From The Times (UK), 21 June
Boxes of dollars free
Tsvangirai
From Michael Hartnack in Harare
A High Court
judge ordered the release yesterday of Morgan Tsvangirai,
leader of
Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), on
Z$110 million
(£77,000) bail and sureties while he awaits trial on a second
charge of high
treason. Mr Tsvangirai was cheered and greeted by dozens of
his supporters as
he left prison for his home in a Harare suburb. MDC
officials had difficulty
getting Z$10 million in cash, as demanded by the
judge, Susan Mavangira,
because of an acute shortage of banknotes. The
Reserve Bank has run out of
imported paper and ink to print notes, while
inflation soars above 269 per
cent. Court officials were stunned when Mr
Tsvangirai’s lawyers brought the
money in Z$50 bills - the only denomination
banks could supply - in three
huge cardboard boxes. It took more than an
hour to count. Mr Tsvangirai, 51,
was ordered to produce a Z$100 million
surety in the form of title deeds to
property, and banned from making any
statement "calling for the violent or
unlawful removal of the President and
the Government". His trial on a
previous treason charge continues.
Comment from ZWNEWS, 21 June
Those hangings...
By Michael
Hartnack
Without word to their families, Zimbabwe’s regime suddenly
hanged four men
on June 13 in the Harare prison complex where opposition
leader Morgan
Tsvangirai was being held. The circumstances surrounding the
convictions six
years ago of two of the executed men were dubious, and
details of the
convictions of the other two were simply not disclosed. All
that was bad
enough. But there was more to come: Tsvangirai’s Movement for
Democratic
Change believes the timing of the hangings was political - to
intimidate its
leader. MDC justice spokesman David Coltart described the
hangings, the
first in Zimbabwe in more than a year, as a "brutal show of
force" aimed at
intimidating Tsvangirai. "The hangings are typical, entirely
consistent with
Mugabe's vindictive nature," said Coltart. "They are
appalling, given the
deterioration of our justice system - there is deep
concern innocent people
might go to the gallows." The MDC linked the timing
of the executions to a
statement by Robert Mugabe earlier that day that he
was "glad Tsvangirai is
in state house (prison) now".
Released
prisoners report the atmosphere in the complex, off Harare's
Enterprise Road,
is electric as men are taken to the gallows, with other
inmates kept locked
in their cells to check demonstrations of sympathy such
as hymn-singing. On
Friday, a judge ordered Tsvangirai released on bail
after spending two weeks
in the complex. He faces two charges of treason,
the most recent stemming
from a successful work stayaway this month called
by the MDC to demand an end
to Mugabe’s 23-year rule. Lawyers said that no
advance warning of the
executions was given to the men's families. No formal
public announcement was
made, but David Mangoma, permanent secretary to the
Ministry of Justice,
confirmed the executions to state-run Herald newspaper.
Two of those
executed, Stephen Chidhumo and Elias Chauke, were among a group
of four who
escaped from Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison on the outskirts
of Harare six
years ago, while serving sentences for robbery. One of the
escapees, Pedisayi
Musariri, snatched a rifle and killed a warder, and he
was shot dead. The
fourth man, Marika Ngulube, broke his leg in a fall from
the prison walls and
was left with his injuries unattended in a prison cell
where he died. Lawyers
said his death amounted to unlawful killing by the
state. Chidhumo and Chauke
were later sentenced to death for killing the
warder after Judge Godfrey
Chidyausiku, now the Chief Justice, announced in
a controversial ruling that
"it did not matter who fired the fatal shot." A
recent constitutional
amendment prevented Chidhuma and Chauke from obtaining
clemency because of
their long sojourn on death row. The other two executed
men were William
Mukurugunye and John Nyamazana. They were both alleged to
have committed
murder without extenuating circumstances, but no details
were
given.
