David Coltart
Nine years to the day
since I stood with Morgan Tsvangirai, Gibson Sibanda,
Tendai Biti, Welshman
Ncube and many other patriots on the 11th September
1999 at Rufaro Stadium
to launch the MDC a deal has been agreed in Harare
tonight to bring to an
end 28 years of brutal Zanu PF rule.
The bare bones of the deal are as
follows. Constitutional amendment 19 will
shortly be moved in Parliament. It
will enable to the setting up of an
inclusive Government which in turn will
initiate an all inclusive process of
Constitutional reform (which will
include civil society). That process will
last 18 months by which time a new
democratic Constitution must be
implemented, which will also include a time
frame for new elections at some
point to be conducted in terms of the new
Constitution.
The inclusive Government will have Robert Mugabe as
President with greatly
reduced powers to those he enjoys today. There will
be two, largely
ceremonial, Vice Presidents from Zanu PF. Morgan Tsvangirai
will be Prime
Minister. Although he does not have absolute power he does
have substantial
power. For example he will advise Mugabe on all future
appointments
including Judges, Ambassadors and the like. There will be two
Deputy Prime
Ministers, one from MDC T and one from MDC M.
There will
be a slightly cumbersome arrangement for conducting Government
business
which is the essence of the compromise agreed to following the
impasse of
the last 4 weeks. Cabinet will be chaired by Mugabe; Tsvangirai
will be the
vice Chair. Then there will be a Council of Ministers chaired by
Tsvangirai
which will supervise the work of Cabinet.
The Cabinet will largely
reflect the votes cast for the different parties in
the March election in
which Zanu PF got the most votes (if not the most
seats), followed by the
MDC T and MDC M. In a 31 person Cabinet Zanu PF will
have 15 seats, MDC T 13
and MDC M 3. There will be 8, 6 and 1 Deputy
Ministers respectively.
Accordingly if the two MDC factions work together,
which they must in the
national interest, they will enjoy a majority in
Cabinet.
This is
undoubtedly historic but we still have a long and treacherous road
to
travel. Even had we in the combined MDC obtained total control the
challenges are immense. The grave humanitarian and economic crises are
enough to test any Government. The new Cabinet that will have to address
these challenges is composed of protagonists - virtually all of the Cabinet
Ministers to be appointed by the MDC T and M have at some stage in the last
9 years been brutalized on the instructions of those they will now have to
work with. Zimbabwe remains highly polarised and it will take statesmanship
on all sides to make this work.
But work this must. Zimbabwe is a
great country with a tremendous future and
it can and will get through to a
new dawn of freedom. The night is not over
yet but as the great poet Arthur
Hugh Clough wrote:
" In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly,
But
westward look , the land is bright".
Winston Churchill said after the
Battle of Egypt on the 10 November 1942 the
following memorable
words:
"Now is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But
it is
perhaps, the end of the beginning."
Those words are apt today.
This has been a long hard struggle and there have
been many casualties. It
is not over yet - there are many battles which
still lie ahead - but I am
confident that this agreement, imperfect as it
is, marks a significant step
forward and will ultimately yield a new,
democratic, vibrant jewel in Africa
- our great Zimbabwe!
God bless you all and God bless
Zimbabwe.
Senator David Coltart
Bulawayo
11th September
2008
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=3944
September 12,
2008
By Our Correspondent
THE KEY elements of the
landmark deal to be signed on Monday were leaked to
the press Thursday by
sources close to the negotiations soon after President
Thabo Mbeki addressed
a press conference at the Rainbow Towers at the end of
the marathon
negotiations.
Appointed by the SADC, Mbeki presided over negotiations
seeking to establish
common ground between Zimbabwe's major political
parties Zanu-PF and the
mainstream Movement for Democratic Change, (MDC) as
well as a small
breakaway faction of the same party. The objective of the
talks was to bring
an end to Zimbabwe's long-standing political crisis and
current state of
economic collapse.
In terms of the agreement Robert
Mugabe, president of Zanu-PF will retain
his position as President of
Zimbabwe with two vice-presidents, also from
Zanu PF and presumably the
current incumbents, Joseph Msika and Joyce
Mujuru. As the head of state and
government, Mugabe will chair a Cabinet
comprising 31 ministers.
The
MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, will be appointed to the new position of
Prime Minister. He will have two deputies, one from his own party and the
other from the breakaway faction of the MDC led by Arthur
Mutambara.
When the talks adjourned on Wednesday there was a deadlock
over the proposal
by Mbeki that four deputy prime ministers be appointed on
a rotational
basis - two from the mainstream MDC and one each from Zanu-PF
and the rival
Mutambara-led MDC.
As Prime Minister Tsvangirai will
preside over a new council of ministers,
and generally supervise the
ministers, while formulating and implementing
policies. He will head
government business in Parliament and also sit on the
National Security
Council, the successor to the current controversial Joint
Operations Command
(JOC).
The JOC was widely regarded as having usurped executive power from
Mugabe in
the aftermath of his defeat and the defeat of Zanu-PF in the
harmonised
elections on March 29. The JOC was instrumental in manipulating a
reversal
of the presidential election re-run to ensure a "landslide" victory
for
Mugabe on June 27. But his victory was dismissed as a sham in and out of
Zimbabwe after his only rival pulled out at the last minute, citing violence
and intimidation of his officials and supports during the
campaign.
