observe whether these other agreements are
implemented? Zanu PF and the MDC never agreed that they should have a joint
say in who could monitor the elections to ensure a full range of observers.
And George Charamba, Mugabe's spokesman, made it clear on Friday that, once
again, only countries or organisations that had not criticised past
elections would be invited. This included South Africa and all other
Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries. It was the SADC
leaders who mandated Mbeki's mediation mission. Charamba said the South
African government would be especially welcome as it would want to observe
the results of its mediation. He said SADC itself would also be invited as
well as the East and West African regional blocs, the African Union, the
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and certain developing world countries such as
China.
Zimbabwe would not - "and I repeat, not" - invite the
European Union (EU),
although, intriguingly, Charamba suggested that one or
two specific but
unnamed European states would be invited. Ronnie Mamoepa,
the spokesman for
the department of foreign affairs, responded by expressing
South Africa's
willingness to send an observer mission, either on its own or
as part of the
SADC. On past performance, Charamba's announcement means that
no observers
will issue critical reports of the March 29 elections. After
the 2000
parliamentary elections, the EU monitors issued a critical report
and were
not invited back. After the 2002 presidential elections, the
Commonwealth
observer mission said it was unable to certify the election as
free and
fair. This led to Zimbabwe being suspected from the Commonwealth
and so the
Commonwealth has never been invited back.
That year
SADC - that is, the 14 governments in the organisation - declared
itself
satisfied with the elections. But the SADC parliamentary forum -
which
includes not only ruling parties but also opposition political parties
from
the region - did not approve the election. So it was denied observer
status
at the 2005 parliamentary elections, except as a member of the
official SADC
mission, which it declined, as this would have compromised its
autonomy.
Other entities whose applications to observe the 2005 elections
were turned
down included Cosatu, Norway, the United States, the Electoral
Institute of
Southern Africa - a Johannesburg-based NGO that specialises in
monitoring
Southern African elections - and the Zimbabwe Observer
Consortium, a group
of South African NGOs including the South African
Council of Churches and
the South African NGO Coalition. South Africa has
pronounced itself
satisfied with all these elections, though some
non-government members of
the observer mission have issued dissenting
minority reports.
A cold day marked the end of
our sixth February outside the Embassy. Spring
is almost here in the UK
inspiring us with the promise of renewal and
growth. For Mugabe on his 84th
birthday only winter lies ahead. Vigil
Co-ordinator Rose shared birthday
celebrations with Mugabe. Her celebrations
were much lower key, with not a
balloon in sight. We shared a cake to mark
the occasion and Rose was given
a large golden piggy bank by supporter Mary
Ndoro. Rose in response to the
warm greetings of supporters said 'Over the
years of our protest the Vigil
has become a family and I have made many good
friends amongst
supporters.'
Among those drawn to see the Vigil was an actor in Oscar
Wilde's play 'The
Importance of being Earnest' showing just down the road.
He said his
grandmother in Zimbabwe had been robbed 3 times and beaten. A
young woman
from the BBC French Africa service joined us to discuss the
situation in
Zimbabwe. With the elections only a month away it is important
to keep up
public awareness. We publish on the Vigil website a report by our
partners
in Zimbabwe, ROHR (Restoration of Human Rights) about their
demonstration in
Harare last month. As the organizer Sten says 'Freedom has
a price. If need
be, I am prepared to pay the price.' We salute our brave
comrades at this
critical time.
While Patson Muzuwa and Dumi Tutani
led the singing and dancing, 14
month-old Zizi Tutani, who has become very
mobile, wandered off.
Fortunately Arnold Kuwewa noticed his flashing shoes
and raced to save him
when his 'walk of death' nearly took him into the busy
Strand.
For this week's Vigil pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
FOR
THE RECORD: 125 signed the register.
FOR YOUR DIARY:
· Monday,
25th February 2008 at 7.30 pm. Central London Zimbabwe
Forum. The forum will
discuss action on the elections. Venue: Bell and
Compass, 9-11 Villiers
Street, London, WC2N 6NA, next to Charing Cross
Station at the corner of
Villiers Street and John Adam Street.
