http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Staff Reporter
Wednesday, 02 February 2011
17:10
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday dragged
President
Robert Mugabe into a meeting to discuss escalating violence
allegedly being
perpetrated by Zanu PF militia on Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC)
supporters.
Tsvangirai is said to be livid that
police are not taking action against
perpetrators of violence from Mugabe’s
Zanu PF and wants an explanation from
the 86-year old ageing
leader.
Zanu PF has in the past few weeks unleashed violence on suspected
MDC
supporters especially in Harare’s high density suburbs of Budiriro,
Mabvuku
and Mbare and already dozens of people have been
hospitalised.
Tsvangirai is also expected to push Mugabe on the issue of
reports of
soldiers being deployed throughout the country to intimidate
people to vote
for Zanu PF if elections are held this year.
Mugabe
and Tsvangirai were also due to discuss the issue of the
constitutional
process which is expected to end in September leading to
elections.
The meeting was convened at the behest of Tsvangirai whose
supporters are
under siege from Zanu PF youths. Tsvangirai’s spokesperson
Luke Tamborinyoka
confirmed the meeting but refused to elaborate further
saying a statement
would be issued after the meeting.
But the Daily
News understands that Tsvangirai attended an MDC standing
committee meeting
Wednesday morning where the party leadership raised alarm
on the level of
violence against their supporters.
“It was made clear in the standing
committee meeting that Tsvangirai had to
confront Mugabe over the violence.
It seems we are all alone in this issue
because whenever our guys go to
report acts of violence, the police arrest
them instead of the perpetrators.
If police can’t protect innocent citizens
then Mugabe must just declare that
then we defend ourselves.
“This cannot be allowed to continue and Mugabe
must be told to stop the
violence. He must also explain why soldiers have
been deployed to the rural
areas. If it is now a military state, then he
also has to officially inform
us as he goes around claiming to be the
commander in chief of the defence
forces,” said the MDC insider.
http://www.voanews.com/
Mr Mugabe
contends that he can call new elections under the constitution as
it stood
before Amendment 19 which incorporated the terms of the September
2008
Global Political Agreement
Blessing Zulu 01 February
2011
Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has accused his
partner in
government, President Robert Mugabe, of causing unnecessary
“alarm and
despondency” following Mr. Mugabe's recent threat to dissolve
Parliament and
call snap elections this month, boosting tensions in the
rickety national
unity government.
Speaking in Davos, Switzerland, at
the World Economic Forum, Mr. Tsvangirai
told reporters this week that under
the Global Political Agreement for power
sharing the president and prime
minister, who share executive authority
under the GPA, must determine the
date for elections after mutual
consultations.
"President Mugabe
continues to needlessly cause alarm and despondency in the
country by
pretending to be oblivious to the fact that this is a coalition
government,"
the prime minister said. "The president and the prime minister
now share
executive authority and one cannot act exclusiven of the other in
making
executive decisions."
Mr Mugabe contends that he can call new elections
under the constitution as
it stood before Amendment 19 which incorporated
the terms of the September
2008 Global Political Agreement which underpins
the current unity
government.
Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Tsvangirai have now
returned to the country - the
president from the African Union summit just
concluded in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia. Political analyst Trevor Maisiri told
VOA Studio 7 reporter
Blessing Zulu that the premature call for a new round
of elections is a
matter of concern for a still-fragile
nation.
Zimbabwe's last round of elections in 2008 was marred by deadly
violence,
particularly in the run-up to the presidential run-off from which
Mr.
Tsvangirai withdrew in protest.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights has urged the African Union and the
Southern African Development
Community to push for security sector reform in
Harare.
In a
statement issued this weekend the lawyers called for the “immediate
engagement of the security sector by senior military structures in SADC and
AU to establish a firm agreement on military role (or non-role) in electoral
processes.”
Defense Minister Emmerson Mnangangwa and top generals
have vowed that they
will not allow Mr Tsvangirai to take power even if he
wins the next
election.
http://www.nation.co.ke
By KITSEPILE NYATHI,
NATION CorrespondentPosted Wednesday, February 2 2011
at 19:45
Sharp
differences have emerged in Zimbabwe’s fragile unity government over
the
fate of one of the deputy Prime Ministers who was demoted by his party
but
has not left his post after receiving support from President Robert
Mugabe.
Professor Arthur Mutambara who was toppled from the
leadership of the small
formation of the Movement for Democratic Change last
month is supposed to
make way for the new leader Professor Welshman
Ncube.
Prof Ncube announced a fortnight ago that he would become the
Deputy Prime
Minister while his predecessor would be demoted to a
ministerial post
following the change in the party’s leadership
structure.
But President Mugabe turned down an MDC request to re-assign
Prof Mutambara
citing legal reasons.
Zimbabwe has two deputy prime
ministers, one each from the two MDC factions,
following the formation of a
unity government two years ago.
Prof Ncube’s party has accused Mr Mugabe
of tribalism after his refusal to
fire its former leader saying in June last
year he eagerly accepted a
request by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to
reshuffle his cabinet
line-up.
The smaller MDC has its largest
support base in the Ndebele speaking south
western parts of the country
while Mr Tsvangirai’s MDC and Mr Mugabe’s Zanu
PF draw most of their support
among the majority Shona population.
Mr George Charamba, the president’s
spokesman, has dismissed the accusations
that Mr Mugabe was being
tribalistic and accused MDC of trying to use the
veteran ruler to solve its
internal problems.
“It is not the business of the president to use his
powers as an appointing
authority to resolve problems of a political party,”
Mr Charamba told state
media on Wednesday.
“Welshman Ncube must deal
with the political problem in MDC arising from
that party’s just ended
congress.
“That congress yielded a contested leadership and that is not
President
Mugabe’s problem. Mr Charamba said Prof Ncube’s best bet was to
persuade
Prof Mutambara to agree to be re-deployed or leave the inclusive
government.
Prof Ncube who is currently minister of Industry and Commerce
announced a
fortnight ago that Prof Mutambara had been redeployed to the
Regional
Integration and International Cooperation portfolio.
The
robotics professor has not responded to the redeployment as he has been
out
of the country attending the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland.
Despite signing a power sharing agreement in 2008 and
forming a unity
government with his rivals a year later, Mr Mugabe retained
the sole
prerogative to appoint or fire any cabinet member.
The two
MDC formations can only make recommendations but not State
appointments.
Ethnic divisions in the Zimbabwean government are not
new.
Two years after the country’s independence in 1980, President Mugabe
fired
ministers from PF Zapu led by the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo who
was
popular in the south western parts of the country.
The expulsion
was followed by a military excursion that killed 20,000 PF
Zapu supporters
and were described as a “moment of madness by” Mr Mugabe.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Staff Reporter
Wednesday, 02 February 2011
14:45
HARARE – Deputy Prime Minister-designate, Welshman Ncube, is set to
meet
President Robert Mugabe (pictured) shortly to sound him out on the
recall of
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara from the GNU.
