IOL
July 31
2008 at 09:32AM
By Peta Thornycroft
Robert Mugabe has
threatened "emergency measures" if prices continue
to rise, in a speech he
delivered after Zimbabwe Reserve Bank governor
Gideon Gono's monetary policy
statement.
"Entrepreneurs don't drive us further than we have...
you have done in
the past. If you drive us more we shall impose emergency
measures. We don't
want to place our country in a place where there are
emergency rules.
"We want to leave you with the freedom, the
flexibility to make
decisions," Mugabe said.
"In the state of
emergency... laws can be made... this is what can be
done and no other. We
don't want that here... when we have to say to you
this price and no other.
We might have to do this. Please take care."
Earlier, he said: "Let
us be fair. We want that equitable relationship
between producer and
consumers... I say this because I want the point taken.
The time has come
for us to be disciplined. The time has come for us to
charge prices that are
affordable."
Economists say the financial uncertainty and the
gradual change-over
to hard currency transactions is driving prices
up.
Zimbabwe has normal trade relations with the rest of the world,
including the West where it sells most of its minerals, now its largest
foreign currency earner.
This article was originally
published on page 2 of The Mercury on July
31, 2008
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=4ca2b46d-8adf-4465-be23-46048dfb81d8
David Jones, Citizen Special
Published: Thursday,
July 31, 2008
It is time to tell some truth -- cruel truth. Words, even the
most hectoring
or denunciatory, are not going to lever President Robert
Mugabe out of power
in Zimbabwe. Nor are condemnations from the United
Nations or elsewhere or
sanctions of one ilk or another. The latest report
of "power sharing" with
the opposition reminds one of lions lying down with
lambs -- it requires
replacing the lamb daily.
Mugabe is not going to
leave voluntarily. He is a believer in his own cult
of destiny. He had one
large idea -- elimination of colonial rule --
executed it, and has no
interest surrendering to the "pen" when he has
weapons to sustain him -- and
his opponents no weapons to remove him. Even
were he to consider for a
Harare hour the possibility of a cushioned
retirement, his establishment
clique knows that its life expectancy would be
measured in days if he
departs. Indeed, one can imagine Mugabe on life
support, akin to the final
days of Spain's Franco or Yugoslavia's Tito as
desperate minions attempt
their final lootings before their private jet
departures.
So the
frenetic "shame-shame" yapping over this stolen election or that
disgraceful
violation of the human right of the moment is just that --
yapping. The
proverb goes, "the dogs bark, but the caravan passes on." And
so will
Zimbabwe under Mugabe's control if words and "sanctions" are all
that are
levelled against his rule.
The answer, of course, is that discredited
maxim, violent "regime change."
Examining the military capabilities of the
Zimbabwe security forces, one
doesn't need much military experience to know
that a battalion of the 82nd
Airborne; a comparable unit of the French
Foreign Legion; or a group of
Royal Commandos could oust Mugabe in an
afternoon. But will anyone bell this
cat? Absolutely not. It isn't just a
Washington administration that would
run screaming from any
boots-on-the-ground commitment in darkest Africa.
There is nobody in the
world who wants the responsibility, individually or
corporately, for picking
up the pieces of this catastrophic country: a
million-per-cent inflation
(when we hyperventilate if inflation rises to
three per cent); 80-per-cent
unemployment; agriculture in collapse;
infrastructure in ruins;
etc.
Isn't this a "neighbourhood" problem? Well, the neighbours, with few
exceptions, have dirty fingernails. Mugabe and his spokesmen sneered at them
during the recent Organization of African Unity summit, suggesting they
clean their own kettles before pronouncing on the colour of his pot. And
after a little harrumphing, they went home. It isn't that they can't do
anything; they won't -- action would create a precedent that vicious despots
should be removed. So far as economic sanctions are concerned, there will
always be enough goodies to sustain the elite at the top and/or to hire
enough thugs to beat the placid masses back into cringing mode.
So
why is this our problem? Beyond an abstract goodie-goodie desire for
children to play nicely in all countries, why are we beating ourselves up
over Zimbabwe when the horrors in Darfur make Zimbabwe's problems trivial?
And we decline to do anything meaningful about Darfur for essentially the
same reasons.
Moreover, we should recognize that Zimbabwe's citizens
are doing very little
to free themselves. With a world awash in weaponry,
where is the armed
resistance to Mugabe? Where is the guerrilla movement
operating out of safe
havens in neighbouring countries? Where even are the
reports of resistance
by those responding with their own clubs, iron bars,
or gasoline bombs -- it
is not, after all, that Mugabe's thugs are
particularly sophisticated in
their thugery? They are not Nazi SS. One sees
nothing in Zimbabwe akin to
the resistance mounted by desperate people
throughout history to oppression.
After all, the French Revolution was
mounted by peasants with pitchforks.
The American Revolution featured poorly
armed farmers against the greatest
military in the world. Or consider the
efforts by Russian, Chinese, Cuban,
or other revolutionaries to free
themselves from authoritarian governments.
And throughout occupied Europe in
the Second World War, there was desperate
resistance -- often fatal to the
resistors. In comparison, the laments from
Zimbabwe remind one more of sheep
bahing over a sheering that gouges.
Indeed, the best of Zimbabwe's
citizens appear to have escaped to havens in
Europe, neighbouring African
states, or the Americas from which they send
remittances that are keeping
alive those not in the Mugabe feeding chain.
They should be arranging for
weapons deliveries and putting their own lives
at risk. Instead, they want
someone else to bear the burden that they should
be shouldering. We are
correct to decline.
David Jones, co-author of Uneasy Neighbo(u)rs:
Canada, the USA and the
Dynamics of State, Industry and Culture, is a former
U.S. diplomat who
served in Ottawa. He now lives in Arlington, Virginia.
http://www.news24.com/News24/MyNews24/Your_story/0,,2-2127-2128_2367349,00.html
31/07/2008 08:24 - (SA)
Tshepo Matjila, News24
User
It is disconcerting that the initial fully-fledged dialogue and
negotiations
between Mugabe's ZANU-PF and the MDC top brass have deadlocked
and
subsequently stalled.
The political grapevine is awash with
speculation that Mugabe wanted to
offer Morgan Tsvangiria a third Vice
President position as a political
compromise. Apparently, allegedly,
Tsvangirai was bargaining for an
executive Prime Minister role but got
peeved off with the less powerful vice
president role? And so the talking
stopped!
Methinks its time to move in. It is not going to be morally
repulsive
anymore to move into Zimbabwe and dethrone Mugabe and his
illegitimate
government - by force this time. The ballot couldn't do it.
Quite Diplomacy
didn't gain much. Negotiation couldn't do it. The last
viable and effective
effort left is military.
I punt the US, for all
the atrocities that they have done around the world
(more especially in
Afghanistan and Iraq), to take this opportune time and
redeem themselves
globally by saving Zimbabwe and its people from an
oppressive, iron-hand
regime through a military intervention.
Intentions
Mugabe
continues to bury his people alive through famine, lack of basic
services
(Eskom has pulled the plug on their electricity contract) and the
highest
recorded inflation in the world! The United States, together with
British
government, must not sit still anymore while Zimbabwe burns.
It is
evident that Mugabe has no intentions of rebuilding Zimbabwe. It is
very
clear that Zanu-PF does not care about the people of Zimbabwe. It is
very
clear Robert Gabriel Mugabe is not ready to leave the presidential
house
alive! Let someone remove him - dead or alive!
We all were somewhat
hopeful that he had intentions to resolve the political
impasse in Zimbabwe
a week ago, but once again he played a sick joke on all
of us (including the
Zimbabwean people). Mugabe and his cronies are not
ready to rebuild
Zimbabwe. Mbeki has tried his best we can all see that. The
SA government,
SADC and AU will do nothing to force Mugabe out ? we
understand that.
