The Telegraph
Talks between the Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change are facing collapse.
By Peta
Thornycroft and Sebastien Berger in Johannesburg
Last Updated: 10:46PM BST 28
Jul 2008
Representatives of Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party disclosed that they
were
mandated only to offer the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai a
vice-presidency, with no executive power.
The offer came despite Mr
Tsvangirai decisively beating Mr Mugabe in the
first round of the
presidential poll in March, and Zanu-PF losing its
parliamentary
majority.
The MDC pulled out of the presidential run-off last month in
the face of a
campaign of violence against its supporters, more than 100 of
whom were
killed, some in appalling brutal ways.
The MDC insists it
is the rightful winner of the elections and is adamant
that it will only
accept a transitional authority, with Mr Tsvangirai in
control, leading to
fresh elections in about two years.
"I guess we knew Zanu-PF was not
serious and we have never expected anything
from [South African President
Thabo] Mbeki," said an MDC source in Harare.
Mr Mbeki, who is mediating
the negotiations, wanted to see a government of
national unity emerge from
the process.
Two officials said that the Zanu-PF negotiators, the justice
minister,
Patrick Chinamasa and the social welfare minister, Nicholas Goche,
were
flying back to Harare from Pretoria, where the negotiations were being
held,
while MDC officials said Mr Tsvangirai had flown to South Africa from
Zimbabwe.
Perhaps the only surprise is that the talks, which were
scheduled to last
for two weeks, got into difficulties so soon after they
started last
Thursday.
The agreement last week on a memorandum of
understanding about the process
triggered a wave of optimism in some
quarters.
Despite the applause for the deal over talks and the praise
from President
Nicholas Sarkozy of France for Mr Mbeki's efforts, analysts
had said that
the key question was whether Zanu-PF was prepared to cede a
meaningful
measure of genuine authority to the MDC.
Mr Mugabe has
been in power for 28 years and has shown no sign of being
willing to give it
up, while Zanu-PF is in full control of the country and
faces little
practical pressure, particularly after Russia and China vetoed
a UN Security
Council resolution that would have imposed sanctions on the
regime.
The MDC had expected the talks to break down quickly, as its
chief
negotiator, the secretary-general Tendai Biti, and most of the party's
hierarchy believed Mr Mugabe when he repeatedly said that Mr Tsvangirai
would "never, ever rule" Zimbabwe.
But there is fury in some
opposition circles about Mr Mbeki's role, as they
believe he must have known
all along that Mr Mugabe had no intention of
negotiating his way out of
power. "Why did some of us believe Mbeki? He will
protect Mugabe to the
end," said another MDC source.
Zimbabwe already has two vice-presidents,
both appointed by Mr Mugabe - one
reserved for a senior Zanu-PF figure and
the second for a member of the
former opposition, the Zimbabwe African
People's Union (Zapu) that was
consumed by Zanu in the Unity Accord of 1987,
after as many as 20,000 of the
party's members were massacred by Mr Mugabe's
troops.
VOA
By Blessing Zulu
Washington
28 July
2008
Negotiators for Zimbabwe's ruling party and opposition
were reported late
Monday to have broken off power-sharing talks after
reaching an impasse over
the position opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
would hold within a
national unity or transitional government.
News
reports and sources close to the talks said the two sides deadlocked
after
the ruling ZANU-PF party of President Robert Mugabe proposed
Tsvangirai,
founder of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and the
front-runner in the country's March 29 first-round presidential election,
should accept the post of third vice president.
MDC negotiators
insisted he should be prime minister with executive powers.
Reports said
Tsvangirai was heading to Pretoria from Harare late Monday to
consult with
his negotiators, Tendai Biti and Elton Mangoma, secretary
general and deputy
treasurer of his MDC formation respectively, while
ZANU-PF chief negotiators
Patrick Chinamasa and Nicholas Goche, respectively
ministers of justice and
labor, were on their way to Harare for
consultations with Mr. Mugabe and the
ZANU-PF leadership.
ZANU-PF's politiburo last week said Mr. Mugabe must head
any new government
emerging from the talks, declaring that this was a
non-negotiable point.
But sources close to the talks say the demand that
Tsvangirai be given an
inferior position is being pushed by senior military
and police officials
who worry that a major change in leadership might
expose them to dismissal
or prosecution.
The military is alleged to
have engineered the murders of more than 150
opposition officials and
members in political violence after the March 29
elections. Observers said
the violence was intended to punish segments of
the electorate for
supporting the opposition, and to reduce the MDC before
the presidential
run-off June 27 which Mr. Mugabe won uncontested.
Sources added that
despite the breakdown, some headway had been made in the
talks including on
constitutional amendments that would accommodate rival
MDC formation leader
Arthur Mutambara and other politicians lacking a seat
in either the house or
the senate.
Meanwhile, the recent expansion of European and U.S.
lists of sanctioned
government officials and related persons and enterprises
is said to have
irked the ruling party.
Former ZANU-PF chief
parliamentary whip Joram Gumbo told reporter Blessing
Zulu of VOA's Studio 7
for Zimbabwe that such sanctions are
counter-productive.
Political
analyst Hermann Hanekom of Cape Town, South Africa, said ZANU-PF
understands
that insisting Mr. Mugabe head the next government could derail
negotiations
but that the so-called "securocrats" are resisting changes that
would
jeopardize their position.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=3481
by Jameson
Mombe and Norest Muzvaba Tuesday 29 July 2008
JOHANNESBURG -
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday
arrived in South
Africa, the venue of power-sharing talks between his
Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) party and President Robert Mugabe's
ruling ZANU PF
party.
Tsvangirai's spokesman George Sibotshiwe confirmed the visit but
sought to
distance the opposition chief's presence in South Africa from the
negotiations for a government of national unity that is seen as the best way
to end Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis.
"We are here for
private business," Sibotshiwe told the media, when asked
about the purpose
of Tsvangirai's visit.
