Reuters
31 May 2003 18:10:34 GMT
Police get order calling
off Zimbabwe
protests
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
By
Cris Chinaka
HARARE, May 31 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's police got a high
court interdict on
Saturday ordering opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to
call off street
protests next week or face arrest.
The order was
issued by High Court Judge Ben Hlatshwayo after the police
filed an urgent
application in which they claimed the planned protests would
undermine law
and order and challenged the country's
constitutional
democracy.
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) said on Friday it would
press ahead next week with protests against
President Robert Mugabe and
warned that militant government supporters could
turn the demonstrations
bloody.
Chief Inspector Andrew Phiri confirmed
police had got a provisional order
from the court outlawing the
protests.
"It is declared that the respondents (MDC and Tsvangirai) have
acted
unlawfully in calling for demonstrations intended to oust a
legitimately
elected president.
"Accordingly it is ordered that the
respondents be indicted from organising,
urging or suggesting, or setting up
the demonstrations intended to remove
the lawfully elected president and
government," the order said.
The order gave the MDC the right to argue
its own case.
MDC legislator and lawyer David Coltart complained that
they had received
the order only at the time police served it but they
intended to appeal
against it on Sunday.
"The MDC is not organising
violent protests, but peaceful protests,"
Tsvangirai spokesman William Bango
said.
Earlier, thousands of people jammed supermarkets and banks around
Zimbabwe
to stock up for the protests designed to drive President Robert
Mugabe from
power.
The MDC is demanding Mugabe's resignation, accusing
him of mismanaging the
economy. Mugabe, 79, denies the charge.
The
government has put its security forces on full alert, deployed troops in
some
restive townships and set up roadblocks.
"The time has come for a
showdown with the MDC. They must be confronted and
taught a lesson...," the
ruling ZANU-PF party's chief spokesman, Nathan
Shamuyarira,
said.
Zimbabwe is in a severe economic crisis, with record inflation
and
unemployment, and shortages of food, fuel and foreign
currency.
Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980,
blames the crisis
on opponents of his seizures of land from the tiny white
minority for
redistribution among landless blacks.
Telegraph
Zimbabwe braced for violence at mass rallies
By Peta
Thornycroft in Harare
(Filed: 31/05/2003)
"Pray for us tonight.
Pray for us next week," said a man in his early 40s in
Harare yesterday. "We
will go to the streets, and maybe they will kill us.
"But there is no
difference between being dead as we are already, and being
shot by the police
or army on Monday."
The man is one of thousands who will risk brutal
treatment by the security
forces when they gather next week for a mass
demonstration against President
Robert Mugabe.
The protests are
illegal under draconian new security laws, and Patrick
Chinamasa, Mr Mugabe's
justice minister, said participants will be
committing high
treason.
He said: "The clear intention behind such threatened actions is
to effect a
coup d'etat against the legitimately elected government of
Zimbabwe."
Thousands are expected at rallies across the country after
Morgan
Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change,
urged
people to "rise up in your millions" to force Mr Mugabe to the
negotiating
table.
Mr Tsvangirai rallied his supporters last night in
the face of threats from
the security forces to crush the protests under the
slightest provocation.
"Nothing will deter us from this action," he
said.
"Without risk there are no opportunities. There's no riskier
business than
to allow this country to collapse." But he added: "The
potential of this
degenerating into shooting cannot be
underestimated."
As soldiers and riot police deployed across the country,
MDC activists and
middle class supporters were making gas masks to protect
civilians from the
riot police's South African-made tear-gas. The Zimbabwe
Defence Forces are
believed to have handed out weapons to many so-called war
veterans and
members of the militia known as the Green
Bombers.
Political analysts believe that the by-product of the call for
millions to
go out on to the streets will be a national strike, larger and
longer than
any before it, as Zimbabwe's dispossessed, unemployed and hungry
vent their
anger at the country's collapse.
"If there are many out on
the streets, we may have a bloodbath," said Brian
Kagoro, a human rights
lawyer. "If the people are too scared and don't show
up on the streets, or
run away after the first shots, there will anyway be a
massive
stayaway.
"We are not sure of the national psyche. People are really fed
up, but none
of us knows how far they will go, and it will be the poor who
will, once
again, take the pain.
"The regime is preparing its response
by giving gangsters guns. We are used
to the riot police, but not the army,
and so the situation is unpredictable.
"The MDC have called this a final
push, but maybe that is an overloaded
message. This is certainly the
beginning of the end, and the MDC has had the
courage to go for this, but we
don't know what the costs or the gains will
be."
Scores of
heavily-armed members of the Zimbabwe National Army and riot
police moved
into a poor township close to Bulawayo last night. A
well-placed source said:
"There has been a full deployment of all the
security forces in Zimbabwe as
of today."
. Augustine Chihuri, Mr Mugabe's police commissioner, has
resigned as
honorary Vice-President of Interpol just weeks after his
appointment was
hailed by Harare officials as an endorsement of Zimbabwe's
police force.
Telegraph
Talks Between Zimbabwean Government, Oil Companies at
Stalemate
Tendai Maphosa
Zimbabwe
30 May 2003, 20:54
UTC
International oil companies are ready to import fuel into
Zimbabwe to
alleviate the country's fuel shortage, but there is serious
disagreement
between the companies and the government over the pricing of oil
products.
Zimbabwe has had no fuel delivered for over a week now and
talks between the
government and the oil companies have reached a stalemate.
An oil company
official who spoke on condition of anonymity says the
government insists on
a controlled pump price, while the oil companies want
the price converted
from the U.S.-dollar cost of importing the fuel plus
whatever markup that
would make it profitable for them.
Zimbabwe has
been experiencing intermittent disruptions in fuel supplies
since 1999, but
it has never, until now, gotten to a point where the state
fuel distribution
authority has failed to deliver supplies to at least some
gas
stations.
The situation began seriously deteriorating last year when a
deal with Libya
to supply fuel to Zimbabwe collapsed after the Zimbabweans
defaulted on
payment. At his ruling ZANU-PF party annual conference last
December,
President Mugabe said he would personally involve himself with
efforts to
end the fuel crisis.
The country has seen two fuel price
hikes this year. The most recent one was
in April. This resulted in increases
in the prices of just about everything,
making the situation worse for the
majority of Zimbabweans. The Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions called a
three-day strike to force the government
to reverse the increase but the
government refused to back down.
For the oil companies getting the price
they need to make a profit is a case
of pure economics, but for the
government, the political and social fallout
of approving another price
increase now would be devastating. The Congress
of Trade Unions is already
threatening another strike to protest the last
price increase.
