Tsvangirai Launches Election Bid With "Heavy Heart", Says Vote Won't be Fair

http://www.voazimbabwe.com/

Frank Chikowore,  Sandra Nyaira
07.07.2013

WASHINGTON — MDC founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Sunday said he was
launching his 2013 election campaign “with a heavy heart” but predicted his
party will route President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF in the upcoming polls.
Tsvangirai lamented the absence of crucial democratic reforms to guarantee
the elections would be free and fair.

“We are faced with an election without reforms and against a leopard that
has remained faithful to its spots, but our faith in God and our collective
desire for real transformation will make us triumph over the setbacks, which
are temporary,” said Tsvangirai during the launch at Rudhaka Stadium in
Marondera. “We participate with a heavy heart.”

The elections will end the shaky coalition government that brought rivals
Tsvangirai and Mugabe together in a power-sharing deal following a disputed
poll in 2008. The MDC founding leader predicted a landslide victory against
Mugabe’s Zanu PF party in a poll that he says will not be legitimate.

“We have tried our best over the last four years, against serious resistance
from our counterparts in Government, to ensure that this country is prepared
for a genuine, free, fair and credible election,” he told thousands of
supporters dressed in the party’s colours – red and white.

“Regrettably, what we have witnessed in the last few weeks is a concerted
effort designed to rob the election of legitimacy before it has even begun.
But we believe in the people of Zimbabwe and your collective wisdom.  We
know you, the people of Zimbabwe, will do the right thing for yourselves,
your children and the future of this country. Indeed, let us move for more
in a New Zimbabwe!”

Tsvangirai praised the Southern African Development Community for its
mediation efforts in the Zimbabwean political dialogue.

Responding to threats Friday by President Mugabe to pull Zimbabwe out of the
regional bloc should some leaders, in particular SADC-appointed mediator in
Harare, continue to push for reforms ahead of the polls, Tsvangirai said
doing so would be suicidal.

“SADC represents a close family of nations of this region and an MDC
Government will never contemplate ostracizing Zimbabwe from SADC. We must
all be reminded that SADC is a regional grouping of people of the region not
merely a club of leaders of their countries. We are members of SADC for
historical, political, geographical, cultural and economic reasons,” said
Tsvangirai.

“Therefore, no individual, whatever their station in life or office, has a
right to unilaterally and without consultation with the people of Zimbabwe,
pull this country out of SADC. The people of Zimbabwe will not allow
inflated egos to stand in the way of their mutually beneficial relationship
with their fellow brothers and sisters in the SADC region.”

Tsvangirai promised to create more than a million jobs for Zimbabwe if
elected into office. He encouraged all registered voters to go out in their
numbers to cast their ballots come July 31.

“The people will definitely win and our vote will be our ticket to a new
Zimbabwe of genuine freedom, transformation and true happiness,” he said.

Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai says no chance of fair vote

http://www.timeslive.co.za/

Reuters | 07 July, 2013 19:37

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, launching his third campaign to
unseat veteran President Robert Mugabe, said nothing had been achieved to
ensure a fairer vote but even God now wanted Mugabe to go.

Tsvangirai, who made a failed attempt to have the July 31 election delayed,
said Mugabe's ZANU-PF party was using bureaucratic obstacles and tricks such
as keeping dead people on the electoral roll to try to hold onto power.

He said that would fail because Zimbabweans were itching to remove ZANU-PF
after 33 years in office and a record of disastrous economic management.

"We don't think even God wants Zimbabwe to remain in a permanent state of
suffering," the 61-year-old former union leader told thousands of cheering
supporters. "We know that we did not get the reforms that we wanted but
because we are people who believe in God, we will succeed."

At his own campaign launch on Friday, Mugabe said Zanu-PF would finish off
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) with a resounding victory.
Both ZANU-PF and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission have denied any attempt
to rig the election.

Tsvangirai's party wanted the delay in the vote to allow media and security
reforms, including equal access to Zimbabwe's only broadcaster ZBC, which is
owned by the state but is in the grip of ZANU-PF.

Although ZBC carried Mugabe's election campaign launch live on Friday, MDC
officials said it had demanded $165,000 to broadcast Tsvangirai's rally on
Sunday.

The MDC also wants the military, which openly campaigns for Mugabe, to stay
out of politics and sign an agreement to accept the result if Mugabe loses.
Army commanders often say they would not salute Tsvangirai if he won an
election.

The 89-year-old Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in
1980. He and Tsvangirai were forced into a power sharing deal after the
last, disputed polls in 2008.

Tsvangirai said an MDC administration would repair an economy, wracked by
food and fuel shortages, that had shrunk by 40 percent under ZANU-PF before
it was rescued by the coalition formed after the 2008 polls. He said he
would create a million jobs in five years. Around four fifths of Zimbabwe's
working-age population is jobless.

"We just don't want to remove ZANU-PF and Robert Mugabe, but we are here to
provide a better future," Tsvangirai said, warning of renewed hardship as he
waved a bundle of the old Zimbabwe dollar notes that were abandoned in
favour of the U.S currency when inflation hit over 500 billion percent five
years ago.

