Zim Online
Thursday 29 March
2007
By Patricia Mpofu
HARARE - President Robert
Mugabe on Wednesday blocked his ruling ZANU PF
party's politburo committee
from debating whether he should stand for
re-election next year, saying the
matter could only be decided by the party's
central committee, authoritative
sources told ZimOnline.
The central committee, which is ZANU PF's highest
decision making body
outside congress meets in Harare on Friday and is
expected to endorse
harmonising Zimbabwe's presidential and parliamentary
elections so they
could be held together either in 2008 or
2010.
Mugabe, who had earlier proposed shifting the presidential poll
from next
year when his term ends to 2010 - which would have allowed him two
more
years in office without having to face the electorate - has said he
wants to
stand on ZANU PF's ticket in the 2008 ballot.
But the
veteran President is facing mounting pressure from within ZANU PF,
fellow
southern African leaders and the main opposition Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) party who all want him to quit and pave way for
resolution of
Zimbabwe's deteriorating political and economic crisis.
Our sources said
Zimbabwe's ambassador to South Africa Simon Khaya Moyo
raised the issue of
Mugabe's candidature during the politburo meeting to
which the 83-year old
President is said to have coolly reacted, reminding
politburo members that
their powers were limited and that only the central
committee could
pronounce on his fate in the absence of congress.
"Vice President
(Joseph) Msika immediately joined in, in support of the
President and told
us that while we could discuss the issue there was little
we could actually
do because the central committee as the supreme executive
committee of the
party, was the only one empowered to deal with the matter,"
said a top party
official, who spoke on condition he was not named.
In the unlikely event
that the central committee - dominated by Mugabe
loyalists - recommend that
a younger leader represents ZANU PF in next year's
poll, then this would
effectively force the veteran leader into retirement.
ZimOnline was
unable to speak to ZANU PF spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira on
deliberations of
the politburo because he was unreachable on his phone.
State television
however quoted Shamuyarira last night as having said the
party's central
committee would discuss the issue of Mugabe's candidature on
Friday.
But our sources said the politburo eventually agreed that the
issue of
Mugabe's candidature be referred to the central committee and the
Zimbabwean
leader left soon after for Tanzania where was scheduled to brief
Southern
African Development Community (SADC) leaders on his country's
crisis.
SADC leaders, blamed in the past for their ineffective quiet
diplomacy on
Zimbabwe, are expected to push Mugabe to agree to talks with
MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai to find a solution to his country's crisis and
that he
steps down from power when his term ends in March next
year.
But political analysts warn that the veteran Zimbabwean leader - a
hard-to-beat political fox in his heyday - could still manipulate divisions
among regional leaders to evade any meaningful pressure from
them.
The politburo meanwhile continued meeting in Harare with second
Vice-President Joice Mujuru now in the chair and most importantly agreed to
call another meeting to discuss how Zimbabwe could re-engage the
international community.
The United States, European Union,
Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland
have isolated Zimbabwe and imposed
targeted visa and financial sanctions on
Mugabe and his top officials as
punishment for stealing elections, violating
human rights and failure to
uphold the rule of law and democracy - charges
Harare
denies.
Meanwhile, Mugabe arrived in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam
and
immediately joined other SADC heads of state for a closed meeting last
night
to discuss the Zimbabwe situation. Mugabe is expected to address the
full
session of SADC leaders on Thursday.
But interviews with
diplomats reflected differences among SADC countries on
how to deal with
Mugabe with some countries said to be in favour of tougher
measures against
Mugabe while others preferred to maintain the quiet
diplomacy approach that
has so far failed to make impact with the Harare
administration.
Those said to be in favour of tougher action are
Botswana, Zambia and host
Tanzania. Even though the SADC leaders may talk
tough behind the scenes,
they are unlikely to issue any critical communiqué
against Mugabe, who still
has residual prestige as a pioneer of the
anti-colonial struggle in the
region. - ZimOnline
The Times
March 29, 2007
Jan Raath in Harare and Robert Crilly in Dar es Salaam
Morgan
Tsvangirai, the leader of the Zimbabwean opposition party, was
rearrested
yesterday in a brutal police raid on his party headquarters as
President
Mugabe defied international outrage, shimmying his way into a
showdown with
fellow African leaders.
The 83-year-old President shuffled to the rhythm
of a Tanzanian brass band
after his battered-looking Air Zimbabwe aircraft
touched down in Dar es
Salaam, before being whisked away in a Mercedes. In
Zimbabwe police began a
new wave of arrests, abductions and
assaults.
Mr Mugabe's ferocious attack against his pro-democracy
opponents is an
apparently calculated snub to the increasing concerns of his
neighbours.
The diplomatic pressure had little effect in Zimbabwe, where
Mr Mugabe's
heavily armed riot police arrested scores of members of the
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) when police sealed off streets in the
centre of
Harare.
They took over the eight-storey building housing
the party's headquarters,
drove out the staff and reportedly seized
documents. They fired teargas at
lunchtime crowds watching MDC officials
being bundled into a convoy of
police buses and lorries that then dispersed
the captives around the city.
Alec Muchadehama, Mr Tsvangirai's lawyer, said
later that he believed that
his client, who is still nursing injuries from
an assault by police 17 days
ago, had been released. About 20 other
officials of the MDC and civic
groups, including two MPs, and party
executives, were seized from their
homes in predawn raids by groups of up to
20 paramilitary police at a time,
who also ransacked their homes. Police
later claimed they had found weapons
and explosives.
"The police are
still not giving us access to them," Mr Muchadehama said
last
night.
Mr Mugabe was last night in one-to-one talks with his host,
President
Kikwete, before an emergency meeting tomorrow with the 14 regional
leaders
who make up the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the
regional
economic bloc. There are growing signs of anger among Zimbabwe's
neighbours
that a "failed state" in southern Africa could wreck the region's
nascent
economic recovery.
The South African ruling African National
Congress (ANC) last night
distanced itself from Mr Mugabe, whose credentials
as a hero of the
liberation struggle have previously protected him from
criticism.
Sue van der Merwe, the South African Deputy Minister of
Foreign Affairs,
used some of the toughest language yet when addressing a
special conference
on Zimbabwe in the National Assembly, an event that
itself would have been
blocked by the ANC majority a few years ago. "The
Zimbabwean situation is a
manifestation of the absence of open political
dialogue, which is
regrettably sinking the country into a deeper economic
and political crisis
from which only Zimbabweans can extricate themselves,"
she told MPs.
Mr Mugabe views the agenda of today's SADC meeting as "the
campaign by the
MDC to unleash violence as part of its Western-backed
efforts for illegal
regime change", according to the Zimbabwean state-run
press.
Mr Mugabe's violent handling of his pro-democracy opponents in the
past
month has roused statements of concern from SADC leaders, for the first
time
in the country's seven years of continual violent crisis. However,
Western
diplomats said that yesterday's high-profile police crackdown
appeared to be
a deliberate show of scorn by the dictator for his
neighbours.
The latest crackdown has been linked to a string of petrol
bomb attacks that
police have blamed on the MDC. The party denies the charge
and says that the
attacks are the work of state secret police "decoy
operations" to provide
the Government with an excuse to crack down on the
MDC.
Observers said that the use of South American military-style "hit
squads" of
heavily armed men in plainclothes for abductions and attacks on
opposition
figures now appeared to be an established tactic against the
opposition.