South African President Thabo Mbeki is chief
mediator of the talks between
Zimbabwe's feuding political parties that
began last week and are expected
to agree on a structure for a government of
national unity and to set out
the objectives and priorities for the new
government.
Negotiators will also tackle the issue of a new constitution
for Zimbabwe,
restoration of economic stability and growth, land reform and
Western
sanctions imposed on Mugabe and his top officials.
However,
political analysts say the biggest obstacle in the way of the talks
remains
the issue of what roles Mugabe and Tsvangirai will play in the
national
unity government.
ZANU PF insists that Mugabe should remain as executive
president, while
Tsvangirai becomes prime minister or a vice-president,
while on the other
hand the MDC says its leader should become executive
prime minister of the
unity government with Mugabe serving as a titular
president.
The parties also differ sharply over land reform, Western
sanctions imposed
on Mugabe's government and the thorny question of what to
do with ZANU PF
hardliners and military commanders accused of committing
political violence
and killing at least 120 MDC supporters and displacing
200 000 others since
March.
However, Mbeki told the South African
Broadcasting Corporation on Monday
that ZANU PF and MDC were both fully
committed to resolving differences
between themselves in order to work a
political settlement to rescue their
country from crisis.
The South
African leader, who won had been criticised for his handling of
the Zimbabwe
crisis but has in recent weeks won praises after getting Mugabe
and
Tsvangirai to sign an agreement to talk, said the Zimbabwean parties
were
looking to finishing negotiations as "speedily as possible".
Mbeki said:
"In our own view, they (Zimbabwean parties) are demonstrating
the will to
complete this process as speedily as possible and that every
body recognises
the importance of moving the process forward very quickly."
He said the
Zimbabwean parties were working "quite hard" to conclude talks -
that began
last Thursday - within the two-week deadline. - ZimOnline
http://www.themercury.co.za/?fArticleId=4529254
July 28, 2008 Edition 2
Mercury Foreign
Service
President Thabo Mbeki told the cabinet yesterday that talks were
continuing
between Zimbabwe's main political parties in Pretoria yesterday
as a South
African government source said any "parallel talks" in Harare
would be an
adjunct to the main dialogue in Pretoria.
Meanwhile, it
has emerged that Robert Mugabe told his presidential opponent,
Morgan
Tsvangirai, when they met last week for brunch that he had been
unaware that
Movement for Democratic Change supporters were being killed by
state-aligned
forces.
A source claimed that Tsvangirai had then given him a lengthy
report on the
violence.
Three people are known to have been killed in
the first five days following
the signing of the memorandum of understanding
between Mugabe and Tsvangirai
in Harare on July 21.
South African
deputy minister of foreign affairs, Aziz Pahad, told a
briefing yesterday
that he was not aware of any parallel talks in Harare
conducted between
direct representatives of Tsvangirai and Mugabe.
VOA
By Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
28 July
2008
At least 16,400 incidents of politically motivated
violence occurred in
Zimbabwe in in the first six months of this year, the
Zimbabwe Peace Project
said but the organization added that it may have
missed incidents when its
monitors were themselves displaced by
violence.
This raised questions about an apparent significant decline in
political
violence in June.
The cumulative report for January-June
noted an "exponential increase in
human rights violations," in May in
particular with 6,288 documented
incidents. Through June some 77 murders
were reported across the country.
Peace Project National Director Jestina
Mukoko told reporter Jonga
Kandemiiri that violence may well have continued
at high levels in June, but
went unrecorded as the project's own monitors,
like many other citizens,
were obliged to flee the most violent
areas.
Meanwhile, opposition political sources said a driver abducted by
armed
soldiers in Buhera South last Thursday had been released by police
Friday
night.
Movement for Democratic Change driver Witness Maambire
said that after he
was abducted, the soldiers interrogated him then handed
him over to officers
at Muzokomba police station where he underwent further
questioning before
being released the following day.
Maambire was
abducted in Buhera South where he had gone to pick up victims
of violence
who had not been able to obtain medical care, and transport them
to
hospitals.
He said the soldiers never tortured him, but demanded to know
why he was in
the area, to which he responded that he was looking to
purchase livestock
for food.
MDC officials in Manicaland province
said said Buhera remains a no-go area
for opposition members despite calls
from some ruling party officials for an
end to violence.
By Alex Bell
28 July
2008
The number of Zimbabweans seeking shelter in neighbouring countries
is
reaching unmanageable proportions, with the Botswana government appealing
for international help with the influx of Zimbabweans - who it says are
draining Botswana's resources.
Foreign Minister Phandu Sekelemani
told South Africa's SAfm radio station on
Sunday that the influx of
Zimbabweans into Botswana "is an issue to be dealt
with" and he called on
the international community "to help us because it is
a drain on our
resources". Sekelemani said the number of refugees keeps
growing and that
the government "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 Robert Mugabe's regime went from bad to worse.
Meanwhile, many
Zimbabweans who fled to South Africa are facing deportation
after failing to
apply for temporary South African ID cards. The group is
among about 700
hundred foreign nationals that were forcibly removed from a
refugee centre
in Johannesburg last week - where they were taking shelter
following the
xenophobic attacks in South Africa earlier this year. They
have since been
removed to a repatriation centre where they face
deportation, but South
African media reported that many have taken to the
streets in an effort to
prevent being sent back home.
Daniel Molokele from the Global Zimbabwe
forum told Newsreel on Monday that
the situation in Botswana is indicative
of what he called an "international
humanitarian crisis". He said it was
"very important that the UN get
involved" to aid country's hosting
Zimbabwean refugees as well as the
refugees themselves.
He said
pressure needs to be put on SADC leaders to "accept that there is a
need for
Africans to take responsibility for the crisis, because it is the
direct
result of the failure of Africa, in particular SADC, to intervene in
the
worsening Zimbabwean situation".
