June 14, 2008
Movement for Democratic Change President, Morgan Tsvangirai
ZIMBABWE lurches deeper into crisis as President Robert Mugabe’s government menaces the opposition and its supporters in the walk-up to a second round of elections at the end of June. TIME’s Megan Lindow interviewed Mugabe’s chief political rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, by phone.
Tsvangirai spoke a day after he was detained twice in a single day by Zimbabwean authorities on Thursday. During the interview the MDC leader sounded somewhat tired after his ordeal, which ended late Thursday night, but he nevertheless sounded focused and determined.
TIME: You were detained twice yesterday, and Tendai Biti [secretary-general of the MDC] is now being charged with treason. What does this mean for the MDC and the runoff
Tsvangirai: I think the facts are obvious — that the intention is to decimate our campaign, to slow down our mobilization and to frustrate the leadership. It is obvious that they realize they have lost the people, so the only thing to do is to frustrate the opposition.
TIME: What do you say to those who are calling for this runoff to be scrapped, claiming that there’s no way the election can be free and fair, and urging you to form a joint government with Mugabe?
Tsvangirai: This is democracy on trial. Do people want democratic change, or do they just want accommodation of a loser? Why did we go into the election if that was the case? We could easily — before the election — have negotiated a government of national unity without having had to subject people to this violence. Now my view is that there is no basis that the runoff should be scrapped, because no one has got the legal constitutional power to scrap it. The conditions are not free and fair; in fact, the conditions are so hostile for the opposition that talk of an election under these circumstances is ridiculous. So I think that what is important is to go ahead with the runoff, see what the international observers can do to mitigate against some of the extreme cases and just get down to resolve the issue. Perhaps that will be the way of resolving the issue.
TIME: Are you disappointed by the response of the international community up until now, since it hasn’t come up with a stronger response to your claims of rigging and intimidation in past elections? What are the signals you’re getting from the international community, and how much of a difference will that make going into the runoff?
Tsvangirai: I don’t think it’s lack of effort. I think it’s just that they’re dealing with a man who is defying international opinion, a man who believes he doesn’t have to play according to universally accepted standards of behavior. So you’re really dealing with a dictatorship. So the international community, short of intervention, has done all the diplomatic pressure they can apply on the country. The Zimbabwe issue has attracted the international radar for a long time … but, you know, [this is] Africa, where armed conflicts are prevalent. In Zimbabwe there is no armed conflict, but it is state-sponsored violence that has caused so much suffering. They treat it differently. [The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Red Cross] … the way they treat people displaced internally is different from a war zone.
TIME: After the first round of elections in March, you told TIME that the country was entering a new phase, which was about the transfer of power and easing Mugabe out of office. Do you still see it like that? How has the post-election violence changed the game?
Tsvangirai: It still remains the focus. It is the transfer of power. It’s a contest for power now; it’s no longer about voting in terms of what percentages, et cetera. It still remains. How do we transfer power from a man who believes he has got the divine right to rule forever and who does not respect the will of the people, because the will of the people was expressed clearly on March 29, and it will be reaffirmed again on the 27th of June. But still the remaining question is, Will he concede? Will he accept a smooth transition? That still remains a vexing question.
TIME: You’ve been detained four times since returning to Zimbabwe [after six weeks of seeking support in Africa and abroad following the March poll], your supporters are being attacked and you’re essentially being prevented from campaigning. How badly has the MDC been weakened since the March elections?
Tsvangirai: There’s no way you can underrate the impact of this violence, especially in the rural areas. But we are really encouraged and inspired by the will of the people to finish off what they started on March 29. Were it not for the will of the people and the claim by the people that we can’t look back, one could have said, “What’s the point of continuing this campaign?” But for the sake of those who have died and been traumatized, I think it’s the fulfillment of their wish to have this change that has kept us in the field and that will keep us fighting on.
TIME: You’ve said that the military is essentially in charge in Zimbabwe now. What do you have to gain, beyond showing once more that this is a regime that is determined to keep itself in power now, no matter what the Zimbabwean people want?
Tsvangirai: We want them to say that. We want them to act that way, because then they will have removed any residual legitimacy they had. In fact, they should act to that extreme, and then they will have exposed themselves. And I’m sure that the South African Development Community and the African Union and the whole international community will see the military junta that is in place for what it is.
TIME: Looking beyond the election: Assuming that Mugabe rigs the vote and wins or that you win but the military tries to prevent you from taking power, what do you plan to do?
Tsvangirai: Well, our plan is always to fight on. It is not a defeatist attitude, and anyone who suggests that we are going to give up because the military has refused us power, that we will just give up and forget about it — we will not do that. We will isolate the regime until they realize that what they are doing is unsustainable. So the struggle continues.
TIME: Is there any way to come away from this election without more bloodshed?
Tsvangirai: There is no reason any Zimbabwean should lose his life because of political differences. So, as far as we are concerned, we should actually realize that it is a futile exercise to lose lives because one wants to stay in power and yet pretends to be running an election.
TIME: Clearly you don’t have support from the military’s top brass, but what about the rank and file in the army, which seems to be increasingly against the regime?
Tsvangirai: In most of the military establishment, people voted for the MDC. [So] I think it is obvious that the rest of the military as an institution does not agree with what is taking place, but they can’t do anything because of their command structure … I have no doubt in my mind that this is just individuals, for their own selfish motives of power and money.
TIME: Will the rank and file take action in some way, at some point?
Tsvangirai: I don’t know. That I can’t tell, lest I am accused of inciting. I don’t want to be tried for treason again.
VOA
By Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
13 June
2008
Sources in a number of locations in Zimbabwe said
paramilitary forces
closely tied to the ruling ZANU-PF party and liberation
war veterans have
imposed dusk-to-dawn curfews in many regions, and have set
up roadblocks to
control movement.
Sources in Gwanda, Matabeleland
South province, said militia and war
veterans have virtually cut off most
rural areas in the province. Sources
said parts of Mashonaland East,
Mashonaland West and Mashonaland Central,
Masvingo and Manicaland provinces
have been similarly cut off from the
outside world.
Suspected ZANU-PF
militia in Mashonaland West province fire-bombed the homes
of former Chegutu
mayor Francis Dhlakama and an unsuccessful house candidate
in the Chegutu
East constituency, Gift Konjana, according to spokesman
Nelson Chamisa of
the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. He said
members of the
ZANU-PF youth militia burned the home of Chegutu West
candidate Takalani
Matibe.
A source in Norton, Mashonaland West, said four opposition
activists were
arrested Friday and eight others were injured in skirmishes
with ZANU-PF
militia.
Opposition sources said Dadirai Chipiro, 45,
was buried Wednesday, five days
after she was burned to death at her rural
home in Mhondoro-Ngezi. Reports
said her killers cut off her hands and feet
before casting her into a
blazing house.
MDC security secretary Giles
Mutsekwa told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of
VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that
the curfews and roadblocks imposed by the
militia have crippled party
operations two weeks before the presidential
run-off election.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com
June 14, 2008
By Our
Correspondent
LONDON - The International Bar Association's Human Rights
Institute [IBAHRI]
has called for the immediate end to the unlawful
detention of Eric
Matinenga, an eminent Advocate of the Zimbabwe High Court
and opposition
Member of Parliament.
