The Guardian
Saturday
September 22, 2007 4:46 PM
By ANGUS SHAW
Associated Press
Writer
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Police stopped villagers from slaughtering
and
eating a giraffe that strayed into the outskirts of the capital amid
chronic
food shortages caused by an economic crisis, the official media
reported
Saturday.
The adult giraffe was believed to have wandered
from nearby farmland.
Wildlife authorities took the giraffe away after
police kept a crowd from
killing it ``for the pot,'' the state Herald
reported.
Zimbabwe is suffering shortages of meat and basic foods in an
economic
meltdown that has left it with the world's highest official
inflation -
nearly 7,000 percent.
Independent estimates put real
inflation closer to 25,000 percent and the
International Monetary Fund
forecast it reaching 100,000 percent by the end
of the year.
A
government order to slash prices of all goods and services by about half
in
June has left stores across the country empty of meat, cornmeal, bread
and
other staples and crippled transportation services.
The National Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said this
month that it was
launching a campaign to raise awareness about the moral
and ethical issues
surrounding cases of pets being slaughtered for meat.
It said while it
was not illegal to eat dog meat in Zimbabwe, the nation's
laws covered the
humane killing of all animals.
In recent weeks, authorities also have
reported one of the worst spates of
bush fires across the country in recent
memory, largely blamed on people who
set fires to flush out the rodents.
Roasted mice are a traditional dish in
some areas.
The Telegraph
By Simon
Heffer
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 22/09/2007Page 1 of
3
I think we are all supposed to be impressed that
our new Prime
Minister has decided to adopt an "empty chair" policy at the
forthcoming
EU-Africa summit in Portugal, by refusing to attend if Comrade
"Butcher Bob"
Mugabe, the tyrant of Zimbabwe, is invited. The one
consolation I draw from
this is that it seems to replace what might best be
termed the "empty brain"
policy pursued by the Government towards the
butcher and his benighted
country: for that is precisely why we have this
problem.
There are few matters in which it is less enjoyable to
say, "I told
you so", than this. For years I have written pieces arguing
that if we did
not intervene in Zimbabwe the time would come when our
television screens
would be full of the pitiful sight of starving children
with distended
bellies that are familiar from so many other countries in
Africa where the
local despots run their affairs so humanely. Now, indeed,
that time has
come.
But it has come because the government of
the former colonial power -
that's us, in case you have forgotten - has for
years adopted that Pontius
Pilate approach to Zimbabwe. Run, as it is, by
ex-student union Leftie
radicals, it has taken this long for its senior
members to realise that
letting Africans tyrannise, starve and murder each
other is not necessarily
a good idea. As veterans of the anti-apartheid
movement, they have grown up
with the burden of post-imperial guilt on their
weedy little shoulders. For
the white man to try to clear up the mess would
be unacceptable: far better
to let the innocent die than have that on our
collective conscience. And, if
they ever risked faltering in that aim, there
was always the spectacle of
South Africa's leader, Thabo Mbeki, warning them
to allow an "African
solution" to the Zimbabwe problem.
Well,
unless we intervene soon - and that will entail much more than
our posturing
by not turning up at a summit - there will be an African
solution. One very
prominent African, Mugabe, will drive the country to
complete and final
ruin. There will be many more innocent people dead. Do we
really want
that?
I know our Army is overstretched, but if we can get them into
Afghanistan we can get them into Zimbabwe. It wouldn't take very many, and
the fighting would be over in hours, if not days. Mugabe's end would be like
that of Hitler's. There would be no insurgents seeking to win back power, no
Taliban or al-Qa'eda carrying on the battle. With Mugabe's end would come
the end of his barbarous system of government. And Zimbabwe, with its huge
mineral wealth and other natural resources, would once more become one of
the richest countries in Africa, able to feed its people and to sustain
their freedom and happiness.
