Yahoo News
By Paul Simao 2 hours,
45 minutes ago
PRETORIA (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's ruling party and
opposition factions are
continuing with negotiations to resolve the
political crisis, South African
President Thabo Mbeki said on
Sunday.
"Those negotiations among the Zimbabweans are continuing,"
Mbeki said in a
briefing in Pretoria. The South African leader is overseeing
the talks
between President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF and the opposition
Movement for
Democratic Change.
Mugabe's government and the
opposition have been deadlocked since the
Zimbabwean leader was re-elected
on June 27 in a poll boycotted by MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai because of
violence against his supporters.
Western nations also condemned the poll
as not free.
Mbeki and other African leaders have pressed Mugabe and
Tsvangirai to
negotiate a national unity government, which is seen by the
continent as the
only way to avert further violence and reverse an economic
slide in
Zimbabwe.
The African Union and the Southern African
Development Community (SADC),
both concerned by a crisis that has flooded
neighboring states with millions
of refugees, have pushed for a
power-sharing deal.
ZANU-PF, however, has said it will not accept any
deal that fails to
recognize Mugabe's re-election or seeks to reverse his
land redistribution
program, which has seen the government seize thousands
of white-owned farms
beginning in 2000.
Critics say the policy, which
was designed to provide land to poor blacks,
has destroyed the
once-prosperous agricultural sector. Zimbabwe is
struggling with chronic
shortages of maize, meat, cooking oil and other
food.
Tsvangirai's
MDC insists that he be president because he won a first round
of voting in
March though without the absolute majority needed to avoid a
second ballot.
The MDC leader abandoned the run-off because of attacks on
his
supporters.
The MDC said that pro-Mugabe militia have killed 120
opposition supporters
since the March election. Mugabe, who has branded the
MDC a puppet
organization of the West and vowed to never let it take power,
blames the
opposition for the bloodshed.
The parties also disagree
over how long a national unity government should
remain in power.
Tsvangirai's MDC wants fresh elections held as soon as
possible, while
Mugabe, who has ruled since 1980, wants to carry on with his
new five-year
mandate.
(Editing by Richard Balmforth)
The Telegraph
A soldier in Zimbabwe's army now earns £11 a month and new recruits
lack the
most basic training, a serving NCO has told the Daily
Telegraph.
By Peta Thornycroft in Harare
Last Updated: 3:12PM BST 27
Jul 2008
Corporal Peter Choto, who joined the army 10 years ago, painted
a vivid
picture of a military machine in headlong collapse.
President
Robert Mugabe relies on the army to keep him in power and its
generals are
now believed to be the most powerful men in Zimbabwe. While
they have grown
rich, hyperinflation now exceeding two million per cent has
impoverished
their troops.
Cpl Choto - not his real name - earns more than a private
soldier. He takes
home £13 per month. The World Bank's definition of
absolute poverty is a
monthly wage of £15.
"At least three quarters
of us would not take up arms for Zimbabwe," he
said. "We will not go to war
for Zimbabwe, I am not going to take a risk
with a rifle for Zimbabwe. That
time is gone."
Cpl Choto said the only boots the army could afford were
made of "Chinese
plastic". He added: "Chinese boots only last a few days on
patrol before
they are in ribbons. I have only one uniform and wear it for
the week."
Soldiers survive on minimal food and Cpl Choto said he had
been hungry for
"at least a year".
"Three years ago we got porridge,
sausage, bacon sometimes eggs. We always
got meat at least once a day," he
said. Today, by contrast, soldiers get two
plates of maize meal, known as
"sadza", a day.
Cpl Choto said: "There are 500 recruits at the
cantonment. If the world saw
pictures of them, the world would be shocked as
they are so thin. At least
100 report sick every day.
"They are
passing out next week and they haven't been to the rifle range
even once,
because that ammo is being reserved for emergencies."
Cpl Choto admitted
that he took part in the terror campaign waged against
the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change before the presidential
elections.
"I
was deployed to intelligence, in plain clothes, so I didn't have to do
the
beating myself, but I saw it. You have to do the beating or you are
labelled
MDC. Then you will just be discharged and sent to prison."
One of Cpl
Choto's soldiers personally beat to death an elderly woman in her
60s or
70s.
"My friend came back and confessed and was shaking. We spoke and we
said
this is not the way it should be. We are supposed to be protecting, not
making people suffer."
If the army rose against Mr Mugabe, his regime
would not survive. But Cpl
Choto said that ordinary soldiers were more
likely to leave or desert. "I
will leave the army next year," he said. "Most
are leaving, or going AWOL,
or dying."
Yahoo News
By ANGUS SHAW,
Associated Press Writer Sun Jul 27, 7:42 AM ET
HARARE, Zimbabwe -
Zimbabwe's bank chief plans new currency reforms -
removing "more zeros"
from the plummeting Zimbabwe dollar and raising the
limit on cash
withdrawals - to tackle the country's runaway inflation and
cash shortages,
state media reported Sunday.
Previous currency reforms have failed to
tame Zimbabwe's inflation -
officially pegged at 2.2 million percent a year
but estimated by independent
analysts to be closer to 12.5 million percent.
It also has become virtually
impossible to get access to cash as the
country's economic collapse worsens.
Authorities last week released a new
100 billion dollar bank note. By Sunday
it was not enough even to buy a
scarce loaf of bread in what has become one
of the world's most expensive -
and impoverished - countries.
The Sunday Mail, a government mouthpiece,
reported that central bank reserve
governor Gideon Gono told an agricultural
show Saturday he would introduce
the new measures in the coming days to make
sure cash shortages are a "thing
of the past."
Zimbabwe's government
says western sanctions - tightened last week - are
mainly to blame. Critics
blame mismanagement by President Robert Mugabe's
government and a
land-reform program that slashed the country's agricultural
production.
To improve liquidity on the market, Gono was going to
remove "more zeros,"
the paper reported.
"This time, we will make
sure that those zeros that would come knocking on
the Governor's window will
not return. They are going for good," Gono was
quoted as saying.
In
2006, the central bank slashed three zeros from the currency when
inflation
stood at a few hundred percent, already the highest rate in the
world
then.
Computers, electronic calculators and automated teller machines at
banks
have not been able to handle basic transactions in billions - nine
zeros -
or trillions - 12 zeros - or even quadrillions, with 15
zeros.
A new laptop computer was advertised Sunday at 1.2 quadrillion
Zimbabwe
dollars. That's the equivalent of about $25,000 at the official
exchange
rate, $8,500 at the black market cash exchange rate, or $2,000 at a
third
exchange rate used in electronic money transfers through bank accounts
that
don't involve the physical issue of Zimbabwe dollar bank
notes.
Zimbabwe's money shortages, inflation and chronic shortages of
food,
gasoline, medicine and most basic goods have brought many businesses
in
Harare to a standstill. Smaller shops and at least four main restaurants
have shut down.
The state media reported Saturday that nightclubs
canceling music shows
because audiences dried up after a 2,000 percent
increase in beer and soft
drink prices in the past week. Several bars and
clubs were openly accepting
U.S. dollars, even though that is against the
law.
The Sunday Mail said Gono warned businesses against accepting hard
currency.
"Dollarization is not a position we have taken. We are not in
that situation
yet. Report all such persons to the nearest police station,"
Gono said.
Shortages of local cash have worsened dramatically. Earlier
this month, a
German company, under pressure from the Berlin government,
stopped selling
bank note paper and printing software to Zimbabwe's central
bank.
Gono, according to the Sunday Mail, described the end of a
40-year-long
contract to supply bank note paper as part of the West's
"devilish" economic
sanctions against Mugabe's government. The European
Union last week
tightened sanctions and the United States followed suit on
Friday.
Central bank officials have indicated bank note paper was being
sought in
Asia and through neighboring South Africa.
Yahoo News
20
minutes ago
PRETORIA (AFP) - South Africa's government criticised Sunday
the imposition
of new sanctions on President Robert Mugabe and his allies,
especially with
talks ongoing to try to resolve the crisis in
Zimbabwe.
"For us, it is difficult to understand the objectives of
new sanctions,"
Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said.
"The
Zimbabweans are meeting, let them sort out what they want for their
future.
We should not allow outside interference," he told a press
conference.
The United States and the European Union broadened
sanctions this week on
Mugabe and his closest aides, drawing accusations
such moves could derail
the negotiations under way in Pretoria.
South
African President Thabo Mbeki spoke before Pahad but refused to be
drawn on
the issue of sanctions, saying only that talks were continuing and
that his
government wanted a negotiated settlement as soon as possible.
Mugabe,
the veteran 84-year old who has ruled Zimbabwe since it gained
independence
from Britain in 1980, shook hands on Monday with bitter rival
Morgan
Tsvangirai and agreed to negotiate a settlement to the political
crisis.
Mugabe was re-elected for a sixth term last month after
Tsvangirai pulled
out of a run-off second round election, citing a campaign
of intimidation
and violence against his supporters that had killed dozens
and injured
thousands.
The ruling ZANU-PF party says Mugabe's
re-election unopposed in the June 27
run-off must be recognised for the
talks to succeed.