Some
oil companies are already importing and selling fuel in foreign
currency to
those with the money, but this excludes the vast majority of
Zimbabweans,
some of whom have had their cars parked in lines at gas
stations for the past
two weeks in anticipation of fuel that might not be
coming any time soon.
However, some people are getting their fuel on the
black market, where it is
available for as much as six times the pump price.
Globe and Mail, Canada
G8 turns to Africa
By PAUL KNOX
From
Saturday's Globe and Mail
Still more rhetoric than reality, an ambitious
plan to channel billions of
dollars a year toward prosperity for Africans
will get a fresh airing at the
Group of Eight summit beginning
Sunday.
Just in time for the summit, African leaders named a high-level panel
this
week to oversee evaluations of countries seeking trade concessions
and
support for new investment under the plan.
That will boost the efforts
of the summit host, French President Jacques
Chirac, to make aid to Africa a
key theme of the meeting in the resort town
of Évian. Prime Minister Jean
Chrétien did the same as he welcomed G8
leaders to Kananaskis, Alta., in June
of 2002.
But since then, progress has been halting on both sides of the huge
divide
that separates the industrial world from the poorest
continent.
While some countries - including Canada - have earmarked more
foreign aid
for Africa, there are few signs of significant investment in
African
projects under the New Economic Partnership for Africa's
Development.
With the sluggishness of the global economy and the rebuilding
in Iraq
threatening to suck up foreign-aid funds, Mr. Chirac says the "first
duty"
of major world powers is to boost economic growth.
African leaders,
meanwhile, have struggled to reach consensus on a key
feature of the NEPAD
plan that would make the provision of new funds by G8
members and other rich
countries conditional on transparent government and
the rule of law.
The
plan's image in Africa is starting to suffer, said Nthabiseng Nkosi,
a
researcher at the Africa Institute in Johannesburg.
"People are saying
that African governments need to stop making a lot of
talk and issuing papers
and documents," she said. "We need to see them being
translated into concrete
policies. The only way we will know if NEPAD is
succeeding is if there are
concrete improvements for people at the grass
roots."
NEPAD, whose chief
backers include South African President Thabo Mbeki and
Nigerian President
Olusegun Obasanjo, seeks to attract more private
investment and foreign aid
as well as to win debt relief and better access
for African products to
European and North American markets.
It sets a goal of attracting $64-billion
(U.S.) a year in order to achieve
annual continental economic growth of 7 per
cent.
Last year, the G8 promised support for NEPAD goals but did not commit
itself
to specific aid totals. In a statement, the group said members would
be
guided by the plan's "peer review" process in deciding which countries
to
support.
Under peer review, African experts are to evaluate governments
on steps to
fight corruption, to ensure an independent court system and to
follow sound
economic policies.
But it has taken a year to set up a
peer-review structure, partly because
some leaders balked at undergoing
outside scrutiny. Namibian Prime Minister
Theo-Ben Gurirab recently called
the idea neocolonialist and said it should
be tossed into "the dustbin of
history," according to press reports in
Windhoek.
The six-person
peer-review panel appointed this week includes
children's-rights activist
Graca Machel of Mozambique, who is married to
former South African president
Nelson Mandela.
But critics of the process note that it remains voluntary.
They also ask how
much credibility it can have in the hands of leaders such
as Mr. Mbeki, who
has resisted calls to ostracize Zimbabwe over human-rights
abuses committed
under President Robert Mugabe.
"Outside Africa, I think
most people have written [peer review] off," said
William Reno, a political
scientist and specialist on Africa at Northwestern
University in
Chicago.
Canada is moving ahead with NEPAD-related spending despite the slow
progress
on peer review, said a government official who requested anonymity.
"It's
taking longer than they thought but it appears to be slowly, slowly
moving
along."
Canada has spent about $70-million of a $500-million,
five-year Africa fund
announced in 2001. That includes $35-million on
polio-eradication programs a
nd research into HIV-AIDS vaccines, as well as
$13-million on agricultural
research.
The federal government has pledged
to double Canadian foreign aid by 2010
and to spend at least half the
increase in Africa.
Development advocates say that if G8 members want to help
Africa they should
not only embrace NEPAD but agree to eliminate obstacles to
African exports,
including tariffs and agricultural subsidies.
Zvakwana Newsletter #26 - Power
concedes nothing without a demand
May 31, 2003
Zvakwana street activists target robert mugabe road
People usually say that the writing is on the wall. In this case people are
talking about the bright red writing on Harare’s street signs. Zvakwana stickers
are covering over the dictator's name in preparation for his departure to the
Libyan desert.
When I dare to be powerful, to use my
strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important
whether I am afraid.
~ Audre
Lorde
Week of action
Monday 2 June to Friday 6
June has been declared a week of action by the MDC. The party calls upon all the
suffering people of Zimbabwe, including workers, women, students, civic
organisations and youths to peacefully demonstrate against the way mugabe is
destroying this country. Get involved in democracy marches that will be held in
all cities of Zimbabwe. March for
your country and for your children’s future. Follow
your local leadership.
This is an excerpt from a message
disseminated to business by the MDC.
Dear Business
Colleague
You have no doubt gathered by now
that the MDC has called for a stayaway and demonstrations during the week of
June 2 - 6, 2003, subject to review in the light of developments. Your usual
co-operation is greatly appreciated and you are urged to co-operate 100% with
this request by understanding that your workers will stay away and that there
must be no victimisation. It is important that your workers receive your support
to allow them to participate in demonstrations and democracy activities. This is
a national cause in which we are all expected to play our part until the
objective of installing a democratically elected government is achieved. This is
the only guarantee for long-term stability and the business confidence that
allows the re-establishment of economic and social disciplines in the
country.
During the week of action send in
reports and information
Next week you might witness
police brutality or know of someone who gets arrested or harassed. Please email
news@zvakwana.org and keep us informed.
Read our tips on how to deal
with the riot police on our website at www.zvakwana.org
Watch your email closely this week
for updates from Zvakwana.
Don’t be
fooled by zanu pf infiltration
It has become known that zanu pf is
busy printing MDC t-shirts in order to cause trouble on the streets with a view
to blaming any violence on the opposition. Be aware of this. The MDC is
committed to non-violent action.
Poking fun at the old
man
We all know that most of us are
just sitting near our homes passing by the time of day because there are no jobs
to be found. Zvakwana has been pleased to see that street soccer games are
helping to ease boredom. Kick mugabe out! has become the name of the game. Yes,
youths all around are making mugabe’s head roll.
If you can’t view the
pictures in your email please visit www.zvakwana.org. Remember that you need to be
linked to the internet via your modem in order to view the
pictures.