Foolish white liberals have to end
this ridiculous taboo of not
seeking to prevent widespread death in Zimbabwe
because they are the wrong
colour. This inverse racism serves nobody's
purpose. If prominent black
people - notably our own Archbishop John Sentamu
and the legendary Dr
Desmond Tutu - are prepared to condemn Mugabe's rule,
then what is to stop
those of us with the rationale and the means to bring
an end to it
fulfilling their wishes?
It is part of the
arrogance of the Left - and the present Cabinet is
as guilty of it as anyone
else around the world - that they can never admit
they are wrong, especially
on the tinderbox subject of race relations. That
is why, faced with an
opportunity to help liberate innocent black people
(and Zimbabwe's remaining
whites), they wilfully ignore it. The empty chair
won't make the blindest
bit of difference to Mugabe, because diplomacy is
not a language he
understands. How many more must die under his rule before
we start speaking
to him in terms that he does comprehend?
VOA
By Netsai Mlilo
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
22
September 2007
Now that both factions of Zimbabwe's
opposition Movement for Democratic
Change have joined the ruling ZANU-PF
party in passing a constitutional
amendment that will significantly modify
the country's electoral
dispensation, they are turning to the task of
defending that strategy to
skeptical supporters and critical civil society
allies.
MDC founding president Morgan Tsvangirai and rival faction chief
Arthur
Mutambara are characterizing the opposition's collective support in
parliament of the amendment legislation as a strategic step towards assuring
free and fair elections next year.
Critics said the MDC should have
held out for a full revision of the
constitution. Senior MDC officials
insist that they will continue to seek a
new Zimbabwean
constitution.
Tsvangirai explained the strategy Friday to his faction's
executive
committee, calling it a "first step towards the final resolution
of the
national crisis" and "a bold and correct decision the party has taken
to
locate the exit points to the political logjam."
He said the
negative reaction to the opposition's support of the bill among
rank and
file members and elements of civil society "understandably arises
out of the
people's mistrust" of the ruling party and less than complete
information on
the South African-mediated crisis resolution talks from which
the
constitutional compromise arose.
"We are confident that the party remains
on the right track in the quest for
a lasting solution to the national
crisis," the statement quoted Tsvangirai
as saying.
He added that it
was "premature to judge the direction and outcome of the
dialogue process"
based solely on the opposition vote for the amendment
legislation, which has
cleared the house and goes to the senate next week
for passage
there.
The amendment's most controversial provision leaves it to
parliament to
select a new president if the incumbent dies, is incapacitated
or resigns -
the last of these being a potential exit strategy for President
Robert
Mugabe who seeks re-election in the presidential ballot set for
March, but
has hinted he won't serve out his term.
Critics fear that
if ZANU-PF retains control of parliament - it claimed a
two-thirds house
majority in the 2005 general election - Mr. Mugabe could
select his
successor.
One tradeoff for the opposition in the amendment as passed by
the house is
that the president will no longer fill seats in the lower house
by
appointment.
Tsvangirai declared in conclusion that his formation
is "committed to a
people-driven constitution. we are committed to a free
and fair election. we
are committed to a legitimate and not a pre-determined
outcome."
Meanwhile, in Bulawayo on Saturday, rival faction leader Arthur
Mutambara
and other top officials of his formation delivered much the same
message to
their supporters, about 350 of whom filled Pumula Hall in a
morning session
Yahoo News
Sat Sep 22, 8:30 AM
ET
HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has left Harare for
Cairo,
Egypt, on his way to New York to attend the 62nd session of the UN
General
Assembly, a state-run daily reported Saturday.
"The President
who was accompanied by the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe and
senior
government officials is expected to join about 80 other world leaders
and
several foreign ministers at the UN headquarters," the Herald newspaper
said.
Mugabe's departures are never announced in advance.
The
annual UN session opens Tuesday and runs until October 3. Topics to be
discussed include climate change, development and counter-terrorism
strategies.
The United States and European Union imposed a travel ban
on Mugabe
following presidential elections in 2002 which the opposition said
were
rigged to hand the veteran ruler victory. He is allowed to attend UN
meetings.