Tsvangirai pushed Mugabe into second place in the first
round of voting on
March 29 but failed to win enough votes to secure
outright victory,
according to the official results.
He believes the
outcome of the March ballot should be the starting point for
any
negotiations on power-sharing and his camp has been advocating a
transitional government, with a view to fresh elections.
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-07-26-un-assists-mujurus-venture
CHARLES RUKUNI - Jul 26 2008
06:00
A public management company constituted by the United
Nations and the
International Finance Corporation (IFC) and based in
Johannesburg has been
providing assistance to a mine owned by one of
President Robert Mugabe's top
lieutenants for the past four years, in an
apparent breach of United States
legislation aimed at bringing about
democratic change in Zimbabwe.
The US government, which had recently
threatened to impose stiffer sanctions
on Zimbabwe following the disputed
run-off presidential election, has been
made aware of this operation on
several occasions but has so far taken no
action.
The African
Management Service Company (Amsco), an entity jointly managed by
the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the IFC, the private
sector arm of
the World Bank, has been providing assistance to River Ranch
Diamond Mine
which is owned by Solomon Mujuru, the former commander of the
Zimbabwean
army and husband of vice-president Joyce Mujuru, since November
2004.
Mujuru, a member of the ruling party's politburo, is one of the
nearly 130
Zimbabweans on the US's targeted sanctions list. The list also
includes more
than 30 companies or properties owned by people linked to
Mugabe.
The US imposed targeted sanctions against Mugabe's top
lieutenants under its
Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (Zidera),
which was passed in
2001 "to provide for a transition to democracy and to
promote economic
recovery in Zimbabwe". The sanctions, however, became
effective only on
March 7 2003.
Zidera was aimed at supporting "the
people of Zimbabwe in their struggle to
effect peaceful, democratic change,
achieve broad-based and equitable
economic growth and restore the rule of
law".
The legislation
The sanctions are administered by the Office of
Foreign Assets Control
(Ofac) of the US treasury department. Ofac says the
sanctions prohibit
people from the US or anyone in the US from engaging in
any transaction with
any person, entity or organisation undermining
democratic institutions and
processes in Zimbabwe.
This also
precludes anyone on the designated nationals' list or immediate
family
members of these designated individuals from engaging in these
activities.
Prohibited transactions include exports, imports, trade
brokering, financing
and facilitation, as well as most financial
transactions.
The regulations define US as: "Any US citizen, permanent
resident alien,
entity organised under the laws of the US or any
jurisdiction within the US
(including foreign branches), or any person in
the US."
Zidera specifically mentions international financial
institutions such as
the World Bank, the IFC, the African Development Bank
and the African
Development Fund.
Amsco, which is registered in the
Netherlands but has its operational
headquarters in Johannesburg, lists the
African Development Bank as one of
its shareholders.
River
Ranch
Mujuru took over River Ranch Diamond Mine in April 2004 when he was
invited
to join by Saudi Arabian billionaire Adel Abdul Rahman al Aujan, who
had
taken over the mine from Bubye Minerals, a company owned by Michael and
Adele Farquhar.
The Farquhars took River Ranch to court in an
ownership dispute, but lost
the battle in 2006. They have appealed against
the ruling but the appeal has
so far been blocked.
The mine was
discovered in 1971 by Kimberlitic Searches, a subsidiary of De
Beers, but it
forfeited its rights in 1991 following a wrangle with the
Zimbabwe
government over the marketing of the gems. The mine was taken over
by
Auridiam, an Australian company that entered into a joint venture with
Canadian company Redaurum.
The mine was officially opened in November
1995 but ceased operations in
February 1998 Redaurum decided to pull out
because of low global diamond
prices. It was then taken over by Bubye
Minerals as a going concern.
Bubye Minerals entered into an agreement
with Aujan under which Aujan's Rani
International would buy out the
Australian and Canadian shareholders.
Aujan took over the mine on April
26 2004 after when he fell out with the
Farquhars and invited Mujuru and
Tirivanhu Mudariki, a businessman and
former Zanu-PF MP, to join as
directors through their company Khupukile
Resources.
The
assistance
Amsco started helping the mine in November 2004 by providing five
professionals, including the managing director, the chief financial officer
and the chief of security.
In an official statement in 2007, Amsco
managing director Ayisi Makatiani
said Amsco started providing management
assistance in response to a request
from the mine. It was not specified who
in River Ranch asked for the help.
The man Amsco seconded to River Ranch
as the managing director was George
Kantsouris, a South African who was
present at the board meeting at which
Mujuru and Mudariki were brought into
the company. According to the minutes
of that meeting, a copy of which the
Mail & Guardian has in its possession,
Kantsouris was to represent Rani
International. Rani International has
operations in South Africa and
Mozambique.
Amsco's interest in the mine has been even more surprising
because the mine
was barred from selling its diamonds at least until the end
of last year,
because of the ownership dispute.
River Ranch legal
adviser George Smith said the company started trading
again this year but
this could not be verified with the Minerals Marketing
Corporation of
Zimbabwe, which is responsible for marketing diamonds.
The mine has
officially been operating since June 2006 and employs more than
300
people.
Deaf ears
The Farquhars and their lawyer, Terrence Hussein,
have questioned the
financial and technical support given to the mine in
view of Zidera but say
they have not received any response.
They have
written to the former US ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell,
who left
the country last year, as well as to Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice.
In their letter to Rice in June last year, they said: "Our
complaint is as
follows: The World Bank which funds the IFC, which funds
Amsco, is providing
funds and assistance to River Ranch Limited in
circumstances where the mine
was acquired using unlawful means.
"The
World Bank is providing financial assistance to River Ranch Limited,
whose
shareholder is retired General Mujuru, a specified person for targeted
sanctions in terms of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery
Act.
"This is compounded by the fact that in terms of the said Act,
members
appointed by the US government are to veto any funding to such
persons.
"We wonder whether the members appointed by the US are aware
that they are
breaking your own country's laws and are also funding the
breakdown of law,
order and property rights in Zimbabwe."
Bubye never
received an official response, though its lawyer spoke with a
person named
Dan Fogerty in Rice's office on several occasions.
Another big Vigil: people are very
anxious about the talks underway between
the MDC and Zanu-PF. We were told
by the MDC that talks would not take
place until the violence was ended and
political prisoners were released -
and then found that talks were taking
place anyway. Everyone at the Vigil
was shocked at the sight of Morgan
Tsvangirai shaking hands with Mugabe but
we trust that the MDC leadership
realises that there will be no help from
the West to rebuild Zimbabwe unless
Mugabe is side-lined and his evil
cronies ousted from power. If necessary we
will still be protesting outside
the Embassy if a MDC minister visits London
to try and get aid for a
government in which Zanu-PF pulls the
strings.
The Vigil was briefed about a meeting this week with Tibetan
exile groups in
London to discuss a protest against China planned for
Friday, 8th August,
the day the Olympic Games open in Beijing. As we
reported last week we have
already had discussions with the Burmese and we
hope for a big joint protest
against China's support for
dictators.
More and more people are coming to the Vigil, around 30 - 50
new people
every week. It is apparent there is need to explain the Vigil's
relationship
with Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR), our
partner
organization on the ground in Zimbabwe, and the Zimbabwe
Association, with
whom we work closely in London. We've written a
clarification (see below).
Some time back a film-maker contacted the
Vigil wanting a Zimbabwean to take
part in a short video called 'the
Father'. Doubt Chiminyo, a long-term
supporter of the Vigil, agreed to star
in the film. You can see the video
by clicking on the link in the right
hand column on this website: Zimbabwe
Protest Videos.
It was one of
the hottest days of the year in London and the sight of the
day was a
wedding couple in full gear riding past down the Strand in a
rickshaw
drinking champagne.
The Glasgow Vigil reports a successful day last
Saturday. Their Vigil was
well-supported by the public and at a post-Vigil
meeting supporters
discussed ideas for further activism.
For latest
Vigil pictures check:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
Additional excellent photos
from Luke Cody, an Australian photographer who
visited the Vigil, are posted
on the following link.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lukejamescody/sets/72157606387887515/.
FOR
THE RECORD: 185 signed the register.
FOR YOUR DIARY:
· Next
Glasgow Vigil. Saturday 2nd August, 2 - 6 pm Venue: Argyle
Street Precinct.
For more information contact: Ancilla Chifamba, 07770 291
150, Patrick
Dzimba, 07990 724 137 or Jonathan Chireka, 07504 724 471.
· Protest
outside the Chinese Embassy. Friday, 8th August. More
information as plans
develop.
· Zimbabwe Association's Women's Weekly Drop-in Centre.
Fridays
10.30 am - 4 pm. Venue: The Fire Station Community and ICT Centre,
84 Mayton
Street, London N7 6QT, Tel: 020 7607 9764. Nearest underground:
Finsbury
Park. For more information contact the Zimbabwe Association 020
7549 0355
(open Tuesdays and Thursdays).
Clarification
Apart from
the Vigil there are 2 other organisations that operate at the
Vigil on
Saturday afternoons: Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR)
and the
Zimbabwe Association. There has been confusion about the
relationship of
the 3 organisations so a clarification is outlined below.
