New York Times
By
MICHAEL WINES
Published: November 28, 2005
JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 27 - To
nobody's surprise, the governing party of
Zimbabwe on Sunday appeared
assured of an overwhelming victory as officials
tallied the results of this
weekend's election of candidates to a newly
created upper house of
Parliament.
The most striking feature of Saturday's vote, political
analysts said, was
the record low turnout - perhaps 15 percent. The previous
record for a low
turnout there was 30 percent, in 1996.
With votes in
many districts not yet counted, the governing Zimbabwe African
National
Union-Patriotic Front was leading in or had won all but a handful
of the
races for the 66 seats in the new national Senate, said Reginald
Matchaba
Hove, the chairman of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, a
pro-democracy
election watchdog.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change, mired
in a bitter dispute
over whether to boycott the election, had so far won but
three seats in
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city and an opposition
stronghold, Mr. Matchaba
Hove said. Turnout there was only 6 percent, he
said.
The opposition had fielded candidates in 26 of the 66 districts
over the
protests of its president, Morgan Tsvangarai, who urged his
supporters to
boycott the vote. The low turnout probably reflected a number
of factors,
including Mr. Tsvangarai's call for a boycott, a deep economic
crisis that
has left Zimbabweans bereft even of gasoline to reach polling
places and
confusion about the purpose of the new Senate.
President
Robert G. Mugabe, who abolished the Senate in 1990, pushed through
a
constitutional change this year to bring it back. Critics say the sole
purpose of the Senate, which can veto measures passed by the lower house, is
to provide sinecures to Mr. Mugabe's allies.
The election was also
notable for the near disintegration of the Movement
for Democratic Change.
Mr. Tsvangarai had expelled the 26 candidates in the
Senate election, but
party leaders ignored his order and instead voted to
suspend him as
president and to order him to appear before the party's
disciplinary
committee on misconduct charges.
The Scotsman
JANE FIELDS IN HARARE
ZIMBABWE'S main opposition party said yesterday
that it had suspended its
leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, as voters appeared to
have heeded his
controversial call to boycott senate elections in massive
numbers.
Partial results from the controversial elections held on
Saturday showed the
ruling party of Robert Mugabe heading for another
massive victory, but the
turnout was said by independent monitors to be
between just 15 per cent and
20 per cent.
Mr Tsvangirai had
ordered his supporters not to vote in the weekend senate
elections, even
though the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was standing
in 26
constituencies and had passed a resolution to contest the poll.
Gift
Chimanikire, deputy secretary general of the crisis-torn MDC, yesterday
confirmed that Mr Tsvangirai had been suspended for "willful breach of the
constitution and pronouncements that are in contravention of the interests
of the party".
"The offender has been advised and he has to prepare
in some form for a
hearing, at which a judgment will be made," he
said.
"I've enjoyed working with him for the past six years. [But] Morgan
Tsvangirai is not the party ... every member has a duty to observe the
constitution of the party."
In some northern and eastern suburbs of
the capital, riot police were seen
guarding near-empty polling
stations.
"We can safely say it's the lowest turnout since independence
[in 1980],"
said Reginald Matchaba-Hove of the independent Zimbabwe Election
Support
Network.
According to partial results announced live on state
radio last night, the
MDC had won only five seats, all of them in the
party's traditional
Matabeleland stronghold.
Mr Mugabe's Zimbabwe
African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) had
won 31 senate seats,
and the ruling party is guaranteed 16 further
non-contested
seats.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Mr Tsvangirai said that his
suspension
reflected the "desperate and immature state of mind gripping my
erstwhile
comrades".
He described the polls as a "non-event" and said
the low turnout was a vote
of no confidence in ZANU-PF.
Mr Mugabe's
party was preparing itself for another widely-predicted victory,
just eight
months after it also won parliamentary elections by a large
margin.
Zim Online
Mon 28 November
2005
HARARE - Zimbabwe main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on
Sunday
dismissed attempts by other party leaders to suspend him as political
gimmickry which had no force or effect because only the party's congress
could censure him.
His spokesman William Bango told ZimOnline
that the MDC constitution
did not mandate the party's disciplinary committee
headed by deputy
president Gibson Sibanda to mete disciplinary measures on
Tsvangirai or to
impeach him.
"The suspension has no force or
effect because there are no grounds in
the MDC constitution for the
censuring or impeachment of the president, only
congress can do so," Bango
said.
