The Telegraph
By
David Blair, Africa Correspondent and Peta Thornycroft in
Johannesburg
(Filed: 07/10/2006)
The Zimbabwean security
minister threatened to jail the Labour MP Kate
Hoey yesterday after she
managed to enter the country last week and meet
trades union and opposition
leaders.
Didymus Mutasa, 71, who is responsible for Zimbabwe's
Central
Intelligence Organisation, demanded an explanation from his security
officials as to how Miss Hoey had "sneaked" across the border.
Any foreign journalist who enters Zimbabwe without permission, which
is
almost never granted, risks a 20-year prison sentence.
Miss Hoey,
the MP for Vauxhall, visited last year when President
Robert Mugabe was
bulldozing "illegal structures" in poor townships, a
campaign that wrecked
the homes or livelihoods of up to a million people.
Her accounts of the
suffering angered the regime. When she returned last
week she did so knowing
that the regime was probably watching out for her.
She was still
able to meet two leaders of the Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions, who had
been arrested and tortured after organising a failed
protest against Mr
Mugabe in the capital, Harare, last month.
Mr Mutasa described Miss
Hoey as "that stupid woman who sneaks in and
out". He said on the website
"newzimbabwe.com" that if she "came in a
respectful way and makes it known
she is here, we would treat her well. But
if she continues to sneak in and
out like a thief, we will treat her in the
same way that thieves are
treated."
Asked if that meant she would be jailed, he said
yes.
http://africantears.netfirms.com/thisweek.shtml
Saturday 7th October 2006
Dear Family and Friends,
The rains
have arrived early in Zimbabwe this year.There has been all the
usual talk
about signs and omens and if it's going to be a good season or a
bad one.
Predictions of early or late rains were made as were observations
of natural
peculiarities that may hint about what lies ahead. Everyone is
talking about
the amazingly heavy crop of Msasa pods this year, and the fact
that they
still haven't finished dropping. People say it's a sign of
something - but
no one agrees what the sign is! The termites have gone high
into the trees
this year, their columns of red mud clearly visible - this
too is used as a
weather predictor.
Black and burnt grasslands went green almost overnight
and bought a feeling
of intense relief at not having to look at the bleak
and scorched earth
anymore. Out of insignificant cracks in the hard ground
multiple millions of
flying ants have poured out into the early evenings and
the air has been
crowded with wings. The silky, shimmering wings of the
flying ants have
tempted all manner of birds to stay out late and feast on
the ants as they
fly past - almost no effort required. For the birds at
least, this a time of
plenty. The same can not be said for the
people.
I started making notes for this letter on Tuesday morning, after
we had had
two storms and just under an inch of rain had fallen. The
neighbourhood was
already crowded with people who had come to till the land
at the roadsides.
Men hung their shirts in trees, women had babies in towels
on their backs
and toddlers sat on cloths in the shade of bushes. It was
time. Time to use
every piece of open ground, no matter how small, to grow
some food.
Everywhere you looked there was someone bent over digging and
preparing the
roadsides for planting. Some were scraping together sticks and
weeds and
clearing the area, others were bent over with hoes, ploughing the
land by
hand. This year there were many more children than normal helping to
prepare
the roadside lands. School is in session at the moment but many many
children no longer attend school. The fees are so high that for many
children reading and writing has been replaced with digging and weeding.
Developing minds have just become extra hands.
As the sun moved
higher in the sky, still more people came and then
suddenly, at mid-day on
Tuesday the 3rd of October it was all over. Two
shaven headed men arrived
saying they were from the Municipality. One was
armed. Everyone must go,
they said, all tools are to be put down, they are
confiscated, there is no
cultivating of roadsides allowed this year. It was
utterly shocking to
watch. Within just a few minutes it was all over.
Perhaps forty people, men,
women and children, dejected, broken and swamped
with despair, walked away
from the chance to grow a few cobs of maize. They
were told that if they
wanted their tools back they would have to go to the
Municipal offices and
pay fines for cultivating illegally. No receipts were
issued for confiscated
goods, no resistance was proffered. The two shaven
headed men filled a
confiscated wheelbarrow with confiscated hoes and rakes
and left, on foot,
the way they had come. An eerie, out of character silence
has descended over
the newly wet roadsides in my home town. This is the time
of year when
mealie madness fills the land and everyone has an unstoppable
urge to grow
maize. Not this year it seems.
In the very very early mornings for the
rest of the week one man without a
shirt has toiled out there on the
roadside. Apparently he is doing "piece
work" for all the people who were
chased away. The man is dropping seeds
into holes in uncleared, unploughed
land. This is zero tillage by necessity
and not design. It is better than
nothing. He has a woman with him, she
stands on high ground, watching, ready
to warn him, ready to run.
