Monsters and Critics
Jun 10, 2008,
13:46 GMT
Harare - Zimbabwe police have carried out a string of
arrests of civic
organisations since Sunday, widening a crackdown against
opponents of
President Robert Mugabe's regime ahead of presidential
elections later this
month.
The move follows a ban announced by the
government last week on field
operations by aid agencies and charities,
effectively strangling supplies of
food, medical care and an enormous range
of services desperately needed by
millions of poverty- and violence- wracked
Zimbabweans.
Fourteen members of 'public information groups' organized by
the Media
Monitoring Project Zimbabwe, a non-governmental organization
pressing for
media freedom, were finally given access to lawyers Tuesday
after being
arrested on Sunday in the remote northern town of Binga, MMPZ
coordinator
Andrew Moyse said.
Police had not stated why they had
been arrested, but none had been
assaulted, he said.
In Harare,
police on Monday raided the offices of the Ecumenical Support
Services, a
Christian welfare organisation, and the Christian Alliance, a
body pressing
for political reform.
'They claimed they were chasing criminals who had
run into the building,'
said CA coordinator Useni Sibanda. 'Then they
arrested 15 of our people.'
Among those arrested was outspoken critic and
commentator, Pius Wakatama.
'As of now they are still detained in Harare
central police station,'
Sibanda said. 'There are no charges. This is a
non-partisan Christian
organisation. I am shocked they are doing this to us.
They are clamping down
on all civil society groups. It's impossible to have
free and fair
elections.'
Also Tuesday, lawyers said police were
ignoring high court orders issued
Sunday for the immediate release of senior
advocate and just- elected MP
Eric Matinenga.
He was first arrested
on May 31 on allegations of 'inciting violence,' only
days after he won a
court ruling to stop members of the army from assaulting
people in his
constituency in south-east Zimbabwe, following a wave of
violence against
MDC supporters.
Last week a magistrate dismissed the charges against him
and ordered him
released, only for police to arrest him at dawn at his
Harare home on
Saturday.
A second round run-off presidential election
is due on June 27 after
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement
for Democratic Change
won more votes than 84-year-old Mugabe in elections on
March 29, but -
according to results issued by the state electoral
commission after it sat
on the vote count for five weeks without explanation
- failed to get more
than 50 per cent of ballots that he needed for outright
victory.
Since the March 29 election, human rights and church groups have
confirmed
MDC reports of a campaign of violent assaults against MDC
supporters and
independent election observers around much of the country.
The MDC says that
more than 65 have been killed while a group of doctors
says nearly 3,000
have had to be treated in hospital for
injuries.
Also Tuesday, Mugabe's Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa,
said he was
planning an amnesty of convicted criminals in the country's
jails to make
space for people convicted of political violence.
'We
recognise that incidents of political violence are on the increase and
we
want to take measures to stamp them out,' he said in the state-controlled
daily Herald newspaper. However, human rights lawyers say that police
routinely take no action against ruling party perpetrators of
violence.
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
June 10, 2008
The 14 members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise
(WOZA) who were arrested on
Wednesday two weeks ago, were due to appear in
court on Tuesday. The state
has delayed the case again until Wednesday. The
case has been delayed many
times and it is still not clear just what they
are being charged with and
when the main case will be heard.
All the
WOZA officials, including coordinators Jenni Williams and Magodonga
Mahlangu, are part of the arrested group.
The WOZA members first
appeared in court on May 30 and were granted bail,
but the state immediately
appealed the decision and they were remanded in
custody until June
20.
The hearing that was delayed on Monday and again on Tuesday is the
state
case which is appealing against any bail for the
activists.
This is a cause for concern because WOZA has never been denied
bail before.
Additionally the government this weekend announced new tougher
measures
against activists. Deputy attorney general Johannes Tomana told the
state-run Herald newspaper that bail would be denied to 'anyone suspected of
committing or inciting unrest'.
The 13 WOZA activists held at
Chikurubi Prison for women, and 1 male at
Harare Remand Prison, are being
charged with conducting activities that are
likely to cause public disorder.
Williams is facing the extra charge of
causing 'disaffection among the
police' and with distributing false
information.
SW Radio Africa
Zimbabwe news
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
June 10, 2008
Violence in the lowveld area, particularly
Chiredzi town, has intensified in
the last few weeks as ZANU-PF militia
terrorise innocent civilians. We
received a report that Dumihasani Hapazari,
a popular manager at the local
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, was
abducted from his office last
Wednesday and has been found dead near
Chikombedzi, some 100 kilometres
south of Chiredzi. Farmer and activist
Gerry Whitehead said the perpetrators
are believed to be four CIO agents who
took Hapazari from his workplace in
broad daylight. It is reported that he
was found drowned in one of the
rivers in the area.
The locals
believe Hapazari was targeted because he helped to nominate the
MDC's
candidate for councillor. Whitehead described him as 'a very nice guy
who
was a strong family man. People in Chiredzi are outraged because they
say
Dumi, as he was popularly known, was always there when there was a ZESA
power failure.
According to the outspoken farmer, ZANU-PF has set up
many militia bases in
the lowveld area and on Monday youths rampaged through
Chiredzi town,
forcing anyone they met to toyi-toyi. Those who were too slow
in responding
were beaten.