· Saturday, 8th March 2008, 12
- 1.30 pm. Action for Southern
Africa (ACTSA) Rally for Dignity! and
Democracy in Zimbabwe on International
Women's Day in Trafalgar Square,
London. Speakers include: Lucia
Matibenga, Vice-President Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions, Takavafira
Zhou, President, Progressive Teachers
Union of Zimbabwe, Maureen Kademaunga,
Gender and Human Rights Officer,
Zimbabwe National Students' Union. The
rally is followed by the Zimbabwe
Vigil outside the Zimbabwean Embassy at
14.00 and at 15.30 the Million Women
Rise Rally to end violence against
women in Trafalgar Square. More
information on www.actsa.org. Please contact
campaigns@actsa.org or phone 020
3263 2001 to let ACTSA know if you are
coming
· Saturday, 29th
March 2008, 6 am - 6 pm: Zimbabwe Vigil's diaspora
polling station and mock
ballot.
Vigil Co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe
Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place
every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00
to protest against gross violations of
human rights by the current regime in
Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in
October 2002 will continue until
internationally-monitored, free and fair
elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
FROM THE ZIMBABWE VIGIL
This brief
report seeks to record the dedication, commitment and bravery of
all ROHR
Zimbabwe activists who took part in the January 25 demonstration
against
human rights affronts to the people of Zimbabwe. We also recognise
the
support of our partner the Zimbabwe Virgil who have remained steadfast
in
the fight for the restoration of people's rights and fundamental
freedoms.
The partnership with the Zimbabwe Vigil has enabled our struggle
to take
place on many fronts which not only increases the pressure on the
oppressive
leadership of Zanu PF but helps amplify our voice to the
international
community
BACKGROUND
ROHR will go undeterred on a national
offensive and continue to hold
unsanctioned demonstrations across the nation
to pressure the government
towards levelling the electoral field ahead of
the March presidential
elections and to desist from intimidating the
citizens from expressing their
will. We have noticed with grave concern that
the dialogue process between
the ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC)
has not yielded anything meaningful to help
suffering Zimbabweans. The
socio-economic and political crisis continues to
intensify as we head
towards another presidential election. The Mugabe-led
ruling party remains
unrepentant and continues to strengthen its hold on
power at the people's
expense.
In particular, the electoral
environment remains largely uneven. Further,
the government of Zimbabwe has
reneged on promises it made to President
Thabo Mbeki of South Africa
regarding the progressive review of legislation
such as AIPPA and POSA and
its commitment to introducing democracy. The
infrastructure of violence -
especially the green bombers -is still intact.
Although the youth militia
has been demobilized to give an impression of
peace and tranquillity
prevailing in the country, their presence within
communities remains a
pillar of Zanu PF's intimidation machinery.
Despite some minor
and cosmetic changes which the ZANU PF politburo has
introduced such as the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) that is supposed
to independently
administer elections, the electoral laws remain heavily
weighted in favour
of the incumbent. Electoral processes and institutions
continue to be
militarized and politicized.
Our programme of action as ROHR is
to counter Zanu PF's strategies to steal
the election. We will unleash a
series of demonstrations across the nation
to achieve the following
objectives:
1. Moulding the spirit of resistance amongst the people
of Zimbabwe to
defend their vote through pockets of demonstrations country
wide.
2. Pressuring the government of Zimbabwe to level the
electoral field
before the elections.
3. Putting Zimbabwe on
the agenda through street protest, defying
repressive laws such as
POSA.
4. Creating awareness of human rights violations, locally,
regionally
and internationally
5. Ensuring that the citizenry
is empowered with relevant information
so that they can make informed
decisions as to who should govern them.
DEMONSTRATION
The
recently held march had great impact and the response has been
overwhelming.