Zimbabwe is beyond negotiations.
We need a military-imposed change in
Zimbabwe. The three million plus
Zimbabweans who have fled the country
deserve that! I urge Britain and the
USA to, once and for all, stop talking,
ignore the UN Security Councils
vetoes and rid Zimbabwe of the proverbial
"monkey on its back" ? Robert
Mugabe and his thugs!
After all, if we
sacrifice one few for the good of millions who can judge
us?
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008 07:43
HARARE - The head of the military junta, Robert Mugabe, is unlikely to
attend a forthcoming SADC Heads of State and Government meeting in Botswana
to discuss his country's mounting economic and political crisis because he
was not officially invited, officials say.
A senior official in the
SADC secretariat in Botswana told The
Zimbabwean privately: "Mugabe is not
attending the meeting because the
bottom line is that he was not invited.
President (Ian) Khama has stated
categorically that he does not recognize
his pyrrhic victory of June 27.
There is intense lobbying to exclude him
from the deliberations."
The August 16 Heads of State meeting in
Gaborone will also deliberate
on the ongoing inter-party talks being held
under the facilitation of South
Africa President Thabo Mbeki in
Pretoria.
Reports suggesting the talks were teetering on the verge of
collapse
because Zanu (PF) negotiators were insisting on granting MDC leader
Morgan
Tsvangirai a junior position a Mugabe-led government, have been
dismissed as
false.
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who suffered
a stroke last month and
was receiving medical attention in France, will hand
over the rotating SADC
chairmanship to Mbeki at the Botswana
summit.
The officials said Mugabe risked full suspension from the
14-nation
body over human rights and democratic abuses if he refuses to play
ball at
the talks.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008 07:44
BY
BETHANY MORRISON
BELFAST - Richard Mills (42), an award winning Times
photo journalist
from Belfast, was found dead on July 14, the day he had
interviewed a
well-known white farmer who had been brutally beaten for
speaking out
against the Mugabe regime.
Mills' father, Richard
Mills Senior, said the family does not believe
the Zimbabwe police official
version of suicide, particularly as his son had
just adopted a
seven-year-old boy the very day he died.
"It doesn't appear to us to be
the actions of someone who is about to
take
their own life," Mills
Senior said.
Mills' death certificate says he died from asphyxiation
due to hanging
but family members have been quoted as saying this is totally
out of
character for him. "For now we want to lay him to rest but we will be
looking for answers to some of the questions that we have," Mills Senior
said.
Mills was working undercover for The Times newspaper in
Zimbabwe and
was due to travel back to Northern Ireland the day after his
tragic death.
He is survived by his wife Zoe (41) and his son Finn
(5).
According to work colleagues, Mills was an exceptional frontline
photo
journalist who had worked on assignments in Iraq, Pakistan and
Afghanistan.
The suspicious circumstances surrounding his death make it
difficult for his
family to come to terms with their loss.
Last
year a freelance cameraman, Edward Chikombo, was abducted and
killed
by
Central intelligence operatives after he smuggled television
pictures
out of the country of the badly injured opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai
after he was beaten by police on March 11 2007.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008
07:41
BY STAFF REPORTER
HARARE
Men in army uniform
carrying AK47s were spotted in an area where a
kudu bull was shot, according
to a report from the Midlands Black Rhino
Conservancy.
On Friday,
July 25, a military helicopter was observed hovering over
one position and
conservancy workers heard gunfire. The next day, two shots
were heard in the
same area and the helicopter was seen again.
"The helicopter was seen
to land and then take off again when more
shots were heard," said the
report. "A detail in army uniform carrying AK47s
was seen running towards
the chopper where it had landed about 100 metres
from the MBRC staff. The
chopper took off and went off in a east direction
and landed about 400
metres from the last pick-up point."
Staff said the helicopter carried
Air Force of Zimbabwe markings and
red cross.
When MBRC workers
searched the area, the found the kudu dead with
three bullet wounds. A
bullet head was recovered.
The chopper returned later that day, and
again on Sunday, July 27,
when another five shots were heard.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008
07:35
BY COLLEN CHIBANGO
HARARE - Finally Zimbabwe's major
political players are talking to
each other. What are the major expectations
of Zimbabweans? What can the
best result or outcome of the negotiations be?
Will they come to fruition
and what are the expectations of the
international community? What can
Zimbabweans expect from the international
community?
A positive outcome would entail any of the following: a
government of
national unity (GNU) or a transitional authority paving the
way for
elections. What is at stake is the composition of the two,
particularly the
GNU. What powers will be accorded to whom in a power
sharing agreement? More
importantly, what roles will Mugabe and Tsvangirai
play? Will they share
executive powers or will Mugabe agree to a titular
Presidency while
Tsvangirai runs the show or will we see a typical French
dual executive?
In the Kenyan scenario, the President has been reduced
almost to a
titular role but not fully ceremonial. The experience so far is
not showing
as to the type of relationship and the efficiency of such a
system - besides
the political settlement that resulted. If one is fully
ceremonial, there is
smooth and clear separation of powers and less
friction. Is that situation
feasible in our Zimbabwe? Will Mugabe agree to
such? More important is
whether the titular, ceremonial or executive head of
state will be the head
of the military.
The powers of parliament
need to be reinvigorated to ensure more
transparency and less friction
between the President and the Prime Minister.
Therefore, a clear separation
of powers needs to be worked out. Parliament
should be given more powers
with respect to accountability of state
machinery, the Prime Minister and
the judiciary. Surely, what is clear is
that there will be difficult
cohabitation - but it has to be achieved for
the good of the
country.
The economy needs urgent attention. The political players in
the
country have been advocating divergent modes to economic prosperity, how
will they integrate their different blue prints in such a way that the
country benefits in the short and long term? Such integration has to be
attractive to investors, donor countries and international monetary
institutions. Moreover it has to be attractive and resolve the immediate
needs of the ordinary Zimbabweans, inflation, basic goods, cash shortage and
revaluation, salary adjustments and employment creation.
Finally
and more importantly, will Zimbabwe be united once again? It
is common that
there is deep polarity in the country. How will society be
rehabilitated and
confidence re-instilled? Will the people get a chance to
author and
contribute to a new constitution or will the new widely
representative
parliament deal with that. One can argue that the general
populace is not
ready to contribute to a new constitution as it will be
filled with emotion,
hate and polarity. People would much rather concentrate
on rebuilding while
Parliament deals with the constitution.
I posit a situation whereby the
winning party and the ruling party
agree on a transitional authority to
reign for 24months, with a mandate to
facilitate smooth transition whereby
the re-habilitation, reconstruction,
re-engagement and revamping of the
Zimbabwean society, morale, culture,
legacy and future will take centre
stage and priority, giving birth to a new
people driven and backed
authority; accountable, responsible and sovereign!
Such a transitional
authority should be shared equally by all Zimbabweans,
but of course with
leading roles from the MDC and Zanu (PF).
Deliberately, the option of
failure of the talks is unexpected and
certainly unwarranted. I think the
hopes of every Zimbabwean, including
their leaders at the negotiating table,
are hitched on the success of these
talks and nothing else - failure is not
an option.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008 07:35
BY ARNOLD TSUNGA
Zanu (PF) has no intention of transferring power to
the MDC. The
following reasons substantiate this opinion:
1.
Organised Violence and Torture continues
No effort to offer security to
perceived opposition and to offer
protection to internally displaced persons
is being made. While negotiations
are taking place, Zanu (PF) is decimating
the opposition party structures
and driving human rights defenders from
remote areas.
