Zimbabwe
Vigil Diary
With his eye ever open for a propaganda
opportunity Mugabe popped up at the Vigil to demand that the next World Cup
should be held in
With us for the fun were two prominent human
rights activists from
Some
other points:
· Sister Beverley
Mutandiro spoke to Vigil supporters about the church service on 26th
June for Zimbabwean victims of torture.
She is in charge of the music and leading the choir. She asked those
interested in singing in the choir to let her know and stressed that it was
important to be at the church at 11.30 to prepare for the start of the service
at
· Vigil supporters were
interested to see that Mines Minister Obert Mpofu has been challenged over the
smuggling of Marange diamonds. The Zimbabwe Independent (http://www.theindependent.co.zw/local/26877-ministers-fight-over-diamonds.html)
says he had to go to the lavatory five times during his interrogation by
Cabinet colleagues including Tendai Biti. By all accounts Mpofu has dirty hands.
· During the week a
number of Vigil supporters attended a House of Lords debate on
· Vigil supporters
attended two events to launch ‘
· A Dutchman came by
today and gave us £10. He had heard about our protest in
· Congratulations to
farmer Ben Freeth. In the Queen’s birthday honours list he has been awarded the
MBE for services to the farming community in
· A reminder; the
register closes at
· Thanks to Ian Pocock
who has set up and is maintaining facebook and myspace pages for the Vigil.
Check the Events and Notices section for the web links.
· We recommend you read
Cathy Buckle’s latest letter from
· Zimbabweans around
the world rely heavily on the Zimbabwe Situation daily news website compiled by
Barbara in
For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
For the latest ZimVigil TV programme check the link at the top of the home page
of our website. For earlier ZimVigil TV
programmes check: http://www.zbnnews.com/home/firingline.
FOR THE RECORD: 163 signed
the register.
EVENTS AND NOTICES:
·
ROHR
·
Church
Service in Support of Zimbabwean Victims of Torture. Saturday 26th June from 12 – 1.30 pm.
Venue:
·
·
ROHR
· Vigil Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts
· Vigil Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwevigil
·
· Zimbabwe
Association’s Women’s Weekly Drop-in Centre. Fridays 10.30 am – 4 pm. Venue: The
Fire Station Community and ICT Centre,
· Strategic Internship for Zimbabweans organised by
Citizens for Sanctuary which is trying to secure work placements for qualified
Zimbabweans with refugee status or asylum seekers. For information: http://www.citizensforsanctuary.org.uk/pages/Strategic.html
or contact: zimbabweinternship@cof.org.uk.
· For Motherland ENT’s videos of the Vigil on
Vigil
Co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside
the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429
Trevor Gifford was forced off his farm in Chipinge this evening by Zanu thugs and forced to sign the rest of the contents of the house and farm to the new owners.
reported from Zimbabwe
Sunday 13 June 20010
BILL WATCH 23/2010
[12th June 2010]
The Senate will meet on Tuesday 15th June
The House of Assembly has adjourned until Wednesday
30th June
Human Rights Defender Maguwu Removed from Remand Prison by Police
Lawyers for Farai Maguwu, remanded in custody on Thursday on charges of
communicating information prejudicial to the State about events at Chiadzwa
diamond field, were concerned for his safety this morning, when they discovered
he was not where he should have been – at Harare Remand Prison. He had
been removed by police on Friday afternoon. Neither the prison
authorities nor the police Law and Order Section would disclose his
whereabouts. After a search the lawyers eventually traced him to Matapi
Police Station, where he had been held since 4 pm on Friday. [Matapi
is notorious for the deplorable condition of its cells, generally considered
unfit for human habitation, and for the beatings and assaults that have taken
place there. The move seemed to serve no other purpose other than that of
intimidation. Holding Mr Maguwu at Matapi seems especially perverse,
given that the court was told during the remand hearing that he was already
unwell.] Police declined to explain why they had chosen to take Mr
Maguwu to Matapi, claiming complete discretion as to place of detention.