He added: "The people saying they have suspended Tsvangirai
have no
authority to do so. It is a political statement resulting from
frustration
associated with the low turnout in the senate
election."
In a letter dated November 24, Sibanda told Tsvangirai
that the
disciplinary committee had decided to suspend him for among other
things
violating the party's constitution by calling for a boycott of a
senate
election at the weekend.
"Please be advised that the
national disciplinary committee of the
party met on the 20th November and
resolved to suspend you from your
position as president of the party with
immediate effect," Sibanda's letter
to Tsvangirai reads in
part.
But Bango said Sibanda's committee is only mandated to deal
with
ordinary party members and not its president, who was elected by
congress.
Besides, by convening his committee, charging Tsvangirai in
absentia and
deciding to suspend him, Sibanda had rolled himself judge, jury
and executor
all in one, Bango pointed out.
Sibanda could not
be reached for comment on the matter last night.
The six-year old
MDC, the only party to pose a real challenge to
President Robert Mugabe's
25-year rule, was split over whether to
participate in Saturday's
poll.
Tsvangirai ordered the opposition party to boycott the poll
saying
there was no point in running in an election certain to be rigged by
Mugabe.
He also opposed the poll saying it was a waste of resources in a
country
that should be focusing its energies on fighting
hunger.
But secretary general Welshman Ncube and Sibanda revolted
against
Tsvangirai saying the MDC should contest because its national
council
narrowly voted for the party to do so, adding that Tsvangirai was
being
dictatorial in refusing to abide by the council vote.
The
bitter wrangle over the senate poll has left the MDC on the verge
of
splintering, a development that political analysts have said could dilute
opposition to Mugabe and reduce Zimbabwe to a virtual one-party-state. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Mon 28
November 2005
HARARE - Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU PF party romped home
to an expected
landslide victory in a weekend senate election, partly
boycotted by the main
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
party.
President Robert Mugabe's party had by late last night won
40 of the
46 senate seats whose results had been announced, with the
remainder going
to the MDC. ZANU PF also controls another 16 seats in the
upper chamber
because Mugabe appoints six senators while pro-government
traditional chiefs
appoint another 10
senators.
Added together, the ruling party was
effectively controlling a massive
56 seats in the 66-member senate while the
MDC controlled a paltry six by
late last night.
Election
authorities said they were unable to get results from the
four
constituencies of Hwange East, Hwange-Tsholotsho, Binga and Gokwe
because of
heavy rains.
With the exception of Gokwe, the remaining
constituencies are
traditionally MDC-supporting areas. However going by the
trend set across
the country, the opposition party might still lose those
seats. But whatever
the outcome it will have no meaningful impact on ZANU
PF's commanding lead.
The MDC, which went into the election sharply
divided after party
president Morgan Tsvangirai called for a boycott of the
poll, had started
off well grabbing an early lead by winning all the five
seats in its
stronghold of Bulawayo.
But ZANU PF quickly surged
in front as results from other
constituencies started coming in. The ruling
party won five seats in Harare
and grabbed several more seats in the
southern Matabeleland region, all
traditionally strongholds of the
MDC.
The Saturday poll was largely boycotted by Zimbabweans who
appeared to
have heeded calls by Tsvangirai to stay away from the election
which he said
was a waste of resources for a country which should be
directing its
energies towards fighting hunger. The MDC leader also said
there was no
point in contesting a poll that was sure to be rigged by Mugabe
and ZANU PF.
But MDC secretary general Welshman Ncube and other top
leaders of the
party revolted against Tsvangirai and fielded candidates in
26
constituencies out of the total 50 that were up for grabs.
Poll observers estimated voter turnout at 20 percent or less while the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission that runs polls in the country said it was
unable to give figures of turnout until all results were in. -
ZimOnline.
Zim Online
Mon 28 November 2005
HARARE - A record low
turnout in a senatorial election at the weekend
was the clearest sign yet
that Zimbabweans have grown wiser and are no
longer gullible consumers of
propaganda churned by President Robert Mugabe
and his ruling ZANU PF,
according to analysts.
They said the poor turnout was not only an
indication that Zimbabweans
will not be diverted from the real problems
afflicting their lives, it was
also a damaging blow to Mugabe's credibility
particularly because opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party
leader Morgan Tsvangirai had
called on voters to boycott the
poll.