2. Humanitarian Assault on the Poor continues
unabated
NGOs and humanitarian groups remain officially. The World Food
programme estimates that over 2 million people are in need of food
assistance and that this number will shoot to around 5.1 million people
around Christmas and new year.
3. Institutions of Checks and
balance are crippled
Parliament has not convened for over 6 months in
breach of the
constitution. The Judiciary is severely weak and unable to
effectively check
the JOC driven excesses.
4. JOC is running
country as a military Junta.
JOC has long replaced parliament and the
executive as key policy
formulation and implementation institutions in
Zimbabwe. JOC are not
represented in the negotiations even though everyone
knows that they are the
authors of the Zanu (PF) negotiation
strategy.
5. Government or public service departments are ZANUFIED
completely.
Nothing shows that there is any genuine desire to credibly
deal with
this issue. Mbeki was taken seriously when he told Zimbabweans
that he was
handling the mediation. Now both SADC and Pan African Parliament
have
condemned the recent June 27 elections.
6. Macro economic
destruction of Zimbabwe continues unmitigated.
Unconscionable printing
by Gono of ZB100 (worth 7p!) as an effort of
hiding or rigging inflation
shows the determination to hold on and not a
desire to reform.
7.
Expropriation Strategy Continues under guise of fighting the West
and black
economic empowerment.
While the negotiations were taking place the
Sunday Mail of July 20
said Zimbabwe had begun auditing the ownership of
Western firms in the
country as part of a black empowerment drive "and to
counter the possible
withdrawal of investment under sanctions imposed and
proposed by Britain and
the U.S."
8. Exclusion of CSOs and the
wider society in the mediation process
It gives the impression that the
problem in Zimbabwe is between Zanu
(PF) and the MDC. It ignores the fact
that the crisis is one of governance
and therefore an issue for all
Zimbabweans.
9. The Normalisation strategy is the current phase of the
Zanu (PF)
strategy
Domestically it was to climb down from general
widespread violence to
merely mopping up. It also entails letting
humanitarian groups begin to feed
people in a manner that portrays Zanu (PF)
as caring. The government has not
yet formally withdrawn the notice by
Nicholas Goche (representing Zanu (PF)
in the negotiations) of June 4 that
banned operations of NGOs and
humanitarian agencies.
Diplomatically
Zanu (PF) would create a sense of urgency in wanting to
be accommodative and
to talk to the MDC. Mbeki would be the natural target
to lure the MDC into
this discussion and create a "photo moment" involving
Mugabe, Morgan
Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara so that Mugabe would look
normal and capable
of being reformed. JOC expects this pact to slow down the
pressure on Mugabe
and buy him time that they so desperately need to further
entrench
themselves.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008
07:35
BY TREVOR GRUNDY
Canterbury - The Anglican bishop of Harare,
Sebastian Bakare, has warned
leaders of Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic
Change to be wary of President
Robert Mugabe intentions following the
signing of an agreement to open
power-sharing talks.
Bakare told
journalists at the 2008 Lambeth Conference that there were some
signs of
hope from the agreement signed. The bishop recalled, however, that
in
December 1987, Mugabe had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with
the
then opposition leader, the late Joshua Nkomo of the Zimbabwe African
People's Union.
"It ended up with Mugabe's party swallowing the other
party, and Mugabe is
in power still today," said Bakare. "I want to believe
that they on the
opposition side are aware of that pact and aware that
Mugabe is not there
just to hand in power."
Bishop Bakare's reaction
to the 21 July Memorandum of Understanding signing
ceremony was believed to
be the first by a senior Zimbabwean Christian.
The signing of the 1987
accord followed a five-year campaign by Mugabe to
rid Zimbabwe of opposition
and "dissidents" in the western province of
Matabeleland, an Nkomo
stronghold. Between 1982 and 1987, up to 25 000 men,
women and children were
killed by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade of
the Zimbabwe National
Army.
Effective opposition to Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF party ended
until the
MDC was formed in 1999. Bishop Bakare denied he was a member of
the MDC or
that he was a supporter of any political party. He told
journalists covering
the Lambeth Conference of the world's Anglican bishops
that, since its
inception 140 years ago, members of the Anglican church in
Zimbabwe had been
members of many different parties.
He said
accusations about his political leanings emanated from the
excommunicated
former Anglican bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga, a strong
supporter of
Mugabe's. From the pulpit, Kunonga openly backed the policies
described by
Mugabe as land reform policies, and which many analysts say
have contributed
largely to Zimbabwe's economic implosion. Kunonga was a
member of the
political elite given farms seized from white landowners that
were to have
been redistributed to landless black peasants.
Said Bishop Bakare,
"Kunonga, having seen that he has no support, has gone
to the Zanu-PF party
and it becomes very easy for him to target me as a
member of the opposition
party. But that is not true. I'm not that at all."
He noted, "The ruling
system is so oppressive that it has denied the people
their human rights,
including religious freedom." Bishop Bakare added, "My
diocese continues to
suffer persecution. We have been denied the freedom to
worship."
He
was referring to the actions of riot squad police preventing Anglicans
from
attending services at Harare's Anglican cathedral due to the deposed
bishop
Kunonga calling in the use of security forces. Kunonga was officially
stripped off his licence to be a priest by the Church of the Province of
Central Africa following his decision to pull the Anglican diocese of Harare
out of the Anglican regional grouping.
Some journalists attending
Bakere's press conference seemed taken aback when
he recounted the details
of how Anglicans had been forcefully hauled away
from the communion rail by
members of Mugabe's youth brigades. About 230
African bishops are boycotting
the Lambeth Conference because some of the
continent's Anglican leaders
object to the Archbishop of Canterbury's
handling of the issue of
homosexuality in the church following the
consecration of a non-celibate gay
bishop, who is a divorced father, in the
United States.
Bakare said,
however, he is in Canterbury to speak about what he said are
"real issues"
such as hunger, poverty, disease and state brutality against
the Church. On
18 June Bishop Bakare issued a pastoral letter in which he
wrote, "In
Zimbabwe today falsehood has almost become a national disease.
Some
newspapers and electronic media thrive on spreading falsehoods. They
twist
the truth for falsehood.
All forms of persecution - torture, killings,
arrests - are done by those
for whom falsehood has become a doctrine that
keeps them to sustain their
status quo."
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008
07:28
The following Zimbabwean individuals and organisations have been
added
to the European Union's Regional and International Wanted
list:
132. Gono, Gideon Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(central
bank); 133. Kazembe, Joyce Deputy Chairperson of the Zimbabwe
Electoral
Commission; 134. Patel, Bharat Acting Attorney General; 135.
Chiwenga,
Jocelyn Businesswoman, married to General Chiwenga, Commander of
the Defence
Forces; 136. Dube, Tshingo Head of Zimbabwe Defence Industries
and Zanu (PF)
candidate in the parliamentary elections; 137. Huni,
Munyaradzi Journalist
on the official pro-government newspaper 'The Herald',
whipped up the terror
campaign before and during the elections; 138. Kereke,
Munyaradzi Chief
Adviser to the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe;
139. Chiremba,
Mirirai Director of Financial Intelligence at the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe;
140. Zvayi, Caesar Journalist on the official
pro-government newspaper 'The
Herald', whipped up the terror campaign before
and during the elections;
141. Chingoka, Peter Chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket,
publicly supported the
campaign of terror waged before and during the
elections;
142. Chimedza, Paul Dr. President of the Zimbabwe branch of
the World
Medical Association, has refused assistance to injured members of
the MDC
(opposition party); 143. Air Vice-Marshal Karakadzai Harare
Metropolitan
Province, directly involved in the terror campaign waged before
and during
the elections; 144. Col. C. Sibanda Bulawayo Province, directly
involved in
the campaign of terror waged before and during the elections;
145. Brigadier
General Tarumbwa Manicaland and Mutare South, directly
involved in the
campaign of terror waged before and during the elections;
146. Col. M
Mzilikazi (MID) Buhera Central, directly involved in the
campaign of terror
waged before and during the elections; 147. Col.
