http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Cuthbert Nzou
Tuesday 07 October 2008
HARARE - Zimbabwe's fragile
power-sharing agreement faced fresh obstacles as
it emerged on Monday that
the ruling ZANU PF party resolved three weeks ago
not to share the 10 posts
of provincial governor with the two opposition MDC
formations.
Sources said President Robert Mugabe's party also
resolved during a meeting
of its central committee last month that a clause
in the power-sharing pact
shelving by-elections for a year had to be
scrapped because it infringed on
Zimbabweans' right to elect leaders of
their choice.
Already, a wrangle between ZANU PF and the MDC over
distribution of key
Cabinet posts is holding back the implementation of a
unity government
outlined under the September 15 power-sharing
deal.
ZANU PF wants to retain control of the key ministries of defence,
home
affairs, finance and foreign affairs, a move the MDC-led by Morgan
Tsvangirai has rejected saying it would reduce it to a junior partner in a
unity government.
Our sources who are senior officials in ZANU PF
said the party's 74th
ordinary session of the central committee on September
17 - just two days
after signing of power-sharing pact - resolved that the
10 provincial
governors appointed by Mugabe on August 29 should remain in
office.
The central committee, the sources said, unanimously agreed that
the issue
of governors is not contained in the pact signed by Mugabe,
Tsvangirai and
the leader of the smaller formation of the MDC, Arthur
Mutambara.
"It was agreed that there was no legal basis to remove some of
the appointed
governors and appoint MDC members to fill the posts," a
central committee
member said. "The issue of governors is not part to the
agreement and the
MDC cannot demand even a single post."
ZANU PF's
highest decision making body outside congress also resolved that
by-elections should be held whenever a parliamentary seat became vacant
despite a clause in the power-sharing agreement that sought to block
by-elections in a bid to maintain the present distribution of power in
Parliament.
The central committee immediately tasked the party's
commissariat department
to prepare for a by-election in Chegutu senatorial
constituency vacated by
ZANU PF member Edna Madzongwe after her election as
President of the Senate.
Mugabe's party is also preparing for
by-elections in Matobo South and Guruve
North House of Assembly
constituencies. Matobo fell vacant after MDC member
Lovemore Moyo was
elected Speaker of the House of Assembly while Guruve
North became vacant
following the death of ZANU PF's Cletus Mabharanga.
Top ZANU PF official
and one of the party's lead negotiators in the
power-sharing talks Nicholas
Goche confirmed the resolutions by the party's
central committee, adding
that the ruling party would engage the two MDC
formations to amend the
agreement clause barring by-elections.
"We will engage the two MDC
formations to amend the agreement and allow
by-elections," Goche said on
Monday.
He added: "It was felt that the clause infringed on the people's
right to
elect leaders of their choice. If left like that there is a danger
of a
constitutional challenge in the courts. ZANU PF has started campaigning
for
the vacant seats because we have no doubt that the MDCs will agree with
us
on the clause."
Goche said no one from the MDC would be appointed
governor because the
power-sharing agreement does not provide for
that.
"Governors appointed by President Mugabe will not be removed to
accommodate
MDC (candidates). Only issues covered in the agreement will be
dealt with,"
he said.
But MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa differed
with Goche saying the issue of
governors was still outstanding and would be
dealt with in the talks.
"Governors form part of the government and as
MDC we should be represented
at that level. Our position is that we should
have our own people as
governors," Chamisa said. "ZANU PF's position is
wrong and we will use the
mediation process to seek what we deserve as
reflected by the vote of the
people."
Chamisa said his party, which
holds the most seats in the House of Assembly
but not enough to control the
key lower chamber, was yet to take a position
regarding the issue of
by-elections.
Spokesman for the Mutambara-led MDC, Edwin Mushoriwa was
not immediately
available for comment on the matter.
The creation of
a power-sharing government is seen as the first step in
ending Zimbabwe's
decade-long recession that is seen in the world's highest
inflation of 11
million percent, deepening poverty amid shortages of food
and every basic
survival commodity.
But failure by Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara to
appoint a Cabinet after
several rounds of talks has raised doubts over
whether the power-sharing
deal could stand the strain given the three
rivals' deep-seated mistrust of
each other. - ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=5333
October 6, 2008
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - The MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai has dismissed
state media reports
suggesting that the impasse over the power-sharing deal
was now down to
resolving differences over the allocation of only two
ministries.
Instead, so the MDC says, the impasse was much deeper; as the
parties
remained deadlocked over all key cabinet posts and the issue of
governors.
The government-controlled Sunday Mail, quoting George
Charamba, President
Robert Mugabe's spokesman, reported on Sunday that
Zanu-PF and the MDC had
agreed on all other cabinet posts except those of
Finance and Home Affairs.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, President Robert
Mugabe and Arthur Mutambara
of the breakaway faction of the MDC met last
Saturday in a bid to resolve
the dispute over the allocation of the
ministries.
In a statement, quoted by The Sunday Mail after the meeting,
Charamba said:
"The President and the leaders of the two MDC formations met
this morning
(Saturday) in consultation over the setting up of Government
but failed to
conclude their consultations.
"They, however, decided
that there should be further consultation at the
level of their negotiating
teams exclusively over the Ministries of Finance
and Home Affairs," said
Charamba, who is Mugabe's Press secretary.
The ministries of local
government and foreign affairs had also been
reported to be the subject of
contention between the parties.
But the MDC yesterday said the impasse
went beyond just two ministries.
"The MDC dismisses Zanu-PF claims that
only two cabinet posts are yet to be
resolved upon. Contrary to these
claims, there is a deadlock on the
allocation of all key ministries and the
allocation of governors."
While Charamba routinely makes statements about
Zanu-PF he is not an
officially designated spokesman of the party, being
merely a civil servant
working in the government office of the president of
Zanu-PF, President
Mugabe. The official spokesman of Zanu-PF is the elderly
Dr Nathan
Shamuyarira, who on matters pertaining to the power-sharing
agreement has
deferred to former Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, who was
one of
Zanu-PF's negotiators.