Molokele added that he respects South
Africa's changing policy on refugees
but emphasised that "any form of
deportations is an affront to the situation
in Zimbabwe". He said there
should a complete stop to all Zimbabwean
deportations "until further notice
or at all" and that governments should
invest in a "repatriation process" of
all Zimbabweans seeking shelter from
the violence in their home
country.
Botswana earlier this month urged other nations in southern
Africa not to
recognise Mugabe's re-election in last month's one-man poll.
Sekelemani
reiterated calls for Zimbabwe to be suspended from the Southern
Africa
Development Community (SADC). He said that Botswana "as a country
that
practices democracy and the rule of law" does not "recognise the
outcome of
the presidential run-off election, and would expect other SADC
member states
to do the same".
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
IOL
July
28 2008 at 09:55AM
By Peta Thornycroft and Hans
Pienaar
President Thabo Mbeki told the Cabinet on Sunday that talks
were
continuing between Zimbabwe's main political parties in
Pretoria.
And Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad has denied
any
knowledge of "parallel talks" said to be taking place in
Harare.
Another government source said that if there were any such
talks they
would be an adjunct to the main dialogue in
Pretoria.
Meanwhile, people injured during the run up to the second
round of the
presidential poll, in which Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe,
was the only
candidate, are still emerging from quasi-military bases
controlled by
Zanu-PF.
Human rights workers say there are 25
full bases still operating in
the Buhera area, Manicaland
province.
In the remote Gokwe district in central Zimbabwe, the
Independent
Foreign Service saw last week that, although the bases in that
region appear
to have been dismantled, Zanu-PF militia who manned them were
all still
around and people were being prevented from returning to their
burnt-out
homes.
In London, Amnesty International said it was
worried that the climate
of impunity would continue should a deal be reached
and amnesty be given, in
the process sweeping the deaths of as many as 150
people and dispersion of
thousands under the carpet.
Amnesty
said: "Any future deal between the parties should not include
amnesties,
pardons or any other measures that would prevent the emergence of
the truth,
a final judicial determination of guilt or non-guilt, and full
reparations
to victims and their families."
Amnesty International remained
concerned that "Zimbabwe was still
blanketed in a climate of
fear.
"The government must put an immediate end to all acts of
intimidation,
arbitrary arrest and torture perpetrated state and non-state
actors against
human rights defenders and political activists, particularly
in rural areas.
"All bases from which torture and ill-treatment are
being carried out
must be closed immediately and alleged perpetrators of
human rights
violations must be brought to justice," Amnesty
said.
This article was originally published on page 2 of Cape
Times on July
28, 2008
http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=4552&cat=1
28th
Jul 2008 08:37 GMT
By a
Correspondent
THE government of President Robert Mugabe says new US
sanctions against
Zimbabwe are designed to hold back the pace of economic
reform.
Secretary for Information and Spokesperson for President Robert
Mugabe,
George Charamba, said on Sunday that the fresh round of sanctions
are
intended to prevent Zimbabwean businesses from finding trading partners
in
countries such as Iran and China.
"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 United States last week broadened sanctions on Mugabe's
government and
his closest aides, by singling out banks and mining companies
which provide
Zimbabwe with its main source of income.
The unilateral
measures come after a sanctions vote in the United Nations
Security Council
earlier this month was vetoed by China and Russia.
Once the breadbasket
of sub-Saharan Africa, Zimbabwe's flourishing economy
rapidly shrank as a
consequence of policies imposed by the IMF and World
Bank in return for
loans.
http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=4551&cat=1
28th
Jul 2008 08:31 GMT
By a Correspondent
PRETORIA - The South
African government Sunday raised objections to new
sanctions on Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe and his cronies while
negotiations are continuing to
try to end the country's crisis.
Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad
suggested that sanctions were akin to
external interference.
"For us,
it is difficult to understand the objectives of new sanctions,"
said Pahad,
two days after the US government broadened its sanctions by
adding the names
of several dozen individuals as well as 17 companies and
parastatals linked
to the Mugabe regime.
Earlier in the week, the European Union widened its
list of individuals
targeted by the sanctions, which include freezimg assets
and visa bans.
"The Zimbabweans are meeting, let them sort out what they
want for their
future. We should not allow outside interference," Pahad told
a news
conference.
President Thabo Mbeki earlier told reporters that
his government wants
Zimbabwe's political rivals to speedily reach an
agreement on a negotiated
settlement to the country's crisis.
Mbeki
as chief mediator said the talks which opened on Thursday are ongoing
and
the South African cabinet meeting last week expressed hopes that the
participants would work fast towards a conclusive deal.
"Negotiations
are continuing," said Mbeki, without giving details of the
talks being held
under a media blackout and at an upmarket lodge on the
outskirts of the
capital.
"The cabinet expressed hope that the Zimbabwean parties will act
with
urgency to ensure that a settlement is reached sooner," he
added.
Zimbabwe's political crisis deepened last month after Mugabe
defied
international and regional calls to forge ahead with a one-man,
second round
presidential election from which opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai had
pulled out over violence against his
supporters.
Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party has said its leader's
re-election in the June
27 run-off must be recognised for the talks,
established by an agreement
signed with Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
leader Tsvangirai on
Monday, to succeed. - AFP
VOA
By Patience Rusere
Washington
28 July
2008
Zimbabwean bankers, businesses, economists and consumers
Monday awaited
further details from the central bank on how it will address
cash shortages,
following a statement by its chief to state media that he
will remove "more
zeros" from bank notes to simplify transactions.
Such a
redenomination of bank notes would be a repeat of an operation the
central
bank carried out in August 2006, causing massive economic disruption
as
obsolescent notes were called in by the central bank, their holders
obliged
to explain how they came by them.