Political analysts say another contested result could interrupt impoverished
Zimbabwe's recovery from a decade of economic decline that has forced
hundreds of thousands to flee the southern African country.

There has been little of the violence and intimidation seen before past
elections and Tsvangirai said his MDC believed it would "win, and win big".
But he said that, whoever wins, the legitimacy of the result was under
threat.

"What we have witnessed in the last few weeks is a concerted effort designed
to rob the election of legitimacy," he said.

Zimbabwe’s premier bows to pressure for July polls, says nation eager to end Mugabe’s rule

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

By Associated Press, Updated: Monday, July 8, 4:08 AM

MARONDERA, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s prime minister said Sunday his party is
ready to contest elections on July 31 despite worries that the poll is
taking place before democratic reforms can be completed.

Speaking at a gathering to kick off his party’s three-week campaign, Morgan
Tsvangirai said he has had to bow to pressure for an early vote. It was the
former opposition leader’s first official acceptance of the July date set by
President Robert Mugabe.

He said he had read “the national mood” felt by ordinary Zimbabweans to end
years of suffering in a political and economic crisis created by Mugabe’s
ZANU-PF party.

Tsvangirai said Zimbabweans are eager to vote Mugabe out of power.

“The national mood is people want to stop the suffering they have
experienced under Mugabe,” Tsvangirai said.

Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.

Mugabe set the national vote for the end of July arguing that he was obeying
a court ruling following a private lawsuit that was brought against him
ordering him to call for early polls.

Tsvangirai had appealed against the July polls citing the date didn’t give
the nation enough time to carry out reforms in the police and military loyal
to Mugabe widely blamed for state-orchestrated violence and intimidation in
previous elections.

Mugabe was forced to form a coalition government with Tsvangirai by regional
leaders after violent and disputed elections in 2008.

Tsvangirai said under the power-sharing government, Mugabe needs his consent
before an election can be declared and no consultation was done.

He told about 20,000 supporters gathered at a soccer stadium in the
provincial town of Marondera that he is going into the polls with “a heavy
heart” because Mugabe had not kept his word on implementing the much-needed
reforms and the amendment to electoral laws that critics say have led to
vote-rigging in the past.

“We have had to face elections without reforms,” Tsvangirai said. “Mugabe
has made a concerted effort to rob the election before it has begun.”

He described Mugabe as a “leopard that has remained faithful to its spots.”

After two failed attempts for the nation’s presidency, Tsvangirai said he is
certain of victory this time around.

“We have walked a long tortuous journey, we have faith in God. We know we
will triumph,” he said.

Tsvangirai said his party will ensure a return to stability that will create
jobs in the battered economy that faces record unemployment since a meltdown
triggered by the often-violent seizures of thousands of white- owned
commercial farms, which began in 2000 and collapsed the agriculture-based
economy.

A survey by a U.S.-based research group, Freedom House, reported last year
that Tsvangirai’s popular support was waning over having not delivered
reforms since joining the coalition government with Mugabe, claims he
disputes, saying his party was given no effective powers in the government.

“Skeptics say we have no policies, but we have got policies to save this
country,” Tsvangirai said Sunday.

He cautioned against a recurrence of violence and intimidation that have
plagued previous polls also amid allegations of vote rigging.

“I know you will walk with me. Don’t worry about violence and rigging. They
can kill us, but they can never succeed in winning the hearts of
Zimbabweans,” he said.

ZBC demanded $165 000 for live MDC-T manifesto launch

http://www.bulawayo24.com/

by Staff reporter
07 July 2013 | 1367 Views

The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), has demanded US$165 000 in
order to give a live coverage of the MDC-T party's manifesto launch by Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at Rudhaka Stadium in Marondera.

Tsvangirai's spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka said the premier had written to
the broadcaster requesting coverage for their party event.

"Yesterday, we wrote to the ZBC in line with the new constitution and in the
spirit of the ZEC regulations after we noted that they gave live coverage of
[President Robert] Mugabe," said Tamborinyoka.

Part of the MDC-T letter to ZBC reads: "We would hope that you would also
attend our launch at Rudhaka Stadium on Sunday. You would also give us live
coverage in the spirit of impartiality and fairness."

But in response, ZBC sent a quotation of US$165 000 to cover the launch,
said Tamborinyoka.

He said the premier turned down the quotation, arguing that the money that
was being required did not meet the standards of ZBC.

"Thank you for responding to our invitation, however, your invoice quoted
for US$165 000 as coverage fee is in our opinion not competitive and grossly
unfair given that as a State broadcaster, the constitution requires that you
give equal and fair coverage to all political players at this time of
election campaigning," wrote Tsvangirai to ZBC.

He added: "We do not believe that we are being treated fairly and equally
with other players in particular Zanu-PF as required by the constitution. We
are aware that Zanu-PF did not pay for the coverage of their campaign launch
at Zimbabwe Grounds on Friday 5 July 2013.