· The
Zimbabwe Vigil: the Vigil is a non-party political group of
human rights
activists who protest weekly on Saturday afternoons outside the
Zimbabwe
Embassy, London. To be a member of the Vigil all you have to do is
attend on
Saturday afternoons (and sign the register if you wish to). There
is no
cost for joining the Vigil and you do not have to be a member of the
other
two organisations.
· ROHR: is the Vigil's partner organisation based
in Zimbabwe. ROHR
grew out of the need for the Vigil to have an
organisation on the ground in
Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil mission
statement (see above) in a
practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fund
raises through membership
subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the
activities of ROHR in
Zimbabwe.
· The Zimbabwe Association is a
member of the Zimbabwe Vigil
Coalition and is a support group for Zimbabwean
refugees and asylum seekers.
They offer members help and advice on asylum
matters and have been
responsible for a long-running campaign to stop
detention and removals of
Zimbabweans in the UK. There is a small annual
fee for membership. For more
information check: www.zimbabweassocation.co.uk.
NB
the 3 organisations support each other but operate separately as far as
support for individuals is concerned.
Vigil co-ordinators
The
Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place
every
Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of
human
rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in
October
2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair
elections
are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.
http://www.hararetribune.com/index.php?news=30
Trymore Magomana 26 July, 2008 06:06:00
When
the GNU talks conclude within two weeks and the GNU is singed, Mugabe
will
lose all effective power
It has come to light that Robert Mugabe, leader
of ZANU-PF, only signed the
MoU last week Monday after Mbeki, long derided
by his critics for his
failure to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis, told him that
he faced prosecution
for his crimes in the past 28 years.
As Mbeki was
piling pressure on Mugabe, the Chinese, long beloved friends of
ZANU-PF, had
told Mugabe to "behave," fearing that the continuing crisis in
Zimbabwe
would overshadow the Olympics.
The Chinese are doing everything they can
to make sure the Olympics are a
success, and appear to be reluctant to
countenance any situation that would
jeopardize that.
In advance
details relayed to the Times, Mugabe will avoid facing Liberia's
Charles
Taylor fate by giving up all effective power. To prevent further
humiliation
to Mugabe, the GNU ZANU-PF and MDC will sign will leave him as
the
president, but for all purposes, power will be in the hands of Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his twenty-men cabinet.
In recognition
of the landslide win by the MDC on March 29, the deal being
pushed by Mbeki
will stipulate that eleven cabinet posts be reserved for
officials from the
MDC while nine posts will go to ZANU-PF.
The new GNU/Transitional
authority, upon taking office, will immediately
fire all ZANU-PF bigwigs who
have committed human rights abuses in the past.
It is envisaged that the
likes of Emerson Mnangagwa, Gen. C Chiwenga,
Perence Shiri, and other high
ranking ZANU-PF officials with innocent blood
dripping from their hands will
be banished from any positions of power.
Gideon Gono will be removed from
the helm of the RBZ.
"Killers and torturers will be prosecuted to the
fullest extent of the law,"
an MDC official privy to the GNU talks
said.
Donor Power
The government that will be led by
Tsvangirai will be in power for exactly
18 months, following which fresh
elections would be held. That transitional
authority will, out of necessity,
work closely with donor countries that
have pledged to help rebuild
Zimbabwe.
The countries that will be at the fore in helping rebuild
Zimbabwe include
the United States, Britain, Japan, Germany, France, Sweden,
Holland, Norway,
Canada and Australia.
These countries, which are
part of the so called Fishmongers Group, are
reportedly already at an
advanced stage preparing for a post Mugabe era. At
present, they have
pledged to donate US$4 billion dollars towards the
reconstruction of
Zimbabwe.
Fearing that the transitional authority/government of national
unity might
not deliver, the Fishmongers Group has warned that in order to
receive aid,
the GNU would have to restore the rule of law and repeal
repressive
legislation like AIPPA and POSA
The group has also
expressed it's wish to see those who committed human
rights crimes
prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Farmers who lost their land
and property over the last eight years will
either receive compansation or
be given back their farms, most of which are
now lying idle across the
country. --Harare Tribune News
Sunday Times, SA
Sunday Times Editorial
Published:Jul 27,
2008
Zimbabwe's
Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change should be
congratulated for
pulling off what many consider a miracle when they signed
the memorandum of
understanding that will pave the way for power-sharing
talks.
Before the signing - with President Robert
Mugabe's security apparatus and
militias having tried to pummel the MDC into
a pulp - their differences
appeared intractable.
President Thabo
Mbeki, whose eight years of trying to resolve the Zimbabwean
crisis were as
effective as the efforts of a neutered bull during mating
season, must be
lauded for pulling off this week's breakthrough.
Now Mbeki and his
negotiating team need to keep the trust of both parties by
maintaining
absolute neutrality.
They must not, as has happened countless times over
the past eight years, be
hoodwinked by Mugabe and his cronies, who have in
the past been cunning in
their ability to stave off pressure by pretending
to negotiate.
The MDC has proved its commitment to a peaceful solution by
coming to the
table despite ongoing violence and the harassment of its
leaders and
members. Mugabe must reciprocate by ending the state-sponsored
violence and
dropping trumped-up charges against MDC leaders.
As the
negotiators huddle down, we would urge them not to shut their ears to
the
voices of civil society, which has as much to contribute to the healing
and
rebuilding of Zimbabwe as the parties themselves.
Sunday Times, SA
Francois Rank
Published:Jul 26,
2008
Unhappiness
over accommodation adds to tension at power-sharing talks
Delegates to
Zimbabwe's power-sharing talks switched guesthouses in South
Africa this
week after tension arose because some had swankier rooms than
others.
The delegates - who include Zimbabwean justice
minister Patrick Chinamasa
and Movement for Democratic Change
secretary-general Tendai Biti - were also
unhappy about their
accommodation's supposed lack of luxury.
The South African government is
footing the bill for the talks, which are
aimed at ending Zimbabwe's
political crisis.
The talks are taking place in complete
secrecy.
An employee at the Ingwenya Country Escape in Muldersdrift,
about 45 minutes
from Johannesburg, told the Sunday Times that the 12-member
delegation had
booked into the three-star, 160ha estate on
Tuesday.
The MDC delegates were flown in separately by the South African
Air Force
after they refused to fly with the rival Zanu-PF
delegation.
Ingwenya, which boasts a brand-new, state-of-the-art
conference facility as
well as a spa, wine garden, restaurants and a whisky
bar - was swept by
security teams before the delegation arrived.
The
SA government paid R750000 for total exclusivity of the venue until
August
5, forcing the lodge's management to cancel other reservations and
planned
conferences.
But the delegation left a mere 24 hours after checking in -
because they
were unhappy with the accommodation.
"They arrived here
and demanded five-star service and accommodation.
However, we are a
three-star venue. They brought in their security to sweep
the area and
searched us and our offices. They paid R750000 and decided
that, after
spending a night here, we were not good enough," the source
said.
Among the problems the delegates had was the fact that not all
the rooms
were the same. This caused friction among some of the delegates,
who
believed they were not being treated equally.
Delegates were also
unhappy that the rooms did not have minibars.
The atmosphere at the lodge
during their short stay was said to be "very
tense", with delegates refusing
to socialise after the meetings or around
the breakfast table.
But
the tension did not stop the delegates from enjoying the alcohol on
offer at
the guesthouse. "They only drank expensive whisky like Johnnie
Walker," said
the employee.
The source said the group left on Wednesday night, escorted
by police. They
are believed to have moved to a five-star guesthouse in
Pretoria.
The delegation also includes MDC deputy treasurer Elton
Mangoma, who
represents the main faction of the MDC; Welshman Ncube and
Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga, respectively secretary-general and deputy
secretary-general of the Arthur Mutambara-led MDC faction; and public
services minister Nicholas Goche, who represents Zanu-PF.
President
Thabo Mbeki's legal adviser, Mojanku Gumbi, SA's minister of
provincial and
local government, Sydney Mufamadi, and the director-general
in the
presidency, the Rev Frank Chikane, are facilitating the
talks.
Meanwhile, AP reported on Friday that the talks were
proceeding well.
SA presidential spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga said the
Zimbabwean talks got
"fully under way" on Thursday and were "continuing and
they are proceeding
well". The parties have committed themselves to
negotiating "an inclusive
government" within two weeks.
Both sides
are under pressure: the opposition from fear of more
state-sponsored
violence, and longtime Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe from
widening
Western sanctions.
The US on Friday broadened its sanctions against
targeted Zimbabweans and
their companies, calling Mugabe's regime
"illegitimate" and "brutal".
The Zimbabwe parties also agreed to
negotiate a slew of other issues,
including the revival of the shattered
economy and a new constitution.
From The Sunday Tribune (SA), 27 July
Restoring the emergency feeding programmes the Zimbabwe
government ended
last month should be the first item on the agenda of
negotiations taking
place in South Africa between Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF
and the opposition
MDC. That is the call from veteran MDC politician, Paul
Themba Nyathi, who
says people in his home area in the south of the country
are "starving".