The voter stayaway was also a potentially fatal blow to MDC
secretary
general Welshman Ncube who led a faction of the opposition party
that
revolted against Tsvangirai and fielded candidates in 26 of the 50
senate
constituencies.
The MDC faction heavily lost even in
traditional strongholds of the
party, winning only six seats against ZANU
PF's 40 seats with only four
constituencies remaining as of last
night.
The chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA)
civic
alliance Lovemore Madhuku said the voter boycott had not only shown
ordinary citizens' unwillingness to be diverted from "real issues" but had
generated a momentum that could see a greater push by Zimbabweans' for wider
democratic reforms.
He said: "The fact that most people did not
vote shows that people are
not buying into ZANU PF propaganda which is
designed to divert people's
attention from the real reforms necessary to
redeem Zimbabwe from certain
demise."
Madhuku, whose NCA
campaigns for a new and democratic constitution for
Zimbabwe, added: "We
must ensure that we keep the momentum of active
resistance to push Mugabe to
initiate reforms.
Tsvangirai ordered Zimbabweans to ignore the poll
saying it was
pointless to contest a poll sure to be rigged by Mugabe and
ZANU PF.
The MDC leader also opposed the poll saying it was a
waste of
resources in a country that should be focusing its energies on
fighting
hunger.
Zimbabwe is in the grip of a severe economic
crisis described by the
World Bank as the worst in a country not at
war.
Inflation is beyond 400 percent while food, fuel, essential
medicines,
hard cash and just about every basic survival commodity is in
critical short
supply. This, at a time when a burgeoning HIV/AIDS epidemic
is killing at
least 2 000 Zimbabweans every week.
And at the
weekend, very few people particularly in urban areas
bothered to vote as
many were preoccupied with the search for food, fuel or
commodities.
For example, at one polling station near a bank in
the second largest
city of Bulawayo, there were several times more people
queuing in the
banking hall than the five people ZimOnline reporters saw at
the polling
booth.
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
secretary general Wellington
Chibhebhe said the powerful labour body had
urged workers to boycott the
poll because it was time "for us to show that
we cannot be fooled by these
unnecessary political events which add no value
to our survival."
Chibhebhe said the union's leaders would now meet
its general members
across the country for consultations before deciding on
a programme of
action to demand better living conditions for workers as well
as to press
Mugabe to open up democratic space.
"Mugabe has
abandoned real national projects by running the country
through political
events such as the just ended election," added Chibhebhe.
The
senate election was the fourth time in five years that Zimbabweans
were
being called to the polls after having voted in two general elections
in
2000 and 2005 and in a presidential poll in 2002. All have been won by
Mugabe and ZANU PF.
The senate, abolished more than 10 years
ago, is being re-introduced
after Mugabe controversially amended Zimbabwe's
constitution last August to
pave way for the upper chamber, which political
analysts however say will do
little more than merely extend the 81-year old
President's patronage
network.
Mugabe denies the charge saying
the senate is a vital national
institution that will enhance Zimbabwe's
legislative process. - ZimOnline
Dear Trudy,
I often wonder if some of the MDC politicians are so far
into the forest
they cannot see the wood from the trees. As far as I am
concerned MDC should
be dissolved and rebuilt from the ground up. Or it gets
a strong leader who
can purge the ranks of deadwood and collaborators.
Unfortunately for Morgan
he has shown decisive leadership too late in the
game. My view is that
Morgan is a great man but he is caught between a rock
and a hard place. The
people, and a few others, that the Pro senate faction
has asked MT to fire
should be fired in my opinion or most of them at least.
However if MT does
fire them then he as an individual is left vulnerable to
the whims of the
Pro Faction, not good.
The sad fact is that MT is
very popular country wide and expected to be the
next president by the masses
(as ZPF so eloquently calls them). He is
popular with the Women's league and
with the Youth league which makes up
most of the MDC power base. If MT is
relinquished of his duties and
relegated into political oblivion there seems
no one else waiting in the
wings able to capture the hearts of Zimbabweans,
especially after this
latest fiasco. Unfortunately the internal and personal
bickering in the MDC
has set back everyone's struggle for freedom, an
indictment on the
leadership - ALL OF THEM.