At lunchtime on Tuesday, minutes after the end of a memorial
service for a
young activist shot dead by police on March 11, Last
Maenganhamo, an MDC
national executive, was in a car parked across the road
from the church.
"Two unmarked Mitsubishi double-cabs drove up," said
Robert Manyengawana,
who was in the car with the MDC official. "Six men
jumped out, one of them
with a gun, and pulled Last out of the car. He held
the gun to Last's head."
The next they heard was a call from
Mutorashanga, a small mining town 160km
(100 miles) north of Harare. "We
found him at the hospital. He was in a
terrible condition. They just beat
him. They took off all his clothes and
dumped him at the side of the
road."
A group of unidentified armed men were reported in Mabvuku, an
eastern
suburb of Harare yesterday, assaulting people at
random.
Tyrant's grip
1963 Robert Mugabe formed the Zimbabwe
African National Union (Zanu)
1964 Jailed for ten years for political
activities banned by white minority
rule
1974 Led the largest of the
guerrilla forces in Mozambique against Ian Smith's
Government
1980
Swept to power in an election ending white rule
1982-5 Violent crushing
of resistance from Ndebele
2002 Fifth reelection was tainted by violence
and accusations of fraud
2007 Credited in his early years with improving
black health and education,
inflation is now 1.730 per cent, and more than
80 per cent of the population
lives in poverty
Source: Times
archives
Zim Online
Thursday 29 March 2007
By
Sebastian Nyamhangambiri and Nqobizitha Khumalo
HARARE - Zimbabwe
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was last night
released from police
custody following his arrest earlier on Wednesday at
the party's
headquarters in Harare.
About 20 members of the party's administrative
staff who were also arrested
yesterday were still detained and were expected
to spend the night at Harare
central police station.
Jessie Majome,
the acting Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party
spokesperson,
confirmed Tsvangirai's release adding that the raid at the
party's Harvest
House headquarters was "an act of utmost barbarism" by the
police.
"What they did today was a real act of utmost barbarism. The
police arrived
around 1030 am when President Tsvangirai was preparing for a
Press
conference on the recent abductions.
"Every tenant at Harvest
Hose was ordered out, except those in the MDC
offices. They then started
searching our offices, and smashing some of the
property such as computers
and picture frames.
"They left a trail of destruction. We are aware that
they were looking for
weapons. Unless they put them there they will not find
any. We are a
peaceful party," she said.
Home Affairs Minister Kembo
Mohadi defended the raid saying the police were
doing their job to preserve
peace.
"Every time the police have reasonable suspicion to conduct a
search, no one
should raise eyebrows. All the times the searches are in the
interest of the
public - including the MDC itself," said
Mohadi.
There was speculation that President Robert Mugabe wanted to use
the spate
of bombings reported over the past few weeks to justify a
crackdown against
the opposition at a regional meeting planned for
Tanzania.
Mugabe left for Tanzania on Wednesday to attend a key Southern
African
Development Community (SADC) meeting that was called to discuss the
worsening political crisis in Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of
Congo.
Meanwhile, the European Union on Wednesday condemned Tsvangirai's
arrest
with the British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett calling for the
immediate release of Tsvangirai and his office staff.
"I strongly
urge Mugabe and the Zimbabwean regime to heed the calls made by
so many of
the international community and their African neighbours to stop
the
oppression of the Zimbabwean people and respect their human rights,"
said
Beckett in a statement.
German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jens
Ploetner said his country was
"deeply concerned" over Tsvangirai's
arrest.
"The EU presidency holds Zimbabwe's leadership responsible in
this situation
for the physical well-being of Tsvangirai and his
colleagues," Ploetner
said. "We demand that they be immediately granted
access to legal and
medical aid and that representatives of the EU
presidency are given access
to them." - ZimOnline
VOA
By Irwin Chifera, Blessing Zulu, Ndimyake Mwakalyelye,
Patience
Rusere, Jonga Kandemiiri
28 March
2007
Zimbabwean authorities on Wednesday launched what
appeared to be a major new
offensive against the political opposition to
President Robert Mugabe, even
as the 83-year-old leader headed to
Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, for a regional
summit called to discuss the crisis
in Zimbabwe and alleged beatings of
opposition officials.
Police
cordoned off the downtown Harare building housing the headquarters of
the
MDC faction headed by party founder Morgan Tsvangirai around 11 a.m.
Wednesday, battering down doors, seizing computers and detaining officials
and staff there, including Tsvangirai - though he was soon released, sources
said.
Tsvangirai had been scheduled to hold a news conference at
12:30 p.m. to
sound an alert about the rising number of MDC members being
abducted and
beaten by what the opposition party alleges are agents of the
Central
Intelligence Organization.
Police Spokesman Assistant
Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said police raided
the MDC offices as part of
an investigation into a recent wave of
firebombings of police posts and
other targets, including a Harare-Bulawayo
passenger
train.
Authorities have accused the opposition of organizing the attacks,
but
officials of both MDC factions have denied any involvement and say they
do
not condone violence.
Police also conducted early morning raids on
the homes of senior officials
in Harare, bundling them into trucks,
including Glenview Member of
Parliament Paul Madzore and his wife. Budiriro
Member Emmanuel Chisvuure
escaped but police reportedly harassed his family.
Many MDC officials and
activists have gone into hiding.
Lawyers for
the Tsvangirai faction said late Wednesday that police continued
to hold
about 60 officers and members of the opposition faction. Attorney
Alec
Muchadehama said that he and another lawyer had not been able to meet
with
their clients. Muchadehama said he would file an urgent application to
the
Harare high court first thing Thursday asking it to order authorities to
allow them to see the prisoners.
The U.S. Department of State said
Wednesday that the United States was
"deeply concerned" about the detention
of Tsvangirai and other MDC
officials, and that it held President Mugabe
"responsible for the safety of
these Zimbabwean citizens."
The U.S.
statement said that recent events "make clear that the Mugabe
regime is
determined to preserve its power, regardless of the cost" to the
country. It
said, "The regime is attempting to blame the violence on the
opposition
itself. The international community rejects this patently false
effort to
blame the victims."
Germany, now holding the European Union presidency,
said the EU is "deeply
concerned" about Wednesday's detention of Tsvangirai,
demanding access to
him and to other arrested opposition
politicians.
German Foreign Ministry spokesman Jens Ploetner said those
held must be
granted immediate access to legal and medical assistance.
British Foreign
Secretary Margaret Beckett also condemned the
arrests.
Correspondent Irwin Chifera of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe was
at the scene
at the MDC faction's Harvest House headquarters and described
the scene.
Tsvangirai told reporter Blessing Zulu the blitz was another
intimidation
tactic by the Mugabe government reflecting its increasingly
isolated
position. Zulu spoke with Muchadehama soon after the raid when the
number
held was undetermined.
The continuing clampdown by Zimbabwean
security forces on opposition figures
has many observers baffled as to the
strategy Harare is pursuing.
Wednesday's blitz, coming just as the
region's leaders were meeting in
Tanzania, led some to conclude that Mr.
Mugabe is as and his inner circle
are as disdainful of regional opinion as
they are of criticism from the
United States and Britain.
University
of Zimbabwe Senior Lecturer John Makumbe told reporter Ndimyake
Mwakalyelye
that the government's increasing disregard for legal process
reflects a
last-ditch attempt by Mr. Mugabe's government to quash
dissent.