Over 200 people participated. 26 people were arrested,
including Sten
Zvorwadza. 24 Activists were brutally and mercilessly
assaulted by the
Zimbabwean police turned Zanu-PF agents of oppression. The
wounded spent
more than 10 hours at Harare central holding cells. They were
released
around 23.00 hrs and rushed to a clinic. Chairman Tichanzii
Gandanga was
released the same Friday but Sten Zvorwadza had to spend the
whole weekend
languishing in the cells.
The demonstration marks another stage
in our action plan and we are set to
increase the number of participants in
the demonstrations to come. We are
encouraged by the spirit shown by
Zimbabweans to commit and take part in the
process to fight for their
freedoms.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT
· The
demonstration boosted the people's confidence and courage in
the fight for
human rights. The general public is calling at our offices to
find out when
we are holding our next demonstration.
· The demonstration helped
to expose that no change has been brought
about by the SADC
talks.
· It managed to expose that the ruling party is unwilling
to create a
conducive environment for a free and fair election come 29th
March. The
arrest and brutal assault of members who took part in the
demonstration is a
clear indication that the state is still bent on using
the police and army
to intimidate and instil fear in the general
public.
· The demonstration attracted wide media coverage. We got
coverage
from local, regional and international organisations such as the
Zimbabwean,
the Standard, SW Radio Africa, VOA Africa Radio, to mention but
a few.
· We got positive feedback from various stakeholders. We
received
phone calls from embassies including the Norwegians, Dutch, Danish,
British,
Americans and many others.
· Increased our networking
capacity. Numerous organisations
volunteered support in different ways after
the demonstration - to mention
but a couple, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights.
THE WAY
FORWARD
Our greatest challenge is putting together adequate resources to
ensure that
our plan will not leave our participants exposed at the hands of
the
merciless illegitimate government. We require funding in the following
areas:
· Transport expenses in mobilising people to the venue
of action and
back to their homes.
· Production of campaign
material in the form of banners, placards,
posters etc.
·
Refreshments for the participants
· Transport logistics for the
casualties
· Medication expenses to supplement the available
facilities.
· Transport fees for patients attending reviews/check
ups
ROHR Bank Account
Donations can be paid into our UK
bank account:
Bank: Barclays
Sort
Code: 20-46-60
Account Name: ROHR
Zimbabwe
Account Number: 20204870
Vigil
Co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429
Strand, London, takes place
every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest
against gross violations of
human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe.
The Vigil which started in
October 2002 will continue until
internationally-monitored, free and fair
elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
Mmegi, Botswana
Friday, 22 February 2008
*TANONOKA JOSEPH WHANDE
There is a raging
battle about what is going on in Zimbabwe. Because of its
undisputed
importance in the region, the happenings on the Zimbabwean
political
landscape are of interest to many people, in and outside
Zimbabwe.
There is undeserved euphoria about Simba Makoni, a
ZANU-PF prodigal son who
clearly owes his political identity to Robert
Mugabe, the dictator he seeks
to replace today.
Makoni's challenging
of Mugabe will not benefit the people of Zimbabwe in
any way, if anything,
it is retrogressive.
Die-hard ZANU-PF members and senior Mugabe
loyalists, including once
disgraced ones, are reportedly extending
encouragement and support to Makoni
and there is a reason for
that.
Decidedly, this is Mugabe's swansong, his last hurray. Most of
ZANU-PF's top
brass now supporting Makoni are looking for protection in a
post-Mugabe
existence.
All these people have grave cases (pardon the
expression) to answer and
explanations to give, including Makoni himself,
and they are trying to band
together to shut out possibilities of
trial.
Then there are people like Mutumwa Mawere who can't believe their
luck on
seeing Makoni on the ballot. Mugabe and ZANU-PF are sitting on
Mawere's
business empire and are slowly dismantling it regardless of what a
British
court ruled last week. Mawere would rightfully want to have his
property
back. Having been so ill-treated by his former ZANU-PF buddies, I
think he
believes he stands a better chance with a ZANU-PF Makoni government
than
with an MDC government who might want to delve into his empire a little
too
deeply.