His departure for the UN meeting came amid controversy over
his attendance
at an EU-African summit later this year, with British Prime
Minister Gordon
Brown vowing to boycott the meeting if Mugabe is
there.
Brown said Mugabe's attendance would draw attention away from the
main
issues at the summit. He also urged the EU to impose further measures
including targetting families of Zimbabwe's ruling elite with additional
sanctions.
Mugabe blames sanctions for Zimbabwe's economic crisis,
characterised by
world-record inflation at 6,600 percent, shortages of basic
food supplies
such as bread and at least 80-percent unemployment.
From The Cape Argus (SA), 19 September
Militarisation underpins much
of Zimbabwean security culture and directs
many of the events on the current
strategic landscape. This politico
military nexus has its roots in past
connections and persists in current
practices. It continues to sustain the
military as a coercive backup to
stave off undesirable political change.
Politics that stem from a coercive
military culture tend to change slowly
and in Zimbabwe little has transpired
to break the militarist profile of its
political culture. Zimbabwean
independence was forged largely from military
force and the current
glorification of the defence force ensures that their
role is not forgotten
not even allowed to fade. In hindsight, the role of
armed coercion in
Zimbabwe emerged from a number of past
practices.
Immediately after independence, a destructive and
controversial deployment
of the defence force took place in Matabeleland.
The North Korean trained
Fifth Brigade spearheaded much of the effort and
was supported by a range of
military, police and intelligence units. Not
being answerable to the normal
military hierarchy, but to individual
politicians, the Fifth Brigade wreaked
havoc among civilians between 1982
and 1984. This politico military campaign
was aimed at rooting out political
opponents and set the scene for how
political leadership would choose to
deal with political opponents in
future. The controversy over this campaign
lingers to this day.
The cauldron that was the Democratic Republic of
the Congo (DRC) of the late
1990s saw another contentious deployment of
Zimbabwean soldiers. The DRC
adventure originated from an attempted "coup"
within SADC to control the
regional security mechanism by President Robert
Mugabe and others. Both the
DRC, as well as the struggle over the control of
this organ of SADC,
reflects a hunger for power and control over the
employment of military
power in the region. With Mugabe at the helm, it soon
followed that SADC
armed forces would be deployed to the DRC. Some reports
suggest that the
Zimbabwean army was used to protect and even provide labour
for
politico-personal Zimbabwean interests and not traditional national
interests. In part, the DRC campaign reflected a convergence of personal,
party political and national interests in Zimbabwe and it remains unclear
whose interests its soldiers had to protect. In spite of rising difficulties
at home, the Zimbabwean deployment to the DRC lasted until after
2000.
The current political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe shows
further signs of
the entrenched role of the armed forces. The so-called war
veterans a
reconstructed relic of the liberation forces were called upon to
spearhead
the controversial land reform process. Their "war veteran" tag
defies all
logic since many of them were not even born when the liberation
war ended in
the late-1970s. However, the central and emotional position
that the war of
liberation holds in the country ensures this group's near
untouchable
status. The government also created the notorious and militant
Youth Brigade
at the dawn of the 21st century. Later investigations by
politicians from
Zimbabwe recommended its closure due to the militant styled
training, the
military profile of the instructors, the party political
profile of the
whole project and its pro government violence during election
times. In
effect, the Youth Brigade produced a classic style militia to
further the
ruling Zanu PF interests.
In 2002, General Vitalis
Zvinavashe, the Zimbabwean army chief (flanked by
other service and security
chiefs) openly declared the military's opposition
to anyone but a liberation
leader (read Mugabe) to lead the country. This
was a clear threat to others
that the military would intervene if the
democratic process did not favour
"their" preferred candidate. Effectively,
this declaration nullified the
democratic imperative and militarised
politics even further. During 2007
rumours about an attempted coup emerged
and although Zimbabwean authorities
continue to deny any such an attempt,
the news media slowly appears to be
building a picture of what transpired.