Welfare minister Nicholas Goche, one of two Zanu PF
negotiators now in
Pretoria at the talks, banned all field work by
humanitarian agencies on
June 4. He accused NGOs of campaigning for the MDC
ahead of the June 27
presidential run-off election. "There is nothing to eat
in my home area
(Gwanda, Matabeleland South) and we are going to have a
major tragedy unless
the aid agencies get going now because they will have a
lead time before
they can actually get out and start feeding people even if
the ban is lifted
now," Nyathi said. "We are two months away from the next
planting season and
there is no seed and no fertiliser. There is absolutely
no planning going
on," he said.
Much of Matabeleland South, and
places like dry, infertile Binga, depended
on food aid even before
Zimbabwe's agricultural sector collapsed after the
seizure of most
white-owned commercial farms from 2000. The June ban should
not have been
critical, but this past summer season, Zimbabwe grew less
maize than at any
time since statistics were kept. Emergency feeding usually
starts in
September, but it is needed immediately, a senior NGO worker said
in Harare
on Thursday. "It is not only in the south, but many other places
where there
is nothing at all to eat now," he said. In many areas incessant
rain in
January and then a long dry period killed off the small amount
planted. So
far the government has only imported 60 000 tons of maize from
South Africa
since May, enough for a few weeks. That maize is largely
restricted for sale
to Zanu PF supporters, according to researchers in
Bulawayo.
Sunday Times, SA
Second Opinion
Published:Jul 27,
2008
The
signing of the memorandum of understanding among the key political
parties
in Zimbabwe on Monday presented a unique and historic occasion where
national leaders showed political maturity by committing themselves to a
dialogue process.
It is important to make a few
observations that will allow all of us to put
everything into perspective
and context. There is always the danger of
missing the forest for the
trees.
The memorandum we signed in Harare is a very important document as
it
allowed us to begin negotiations on matters affecting our
people.
There is a political, economic and humanitarian crisis of immense
proportions in our country. More importantly, there is an unprecedented
political stalemate.
The process we have started will result in a
political solution to the
stalemate. We are determined to accomplish this
within two weeks from
Monday.
But let me emphasise that the agreement
we seek to achieve is only a
short-term measure and a stop-gap effort in
pursuit of the resolution of our
national challenges. It is neither the
sustainable answer nor the long-term
solution to our dire
circumstances.
Beyond the political agreement, we need to execute a
programme of national
healing and rehabilitation for our people. This cannot
be done in two weeks.
What happened in our country in the past four months
has traumatised our
citizens. Our people have been brutalised and
dehumanised. The culture and
practice of our country's politics have been
taken back 20 years.
There is a need for public meetings throughout the
country, in every city
and in every village. The Zimbabwean political
leaders we had on that hotel
stage - Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and
myself - must address rallies
together and say jointly to the people of
Zimbabwe: "It is okay to belong to
different political parties. It is okay
to vote for whomsoever you wish,
and, yes, the will of the people shall be
supreme, respected and sovereign."
This has to be the jointly presented
message to all citizens. Only then can
the healing process
start.
In addition to agreeing on the borders of our country, and
agreeing on the
name of the country, why can't we have a constitution that
we all defend and
revere? A people-driven democratic constitution should be
the basis of a
sustainable solution to our national problems.
Such a
constitution cannot be achieved in two weeks; in that period, only a
commitment to the requisite processes and time frames of its development is
possible.
Furthermore, why can't we have a shared economic
vision, a 20 to 30-year
economic vision for our country? This must be
developed, discussed and
agreed upon by all political parties, civic society
organisations, the
business community and the population at
large.
There must be total buy-in and ownership of this uniquely
Zimbabwean
economic vision by all national stakeholders. However, the
conception of the
vision must be buttressed by creative and intelligent
borrowing and learning
from other successful economies and
cultures.
Can't we envisage a globally competitive Zimbabwe in 20 years'
time, in
terms of gross domestic product, per capita income,
entrepreneurship,
business growth, exports, productivity, competitiveness,
financial literacy
and quality of life?
We can then disagree and
compete on strategies and tactics for achieving
that common vision. The
envisioning process cannot be done in two weeks. The
most we can do is
commit to the concept and principle, while defining the
necessary
processes.
In conclusion, the pursuit of the political settlement we
are currently
engaged in, and the efforts to address the long-term issues I
have outlined
above, must be driven by the national interest.
We
must be driven by what is good for the people of Zimbabwe. The best
interests of our current and future citizens should be at the core of our
value system. We must start thinking in terms of a cross- party generational
agenda where we subordinate partisan interests to the national
interest.
Resolving both the short-and long-term problems affecting
our country
constitutes our generational mandate. We shall rise to the
challenge.
.. Mutambara is president of one of the Movement for
Democratic Change
formations in Zimbabwe
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20080726T190000-0500_138324_OBS_GRRRRRRRRR_GO_GET__EM__TIGER_.asp
TAMARA SCOTT-WILLIAMS
Sunday,
July 27, 2008
Look at the kubatana.net website at the index of
articles and images of
post-election 2008 violence in Zimbabwe. Look at the
pictures of opposition
workers, of men, women and children who were singled
out by members of a
government army patrol and youth militia and beaten,
battered, burnt and
tortured, and then tell me that any action taken against
Robert Mugabe would
be an "extreme measure".
Look at the pictures of
the children with their eyeballs beaten out, or the
men and women so
tortured that entire chunks of their buttocks have fallen
off. Look at the
pictures of wounds unable to heal because of the
withholding of medical
treatment. Look at the burnt faces and bodies, the
whipped backs, the broken
limbs, the burnt-out homes and displaced citizens.
And then after you
recover from the sickening feeling, tell me why Robert
Mugabe should
continue to enjoy the title "The Right Honourable" and
membership in the
Order of Jamaica.
I've tried to think of a convincing justification for
the prime minister's
sentiment that the current situation in Zimbabwe
doesn't warrant the
Jamaican Government stripping President Robert Mugabe of
the Order of
Jamaica - the fourth highest rank in our national honours
system - awarded
to him.
Perhaps, I thought, because the honour was
conferred on Mugabe during a
former prime minister's time, the matter would
require some formal
discussion with P J Patterson as to how and when to
strip Mugabe of the
title. But then I thought, no, Golding should not confer
with Patterson
about the symbolic punishing of the leader of a country under
whose watch
the extermination of members of its citizenry occurred because
of their
opposing political views.
Mugabe was awarded the OJ in 1996
"in recognition of his outstanding
contribution to the fight for liberation
and the overthrow of apartheid in
Southern Africa, and his distinct
leadership in the pursuit of freedom and
human development throughout the
African continent". At great risk to his
own life, during the 1970s, Mugabe
led a seven-year guerilla war against the
white-minority rule of Rhodesia
(now Zimbabwe) and sought and won the
freedom and independence of his people
in 1980. He was hailed a hero and a
freedom fighter and lauded
internationally.
Perhaps, I thought, Golding's rationale might be that
the honour should
remain with Mugabe because it represents a particular
period of Mugabe's
life and his significant struggle on behalf of the
Rhodesian people during
that time. But no, seven years of struggle is no pay
forward for 28 years of
the worst kind of dictatorship.
Granted,
Mugabe's greatest achievement was in educating his people -
Zimbabwe has the
highest literacy rate in Africa at 85 per cent of the
population - but it
takes very different skills to manage a war than it does
to run a country,
and in a bid to hold on to power he has derailed democracy
by rigging
elections, muzzling the press, and bulldozing the homes of
supporters of the
political opposition.
He has used food as a weapon against opposition
supporters and has turned a
blind eye to the state's brutally violent
crackdown on dissent. And finally
he has wrecked the Zimbabwean economy to
the point where at least 80 per
cent of Zimbabweans are now living below the
poverty line. As educated as
the Zimbabwean people are, primal fear and
hunger even kept them from
exercising their franchise.
I can only
reason that Prime Minister Golding won't interfere in the
politics of
another country because he feels he must set his own house in
order first
and seek to bring to justice those home-grown thugs who continue
to murder
the Jamaican people.
To that end, I welcome the Government's announcement
of harsh penalties in
the roll-out of the anti-crime plan. And I stand
firmly in the prime
minister's corner when he says, "I listen to some of my
friends in the human
rights organisations and I get a sense that what we
really ought to do is go
in with some powder puffs, and we really ought to
sit down and engage these
people to persuade them that we must stop killing
off people."
Bravo, prime minister. When the human rights activists were
busy, as he put
it, "picking out" what interests they were going to pursue,
some 27 of our
own people lay dead and dying in West Kingston, with their
skin peeling away
at their bodies, and their flesh being eaten by
dogs.
Grrrrrrrrrrr. Go get 'em, tiger.
IOL
July 27 2008 at
10:20AM
By John Makumbe
There are mixed reactions to
the resumption of the Southern African
Development Community (SADC)
mediation process on the Zimbabwe crisis.
Some Zimbabweans view the
talks spearheaded by President Thabo Mbeki
as a crucial first step in the
right direction.
But others are sceptical, especially given the
fact that Mbeki, who
has been at this task for more than a year, seems
largely to have failed to
deliver realistic results to date.