"The action by the national broadcaster is unacceptable and totally
deplorable, your attitude towards us and your expectation that we pay for
live broadcasting grossly and negatively affects the impartiality and
non-partisanship expected of a public broadcaster."

Tamborinyoka said the attitude of ZBC showed the need of media reforms and
would affect the freeness and fairness of the forthcoming election.

Ghost voters haunt country ahead of July 31 poll

The Sunday Independent

Peta Thornycroft

The number of voters registered in the June 2013 voters’ roll is greater
than the adult population in more than a quarter of 210 constituencies; and
in all population groups 30 years and older – opening the door for extensive
electoral fraud and vote rigging in Zimbabwe’s upcoming elections.

In a report released on Friday, the Governance Unit of the Research and
Advocacy Unit, (RAU) says that its conclusions are based on a comparison of
the voters’ roll and the 2012 census.

The most notable over registration in older groups is 162 percent in the
40-44  age group, and 219 percent in the 80+ age group which includes more
than 116 000 voters older than 100. RAU said that the overstatement of
voters occurred in 63 constituencies.

The RAU is a Zimbabwe research NGO based in Harare that focusses on
governance, women and displacements.

The report, “Key Statistics from the June 2013 Voters’ Roll”, notes that
very few voters under age 30 are registered; 8.8 percent of ages 18-19,
19.55 percent of ages 20-24, and 51.60 percent of ages 25-29.

Earlier this week the Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede said the registration
drive this year had included an additional 400 thousand voters, bringing the
total number of registered voters to more than six million.  Earlier he
reported that the names of 300 000 deceased individuals had been removed.

Well informed estimates of the voting population say the roll has probably
overstated the numbers by about 1,2 million.

Concerns were also raised this week by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
about the activities of a Tel-Aviv based technology firm which he said is
working with the Ministry of Defence.

Reports say Nikuv International Projects Ltd. has been revising and
compiling the electoral roll and Tsvangirai filed a complaint with the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission saying it is a matter of public record that
the firm is accused of poll manipulation in Ghana and Zambia.

Nikuv declined to respond to numerous requests for comment, and many calls
to Zimbabwe's Ministry of Defence for comment were equally unsuccessful.

Tsvangirai has filed a complaint with the electoral commission but Mudede
denied the allegations saying the voter registration system is open to the
MDC to prove there is no manipulation of the roll to rig the election.

Finance minister Tendai Biti, who is also secretary-general of Tsvangirai's
MDC said he cannot intervene, claiming he would not be able to find out if
the Israeli company has been paid by the defence ministry until the
end-of-year audit. "I only know how much money is allocated, not what it is
spent on, until later," he said.

He and other members of the MDC were, Thursday, investigating whether they
could bring any court action for disclosure by the Tel Aviv company.

Zimbabwe will go to the polls at the end of the month for the first time
since 2008, which saw Tsvangirai’s MDC win a narrow parliamentary majority,
but he easily beat Mugabe in the first round of the presidential poll.

That poll was deeply marred by the widely discredited run-off for the
presidential vote between Robert Mugabe and Tsvangirai who withdrew a week
before voting citing widespread violence against his supporters. Mugabe then
stood as the single contender on June 27 2008, with hundreds dead around the
country, no food in the shops, and schools and hospitals closed, thanks to
hyperinflation caused by the Zanu-PF government.

No African country recognised Mugabe's one man victory and after intense
negotiations facilitated by South Africa, the parties entered into an uneasy
power-sharing agreement which has yet to be fully implemented by Mugabe.\

The coming election follows the adoption of a new constitution in a
successful referendum in March.  However, Mugabe ignored the constitution
and issued a presidential decree to unilaterally call early elections
prompting a dispute with the two MDC parties, partners in the inclusive
government, and donors who had agreed to fund the election.

The electoral commission, chaired by Judge Rita Makarau, consequently has no
funds to carry out its functions and Biti said again Wednesday the treasury
is empty and so the government cannot fund the polls.

Mugabe lashes out at SA mediator, threatens to quit SADC

The Sunday Independent

July 7, 2013

Peta Thornycroft

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe called for peaceful elections and
repeated his anti violence message when he launched Zanu PF's campaign in
Harare on Friday.

But in perhaps his clearest indication of what he feels about the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) and South Africa's roll in the
mediation process, Mugabe lashed out at Lindiwe Zulu, the most public of
three facilitators appointed by President Jacob Zuma on behalf of the
regional body.

He called her an “idiotic, stupid woman,” and threatened Zimbabwe might
withdraw from SADC. This was his response to a SADC summit recommendation in
Maputo two weeks ago that elections on July 31 should be delayed.

Zulu said yesterday she did not want to comment on something that would not
add any value to the Zimbabwe process.

Mugabe, 89, told his supporters they had to reverse the “mistake” of losing
elections in 2008. “We have come here to regain what we lost along the way.
This will be a fight of our lives. We have to battle for survival.”

Zimbabweans are dreading elections in three weeks. In the cities and
decaying small towns, many fear queues and administrative chaos on polling
day, while others are plagued by memories of political violence in some
rural areas.

