Zim Online
Mon 17 July 2006
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe's
government will this week meet
Russian energy officials in Harare to discuss
investment in the power sector
by the east European country, barely a month
after concluding a US$1.3
billion electricity generation deal with
China.
Authoritative sources told ZimOnline that officials from
Russia's
TurboEngineering firm were expected to arrive in Harare last night
and would
remain in the country until July 22. During their stay, the
Russians are
scheduled to hold talks with officials from the Ministries of
Energy,
Finance and Foreign Affairs.
The East Europeans, who
are said to be keen to invest in the
development of Condo hydro-electricity
plant, Gairezi power plant and the
Batoka Hydro-project on the might Zambezi
river, will also meet officials
from the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe.
In a letter to the state-owned Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply Authority
(ZESA) dated June 30, 2006 TurboEngeneering managing
director Alexey
Semenkov said Russian and international banks - which he did
not disclose in
the letter - had agreed in principle to finance Zimbabwean
power projects.
"Since the date of your information
receipt we held some preliminary
discussion with Russian and international
banks regarding the possibility of
the projects finance in Zimbabwe and had
their principal agreement to
continue the discussions on this subject,"
reads Semenkov's letter, a copy
of which was shown to
ZimOnline.
The three projects estimated to cost hundreds of
millions of United
States dollars to develop would yield close to 1 000
megawatts once in full
production and would see an end to Zimbabwe's
crippling power shortages.
Zimbabwean industry and homes suffer
from hours of power cuts every
day, with ZESA officials at the weekend
warning that the power shortages
would worsen in coming days after a
breakdown at the country's main
hydro-power plant at Kariba
dam.
Energy experts say Zimbabwe looks set to be the worst affected
by a
power crisis expected to hit southern Africa by 2008 because of failure
by
the cash-strapped ZESA to expand generation capacity at existing power
stations or to build new ones.
Southern Africa is expected to
face an acute energy deficit in about
two years time that will see
neighbouring countries that have provided 35
percent of Zimbabwe's power
requirements unable to do so because of rising
demand in their domestic
markets.
But the power shortage is only a symptom of a wider
economic crisis
that has spawned shortages of food, fuel, essential
medicines and foreign
currency while inflation has shot beyond 1 000
percent.
Mugabe, shunned by the West since 2002 over accusations of
repression
and human rights violations, has turned to China and Russia in
search of
help to resuscitate Zimbabwe's comatose economy.
For
example, in the power deal signed with China, Beijing will help
build new
coal mines and three thermal power stations in the Zambezi valley
along the
border with Zambia. In exchange, Zimbabwe will provide China with
chrome.
Chinese companies are also to rebuild Zimbabwe's rail
network, supply
trains, buses and farm equipment under several other
economic co-operation
deals between the two countries. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Mon 17 July
2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe immigration officials on Sunday seized the
passport
of a senior official of the main opposition Movement for Democratic
Change
(MDC) party and stopped him from leaving the country for
Britain.
Elias Mudzuri, who is also a former mayor of Harare and
belongs to the
larger faction of the splintered MDC led by Morgan
Tsvangirai, told
ZimOnline that immigration officials bundled him out of a
London-bound
British Airways plane and seized his travel documents, saying
they were
acting on instructions from the Ministry of Home
Affiars.
The incident occurred at Harare International
airport.
"The immigration officer said he was acting on the
instructions of the
Ministry of Home Affairs. He said the government
urgently needed my passport
to verify certain information," said Mudzuri,
who was in 2004 removed by the
government as Harare's first opposition mayor
following incessant clashes
with Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo
over control of the city.
Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi
confirmed the seizure of Mudzuri's
passport but refused to take more
questions on the matter or to explain
under what law immigration took the
opposition official's travel document.
"I have just heard about
that (passport seizure) but I have no
details. I am not at work," was all
Mohadi would say when contacted by
ZimOnline.
The government
last amended the constitution to allow it to seize
passports and other
travel documents of its critics, in a move criticised by
human rights groups
as not only unjust but also a breach of the Bill of
Rights that guarantees
freedom of movement.
