Tsvangirai appeals for patience with MDC

Zimbabwean PM says country still lives in fear

May 30, 12:54 PM EDT

By ANGUS SHAW
Associated Press Writer

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said Saturday that
his efforts to restore democratic freedoms and the rule of law to Zimbabwe
have so far failed.

The former opposition leader took his Movement for Democratic Change into a
coalition government with longtime autocratic President Robert Mugabe in
February to end the country's political deadlock and economic collapse.

But Tsvangirai gave his party's annual convention a bleak assessment of
Zimbabwe's situation and said that hard-liners backing Mugabe were
frustrating progress.

"We have not yet succeeded in restoring the rule of law ... our people do
not live free from fear, hunger and poverty," he said.

The official state media remained biased and there was only limited freedom
of movement and expression, he said.

"Our members continue to be the victims of political persecution,"
Tsvangirai said. "That society for which we are striving bears little
resemblance to the reality in which all of us live today," he said.

His comments reflected the tensions wracking the so-called unity government.
But despite the unhappiness, Tsvangirai has so far shown no sign that he
will pull his party out of the coalition in protest. Tsvangirai had been
frozen out of office, despite election victories, until Zimbabwe's neighbors
forced Mugabe to enter the unity government in February.

Tsvangirai and more than 1,000 delegates to the two-day convention wore red
T-shirts emblazoned with a new party slogan: "Together to the end. Marching
to a New Zimbabwe."

Despite agreeing to the coalition government, 85-year-old Mugabe still seems
reluctant to cede real power to Tsvangirai, his former foe.

Last week, for example, Tsvangirai announced an end to restrictions on
foreign journalists entering Zimbabwe and to tough licensing rules for local
media. Mugabe's spokesman this week said the restrictions would remain.

The two men are also locked in dispute over the key appointments of the
central bank governor Gideon Gono and the attorney general Johannes Tomana.

Mugabe reappointed Gono to a second five-year term as governor of the
Reserve Bank in November and also unilaterally chose Tomana. Tsvangirai says
the appointments violate the power-sharing deal and wants regional mediators
to intervene.

Gono is blamed for printing Zimbabwe dollars until they were worthless and
accused of taking hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign currency
accounts belonging to aid groups and private businesses. Tomana also is
accused of being behind detentions of pro-democracy activists.

Tendai Biti, Tsvangirai's finance minister, has appealed for $8 billion to
rebuild the shattered economy. But most donors and investors have insisted
more reforms and the rule of law be in place before they commit funds.

Tsvangirai told his party loyalists Saturday the adoption of hard currency
as the country's legal tender halted world-record inflation of 500 billion
percent in the now abandoned local currency.

More humanitarian aid was also being received to restore health services and
collapsed utilities.

His party's role in the coalition was "instrumental in stabilizing our
economy and bringing it back from the brink of a truly national disaster,"
he said.

Mugabe's program to seize thousands of white-owned commercial farms is
blamed for disrupting the agriculture-based economy since 2000 and leaving
more than half the population in need of food handouts earlier this year.

Farmers groups have reported a new wave of seizures of white-run farms in
recent weeks.

"Land reform must empower the majority of Zimbabwean without victimizing any
of our citizens ... It cannot be based on racist persecution that leaves
productive land fallow and our people hungry," Tsvangirai told the party
convention that ends Sunday.

Mugabe warned of a "time bomb" within Armed Forces

http://en.afrik.com/article15752.html

Senior Zimbabwean defence forces personnel afraid

Senior defence forces members held a crisis meeting with President Robert
Mugabe to discuss the increasing incidents of indiscipline among rank and
file members of the uniformed forces.

Saturday 30 May 2009, by Alice Chimora

The meeting on Thursday at the Defence Forces Headquarters lasted three
hours. The officers are reported to have told Mugabe that they were now
afraid of reviewing parades in the military barracks because of the
increasing hostility and indiscipline. "Senior Defence Forces officers met
President Mugabe at Defence House. The meeting was attended by all senior
army chiefs." said a army source.

Among some of the senior defence forces personnel who attended the meeting
were Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) Commander, Constantine Chiwenga, Zimbabwe
National Army (ZNA) Commander, Phillip Valerio Sibanda, Air Force of
Zimbabwe (AFZ) commander, Air Marshal Perrence Shiri, and his Number Two,
Air Vice-Marshal Henry Muchena.

There had been a public outcry to Muchena's shock revelation after telling
mourners at the burial of Peter Gono, the deceased brother of Reserve Bank
governor Gideon Gono, that the security chiefs stood solidly behind the
beleaguered central bank chief, who has openly admitted that he illegally
withdrew funds from the foreign currency accounts of clients, including NGOs
and tertiary institutions.

Chiwengwa is said to have pleaded with Mugabe to sort out the welfare of
members of the uniformed forces saying: "We are sitting on a time bomb."

Said the source "Chiwenga spoke about the welfare of service men. He told
Mugabe that something must be done to improve the salaries and working
conditions of the armed forces."

Fear

He is said to have even told Mugabe that many senior officers were now
afraid of reviewing parades in the military barracks because of the
increasing hostility and indiscipline that many soldiers were said to be
displaying. "He told Mugabe that it would not be surprising if one was shot
at while reviewing a parade," said the source.

Indiscipline was said to be particularly rampant among young officers who
are said not to be happy with the US$100 that they are being paid by the new
coalition government. It was recommended that service firearms should be
withdrawn from members of the security forces. Sources say is to limit the
prospect of a mutiny.

At the height of political disturbances last year, a group of soldiers went
into the streets of Harare and ransacked shops while beating members of the
public up indiscriminately.

The soldiers involved in the rampage were wearing military fatigues.

The then minister of Defence, Sydney Sekeramayi, apologised to the nation
for the behaviour of the soldiers.

Chinotimba throws weight behind Gono

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=17150

May 30, 2009

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - Zimbabwe's war veterans have threatened to go on Year 2000-style
farm invasions if current calls for the replacement of Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono persisted.

War veterans' leader Joseph Chinotimba, a leader of the Zimbabwe National
Liberation War Veterans' Association (ZNLWVA) says his association will
summarily dislodge the 300 plus remaining white farmers from their land if
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) insists on Gono's removal from the
central bank.