Three weeks after voter registration began there are still daylong queues in
many parts of Harare and other urban areas for most of those trying to
register as first time voters.

So far the secretive Zimbabwe Election Commission has given no detailed
audit of the number and location of registration centres. Insiders say it is
also unlikely there will be any inspection of the voters roll after
registration ends next week. .

Zimbabwe’s tiny, embattled economy is also taking extra strain of pre
election uncertainty.

Election insiders said Friday there is still no hard cash available to pay
at least 100 000 officials to man more than 9,000 polling stations, some in
remote areas.

Even before polling day there are several indications that the integrity of
Zimbabwe’s elections, which end the inclusive government, is compromised

“Most of all we fear violence. If only we didn’t have to have elections,”
said a 42-year-old civil servant whose family lives in north eastern
Zimbabwe where some of the worst attacks began five years ago.

Some MDC supporters from one of those areas told Independent Newspapers in
April: “We are still there, but we have gone underground since 2008. We will
come out to vote but we have to survive financially and so it is easier not
to be identified as MDC.”

Mugabe was rescued by SADC from the political and economic abyss in
September 2008 after no African leader recognised his claim to the
presidency.

Analysts say that since then, and mostly through mediation by South African
facilitators, political violence has reduced dramatically. A church leader
who monitored violent urban gangs in one working-class Harare Township said
attacks in the area have reduced in recent months.

Zanu-PF’s campaign slogan, for 2013 was “Indigence, empower, develop and
create employment.” Among Zanu-PF’s more recent supporters are tens of
thousands of new farmers who received allocations of land forcibly taken
from white farmers since 2000

Zanu-PF says it has “indigenised” the economy, but so far no black
Zimbabweans have found sufficient cash or loans to buy majority
shareholdings in any of the major mining companies that agreed to sell 51
percent shares

Today MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, 61, launches the MDC’s campaign at a
rally in a small town 70 km south east of Harare.

Analysts say just as Mugabe’s Zanu-PF is riven by internal feuding after
primary election results were announced last week, the MDC also has worries
of its own, with several constituencies with more than one party candidate
registered for election.

A vote for the parliamentary candidate will, via party lists, trigger
results for the senate election, and an extra 60 women MP’s for the House of
Assembly and provincial councils. This is Zimbabwe’s first attempt at some
proportionately elected politicians.

The other simultaneous vote on July 31 will be for the presidential poll and
nearly 2000 local government councillors, although at least 26 of those
seats have already been won by Zanu-PF as other parties failed to register
candidates at the chaotic nomination courts.

The smaller MDC led by Welshman Ncube and ZAPU, revived by liberation war
nationalist, Dumiso Dabengwa, announced a coalition to fight the elections
Friday.

Many hoped that Tsvangirai and Ncube would find a formula to form an
election coalition to take on Zanu PF in the 2013 elections. As far as can
be established there was some hopeful talk about some kind of pact, but it
didn't go beyond that.No one from Tsvangirai’s MDC was available to comment
Friday.

Tsvangirai’s colleagues persuaded him to abandon a negotiated coalition with
Ncube’s MDC hours after it was agreed ahead of the 2008 polls.

Lindiwe Zulu a "streetwalker" and "stupid idiotic woman" - Robert Mugabe

http://www.politicsweb.co.za/

Politicsweb.co.za
07 July 2013

Zimbabwean President attacks Jacob Zuma's advisor in speech at launch of
Zanu PF's election campaign

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has described President Jacob Zuma's
international relations advisor Lindiwe Sisulu as a "stupid idiotic woman"
and a "little streetwalker" in his address at the launch of Zanu-PF's
election manifesto on Friday. Mugabe was reacting to Zulu's call for
Zimbabwe's election to be delayed. He also warned that Zimbabwe was in SADC
voluntarily and if it did "stupid things" it could move out.

The Zimbabwe Herald quoted Mugabe as saying:

"Let it be known that we are in Sadc voluntarily. If Sadc decides to do
stupid things, we can move out. But for now we have had a Sadc which has
good sense, although from some quarters, unfortunately these were not
quarters of authority, they were just utterances by some stupid idiotic
woman saying no elections cannot be held on 31st of July even against the
ruling of our court. An ordinary sick woman saying no, ah!"

"Zimbabwe was fought for and on 18 April 1980 we got our independence. We
are fully independent. We fought the British to get them out of our country.
We will defend our sovereignty against any interest from any quarter," he
said to wild applause from the gathering.

"Anyway, we are in that situation where even this little street woman
(Lindiwe Zulu) could make utterances because of our mistakes of 2008. Let us
not make other mistakes, you can see that they invite all and sundry outside
our country to make utterances about Zimbabwe. ‘Zimbabwe must do this';
‘Zimbabwe must do that'. That must end."