Last month, Mugabe unilaterally
appointed 10 provincial governors from his
Zanu-PF party before the
conclusion of the power-sharing deal. The agreement
itself is silent on the
issue of governors, with reports that an
understanding had subsequently been
reached that the appointments would be
reversed.
A Zanu-PF central
committee meeting held on September 16 is reported to have
resolved to
oppose any attempts by the MDC to push for the reversal of the
gubernatorial
appointments.
Yesterday, the MDC said communication had ceased since
Saturday, and
suggested the need for the intervention of SADC and the AU.
The party
dismissed a report in the state media suggesting further
consultations had
been held.
"There has been neither contact nor
communication made between the MDC and
Zanu-PF as mischievously reported in
The Herald," said the MDC. "The
negotiating teams have not met since the
meeting between the three
principals on Saturday to discuss the outstanding
issues.
"Considering the fact that it is now exactly 21 days after the
signing of
the global agreement, the cabinet deadlock calls for the urgent
help and
assistance from SADC and AU as guarantors of the deal to unfreeze
the
impasse.
The MDC said it was concerned at the prolonged and
protracted dialogue,
considering that people were dying of hunger, factories
had closed, school
calendars had been disrupted, workers were not going to
work and there was
an outbreak of disease such as cholera.
"The
country is at a standstill and the people's patience is running out,
hence
the resolution of the impasse is more urgent than ever before," the
statement said.
The dispute over the ministries threatens the
power-sharing deal, which was
signed on September 15 and overseen by ousted
former South African President
Thabo Mbeki.
Over the past two weeks,
Zanu-PF has attempted to put gloss over the
impasse, if not underplayed it,
with Mugabe refusing to admit there was a
deadlock when he attended the
recent UN Summit in New York.
However, reports hinted the MDC, now the
majority in Parliament, was mulling
over pulling out of the deal unless
Mugabe acquiesced on the key ministries
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=5344
October 6, 2008
Jupiter
Punungwe
SOME people have equated the recent Mbeki-mediated co-governance
talks
between the MDC and Zanu-PF to the Lancaster House of 1979.
As
we know, the 1979 talks led to some meaningful political change in
1980.
Personally I hold a very dim view of the usefulness of the more
recent talks
to the ordinary Zimbabwean. If anything will come out of the
recent talks it
will be more by luck than by design.
In 1979 the
Lancaster House talks almost collapsed. This is famously
epitomised by a
picture of grim faced Patriotic Front leaders who had staged
a walk out. One
can also rightly argue that the recent talks had their
moments of drama and
grim faced leaders huffing and puffing out of the
negotiating
venue.
However a key difference is the issues over which the drama
happened at the
two sets of talks. The Lancaster House talks centred on
matters of
principle. The walk out which resulted in the historically famous
picture of
Patriotic Front leaders was over the issue of land
redistribution, not who
was going to get what post.
At the end of the
Lancaster House talks the direction which the country was
going to take was
very clear. Everybody knew there was going to be an
election based on the
one man one vote principle.
Everybody knew that a policy of equitable
redistribution of resources
including land was supposed to be followed by
whoever won the election. None
of leaders of the political movements of that
era had been allocated any
stone-cast roles in the incoming government. No
cabinet posts were allocated
in advance. The then Prime Minister Abel
Muzorewa actually slipped into
political oblivion. If the talks had been
held under the same terms as those
going on now he would probably have been
guaranteed a political life through
having a 'senior' post reserved for
him.
In contrast, at the recent talks, issues of principle where
conspicuous by
their absence. Grim faced charges out of the Rainbow Towers
were over the
sharing of cabinet posts and power, not the settling of sticky
points of
principle. All the major points of Zanu-PF misrule were left
un-negotiated
with very vague mention of future agreements on the way
forward. A heavy
smokescreen of obfuscation left many people trying to guess
what was really
agreed.
The first thing you need before embarking on
a journey is to know where you
want to go. Zanu-PF and he MDC have been like
a flight crew quarrelling
about who is going to be captain, who is going to
be co-pilot who is going
to be part of the cabin crew. Yet they do not even
know whether they want to
fly to Plumtree or to Nyamapanda, in the first
place. They just want to fly
somewhere. If the two parties know what
policies they want to implement as a
GNU, they have been doing an extremely
good job of not communicating those
policies.
On the key point of
economic management for example, it is not clear whether
the MDC is going to
have full say on the economic direction the country
takes from now on. All
that is mentioned is that the MDC are going to be
given the ministry of
finance and tasked with turning around the economy. I
understood that to
mean that the MDC were going to be given responsibility
for sourcing funds
from their western backers. Little of substance was
mentioned on critical
economic management principles such as unfettered free
trade, accountability
and a tough stance on corruption.
In fact indications are that old
Zanu-PF policies are going to continue with
little modification. Already the
handout of free national resources
(tractors) to cronies has started.
Attempts to enforce ludicrous and
production stifling price controls are
continuing. Little attempt if any is
being made to stop access to state
coffers by Zanu-PF bigwigs whose wanton
pillaging of state resources is the
primary source of Zimbabwe's economic
problems. Big names in Zanu-PF, who
are no longer big names in national
politics, because they no longer
represent any constituencies, continue to
dictate matters ahead of the
elected representatives of the people.
In fact they are preposterously
demanding that they be accommodated in the
new government with more power
than the elected representatives of the
people from the MDC, or those from
their own party they consider 'junior'.
Somebody must remind them that the
only 'senior' thing about politics in a
democracy is the number of people
who vote for you. If the people at first
vote someone into power, who
subsequently fail to serve the people's
interests, the people have an
unfettered right to vote someone else in.
Historical votes are not a factor
in democracy, only the current mandate
counts.