Whilst politically I
understand the reasons for participating in the Senate
elections, they by no
means out weigh the reasons against. MDC is powerless
against ZPF whether
they have many or few seats in parliament or the Senate;
it is not democratic
space by any stretch of the imagination. You should be
honest and say the
sitting MP's, and if luck prevails, the very few Senators
are merely passive
spectators who will be witnesses to the illegalities
prevailing in our fake
democratic institutions. There will always be
witnesses, whether MDC is
physically in parliament or not. It can be
construed that MDC is in actual
fact tacitly supporting ZPF by even
attending these compromised institutions.
Thereby assisting in the
oppression of Zimbabweans by legitimizing these
institutions and prolonging
our suffering whilst they manage instead of fight
ZPF!
MT is still respected despite what he has done against the
constitution of
the MDC because he takes a decisive and deliberate stand.
Some even respect
him for it despite the technical illegalities. He refuses a
government of
unity which I believe Welsh and his team is pushing or hoping
for, he takes
a hard stand which many of us identify with. As opposed to the
stereotype
intellectual politician who dances around the truth with fancy
tongue work
whilst professing "for the good of the country". MDC leadership
has for the
last five years failed repeatedly to treat the cause of the
problem and as a
consequence has flopped lazily into treating the symptoms
instead; another
indictment on ALL OF THE LEADERSHIP.
I can't help but
notice the comfortable air which has surrounded the MDC
leadership over the
last few years. The Top 6 have increased in their belt
sizes by more than a
few notches. And in African culture being well covered
like that is a sign of
wealth and success - comfort zone. It is evident that
the Leadership, not
just the Top 6 but the sitting MP's and others in the
National Council and
National Executive, have become all too satisfied with
managing the rotten
system instead of fighting it. When MDC did fight it and
naturally took
casualties which are inevitable in any war, and we are at
war, they had the
most success, e.g. 2000. Since then they have repeatedly
attempted failed
strategies despite better advice and let Zimbabweans down
every election
since then.
Having been involved in the last election with the core
organs of the MDC I
could not ignore the indifference of the leadership to
good advice. Many of
us activists and party employees provided good
information and great ideas,
which incidentally had been put forward numerous
times and prior to previous
elections. Instead of adopting them and putting
them into action, we were
told "great ideas" can you change this and this
etc, until our ideas were
watered down and reworded to suit what they wanted
hear. An example of this
was a post election strategy this year, if ZPF stole
the election again, we
given assurances that a plan was in place and would be
executed on command.
Nothing happened, very naive of us and very sad for the
MDC!
Until MDC shows the people of Zimbabwe they have coherent and
comprehensive
policies and a dynamic organized leadership there is no reason
to vote for
them. It is a sad reality, but we are better off with ZPF in
government than
the MDC. At least ZPF has experience, knowledge and policies,
even if they
are corrupt and oppressive. It is a bitter pill to swallow for
me as I have
a passionately worked with, for and supported MDC (and The
Cause) for the
last six years. MDC should have a shadow cabinet, with each
shadow minister
having a comprehensive Policy document and a serious
portfolio to implement
once they take charge. When asked for these documents
to put on the website
they were none existent, except the two old RESTORE and
RESTART documents,
which are good but by no means cover all ministerial
policy.
The MDC should withdraw from all participation with government.
They should
create a government in waiting with functional developmental
policies. They
should appeal directly to the bureaucracies and their civil
servants who
prop up this government and demonstrate why they should opt for
an MDC
administration. To do this effectively MDC needs POLICY! Economically
the
time is right for any sensible civil servant to withdraw from supporting
ZPF
opting for a different administration. How can they be expected to do
this
when there is no alternative? How can the Army or Police be expected to
do
this when there is no alternative to support them in their change of
heart?
What is MDC's social policy? What do they intend to do to counsel
and
support the indoctrinated, abused and manipulated Border Gezi Youth? What
is
the MDC policy on National Reconciliation or even better a Truth and
Justice
Commission? We don't want a verbal reassurance that you will do
something,
we want a written thought out document stating clearly why we
should risk
our lives, and our family's lives for the MDC. You have
nothing
comprehensive to offer so why should we support you or the MDC,
especially
in this Senate election? I can't help but feel we will be
providing these
aspiring senators with a nice well paid job for them to sit
and monitor ZPF
corruption from an elevated position in society. And
incidentally they will
be being paid with corrupt money, because this
government is broke so where
the money for this senate is coming from must be
dubious!