The authorities have kept
Matinenga in police custody despite a ruling by
the Zimbabwe High Court on 8
June ordering his release.
The IBAHRI said it was alarmed that the
director of public prosecutions and
the investigating police officers had
refused to comply with the court
order.
"Mr Matinenga's continued
detention is a violation of both Article 18 of the
Zimbabwe Constitution and
international standards concerning the treatment
of uncharged prisoners,"
said Mark Ellis, executive director of the
International Bar Association.
"Mr Matinenga is being punished for the sole
reason of having campaigned
against state-orchestrated political violence.'"
The IBAHRI stated that
the conditions in which detainees were held in
Zimbabwe are very poor and
that Matinenga's lawyers had been denied access
to their client, in
violation of international law. Matinenga is being held
in prison in the
town of Rusape in the eastern province of Manicaland.
The IBAHRI called
for officials defying the court order to be investigated
and held
accountable for their actions. 'The defiant disregard of a valid
Zimbabwe
High Court order by police officials is a flagrant violation of the
rule of
law,' stated Mr Ellis. 'The world is watching as people in Mugabe's
regime
violate international law with impunity. We continue to support the
efforts
to ensure that those responsible for egregious human rights
violations in
Zimbabwe will be held accountable.'
Matinenga's attorneys have filed
contempt proceedings against the police
officials for failure to comply with
the High Court's rulings.
The police accuse Matinenga, who represented
MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai
during his sensational treason case, of
incitement to public violence.
"He has been arrested. It's the same
case," said police spokesperson Wayne
Bvudzijena, referring to the case on
which Eric Matinenga had been cleared.
"He has been charged with incitement
to public violence."
An MDC spokesperson said three officers picked Matinenga
from his home.
"No reason was given, but the men said they were taking
him first to the
fraud squad, then to Buhera," Nelson Chamisa said. "This
harassment and
intimidation have reached unacceptable and alarming
levels."
The police say they suspect Matinenga of paying opposition activists
who
went around his rural constituency attacking supporters of Zanu-PF
party.
The Zimbawean
Saturday, 14 June 2008 05:39
BY MXOLISI
NCUBE
HARARE - The military junta has announced the beginning of yet
another
operation designed to oppress the people of Zimbabwe.
Under
Operation Dzikisai Madhishi (pull down your satellite dish) the
regime is
forcing Zimbabweans to pull down their home satellite dishes
through which
the majority have been able to access eTV, SABC, Botswana
Television and
DSTV channels. The coverage of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation (ZBC)
is generally poor. The overwhelming propaganda content of
this state channel
has seen the proliferation of private satellite dishes in
recent
years.
"This operation is a concerted effort by the regime to close all
spaces through which information can be disseminated, with the objective of
stealing the election.
Zimbabwe has descended into unparalleled
levels of media censorship.
The regime is determined to cut off
Zimbabweans from the rest of the
world by ensuring that they are unable to
receive news from outside Zimbabwe
about what is happening in their own
country," an MDC spokesman said.
Operation Dzikisai Madhishi comes
after the launch of Operation
Makavotera Papi (how did you vote) which has
seen the unleashing of
horrendous acts of politically motivated violence
against MDC supporters
since the March 29 elections.
Operation
Dzikisai Madhishi began in Matebeleland South last week and
has now spread
throughout the country. It is being undertaken by elements of
the Central
Intelligence Organisation, police, army and youth militia.
The Zimbawean
Saturday, 14 June 2008 05:16
'The illegitimacy of this
regime will certainly be confirmed if Mugabe
declares himself a
winner'
Since the 8th of April when the military plan was unveiled,
this
country witnessed a defacto coup d'etat and effectively is now being
run by
a military junta. As a people we have been exposed to state sponsored
brutality. The violence continues unabated.
66 people have been
killed, 200 people are still unaccounted for, 3000
in hospitals, and over
25,000 internally displaced. We have also witnessed a
continuing trend of
targeted attacks on our candidates, party leadership,
and members. The
structures of our party have been decimated with our
polling agents
remaining prime targets.
As a party we condemn violence in all its
forms and wish to state that
no single person should die on account of
political differences. We won this
election and therefore only the loser has
a score to settle with the masses.
This is why ZANU (PF) has setup bases
across the country. Mugabe and his
wife have been shedding crocodile tears
by visiting MDC victims of political
violence when his militia man are in
fact the authors and perpetrators of
the massacre.
In particular we
want to condemn the role of Commissioner General
Augustine Chihuri who has
refused to carry out his duties. Chihuri is
accountable for protecting ZANU
(PF) thugs and creating a partisan culture
of policing. We sympathize with
those members of the police who have been
humiliated, beaten, and violently
tortured simply because they had refused
to act on unlawful
instructions.
Of late a group calling themselves vana vevhu has
presented a position
where they wish to repeat the land grabs of 2000. This
group claims their
patron is Grace Mugabe. What is clear is that Robert
Mugabe wants to repeat
the chaotic and violent land grab by unleashing this
group on the people
while confessing ignorance. We know that this is a
preemptive strategy
designed to undermine the will of the people in the face
of yet another
imminent defeat.
This is the political environment
prevailing in our country 17 days
before the run-off election.
ZANU
(PF) is also circulating a fabricated document purportedly signed
by me and
the secretary general of our party. This document misrepresents
our party's
policy on land in particular the role of whites in a future
Zimbabwe as well
as the armed forces, civil servants, and ex combatants. A
core campaign has
been created to misinform our traditional leaders on the
issues l have
mentioned above. We wish to restate that our party has clear
policies on
land, and the need to keep our army and police force
professional.
Against this background Robert Mugabe is making every effort to create
a
situation where he emerges the winner and therefore is making a concerted
effort to undermine the Zimbabwe electoral commission by employing militia
and soldiers as staffers.
We are aware that there is an attempt to
abuse the postal vote system.
We are also aware that there is an attempt to
undermine those security
forces right to a secret ballot. Through its
campaign on terror unleashed on
people mainly in the rural areas, ZANU (PF)
has forcibly withdrawn national
identity document from some of our members.
For some their documents were
destroyed together with their property as
their houses were burnt. It is
clear that ZANU (PF) strategy is a dooms day
strategy.
The illegitimacy of this regime will certainly be confirmed
if Mugabe
declares himself a winner.
There has been growing
momentum on the question of a government of
national unity. Speculation is
rife on this issue with some saying
negotiations are taking place. Others
say the agreement has already been
signed. Nothing can be further from the
truth. Since the announcement of the
election date for a run-off, no one can
change that date unless Robert
Mugabe concedes defeat. It therefore means
that a government of national
unity negotiated before the run-off does not
arise.
We have been on record as saying once a mandate has been given
to us
we will form an inclusive government as a way of managing our
transition. We
are committed to this position.
We wish to state
that the Kenyan model of a government of national
unity is not an option
because here the people have clearly spoken and our
circumstances are
different. The people's choice must be respected.