The hangings underlined fears that, on top of killings
with impunity by
state agents and pro-Mugabe thugs of at least 200 opposition
supporters
farmers in the past three years, there is an increasing risk of
innocent
people being sentenced to death by the courts. For example, six
opposition
supporters are being tried in the High Court for the murder of
an
ex-guerrilla, Cain Nkala, depicted as a political martyr by the
state
propaganda machine. Defence lawyers say Nkala was abducted and killed
by
fellow Zanu PF supporters because he was trying to expose a
corruption
scandal. Even The Herald, which usually follows the regime line
slavishly,
expressed unease. In an editorial it urged more debate about
the
effectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent, adding, "Another
cogent
argument is that there could be a mistake, and an innocent person
could be
wrongly convicted and hanged." Since 1980 independence
Mugabe's
administration has sent 73 men to the gallows despite a nationwide
petition
for abolition led by Catholic churchmen. In 1988, 13 hangings were
kept
secret during a state visit by Pope John Paul. Six years earlier, Mugabe
had
ignored a personal appeal from the Pope to spare two Frenchmen who served
as
mercenaries in the Rhodesian army. During the 1982-87 unrest
in
Matabeleland, Mugabe’s government unhesitatingly executed
captured
dissidents, but was quick to pardon 2 000 security force and ruling
party
members accused of murder. One had shot dead five opposition supporters
on
Hwange railway station. Asked to comment on the latest hangings,
Amnesty
International spokesman George Ngwa said at the human rights
organisation’s
headquarters in London, "As far as we are concerned the death
penalty is
brutal and does not solve anything."
Reuters
More pressure in store for Mugabe
By Stella
Mapenzauswa
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's main opposition leader says his
detention will
not deter him from pressuring President Robert Mugabe's
government for a
solution to the country's worsening political and economic
crisis.
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai was
on Friday
granted bail of 10 million Zimbabwe dollars (around U.S. $5,500 at
black
market rates -- 3,300 pounds ) after two weeks in custody on charges
that he
sought to spark a revolt by his supporters against Mugabe.
The
former trade unionist was also barred from making any statements that
could
be construed as advocating the violent or unconstitutional removal of
Mugabe
or his government.
"Arresting Tsvangirai may give this regime a temporary
satisfaction but
really it doesn't solve any of the problems that this
country is facing,"
Tsvangirai told a news conference on Saturday.
"We
will continue to exert as much pressure as we can exert to force
(Mugabe's
party) ZANU-PF to come to the negotiating table. We cannot fold
our hands and
say because the government has used brute force, we should
abandon whatever
action we are thinking about."
Tsvangirai, whose MDC poses the most
potent challenge to Mugabe's 23-year
grip on power, was arrested on June 6
after the opposition led a week of
mass protests in its urban strongholds
that the government described as an
attempted coup d'etat.
The arrest
came as Zimbabwe grapples with its worst economic and political
crisis since
independence from Britain in 1980, struggling with chronic food
and fuel
shortages and inflation riding at 300 percent -- one of the highest
rates in
the world.
"I've never in my statements previously and at any point
advocated for
Mugabe's overthrow. That's why I have gone to court to
challenge the
legitimacy of the elections," Tsvangirai said, alluding to his
legal
challenge to Mugabe's victory in a disputed March 2002 presidential
poll.
"The interpretation that the whole effort was to try to
overthrow
Mugabe...is a figment of somebody's imagination."
Tsvangirai
described the conditions in remand prison as a health hazard and
warned of
deaths among inmates.
"It's the embodiment of the deterioration of the
whole institutional
framework of governance in this country," he
said.
Tsvangirai and two senior MDC officials are already on trial on
separate
treason charges of plotting to assassinate Mugabe, and could face
the death
sentence if convicted. All three deny the charges.
The MDC
says Mugabe has mismanaged the economy, partly by condoning the
seizure of
white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks, a move
analysts say
has undermined the key agriculture sector.
Mugabe denies mismanaging the
country and says the economy has been
sabotaged by local and international
opponents in retaliation for the land
seizures.