This afternoon Mr Maguwu was taken to Harare Central Law and Order Section and
questioned by Detective Inspector Dowa. It is an accused person’s right
to have his lawyer present during questioning, but this was refused, although
his lawyers were allowed access to him both before and after he was
interrogated. He was interrogated on fresh allegations concerning
documents said to have been supplied by him to Kimberley Process Monitor Abbey
Chikane. Police have said they will take Mr Maguwu back to the remand
prison on Monday, so he will remain in police custody at Harare Central until
then. On Monday his lawyers will apply to the High Court for bail.
[Mr Maguwu, Director of the Centre for Research and Development [CRD], a
Mutare-based NGO, was remanded until 23rd June on allegations of contravening
section 31 of the Criminal Law Code – communication of false information prejudicial
to the State. Although early reports suggested the case concerned his
giving a secret State document to Kimberley Process monitor Abbey Chikane
[which Mr Maguwu denies], the charge on which he was remanded alleges
communication by e-mail to other persons of reports compiled by CRD on human
rights abuses attributed to security force personnel stationed at the
Marange/Chiadzwa diamond field.]
Judicial Service Act to Come into Force
The Judicial Service Act [passed by Parliament in
2006] will come into force on Friday 18th June, when a statutory instrument
fixing that date as the date of commencement of the Act will be gazetted.
The principal practical effect of this will be that magistrates and the support
staff for all courts will no longer fall under the Public Service Commission
and will in future be appointed and administered by the Judicial Service
Commission [JSC]. In principle this is an important step towards
establishing the independence of the magistracy from control and influence of
the Executive.
The JSC will also be responsible for managing the
funds allocated to the Judicial Service by Parliament. It will make
regulations setting out the conditions of service of magistrates, but the
regulations will require the approval of the Minister of Justice and Legal
Affairs before being gazetted as law. Funding will still depend on
appropriations made by Parliament, and like all public money JSC funds will be
subject to the ultimate control of the Ministry of Finance.
It is to be hoped that these changes will contribute
to bringing about an environment in which magistrates feel free to exercise
their judicial functions without fear or favour. But paper changes need
to be backed up by the promotion in all sectors of society of respect for the rule
of law and the independence of the judiciary. It is difficult for
judicial officers to feel confidence in their position when senior politicians
openly urge people to disregard court orders and the government fails to honour
court decisions.
[Note: Presiding officers of customary courts will not
form part of the new Judicial Service nor will the customary courts be
administered by the Judicial Service Commission.]
Parliamentary Update
Constitution Outreach: The long-delayed Constitution Outreach to ascertain
what the people want in the new Constitution is due to be launched on Wednesday
16th June, despite last-minute threats by some members of Parliament to boycott
the Outreach over what they consider inadequate daily allowances. The
late start means that the process may have to be interrupted to allow
Parliament to sit to pass priority Bills, in which case it will take longer
than the 65 days originally planned. [Parliamentary Standing Orders
permit the recall of the Senate and the House of Assembly during an adjournment
if that becomes necessary to deal with urgent business.]
Senate Meeting Likely to be Brief: The Senate will meet on Tuesday after a break of over
three months, during which it was believed the Constitution Outreach process
would be completed. With the Outreach only due to start after the launch
on Wednesday, the Senate is almost certain to adjourn for another lengthy
period to allow Senators to play their role in the Outreach.
Senate Agenda for Tuesday: The only items on the agenda are partly-debated
motions carried forward from March. These include debates on access to
clean water; climate change; and home-based care programmes for those on
anti-retroviral therapy for HIV/AIDS.
Committee Meetings Suspended Indefinitely: Meetings of House of Assembly Portfolio Committees and
Senate Thematic Committees have been suspended with effect from Monday 14th
June until further notice.
Committee Reports: Although the Houses have not been sitting for three
months, portfolio and thematic committees have been meeting throughout the
period and doing a great deal of work. Reports on that work will be
tabled and debated in the House of Assembly and the Senate in due course.
Normally such reports only become publicly available once tabled. It would
be regrettable if tabling is going to be delayed because of the forthcoming
adjournments. Veritas is urging Committee chairpersons to table reports
that have been finalised on the days the Senate and House of Assembly meet
briefly before adjourning for the Constitution Outreach.