Zimbabweans are being taken for morons on all levels.
Even reporters like
Peta Thorncroft cannot help to put their journalistic
credibility on the
line and write slanted views in favour of their favourite
candidate Makoni.
Alarm bells are already ringing.
Thorncroft's
venture to promote Makoni for whatever reason is a dangerous
undertaking,
one that gives credence to Robert Mugabe's ridiculous rantings
about 'white'
people out to destroy his government and reporters working for
certain
interests.
Thorncroft apparently believes that in the absence of a truly
free and
vibrant independent press in Zimbabwe, she can mislead the world
with her
treacherous comments. That time is passe.
Who said Makoni is
a people's choice? Who really is saying that Makoni is
well respected across
party lines and even outside? What poll was taken,
where and when? Who is
telling us that this failure is "respected by the
international financial
community" and what is that based on?
It is only those people who want to
use Makoni as a shield. These ZANU-PF
people have been sidelined for very
long and now want a go at the national
cake too. But above all, they are
really worried about their security since
they are already ticking off
Mugabe's numbered days.
And that is why only ZANU-PF people, who know
their crimes, are looking for
a hiding place by promoting Simba
Makoni.
Makoni wants to be my president for the wrong reasons. He wants
to use my
faith in him to protect people who stole our nation's faith. Using
my faith
and my vote, Makoni wants to protect Mugabe, his mentor, and those
who
murdered Zimbabwe and its people.
I am a Zimbabwean and I care
about who my president should be. Last time I
checked, I was still
looking.
I do not know what all the fuss about Simba Makoni is. The
forthcoming
elections are a contest between old warrior Morgan Tsvangirai
and the
seasoned despot Robert Mugabe.
Zimbabweans are being invited to
take sides in a ZANU-PF domestic squabble.
Makoni is to ZANU-PF what Arthur
Mutambara and his shameless kittens are to
the MDC.
Mutambara, like
Makoni, can't tell people what they stand for and anyone who
does not stand
for something will end up falling for anything. And they have
already fallen
for Makoni. Yet only two weeks ago, they wanted a joint
effort with
Tsvangirai. They change positions more frequently than
windshield
wipers.
What Makoni and Mutambara have in common is that they are
momentarily both
newsworthy only because they left, at critical points,
organisations they
did not found. Big deal!
Yet I strongly believe
that Zimbabweans from around the country should
aspire to lead their nation.
The country is crawling with presidential
possibilities. But we seem to
believe that party leaders and presidents
should only come from Manicaland.
Now the nation watches as a group of
homeboys scratch each other's eyeballs
out to lead the country.
I wonder what would really have happened had
Edgar Tekere and Rekayi
Tangwena not done us the disfavour of 'leading'
Mugabe to Mozambique where
he usurped party leadership with the help of
Samora Machel.
Anyway, Matabeleland, both north and south, where are you?
And is Masvingo
now in ruins? Is Emerson Mnangagwa the only ambitious person
in the
Midlands? Mash Central must give us a better possibility.
Come
on people, there are a lot of potential presidents everywhere in
Zimbabwe.
Surely, the Look East Policy is not meant for politics too, I
thought it was
just for bad business!
I must admit that our eastern province did produce
brilliant and some not so
brilliant leaders. From Ndabaningi Sithole to
Herbert Chitepo through Morgan
Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara and Makoni
himself.
But this look east policy is narrowing the field to our
disadvantage and
Zimbabweans from all our land must show an interest in the
leadership of the
nation. Run for the presidency, Zimbabweans, run! My quest
is to extinguish
the lack of interest on the part of citizens. We don't even
take elections
seriously anymore. And that is painful to me. A nation and
its people can
only take so much.
A nation and its people can only
flee so far. However, I am appalled by
Makoni's backers. The same old guard
that presided over our demise and
humiliation are now changing vehicles to
deliver the same message.