Chinotimba, a self proclaimed leader of Zimbabwe's nine-year-old land
invasions that have decimated Zimbabwe's once vibrant agricultural sector,
told state controlled ZBC television Friday that war the veterans would not
stand by and watch the MDC pushing for Gono's removal.

"As war veterans," Chinotimba said, "we have agreed that the politicians can
go ahead advocating for the removal of Gono.

"But having realised that the source of these calls for Gono's ouster are
whites, we would respond by ejecting all the white farmers who still remain
in the farms.

"As war veterans, we are saying those whites whom we had allowed to remain
in the farms would leave with immediate effect - immediately!

"We can only allow them to remain on condition that they drop the issue of
Gono and (Attorney General Johannes) Tomana leaving their jobs."

Tomana's position is also being fiercely contested. An avowed "proud
supporter" of Zanu-PF, Tomana has shown apparent bias against MDC political
prisoners.

Chinotimba emphasised, "Our point is that if the inclusive government
insists on Gono's removal, we are determined to throw every white farmer off
their farms and install blacks in those farms."

Chinotimba, a municipal policeman with the City of Harare, who took
advantage of the confusion and chaos of the farm invasions in 2000 to worm
his way into the leadership of the war veteran community and amass wealth
for himself, declared that the war veterans would not allow Gono to be
dislodged before those he accused of helping in the creation of the Zimbabwe
Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) left their positions.

This was in apparent reference to the MDC, which has repeatedly been accused
by President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF of supporting the law, passed in 2001
by the United States Congress to force Mugabe's government to observe the
rule of law.

The war veterans, many of them not genuine fighters for the liberation of
Zimbabwe, have become a militant support base for President Mugabe. They
have committed crimes and other acts of lawlessness with total impunity.
They have invaded businesses and threatened to seize them for reallocation
to blacks. Chinotimba has become a businessman in his own right.

They have also invaded courts threatening those judges perceived to be
sympathetic to the MDC and white farmers. Despite his elevated position in
the war veteran association, Chinotimba is said not to have participated in
Zimbabwe's war of liberation. He has attempted to build a political career
on the basis of his claimed status as a war veteran. He has twice been
rejected at the polls in Highfields constituency in 2005 and in Buhera in
2008.

Chinotimba's declaration in support of Gono follows hard on the heels of
public declarations by Mugabe himself, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa
and by Zimbabwe's service chiefs who all declared this week they will not
allow Gono to be removed from the central bank.

Mugabe said at a funeral ceremony for Peter Gono, the late brother to the
RBZ governor, that he would not sacrifice one of his most ardent supporters
to please the West while Chinamasa likened Gono's ouster to an attempt to
get rid of Zanu-PF itself. Zanu-PF and Mugabe lost elections in March 2008,
but the President refused to vacate office, coming back through the back
door of a controversial and violent election re-run three months in June.

Mugabe became the only candidate after Tsvangirai withdrew from the polls,
citing widespread violence against his supporters, close to 200 of whom were
allegedly massacred.

The country's partisan defence force chiefs have also voiced their support
for Gono, who has lavished them with generous disbursements of luxury motor
vehicles, imported farm inputs and machinery as well as scarce foreign
currency and fuel.

Speaking on behalf of the service chiefs, Air Vice Marshal Henry Muchena,
Number Two at the Air Force of Zimbabwe, said Gono was a key member of what
he described as an imminent economic revolution.

But the MDC, which seems unperturbed by the growing volume of threats by its
former rivals, remains adamant Gono should leave.

The Morgan Tsvangirai led MDC says Gono's continued tenure is both a
violation of the Global Political Agreement and a deterrent to much-needed
financial assistance to Zimbabwe, which is reeling from nearly a decade of
economic turmoil.

In the latest bulletin of The Changing Times on Line, an MDC publication,
the party condemned the attempt by Muchena "to drag our patriotic and loyal
forces into political affairs".

"The MDC believes that the majority of our soldiers are professional people
whose duty is to defend the country and its institutions and not individuals
on the basis of 'trough ethics and comradeship'," the MDC said.

"As a party of excellence, we believe that the military belong to the
barracks and should not in any way drag the bazooka into the negotiating
boardrooms."

The MDC continued, "At the core of our liberation struggle was the issue of
the people's sovereignty; the right of the people to determine their
destiny.

"In the case of the Reserve Bank, the people have resolved not to have a
governor with a perforated past and a chequered history.

"Chinamasa makes an unwitting revelation that Gono is the same as Zanu-PF,
further confirming the fact that the central bank has been at the core of
sponsoring Zanu-PF activities.

"We believe that the unnecessary chorus claiming to be defending Gono
confirms that indeed the central bank had strayed from core functions and
had played Father Christmas to institutions and political parties that feel
they will not survive without him at the helm of the central bank.

"The MDC believes that we must build credible national institutions that are
bigger than their leaders; institutions that have a greater ethos than
individuals."

Zimbabwe PM urges intervention on bank chief spat

http://news.yahoo.com

Sat May 30, 7:33 am ET
HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Saturday urged
southern African leaders to help resolve a deadlock over the appointments of
the country's bank chief and attorney general.

"The outstanding issues, which have been referred to SADC (Southern African
Development Community), must be resolved so that confidence in the global
political agreement is not undermined," Tsvangirai said as he opened the
national conference of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.

Last week the parties of Tsvangirai and veteran leader Robert Mugabe, who
formed a power-sharing government in February to end a ruinous political
standoff, clashed over Mugabe's decision to keep Gideon Gono as central bank
chief and Johannes Tomana as the attorney general.

Gono, who has been widely criticised for failing to stop the Zimbabwean
economy's freefall and slide into world record inflation, is a Mugabe ally.
Tomana has declared his allegiance to Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.

The matter was referred to the SADC following the dispute.

Tsvangirai said though the new government had brought relief to Zimbabweans
who had endured years of economic crisis and political tensions, there was a
lot of ground yet to be covered.

"In the 107 days since the formation of the inclusive government, the MDC
within that government, has been instrumental in stabilising our economy and
bringing it back from the brink of a truly national disaster," Tsvangirai
said.

"In fact, we have been able to bring our rate of inflation from a
world-record breaking rate of 500 billion percent to minus three percent as
at the end of March.

"While we must recognise the positive difference that our entry into
government has brought to the people of Zimbabwe, we must also admit the
fact that we have not moved as far or as fast with these positive changes as
the peole demand."