Of the 31 new ministries Zanu-PF will retain 15, with eight
deputy
ministers, while 13 ministers and six deputies will be appointed from
the
ranks of the mainstream MDC. The Mutambara faction will be allocated
three
ministers and one deputy minister.
Another bone of contention
on Wednesday was the distribution of
gubernatorial offices throughout the
provinces. Mugabe had just appointed
six new governors while extending the
term of office of another four. In
terms of the new deal provincial
governors will be appointed from all three
parties. This means Mugabe will
have to stand down some of his recent
appointments.
To facilitate
implementation of the agreement a new amendment,
Constitutional Amendment No
19 will be enacted in Parliament.
In terms of the proposed new electoral
Act If a Member of Parliament or a
Senator dies or is recalled by his or her
party within 12 months from the
day of the signing, none of the other
parties will contest in the ensuing
by-election. The replacement
representative will emerge from the same party.
A brand new Constitution
will be introduced after a period of 18 months
while the new government to
emerge after the signing of the deal on Monday
will have a life-span of a
maximum of five years. As a precaution a review
of the power-sharing deal
will be conducted in 18 months, and every year
thereafter.
Yahoo News
By Cris
Chinaka 37 minutes ago
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's two opposition
factions will have one more
cabinet seat than the ZANU-PF party of President
Robert Mugabe under a
power-sharing deal, an opposition senator said on
Friday.
Senator David Coltart, a senior member of the smaller
breakaway faction of
the MDC, said in an email that Morgan Tsvangirai's main
group would have 13
cabinet seats, ZANU-PF 15 seats and his group three
seats.
This was based on votes cast for the parties rather than seats won
in a
March 29 election in which ZANU-PF lost control of parliament for the
first
time since independence in 1980.
Coltart said Mugabe's power
would be greatly reduced under the deal and
Tsvangirai, in the new role of
prime minister, would have substantial but
not absolute
power.
Mugabe, who has ruled with an iron hand since independence, would
remain as
president and chair the cabinet while Tsvangirai would head a
council of
ministers.
The latter would supervise the cabinet, Coltart
said. He confirmed the email
to Reuters by phone.
Both sides said on
Thursday they had reached a power-sharing deal after two
months of
negotiations following a deep post-election crisis, but they said
details
would not be released until a ceremony on Monday.
Zimbabweans are
desperate for an end to a crisis that has destroyed the
economy, saddling
the once-prosperous country with the world's highest rate
of hyper-inflation
and sending millions of refugees into neighboring
countries.
INCLUSIVE GOVERNMENT
Coltart, Secretary for Legal
Affairs in the MDC faction of Arthur Mutambara,
said the deal would allow
the creation of an inclusive government which
would initiate a process of
constitutional reform lasting 18 months.
This process would end with the
creation of a new democratic constitution,
including setting of a date for
new elections.
"The inclusive government will have Robert Mugabe as
president with greatly
reduced powers to those he enjoys today... Morgan
Tsvangirai will be prime
minister. Although he does not have absolute power,
he does have substantial
power," Coltart said.
He added that
Tsvangirai would advise Mugabe on all future appointments
including those of
judges.
Coltart said Tsvangirai would be vice chairman of the cabinet.
There would
be two largely ceremonial vice presidents from
ZANU-PF.
In addition, Mugabe's party would have eight deputy ministers,
Tsvangirai's
MDC six and Mutambara's faction one.
"If the two MDC
factions work together, which they must in the national
interest, they will
enjoy a majority in cabinet," Coltart said.
The European Union is
reconsidering whether to extend sanctions against
Mugabe's party in the
light of a power-sharing agreement, the French
presidency of the bloc said
on Friday.
"We need to study the agreement and assess the commitments of
the parties,"
a presidency official told a news briefing.
"We will be
considering this over the course of the day and the weekend and
we will see
how and to what extent and there may be adjustments in the
initial draft
conclusions," the official said of previous plans by EU
foreign ministers to
announce an extension of sanctions on Monday.
(Additional reporting by
Jeremy Lovell in London, David Brunnstrom in
Brussels; Writing by Barry
Moody; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
News today that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai have reached a powersharing
agreement, brokered by South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki. As the FT notes, the pace of economic decline in the country is accelerating
daily, with the parallel market rate for the Zim dollar collapsing to Z$30,000
to the USD yesterday from Z$7,500 a week ago. So is this the beginning an economic recovery? JP Morgan seems to think so, at least in the context of mining company Mwana
Africa: It was announced overnight that a power sharing
agreement has been reached in Zimbabwe between Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF and the
MDC. The details of the agreement have not been made public at this stage but
appears to mark the first stage towards a socio-economic recovery in the
country. The market is likely to take this news positively and
we expect Mwana to do well today. A material improvement in economic conditions
in Zimbabwe and the mining industry in particular still seems to be some way
off, given the extent of hyper-inflation and the loss of key skills to South
Africa and further afield. Nonetheless, this announcement appears to remove the
key obstacle to that process beginning. Our base-case SOTP valuation for Mwana
is 43.7p/share, 72% above the current share price. FT Alphaville put in a call to Harare-based independent economist John
Robertson this morning, who’s rather more pessimistic: “We do not know what the deal exactly is just yet.