The old dogs have
absolutely no right to continue growling. They should tuck
their tails
between their legs and slink into oblivion gracefully. If they
want a chance
to come back as representatives of the people they should stop
pushing their
potbellies around the corridors of government offices, where
they no longer
belong, and go back to sweat and slave for the people at
grassroots level.
This message also includes Tsvangirai because although
those from the MDC
might hotly dispute it, the fact is that he is not
legally elected to
represent anyone.
It is astounding when people who spend decades in the
bush fighting for one
man one vote, act in a way which clearly shows that
they have no clue what
one man one vote is about. One man one vote is about
testing the wishes of
the people periodically and following those wishes.
Seeking to qualify one
man one vote with some system of perceived political
seniority is a
departure from democracy, and we the ordinary Zimbabweans
should never, ever
accept such qualification. A person's 'political
seniority' goes away the
moment they lose the mandate to represent the
people.
http://www.mg.co.za
JAN RAATH | HARARE, ZIMBABWE - Oct 07
2008 07:25
Zimbabwe's economic catastrophe is plunging the country into
an "information
dark age" as newspapers, radio and television become
overwhelmed by
multimillion percent inflation and the breakdown of
infrastructure,
according to media analysts.
Newspapers have become
too expensive for all but a tiny minority, while the
state-controlled radio
and television monopoly services are stricken by
chronic power cuts, says
the independent Media Monitoring Project of
Zimbabwe (MMPZ).
Zimbabwe
is classified by the New York-based international Committee to
Protect
Journalists as among the 10 worst countries for hostility to freedom
of the
media.
An armoury of repressive laws introduced in 2002 by President
Robert
Mugabe's regime prescribe sentences for "crimes" such as working as a
journalist without accreditation from the state-run media commission and
publication of information "likely to bring the government into
disrepute".
MMPZ coordinator Andrew Moyse says the country's media
landscape is already
dominated by government mouthpieces providing "biased
and selective
coverage, even during this important period in the country's
history",
referring to a stalled power-sharing agreement between the
country's
84-year-old autocratic president and prime minister-designate
Morgan
Tsvangirai.
"Now it's becoming clear that the nation has been
plunged into an even more
intense and suffocating information dark age,
where reliable information is
at a premium and the main means of
communicating news is rapidly reverting
to word of mouth, or SMS," he
said.
Under Mugabe's reckless management, the country has plummeted in
the last
eight years from one of Africa's most prosperous nations to a land
scarred
by chronic food shortages, hyperinflation and a nearly worthless
currency.
The state-controlled and subsidised Herald newspaper, the only
national
daily, soared to Z$3 000 on Saturday from Z$10 on August 1, when
the central
bank slashed 10 zeros off the currency. For that price, a hungry
Zimbabwean
can get two loaves of bread.
"In any other country, a
newspaper is probably the cheapest item of people's
daily expenditure," said
Moyse. "Here, who is going to sacrifice a loaf of
bread to read the
Herald?"
The country's independent newspapers, which receive no
subsidies, the
Zimbabwe Independent, the Sunday Standard and the Financial
Gazette, now
cost Z$4 500 -- taking them "into the luxury-items
bracket".
Relentless barrage
The regime has blocked the emergence of
any independent electronic media,
while state radio and television maintain
a relentless barrage of hostility
against Mugabe's opponents.
Even
the public broadcaster is feeling the heat of the economic meltdown. In
April, it admitted it was covering only 45% of the country, because of
antiquated and run-down transmission equipment.
Earlier this year,
the government-owned transmitter company said it needed
US$45-million to
upgrade its equipment. The government stumped up US$500 000
which, according
to state media, was promptly stolen by a government
official.
Whatever the source -- whether the official media,
foreign-based private
radio stations, online news agencies or email -- news
is becoming
increasingly elusive as a result of ever-more frequent and
severe power
cuts, said Moyse.
"Only those lucky enough to own their
own generators -- depending on the
availability of fuel -- have access to
information on a fairly regular
basis."
Rural people with no access
to electricity are becoming totally cut off as
cheap radios disappear from
shops and battery prices soar.
Earlier this year, Ray Kaukonde, Mugabe's
former governor of one of the
country's largest provinces in the north-east,
compounded the isolation by
ordering that shortwave radios be seized to stop
people listening to private
radio stations broadcasting from outside the
country.
"It's a basic truth that where communication is suffocated,
rumour and
speculation abound," said Moyse. "The authorities complain
bitterly about
this grievous state of affairs, yet it is entirely of their
own making." --
Sapa-dpa
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=5340
October 6, 2008
By Our
Correspondent
BULAWAYO - A Bulawayo High Court judge has granted a
provisional order
barring Zanu-PF supporters who recently invaded a city
council farm from
constructing any buildings on the farm.
In an
interim relief order in a case brought by the MDC-led Bulawayo City
Council
against 3000 Zanu-PF farm invaders, Justice Maphios Cheda barred the
party
supporters who invaded Umnganwini Council Farm from cutting trees,
clearing
the land or constructing any structures.
The invasion was led by
suspended Zanu-PF Bulawayo women's league treasurer,
Lillian
Kandemiri,
Kandemiri, who claims to be a war veteran, alleged that the
invasion in May
had the blessing of Didymus Mutasa, the Zanu -PF secretary
of administration
and former Minister of Lands. She also claimed the
invasion was an extension
of the government land reform
programme.
"Pending the determination of this matter, it is ordered that
the respondent
and all those claiming title through her, be and are hereby
interdicted from
cutting trees and clearing the land in Umnganwini township
farm in Bulawayo,
constructing any improvements or preparing to construct
improvements on
Umnganwini township farm," reads part of the provisional
order issued by
Cheda.
Cheda also gave Kandemiri, who is the first
respondent, and those claiming
title to the land through her, 10 days to
respond to the provisional order.
The Bulawayo City Council filed the
urgent application last month seeking
the eviction of Kandemiri and her
fellow invaders.