What does our nation expect from Nkomo, Solomon
Mujuru, Joseph Msika, Joyce
Mujuru, Ibho Mandaza, and so on?
We are
talking about the very top ZANU-PF brass. Makoni's arrival is
actually more
dangerous than the current situation where we are watching
Mugabe's last
hurray.
Makoni, surrounded by the ZANU-PF architects of our misery, wants
to follow
the same path and protect the same perpetrators.
Are we
going to make ourselves pay the price? I have no intention of
slipping on
the same banana twice. Makoni's candidature does not offer, as
Mutumwa
Mawere claimed in a rumbling 3500- word article on ZimOnline, "the
only
available option."
Mugabe is cornered and the ZANU-PF vultures have
started circling. Fair
enough. But what choice do we have? Or is it none of
the above?
We have a very simple choice here. We are being asked to vote
for four
quarters from two halves.
One half is the MDC whose little
sister is looking for shelter from the
other half of ZANU-PF. Shall we vote
for ZANU-PF Mugabe or shall we vote for
ZANU-PF Makoni?
Mugabe and
Makoni? Why am I reminded of mentors and proteges? Papa and Baby
Doc
Duvalier. Fidel and Raul Castro. Then there is the perennial question:
Why
does the MDC always participate in flawed elections? This Zimbabwean
election, like others before it, does not meet SADC or any international
standards. What Mawere calls the "MDC's strategy of participating in a race
while openly acknowledging that the vote will be stolen" is real cause for
concern.
Or, maybe, there is money to be made from chaos.
I
need a break.
*Tanonoka Joseph Whande is a Botswana-based Zimbabwean
journalist.
Comment from The Sowetan (SA), 22 February
Bill Saidi
Of the three
presidential candidates in the March 29 elections, two are in
their 50s and
one will be 84 years. The preference is for the young people,
although a
logical poser will be: what do they know about running a country
with the
highest inflation rate in the world and a currency so devalued it
is the
laughing stock of the entire world? At its independence in 1980,
Zimbabwe's
currency was not at all ashamed or embarrassed to be standing
side by side
with that of the former colonial master, the British pound. If
you stood it
cheek to cheek with the mighty US dollar, it managed to keep
its upper lip
stiff, its chest thrust out, pugnaciously. It was no pushover.
Who of the
three candidates has the foresight, nay, the courage, to bring it
back to
those truly good old days when its strength was anchored in the
country's
agriculture and mining?
Today, nearly 28 years after President Robert
Mugabe was sworn in as its
prime minister by Lord Soames, the Zimdollar is
worth very little. Mugabe
himself, though maintaining a cocky stance as we
go into the elections,
knows his days are numbered, if not by Father Time,
then by the winds of
change ushered in by an economic collapse which will
probably deal his
ruling Zanu PF a fatal blow to the political solar plexus,
come March 29.
Mugabe has said he is "raring to go" into the contest. He is
relying more on
his past glory than on any tangible feats of achievements
during the last
seven years. His land reform programme, turned into a
political gimmick for
the 2000 parliamentary elections, cost the country its
status as the
breadbasket of the region, into simply a basket case.
Agriculture,
previously the mainstay of the economy, plummeted in value,
followed almost
immediately by a drop in the value of the dollar. The
economy went into a
tailspin, shedding jobs like a withered msasa tree
shedding leaves in a
windstorm. Millions of citizens fled the poverty and
the political
repression that followed the economic collapse.
The
competitors for the top job, Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for
Democratic Change, and Simba Makoni of the non-political Mavambo
(beginnings) movement are promising change. For many voters, any change from
Zanu PF is glorious enough, even without the specifics. Yet victory for
either of them cannot be guaranteed: Zanu PF will not lie down and die
quietly. It still has its ace up its sleeve: the fact of being the ruling
party, controlling all the levers of the electoral process, which it has
used in the past to ensure victory. What most analysts see is the combined
electoral clout of the two opposition groups overwhelming Zanu PF in the
elections for the senate, the house of assembly and the local government. In
the presidential stakes, Mugabe could score big in the rural areas, his
stronghold, where the fear of a return to the guerilla war of the 1970s has
always frightened the voters into preferring Zanu PF to any other party. But
it would seem that a clean sweep by Zanu PF is not in the offing. What may
be difficult to predict is how Zanu PF would react to a rout. Mugabe has not
repudiated his claim to having "many degrees in violence". Zimbabweans may
still be far from achieving the Zimbabwe they want, the Zimbabwe they lost
to Zanu PF...