But
Mugabe seems reluctant to kick his friend and ally while he is down.
The
party formerly known as MDC-M has decided that Ncube, who was elected
the
new leader at the party congress three weeks ago, should replace former
leader Mutambara as Deputy Prime Minister.
Speaking in Ethiopia at a
luncheon hosted by the Zimbabwe ambassador at his
residence in Addis Ababa
earlier this week, Mugabe said Ncube could only
take office after Mutambara
resigns.
“Well poor Mutambara, those who invited him now say he has
overstayed. He
actually came to me and he went to our Prime Minister
Tsvangirai also and
spent time with him and spent time with me and told us
what was going on —
that was before the congress when there was lots of
chicanery, cunning and
mischief and he said he was not going to stand as a
candidate for the
presidency of MDC-M,” said Mugabe.
Responding to
this, MDC spokesman Nhlanhla Dube said: "The President has no
power or right
to appoint any person into the cabinet without the approval
of that party.
Equally clear is the right of each party to reshuffle,
reassign or recall
any of its representatives. The President is required
only to formally make
the appointments as requested by the parties.
“It is curious that it is
now suggested that there is one rule for the MDC-T
and Zanu (PF), and
another for MDC. We are left with no doubt that this is
not a legal question
but a political one, where some parties are more equal
than others. We have
no doubt that the public can’t be fooled and will
definitely understand what
is happening.”
Speaking in a separate interview, Kurauone Chihwayi, the
deputy spokesman
told The Zimbabwean ******** that Ncube had asked to meet
the President this
week.
"We hope he respects our position and does not
stand in the way," Chihwayi
said.
Mugabe told Zimbabweans in Addis
Ababa that Mutambara’s recall had thrown up
fresh political and legal
problems. “So we now have Welshman Ncube as the
new president? And then what
does he do to the three principals? We have
been working together in the
Global Political Agreement right from the
start,” he said.
“This
creates legal problems. Politically, they were able to remove him but
legally we swore him in as a Member of Parliament and I swore him as Deputy
Prime Minister.
“I don’t know — it is up to him if he wants to resign and
if he refuses to
resign we are stuck. But the GPA will move
ahead.”
Mugabe insinuated that Ncube had staged a coup to unseat
Mutambara. “I
thought this is the opposition which was crying out that Zanu
(PF) is
undemocratic," Mugabe said.
If Mugabe accedes to this, it brings
a whole new dynamic in the executive
matrix. Ncube, an in-law of South
Africa President Jacob Zuma, has made it
clear he wants to be the next
President and said it was time for a
generational takeover.
For some,
Mutambara's ignominious removal from office is a cause for
celebration, a
tribute to democracy and a harbinger of better days for the
party. Yet for
many others, it is a deep cause for worry, a sign that the
there is a heavy
price to pay for backing Zanu (PF). Mugabe, who no doubt
really liked
Mutambara, will probably try to lure him over to Zanu (PF)
ranks.
Mugabe’s former spin doctor, media hang-man Jonathan Moyo, has
already given
the clue, saying: "He (Mutambara) may be surprised to get many
opportunities
including being invited by other parties.”
Mutambara has
been reassigned the new Regional Integration and International
Cooperation
minister, and is expected to make a statement when he returns
from the World
Economic Forum summit in Davos.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
2
February 2011
The MDC-T legislator for Mbare on Wednesday accused the
police of being part
of the continuing political violence in his
constituency and has called on
the Commissioner-General, Augustine Chihuri,
to take control of the
situation.
‘Chihuri was entrusted to protect
the citizens of Zimbabwe and not ZANU PF
officials and supporters. MDC
officials and activists are Zimbabweans as
well who deserve to be protected
by the police of this country, which I must
say is partisan,’ Piniel Denga,
the Mbare MP said.
This past weekend saw fresh violence in Mbare and two
MDC members were left
hospitalized, following a brutal and unprovoked attack
by ZANU PF youths.
The MP delivered a scathing attack on the police
inaction in stopping the
escalation of the violence.
‘Violence in the
name of ZANU PF often happens in front of the police. How
can they just
stand there while people are being brutalized? It seems that
the police
officers were impotent when facing such tragedies.’
In a turn of events
that left the MDC seething with rage, 16 of their
supporters have been
arrested and thrown into police cells in the last three
days, after being on
the receiving end of violent attacks from ZANU PF
youths.
None of the
perpetrators from ZANU PF, who are based at Carter house in
Mbare, have been
arrested. The ZANU PF shock troops, known as Chipangano
youth militia,
operate from Carter House, a boarding house owned by the city
of
Harare.
Since the beginning of January the militia has wreaked havoc in
the populous
‘ghetto’ and Denga placed the blame for the resurgence of
violence and the
displacement of people squarely on the inaction of the
police.
He said the police have acted irresponsibly by allowing the thugs
to ‘run
riot’. The failure of the police to arrest the youths led the MP to
boycott
a meeting with them on Wednesday.
‘I was invited by the District
police commander to discuss the resurgence of
violence and see how best they
could deal with it. But we’ve had countless
meetings before
that.’
‘It is a waste of time to sit with them and discuss strategies
that you know
will not be implemented. They only need to make arrests to
send a strong
signal that they don’t tolerate violence. But what you have
now, especially
in Mbare, is a police force that simply watches helpless
while MDC
supporters are butchered,’ said Denga.
He added; ‘What they
are good at is making follow-ups and arresting victims
and not the
perpetrators.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
02 February
2011
Two farmers from Makoni South were finally released from jail on
Wednesday,
after being arrested while trying to stop the illegal invasion of
their farm
by ZANU PF members and war vets.
Paul Grobler and his
father who co-own Geluk farm in Nyazura, were arrested
late Monday night
after a gang of land invaders forced their way onto the
property earlier in
the day. The group, led by the son of a CIO operative
and a known ZANU PF
official, broke down the farm gates and threatened the
farmers, saying they
were there to harvest the farm’s crops.
The Commercial Farmers Union
(CFU) President Deon Theron told SW Radio
Africa that tensions on the
property have been building for several days. He
said the farmers have been
trying to keep the gang of land invaders off the
farm since last Friday,
even warning police that they were facing a tense
situation. But the police
refused to do anything all weekend.
“When the thugs came on Monday, they
were quite riled up. They’d been
drinking and brewing for a couple of days,”
Theron said.
The MDC MP for Makoni South, Pishai Muchauraya, told SW
Radio Africa that
the Groblers were forced to fire warning shots into the
air, causing the
land invaders to flee. But later that night, soldiers and
riot police
returned to the farm and arrested the farmers, accusing them of
‘attempted
murder’.
Muchauraya said the incident proves that farm
attacks have nothing to do
with ‘land reform’, explaining how these kinds of
invasions always happen
during the harvest period. The MP said the attacks
are more about greed,
“masterminded by ZANU PF and the CIO.”