The anticipated central bank move
follows lobbying by businesses whose cash
registers, calculators, and other
devices are now unable to handle long
strings of zeros - as many as 21 as
transactions mount into the trillions,
quadrillions, quintillions and even
sextillions.
The most likely move would be to remove nine zeros from the
currency, such
that a Z$10 billion note would become a Z$10
note.
Sources in Zimbabwe said Monday that the battered Zimbabwean
dollar was
trading between Z$500 billion and Z$800 billion to the U.S.
dollar. But some
parallel market were quoting U.S. dollar exchange rates in
the trillions,
perhaps reflecting a rush by participants holding large
amounts of
Zimbabwean dollars to dump them in advance of central bank
controls.
The state-run Sunday Mail said on the weekend that the
central bank is also
planning to raise its limit on cash withdrawals from
banks to relieve tackle
cash shortages. Currently, individual account
holders can only withdraw
Z$100 billion a day from their bank - barely
enough to cover the cost of
commuting to and from work in a common
conveyance.
Economist and businessman Luxon Zembe, a former president
of the National
Chamber of Commerce, told reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's
Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that had become almost impossible for businesses to
deal with so
many zeros, adding the caveat that aside from simplifying
transactions,
redenomination would hold few economic benefits.
The Monitor
(Kampala)
29 July 2008
Posted to the web 28 July 2008
Kitsepile
Nyathi
Harare
Thousands of Zimbabweans displaced by
politically-motivated violence are
still stranded, amid fears of a
humanitarian crisis a month after President
Robert Mugabe won the one
candidate presidential run -off election.
The United Nations Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in
Zimbabwe estimates that the
number of displaced people is 36,000 with 16,844
confirmed.
Aid
agencies, banned from carrying out field operations in the run-up to the
elections on accusations that they were campaigning for the opposition, have
appealed for an immediate lifting of the ban so that they could offer
support to the victims and the more than three million Zimbabweans facing
starvation.
Thousands of people were forced to abandon their homes
after President
Robert Mugabe's militant supporters unleashed a reign of
terror in an effort
to reverse the veteran leader's first round defeat to
his arch-rival, Mr
Morgan Tsvangirai of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change.
Mr Tsvangirai pulled out of the June 27 run-off citing
the death of more
than 100 of his supporters and the displacement of
thousands others.
Organisations taking care of the victims, who are
mostly supporters of the
MDC, said although they had assisted several
hundreds of people to return to
their homes, some were still unprepared to
face their tormentors.
http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=4555&cat=4
28th
Jul 2008 22:19 GMT
By
Chenjerai Chitsaru
IT is time for the African Union to investigate
the causes of the continent's
failure to achieve the dream which began in
1957. Why have only a few
countries realised their political and economic
potential since then?
The continent is now fully independent. Yet, with
only a few exceptions, the
dream of full nationhood and the economic
benefits that flow from it is
still deferred.
Many analysts have
probably investigated the problem, but have so far not
published their
findings. This is either because they are ashamed - as proud
Africans would
be - to disclose the naked truth that the fault lies, not
with some mythical
Western plot, but with us.
Or it could be that these analysts themselves
showed their work to one or
two politicians for approval and were told to
destroy it or risk a fate
worse than death.
Or it could be - and this
is a very long shot - that the analysts were
relatives of leading
politicians and shelved publication because the report
could end their
relatives' careers, which would throw them into the
poorhouse, as they too
benefited from their relatives'positions.
This is Africa and nothing is
as incredible as it may seem. One leader told
a public rally that if anyone
opposed his party he would have them bashed.
The next day, the same man was
proclaiming his country was a full-fledged
democracy, always holding free
and fair elections.
Theories abound as to what has stymied our attempts
to bring to the people
the benefits of the blood and sweat they shed during
the struggle against
colonialism. One overwhelming theory is greed - for
power and wealth.
This by no means is to suggest that no other continent
is blighted by these
two curses except Africa. Indeed, every continent on
earth is plagued by
these maladies. The focus today is on Africa primarily
because since 1957,
the continent has made painfully slow steps towards
achieving for its people
the political and economic development that other
continents have made.
What the AU ought to do is to appoint a
high-powered commission of
investigators to look at the causes of our
political and economic
backwardness since Ghana 's independence.
Two
Nigerians ought to be on the commission: Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka,
who
have both commented, in literature, on the plight of their country since
independence in 1960. A Kenyan, N'gugi wa Thiongo ought to be included too,
as should a number of South Africans, among them Lewis Nkosi, Nadine Godimer
and Frene Ginwala.
Zimbabwe could be represented by Chenjerai Hove,
now living in exile.
I mention Nigerians and South Africans as those two
countries are the
biggest economies on the continent and have set terrible
examples on both
the political and economic front as far as advancement is
concerned.
Nigeria 's middle name is Corruption. South Africa's is Crime.
Both
countries could blame their predicaments on colonialism and apartheid.
But
here is a crunch: they both waged a war against white domination and
triumphed. Nothing, on the surface, could prevent them from triumphing over
Corruption and Crime - except the twin curses of Corruption and
Crime.
In Nigeria, a former president is openly accused of having
corruptly
acquired wealth. In South Africa, a judge is accused of suspicious
dealings
in a case involving the president of the ruling ANC.
In both
countries, poverty levels are staggeringly high, in relation to the
two
nations' gross domestic product. In South Africa, the first president
after
the end of apartheid, Nelson Mandela, said there were many wealthy
people in
the country who would not share their riches with the poor.
No prominent
politician or dignitary has been heard to pronounce the same
sentiment in
Nigeria, although you can be sure that they feel exactly the
same way,
except that to say so publicly might land them in trouble with
their
relatives and their wives.
Now, we all know that the AU, like its
predecessor, the OAU, is acutely
aware of its
toothless-ness.
Examples of how its battered gums have failed to bite the
bullet in many
crisis situations abound. In the DRC, only the help of
foreign countries
ensured the blood-letting among the Congolese was finally
ended or curbed.