New Zimbabwe
By Lindie
Whiz
Last updated: 02/25/2008 08:10:22
COLONEL Tshinga Dube has launched a
scathing attack on Industry and Trade
Minister Obert Mpofu for being
"irresponsible" and denting Zanu PF's
electoral chances by causing shortages
of basic commodities.
The Zimbabwe Defence Industries chief executive and
aspiring Zanu PF
parliamentarian - without mentioning the minister by name -
said Mpofu acted
irresponsibly by ordering companies to slash prices in June
last year,
causing many businesses to close shop.
Dube, who is
standing on a Zanu PF ticket in Makokoba, was addressing
members of the
Bulawayo Press Club on Friday.
He said some ministers were incompetent,
but always found their way back to
government.
Col. Dube said: "When
I went out in my constituency (Makokoba), I realised
that the name Zanu PF
is not very popular. Why? When you go through a lot of
hardships you want to
find out who caused it and now it is being associated
with the government of
Zanu PF.
"Sometimes people look at a party as a homogeneous entity,
instead of
looking at it as being composed of people, and these people are
the ones
causing these problems within the party.
"We have had a
system that must be corrected; people stay in government for
too long and
begin to feel that the government is there because you are
there. You have
ministers who do wrong things and believe that nothing would
ever happen to
him or her because he believes the government is part of him,
and he is a
shareholder.
"So these people create this hatred of the party, yet they
are just people.
I think as journalists, you like frank talk. Let me give a
typical example,
on the price controls. You know that it is not government
as a whole but
people who were given charge to look into this problem who
completely made a
mess.
"Those type of things are not done by the
government but by individuals.
From that time all the shops went dry. So it
was wrong, isn't it? Something
went completely wrong because of someone. As
a result he has messed the name
of our party. When someone is very angry and
does not like the name of the
party, it is because of those type of
people."
Challenged to clarify if his comments did not also refer to
President Mugabe
who has also "overstayed" in power, and is responsible for
appointing
ministers, Dube said as a soldier, he could not comment of the
head of
state, who is his Commander-In-Chief.
Pressed further to
comment on reports that senior Zanu PF officials he
enjoyed good relations
with - including Dumiso Dabengwa and Solomon
Mujuru -- were believed to be
working against Mugabe, Dube declined to
comment.
"As they used to
say long back, 'ibizo lomuntu liyadula. (It is expensive to
talk about
someone's name). I am not going to speak on behalf of anybody.
Ask them
themselves," he said.
Dube said Matabeleland was underdeveloped because
most of the ministers from
the region were "invited" to government without
support from the people, and
could
therefore not voice their concerns for
fear of being chucked out.
"If I was elected into Parliament I would
raise my voice the loudest knowing
no one will say shut up," he
said.
Dube will battle it out with incumbent Thokozani Khuphe of the
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai, and
Welshman Ncube
from a rival faction led by Arthur Mutambara.
He has
rolled out a well-publicised humanitarian assistance programme in
Bulawayo's
oldest and poorest township, and says he is confident of victory.
The
wealthy Dube is well-known for his philanthropic gestures - most notably
rescuing Highlanders Football Club from financial ruin. At one time, he paid
British coach Eddie May's salary in foreign currency for a year.
He
has also used his influence to secure players for Highlanders from army
clubs - Black Rhinos and Chapungu. His latest exploit came last week when he
got the Air Force team, Chapungu, to release striker Cuthbert Malajila to
Highlanders.