“This is
nothing to do with land reform. This is ZANU PF violence, ZANU PF
arrogance
and ZANU PF stubbornness,” Muchauraya said.
The Groblers remained locked
behind bars all day Tuesday and were set to
appear before a Rusape
magistrate on Wednesday morning. Their case was
referred to later in the
day, but the pair was finally released in the
afternoon. The CFU’s Theron
told SW Radio Africa that the magistrate saw no
merit in the state’s case
against the farmers, and released them without
charge.
Theron also
expressed concern that these kinds of attacks will begin to
intensify,
warning that “it’s the kind of build up we see before elections.”
The
country is waiting for elections to be called, amid rumours that Robert
Mugabe will call a snap election soon. His partners in the unity government
want elections only when the constitutional reform process is complete, but
increased political violence and the deployment of militia across the rural
areas points to a different agenda. Mugabe and ZANU PF have for years used
illegal land seizures as a benefit scheme, rewarding party loyalists with
land stolen under the guise of ‘land reform’.
The CFU’s Theron
meanwhile said the most disturbing part of the land attacks
is the selective
application of the law, warning that “we are once again
going into a phase
where the law is being broken and no one will do anything
about
it.”
The Groblers’ case clearly demonstrates this selective behaviour,
with the
police only reacting to the situation to arrest the farmers. At the
same
time, Theron is also set to appear in court in the coming weeks,
charged
with theft, after removing his personal belongings from his farm
that was
seized last year.
Theron has already lost three farms since
2000 and was living with his
mother Hester on her property. In 2009 the
elderly widow was threatened with
a jail term for refusing to leave her
dairy farm and home of 50 years. She
was eventually granted a court
interdict that stopped her eviction and was
meant to protect her from the
‘beneficiary’ of her property. But the
harassment against Theron and his
mother has continued despite the court
order, and they have been locked out
of their home since last year. Theron
said on Wednesday that he still has
equipment and personal possessions on
the property that he can’t
access.
“I’ve now been charged with theft for getting the stuff that
belongs to me,”
Theron said. “The situation is crazy, because we are the
ones being dragged
before the courts but the people actually stealing our
land, nothing happens
to them.”
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
02 February
2011
Police last week Thursday arrested Roger Stringer, a resident in the
Harare
suburb of Mt. Pleasant, following accusations of ‘criminal
defamation’ filed
by Dr Munyaradzi Kereke, an advisor to Reserve Bank
governor Gideon Gono.
Stringer says he reported to Marlborough police
station in the company of
his lawyer, Trust Maanda, after hearing that
police had been looking for him
since Tuesday. Once there he was charged
under controversial ‘criminal
defamation’ laws arising from a newspaper
article in which Kereke says
Stringer provided ‘false information’ to cause
‘serious harm to his
reputation’.
The issue involves a medical centre
being constructed by Kereke in Mt.
Pleasant and that Stringer allegedly made
comments at the local municipal
offices that Kereke did not have planning
permission to construct the
centre. Stringer says he denied these
allegations in a statement. Despite
handing himself over to police they
claimed he was a ‘flight risk’ and
detained him overnight.
In the
morning Stringer was taken to the Magistrates Court where he was
granted
US$100 bail. ‘They wanted additional conditions - that I should
continue to
reside at my home address and that I should not interfere with
state
witnesses. I was duly remanded on bail until 24th February and left
the
courtroom,’ Stringer told us.
It’s ironic that Kereke is claiming his
reputation was harmed over the
medical centre he is building when last year
in December he was accused of
raping an 11 year old girl at his home in the
Vainona suburb of Harare.
Despite medical and police records confirming
this, he was never arrested
and continues to walk the streets a free
man.
Girl Child Network founder, Betty Makoni, told SW Radio Africa how
Kereke
took a gun and pointed it at the 11 year old girl before raping her.
The
girl’s mother and father are not in the country. Kereke’s wife is said
to be
an auntie to the victim. Makoni and her organization responded by
launching
a facebook and internet campaign, to name and shame Dr
Kereke.
Turning to the controversial clinic being built by Kereke, Makoni
said; “Our
campaign is meant to tell every Zimbabwean going to his
surgery/clinic, it’s
called Kereke Rock Foundation in Mount Pleasant.” She
said people should not
use his clinic as they will be financially supporting
an accused rapist.
In December 2009 Dr Kereke was one of 75 officials
linked to the Mugabe
regime who were added to targeted travel and financial
restrictions, by the
European Union, United States and Australian
governments.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Chris Goko and Reagan
Mashavave
Wednesday, 02 February 2011 17:00
HARARE - President
Robert Mugabe’s singular efforts to raise US$250 million
for civil servants’
pay have increased concerns about the existence of a
parallel government and
irreparable divisions in the inclusive government.
Mugabe told a
Zimbabwean audience in Ethiopia last week that he had “chatted
up” Robert
Mhlanga’s Mbada Holdings Limited to release its dividend payment
to
government for public sector salary increases.
While Public Service
Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro told Daily News
Wednesday that it was “odd
for a company to instruct Treasury” on how to
deploy resources, many have
queried Mugabe’s motive and prioritisation of
civil service wages,
especially ahead of an anticipated election.
“It is not the
responsibility of a private company to instruct government on
how it should
spend its money. It is unprecedented,” he said, adding it was
Finance
Minister Tendai Biti’s prerogative on how government revenue was
used.
“I think the company should know its limits,” Mukonoweshuro
said.
Mbada, one of the five companies controversially given mining
rights at
Chiadzwa in eastern Manicaland, is a joint venture company between
Mhlanga’s
Grandwell Holdings and the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation
(ZMDC).
Although Biti is yet to pronounce on the vaunted dividend, if not
trickle of
money, that Mbada and other ZMDC partnerships such as the
collapsed Canadile
Miners used to hand over to government, it was the ageing
leader’s actions
and haste in declaring how the money will be used that has
caused outrage.
Even though Zimbabwe’s civil servants earn a paltry
US$200 to US$250 a
month, Mugabe's handling of the matter raises serious
questions about the
probity of actions, respect for governance and protocol
issues.
Crucially, he has arrogated the Finance minister's fiduciary
duties and
selfishly trashed the notion of separation of powers between the
executive,
and administrators.
The pay saga also comes as the Zanu PF
leader has been dishing out US$33
million worth of agricultural inputs
countrywide, which he single–handedly
sourced from yet unknown
allies.
His party functionaries – particularly its commissariat – have
not only used
the donations as a propaganda tool, but to denigrate the
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)–led Finance ministry as a heartless
team for
allocating US$30 million for the entire agricultural sector for
2011.
With Mugabe often accusing Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC
and
not-for-organisations of politicising food aid in Zimbabwe, it is the
octogenarian leader's splurge of wonga - and access to nearly a tenth of the
country's budget - that has given new meaning to vote-buying, and rung off
alarm bells about Zanu PF's charge for polls this year.