In spite of the
conditions on the ground the MDC is focused on the
run-off and has developed
counter strategies of campaigning. I am encouraged
by the people's
determination and their desire to ensure that we finish it
and we dismiss
hunger, poverty, loss of dignity and suffering on June 27,
2008. This is the
change you can trust. Our victory is certain.
Boston Herald
By Boston Herald editorial
staff
Saturday, June 14, 2008 -
We are under no illusions that
stripping Robert Mugabe of his honorary
degree from the University of
Massachusetts has even registered on the man's
radar screen. But the
symbolic gesture may prompt more Bay Staters to pay
attention to the hideous
things going on in Zimbabwe, the nation Mugabe has
led for decades. If so it
will have done some good.
The UMass board action came on the same day
that authorities twice arrested
Mugabe's rival in the upcoming run-off
election as the man campaigned, and
jailed the opposition leader's deputy on
charges of treason. Also Thursday,
the United States accused authorities in
the African nation of the truly
disgusting act of stealing 20 tons of
American food aid headed to a school
full of hungry children and diverting
it to supporters at a pro-government
rally.
Since that June 6
incident Mugabe's regime has ordered private relief
agencies to stop
distributing food aid so it can take over the task itself.
In a nation full
of hungry people we can imagine what a powerful campaign
tool those precious
morsels must be.
"This is a government that is taking tremendous and,
frankly, awful strides
to maintain its power, that is increasingly abusing
its own citizens and has
raised, or should I say lowered, the bar to a level
that we rarely see,"
said Gonzalo Gallegos, a State Department
spokesman.
The Bush administration has called on member nations of the United
Nations
Security Council to immediately address the issue. The Security
Council has
the power to do more than just strip Mugabe of
long-since-forgotten academic
honors. Sadly for the people of Zimbabwe, it
has yet to prove it has the
will.
Financial Times
By Daniel
Dombey in Washington, Tony Hawkins in Harare and William Wallis in
London
Published: June 14 2008 03:06 | Last updated: June 14 2008
03:06
Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president, said on Friday that liberation
war
veterans would take up arms if he lost a June 27 presidential run-off
vote.
Mr Mugabe told youth members of his ruling Zanu-PF party in Harare
that the
veterans would launch a new bush war if the election was won by the
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
They said if this country
goes back into white hands just because we have
used a pen [to vote], 'we
will return to the bush to fight'," Mr Mugabe
said.
His comments came as
James McGee, the US ambassador in Harare, said 30,000
potential opposition
supporters had been displaced from their homes as part
of brutal tactics by
the Mugabe government to swing the run-off in his
favour.
Mr McGee,
who was speaking by telephone from Harare, said the conditions
ahead of the
poll were the worst he had ever witnessed, while another
western diplomat
said Zanu-PF was determined to secure an election victory
"at any
cost".
"It's very, very obvious that there is political intimidation,
there's
thuggery, there's outright theft, murder, happening here in
Zimbabwe," Mr
McGee said. "In my long diplomatic career, I have never seen
anything
comparable to this."
He added that voters were being forced
to declare themselves illiterate -
whether they could read or not - so that
officials could accompany them to
the polling booth and that low-level
policemen were also being compelled to
cast their votes for
Zanu-PF.
Mr Mugabe lost a first round of elections against Mr Tsvangirai
the leader
of the Movement for Democratic Change. But the official tally
gave Mr
Tsvangirai just short of the absolute majority needed to avoid a
run-off.
Prominent Zimbabweans in exile are planning to roll out a
campaign in coming
days to persuade and fund as many Zimbabweans living in
South Africa and the
region as possible to return home to vote before
polling day, in an effort
to counter government tactics. But it is unclear
whether they would be
allowed across the border, or whether their names
would be on voter
registers.
As many as 400 election observers from
the Southern African Development
Community arrived in Zimbabwe this weekend.
Diplomats hope that in areas
where they are present they will deter some of
the violence.
But there are more than 9,000 polling stations in the
country. The senior
western diplomat said Zanu-PF were establishing "no-go
areas" to make sure
that there were no external or foreign witnesses to
expected ballot stuffing
on the day.
The Zimbabwean
Saturday, 14 June 2008 06:04
HARARE - The MDC claims that a massive
voter registration exercise is
going on in the three Mashonaland provinces
as part of Zanu (PF) party's
strategy to rig the June 27 Presidential
run-off in favour of Robert Mugabe.
MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa
said on Wednesday MDC received reports
from Rushinga in Mashonaland central
and Mudzi in Mashonaland.
"All those who are registering to vote are
being given back-dated
voter registration certificates so that they can vote
in the coming
election. We are taking this seriously with the Zimbabwe
Electoral
Commission (ZEC) because the registration of voters for the
purposes of this
election ended on 14 February," said Chamisa.
ZEC
announced last month would use the same voters' roll used during
the general
elections on March 29, meaning those who were not registered
before February
14 this year would not be able to vote.
"Zanu (PF) is certain that they
are not going to win this election and
they are prepared to stay in power by
what ever means. The regime has become
desperate. District administrators
who sympathise with us have been phoning
the party and giving us details of
this operation," added Chamisa.
ZEC chief elections officer Utoile
Silaigwana was not available for
comment. One can use a voter registration
certificate to vote even if his or
her name is not in the voters' roll. -
CAJ News
The Zimbabwean
Saturday, 14 June 2008 06:22
MASVINGO - After murdering at least 66
supporters of the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) so-called war
veterans and thugs enlisted by the
military junta and Zanu (PF) are now
actively harassing constituents across
Masvingo province.
Provincial Zanu (PF) officials in Masvingo told Zimbabwe's state
television
station on June 11 they had stepped up their campaign against
"troublesome
spots where MDC structures had taken root".
"We are setting up units of
war veterans to go to those areas to fan
out the MDC, to campaign for
President Mugabe, to confront and talk to some
company managers who are
openly supporting these MDC structures," said
retired Major Alex Mudavanhu,
Zanu (PF) chairperson for Masvingo told ZTV.
"We are going to tell
people that Zanu (PF) is not going to lose this
election," he said.
On March 29 the MDC stunned its opponents by winning all three seat in
Bikita, four of the five seats in Gutu and three of the four seats in Zaka -
all traditional Zanu (PF) rural strongholds - and took 14 of the 26 for the
whole of the province.
Almost simultaneously South Africa's quietly
diplomatic President
Thabo Mbeki was voicing some "serious concern" in
parliament in Cape Town
about the violence and disruptions ahead of the
run-off Presidential poll in
Zimbabwe.
"At the moment we are doing
whatever we can to ensure that we do not
experience major problems in the
presidential second round elections set for
June 27," he told MPs.
Swinging his Southern African Development Community (SADC) sword,
Mbeki said
that its observer mission was to be strengthened, but declined to
furnish
any further details.
"We are at one with SADC and most of the
international community that
the incidents of violence and reported
disruption of electoral activities of
some of the parties are a cause for
serious concern and should be addressed
with all urgency," Mbeki added.