The repressive regime is panicking
and it shows
It is known that when dictatorships
find themselves with their backs against the wall and are in no further doubt
that the people have turned against them, they crack down even harder. We are
now witnessing this through the mugabe regime’s recent banning of opposition
rallies and meetings. Morgan Tsvangirai was due to address a rally in Gweru on
Sunday but the zanu republic police have banned it from taking place. And then
David Coltart in Bulwayo had his usual MP’s feedback meeting banned by the
authorities on Friday 30th May.
Local and international pressure
has caused Chihuri to be dropped from Interpol
Zvakwana would like to congratulate
all the Zimbabwean and international activists who determinedly responded to our
call to protest Chihuri’s Interpol appointment. Because of your pressure he has
been dropped. Keep up the strength and continue to respond to requests for
active participation – applying pressure does work!
Lyon, France - The head of the
Zimbabwean police force has resigned an honorary position at the international
police agency Interpol after criticism that the appointment was an endorsement
of the regime of President Robert Mugabe, the agency said on Friday. Augustine
Chihuri informed Interpol President Jesus Espigares Mira in a letter dated May
28 that he would step aside as honorary vice president of Interpol's executive
committee because of the continuing controversy over the title and to avoid
politicising the agency, it said. "Chihuri has done the correct thing. The
appointment was not meant to endorse the actions of the Zimbabwe Republic Police
or Chihuri's work as Commissioner," Espigares Mira said. Like other of Mugabe's
close associates, Chihuri is subject to a European Union and United States
travel ban because of allegations of vote-rigging and human rights abuses in
Zimbabwe. He served on Interpol's executive committee for six years from 1996,
and on stepping down received the honorary position for a three year term in
accordance with standard Interpol practice. Interpol's secretary-general Ronald
K Noble said he regretted that a Zimbabwe police (ZRP) spokesperson had
interpreted the appointment as a sign of support for the actions of the force.
"That statement was inaccurate. The fact that a ZRP spokesperson attempted to
use Interpol to fight off political criticism has caused Interpol to be unfairly
and unnecessarily attacked," he said. Interpol was founded in 1923 to enhance
police co-operation and with 181 members is now the largest international police
organization in the world.
Deported journalist will sue Air
Zimbabwe
Journalist Andrew Meldrum
was recently deported. Air Zimbabwe proceeded to fly Meldrum out of the country
despite the fact that a High Court order barring it from doing so had been
served on it. Beatrice Mtetwa the lawyer representing Meldrum plans to sue Air
Zimbabwe on behalf of her client and will refer the matter to the International
Air Transport Association (IATA). PROTEST! We urge you to write to William
Gaillard, IATA’s director of communications to demand that Air Zimbabwe be
called upon to explain their illegal behaviour in the face of being a member of
IATA and subscribing to its rules and regulations. It is up to each one of use
to demand accountability and transparency. Email William Gaillard on gaillardw@iata.org
The Herald
Telling the truth for
once!
Reclaiming
democracy
The battle to reclaim democracy is
going to be a difficult one. Once we surrender our freedoms the battle to
retrieve them is called a revolution. The only institution more powerful than
the illegitimate mugabe government is Zimbabwean civil society. We have a rich
tradition of resistance. Hundreds of thousands of us have survived the
relentless propaganda and misrule and are actively fighting the mugabe regime.
If you join next week’s democracy actions and marches, in your thousands, you
will be greeted joyously by the rest of the world. And you will see how
beautiful it is to be gentle instead of brutal, safe instead of scared.
Befriended instead of isolated.
History is giving you the chance.
Seize the time.
Liberating
ourselves
Our
deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are
powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens
us. We ask ourselves: who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the
world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't
feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were
born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some
of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously
give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own
fear, our presence automatically liberates others. - Marianne
Williamson
BBC
Panic-buying grips Zimbabwe
Zimbabweans are
panic-buying in preparation for next week's opposition
street protests
designed to drive President Robert Mugabe from power.
Soldiers are
patrolling populous areas of the capital Harare,
reportedly to discourage
people from taking part.
The leader of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC),
Morgan Tsvangirai, has urged Zimbabweans to "rise up
in your millions".
The government has pledged to crush the
protests which it describes as
a coup attempt and has put security forces on
high alert.
In the capital Harare, shoppers stocked up on
essentials while
thousands queued up at banks to withdraw cash.
Police have set up roadblocks on major routes leading into the
city
centre.
One resident of the low-income suburb of Mabvuku,
in eastern Harare,
told the AFP news agency that police were moving around
beer halls telling
people to go home.
An unnamed MDC official
said the army "is trying to intimidate people
by going into high-density
suburbs in their trucks, with guns".
"It's to scare people so
people won't come out of their homes."
'No going back'
The ruling ZANU-PF party's chief spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira has said
the
time has come for a showdown with the MDC and that they must be
"confronted
and taught a lesson".
However, the opposition says it will press on
with the week of
"democracy marches".
Mr Tsvangirai was quoted
in the privately-owned Daily News as saying
"no threats of whatever
magnitude" would deter the MDC.
The official Herald
newspaper reported on Saturday that the
state-owned bus company had gone to
the high court to try to block the
protests, saying that some of its buses
had been torched in previous MDC
demonstrations.
The MDC
organised one of the biggest demonstrations against President
Mugabe two
months ago.
However, it is not clear if ordinary Zimbabweans will
want to be
involved, given the harsh treatment meted out to protesters last
time.
Zimbabwe is in a severe economic crisis, with record
inflation and
unemployment, and shortages of food, fuel and foreign
currency.
President Mugabe, in power since the country gained
independence from
Britain in 1980, blames the crisis on opponents of his
seizures of land from
the tiny white minority for redistribution among
landless blacks.
Zimbabwe is under sanctions from the Commonwealth
over the land
seizures and alleged vote-rigging by the ruling party.
Daily News
Battle lines drawn
5/31/2003 11:57:54 AM
(GMT +2)
Staff Reporters
OPPOSITION Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan
Tsvangirai yesterday vowed to press
ahead with mass demonstrations to force
President Robert Mugabe to leave
office, disregarding threats by the ruling
ZANU PF and the armed forces to
crush the marches.
Tsvangirai, addressing journalists in Harare two
days before the
planned protest marches, said: "We are going ahead with the
street marches.
Nothing will deter us. No threats of whatever magnitude would
deter us from
the action."
Several smaller opposition parties
yesterday also declared they would
back the mass protest called by
Tsvangirai.