The government did not follow up the
constitutional amendment with an
enabling Act of Parliament and was last
year forced to return the passports
of another MDC official, Paul Themba
Nyathi, trade unionist Raymond Majongwe
and private newspaper publisher
Trevor Ncube.
The immigration department returned the passports
after advice from
Attorney General Sobuza Gula-Ndebele that the
constitutional amendment did
not empower the department to withdraw a
citizen's travel documents without
a specific Act of Parliament stipulating
the exact conditions and offences
for which such documents can be seized by
the state.
Mudzuri, who said he was travelling to London on party
as well as
private business, said he was working with his lawyers to have
his passport
released to him.
Despite splitting last year into
two relatively weaker political
parties, the MDC remains a potent challenge
to President Robert Mugabe's
government with the larger Tsvangirai-led wing
of the opposition party
threatening to call mass anti-government protests
this winter to force
Mugabe to accept sweeping political reforms. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Mon 17 July 2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe's labour
movement and the opposition appear to be
turning the heat on President
Robert Mugabe, announcing worker protests at
the month-end and calling for
civil uprising but analysts say it will
require more to convince Zimbabweans
to confront state security forces on
the streets.
Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary general Wellington
Chibebe last
week said the umbrella union will call nationwide street
protests by workers
for better pay in the last week of July, putting the
labour group on a
collision course with the government.
Chibebe - who for strategic
reasons refused to disclose the exact
dates of the protests - spoke as main
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
party leader Morgan Tsvangirai also
last week ordered provincial leaders of
his party to hasten mobilising
support for mass protests to force Mugabe to
accept sweeping political
reforms.
The new-found energy appeared to have been set in motion
after Mugabe
last month deftly avoided international censure when United
Nations
Secretary General Kofi Annan cancelled a trip to Harare after being
told by
Mugabe that former Tanzanian leader Benjamin Mkapa was mediating
between
Zimbabwe and Britain.
Annan was expected to use the
Harare trip to pressure Mugabe to agree
to step down in return for
substantial international aid for crisis-weary
Zimbabwe and immunity for the
veteran President from prosecution for human
rights crimes committed while
in office.
The analysts said Chibebe and Tsvangirai's calls last
week rallying
workers and MDC supporters for mass action was a sign the
opposition
movement could be slowly mustering the courage to confront the
government
after months of hesitation.
"Definitely the time
appears right for demonstrations against the
regime because there is a lot
of anger and pain among the people," said John
Makumbe, a University of
Zimbabwe (UZ) political analyst and Mugabe critic.
He added: "And I
think Zimbabweans are beginning to realise that they
need to do something in
the form of civil disobedience because this
government is going downhill and
it might well take all of us with it."
Chibebe said the labour
union had resolved to go on strike after the
Employers Confederation of
Zimbabwe, grouping employers in the country,
refused to adjust wages in line
with the country's galloping inflation,
which is the highest in the world at
1 184.6 percent.
Zimbabweans have grappled with foreign currency,
food and fuel
shortages, while poverty has deepened and services have
crumbled as the
country's economy implodes from what critics say is a result
of bad policies
by Mugabe's government.
The crisis has fanned
anger among ordinary people, most of whom are
without jobs and have to do
with a single meal a day. The government's
Central Statistical Office last
week said an average family of five would
now require Z$68 million for basic
goods and services per month, this
against an average salary of $15 to $20
million a month for most workers.
The analysts said the recent
moves proved that the opposition forces
could be starting to converge on the
need for a stronger anti-government
alliance but warned that despite a
litany of economic problems fuelling
public anger against the government
many Zimbabweans appeared reluctant "to
lose life or limb" by taking to the
streets to confront Mugabe's army and
police.
"I should think
the action by the opposition and the ZCTU is meant to
test the waters. Their
problem is that they have not yet secured the
critical mass. They have a
broad mass of passive supporters who I think have
not reached that threshold
of anger," leading UZ political commentator
Eldred Masunungure told
ZimOnline.
"Until they reach that stage when they can transform
anger into public
action, we will continue to see these sporadic protests
and threats of
winters of discontent," Masunungure added, referring to
threats by
Tsvangirai earlier this year to mobilise mass protests this
winter to force
Mugabe to give up power to a transitional
government.