State sponsored violence also struck in
Masvingo. MDC Senators Makamure and
Musimudziwa had their cars burnt on
Monday night. The perpetrators have not
been identified but it's believed
that the youth militia were responsible as
they have invaded the area in
large numbers.
Meanwhile the Reuters news agency reported on Tuesday that
Jacob Zuma,
leader of South Africa's ruling party, said he was 'alarmed and
anxious
about reports of widespread violence and brutality in Zimbabwe's
election
campaign'. The South African leader was speaking during a visit to
India. In
a speech released by his African National Congress in
Johannesburg, he said:
"We cannot rest until the situation is resolved, as
it affects all of us. We
want to see the return of peace and stability in
Zimbabwe as speedily as
possible."
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
The Zimbabwean
Tuesday, 10 June
2008 12:23
In a move aimed at denying Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC)
supporters the chance to vote on June 27, Zanu (PF) militia
youths and
police officers are reportedly being ordered to confiscate
identification
cards of the suspected MDC supporters until after the
elections.
This, according to a high-ranking source in the
police, an order sent
to those police officers known to be loyal to ZANU
(PF).In Bindura South a
police officer identified as Gonyora is allegedly
ransacking homes of the
MDC supporters and confiscating the I.D cards."He
came with a group of other
policemen and they demanded to search my home,"
narrated Tatenda Makuwera, a
33-year-old woman whose home was raided."They
were shouting obscenities at
me, accusing me of being "a sell-out".They then
demanded to see my ID but
instead of giving it back to me, they took
it.
I was shocked because I never thought the police officers could
be so
unprofessional," said Makuwera.The move has come amid reports that
there is
a massive infiltration of the Zimbabwe republic Police by the
Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO) members and some ZANU (PF) youth
militias in
order to weed out police officers not loyal to the regime.Last
week members
of the dreaded PISI allegedly arrested some police officers in
Actrurus and
Shamva as they were said to be supporting the MDC's campaigns
in their
areas.
Last week the police commissioner Augustine
Chihuri who is also among
the heads of the military junta campaigning for
Robert Mugabe, was at Musiwa
Growth Point in Bindura South where he
threatened to shoot down all the
villagers if they repeated "the mistake' of
voting for the MDC.The MDC's
Bednock Nyaude won Bindura South constituency
and the MDC got nine out of 13
wards in the constituency that was once a
ZANU (PF) stronghold.
Chihuri then publicly ordered the policemen
in the constituency to
arrest anyone seen wearing an MDC T- shirt or
campaigning for the party.This
has seen the arrest of over 40 people in Ward
16, among them councillor
Nehemiah Mhembere over the past
week.
http://zimbabwemetro.com/
By Tongai Gava-Special Projects Editor ⋅
zimbabwemetro.com ⋅ June 9, 2008 ⋅
It had emerged that Zimbabwe Defence
Forces commander,Constantine Chiwenga
ordered jailed MDC MP Eric Matinenga
to be re-arrested and locked up “Until
I die”. He personally called the
police and instructed them to disregard any
orders from the
courts.
The High Court on Sunday ordered the police to release Matinenga,
who is a
prominent human rights lawyer as well as the Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC) Member of Parliament-elect for Buhera West
Constituency.
But the police had by Tuesday not released Matinenga
defying the High Court
order.
Chiwenga is reportedly furious over the
High Court application against the
army that Matinenga successfully lodged
ordering Zimbabwe Defence Forces
(ZDF) commander General Constantine
Chiwenga to remove soldiers from Buhera
and other rural areas where he says
they are harassing and assaulting MDC
supporters.
Chiwenga filed
opposing papers on. The ZDF chief claims in his papers that
Matinenga’s
application was based on false and incorrect information that
soldiers were
deployed in rural areas to target opposition supporters for
harassment.
“I am not aware of any members of the defence forces who
are targeting
members of any political party whatsoever,” Chiwenga wrote in
affidavit to
court.
Meanwhile his lawyers said on Monday that they
would file contempt of court
charges against the police for failing to
release the politician despite an
order to do so.
Matinenga’s lawyer,
Lewis Uriri, said: “The police are in contempt of court
because an
application for review of a judgement does not stay a judgement
and
therefore they should have released him on the basis of the earlier High
Court order.”
Uriri said in addition to filing contempt of court
charges against the
police at the High Court, the defence team was also
going to file a counter
application to the Supreme Court against the
police.
The police accuse Matinenga of inciting public violence in Buhera
West
although a magistrate’s court cleared him of the charge last week and
ordered his release from jail.
The Zimbabwean
Tuesday, 10 June 2008 12:27
BULAWAYO, (CAJ News) -- THE
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor
Gideon Gono may have compromised his
perceived political ambitions when he
recently revealed that government
officials were abusing the agricultural
farm mechanisation
programme.
"The (mechanisation) programme became
politically charged and all the
politicians from the ruling party wanted to
be part of it," he told a chiefs
meeting in Bulawayo last Friday.Gono is, in
some quarters, being touted as a
possible successor to President Robert
Mugabe, although he is not "openly"
active in politics. His sudden stance
has become a surprise to many at a
time he is expected to be singing praises
of his paymaster.
Gono said he was now considering excluding
politicians from his future
agricultural programmes."They were too many
fingers in the whole pie," he
said.The central bank has often been accused
of engaging in politics through
the mechanisation programme. The latest
distribution of farming equipment
took place just before the March 29
elections, and was widely viewed as a
campaign strategy for the ruling
ZANU-PF.