The new government also sought to ease political tensions in the wake of
contentious presidential polls last year, which Mugabe won by default after
Tsvangirai pulled out of the deciding second round due to security fears.

The work of the power-sharing government has been stalled by disagreements
among the parties over appointments to key posts; a resumption of Mugabe's
controversial policy of farm invasions; and a delay in the swearing-in of
top MDC official Roy Bennett as deputy agriculture minister.

Amendment Proposes Non-Executive Chairman for Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe

http://www.voanews.com/



By Blessing Zulu
Washington
29 May 2009

Zimbabwe's cabinet has approved an amendment to the Reserve Bank Act
proposed by Finance Minister Tendai Biti which provides for a non-executive
director to chair the board of the central bank, supplanting RBZ Governor
Gideon Gono in that post, sources said.

Biti has argued that the amendment will make the Reserve Bank more
accountable and credible, and is consistent with advice from the
International Monetary Fund.

Gono has dismissed the proposed amendment as part of a personal vendetta by
the finance minister, maintaining that his replacement as chairman of the
central bank board runs contrary to the best practice in financial
institutions worldwide. But experts say most countries are moving toward
central bank governance by committee.

Biti is expected to present the amendment to parliament next month for
passage.

The Movement for Democratic Change formation led by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and Biti as the party's secretary general is pressing for Gono to
be replaced at the central bank, but President Robert Mugabe has insisted
that Gono must continue as governor.

The top job at the Reserve Bank has become a major point of contention
within the national unity government along with the office of attorney
general, and the MDC has asked the Southern African Development Community
and African Union to mediate in the matter.

Specialist Lance Mambondiani of British-based Coronation Financial told
reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that reforms at the
central bank are overdue.

Political Will Needed For Electoral Law Reforms

http://www.radiovop.com


HARARE - May 30, 2009 - Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN)
national director Rindai Chipfunde-Vava has said the lack of political will
in reforming the electoral laws will haunt the inclusive government in the
near future.

Speaking to RadioVOP during an interview in Harare Chipfunde-Vava said
the failure by the Global Political Agreement to give clear timelines in
addressing the electoral reforms was worrying.
"The GPA does not talk of the next election date and how long the
inclusive government will be in effect. It is also silent on the date for
the referendum and because of this we are likely going to encounter the same
problems as we had in 2008," said Chipfunde-Vava.
She said the electoral environment in Zimbabwe was "still bad" and the
sooner the issues were addressed the better.
"It's self defeating when all the electoral, media, Constitutional
reforms are not taken seriously. We have had electoral commissions running
the country's elections just a few months after being formed.
In the 2005 and 2008 elections, the commissions were set up less than
four months before the elections and that was after some constitutional
amendments and it has proved to be disastrous," she added.
Chipfunde-Vava said the inclusive government which was "set up as a
result of a fraudulent election" has been moving "very slowly" to address
all the electoral challenges.
"We have constituencies that have gone for months without
representatives as a result of the political agreement. There are MPs who
have died and no by-elections have been held. We need a revamp of the whole
electoral system in this country," explained Chipfunde-Vava.
She said the independent commissions should be established in time to
ensure that they "clearly understand" their mandates before an election.
"Establishing an independent commission before any election will not
serve anything," she said.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is yet to call for by-elections for
seats that fell vacant after the election of Lovemore Moyo and Edna
Madzongwe to Speaker of Parliament and President of the Senate respectively.
There are four vacant constituency seats in the House of Assembly and
three in the Senate.  All these vacancies have to be filled.
As all the vacancies occurred before the end of last year, the
by-elections are now long overdue. Under the Electoral Act the presidential
proclamations calling the by-elections should have been gazetted within
fourteen days after Parliament notified the President of the vacancies and
correctly that notification should have been given immediately each seat
fell vacant.
The vacancies are from Gokwe-Gumunyu, Bindura North and  Guruve North
resulting from the death of the ZANU-PF incumbents in the House of Assembly.
The other two are from Chiredzi and Gokwe South and these are seats
vacated by Titus Maluleke and Jaison Machaya on appointment as a Provincial
Governor for Masvingo and Midlands respectively.

KP team visiting Zimbabwe under pressure

http://www.insiderzim.com/

A Kimberley Process Review team due to visit Zimbabwe in early June to carry
out an audit of the diamond industry in the country will be under tremendous
pressure to prove that the organisation, formed to stop the trade of "blood"
or conflict diamonds, is not a toothless bulldog.
There have been reports of rampant diamond smuggling in the country although
industry sources have said Central Bank governor Gideon Gono is inflating
the figures.

The KP has been under pressure to stop diamond sales from Zimbabwe because
of rampant smuggling and human rights abuses which saw scores of illegal
diamond miners being killed last year during the clean up of the Chiadzwa
fields in Marange.

The last KP review mission to Zimbabwe was in 2007 but its report has come
under heavy criticism because it claimed there was no smuggling from mines
like River Ranch when the figures did not seem to add up.

It also said there was no mining activity at Chiadzwa, now the centre spot
of human rights violations.

The KP team also cleared the United Nations Development Programme office in
Harare of any involvement in diamond smuggling yet a report by a special
UNDP investigation says someone fraudulently registered vehicles that were
used by River Ranch in the name of the UNDP.

The KP was dealt another heavy blow this week when Ian Smillie of
Partnership Africa Canada, a non-governmental organisation that was heavily
involved in creating the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme to curb the
flow of conflict diamonds, resigned from his organisation saying he could no
longer keep the pretence.

"I am leaving Partnership Africa-Canada (PAC) because I feel that I can no
longer in good faith contribute to a pretence that failure is success, or to
the kind of debates we have been reduced to," he reportedly said in a
farewell letter to KP members.

"I thought in 2003 that we had created something significant. In fact we
did, but we have let it slip away from us. The KP has been confronted by
many challenges in the past five years, and it has failed to deal quickly or
effectively with most of them: smuggling and fraud in Brazil, and issues of
even greater importance in Côte d'Ivoire/Ghana, Guyana, Venezuela, Zimbabwe
and now Guinea and Lebanon. In each case the issue has had to become a media
debacle before the KP would deal with it (if at all), and in the case of
Venezuela, we have effectively condoned diamond smuggling - the very thing
we were established to prevent," Smillie says.