The Zimbabwean
Saturday, 14 June 2008
06:38
BY MXOLISI NCUBE
JOHANNESBURG - The military junta
currently ruling Zimbabwe is trying
to force the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC) to increase the number of
ballot papers to be used by
members of the uniformed forces in postal
balloting, intelligence sources
have revealed.
The junta wants all members of the uniformed forces, as
well as their
wives and police special constabulary members, to participate
in the postal
ballot, even though most of them are not registered with the
ZEC.
"We have all been lined up and told to vote Mugabe if we do not
want
to die. We were set to vote on June 10 at Drill Hall police camp in
Bulawayo, but only a few ballot papers were released by the ZEC and they
were only for those who were registered in the first instance," a junior
policeman said.
"Commissioner Nyakutsikwa addressed us in Ross Camp
and said that we
would die in the war if we voted Tsvangirai. We were told
that we would vote
in front of police inspectors who would check who we
voted for and report to
the Commissioner for decisive action," another
junior police officer said.
The police bosses want to bar ZEC
officials, observers and polling
agents from witnessing the postal
balloting, which Nyakutsikwa has openly
declared to have no
secrecy.
However, the ZEC has refused to release the 600 000 ballot
papers
wanted by the junta and released around 60 000 ballot
papers.
The uniformed forces are 45 000 officers for the army,
including the
air-force, 30 000 for the police and 20 000 for the prison
services. Less
than half of the members of each of the uniformed forces are
said to have
registered for postal balloting.
In the last election,
some junior members of the uniformed forces
accused their bosses of having
registered and voted on their behalf.
The military commanders and
service chiefs, who were given farms from
white farmers, have threatened to
go to war if Mugabe loses the forthcoming
poll. However, most of the juniors
have declared that they will not fight
for Mugabe.
The Zimbabwean
Saturday, 14 June
2008 06:48
RUSAPE - All magistrates in Rusape have refused to preside
over Eric
Matinenga's case. Matinenga, the MDC elected MP for Buhera, is
facing
charges of inciting public violence.
"Most magistrates
refused to hear the matter on the basis that they
once worked with Matinenga
while others just showed no interest for unknown
reasons," Chief public
prosecutor Ziyambi said. She was not sure whether
Matinenga would be
released or further detained.
It has emerged that Zimbabwe Defence
Forces (ZDF) commander,
Constantine Chiwenga, ordered 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 to release
him.
Chiwenga is reportedly furious over Matinenga's High Court
application
against the army ordering Chiwenga to remove soldiers from
Buhera and other
rural areas where he says they are harassing and assaulting
MDC supporters.
Chiwenga filed opposing papers claiming Matinenga's
application was based on
false information.
"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. -
zimbabwetro.com
The Star, SA
June 14,
2008 Edition 1
Emergency talks have begun between the Zimbabwean
government and the
opposition, suggesting that leading figures on both sides
may be ready to
accept that the presidential run-off on June 27 cannot bring
peace to the
country.
The existence of the negotiations is officially
denied by all sides,
including the South African mediators. But the talks
are sufficiently
advanced for a second meeting to have been scheduled
between the ruling
Zanu-PF and opposition Movement for Democratic
Change.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai remained publicly combative in
Harare this
week, ruling out any deals. "The MDC is focused on the run-off,
our victory
is certain. The issue of a government of national unity before
the run-off
does not arise," he said.
It is understood that the first
meeting took place in Pretoria on May 30.
Zanu-PF was represented by Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Social
Minister Nicholas Goche. The MDC sent
its secretary-general, Tendai Biti,
and deputy treasurer, Elton Mangoma. The
MDC's breakaway wing sent its
secretary-general, Welshman Ncube.
A
key player in bringing both sides to the table is believed to be former
Zimbabwean finance minister Simba Makoni, a rebel candidate from the ruling
party who came third in the March poll. He confirmed that both sides were
talking and that the framework for some form of transitional government was
on the table. - The Independent
timesunion.com , Albany, NY
First published: Saturday, June 14, 2008
During the late
20th century, human rights campaigns led by Western
progressives helped to
liberate two nations on the southern tip of the
African continent from
brutal whites-only rule. In 1980, the apartheid
regime of Rhodesia gave way
to a black-led Zimbabwe. And in 1994, the first
multiracial elections in
South Africa delivered the presidency to a black
man, the longtime
anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela.
In the years since, the two nations
have traveled very different paths.
South Africa has enjoyed stability, a
free press, international investment,
an independent judiciary and
democratic elections -- helped by the graceful
exit of Mandela, who retired
after one term. While the nation still
struggles with poverty,
underdevelopment and an AIDS epidemic, it has become
a model for multiracial
democracy on the African continent.
Zimbabwe, by contrast, has spiraled
downward into disaster. Thirty years
ago, the nation was stable and
productive, a net exporter of food blessed
with a small class of educated
black professionals ready to form its
governmental bureaucracy. Now,
Zimbabwe is beset by a thuggish regime that
has ushered in starvation,
hyper-inflation, rampant unemployment, political
oppression and
corruption.
Yet the tyranny of Zimbabwe's black president, Robert Mugabe,
has met with
little reaction from America's black elite. Black politicians,
Hollywood
celebrities and ordinary Americans loudly protested apartheid --
staging
demonstrations outside the South African embassy -- but Mugabe's
despotism
has produced only muted criticism. What gives?
Although
Mugabe has labored mightily to blame his nation's troubles on
others,
including the dwindling population of white Zimbabweans and Western
human
rights activists, Zimbabwe's voters have finally determined he needs
to go.
His opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, led the opening round of voting in
elections in March.
But Mugabe's henchmen have resorted to murder to
make certain the runoff
election, scheduled for June 27, is anything but
free and fair. Tsvangirai
has been harassed and detained repeatedly by
police. The wives of other
opposition leaders have been butchered and burned
alive. Mugabe's police
even went so far as to seize food sent to
schoolchildren by international
donors, giving it only to those who promised
to vote for him.
His followers maim and murder their opponents and starve
children, but few
black Americans notice. Why? Why do we ignore the
transgressions of black
African tyrants while assailing those of white
tyrants?
Former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young is among those who still
manage to see
more morality than malice in Mugabe's rule. "Americans cannot
be rational
about Mugabe," Young said. "We've always miscast Mugabe. He's a
fundamentalist Roman Catholic. He doesn't steal."
Young traces
Zimbabwe's troubles back more than 30 years, to the failure of
the United
States and Great Britain to fund land reform efforts as
generously as
promised.
Similarly, Nicole Lee, head of TransAfrica Forum, a
Washington-based human
rights group founded by black Americans, points to "a
larger context" that
includes the failure of Western nations to fund
programs to grant farmland
to poor black Zimbabweans. She, too, says that
Americans shouldn't
"demonize" Mugabe.
There's just one problem with
that: Mugabe has become a demon.
Here and there, a courageous human
rights activist sees the problem clearly
and has the guts to say so. Last
week, Desmond Tutu called for Mugabe's
resignation. "Mugabe began so well
more than 30 years ago. We all had such
high hopes," said the former
Anglican archbishop. "... But his regime has
turned into a horrendous
nightmare. He should stand down."