The RBZ has also been accused of using the programme to
benefit mainly
ZANU-PF supporters, with only a few opposition members
getting something, as
a way of trying to give credence to the exercise.Gono
said RBZ would in
future use traditional chiefs to disburse farming
implements.However, chiefs
are accused of being appendages of ZANU-PF and
this may not change the way
the implements are distributed.
"Chiefs are not elected and the elected ones always give us problems,"
Gono
lamented. "The elected ones gave their own supporters and there was a
lot of
factionalism and vote buying going around."He said the tragedy of
politicians was that they sloganeered a lot without offering practical
solutions.
"Even if I attend a ZANU-PF meeting you will never
see me chanting
slogans, because some of these people and their slogans have
put us where we
are," he said, without elaborating.The RBZ recently bought
more than 60
buses and will soon be distributing more than 54 000 litres of
fuel monthly
to chiefs. - CAJ News
Catholic
Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
10 June 2008
Posted to the
web 10 June 2008
Nobel Peace Prize laureate and retired Anglican
Archbishop of Cape Town
Desmond Tutu has called for the resignation of
Zimbabwean president Robert
Mugabe.
Mugabe is blamed for an
unprecedented political and economic upheaval in the
formerly prosperous
southern African nation.
"Mugabe began so well more than 20 years
ago. We all had such high hopes....
But his regime has turned into a
horrendous nightmare. He should stand
down," Archbishop tutu said, according
to Independent Catholic News.
Tutu also appealed for UN peacekeepers to
go to Zimbabwe to supervise the
forthcoming run-off election for the
presidency, due to take place on 27
June, between Mugabe and Morgan
Tsvangirai who won the first round in March.
Tutu spoke on Monday during
a service at St Martin-in-the-Fields in
Trafalgar Square, London, in a new
underground light well and room which has
been named after him. During the
service there was a blessing of three
Zimbabwean sculptures, standing in the
entrance of the new Dick Sheppard
Chapel.
Afrique en ligne
Harare, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe Tuesday announced plans to grant
amnesty to
prisoners who committed petty offences, to create room for people
arrested
for involvement in politically-motivated violence sweeping the
country ahead
a crunch poll at the end of the month.
The country goes
to the poll 27 June to elect a new president after an
earlier election in
March failed to produce a clear winner.
The election, which will pitch
President Robert Mugabe against main
opposition challenger Morgan
Tsvangirai, has been marred by widespread
inter-party violence, mainly in
rural areas.
The opposition claims that more than 60 of its members and
supporters have
been killed by ruling party militants, a charge the
government has denied.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said the
government was planning to grant
amnesty to prisoners who committed petty
crimes to create space for people
committing violent politically-motivated
crimes.
The government Monday announced it would no longer grant bail to
suspects of
political violence, as part of stiffer measures taken to curb
inter-party
strife in the country ahead of the election.
Chinamasa
said prisons had run out of space, hence the need to pardon petty
offenders
to create more room.
"We are proposing amnesty in order to create space
for those convicted of
political violence," he said.
"We recognise
that incidents of political violence are on the increase and
we want to take
measures to stamp them out," he added.
Just on Tuesday, the ruling party
said one of its supporters was killed and
several others injured in attacks
by the opposition in the south of the
country.
Both sides accuse each
other of using violence during campaigns for the
election, the most tightly
fought in the country's history.
Harare - 10/06/2008
Pana
By Tichaona Sibanda
10
June 2008
The MDC said on Tuesday it was perplexed by the absence of SADC
observers on
the ground, with just 17 days to go before the crucial
presidential run-off
on 27th June.
Despite the SADC bloc promising to
send up to 400 observers, only about 50
have so far arrived in the
country.
Botswana became the first country from SADC to send observers,
when 25
jetted in on Saturday. Another 25 will fly in on Wednesday. This
other group
is from the SADC secretariat. There were 162 SADC observers
during the March
29 elections.
A SADC Heads of State Summit held in
April in Lusaka, following the disputed
March elections, agreed that the
number of observers would need to be
increased for the run-off. The MDC
Secretary for International Affairs,
Professor Elphas Mukonoweshuro, said
they had hoped that a heavy presence
would deter Zanu-PF from it's crackdown
on MDC activists.
SADC has now blamed financial constraints for the delay
in sending
observers, but the United States announced on Monday it had
availed US$7
million dollars, to help ensure they travelled to Zimbabwe for
the
elections.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told
reporters in Washington
that the money was 'not only to ensure that there
are proper, sufficient
numbers from countries that are going to supply the
observers, but that they
have the resources to do their job on the
ground.'
Last week South African President Thabo Mbeki, the region's
chief mediator
on Zimbabwe, said in a television interview that SADC was
increasing the
number of observers 'so that they can cover all parts of
Zimbabwe' adding
that 'they need to go in as early as possible.' That
statement was made with
less than a month to go to the runoff, so President
Mbeki's understanding of
what is 'early' is not necessarily the same as that
of the victims of
violence.
The intensity of the state sponsored
violence has increased on a daily basis
and Mukonoweshuro said that since
the March elections at least 60 MDC
supporters have been killed and over 50
000 displaced, in retributive
attacks by ruling party militias.