The local authority wants her and the farm invaders to
be evicted because of
fears of extensive land degradation should they
remain. There is also
concern that the invaders will resort to poaching in
the nearby Tshabalala
Game Sanctuary
The order came two weeks after
the Zanu-PF Bulawayo provincial executive had
suspended Kandemiri from the
party for playing a leading role in the
invasion of the farm.
After
the invasion of the farm five months ago, Kandemiri collected $500
million
(only 5 cents revalued) and allocated pieces of land to Zanu-PF
supporters,
her relatives and some senior civil servants.
Some of the beneficiaries
of Kandemiri's generous intervention were already
building permanent homes
on the expansive properties.
She had also defied calls by the governor
for Bulawayo, Cain Mathema and the
Zanu-PF provincial executive, to leave
the farm together with her 3 000
colleagues.
After her suspension,
Kandemiri claimed that the provincial executive had
not officially
communicated with her regarding the suspension.
She accused the Bulawayo
Zanu-PF provincial executive of being disloyal to
President Robert Mugabe
but being loyal to losing independent presidential
candidate, Dr Simba
Makoni.
"Their action is unprocedural," Kandemiri said. "There is no way
they can
claim to have suspended me from the party without communicating
with me."
http://www.businessday.co.za
07
October 2008
Brian Latham and
Nasreen
Seria
Bloomberg
HARARE
- Zimbabwean banks have run out of cash after the central bank raised
withdrawal limits last week, sparking a rush by thousands of people to pull
out funds.
"Parts of the city centre were impassable today
because thousands of men and
women were thronging streets outside banks
trying to access their cash,"
said John Mapingure, a taxi driver in
Harare.
"People are clamouring for their money. No one has cash, leaving
people
completely desperate," he said.
Banks had not been
allocated enough cash to meet consumer demand, Chipo
Sakupwanya, a manager
at ZB Bank , said in Harare yesterday. Jessica
Mahatchi, a secretary with a
cellphone retailer in the city, yesterday said
she had been queueing for
cash for more than 24 hours.
On September 26, the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe raised the cash withdrawal
limit 20-fold to Z$20000 to help
consumers pay for goods that have lea pt in
price. But the central bank is
failing to print money fast enough to keep up
with soaring inflation. The
Harare Tribune newspaper quoted Cato Senior
Fellow Steve Hanke as saying
inflation was now at 530-billion percent.
Last Tuesday, the
central bank suspended the real-time gross settlement
system, which allows
for electronic payments to be cleared immediately.
Companies will be forced
to settle payments by cheques, which take up to a
week to
clear.
Zimbabwe's central bank governor, Gideon Gono, said he had "no
option" other
than to suspend the electronic payment system because it was
being abused by
illegal foreign currency dealers and businesses. The move
might help to ease
the cash shortage, Gono said yesterday
.
"It was a necessary move to restore sanity to the banking
sector," Gono
said. The move "should ease the situation because it will
prevent
unscrupulous members of the public from using overpricing and
extractive
pricing structures to remove cash from the system, leaving
desperate
consumers to watch their money disappear in despair."
http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk
Tuesday, 7th October 2008.
6:50am
By: Kumbirai Mafunda.
Zimbabwe's largest labour
alliance, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU), this week set itself
on a collision course with the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) after
reiterating its condemnation of the
power-sharing agreement signed last
month by leaders of the country's three
political parties ostensibly to end
the country's nine-year political and
economic logjam.
MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai (pictured), who spearheaded the formation
of the
opposition party during his leadership of the militant labour union
signed
an agreement with ZANU PF leader Robert Mugabe and Arthur Mutambara,
the
leader of a rebel faction of the MDC, last month to form a power-sharing
government.
Under the deal, which is currently deadlocked over
the equitable
allocation of ministerial portfolios Mugabe remains president
but will
relinquish some of his powers to Tsvangirai who becomes prime
minister while
Mutambara, who heads the breakaway faction of the MDC, will
be appointed
deputy prime minister.
But the ZCTU, which was
influential in the formation of the MDC in the
late nineties and which last
week labelled the power sharing deal an elitist
pact at the weekend accused
the MDC of over-exposing itself to Mugabe and
warned that the agreement was
meaningless to Zimbabwean workers.
"The MDC will soon realize that
they played into the hands of
dictatorship and what they signed was
meaningless. The ZCTU reminds
Zimbabweans that we should not make the same
mistakes we made in 1980 when
independence euphoria clouded our minds and
ZANU PF took advantage of that
to disempower people. The same has happened
during the current deal between
the MDC and ZANU PF," read part of the ZCTU
statement seen by this reporter.
Although the ZCTU's statement was
not clear on what action the labour
federation will take it came short of
announcing the end of its alliance
with the MDC.
"The ZCTU
General Council decision was made with a sober mind. It was
a painful but
true reflection of what the deal is all about. We have an
obligation to tell
our members the truth. As we wait for the deal to unfold,
we hope to be
proved wrong," said the ZCTU.
Observers laud the power sharing
agreement as the first real
opportunity in nearly a decade for Zimbabwe to
begin work to end an
agonizing economic crisis characterised by the world's
highest inflation of
more than 11 million per cent, skyrocketing
unemployment and shortages of
food and every basic survival commodity some
militant civic society groups
believe that the agreement between MDC and
ZANU PF alone would not end the
country's multi-faceted political and
economic crisis and have called for
free and fair elections supervised by
the international community.
FROM THE ZIMBABWE VIGIL
6th October 2008 - Press
Release
European Union countries have been urged to suspend
government-to-government
aid to members of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) because
of their failure to help the desperate people of
Zimbabwe.
On Saturday, 11th October, Glenys Kinnock MEP will attend the
Zimbabwe Vigil
outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London to accept a petition
signed by
thousands of people who have passed by the Vigil in the Strand.