Separately from the police arrests, many activists have been
abducted, been
severely beaten and in some cases been dumped in remote
locations outside
Harare.
Glenview MP Paul Madzore, his wife and
lodgers were beaten up and taken away
late Tuesday. Opposition sources said
their whereabouts and fate were still
unknown.
Tsvangirai advisor Ian
Makone and his wife Theresa, chairwoman for
Mashonaland East for the
faction, were abducted late Tuesday with organizing
secretary Pineal Denga.
They also were still missing. Joshua Mukoyi of
Kuwadzana, whose two sons are
MDC activists, was abducted for the second
time, and remained
missing.
Kambuzuma MP Willis Madzimure, Tsvangirai faction spokesman for
Harare
Province, told reporter Patience Rusere that he believed the
abductions were
intended to intimidate opposition members and weaken their
resolve in the
struggle.
One MDC official abducted Tuesday was found
beaten and dumped in the woods
in Mutorashanga, Mashonaland West, about 100
kilometers from Harare.
Local mine workers found Last Maengahama
unconscious and covered in blood.
He was taken by police to a local hospital
and transferred to Harare's
Avenues Clinic.
Armed men believed to be
operatives of the feared Central Intelligence
Organization snatched
Maengahama in Borrowdale, a Harare suburb, following a
memorial ceremony
held Tuesday morning for slain activist Gift Tandare.
Tandare was shot to
death by police on March 11 during a protest.
The MDC's organizing
secretary for Harare Province, Toendepi Shonhe, visited
Maengahama at
Avenues Clinic early Wednesay. He told reporter Jonga
Kandemiiri that
Maengahama's entire body was swollen as a result of the
beatings.
Zim Online
Thursday
29 March 2007
Own Correspondents
HARARE - The
United States yesterday warned its citizens in Zimbabwe to stay
clear of
volatile parts of Harare as Zimbabwean police picked up main
opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai for the second time in a month.
The US embassy
in Harare told American citizens living or visiting Zimbabwe
to stay clear
of Harvest House in central Harare and to exercise extreme
caution when
travelling though out the Zimbabwean capital.
Harvest House is the
headquarters of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC)
party.
"We will keep you updated as the situation develops," the embassy
said in
the alert issued yesterday.
The American alert came as
heavily armed riot police barricaded roads
leading to the MDC headquarters
and arrested the opposition party's leaders.
In a statement, the MDC said
Tsvangirai was scheduled to address a press
conference when the police
arrested him and about 20 mostly administrative
staff at the party
headquarters.
"President Morgan Tsvangirai, who was scheduled to give a
Press conference
on the escalating and systemic campaign of violence and
intimidation
undertaken by the (President Robert) Mugabe government in
recent days, was
among those taken away," the party said.
The party
officials said police had indicated that they had raided the MDC
offices in
search of petrol bombs and other subversive materials following a
spate of
bombings countrywide.
Four police stations, a supermarket, and a
passenger train were petrol
bombed between March 15 and 25.
The MDC
has rejected government claims it was behind the bombings and
instead says
state agents were carrying out the terror attacks in order to
frame and
arrest the opposition party's leaders.
Tsvangirai's arrest and the raid
on his offices came as southern African
leaders were scheduled to meet in
Tanzania to address the political crises
in Zimbabwe and the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
Tsvangirai and several other members of the opposition
party were arrested
on 11 March and badly beaten while in police custody. -
ZimOnline
Canadian
Press
Published: Wednesday, March 28, 2007
OTTAWA (CP) - The Conservative
government doesn't plan to suspend diplomatic
ties with Zimbabwe despite a
brutal political crackdown by Prime Minister
Robert Mugabe's embattled
regime.
A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay says such a
move would
leave Canadians without consular protection there, while Mugabe's
opponents
would be isolated.
He notes that no other country has
kicked out a Zimbabwean ambassador -
which is what the Liberals want the
Canada to do.
Opposition protests have been declared illegal in Zimbabwe
and recently
opponents of the regime have been arrested, severely beaten,
and in one case
killed.
The Liberals say that to help prevent a
bloodbath Ottawa should expel the
ambassador and adopt strict sanctions
against Zimbabwe.
The NDP says there's no indication the government is
serious about helping
Zimbabwe civilians, but they are not calling for a
suspension of diplomatic
ties for now
© The Canadian
Press 2007
Christian Science Monitor
from the March 29, 2007 edition
Pressure is building on Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe. Now
is the time to prepare
for a transition.
The Monitor's View
A decade.
That's all it has taken for Africa's fastest growing economy to
become the
world's fastest shrinking one that's not at war. And for the
continent's
"breadbasket" to empty, leaving widespread hunger. Zimbabwe
can't take much
more of this.
Hopefully, it won't have to. Pressure as never before is
building on the
octogenarian president, Robert Mugabe, to give way after 27
years as
strongman leader.
Mr. Mugabe may still be revered by many
Africans as the great liberator of
the former Rhodesia from white rule, but
he has made a mess since then.
Inflation clocks in at more than 1,700
percent. The unemployment rate is a
staggering 80 percent. Food is scarce,
as are fuel and foreign currency. The
12 million people in this country
survive through barter, or by leaving.
An estimated 3 million have fled,
many to South Africa. One would think this
influx would have prompted South
African President Thabo Mbeki to exchange
his ineffective policy of "quiet
diplomacy" with his neighbor for one with
more teeth. South Africa is, after
all, Zimbabwe's largest trading partner.
Still, fresh diplomacy is afoot
after photographs of brutally beaten
opposition leaders, taken earlier this
month, sparked indignation around the
world and where it counts most - with
Zimbabwe's neighbors. Not letting up,
police raided the main opposition
headquarters on Wednesday and made
arrests.
Regional leaders,
including Mr. Mbeki, are holding a special meeting
Wednesday and Thursday of
this week, reportedly to urge Mugabe to negotiate
with the opposition.
That's a significant departure from their past
tolerance.
Pressure
from Mugabe's peers has a better chance of working than pressure
from the
West, which he skillfully vilifies as the colonial oppressor. More
important
still is growing pressure from within Mugabe's regime and his
powerful
ZANU-PF party for him to step aside. Security forces are divided,
and an
economy in free fall is leaving him with less money to wield power
through
patronage.
Meanwhile, there's a "new spirit of resistance" from the
people, said US
Ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell in an interview with
the Associated
Press last week. He added that many of the elements that
bring on a coup or
revolution are now present in Zimbabwe.
Africa has
rid itself of despots through force and negotiation. Armed rebels
pushed
Zaire's corrupt Mobutu Sese Seko into exile and Tanzanian troops
forced
Uganda's bloodstained Idi Amin to flee. Charles Taylor's exit from
Liberia
was arranged by international agreement.
Exactly when and how Zimbabwe
will cross over to a post-Mugabe era is
impossible to predict. Defiance is
the leader's middle name. This isn't the
first time his ruling party has
been divided. And the shrewd ruler could let
up on opponents in advance of
2008 elections, then rig the vote.
But at some point, the Mugabe era will
be over. Western diplomats are wisely
encouraging a deal between ZANU-PF and
the main faction of the opposition,
leaving Mugabe sidelined. They should
also focus on an aid package that will
surely be needed.
Those inside
and outside Zimbabwe should make every effort to prepare for a
smooth
transition.