Mutsvunguma Headlands,
directly involved in the campaign of terror waged
before and during the
elections; 148. Brigadier General Shungu Mashonaland
Central, directly
involved in the campaign of terror waged before and during
the elections;
149. Col. Chipwere Bindura South, directly involved in the
campaign of
terror waged before and during the elections; 150. Col. F.
Mhonda Rushinga,
directly involved in the campaign of terror waged before
and during the
elections;
151. Air Vice-Marshal Muchena Midlands,
directly involved in the
campaign of terror waged before and during the
elections;
152. Air Vice-Marshal Abu Basutu Matebeleland South,
directly involved
in the campaign of terror waged before and during the
elections
153. Brigadier General Khumalo Matebeleland North, directly
involved
in the campaign of terror waged before and during the
elections;
154. Major-General E A Rugeje Masvingo Province, directly
involved in
the campaign of terror waged before and during the
elections;
155. Col G. Mashava Chiredzi Central, directly involved in
the
campaign of terror waged before and during the elections;
156.
Lt.-Col. Muchono Mwenezi West, directly involved in the campaign
of terror
waged before and during the elections; 157. Lt.-Col. Mpabanga
Mwenezi East,
directly involved in the campaign of terror waged before and
during the
elections; 158. Major R Kwenda Zaka East, directly involved in
the campaign
of terror waged before and during the elections;
159. Brigadier General
Sigauke Mash West Province, directly involved
in the campaign of terror
waged before and during the elections; 160. Col.
Gwekwerere Chinhoyi,
directly involved in the campaign of terror waged
before and during the
elections;
161. Col. C T Gurira Mhondoro Mubaira, directly involved in
the
campaign of terror waged before and during the elections; 162. Brigadier
General D Nyikayaramba Mashonaland East, directly involved in the campaign
of terror waged before and during the elections;
163. Brigadier
General Rungani Retired Brigadier General, directly
involved in the campaign
of terror waged before and during the elections;
164. Chinotimba, Joseph
Vice Chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation
War Veterans Association,
leader of Zanu (PF) militia;
165. Moyo, Gilbert 'War veteran'
implicated in numerous crimes in
Mashonaland West (Chegutu), leader of Zanu
(PF) militia; 166. Rangwani, Dani
Detective inspector involved in the
torture and detention of MDC supporters,
directly involved in the March 2007
violence;
167. Jangara, Thomsen Assistant Police Commissioner based in
Southerton, responsible for Harare South district, directly involved in the
March 2007 violence;
168. Tonderai Matibiri, Innocent Deputy Police
Commissioner; nephew or
African 'close cousin' of Mugabe; promoted to a
senior position and tipped
to become the next Police Commissioner, directly
involved in the March 2007
violence;
169. Zidco Holdings Zanu
(PF)'s financial holding company (a.k.a.
Zidco Holdings (PVT) Ltd)
170. Jongwe Printing and Publishing Company (PVT) Ltd. Zanu (PF)'s
publishing arm (a.k.a. Jongwe Printing and Publishing Co., a.k.a. Jongwe
Printing and Publishing Company)
171. Cold Comfort Farm Trust
Co-operative Owned by Didymus Mutasa,
Grace Mugabe also involved.
172. Zimbabwe Defence Industries Wholly owned by the government of
Zimbabwe.
Directors include Leo Mugabe and Solomon Mujuru.
The International
Criminal Court will relentlessly seek out the people
on this list. They will
be required to answer questions in relation to their
possible involvement in
violence - directly or indirectly.
If you have any further information
regarding the people above or
their accomplices please send to: fax:
+31705158555 or email
otp.informationdesk@icc-cpi.int
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008
07:30
BY GRAIL KUPAKUWANA
Conservatives would like to put
Zimbabwe's inflation at 2.2 million
percent but economists like Erick Bloch
believe it is over 9 million. The
Government is no longer able to calculate
the rate of inflation and economic
demise.
2008 has no bright
prospects. 2006's introduction of new notes has not
helped as an economic
solution. Central Bank chief, Gideon Gono, has failed.
"The Government
is failing to measure the value of commercial
services, the rate of
inflation and is lacking in solutions to arrest the
economic decline," John
Robertson, an economist said.
Water supply has been affected terribly
and it is difficult to get
drugs in health institutions which are affecting
health delivery. Zimbabwe's
ability to achieve the Millennium Development
Goals is doubtful as the
country's politicians lack the political will. The
signing of the MoU is
cosmetic.
The NRZ has poor signals,
accidents, overloading and inefficient
departure and arrival times. Road
transport has been hit hard by high
shortage of spares and fuel.
There has been a massive decline in tourist arrivals. Tourists are
viewing
Zimbabwe from neighbouring countries.
The much touted Baccossi
facility, which seeks to provide cheap basic
commodity supplies to the
general public, is a political gimmick as it
doesn't have the manufacturing
component aspect. Government will only supply
what it has imported and it
will steal the rest.
Prof John Makumbe a political Scientist/ Analyst
with the University
of Zimbabwe, has no kind words for the regime.
''The people in ruling Zanu (PF) know that the economic situation is
so bad
and distasteful and have learnt nothing to resolve the country's
economic
crisis,'' he said. ''2008 remains a watershed year. Freedom of
Zimbabweans
by the tyrannical regime saw a number of activists brutally
beaten, raped,
arrested, killed and tortured,'' he said.
Zimbabweans who expected the
March 29 elections to give them the
Zimbabwe they yearn for, were let down
big time.
''Zimbabwe is a country of contradictions and this
disintegration is
so amazing that Zanu (PF) leadership is now completely
divorced from the
people's expectations and reality,'' Isabellalh
Mtambanadzo, a human rights
and democracy activist, said. ''What is the
political entry point in
Zimbabwe? Is it elections? If not what other
platforms do Zimbabweans need
to expound democracy? How can we reclaim our
trumped rights by a tyrannical
and diabolic regime?
For over 4
months the elected legislators and senators have not yet
been sworn in . Who
is making decisions for Government?
Diplomatic envoys assessing the
political violence in the country have
not been spared either. Political and
civil rights contrary to Zanu (PF)'s
have not been tolerated. Rural areas
are no go areas for common citizens and
the opposition MDC to carry out its
effective campaigns. There was state
media black out contrary to the SADC
protocol and guidelines on the conduct
of free and fair elections. Fresh
farm invasions emerged.
Human dignity must be at the centre of
governance. Zimbabwe's
political culture faces an acid test - whether the
politicians will be
mature and strike a balance for the good and prosperity
of the nation. Only
time will tell.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008
07:27
HARARE - Fearing an imminent court defeat that would further
increase
MDC's parliamentary majority Robert Mugabe's military junta is
considering a
law forbidding the courts to invalidate his defeated Zanu (PF)
party's
victories in 60 constituencies facing legal challenges, official
sources
say.
The MDC is challenging the results of the March 29
elections in 60
constituencies, where they say electoral fraud, violence and
intimidation of
voters compromised the returns.
Zanu (PF) has, in
reaction to the MDC petitions, launched its own
legal challenges to 52
parliamentary seats won by the MDC in the Electoral
Court. It has cited
flimsy reasons for the challenges, including vote
rigging by the MDC, yet it
was the Zanu (PF) government-appointed Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission that
conducted the elections.
Of course such legislation would never pass
through parliament as it
is presently constituted, so the amendment to the
Electoral Act would be
passed through special presidential powers, say the
sources. This will
ensure that it would not be subjected to debate in
parliament.