Mrs Kinnock
is Co-President of the African, Caribbean and Pacific / EU Joint
Parliamentary Assembly and has taken a close interest in the situation in
Zimbabwe.
The event marks the 6th anniversary of the Vigil, which has
been held
outside the Embassy every Saturday since 12th October 20002 in
protest
against human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. It has been described by
the
Observer as the largest regular demonstration in London.
The
petitions reads: "A Petition to European Union Governments. We record
our
dismay at the failure of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC)
to help the desperate people of Zimbabwe at their time of trial. We
urge
the UK government and the European Union in general to suspend
government-to-government aid to all 14 (now 15) SADC countries until they
abide by their joint commitment to uphold human rights in the region. We
suggest that the money should instead be used to feed the starving in
Zimbabwe."
The Vigil condemns SADC for recognising Mugabe as
President when SADC's own
election observers criticised the polls this year
as deeply flawed. Mugabe
consequently feels free to disregard a
power-sharing deal signed last month
despite the deepening humanitarian
crisis. The UN says that about half the
population will need food aid by
early next year.
The Vigil wants the money saved by our proposal - and it
amounts to many
hundreds of millions of pounds a year - to be used to
finance refugee camps
in South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique to
which Zimbabweans can
flee for their lives without fear of prompting more
xenophobic violence. The
money would fund shelter, medicine and education no
longer available in
Zimbabwe.
Vigil Co-ordinator Rose Benton said:
"We do not see why the British
taxpayer, should, for instance, give more
than £60 million this year to
Malawi, whose President struts around on a
stolen farm in Zimbabwe and who
has named a new highway after his hero
Robert Mugabe."
Mrs Benton explained: "We're not of course, calling for a
halt to
humanitarian aid to the region ..food, medicine etc. What we are
talking
about is balance of payments support which often goes astray. We
believe
SADC has failed to live up to its basic responsibilities and must
share the
pain of Zimbabwe as it becomes the country of the dead, the dying
and Mugabe's
Zanu-PF Party. We are grateful that Botswana and Zambia have
recently begun
to protest about what is happening but our proposal will
benefit them in
relieving their refugee
burden."
Event: Zimbabwe
Vigil's 6th
Anniversary
Venue: Outside
the Zimbabwe
Embassy, 429 Strand, London WC2
Date /
time: 2 pm - 6 pm, Saturday,
11th
October 2008
Mrs
Kinnock will
arrive at around 3.30 pm. The petition will be presented at
around 4 pm.
Further information: Contact Rose Benton
(07970 996 003,
07932 193 467), Dumi Tutani (07960 039 775), Ephraim Tapa
(07940 793 090)
Vigil co-ordinators
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.
http://www.radiovop.com
HARARE - The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) has
indefinitely suspended
the opening of the college as the turmoil in the
country's education sector
continues unabated.
Students, who had gone to the college hoping to start lectures on
Monday
were greeted by notices that the university management had
indefinitely
suspended the opening.
Ronald Shoshore a final year student of
psychology said the delay in
opening the university has jeopardised his
plans in life.
"I had hoped that we were going to graduate this
year but this seems
to have failed. It's so painful because I can not afford
to be a student for
so many years and the economy has hit hard on me," said
Shoshore.
He said the delays have also made life very difficult for
his parents
who can't afford the education bill.
"My parents
had also thought that by now I should be working and
taking care of them. I
am devastated," he said.
Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu)
president Clever Bere said
the failure by the UZ management to open this
semester was a sign of a
failed leadership in the country.
"The
end loser was always going to be the student. We have lost on
quality and we
are also losing on time. The whole problem goes down the poor
policies by
president Robert Mugabe and his cronies. We are in this messy
because of
them," said Bere.
UZ vice chancellor Prefessor Levy Nyagura said
the decision to close
the university indefinitely was reached after a
meeting by the university
council.
"You have to direct your
questions to the university council, they are
better positioned to comment,"
he said before switching off his mobile
phone.
Some lecturers
had at the weekend expressed doubt that the university
would open as most of
them are on strike and conditions at the university
were said to be in a
deplorable state with toilets not functioning.
http://www.businessday.co.za/
07
October 2008
FORMER
president Thabo Mbeki has his work cut out for him if his position as
international mediator in Zimbabwe is to help him salvage any semblance of a
legacy.
Rudely removed from office shortly after the much-vaunted
breakthrough in
Zimbabwean political negotiations that resulted in last
month's signing of
an interim power-sharing agreement, Mbeki's controversial
approach to the
Zimbabwe conundrum is now looking as ineffective as
ever.
It is becoming apparent that the agreement was concluded in haste
for the
wrong reasons, not least Mbeki's desire to prove his detractors
wrong:
claims of "quiet diplomacy" being vindicated were clearly premature.
In
fact, it beggars belief that a "deal" could have been announced when
there
were so many fundamental issues that had not yet been resolved - the
two
sides can't even agree on the sticking points, let alone how to resolve
them.
When President Robert Mugabe's Zanu (PF) and the two Movement
for Democratic
Change (MDC) factions agreed to share power in an effort to
stabilise the
country last month, the world was a very different place from
what it is
today . Mbeki was under political pressure but remained the
president of SA.
The US subprime crisis was a major concern but appeared to
be under control.
Mugabe was under more pressure than ever before, both
at home and
internationally, to submit to the will of the Zimbabwean
electorate as
expressed in the March election, from which the MDC emerged
with the
greatest support. For the first time in years, the stubborn old
despot had
more to lose by playing hardball than he had to gain.
That
has clearly changed in recent weeks, illustrating the folly of calling
a
piece of paper an agreement when it does not commit any of the parties to
specific actions or expose them to real consequences if they are not true to
their word.
After appearing at first to have accepted that he would
have to hand over a
meaningful amount of state power to MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai if he was
to escape from the hole he had dug himself and the
country into, Mugabe has
seized the opportunity provided by the political
turmoil within SA's ruling
party, and the global financial crisis, to
wriggle out .