He added: "There is a basic truth: when regulators fail to regulate, the
systems they were designed to protect collapse. In this case, the diamond
industry, which means so much to so many, is being ill served by what has
become a complacent and almost completely ineffectual Kimberley Process.
Without a genuine wakeup call and the growth of some serious regulatory
teeth, it leaves the industry exposed, vulnerable and perhaps, in the end,
unworthy of protection."

The KP team is expected to meet the Minister of Mines and hold discussions
with the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, the KP agent in the
country; the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation which is now supposed
to be running Chiadzwa, Rio Tinto which operates Murowa and River Ranch
which owns a diamond mine of the same name near Beitbridge.

The team which will be in the country for five days will also meet officials
of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, the Police
and Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials.

The team is expected to visit Murowa to look at its mining operations and to
assess the mine's stockpiles. It will also carry similar visits to River
Ranch and Marange.

Zimbabwe is reported to have a stockpile of 1.33 million carats of diamonds
valued at about US$150 million.

There has been rampant smuggling with some diamond dealers being arrested in
India and others in Dubai.

Posted- 30 May 2009

Clarification Sought on Shooting

http://www.radiovop.com


BULAWAYO, May 29 2009 - Langton Masunda, the businessman and farmer
embroiled in a farm ownership stand-off with John Nkomo, the Minister of
State for national Healing, has written to the Attorney General (AG)
demanding him to clarify whether the state will prosecute the man who shot
and injured his young brother, Patrick.

John NkomoLangton's young brother, Patrick, was injured after a
security officer employed by Nkomo shot him five times during a visit to the
disputed farm.

The security officer, Eddie Sigoge, was arrested and charged with
attempted murder and unlawful possession of a firearm, but was released the
following morning in suspicious circumstances after the state had initially
opposed bail.

Masunda wants the Attorney General, Johannes Tomana, to clarify his
position on the matter.

A certificate of 'nolle prosequi' in legal terms is an application
made after the filing of an information or indictment, when the prosecutor
representing the state's interest or a lawyer is of the opinion that the
available and admissible evidence is not sufficient to satisfy the court
beyond reasonable doubt.

The lawyer representing Masunda in the matter, Vonani Majoko said his
client applied for nolle prosequi, as it was now clear that the police want
his client to be charged for public violence.

"The case we have before us is one where Masunda will be a witness in
the attempted murder of his brother and he will take the stand as the
accused in the same matter," Majoko said.

Majoko said the letter written to the AG is seeking clarification on
whether the state will prosecute the security officer accused of shooting
and injuring one of the Masunda brothers.

He said the complainant also wants top know the owner of the firearm
that was used in the shooting of Patrick.

When Sigoge appeared in court for a remand hearing prosecutors said he
was not the registered owner of the pistol, but did not give details of the
gun owner.

Under Section 28 of the Fire Arms Act it is an offence to transfer a
firearm to another person.

Zimbabwe PM Tsvangirai in France next month

4 hours ago

HARARE (AFP) - France's junior trade minister Anne-Marie Idrac praised
Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai for his work in the unity
government and invited him to visit France in June.

The visit, scheduled for June 24-25, will be Tsvangirai's first overseas
trip as prime minister, an official said on Friday.

Idrac issued the invitation during her visit to Zimbabwe, the first by a
French minister since the power-sharing government was formed in February.

"I hope the mission will be successful when you come (to France) next
month," Idrac told Tsvangirai at a press conference.

"We are very impressed by the job you have done in the first 100 days," she
added.

"My feeling is that should you not succeed, it will be the collapse of your
country."

Tsvangirai said the formation of the power-sharing government was the only
option for Zimbabwe as the country faced worsening political and economic
crises.

"The challenge to the international community is how they react after the
signing of the political agreement," Tsvangirai said.

He also commended the International Monetary Fund as its technical
co-operation team completed its mission on Friday.

"The IMF has been very helpful," Tsvangirai said. "We are working closely to
monitor their recommendations."

Do not politicise empowerment: PM

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Andrew Moyo Saturday 30 May 2009

HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday said the government
should not politicise programmes to empower indigenous Zimbabweans, adding
that such programmes should be implemented in line with international norms
and standards.

Tsvangirai said empowerment programmes should also not discriminate against
other Zimbabweans - in a clear repudiation of the controversial empowerment
policies of President Robert Mugabe that critics say have been mainly
fuelled by a desire to catch votes during elections.

Empowerment or indigenisation should also aim to attract investment while
helping eradicate poverty, said Tsvangirai, who formed a unity government
with Mugabe last February in a bid to end a long running political stalemate
and pluck Zimbabwe out of crisis.

"The term indigenisation tends to raise emotions when it is used merely as a
political gimmick to win votes," Tsvangirai said, while officially opening
the Chamber of Mines annual general meeting in Harare last Friday.

He added: "The concept of indegenisation should be one of ensuring that the
ordinary Zimbabweans benefit from the country's mineral endowment and
participate at all levels in the business of mining and mineral exploration.

 "The manner in which this approach and objective are realised has to, as a
matter of principle, lead to growth of the economy and uplifting of the
standards of living of our people. There should be no preferred class or
people in adopting this approach and realising this objective."

Several foreign-owned companies have packed their bags in the past nine
years, galled by Mugabe's controversial and mostly chaotic empowerment
policies, including the seizure of white-owned farms to resettle blacks,
which have called into question Zimbabwe's commitment to uphold property
rights.

Mugabe's old government also threatened to nationalise foreign-owned
businesses he accused of plotting with his Western enemies to bring down his
government and externalising foreign currency earnings.

The previous administration had also proposed amendments to mine ownership
laws to allow the state to expropriate controlling shareholding from
foreigners to give to local blacks as part of the empowerment process.

Mining industry experts say unresolved controversy over mine ownership laws
continue to hamper foreign investment in the sector, which they say has seen
few expansion programmes and drop in mineral output.

Statistics provided by the Chamber of Mines yesterday indicated that Nickel
output declined by 26 percent in 2008 compared to 2007, Palladium declined
by 18 percent, coal declined by 25 percent, gold declined 49 percent while
many more minerals reported declines. - ZimOnline.

Are prison guards security forces?

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=17159

May 30, 2009

By James Makuwire

SOME 25 years ago at Heroes Acre, the smartly uniformed then Director of
Prisons stood at attention together with the commanders of the Zimbabwe
National Army, the Air Force of Zimbabwe and the Commissioner of Police.