Nonetheless, two factions one
revisionist and the other favouring the status
quo are said to exist within
the Zimbabwean armed forces and both have their
eyes on what happens in the
political realm.
Clearly, the police no longer simply uphold the law
and the military no
longer protects democracy from external threats. Some
argue that the current
military leaders actually benefit from the chaos and
have no interest in
returning the country to a state of normalcy. Mugabe
continues to heap
praise on the defence force. While commending them for
their historic
liberation role at a rally to celebrate Defence Force Day
this year, Mugabe
interestingly chose to focus on their modern role in
everyday life. His
praise for the role soldiers play in land issues, in
industry, and in
maintaining internal stability shows a defence force
increasingly used as a
support mechanism for a faltering government.
Deploying soldiers and the
police to forcefully remove squatters, hawkers
and so-called "dirt" or
"rubbish" from urban areas paints a gloomy picture
indeed. Finally, the
security culture of Zimbabwean decision-makers was
formed over time by a
close dependence on their armed forces a dependency
that varied over time,
but never disappeared. By constantly reinforcing such
a militant security
culture, it becomes increasingly difficult to shed
it.
Dr Francois Vre˙ lectures at the faculty of military science,
Stellenbosch
University
The Zimbabwean
(22-09-07)
HARARE:
AT least 70 international buyers
from European countries, particularly the
UK have withdrawn their
participation from Zimbabwe's annual Travel Expo due
to alleged political
reasons.
Addressing journalists in Harare, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority chief
executive
Karikoga Kaseke said the withdrawal of European buyers from the
show was a
big blow to Zimbabwe's bid to host some international teams
during the 2010
World Cup to be held in South Africa.
Although
boasting about 450 remaining buyers,a number still higher than last
year's
365,Kaseke expressed concern over the development,saying this year's
edition
which had attracted over 500 buyers would be marred by the
withdrawal of the
70 top buyers whom he called the Thompsons of the world.
In their
official communication, the buyers implicated the country's major
labour
body,Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions among those who influenced
their
decision to pull out,he said.
He said the buyers indicated they feared
for their lives after ZCTU had
warned that there will be anarchy and
bloodbath between union activists and
the police on the streets during the
days of the expo.
"I do not know whether ZCTU are aware of the
devastating damage their
warning has brought to the country,especially with
regards to tourism", he
said.
The labour body was not immediately
available for comment.
Kaseke said his office was negotiating with the
buyers with the hope of
re-engaging them.
"It is ironic that these
buyers are the same people who had vowed that they
will never let political
messages infiltrate into our business links but it
seems these have suddenly
become irresistible.
"We are however negotiating with them with the hope
of re-engaging them but
if they choose to buy the political product being
sold to them by people
bent on demonising the government of this country,
then we will not continue
bothering ourselves about them", he
said.
Kaseke said of the 201 exhibitors that applied to take part in the
fair, the
authority can only accommodate 118 due to venue
limitations.
He said more than half of the exhibitors who were turned
down were from the
international scene.
Zimbabwe's tourism industry
has been hiccuping since the 2000 government
initiated land reform
exercise.
In 1999, the industry generated over US$200 million
contributing about 7
percent to Gross Domestic Product and employing an
estimated 200 000 people
directly and indirectly.But it is estimated the
employment level has since
tumbled by 50 percent to stand at 100
000.
Second to South Africa's Indaba,Zimbabwe's Travel Expo will this
year be
held from 11 to 14 October-CAJ News.
The Zimbabwean
(22-09-07
By Bayethe Zitha
BULAWAYO - A Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
intern, Memory Kadau, was
onThursday afternoon reportedly arrested by police
whilst administering the
Coalition stand at the Non Governmental
Organization (NGO) Expo in the
Harare Gardens .