This is not a vindictive letter; it is a concerned freedom fighter
giving
his observations and constructive criticisms.
God
Speed
Clive Kay
"Today is the day to complete what you worked
toward yesterday. And a
wonderful new opportunity to achieve what you dream
to accomplish tomorrow"
The Telegraph
By Peta Thornycroft at
Ngawarati Farm, Norton
(Filed: 28/11/2005)
One of Zimbabwe's last
remaining white farmers was strangled and burned to
death in an attack
inside his home yesterday.
Don Stewart, 68, was set upon shortly before
dawn in the bedroom of his
tightly-guarded homestead near Norton, 25 miles
west of Harare. He was one
of the last 300 white farmers left in Zimbabwe.
There were 4,000 five years
ago.
Police insisted that Mr Stewart's
murder was the work of common criminals
and had no political
motive.
His assailants were unable to penetrate the barred windows and
reinforced
doors of his homestead on Ngawarati dairy farm.
Instead,
they entered through the roof and strangled Mr Stewart in his bed.
Then they
covered him with a mattress, doused it in petrol and set him
alight.
Several of Mr Stewart's workers tried to rescue him. But when
they got
inside the house, also through the roof, he was already dead.
Nothing was
stolen but a hunting rifle.
Mr Stewart, who was born in
Britain, lived alone. After the strain of five
years of continuous violence
against white farmers, his wife, Margaret, had
returned to
Britain.
His son, David, worked alongside him on Ngawarati farm and lived
a mile away
in a cottage. He was too distraught to speak
yesterday.
John Worsley-Worswick, the chief executive of Justice for
Agriculture Trust,
a pressure group, said: "We are appalled at the
cold-blooded murder of yet
another of Zimbabwe's few remaining productive
commercial farmers. It was
particularly abhorrent at this time of Zimbabwe's
acute food crisis."
Zimbabwe's summer rains started last week but few
crops have been planted.
Commercial agriculture has collapsed following
President Robert Mugabe's
purge of white farmers.
Mr Stewart's murder
came as the self-destruction of Zimbabwe's opposition
allowed President
Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party to sweep to an easy victory
in elections for a
newly-created senate.
FROM THE ZIMBABWE VIGIL
We had a taste of what so many of our loved ones back in Zimbabwe
are
experiencing. Suffering. For us it was voluntary and temporary - but
nevertheless it wasn't easy spending the night outside the Embassy in
freezing weather. Our protest was at the waste of our nation's resources on
the puppet Senate. Even Cornwall, normally the warmest part of Britain, was
swept by blizzards. But inventive hands used our tarpaulin and banners to
make a rough and ready shelter of the kind all too familiar to people back
home. For warmth we relied on dancing and singing, including the
appropriate song "I don't know the reason why".
We were encouraged by
the kindness of passers-by. Two young white men
joined the dancing. They
knew nothing of us but they turned out to be
Zimbabweans, one of whom spoke
Shona and the other Ndebele. They bought
everyone cheeseburgers. A
Nigerian was drawn by the unusual night time
singing and when he saw what we
were about, he said "Brilliant".
We salute the brave souls who kept the
Vigil going through the dark, cold
hours, including the Vigil child,
Tinotenda. She was there at 2 am wrapped
in a blanket on her mother's back
to hear Washington Ali, Chair of the
MDC-UK District, who stressed the need
for unity in the struggle for change.
He went on to say that the MDC in the
UK was supporting the party's leader
in saying the Senate elections should
not be contested. The elections were
pre-determined because of the unlevel
electoral playing field. We should be
concentrating on bread and butter
issues particularly the humanitarian
crisis caused by
Murambatsvina.
Ephraim Tapa, Chair of Central London MDC, said we should
not be distracted
by personalities: the MDC would solve its internal
differences and tackle
the "personality" who really mattered: Comrade
Mugabe (PhD Edinburgh now in
dispute). He said the Senate project was
illegitimate and rejected the
argument that by not participating the MDC was
ceding democratic space. Our
energies should be going into finding other
ways to achieve change. It was
evident that the grass roots in Zimbabwe were
against participating in the
Senate elections.
Those who arrived for
the normal Vigil were inspired by the determination
and spirit of those who
had seen through the night and yet were still
singing and dancing. They
could even handle a US camera crew in the
afternoon. The group did a great
piece to camera with Patson from Leicester
speaking passionately about the
suffering back home and leading the group in
an enthusiastic
toi-toi.