Georgia Rep. John Lewis said he
supports a more forceful response to
Mugabe's tyranny. "Just because he's a
black leader of an African nation
doesn't mean that we can afford to be
silent," he said.
It may be that Americans can do little to influence
Mugabe's course. If he
is willing to starve his people, he is probably
immune to public
condemnation. But those committed to civil and human rights
have a duty to
register their disgust for Mugabe's madness, as loudly and as
readily as
they did for apartheid's brutality. Cynthia Tucker writes for The
Atlanta
Journal-Constitution. Her e-mail address is cynthia@ajc.com.
The Zimbawean
Saturday, 14
June 2008 05:14
BY MSEKIWA MAKWANYA
CALLING off the blood and
thunder Presidential run-off in favour of
the Government of National Unity
(GNU) now appears to be very late in the
day and probably against the
mindset of the majority of the people of
Zimbabwe.
It is only two
weeks to go to June 27. While there are serious
concerns about reports of
political violence in Zimbabwe at the moment, and
the expense involved in
the run-off, Zimbabweans know that violence is a
double-edged sword and
democracy is expensive. The friends of Zimbabwe could
assist with the money
to run the election, if that is what we need to make
the run-off a
success.
It is difficult to expect the candidates, who have already
committed
their resources to the campaign, to simply go back home when they
are
convinced that they can win the elections and wait for uncertain
dialogue.
Robert Mugabe and his campaign team feel strongly that some of
their members
did not vote on March 29 and they would like to do so on June
27.
MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai and his campaign team feel that
they
have to finish the job they started on March 29.
Both
candidates in the run-off seem to believe that they need to
derive their
mandate to rule Zimbabwe from the people of Zimbabwe, and each
candidate's
team is using tactics and strategies that they believe will work
for
them.
Simba Makoni, the losing presidential candidate, may have a point
about cancelling the run-off. It appears, however, that the earlier he
chooses the candidate to support the better for him and everyone else. The
presidential run-off has been irrevocably agreed between the candidates and
it is going ahead.
I am one of those who felt that it was best not
have a run-off, but
once the date was set and campaigning started, it does
not make sense to
call off an election with only two weeks to go. In any
case, we do not wish
to set a record for calling off an election because of
pre-election. How can
we call ourselves a democracy thereafter?
This will set a very bad precedent to the world; the Kenyan example
should
be the last curse of Africa. Simba Makoni is best advised to work
towards
ensuring that the elections will be free and fair since he
recognises the
fact that the hope for a free and fair is now next to zero.
While it is
accepted that the run-off will not solve the problems that
Zimbabwe faces at
the moment, an election and negotiations are not mutually
exclusive. We
will, therefore, have the election first on June 27 and
negotiations later.
We know that some negotiations have already started, but
violence has not
stopped.
Reports from South Africa indicate that former ministers
Patrick
Chinamasa and Nicholas Goche of Zanu (PF) met with Tendai Biti, the
MDC
Secretary General in Pretoria last week. In any case previous
negotiations
between Zanu (PF) and the MDC have taken too long and did not
solve the
Zimbabwean problems.
The presidential run-off is,
therefore, meant to decide the leadership
issue, not necessarily to solve
all our problems. The negotiations will
facilitate power transfer or
distribution whichever is required.
To quote Admiral Lord Nelson on the
eve of the battle of Trafalgar,
October 20, 1805, ".now that we have decided
why it cannot be done, let us
determine how it will be done".
The Zimbabwean
Saturday, 14
June 2008 06:01
The arrest and harassment of NCA activists and
officials.
MASVINGO- The NCA continues to be subjected to an orgy of
intimidation
and violence at the hands of Zanu (PF) militias and the
police.
On June 10, Zanu (PF) militias shut down the NCA office in
Masvingo.
This followed a spate of violent activities by members of Zanu
(PF) youth
militias and personal threats made against NCA
officials.
On June 11, uniformed members of the Zimbabwe Republic
Police (ZRP)
forced the NCA Matebeleland South office to close on the
grounds that NGOs
must not be operating as per the government's recent
directive.
On June 8, the police arrested the NCA Chairperson for
Guruve
Constituency, Biggie Bangira, on baseless grounds. On the same day,
the home
of the NCA Information Secretary in Epworth, Musa Mabika, was
torched by
militia. Mabika's wife and sister were severely beaten and are
currently
recovering in hospital.
Leon Chiimba, the NCA Mashonaland
East Chairperson, received death
threats from Zanu (PF) militias and was
forced to flee his home.
"These and other incidents of intimidation
point to an unacceptable
pattern of state-sponsored violence that is
shrinking democratic space in
Zimbabwe. The current constitutional framework
creates an environment in
which barbaric acts can be perpetrated, and human
rights violated, with
impunity. This is not democracy. This is not what the
war of liberation was
waged for. The revolution cannot be protected by acts
that violate the very
principles upon which the revolution must be based.
The time has come for
the people of Zimbabwe to be liberated from the
oppressive constitutional
regime presided over by Zanu (PF)," an NCA
spokesperson said.
To its members and officials who have been exposed
to acts of violence
and intimidation the NCA says: Do not give up. Keep up
the fight. Freedom is
on its way.
The Zimbabwean
Saturday, 14 June 2008 06:17
With the odds on staging
free and fair elections in Zimbabwe on June
27 now slashed to zero, intense
pressures are mounting on both Morgan
Tsvangirai and former president Robert
Mugabe to agree to an alternative
settlement.
Instead of wringing
their hands mediators and diplomats are now
pushing for a transitional
administration, or Government of National Unity
(GNU), proposed by the
International Crisis Group (ICG) on May 21.
Faced with a de facto
military junta wreaking terror on Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)
supporters throughout Zimbabwe's rural
constituencies and Mugabe admitting
that he and his Zanu (PF) party have
lost control of the military, both
leaders now appear prepared to negotiate
an 11th-hour deal to restore peace
and the rule of law within the country's
borders, and curbing the
uncontrolled mayhem of so-called war veterans and
other thugs enlisted by
the military.
Preliminary talks were held in the South African capital,
Pretoria, on
May 30 and 31 between Tendai Biti and Elton Mangoma (MDC-T),
Welshman Ncube
and Priscillah Misihairabwi (MDC-M), Patrick Chinamasa and
Nicholas Goche
(Zanu (PF) and President Thabo Mbeki's advisors Frank Chikane
amd Mojanko
Gumbi, who met the three parties separately. Negotiations
continued this
week with Mbeki's point man on Zimbabwe, Sydney Mafumadi,
also in the frame,
having visited Harare recently.
The ICG line,
however, underlines recent comments from Mbeki, former
Zambian President
Kenneth Kaunda and Simba Makoni, the third candidate in
Zimbabwe's March 29
Presidential poll.
Makoni, Mugabe's former finance minister, told
journalists in
Johannesburg on June 9: "I can confirm that there are
communications between
and among Zimbabwean leaders at various levels and
these communications have
to do with solving the crisis. It's a process that
needs urgency and needs
to be undertaken at the highest level possible in
the shortest time."