In a statement on Friday,
the Crisis in Zimbabwe stated that Kadau, who was
reportedly arrested at
around 3pm, being accused of distributing material
which denigrates
President Robert Mugabe, spent a night in the cells at
Harare Central Police
Station.
On Friday afternoon, she was still detained without access to
food,
relatives and fellow employees.
"Kadau was arrested by three
plain cloths police officers from the Harare
Central Police Station Law and
Order section, alleged that she was working
for a 'bogus organization' which
aims to effect regime change in the
country," said the coalition.
The
police are also said to have accused the Coalition of allegedly abusing
the
late national hero and Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army chief,
General Josiah Magama Tongogara by using his pre-independence speech on free
and fair elections on the organisation's banner.
In 1978, Tongogara
called for free and fair elections where international
observers would
oversee before the holding of the 1980 independence election
which ended
colonial rule in Zimbabwe .
Police are said to have confiscated the
banner and other materials of the
Coalition and taken them to Harare Central
Police Station as evidence
against Kudau.
Her Lawyer, Charles
Kwaramba from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human rights who
gained access on Friday
revealed Kudau subjected to intensive
interrogations.
"They were
threatening to beat her up if she failed to disclose where they
could find
the Crisis Coalition's leadership. It seems police want to arrest
the Crisis
leadership, but cannot find them," said Kwaramba.
Police spokesman, Chief
Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka, confirmed that
Kudau was arrested and
detained at Harare Central.
"Our police officers are investigating a case
whereby she was found in
possession of material believed to be denigrating
the President. We hope to
finalise the case and send her to court soon,"
said Mandipaka.
CBS News
Larry Miller Asks If The U.K.
Can Shed Imperialist Guilt, And Rescue
Zimbabwe
LONDON, Sept. 22,
2007
(CBS) Letter from London is Larry Miller's weekly look at news
from across
the
pond.
The
Anglican Archbishop of York, Ugandan-born John Sentamu, wants the
British
government to do something, finally, about Zimbabwe and its
President Robert
Mugabe.
Sentamu wants Britain to find the courage to lead a campaign of
foreign
intervention.
Writing in the Observer newspaper, the
Archbishop says, "the time has come
for Prime Minster Gordon Brown to
finally slay the ghosts of Britain's
colonial past. The time for African
solutions alone is now over." Sentamu
describes Mugabe as "the worst kind of
racist dictator."
Since coming to power in 1979, following a London
conference that ended the
civil war and ensured the peaceful transition from
white-ruled Rhodesia to
black-ruled Zimbabwe, Mugabe has overseen and
orchestrated the rape of a
once-bountiful country and its hopeful
people.
The fields are barren, the grocery stores and market stalls
nearly empty.
Life expectancy for males in Zimbabwe has fallen to 37, for
women, 34.
Infant mortality is soaring. More than a third of Zimbabweans
have HIV.
Free speech? Hardly. The Zimbabwe state broadcaster is a
propaganda outlet
that would have made Josef Goebbels proud. The BBC and CNN
are among those
banned from the country as "enemy agencies."
The
political opposition? Beaten, intimidated, tortured and murdered.
The
white farmers were driven off their land, along with their black
workers.
Those valuable agricultural assets were awarded to Mugabe's
so-called "war
veterans," under whom a potato wouldn't grow.
Mugabe bulldozed slums,
leaving many of the urban poor even more destitute.
Amnesty International's
list of serious human rights abuses by his regime is
a long one.
This
week, a report by a Brussels-based think tank, the International Crisis
Group, warned that Zimbawe is close to complete collapse, with 80 percent of
the population living below the poverty line and inflation running at 7,500
percent. The International Monetary Fund says that could increase to a
staggering 100,000 percent by the end of this year.
The ICG contends
that western sanctions are largely symbolic. Does Mugabe
really care that he
is banned from European Union countries while having so
much fun at
home?
Southern African countries are the only ones that can make a
difference, but
the chances of that are slim, says the think-tank, pointing
out that some
African leaders are Mugabe supporters and unlikely to push for
anything more
than cosmetic changes.