"The Fox", aka General Sheba Gava but better known as General Vitalis
Zvinavashe, now late, turned to a colleague seated next to him and pointed
at the prisons boss before asking: "Ko uyo ndiyani? (But who is this
fellow?)"

Zvinavashe was only No. 2 then in the military hierarchy but he was a force
to reckon with.

So with plenty of heads around nodding in agreement that a prisons officer
could not be considered as a member of the security forces, this was the
last time the man in smart khakis was ever allowed to stand in line when the
so-called commander-in-chief, President Robert Mugabe, pumped hands on the
airport tarmac on his way out or into the country or at official functions
that required a guard of honour - independence celebrations, Heroes Acre
functions and the opening of the International Trade Fair in Bulawayo, among
others.

Ten or so years ago a political chameleon called Jonathan Moyo burst onto
the political scene, grabbed Zanu-PF politics by the throat and, in a moment
of sheer ingenuity, combining brutal force and the carrot of parcelling out
favors to the faithful, almost single-handedly ensured that Robert Mugabe
was re-elected. That was in 2002 when for the first time the Armed Forces
chiefs told the world that although Zimbabweans were inclining towards
voting for a change they would not salute anyone who had no liberation
credentials.

Seated among the security chiefs was Paradzai Zimondi, director of prisons.
He was later to issue his own venomous statements against MDC President
Morgan Tsvangirai, as if to make sure the others accepted him as a security
chief. But Paradzai needn't have.

The militarised situation in Zimbabwe meant that the system survived anyway
by turning virtually every public institution into a military entity. The
GMB, the Prison Services, the CIO, National Railways, permanent secretaries,
directors in ministries and even ambassadors, you name it, have all become
sacred preserves of the military or the retired military, to be more
precise. Men who were supposed to have left the military were in effect
being stealthily re-deployed.

The statement that The Fox read, rather stammered through at a packed press
conference in 2000 after he became the first Commander of the Defence
Forces, had all the fingerprints of one man, a man who at that time occupied
a luxury suite in the then Sheraton Hotel and allegedly managed the Zanu-PF
campaign of terror. Today, the militarization of Zimbabwe is complete.
Unlike Zambia and Tanzania where military men were required to discard their
military links completely before moving into civilian jobs, President Mugabe
is today still promoting "retired" generals to higher ranks and making a
complete mockery of suggestions that these people had divested themselves of
their military duties.

It is tantamount to abuse of the military. But it is also now a question of
self-preservation. The military need Mugabe and the power while Mugabe needs
the military, all facets of the "uniformed services", and the security to
continue in office. Mugabe has completely lost power to the military and can
now not retire the generals when their time is up. They are required to
serve for just four years each. But he can manipulate them, extending their
contracts by a year at a time.

Sometimes he even forgets to extend Chihuri's contract and extends it only
for a year when there will be just three or four months before the end of
that year.

Then he promoted him to Commissioner General for the simple reason that
there was strong internal opposition to the possible take over of the police
by Mugabe's own nephew.

Back to Jonathan Moyo, the professor was soon fired by Mugabe, something
that Mugabe has done only once in his presidency. The first and only
minister to have been fired was Hebert Ushewokunze but he came back even
more powerful. Enos Nkala, Dzingai Mutumbuka, Maurice Nyagumbo, Enos
Chikowore were all forced to resign. They were not subjected to the
indignity of being fired.

But Jonathan Moyo actually received an open fax, slipped under his hotel
room door in Bulawayo late in the evening, telling him he had been fired.

You would forgive him for being angry, very angry. But barely five years
later, he is walking in lock-step with the man who so publicly humiliated
him? The answer, dear friends, is survival. Moyo never relinquished his
association with the man who supplied the money that made Zanu-PF's world
and its election campaign tick: Gideon Gono. And through Gideon Gono and the
JOC, Jonathan maintained his contacts with the military. Jonathan loved his
power, the security convoy around him, the way people jumped when he barked
and he has been missing that so dearly.

President Mugabe seems to be warming up to Jonathan Moyo lately. Mugabe
argues, and correctly so, that Moyo was the most effective election director
Zanu-PF ever had, especially at a time of immense unpopularity. If Gono has
been campaigning for his friend to come back into the mainstream he needn't
push very hard. The Zanu-PF leadership almost unanimously accepts they lost
the last election because there was no one around like Jonathan Moyo who
could have directed the subjugation of the nation.

Gono and Moyo are super-glued at the hip, dancing together in unison in the
shadows. They are said to be working together on Gono's forthcoming daily
newspaper. That should be some newspaper and the people will surely love to
read news brought to them by the popular Gono and the even more popular
Moyo.

I can see them "outing" themselves soon and the prodigal son being received
with open arms again by Mugabe. That should make two people very nervous -
Mukoma Webby Shamu, the Information Minister, and his permanent secretary,
the venomous but nervous George "Shakespeare" Charamba, aka Nathaniel
Manheru.

Finally, back to the prison services. The prison services are certainly not
part of either the armed forces or the security forces. They have no role
whatsoever in securing the borders of the country or in disaster management
or in riot control.

It is only because the current Commissioner of Prisons, Paradzayi Zimondi,
is a former military man and an ex-combatant, that they have upgraded the
prison services to the status of the armed or the security forces. Otherwise
their role is simple - maintaining the welfare of prisoners by ensuring that
they are clothed and fed, which they no longer do, leaving prisoners to
starve and work on the farms of the politicians while virtually naked.

Customs Union the Object of Comesa Summit in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

http://www.voanews.com

By Patience Rusere
Washington
29 May 2009

Member states of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa opened
their 13th summit this week in the Zimbabwean resort town of Victoria Falls
aiming to conclude a long-delayed agreement on a customs union.

Some 19 heads of state are expected to attend the summit on the theme of
"Consolidating Regional Integration through Value Addition, Trade and Food
Security."

The Comesa summit runs through June 9.

Establishment of a customs union would help countries in the far-flung
region harmonize tariffs to favor regional integration in line with the
organization's mission.

The summit has drawn more than 1,000 delegates from the Comesa countries,
the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, the
Commonwealth, the United Nations, the European Union, the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund.

Dennis Nikisi, director of the Graduate School of Management at the
University of Zimbabwe told reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that the host country's economy isn't likely to benefit near-term
from reduced barriers to trade.