Tom Casey, Deputy Spokesman
Washington, DC
March 28,
2007
Detention of Zimbabwean Opposition Leader
The
United States is deeply concerned about the detention of Morgan
Tsvangirai,
leader of the Zimbabwe opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC), and
other opposition officials today at the MDC's headquarters in
Harare.
Tsvangirai was planning to hold a press conference drawing attention
to a
series of abductions of MDC officials by what are believed to be
government
agents. We hold President Mugabe responsible for the safety of
these
Zimbabwean citizens and we call on Zimbabwean authorities to
investigate
these attacks and punish those responsible.
Events in Zimbabwe over
the past several weeks make clear that the Mugabe
regime is determined to
preserve its power, regardless of the cost of its
brutal tactics to the
nation and people of Zimbabwe. The regime is
attempting to blame the
violence on the opposition itself. The international
community rejects this
patently false effort to blame the victims. Robert
Mugabe must stop
brutalizing his people, and must allow Zimbabweans free
exercise of their
democratic rights. Tomorrow, the Presidents of the
Southern African
Development Community (SADC) will be meeting in the
Tanzanian capital of Dar
es Salaam to discuss the Zimbabwean crisis. It is
time for Africans to
publicly call Mugabe to account for his
misrule.
2007/239
Released on March 28, 2007
News24
28/03/2007 15:33 -
(SA)
Maputo - More than 400 Zimbabwean nationals have applied for
political
refugee in Mozambique within a month, Vista News
reports.
In its Wednesday edition the independent fax sheet, MediaFax,
said about 470
Zimbabwean nationals had sought political refuge in the last
three weeks in
the provincial capital of Chimoio, more than 2 000km north of
Maputo.
Manica provincial governor Raimundo Diomba was quoted by the
paper as saying
not all the applicants were accorded asylum because "their
country was not
at war".
Diomba, however, told the paper there was an
influx into Manica province of
Zimbabweans fleeing economic and political
meltdown at home.
More than 1 500 are estimated to be involved in illegal
gold panning in the
Chimanimani district.
The paper further quoted
Diomba as saying asylum was refused to the
applicants because the Mozambican
government did not want to strain
"relations with its
neighbour".
Thousands of Zimbabweans are estimated to have settled in
Mozambique, while
some are engaged in cross-border trade where they seek
commodities that are
scarce at home.
Zim lawyers in
Maputo
Last year the Manica provincial government banned an "anti-Mugabe
march"
organised by some Zimbabweans living in that province, said the
paper.
Manica provincial authorities recently met with their counterparts
in the
Zimbabwean province of Manicaland to negotiate on the possibility of
opening
more official crossing points along the countries' common
border.
No details of the meeting were made available to the
paper.
This week a delegation of Zimbabwean human rights lawyers arrived
in Maputo,
seeking civil society support against President Mugabe. They are
being
hosted by the Mozambican Lawyers Association (LDH),
LDH has
said it would petition the Mozambican government to take a
"position" on
Zimbabwe.
On Wednesday, Mozambican President Armando Guebuza was expected
to join 14
other SADC leaders at a two-day extraordinary summit in the
Tanzanian
capital Dar es Salaam, which analysts said was spurred in part by
the
growing crisis in Zimbabwe.
Zim Online
Thursday 29 March 2007
By Nqobizitha
Khumalo
BULAWAYO - The Netherlands government on Tuesday summoned
Zimbabwe's
ambassador to that country, Gift Punungwe, to protest Harare's
refusal to
allow a Dutch national and human rights ambassador permission to
visit the
southern African nation.
Human rights campaigner Piet De
Klerk was on Monday this week barred from
entering Zimbabwe by immigration
officials at Harare International airport.
According to reports from
Netherlands, De Klerk, had notified Harare of his
trip and had requested
meetings with government officials and was also
scheduled to meet with civic
society groups and leaders of non-governmental
organisations.
The
Dutchman wanted to carry out a first hand assessment of Zimbabwe's
deteriorating human rights situation.
Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime
Verhagen told Punungwe that it was
unacceptable for Harare to block De Klerk
and urged the Zimbabwean
government to allow him to visit the
country.
A statement released by the Dutch Foreign Ministry said: "The
Netherlands
finds the Zimbabwean authorities' actions unacceptable. The
Netherlands is
deeply concerned about developments in Zimbabwe, particularly
the human
rights situation."
Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Simbarashe
Mumbengegwi was not immediately
available for comment on the
matter.
Human rights violations are on the rise in Zimbabwe as President
Robert
Mugabe's government increasingly resorts to the military and police
to keep
public discontent in check in the face of a deepening economic
crisis.
The dangerously volatile situation in Zimbabwe will be discussed
at a
Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting in Tanzania at
the end
of the week. Mugabe is expected to brief the SADC leaders, some who
are
worried that Zimbabwe's crisis will destabilise the region. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Thursday 29 March 2007
By Menzi
Sibanda
BULAWAYO - A journalist working for one of Zimbabwe's few
remaining
non-government controlled newspapers appeared in court on
Wednesday charged
with practising without a licence, while another
journalist working for
state-controlled media was fined for failing to
correctly identify himself
to the police.
Bright Chibvuri, who is
news editor of The Worker, a workers' newspaper
published by the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trades Union (ZCTU) appeared at the
magistrates' court in the
town of Plumtree, along Zimbabwe's border with
Botswana.
Journalists
in Zimbabwe face up to two years in jail if found practising
without a
licence from the government's Media and Information Commission.
Chibvuri
was arrested on March 3 while taking pictures of a ZCTU meeting in
the
border town. He told the court that he had applied for a licence and was
still waiting for a response from the MIC when he was arrested.
He
was later issued with a licence which he produced in court as proof. The
court however did not make a ruling on the matter, postponing it to April
26.
Meanwhile, in an unusual case, Sikhumbuzo Moyo, a journalist with
the
government-controlled Umthunywa newspaper was fined Z$15 000 and also
slapped with a wholly suspended three-month jail term for giving wrong
identity particulars while investigating a story in rural Kezi
district.
The government's Zimpapers company, that is the largest
newspaper empire in
the country, owns Umthunywa, which publishes in the
vernacular Ndebele
language.
Moyo, who pleaded guilty to the charge,
is the first ever journalist working
for government-owned media to be
charged for violating the state's harsh
press laws.
Zimbabwe is well
known for its draconian Press and security laws under
which, for example,
journalists can be sentenced to 20 years in prison for
denigrating President
Robert Mugabe in their articles.
Besides journalists being required to
obtain licences, newspaper companies
are also required to register with the
state commission with those failing
to do so facing closure and seizure of
their equipment by the police.
At least four independent newspapers
including the biggest circulating
daily, The Daily News, have been shut down
over the past four years for
breaching state media laws. - ZimOnline
The Zimbabwean
Husband threatens coup ... *SADC
meets*
HARARE
BY ITAI DZAMARA
Vice president Joice Mujuru tendered her
resignation to President Robert
Mugabe a fortnight ago, according to
highly-placed sources within Zanu (PF).
But he has not accepted it.
As
the acrimonious power struggle within the ruling party increases, Mujuru
has
already started campaigning to stand for the party at next year's
presidential elections. Sources said she had boycotted meetings recently
and told Mugabe she couldn't take any more of his double standards and
hunger for power.