In the Sudan, the bloodshed in the Darfur region
continues, even as an
arrest warrant has been issued for Sudanese president,
Omar el Bashir. On
television recently, the president was shown brazenly
reassuring the people
of Darfur that he had their interests at heart and
would protect them.
On his orders, it is alleged, millions have been
killed in Darfur .
Who can remember Jaafar El Nimeiri?
Sudan is a
microcosm of an African country which fought gallantly against
the British
to achieve its independence. Once that dream was achieved, it
has known
little peace. John Garang, the leader of the southern part of the
country,
died in a plane as he tried to end another bloody conflict.
Death
continues to stalk that vast land, which gained independence in 1956.
The
problem with entrusting the onerous task of probing the causes of Africa
's
failure to bring prosperity to its people to the AU is obvious: that
organisation is part of the problem, and cannot conceivably be seen as part
of the solution.
I say that even while admitting that, in efforts to
solve the crisis in
Zimbabwe, the organisation appears to have played a
crucial role. Some might
consider this an example of optimism based on
something as ephemeral as dew
in the morning. Others might deride that
statement as being so much wishful
thinking.
Hopes have been raised
in the past, only to be dashed, even as people
prepared to pop the corks of
the bottles of whatever drinks can still be
bought in the streets of the
cities today.
In case there are people who see Zimbabwe with rose-tinted
glasses, it is
important to point out that this country, born with so much
promise in 1980,
is an example of how Africans have messed up their dreams
of prosperity.
Most of the population of our country is below 30 years of
age. So, it
stands to reason that most have only a faint idea of what the
potentialfor
development was in 1980.
Any conversation with the young
- or the so-called Born Free - is invariably
punctuated with the question:
What went wrong?
Those who had matured by 1980 know what went wrong: we
put too much trust in
people who had joined the struggle, not out of any
overwhelming desire to
improve the economic and political welfare of
ordinary people, but out of
their own selfish desire to replace the
colonialists in every respect.
In other countries where such people have
duped their compatriots into
accepting their looting of the country's wealth
as a legitimate reward for
their role in the struggle, their fate has been
messy, to say the least.
This bloody syndrome might end once the AU
discovers the seed of the
discontent which has cursed African development
for more than 50 years.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=3479
by Own
Correspondent Tuesday 29 July 2008
JOHANNESBURG - A Nigerian
government official on Monday said Zimbabwean
farmers have found a new home
in the west African country to continue
farming on the African
continent.
"Our state alone has 15 Zimbabwean farmers who have
relocated," deputy
governor of Nigeria's Nasarawa state John Michael Abul
told the South
Africa-Nigeria Business Forum in
Johannesburg.
Thousands of white Zimbabwean farmers have lost their land
following
President Robert Mugabe's haphazard land reform programme that
started in
2002 and has led to the destruction of the country's once vibrant
farming
sector.
Often violent and chaotic, Mugabe's land seizure
replaced productive white
farmers with black farmers who are either
incompetent or poorly funded and
this has resulted in the former breadbasket
of southern Africa facing acute
food shortages.
Last week a regional
Tribunal found Zimbabwe's government guilty of
violating an order not to
harass a group of white farmers or seize their
land and said Harare must
explain its actions to a summit of southern
African leaders in South Africa
next month.
The South African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal had
in an earlier
ruling temporarily barred Harare from seizing land belonging
to 78 white
farmers pending the hearing of an application by the farmers
challenging the
legality of Mugabe's programme to confiscate white-owned
land for
redistribution to landless blacks.
The white farmers want
the Tribunal to declare Mugabe's controversial land
reform programme racist
and illegal under the SADC Treaty. Such a ruling
would have far reaching
consequences for Mugabe's government, opening the
floodgates to thousands of
claims of damages by dispossessed white farmers.
Abdul said the
Nigerian state of Nasarawa, located in the middle belt zone
of the country,
had vast arable land for commercial farming, fishery
development, wildlife
and forestry conservation, and added that agriculture
was the mainstay of
the state's people - with more than 70 percent of the
population involved in
subsistence farming.
Areas for investment in the agricultural
sector included sugar cane
plantations, sugar refineries, flour-mills and
rice processing. The state
was also rich in minerals and had bright tourism
prospects.
Zimbabwe is in the grip of a severe political and economic
crisis that the
World Bank has described as the worst in the world outside a
war zone and is
seen in the world's highest inflation rate of more than two
million percent,
severe shortages of food and every basic survival
commodity. - ZimOnline
http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=4553&cat=1
28th
Jul 2008 22:07 GMT
By Ian
Nhuka
BULAWAYO - Zimbabwe's biggest mining fair, MineEntra ended here
Saturday
with only one foreign company exhibiting as well as a string of
small mining
concerns and parastatals.
Organised by the Zimbabwe
International Trade Fair Company, MineEntra is
staged annually at the
Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre here.
Held between Wednesday and
Saturday last week, its primary focus is to
showcase the mining sector in
the country although the transport and
engineering sectors are also
incorporated.
MineEntra is a specialised fair open to business people
only with the three
specific focus sectors and is the ZITF Company's second
biggest fair after
the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, which is a general
exposition.
But, in tune with the obtaining economic meltdown and the
refusal of the
West to conduct business with Zimbabwe because of political
differences over
President Robert Mugabe's rule, the business content of
basically all shows
is plummeting every year.
During a press
conference on Monday, ZITF Company general manager, Daniel
Chigaru admitted
that the show was a disaster.He said a week before the
start of the show
total of 80 organisations had confirmed their
participation, but eight did
not turn up without an explanation.
The number of exhibitors who
showcased their products this year is far lower
than the 150 who
participated last year.Usually, the company and the
government tend to paint
a glossy picture of its shows, but perhaps this
time it was impossible to do
so because of the glaring absence of major
mining firms, the massive
presence of small and medium scale mining
companies and the little space
they booked.