Apparently, much hope is being
placed with South African President Thabo
Mbeki to try and twist the arm of
his northern neighbor, although to date,
Mbeki's influence has been
minimal.
When it's suggested that Britain, due to its historical
responsibility as a
former colonial leader, should take the lead, as
Archbishop Sentamu desires,
the Foreign Office official with African
responsibility argues that it's up
to, "Africa, Europe and the rest of the
world, who together must insist on
change."
However, clearly feeling
the heat of the moral minority, Prime Minster Brown
announced he will
boycott the upcoming summit of African and EU leaders in
Portugal if Mugabe
attends. This is still a symbolic gesture, though it does
represent a
challenge to the EU.
A compromise is being sought that would placate
other African nations and
keep the summit alive. Perhaps one of Mugabe's
lesser officials will get the
invite.
The international community is
reluctant to take a meaningful stand against
Mugabe, and while the UN is
finally sending troops to Darfur, the beaten and
hungry of Harare are
somehow seen as less in need of rescue.
Perhaps it's colonial guilt. Or
is it the lack of oil or a nuclear
development program that allows Robert
Mugabe to lay waste to his country
and its people, knowing he will be
undeterred by nations which, elsewhere,
claim the moral high ground?
Monsters and Critics
Sep 22, 2007, 10:51 GMT
Johannesburg/Harare - State
media in Zimbabwe Saturday rounded on British
Premier Gordon Brown for
threatening to boycott a gathering of European and
African leaders if
President Robert Mugabe attends.
Zimbabwe's Herald daily, a government
mouthpiece, claimed Brown was running
scared of a confrontation with Mugabe
at the EU-Africa summit due to be held
in Lisbon in
December.
'Instead of facing the prospect of losing the game at the hands
of not only
a former colony but a little African country, Brown has decided
to hightail
it,' the paper said in its leader article.
Writing in
London's Independent newspaper this week, Brown said Mugabe was
the only
African leader banned from travelling to Europe, which he said was
justified
because the veteran Zimbabwean president was guilty of abusing his
own
people.
'I believe that President Mugabe's presence would undermine the
summit,
diverting attention from the important issues that need to be
resolved,'
Brown wrote.
But the Herald editorial called on Brown to
be bold and be his own man.
'Mr Brown has nothing to fear from President
Mugabe but has everything to
gain by engaging in civilized dialogue that
will eventually lead to an
agreement over the bilateral dispute between the
two countries,' it said.
Britain, along with the US, Australia and the EU
accuse Mugabe's government
of committing human rights abuses and rigging
elections. The countries have
slapped arms, financial and travel embargoes
on Mugabe and his inner circle.
Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba,
writing in his Saturday column in the
Herald under his pseudonym Nathaniel
Manheru weighed in.
'Communicating with fellow Europeans through the
British press (Brown)
clearly indicated British diplomacy had come unstuck.
Clearly British
diplomacy has foundered in its backyard, with Brown adopting
for the rest of
Europe Blair's odious megaphone diplomacy against Zimbabwe,'
Manheru wrote.
'Mugabe stands very tall and black. Brown stands white and
colonial. It is
anyone's guess who carries world opinion,' he
added.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Daily Mail, UK
Last updated at
01:25am on 22nd September 2007
One fifth of Zimbabwe's trained nurses
were recruited to work in Britain
last year - despite rules supposedly
banning hospitals from poaching staff
from the world's poorest
countries.
More than 5,200 doctors and nurses were hired from African
nations which
appear on the Government's list of states "that should not be
recruited
from".
The World Health Organisation estimates Zimbabwe to
have fewer than 9,000
nurses left - just one for every 1,400 people,
compared with one for every
156 in the UK.
The country's health
service is close to collapse, faced with high levels of
HIV and infant
mortality and an exodus of trained medics.
Yet last year the Home Office
granted work permits to 1,610 Zimbabwean
nurses - far more than the numbers
being trained there each year.