Ruling ZANU PF party spokesman, Nathan Shamuyarira,
immediately
responded with a warning to the opposition that the planned
marches would be
ruthlessly crushed, setting the stage for what political
analysts say might
turn out to be a violent but defining week for crisis-hit
Zimbabwe.
Accusing the MDC of wanting to stage a coup through the
anti-Mugabe
marches, Shamuyarira said: "The time has now come for a showdown
with the
MDC. Their activities can no longer be tolerated. They must be
confronted
and taught a lesson that Zimbabwe is a sovereign
nation."
Shamuyarira said security forces would be deployed in the
streets and
at all strategic national installations. The forces would also
man public
buses to ensure public transporters can ferry people to and from
work.
Several buses belonging to the State public transporter, the
Zimbabwe
United Passenger Company, have been burnt in previous mass
protests
organised by the MDC.
Private businesses that failed to
open next Monday when the planned
marches begin would "face the full wrath of
the law" Shamuyarira warned.
The MDC has called the mass protests
to force Mugabe to negotiate his
exit and press him to agree to a fresh
presidential election. The MDC, which
is challenging Mugabe's March 2002
re-election in the courts, says he stole
the ballot from Tsvangirai. Mugabe
denies the charges.
Tsvangirai denied the planned marches would
amount to a coup, saying
the protests were intended to force a resolution of
Zimbabwe's deepening
crisis.
"People should know that marches
are not events and they are part of
an attempt to ensure that the Zimbabwean
crisis is resolved as a matter of
urgency," the MDC president
said.
"We are saying the state of affairs cannot be left to go on
just like
that. We cannot leave Mugabe to destroy the country while we
watch".
The opposition leader said the marches would be peaceful.
But he said
his party had information that ZANU PF was planning to send its
youths
dressed in MDC regalia to cause violence and chaos.
Daily News
Kabila lifts envoy's suspension
5/31/2003
12:07:12 PM (GMT +2)
From Kelvin Jakachira in
Mutare
DEMOCRATIC Republic of the Congo (DRC) President Joseph
Kabila has
lifted the suspension of DRC ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mwanananga
Mwawapanga,
who will resume his post in Harare, it was learnt this
week.
Mwawapanga was suspended last year after he was named in a
United
Nations report as one of the key figures from the DRC government
who
plundered that country's natural resources during a four-year war
against
rebels sponsored by Rwanda and Uganda.
He was restricted
from moving out of Kinshasa to facilitate
investigations into his alleged
involvement in the plunder of timber and
minerals.
Mwawapanga,
who was the DRC Minister of Finance at the time of the
alleged plunder, is
expected to resume duty next week.
Five other top Congolese
government officials, including Mwenze
Kongolo, the Minister of Security and
Public Order, were also named in the
UN report.
Information from
Kinshasa says Kabila pardoned the officials following
an inquiry by the
country's attorney-general, whose report was submitted to
him two months
ago.
Richard Biladi, the acting DRC Ambassador to Zimbabwe, this
week said:
"I do not know about the pardon but what I know is that the
ambassador has
been released to come back to Harare. His suspension is now
over and he is
coming back to work."
However, another official
at the embassy said: "President Kabila
pardoned all the guys who were
involved in the alleged looting as a way of
bringing people together. Most
people who committed certain criminal
offences during the war have been
pardoned by the president."
The source said even some individuals
who incited Congolese to kill
perceived government opponents, particularly
those of Tutsi origin, were
also pardoned.
Top military and
government officials from Zimbabwe, Uganda and Rwanda
have also been named in
the detailed UN report.
Daily News
UK-based trade unionist denied entry into
country
5/31/2003 12:08:09 PM (GMT +2)
Staff
Reporter
CATHERINE Philips, an official with the United
Kingdom-based
Commonwealth Trade Union Council (CTUC), was yesterday denied
entry into
Zimbabwe for unexplained reasons, The Daily News has
established.
Philips arrived from London at about 6am on a British
Airways flight
and was turned back soon afterwards.
She had come
to evaluate the Botswana-based Southern African Trade
Union Co-ordinating
Council's child labour project in Zimbabwe.
Wellington Chibhebhe,
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)'s
secretary-general, said his
organisation had written to the Ministry of
Public Service, Labour and Social
Welfare on 20 May advising it of her
visit.
Chibhebhe said:
"Yesterday ministry officials met with Annie Watson,
the director of the
CTUC, to prepare for Philips' visit. When Watson went to
Harare Airport this
morning to receive Philips, she was told by Immigration
officials that there
was a problem."
Chibhebhe said when the acting permanent secretary
in the ministry,
Sidney Mhishi, intervened he was told that Philips had
already left the
airport and was on her way to her hotel.
"In
the meantime, they had forced her back on the plane and deported
her," he
said. "This does not help Zimbabwe's situation at all. Perhaps they
want to
show they can challenge the international community but this is
just
bravado."
Neither Mhishi nor Elasto Mugwadi, the Chief
Immigration Officer,
could be reached for comment yesterday
afternoon.
On Friday last week, Watson herself was almost deported,
again for
unexplained reasons.
However, she was allowed to remain in
Harare after the ZCTU pointed
out that her deportation would strain
Zimbabwe's relations with Commonwealth
trade unions and the International
Labour Organisation.
Watson is evaluating ZCTU's informal sector
training programmes funded
by the CTUC.
Daily News
MDC legislator sues State
5/31/2003
12:12:04 PM (GMT +2)
From Chris Gande in Bulawayo
DAVID Mpala, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Member of
Parliament
for Lupane, has filed a $5 million lawsuit against the State and
two police
officers in Bulawayo for illegally detaining him for about
three
days.
The two police officers are being sued in their
individual capacities.
They are Superintendent Martin Matira, the
officer-in-charge of the Law and
Order Section at Bulawayo Central Police
Station, and an Inspector Gumbo,
the officer-in-charge of the Criminal
Investigations Department.
The notice of intent to sue, which was
sent to the Ministry of Home
Affairs (Finance and Administration), has also
been served on the Director
of the Civil Division of the Attorney-General's
Office.
Lawyers from Coghlan and Welsh, who represent Mpala, said
they had
been instructed to institute legal proceedings in terms of Section 6
of the
State Liabilities Act and the Police Act.
Mpala was
leaving a parliamentary committee meeting last month when he
was given a lift
by fellow MDC parliamentarian Jealous Sansole. The two were
stopped at a
police roadblock.
Police questioned Sansole about ballot seals in
his car and the two
MPs were taken to Bulawayo Central Police
Station.