Giving the official opinion of the conduct of the show,
Chigaru blamed the
hostile economic conditions for the poor show.
Nevertheless, he claimed the
few exhibitors who attended managed to discuss
business deals.
He said: "We are happy with this year's MineEntra and we
must note that it
was held under very difficult economic conditions and this
somehow had an
effect on the exhibition. On the first day activity was good
although
visitors who came in were fewer compared to last year."
The
72 exhibiting organisations took up only 1 350 square metres of space in
Hall 3. This means that the hall was basically empty as it offers 3 600
square metres of space.The only foreign company that attended MineEntra was
only identified as CBC.
Two officials representing the company,
Sanjay Tyagi and Kiyuyeb Vladimir
only visited a small-scale gold mining
enterprise that is run by the Deputy
Minister of Environment and Tourism,
Andrew Langa in Filabusi on Thursday
last week.
Visiting Zimbabwe
some two years after the government was embarrassed after
hosting a Russian
delegation representing a non existent company, the Tyagi
and Vladimir
proclaimed that Russian businesses were keen to invest in
Zimbabwe's coal
and chrome mines.
During the press conference, Chigaru said speakers at a
two-day conference
held during the first two days highlighted the factors
that are affecting
the mining, engineering and transport
industries.
"The speakers managed to touch on the pertinent issues that
are affecting
the sectors and we are very grateful to those who attended and
those who
presented papers during the conference," Chigaru said.
He
criticised the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe for failing to provide
subsidised diesel to exhibitors although the oil utility supplied 15 000
litres of petrol."We did not get diesel, something that also affected the
exhibitors."
http://zimbabwemetro.com/2008/07/28/batswana-want-zvayi-deported/
By Mellisa Dube-Koketso ⋅ © zimbabwemetro.com ⋅
July 28, 2008 ⋅
Following the revelation that Robert Mugabe’s leading
surrogate is hiding
inside Botswana working as a lecturer at one of the
colleges,some citizens
have called for him to be deported from
Botswana.
The Botswana Standard reported on Sunday that Caeser Zvayi who
was until
recently the editor of the government propaganda mouthpiece The
Herald is in
Gaborone.
Metro has established that he is lecturing at
LimKokWing University in
Gaborone. He teaches among other the courses
Writing for Print and News
Writing and Reporting 1 in the university’s
Faculty of Communications and
Media.
Some students said they were not
aware that Zvayi was a key Mugabe supporter
and called for him to be kicked
out of the country and the school should
find a replacement.
‘If he
supports Mugabe he must go back,he can be easily replaced by another
lecturer from Zimbabwe with morals,how can anyone support Mugabe when people
are suffering, afterall why is he in Botswana if he thinks Mugabe is doing
the right thing’, said Kagiso Seloma a student at the
university.
Seloma’s sentiments were echoed by Gaborone resident Mary
Kokorwe who said
Zimbabweans should stage a demonstration at the
university,’He be should
arrested for promoting hate and Zimbabweans should
demonstrate at the
university campus,because that should send a message to
those who are
violating other people’s rights in Zimbabwe right now that
they will not get
away with it.’
Other students and locals expressed
similar sentiments. Anti-Mugabe
sentiments are particularly strong among
Botswana citizens and the Botswana
government has taken a particular
hardline stance against Mugabe.
Zvayi has in the past openly called for
the alienation of the opposition and
celebrated the violent crackdown on the
opposition in that country, he is
well know for bastardizing the MDC acronym
to mean Movement for the
Destruction of our Country, sometimes with the
ascetic ‘movement’ for
‘morons’. Last year he used a racial slur against the
US Ambassador calling
him a ” house Ni***r“.
He became the first
journalist to be added to the European Union travel
restrictions on
Zimbabwe.
He is accused of propagating hate speech in an updated list of
37
individuals and 4 ‘entities’ under a visa ban and assets freeze. They are
accused of whipping up support during a state sponsored terror campaign
during and after the June 29 controversial run off election.
http://www.thisisdorset.net/display.var.2410829.0.rallying_cry_for_zimbabwe_exiles.php
By Joanna Codd
A GROUP of Zimbabwean exiles staged
a rally in Bournemouth town centre to
highlight their country's worsening
plight under the rule of President
Robert Mugabe.
Despite losing a
general election this year, the elderly dictator and his
Zanu-PF party have
managed to cling on to power through violence and
bullying while the country
continues to spiral into economic chaos.
Desmond Tinarwo, a Movement for
Democratic Change opposition party supporter
who lives in Bournemouth after
fleeing his homeland five years ago, said:
"We're just trying to rally
support. People think we're just coming here for
a good life, that we're
probably economic immigrants.
"As everyone should know by now, Mugabe has
become a law unto himself. If
you are even caught criticising him, let alone
trying to get rid of him, you
know what's going to happen to you. He has
been getting rid of his opponents
since the 1980s.
"A few of us who
are here and able to work do the best we can to support
those left at home.
We want British people to know all the reasons that make
us decide to leave
our homes. No-one wants to live in exile. We came to this
country to protect
our lives."
Dadirai Matambanadzo, who travelled from Slough to take part
in the march,
came to Britain as an asylum seeker in September 2001 and has
not been
allowed to work. "My life was in danger. My husband used to work
for a
British company and those were targeted. Zanu-PF came looking for him.
He
wasn't around, so I was beaten up.
"I used to own two hairdressing
salons and would like to continue with that.
Life is miserable. I want to
work and I definitely want to go back to my
beautiful country."
Stella
Gideon, now living in Poole, said she had been jailed for four months
after
working here illegally as a care assistant for four years. "I used a
Malawi
passport to come here four years ago because of the fear of violence.
They
kidnapped my husband, who was an active member of the MDC, and they
wanted
to kill me. Right now I don't know where my husband is.