The
MDC MP elect for Gutu South said Tsvangirai, who claimed he won the
presidential election in March, agreed to participate in the run off on
condition that regional and international observers were allowed in early
and without restrictions.
'Everyone is agreeing observers should come
in early, we are having a
crucial election that could decide the destiny of
the country and yet there
is no evidence of any electoral observers anyway
in the country. Perhaps
they're observing from the comfort of their hotel
rooms,' he said.
Mukonoweshuro went on; 'I don't want to be harsh, but
one can conclude
perhaps they are waiting for more blood to be shed before
they begin to take
note.'
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
The Telegraph
By
David Blair, Diplomatic Editor
Last Updated: 8:15PM BST 10/06/2008
If
Morgan Tsvangirai agrees to join President Robert Mugabe in a government
of
national unity, Zimbabwe's recent history suggests that he will tread a
short route to political oblivion.
Uncanny echoes of Mr Tsvangirai's
dilemma can be found in the events of two
decades ago. Then Joshua Nkomo, a
pillar of Zimbabwe's struggle against
white rule and the leader of the Zapu
party, was a beleaguered opposition
politician.
Mr Mugabe was
obsessed with crushing his opponents, just as he is today.
Mr Nkomo, who
enjoyed enormous popularity among his minority Ndebele people,
making him a
significant political threat, faced violence on a scale that
makes today's
campaign against the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) look
relatively
restrained.
Mr Mugabe unleashed a special army unit, the Fifth
Brigade, to destroy
Zapu's support base by terrorising and murdering the
Ndebele. At least 8,000
were killed and tens of thousands abducted, tortured
or assaulted between
1982 and 1987.
The Zapu leadership was rounded
up and Mr Nkomo spent almost a year in exile
in Britain. To end the
bloodshed and restore his own political influence, Mr
Nkomo began talks with
the ruling Zanu-PF party. In December 1987, he signed
the "Unity Accord"
with Mr Mugabe and hailed the deal as a "new beginning".
In theory, Zapu
and Zanu-PF merged to form a new party under a new
leadership.
There
was one problem: the new party was called Zanu-PF and its leader was
Robert
Mugabe. The Unity Accord was a cruel sham.
By signing this deal, Mr Nkomo
had agreed to abolish Zapu and serve Mr
Mugabe as a meek subordinate,
thereby signing his own political death
warrant. Mr Nkomo's only consolation
was that he became vice-president,
living in a mansion and making money on
the side - notably becoming one of
Zimbabwe's largest landowners.
But
his purely ceremonial functions left him powerless. He died in 1999, a
forlorn, pathetic figure, whom Mr Mugabe had outsmarted at every
turn.
This is the fate that awaits Mr Tsvangirai. When Zanu-PF
politicians talk of
a coalition government, they have the Unity Accord in
mind and are preparing
the MDC leader for Mr Nkomo's inglorious
role.
For his part, Mr Tsvangirai has insisted that the "mandate" he won
in the
presidential election's first round must be respected. If there is a
unity
government, he must be president.
But South Africa may have
other ideas. Following the example of Kenya, it
may be suggested that Mr
Mugabe stays as president with Mr Tsvangirai as
prime minister.
If Mr
Tsvangirai allows himself to be inveigled into becoming Mr Mugabe's
prime
minister, he will deserve Mr Nkomo's fate.
Globe and Mail, Canada
Government adds arrest without bail to the arsenal of tactics it's
using to
intimidate the opposition and voters
STEPHANIE NOLEN
From
Tuesday's Globe and Mail
June 10, 2008 at 4:33 AM EDT
JOHANNESBURG
- As Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change tries to
campaign for a
runoff presidential election scheduled for June 27, it is
difficult to
imagine how conditions could be worse.
In the course of the past week,
opposition presidential candidate Morgan
Tsvangirai was twice detained by
police for hours while campaigning. Nine
supporters sheltering in a rural
party office were attacked last Wednesday
by a militia, shot at and set on
fire; at least three were killed. The
party's rallies in several of the most
hotly contested areas were banned,
and Mr. Tsvangirai is likewise banned
from all broadcast media, which are
state-controlled.
On Thursday,
the government accused aid agencies that provide food and
health care of
covertly assisting the opposition, and indefinitely barred
the groups from
operating. It was one more harsh reminder to the populace of
the power of
President Robert Mugabe's state, which is now run by a shadowy
military
clique called the Joint Operations Command.
On Sunday, party workers
putting up MDC posters on electricity poles in the
city of Bulawayo were
attacked by police; it was reported that one man's
legs were broken with a
baseball bat. Mr. Tsvangirai's armoured campaign car
was impounded by police
last week - and now, the party says, a candidate for
Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF is
brazenly using it.
Hard to imagine, and yet, it gets worse.
Yesterday,
the government announced that it would keep anyone arrested for
election-related violence in jail without bail until after the vote: Deputy
attorney-general Johannes Tomana told the state-run Herald newspaper that
"Zimbabweans are entitled to security of their lives and property. ... We
will be tough with them now."
That might seem like comforting news to
opposition supporters, but the
government insists the MDC is to blame for
"inciting" most of the violence,
and so the move is widely seen in Zimbabwe
as a convenient way to jail any
MDC organizers who aren't already injured or
in hiding.
Human Rights Watch said in a report released yesterday that it
is impossible
for a fair election to be held in Zimbabwe. The New York-based
rights group
catalogued "at least 36 politically motivated deaths" and 2,000
victims of
violence since the first vote on March 29, which the opposition
is widely
believed to have won.