Government Work Plan for Remainder of 2010
The Government Work Plan, agreed several months ago,
provides for the passage of a more than 20 Bills by year-end, of which 10 are
regarded as priority Bills. In his capacity as Leader of Government
Business in Parliament, the Prime Minister will next week meet the Minister of
Justice and Legal Affairs [chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Legislation] to
discuss when Bills will be ready for Parliament. The following week he
will meet the House of Assembly and Senate Business Committees to plan a
programme of sittings to deal with Bills. Depending on priority Bills
becoming available, it could be decided that the Constitution Outreach will
have to be interrupted for a short period or periods to allow such Bills to be
dealt with.
Inclusive Government Update
Principals and Negotiators Report: The three party principals had a lengthy meeting on Tuesday
afternoon and evening to discuss the negotiators’ report of 6th April.
They failed to reach agreement on any of those sticking points which the party
negotiators had been unable to resolve. President Zuma’s facilitation
team is due in Harare on Monday 14th June in a follow up to the principals’
meeting, and the continuing deadlock will have to be reported to President Zuma
and then to the SADC Organ Troika with a view to a SADC Summit. [Comment:
The Soccer World Cup finals in South Africa run from 11th June to 11th
July. So it may well be that any serious moves by President Zuma will be
delayed until the World Cup is over. The next regular SADC Summit is
scheduled for August, which could mean that hopes of a special Summit before
then are unrealistic.]
South African Report on 2002 Zimbabwe Presidential
Election
On 4th June, the South African High Court [judgement available on request] ordered the South African government to provide the Mail
and Guardian newspaper with a copy of a report on the 2002 Zimbabwe
Presidential Election prepared for President Mbeki by two senior South African
judges. The M&G brought the application to court under
section 82 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), after two
previous attempts were rebuffed by the Deputy Information Officer in the Office
of the Presidency. The M&G contended the report was of
enormous public interest, especially given the widespread view that the
elections were marred by vote-rigging, intimidation, violence and fraud by
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's government. They argued that making
the report public was especially important in light of the fact that South
Africa was one of the few countries to declare it regarded the election as free
and fair. The report had to be provided within 7 days – by Friday 11th. There
has not yet been any report of the President’s Office complying or appealing.
Legislation Update
Friday’s Government Gazette was not
available – the Government Printer closed early because of the kick-off of the
Football World Cup. No Bills were gazetted. Details of any
important statutory instruments will be given in the next Bill Watch.
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information supplied.
APA
Zimbabwe – South Africa – Mediation
South African mediators on last-ditch
attempt to break Zimbabwe deadlock
APA-Harare
(Zimbabwe) South African mediators are due in Harare on Monday to revive
Zimbabwe’s power-sharing talks which have been stalled for the past two months,
APA learns here Sunday.
President
Robert Mugabe said a three-member facilitation team appointed by South African
President Jacob Zuma would try to break the deadlock between his ZANU PF party
and rival Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) factions led by Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara.
The team
comprises former South African cabinet ministers Charles Nqakula and Mac
Maharaj as well as Zuma’s International Relations Adviser Lindiwe Zulu.
The talks
have so far failed to unlock the log-jam in which ZANU PF and the MDC
formations are deadlocked over six contentious issues.
The issues
include the refusal by Mugabe and his ZANU PF to reverse his unilateral
appointment of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono and Attorney
General Johannes Tomana, among other issues.
On the
other hand, ZANU PF wants the MDC to call on Western countries to lift
sanctions they imposed on Mugabe and his ZANU PF inner circle in 2002 over
allegations of human rights abuses and election irregularities.
Tsvangirai’s
MDC wants the dispute referred to an emergency summit of the Southern African
Development Community.
Zimbabwe :
For
football fans around the world, today could not arrive quick enough. A month of
football games with the eventual winners being crowned world champions.
Whilst we
have seen a rugby world cup staged in South Africa (which the hosts won – who
can forget that game?), there has never been a football championship like this
in South Africa.