Daily News
High Court judge set to rule on state’s bid to call new
witnesses
6/21/2003 3:10:04 PM (GMT +2)
Staff
Reporter
HigH Court judge Justice Sandra Mungwira will on Monday
next week rule
on an application by the state yesterday to call three new
witnesses in the
trial of six opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
party activists
charged with kidnapping and killing Bulawayo war veterans
leader Cain Nkala
two years ago.
Prosecutors Charles
Kandemiri and Neville Wamambo said they wanted to
call Isabel Mhlope, a
former officer-in-charge at Mbembesi Police Station
where one of the accused,
Remember Moyo, was allegedly tortured and denied
food and water.
The two other witnesses the state now wants to summon to court are
a
detective constable Sibanda and one detective sergeant Shumba both of
whom
are said to have witnessed the recording of warned and cautioned
statements
from Sazini Mpofu and Army Zulu.
Moyo, Mpofu and Zulu
are facing trial for the murder of Nkala together
with MDC legislator for
Lobengula-Magwegwe Fletcher Dulini-Ncube and two
other activists of the
opposition party Sonny Masera and Kethani Sibanda.
Kandemiri said
the state wanted to call Mhlope to rebut allegations
that she had given Moyo
food and water allegedly against orders by police
superintendent Martin
Matira that the opposition activist be starved and
denied water.
Matira was one of the senior police officers leading investigations
into the
kidnapping and murder of Nkala.
Kandemiri said although detectives
Sibanda and Shumba had been omitted
from the state outline, the defence was
however aware that the state
intented calling them to testify in
court.
The prosecutor said: “Calling these three witnesses will be
of no
prejudice to the defence.”
But defence lawyers, advocates
Eric Morris, Edith Mushore, Deepak
Mehta and Happias Zhou opposed the
application, saying it would prejudice
their clients.
Morris
dismissed the claim by Kandemiri that the defence knew the new
witnesses were
going to be called as “nonsense” and accused he state of
seeking to delay the
conclusion of the case.
Morris said: “What the state wishes to do
is to delay the
administration of justice.”
According to
Mushore, the defence had received a six-paragraph outline
of Mhlope’s
evidence.
Mehta castigated the state for allegedly adopting a
“piecemeal”
approach to the whole case.
The state was aware
since January this year when the trial of the MDC
activists commenced that
the warned and cautioned statements were going to
be challenged and should
not be allowed to bring in fresh witnesses after
several other witnesses had
already given evidence, Zhou said.
He said there was a risk that
the witnesses would only be responding
to evidence already given by
others.
Before the trial adjourned for a week yesterday, state
witness
detective inspector Lewis Maphosa told the court under
cross-examination by
Zhou that he and a colleague had not taken Sazini Mpofu
for indications at
Nkala’s residence because “we feared for the accused
person’s life and for
ourselves.”
Daily News
EU calls for dialogue to resolve Zimbabwe
crisis
6/21/2003 3:14:21 PM (GMT +2)
Staff
Reporter
EUROPEAN Union (EU) head of delegation in Harare
Francesica Mosca this
week said the powerful bloc backed efforts to find a
solution to Zimbabwe’s
worsening political and economic crisis through
dialogue.
Mosca, who said the group was constantly reviewing
the Zimbabwe
crisis, told The Daily News: “The EU, faithful to the principle
of dialogue,
urges both the government and the opposition to opt for this
highly
democratic process.”
One of Zimbabwe’s biggest trading
and development partners, the EU
last year cut all non-humanitarian aid to
the country and imposed punitive
targeted
sanctions against
Zimbabwe’s leaders after disagreeing on land
reforms, human rights, the rule
of law and democracy.
Mosca said a travel and financial ban slapped
by the EU on President
Robert Mugabe, his wife Grace and officials of his
government was under
constant review by the European body.
The
EU’s top diplomat in Harare said: “The sanctions are kept under
constant
review and are renewable every six months.”