"President Mugabe and his government
of Zimbabwe bear full responsibility
for these serious crimes. They have
shown gross indifference to the plight
of the people, allowing
senior-ranking security officers, 'war veterans,'
youth militia and ZANU-PF
free rein to commit horrifying abuses," said
Georgette Gagnon, the group's
Africa director. "Zimbabweans can't vote
freely if they fear their vote may
get them killed."
That, of course, is the critical question for the MDC:
How can Mr.
Tsvangirai hope to win an election when his supporters have been
relentlessly terrorized since the first poll?
The MDC is, in essence,
trapped, with no choice but to contest the election
regardless of how many
barriers the government throws up, otherwise Mr.
Mugabe will simply declare
himself president again. And Zimbabwe's
neighbours have made clear they want
another election. Yet the most basic
measure the party can take to reassure
voters - bringing Mr. Tsvangirai to
address crowds - is thwarted
relentlessly.
"Obviously it's an uphill battle," said George Sibotshiwe,
spokesman for Mr.
Tsvangirai. "But we're not just sitting back and saying,
'This is terrible.'
Because we know they're going to rig and we know they're
going to steal and
we know what they've already done in terms of
intimidation. But it's also
true that Zimbabweans more than ever want
change."
Eldred Masunungure, a professor of politics at the University of
Zimbabwe,
said that it is impossible for a fair election to be held at this
time. "And
the chances are very slim that the MDC can win."
One
crucial question is whether the MDC's supporters will have the courage
to
risk voting for the party again. If Mr. Tsvangirai loses - legitimately
or,
more likely, not - those constituencies that vote for him can be certain
of
brutal retribution.
And yet there is a breathtaking determination on the
part of many
Zimbabweans - even the victims of some of the worst violence -
to vote
again, and to vote MDC again. Evernice Antonio, 19, was an MDC
polling agent
in the last election in Kotwa, 200 kilometres north of Harare.
Today, she is
sheltering, along with 550 other refugees, in the MDC
headquarters in
Harare. She arrived at her house on June 3 to find it on
fire, her
seven-year-old brother and her parents trapped inside and
screaming. Members
of a militia had locked them in and set the house on
fire, saying they did
so as retribution for her support for the MDC, the
neighbours told her.
They rescued her mother and brother but her father
died. The next day, she
said, the militia members came back, found her at a
neighbour's house, and
began to beat her. A week later her, her face is
swollen and bruised, her
left eye filled with blood. But she intends to
return home and vote on June
27.
"I have to vote to change this
country for the sake of my brother and mother
who are critically ill at the
hospital. I owe it to my dead father to vote
in this election. There are
also more than 65 people who have been killed.
There are thousands who have
fled their homes. There is no way I cannot
vote."
Her determination
was echoed by person after person in the overcrowded,
fetid
headquarters-cum-refugee-camp. It may not, however, be enough. While
the MDC
is unquestionably up against a mountain of obstacles, some critics
are
charging that the party's own lack of unity, and Mr. Tsvangirai's
failures
as a strategic thinker, are not helping.
"Opposition forces are still
fractured, disjointed and bickering over petty
issues - Tsvangirai is
failing dismally to rise above the fray and inspire
the opposition to join
forces," political columnist Dumisani Muleya of the
Zimbabwe Independent
wrote yesterday. "[He needs to] reinforce his leverage
against a rival who
should otherwise be a write-off because of the economic
meltdown and his
disastrous failures."
The suspension of aid operations has sent a
powerful message of intimidation
and further preoccupies people with
survival rather than politics.
Inflation in Zimbabwe has long passed the
historic mark of one million per
cent; at least a quarter of the country,
once southern Africa's breadbasket,
is now dependent on food aid, and is
left with nothing now that UN agencies
can no longer distribute that
aid.
"Unicef alone was reaching hundreds of thousands of children with
health,
nutrition, education - and they haven't received any of that for the
past
four days and they won't until the government reinstates all these
NGOs,"
said James Elder, spokesman for the UN children's agency in Zimbabwe.
"It's
a desperate situation for children who are already suffering. You have
all
these kids who have been witness to violence and who were getting some
degree of stability out of going to school, and now they don't have that
either."
He dismissed the idea that the NGOs that co-operate with
Unicef had any
political agenda.
"The NGOs I know, we work with, we
are talking scores of them, work with
absolute impartiality," he said.
"There is no good time for this, but this
is particularly appalling -
Zimbabwe's children are suffering on multiple
fronts, and preventing people
from reaching them with aid is completely
unacceptable."
Fambai
Ngirande, who heads the National Association of Non-Governmental
Organizations, said the motive behind the aid ban is not lost on any
Zimbabwean. "We feel this to be part of a broader political strategy," he
said, to make clear to people that their survival was dependent on support
for the government. "It worsens conditions that, presently speaking, are
horrendous."
With reports from a Globe and Mail contributor in
Harare
The Zimbabwean
Tuesday, 10 June
2008 08:36
The registration plate of the South African-registered
armour-plated
vehicle belonging to MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai and
confiscated by the
police last week is TMP006GP.
This vehicle
has now been seen being driver by Zanu (PF) militia in
their election
campaign for Robert Mugabe. It is not clear how a car in the
possession of
the police has ended up in the hands of these milita without
the knowledge
and permission of the rightful owner.