Mpala's lawyers said in court documents: "Although our
client had
obviously been given a lift in Sansole's vehicle and had nothing
to do with
whatever was in that vehicle (which is not to say carrying ballot
seals is
in itself an offence), he was kept at Nkulumane Police Station from
about
10am on 9 April 2003 to 12 April when he was released without
charge."
The lawyers said Matira asked Mpala whether he had slept
in police
cells before.
"Upon responding that he had not, Matira
advised that he was to put up
at the police cells and then ordered that he be
detained for no apparent
reason," reads part of the lawsuit.
Mpala was detained during what the MDC has called a blitz against
its
supporters, several of whom were arrested following the opposition
party's
successful work stayaway in March.
During the week of
Mpala's arrest, police also detained MDC
vice-president Gibson Sibanda and
the party spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi.
They were charged under the Public
Order and Security Act for organising a
mass stayaway.
Daily News
Commonwealth agrees Mugabe must step down by
September
5/31/2003 12:12:40 PM (GMT +2)
By Farai
Mutsaka Chief Reporter
COMMONWEALTH countries have reached a
consensus that President Robert
Mugabe should leave office by September this
year and his exit worked out as
part of efforts to resolve Zimbabwe's
economic and political crises, it was
learnt yesterday.
Officials of the club of former British colonies said British Prime
Minister
Tony Blair has also been advised to call for an aid package for
Zimbabwe to
be worked out by the G8 countries, which will meet in France
next
week.
Conditions such as the restoration of democratic governance
would be
tied to the package, the officials said.
Speaking from
the Commonwealth's headquarters at Marlborough House,
the officials said
members of the organisation, including African countries,
had agreed that
Mugabe's early exit would save them from having to deal with
the Zimbabwe
situation at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
in
December.
"That Mugabe has to go for the Zimbabwean crisis to
be resolved is not
in question, even among African states. What is left to
work out are
modalities on how and when he should leave but September has
been tossed
around as the deadline," a Commonwealth official
said.
"He is a very proud man, so the issue at stake now is to work
out an
honourable way out for him."
It was not possible to
secure comment yesterday from the director of
the Commonwealth's
communications and public affairs division, Joel Kibazo.
But
sources said there was consensus that Mugabe, who faces
mounting
international and local pressure to leave office, should step down
to
facilitate a lasting solution to Zimbabwe's crisis.
They said
even though the Zimbabwean government was still clinging to
the notion of
African solidarity, many countries on the continent now
considered Mugabe a
liability.
One official said: "A good example is what happened in
March. When we
issued out our statement, we had actually consulted widely in
Africa and
apart from Nigeria and South Africa, most African nations wanted
Zimbabwe to
remain suspended while the issue was being
discussed.
" It would have been crazy for us not to consult African
leaders or to
pass a resolution that went against the majority of Africans
because that
would have split the Commonwealth."
Meanwhile, the
officials said advisers to Blair's government had told
the British leader to
ask his G8 colleagues to consider an aid package for
Zimbabwe.
"It (package) is meant to show the people of Zimbabwe that the Western
world
is solidly behind them in their struggle. In fact, it is supposed to
work as
an incentive to push doubting Thomases into action," a source said.
The package, they said, would be similar to that offered by the
Zimbabwe
Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, passed by the United States
government
last year as an incentive for Harare to uphold the principles of
good
governance.
Daily News
Leader Page
When the iron fist no longer
works
5/31/2003 11:55:12 AM (GMT +2)
WHATEVER
happens next week during the mass protests called by the
opposition, it is
clear that the government's policy of using the iron fist
to keep harassed
Zimbabweans in check has run its full course and will no
longer
work.
Virtually all Zimbabweans, even those in the payroll of
the
government, now agree that President Robert Mugabe's experiment
with
hardline nationalist policies which alienated Zimbabwe - however
well-meant
initially - have come unstuck, and that now is the time to reverse
the
slide.
In many ways, Mugabe's endgame mirrors the futility
of a self-made
revolutionary who sought to damn the world, including
well-meaning criticism
back home, and tragically became entrapped by his own
policies which
crucially failed to deliver.
For the simple man
and woman in the street, the only policy that they
understood and wanted -
and still yearn for - was the one that would bring
bread and butter to the
table and nothing else, and that's where Mugabe
misread the national
mood.
As Zimbabweans dramatise their prolonged plight during the
protests
rolling out on Monday, it would be folly for those in charge of
the
stewardship of the nation to merely dismiss the demonstrations as
cheap
politicking by power-hungry opposition politicians.
The
stark reality is that so many in the land are angry and hungry
that we, as a
nation, can no longer go on doing business this way,
notwithstanding the
painful, if useful, lessons of hard survival that most
Zimbabweans have now
learnt.
There is thus no point in invoking threats of dire action
against the
protesters, as was done this week by several government ministers
and the
security forces. The destitute have nothing else to
lose.
The government should instead pay serious attention and act
on the
burning concerns of many who, in a short 23 years of independence,
have
found it necessary to confront their national leaders in this
way.
After all, peaceful protests are not only an acceptable means
of
pressuring those in charge in a democracy, but are entrenched in
the
national constitutions of all nations which claim to uphold their
citizens'
basic freedoms.
The very fact that the government
found it necessary last year to
virtually outlaw such protests is a telling
statement on Zimbabwe's sickly
condition, which needs to be addressed not by
the brute force of arms, but
by action which results in
normalcy.
Those staging the protests must guard against
infiltration by elements
bent on triggering mindless violence which destroys
life and property.
No one but common thugs and thieves benefit from
anarchy. Sadly, there
are many such rotten elements in our midst these days,
including some who
are regularly hired simply to cause trouble.
No doubt, the international community will follow next week's events
in
Zimbabwe with more than passing interest, if only to see if Zimbabweans
will
indeed be allowed to exercise their God-given and democratic right to
protest
and chart a future which they want.
Not that the international
community wants to intervene in Zimbabwe's
affairs, as has been suggested by
some within the government, but because
all want to see a stable and
prosperous Zimbabwe play an active and positive
role in the global community
that humanity now lives in.
Needless to say, instability in
Zimbabwe is bound to have a
debilitating contagion on its neighbours - as it
already has done -
condemning the entire Southern Africa as an unstable
region where no one
wants to visit as a tourist or invest in.
So
let no one with Zimbabwe's true interests at heart muffle or stifle
the
people's voice of protest, but again we urge that the demonstrations
be
carried out peacefully.
Daily News
Leader Page
We have no option but to confront
the regime head-on
5/31/2003 11:56:24 AM (GMT +2)
By Eddie Cross
It has been three years in the making. The final
push, is what it is
being called here, or as the MDC said on Thursday, a
march for democracy.