The main obstacle to a new unity government being formed is
ostensibly the
wrangling over which party gets the crucial finance and home
affairs
portfolios, which confer significant powers over the allocation of
resources
and policing respectively. Both have been badly abused by Zanu
(PF) for
political ends in the past, so it is understandable that the MDC is
reluctant to participate in a government where these powers are still under
Mugabe's control.
As long as the political stalemate continues,
neither international aid nor
private investment will flow in the required
quantities. The economy will
continue to slide and social conditions will
worsen even further.
But it is no longer even guaranteed that a unity
government will, in itself,
be enough to improve matters. It is clearly in
SA's best interests to do
everything in its power to help Zimbabwe recover,
but the world has bigger
fish to fry at the moment and will need to be
convinced that there has been
real change to the status quo, no matter who
controls specific ministries.
15th October is Blog
Action Day 2008 - the theme is 'Poverty'
Sokwanele : 6 October
2008
October the 15th is Blog Action Day
2008. Blog Action Day is a nonprofit, grassroots movement of
thousands of individual bloggers coming together for one cause.
This
year's theme for Blog Action Day is Poverty.
We have registered the Sokwanele blog - This is Zimbabwe - to participate in the action, and we are inviting YOU to send us items written by you that we will publish throughout the day on our blog.
Here are some questions that we think you might have
for us. We've answered them for you. If there is anything else you want to know,
please email us.
Why should I
participate?
Zimbabweans are uniquely qualified to talk about
the issue of poverty, and Blog Action Day 2008 is a chance for Zimbabweans to
step out from behind all the newspaper articles and tell the story in their
own words.
Let's speak for ourselves and tell the world what words
like 'poverty' and 'hyperinflation' and a 'failing
economy' really mean for ordinary people in Zimbabwe - ordinary people like
YOU.
What do you want me to do?
Write and tell
us how poverty and the failing economy has affected your life or your family's
life or the lives of people you know around you.
This sounds like
a good idea, but I'm so busy surviving (and queuing so I can survive) that I'll
probably forget to get around to doing my bit.
Send us an email
right now saying you want to be involved, and we'll
email you a day or two before the 15th October to remind you about the
action
But I am not a good writer. I want to tell my story, but I
don't think I can do this.
Your
stories and experiences are too important to be silenced by something like
worries about writing skills. The world cannot possibly understand how poverty
affects lives by reading newspaper articles that quote statistics or talk about
an economy collapsing.
What does this mean in real life? Only you can
tell them. So please speak out. Send us your experiences and stories as you
would in an email to a friend. We'll worry about the trivial things like
punctuation and paragraphs.
I don't want my name on the Internet
where other people can see that I have written about my life in
Zimbabwe.
We understand people are fearful. We won't publish
names, and we won't publish locations, or email addresses, or anything at all
that can lead back to a person.
"Poverty" is a big theme, what
do you want me to write about exactly?
That's up to you. The
list below is not a request for articles along these lines unless you want to
write about them, but it might help you to focus your thoughts and think about
what you want to write.
We hope this list helps to focus your mind. You can
write about what you like within the theme of poverty, and we ask that you help
us to talk about poverty in Zimbabwe by writing about your experiences
and thoughts in relation to Zimbabwe.
I only have access to email
so I can't see the Sokwanele blog on the Internet. How will I know what other
people have written?
On the 15th October we will compile a
mailing out of the entries and send it to our mailing list. Please note that our
list includes journalists and government officials in other parts of the world -
the sort of people who would like to know the grassroot's truth about what it is
like to be living with Poverty in Zimbabwe. We will try to include as many of
the entries as we can in our mailing so you can read them too.
I
don't want to write about poverty; I want to write about politics because I am
angry and want to shout about Zanu PF / MDC-MT / MDC-AM.
The
worldwide theme for Blog Action Day is 'Poverty', so we ask that you focus on
that.
You are entitled to express your political views but we ask that
you write them thoughtfully and with respect for different opinions and that you
stick to publically known facts. We also ask that you write your views in the
context of poverty.
Sokwanele will not publish anything that contains
political rumours or information that cannot be verified. Our country needs to
be strong and united and rumours and fighting between the parties and ourselves
does not help us to stand together and confront the challenges facing Zimbabwe -
the biggest challenge being poverty.
I am a Zimbabwean, but I am
in the diaspora. I want to be involved too!
You can be. If
poverty made you leave the country then write and describe why and how that
happened. Maybe you are seeking asylum in another country and cannot work and
finding it hard to survive... tell the world what its really like to be a
stranger in another land, forced to leave for economic reasons.
Do you
know any refugees who do not have access to email? Or do you work with
Zimbabwean refugees in another country. You might want to tell their stories
too.
OK, how long does it have to be, and when do you need it
by?
When: We will publish on the 15th October so we need
it by the end of the 13th October, preferably, or on the 14th October at the
latest. But you can start sending them now if you want, and we will get things
ready to go in advance.
How long: As long or as short as it takes
you to tell your story.
Please write in English so the majority
of the world can hear our stories.
Can I send photos as well as,
or instead of, writing something?
If they are photographs you
have taken and you are happy for us to publish them then, yes, please do. Email
them to us. Please include a caption with them so people know what the
photograph is about. (Any faces appearing in the pictures will be blurred out by
us before publishing).
Can I write more than one entry on
different topics about poverty in Zimbabwe because there is so much to say about
what's happening!?
Yes, you can. Go for it!
I am
not a Zimbabwean, but I would like to help as well.
If you can
speak about poverty in Zimbabwe from your own perspective then please
send us an entry. Maybe you are actively involved in trying to address poverty
in Zimbabwe with a group or organisation overseas? Tell us about it.