The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the
Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) and Mugabe's Zanu-PF party seems to
have given
some desperate Zimbabweans reason for hoping against hope, that
this time
the talks might resolve the crisis.
Some of us, who have witnessed
Mbeki's lacklustre performance, are
advising caution for several
reasons.
The first is that contrary to the MDC's initial demand
that the
violence being perpetrated by Zanu-PF be stopped, it seems to be
continuing
unabated.
It will be surprising to most Zimbabweans
if Morgan Tsvangirai signs
on the dotted line while so many of his
supporters are being butchered by
Mugabe's political hoodlums under the
supervision of the military junta in
Harare.
The MDC also
demanded its more than 1 000 activists in prison be
released and charges
against them dropped, but this has not yet happened.
At the time of
writing, 20 MDC Members of Parliament-elect are in
hiding, inside or outside
Zimbabwe, for fear of being lynched by Mugabe's
thugs.
The MDC
is unlikely to sell out to Mugabe and Zanu-PF by concluding
any agreement
before strict safeguards are ensured for the safety and
security of these
people.
It is common cause that the military junta in Harare is
desperate to
reduce the MDC's parliamentary majority through foul means in a
short a
period.
It has already become clear that the mediation
talks, currently taking
place in South Africa, are generally a continuation
of the same agenda the
two teams have been working on at least since last
year.
But several rather difficult matters are likely to get the
talks
bogged down for much longer .
For example, Zanu-PF is
desperate that the two parties agree to share
power through the so-called
government of national unity (GNU), while the
MDC prefers a national
transitional authority or government.
The MDC is painfully aware of
Mugabe in the 1980s forging a GNU with
Joshua Nkomo's Patriotic Front -
Zimbabwe African People's Union (PF-Zapu).
In the end, PF-Zapu was
swallowed up, and most of its members are now
relegated to the political
wilderness.
Further, Zanu-PF knows that without riding on the back
of the MDC, it
will be next to impossible to run Zimbabwe for five years
under Mugabe's
leadership.
Interestingly, not many serious
countries have indicated that they
recognise Mugabe as the president and
head of state of Zimbabwe since his
farcical, one-horse contest on June
27.
Indeed, without some kind of power-sharing deal, Zimbabwe will
be very
difficult to sell to any country in the international community that
has the
potential to help it in economic terms.
Zanu-PF's
desperation for a GNU is a blatant and shameless attempt to
use the
MDC.
As Tendai Biti, secretary general of the MDC, stated, if
Zanu-PF won
the run-off election, then it should just go ahead and run the
country for
the next five years.
But there is nothing to run
after so much has been ruined.
There is a possibility that the MDC
might agree to power-sharing
through a GNU on condition Tsvangirai, and not
Mugabe, will be the president
and head of state. Mugabe and his military
junta are highly unlikely to
accept that.
The MDC will not
accept Mugabe as president and head of state under
the GNU. The talks are
likely to break down on this crucial point.
It will require a
skilled mediator to get any of the two parties to
change their position on
this matter, and Mbeki does not seem to possess
such skills.
But as they talk, the crisis escalates. Impeccable sources indicate
that
Zimbabwe is now bankrupt. Zimbabwe reportedly may have just enough food
for
the next two weeks.
For the first time in 28 years, Mugabe looks
worried; Tsvangirai seems
relaxed.
God help us
all.
*Prof John Makume is a lecturer in political science at the
University
of Zimbabwe
This article was originally published on
page 39 of Tribune on July
27, 2008
http://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/story/452984.html
BY BOB ANGELL - Idaho
Statesman
Edition Date: 07/27/08
As evidenced by the recent
articles in the Idaho Statesman, the media is
finally beginning to recognize
the terror and hopelessness which torments
yet another innocent African
population. The horrors of Darfur and Kenya are
still fresh in our minds,
only to discover that Zimbabwe may soon follow
their paths. The news has
been focused on the political situation in the
country, but what about the
human side of life there?
Following its independence in the early 1980s,
Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia)
was termed the "Pearl of Africa" due its
beauty, richness of minerals, vast
agricultural lands stunning natural parks
and an abundance of wild game. It
had a stable government and warm, friendly
people who possessed the highest
literacy of any black African nation. Its
economy was an exporter of food
and goods to the neighboring countries.
Almost all could find a job and
employment was stable.
Robert Mugabe,
a Shona, (the majority tribe) and leader of the largest
independent party
was elected its first (and only) president. Initially, he
was a moderate
leader bent on franchising his people after years of
suppression. He
welcomed and encouraged foreign investment, insuring its
security, promoted
tourism, established a national airline and did many
other things to open
and sustain the well being of the country. But in the
late 1990s something
went wrong, terribly wrong.
First was Mugabe's proclamation that Zimbabwe
was a nation for black people
only; whites were no longer welcome, nor would
their property rights be
protected. Further, he began a ruthless campaign to
drive white farmers and
ranchers off their property without compensation -
often using violent
means. Black farmworkers, as well, were often
brutalized, their houses
burned and their goods confiscated.
Mugabe
claimed the newly nationalized lands were to be distributed to the
"people,"
but in actuality, they went to his family, friends and cronies.
Within a few
years, the huge agricultural machine which drove the economy
began to wither
and die. Unemployment and inflation began to escalate,
educated Zimbabweans
fled in droves and capital investment all but stopped.
The people began to
suffer, and it has only gotten worse. Consider life
there today:
1.
Unemployment is estimated at over 85 percent.
2. Only a few private
schools remain open; public schools, for the most
part, are
closed.
3. There is no currency. Inflation has rendered the Zimbabwe
dollar
valueless, wiping out all savings and purchasing power.
4.
There is little fuel, and transportation has all but ceased.
5. There are
meager supplies of food, and many items cost more in Zimbabwe
than they do
here. Starvation has become a reality to many.
6. The average wage for
those who can find employment is estimated to be
$20-25/month.
7.
Hospitals lack doctors, staff or supplies. Local clinics have no funding
and
medical care is lacking for all but the wealthy - this in a country
where
more than 30 percent of the population is HIV positive. Estimated life
expectancy has plunged from age 60 in 2003 to less than 40 today.
8.
The vast game herds in the national parks and on private lands are being
poached into oblivion to feed the now starving population.
9. Food
sent to the country as humanitarian aid for the people is
confiscated by the
government and doled out to their supporters.
10. The code of law has
been disbanded, and only the Marxist leaning,
totalitarian government
remains. Democracy has been eliminated and human
rights have been crushed.
For these decent people there is no future.
I ask myself how these things
could be allowed to happen in the civilized
world we live in and why we are
so powerless to change them. I don't have
the answers.
Bob Angell
lives in Boise and has owned a ranch in Zimbabwe for many years.
57 minutes
ago
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Botswana appealed to for international help
Sunday to
ease the impact of an influx of Zimbabweans whom it says are
draining its
resources.
"The influx of Zimbabweans, whether there is
or there is no government (in
Harare), is an issue to be dealt with,"
Foreign Minister Phandu Sekelemani
said on South African public broadcaster
SA FM.
"We ask the international community to help us because it is a
drain on our
resources," he said.
"Even after the failed presidential
(June 27) run-off, we have more 215 who
crossed last week... But we cannot
turn them back once they qualify" for
refugee status.
According to
government sources late last year, Botswana was playing host to
an estimated
250,000 Zimbabweans -- a number that was growing as conditions
under
President Robert Mugabe went from bad to worse.
Botswana, Zimbabwe's
western neighbour, earlier this month urged other
nations in southern Africa
not to recognise Mugabe's re-election in a
presidential run-off vote in
which he was the only contender.
Sekelemani reiterated calls for Zimbabwe
to be suspended from the Southern
Africa Development Community
(SADC).
"As a country that practices democracy and the rule of law,
Botswana does
not ... recognise the outcome of the presidential run-off
election, and
would expect other SADC member states to do the same," he
said.
"It is therefore Botswana's position that Zimbabwe not be allowed
to
participate in SADC meetings until such time that they demonstrate their
commitment to strictly adhere to the organisation's principles."
SABC
July 27, 2008,
16:15
The South African border post with Zimbabwe in Musina has been
swamped by
foreigners queuing to apply for asylum status. Most say they have
been there
since Friday and sleep on pavements without water, food and
ablution
facilities.
The London-based Save the Children organization,
which deals with the plight
of children worldwide, has also expressed
dissatisfaction over the
administration of a newly established Refugee
Reception Centre in Musina.
The centre was opened last week by the
department of Home Affairs. The
organisation's representative in Musina,
Mandla Motshweni, says the centre
is not assisting or taking care of
displaced children.
Meanwhile, the acting director of the Home Affairs'
Department, Mantsele
Tau, says a deadline for displaced foreigners around
the country to register
with the department will be announced soon. He says
the recent deadline was
specifically for Johannesburg. This comes after
hundreds of refugees
descended in a rush on the Home Affairs offices at
Borcherd's Quarry at
Nyanga on the Cape Flats in a desperate bid to get
temporary documents
guaranteeing them legal status in the country for six
months.
http://sundaystandard.info/news/news_item.php?NewsID=3517&GroupID=1
by
SUNDAY STANDARD REPORTER
27.07.2008 6:53:05 P
The Botswana
government says it remains proud of the stance it has
adopted against
Zimbabwe following the disputed election process in that
country which saw
the opposition withdrawing, citing political violence and
anarchy meted by
the government backed militias.