Official sources privy to the planned law told The
Zimbabwean this
week that the legislation being drafted by Zanu (PF)'s point
man on
constitutional matters, Patrick Chinamasa, states that the election
of
sitting lawmakers "shall not be rendered void in the interest of
democracy,
peace, security and stability, even if corrupt or illegal
practices were
committed."
Almost five months after the MDC won a
parliamentary majority, the new
parliament has still not been sworn in - in
blatant violation of the
Constitution.
"The amendment would be
sheer madness and is clear interference with
due process of law," MDC
spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said.
The government's move to dodge the
lawsuits was a validation of MDC's
argument that voter intimidation
compromised the electoral results, and
showed the defeated former ruling
party's fear of having to run in
by-elections, he said.
"They know
that they will lose any by-election in this country and
they fear the MDC
will widen its parliamentary majority," he said.
Official sources said
the invalidation of the MDC's legal challenge
was part of a two-pronged
approach to overturn the MDC's parliamentary
majority. So far 10 MDC
MP-elects and two senators have been arrested on
criminal charges, a further
six are in hiding, and another six are on the
police wanted list.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008 07:32
Soon African dictators will have nowhere to hide
BY BETHANY
MORRISON
SENEGAL - On July 23 the Senegalese Government amended their
constitution to allow for the prosecution and trial of Hissène Habré in a
Senegalese court. Legislation has existed in the country since February 2007
that permits the court to prosecute cases of genocide, war crimes and
torture, even if the crimes are committed outside Senegal. The recent
amendment clarifies that the law applies to crimes committed even before the
law was passed.
Hissène Habré was in power in Chad from 1982 until
he was deposed in
1990 by President Idriss Deby Itno. Habré then fled to
Cameroon and
subsequently went into exile in Senegal. Habré's one party
regime was
responsible for widespread atrocities. It is estimated that his
government
carried out 40,000 politically-motivated killings and over
200,000 cases of
torture, leading Human Rights Watch to dub him "Africa's
Pinochet."
Habré was first indicted in Senegal in 2000 before courts
ruled that
he could not be tried there. In September 2005, after a four year
investigation, a Belgian judge charged the Chadian ex-president with crimes
against humanity. On July 2, 2006, the African Union, following the
recommendation of a Committee of Eminent African Jurists, called on Senegal
to prosecute Hissène Habré "in the name of Africa," and President Abdoulaye
Wade declared that Senegal would do so.
Mugabe will someday be held
responsible for his human rights
violations against the people of Zimbabwe.
The horrific violence and
intimidation at the hands of the military junta
will not be forgotten. War
veterans, youth militia, CIO operatives and thugs
associated with Mugabe's
regime will be held to account in the future. The
people of Chad have fought
for justice against their ex-despotic leader and
justice has prevailed; the
people of Zimbabwe will find vindication if they
do not give up the fight.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008
07:30
'Heads of state are no longer immune'
BY BANKS
NDEBELE
MOGODITSHANE - 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 is under
indictment, accused of ethnic
slaughter in Sudan's Darfur 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 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
UN-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.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008 07:32
BY STAFF
REPORTER
HARARE - While the crisis in Zimbabwe continues to be high on
the
agenda at the UN, EU, AU and SADC, the time for Zimbabweans in the
Diaspora
to play their part in applying pressure to the thugs masquerading
as Heads
of State in Zimbabwe is now.
Disenfranchised Zimbabweans
in the Diaspora have limited options of
tackling the regime.
The
government's reaction to last year's deportations of Zanu (PF)
brats by the
Australian government clearly shows that they are rattled and
shell-shocked
at the prospect of further deportations of their children from
their western
comfort zones.
ZimDaily this week has taken the 'Fair Deal' campaign on
Zanu (PF)
official's family members in the lands of the 'Imperialists' to a
new level.
Buoyed by the successes scored in Australia last year and the
numerous
inquiries from the EU, UK, Canada and USA, they have officially
re-launched
the 'FAIR DEAL' Campaign, under the banner "Mwana We Nyoka I
Nyoka, Umntwana
We Nyokayi Nyoka: A Baby Snake Is A Snake."
If the
deportations of Gideon Gono and Augustine Chihuri's kids could
cause such
panic and pandemonium, imagine how much impact it would have if
the
estimated 300 Zanu (PF) officials' kids are all sent back. The
re-launched
Fair Deal campaign aims to fine tune, cross check and make
additions to the
data already in their possession from last year's campaign.
They can
only succeed with your help. This campaign is aimed at
collecting primary
data to be used by the host governments of the Zanu PF
chiefs' children.
They are seeking only substantive data that will help the
spoilt
beneficiaries to be tracked down and sent back to their parents. They
will
therefore allow postings that disclose the names of the children,
family
members, their present educational institution, country and faculty
of
study, pictures and the position of their parents in the
Zimbabwe
Government if known.
They are appealing to anyone with
information on these kids/family
members to contact the editor at
zimdaily.com.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008
07:38
JOHANNESBURG - A power-sharing deal between Mugabe's ruling ZANU
(PF)
party and the MDC should not result in people who committed political
violence and human rights abuses going unpunished, Amnesty International has
said.
Amnesty on Thursday warned negotiators not to "sweep under
the carpet"
gross human rights of the past in a bid to secure a short-term
political
solution.
The worldwide rights watchdog said: "There can
be no lasting political
solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe without
addressing past human rights
violations. While human rights violations must
end immediately,
investigations must be carried out and alleged perpetrators
brought to
justice."
Political violence that followed the MDC's
shock victory in
presidential and parliamentary elections last March is said
to have killed
at least 120 opposition supporters and displaced 200 000
others.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who defeated Mugabe in the March
29
election but failed to secure the margin to take power, withdrew from a
June
27 run-off poll saying widespread violence against his supporters made
a
free and fair vote impossible.
ZANU (PF) militia and some members
of the army have been accused of
committing most of the violence against MDC
supporters. But Mugabe, who went
ahead with the presidential run-off
election despite Tsvangirai's
withdrawal, has accused the opposition of
carrying out violence and blaming
it on ZANU (PF).
Amnesty said
ignoring the killings and human rights violations in
pursuit of a political
deal between ZANU (PF) and the MDC was a recipe for
"problems further down
the road".
"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," it said.
The
London-based group said although dialogue was underway it
continued to
receive reports of politically motivated violence and human
rights abuses
from Zimbabwe, adding that the southern African country
remained "blanketed
in a climate of fear".
- ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008 07:39
HARARE - The Zimbabwe National Students Union is deeply concerned
about the
recent events at the Midlands State University where security
guards ended
up acting as invigilators during the final examinations. This
problem has
seemingly emanated from the poor remuneration being given to the
teaching
staff in most tertiary institutions in the country.
The Union sees
these actions as a direct attack on education and are
appealing to the
Ministry of Higher Education to look into the issue.
Education has been
seriously compromised under the Mugabe administration,
producing a poor
standard of graduates. The June Ordinary and Advanced level
ZIMSEC
examinations are still to be marked due to lack of funds to pay the
markers.
"We hope that the current talks between the main political
players in
the country are going to address the state of education in the
country," a
union representative said.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008 07:43
Business confidence
hits rock-bottom
It comes as no surprise that 98% percent of business
executives
surveyed by the Confederation of Zimbabwean Industries have no
confidence at
all in the current business environment.
The military
junta does not seem to appreciate the need to create an
enabling environment
for business to prosper. Industry is currently
operating at less than 20% of
capacity and inflation is running at over 10
million %, while the junta
sends its thugs rampaging around to control
prices through violence and
theft. They take no account of the fact that
input costs are way beyond the
control of the manufacturers.