"Our courts had actually to command us to say you must have elections not
later than July 31. The courts had to force us to go to elections. But even
then, they thought they could go outside our country and appeal against the
decision of our courts. Even lawyers and professor s who should know better
that the judgement of our Supreme Court is final and must be obeyed still
wanted, for one reason or another, to get outsiders to reverse it. No
outsider is allowed to interfere in a situation where our courts will have
given a ruling. That is final. We are the people to decide what to do. Do we
obey or disobey? That is why I obeyed and complied with that ruling or
command of the courts and then I said the courts say not later than July,
ok, to seek more time I will choose the last day of July and that will not
be a violation."

See the full report
here

Angry region confers on Mugabe insults

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

STAFF WRITER  •  7 JULY 2013 8:01AM

HARARE – There was a frenzy of diplomatic caucusing within Sadc on Saturday
as the region sought ways to respond to President Robert Mugabe’s insults
primarily directed at South Africa, as well as the growing perception that
the political climate in Zimbabwe is deteriorating rapidly.

The Daily News on Sunday learnt last night that a number of telephone calls
had been exchanged, first within the membership of Sadc’s Organ for
Politics, Defence and Security, and later on with the office of the
chairperson of Sadc itself, Mozambican President Armando Emilio Guebuza.

This followed Mugabe’s vitriolic attack on Sadc and the South Africans in
particular during the launch of Zanu PF’s election manifesto at Zimbabwe
Grounds on Friday.

Mugabe not only threatened to pull Zimbabwe out of Sadc at the rally, but
also tore into South African President Jacob Zuma’s trusted international
relations advisor, Lindiwe Zulu, who is also one of the facilitators to
Harare’s political crisis — describing her as “an ordinary, stupid and
idiotic street woman.”

Zulu’s crime appeared to be her recent suggestion that Zimbabwe should have
postponed its forthcoming elections to pave the way for the implementation
of agreed, but outstanding media and security sector reforms.

A diplomat based in Maputo said regional leaders, particularly the South
Africans, had been riled by Mugabe’s “reckless utterances”.

“It is very surprising that president Mugabe chose to behave this way after
what we all thought was a good recent regional summit on Zimbabwe here in
Maputo. What is he (Mugabe) trying to achieve?

“Unfortunately, he has managed to upset even his few backers in the region,
but more importantly the South Africans who have been at the centre of
trying to honestly assist our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe.

“This is why there has been this flurry of consultations to try and
understand what is happening and how the region can respond appropriately,”
he said.

However, a South African official said as angry as they were, it was
important that both Pretoria and Sadc didn’t allow “the predictable lapses
of a mature and desperate citizen to take the whole of Zimbabwe down with
him,” — in apparent reference to Mugabe.

“Make no mistake, we are very angry. But JZ (Zuma) wants a measured response
so that ordinary Zimbabweans are not negatively affected by the folly of
some of their leaders.

“What is important is that the coming elections are peaceful, free and fair
so that there is no repeat of the anarchy of 2008, which would not help
anybody in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Sadc,” he said.

Zulu refused to comment on Mugabe’s insults against her when she was
contacted by the Daily News on Sunday’s sister paper, the Daily News, on
Friday.

“I have no comment. I don’t think commenting on that will solve the
situation,” she said.

However, an SA government official who requested anonymity said Pretoria was
“appalled” to hear that Mugabe had “stooped this low to attack both Sadc and
one of our officials at his rally today (Friday)”.

“If he did indeed, let this old man be warned that we are all capable of
acting very badly. After all, it was Sadc and South Africa who made sure
that he is able to enjoy the status of being acknowledged around the world
as the president of Zimbabwe.

“So, like the laughing stock that he is making of himself, he is effectively
biting the hand that feeds him.

“He clearly has become oblivious to the fact that whether he wins or loses,
Sadc and South Africa will still be here and that he will probably still
need our assistance.

An analyst described Mugabe’s utterances as “ill-advised and unpresidential”,
whatever his personal views of Zulu were.

“It is very likely that as a direct result of this poor behaviour and choice
of words by President Mugabe that relations between South Africa and
Zimbabwe will plummet over a fairly frivolous issue.

“If this analysis is correct, this will have a deleterious effect not just
on Mugabe, Zanu PF and the government, but also on all Zimbabweans given
South Africa’s political and economic standing within Sadc and the
international community.

President Zuma must stand up to Mugabe

http://www.da.org.za/

Bill Eloff, Shadow Deputy Minister of International Relations and
Cooperation
7 July 2013

The DA calls on President Jacob Zuma to be tough on Zimbabwean President
Robert Mugabe and ensure that there is not a repeat of the 2008 elections.
As facilitator of the Global Political Agreement, it is President Zuma’s
responsibility to ensure that this does not fall through and that free and
fair elections are held in Zimbabwe.

To ensure that this happens, President Zuma must urgently meet all parties,
including President Mugabe, to ensure that all reforms agreed to in the GPA
are instituted. This will require ensuring that President Mugabe agrees to
postponing the election date, as agreed to in SADC – now set for 31 July
2013.

President Mugabe’s recent comments show that he is hell-bent to do whatever
it takes to hold the elections as soon as possible, and that he is not
interested in ensuring that all the necessary reforms are instituted before
the election takes place. This is the same formula he has used over the last
decade, to undemocratically bully his way into power.