Unconfirmed reports from CAJ News Agency say Retired
Lieutenant General
Solomon "Rex Nhongo" Mujuru has given Mugabe a week to
abandon his plans to
stand again in 2008 or face a coup d'etat.
The
ultimatum was sent a week before Zanu (PF)'s crucial meeting taking
place
today in Harare, with almost 70 percent of the former freedom fighters
agreeing with Mujuru that the time for Mugabe to go has come.
Tension is
high between Mugabe and the faction after the aging tyrant's
recent
criticism of Mujuru's presidential ambitions and accusations of her
using
"sinister" means to get to the throne angered senior faction members.
It is
for that reason sources say enraged members pressurized the vice
president
to resign.
Mujuru and her husband recently met South African vice president,
Pumuzile
Mlambo-Ngucka, for talks, which informed sources said were centred
on "the
need to remove Mugabe for the good of not only Zimbabwe, but also
the
region, and securing support for Mujuru's campaign".
"The deputy
presidents also touched on the worsening economic situation, the
need to
return to democracy and open up Zanu (PF)'s succession debate
without
victimising those with differing views," said an impeccable CIO
source.
Retired defence forces commander, Vitalis Zvinavashe, and the
current
commander, General Constantine Chiwenga, are believed to be backing
Mujuru.
But, raising fears of a civil war, it is understood that commanders
of the
army and airforce, Philip Sibanda, and Perence Shiri, as well as
police
commissioner Augustine Chihuri, support Mugabe.
"Mujuru and
Zvinavashe would like to see Zimbabwe's isolation coming to an
end with all
the sanctions imposed against the country lifted. They feel
Zimbabweans have
suffered more than enough and now need to return to
freedom, democracy and
the rule of law," said a central committee member
from Matabeleland.
The
other contender for the throne, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has remained
ominously
silent throughout all this. Leader of the minority MDC faction,
Arthur
Mutambara, said last week he would not risk splitting the vote by
standing
against Morgan Tsvangirai in the presidential elections.
Meanwhile, for the
first time, SADC leaders are meeting urgently in Dar es
Salaam to discuss
the Zimbabwe crisis. It is unsure whether Mugabe, fighting
for his political
survival in politburo and central committee meetings this
week, will attend
the SADC summit.
The Zimbabwean
Editorial
Although not officially the candidate for Zanu (PF), President Robert
Mugabe
last week launched his 2008 presidential election campaign at an
illegal
rally attended by thousands of members of the party's women's and
youth
leagues, bussed into the capital from around the
country.
Meanwhile, Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the MDC, who is likely
to be his
main rival, has been denied the right to address meetings because
of the
blanket ban by police on all political activity in Harare.
Police
in other areas, where there is no official ban, have been refusing to
allow
MDC to hold meetings - effectively hamstringing the opposition from
communicating with its membership.
With the elections due in less than 12
months, it is already clear that the
playing field will not be level. Other
plans to rig the election in Mugabe's
favour are already underway, as we
report this week.
In the face of vicious brutality and naked threats of more
violence from
Mugabe and his henchmen, the MDC has bravely scheduled another
rally for
Chitungwiza this weekend.
We commend the leader of the
Mutambara faction of the MDC, Arthur Mutambara,
for seeing through the
divide and rule tactics of Zanu (PF) when the Police
offered to lift the ban
on rallies to allow him to address a meeting in
Chitungwiza while denying
the same right to Tsvangirai. This is the kind of
statesmanship we have been
looking for.
We also applaud Botswana members of parliament who called on
their
government to take active steps, such as closing their embassy in
Harare, to
convey their disgust at the appalling behaviour of the Mugabe
regime.
Unfortunately this noble suggestion was not implemented - as stated
in our
editorial last week.
We call on the international community, and
our southern African neighbours
in particular, to stand with Zimbabweans in
their hour of need, and to
consider this practical option as a demonstration
of support for all those
whose lives have been ruined by the aging dictator.
Failure to take such
practical action sends the signal that they support
tyranny.
How the British can help
As behind-the-scenes efforts to cajole
Zimbabwean politicians to resolve the
country's crisis eventually gather
steam, Britain in particular has a
wonderful opportunity to make a
practical, meaningful contribution to the
sustainable success of a new
Zimbabwe.
It is no secret that the majority of skilled and professional
Zimbabweans -
hundreds of thousands of them - fled to the UK when things
began to go
rotten at home.
Many of these have been forced by the British
system into menial labour and
a life of hide-and-seek with the
authorities.
They are anxious to return home when things settle and will be
desperately
needed in the new Zimbabwe. We therefore call on the British
government to
implement a temporary amnesty, say for the next six months,
allowing them
all to work here legally. This will enable them to earn enough
money to pay
their passage home and to have something to show for their
years of exile
and to make a new start - re-building the shattered economy.
Without this,
many who would want to return will be unable to.
The Zimbabwean
BY
ZIMBABWE LIBERATORS' PLATFORM
'Government has to concede that there is a
political crisis'
Zimbabwe's deep political crisis has assumed a violent and
dangerous
character. The recent arrest and torture of opposition and civic
leaders,
the cold-blooded murder of an unarmed civic activist by the police
and the
violent reaction to repression by the residents of Harare, have
heightened
tension in the country.
Internal squabbles rocking Zanu (PF),
public anger resulting from brutal
repression and economic hardships as well
as international pressure point to
the scale of the problem and the urgent
need to resolve it.
As a starting point, government has to concede that there
is a political
crisis causing instability. Blaming someone else for the
crisis will not
help the situation.
We propose the following logical
steps that would lead to the resolution of
the problem:
1.The convening
of an all-stakeholders' conference to hammer out a permanent
solution. The
stakeholders would include representatives of government,
political parties,
civil society, churches, labour, business, youth and
women. A foreigner
would be the best arbiter.
2.The stakeholders should agree on the composition
and establishment of an
interim authority to oversee the country's
transition from dictatorship to
democracy - at most one year.
3.During
this period, the interim authority would scrap all draconian pieces
of
legislation such as POSA and AIPPA, as well as disband the notorious
youth
militias, in order to create a conducive environment for all political
players to participate freely in an election campaign. At the same time, the
authority would draft a new democratic constitution.
4.It would conduct
general and presidential elections under the auspices of
the United Nations,
African Union and SADC. The elections would be based on
the SADC principles
and standards of holding democratic, free and fair
elections. In that
regard, the current electoral laws should be amended to
meet the SADC
principles and standards, including the establishment of an
independent
electoral commission.
5.It would invite international observers and
journalists to witness the
election process in order to give it legitimacy.
There would also be local
observers, monitors and journalists.
6.It would
then hand over power to a legitimately elected government which
would be
guided by (and respect) the new democratic constitution.
The new government
would face the daunting challenge of entrenching
democracy and peace,
rebuilding the battered economy and resuscitating
collapsed social services.
Zimbabwe would then rejoin the international
community of nations, with all
the rights, benefits and privileges accruing
from that opportunity.
- ZLP
is a non-partisan, non-governmental organization formed by genuine
war
veterans. We envisage a Zimbabwe that upholds universally accepted norms
and
principles of democracy, good governance and fundamental human rights,
and
values peace.
The Zimbabwean
THE Congress of South
African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has reaffirmed its
support for the people of
Zimbabwe in their struggle for democracy and human
rights.
"We want to
see a much stronger statement coming from the government of
South Africa
condemning the vicious attacks on political opponents of the
Zanu (PF)
regime," Patrick Craven, Cosatu spokesperson, said in an interview
with CAJ
News.