After many delays caused by attempts to
persuade the regime led by
President Robert Mugabe to see common sense and
accept the inevitable by
agreeing to negotiate its way out of the present
impasse, the MDC has now
decided enough is enough!
We are taking
to the streets on Monday 2 June. The demonstrations will
be backed by a
week-long strike, which will be observed by all who do not
hold down jobs in
sectors deemed as an essential service.
The atmosphere in the
country is difficult to describe but there can
be no doubt in anyone's mind
that this is the finale to the current scene
being enacted on the Zimbabwe
stage. There is also no going back - for
either side, this will be a struggle
to the end - whatever that is going to
be.
This is not another
stayaway from work - it's a direct challenge to
the authority and power of
the Mugabe regime by the people. The dangers are
plenty - if the Zimbabwe
regime decides to make a last stand, there will be
casualties. If these
escalate, then the situation could get out of control
and it will be
difficult to negotiate our way back to some semblance of
order and
stability.
It could have been different - if South Africa had used
its
overwhelming influence and economic power in the region to force Mugabe
to
talk, but they have simply not been willing to do so. It could have
been
different if the West had stepped in with some form of force and said
that a
"road map" back to legitimacy must be followed, but that was never
even a
possibility. So we are left to our own devices.
What are
we up against? There are about 45 000 men in the army, 25 000
regular
policemen and another 7 000 paramilitary police. There are also
several
thousand men in the airforce, only a handful of operational aircraft
but a
fairly large number of armed vehicles of one description or
another.
The so-called war veterans have threatened to take action
but the
majority of these no longer support the government of the day and
those that
do are a rather pathetic gaggle of old men numbering about 5 000,
of which
only about 1 000 are probably able to operate
effectively.
Nevertheless, this is one of the better armies in
Africa and if they
stand with Mugabe and accept the role they are being asked
to play, then the
people who go onto the streets on Monday morning will be
confronted with
more than tear-gas.
But let's not forget, these
100 000 men and women in the armed forces
are also Zimbabweans. It is their
brothers and sisters who will be out there
and their own mothers and fathers
who are saying that enough is enough. The
current shambles affects them as
much as anyone else. I estimate inflation
(annualised) in May at 450 percent.
Bread is selling for $550 a loaf, beef
for $3 000 a kilogramme, maize-meal
for $300 a kilogramme and prices of
other staples have trebled in the past
few weeks. Liquid fuels are simply
not available, informal sector prices are
anything from $1 200 to $1 500 a
litre. The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority is load-shedding and this
is creating chaos in the already strained
productive sectors.
Now there is insufficient cash in the system to
run the economy. With
prices rising by over 50 percent in a month, the volume
of cash being used
is now beyond the ability of the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe.
They stated this week that they were considering issuing
a $1 000
bill, but this will cost them as much to print as it is worth and
they need
billions in new bank notes every day.
After claiming
that the current maize crop was 1,4 million tonnes and
that wheat stocks were
adequate, we are running out of both. Quietly, the
government has started to
admit it has a food problem. A state of emergency
was declared in
Matabeleland South on Friday and the World Food Programme
has been asked to
continue assisting needy folk in affected areas .
So, finally we
set out on an adventure that we have tried hard to
avoid, avoid, not because
we are timid or fearful, but because we wanted to
be able to control a
process of transition back to democracy. On Monday,
Morgan Tsvangirai issued
what I regard as one of the most important policy
statements that he has made
recently. He rejected the proposal that we set
up a transitional authority to
guide the country back to democracy.
We no longer have the time for
such an experiment and in any event,
external forces that were trying to
engineer continued ZANU PF domination of
the process were manipulating the
proposal.
What the MDC has stated is that it now simply wants
Mugabe to resign,
for the government to put in place an acting President as
prescribed in the
Constitution and then new elections for President in 90
days. The details
can be negotiated, but that is now the MDC "road map" back
to democratic
rule.
In reality we have no alternative. Mugabe
will not go voluntarily and
we cannot go on like this. To do so would be to
accept that Zimbabwe has
become the "North Korea" of Southern Africa - unable
to feed itself, a
delinquent state that exists by blackmail and
intimidation.
Tsvangirai asked us all to pray for the country and
its leadership
this week, to devote tomorrow to prayer and to then support an
all-out
effort to force the ruling elite to accept that there was no other
way out,
except across the negotiating table.
For Zanu PF this
is not surrender; it is simply giving way to history
and acknowledging their
own inability to find solutions to the crisis we all
face.
For
the rest of us, this could be the dawn.
Eddie Cross is an economic
advisor to the MDC.
Daily News
Nation needs brave men and women at this crucial
moment
5/31/2003 12:02:00 PM (GMT +2)
Without
doubt, this is the best opportunity to confront the old
dictator once and for
all. It has to be now or never because fortune knocks
once at a man's
door.
All Zimbabweans, young and old, rich and poor, must come out
in full
force for the long-awaited final push.
Robert Mugabe and
his rogue regime must stop ruining this country now!
It is clear to
all and sundry that Mugabe has failed to manage the
resources of this country
and as a result, the country's economy is fast
disintegrating into
ruins.
At this crucial and trying moment of the indefinite mass
action, the
nation needs courageous men and women to stand up and defend
their country
from Mugabe's daylight robbery.
It is disgusting
to note that a once vibrant and promising economy has
virtually been
strangled by one old and tired dictator who blatantly refuses
to see sense in
his departure.
The message for Mugabe is loud and clear:
Zimbabweans and the rest of
the world have lost confidence in you and this is
the time to quit.
Long-suffering Zimbabweans must embrace this opportunity to
repeat the
message to Mugabe that we are tired of his
dictatorship.
He must go.
It is sad to note that one
who should have had a wonderful and
historic sendoff is now being chased away
like a dog.
I congratulate the Movement for Democratic Change
president Morgan
Tsvangirai and the entire leadership of the main opposition
party for
steadfastly mobilising the people of Zimbabwe in their protracted
search for
freedom.
It is the duty of all Zimbabweans of
goodwill not to allow evil to
triumph over good.
Nhamodzenyika
Harare
Daily News
Mass action is the only option for the
voiceless
5/31/2003 12:03:00 PM (GMT +2)
It is
extremely provocative to have some of our fellow Zimbabweans
like "Concerned
Proletariat" in The Herald of 15 May, condemning recent mass
action and
stayaways as economically destructive.
This is at a time when
poverty is wreaking havoc, cash is elusive,
fares of unavailable transport
are astronomical and prices of unavailable
basic commodities are shooting
through the ceiling.
This is really a myopic perception,
underestimating the net effects of
the much needed mass actions and
stayaways.