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
June 10, 2008
Heavily armed teams of police, central
intelligence and the military on
Monday raided the Ecumenical Centre, a
religious complex that houses the
offices of the Student Christian Movement
of Zimbabwe (SCMZ), the Ecumenical
Support Services (ESS), the Christian
Alliance (CA), the Zimbabwe National
Pastors Conference (ZNPC) and PADARE
Men's Forum on Gender. Officials from
the centre have said they view the
raid as part of the ongoing onslaught on
civil society organisations in
Zimbabwe.
Police arrested some of the employees and executive members,
ransacked the
offices and confiscated computers, digital cameras and a mini
bus. The
arrested officials are the SCMZ General Secretary Prosper Munatsi,
Vice
Chairperson Langelihle Manyani, office intern Sandra Dzvete, Gender
Secretary Matsiliso Moyo, and a Finance and Administration Officer named
only as Precious. The veteran journalist Reverend Pius Wakatama was also
arrested. It has been reported that one of the employees arrested was a
women carrying a six-month old baby.
Lawyer Alex Muchadehama said
police claimed that they were after a murder
suspect who had run into the
building with a document containing false
information, then the police
discovered similar documents on the premises.
But the lawyer confirmed no
suspect was ever found and that this was a very
feeble excuse by police. He
said 8 out of 10 of the arrested are still in
custody facing charges of
publishing falsehoods.
Lawyers were denied access to the arrested on
Monday but were finally
granted permission to see them on Tuesday.
Muchadehama said they did not
look well because it is winter in Zimbabwe and
very cold. Muchadehama said
he did not have much hope that they would be
brought to court on Wednesday,
so the lawyers immediately filed an urgent
application to have their clients
released on bail or brought to court as
soon as possible.
The SCMZ released a statement on Tuesday that said they
see the raid and
arrests 'as a move to incapacitate the movement since it
has been fully
geared towards sensitising Christian students and youth on
their rights and
responsibilities in the face of a break or make
presidential runoff
pencilled for the 27 of June 2008.'
Meanwhile the
executive director-elect of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum,
Abel Chikomo,
has still not been seen since he was taken by the police near
Binga on
Saturday. Chikomo was attending a workshop in the area West of
Harare, along
with 13 other human rights activists who were also picked up
by police. All
the police have said is that the case is 'political' and they
have denied
the activists access to lawyers. The arrests followed a recent
police raid
on the Forum's headquarters, during which they warned the staff
that they
were "sailing too close to the wind".
The ruling party has initiated a
brutal campaign of violence aimed at those
who assisted the opposition to
gain a majority in parliament for the first
time ever, in the March 29
elections. This campaign has not spared innocent
children, the elderly or
religious leaders.
The Student Christian Movement released a statement
which said in part:
"This is the time for the whole world to see and judge
for itself the true
characteristic of a government which has on many times
tried to convince the
world that it is not only legitimate but democratic.
The government has
abdicated its duties by declaring war on its own people
and creating an
atmosphere of general insecurity among the populace. It is
our sacred duty
as civic society and opposition forces to continue fighting
for the opening
up of democratic space and justice in Zimbabwe. To members
of the ecumenical
family and the citizens of Zimbabwe, the time has come for
us not only to
speak but also to act against injustice, oppression and
corruption,
according to the standard of the word of God."
SW
Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
http://www.swradioafrica.com/pages/Zim100608.htm
Zimbabwe
2008
From
1890 through 1980, the Rhodesian state machinery was exclusively
controlled
by a white settler community who derived economic benefits
underpinned by a
racist ideology.
To white Zimbabweans, the exclusion of blacks during the
90 year period was
justified primarily because it was argued that the state
was a creature of
colonial civilization and, therefore, blacks could
conceivably have had no
interest in participating in the administration of
the affairs of a state
that they played no part in its creation and was in
any event not in
existence prior to colonization.
It was also argued
that without education natives were of no value to the
system other than as
providers of cheap labor.
The role of white people in Africa is not
surprisingly still one of the most
contentious and debated issue of our
time.
Even President Mugabe would rather shy away from discussing his
record in
government and rather divert attention to the demon of racism that
resonates
with many Africans.
Many African politicians thrive on it
and to the extent that the 90 year
history of race based politics is real,
people like President Mugabe find
the issue of extreme value in explaining
black poverty and hopelessness.
It cannot be denied that colonial
occupation had an adverse impact on not
only black political and economic
rights but has arguably some relevance to
the national democratic
revolution.
The colonial experience was not a pleasant one for the
majority native
population to make it difficult for anyone to dismiss
President Mugabe's
attempt to make race the principal issue that must be
associated with
leadership change even after 28 years in power.
At
independence, President Mugabe was a champion of a new civilization that
understood the need for healing and reconciliation on the firm belief that
the past provided no viable solution to the pressing problems that
confronted the country at the defining moment in its
history.
President Mugabe must have known then that Zimbabwe needed to
turn a new
chapter in its history and white people would be strategic
players in the
transformation agenda principally because the colonial
race-based primitive
accumulation process had uniquely advantaged
them.
It was none other than President Mugabe who reached out to white
Zimbabweans
including the army in search for a new civilization founded on
republican
principles that all men are created equal and the politics of
exclusion was
not consistent with the values and principles that informed
the liberation
struggle.