Ministers acknowledged the problem by
issuing new guidelines three years ago
and NHS trusts are no longer allowed
to "target" developing countries such
as Zimbabwe when
recruiting.
But they are not actually banned from hiring staff from those
countries Tory
MP James Clappison, who uncovered the latest figures, said:
"The Labour
Government is clearly failing to meet its own
commitment.
"We have to consider the long-term effect."
merinews
Roberto Carlos
Alvarez-galloso
22 September 2007, Saturday
TAKING INTO account
that the US mainstream media has decided to attack
Press TV in its ongoing
psychological war against Iran, I was reminded of
one of Press TV's
programmes. I remember watching a special programme on
Zimbabwe by Press TV
on my Windows Media Player. It is time I shared it with
the
world.
Press TV journalist Yvonne Ridley dedicated a section of the
programme
The Agenda to Zimbabwe and Mugabe. Among the people interviewed
was a
representative of MDC [Movement for Democratic Change] for Great
Britain and
Ireland, Julius Sal Mutyambiza-Dewa, Stephan Chen, Professor,
School of
Oriental and African Studies and Wilf Mbanga, editor of The
Zimbabwean.
Ridley stated that an official from the Embassy of the
Republic of
Zimbabwe had declined an invitation to participate in the
programme to
explain the position of Mugabe. The subject was whether Mugabe
was a
liberal or a tyrant. The response from Dr. Chen was that he was both.
The
independent journalist and the MDC Representative for the UK and Ireland
stated that Mugabe was a tyrant. There were statements on how Mugabe had
created conditions for either a violent revolution or a civil war. The three
interviewees agreed that South Africa enjoyed the leverage to force a change
but did not want to, since the South African President Mbeki supported
Mugabe.
The interviewees also agreed that Mugabe was using the
nationalist
card for his own ends and that there was a general dismay at the
situation
in Zimbabwe. Press TV also interviewed a group of demonstrators at
the
Zimbabwean Embassy in London. Ms. Ridley added that investors were
lining
up to invest in Zimbabwe; the response of Mbanga was that
opportunists could
make money even in unstable times. Mbanga struck a chord
since we have the
same situation in the American continent in terms of
opportunists and
speculators.
Ridley also asked what would
happen if MDC was accused of a "sell
out". The response of Mr. Sal
Mutyambuza-Dewa was that there was a need for
global trade, term limits and
transparency in the government, with
separation of powers. Another invitee
was a human rights activist who
talked of radio and TV, with sanctions
against the ruling class. I disagreed
with him on this point since there
were blogs like blog.co.uk and shortwave
radio stations like SW Africa
FM.
After watching The Agenda on Press TV, one could draw many
conclusions: Press TV and Ms. Yvonne Ridley had done their homework
concerning Zimbabwe. Press TV had covered Zimbabwe as effectively as the
BBC, RNW [Radio Netherlands], CBC/RCI [Canada] and CRI [China]. This type of
in-depth coverage does not obtain in the "mainstream media" of USA except in
the case of PBS [Public Broadcasting Service]. Press TV deserves hundred
percent for its unbiased report on Zimbabwe and Mugabe.
Mugabe
is nothing more than a tyrant with a desire to cling to power
at any cost.
He is willing to sacrifice Zimbabwe for his personal gain and
could care
less about hyperinflation and lack of basic necessities. He is
creating a
replica of North Korea as Ark-888 said.
South Africa enjoys
leverage but does not want to use it. Maybe South
Africa will use the
leverage if there are a lot of cancellations for the
World Cup 2010. I
myself contemplated taking my wife and daughter to South
Africa (to
celebrate my daughter's 15th birth anniversary) to watch the
World Cup. I
cancelled my trip pending improvement in the situation there.
Many people
have done the same thing and are contemplating Brazil 2014.