Initially, did "Concerned Proletariat" ever ask himself
if we still
have any tangible economy either to protect or
destroy?
Worse still, do we still have anything to lose except
"Sovereignty
Handiende" and his accomplices?
We have already
lost our dignity, pride and direction. We have lost
our jobs. We have lost
our rights and voices, let alone friends and
relatives under this brutal
regime.
I think it is also justified for us to lose our patience
and
tolerance. All we now have in abundance is poverty, misery and
hunger,
repression and alarming moral degradation.
These
socio-economic burdens overwhelmingly subdue the negative
repercussions of
mass actions. Moreover, is it not wise to lose one and
gain
five?
Under this insensitive regime, mass action is the
only remaining
alternative voice of the now voiceless ordinary
Zimbabweans.
It is the sole prescription at our disposal for this
pandemic disease
called ZANU PF.
Mass action means
freedom.
Through collective demonstrations, Indonesians freed
themselves from
Suharto, the Congolese from the plundering Mobutu Sese Seko
and the Chileans
from Augusto Pinochet.
Discouraging mass action
could be as good as accepting and
legitimising the current state brutality
and unendurable socio-economic
burdens we are being exposed to by ZANU
PF.
Precisely what we are crying for is the removal of this regime
so that
we can revive our once vibrant economy, the restoration of our
bleeding
dignity, pride and moral values.
Paul Makanyisa
Mhofu
Harare
Daily News
Feature
Patriotism does not equate to training
murderers
5/31/2003 11:59:01 AM (GMT +2)
By Dr T
Mangwende
In an unusual offering the Herald (24/5/2003) reported on
a sobering
message from one Ray Kaukonde (Zanu PF MP) to the President at a
rally
(Wenimbi in Marondera).
Kaukonde had this to say:
"Some are now sitting on the fence because
they think the MDC might take
over. You have to be careful, President,
otherwise you might find you are the
only one in the top hierarchy who is
still committed to the people while
others are giving up."
I hope they are still sitting on the
fence!
I am sure the President was listening and underlined the
words "the
MDC might take over" and "you are the only one in the top
hierarchy".
Whatever Kaukonde wanted to say, the clear message is that no one
in his
party cares about the people anymore (Hapana inokumira isiyayo) and
this
includes the President. It is encouraging that even the
"dyed-in-the-wool"
loyalists are seeing things differently.
At
the same rally the President castigated businessmen and young
black
professionals who have forgotten that it was Zanu PF that liberated
the
country. The President was wrong in failing to acknowledge that it was
a
people's war against Ian Smith spearheaded by Zanu PF (Zanu PF and the
then
Zapu). For Zimbabwe's liberation, be assured that the black professional
(me
included) is forever grateful to the thousands of selfless sons
and
daughters who made independence possible. In addition, I am not blind to
the
splendid efforts in education during the early 1980s. This education
of
which I was a beneficiary (deserving and grateful because I am a citizen)
is
helping me see through your ruinous policies.
What is
abominable is to accuse other people of being lesser
"patriots" as if you
were number one. In Zimbabwe there is no one - and I
mean no one - who is the
number one "patriot". All of us as citizens of
Zimbabwe are number one when
it comes to "patriotism". It is a sheer waste
of time and resources to set up
colleges to supposedly teach "patriotism" to
the youth when the teacher needs
intensive lessons in "patriotism". It is as
vacant as it is hollow for anyone
(the President included) to talk as if he
or she is the inventor of
"patriotism".
We need not be told how much we should love our
country because we
love and cherish being Zimbabweans. Instead, we should
question our leaders
whether their confessed love for Zimbabwe is genuine or
it is fake
"patriotism". The President knows more than anyone else that the
country is
in a mess and there is no point in touring the ruins to assess
damage - sit
down and ask yourselves how and why this happened!
This is how Dr Johnson Leo Tolstoy (probably white professional!)
defined
patriotism:
"Patriotism, sir, is the last resort of scoundrels." In
his
elaborations, Johnson acknowledges that "patriotism" is a principle that
is
used to justify the training of wholesale murderers and some such
vermin.
Rubbished patriotism is marked by "conceit, unbridled and
brittle
arrogance, and egotism" (the dai pasina vanhingi style). Those who
still
have a sane definition of "patriotism" see it as the love of one's
country
typified by connections to the land and people, customs and
traditions,
pride in its history and, above all, "devotion to its
welfare".
Given all this characterisation, it is not desirable to
hear one who
heads a government that has forgotten to take care of its people
accusing
others of being unpatriotic! Yes, you might have been a patriot in
1980, but
money (lots of it-scoundrelly amassed), disproportionate comfort
and
greediness (unequalled) are known to eat the soul of most
people.
Still on the subject of "patriotism", some young
Zimbabweans referred
to the other half of the recently returned bird as "just
a piece of stone".
Yes, it is patriotic to refer to this "half" as just a
piece of stone given
the situation that Zimbabweans find themselves in. If a
country is ravaged
to the point that it cannot provide basics for its
citizens, cultural
symbols are the first to lose their value and meaning.
These symbols do not
need a newspaper or a government minister to speak on
their behalf, they
speak for themselves!
If nationals are
adequately provided for by those that they entrusted
to manage their
resources, then there is no need for "changing the
curricula" to learn more
about the "Zimbabwe Bird". It is only a matter of
time that people will start
referring to the Great Zimbabwe in Masvingo as a
"heap of stones". The
symbols that are fast assuming national significance
and a place in our
history are queues for commodities that the country
cannot provide. This is
what the government should be dealing with every day
(how not to have the
history and cultural values of a country replaced by
queues and the
blue-black market) and, yes, it is acceptable for the
president of a country
to have stomach ulcers because the government that he
is heading cannot
provide for its citizens.
I salute the President for encouraging an
open debate on succession,
but also take back the salute because he makes it
a party instead of a
national issue. If it is the presidency of Zanu PF, then
there is no need to
make it national because that is not in Zanu PF's nature
- the politburo
will discuss the issue! The national Presidency is a matter
for all citizens
exiled or "locally exiled" and the Constitution is clear on
this matter.
I wish the President well in his tour of man-made
ruins. There is
always hope for a brighter tomorrow for they always say "the
hours before
dawn are the darkest!" I also wish all the patriots from the
independent
media (whether sponsored by the British, ZANU PF or the MDC), the
MDC, Zanu
PF, ZCTU, NCA, ZIMTA, PTUZ and the people of Zimbabwe spirited
resolve in
the fight for a better life for all by the year . . . ! The
situation in
Zimbabwe is akin to a hypothetical country that has erased or
suspended all
its history (including the "Zimbabwe Bird") and is in a hurry
to find a
replacement (we are making a new history - the country of long
queues).