For seven years the authorities in Zimbabwe
have turned a blind eye to
roadside cultivation. Now, when the need for
extra food is so great, it is
forbidden.
Until next week, thanks for
reading, love cathy.
SABC
October 07, 2006,
17:00
Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president, has thrown debate
surrounding his
successor wide open saying any member from his ruling Zanu
(PF) party is
free to contest. The statement casts a cloud on the possible
ascendancy of
Joyce Mujuru, the vice president, and opens the race for other
heavyweights
and dark horses alike.
President Mugabe is not backing
any particular candidate for Zimbabwe's top
job should he throw in the towel
in 2008. The Zimbabwean leader told a
recent gathering that party members
will decide at the annual conference
that is two months away. Political
analysts are divided on the
interpretations of Mugabe's weekend
comments.
Simon Badza, acting chairman of the political science faculty
at the
University of Zimbabwe, says the race to succeed the Zimbabwean
leader
remains a two-horse one. "In my opinion it's either going to be
comrade
Mnangagwa or Mai Mujuru, the current vice president, as both
candidates have
liberation war credentials. There are outsiders being touted
as possible
successors to President Mugabe in diplomatic and public circles.
These
include Simba Makoni, the former SADC secretary general, and Strive
Masiyiwa, the high flying telecoms businessman," says Badza.
Whoever
wins the ticket to represent the ruling party in December is sure to
fight
it out with Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, leaders of the
split
opposition Movement for Democratic Change, come presidential polls in
2008.
Raw Story
dpa German Press Agency
Published: Saturday October 7,
2006
Harare- The ruling party in Zimbabwe has asked rural supporters to
donate
maize, cattle, goats and chickens to feed delegates at its annual
conference
in December, reports said Saturday. Joel Biggie Matiza, an
official with the
Zimbabwe African National Union -Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF)
asked traditional
chiefs to scout for donations earlier this week, said the
state-controlled
Herald newspaper.
Party supporters in the rural
areas have been told to donate the goods for
the successful hosting of the
conference, which will be held in Goromonzi, a
fertile centre around 30
kilometres east of Harare.
President Robert Mugabe, who has been in power
here for 26 years, draws most
of his support from the rural areas. But rural
dwellers have not been spared
food shortages and the ravages of Zimbabwe's
skyrocketing inflation rate,
currently above 1,204 per cent.
So far
700 chickens have been donated, said the Herald. This year's ZANU-PF
conference will be a highly publicised event where the tetchy question of
Mugabe's successor is likely to be on the agenda.
Support for the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is strongest
in towns and
cities like Harare and Bulawayo.
© 2006 dpa German Press
Agency
Zim Online
Saturday 07 October
2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe's main opposition party on
Friday accused the ruling
ZANU PF party of turning two rural constituencies
into no-go areas for its
supporters ahead of key by-elections in the
constituencies today.
The main wing of the splintered Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)
party, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, is taking on ZANU
PF in the by-elections
which are set for today.
The elections
in Chikomba and Rushinga were called to replace two ZANU
PF legislators,
Tichaona Jokonya and Sandra Machirori who died about two
months
ago.
In Chikomba, ZANU PF is fielding Steven Musekiwa while Moses
Jiri is
representing the MDC. In Rushinga, ZANU PF's Lazarus Dokora will
battle it
out with Kudakwashe Chideya of the MDC.
MDC spokesman
Nelson Chamisa told ZimOnline yesterday that ZANU PF
thugs had earlier this
week vandalised a garage belonging to the party's
candidate in
Chikomba.
"Both constituencies have been turned into war zones.
They are under
siege. Our supporters are having a torrid time there," said
Chamisa.
Chamisa said a number of the party's supporters had also
been beaten
up at Sadza and Mupatsi business areas in Chikomba on
Monday.
"For instance at Sadza two of our members, the ward
chairperson and
the ward organising secretary, were beaten up and we have
since filed
complaints with the relevant authorities.
"Soldiers
beat up people at a filling station owned by our candidate
while ZANU PF
militia also beat up people at the shopping centre owned by
our candidate,"
added Chamisa.
ZANU PF spokesman, Nathan Shamuyarira, dismissed the
MDC accusations
saying the opposition party was already looking for excuses
before a single
vote was cast.
"They know they will lose
(that's why they are making those
allegations). I am not surprised," said
Shamuyarira.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena could not be reached
for comment on
reports that there has been an upsurge in cases of political
violence ahead
of the by-elections.
The smaller faction of the
MDC headed by Arthur Mutambara is not
participating in the two
elections.
The MDC and major Western governments have often accused
President
Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF of using violence to win elections and
stifle
political dissent.
Both Mugabe and ZANU deny the charge
saying the allegations are meant
to tarnish the image of the government. -
ZimOnline
VOA
By
Carole Gombakomba
Washington
06 October
2006
Independent Zimbabwean media organizations met in the
central town of Kadoma
to officially launch the Voluntary Media Council, a
media self-regulating
body that poses a tacit challenge to the state
controlled Media and
Information Commission.