British envoy talks of positive changes

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=17155

May 30, 2009

By Our Correspondent

BULAWAYO - The British Ambassador Andrew Pocock has said signs of positive
change are now showing in Zimbabwe, prompting Western countries to consider
assistance for the country.

Western countries have insisted on substantive democratic reforms as a
benchmark before they can directly support the coalition government formed
between Zanu-PF and the MDC parties in February.

Pocock indicated that Western governments were now ready to assist the
country with direct aid because of the thawing relations between Zimbabwe
and its former colonial power and other countries.

"We feel change is in the wind," Pocock said Thursday afternoon. "It may not
be quick or fast. It might delay but we can see change coming to Zimbabwe."

He was addressing students at Northlea High School in Bulawayo where the
British Embassy was presenting a donation of textbooks worth US$5 000 to
eight secondary schools in the city.

The text books, which the Ambassador said were aimed at helping the
government revive the crumbled education sector, were shared between
Northlea, Emganwini, Montrose, Hamilton, Cowdray Park, Magwegwe, Emakhandeni
and Entumbane secondary schools.

"Zimbabwe has many international friends and that friendship has never been
lost even when it was frosty for years," he said. "Zimbabwe's friends are
ready and already beginning to assist this country with resources as they
see change coming."

Relations between Zimbabwe and the West hit a low over human rights
violations and poor governance by President Robert Mugabe's administration.

Mugabe, who formed a coalition government with the opposition in February,
has denied committing human rights violations and accused the West of
pursuing an agenda to oust him.

Western governments have demanded political and economic reforms before
direct aid can start flowing in to assist the coalition government rebuild
the country's economy.

About US$8 billion is needed by the coalition government to revive the
economy. So far it has secured nearly US$1 billion.

Zimbabwe Inclusive Government Watch : Issue 5

Sokwanele - Enough is Enough - Zimbabwe
PROMOTING NON-VIOLENT PRINCIPLES TO ACHIEVE DEMOCRACY

Zimbabwe Inclusive Government Watch : Issue 5
Sokwanele : 30 May 2009

April closed with the recurrent themes of wanton violence, continued farm invasions and harassment through the courts of MDC MPs, politicians and activists, as well as high profile legal figures and journalists.

We have a fundamental right to freedom of expression!

Full Text: Tsvangirai's speech to MDC annual conference

It gives me great pleasure to stand before you today to look back on our decade of struggle and outline our vision for the way forward for the MDC as we continue to build a party of excellence.

The past year has been the most turbulent, challenging and decisive year in the history of our party and our country.

Having won the elections in March 2008, the past year saw the MDC enter into protracted negotiations to find a sustainable solution to the political crisis plaguing our country.

It was a year that saw the MDC taking its place in government for the first time, although not through a process or in a form that the people of this country had demanded when they cast their votes in March of last year.

As a party of excellence, it was our belief that in forming this government we would be able to begin replacing a culture of governance which had been based on fear and oppression with one based on empowering the people and creating opportunities for prosperity and development.

In this process, we are grateful to our African brothers and sisters and the international community, who supported, and continue to support, our progress towards a democratic, free Zimbabwe.

We in the MDC, saw the formation of the inclusive Government as the most practical means of moving towards a Zimbabwe where our people can live free from fear, hunger, poverty and prosecution.

A New Zimbabwe where each citizen has a voice and where the leaders listen to those voices to create a society where everyone has access to education, healthcare, food and jobs. A society where we are all protected by the laws of the country and which are enforced by a non-partisan, professional police force.

It was the vision of this Zimbabwe that lead to the formation of the MDC ten years ago, and it is this vision which has guided us ever since. It is this vision that drives us towards building a party of excellence.

As leaders, we acknowledge that this vision is yet to become a reality, but that that reality can be delivered through the implementation of the Global Political Agreement and, in particular, through the formation of a new constitution that will be people-driven.

It is this people-driven constitution that will provide the foundation upon which our New Zimbabwe will be built and it will enshrine our rights and promote the type of society in which we all wish to live.

That society for which we are striving still bears little resemblance to the reality in which all of us live today and we must acknowledge that through forming this inclusive government we have just taken another step in a journey that began ten years ago.

Fellow members of the MDC and invited guests, our transition from an opposition party to a majority party, and ultimately to a member of this inclusive government, has not been an easy one.

While we must recognise the positive difference that our entry into government has brought to the people of Zimbabwe, we must also admit the fact that we have not moved as far or as fast with these positive changes as the people demand and deserve.

Before I elaborate upon the obstacles that we have faced and continue to face, it is important that we first acknowledge the areas where we have been able to improve the quality of life for our people. In this, as in our decade–long struggle itself, we have a right to feel proud and we must use this pride to propel ourselves forward to fulfil the mandate that we have from the people.

In the 107 days since the formation of the inclusive government, the MDC within that Government has been instrumental in stabilising our economy and bringing it back from the brink of a truly national disaster.

In fact, we have been able to bring our rate of inflation from a world-record breaking rate of 500 billion percent to minus 3% as at the end of March.

Through the provision of a monthly allowance to all government workers, we have enabled teachers to return to schools, health workers to return to our hospitals and the civil service itself to return to a sense of normalcy.

The past three and half months have also seen increased humanitarian access by local and international NGOs to those communities most in need as well as seeing more medicines for our hospitals and chemicals for water treatment.

We have seen all basic necessities return to the shelves and with the rationalisation of our currency base, prices are gradually returning to more competitive levels.

Positive steps have been taken on our path towards democratisation. I am pleased to see here today those detainees who were abducted and illegally detained for so many months.

The holding of the media conference resulted in concrete recommendations that will be implemented to create an open media environment and the constitutional process has been triggered. Our goal of restoring fundamental freedoms and human rights is not yet achieved but we are moving in the right direction.

In the sphere of international relations I am also pleased to note significant improvements evidenced by the willingness of the international community to engage with our new Government and to match the progress that we make with increased assistance.

Members of the MDC, as I said, despite this progress there is still much to do. The progress that we have made, and are intent on making, is being undermined by those that are threatened by the democratic changes contained in the GPA.

In addition, despite our party being committed to restoring the rule of law, our members continue to be the victim’s of political persecution.

Over the past ten years, each one of us has lived for the democratic ideals upon which our party is based. Each one of us has struggled for the democratic ideals upon which our party is based and each one of us have sacrificed for these democratic ideals.