Several development and
trade meetings between the EU and the regional
Southern African Development
Community have been aborted because the
European body would not participate
in such meetings if Zimbabwe was also
included while the African countries
argued they did not want to ostracise
Zimbabwe out of issues affecting the
region.
But several Zimbabwean government officials have exploited
United
Nations gatherings to to visit EU territory.
Mosca
refused to speak on the effectiveness of the EU sanctions in
bringing Mugabe
and his government to change their controversial policies.
Once a
showcase economy for Africa, Zimbabwe is crumbling because
international
investors and capital have fled political violence and human
rights abuses in
the country.
Daily News
MDC supporters flee terror in Nkayi
6/21/2003 3:15:42 PM (GMT +2)
Our Correspondent
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party yesterdays
said
several of its supporters in Nkayi communal lands in Matabeleland
South
province have fled their homes after being attacked by suspected ruling
ZANU
PF party militias.
MDC Member of Parliament for Nkayi
Abednico Bhebhe said many of the
villagers had fled to Bulawayo where they
have sought sanctuary with
relatives and friends.
Ncube, who
claimed that some of the vehicles that have been used to
ferry the youths to
their victims’ homes appeared to have been painted in
Zimbabwe Republic
Police colours, accused the law enforcement agency of
turning a blind eye to
the marauding youths.
He said, “Vehicles (painted like) police
vehicles are being used to
ferry the youths who carrying out the
attacks.”
Police at Nkayi however dismissed the allegations that
police vehicles
had been used to transport the marauding youths. “Why should
the police
involve themselves in politics? We don’t have such a report,” an
officer at
Nkayi Police Station said.
Some of the villagers who
escaped the youths told this newspaper of
how their relatives and loved ones
were severely tortured by the militia men
and of how they themselves were
lucky to escape to the safety of Bulawayo.
MDC secretary for Nkayi
district Aleck Nkiwane recounted how he fled
to Bulawayo after being tipped
off that the suspected ZANU PF militias were
looking for him. But the
opposition official said the pro-government mob
kidnapped his wife whom they
are now holding as ransom until Nkiwane
surrenders himself to
them.
Nkiwane said: “I heard that there was a meeting where it was
discussed
that they wanted me so I fled. But I have heard they are holding my
wife to
force me to surrender myself.”
Another MDC official Vita
Masuku, who contested last year’s rural
council election on behalf of the
opposition party but lost, said she fled
at the middle of the night after
being informed that the suspected ZANU PF
militias were planning to raid her
home in Nkayi.
Masuku, who said several villagers from her area had
been severely
injured during torture sessions by the militias, said, “They
are taking
people to their base near Ngwalande Clinic where they torture
them. Some of
my neighbours are actually living in the bush for fear of the
youths.”
Political violence and human rights abuses have escalated
across
Zimbabwe with the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum (ZHRF) this week
reporting
that five people, four of them supporters of MDC, had been killed
because of
political violence since January this year.
The ZHRF,
which brings together nine of the biggest human and civic
rights groups in
Zimbabwe, said in a report released this week that state
security agents had
allegedly taken the leading role in human rights
violations.
Most of the mainly opposition supporters victimised for their
political
beliefs had reported that their attackers were people dressed in
ZRP or
Zimbabwe National Arm uniform, the ZHRF said in the report.
Daily News
Armed police storm schools’ debating
contest
6/21/2003 3:16:47 PM (GMT +2)
Our
Correspondent
Heavily armed police yesterday stormed a schools’
public speaking
competition here, sending terrified children and their
teachers scurrying
for cover before arresting the organisers and judges of
the contest.
Students and officials from 29 schools from around
Matabeleland region
were gathered at the Bulawayo Theatre here for the public
speaking contest
organised by a local non-governmental organisation, Bulawayo
Dialogue, when
armed police details descended and forcibly broke up the
gathering.