Cosatu condemned Zimbabwe's brutal treatment of opposition leaders and
gave
their full support to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and
their
planned stay away scheduled for 3 and 04 April 2007.
"We will be
organising solidarity actions in South Africa on those days,"
he added. -
CAJ News
29-03-07
Roll of Shame will ensure justice
is done
EDITOR - I wish to congratulate you for launching the Roll of Shame.
This is
just excellent! All Zimbabweans must be invited to write to The
Zimbabwean
giving as much detail as possible on any perpetration of
injustice by
anyone.
For the time when the Wheels of Justice start
turning once more in Zimbabwe
... I urge all people concerned to gather
evidence... even if it is multiple
eyewitness accounts, or anything that
will help in securing conviction and
ensuring that these culprits do time
for their brutalities.
These people need to know that their time is going to
come and whatever they
do today will catch up with them tomorrow. This might
help in bringing
sensibility and accountability back into some thick
heads!
Like they say "... if you dance with crocodiles you need to be ready
for
whatever happens when the music stops!"
Meanwhile, as Robert Mugabe
(soon to be Accused Number 1) must be secretly
going through his plans A, B
and C ... he must certainly be weighing various
destinations as options for
his flight into exile. This he must be doing
now!
We know he is senile
and severely challenged when it comes to a whole
variety of managerial
capabilities, as his unnecessarily long tenure at the
helm of the Zimbabwe
government amply demonstrates ... but it would only be
an absolute idiot,
oaf or lunatic of the lowest order who in
similar circumstances would not be
looking at destination options for exile.
If he does have the presence of
mind (which is extremely doubtful, all
things considered) to be weighing
these options, I wish to warn him to take
South Africa off his list.
We
are aware that Thabo Mbeki has been supporting him consciously or
otherwise
... but anyone with an ounce of intelligence and reasonableness
will get to
the same logical conclusion that 'Quiet Diplomacy" amounts to
explicit
complicity on the part of South Africa.
We wish to let the Dictator know
that in South Africa although he might
have a friend in Thabo Mbeki he has
a myriad of enemies here! Its not only
people like me who not only
contributed to the war of 'liberation' in subtle
and direct ways but who now
see Mugabe for the trash and filth that he is!
Just think of it ... the man
used to be our hero!
Then there are all those many bitter victims of
Gukurahundi in Matabeleland,
victims of the more recent Murambatsvina and
what more, there is a higher
concentration of Rhodies and those forcefully
displaced white farmers here
than you would find anywhere else in the
world!
I am not saying you don't come to South Africa but if you do ... don't
sleep! Keep your lecherous old eyes open 24/7/365! You hear that?
PROMISE
CHITSIDZO, Pretoria, RSA
We have seen this
brutal evil in the
past
EDITOR - Should the events of the last 15 days come as a surprise? By
their
horror and depraved nature they do - they disgust us and our revulsion
is
heightened by the fact that the orders for brutalisation and
institutionalised terror flow from the pens and orders of those who are, or
were at one time, entrusted with the welfare of the common man and
woman.
Their names are as well known to us as their acts of betrayal to the
nation
and, indeed, their oaths of office. But ... we have seen brittle
integrity
and treachery and evil in the past.
The thuggery at the Sunday
prayer rally was quite horrible but was it not
the spawn of history from
Regina Mundi, St Paul's Musami, Elim Mission,
Olive Tree Farm, and the 11
who prayed outside ZRP Central in Bulawayo?
The witness of men and women of
vocation and the countless people of
goodwill standing against the darkest
powers will always draw the most
poisonous of venom from a totalitarian,
guilty and godless state. The
current shootings, the savage and wanton acts
of grossest depravity, are
replays of a brutal past ... it has happened
before.
Yet there is a sickening new dimension.
Is it normal for the
powers of State to take pot shots at mourners offering
condolences at the
home of a deceased? Does it happen elsewhere?
Does the venality of Chief
Kandaya, demanding four head of cattle before
the burial of Gift Tandare in
ancestral ground, not reveal the depth to
which evil has penetrated in the
land? Is this not yet another instance of
violated trusteeship?
Surely
the theft of the body of Gift Tandare under false pretences by agents
of the
State from an undertaker must be one of the grossest violations of
family
intention, human sanctity and the dignity of the dead? Am I wrong?
Tandare's
burial order was hastily altered after the CIO officers said that
they had
orders from the President's Office to remove the body 'as quickly
as
possible'.
The injury and insult to the mourning family, bewildered in grief
and sorrow
with their wounds deepened by the forceful abduction of a loved
father's
remains, could only rise from a State plot hatched in the depths of
hell.
Just how would one feel, placed as they now are?
Burial and
disposal of the unknown, in unmarked surroundings guarded by the
forces of
the enemy and evil, calls to mind the dumping of corpses in the
shafts of
Antelope Mine.
But that was Gakurahundi and it happened before ... of
course.
But is not the final irony that so-called 'state assisted funeral'
(see the
Herald)? Does it not make the ultimate confession ... for the
present and
for the past?
IAN, Bulawayo
Why are NGOs
silent
over beaten women?
EDITOR - After the shocking reports emerging out
of the continuing
government crackdown on opposition party activists, there
is one very silent
constituency.
Two women were beaten senseless inside
police cells and then, later, as they
were leaving for treatment in South
Africa, they were detained, returned to
a Zimbabwean hospital and put under
police guard. I haven't heard or seen
one statement by any of the many, many
well-funded, high- profile women's
NGOs about this violence.
Meanwhile,
in the hallowed halls of Parliament, the President has agreed to
sign the
new domestic violence bill. Is it okay for police to beat women as
long as
they are not beating their wives?
Where are the women's organisations to
speak up about this appalling
violence perpetrated by the state against
women? Are these NGOs, many of
them Western funded, collaborators with Zanu
(PF), or what?
SCOTT, Bulawayo
Trough feeders will rue
expulsion of
diplomats
EDITOR - Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi wants to
boot out
Western diplomats who know too much about civilized norms and the
depth of
rot, incompetence, evil and corruption in the regime.
Going with
the expelled Western diplomats will also be all donor aid.
Certain nations
occasionally 'pseudo protest' after being re-awakened to the
abuses
perpetrated by the regime.
Firstly, they have to discover that SA President
Thabo Mbeki's endless
support for the evil regime is founded on the fact
that this fellow
'liberation struggler' has the same anti-Western, Stone
Age, racist
renaissance agenda as his hero Robert Gabriel Mugabe, whom he
reveres,
emulates, envies and fears so much.
Secondly, they should know
that one of the biggest sources of foreign
currency in Zimbabwe is from aid
and donors.
Thirdly, hundreds of millions of US dollars in aid from the West
is pouring
into South Africa and Zimbabwe where, still unknown to these
woolly-minded
donors, most ends up in the pockets of enabled ANC or Zanu
(PF) comrades.
Fourthly, most intelligent people know that aid monies go
through the Zanu
(PF) Reserve Bank money laundromat, where incoming foreign
exchange is
converted for the donors' 'benefit' at the official exchange
rate. After
that, the forex is exploited by the enabled heroes, who buy it
at the same
official rate. They then immediately sell it at the parallel
rate, and then
go back again and buy more cheap forex!