The transitional authority would be tasked to write a
new and
democratic constitution for Zimbabwe and to organise fresh elections
under
international supervision, Tsvangirai said.
Mugabe, who
has in the past sent armed soldiers and police onto the
streets to crush
dissent, has repeatedly vowed to be ruthless with the
opposition-led mass
protests and has warned Tsvangirai that such protests
would be a "dice with
death".
But opinion is divided on whether security forces, which
Mugabe has
relied on to keep the opposition in check, would this time round
use force
to break any protests - especially if they were huge and well
organised.
Zimbabwe's police and army have not been spared from the
economic rot
and despite salary increments earlier in the year, economic
analysts say
their earnings have been whittled by raging
inflation.
"There is a very strong possibility that the government
will respond
(to the demonstrations) as usual but the law enforcement agents
might not be
too keen to prolong the departure of this regime. There could
be a lukewarm
response in discouraging members of the public to take to the
streets,"
Makumbe said.
But Masunungure said: "The government
has made it clear it will defend
itself against these protests and I am sure
it will use all the force at its
disposal."
Zimbabwe has
remained on knife edge since the MDC first threatened
mass anti-government
protests last March while worsening economic hardships
and food shortages
continue stoking up tensions in the troubled southern
African
country.
Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since the country's 1980
independence
from Britain, denies mismanaging the country and says its
problems are
because of economic sabotage by Western governments opposed to
his seizure
of white land.
The analysts however seem to agree
that effective planning and
organisation or failure to do so by the MDC,
labour and civic society could
be all the difference between a Zimbabwe
without Mugabe in charge or more
years at the helm for one of Africa's last
remaining 'Big Men' rulers.
"The co-ordination of their (opposition
groups) activities leaves a
lot to be desired and their fragmentation is
still a very serious
liability . they will have to be more co-ordinated to
focus on a specific
period and action to be taken by the people," said
Makumbe, echoing the
views of most analysts. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Mon 17 July 2006
BULAWAYO - Business leaders in Zimbabwe's
second largest city of
Bulawayo say they are considering suing the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply
Authority for compensation for lost revenue after the
state power company
switched off electricity to the city for most of the
last three days.
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce deputy
national president, Obert
Sibanda, said chamber members in Bulawayo had lost
billions of dollars in
lost production due to the power cuts, adding his
organisation was compiling
a dossier detailing the firms concerned and
specific losses incurred.
"We are not ruling out legal action over
our losses but first we would
have to get ZESA's story before taking legal
action as some of our members
supply international markets and they work on
targets," Sibanda said.
Bulawayo city centre was without power from
as early as 8 o'clock in
the morning last Friday until 5.30pm. On Saturday,
the central business
district was again switched off at about 9 o'clock in
the morning and only
reconnected at 12.30 pm when most businesses in the
area were already
closing for the weekend.
The city centre was
again switched off power as early as 7 o'clock on
Sunday morning and
reconnected after lunch hour.
ZESA corporate affairs and
communication manager James Maridadi told
ZimOnline that the power cuts to
Bulawayo were because of a transformer
fault at one of the city's
sub-stations, adding the power company was
working to ensure power supplies
to the city were restored.
Maridadi said: "The station that has a
fault feeds half the city
centre and the entire industrial areas and we are
working flat out to
rectify the problem and the duration of the current
problem will depend on
the amount of damage to the
transformers."
Zimbabwean industry and homes suffer from hours of
power cuts every
day, because of breaking down equipment at ZESA's ageing
power stations and
also because of under-capacity with power stations only
able to supply - at
full throttle - up to 65 percent of the country's
electricity requirements.
The remainder is filled in with imports
from neighbouring countries.
If the Bulawayo firms eventually sue
ZESA, it would be the first that
the mismanaged state power company would be
facing action from consumers for
its shoddy service. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Mon 17 July 2006
HARARE - Long serving sports administrator Admire Masenda is the new
president of the powerful Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (ZOC).
Masenda who in the past has run basketball at national level beat
rival
Custom Kachambwa during elections that were held in Harare
yesterday.
Masenda polled 25 votes way ahead of Kachambwa who could
only manage a
paltry eight votes.
The top ZOC post has been
vacant for the past 15 months when then
president Paul Chingoka, was forced
to step aside as he was being probed for
alleged theft of funds when he was
Tennis Zimbabwe (TZ) president.