"I was arrested
in February because I was using false documents. I don't
have anything to
allow me to work in this country, but I want to work to
support my family,
who are suffering in Zimbabwe. My four children are not
going to school and
it's difficult to keep in touch because I don't want to
put my mother in
danger."
Protest organiser Musekiwa Herbert Mumbamarwo, said: "Things
have got worse
since I left Zimbabwe six years ago. My life would be in
danger if I went
back."
http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/lazolandamase/2008/07/28/zimbabwe-negotiations-%E2%80%93-are-bound-to-fail/
Lazola
Ndamase
There has been a
lot of jubilation and misguided excitement about the recent
Zimbabwean
negotiations, what with the European Union praising Mbeki's
mediation effort
and the brokering of a memorandum of understanding.
Surprisingly this
song and dance has not been witnessed by the protagonists
(Zanu-PF and MDC)
themselves. Clearly this should be a sign that our
jubilation is a result of
sheer excitement without analysis.
The recent handshake by Mugabe and
Tsvangirai has been wrongly read to mean
a possibility for peace and
democratic change. This cannot be further from
the truth. It is not the
first time that Mugabe shakes the hand of his
opponents. He did with Nkomo,
but continued the massacre at Matabeleland,
killing thousands of
Zimbabweans. If handshakes and hugs could solve
conflicts life would much
better in Africa. Unfortunately, it's not the
case.
For negotiations
to achieve anything, at least one, if not both, of the
parties to the
conflict should be willing to compromise and meet the other
halfway. In
Zimbabwe, this is not the case. Both Zanu-PF and the MDC have
entered
negotiations with diametrically opposed interests. Zanu-PF demands
acceptance for the sham June election, while MDC expects recognition of the
March election results.
Most importantly, this includes a defence for
the land reform process, which
particularly benefited Zanu-PF
leaders.
This clearly shows a gulf in expectations; hence it is
impossible to
reconcile these diametric interests. There is no way that
Zanu-PF is going
to make any compromises that would accede political power
to MDC, even if
that would include a power-sharing compromise.
The
reason for this is that, unlike in South Africa, Zimbabwean black
capital
exists directly through the Zimbabwean state. It is not a case of
indirect
relations that lead to crony capitalism, such as we have in South
Africa,
where black capital is indirectly connected to the state and the
ANC. The
land reform process is an example where economic reform directly
benefits
members of the state machinery from ministers to army generals and
not their
wives or cousins.
This creates a situation where loss of state power
would result in a direct
loss of economic power or accumulation. This is why
Zanu-PF has clung on to
power despite a collapse in legitimacy. In South
Africa, what made the
transition easier was that you could give away
political power, but could
retain economic dominance - hence the white elite
acceded when resistance
was no longer possible.
In fact, Zanu-PF has
already shown signs of unwillingness to compromise. It
has not yet released
MDC political prisoners. It continues to batter MDC
supporters in the rural
areas. It continues to deny access to food supplies
to all those it suspects
of supporting the MDC, even while the negotiations
are under
way.
Zanu-PF will not compromise, but it it expects that the MDC should.
But the
MDC did not enter negotiations out of its will, but through pressure
by
Mbeki and other political actors and is therefore less likely to give
anything. To it these negotiations are just another mechanism to prove how
unreasonable and selfish Zanu-PF really is. But if it gives power to
Zanu-PF, it would have totally sold out and surrendered the fate of
Zimbabweans to dictatorship in the same way Zapu did when it merged with
Zanu.
When I say the MDC cannot compromise I do not mean they may not
agree to
power-sharing. I do not mean that they may not allow Mugabe to
remain state
president, or guarantee him immunity to prosecution. Those are
peripheral
matters and can be agreed to without an impasse. What will be
most important
is who will be dominant or in charge of the compromise
government or
government of national unity (GNU).
Government
dominance is what both actors are actually looking to acquire out
of the
negotiations. Government dominance is what will guarantee who will be
in
charge at the end of this power-sharing period. It will also determine
who
will dictate terms on economic policy and direction. So if the MDC would
compromise on this, it would have not only sold out, but would have joined
the hall of fame reserved for opportunists and selfish morons who would do
anything to secure a better salary and life regardless of the penury
suffered by the majority. Surely Tsvangirai knows better than
this.
This entry was posted on Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 9:17 am
By Violet
Gonda
28 July 2008
Last Friday the United States broadened sanctions
against members of the
Mugabe regime and its supporters. 17 entities,
several Zimbabwean
parastatals and one individual were designated by the
U.S. Department of the
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control for
contributing to the
"undermining of democratic processes and institutions in
Zimbabwe." The US
said these entities, mainly from the banking and mining
industries, have
been used to illegally siphon revenue and foreign exchange
from the
Zimbabwean people.
The US joined the European Union, who
broadened smart sanctions against 37
more individuals and, for the first
time, four companies linked to the
regime. Also, for the first time, two
Zimpapers journalists, Caesar Zvayi
and Munyaradzi Huni, were included on
the list.
The US targeted sanctions freezes the assets of the named
individuals and
entities, and US nationals are prohibited from conducting
financial and
foreign transactions with them.
However the South
African government condemned the measures describing them
as "interference"
in Zimbabwe's affairs. Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad
told a news
conference that it was difficult to understand the objectives of
the new
sanctions at a time when the political parties are negotiating a way
forward. South Africam, which is facilitating the talks between ZANU PF and
the two MDC formations, is viewed as a long-time ally of the Mugabe
regime.
But US President George Bush said the smart sanctions were there
to put
pressure on the ZANU PF elite, which continues with a violent
campaign
against opponents and has not lifted the ban on humanitarian
aid.
Bush has authorised an additional US$2.5million in aid to assist
refugees
and asylum seekers displaced by the political violence. He said;
"We will
also continue our efforts to provide food and health assistance as
part of
our commitment to help the people of Zimbabwe in their time of
greatest
need."