The transaction
profit is not hard to figure out. Results of this
manipulation can readily
be seen by the brazen exposure of instant wealth by
suitably loyal Zanu (PF)
and banking insiders.
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi may find himself a wanted man,
for a lynching by his
comrades, when he has blown away the donor aid forex
loot-trough from under
their nuzzling snouts when the Westerners are
expelled.
KEVIN BLUNT, Bloemfontein, RSA
Attacks on leaders
are
human-rights violations
EDITOR - History has taught us that oppressive
regimes become more virulent
as their grip on power and moral standing
become more tenuous.
A typical life in Zimbabwe today is 'poor, nasty,
brutish and short'. The
current criminalization and humiliation of the
opposition leadership,
particularly those from the Movement for Democratic
Change, by President
Robert Mugabe is reminiscent of the early years of
independence when PF Zapu
and its leader (the late Vice President Dr Joshua
Nkomo) were systematically
suppressed, brutalized and emasculated.
The
ongoing barbaric, state-sanctioned terrorism and repression on political
and
civic leaders in Zimbabwe is a flagrant, gross human-rights violation
even
under the discredited Zimbabwe Constitution. The unleashing of thugs by
the
State is the highest act of madness by 'revolutionaries' who have gone
astray.
President Robert Mugabe was quoted by Zambia's Daily Mail in May
2006,
threatening MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, saying any effort to force
him out
of power would be 'dicing with death'. Subsequently the police
banned street
marches and prayer meetings planned by churches to mark the
plight of
thousands left homeless by Operation Murambatswina.
Mugabe is
swimming against the tide of history and will be remembered as a
liberator
who became an oppressor.
TAMSANQA MLILO, Johannesburg, RSA
Why better
deal for
Mutambara faction?
EDITOR - The following comments are my
personal views and do not represent
the MDC party led by the founding father
and the best qualified to be called
President of Zimbabwe Mr Morgan
Tsvangirai.
1. Why were Mutambara and Job Sikhala never assaulted by the
Zvimba Rural
Area regime of Baba Chatunga?
2. Statistics indicate that
99% of MDC members nursing injuries and those
killed belong to the MDC
action led by President Morgan Tsvangirai.
3. Does it mean that Mutambara and
Sikhala were the only two brave
individuals who were ready to join President
Tsvangirai and the Save
Zimbabwe Campaign prayer warriors at the Zim
grounds?
4. If the answer to number 3. is yes, then where were the lot from
Mutambara
and Ncube's faction?
Maybe Mugabe deliberately and
intentionally wanted to create a rift between
the two factions, so that he
may have time to mend his party's internal
conflicts while we suspect each
other of working with his regime?
Next time, gentleman, if we say 'Go' it
means going, not backwards, because
it's now time to identify oneself to the
electorate, in order to free
Zimbabwe?
MR THUNDER, MDC Harare Provincial
Youth Secretary for Policy and Research
High fees negate
right to
education
EDITOR - What is the logic behind the stipulation of exorbitant
tuition fees
at tertiary institutions?
Many students are finding it
difficult to live up to the financial
expectations of these fraudulent,
corrupt and inefficient
state-indoctrinated academic systems.
It is high
time the students revolt and claim their indispensable right to
education.
It's surprising that these once-vibrant academic Hellenising
centres are
fast been transformed into retail black markets, where education
is sold.
Something needs be done.
Thumbs up to Zinasu.
FARMADE, by
email.
Power of prayer
could save country
EDITOR - In World War II,
while Hitler was brutally taking over the world,
there was an advisor to
Churchill who organised a group of people who
dropped what they were doing
every night at a prescribed time for just one
minute to collectively pray
for the safety of Britain, its people and for
peace. Things were drastically
changed and, well . the rest is history.
God is the answer, and prayer is the
only way for Zimbabwe!
In view of the current state of affairs in Zimbabwe,
we are organising a
daily one-minute prayer time at 8am or 1pm or 8pm. At
any of these times,
please stop whatever you are doing and spend that one
minute praying for God
to intervene in the affairs of our
country.
Someone once said if Christians really understood the full extent of
the
power we have available through prayer, we might be speechless.
Our
prayers are the most powerful asset we have. Together we can make a
difference.
If you know any other Christian brother and sister who would
like to
participate in this powerful exercise, please pass this on. Thank
you.
PTV, Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwean
John Makumbe
The events
of the past few weeks hold significant lessons for all of us in
this country
and further a-field. For the two factions of the MDC, perhaps
one of the
most important lessons is that unity is not only necessary but
also
possible. There is much to be gained by the two factions coming
together and
fighting the real enemy of the people of Zimbabwe, Robert
Mugabe and his
fractious Zanu (PF) party.
It must be obvious to the Members of Parliament in
the Mutambara faction
that, come 2008, they are likely to lose their seats
in the House of
Assembly if they do not rejoin the Tsvangirai faction well
before the
elections. This is a cold and hard fact and the sooner they
rejoin the main
MDC the better for everyone.
The second lesson is that
the people of Zimbabwe are ready able and willing
to resist the dictatorial
Mugabe regime. All that the people need is a
strong and courageous
leadership and effective mobilisation. It also became
very clear that a lot
of work still needs to be undertaken among the law
enforcement agents in
order to make them behave themselves in a manner that
is appropriate in the
handling of the masses of Zimbabwe.
This calls for sustained efforts aimed at
influencing the mentality of the
police, the army and the CIO so that these
forces are made to realise that
their support for the despotic regime does
not have to translate into
brutality against the already suffering
people.
Further, recent events clearly demonstrated that the regime is far
from
being invincible. In fact, it is highly vulnerable to pressure, and
will
panic at even the most peaceful demonstration of dissatisfaction by the
people. This weakness must be exploited to the full, and the regime must be
made to spend huge amounts of scarce resources to maintain itself in
power.
Eventually, the resources will run out and the despot will have to run
for
cover. Time is always on the people's side. After three weeks of public
confrontation it is clear that what is needed is a sustained series of acts
of resistance throughout the country, instead of one major event in one
locality and nothing after that.
Progressive forces throughout Zimbabwe
need to plan a series of activities
aimed at resisting the diabolical
dictator spanning a period of not less
than three months at a time. Such
activities need to be well coordinated so
that they can effectively strain
the regime for a sustained period.
While these resistance activities are in
progress, efforts to dialogue with
representatives of the regime need to be
pursued at all possible levels of
the Zimbabwe body politic. It is not
likely that mass public demonstrations
alone will succeed in getting the
dictator conceding defeat and running out
of the country into Namibia or to
Malaysia.
Rather, the mass action will be instrumental in softening the
authoritarian
regime and making it more willing to negotiate for the
peaceful resolution
of the crisis.
The next few weeks are going to be
crucial for the determination of the
direction this national resistance will
take. This is going to be one
exciting year in Zimbabwe, even though there
will be a price to pay for our
freedom. Freedom is not free, neither is it
cheap. Thank God, many
Zimbabweans are willing to pay the price for this
nation's freedom. There is
no alternative to regime change.
The Zimbabwean
As the Mugabe regime staggers to its
end, leaving the economy in tatters,
economist NORMAN REYNOLDS proposes a
revolutionary scheme to set the country
on its feet again.
'How can aid
be provided that will not be drained away by corruption?'
The current danger
is that Zimbabweans do not see, and thus do not agree, on
what to do next.
Neither Africa nor the international community have any
real idea either.