They are reported to be proposing a deal based on
the post-election
"African solution" in Kenya under which Mugabe would
remain president,
however, Tsvangirai would hold Zimbabwe's reins of power
as prime minister.
Ironically, this could mark a return to the
post-Lancaster House
administrative status quo thrashed out in
1979.
Mugabe may just find this ceremonial role acceptable, having had
his
powers torn from his grip by the repressive military junta. Furthermore,
he
has lost considerable support among many African leaders, especially most
of
those in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) who have to
cope
with the continuing influx of Zimbawean refugees fleeing torture and
murder.
During recent weeks Tsvangirai has delivered conflicting
statements on
a transitional government. Launching the MDC's "Restore Hope"
campaign he
told the parliamentary caucus: "In the spirit of moving our
country forward,
let us seek out those peaceful members of Zanu (PF) whose
eyes are open to
the disastrous state of our nation. Let us listen to their
views in where we
have policy agreement."
Then in a press statement
on June 10 Tsvangirai said: "There has been
growing momentum on the question
of a government of national unity.
Speculation is rife on this issue with
some saying negotiations taking
place. Others say the agreement has been
signed. Nothing can be further from
the truth. Since the announcement of the
election date for a run off, no one
can change that date unless Robert
Mugabe concedes defeat. It therefore
means that a government of national
unity negotiated before the run off does
not arise."
Tsvangirai
added that the Kenyan model was not an option.
History, however,
suggests that any GNU in Zimbabwe, which includes
Mugabe and his then right
hand man, Emmerson Mnangagwa - and architect of
the present terror campaign
- is fraught with danger and one only has to
return to the turbulent
mid-1980s to understand why.
Joshua Nkomo and his ZAPU party were
accused of arming and supporting
dissidents in Matabeleland. Mugabe and
Mnangagwa unleashed the notorious
North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade led by
Perence Shiri - one of today's
military junta.
Up to 20 000
Matabele are reported to have been murdered between 1982
and 1987.
After fleeing into exile Nkomo, in a bid to end the bloodshed, opened
negotiations and returned in December 1987 to sign the "Unity Accord", under
which he agreed to abolish ZAPU. He signed his own political death
warrant.
According to Richard Bowden, director of the Royal African
Society,
Zanu (PF) is riven by factions.
"The unpaid Armed Forces
and police could break up into pro and
anti-Mugabe factions within the
party. Some may support the MDC. As the
Armed Forces disintegrate, warlords
take over local areas. Zimbabwe begins
to look like Somalia," Bowden
suggested in The Times on June 9.
In another scenario he suggests that
defection of a key Mugabe ally,
such as Gideon Gono, could tip the balance
in favour of Tsvangiari and a
transitional administration.
"Now he
is of no further use, but, rich and famous, he may not see a
future with Mr.
Mugabe. His defection breaches the wall of the fantasy
castle and reality
crashed in. Mr. Mugabe and his chief lieutenants seek
refuge in Equatorial
Guinea and a government of national unity is set up."
"Likelihood?
Impossible to say. But Southern Africa has been known to
produce miracles
before," Bowden adds.
The Zimbabwean
Saturday, 14 June 2008
06:10
The International Crisis Group's 21 May policy briefing,
Negotiating
Zimbabwe's Transition - released soon after the Zimbabwe
Electoral
Commission announced that the presidential run-off will take place
on 27
June - outlined two immediate objectives, with the end objective of
each
being some sort of government of national unity, under MDC
leadership.
With the impact of outspoken, Western-driven diplomacy
likely to be
limited, African-led mediation, with concerted, wider
international backing,
gives the best chance for a peaceful and definitive
resolution to the
crisis. These outlined objectives should be the focus of a
process that
broadens the South African-led SADC mediation, adding strong
accountability
and oversight measures.
A negotiated settlement on a
Tsvangirai-led transitional government.
The current levels of violence
and intimidation preclude the
possibility of holding a credible run-off. The
holding of a run-off by the
Mugabe camp is a ploy to stay in power, and it
is highly unlikely that
Mugabe would accept the conditions for a free and
fair run-off in which he
would be humiliatingly defeated.
As Zanu
(PF) prepares for a second election, violence is likely to
escalate,
prolonging the suffering of Zimbabwe's people.
For this reason, the
first objective of the mediation should be to
secure a political agreement
between the MDC and Zanu (PF) that avoids the
need for a run-off and the
accompanying risks of even greater violence.
A negotiated settlement
could establish a Tsvangirai-led transitional
government with substantial
participation by Zanu (PF) stalwarts to
implement agreed upon constitutional
reforms and hold free and fair
elections under an agreed timeframe.
A credible run-off.
Even as it works to facilitate a negotiated
settlement on a
transitional government, SADC mediators must work with Zanu
(PF) and the MDC
to delineate the basic requirements for a credible run-off
in the event the
effort fails.
Urgent steps would be needed to
guarantee a free and fair vote - even
one in conditions as imperfect as for
the 29 March election.
These include immediate cessation of violence
and intimidation; strong
monitoring and organisational roles for SADC, the
AU and the UN; and massive
deployment no later than roughly a month before
the poll of independent
national and international observers, who must
remain on the ground until
the results are announced.
As with
negotiations for a transitional government, the mediation
would need to
address the modalities for ensuring military loyalty to a new
civilian
government. Failure to do so would risk a Tsvangirai victory
leading to a
military coup or martial law, and the security services
splitting along
factional lines.
The Zimbabwean
Saturday, 14 June 2008 09:05
HARARE
Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) is alarmed at reports that
the
Attorney-General intends to "deny bail to all suspects arrested on
charges
of either committing or inciting political violence".
In a front-page
story in The Herald this week, as well as in repeated
television interviews,
the Deputy Attorney-General (Criminal Division),
Johannes Tomana, said: "We
have made it a point that those arrested are
locked up right to trial. Bail
is opposed as a matter of policy."
ZLHR says the decision shows that
the Attorney-General's office is
confusing its powers with that of the final
arbiter, the judiciary.
"In terms of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, all
accused persons have a
fundamental right to be presumed innocent until
proven guilty by a court of
law," said a statement from ZLHR. Bail is an
entitlement that is provided to
accused persons to ensure that, from the
time of their arrest to the
finalization of their trial, their right to
liberty is not unreasonably and
unnecessarily violated."
When bail
is applied for, the State cannot simply oppose it without
providing the
court with substantive and credible reasons, supported by
evidence. It would
have to convince the court that there was a material
likelihood that the
accused might flee from justice if released on bail,
interfere with
witnesses, or commit further offences.
"With the reality that the
wheels of criminal justice in Zimbabwe's
courts turn slowly, such a process
would mean that accused persons,
constitutionally presumed innocent, would
have to spend long periods of time
in remand prison before even being
heard," said the lawyers' body.
This policy change, the statement
warned, came at a time when people
were preparing to cast their vote in the
presidential election run-off.
Anyone arrested now and denied bail could be
kept in remand prisons for
weeks or months, and so be unable to vote or
campaign.