There has
been much work, planning, building and observations made as the clock has
ticked down to the kick-off of the first match this afternoon between hosts
Bafana Bagana and Mexico.
But,
whilst the world watches 22 men kick around a sphere of air in an attempt to
put it in the opposition’s goal, we should be very careful not to lose focus on
the true crisis brewing in Southern Africa.
Zimbabwe
is a mess - and the man responsible for that situation is being hosted as a
guest at the opening ceremony later today. Robert Gabriel Mugabe reportedly
begged Jacob Zuma, South African President, to give him an invite to the
ceremony.
And,
having received that invitation, he has gone to South Africa - with a 50-man
delegation - and will be there for three days… all paid for by the
longsuffering Zimbabwean people.
Meanwhile,
it has been announced that the electricity supplier in Zimbabwe, ZESA, will not
be carrying out the scheduled load shedding in Zimbabwe for the duration of the
tournament to allow the people to watch the games on television.
My
question is very simple. How can ZESA suddenly have enough magetz (electricity)
to power Zimbabwe for the whole month, but cannot do it in normal times? Does
sport now supersede the needs of the Zimbabwean population?
I have
written much about the threat that exists of an impending reign of terror that
Mugabe will have his security forces, war veterans and youth militia unleash
upon the population of Zimbabwe once the final whistle has blown at the last
game of the tournament on 11 July 2010.
If there
was no threat, then why has Mugabe not come forward and said so? Not that I
would have believed him…
Why has
Mugabe not sought to assure the population that he does not intend any harm on
the people he purportedly leads? For that matter, why have we not heard from
the Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, on the subject?
Mugabe
will now allow Zimbabwe to enjoy the FIFA world cup, secure in the knowledge
that, at the very least, the tournament will have bought him another month at
the top of the Zimbabwean political tree, and will allow him to hatch more plans
to seize more power, unilaterally take from the MDC pot, and prefer spurious
charges against more of the MDC MPs, whilst he plans his final military coup in
Zimbabwe.
And,
let’s face it, what Mugabe is perpetrating is a military coup - but, unlike the
coups we see and read about elsewhere in the world, his is quiet and
time-consuming, but equally deadly and equally destructive.
Is the
11th of July the end of the surreptitious power-grabbing rule of Mugabe, and
the beginning of a ‘no holds barred’ dictatorship from the man who calls
himself “Hitler” and his party call the “second son of God”, or will common
sense finally prevail in Southern Africa?
Robb WJ
Ellis
The Bearded Man
http://mandebvhu.instablogs.com/entry/football-mania-masks-zimbabwean-crisis/
Friday, 11
June 2010
The Independent UK
DYLAN THOMAS/UKAID/DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Lured by the glamour of the World Cup and looking for a better
life, thousands of Zimbabwean children have been risking their lives crossing
the border to South Africa.
They are leaving Zimbabwe for many reasons. Some have been
orphaned by HIV/AIDS, others are fleeing hunger and poverty because of famine
or drought in their village. And many are looking for an education which will
give them a better chance in life.
But the journey is dangerous. The children have to cut their way
through vicious razor wire to get across the border, they face being swept away
or encountering deadly crocodiles in the Limpopo river. The children are
vulnerable to drugs and crime and the young girls are exposed to physical and
sexual abuse.
Despite this, hundreds of children every month manage to cross
the border to find a better life. Once across, there’s a safe haven for them
and the opportunity to get an education. The Musina project, funded by UKaid
from the Department for International Development and run by Save the Children,
provides shelter, offers food and support and ensures they don’t end up on the
streets or become involved in crime or drugs.
The project helps them to enrol into school in South Africa and
find a placement in a children’s home. Staff also help children to get in
contact with the families they have left behind in Zimbabwe or family members
who are already living in South Africa.
BBC
Once regarded as an iconic train journey, the
Victoria Falls Express has become a casualty of Zimbabwe's dwindling tourist
industry.