Although Chingoka was recently
cleared, he did not seek re-election
paving the way for a duel between
Masenda and Kachambwa.
Masenda, who was co-vice president, has
been acting as ZOC president
since Chingoka stepped aside.
Masenda has been involved in sports administration since 1989 in
various
positions in the Mashonaland Basketball Association and the
Basketball Union
of Zimbabwe. - ZimOnline
Mail and Guardian
Godfrey Marawanyika | Harare,
Zimbabwe
16 July 2006 08:35
Becoming a
millionaire in Zimbabwe is easy these days, but
wallets and purses have
given way to car boots and suitcases as the crucial
accessory for carrying
wads of nearly worthless cash.
As the Southern African
country battles hyper-inflation and
grinding fuel and foreign exchange
shortages amid a seven-year economic
slump, ordinary citizens have
resignined themselves to wry humour to deal
with the
situation.
"In Zimbabwe, nothing goes down except the
country," is a saying
often heard on the streets of the capital as inflation
hovers around 1 200%,
pushing basic commodities beyond the reach of
many.
Despite a dip in inflation from 1 193% to 1 184%, a
figure
experts say is the highest in the world outside of a war zone,
consumer
prices continue to climb.
Zimbabwe's largest
financial note is the green Zim$100 000
bearer cheque, but at the equivalent
value of about one US dollar or 78 euro
cents it's not enough to buy a loaf
of bread, let alone a shopping basket.
Basic foodstuffs and
essential drugs are in short supply, and
electricity and water have also
joined the long queue of hard-to-find items.
The Consumer
Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) said recently that living
costs for a family of
five surged to Zim$68-million ($671, ?527) in June
from the May figure of
Zim$49,1-million.
The economic and financial crisis has
slashed consumer spending
owing to the lack of disposable income, the CCZ
said.
"Consumer spending and patterns have been on the
decline due to
economic conditions," CCZ said in its monthly economic
update.
"Therefore, employers are called upon to give their
workers
salaries that take into cognisance the cost of
living."
Economists are increasingly vocal in their criticism
of the
government's handling of the economy.
"For the
greater part of Zimbabwe's 26 years of independence,
the government has
demonstrated remarkably great skill of distancing itself
from realities,"
wrote independent economist Erich Bloch in a recent
newspaper
column.
"Anything and everything that may be negative in the
economy is
either due to the whims of nature, or evil machinations of the
international
community, the political opposition and those of other races,"
he said in
reference to explanations given by
government for
the current crunch.
Analysts wondered whether any forward
planning was possible in
an economy that has contracted by more than a third
over the past seven
years.
"Who plans in such an
environment?" asked Fungai Tarira, an
investment analyst with the
Harare-based Imara Asset management.
"It's a very difficult
environment to operate in, we just wake
up and go to work. There is no
long-term planning and with a bit of luck on
our hands we are surviving," he
told Agence France-Presse.
President Robert Mugabe, who has
been in power since Zimbabwe's
independence from Britain in 1980, has blamed
the country's recession on
target sanctions imposed on himself and his inner
circle by Western powers.
He has ruled out any outside
intervention to help solve the
crisis.
Benard Mufute, an
economist with Confederation of Zimbabwe
Industries said: "The way forward
for the country is for greater political
commitment, but right now we don't
see it.
"Others would want to say we are being sabotaged, but
far from
it we have to live within our own means and liberalise the exchange
rate to
get everything moving forward."
Zimbabwe has
pegged its dollar at 101 196 to the US dollar since
April, but on the
thriving underground market the latter currency readily
changes hands at the
rate of 450 000 to one. - Sapa-AFP
IOL
July 16 2006 at
11:57AM
Harare - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has poured cold
water over
a debate regarding his succession, calling the issue a
"nonsensical thing",
a newspaper report said Sunday.
"The
things we hear about succession, succession, succession... if I
were to
write books, I would write volumes and volumes of (this) nonsensical
thing,"
the state-owned Sunday Mail quoted Mugabe as saying.
Zimbabwe's
longtime leader made the comments at a national
consultative meeting of his
ruling Zimbabwe African National Union -
Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), which
has been in power since independence from
Britain in 1980.