Others are
thinking about petitioning FIFA to transfer the World Cup to the
USA or
Europe. The thoughts and prayers of this writer are with the people
of
Zimbabwe whose sufferings could have been straight out of a Hollywood
film
if they were not real.
www.cathybuckle.com
Saturday 22nd September 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
The
eyes of the world have been on Zimbabwe for the past week and it is
heartening to know that we are not alone and humbling to think that people
care about our plight. In fact, everything about life in Zimbabwe is pretty
humbling these days. As the weeks pass and conditions deteriorate ever
further, it is hard to understand how people are surviving and beyond belief
that we have not erupted into food riots and violence. When you see schools
still desperately struggling to maintain standards and continuing to educate
our children and institutions scavenging for food for their residents, it is
truly humbling.
After three months of price controls the food
situation in the country is
perilous and even those who were able to stock
their pantries and cupboards
are now in trouble. In a main supermarket in my
home town this week there
was air freshener, window cleaner, some
vegetables, Indonesian toothpaste
and imported cornflakes from South Africa
- one single packet costing more
than half of a teachers monthly salary.
There was also milk being sold from
a bulk tank to people who bring their
own bottles and the queue went through
the empty shop, out the door and
along the pavement. The line broke up
suddenly before 10am when the milk ran
out and the huge shop was suddenly
completely empty - nothing left to sell,
no more customers. This situation
was a mirror image of conditions at three
other major supermarkets in the
town and so we look desperately into another
week of struggle, praying for
relief.
The voices of ruling party MP's
have finally begun to be raised and although
its taken far too long for them
to speak out, perhaps their criticisms will
lead to desperately needed
change. An un-named Zanu PF MP was blunt in
stating the obvious this week:
"We are likely to lose next year's elections
if they don't revise their
policies," he said. "There is nothing on the
shelves; people are going for
days without bread, cooking oil, even sugar
and soft drinks," he fumed.
Other ruling party MPs who broke the silence
over this government imposed
starvation said: "they should go back to the
drawing board; companies are
closing down and people are losing jobs. This
nonsense should stop and we
are listening to what the people are saying."
While the nightmare of
finding food, carrying water and cooking outside on
open fires continues,
there have been major political developments as the
opposition and ruling
parties voted together this week to amend our
Constitution for the 18th
time. The move has been met by many with
scepticism, disbelief and
suspicion. People are saying the opposition have
betrayed their supporters
and sold out. Others are waiting to see what this
really means; hoping
against hope that whatever concessions have been made
now will have been in
exchange for longer term gains.
Two things have stood out for me this
week. One is the words of South
African Archbishop Desmond Tutu who said:
"Africans must hang their heads in
shame for having allowed such a desperate
situation to continue almost
without anybody doing anything to try and stop
it." The second is a small
quote I heard during the bombing of Lebanon last
year, it seems particularly
apt now: "A bad deal is better than war."
Perhaps that is where we are now?
Until next week, thanks for reading, love
cathy.
Sep 22 2007
by Our
Correspondent, South Wales Echo
I AM sure a lot of readers like
myself have watched the horrific film
footage smuggled out of Zimbabwe by an
ITV crew.
Words cannot express the awful suffering being heaped on
the innocent
people of the country.
Now even clean water is at
a premium because of Mugabe's regeneration
plans, sewers have been fractured
and sewage is polluting the water system.
Nobody can argue that Saddam
Hussein was a ruthless dictator and that many
Iraqis were killed through his
ruthless regime, but the majority of Iraqis
were able to live a fairly
normal life, until Bush and the poltroon Blair
decided to invade the country
and wreak havoc.
Why has Mugabe been allowed to decimate his
country and nobody has
lifted a finger to help?
Not a word has
been heard from leaders of other countries and all that
appears to come from
the UK Government is that they are monitoring the
situation.
Why invade Iraq and let Mugabe wreak far more
terror in Zimbabwe?
Is it a case of oil v minerals?Mary
Walker
Ynysddu, Pontyclun, Rhondda Cynon Taf