The fact that they are taking a few days to write it up is worrying. There’s a
precedent, in 2000, when they were writing the constitution. What was presented
to the commissioners to sign was different to what they had agreed to. But they
were under pressure to sign, and so the constitution that was presented to the
population in 2000 was not what the commisioners had agreed to. I can see this
happening again in the next few days and Morgan Tsvangarai being under a lot of
pressuure, especially from Mbeki, to agree… If [the ruling party] are clearly
entrenching their own existing attitudes we’re not going to fix
anything. A snap shot of how bad things are in the country — half a loaf of bread, if
you can find it, costs about Z$500, according to Robertson. And that’s after the
redenomination that lopped 10
zeroes off the national currency last month - a novel, if temporary solution
to inflation rates of about 11.2m per cent. To complicate matters, Zimbabweans are only allowed to withdraw Z$500 from
the bank per day — reducing daily life to a choice between a Z$500 half loaf or
bus fare. Zimbabwe’s solution thus far? Get rid of cash altogether. Zimbabwe’s
Reserve Bank Governer, Gideon Gono, is quoted in the Harare
Herald yesterday: There has been an outcry from the banking public that
the withdrawal limit of $500 is now very insignificant taking into account the
rapid increase in the prices of goods and services. He said that the cash challenges were a temporary
phenomenon, which will pass, and Zimbabweans will look back and laugh at
themselves. However, Dr Gono said as a central bank their desire
was not to keep promoting the use of cash but to transform the economy into a
cashless one as the country is the only one where the demand for cash continues
to go up. “We are desirous of promoting a cashless society that
is in conformity with best economic practices,” he said. He added that they were keen to follow in the
footsteps of other countries, which had now abandoned the use of cash and
cheques and are now using plastic money such as credit and cash
cards. From bartering to credit cards then, with barrels
of meaningless cash in between. The mad markets of Zim continue…
Mugabe's decision to push through forced land seizures
led to disaster for
Zimbabwe's economy
Mark
Tran
guardian.co.uk,
Friday September 12 2008 10:01 BST
Robert
Mugabe, 84, has been nothing if not tenacious in trying to cling on
to power
despite his long descent into pariah status for having wrecked what
was once
one of Africa's brightest hopes.
Mugabe made his name in the 1970s as a
guerrilla leader fighting the white
regime of Ian Smith. After months of
negotiations, the 1979 Lancaster House
agreement paved the way for Mugabe,
leader of the Zanu-PF party, to take
charge of what was then Rhodesia -
which means he has been in power for
almost three decades.
He
initially built a coalition government with Joshua Nkomo, whose Zapu
forces
had also fought the Smith government. But the discovery of arms at
Zapu-owned houses led to Nkomo's dismissal. A brutal crackdown on Zapu
supporters followed, negating early political promises of unity and
democracy.
Mugabe's authoritarian streak has hardened over the years:
critics are
dismissed as "traitors and sell-outs", terms that hark back to
the guerrilla
war, when such denunciations amounted to a death
sentence.
In a long career, Mugabe's decision to push through forced land
seizures in
2000 will be seen as a particularly fateful one. The measure was
designed to
shore up his waning popularity and reward Zanu veterans of the
independence
struggle.
The strategy was politically cynical and
economically disastrous. It wrecked
what had been one of Africa's most
diversified economies as land was seized
from white farmers and handed over
to political cronies, many of whom had no
idea how to run a farm. Tobacco
and food exports slumped and the economy
plunged into
freefall.
Mugabe rarely gives interviews to independent journalists but
spoke for two
and a half hours to Heidi Holland last December for her book
Dinner with
Mugabe.
She concluded that Mugabe was profoundly out of
touch, surrounded by
sycophants too scared to tell him the truth about the
dire state of
Zimbabwe.
When Holland suggested that the economy was
in a mess, Mugabe angrily
insisted that Zimbabwe was "a hundred times
better" than most African
countries.
"Outside South Africa, what
country is like Zimbabwe?" Mugabe said. "Even
now. What is lacking now are
goods on the shelves, perhaps, that's all. But
the infrastructure is there.
We have our mines, you see. We have our
enterprises."
When Mugabe
finally fades from the scene, he will be able to boast of one
supreme
achievement. The former teacher can point to an education system
that has
given Zimbabwe the highest literacy rate in Africa, at 90% of the
population.
Under the deal brokered by the South African president,
Mugabe is not going
just yet. He will remain president and continue to chair
a cabinet, although
opposition sources say it will be a largely consultative
body and the real
power will be with Tsvangirai.
Mugabe's harassment tactics backfired, enhancing
the MDC leader's image as
someone with the guts to stand up to a
dictator
Mark Tran
guardian.co.uk,
Friday September 12 2008 09:41
BST
The details have yet to emerge of the Zimbabwe deal brokered by South
Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, but Morgan Tsvangirai looks set to become
prime minister, with real power to deal with his country's prolonged
crisis.
It has been a long road for Tsvangirai. The oldest of nine
children, he left
school at 16 to help support his family. By the age of 20
he had joined his
local textile union, and when he transferred to work at a
nickel mine two
years later he had become a labour activist.
Over the
next decade he rose through the ranks of the Associated Mine
Workers Union,
becoming a branch chairman and later a member of its
executive. In 1988 he
was elected secretary general of Zimbabwe's equivalent
of the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the overarching body of the
country's
labour movement.
The movement was still attached to Mugabe's ruling
Zanu-PF party but
relations deteriorated along with the economy. The next
year, Tsvangirai was
to have his first spell in prison - accused of being a
South African spy.
He eventually became Mugabe's main political
challenger through his
leadership of the opposition party, the Movement for
Democratic Change.
Although heavily influenced by the trade union movement,
the MDC
incorporated the church, business, women's and students'
organisations and
other interest groups.