On the other
hand, the row is a reminder of Biti and the Zanu PF leadership’s
turf war –
once fueled by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon
Gono – over the
deployment of US$500 million from the International Monetary
Fund special
drawing rights.
While Gono rushed in 2009 to announce that the funds
would be channeled into
mining, manufacturing and tourism sectors, the
Finance minister shot down
the proposal fearing the top bureaucrat was
usurping his powers.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Itai Mabasa
Wednesday, 02 February
2011 12:19
HARARE - Faced with serious water problems, the Harare
Magistrates’ court
has reduced its working hours to only a few hours a day
in fear of
water-related diseases, The Zimbabwean has learnt.
Last
Monday the court started closing at 12 noon, reducing the number of
cases
tried significantly. The court building has suffered dilapidation at
the
hands of the former Zanu (PF) government. However, there are media
reports
that the Danish government, through its representative in Harare,
have
pledged to refurbish the structure.
Last week raw sewage could be seen
flowing out of some of the building’s
toilets, causing a serious health
hazard to members of the public.
“We are facing the serious problems
because the toilets have been closed
while all water taps are dry. This has
prompted Mr Guvamombe, who is in
charge here, to call for half days all
week,” one employee said.
Harare Provincial Magistrate, Mishrod
Guvamombe, confirmed the development
saying it was in the best interest of
public health, adding that normal
business would only commence after the
completion of maintenance work at the
court.
Zimbabwe’s justice
delivery system continues to be hampered by a number of
factors, mostly
inherited from the past Zanu (PF) government and has a back
log of untried
cases with some suspects having stayed in remand prison for
as long as 10
years.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Jane
Makoni
Wednesday, 02 February 2011 13:25
MARONDERA - MDC activist,
Diamond Tenifara, is very afraid that Mugabe’s
determined calls for early
elections will lead to polls taking place before
state security organs have
been reformed into a professional unit capable of
protecting all Zimbabweans
in a non partisan manner. His fears are not
unfounded.
He lived to regret
seeking protection from state security agents when he was
attacked by Zanu
(PF) thugs in 2002. His faith in the army and the police
almost cost him his
dear life as the army, supposed to protect him from Zanu
(PF) thugs, turned
wild and gave him the beating of his life. He narrated to
The Zimbabwean how
his misplaced trust in the state security agents left him
a traumatised
man.
“My ordeal at the hands of Zanu (PF) and state security agents started
2001
when I was attacked by more than 30 party thugs. I was stoned and
sustained
serious body injuries. They were led by the late Mugabe
sympathiser, Never
Matekunye, and Doubt Chikove. I went to hospital for
treatment and to my
surprise was later brought before the courts accused of
causing violence and
organizing political rallies. I was released on
bail.
“In 2002 I was arrested at my homestead in Dombotombo by five members
of the
CIO. They took me to the police station where I met three other MDC
activists, Hebert Chapendama, Edmore Muleya and Kainosi Chihota.
“The
four of us were tortured for a week in a bid to break our spirits and
cause
us to give up our struggle for democracy. As part of the daily routine
of
torture, each one of us would be forced to seat on an electric chair. We
were beaten with batons all over the body. We would be forced to drink
water, with our heads immersed in 20 litre containers of water. The torture
was carried out while we were stripped naked.
“Sometime later that year,
when I was cycling to town, I was surrounded by
Zanu (PF) youths along
Mutare road, just 50 metres from Dombotombo Police
Camp. They attacked me
with stones and sticks before I managed to escape
into the police camp. I
headed for an army post in the camp hoping to get
protection against the
thugs, who were in hot pursuit.
“To my surprise, when the soldiers realized I
was an MDC activist being
chased by Zanu (PF), they savagely beat me up with
batons. They accused me
of torching a Zanu (PF) truck a few days before.
Members from the police
support unit watched helplessly while I was being
thrashed.
“After I was beaten unconscious, police took me to Marondera
General
Hospital for treatment. But I could not receive treatment at the
hospital as
nurses warned me of CIO agents hunting me down. Some CIO agents
had enquired
at the hospital about me.
“I escaped from the hospital and
was whisked away by a well-wisher in a
truck loaded with sawdust. On
arriving home I found my house ransacked by
Zanu (PF) thugs. My wife had
also been attacked by the thugs, who promised
to return and petrol-bomb my
house in the evening.
“Fearing the worst for my family, I hired a taxi to
take us out of town and
boarded a bus to Harare. We stayed at a safe house
there for three months
and returned to Marondera.
“In 2003 we were again
attacked by Zanu (PF) youths and identified state
security agents while
holding peaceful MDC elections along Birmingham Road
in the Marondera
industrial area. The late MDC National Chairman, Isaac
Matongo, and Nelson
Chamisa, were among the gathering.
“As Zanu (PF) thugs threw stones at MDC
members, police officers who were
supposed to protect the MDC gathering from
disturbances, fired tear gas into
the building in which we were housed and
forced people into a dangerous
stampede. Dozens of people sustained serious
injuries while cars parked at
the premises were severely damaged. We later
learnt that police wanted to
take advantage of the commotion to arrest MDC
activists.
“We fled from the scene and left for Harare. I returned to my
house the same
evening leaving my family behind. Later, Zanu (PF) youths
were transported
to my house where they destroyed windows.
“On May 26,
2008, more than 20 armed and masked men arrived at my house in
Mahindra and
CAM trucks. They forced open the main entrance door into the
house. I
escaped into the night but my wife was unfortunately assaulted and
abducted.
Most of my family clothes were set on fire while other households
were
looted.
“I reported the incident to the police a few minutes later but no
follow up
was made, as the law enforcement agency described the culprits as
equally
dangerous to them. My police report was recorded as RRB 03405224 of
May 26,
2008.
“The abductors ferried my wife to Summerset Farm, some 20
km out of
Marondera along Murewa Road, where they stripped her naked,
brutally
assaulted and left her for dead. She was spiked with iron rods all
over the
body.
“She recovered consciousness during the night and was
discovered by school
children on the verge of the road the following
morning. A local teacher
alerted the police and she was taken to hospital by
police.
Part of a clinic report written and signed by Sister Kasiyamhuru of
Chiparahwe clinic dated May 27, 2008 reads. “The patient reported at clinic
via ZRP at around 0800 hours with a history of having been assaulted by
unknown people all over the body yesterday at around 1800 hours. On
examination, her lips were swollen with bruises all over the body. Clinic
plan: Refer to Marondera for further management.” Zanu (PF) members, Joramu
Mbizi, Gwirugwiru of Summerset and Mafios Mutonhori, were identified as some
of the culprits who perpetrated the violence.