The South African government cannot fall for this same trick again.
President Zuma must hold the line and accept nothing short of all reforms
agreed to in the GPA. These include:

•A constitution
•Depoliticisation of the security sector
•Free media
•Freedom of association
•Freedom from intimidation

The DA will continue to monitor the developments in Zimbabwe closely, and
will ensure that the South African government is held accountable for its
important role in ensuring that free and fair elections are held in
Zimbabwe.

We cannot allow for a repeat of the last decade in Zimbabwe. It is time to
stand up to President Mugabe.

'No early Zim dollar return,' says Mugabe

http://bulawayo24.com/

by Staff reporter
07 July 2013

President Mugabe has revealed that a Zanu-PF Government will not rush to
re-introduce the Zimbabwe dollar if elected to power on July 31 as the party
is mindful of avoiding a repeat of the hyperinflationary period experienced
before the adoption of the multiple currency system in 2009.

Addressing thousands who gathered for the launch of the Zanu-PF election
manifesto at the Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield in Harare on Friday,
President Mugabe said although consultations were underway to see how the
local currency would be reintroduced, his party would not rush the process.

He reiterated that his Government will be out to avoid a repeat of the
sanctions-induced economic meltdown that saw the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
resorting to printing money and slashing zeroes to deal with hyperinflation.

The then Acting Finance Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, introduced the multiple
currency system in January 2009 after hyper-inflation had severely crippled
the economy.

"Tanga takusvika kumabillions, kumamillions uko kuti tiwane one US dollar.
Zvino ndozvatakatorera American currency. (besesifika kuma billions,kuma
millions ukuze sithole ione US dollar. Yikho esakuthathela iUS dollar.)

"Asi tichasvika patichati ayewa takuda kudzokera kuZim dollars dzedu. Asi
tichadaro tichiwona kuti tirikuisimbaradza mari yedu," he said. (Kodwa
sizafika lapho esizakuthi cha sesifuna ukubisela izim dollar)

Mugabe hinted that Zanu-PF will introduce a strong gold-backed currency once
the economy has stabilised.

"We have huge gold deposits in this country and we want to use this resource
to back our currency.

"If we back our local currency with gold, it is possible for such a currency
to be equivalent or to be even valued higher than the US dollar.

"It all depends on what we do with the gold" he said.

President Mugabe disclosed that he has already held discussions with Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono on the modalities of introducing a
gold- backed currency, a system which is internationally accepted and has
been in existence since ancient times.

"We have been discussing the issue with (Dr) Gono but Government will be in
overall charge of implementing the system.

"We will be able to print our own money and make sure that our money does
not become a victim of inflation when we print at the RBZ.

"The reality is that we are not able to print the US dollar and because of
the sanctions there are many restrictions for us to access money from the
west," he said.

President Mugabe noted that people living in the rural areas are struggling
to lay their hands on the US dollar and have since resorted to barter trade.

"The situation is not desirable in the rural areas because most households
do not have access to the US dollar especially when they are not formally
employed.

"At times they have to resort to barter trade and part with their priced
possessions even though they also know that the US dollar has strong value,"
he said.

Zim dollar backed by gold is 'undiluted rubbish'

http://bulawayo24.com/

by Tendai Biti
07 July 2013

Wananchi, as I stated in my last post, it is that season where every second
is history and each hour brings its own unlimited bandwidth of fresh data
and information. I warned in yet another post of the danger of being
swallowed and engulfed.

An additional danger is that of fact constipation. Too much data fills your
brain and you do not know how to process same. Your brain freezes like an
old IBM computer running on some archaic windows program. You need the
chlorination of some anti virus program, (better still just move over to
Apple.)

I see many of you, and I see this data paralysis. Relax, exercise, live
clean, read, eat healthy and know,that life in the time of struggle is not
easy. Soon this will be over. There will be Zimbabwe on 1 August 2013, a new
Zimbabwe. There will be Christmas, this year.

Despite the weighty shenanigans, they are executing, we must survive this
and out survive them. They are history. Let us just hope that there will be
no violence, that no one will be killed. That there will be peace and that
no blood is shed for such an embarrassingly lost cause.

The Lost Cause or should I say the Revolutionary Party had its launch rally
today (Friday) at the Zimbabwe grounds. This is a venue laced with history
of the struggle of the working people of Zimbabwe.

Once upon a time in its checkered history, the Revolutionary Party without
bussing or coercing anyone would fill this place with the masses. Once upon
a time this place would flow with waves of Wananchi desperate to see its
revolutionary leaders.

Those were the days when the Revolutionary Party had not mutated into what
it is today. This was the time when crooks and gangsters, murderers and
witches had not captured it.

Alas today the Revolutionary party tried to reenergize itself by going back
to where it all began. What an embarrassment . The lack of organization,the
lack of suaveness, the lack of energy and the divisions and factionalism
were all there to see. The cold war, those-tensions, thick enough to cut
with a hack saw.

My God why do they do this to each other.