It is these ideals that have been our compass and our light that guided us through the darkest days of our struggle. It is these ideals that continue to guide us now and which show us the direction in which we must continue to move and how far we still have to travel.

It is these ideals that continue to unite us as a party and which continue to unite us with the people. As long as we stay true to our ideals there can be no divisions within the party, no divisions between those in government and those in parliament, or those in local government and those that continue to work within the party structures.

It is these ideals that must continue bind us through the journey ahead and upon which we must remain vigilantly focussed.

As Prime Minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and as President of the MDC, it is these ideals that continue to guide me.

It these ideals that show me that we have not yet succeeded in restoring the rule of law, that our people do not live free from fear, hunger and poverty, that our state media remains partisan and prejudiced, that freedom of association is not yet a right that all can enjoy.

It is these ideals that tell me that a land reform program must empower the majority of Zimbabweans without victimising any of our citizens and it must ensure food self-sufficiency. It cannot be based on racist persecution that leaves productive land fallow and our people hungry.

It is these ideals that tell me that Zimbabwe is still not a country where I can be confident about the futures of all our children. The process of National Healing is critical to ensuring a peaceful future for all our citizens. This process must be based on our ideals of transparency, justice and genuine reconciliation.

It is these ideals that tell me that we must move faster to ensure the full implementation of the GPA, the rapid progress of a people-driven constitutional process and the return to the rule of law.

The outstanding issues, which we have now referred to SADC, must be resolved so that confidence in the GPA is not undermined and it continues to provide a positive transitional framework.

Members of the MDC and invited guests, let me assure you that the MDC in Government will be guided by MDC the party.

The MDC entered government as part of the roadmap we defined in 2006, as the most strategic means to deliver a new, people-driven constitution and a transition to a truly free and just society.

In order for us to achieve this and build a party of excellence, we must be disciplined regardless of what roles we are playing in this democratic struggle.

Whether, in government, parliament, councils or the party, it is the party that is our anchor. It is the party that has brought us this far and it is the party that will carry us through this transitional phase to a truly democratic Zimbabwe.

The MDC was formed by the working people for the people. We struggled for the people and with the people, and we entered this inclusive government because of the people. It is the MDC that is the people’s source of hope and it is the people that are the MDC’s source of legitimacy and we connect to the people through our structures.

Therefore, we must concentrate on strengthening our structures and we, your political leadership, will ensure that there is the will and the resources to undertake this essential exercise to build a party of excellence.

Fellow members of the MDC, the past ten years have been ones of hard struggle and sacrifice. They have been years in which we have overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles and stayed true to our ideals. They have been years in which we defeated powerful foes and formed strong friendships.

The coming years will test our strength and our friendships. They will test our commitment to our ideals as the journey ahead will not be easy but it is a journey that we must complete.

The completion of this journey will not be possible unless everyone strives to ensure that the MDC is truly a party of excellence.

To achieve this we must have a leadership of excellence. This can only happen when each one of us in positions of responsibility, abide by the ideals of the party and put the interests of the party and the people above thoughts of personal gain. In building a party of excellence, there can be, and there will be, zero tolerance for any party leader, whether in government, parliament, local government or the party that allows him or herself to be corrupted by the trappings of the office they hold.

We owe it to our heroes who have paid the ultimate price in our struggle for a truly free Zimbabwe, to stay true to the principals of the party and the needs of the people.

Fellow members of the MDC and invited guests, I am proud to be leading our party of excellence on this definitive stage of our struggle. I am proud to stand alongside the leadership and proud to represent each of you that proclaims their membership of our great party.

I know that together we will overcome the obstacles ahead of us. Together, we will build a new Zimbabwe based on hope, respect and the will of the people. I know that we are together to the end and we are marching to a New Zimbabwe.

I thank you.

FEWS Zimbabwe Food Security Update, May 2009 - Main harvest better than in 2008

 Full_Report (pdf* format - 184.9 Kbytes)

- With the arrival of 2008/09 harvests and continued imports by private traders, food security in Zimbabwe is improving. However, 2008/09 harvests are unlikely to completely cover national cereal requirements, and the Ministry of Agriculture's (MOA's) April Second Round Crop and Livestock Assessment estimated a national cereal deficit of 690,000 MT.

- It is anticipated that efficient and effective redistribution of domestic production and cereal imports from within the region and from international humanitarian organizations will cover this cereal gap.

- Prices of most basic foodstuffs continue to decline, though they remain beyond the reach of most urban poor households, and April monthly allowances paid to civil servants remained about 77 percent below the cost of the minimum family basket.

- Though area planted to maize in 2008/09 dropped compared to last season, maize harvests are higher this year, but lower than the long term (10 year) average. The April MOA assessment estimated maize production at 1,240,000 MT, about 160 percent more than last year's production. April Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVac) rural assessment findings indicate most households have enough harvests to last for four to six months.

- Input shortages and associated high costs are likely to lead to a below normal 2009 winter wheat season, for which harvests are expected in September/October.

Restoring dignity to Zimbabwe

Rusty paper clip

Dear Family and Friends,

The unity government is being torn apart over the retention of the
Reserve Bank Governor, Gideon Gono. While they argue, threaten and
grandstand, we look at our tattered lives.

In a box, abandoned and covered in dust and fluff, lies the evidence
of my lost life savings, seizure of my home and property and
destruction of my pension. I am not alone but am one of ten million
Zimbabweans who find themselves in the same position, one that has
unfolded in just 9 ugly years.

At the bottom of the box are the last accounts from our farm that was
seized by the Zimbabwe government in 2000. The accounts show no income
and there is a note attached with a rusting paper clip which says: "No
compensation paid for house, fixtures, fittings, infrastructure,
fencing etc." That statement remains true 9 years later.

Next in the box is a tattered orange cardboard file. Most of it's
contents are still too painful to revisit. One section deals with
lost life savings which had been invested in a bank that was closed
down by Zimbabwe's banking authorities.

In dog eared, dirty bundles held together with melting,

perishing elastic bands there are piles and piles of money. Purple
500 hundred dollar notes, olive 1,000 dollar notes and then strange
things called 'bearers cheques. They are blue, red, brown, purple and
green bits of paper with expiry dates and values ranging from 5 to 100
thousand dollars. They bear the signature of Reserve Bank Governor,
Gideon Gono.

Then other bundles with even higher denomination 'bearer cheques'
ranging in value from 1 to 500 million dollars. These too have expiry
dates and are signed by Gideon Gono.