Recently, a government minister
threatened to take over the
distribution of sugar in the country, accusing
businesses of profiteering
and exporting the commodity, which is in short
supply. He seems to have a
very short memory - as with most Zanu (PF)
officials. Was it not Leo Mugabe
who was caught trying to smuggle sugar to
Zambia some time ago? The case was
dropped once the police realised who the
big fish was.
It is the Zanu (PF) fatcats who have been exporting
commodities that
are in short supply in Zimbabwe - not the business
community.
Only a few weeks ago, the junta announced that it had
carried out an
audit of Zimbabwean companies with British and European
connections for
possible nationalisation. This sort of action does not
inspire business
confidence, and can hardly be expected to lead to foreign
investment, which
Zimbabwe needs so desperately.
As Zanu (PF) has
shown that it is utterly incapable of managing the
economy, and of running
the country for the benefit of all, there is need
for a fresh start. We hope
that the current talks will lead to a new
administration with fresh ideas
and, above all, a commitment to making
Zimbabwe a business-friendly country
for the benefit of all Zimbabweans.
Unemployment today stands at an
unprecedented 85-90%.
The best way to deal with hunger and poverty is
to create employment.
The violence continues
More than a week
after the talks started in Pretoria, with Zanu (PF)
having pledged to end
the violence, we are still getting reports of mass
beatings and no-go areas.
This issue is full of stories about people being
thrashed to within an inch
of their lives and then either denied medical
attention or being admitted to
hospital - but under heavy guard by ruling
party zealots.
Hundreds
of political prisoners are still languishing in Mugabe's
filthy prison cells
country-wide on flimsy, trumped-up charges.
This is hardly the
environment in which credible settlement talks
should be taking place. These
are issues that need to be addressed urgently
by the mediators.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008
07:41
BY STAFF REPORTER
HARARE
The Zimbabwe Congress
of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has condemned the
continued harassment of workers at
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH)
following the suspension of another
employee, Munyaradzi Milimo, popularly
known as DJ Munya.
Milimo
was suspended last month after interviewing business mogul and
former Zanu
(PF) MP Philip Chiyangwa.
Management at ZBH claimed Milimo was
suspended because he had invited
an unauthorised guest into the studio, but
ZCTU said it was simply
harassment of a journalist doing his job.
The suspension of Milimo, a part-time employee, came barely two months
after
the suspension of eight other journalists accused of deliberately
promoting
the agenda of the MDC on radio and television.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008
07:37
BOTSWANA - Botswana has vowed that it will not attend the next
SADC
heads of state meeting if the Zimbabwean issue is not resolved.
Following
the disputed election process which saw the MDC withdrawing,
citing
political violence and anarchy meted by the government backed
militias,
Botswana has not recognized Robert Mugabe as the legitimate
President of
Zimbabwe.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Phandu
Skelemani, said Botswana was
disappointed that other SADC countries had not
only failed to condemn Robert
Mugabe for his behaviour, but had also not
stated their position.
Skelemani said Botswana welcomed the
negotiations between the parties
in Zimbabwe "not as a solution but rather a
resolution."
He said the route of the negotiations would not altogether
cure the
Zimbabwean disease but provided its citizens with a less violent
route back
to democracy.
He stressed that all parties at the
negotiations should be treated as
equals.
Mugabe's position should
be confined to the leadership of Zanu (PF)
with Morgan Tsvangirai as leader
of MDC.
"If they are not treated equally then they are starting on a
wrong
footing," Skelemani said. "It is not for Botswana to tell the
Zimbabweans
who to choose as President."
Skelemani, who has since
become the public face of Botswana's hard
stance against Zimbabwe, said
although Botswana remained deeply disappointed
by other SADC countries,
severing of ties with the organisation was not an
option.
He said
instead, Botswana would continue to push for adherence.
"When we joined
the organisation it was in 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,"
Skelemani said.
Botswana's
position hopes to pressurise 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."
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008 07:33
BY
MUTSA MURENJE
HARARE - Recent remarks by Grace Mugabe that Tsvangirai
was an
unrepentant puppet are unfortunate and indicate the highest order of
political ignorance and naivety. She wants to please her husband, Robert
Mugabe, the tyrannical despot interested only in his own good and wielding
power for the sake of satisfying his ego. Her remarks have betrayed her. Not
only is Grace a political novice, but she is also long on myopia and short
on memory.
Zimbabwe is a perfect example of patient endurance under
suffering.
Tsvangirai is being called a puppet just because he has refused
to kowtow to
the illegal regime's wishes. Those of us who are solidly behind
him aren't
oblivious of the fact that a cessation of violence is a necessary
precondition for any talks. Your remarks, Grace, will not separate us from
our leader.
The problem with your husband, the disgraced dictator,
is that he
tramples down the weak and helpless. We don't want a leader who
ill-treats
the weak and oppresses the poor. Prosperity in Zimbabwe today is
limited to
the ruling elite, and feeds on injustice and oppression of the
poor.
Furthermore, your husband carries out his plans to hurt others.
The
evil plots he makes are as deadly as the eggs of a poisonous snake. He's
always planning something evil and he can hardly wait to do it. He never
hesitates to murder innocent people. Everything he does is unjust. Mugabe
follows a crooked path, and no one who walks that path will ever be
safe.
These examples will suffice: Gukurahundi (1982-1987); an attempt
on
Patrick Kombayi's life (1990); forced eviction of 4 000 families on Churu
farm (1993); mari kuma war vets (1997); DRC war (1998); illegal detention
and torture of journalists Mark Chavhunduka and Ray Choto (1999); illegal
land seizures and political violence that saw at least 150 MDC supporters
dead (2000-2002); Murambatsvina (2005).
Need I say more? What about
electoral rigging since his defeat in the
referendum of the year 2000? What
about the violence that followed the
harmonised elections of March 29, 2008?
More than 100 people lost their
lives, 200 000 people were internally
displaced, 20 000 homes were
destroyed, 10 000 people were injured, and more
than 5 000 people are
missing. Ko munoti muri kunatsa here? You have not
lost friends and
relatives due to political violence but we have ourselves.
Imi munochengetwa
24 hours kuState House!
In light of the above, I
call, with passion and courage, for justice
to "flow like a stream" (Amos
5:24). Tell your husband to make it his aim to
do what is right, not what is
evil, so that we will be perfectly happy. Tell
him to hate what is evil,
love what is right, and see that justice prevails
in Zimbabwe. Tell Kunonga
and Manhanga that "What God the Father considers
to be pure and genuine
religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows
in their suffering and
to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world"
(James 1:27). Your
husband should, without wasting time, remove the chains
of oppression and
the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free. Tell
him to put an end
to oppression and to every gesture of contempt.
Last but not by any
means least, we want to share food with the hungry
and open our homes to the
homeless poor. We want to give clothes to those
who have nothing to wear,
and we do not want to refuse to help our own
relatives. If we give food to
the hungry and satisfy those in need, then the
darkness around us will turn
to the brightness of noon.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008 07:32
BY MAGARI
MANDEBVU
I recently noticed that I had written in a diary on 17
February 1992:
There is a class war going on in Zimbabwe: the rulers
wage war on the
poor - bulldozing their houses (yes, that had started then,
it was happening
in Epworth) slashing their maize (that started in the
'80s), harassing them
with regulations and keeping them queuing.
Nothing is new, is it? It has just grown worse because 'the poor you
have
always with you', and the chefs have learned nothing so we have had
more and
more of the same. More houses and more crops destroyed, more
unpredictable
rules, longer queues for more things. Then it was passports,
driving
licences and chitupas.
Now it is upfu, bread and money.
Because they are people, not cattle to be be driven around with a big
stick,
our longsuffering electorate have every time, in increasing numbers,
voted
against them. So we had the 'Third Chimurenga' and they lost more
votes. We
had Murambatsvina and they lost more votes. We had 'elections'
this year
and, however they rigged, stuffed ballot boxes and killed
opponents, they
lost votes.