ZLHR was also saddened by the Deputy Attornbey-General's
insensitivity
to the pitiful state of the country's prisons where prisoners,
including the
innocent and still to be proven guilty, were living in inhuman
and degrading
conditions.
"Zimbabwe's prisons are indeed already
battling to provide prisoners
with adequate clothing, food and health care,"
said the ZLHR.
The Zimbabwean
Saturday,
14 June 2008 06:31
BULAWAYO - Police in Silobela district in the
Midlands have banned
all MDC meetings and rallies, accusing the party
of being violent
ahead of the June 27 presidential run-off .
"They issued an order last week advising me and my supporters that we
are no
longer allowed to hold any meetings or rallies in the constituency.
They
accused our members of causing violence in most parts of the
country,"
MDC Member of Parliament for Silobela Constituency, Anadi Sululu,
said to
The Zimbabwean on Sunday on June 10. Sululu said he was shocked by
the ban
as there had not been a single case of violence reported in his
constituency. The MDC legislator accused police of allowing Zanu (PF)
meetings and rallies to go ahead in Silobela, conducted by members of
Mugabe's
Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and youth militias holding
brand new
AK47s.
This latest ban follows the ban of most MDC
rallies around the
country. MDC had to seek court orders to go ahead with
its rallies, which
the police defied. Morgan Tsvanigirai has resorted to
"Meet the people
Tours" in cities, towns and rural areas where he campaigns
door-to-door.
The Zimbabwean
Saturday, 14 June
2008 06:44
BULAWAYO - Bulawayo Polytechnic suspended seven students on
June 5:
SRC president Simba Kuzipa, Vice President Gregory Door, Secretary
General
Desire Siyanata, Malvin Kadete, Tonderai Chiborise, Leopold Tapi
and Donald
Mazikana. The suspended students are being accused of having
breached
statutory Instrument 81 of 1999, part 3 (7) (a) and (g). They are
being
suspended for 21days.
Three students were later arrested:
Simba Kuzipa, Desire Siyanata and
Malven Kadete. Kuzipa was released June 9
on the grounds of lack of
evidence. Another student Wellington Machengo is
said to be in need of a
surgical operation after he was assaulted on his
private parts by riot
police. The college has been without clean running
water for almost three
weeks. Almost all ablution facilities are out of
order in the lecture rooms
and hostels. In the commerce division both sexes
are sharing a single
toilet. Student leader, Tonderai Chiborise, alleges
that they are now using
a disused rugby pitch to relieve
themselves.
HARARE - Heavily armed police raided the offices of the
Students
Christian Movement of Zimbabwe (SCMZ) arresting the secretary
general
Prosper Munatsi, office intern Sandra Dvete and the finance and
administration officer Precious Chinanda. Apart from the arrests they looted
laptops, computers, T shirts and documents. The four were released after a
day.
BINDURA - In the early hours of June 10, members of the
central
intelligence organization (CIO) raided the hostel room of Glanis
Changachirere, a Bindura University of Education student. Three men said
they were looking for T Shirts belonging to Youth Forum, Crisis Coalition
and Students Christian Movement ransacked her room before threatening her
that she would die for Tsvangirai. Later in the afternoon they arrested her
and Tellington Kwashira, former ZINASU Education and Research Secretary,
Clemence Sainet and Moses Chamisa. They are currently detained at the CID
section at Bindura Central Police station.
MASVINGO - Former
University of Zimbabwe student leader Madock
Chivasa yesterday appeared in
Masvingo magistrate court facing charges of
undermining police authority.
His trial was postponed to July 21 due to the
fact that the State fails to
bring its witnesses. Great Zimbabwe University
students' representative
council (SRC) Treasurer Oglive Makova also appeared
in the same court on
routine remand hearing. He was further remanded to June
24. Masvingo police
arrested the ZINASU secretary for legal and academic
affairs Courage
Ngwarai. They allege that he has a warrant of arrest because
he failed to
appear in court on malicious damage to property charges.
http://www.zimvictimsupport.org/
Mission
Statement
The current crisis in Zimbabwe only works to
demonstrate how much loyalty
individuals have for their political parties.
Everybody has a different
opinion, but at the end of it all, we should all
strive to harmoniously work
together in a peace-building mission, stretch
out olive branches, and be
able to exercise reconciliation, in the interests
of progressive
development. We should, therefore, challenge one another to
chart a path of
civility, reason, respect and consideration. That way, we
can harvest more
gains and develop our lovable country.
The
purpose of Zimbabwe Victims Support Network is to amend torn relations,
bridge animosity gaps, enhance the spirit of love and cooperation, while
also promoting a way to allow a spirit of forgiveness among the victims and
culprits of political violence. If we allow the "eye-for-an-eye" concept to
reign, we gear ourselves for an endless cycle of violence, which opens
floodgates of poverty, destruction of infrastructure, loss of more precious
lives, and hindrance to national development.
This is the
opportune moment to bury our machetes, shake hands, and
seriously realize
that we are all Zimbabwean children. As such, we should
strive to abstain
from acts of savagery and barbarism, substituting those
with reason,
respect, love and understanding. We need to rebuild our dear
Zimbabwe for
the purposes of progressive development and a better future not
only for the
current generation, but also for those to come.
ZVSN therefore
comes at the ideal moment to help the victims of political
violence, instill
the elements of peace-building amongst the parties
involved, and promote a
solid sense of patriotism. Without unnecessarily
assuming finger-pointing or
a witch-hunt drive, the rationale starting point
is simply to cure the
injured, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, give
shelter to the displaced
and teach all, victims and culprits, to forgive and
forget. That way we
forge ahead in love, building a solid nation with better
values for a legacy
that we challenge ourselves to leave behind.
By supporting ZVSN,
anyone will prove to the world that, regardless of
personal interests,
background, or political affiliation, a Zimbabwean still
needs a normal,
stable, secure, pain-free and peaceful life. That kind of
help be it in
cash, in kind or otherwise, makes a difference to a distraught
and anxious
soul. That assistance alone restores hope!
Together, we make can
make a difference. Together we re-build our dear
Zimbabwe.
VOA
By Patience Rusere
Washington
13 June
2008
A senior official of the Southern African
Development Community said Friday
that the regional grouping will have 400
election observers in Zimbabwe by
June 20.
The SADC official heading
the observer force in Zimbabwe, Tanki Mothae,
director of SADC?s organ on
politics, defense and security, told civic
leaders and opposition officials
that 300 of those observers would be in the
country by
Saturday.
Sources who attended a meeting Friday with Mothae said that his
team
acknowledged the political violence which has mounted in the country
since a
first election round on March 29, and described the electoral
process as
?complex.?
Program Officer Itai Zimunya of the Southern
Africa Resource Watch told
reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that the SADC team
will engage the ruling ZANU-PF party and the
opposition Movement for
Democratic Change to try to restore calm to the
violence-plagued country
before the ballot.
The Zimbabwean
Saturday, 14 June 2008 08:59
BULAWAYO
War
veterans have hit out at the Zanu (PF) regime for failing to meet
its
promises of educational assistance, claiming their children have been
forced
to drop out of school, colleges and universities for not paying fees.