“A week later, police
support unit officers in a truck load, descended on my
homestead and forced
their way into the house. After failing to locate me,
they hand-cuffed my
son, Shingirayi Rongo, and went away with him. They
later released him from
police custody after they failed to force him
disclose my hiding
place.
“Ever since 1999, I have been arrested for days on end. Even whenever
the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions called for job actions or held
peaceful
meetings, I would be arrested together with other labour Union
Members such
as, Sam Kamundarira, Two Boy Jecha and Obert Muchabayiwa.
During the past
decade I have been detained an average of three days out of
every week”.
Tenifara fears that, should elections be held under the old
Constitution and
before security forces are reformed, there would be a
repeat of the 2008
election bloodbath. His first hand experience of
harassment at the hands of
state security agents has convinced him that
reform of the uniformed and
armed forces remains a non-negotiable
pre-requisite for free and fair
elections.
Election campaign violence by
Zanu (PF) and pro-Mugabe state security
machinery, which marred the June 27,
2008 sham presidential elections, left
an estimated 200 MDC supporters dead
with thousands of others beaten and
raped, and hundreds of thousands
displaced.
http://www.voanews.com/
FEWSNET
said 75 percent of Zimbabweans considered to be food insecure live
in rural
communities in the semi-arid provinces of Matabeleland and
Masvingo, with
the rest in urban areas facing high food costs
Ntungamili Nkomo |
Washington 01 February 2011
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network
or FEWSNET said Tuesday that
although economic conditions in Zimbabwe are
better and food supplies have
stabilized, around 1.7 million Zimbabweans
will need food aid in the first
quarter of this year.
In a new food
assessment, FEWSNET said 75 percent of Zimbabweans considered
to be food
insecure live in rural communities in the semi-arid provinces of
Matabeleland North and South and Masvingo, with the rest in urban areas
facing high food costs.
FEWSNET also observed that most Zimbabweans
are battling to make ends meet
due to prevailing low incomes and high levels
of unemployment.
To mitigate this situation, the Zimbabwean government
will complement aid
distributions through cash-for-work programs, the report
said, adding that
the number of needy will decline sharply in April when
maize crops are being
harvested.
"While the availability of food is
not a constraint to food access, limited
purchasing power continues to
restrict the ability of very poor and poor
households to access enough
food," the FEWSNET report said.
Johannesburg-based food assessment
specialist Mandla Nkomo told reporter
Ntungamili Nkomo that Zimbabwe must
boost local production to eliminate food
shortages.
"If we look at
the average yileds that we are achieving as a country, it's
just below a
tonne of maize per hectare whereas countries like South Africa
are averaging
six-and-a-half tonnes," Nkomo said. "So we really need to deal
with the
issue of production."
Once described as the bread basket of Southern
Africa, Zimbabwe has become
heavily dependent on food assistance. Most
agricultural experts and
economists blame the land reform program on which
President Robert Mugabe
embarked in 2000.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Staff Reporter
Wednesday, 02 February 2011
13:47
MARANGE - Cash strapped Zanu (PF) provincial party officials have
been high
jacking projects implemented by non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) to
gain political mileage in their respective
constituencies.
Party officials are taking leading roles in all finished
NGO developmental
projects as part of their election campaign scheme to woo
supporters, amid
revelations that the party is under sourced for the
projected polls.
Manicaland illegal governor and confidant of the first
family, Christopher
Mushohwe, has been playing a very active role in various
developmental
projects done. He has been exploiting projects mostly from
Plan Zimbabwe,
which has brought educational and health development in
Marange, Mushohwe’s
home area.
Mushohwe, who lost in the constituency
to MDC-T MP Shuvai Mudiwa, is using
Plan Zimbabwe initiatives to drum up for
support in the area.
Also exploiting Plan Zimbabwe projects is former
provincial governor retired
major general Mike Nyambuya in his Mutasa North
area to rally support after
losing the seat to MDC-T MP David
Chimhini.
These politicians have been misusing NGOs to revive their
popularity by
deceiving the electorate into thinking that they are the ones
bringing
development to their respective constituencies.
Zanu (PF)
politicians have also been using the projects’ launch parties to
propagate
their political aspirations.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
02 February, 2011
The government has announced that laws
requiring foreign mining companies to
sell a majority of their shares to
locals will be gazetted by the end of
February. In a statement published in
the state-run Herald newspaper on
Wednesday, the Indigenisation and
Empowerment Minister, Saviour Kasukuwere,
said consultations were at an
‘advanced stage’ and new regulations would be
gazetted no later than the end
of February.
A controversial Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act,
requiring all
businesses to give 51 percent of their shares to locals was
signed into law
in 2008, but the government has not yet acted on it.
Economists and civic
groups in the country have been very critical and
described the move as just
another ZANU PF ploy to loot successful
businesses to enrich top officials
and their cronies.
Kasukuwere said the
regulations require 100 percent local ownership of
alluvial diamond mines
and other minerals must be 51 percent owned by
Zimbabweans. New mining
projects must also be 51 percent locally owned.
Economic analysts have
insisted that foreign owned businesses in the country
will shut down and
potential investors scared off by such policies. They
fear it will be the
beginning of the end for foreign owned businesses in
Zimbabwe.
“People accept that there is a need for empowerment and for
sharing wealth
and resources. The problem in Zimbabwe is the issue of motive
and a lack of
strategic thinking,” said economic and political analyst,
Bekithemba
Mhlanga. “It is this haphazard , unclear thinking that will upset
the
international community and investors.”
Mhlanga said it is
unfortunate that Canadian mining firms are now taking
their operations to
Eritrea. Botswana and Mozambique have also gained from
bad policies in
Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile the economic planning and investment promotion Minister,
Tapiwa
Mashakada, told Reuters news agency that the China Development Bank
is
willing to invest up to US$10 billion in Zimbabwe, particularly in mining
and agriculture.
“China is looking into mining development, as well
as agriculture,
infrastructure development and information communication
technology,” said
Mashakada, who was attending a business conference in
Harare.
But China has been criticized globally for ignoring human rights
abuses, in
order to support its huge need for natural resources. The Chinese
have also
protected Robert Mugabe by voting against punitive action at the
United
Nations Security Council.
Analyst Mhlanga said the Chinese
companies come into Zimbabwe with an air of
superiority and do not abide by
local rules and regulations. “In terms of
our own moral platform we must ask
where do we stand with China,” asked
Mhlanga. He believes we must set clear
rules and regulations for China
regarding minimum wages, health and work
conditions.
He said the Chinese have not made any significant
contributions to the
economy in Zimbabwe. “They start off selling cheap
zhing zhong products to
flea markets and move on to tuck shops. The only
major investment they ever
made was the national sports stadium, and that is
falling apart,” said
Mhlanga.