Dr Mangwende is a Zimbabwean professional based in the
United States
of America
Comment from The Mail & Guardian (SA), 30 May
Calm before the
storm
Jean-Jacques Cornish
The diplomatic quiet three
weeks after the African troika's visit to Harare
is seen by Zimbabwe watchers
as the calm before the storm. "If we were not
sure that Zimbabwe is into its
endgame, you would be hearing a lot more
disappointment," said a Western
ambassador. "There is nothing worse than
being let down after having your
hopes raised - worse still after raising
the expectation in your capital.
Remember the aftermath of the Rubicon
speech in South Africa. Luckily for
presidents Thabo Mbeki, Olusegun
Obasanjo and Bakili Muluzi, events in
Zimbabwe seem to have overtaken their
initiative. Perhaps they will claim
sometime in the future that they caused
this change. They will have to do
something like that because they certainly
did lead us to expect some
movement soon." There was overt criticism of the
troika this week from
Zambia's Deputy Finance Minister, Mbita Chitala, who
reportedly told
journalists the presidents were not putting enough pressure
on the Zanu PF
government to adopt policies that would revive the economy.
Chitala's
interest is obvious. Zimbabwe's slide into oblivion is hurting the
whole
region.
Like a lock forward under pressure, President Robert Mugabe
sought the
support of the pack at Obasanjo's inauguration as African Union
leader in
Abuja this week. Diplomats here insist that he will not be made
excessively
comfortable. "His fellow presidents will ask when he is going,"
said a
European envoy from Harare. "They could not get an answer from him
when he
was here three weeks ago, but Mugabe has been talking about leaving
ever
since then. South Africa and Nigeria will be particularly concerned over
who
will succeed [him]. They want him either to name someone or to have
the
party do so. I think they realise, as we do, that if he doesn't
move
quickly, events will overtake him." Professor Tony Hawkins told a
security
seminar at Pretoria University this week that "Zimbabwe is on the
edge of
the volcano. One push could bring the government down within months,
if not
weeks."
Western diplomats say opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai looks increasingly
like the man most likely to achieve this.
Tsvangirai greatly impressed G8
ambassadors whom he met in Harare this week.
"Tsvangirai was organised,
motivated and determined, which he clearly was not
a year ago," said one of
the envoys. "He was excessively concerned then about
the welfare of his
followers - and probably overestimated the repressive
capacity of the
government forces." Tsvangirai, having repeatedly
demonstrated his ability
to bring the country to a standstill, is now
rejecting any talks about
entering into a government with Mugabe. He told the
ambassador in Harare
that Mugabe simply had to negotiate his exit. "We don't
know if South Africa
has prepared for this eventuality," said a veteran
diplomat in Pretoria. "We
are all very sensitive to the notion of African
solutions to African
problems. We expect to be reminded of this after the
presidents' meeting in
Abuja. But African solutions are as fraught and
fallible as any others - we
only have to look at the Democratic Republic of
Congo to see this. We would
like to see a speedy solution in Zimbabwe.
Estimates of economic recovery
time after a change of government there range
from two to five years, so we
have no time to play with. We believe South
Africa will inevitably continue
to exert enormous influence across the
Limpopo river. That is why we are
pleased that the Harare meeting at least
served to improve relations between
Mbeki and
Tsvangirai."
Developments in the Commonwealth further reflected the
conviction that
Mugabe is on his way out. After a meeting of the Commonwealth
Ministerial
Action Group (CMAG) - the body that Mbeki helped set up to
address problem
areas within the club of former British colonies - Zimbabwe's
suspension was
extended until the Commonwealth heads of government summit in
December.
Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon acknowledged that this
went
against the express wishes of Mbeki and Obasanjo, who had wanted
the
suspension to end in April. They did not even want to discuss the
matter
with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who had joined them in
imposing
the suspension a year earlier. Australia kept the pressure on by
presenting
CMAG with a dossier of human rights violations in Zimbabwe. "The
broad view
is that Zimbabwe's suspension should be sustained," said McKinnon.
"This did
not meet with everyone's best wish. But it is the best decision we
could
get. We don't want to see the Commonwealth divided over this."
A
Commonwealth high commissioner added: "Given that Zimbabwe has, over
the
years probably been the most divisive issue that the Commonwealth has had
to
deal with, we wonder how the secretary general can say this. The answer
is
that like many of us he does not believe Mugabe will be at the
Commonwealth
summit in December."
Reuters
31 May 2003 13:53:37 GMT
Nervous Zimbabweans
brace for opposition
protests
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
By
Cris Chinaka
HARARE, May 31 (Reuters) - Thousands of people jammed
supermarkets and banks
around Zimbabwe on Saturday to stock up for next
week's opposition street
protests designed to drive President Robert Mugabe
from power.
The government has vowed to crush the protests, denouncing
them as a coup
attempt. The opposition says it will press on with its "final
push" against
Mugabe but warns that militant government supporters could
resort to
bloodshed.
In the capital Harare, nervous shoppers stocked
up on food and other
essentials while thousands queued up at banks to
withdraw cash.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is
demanding Mugabe's
resignation, accusing him of mismanaging the economy.
Mugabe, 79, denies the
charge.
The government has put its security
forces on full alert, deployed troops in
some restive townships and set up
roadbocks.
"The time has come for a showdown with the MDC. They must be
confronted and
taught a lesson...," said the ruling ZANU-PF party's chief
spokesman Nathan
Shamuyarira.
The privately-owned Daily News,
dismissed by the government as an opposition
mouthpiece, quoted opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai as saying "no threats
of whatever magnitude" would
deter the MDC.
The official Herald newspaper reported on Saturday that
the state-owned bus
company had gone to the High Court to try to block the
protests, saying some
of its buses had been torched in previous MDC
demonstrations. The case will
be heard on Monday.
Two months ago, the
MDC organised one of the biggest protests against
Mugabe. It wants to drive
him from power or at least into talks about
Zimbabwe's
future.
Zimbabwe is in a severe economic crisis, with record inflation
and
unemployment, and shortages of food, fuel and foreign
currency.
Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980,
blames the crisis
on opponents of his seizures of land from the tiny white
minority for
redistribution among landless blacks.
Zimbabwe is under
sanctions from the Commonwealth, a group of mostly former
British colonies,
over the land seizures and alleged vote rigging by the
ruling
party.
Mozambican officials said on Saturday that Commonwealth Secretary
General
Don McKinnon had held talks on Zimbabwe with Mozambique's President
Joaquim
Chissano.