Botswana has insisted that they do
not recognize Robert Mugabe as the
legitimate President of
Zimbabwe.
Speaking to Sunday Standard, Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Phandu
Skelemani, said Botswana was disappointed that other SADC countries
have not
only failed to condemn Robert Mugabe for his behaviour, but have
also not
stated their position.
He, however, said, like Zimbabwe,
SADC is better reminded of the
ramifications of breaking one's own laws and
regulations.
Skelemani said Botswana supports and welcomes the
negotiations between
the rival parties in Zimbabwe "not as a solution but
rather a resolution."
He said the route of the negotiations does
not altogether cure the
Zimbabwean disease but only provides the citizens of
that country with a
less violent route back to democracy.
"We hope
and pray that they will have an agreement in place."
More
important, said Skelemani, is that the parties should agree who
becomes the
president and under what circumstances.
The key, said Skelemani, is
that all the parties at the negotiations
be treated as equals.
He
said at the talks, Robert Mugabe's position should be confined to
the
leadership of ZANU PF, with Morgan Tsvangirai being the leader of MDC
(Movement for Democratic Change).
"If they are not treated equally
then they are starting on a wrong
footing," said Minister
Skelemani.
"It is not for Botswana to tell the Zimbabweans who to
choose as
President," said Minister Skelemani.
He said tensions in
Zimbabwe remained high which made it difficult to
rule out an all out civil
war if the situation is not resolved quickly and
with sensitivity.
Skelemani, who has since become the public face of Botswana's hard
stance
against Zimbabwe, said although Botswana remains deeply disappointed
by
other SADC countries, severing of ties with the organization was not an
option.
He said instead, Botswana will continue to push for
adherence.
"When we joined the organization it was on the hope that
its members
will live by the standards they have set for themselves. We are
disappointed. The President of this country has said it. But in all this we
are happy because Botswana has a legitimate claim to moral ground," said
Skelemani.
Skelemani said unless the issue of Zimbabwe was
resolved, Botswana
will not be attending the coming SADC Heads of State
Summit.
It will be a sign of protest at a failure by SADC to live
up to the
rules they have set for themselves as member
countries.
On what Botswana's hard position has achieved, Skelemani
said it was
Botswana's position that is bringing pressure on Mugabe to
negotiate.
"He knows that the blind solidarity he used to enjoy from
SADC is no
longer guaranteed. They may not acknowledge it but they can no
longer take
us for granted."
He said it is important for the
Zimbabweans to understand that the
love Botswana gives them cannot be taken
for granted.
"We know for certain that they are feeling the
pressure. Mugabe
himself has said it that Botswana has saddened him. The
look on his face
also showed that indeed he was stunned by Botswana's
position," said
Skelemani.
The Minister said it is important to
underscore the fact that Botswana
derives no pleasure from adopting its hard
stance against Zimbabwe and
Mugabe.
"Unfortunately it is a
bitter medicine that has to be administered to
cure the disease. We know it
is not the nice kind of medicine but it is
meant for good. We sincerely hope
that when everything is said and done the
disease will be cured," said
Skelemani.
Financial Times
Published: July 27
2008 18:16 | Last updated: July 27 2008 18:16
Given the desperate plight
of the state of Zimbabwe, any effort to achieve
political reconciliation,
stop intimidation and violence and halt the
collapse of the economy should
be welcome. Yet the talks under way in
neighbouring South Africa this week,
to try to form some sort of government
of national unity, leave much to be
desired. There is good reason to fear
that even if they were to succeed, the
outcome would do nothing to resolve
the misery of Zimbabwe's
inhabitants.
To be sure, Robert Mugabe, the man who has presided over the
disintegration
of democracy in his country, was forced to shake hands last
week with his
arch-rival, Morgan Tsvangirai. It was an important symbolic
gesture. But he
did not mean it. His ruling Zanu-PF party has made it clear
that any outcome
that fails to recognise his election as president would be
unacceptable.
The opposite is true: his unopposed election last month,
after widespread
murder, rape, beatings and arrests of opposition
supporters, was a cruel
farce. Any outcome that fails to curb his sweeping
powers now, and set a
rapid timetable for his departure and a transition to
genuine elections,
will be doomed to failure.
Mr Tsvangirai's dilemma
could hardly be sharper. He has less than two weeks
to negotiate a deal that
satisfies his followers at home and his
sympathisers abroad that a
post-settlement Zimbabwe is secure in his hands.
He must limit Mr Mugabe to
a purely titular role, yet convince him and his
senior cronies that they
have a real part to play.
For his part, Mr Mugabe must fear prosecution
for corruption and crimes
against humanity. He has installed a vicious
administration that lives off
the ill-gotten profits of a collapsing
economy, while starvation looms for
more than 5m people and millions more
have fled to find jobs in South Africa
and further afield, destabilising the
entire region.
The idea of a government of national unity is promoted by
Thabo Mbeki, South
Africa's president, who has denied that Zimbabwe is in
crisis and repeatedly
failed to condemn Mr Mugabe's actions. He seems to
think the sort of
solution negotiated in Kenya after that country's disputed
elections would
be appropriate: leaving Mr Mugabe as president and making Mr
Tsvangirai an
executive prime minister. But Kenya and Zimbabwe are very
different
countries.
In Kenya, the army is genuinely independent,
able to take orders from either
side in a government of national unity. In
Zimbabwe it is utterly partisan,
controlled by Mr Mugabe's henchmen, who
have orchestrated the political
violence and royally reaped the fruits of
corruption. In Kenya, the courts
at least have a semblance of independence,
whereas in Zimbabwe they are the
creatures of the ruling
party.
Hitherto, the international community has been powerless to
prevent Zimbabwe's
collapse. Sanctions have not been effective. But without
international
support, and a very generous aid programme, no deal will
succeed. That is Mr
Tsvangirai's trump card. An outcome that leaves Mr
Mugabe in office means
continuing misery and isolation.
http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/traps/2008/07/27/mbeki-and-zuma-amnesty-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-zimbabwe/
Michael
Trapido
A
key issue in reaching a settlement in Zimbabwe is going to be parties
being
able reach an accommodation on the outgoing president and Zanu-PF. As
in the
case of the National Party prior to 1994, there is too much baggage
being
carried by Mugabe and his party for them to simply allow for a
transition to
the party of the majority. The MDC would be compelled to
charge many high
ranking members of the Zimbabwean government with crimes
against
humanity.
My feelings on Mugabe must play second fiddle to the desperate
plight of the
poorer communities of South Africa and Zimbabwe. An estimated
5,1-million
Zimbabweans are staring starvation in the face
Justice is
easier to contemplate when you are sitting at home with the
heater on,
waiting for your lunch, than it is when you're in a shack,
starving, while
state-sponsored or inspired thugs are butchering your
family. Try and
remember that while you are being trying to be "brave" on
behalf of
Zimbabweans.
Hopefully, as part of any deal, the Zimbabwean Constitution
can be amended
to ensure that no president or party can ever hold the
country hostage
again.
In South Africa, there are definite parallels
to be drawn from what is
happening up north, although in our case it is one
of the ANC embroiled in a
power struggle with itself.
This is going
to hit home in the build-up to the Zuma hearing and,
unfortunately, after
the elections next year if matters are not brought to a
head. The only
difference between the hearing and post-elections is the
faction who will
seek to control the organs of state and the media.
In order to understand
where I'm coming from you need to read two articles.
The first appeared on
IOL in 2005 and sets out the history of the arms deal
in some detail from
1998 until June of that year.
The subsequent fall out between the
president and Zuma culminated in the
latter being elected as the ANC's
president and candidate for the national
presidency. Woven into the fabric
of this conflict was the unlawful use of
state organs, which occasioned a
war between the police and Scorpions and
focused our criminal justice system
on politics rather than fighting crime.
That war continues, with the
judiciary now tearing itself apart and the NPA
facing enormous pressure in
having to deal with a trial that's become a
political football rather than a
quest for justice.
Now read Karyn Maughan's article on the latest
bombshell from the arms deal.
In a report by an ANC task team the
president's involvement in the arms deal
is coming under increasing fire
while Zuma's role appears to have been the
subject of lesser criticism.
While Mbeki's denials are placed in doubt,
calls for a Zuma amnesty as a
"pragmatic solution" are put forward.
As I said in an article many months
ago, Jacob Zuma must be given amnesty.
That was before our judiciary started
ripping itself apart and threats of
killing for Jacob Zuma began. Many of
those who scoffed at such a suggestion
have reassessed the situation and
have started to contemplate the same
thing. These calls are going to get
louder as time marches on.
Now, however, I need to include President
Mbeki in the same way. The last
thing this country needs is to go through
the next elections, become
optimistic for the future only to find that it's
payback time. This time it's
the Zuma camp taking it's revenge on the Mbeki
camp and our criminal justice
system is once again being used to settle old
scores while the economy takes
a hammering.