According to the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe, mining output grew by 47 percent
in 2010 and is expected to grow
by at least 44 percent in 2011. But with
policies requiring ownership by
locals appointed by ZANU PF, the wealth from
Zimbabwe’s minerals will do
nothing more than benefit those who are already
rich.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by New Zimbabwe
Wednesday, 02 February 2011
12:13
HARARE - Remittances from Zimbabweans living abroad have increased
32.9 per
cent in 2010 to about US$263.3 million, the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ)
has said.
Figures released by the central bank showed
that remittances had increased
significantly from the US$198.2 million
recorded in 2009.
“The growth rates primarily reflected the market’s
confidence in the formal
channel of remitting free funds,” the central bank
said in a recent economic
update. “In the outlook, the sector is poised to
grow in 2011 due to the
broadening of the Bureau De Change operating
framework.”
Millions of Zimbabweans now live in neighbouring Botswana and
South Africa
while others have settled in Europe and the United States. Most
left the
country over the last decade to escape a biting economic crisis
characterised by world record inflation and high unemployment. The vast
majority send money back home to support their families.
http://www.voanews.com
Employers
Confederation of Zimbabwe Director John Mufukare said most of the
organization’s affiliates have resolved to end what he described as
unsustainable semi-annual and quarterly wage reviews
Gibbs Dube |
Washington 01 February 2011
Zimbabwean businesses and the country's
labor movement are on a collision
course over a proposal by the Employers
Confederation of Zimbabwe to hold
salary reviews for workers just once
annually based on productivity in
various sectors.
Emcoz Director
John Mufukare said most of the organization’s affiliates have
resolved to
end what he described as unsustainable semi-annual and quarterly
wage
reviews.
Mufukare said each economic sector is now expected to hold a
single wage and
salary review during 2011 which will factor in the inflation
rate and
productivity.
He said salary increases will be determined by
these one-time negotiations.
He said this will help Zimbabwean industries
recover with sustainable wages.
“There is no way we can pay workers a lot
of money when companies are not
producing anything and to make matters
worse, we cannot print the United
States dollar to boost production in all
sectors," Mufukare told VOA
reporter Gibbs Dube.
Mufukare said EMCOZ
will shortly engage the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions, the country's
main trade union confederation, to make the case for
once-a-year pay
reviews.
But ZCTU Acting Secretary General Japhet Moyo warned that if the
business
group goes ahead with its plan it should brace for more job actions
during
2011.
http://af.reuters.com/
Wed Feb 2, 2011 3:26pm
GMT
WARSAW (Reuters) - A Polish hunter who dreamt of shooting an
elephant has
sued a German-based travel company after it sent him to a part
of Africa
where he said there were no elephants to be found, a newspaper
reported
Wednesday.
The company, Jaworski Jagdreisen, which organises
hunting expeditions,
insists there are elephants in the area of Zimbabwe it
sent the hunter,
identified only as Waldemar I, the Rzeczpospolita daily
newspaper said.
"From what I know, (the hunter) should have seen elephant
excrement there,"
it quoted the company owner as saying.
Even though
the company organised a second trip for the luckless hunter
during which he
managed to kill a male elephant, the man still filed for
damages worth
$130,000 over his first expedition.
A court is due to rule on his claim
on February 15, the paper said.
http://www.radiovop.com
02/02/2011 11:57:00
Harare - “This can never happen in
Zimbabwe. Zimbabweans are cowards,” said
Alec Sithole, while watching the
uprisings in Egypt on CNN this week.
“Yes, Zimbabweans will wait for
you start doing it before they think of
joining you,” responded a
workmate.
The two had been watching with keen interest events unfolding
in Egypt where
millions have invaded the streets to rid themselves of a 30
year old
dictatorship under incumbent leader Hosni Mubarak.
Some
observers say the Egyptian political situation bears striking
similarities
with that of Zimbabwe where President Robert Mugabe still
clings to power
despite allegations he stole the 2008 election from Movement
of Democratic
Change leader, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Political commentators
say both countries are still under the rule of
octogenarian leaders who have
ruled their countries for 30 years and do not
hesitate to use coercive
methods to repel any challenge to their rule. Both
countries have leaders
who rely on the loyal support of the military as
bastions of their political
survival and both have presided over governments
fraught with
corruption.
Weeks before the Egyptian protests, the world also saw
Tunisian dictator
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali being overthrown by angry
protestors who said they
had enough of bad governance.
Prominent
political commentator, John Makumbe, said Zimbabweans who were
slowly
recovering from economic hardships may decide to use the same methods
that
have been used by angry protestors in Egypt and Tunisia.
“Many people now
have full stomachs. They can afford to actually participate
in political
activity," said Makumbe. "They can organise and gather and
actually do
fantastic things. When people are starving, they wake up and
look for the
next meal and so a dictator can harass them and do all kinds of
things to
them."
Tsvangirai last week told Fox News in Davos that oppression was
being
resented and people all over the world, including Zimbabweans, were
justified in demanding for their rights.
“That was the whole purpose
of our struggle for the last 10 years,” he said,
adding: “The aspect of
incumbents leaving power to their children,
dynasties, as we may call it
that is very resented by the people.”
However, Tsholotsho North Member of
Parliament Professor Jonathan Moyo said
the Arab style protests in Zimbabwe
were a “pipe dream”.
Moyo claimed Tsvangirai was funded and supported by
the same governments
that have been propping up Mubarak’s regime in
Cairo.
“It’s a case of one puppet laughing at another puppet and not
seeing the
irony,” Moyo was quoted in the media, “He is claiming it will
happen in his
own country. If it does happen in Zimbabwe, surely the puppet
would be the
target.”
The public expressed mixed feelings about
events in the Middle East with
some saying it can never happen in Zimbabwe
for different reasons.
“Zimbabweans fear being shot at if they run into
the streets,” says Arnold
Matonga, a cell phone dealer in Harare. "Many
still remember how in 1998
soldiers were deployed in residential areas to
torture those implicated as
having taken part in food riots. Besides,
Zimbabweans are preoccupied with
survival."
Cynthia Mahlangu, a
teacher at a primary school in Harare, said "Zimbabweans
have had several
cases in the past 10 years that should have provoked mass
uprisings but they
squandered them.”
She cited the acute food, cash and power shortages
experienced in the past
few years and the 2008 cholera catastrophe that
killed thousands as
potential cases that should have provided the spark for
mass protests.
She also said the withholding of election results for a
month in 2008 by
Mugabe was another test of the patience of Zimbabweans and
was a potential
opportunity for them to take to the streets but there was no
action.
According to Mahlangu, the closest case of an uprising was in
December 2008
when civilians failed to join soldiers who went looting shops
in protest
over cash shortages.
Some said Tsvangirai no longer had
the energy to stir such protests after
fighting Mugabe’s regime for a
decade.
“He no longer has the strength to face Mugabe because he knows
how vicious a
dictator he can be,” says Tymon Malunga, another Harare
resident.