A new Zimbabwean was then born so everyone
thought and to a large extent
President Mugabe was a credible person to
champion and promote a new
Zimbabwean identity.
Many white
Zimbabweans were persuaded to remain in the country while a few
could never
trust a person who in a meeting with General Walls compared Karl
Marx to
Jesus Christ. White Zimbabweans distanced themselves from politics
and so
their role as economic agents.
However, they had more to lose if Zimbabwe
degenerated into economic chaos
and the question must be asked about what
they did or not do to make the
system inclusive and mutually beneficial to
all.
To demonstrate his magnanimity, President Mugabe appointed Ian
Smith's
former cabinet colleagues to his government and during the last 28
years he
has made many white friends including the likes of Mr. A. Cluff and
Tony O'Reilly.
It was evident then that the colonial system had
advantaged only whites to
the extent that resources were allocated on racial
grounds. The ownership of
land was skewed as was the ownership of mineral
resources.
The deal that was brokered at Lancaster House may not have
been fully
understood by nationalists like President Mugabe. The thorny
racial issue
that surrounds not only the idea of Africa but also its
material realities
is a complex one. It has been argued that it is not
sufficient to say that
whites stole African resources without acknowledging
the role of whites in
creating the foundations of a functioning economic
model.
In advancing this argument, it is often pointed out that white
people are
not the cause of everything ill in the continent for how can the
poverty in
many countries where the white population is small or nonexistent
be
understood and explained.
The image of an African in the minds of
people like President Mugabe is a
black person. His argument is no different
from the one being advanced in
South Africa where black South Africans have
accepted that the image of a
South African cannot be a Nigerian born black
person but a Zulu, Pedi,
Xhosa, Afrikaner, English etc.
Even if the
resources of Zimbabwe for example were handed to blacks by the
state in the
name of indigenization or black economic empowerment, it cannot
be concluded
that such inheritance will necessarily produce the same
outcomes as the
colonial system yielded to white settlers.
The views of President Mugabe
on race may not be any different from the
views shared by the architects of
xenophobia in South Africa. The only
difference is that President Mugabe had
the power and authority for 28 years
to do something about it but
regrettably he has not been able to accept any
responsibility for the
failure to provide leadership on this defining nation
building issue of
identity.
President Mugabe would accept that colonialism has had a
positive influence
on him because his mastery of the English language and
his dressing betray
his ambivalence against colonialism. He speaks better
English than many
white Zimbabweans but has not understood the true nature
of the civilization
they sought to bring to Africa.
At the core of
the colonial system was a market based economic architecture
that was
founded on an exchange of value. The white settlers created a
functioning
system for themselves based on fee for service or goods in
exchange for
money. The colonial administration was only a referee but
economic games
were played by the individual white actors.
Accordingly, an asset like
land had only value if it could produce an income
stream rather any other
economic enterprise as opposed to the position taken
by nationalists that
ownership/possession is an end in itself.
President Mugabe's views on
race are shared by many and form part of the
wider hysteria in not only
Africa but the developing world in general that
cuts across the class
spectrum.
White progress in Africa is easily described as a direct
consequence of
colonialism without any regard to the effort and initiative
of the actors
concerned. To what extent was the colonial system responsible
for white
progress is an issue that requires critical analysis in as much as
the role
of the state in addressing the poverty challenges that confronts
the
continent.
As President Mugabe approaches the run-off elections,
it is important that
the issue of race and skin color be discussed
comprehensively to determine
whether in fact Mugabe is a saint who will make
Zimbabwe a better and not
bitter nation after the
elections.
President Mugabe takes the credit that his administration has
changed land
title deeds in favor of blacks without attempting to explain
that any
commercial enterprise like a commercial farm ultimately belongs to
its
customers and suppliers. If, for example, a farmer produces crops and is
not
able to find customers he will perish irrespective of the color of his
skin.
Whites have been able to thrive under the colonial system in as
much as they
have confused Mugabe during the last 28 years because they have
been able to
organize their economic initiatives and blacks who are in the
majority have
largely supported such initiatives as consumers and suppliers
of labor.
If President Mugabe was serious about change then surely he would
have found
a way of strengthening blacks without weakening whites. At the
end of the
day, customers do not care who produces maize for example as long
as they
get it.
Since 2000, Zimbabwe has been reduced to a net
importer of food prompting
President Mugabe to attend the food summit to
register his view that were it
not for racism and imperialist machinations,
Zimbabwe would be in a great
economic shape.
The whole idea behind
decolonization project was that Zimbabweans
irrespective of their skin color
would be able to occupy any office
including the Presidency. However,
President Mugabe is of the view that
equality is a privilege conferred by
the true owners of the revolution i.e.
the war veterans who had 28 years to
build a new foundation for a new
dispensation but regrettably such
foundation is missing.
What kind of Zimbabwe do Zimbabweans want to see?
This question can only be
answered by all who believe that Zimbabwe's
brighter day is yet to come and
President Mugabe needs to be told that time
for change is now. His brand of
politics has nothing to do with the future
of the country but his personal
legacy.
It can be argued that one of
the sustainable ways of combating xenophobia
would be an attempt to change
the language and tone of politics in Africa.
Zimbabwe is too important
hence the global attention it receives for anyone
to remain disinterested
and it cannot be argued that the whole system does
not need
fixing.