It was also clear what all of you have always known. That there will be an
election. Zanu PF against the MDC, Robert Mugabe against Morgan Tsvangirai.
But there will be another election, which is the election between the two
main Zanu PF factions, the Chaos Faction and the other one.

The latter election, as we saw at their primaries will take no prisoners. It
is a last man standing fight. They are so divided and so angry that they
would rather spoil their votes or vote MDC than vote for a candidate from
the other side. That crowd too,with all the bussing and the forced closure
of shops was pathetic.

The people have moved on. Museums and death parlous are not there favorite
places.

Spare a thought too, for the poor boys Sulu and Jah Preyzah coerced and
forced to perform at this morgue.

Spare a thought too for the old man. The man is old and needs rest. He will
be ninety on his next birthday,for Christ sake. The body, the spirit is no
longer willing. They are holding him stage-managing him, pushing him along
despite the self evident fact that, the man has had his time.

They are a cruel lot, this Zanu lot.

It is going to be a long winter this one and a long long campaign for this
lot. Each rally will be a spectacle of gaffes, blunders and accidents. Each
rally will be a free generous display of gerontocracy, exhaustion and
sterility of ideas. Today was just the beginning.

Wananchi, what was defining for me was the total absence of any meaningful
plan or well articulated agenda to take this country forward. Never mind a
proper a dissection and acknowledgement of our current status quo. This was
after all the launch of a manifesto.

An opportunity to lay out an agenda for action. Sadly it was the old
unclinical rabble we have had before. The truth of the matter is that
problems can not be solved by the same mindset that created them. Two new
things however stuck out like a pike staff. (Lewis Uriri,I will not take the
bait)

The first was the clear statement that Zanu will bring the Zimbabwean dollar
but backed by the bullion. The second was the much reported threat to pull
out of SADC. Wananchi, the Revolutionary Party never ceases to amaze.

It is bad enough to suggest the return of the Zim dollar at this present
moment in time but foolish to the point of insanity to suggest in this
century a bullion backed currency.

Let us recall that dollarization was not the idea of any genius at the
ministry of finance but was a specific recognition ,de jure of the de facto
abandonment of the Zimbabwean dollar by you the Wananchi . Save for Panama
in 1904, there has never been a case of voluntary dollarization .

All cases, Bolivia (1984-86), Poland (1989-92), Argentina
(1989-1990:2000-01), Liberia (1970-80s) have been largely been underpinned
by roughly the same factors, namely

1) hyperinflation

2) a huge budget deficit that is then monetized by excessive printing of
money

3) debt overhang and debt default

4) Thriving and buoyant parallel black market for foreign exchange

5) a decimation of the domestic financial sector

6) a regime of negative rates of interest as the Gvt borrows at low rates to
finance its activities

7) often times political turmoil and shortage of basic commodities

All the above factors were at play in our country during these dark days of
what Governor Gono has described as the casino economy, more a hoodlum
economy to me. The pirates of the Caribbean to be apt.

Between 1997 to the early 2000s our inflation averaged 34% with budget
deficits of 8%. This was a reserve game of things to come. From 2004
inflation rose from 200% to the staggering 231 million % it reached in July
2008. By December 2008 it was a staggering 500 billion %.

From 2004 they forced the Central Bank to engage in unprecedented printing
of money to finance what we now euphemistically refer to quasi fiscal
activities. By 2008 quasi fiscal activities were over 46 % of GDP. Put
simply the Central Bank had taken over Government.

My predecessor, Creighton Mumbengegwi at the Ministry of Finance became an
expert in Solitaire. He had nothing to do.

As for rates of interests, these dropped from positive rates of around 9.2 %
in 1997 to -11.4 by 2001 and a record -230 99933.7% by 2008. As a non
economist it easier for me to see things much clearer than the learned
members of this profession. So I will do it simply here.

Hyperinflation ,a major driver of Zimbabwe s abandonment of its currency is
less to do with bad economics. High inflation is. But once month on month
inflation is over a million, as we saw in our beautiful country, what is it
stake is beyond economics.

To me hyperinflation such as we saw in Zim was the manifestation of the
complete break down of the social contract.

Wananchi lost trust in the government institutions in their currency and in
the State itself. They lost trust amongst themselves as citizens. A business
would increase prices because it thought and understood that when it went
back to its suppliers, prices would have increased. The law of the jungle.

So at the end of it, our crises years were nothing but a vicious predatory
cycle of lack trust predicated by the failure of extractive institutions
controlled by a predatory elite.

I can assure the Revolutionary Party that they created the loss of trust and
breakdown in the Social Contract. Why the last 4 and half years have been
different is that people trusted the MDC in Government. We restored the
modicum of stability and growth now in existence.

Can our people ever trust Zanu PF and the Zimbabwean dollar with all the
carnage and pillage it caused. Never.

But it goes beyond trust. Economies function on production.You eat what you
kill, idiot. Supply side economics is the key driver of any economy. If you
do not produce you wither and die.

During the crises years we stopped producing our economy lost 60% of its
value between 1997 and 2008 and capacity utilization fell to below 10 % yet
the countrys demand,consumption and general micro economic discourse did not
change.