“Tsvangirai feels he would rather concentrate on pushing Mugabe
to implement
democratic reforms so that he can assume power through the
ballot," said
Malunga. "Comments he made in Davos are mere grandstanding by
him. He is the
least person who would want Zimbabwe to slide into chaos that
would create a
power vacuum. There is no guarantee he is the one who would
fill up that
vacuum should Mugabe be forced out through popular revolt. He
knows the
military will simply take over should Mugabe be
overthrown."
“He is also aware Zimbabweans will not heed his calls for an
uprising. We
saw this in 2003 when his calls for the final push failed.
Being someone who
has represented a very strong sentiment within the
populace, it was strange
that he was brutalised by Mugabe’s regime in
Highfields in 2007 but that was
not enough to galvanise Zimbabweans into
action.
“Besides, the mere mention of a protest will see war veterans and
militant
supporters of Mugabe bussed into the city centre to repel the
protest. We
saw it a few years ago when a march organised by the NCA
(National
Constitutional Assembly) was violently broken down by war veterans
armed
with sticks.”
Others, however, said Mugabe should be defeated
through the ballot while
some said they were banking on divine intervention
given Mugabe's twilight
age.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
02/02/2011 00:00:00
by Takura
Zhangazha
FEBRUARY 2011 marks two years since the swearing in of
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai. It is also the 11th anniversary of the
historic ‘No’ vote to the
Chidyausiku Draft Constitution which was rejected
by the country on February
13, 2000.
Both political events signify
turning points in Zimbabwe’s history, a
history that has a tendency of being
over-politicised (Zanu PF) or easily
forgotten (the
MDCs).
Nevertheless, these two momentous occasions primarily represent
three
things. The first and most evident one is that with the losses it
suffered
in the 2000 referendum, and the official loss of a parliamentary
majority in
2008, Zanu PF has definitively lost the popular mandate to
fulfill the
remaining aspirations of the liberation struggle. And this loss
of that
mandate is entirely that party’s own fault, no matter how much they
try and
scapegoat the MDCs or the North.
It is common public
knowledge that it is Zanu PF that instigated the
devastating economic
structural adjustment (ESAP) and carried on with the
legacy of repression
that was characteristic of the Rhodesian settler state.
This particular
point is one they cannot wash their hands of, no matter how
much radical
nationalisms they seek to invoke.
The second meaning of the historic
anniversaries of the ‘No’ vote and
Tsvangirai’s swearing in is that perhaps
the main MDC might increasingly be
faltering in executing the task of taking
up the mantle of fulfilling the
remaining aspirations of our struggle for
independence. These being the
arrival of Zimbabwe to a social democratic,
people-driven and economically
just state.
A key cause of this is
that after having started with the National Working
Peoples Convention of
1999, and with the express aim of taking over the
liberation struggle
mandate, the MDC has begun to lose its way in a
conundrum of economic and
political propositions that do not indicate an
intention at arriving at a
social democratic Zimbabwe. This is particularly
so when one considers the
same party’s performance two years into the
inclusive government with a raft
of elitist polices in the fields of health,
agriculture, constitutional
reform, education and trade.
The third meaning of February 2011 is that
of an evident fear by many that
we might be on the precipice of repeating
history. And this is so in the
context of the Zanu PF proclaimed end of the
inclusive government this
month, as well as the possibility of a general
election that might produce
yet another ‘inclusive’ government.
In
other quarters, there will be a fear that the people of Zimbabwe might
reject the COPAC draft constitution and thereby assert a rejection of not
only the expensive but also patently undemocratic process, led by the
inclusive government.
And this is perhaps the most important symbolic
point of the month of
February in the eleven years after the 2000 ‘no’ vote,
and two after the
formation of the inclusive government. It is the 2000 ‘no’
vote that was the
most serious non-partisan indictment of a sitting
government since Zimbabwe’s
independence in 1980. The ‘no’ vote, while being
about the constitution
itself, was also a vote indicative of the ability of
the people of Zimbabwe
to demonstrate their disaffection at the manner in
which politics was being
conducted by the then government.
In 2011,
two years after its formation, the inclusive government shall again
ask us
to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a constitution of its own making. With all
the
abstract talk of ‘uploading’ people’s views, it is very apparent that
there
shall be no people-centred draft to be considered during the
referendum.
The three political parties will ask us to vote either
because it
consolidates their continued stay in power (Zanu PF), or they
view it as
giving them a chance to acquire power (MDC). None of their
propositions for
asking us to accept their draft will be focused on a
necessary
non-partisanship toward the arrival at a democratic society via
the
constitution. Instead, they will make the constitutional referendum a
practice game for their own scheduled electoral contest later on this
year.
It is a political proposition that I personally refuse to accept,
not that
such a refusal may matter. The inclusive government has become
elitist and
abstract. It missed its potential ‘revolutionary’ moment by
remaining mired
in continuously personalised political contestation as
opposed to
understanding its transitional nature and mandate to bring the
country back
on a democratic and revolutionary path.
In order to make
this inclusive government accountable to the people of
Zimbabwe, and given
the fact that I have no other political mandate except
my right to vote, I
have made up my mind to vote ‘no’ come the referendum. I
have already seen
the processes around the Kariba Draft and I see no
difference with what is
going on now, except for the lavish spending on
hotels and allowances for
COPAC members.
So I will vote ‘No’ whenever the referendum on the
constitution is called.
And if others join me, then perhaps, contrary to
Zanu PF pundits, we will
have our very own ‘Cairo’.
E-mail: kuurayiwa@gmail.com Facebook Username:
TakuraZ
The latest cycle of protests in Africa started on a rather low
key and
ineffective note in Gabon in September 2009 when the son of the late
dictator Omar Bongo and losing candidate in the presidential elections of
that country Ali Ben Bongo was actually declared the winner much to the
chagrin of the Gabonese people. The Gabonese people took to the streets in
protest against that outcome as they felt Bongo Jr’s reported 47% winning
margin was just not realistic and a true reflection of how they, the people
of Gabon had voted. The army in that country was roped in and there were
violent clashes with opposition as well as supporting protesters. Just like
any such other sporadic and ill-organised protests, the Gabonese intifada
died a natural death. Bongo Jr is still as ensconced in power as he was at
the beginning of the ill fated protests that only succeeded in claiming
innocent lives.
January 2011 marked a new era in African protest and
Tunisia was the venue
of that African history where a regime was removed
from power thorough
peaceful protests in the shortest ever period of time.
Although there had
been a series of preceding events that precipitated the
protests in Tunisia
such as the smaller marches and the much publicised
suicide of the 26 year
old man who burned himself to death in protest of
police brutality against
street vendors, the final push only lasted less
than twenty fours when
nearly 5 million Tunisians descended on their capital
Tunis to demand the
resignation of the regime of dictatorial president Zine
al-Abidine Ben Ali.
The result was decisive and everlasting, with poor Mr
Ben Ali being forced
to lick his wounds as he fled into exile in Saud
Arabia.