If the president is
backed into a Mugabe-like-corner, what's next on the
inter-factional agenda
requiring delayed elections, prosecutions or the
like?
While it might
have slipped everyone's minds there is an enormous amount of
anger on the
ground. If non-delivery, post-Polokwane, runs parallel to the
current trends
then the ANC won't have to worry about the DA, FF or the UDF
because losing
voters will be the least of their problems. The factions won't
be arguing
with each other - they'll be too busy trying to work out how to
stop a mass
revolt.
If the xenophobia riots weren't sufficient warning of the current
mood what
will be? I went in among the people and their anger was real. Not
criminals - ordinary folks who were bitter about corruption in local
councils, exiles putting up shacks next door to them overnight, the list was
endless. They were ordinary people, not criminals! Ordinary people. When
ministers tried to call for calm they found an anger even they did not
expect, JZ included.
Before we find ourselves in another
Zimbabwe-type debacle, the ANC must get
together and thrash out a settlement
covering both factions once and for
all. Call in the opposition so that they
can ensure that the Constitution is
amended so as to avoid the ANC ever
turning on itself again.
These include making press freedom
non-negotiable, total independence of the
judiciary and criminal justice
systems so that they can never be employed as
instruments of politics again.
That will not threaten the party it will
safeguard it, its members and the
citizens of this country.
If we could overcome 40 plus years of apartheid
by negotiation using all
parties then why not go down the same route? This
country is crying out for
political certainty so we can deal with the rest
of our problems.
Don't let pride come before a horrendous
fall.
This entry was posted on Sunday, July 27th, 2008 at 11:31 am
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=1520
July 27, 2008
By Norman Ngwenya
IF
THE West insists on carrying out recriminations against Zimbabwean
government officials then they must also be ready to expect Zimbabweans to
revise the whole idea of reconciliation as implemented in 1980.
Great
Britain arm-twisted us into ensuring that all pre-980 Rhodesian war
crimes
suspects would not be brought to trial.
The mercenaries within the
Rhodesian military machine perpetrated genocide
against Zimbabwean refugees
in Mozambique, Zambia and Botswana with the
acquiescence and/or
authorization of government in Salisbury. These people
now live in the
United Kingdom, the United States, South Africa, Canada,
Australia and New
Zealand. They have been sheltered and provided sanctuary
by the countries
that now insist we should implement some politically
motivated witch-hunt,
designed to punish the defiant and recalcitrant
architects of land
reform.
If at all we are going to send anyone to The Hague then the
process must
include all crimes committed by all including the Rhodesian
mercenaries.
Ordinary Zimbabweans like me must dedicate ourselves in
ensuring that these
Rhodesian war criminals face justice alongside the
post-1980 war crimes
suspects.
The West cannot have it both ways.
They cannot insist that we forgive, in
the spirit of reconciliation, people
like General Peter Walls, Ken Flower,
Ian Smith, and other war crimes
perpetrators, while insisting that
reconciliation should not be extended to
the more recent suspects of
genocide like Edgar Tekere, Constantine
Chiwenga, Gabriel.Mugabe, Tapfumanei
Mujuru, Emmerson Mnangagwa, Enos Nkala
and Sidney Sekeramai [who are
suspected of instigating the Five brigade
atrocities in Matabeland].
A basic tenet of our justice system in
Zimbabwe stipulates that all people
accused of crimes are innocent until
proven guilty by a court of competent
jurisdiction. A war crimes tribunal
that operates to settle political scores
in a kangaroo-like fashion is not
such a court. The international tribunals
seem to prosecute politicians from
Third World countries or other weak
countries like Milosevic, Chavez, Mugabe
(if he is handed over), Saddam
Hussein etc
As part of the 1979 peace
initiative, the West insisted that we embrace
reconciliation as a
precondition for their support for an independent
Zimbabwe. It was a
strategy to ensure that Harare would turn a blind eye to
the thorny issue of
bringing to account war crimes suspects. It was a racist
neo-colonialist
policy aimed at protecting suspects of genocide who where
predominantly of
Anglo Saxon extraction. Lord Carrington, the then British
foreign secretary
ensured that a monstrous racist war crimes suspects like
Ian Smith, Ken
Flower, Abel Muzorewa, Peter Walls and others escape what was
otherwise a
necessary and inevitable trial for the crimes these and many
others had been
accused of.
It is interesting to note that the West no longer feels that
a policy of
reconciliation is appropriate and beneficial for the people of
Zimbabwe.
They no longer support reconciliation because the war crimes
suspects they
are targeting include former freedom fighters and nationalists
and who
championed the fight to destroy the last bastions of racism and
colonialism
in Southern Africa.
It appears that the ANC of South
Africa is now on notice that its officials
risk being arraigned before ICC,
should they pursue the radical politics of
land reform.
http://zimbabwemetro.com/2008/07/26/mugabe-pretending-to-be-president-botswana/
By Mellisa Dube-Koketso ⋅ © zimbabwemetro.com ⋅
July 26, 2008
Botswana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International
Cooperation,Phandu
Skelemani, has said Mugabe should listen “to the noise”
and accept that he
is not the President of Zimbabwe. The call comes as state
media reported
that ZANU PF will not accept any settlement that falls short
of Mugabe as
executive president.
The Minister repeated that Botswana
does not recognize Mugabe as president
of Zimbabwe. He added that the so
called Run-Off election on June 27 did not
produce a
President.
Skelemani stressed that Botswana relations with Zimbabwe will
never go on
smoothly if the situation in Zimbabwe remains the way it is and
a negotiated
settlement with the MDC is reached.
He said Mugabe
signed SADC protocols which govern the conduct of elections
and the
expectation is that he should follow them to the letter. He
emphasized that
Mugabe was not forced to sign those protocols, “and he has
to abide by
them”.
Skelemani warned that negotiations underway in Pretoria must not
swallow the
MDC “to do a Nkomo” on Tsvangirai
Skelemani warned that
the MDC would “risk emasculation” if it allowed Mugabe
to retain the
presidency. Asked about Mugabe’s stated desire to hold on to
power,
Skelemani replied, “What power? Power to run the country into the
ground?”
The Minister said to the Botswana government Robert Mugabe
of ZANU PF and
Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC are equal leaders of
Zimbabwe.
Botswana Observers saw dreadful things
The accounts of
Botswana election observers brought back from Zimbabwe
deepened Botswana’s
official revulsion. Ruth Seretse, the deputy director of
Botswana’s
directorate on corruption and economic crime, led the 50-person
observer
team. She said in an interview that she saw ZANU-PF youth militia
beating
people at a rally for Tsvangirai in Harare.
“People ran for their lives,”
she said. “The riot police just stood there.”
For two weeks, she
monitored faxes and text messages from Botswana observers
deployed across
the country. Some of the most disturbing reports came from
Bakwena Oitsile,
a retired major general in Botswana’s army. He said in an
interview that in
one village in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland West Province, he
found 14 houses, as
well as grain stores, burned and reduced to ashes.
Pregnant women and
children there had nothing left but the clothes on their
backs.
In
another village in the province, he arrived just hours after an attack on
June 17. In one hut, he discovered the body of a man just beaten to death
and his wife, still alive, with a deep cut on her head. Another woman’s
index finger had been cut off. Her hand was still raw and
untreated.
“She was in great pain when we were there,” he said. “She was
screaming.”
Additional reporting by Gerald Harper
Afrik.com, France
HARARE's political rumor mill is of late working overtime and
journalists are gripped in a frenzy of love speculation. This is because
junior deputy Information Minister, Bright Matonga, has ditched his white
British-born wife of 11 years, Anne
Pout.
Sunday 27 July 2008, by Bruce
Sibanda
He
has hurriedly married a rich businesswoman, Sharon Mugabe, a niece of the
Robert Mugabe.
Matonga has officially moved out of the Matonga
matrimonial home on a farm
they grabbed from a commercial farmer and has
since moved in with Sharon ,
an immensely wealthy businesswoman.
The
36-year-old widow who has stolen the heart of the capricious Matonga who
stands a good chance of being named as new Minister of Information any time
now, runs a marketing communications firm, Imago Y&R.
Matonga has
become the darling of the British media as he routinely lambasts
the Gordon
Brown government at the slightest opportunity, while defending
Mugabe.
Since Monday he has been refusing to take questions on his
relationship with
Sharon Mugabe.
Sharon's is the daughter of Albert
Mugabe, the President's late brother, the
trade unionist who died in a
swimming pool drowning back in the 1980s.
She was an intergral member of
ZANU PF elections campaign team. Imago Y&R,
formerly Michel Hogg Young
& Rubicam, was sold to Sharon Mugabe by Zimbabwe's
marketing guru
Michael Hogg in 2005 after a failed bid by rival Gary
Thompson's agency,
Gary Thompson & Associates. The take-over marked one of
the biggest
empowerment transactions in the sector. Mugabe acquired the
controlling
stake in the leading advertising, marketing and communications
firm. She
renamed it Imago Y&R.
It is now being alleged that Imago Y&R
secured the lucrative Zanu-PF
contract through its chief executive's
personal relationship with the junior
information Minister.