In other words, the regime was catching a mice, but having a meal of
elephantine proportions. It does not work. You eat what you kill.

Herein lies the problem. A countrys currency is an organic relationship
between its imports and exports. Where you are not producing and you are
eating what others are producing, that relationship collapses and there is
bound to be a divorce.

Let me be technical. A countrys currency is largely a measure of its balance
of payments position.If the current account is in deficit, that is to say
the country is importing much more than it exports there is a mismatch which
impacts negatively on the exchange rate.

So terrible was our trade balance situation,that between 2000 and 2007 , the
same fell from +US $300 million to -US$400 m by 2005 and at least -US $300 m
by 2007. In general terms the ratio of exports to imports was one to ten.
That is to say for every dollar that came in as exports ten dollars went out
as imports.

This status quo could not a sustain a currency. That is why among other
things the zeroes kept on coming back. The question to be asked today is
whether we now have a sustainable current account position that can support
the return of our currency.

Put differently are we producing enough and exporting enough so as to have a
currency that our production can protect. That is the simple question,
Wananchi.

The answer is clearly a no.

As clearly pointed out in my 2013 Budget Statement, we have not only an
unsustainable current account position but so too the capital account, never
mind my immediate challenges around our primary balance.

Our exports were around US $3 billion in 2012 whilst imports were around
US$7.5 billion. A ratio of one is to four. 2013 will be worse.

So we clearly do not have the current account ,the exports ,at this point in
time to sustain the return of the Zimbabwean dollar.In simple terms we are
not producing sufficiently to support our own currency yet.

This is not politics. This is pure economics, pure logic. With great respect
therefore the suggestion to bring back,the Zim dollar at this present moment
in time is foolish. Now I come to the insanity element, the suggestion to
bring back a bullion backed Zim dollar. What high sounding nonsense.

What Zanu are saying is that they will have reserves of gold, (it could in
fact be silver). This will be then be kept in reserve or vaults, physically.
Money or the new Zimbabwean dollar will now be printed based cent for cent
by the gold in the vaults.

This is in fact how it used to work generally into the late 60′s before the
world abandoned bullion backed currencies. So if Zanu wants to have the
equivalent of $4 billion in circulation as notes and coins ( M1) they must
find gold worth that same amount before they can print the new Zim dollar.

This is foolish.

For starters ,we are not even producing 20 tones of gold per annum. That
gold is not even ours. Where would we get money to buy the gold anywhere.
But why would we want to trap a whole four billion dollars in a vault when
we could be using it. This is the insanity.

It is in fact the realization that, as long as their trust ,money with any
value can be accepted as a means of storing value, or exchange. That is why
the world ran away ,and wisely so from bullion based currencies.

The US $ is living proof of this. There are trillions of dollars circulating
in every street in the world. They are not backed by anything except the
fiction that the FED can make the same good. That is to say trust based on
the imperial strength of the US. So this idea is undiluted rubbish.

Let me say to Zanu this is a serious subject which requires a lot of
reflection, which self evidently they have not done.

They are on a few options available to us, viz

1) The continued existence of multiple currencies

2) joining the Rand Monetary Union with or without the Zim dollar

3) randisation or proper dollarization

4) adopting the regional currency that will come from eitherthe COMESa or
SADC monetary union,whichever comes first.

5) Creating a currency board

6) introducing the Zim dollar but only under fixed exchange or managed float
option.

We in the MDC have opted to maintain the current status quo of multiple
currencies.However once our position improves clearly the concept of a
regional currencies despite whatever problems are being experienced in the
European Monetary union is an option.

The critical determining factor will always be supply side economics and
nothing else. Wananchi, there are tired this lot. They do not have ideas.
They are well past their sell date. Things are happening behind closed
doors.

Good things.

ZCTF's Johnny Rodrigues In Hospital

7 July 2013

JOHNNY RODRIGUES, CHAIRMAN OF ZIMBABWE CONSERVATION TASK FORCE IN HOSPITAL –
MESSAGE FROM HIS DAUGHTER, BRIGITTE

For all those of you who know and support my Dad and his cause - This is to
let you know that my Dad has fallen very ill and is in hospital, in a very
bad way ... He needs to undergo very urgent surgery, but he's not stable
enough to go under as it's too dangerous for him ...

Please spare an inspirational thought or prayer (or whatever you wishes are)
to help us encourage him to fight back and to get better.  Our wildlife
surely needs him (and so does his family!)… I will pass on any messages for
him, and I’ll ask my Mother to print them out for him to read each night
while in hospital.

Help us to fill this deserving, brave man up with the inspiration and hope
that he has given to all of us over the past decade. Thank you all for your
support!

Brigitte Rodrigues (Johnny's daughter) x

https://www.facebook.com/pages/ZCTF-Zimbabwe-Conservation-Task-Force/246013052094585

No good GNUs - Zimbabwe Vigil Diary: 6th July 2013

President Morgan Tsvangirai’s speech at the launch of the 2013 Harmonised Election Campaign Marondera