It is the same tale of dictatorships. The dictator is usually
sacrificed by
overly enthusiastic apologists who misguidedly and very
dangerously so, urge
him on right to the very end. These are the people who
dismiss every
possibility of the “strong leader” leaving office of let alone
giving it up
especially at the hands of impoverished and powerless citizens.
The end is
usually a terribly embarrassing tale of the supposedly
“strongman” leaving
office without even time to pack his favourite or most
historic photographs
leaving everything at the mercy of the undying force of
the protest. In
worse cases the end is a miserable and degrading death in
some foreign land
like what happened to Idi Amin and Mobutu Sese Seko who
never had a proper
funeral attended by their family and lived ones. That is
always a far cry
from the lavish and imposing lives these people
(dictators), who live at the
expense of their seiged people most of whom are
reduced to singing for their
supper.
Now the revolution, the new kind
of “wind of change” has breezed into Egypt
where the ordinary man in the
street has once again turned the tables on yet
another strongman. Egyptian
president Hosni “Handiende” Mubarak is actually
under siege and is running
things from home because his offices are now a no
go area for him. It is not
the situation that the Egyptian President finds
himself in that is of
particular interest here, because we have had a few
such cases before and
people are now quite familiar with what to expect of
such situations unless
of course one is a dictator because these things
never in a thousand times
happen to dictators because they are very powerful
and strong and will
always “stand by their people” and serve them really
really
well.
The stance that has been taken by the Egyptian national
security force
apparatus that includes the army, navy, air force,
intelligence
organisation, the police and the prison services have all
thanks to the
decisively professional and patriotic army, all chosen to
stand with the
ordinary people of. This is a stance that any national
soldier out there who
is worth his sabre and bayonet would definitely want
to be associated with
because most people were watching events unfolding in
Egyptian with the
resigned anticipation that the army was simply going to
obey the orders of
the country’s regime and turn on the people. But to a
great and refreshing
sigh of relief that never happened. Instead the army,
“the only remaining
legitimate source of authority” as the Egyptian army has
been referred to in
recent days, declared that they will only keep peace,
law and order.
What a departure to the norm. In Africa especially, we are
used to armies
being used against their own people. Decent, professional
soldiers some
decorated with the highest orders of their nations have been
turned into
instruments to oppress the very people they are supposed to
protect. In our
country Zimbabwe, the same situation obtains today whereby
the army is at
the forefront of being used to oppress, suppress and
intimidate people. The
Central Intelligence Organisation CIO has also been
roped in and they are
being used to suppress their own people, the very
people they took auth to
protect. This must be rejected and the people of
Zimbabwe must resoundingly
remind their security forces that they are there
to protect them rather than
to suppress on the orders of an unrelenting
regime. ZANU PF is an
unrelenting regime that brooks no desires to pass on
power, all in the name
of preserving the gains of independence. Yet there is
no party in Zimbabwe
that has eroded the gains of independence as much as
ZANU PF has done.
That is what happens, when leaders miss opportunities,
nations lose out on
their prospects and aspirations. Zimbabwe is very much
the tale of a two
party country MDC and ZANU PF but both parties have all
been falling short
of addressing some of the very integral political issues
afflicting our
people. President Mugabe has missed opportunity after
opportunity to come
out guns blazing to denounce political violence or least
to prosecute with
equal force those who have perpetrated it. I will always
maintain that
personally, I do not accuse President Mugabe for what he has
done, it is
rather mostly what he has not done in his time and that is
denouncing
political violence and ensuring that as the President and Chief
of State,
all those perpetrators of such political violence are dealt with
according
to the laws of Zimbabwe. As the President of the country his voice
would
have made a great difference when it spoke against violence but he has
totally let the nation down on that. I cannot imagine if the President
punched the air just as enthusiastically as he does when campaigning, but
this time advocating peaceful a political discourse.
The few
occasions that President Mugabe has tersely denounced violence since
the
inception of the GNU that has had great effect and had he followed on
that
with sustained denunciations and concerted prosecution of the
perpetrators
of such violence, Zimbabwe would have been very much on the
road to such a
violence free political discourse. But this remains very much
a pipe dream
and the people of Zimbabwe are actually bracing for even more
political
violence in the future especially as the prospect of another round
of
elections is heightened by the on going tensions in the GNU.
The MDC as a
party has also failed totally to appeal to the security
services apparatus
as an alternative or next government. The party chose to
antagonise and
rubbish the army, police and intelligence right from the
beginning. Just
like ZANU PF was sinking to irretrievable and deplorable
propaganda depths
of name calling and labelling the MDC and anything or
anyone that supported
the party sell-outs and imperial puppets. The MDC
would not be outdone and
they chose their own acronyms calling anyone who
criticised the party and
its leadership either a CIO operative or a ZANU PF
infiltrator. The police
and army have also not been spared with the ZRP
being given such names like
the Zimbabwe Repression Police and other
derogatory terms. This did nothing
to endear the party with the security
apparatus in the country and the
animosity, suspicion and rejection was even
compounded as a very direct
result, the security services felt insecure and
had no choice but to cling
onto to ZANU PF.
As a party faced with such waning support, ZANU PF found
the loyalty of that
component of our population extremely invaluable. One
thing that MDC needed
to take into consideration was to be careful when
insulting ZANU PF and to
chose words with caution because it very difficult
to separate ZANU from the
army because the army came out of ZANU PF and now
it like a child who is now
looking after their aging parents because ZANU OF
now looks to the army
which has been very obliging in that respect. One can
not expect to separate
the two that easily without a real charm offensive,
not the offensive.
President Mugabe and his ZANU PF party have an
undisputable and unequivocal
constitutional duty to denounce violence and to
ensure that their members
who perpetrate violence are sincerely and
genuinely brought before the laws
of the country. Equally same, Morgan
Tsvangirai and the MDC have a duty to
ensure that as an alternative and next
government like the MDC claims to be,
they have an equal duty to ensure that
everyone is behind the party and this
includes appealing to the army like
the Egyptian opposition leaders did and
impressing upon them to stand with
the people. ZANU PF has failed to impress
o upon the army to stand with the
people because it is now using the army
against those same
people.
But they always say time is a very fair judge. With time we will
all get
equal and times the once unequal even get more equal than those who
once
disproportionately bore on them. Did Mubarak, a decorated soldier of
the
highest Egyptian order ever think that today he would be besieged by
unarmed
peasants?
Silence Chihuri rights in his own right and can
be contacted on
silencechihuri@googlemail.com
BILL WATCH SPECIAL
[1st February 2011]
No
Meetings Open to the Public
House of
Assembly Portfolio Committees and Senate Thematic Committees resumed work this
week. They will be considering evidence and submissions already gathered,
deliberating on draft reports, reviewing their work plans and planning for the
rest of the session. None of these meetings are open to the public.
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information supplied.