Under the government’s draconian Public Order and
Security Act (POSA),
Zimbabweans must seek approval from police before they
can hold political
meetings.
But professional and social
organisations such as churches, schools,
members of professional body like
doctors or lawyers do not need
authorisation by the police before they can
meet over issues to do with
their limited interests.
Zimbabweans
are also permitted to gather at funerals without having to
seek approval from
the government first. Bulawayo lawyer Robert Ndlovu
representing some of the
people arrested by the police for attending or
organising the schools contest
said he was yet to find out from the police
the charges they were pressing
against his clients.
Police at the station refused to comment on
the arrests. One of the
people who helped organise the schools contest
Qhubani Moyo, two officials
judging the competition, a cameramen filming the
event and two people who
were operating the public address system were among
the group of people
arrested by the police yesterday.
The police
stormed into the theatre hall after about seven students
had presented
speeches on two topics: What options are there to stop the
(HIV/AIDS)
disease? and The Role of Youths in The Democratisation and
Development of
Zimbabwe.
A student lucky not to have been arrested said: “We were
all shocked
to see armed police storming into the theatre and ordering an end
to the
proceedings. There were screams and shouts from some terrified
students
resulting in a stampede.”
The student, who preferred
not to be named for fear of victimisation,
said several of his schoolmates
were injured as they ran away from the
police.
Daily News
Only one doctor left for Bulawayo
6/21/2003
3:17:33 PM (GMT +2)
Our Correspondent
BULAWAYO –
The Bulawayo City Council’s 26 clinics are operating with
only one full time
doctor due to the severe staff shortage which has
crippled health services in
the city, an official with the city’s Health
Department said here
yesterday.
The city needs not less than five full time doctors at
any given time.
An official with the health department, Misheck
Sibanda, said about
six clinical medical officers’ posts in the department
have been vacant for
the past six months despite repeated advertisements for
the positions.
Sibanda was presenting a paper at a workshop organised
by the
Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) in Bulawayo
yesterday.
He said due to the harsh economic situation prevailing
in the country,
the health department had lost doctors, nurses, environmental
officers and
other specialist staff.
The three other doctors
working in the council are in administration
and they
include the
director of health services, Rita Dlodlo, and her two
assistants.
Natal Witness
Mugabe on P.W. Botha
Some twenty years ago, when I
was a student at Cambridge University, another
student by the name of Tsitsi
Dangaremga, (now the world famous author of
Nervous Conditions), and I were
friends. Not so much, I think, because we
had such a great deal in common,
but because we were both Africans stranded
in that dreadful, alienating place
called Britain. She would come over to my
room and light up a self-rolled
cigarette and we would moan about the
British, the weather, the food and
anything else we could find to moan
about.
It was the time of the
Lancaster House Agreement and Robert Mugabe, dapper
as ever, and Joshua Nkomo
would be seen day after day on the news, entering
and exiting wherever it was
they were doing during their negotiations. I
was, at the time, rather na?ve
about most things. I kind of knew that
Rhodesia had to end and Zimbabwe
needed to be brought to birth. I sort of
also knew that much the same would
need to happen in South Africa as well,
but couldn't imagine how it would
ever happen peacefully. Tsitsi was
probably less na?ve.
"They are
messing it up," she would say. "I am so depressed about it, I
can't tell
you!" I didn't really know what the issues were or why she was
upset, or even
really what she was upset about. The discussion never went
very far. But I
remembered Tsitsi the other day, when I watched a lengthy
interview of
President Robert Mugabe by Phil Molefe on television.
Mugabe is not by
any means inarticulate. His English is impeccable and he
uses his words
carefully and in a measured way. He waves his hands around to
give impetus to
what he is saying, theatrically, almost delicately. And,
without due regard
for context, if one were listening to him without any
knowledge of what is
going on in the country he rules, one might well be
swayed by some of his
argument.