We thought we would have low numbers after the all-nighter for
the daytime
Vigil but the passion continued. We had supporters from all
over the UK:
Dunfermline, Rochdale, Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester,
Birmingham,
Leicester plus many from London and South East England. Our
non-Zimbabwean
friend, Hugh, was very welcome with his offer of pizza and
coffee and it was
lovely to have our English school girl supporter,
Francesca, and her mother
coming to donate to the Vigil money she had made
from selling "Make Mugabe
History" wristbands.
We were cheered by
news that the US has greatly extended its targeted
sanctions against
Mugabe's cronies and are confident the EU will follow
suit. Lord Triesman,
Minister for Africa, told the Vigil this month that
the Zimbabwe situation
must be addressed by concerted international action.
(His full letter
follows after this diary item.) "Slowly, slowly, catchee
monkey" may not be
to everyone's taste, but the noose is closing
relentlessly round Mugabe's
throat. We hear that the spirits taunt him as
he approaches his 82nd
birthday - the Vigil is confident they will have him
soon.
FOR THE
RECORD: we had 40 supporters overnight and another 50 supporters
during the
day.
FOR YOUR DIARY: Monday, 28th November, 7.30 pm, Zimbabwe Forum,
Upstairs at
the Theodore Bullfrog pub, 28 John Adam Street, London WC2
(cross the Strand
from the Zimbabwe Embassy, go down a passageway to John
Adam Street, turn
right and you will see the pub - nearest stations: Charing
Cross and
Embankment). Geoff Hill, author of "What happens after Mugabe?"
and
Southern African correspondent for the Washington Times will be the
speaker.
You will be pleased to hear that his book is back in print now
after the
first edition sold out in just 12 weeks.
TRANSCRIPT OF
A LETTER FROM DAVID TRIESMAN, THE LORD TRIESMAN OF TOTTENHAM,
PARLIAMENTARY
UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE, FOREIGN & COMMONWEALTH OFFICE TO
JULIUS
MUTYAMBIZA-DEWA OF THE ZIMBABWE VIGIL.
DATED: 11 NOVEMBER
2005.
Thank you for your letter of 13 October to the Prime Minister about
Zimbabwe
enclosing a petition*. I am replying as the Minister responsible
for
Africa. We are fully aware of the appalling situation in Zimbabwe and
share
your concerns. The Foreign Secretary, the Prime Minister and I have
all
made statements, repeatedly, condemning the latest outrages and
detailing
the actions we have taken in response. The Prime Minister
discussed
Zimbabwe with G8 leaders at Gleneagles. They issued a statement
underlining
the strength of international concern. It called for an end to
the
(Murambatsvina) campaign, an assessment of the damage, and respect for
human
rights and the rule of law. We will continue to speak out, and raise
international concern, until the Government of Zimbabwe ends the bad
policies and bad governance it currently pursues.
Zimbabwe remains a
high priority for this government and we continue to
believe that external
pressure, particularly from within Africa, coupled
with support for
organisations working for the restoration of democracy
within Zimbabwe,
offers the best hope for encouraging reform. We have
therefore taken every
opportunity to raise Zimbabwe with African leaders,
encouraging them to
recognise and respond to the full horror of what is
happening in
Zimbabwe.
We welcome efforts by the African Union to engage President
Mugabe through
first a Special Envoy and then the nomination of former
President Chissano
to facilitate talks of national unity. We regret
Mugabe's rejection of
both efforts but will continue to work with our
African and UN partners and
together consider what further steps must now be
taken to press for the
return of democratic governance in
Zimbabwe.
We and our EU partners have also expanded the scope of the
targeted measures
first adopted in 2002. These measures include a travel
ban and assets
freeze on Zimbabweans close to Mugabe's regime, as well as an
arms embargo.
There are now 126 names on the targeted measures list.
Regarding the
increasing of sanctions, we will consider other measures as
and when
appropriate. Concerted international action is the only effective
option.