There in the box are the records of new attempts to save money -
futile efforts because Mr Gono slashed three zeroes from the currency
and thousands became single dollars overnight.

More bundles of money, this time they are in billion dollar
denominations and are called Special Agro Cheques. they too have
expiry dates and are signed by Mr Gono: purple, green, brown, blue,
valued from 5 to 100 billion dollars.

Then more records of how everything was lost again when Mr Gono
imposed daily withdrawal limits from the banks. We could only draw
out enough of our own money to buy half a loaf of bread a day; the
queues were in the thousands and our money lost all its value before
we could get it out of the banks.

Again Mr Gono removed zeroes from the currency; in a single swipe
billionaires became paupers. New bank notes which started at one
dollar soon got bigger as mismanagement continued and again we had
bank notes for 500 thousand, 1 million, 1 billion. We went dizzy as
notes were issued by Mr Gono for 1 trillion, 10 trillion. When Mr
Gono's presses physically couldn't print the money fast enough, all
out trillions, quadrillions and septillions were lost when trading in
Zim dollars was suspended and we moved into US dollars.

At the top of the box is a small newspaper cutting. It quotes Mr Gono
admitting that he removed money from private bank accounts to fund
government expenses.

 And after all this there is cause for argument? Until next week with
a view of scarlet poinsettias, love cathyCopyright cathy buckle 30th
May 2009.

 www.cathybuckle.com

Back to Zimbabwe from South Africa

http://www.politicsweb.co.za

Eddie Cross
30 May 2009

Eddie Cross writes on the return home, and the MDC's uphill battle in the
unity govt

We are all aware of time. The older you get, the less time there is for
anything and it seems to accelerate each year. Only when we are children
does time seem interminable. Can any of us believe it is June already? The
changes in the veld tell us it is winter although the clear blue skies and
warm days belie that fact. So far no frost although I heard that there was
light snow in Francistown the other day!!

Two years are left before we can really expect another election. That seems
a long time but it will be gone in the blink of an eye and we must make sure
that we are able to accomplish all we have to do by then. The list of our
priorities is intimidating.

We must try to manage the affairs of State and put the country back on the
path to recovery and growth. We must get all 85 local authorities back on
their feet and restore basic services to ordinary households. We must get
new legislation passed by the House to correct the legal environment and
make conditions amenable for the restoration of our basic freedoms and
rights.

If that is not enough, we must draft a new Constitution and get it passed by
a referendum. We must reform the basis upon which the next elections are
held so that they can be regarded as being 'free and fair'. We must rebuild
the Party so that we can compete for power in the new elections and persuade
the electorate that we are the people to back when it comes to creating the
conditions under which Zimbabwe can be restored to its rightful place in the
world.

This daunting task is made all the more difficult because we are in a
transitional arrangement that requires us to work consensually on everything
despite the fact that we hold diametrically different views on everything.
This is compounded when you understand that within this transitional
government there is a secret cabal that seeks to undermine the new
government at every opportunity.

It has taken us 4 months to secure agreement on the appointment of
Governors, Permanent Secretaries, Diplomats and Roy Bennett as deputy
Minister of Agriculture. Such issues should have been routine matters for
the new authority but became a battle ground for power and influence and
even control on the ground.

Still no progress on Gono, Tomana and the rule of law. Still no progress on
agriculture - in fact in this area we are still rolling backwards, down
hill. No progress on reform of security services, hundreds of prisoners are
still dying each month in the Prisons and the political control of the
Police Service remains a problem.

I think Zanu PF understands a few new truths about the situation now and it
will be interesting to see how they handle this in the weeks and months
ahead. They now know we are in this deal until it runs its course and
results in the adoption of a new Constitution and are able to hold an
election on a free and fair basis. They also understand that if this
programme of reform does take place they are basically finished.

So we can expect them to try and arrange for elections before the reform
process has a chance of getting underway and taking root, we can expect them
to fight the reforms that we need to create democratic space. I think they
understand also that this will not be easy or without cost to themselves.
They are on the wrong side of history and they simply do not know how to
stop or slow down the passage of time.

We of course also suffer from the passage of time. We want to see economic
recovery get underway and living standards restored, we want to see our
economic institutions recovering and delivering the services we require for
everyday life. We want to see our schools and hospitals operating again and
the level of skills and performance being restored. None of this is going to
happen anytime soon. We have to adjust to the harsh reality of life in a
shattered economy and broken infrastructure.

All of this we can take if we are satisfied that at the end of it all we can
expect life to become more liveable. The proverbial light at the end of the
tunnel.

I have never had any doubts about the final outcome of this struggle, just
had no idea of just how long it would take to get there. It has already been
ten years and there have been thousands of casualties. MDC has always said
this was not a sprint, it is a marathon and we must be ready for the long
haul.

Telling people that we must accept another two years of hardships and
struggle before real change comes is tough. Many are tired of facing the
daily grind; business does not seem to get any easier. It's that time in the
race when your legs are giving way and cramp threatens, you have a stitch in
your side and wonder just how you are going to tackle that long slope that
you know is just around the corner.

It is at this moment that the mind must take over and your courage and
determination much kick in. I spent last week in South Africa having a
health check up and doing some business and MDC 'stuff'. A week of full
supermarkets and street lights and no potholes. A week of heavy traffic and
congestion and great meals in many different places. A week of a free press
and free debate and no watching what is behind you or waiting for you when
you get home.

Yet when we crossed the Limpopo there was no doubt we were home. Driving
along a terrible bit of road, potholes and worse, a small car passed us and
then turned and chased us waving us down. It was four leaders from the local
MDC leadership - we stopped and had a great discussion on the side of the
road. That would not happen in South Africa. We held a meeting in my
constituency attended by at least 2000 people - poor as mice but universally
cheerful, warm and welcoming. They are willing to go on for as long as it
takes to finish this job, trusting us to stay the course with them and help
where we can.

Back in the saddle, I discover that we have made some progress but much
remains to be done. No one is going to sort out this country for us - they
will and are helping but in the end it is down to us - the people who live
here and who love the country and its warm hearted, courageous people. We
are going to win; it's just a matter of time.

Eddie Cross is MP for Bulawayo South and the MDC's Policy Coordinator. This
article first appeared on this website
http://www.eddiecross.africanherd.com/