Lies by Mugabe have resulted in the World Food Program
having no funds to
rescue millions of Zimbabweans from imminent starvation.
The main opposition
party has yet to fashion a recovery program that can
attract both local and
international support. The only possible MDC/Zanu
(PF) joint activity is to
re-write the Constitution and hold fresh elections
that Zanu (PF) can only
lose.
Archbishop Tutu and, a while back, a senior member of South Africa's
ANC,
Cyril Ramaphosa, have stated that South Africa should intervene in
Zimbabwe.
Neither made clear how.
The international community will have
to pour large amounts of money into
Zimbabwe, if only as humanitarian aid.
At least US$1 billion is required now
for the urgent importation of grains
and cereals. And another US$1 billion
is required for fuels, medicines
etc.
Over the next five years the total bill for 'relief' is likely to come
to at
least US$10 billion. Add another US$10 billion for economic and social
recovery. What terms should be set for the use of US$20 billion?
How can
aid be provided that will not be drained away by corruption? This is
the key
question and opportunity regarding Zimbabwe's recovery. South Africa
can
play a lead role in this effort, and in so doing can restore the promise
of
NEPAD and of the AU as directly interesting to all Africans.
It has the
opportunity to create a "failed state" program based on
international
trusteeship. Such a plan already exists in South Africa,
approved by the
government.
It is called the "Sustainable Community Investment Programme"
(SCIP). SCIP
is the first programme that fully acknowledges and acts upon
the 'dual'
economy. It seeks to balance global with local, to provide all
communities,
particularly the long marginalized township and rural areas,
with the basic
right to live in a "Working Local Economy". Citizens are
invited to organise
in registered Community Trusts and to receive a set of
Social and Economic
Rights with Budgets so that they can take charge of
their lives, be
responsible and competent partners of government and of
business and,
together, raise the pathetic local income multiplier (local
cash
circulation) some three times or more.
Thus they grow the economy
and government expenditure is largely recouped by
tax. The SCIP model,
citizens and local/national economy first, is a model
for all of Africa and
for the growing 'backward areas' of the developed
world. It is immediately
suited to Zimbabwe's grave crisis.
Any recovery program must be built upon
the quick realization of individual
and community economic and social
rights. People must be treated as
competent immediately, not after prolonged
"training" or "management".
The plan must give them the financial means and
the right to make their own
economic decisions, to look after themselves and
their families, and to
contribute to their communities.
The Plan
Here
is an outline of the plan that a colleague and I put together in 2003,
at
the request and with the agreement of the Zimbabwe Country Team led by
the
United Nations. It stands in stark contrast to the usual IMF
macroeconomic
stabilization program, based on controlling deficits and the
balance of
payments. And it builds democracy and stability by action, not
just the
request for 'talks'.
1.All foreign aid is to go into a special foreign
exchange account in the
Zimbabwe Reserve Bank, without exception.
2.The
equivalent in local currency would be transferred as needed into a
Zimbabwe
Economic and Social Rights Trust, controlled by persons appointed
by the
UN/AU/SADC.
3.A customized foreign exchange system would be implemented under
UN
supervision. The Economic and Social Rights Trust would use the inflow of
foreign aid to provide, as SCIP proposes in South Africa, "Child", "Health"
and "Investment Rights" to all citizens who register and act together under
Community Trusts formed at the village, neighbourhood, and street
levels.
4."Child Rights" would be set at R300 equivalent per child per month
up to
18 years of age. The monthly inflow of funds would be used first to
buy
locally produced food for daily child feeding. This creates a very large
new
agricultural industry run by the poor. The payments for the food goes
30% to
pay the school fee until paid off each term, 10% to the Community
Trust, and
the balance to the parent/local supplier. In this way, the
publicly provided
money would circulate locally three to four times,
activating and rewarding
local economic production and building community
cohesion and common
purpose.
5."Health Rights", some R120 per month per
person, place responsibility for
health, and the means to act (water,
sanitation, food, immunisation,
economic activity and participation) within
community. This allows citizens
to confront the causes of illness, to plan,
with official and skilled
support, how to achieve 'health' as a community
outcome, and to thus avoid
the deep hole of today's floundering public
health service that is swamped
by illness with little ability to secure
health.
6."Investment Rights," worth R1,500 per adult per year for four
years, would
be paid to each Community Trust per registered resident adult.
These funds
would be used jointly at the local level to build or restore
community
productive capacity such as community gardens, irrigation,
improved grazing
and woodland, rental housing and other infrastructure, and
to finance
individual crop production, food processing etc.
Next week Dr
Reynolds looks at the Impact of the Plan.
Please send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
jag@mango.zw with "For Open Letter Forum" in the
subject line.
JAG Hotlines:
+263 (011) 610 073 If you are in trouble
or need advice,
please don't hesitate to contact us - we're here to
help!
+263 (04) 799 410 Office
Lines
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Letter
1 - Peter Davidson
Dear JAG,
I see that JR is at it again. As
they say in OZ, good on ya cobber. This
zanupf oppression has clearly
affected the thinking and reactions of some
people. In this instance, N Kirk
has taken offence demanding that JR keeps
his opinions to himself. I have no
idea who JL is but he has every right to
communicate through this medium, as
has anyone else. That's democracy!! If
it offends N Kirk, TOO BAD. I would
strongly suggest that N.Kirk argues the
point with intelligence instead of
being so hostile. There are plenty of
armchair warriors out there on the
internet and Zimbabwe needs them right
now. No doubt, JR's short time in OZ
has enabled him to see what real
democracy is all about and I'm quite sure
that most of us share the common
hope that the same overlay of democracy that
OZ has will one day cover our
own homeland. Unless one has lived in a real
democracy, one really has no
idea about what it means. In particular -
tolerance of others opinions, even
if they are at variance to
yours.
Best regards to JAG - you are doing a fantastic
job!!
Peter
Davidson
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Letter
2 - Johanna Schermuly, UK
Reply to letter 4 - Ann Hein
Hi there,
JAG
I was not going to reply to anything in particular, but then read
Ann's
letter again. I can understand how you feel, Ann, in your shoes
would
probably feel the same way. I find your comments unfair though. Taking
the
'gap' as you put it is not that straight forward; it takes a lot
of
deliberation, heartache, to some extent guilt and specially courage
to
venture into the unknown. And a lot of hard work. We have fortunately
made
it in the UK, but would say it is not my favourite place to be. I am a
fan
of Cathy Buckle and read her weekly letters without fail. We have moved
on
but still keep close touch with people and events in Zim.
Please
don't underestimate what people feel or go through when they decide
to leave,
you will only know if you have to go through it yourself. You
would be a
stronger person for it. I wish you all the best.
Johanna Schermuly,
UK
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Letter
3 - Veronica Scott
Dear JAG
"J" said: those "who have never
worked the land ... have therefore lost
nothing under Mugabes
regime".
Surely you can't be serious? How dare you surmise that the only
victims in
this fiasco have been farmers! Or are farmers the only ones who
qualify as
real people in your eyes? I had thought attitudes such as yours
had left
with the last ship to Australia; sadly I am wrong.
Clive
Midlane's statements about the so-called 'lucky ones' has caused quite
a
stir, and I'm afraid to say your statement puts you in the same category
as
him. The glaring difference being, at least he had the courage to sign
his
name.
Veronica
Scott
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All
letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions of
the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.