And how did they react to that? They set about, in the best
way they
knew, losing the few genuine votes they had left. More killings,
burnings,
torture and general nastiness.
Don't try to tell me 'They
are military men, so they haven't learnt
the difference between a military
campaign and an election campaign.' No
military man with any sense would
totally destroy what he wants to conquer.
And, if anyone ever really
got a degree in violence, the first thing
they would teach him would be when
to use it and when not to use it.
You attract chickens by scattering
grain, not by threatening them with
a stick.
Did you see the recent
election poster about 'the final battle for
total empowerment'? That kind of
empowerment can only be for one man. The
trouble is that we are trying to
deal with a man who only understands
unconditional surrender and he has
taught his minions the same.
There is hope. Even he has realised that
this is the final battle. And
it is not clear who will surrender. We have
borne a lot so far and we are
still here, so I reckon that since we won't
surrender, he and his thugs will
have to do that.
You don't escape
from the International Criminal Court by committing
more crimes. Someone
ought to be telling them that. And then tell them that
we won't keep
fighting them if they just hand over power to the government
we elected. We
won't torture or humiliate them.
If they give up enough of their
ill-gotten gains and ask for
forgiveness, we might let them retire quietly,
with enough to live on, as
long as they will eat sadza, muriwo and the
occasional chicken like the rest
of us, not rice and T-bone steak, and they
are satisfied to drink Chibuku,
not Scotch whisky. That's better than they
could expect from the court in
The Hague.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008
07:31
HARARE - The Combined Harare Residents Association reports
serious
water shortages throughout the city during recent
week.
Mabvuku and Tafara residents have been without water for two
months.
Other areas affected include Glen Lorne, Highlands, Kuwadzana,
Budiriro,
Warren Park, Glen View, Masasa, Glen Norah and
Dzivarasekwa.
While the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) is
failing to
restore water supplies to these areas, it is also failing to fix
water pipes
where water is gushing out; particularly in most parts of
Kuwadzana and the
Central Business District.
The Mayor and
Chairperson for the Harare city council, Muchadei
Masunda, has expressed his
view that water supply management must be brought
back to the city council,
leaving ZINWA to concentrate on bulk water
management only. His Chitungwiza
counterpart, Israel Marange, agreed.
ZESA plunges suburbs into
darkness
HARARE - Electricity supply throughout the city is erratic,
with most
suburbs spending few hours with electricity per day. Warren Park,
Mufakose,
Glen View, Glen Norah, Highlands and Dzivarasekwa receive
electricity for
less than two hours a day.
ZESA Public Relations
manager said that the return of electricity
supply would depend on the
availability of foreign currency. Harare has been
gripped by a sudden wave
of burning transformers, which ZESA puts the blame
on vandals who are
draining transformer oil. Mount Pleasant has been without
ZESA supply since
July 17.
The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) has urged
residents
to desist from this kind of criminal behavior and be wary of
criminal
elements who are damaging the electricity transformers. Residents
have a
duty to report such cases of vandalism to ZESA or the
police.
Raw sewage invades suburbs
HARARE - Sewer
spillages continue to characterize the face of most of
the residential
suburbs. Raw sewage is a common sight in Mufakose, Mabvuku,
Tafara,
Highfields (Canaan Engineering), Glen Norah and Dzivarasekwa.
Residents
in Mabvuku have resorted to digging drainage trenches across
their yards to
avoid raw sewage from spilling into their homes. The Combined
Harare
Residents Association (CHRA) mourns the state's decision to ban NGO
and
civic society organisation's activities. Before the ban, CHRA was
carrying
out popular action campaigns which would see residents teaming up
to engage
in some kind of waste management activities.
In Mbare the Association
did a lot of work around refuse collection
and sewer management. CHRA
provided cleaning materials, detergents and
protective clothing for the
cleaning of Matapi flats. The Association urges
the council to engage ZINWA
and find a lasting solution to the sewer
problems.
Rent payable
in forex
HARARE - Accommodation in most of the low to medium density
suburbs is
now being charged in United State dollars, while for the high
density areas,
landlords are charging in South African Rand. In areas like
Warren Park and
Mufakose, a single room is going for 100 Rands, while in
places like
Avondale and Highlands landlords are charging USD100 per room
per month.
Landlords argue that, they cannot charge rentals in local
currency,
whose value is seriously eroded by inflation on a daily basis.
Meanwhile,
forex remains difficult to access for most of the lodgers whose
monthly
income earnings are well below the poverty datum line. A group of
11
families is currently sleeping in the open along Airport road, after
being
evicted. The families are failing to find alternative accommodation as
a
result of the rentals being charged in forex.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008 07:30
BY CHIEF
REPORTER
BEITBRIDGE - The South African Government was accused of
turning its
back on the plight of Zimbabweans after immigration officials
deported
scores of Zimbabwean visitors late last week.
In just two
days, 65 Zimbabweans were refused entry by immigration
officers here,
hundreds were sent home, but 19 asked for political asylum
and are now
waiting for their cases to be decided.
The move has caused great
concern among Zimbabweans, who have long
regarded South Africa as a second
home and haven in times of trouble.
Opposition members can operate freely in
South Africa, whereas they face
restrictions and intimidation under the
Mugabe regime at home.
Many others simply want a break in South Africa
from the political and
economic turmoil that has gripped their country,
worsened by Mugabe's
fraudulent re-election in a one-man presidential race
on June 27.
A Home Office official said this week that immigration
officers were
showing "greater vigilance" towards Zimbabweans suspected of
moving to South
Africa as economic migrants.
"It will not be
business as usual anymore," South Africa Home Affairs
Minister Nosiviwe
Mapisa-Nqakula said.
The move has angered the Zimbabwean community in
South Africa.
"It is not true that people are coming here for economic
reasons -
they are coming here purely to seek protection," Arthur Moyo, a
Zimbabwean
exile, said.
Reports from Johannesburg stated that
hundreds of immigrants huddled
at the Glenada refugee centre were forcibly
kicked out by Home Office
officials for allegedly failing to obtain
temporary South African IDs.
Anna Moyo of the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum
slammed the vindictive
treatment the South African officials were meting to
desperate immigrants
and urged the authorities to immediately halt any
deportations of exiles,
especially Zimbabweans.
Amnesty
International this week condemned the use of "excessive force"
by the police
in the manner they were forcibly removing Zimbabweans.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008
07:31
LONDON - The Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum UK held its second meeting
on
July 19 with guest speakers Alex Magaisa, a senior lecturer and
columnist,
Jonathan Chawora, the current Chairman of the MDC UK &
Northern Ireland, and
Alfred Mutasa, a Zanu (PF) supporter.
Chawora
expressed serious concerns about continuing violence being
visited on
members of his party in Zimbabwe as one of the impediments to
serious
dialogue to resolve the Zimbabwean conflict. Mutasa took the view
that the
Zimbabwean political actors and civil society should be informed by
the
nature of imperialism which has two tendencies namely militarisation and
neo-liberal globalisation.
Magaisa urged Zimbabweans to desist from
engaging in what he called
"cry baby politics" and start seeing the
opportunities that can and should
be exploited. He said citizens in the
Diaspora should be proactive and more
organised.
Prior to the Forum
a group of passionate Zimbabweans from diverse
professional backgrounds
sought an audience with the Chair, Peter Soko, and
constituted themselves
into a Think Tank for the Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum UK.
The need for some
representative for the Diaspora in the Zimbabwean
government dedicated to
the Diaspora affairs is another idea that was well
received and the Forum
intends is lobby for it.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July
2008 07:40
BY SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
HARARE
There were
more than 16,400 incidents of political violence between
January and June,
according to a report from human rights watchdog the
Zimbabwe Peace
Project.