The
82-year-old strongman, who in the past indicated a desire to step
down
before his current term expires in 2008, also warned that "the people
of
Zimbabwe, not witchdoctors" would decide the issue of
succession.
"We hear lots of unbelievable stories about
succession, we hear some
people are consulting witchdoctors ... but the
biggest witchdoctor is the
people of Zimbabwe and there is no need to
consult witchdoctors," Mugabe
said.
Some politicians in
Zimbabwe were known for consulting witchdoctors
which they believed could
help predict the future or help them be
successful.
"If you do
your job well, the people will recognise you. If you do
your work and work
with the people well, the people will recognise you,"
Mugabe
said.
Zimbabwe is in the iron grip of a spiralling economic crisis,
characterised by an inflation rate hovering just below 1 200 percent,
compounded by a fuel and foreign currency crunch and a high unemployment
rate.
Mugabe and his ruling party have blamed the current
situation on
selective sanctions imposed by the West, but critics point to
the country's
controversial land redistribution programme, which saw
white-owned
commercial farms taken and given to landless
blacks.
Around 4 000 white farmers have lost their land since
Mugabe launched
his fast-track land reform program in 2000 to redress the
imbalances in land
ownership from the colonial era.
Fewer than
600 commercial farmers remain on their properties in
Zimbabwe, once called
the breadbasket of southern Africa. - Sapa-AFP
From PBS Frontline/World (US), 27 June
Why were they so keen to
tarnish the image of the MDC?
At the station, the investigating
officer told us that they had been given
the task of getting the MDC banned
from political grounds. I think they were
trying to get the MDC to be
unpopular.
What was it like to be a member of the MDC?
At
that point, it was quite difficult because people didn't believe that
there
could be a party that could challenge Zanu PF. We had to get to the
ground
level and convince people that this is the right opportunity for us
to kick
out Zanu PF once and for all. It wasn't easy because there are still
people
who believe in Zanu PF. But we managed to pull through and really get
the
MDC on its feet.
What was it like in terms of pressures that you
faced?
At first it was not that bad. It was easy. But as we went on,
Zanu PF
realized we were gaining ground and then began sending in its people
to
start arresting us. That's when we started facing the
difficulties.
And today?
Today no one really says he's a
member of the opposition, except for those
known as members of the
opposition, like me. Once people get to know, the
police will pay you
frequent visits, uttering threats that if you continue
with your behavior,
this might happen to you or that might happen to you.
And what
happened to you?
When my place was burned down, I was already
arrested. The police officer
just told me, "We have been to your place, and
your place has burned down.
But your young brothers and sisters are OK. They
ran away before your place
was burned down." That really did have an impact
on me because I was already
arrested and there was nothing I could have
done. My mother and father
passed away, so I was looking after my young
brothers and sisters. So by
then I knew that they had no place to go, so
they had to seek refuge
somewhere. At that point, I didn't know where they
were and I was in police
custody.
Where did they end
up?
They ended up going to our relatives. They went to different
relatives. When
I came from prison, I had to raise some funds to try and get
help from
people and different organizations to try to build up my place.
That is the
only place that I have and can live. And I have young brothers
and sisters
that also need a place to stay, so that was really a major
setback. As we
speak, I am still working hard trying to get my place
finished, but I am
halfway through and at least I am glad that I have
managed this far.
When will you be able to live there
again?
At the present moment, I am staying there because I have to
look after a few
things. I might finish the place, but they might come back
and burn it down
again. So I am still trying to see if it is safe for
everyone to come back
home. If it is not, I will have to stay with
relatives. And we will have to
abandon the place.
You were
briefly out of the country, then you came back. Somebody said to me
that you
were brave to come back. Tell me about that decision.
I can't say I
was very confident. I can say that I came back because I felt
I had to come
back to look after my younger sisters and brothers. And I felt
that if I
were to stay out of the country, it would be like abandoning them.
I thought
it would be good for me to come back and face everything - face
the police,
Zanu PF, the whole government. There are police that are asking
about my
whereabouts, asking about what I am doing, how I am surviving since
I don't
go to work. All the time I am telling myself that I have to be alert
24/7. I
have to see if there is anything strange around me and to
investigate it. I
am always ready to run, and I am always ready to hide. If
my younger
brothers and sisters have a place of their own, then I can go out
of the
country and never come back. As it is, I am staying under fear.