If
you are someone who wants to support and stand by Zimbabweans, then please come
by our blog on the 15th October and spend time leaving comments and feedback for
those who have sent in entries. When Zimbabweans speak out, its always good to
know that we have been heard! So please support us by listening and reflecting
back.
I am a Very Important Person and I would like write
something in my own name so I can communicate with Zimbabweans about poverty and
tell them I am standing with them.
Thank you
very much. Send it to us and tell us you do not want to be anonymous. Send us a
link to your own website too and we'll publish that alongside
it.
Ok, I'm in! Is there anything else I need to
know...?
Yes. If you don't have time to write your entry today,
I'm reminding you now to send us that email saying you want
to be involved, so we can remind you later that the 15th October is fast
approaching.
Let's get the conversation about Poverty in Zimbabwe
started!
Please forward this message to those you think might be interested.
Subscribe to receive mailings by sending an email to newsletter@sokwanele.com.
You can
also subscribe yourselves automatically via our website at the following
address: www.sokwanele.com/join.html.
Visit our website at
www.sokwanele.com
Visit our blog: This is Zimbabwe
(Sokwanele blog)
Send an e-card!
www.sokwanele.com/sendcard/
We have a fundamental right to freedom of expression!
Sokwanele does not endorse the editorial policy of any source or website except its own. It retains full copyright on its own articles, which may be reproduced or distributed but may not be materially altered in any way. Reproduced articles must clearly show the source and owner of copyright, together with any other notices originally contained therein, as well as the original date of publication. Sokwanele does not accept responsibility for any loss or damage arising in any way from receipt of this email or use thereof. This document, or any part thereof, may not be distributed for profit.
VOA
By Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
06 October
2008
Contradicting Zimbabwean government statements that a
recent deadly outbreak
of cholera in Chitungwiza and incidents of
water-borne disease in Harare
have been brought under control, the Combined
Harare Residents Association
said residents of the capital and the
surrounding region still face a high
risk of communicable
disease.
The association said authorities are doing little to tackle the
ultimate
source of the threat by providing a reliable supply of clean water
and
repairing sewage systems which have badly deteriorated, releasing
infectious
pollutants.
Combined Harare Residents Association
Information Officer Justice Mavedzenge
told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of
VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that his
association has received reports of 23
cases of diarrheal disease, raising
fears cholera may be striking again.
VOA
By Patience Rusere
Washington
06 October
2008
A senior official of the Consortium for the Southern
Africa Food Security
Emergency or C-SAFE said the organization is feeding
about 400,000
Zimbabwean school children in its target areas of Matabeleland
South,
Masvingo and parts of Mashonaland and Manicaland.
C-SAFE Chief
of Party Edward Brown said that despite delays caused by a
government ban on
most nongovernmental humanitarian assistance between June
and August, he
expects his organization to be feeding up to 1.5 million
people by next
month.
Working with distribution agents including World Vision, Care
International
and Catholic Relief services, Brown said that C-SAFE in
partnership with the
United Nations World Food Program should be feeding
around five million
people by early 2009.
But Brown said the current
situation is dire and that his staff has heard of
malnutrition-related
deaths that could have been prevented if food were made
available.
Brown told reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that
despite resiliency in many communities, Zimbabweans are
running out of
coping mechanisms.
http://www.istockanalyst.com/
Monday, October 06, 2008 12:56 AM
(Source:
Herald Express (Torquay UK))By LIZ PHILLIPS
Brixham missionaries Michael and
Sue Furminger have sent an eye- witness
account of President Mugabe's
continuing repressive regime to the Shadow
Foreign Secretary William Hague
and United Nations leader Ban Ki-Moon.
The couple, who have just returned
from spending two months in Zimbabwe
after leaving their jobs in the legal
world to become missionaries, said:
"We can't return to the security and
comfort of the UK and not share the
realities of day-to-day life in
Zimbabwe."
Now they are back from the church-based farming initiative in
Harare and
pleading for humanitarian aid and economic assistance from the
international
community to stop widespread starvation fuelled by run-away
inflation.
Michael said: "We just want to raise public awareness of the
terrible
situation there.
"It may be thought nave for a couple in a
small West Country town to try to
influence a collective international
response but we all have a
responsibility to do what we can to help relive
the desperate plight of
these people.
"We were so shocked and
saddened by our experiences. They are in a desperate
plight.
"Supermarket shelves are empty and families spend all day
going round shops
to see if anything at all is on sale.
"What little
they can get is priced in billions and maybe trillions of
Zimbabwean
dollars."
Michael added: "We know one man whose month's wages bought just
two bananas.
"Inflation rates change by the hour. One man was quoted a
trillion dollars
for an engine oil change but the price was only stable for
two hours."
The couple, who met in the 1990s while working at Torquay
county court, hope
that their dispassionate descriptions and legal
backgrounds will give weight
to an aid package and international food help
without any headline hype or
scare-mongering.
Sue added: "We have
sent copies to local MP Anthony Steen, to Shadow foreign
secretary William
Hague, and Javier Solana who is the European Union's high
representative for
foreign policy."
She said: "The economy is in cruel chaos designed to
keep people hungry.
"It is such an everyday struggle to buy food, travel
to work or make phone
calls that many just give up."
But a mass
programme of financial assistance mustn't be used to prop up the
regime
enforced by dictator Mugabe (pictured) even if it is slowly changing
to a
power-sharing basis, say the couple.
Michael said: "The timing has to be
right but not delayed.
"There has to be some evidence of a freer market,
respect for human rights,
and press and political freedom."
(c) 2008
Herald Express (Torquay UK). Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights
Reserved.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Own
Correspondent Tuesday 07 October 2008
JOHANNESBURG
- South Africa's Gauteng provincial health authorities on
Monday, said a
mysterious flu-like illness has killed four people since
September in
Johannesburg.
Confirming the death of the fourth person, Malinda
Pelser,
spokesperson for Johannesburg's Morningside Medi-Clinic said people
should
not panic over the deaths of four people from the strange illness,
saying
the disease was not airborne but transmitted through bodily
fluids.