The report noted an "exponential increase in ′human rights
violations"
in May in particular with 6,288 documented′incidents.
In June, 77 murders were reported across the country – all of them
members
and supporters of ′the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), killed
by Zanu
(PF) militia.
Peace Project National Director Jestina Mukoko said their
figures were
an underestimate, as some of the ZPP field-workers had been
forced to flee
some of the most violent areas during the month.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Thursday, 31 July 2008 07:28
BY STAFF
REPORTERS
Abductions of opposition continues
HARARE - Violence
against Zimbabwean opposition members continued last
week even as
power-sharing talks got under way between the ruling Zanu (PF)
and MDC,
sources said on July 25.
Soldiers and suspected Zanu (PF) militia
abducted two MDC drivers in
the Buhera South constituency of eastern
Manicaland province this week who
had gone there to transport victims of
earlier political violence to
hospitals for medical care.
Provincial MDC spokesman, Pishai Muchauraya, that local activists
sought
assistance from the ZRP, but police officers told them that their
hands were
tied in the matter.
MDC officials said they were trying to establish
the identities of 60
individuals whose bodies remained unclaimed at a Harare
hospital and who are
believed to be opposition members slain in
post-election violence. Though
the hospital occasionally receives
unidentified bodies, MDC officials said
they fear some of the bodies now in
the mortuary could be those of activists
who went missing in the approach to
and the aftermath of the June 27 run-off
election.
MDC Home Affairs
Secretary Sam Sipepa Nkomo said it had not been easy
to make identifications
as some bodies have been mutilated or badly
burned. - VOA
Forced to drink Chinese-manufactured herbicide
MDC activists forced to
drink poison
CHIWESHE - Soldiers and Zanu (PF) militia forced MDC
activists to
drink Paraquat, a highly toxic herbicide used for weed
control.
Hilton Chironga suffered horrific facial injuries, described
as
corrosive burns, caused by the Chinese herbicide when he, together with
his
mother, his sister and a neighbour were forced to drink it at a militia
base
at Tetra farm.
Shingi Nyoni, an investigator into human rights
abuses, told us
Hilton's brother Gibson was shot dead by the militia the
same day he was
forced to consume poison. Two other people died in the same
attack.
'Hilton and his mother are currently admitted at a hospital in
Harare.
One other person identified as Madamombe died from the poison. To
date he
only takes liquids, milk and soup and is in constant pain,' Nyoni
said.
Paraquat is highly toxic if swallowed and as little as one
teaspoonful
of the active ingredient is fatal. Death occurs up to 30 days
after
ingestion.
Apart from forcing people to drink the herbicide,
the militia and
soldiers inflicted serious injuries on others by dipping
their knobkerries
and sticks into Paraquat, before beating their
victims.
'To make matters worse, most of these victims are not getting
any help
from the government to deal with their injuries. They need
specialized
medicines and doses for their wounds and treatment,' Nyoni said.
- SW Radio
Africa
More MDC activists abducted,
tortured
MANICALAND - Two MDC activists, Witness Maambire, the then
Chief
Election agent to Samuel Muzerengwa (MDC senator for Buhera) and a
friend,
were abducted at gun point by Colonel Morgan Mzilikazi at Chapanduka
Business Centre on July 24. The MP elected for the area, Naison Nemadziwa,
had to run into the mountains for his safety.
The three had gone to
fetch 17 MDC activists who were tortured on July
17. When they parked at
Chapanduka Business Centre, Colonel Morgan
Mzilikazi and a number of armed
militia came to the MDC truck and abducted
Witness Maambire and his
colleague at gunpoint.
It is not clear whether Witness Maambire and his
colleague were taken
to a torture camp at Jori or other torture camps around
Buhera. The
whereabouts and safety of the MP are also not known. The injured
17 people
are also still in Buhera.
Meanwhile, in Buhera South,
Wilson Jori (65) from Ward 28, Chief
Nyashanu, was fined eight goats and 18
chickens for being an MDC sympathiser
before being severely assaulted and
tortured after he was forced to attend a
Zanu (PF) rally on July
17.
Jori said Zanu (PF) militias forced people to attend a ' victory
celebration meeting'. It was during the meeting that the militias demanded
the goats and chickens from all MDC sympathisers and later beat them
severely on their back and buttocks using electrtric cables, wire, logs and
sjambocks, 'to be certain that they have rejoined Zanu (PF).'
Among
the militias were Peter Madangure, Musi Chikobvore, Benson
Mandizha,
Tungamirai Matanga, Peter Chatikobo, Kuda Murove, Muchuru Mazenge,
Akira
Munamati and Zanu (PF) losing chancellor candidate, Boas Chimombe.
Jori
has since been living in agony without medication.
There are more than
20 MDC activists who have deeper wounds and are
developing maggots as the
Zanu (PF) militias are denying them freedom to
travel to seek
treatment.
US steps up pressure on Mugabe junta
BY STAFF
REPORTER
HARARE - The U.S. government has widened its targeted
sanctions list
to include seventeen companies linked to President Robert
Mugabe's regime
and one individual alleged to be helping the Mugabe regime
pillage mineral
wealth in the DRC.
A statement sent to The
Zimbabwean from the US state department of the
Treasury's Office of Foreign
Assets Control (OFAC) says 17 entities,
including several Zimbabwean
parastatals, and one individual whose support
for Robert Mugabe's regime
contributes to the undermining of democratic
processes and institutions in
Zimbabwe have been designated.
"In light of the continued intransigence
of the brutal Mugabe regime,
the U.S. is imposing further sanctions against
this regime and its
supporters," said OFAC Director, Adam J. Szubin. "These
actions send a clear
warning to those who would protect Mugabe and his
assets at the expense of
the Zimbabwean people."
The designations
include a number of Zimbabwean parastatals and
entities that are owned or
controlled by the Government of Zimbabwe. Mugabe,
his senior officials, and
regime cronies have used these entities to
illegally siphon revenue and
foreign exchange from the Zimbabwean people,
Szubin said.
The US
Treasury's designations include 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 four major subsidiaries of ZB Financial
Holdings Limited: ZB
Bank Limited (Zimbank), ZB Holdings Limited,
Intermarket Holdings Limited,
and Scotfin Limited.
Also designated is Thamer Bin Saeed Ahmed
Al-Shanfari, an Omani
national with close ties to Mugabe and his top
officials, as well as his
company, Oryx Natural Resources, which Al-Shanfari
uses 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.
OFAC has also designated Operation Sovereign
Legitimacy (OSLEG), an
enterprise that is a commercial arm of the Zimbabwean
army representing its
interests in the DRC and elsewhere, and which is
controlled by various
senior officials in Zimbabwe. The activities of OSLEG
and Al-Shanfari's Oryx
Natural Resources, benefiting Mugabe and his regime's
senior officials, have
been widely documented by various non-governmental
and human rights
organizations.
OFAC said it had also designated
the following companies that are
owned or controlled by a number of
Specially Designated Nationals: Divine
Homes, a property company whose
Chairman is David Chapfika, Zimbabwe's
Deputy Minister of Agriculture;
COMOIL (Pvt) Ltd., a petroleum importing
company, owned by Saviour
Kasukuwere, Zimbabwe's Deputy Minister of Youth
Development and Employment
Creation; and Famba Safaris, a registered
Zimbabwean safari operator, whose
Director and major shareholder is Webster
Shamu, Minister of State for
Policy Implementation.
"As a result of Treasury's action, any assets of
the individual and
entities designated today that are within U.S.
jurisdiction must be frozen,"
Szubin said. "Additionally, U.S. persons are
prohibited from conducting
financial or commercial transactions with the
individual or entities."