As Zimbabwe descended into
economic chaos, Tsvangirai and the MDC stepped up
their challenge to the
government through a series of nationwide strikes
that brought the
opposition into more direct conflict with Mugabe.
Tsvangirai's MDC came
close to winning power in parliamentary elections in
2000 and in a
presidential vote in 2002. His credentials were questioned
after a serious
split in MDC ranks in 2005, when he overruled a decision by
the party's
leadership to take part in elections for the senate and ordered
a
boycott.
Tsvangirai seemed a fading force after the MDC split, but
Mugabe's tactics
of harassment and intimidation backfired and only enhanced
the opposition
leader's image. He was badly beaten after he took part in a
prayer meeting
that police claimed was illegal.
Mugabe said the
veteran trade unionist "deserved" his treatment for
disobeying police
orders, but pictures of a battered Tsvangirai did wonders
for his reputation
as a man with enough guts to stand up to an increasingly
ruthless
dictator.
In an effort to discredit Tsvangirai, the government accused
him of plotting
to kill Mugabe ahead of the controversial 2002 elections.
The prosecution's
case rested on the testimony of Ari Ben-Menashe, a
Canada-based consultant.
Menashe testified that in a secretly filmed
meeting in December 2001,
Tsvangirai asked him to arrange Mugabe's
assassination. The defence team
said the tape was doctored as part of a plot
to entrap Tsvangirai and the
court subsequently acquitted Tsvangirai of the
treason charges.
While Tsvangirai's bravery is not an issue, there have
been questions about
his political judgment and an authoritarian streak that
was evident during
the MDC split. The world will soon find out whether he
measures up to his
Reuters
Fri 12 Sep
2008, 8:23 GMT
(Adds details)
BRUSSELS, Sept 12 (Reuters) - The
European Union is reconsidering plans to
extend sanctions against Robert
Mugabe's ruling party in the light of a
power-sharing agreement in Zimbabwe,
the French presidency of the bloc said
on Friday.
"We need to study
the agreement and assess the commitments of the parties,"
a presidency
official told a news briefing after the announcement of the
deal between
Mugabe's party and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC
late on
Thursday.
"We will be considering this over the course of the day and the
weekend, and
we will see how and to what extent there may be adjustments in
the initial
draft conclusions," the official said of previous plans by EU
foreign
ministers to announce an extension of sanctions on
Monday.
The 27-nation EU imposed additional sanctions on the ruling elite
earlier
this year in response to election violence against opposition
supporters.
"The fact that there was a power-sharing agreement doesn't
exonerate those
who were guilty of committing violence," the EU presidency
official said.
"They are not going to escape responsibility. You need to
bear that in mind
as well."
The power-sharing pact follows two months
of negotiations between Mugabe,
84, who has ruled with an iron hand since
independence from Britain in 1980,
and former union leader Tsvangirai, 56,
his fiercest opponent for the past
decade. The talks were brokered by South
African President Thabo Mbeki.
But it was not immediately clear what
concessions Mugabe had made to
Tsvangirai, an issue that will likely
determine how much financial support
Mugabe's Western critics will give
Zimbabwe to help it recover from economic
meltdown.
David Coltart, an
opposition Zimbabwean senator, said on Friday the two
factions of Zimbabwe's
MDC opposition would have one more cabinet seat than
Mugabe's ZANU-PF under
the deal. Mugabe would chair the cabinet and
Tsvangirai a council of
ministers, which would supervise the cabinet,
Coltart said.
The EU
had originally planned to decide on Monday to add more names to a
list of
Zimbabwean officials whose assets are frozen and who are banned to
travel to
Europe in protest lack of progress in ending the political
deadlock.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom, editing by Paul Taylor)
http://www.apanews.net
APA-Harare (Zimbabwe)
Zimbabwe owed the International Monetary Fund
nearly US$135 million at the
end of June or seven percent of global arrears
owed to the Breton Woods
institution by member states, the IMF has said in a
report.
Released on Thursday, the report said Zimbabwe's arrears to the IMF
stood at
$134.9 million in June out of a global total of more than US$2,052
million.
Crisis-torn Zimbabwe has defaulted on its payments to
the IMF since
February 2001 and had its voting rights suspended in
2004.
The IMF report also showed that two other African countries
accounted
for the remainder of the arrears to the Fund.
"Two
members with arrears dating back to the mid-1980s - Somalia and
Sudan -
account for 93 percent of total arrears to the Fund, with Sudan
accounting
for 75 percent," the report said.
Another African country, Liberia,
cleared all its arrears amounting to
US$832 million on March 14,
2008.
The arrears had accumulated since 1984 and following the
clearance,
the IMF Executive Board restored Liberia's voting rights and its
eligibility
to use the resources of the Fund.
JN/nm/APA
2008-09-12
http://english.ohmynews.com
The cost of goods
in US dollar terms is also rising
Masimba Biriwasha
Published 2008-09-12 16:47 (KST)
Zimbabweans woke up to news that a
power-sharing agreement had been reached
between incumbent President Robert
Mugabe and the political opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai but many could
not even afford a copy of the
state-owned newspaper that announced the
news.
In Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, many people could be seen peering at
the bold
news headline in The Herald newspaper which read: "Deal At Last,"
and then
walking away, whispering among each other about the prospects of
the deal.
"If they really have, and if it sticks, it will mean an
extraordinary
alliance between Robert Mugabe and those who until yesterday
were his
bitterest foes -- people who have been spied on, beaten up and
arrested and
seen friends and family killed by his thugs," reported The
Times newspaper.