Indeed, it is difficult not to be swayed by some of his
argument. For
instance, the key idea on which he bases most of what he has to
say, is that
the Lancaster House Agreement made careful provision for Britain
to fund the
process of land reform and to compensate people who had their
land
expropriated for the purpose of land reform.
The response of the
government of Zimbabwe, was to press ahead with land
reform without
compensation and to leave that part of the agreement to the
party which had
agreed to it Britain. This is key to his argument.
If Britain can flout
the agreement, why should the government of Zimbabwe
pay any attention to
anything Britain or anyone else for that matter, should
have to say? And if
one is going to censure the government of Zimbabwe for
reckless behaviour,
should one not also be doing the same to Britain?
I watched this man,
cool, collected, assured. He explained that the essence
of the struggle had
been the land issue. He started to generalise wildly.
The whites had done
this and the whites had done that. Today, the whites
were doing much the
same.
"Of course, it is unfortunate that we have to manage with such a
high
inflation rate" he said. "It is a miracle that we have gone as far as
we
have".
Molefe crept so far up Mugabe's anal passage, during the
interview that by
the end of it all you could see were his feet.
But I
started to get an odd feeling of d?ja vu. Where had I seen this
before? And
then it struck me. P. W. Botha. Don't you remember? He was
exactly the same
sort of figure. Fearless, quaint, laughable. One would have
found him
extraordinarily funny, had it not been for what he was doing,
which was
unutterably demonic.
Do you remember the interviews he gave, even at the
very last, about how the
ANC wanted to destroy civilisation. Do you remember
the lickspittle
reporters they found from God-knows-where to interview
him?
And do you remember, white South Africa, how much and with what
fervour you
supported that lunatic?
Alas, it is the same thing. I hear
black voices all over the place. Yes, the
ones I hear do not appear to be the
most informed people in the world. True,
they might not be the most educated
either, but they support Mugabe in much
the same way as white people
supported P. W. Botha when he was governing
this country, even when they were
informed. Why? Because he is seen to be
working in their interests, in much
the same way as P. W. Botha was seen to
be working in the interests of
whites.
And so it will be here, if wealth is not shared, if land is
not
redistributed, if the bounty of the country is not reasonably shared
with
the people who are living today in circumstances not very different to
what
they were during P. W. Botha's time. Patience will run out and democracy
be
damned, chaos will surely follow. Because, it is only reasonable to
suppose
that democracy will only be valued if it delivers a substantially
better
life for all.
And no, he didn't mention the beatings his
government doles out. Nor did he
mention the corruption of his ministers, or
the rape of the economy. He
didn't need to mention it, because in the minds
of the audience to whom he
was appealing, these things are not of any
substance. No different from what
we had here before. No different at
all.
So, would all the whites who moan daily in print and on the radio,
about the
tragedy of Zimbabwe, please rather put a little more effort into
making
things right here. And would the blacks who would see Mugabe as a
latter day
saviour, think just a little on the spectre of P. W. Botha. Maybe
then we
could both get a little perspective.
a.. Michael Worsnip is
programme manager for the Cradle of Humankind World
Heritage Site, run by the
Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Conservation
and Environment and Land
Affairs.
Publish Date: 21 June 2003
Prison Guards Confiscate Film From Journalist
International
Freedom of Expression Exchange Clearing House (Toronto)
June 19,
2003
Posted to the web June 20, 2003
Toronto
Prison guards in
the town of Chinhoyi confiscated a film from Tafireyi
Shereni, a journalist
with the Star, a weekly publication based in Chinhoyi.
In a report to
MISA-Zimbabwe Shereni said that he had gone to the Magistrate
's Court in
Chinhoyi on January 6, 2003 to attend a remand hearing of a
relative. He had
a camera held by a belt around his neck. When the court
session was over he
moved outside the courtroom to an open space near where
the prisoners were
being led away by the prison officers. At this time the
officers charged at
him and manhandled him, asking why he was taking
pictures. Shereni said that
although he explained to the officials that he
was just looking at his
relative who was among the prisoners being led away,
they refused to accept
his explanation. Shereni said that the officers
forcibly took him to Prison
Officer in-charge, Jarawena, at the Chinhoyi
prison complex for an
explanation. Jarawana demanded the film from Shereni
and he surrendered it.