Do
you think there will come a time when you are not living under such
fear?
I believe there will come a time when the Zanu PF will no
longer be in
power. Regardless of which party is in power, if Zanu PF is no
longer in
power and if Robert Mugabe is no longer in power, it will be safe
- not only
for me, but for every other Zimbabwean that's in this
country.
What is going on in the MDC today? Some people are taking
one side and some
people are taking another side.
The split
between the MDC members has already affected my relationship with
other guys
that are here in Zimbabwe that I was close to. I am against going
for the
senate elections because it doesn't change anything. We go for the
elections
and we win, but still Mugabe will take the people who lost and
make them
into senators. We haven't achieved anything. It is OK to boycott
and to say
it is OK if we take a stand. But I don't think we should get to
that point
because we all want the same thing - to get rid of the Zanu PF
regime. It is
unfortunate, but I think that Tsvangirai and Gibson Sibanda
would sit down
and talk as people older than us and show us how it is done.
If they don't
show us at this stage, I don't believe that we as the youth
can
manage.
How did you and Khethani [the co-accused in the murder] first
work together?
Khethani was a driver for the MDC. I was a youth
chairperson at district
level for my constituency. So every time a rally was
to be organized,
Khethani would approach me and ask for youth to do jobs
that would need to
be done. I would provide him with youth and a PA system
so he could go
around in his car announcing where the rally would be. I
worked a lot with
Khethani.
So what was it like then? Were you
guys filled with optimism?
I felt really good because at that point I
felt I was making a difference in
Zimbabwe. I was an example of what youth
my age should be into. Mainly guys
my age are into drinking beer. We wanted
to show them that instead of
dealing with our problems by smoking and
drinking, we could do it another
way - by getting rid of the party that was
hurting us. Most of the guys did
come around.
How do you feel
about all the people who have left Zimbabwe and moved to
South
Africa?
They are trying to save themselves. I am in Zimbabwe because
I am trying to
help my family, but after that I am leaving. I am definitely
going to try
and stay there [in South Africa] because in Zimbabwe, people
don't have
jobs. I am not saying that in South Africa people have jobs, but
here in
Zimbabwe if you try to sell tomatoes, they take them and they arrest
you and
you have to pay a fine for that. So people don't have any choice
except to
leave for South Africa. It is quite difficult in this country to
try and
survive.
How are South Africans responding to the large
numbers of Zimbabweans who
want to live there?
The South Africans
are definitely not making it easy for Zimbabweans to live
there because we
are not treated as if we are human beings. South Africans
should bear with
us and try to help our government. If we had a better
government, we
wouldn't want to move to South Africa. I am not saying they
are against
foreigners, I am just saying they should try to understand us. I
just pray,
I just want a place where we belong. As Zimbabweans, we want to
belong to
Zimbabwe. But Zimbabwe is rejecting us, so we are forced to seek
refuge in
other countries. We are just trying to make it.
What gives you faith
that Zanu PF will go?
I have faith that Zimbabwe will regain its
status and return to the country
it was once before. It is the matter of
having the right government. With
Zanu PF, I don't see us as a country
surviving that long. What is happening
today is very difficult for me to
talk about. It really hurts me to think
that someone somewhere has the money
but can't get food, that someone is not
getting paid, that someone is
getting arrested for being in the MDC. I wish
the government would be done
with it - get a new government, get in new
brains and work from there. We
need people that will appreciate other
countries coming in to help, other
NGOs coming in to help. The current
government doesn't want anything to do
with NGOs or people from other
countries.
Someone like Pius Nube
[Archbishop of Bulawayo] is very outspoken.
Yes. Pius Nube has really
felt the heat because he talks to the people and
sees what is on the ground.
He helps the people and tries to get them food;
he even helped me with my
place. He knows what he is talking about and
really wants change for this
country. Some people in this country don't
really care about what is
happening on the ground; they only care about
themselves. But with someone
like Pius Nube, this place could be a better
place for
everyone.
Do you have anything else you'd like to say?