The fact of the matter is that there are still many
outstanding political
and economic issues in the country that require bold
steps and a reversal of
previous botched policies implemented by Mugabe's
government.
In particular is the land redistribution which government
embarked on in
year 2000. Mugabe's government initiated a land reform
programme that was at
best disorganized and at worst favoured only ZANU-PF
party apparitchiks.
Today, much of Zimbabwe's fertile agricultural land
lies fallow, and it is
not surprising that the country is faced with severe
food insecurity.
Though the two protagonists in Zimbabwe's political
drama have agreed to a
deal, ensuring equitable distribution of Zimbabwe'
land remains a mammoth
task; it is literally a political minefield for both
Mugabe and Tsvangirai.
Moreover, in much of Zimbabwe's hinterland,
political division and violence
remains the order of the day. Unless the new
government institutes a process
of reconciliation, mayhem will continue to
be the order of the day in the
rural areas.
Many of the officials in
government structures either support or have
benefitted from Mugabe's
party-political influenced policies. These will
continue to present a
challenge to Tsvangirai's leadership.
In that respect, the so-called deal
is only a tip of the iceberg of the
numerous challenges confronting the
country.
There are fears among political analysts that Mugabe will
swallow Tsvangirai
as he did his political foe and former comrade in the
struggle, Joshua
Nkomo, during the 1980s.
"Mugabe is not to be
trusted as he has proved on many occasions. He must
have no executive powers
what so ever and the military must be neutralised
as they have sworn not to
salute Tsvangarai and are responsible for human
rights abuses which
disqualifies them from ever being a party to a "deal,"
commented a political
analyst.
Whatever the case, there is little joy among Zimbabwean who are
having to
cope a run-away inflation, pegged at over 11 million
percent.
Even the US dollar has not been spared from the country's
hyperinflation.
The cost of goods in US dollar terms is also rising;
Zimbabwe has indeed
become both expensive and impoverished.
The mood
in Harare is depressed as it is clear that the political deal will
not
change things fundamentally in the short-term.
In the long, Zimbabwe's
political players will have to swallow bitter pills
and also make difficult
decisions in order to turn a new page in the
country's destiny.
So,
while the deal has been reportedly signed, much, much more needs to be
done
to make Zimbabwe a better place.
Yahoo News
By MICHELLE
FAUL, Associated Press Writer 35 minutes ago
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -
Zimbabwe opposition officials say some are
unhappy with a complicated deal
that finally has President Robert Mugabe
agreeing to relinquish some
power.
The two officials said the breakthrough gives opposition
leader Morgan
Tsvangirai control of the government and the police force that
has been
terrorizing the opposition.
Mugabe controls defense forces
under the deal agreed Thursday night after
three months of
negotiations.
The two officials said Tsvangirai broke a deadlock with an
agreed proposal
for a Council of State made up of Mugabe and two deputies
and Tsvangirai and
two deputies. Two other officials said some opposition
leaders are unhappy
about the deal.
Two of the officials confirmed
that Mugabe, 84, would head the Council of
State and Tsvangirai, 56, the
Cabinet.
The officials spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because of
a media
blackout.
One official said the deal includes disbanding the
southern African nation's
feared Central Intelligence Organization, which
like the police comes under
the mantle of the Ministry of Home Affairs, and
replacing it with a smaller,
more efficient National Security
Authority.
It also gives priority to removing draconian security and
media laws.
Under the deal, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
gets most
seats in the Cabinet, 16 to 15 seats for Mugabe's Zimbabwe African
National
Union-Patriotic Front, or ZANU-PF. Tsvangirai's party gets 8 deputy
ministries, Mugabe's six and one goes to a breakaway opposition faction led
by Arthur Mutambara.
The officials said the deal is detailed in a
lengthy and complicated
document that will take all weekend to
prepare.
It should be signed Monday in Harare in the presence of South
Africa's
President Thabo Mbeki and other regional presidents who mandated
Mbeki to
negotiate the peace agreement for the Southern African Development
Community.
The community and the African Union are to guarantee the
deal along with a
joint monitoring council made up equally of members of
Zimbabwe's two main
parties.
The deal calls for a new constitution to
be drawn up within 18 months and
put to a national referendum. New elections
should be held 90 days after.
And it envisages the transitional
government would last between 2 and 2 1/2
years.
Mbeki and Tsvangirai
announced a deal was agreed Thursday night, but Mugabe,
who apparently was
forced to compromise, has made no statement.
"I am absolutely certain
that the leadership of Zimbabwe is committed to
implementing these
agreements," Mbeki told a late-night news conference.
Tsvangirai said the
parties "have got a deal."
The agreement was crucial to the standing of
Mbeki, who has faced growing
criticism of his "quiet diplomacy" blamed for
placating Mugabe and allowing
the country's long drawn-out economic meltdown
to deepen.
Others, including African leaders traditionally reluctant to
criticize one
of their own, have become increasingly impatient with Mugabe,
the country's
leader since independence in 1980.
Mugabe is accused of
trampling on Zimbabwean's political rights and ruining
the economy of what
had once been the region's breadbasket. Neighboring
countries coping with
millions of Zimbabwean refugees were among the
sharpest
critics.
Tsvangirai's party won the most votes in legislative and
presidential
elections in March, but he did not win enough to avoid a runoff
against
Mugabe. An onslaught of state-sponsored violence against
Tsvangirai's
supporters forced him to drop out of the presidential
runoff.