Soon after, he was released with a promise that the
officers would contact
him once they had developed the film.
Contacted for comment by
MISA-Zimbabwe, Prison-Officer in-charge Jarawana
said that they have
developed the film and found it blank. He was however
adamant that Shereni
had taken pictures. Jarawana said that their superiors
in Harare told him
that no journalists must take pictures of prisoners and
also that anyone
found doing that should have his camera confiscated.
Jawarana said that
he has tried to tell journalists this but they are not
listening - hence the
Shereni incident. He added that they have been looking
for Shereni to tell
him of the outcome of the developed film to no avail.
MISA-Zimbabwe's
consultation with media lawyers reveals that there is no
clause in the
legislation of Zimbabwe to prevent a journalist from aking
photos in a public
arena, such as outside of a court room.
Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2003 6:40 PM
Dear Family and Friends,
This week started in Marondera in complete and
utter silence. An electrical fire in our local telephone exchange left us
completely cut off from the country and the world. It was amazing how something
as simple as this suddenly gripped our little town with gossip, whispers and
paranoia. Government supporters and youths have still banned all independent
newspapers from our town so with no papers, telephones, emails or internet it
felt very much like the end of the world. Everywhere you went people were asking
what had happened, what the news was and wondering if we still had a country.
For two days and nights, with the exception of the life saving evening
broadcasts from short wave radio africa, we had no communications at all and it
was very frightening. Not so long ago a quick trip to Harare would have helped
put everything in perspective but with the continued unavailability of fuel we
were like a community in solitary confinement in prison.
Each day the country waited with baited breath to
hear if opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai would be released on bail. Finally,
fourteen days after his arrest and detention, Mr Tsvangirai was released on a
staggering Z$10 million bail plus having to provide title deeds and assets to
the value of Z$100 million in surety. With our banks still having no big notes,
it was unbelievable to watch a line of men arriving at the Harare High Court
with big cardboard boxes stuffed with the cash bail. The Friday bailed release
of Mr Tsvanagirai caused an almost audible national sigh of relief and the fever
of our nation to see the man being freed is probably comparable to the release
of the latest Harry Potter book in the UK this weekend. Instead of seeing a man
thin, cold, broken and exhausted after two weeks in prison, we saw a man even
more filled with resolve. His face wreathed in smiles, surrounded by journalists
and friends, Morgan Tsvangirai said that after his detention his resolve to
continue to struggle for democracy was only increased. So if the Zimbabwe
government had intended to humiliate, intimidate or break the man, they ended up
by achieving exactly the opposite and making Morgan Tsvangirai more popular than
ever before. As someone just old enough to remember the adoration people had for
Robert Mugabe when he was released from prison in 1974, I am amazed that our
present leaders have such sort memories as to how they themselves soared to
popularity because of their incarceration.
I should think that when Morgan Tsvangirai goes
grocery shopping in the days ahead he will be as shocked as we all are about the
sudden massive increase in prices of everything. The official inflation rate hit
301% this week and the only words that I can think of to describe our situation
now are horror and despair. In a week the price of a bar of laundry soap has
shot up from 1700 dollars to two thousand two hundred dollars and a litre of
pasteurized milk now costs one thousand dollars.
I continue to wear a scrappy little yellow ribbon
pinned to my shirt in silent support of people suffering and in protest at
lawlessness. This week my ribbon is for a blind university student who was
severely beaten by riot police in the recent stay aways because he could not see
which way to run in order to get away from them. The young man later died in
hospital and I do not know his name but my ribbon is for him and his grieving
family in the days ahead. Until next week, with love, cathy. Copyright cathy
buckle 21st June 2003. http://africantears.netfirms.com