You
know, Zimbabwe is a very beautiful country. We all love Zimbabwe. And
those
who are not living in Zimbabwe do so not because it is unbearable, no.
It is
because of the government. [Zimbabweans] should not totally forget
about
Zimbabwe. They should try and do something for their country wherever
they
are. They can be in Kenya, the United States, but it doesn't matter
because
they will be fighting for their fellow Zimbabweans. I wish people
could see
things my way and be brave and do something for their country. If
we
Zimbabweans don't do anything for the country, no one is going to do
anything from another country. Outsiders can only help us if we try to help
ourselves.
This interview between Alexis Bloom and Sazini Mpofu took
place in February
2006 in Harare. It has been edited for clarity.
A wonderful summer day - one that
makes us feel a little guilty at being
away from home. When the weather is
awful at least we think we are making a
sacrifice. It was no sacrifice
today: we were swept by waves of people in
their summery clothes who had
come to see a one mile charity run along the
Thames. Twenty-thousand took
part. The area was brought to a standstill
for hours. An extra vibrancy
was added by Patson who sang non-stop for two
hours. And this was before
going on stage for the last night of a
successful run of the Zimbabwean
theatrical production, "Qabuka".
Our young supporters from Brighton,
Alois and Wellington, have on their own
energetic initiative got permission
to hold a demonstration opposite 10
Downing Street and submit a petition to
the Prime Minister on 28th July.
They explained their plans at the Vigil and
are reaching out to all
Zimbabweans to help support them in this
endeavour.
Also with us were Immanuel Hlabangana, a Zimbabwean human
rights lawyer from
the Hague, and Obert Matahwa, formerly of the Daily News.
Another Zimbabwean
journalist, an old friend of the Vigil, presented us with
a guide to
dangerous snakes in Zimbabwe which caused much amusement, eg
African adder -
local name Herbert Murerwa keeps adding zeros to the
Zimbabwean currency.
We are appreciative when people make great efforts
to be with us - Gordon
joined us all the way from Glasgow. It was also
lovely to have some very
young people with us - they made excellent flag
bearers during the national
anthem and the younger one very nearly mastered
the art of blowing a
whistle.
For this week's Vigil pictures:
http://uk.msnusers.com/ZimbabweVigil/shoebox.msnw.
FOR
THE RECORD: 56 signed the register.
FOR YOUR DIARY: Zimbabwe Forum,
Upstairs at the Theodore Bullfrog pub, 28
John Adam Street, London WC2
(cross the Strand from the Zimbabwe Embassy, go
down a passageway to John
Adam Street, turn right and you will see the pub).
Our last forum did not
take place because of a last minute loss of our
venue. Monday, 17th July,
7.30 pm, an action forum - what can we do here in
the diaspora to make sure
Zimbabwean issues are kept alive? Some of the
ideas from recent talks will
be taken forward into direct action eg focusing
on how to put pressure on
South Africa and surrounding states to do more to
support the campaign for
change in Zimbabwe.
Before the Forum there will be a meeting to discuss
the protest outside 10
Downing Street on Friday, 28th July. Time: 6 - 7 pm,
Venue: the Refugee
Council, 240 - 250 Ferndale Road, Brixton, SW9
8BB.
Vigil co-ordinator
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: Trudy Stevenson
Sent: Monday, July 17, 2006 3:54 AM
Subject: Mabvuku
attack - Trial of some accused
The trial of some of the accused in
the Mabvuku attack will now begin this
Thursday, 20 July, at 8.30 am in
Magistrates Court Number 4, Rotten Row.
Accused in this case so far are
Pension Gomo, Nhamo Brown, Kudakwashe
Kaparamura, Pardon Munengani, Wector
Zambezi and Charles Maruma . Witnesses
are the victims including myself,
and possibly others. The Public
Prosecutor (lawyer for the State) is Mr
Grey, and the Magistrate is Mr
Bhila.
The Mubawu-Kuramakwaramba case
is being heard separately, so far, as they
are accused of organising the
thing rather than actual violence.
The court is open to all members of
the public, the only provisos being
"decent" dress, no cameras and
cellphones switched off in court. You can
come in and out at will, provided
there is room for everyone.