Mugabe kept Tsvangirai's name on the ballot and was declared the
overwhelming winner of a June runoff widely denounced as a sham.
Much
of Mugabe's popularity at home and across the continent is linked to
his
image as a fighter for liberation from white rule and a proud African
unafraid to defy the West. Tsvangirai, who lacks Mugabe's anti-colonial
credentials, has said Zimbabwe needs to work with the West to overcome its
problems.
A political settlement would free the leaders to address
Zimbabwe's severe
economic problems - which include having the world's
highest inflation rate
and chronic food and fuel shortages.
Foreign
investors have been wary because of the political uncertainty.
Western
governments are poised to help with grants and loans, but will not
deal with
Mugabe, who they denounce as a dictator.
SW
Radio Africa (London)
11 September 2008
Posted to the web 12 September
2008
Alex Bell
Civil society groups on Thursday reiterated the
call for transitional
justice as a 'critical remedy' to massive human rights
abuses in Zimbabwe,
and have made a joint demand for no impunity for rights
abusers.
According to a statement released by the National Association of
Non
Governmental Organisations (NANGO) on Thursday, transitional justice in
the
Zimbabwean context refers to the 'pursuit of comprehensive justice
during
times of political transition' through certain
strategies.
NANGO explained that such strategies include 'retributive
justice,' and
'truth seeking' to create a more just and democratic future in
Zimbabwe. The
association and the broader Zimbabwean Civil society,
including the Human
Rights NGO Forum, have listed a set of demands for a
transitional justice
process - including no impunity for crimes against
humanity, torture and
gender based violence.
The groups have also
called for a Truth Seeking Inquiry 'as a foundation for
closure,
reconciliation and healing.' NANGO's Farai Ngirande told Newsreel
on
Thursday that truth and closure are of extreme importance for the victims
and survivors of human rights abuses, and argued that a Truth Seeking
Inquiry will 'guarantee that victims are given the opportunity to bear
testimony.'
Ngirande said perpetrators of rights abuses in Zimbabwe
need to be held
accountable so that Zimbabweans can build a future based on
'fundamental
rights and freedoms and respect for the rule of law.' He said
impunity must
not reign in Zimbabwe because of the precedent it will set for
the country's
future.
But Ngirande also expressed frustration that
any deal between ZANU PF and
the MDC will likely include a form of immunity
for abusers under Robert
Mugabe's regime. He said such a deal is an
'injustice to the people,' and
said that disempowering them in this way is
yet another rights violation.
SW Radio
Africa (London)
ANALYSIS
11 September 2008
Posted to the web 12
September 2008
Violet Gonda
It's reported a deal between the
political rivals in Zimbabwe is imminent,
while many Zimbabweans wait
anxiously for an end to the political process
that has dragged on for
months.
It is widely believed that ZANU PF and the two MDC formations are
finally
set to seal a power sharing deal. But the question remains, how
sincere will
the political parties be, especially ZANU PF, when a simple
issue like
allowing the population access to food is still being
politicised?
The reality is Zimbabweans continue to face starvation
while much needed
food is still being blocked in some parts of the country,
even though the
government recently relaxed restrictions on food
distribution. There are
reports that in some areas ZANU PF activists are
still insisting that NGOs
distribute food through them.
Our
correspondent Lionel Saungweme, who visited the Gokwe area recently says
only ZANU PF supporters are being given the opportunity to purchase scarce
commodities under the Basic Commodities Supply Side Initiative
(BACOSSI).
Saungweme said known MDC cadres are being excluded from buying
food and the
Catholic Church's 'CADEC' program is being hindered by war
veterans,
resulting in several residents who had received food handouts and
blankets,
being forced to return the blankets to CADEC.
The same
scenario prevails in Zimudabule (Ward 12), Umguza where residents
suspected
to be MDC supporters have been denied the right to purchase
groceries under
the BACOSSI facility. They were told "lithini ngathi
njengoba selivhotele
uTsvangirai," - what do you say about us since you have
voted for
Tsvangirai.
Meanwhile, the Voice of America's Studio 7 reported that work
by Aid
agencies in Masvingo is being disrupted by the militia and war
veterans,
despite the lifting of the food aid ban. According to the radio
station, war
veterans chased away Red Cross workers attempting to follow up
on people
displaced by post-election violence. It's reported Care
International is
also among the groups feeling pressure from the war
veterans and militia.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=3941
September 12, 2008
By Geoffrey
Nyarota
(This article, originally published in the Financial Gazette of
June 8,
2006, is re-printed here in the public interest.)
I NORMALLY
have a jaundiced view of politicians who are in the habit of
making profound
statements in the national interest while standing on
podiums in foreign
lands.
President Robert Mugabe has become a past master in this regard,
as he
occasionally makes known his new thinking on the sensitive but
pertinent
issue of his retirement from office during trips abroad. He grants
interviews to foreign journalists while travelling in distant lands or to
the few foreign journalists fortunate enough to be allowed to interview him
in his office in Munhumutapa Building, much to the chagrin of local
journalists.
Particularly embarrassed are those loyalists within the
government's media
juggernaut who tirelessly sing in praise of him. Through
dispatches from
such distant capitals, Zimbabweans often get to know that
their president is
indeed thinking about the prospect of either stepping
down in the
foreseeable future or extending a little further his term of
office.