"The disease is transferable through bodily fluids and is
not
airborne. We want to ensure that there's no panic in the broader public
. .
. There is no outbreak at the hospital. We are currently don't have
patients
with the same symptoms," Pelser said in Johannesburg on
Monday.
The first patient was a Zambian woman who came to the
Morningside
Medi-Clinic with flu-like symptoms on September 12. She was
treated for
tick-bite fever and other potential infections but died two days
later.
Three other people have died from the same flu-like symptoms
at the
hospital since September, including a Zambian paramedic who had
accompanied
the first patient into South Africa.
Tests were not
conclusive of any particular disease including viral
hemorrhagic
fever.
The latest victims were a nurse at the Morningside
Medi-Clinic and a
cleaner who was not employed by the hospital, but by an
outsourcing company.
Both died on Sunday.
Pelser said hospital
staff who had been in contact with the four
people who died of the illness
were being continuously monitored.
"We are monitoring those who
treated the four patients who passed
away, but it's in the hands of the
Department of Health to trace and monitor
families and other people," she
said.
Those who visited Zambia in the last month and are
experiencing the
flu-like symptoms or raised temperatures were urged to
immediately report to
their nearest hospital.
The outbreak of
the mysterious disease raised fears that it could
easily spread to South
Africa's neighbours, particularly its strife-torn
northern neighbour, with
an estimated three million Zimbabweans believed to
be living in South Africa
and tens of thousands others passing through
Beitbridge border post
everyday.
Morningside Medi-Clinic said it would follow strict
protocol and
infection-control measures, including isolation, if any other
patient
presented the same flu-like symptoms while the provincial health
department
said it would conduct tests and post-mortems to establish the
cause of these
deaths.
Meanwhile Zambian authorities said on
Monday they, together with the
World Health Organisation (WHO), have mounted
investigations into the
unknown disease that has so far claimed four lives
in South Africa. -
ZimOnline
06 October 2008 Bleeding Britavoice has given birth to a new protest poetic CD for
Zimbabweans. The CD grabs its title, Raunchy Kongonya Dance for Mugabe, from BritaVoice’s
mocking of the Zimbabwean woman who still exudes energy in dancing for Mugabe
and Zanu PF after which she fails to even grab the soap and water to wash off
her sweat. The 21 track poetic CD embodies tracks such as The Silenced woman, which
comes as Britavoice’s special dedication to the Zimbabwean fairer sex; the
fearless female political activists who bear the brunt of torture for rising
against Mugabe’s ill governance. Other tracks include I am Weary Mugabe, a very touching piece which opens up
and reveals the mind of Zimbabwean’s newest mama, the old 80 year old immensely
burdened granny, who bemoans the disintegrated Zimbabwe. She is to BritaVoice, Zimbabwean newest mama as a result of the low life
expectancy for the Zimbabwean woman, now about 20 years old which sees her
acquiring once more the mama role of orphaned kids. The old wrecked granny now
has to wake up and fend for the orphans. She cannot help but long for even the days of colonial rule when she could at
least have a basic plate of food in front of her. She is left out in the cold as
she fails to dance into the tune or conceptualize the dirty game of deals in
Zimbabwe. She cannot get anyone to explain the use of the South African rand, the
Botswana Pula and the US dollar in place of the Zimbabwean dollar. Equally touching is the I am Thinking track which exposes the broken mind of
a Zimbabwean street kid out in the cold sleeping by the dirty seweraged street
sniffing out glue as if to sniff out the horrors of lacking a home and family,
all products of Zanu pf ill governance. Other tracks are as listed below; 1. The Silenced woman To add more flavour to the works, BritaVoice exploits her bilingual
attributes, so your ears will be tuned into some Shona, Ndebele, English and one
of the musical Belgian national languages, Nederlands, which is mostly used by
the Flemish community. BritaVoice also exploits her beautiful voice in a unique poetic style and is
backed by some artistic African instruments which mostly embrace the drum,
‘djombe’, and the African piano, in an effort to add African culture and style
to her works so as to solidly strike her intended audience, the Zimbabwean and
get them to speak out even more against Mugabe’s stay in power. Links to two of the poems, I am Weary Mugabe and the Silenced Woman on mps
files are given below for you to have a taste of the BritaVoice works; http://www.sendspace.com/file/l5o26w
06-Track 6.mp3 And why a protest poetic CD when there is the burning issue of the ‘deal’? It
is difficult to imagine that Zimbabweans will still have to live under Mugabe’s
dictatorial rule as President. The recently signed deal falls nothing short of a
cunning unjustifiable way to keep Mugabe and his cronies on the political board.
It has rescued Mugabe from sinking into political oblivion. Zimbabwe can only
be rescued by the total cleansing of all corrupt and egoistic fellows from the
political front, paving way for clean blood. As a writer and poet, some of the Britavoice works can be accessed on the
Britavoice blog-britavoice-zim-girl.blogspot.com . Orders of the CD can be made
via email britavoice@gmail.com and also via mobile number 0032 484 612 645. By
grabbing one CD you are assured that your ear energies are well utilized. The writer, Bridget Tapuwa is based in Belgium and she can be reached at britavoice@gmail.com or
2. I am weary
3. Raunchy Kongonya Dance for
Mugabe
4. Cry zimbabwe
5. Despair
6. Hope
7. Fear
8. Ribbon
of hope
9. I am Thinking
10. The true leader
11. The indecent
president
12. The unanswered question
13. Zimbabwe my home
14. The RBZ
keys and files
15. The proud Zimbabwean ambassador
16. I saw you not
17. The talking show
18. The bleeding soul
19. My contoured
face
20. Winds of change
21. DE zwarte Zimbabwe Vrouw
http://www.sendspace.com/file/yqigu1
Silence.mp3
http://britavoice-zim-girl.blogspot.com/