"The train? You're taking the train? Good
luck," they said. Everyone I mentioned it to seemed incredulous. Some
insisted on driving me, others offered their 4x4s, one suggested a friend who
owned a small plane. I had been working in Bulawayo for a week and had
a few days free before heading home. I was determined to have a night on the train and
then a day visiting the one feature that still lures foreign visitors to
Zimbabwe - the Victoria Falls. As recently as a decade ago, the Bulawayo-Vic
Falls sleeper was a key part of the central Africa backpacker circuit,
something to tick off a long list. That is not the case any longer. Since 2000,
Zimbabwe's once-vital tourist industry has all but collapsed. My friend and I were the only Europeans in the
line for tickets. 'Stand clear' The journey takes five hours by road. By train it
is scheduled to take 11. "So we'll arrive around seven?" I asked
the friendly ticket office clerk. "You'll certainly be in by 10,"
she answered, smiling. That evening, clutching food, water and wine, I
was back at Bulawayo Station. An old, illuminated advertisement for Gilbey's
Gin helped light platform one. Easy listening music was piped through the
loudspeakers and on platform four, sat the night train to Victoria Falls. The carriages, built in Birmingham in 1951, were
already packed and in total darkness. As hawkers sold clothes, toys and
mobile phone credits, families loaded parcels on board. My compartment was in Car 1068. As I approached,
a man in a white tuxedo stepped out into the chaos of the platform and
introduced himself as the night steward. He was apologetic about the lack of electricity
but was keen to show me the fold-down tin basin in the corner of the
carriage. Then he solemnly apologised again for the fact there was no longer
running water. We pulled out at exactly 2000, the well-spoken
station announcer urging those not travelling to "stand clear". Bygone days Like so many elements of the surviving
infrastructure of Zimbabwe, the compartment was a reminder of times when this
was a rich, productive country. Framed pictures hung on the teak panelling.
One was a view of Bulawayo, smoke emerging from
the six power station chimneys that form a famous part of the city's skyline. Now Zimbabwe has to export most of the limited
amount of coal it produces and the cooling towers lie dormant. Another photo showed a train rolling through
fertile agricultural land. Not far out of Bulawayo our train passed near
several formerly white-owned farms, seized by so-called war veterans. In the
moonlight a few small patches of tall maize created long shadows. But this was mere subsistence farming, untended.
Most of the fields were quickly turning back into scrubland. Clutching pangas
Through the night I slept fitfully, woken by
shouting at remote stations as well as crashes and scrapes from the elderly
train who lurched forward. By dawn we were well on the way north, when
suddenly we braked violently and ground to a halt. A great cloud of acrid
smoke blew back from the engine. "Buffalo!" someone shouted:
"We've hit one." I quickly dressed and walked the length of the
train to find the driver looking anxiously at his engine, its front wheels
six inches clear of the track. It turned out we had hit seven buffalo - all of
them dead - their final act, to derail the Victoria Falls Express. Within half an hour of the crash, locals arrived
clutching pangas and started hacking away at the carcasses. Whole legs of meat were carried off over the shoulder
and pounds of fine fillet dripping with blood were stuffed into dirty white
plastic bags. I went to look for the steward to see how long we
might be stuck. I found him in an empty compartment, white jacket long gone,
frying up his breakfast over a gas canister stove. He was vague. "Game on the tracks is a
common problem," he said, though full derailment was, he admitted,
unusual. Scattered bones In the cutting where we had stopped, women and
children gathered twigs, lit fires, and soon a dozen impromptu barbecues
lined the length of the train.
I was offered a taste of the meat, blackened on
the outside, rare within. The buffalo meat was tough and fibrous, which was
not surprising as it had been alive little more than an hour earlier. Some seasoning might have been nice but this was
certainly one of the more exotic forms of railway catering I have ever
encountered. At least the buffalo did not die in vain. By the
time a rescue train arrived, several hours later, there was little of them
left, save for odd piles of offal and bones scattered over the concrete
railway sleepers. Everything edible had been carried off to the
pots and fires of the remote trackside villages. We eventually arrived at Victoria Falls at
lunchtime after a 17-hour journey through the heart of today's Zimbabwe. |