The MDC appears to have taken a leaf out of Mugabe's book in this
regard,
which is regrettable, considering that the party should be striving
to shake
off the image, imaginary or real, of an organization manipulated by
foreign
interests.
During a recent visit to the United Kingdom by the
MDC leader, Morgan
Tsvangirai, his party's new secretary general Tendai
Biti, made a statement
that made instant headlines.
Biti was quoted
by Reuters news agency as having disclosed that the MDC had
accepted in
principle a proposal to grant to Mugabe immunity from
prosecution for human
rights violations, if that would help to save the
nation from further
catastrophe.
Such a statement will no doubt incur the wrath of our
compatriots in the
western regions of Zimbabwe, especially those who
suffered the consequences
of the deployment of or witnessed the atrocities
perpetrated by Five Brigade
during the Gukurahundi campaign of the 1980s.
Also likely to take umbrage at
such a pronouncement are the hundreds of
thousands who have been victims of
sporadic Zanu-PF-sponsored political
violence since independence, including
the infamous Operation Murambatsvina
and the millions who have been forced
to relocate into the Diaspora over the
years as political and/or economic
refugees. They, as well as all upholders
of democratic values and
principles, expect, understandably so, that Mugabe
will be held to account
for the transgressions of his government.
The
MDC's proposal was, in those circumstances, as daring as it was
unexpected
among Zimbabweans who, in their frustration, now expect salvation
or a
solution to their nation's political and economic crisis from divine
intervention or from the mediation of President Thabo Mbeki, president of
South Africa. Surprisingly, Biti's proposal is not entirely
original.
As one who has been a victim of both persecution and excessive
prosecution
by the government, I was stunned, back in May 16 2005, to read
in British
newspaper The Times an article by Richard Dowden. He suggested
that the
government of Mugabe's nemesis, British Prime Minister Tony Blair,
eats
humble pie and deals directly with the Zimbabwean leader.
"There
is a chance of an internal deal that may involve immunity for past
crimes,"
Dowden postulated. "Zimbabwe may be one of the places where justice
has to
be delayed - perhaps until the next world - for the sake of peace."
Part
of my revulsion to Dowden's proposal was that it was coming from a
foreigner. "Perfidious Albion," I said to myself.
This time around, a
year later and with Zimbabwe's inflation now well over
the 1 000 percent
mark, on the back of a precipitous socio- economic
meltdown, and with the
same proposal now coming from Zimbabwe's most
influential opposition party,
I paid more attention.
I have heard this proposal propounded by
Zimbabweans in numerous private
conversations, but never in public, apart
perhaps from the daring
articulation of the late university don and
Financial Gazette columnist,
Professor Masipula Sithole. Zimbabweans have
become renowned for their
magnanimity. In 1980 they pardoned Rhodesian rebel
Prime Minister, Ian
Douglas Smith, whose security forces committed untold
atrocities inside the
country and in Zambia and Mozambique during the war to
liberate our country.
Since independence a pervasive culture of endemic
fear has engulfed
Zimbabwe. In fact, this terror has its roots in the
violence spawned by that
war, which the rural population was forced to
endure in the operational
zones of the brutal guerilla conflict.
The
overwhelming sense of fear that has become a common characteristic of
Zimbabwe's political ethos after independence is a carry-over from that war.
Virtually every Zimbabwean lives in fear, prompting the uncharitable
observation of the citizens of neighbouring countries that we have become a
nation of cowards. Ordinary citizens, whether rural or urban, live in
perpetual fear of the state security machinery - the army and the CIO. They
are terrified of Zanu-PF and its own ruthless machinery for spreading terror
and instilling fear, the so-called Green Bombers.
In reality, the
ostensibly powerful Zanu-PF politicians also live in morbid
fear - they are
terrified of the CIO and the man to whom the organization is
ultimately
responsible, Mugabe.
Rather paradoxically, the President himself,
meanwhile, also leads a
terror-stricken existence. He is horrified by the
prospect of the people
doing a Pinochet on him in retaliation for the years
of hardship,
deprivation, cruel humiliation, violence and atrocity suffered
by millions,
as a result of his government's retrogressive policies and
actions. As a
result, Mugabe believes his own safety and security can only
be guaranteed
by his continued tenure of office. It can't be sheer love for
power that has
transformed him into a virtual prisoner inside State House
for the greater
part of the last quarter century.
While it is
patently clear that government has no solution to the nation's
many ills,
notwithstanding an abundance of resources, both natural and
human, with
potential to achieve an effective turn-around of our economy and
our
fortunes, Mugabe will not step down because of a very real fear of the
people. The increasingly elaborate security arrangements around his person
bear ample testimony to this theory.
Meanwhile, our nation is held
hostage to a problem that can be solved quite
expeditiously.
Every
other initiative, from foreign-sponsored quiet diplomacy to home-grown
mass
action, having failed dismally, the time may now have arrived for the
people
of Zimbabwe to seriously consider the proposed pardon for Mugabe.
Ideally,
before it is implemented, Zimbabweans would be asked in true
democratic
fashion and in the national interest to indicate in some of form
of
referendum whether the majority endorses such proposal.
Essentially, they
would be requested to choose between holding Mugabe
hostage in State House
to the continuing detriment of the nation while
hoping to inflict punishment
on him one day or releasing him on some
irrevocable guarantee of immunity so
that we can get on with the momentous
task of rebuilding our nation and
rehabilitating our wrecked economy.