In 1845 it took only 166 people to form Old Mutual and 83 years
later
Afrikaners responded by forming Sanlam but after 28 years in power, it
is
evident that the language of mutuality and shared values has not
resonated
with the leadership of Zimbabwe.
If only President Mugabe
had used his political office to unite people
across racial, tribal and
class lines; I have no doubt that people would
have responded with real
nation building institutions.
Americans have shown that they can rise
above the confines of the politics
of race and I have no doubt that
Zimbabweans in record numbers will on 27
June register their verdict on
whether the attempt by President Mugabe to
blacken Zimbabwe and make it a
pariah state should be condoned.
http://zimbabwemetro.com/
By Norbert Jacobs ⋅ zimbabwemetro.com ⋅ June 10,
2008 ⋅
Botswana Minister of Foreign Affairs, Phandu Skelemani, has dismissed
recent
remarks by President Robert Mugabe’s wife, Grace, that her husband
would not
vacate the State House even if he lost to Morgan Tsvangirai. “Like
I said, I
think people should be careful about what they say. She was just
electioneering, but the remarks were a little bit far and could cause
problems.”
Botswana is sending 50 observers to the June 27
presidential run-off in
Zimbabwe, and 25 of them left on Saturday whilst
rest will leave on
Wednesday.
Skelemani said the number has been
increased with the hope that their heavy
presence would deter those with
ambitions to cause riots. “We are doing
everything possible to help the
government and the people of Zimbabwe to
hold free and fair democratic
elections,” he said. Notwithstanding reports
of violence, Skelemani assured
that the observers would be safe, adding that
the Angolan foreign ministry
will be leading the SADC mission. “Zimbabwe
invited the SADC region at the
Lusaka Summit to send observers and they
assured us of their security,” he
stated.
He said that though financial resources were limited the mission
would stay
in Zimbabwe until the counting of the ballots was complete.
“Democracy is
expensive, peace is expensive,” he said.
Skelemani
appealed to all parties taking part in the elections and their
supporters to
respect the rule of law in avoiding use of words that can
result in violent
clashes. He urged them to accept that part of democracy is
the freedom of
expression hence they should not succumb to temptation when
annoying words
are used against them.
The minister regretted that it took too long for
the SADC Secretariat to
finalise sending observers. He announced that the
secretariat had wanted to
send observers next week but they convinced them
that their presence was
important now.
Death in the Dust
Death in the dust
Tyres burning bright
Screams
strengthen the lust
Inducing fear and delight
Election results twisted
and bleeding
Perverted by the evil despot
Stomachs rotund through lack of
feeding
Aid agencies arms tied as though in a knot
Chinese arms
floating after being docked
South Africa signals the first sign of
disapproval
Thank God Zimbabwe is completely land locked
Otherwise
violence would be used for oppositional removal
Broken arms and rape the
tools of intimidation
Farmers murdered by the vicious war veterans
hate
Townships burned creating segregation
Inflation soaring highlighting
Zimbabwe's terrible fate
The spirit of the people is inspiring to
see
Calm determination that hope will prevail
African countries feeling
the pain as they flee
Mugabes terror a thinly disguised
veil
09.06.08
--------------------
Dear Editor,
So
the war vets are threatening "to go back to war" if Mugabe loses. This
threat
is enough to frighten the bravest of souls. Particularly the
vulnerable in
the rural areas. One does wonder where they'll get the money
from. The war
for independence had many sympathisers who were willing to
bankroll an honest
fight for freedom. Who will they call on for this next
bout? I doubt that the
Chinese would be willing to pour money into the
bottomless pit that is war.
The SADC countries are a tad cash strapped
themselves. Russia is busy with
it's own brand of capitalism. Zimbabwe
itself is broker than broke. Where on
earth would the money come from? Even
if the entire ZanuPF wealth was pulled
in from their secret bank accounts to
fund a war, it would not be enough. The
soldiers they'd need would soon
desert for lack of salaries. It would be an
utter rag tag of hungry
desperados. A joke.
Whilst it's important to
highlight the desperate threats of this unspeakable
regime, it's also
important to keep hope alive. The nation is battered,
literally and
figuratively. The bad news keeps pouring in like so much salt
for the wounds.
It would be refreshing to have learned analysts pick apart
these outrageous
statements and expose them for what they are.
Desperate
propaganda.
Hope is a very powerful tool. It can make life
changing differences to any
situation. Caving in to these satanic bullies is
an option not even worth
considering. The people are tired and scared witless
- exactly what this
regime wants. Factual reporting has it's place but is
destructive when the
bulk of the news focuses on their excesses and threats
without a balanced,
educated reply.
F
-------------
We are
told that the Mtoko Mother of Peace has been raising donations
from European,
American and Australian donors who think they are helping
orphans there but
donations and orphanage fuel are given to ZANU to support
the local violence
in Mtoko. It is sad that orphans are being used this
way. Donors are giving
donations to Mtoko Mother of Peace and people on
board of directors and
administrators there are high level connections to
ZANU polit bureau. Mtoko
Mother of Peace is a scheme of ZANU for getting
foreign donors to send their
donations. Can you find out if this is still
happening. Mtoko Mother of
Peace is not what it appears to be and it is sad
this happens and continues.
ZANU taking advantage of orphans is a sad
thing
indeed.
---------------