We are also working directly with the UN Secretary General. Kofi
Annan has
said he is increasingly concerned by the human rights and
humanitarian
impact of the recent demolitions of what the Government of
Zimbabwe has
called illegal settlements. His Special Envoy, Anna Tibaijuka,
issued a
hard hitting report on 22 July, emphasising the scale of the
humanitarian
crisis and the direct role the Government of Zimbabwe has
played in creating
it. Supported by a number of partners, we ensured that
the report was
discussed at the UN Security Council on 27 July and again on
4 October. We
will continue to work with our African and UN partners and
together consider
what further steps now must be taken to press for the
return of democratic
governance in Zimbabwe.
We are also concerned
about the humanitarian impact on innocent Zimbabweans.
DFID (Department for
International Development) has responded to the latest
evictions by
committing £1 million to a co-ordinated international response
mainly
through the International Organisation for Migration and UNICEF.
This has so
far reached over 23,000 beneficiaries, and includes food,
blankets, soap and
other essential items. Emergency water and sanitation
facilities are being
provided where appropriate and child protection
activities are being put in
place. In total, DFID spent some £25 million in
Zimbabwe in 2004 / 05.
DFID will contribute £30 million in 2005 / 06,
through multilateral agencies
and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs),
making the UK one of the three
largest donors in Zimbabwe. We expect to
increase the UK spend on HIV
prevention, care and mitigation to around £1.5
million over the next year.
I hope this is helpful.
*The petition reads: "NO SHAKING HANDS WITH
MUGABE. The latest elections in
Zimbabwe were once again stolen by the
Mugabe regime with the connivance of
its neighbours. Retaliation is now
being meted out to people who supported
the opposition. We urge the
British government to end Mugabe's reign of
terror and halt his drive for
legitimacy: 1) Bring the matter to the UN
Security Council. 2) Make it a
priority during term as President of the EU
and G8 (group of leading
industrial nations). 3) Put pressure on South
Africa to allow democracy in
Zimbabwe. 4) Extend targeted sanctions against
Mugabe's
cronies."
Vigil co-ordinator
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe
Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place
every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00
to protest against gross violations of
human rights by the current regime in
Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in
October 2002 will continue until
internationally-monitored, free and fair
elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
·
Tsvangirai calls for shift to mass resistance
· MDC dissidents win seats in
defiance of party leader
Andrew Meldrum in Pretoria
Monday November
28, 2005
The Guardian
Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the
Movement for Democratic Change,
emerged divided last night as supporters of
President Robert Mugabe won a
majority of seats in senate
elections.
Turnout was low, estimated at 15%, and a victory was already
guaranteed for
Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF, which ran unopposed in 19 of the 50
elected seats. Mr
Mugabe and his supporters can also appoint 16 more
senators.
Incomplete results yesterday saw the ruling party take six
senate seats in
Harare while the MDC won five seats in the second city of
Bulawayo. Results
from rural areas were still trickling in. But the MDC's
success in Bulawayo
left the opposition movement divided both on political
and tribal lines, as
the seats were contested despite a call by the MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai
for a boycott of the polls.
Article
continues
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr
Tsvangirai said yesterday that he was vindicated by the low numbers of
voters. He vowed to lead a newly radicalised party prepared to take to the
streets rather than contest elections.
"We were proved right in our
assessment of the national sentiment," said Mr
Tsvangirai. "We must change
gears from discredited election processes that
bring pain to our people to
an era of democratic mass confrontation with the
dictatorship - an era of
non-violent mass resistance." He said the MDC
should set aside its internal
squabbles to demand a new constitution.
A group of 26 MDC members defied
Mr Tsvangirai and stood for senate seats.
They were backed by a substantial
part of the MDC, especially in its
stronghold in the southern Matabeleland
region, who argue that the party
must strive for as much representation as
possible.
Mr Tsvangirai expelled the 26 candidates, an action which his
rivals within
the MDC said violated the party's constitution. The senate
elections come as
Zimbabwe is gripped by a dramatically worsening economy.
Inflation is 411%
and rising. Hunger has reached from the rural areas into
the cities and the
collapse of the country's water supply and health service
has caused deaths
from malnutrition and dysentery.
"This is yet
another tragedy for Zimbabwe," said Iden Wetherell, an editor
of the
country's two remaining independent newspapers, the Zimbabwe
Independent and
the Standard. "At the moment when the country is crying out
for solutions,
both political and economic, the best democratic alternative
has collapsed
into name-calling. The MDC intends to go down fighting,
unfortunately not
Zanu-PF but itself."
The senate, a legislative upper chamber that will
approve or reject bills
passed by the lower House of Assembly, is of little
consequence. After
abolishing the senate in 1990, Mr Mugabe pushed through a
constitutional
amendment to re-establish it earlier this
year.