Endorsement of the MDC proposal would
result in a win-win situation; a
compromise in which Mugabe would be
reprieved while Zimbabweans extricate
their country from his relentless and
devastating clutch. A transitional
government headed by whoever appears to
be Zimbabwe's most popular
politician currently, would then be put in place,
with United
Nations-supervised elections being held at the earliest
opportunity.
For Mugabe, just to be the beneficiary of leniency and
clemency, when he
himself is intolerant and unforgiving and for him to
witness the rebirth of
a nation with vast potential for prosperity and a new
hope for future
generations would be a form of excruciating punishment. Once
in a while,
Mugabe would be invited to tour places such as Kondozi Farm,
with Edwin Moyo
on hand to show him thousands of happy employees once more
working around
the clock to meet growing export orders. The former President
would also be
invited to tour Tsholotsho, Lupane or other rural districts of
Zimbabwe,
there to witness new development projects, with citizens, happily
waving to
him in nostalgic memory of the triumphant guerrilla war hero that
he was
before the onset of Gukurahundi. In this scenario, politicians such
as
Professor Jonathan Moyo would be reined in so that their talents and
boundless energy are tapped for the benefit of
Zimbabwe.
Incidentally, if Mugabe dies in office, he will still escape
the punishment
for which we all clamour so stridently and persistently.
Essentially the
options are that Mugabe either escapes punishment now
through a magnanimous
grant of immunity while we proceed to rescue our
nation or that he escapes
punishment through death in office after our
country has deteriorated even
further.
In the final analysis,
Zimbabweans carry on their shoulders the
responsibility to spearhead the
search for a solution to the current crisis.
They cannot relegate this
onerous duty to Thabo Mbeki, Kofi Annan, Tony
Blair or George Bush.
Zimbabweans must have pride of proprietorship over a
homegrown solution. The
issue of amnesty could be a pointer to such a wholly
Zimbabwean solution.
The solution to the current crisis must emanate from a
spectacular
prescription, requiring courage and determination. But then, as
a nation, we
have become prisoners of fear. The majority of the population
cannot
articulate their views or concerns openly on such sensitive but
divisive
issues as Gukurahundi for fear of being branded tribalists or
Mugabe-lovers.
Ndebele subjects who campaign for justice on this issue,
however belatedly,
do so away from public platforms, their campaigns
assuming the countenance
of rebellious plotting against the Shona majority.
Because they are
accused en masse of conspiring with or supporting the
Gukurahundi
atrocities, the Shona majority have taken to adopting a negative
attitude to
any initiative that seeks to address the issue of the
atrocities. This has
engendered inexorable ethnic polarization in the
nation. The largely ethnic
split within the MDC is a veritable symptom of
that schism.
Before we
seek to distribute any funds in compensation for
government-inflicted
hardship, let us first create the conditions for the
generation of wealth.
Once our country is set on the road back to prosperity
and we have an
abundance of resources we can then, acting together as a
nation, address a
number of outstanding issues that are the cause of
disaffection among
sections of the community. Such issues include the
prospect of reparation or
compensation for those who suffered the ravages of
Gukurahundi, sporadic and
murderous political violence, Operation
Murambatsvina as well as bombs that
exploded under printing presses.
Demanding compensation today is a futile
exercise, unless we expect Gideon
Gono to print more money for that purpose.
This is the harsh reality; these
are the hard facts.
Bad timing and
inappropriate strategy are the bane of even otherwise
progressive
initiatives, as the illustrious Professor Arthur Mutambara may
already be
lecturing to all who care to listen to him.
http://www.spectator.co.uk
Peter Hoskin 8:55am
The power-sharing deal reached in
Zimbabawe is certainly an historic
development. It's hard not to conclude
that it's a positive one too. After
all, the pro-West MDC leader, Morgan
Tsvangirai, will now have some role in
the governance of the country. Ok, he
should have been made President back
in March, if democracy had been allowed
to run its course. But, on that
front, this latest still seems like a step
in the right direction.
But it's also difficult not to be sceptical about
the deal. Details will be
announced on Monday, but early word is that we'll
effectively be looking at
two parallel governments - Tsvangirai will be
Prime Minister, chairing a new
council of ministers and looking after the
day-to-day running of Zimbabawe.
Whilst Mugabe will remain as President, and
have control of the cabinet. The
potential for deadlock and conflict between
the two halves is immense.
If Mugabe's premiership has shown us anything
about the man, it's that he
doesn't relinquish power willingly - and he
wields it brutally. Will
Tsvangirai actually be able to end the repression,
strife and violence in
Zimbabwe? Will he be able to get the Zimababwean
economy back on the right
track? It's hoped that his new role in government
will allow an
international presence in the country, to oversee these
efforts. But it's
still going to be difficult.
The
Herald (Harare) Published by the government of Zimbabwe
12 September
2008
Posted to the web 12 September 2008
Harare
The Central
Statistical Office (CSO) said yesterday it is still working on
inflation
data for the month of July.
"There is still work in progress for the
month of July," CSO acting director
Moffat Nyoni said when asked about the
availability of inflation statistics.
CSO, the only body mandated to
release official statistics, last announced
inflation figures for June at
11, 2 million percent.
The Government department has conceded that it was
facing hurdles in
compiling inflation data as a result data
gaps.
Lack of data, especially for prices used in coming up with the
Consumer
Price Index due to the prevailing shortages on the formal market,
continued
to impact on the release of the figures.
Dubbed the
country's number one enemy by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe,
galloping
inflation remains the major stumbling block in efforts to
rejuvenate the
economy.
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