The media council is the
creation of the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe, whose
members in Kadoma put
final touches on a council constitution to be unveiled
at a later
date.
Media and Information Commission Chairman Tafataona Mahoso has been
critical
of the Alliance move to set up of an independent media body. But
the
Alliance has been backed by the parliamentary committee for
communications
chaired by Leo Mugabe, a ruling ZANU-PF party legislator and
nephew of
President Robert Mugabe.
Mahoso denounced a recent Alliance
meeting in Harare as "an orgy of
anti-Zimbabwe diatribe," to which
legislator Mugabe took exception. ""I was
part of this meeting," said said
in remarks quoted by the Independent
newspaper. "I urge the conveners of
this workshop to take issue with Mahoso
and my committee will back you," he
said.
Mahoso had refused an invitation to the meeting which Leo Mugabe
attended.
Reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe
sought details on
the new media council from Information Officer Nyasha
Nyakunu of the Media
Institute of Southern Africa's Zimbabwe chapter, which
is a member of the
Media Alliance.
From cricinfo, 5 October
Steven Price
in Harare
Just when it seemed that Peter Chingoka had weathered the
storm of internal
discontent, his own attack poodle has turned and bitten
him where it hurts.
There is always, to mix metaphors, a danger of ending up
burnt when playing
with fire. At a press conference in Harare , Themba
Mliswa threw down the
gauntlet and issued a direct threat that he was out to
topple the current
regime. Around him he appears to be assembling a variety
of discontents. Not
the same ones who have been banging on about the worst
excesses of Zimbabwe
Cricket for more than two years, but a new group of
those who were brought
in to replace them and who have already found
themselves isolated. Many have
tried to knock Chingoka and Ozias Bvute, his
sidekick, off their perches in
the last couple of years, but like Robert
Mugabe himself, the pair have not
only survived but seemingly come back
stronger each time. In July, Percy
Sonn, the new ICC president and
reportedly a close friend of Chingoka,
travelled to carry out a fact-finding
mission. He met with a number of
people, including many former players and
administrators who opposed the
regime. While the results won't be unveiled
until the ICC executive meets in
Mumbai next month, few will hold their
breath for anything other than ZC to
be given a cleanish bill of health.
Those stakeholders I spoke to before
Sonn set foot in Zimbabwe indicated
that they anticipated no other outcome.
That, and a new constitution so
warped as to be comical, should have given
Chingoka the ability to carry on
regardless.
In fairness, Zimbabwe cricket, so long in the doldrums, has
shown signs of
life in recent months and a number of former absentees have
begun to drift
back. It's also expected that Tatenda Taibu will join their
number soon
after being rebuffed in his attempts to become a South African
player,
especially as Mliswa flagged that the pair had made up their
differences.
But unlike those who have previously stood and fallen in their
attempts to
remove Chingoka, Mliswa is a different kettle of fish. He has
little
cricket-related baggage. A political activist with a record of
ruthlessness
and close links to the ruling Zanu PF party, he boasts - and
few consider
them to be idle - of having the ear of people in the cabinet.
There is also
talk that he is related to Didymus Mutasa, the country's
ruthless National
Security minister. If so, then Chingoka should be worried
by Mliswa's claim
that he has the support of the "highest authorities".
Mutasa has been cited
for acts of extreme violence and is one of the hardest
of the hardliners in
the government, ruthlessly and remorselessly crushing
anyone who opposes
him. The ICC hierarchy might also be shifting uneasily in
their seats. In
Chingoka they have someone they know and can deal with, the
acceptable face
of an unacceptable regime. If he goes, then they may find
themselves dealing
with people who have little to offer in terms of cricket
knowledge but much
in terms of political dogma.
While Chingoka's
continuing presence is unpalatable to many people, there
seems little point
in replacing him unless there is a better option on the
table. History does
not suggest that Mliswa will do anything other than drag
a brittle structure
down into the mire of the politics that has destroyed
almost every other
walk of life in the country. A year ago this month he
disrupted a meeting of
provincial chairmen in Harare , shouting that he did
so, according to
Charlie Robertson, the veteran administrator and the
meeting's chairman, as
he was " from the office of State Security from the
office of Mr Mutasa". He
then dismissed one representative as a " .... white
Rhodesian" adding: "We
have taken the farms, now we are going to take
cricket." He concluded by
boasting that the army was going to take over
cricket and finished with the
threat: "We are here to destroy cricket". On
the surface Mliswa is rational
and plausible. But under the surface, he
epitomises the worst excesses of a
regime that has little respect for
anyone. As Chingoka has now discovered,
be careful what you wish for.