Matonga
was responsible for vetting companies that submitted tenders for the
Mugabe
election campaign.
Mugabe, whose husband died two years ago, now
officially lives with Matonga
in her mansion in Borrowdale
Brooke.
She has been spotted on several occasions in the company of
Matonga at one
or the other of her many business enterprises, including a
designer fashion
boutique in the Eastgate Shopping Mall.
His close
friends say Matonga's actiona s are deplorable. Anne is a former
municipal
information- technology manager.
They met while he was still at a college
in Southend-on-Sea, a resort town
east of London, where he studied media
production and technology at South
East Essex College.
Halfway
through the four-year program, immigration officials tried to deport
him
after a change in rules for foreign students made him ineligible to
stay.
Anne is said to have intervened and averted her then boyfriend's
deportation.
After his graduation, Matonga worked as a delivery
driver and a freelance
journalist and was literally living off Anne. Now he
has ditched her for
Sharon.
Mmegi, Botswana
Friday, 25 July 2008
|
Opinion/Letters
When the first modern war crimes tribunal was created during the
height of
the Balkan wars, policy makers thought no one of consequence would
ever be
arrested. Now, the ex-president of Liberia is on
trial.
A vice president of Congo is in custody. Former leaders of
Cambodia are in
the dock. And the once all-powerful president of Yugoslavia
died in a jail
cell. The current president of Sudan Hassan Omar el-Bashir is
under
indictment, accused of ethnic slaughter in Sudan's Darfur non Muslims
and
crimes against humanity. Bashir could become the first sitting head of
state
to be charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC). All these
seemed so
impossible just 15 years ago.
The arrest of Radovan
Karadzic, the accused architect of Bosnia's bloody
four-year war and of
Europe's first genocide since the Holocaust, highlights
the long and winding
path of international justice. It's a tale of successes
along with many
teething pains. Karadzic, the leader of the Bosnian Serbs
during the 1992-95
war, evaded arrest for 13 years after he was indicted for
the massacre of
8,000 Muslim men and boys in the U.N declared safe zone of
Srebrenica in
1995. Since the creation in 1993 of the International Criminal
Tribunal for
the former Yugoslavia, a confusing array of war crimes courts
have cluttered
the legal landscape, all with the declared purpose of
punishing the leaders,
instigators and planners of mass crime in times of
conflict.
Scores
of people, mainly Serbs from the former Yugoslavia and Hutus from
Rwanda,
have been convicted. In the process, the courts have refined
international
law. Heads of state are no longer immune. General amnesties
are no longer
accepted unquestioned. Using children in war is outlawed. Rape
has been
defined as a weapon of war, and abusing women or forcing them into
marriage
are punishable crimes. Looting and plunder the age-old prize for
warriors
adds prison time. The cornerstone has been laid for another 100
years worth
of jurisprudence, which has faced down this beast of impunity
that has
nibbled on the edges of civilization for a century. Beyond crimes
that have
occurred, the threat of prosecution also is meant to deter others.
That goal
has been met with measured success. People are really beginning to
think of
these tribunals as an effective deterrent.
There is a critical mass of
high level cases. Some people believe that the
risk of prosecution was a
factor that prompted the political settlement in
Kenya earlier this year and
in the promise by Zimbabwe's President Robert
Mugabe to end a campaign of
violence against his political opponents. Mugabe
is hearing the footsteps
behind him.
Thank you
Banks Ndebele
MOGODITSHANE
Yahoo News
Sun Jul 27,
8:45 AM ET
HARARE (AFP) - The latest US sanctions against President
Robert Mugabe's
regime are designed to stifle economic recovery in Zimbabwe,
his chief
spokesman was quoted Sunday as saying.
Secretary for
Information George Charamba told the state-run Sunday Mail
that the
sanctions aimed at impeding Zimbabwean companies from finding
partners in
China, Iran and other eastern countries.
The US government last week
expanded its sanctions regime by adding to it
the names of several dozen
individuals as well as 17 companies and
parastatals linked to the Mugabe
regime.
Since the imposition of targeted sanctions after disputed 2002
elections,
some Western firms have shied away from doing business in
Zimbabwe --
prompting Harare to adopted a "Look East" policy for trade and
investment
deals.
Zimbabwe, currently gripped by a post-election
crisis, has been ravaged by a
record hyperinflation which shot up from
165,000 percent in February to 2.2
million percent in June.
"The
companies slapped with sanctions are those companies that are trying to
validate the 'Look East' policy by entering into partnership with
non-traditional investors," Charamba said.
"Western interests are now
threatened by these non-traditional investors
from China, Iran and other
Asian countries," he added.
The US Treasury Department said the sanctions
would be imposed on 17
companies or entities as well as on an Omani
national.
It said Mugabe, 84, his senior officials and regime's cronies
"have used
these entities to illegally siphon revenue and foreign exchange
from the
Zimbabwean people".
Among the targeted entities are
Operation Sovereign Legitimacy, described as
the commercial arm of the
Zimbabwean armed forces, and the Minerals
Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe,
a marketing and export agent for all
minerals except gold and silver mined
in the country.
Others are the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company, the
country's largest steel
works, as well as a number of banks and holding
companies.
|
Written by Mfonobong Nsehe | |
He actually imagined that the money would go a long way in improving the continent’s leadership problem. But what attraction does $5 million really hold for a typical African leader who controls billions of dollars of a country’s resources? While Ibrahim’s intention in giving the prize was well motivated, it is unlikely that the money will do much in solving Africa’s leadership problem. Ibrahim’s gift was a sort of incentive to leaders to shun greed and corruption, and encourage selfless service in governance. It is wrong to assume that the morality of African leaders can be bought with money. That you can never solve a greed problem with money. The only way Africa is going to overcome its leadership problem is for the leaders themselves to have a paradigm shift in thinking, shun their avaricious tendencies, and scrap the idea that once in power, they are responsible for themselves and their families. Africans have gone through decades of untold pain, suffering, poverty and misery not because the continent is poor, but because the leaders have committed to serving themselves before anyone else. As far as natural resources are concerned, Africa is arguably the world’s richest continent. It houses about 50 per cent of the world’s gold, a huge chunk of the world’s diamond reserves, chromium, cobalt, manganese, millions of acres of untilled farmland, as well as other natural resources. In spite of this, Africans are still the most impoverished people in the world. Its people live in the poorest situations imaginable. The bottom 25 spots of the United Nations quality of life index are regularly filled by African nations. Over 400 million people in Africa live on less than a dollar per day. Africa has not been on the road to recovery as a result of the role of post-independent and contemporary African leadership. These leaders do not care about the situation of their countries. How can one explain the fact that in an economy like Zimbabwe where millions of children can barely get an education, the country’s First Lady, Grace Mugabe squandered $80,000 on a shopping spree in Italy, as reported on the June 8, 2008 edition of the Zimbabwean Times . Even the leaders who steal the country’s resources do not even do the country the favour of “reinvesting” the resources in their countries. Instead, they stash the money in off-shore accounts and invest in foreign companies. The late Nigerian military dictator, Sani Abacha stole billions of dollars from the country’s coffers and stashed them in foreign accounts in Switzerland and other tax havens. His son, Mohammed Abacha, bought shares in foreign blue-chip companies. African leaders have never been able to control their greed. General Olusegun Obasanjo, the immediate former president of Nigeria who during his tenure as president “fought” corruption was eventually discovered to have misappropriated billions of dollars of the country’s funds which was meant to deal with Nigeria’s electricity crisis. Nigeria currently has the worst power situation in Africa. Parts of major urban cities go for days without electricity supply. King Mswati III of Swaziland has spent millions of dollars on palaces for his numerous wives, $400,000 on a single Mercedes car, and hundreds of thousands of dollars annually celebrating his birthdays, while his people live in abject poverty. Mobutu Sese Seko, the infamous Zaire despot embezzled the country’s resources such diamonds in the Congo and country funds to the tune of billions of dollars. It was said that he had the capacity to pay the entire military from his personal coffers. At a time, he was said to have been richer than his own country. Even in situations where money is used within the country, it is often spent on frivolities that hardly benefit the economy or those in dire need of government assistance. Lavish palaces like Cameroon’s Unity Palace, fleet of cars and jet planes have become status symbols for African regimes and symbols of political greed. Former Emperor Bokassa of Central African Republic for example, wasted $20 million of his country’s money on a meaningless coronation. During his reign, poverty, political killings, and outrageous plundering of state resources characterised his government. African leaders have the mentality that once in power, they have to secure the future for themselves, their children’s and relatives’. Most of them get into power, neglecting the needs of the people who voted them into power (in democratic situations), and instead, devote their energy towards unscrupulously enriching themselves and relatives. This mentality is transferring to the youth—the future leaders. Unless African leaders do away with that mentality, Africa will always remain retrogressive . What is needed in Africa is paradigm shift in the thinking of African leaders, and a change in the entire political ideology in Africa. It all starts with the mind. Once our current African leaders and future leaders change their mindset and resolve to serve their people and not themselves, Africa will well be on its way to seeing a new day. Nsehe is a communications student at Daystar University, Kenya. E-mail: mfon.nsehe@gmail.com |