The government committed itself to assisting war veterans in paying
tuition
fees, but has not yet released the funds.
Many veterans say they have
not had any educational assistance since
1998, alleging that funds destined
for them are being looted at the Social
Welfare Ministry.
Amounts
vary according to the fees of educational institutions, but
the government
is supposed to reimburse beneficiaries of the system who use
their own money
to pay fees.
Andrew Ndlovu, who once attempted to take over the
leadership Zimbabwe
National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA),
complained over the
late release of the funds.
"I am one of the few
beneficiaries and our children are being chased
away from school for not
paying fees as the funds are yet to be released.
There have to be changes of
the system where schools deal directly with the
Ministry and let our
children attend lessons," said Ndlovu.
"We have submitted forms for
educational assistance but the Ministry
has been quiet as to when they are
releasing the funds, arguing that they
want to first reach a specific number
before they disburse them."
Spokesperson of the ZNLWVA Bulawayo
chapter, Velaphi Ncube, agreed:
"Some of our comrades' children have dropped
out of school altogether."
He said that even when the government did
provide fees, the amount was
a small percentage of what was needed.
Nicholas Goche, Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare,
said:
"If the war veterans have complaints.they should approach me and not
papers,
as they do not pay them."
In November 1997, under the late Hitler
Hunzvi, the government bowed
to pressure from the liberation war fighters
and awarded them gratuities and
monthly allowances.
The release of
the unbudgeted funds by the government saw the local
currency tumbling
against major currencies in what became known as Black
Friday.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com
June 14, 2008
Geoffrey
Nyarota
A FORMER Harare municipal policeman, who has become a war veteran
of
Zimbabwe's 1970s war of liberation, by retrospective association, has
assured Zanu-PF supporters in the eastern city of Mutare that MDC leader,
Morgan Tsvangirai, will not be allowed to assume power should be defeat
President Robert Mugabe in the June 27 election run-off.
Joseph
Chinotimba, a recognised leader of the war veteran community although
he did
not fight the war that brought about Zimbabwe's independence, told
hundreds
of Zanu-PF supporters that Tsvangirai would never be allowed to
become
President of Zimbabwe, under whatever circumstances.
This was the major
theme of Mugabe's own rally addresses this week, a
fortnight before the
controversial and violence-ridden second round of
presidential
elections.
Chinotimba, who, despite his dubious liberation credentials,
has risen to
become the vice-chairman of the much revered and much pampered
Zimbabwe
National Liberation War Veterans' Association and a member of the
Zanu-PF
central committee, was speaking at the official launch of Mugabe's
presidential campaign in Manicaland.
Chinotimba, a barely literate
low ranking municipal policeman in 2000,
wormed his way into positions of
power and influence within Zanu-PF merely
by offering services in his area
of demonstrated expertise - violence.
Campaigning alongside the late war
veteran leader, Dr Chenjerai Hunzvi - not
a bona fide war veteran either -
the duo spearheaded government's
controversial and violent farm invasions.
They drove the white commercial
farmers off the land to the eternal
gratitude of Zanu-PF - and Mugabe.
Emerging from total obscurity at a
time when Mugabe's popularity was on the
decline, a time when a few of his
traditional stalwarts dared to associate
with the Zanu-PF leader publicly in
the face of the real prospect of the
advent of an MDC government, the
determination and success of the two pseudo
war veterans left an indelible
impression in the mind of the beleaguered
President.
At the height of
the mayhem of the of the land invasions, Chinotimba strode
into the
dignified chambers of Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay, over-sized
straw hat
almost covering his eyes. After a brief but pointed exchange of
words the
leader of the farm invasions departed. Zimbabwe's top dispenser of
justice
was soon emptying his drawers, forced into premature retirement by
the
personification of escalating lawlessness.
Chinotimba has never looked
back. Now a businessman, he runs a security
outfit that survives on
contracts from government and parastatals.
Amazingly, Chinotimba is
Zanu-PF's Harare provincial chairman as well as
vice chairman of the
Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU), which is
the war veteran's
version of the popular Zimbabwe Congress of Trace Unions
(ZCTU).
The
latter organisation is led by Lovemore Matombo who is always in and out
of
remand prison on one spurious allegation or another.
While wearing his
hat as vice-chairman of the labour organisation Chinotimba
routinely urges
employers to pay their workers wages and salaries
commensurate with their
contribution and position.
Notwithstanding his lofty position in the
labour movement Chinotimba's
company, Smash Security, was dragged to court
in May after it failed to
compensate a security guard for his sweat for two
months.
The learned prosecutor pointed out that flouting the Labour Relations
Act
was tantamount to a criminal offence.
Because he now holds a
powerful political role in the capital city
Chinotimba has become a
politician of sorts. The voters of his rural Buhera
constituency have,
however, twice refused to grant him his ambition to
represent them in
Parliament.
His major contract, however, remains that of ensuring that
those, even in
the Zanu-PF leadership, who oppose Mugabe do not stray too
far away from the
party line.
Meanwhile, he has not forgiven the
people of his constituency for
humiliating him. In May the manager of his
MDC opponent's election campaign
was abducted and assaulted until he died.
Chinotimba allegedly drove the
Zanu-PF militants responsible to the man's
house. Witnesses say he ordered
the deceased's body to be loaded onto his
truck en route to the nearest
mortuary. If the police invited him for
questioning the fact escaped the
notice of the press.
Meanwhile Eric
Matinenga, an eminent Advocate of the Zimbabwe High Court who
was recently
elected to Parliament, representing the MDC in Buhera West
Constituency, was
promptly arrested after a clash between MDC and Zanu-PF
supporters.
The police say they suspect he paid MDC activists who
went around the
constituency attacking supporters of Zanu-PF who,
presumably, did not vote
for him. Matinenga has remained behind bars despite
a ruling by the Zimbabwe
High Court on 8 June ordering his
release.
Back in Mutare on Friday, Chinotimba, aping Mugabe, told his
audience that
voting for Tsvangirai would "reverse the gains of
independence".
"We, as war veterans, are geared to retain our
presidential candidate and
will not let Morgan Tsvangirai win this
election," he said. "Remember, we
went to war for this country and many sons
and daughters of this beloved
nation perished as the whites resisted
majority rule."
Like many of the youthful so-called war veterans now
marauding Zimbabwe's
countryside while wreaking total havoc, Chinotimba,
while he would qualify
on age, did not participate in the war. He was
probably guarding Ian Smith's
beer-halls in the "African townships" while
Zanla fighters waged a
relentless guerilla campaign, with the invaluable
support of the rural
population, against the illegal Rhodesian
regime.
"We will not stand and just watch as the Western-sponsored MDC
gives back
this country to the former colonizers,'' he fumed.
The
irony of the fact that among the people he was threatening in Mutare
were
some of those very courageous Zimbabweans who defied Smith to support
Mugabe
obviously did not occur to Chinotimba. Neither does it seem to occur
to the
members of the military junta now running the affairs of Zimbabwe;
nor to
Mugabe himself, for that matter.