Critics say the reconstitution of the senate was merely a way for
Mr Mugabe
to increase his patronage. The new house has no veto powers over
legislation
passed by the ruling party-dominated lower house. "The new
senate is nothing
more than Mugabe hitching additional carriages on the
Zanu-PF gravy train,"
said Daniel Molokele, a political
commentator.
Backstory
The Movement for Democratic Change has
posed the greatest challenge that
President Robert Mugabe's ruling party,
Zanu-PF, has faced since it came to
power at Zimbabwe's independence in
1980. Founded in September 1999, the MDC
is a coalition springing from the
unions, church groups and other
organisations. The MDC also draws support
both from the majority Shona and
the minority Ndebele ethnic groups, black
and white citizens and from the
cities and rural areas. The MDC came within
a whisker of winning the June
2000 parliamentary elections, taking 57 of the
120 elected seats, despite
violence and vote rigging. Despite the unfair
electoral system, the MDC
never took to the streets to challenge Mr Mugabe's
increasingly dictatorial
rule. The new split in the MDC divides the party
along regional and ethnic
lines with Morgan Tsvangirai heading the Shona
side in Harare and Welshman
Ncube leading the Ndebele group in
Matabeleland.
Business Day
Posted to the web on: 28 November 2005
Dumisani Muleya
Harare
Correspondent
ZIMBABWE has survived largely on loans from the Cairo-based
Africa
Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) over the past five years, the
Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe has confirmed.
With most western
balance-of-payments support frozen and lines of credit cut
over policy
differences, Zimbabwe could have been worse off economically had
it not been
for Afreximbank and institutions such as the African Development
Bank.
The central bank has also said Zimbabwe's negotiations for a
loan with SA
were still on, despite problems encountered during the
process.
Zimbabwean central bank governor Gideon Gono said the country
had received a
steady supply of forex from Afreximbank since
2001.
Gono said late last week the money had "come in handy for the
country",
which has no meaningful foreign exchange reserves, and whose
economy is
crumbling under the weight of inflation and lack of fuel, power,
production
inputs and basic commodities.
Afreximbank, which will hold
its annual general meeting in Harare this week,
has since 2001 been baling
out Zimbabwe with a string of loans.
It has so far provided a total of
$900m to buy fuel and grain and to meet
export finance needs.
The
money was provided over five years in tranches of between US$25m and
$95m.
Gono said Zimbabwe was still locked in negotiations with SA for
a loan to
pay for critical imports and to settle mounting foreign debts. He
said talks
between the two countries' negotiation teams, led by the
respective finance
ministers, were still under way.
Zimbabwe, gripped
by a political and economic crisis, has no significant
forex reserves due to
poor export performance, drying up of international
balance of payments
support and lack of foreign direct investment and
development aid. The
country has little capacity to import fuel,
electricity, maize, drugs and
other essentials.
Despite SA's insistence on political and economic
reforms being attached to
the loan, Zimbabwe seems unlikely to walk away due
to its desperate
situation.
Negotiators include Gono and SA
Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni.
"The negotiations are continuing.
There will be no 'megaphone negotiation'.
In banking you never, never
disclose confidential negotiations for a loan by
anybody," he said,
sidestepping the issue of how long the loan would take to
secure.
The
negotiations have been on since August, when Zimbabwe was racing against
time to pay its US$295 million arrears to the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) to avoid expulsion.
Although SA refused to release the money,
variously estimated at between
$500m and $1bn, Zimbabwe still managed to
raise $120m at the eleventh hour
to reduce its debt.
However, the IMF
is probing the source of the money after an SA-based
Zimbabwean tycoon,
Mutumwa Mawere, wrote to the fund complaining that his
seized companies'
coffers were raided to pay the debt.
The IMF delayed until January a
decision to expel Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, Gono also said talks between the
Zimbabwean government and Rand
Merchant Bank for a fuel line of credit were
still on. Harare is trying to
ease a chronic fuel crisis which has been
ongoing since 1999.
Gono said the Afreximbank meeting would be an
opportunity to market the
country, which is overwhelmed by negative
publicity.
"Exporters will have a rare opportunity to showcase their
products to the
rest of Africa and banks will be able to interact and
exploit opportunities
with their counterparts," he said.