Below is the list of the new companies and
entities added to the sanctions
list by the US Treasury
Department:
The Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ), the
sole marketing
and export agent for all minerals, except gold and silver,
mined in
Zimbabwe;
The Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation
(ZMDC), involved in investment
in the mining industry in Zimbabwe, and in
planning, coordinating and
implementing mining projects on behalf of the
Government of Zimbabwe;
The Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO),
Zimbabwe's largest steel works;
The Agricultural Development Bank of
Zimbabwe (Agribank), a commercial bank
owned by the Government of
Zimbabwe;
The Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe Ltd, a
state-owned
enterprise that owns a large number of companies operating in
the industrial
sector, including the chemical, clothing and textiles,
mineral processing,
and motor and transport sectors;
The
Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe, a financing entity;
Zimre
Holdings Limited, an investment and reinsurance entity;
ZB Financial
Holdings Limited, a holding company for a group of companies
involved in
commercial and merchant banking;
And 4 major subsidiaries of ZB Financial
Holdings Limited: ZB Bank Limited
(Zimbank), ZB Holdings Limited,
Intermarket Holdings Limited, and Scotfin
Limited.
OFAC also
designated Thamer Bin Saeed Ahmed Al-Shanfari, an Omani national
with close
ties to the Mugabe regime, together with his company, Oryx
Natural
Resources.
The US statement said Al-Shanfari uses his company to enable
Mugabe and his
senior officials to maintain access to, and derive personal
benefit from,
various mining ventures in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo.
A commercial arm of the Zimbabwean army, OSLEG ( Operation
Sovereign
Legitimacy), with interests in the DRC was also added to the
sanctions list.
It's reported that activities of OSLEG and Al-Shanfari's
Oryx Natural
Resources Robert Mugabe and his senior
officials.
Companies owned by senior ZANU PF cronies already on the
sanctions list were
designated. These include:
Divine Homes, a
property company owned by David Chapfika, the Deputy
Minister of
Agriculture;
COMOIL (Pvt) Ltd., a petroleum importing company, owned by
Saviour
Kasukuwere, Deputy Minister of Youth Development and Employment
Creation;
Famba Safaris, a registered Zimbabwean safari operator, whose
Director and
major shareholder is Webster Shamu, the Minister of State for
Policy
Implementation.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
GLOBAL
ZIMBABWE FORUM
"The Voice of the Zimbabwean Diaspora"
PRESS
STATEMENT
At its General Council meeting held on 27th July 2008, the GZF
discussed the
issue of the on-going mediation efforts to broker a negotiated
settlement
between the political parties in Zimbabwe and resolved to issue
the
following statement:
The Global Zimbabwe Forum (GZF) welcomes the
signing of the Memorandum of
Understanding on 21st July 2008.
The GZF
calls upon the mediation process to be broadened to include all key
stakeholders in and outside the country especially the Civil Society
Organizations and the Diaspora Community
The GZF is specifically
concerned that the talks will result in the
unilateral amendments of some
key provisions of the national Constitution
without adequate consultation
with the various stakeholders.
The GZF insists that any new national
constitution must fully address the
concerns of the Diaspora community over
such critical issues as dual
citizenship and electoral enfranchisement of
the Diaspora, among others.
Any amendments to the national Constitution
must not be fast-tracked through
Parliament without a public debate process
since the Constitution is not a
preserve of the political party elite but
belongs to all of us Zimbabweans
whether at home or in the
Diaspora.
The GZF commits to work in partnership with the rest of the key
stakeholders
of the Zimbabwean community especially the CSOs movement in
promoting an all
inclusive mediation process.
The GZF also strongly
recommends that if the negotiations agree to a
settlement then an
all-inclusive national conference be held in Zimbabwe
that will allow for a
public discussion and endorsement process of all the
concerned stakeholders
from all the various community sectors in Zimbabwe.
Issued in
Geneva on Monday 28th July 2008 by
Mr. Daniel
Molokele
Co-ordinator
Telephone: +41 78 906 3896
Ms.
Grace Kwinjeh
Chairperson
Telephone: +27794344508
Mr.
Mandla-akhe Dube
Vice Chairperson
Telephone:
+6421...
Mr. Canaan Mhlanga
North America
Region
Telephone: +7782373072
Mr. Simbarashe
Chirimubwe
Rest of Africa Region
Telephone:
+267-7...
Mr. Promise Mkwananzi
Europe
Region
Telephone: +31612...
Mr. Luke Zunga
South Africa
Region
Telephone: +27835...
Prof. Stan Mukasa
North
America Region
Telephone: +724 467 0001
Mr. Sox
Chikohwero
South Africa Region
Telephone: +2772 238
9192
Mr. Daniel Molokele
Geneva
Switzerland
http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=638427
Luanda, 07/28 - The
Committee of ambassadors of the Non-aligned Movement
meeting since Sunday in
Tehran, Iran, on Monday passed unanimously Angola`s
proposal meant to solve
the political crisis in Zimbabwe.
By passing the proposal, now named
"Declaration on Zimbabwe'', the committee
expresses an unequivocal aid to
the negotiations between the political
actors of this African country, under
mediation of South Africa`s President,
Thabo Mbeki.
The attending
delegations praised the Republic of Angola for this successful
diplomatic
initiative that was qualified as a great gesture of
encouragement, meant to
seek a negotiated and lasting solution for the
present crisis in
Zimbabwe.
The Angolan team to that meeting is being led by the director
for
International Organisations of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Virgílio
Faria,
and comprises the country`s representative to the African Union,
Manuel
Augusto, and the ambassador to Egypt and Iran, Hendrick Vaal
Neto.
Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Minister, Marcos Barrica, is expected
on Tuesday
in the Iranian capital city, on behalf of Foreign Minister, João
Bernardo de
Miranda.