AP Interview: Mugabe urges West to lift sanctions

http://www.newspress.com

EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer

September 24, 2008 5:15 PM

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Zimbabwe's president said Wednesday he sees no
obstacles to carrying out a power-sharing agreement with rivals and hopes it
will lead the West to ease sanctions, which he blamed for devastating the
country's economy.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the 84-year-old Robert Mugabe was
sharp, quick and animated - and made clear he is determined to remain
president despite what he said were efforts by Britain and the United States
to oust him.

''They are waiting for a day when this man, this evil man, called Robert
Mugabe is no longer in control,'' he said. ''And I don't know when that day
is coming.''

So he has no thoughts of resigning?

''No - or a thought of dying,'' Mugabe chuckled.

Mugabe, who is to address the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday, dismissed
Western reports that the Sept. 15 power-sharing deal could fall apart
''because I don't know of any hitch.''

Under the agreement, Mugabe remains president but is supposed to cede some
of the powers he has wielded for nearly three decades in the southern
African country. Long-simmering and bitter differences as well as the
nation's economic collapse, though, have put the deal under intense
pressure.

Mugabe said Wednesday the only outstanding issue is deciding on four of the
31 Cabinet posts, and the negotiations are continuing in Harare while he is
in New York. He declined to say which posts are still being discussed.

''Every one of us is actually positive about the agreement, or the need to
cement the agreement and make it work,'' Mugabe said.

''I don't see any reason why we can't work together as Zimbabweans,'' he
said. ''We are all sons of the soil, as we say, and the differences arise
purely from own conceptions of what Zimbabwe should be and what the
government of Zimbabwe should be.''

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the most votes in March presidential
polling, but not enough to avoid a runoff against Mugabe. An onslaught of
violence against Tsvangirai's supporters led him to drop out of the
presidential runoff and Mugabe was declared the overwhelming winner of the
second vote, which was widely denounced as a sham.

More than 100 opposition supporters were killed in the violence, thousands
of people were beaten up and suffered broken limbs, and tens of thousands
were forced from their homes.

Mugabe, who has been in power since independence from Britain in 1980, and
Tsvangirai have been enemies for a decade. Tsvangirai has been jailed,
beaten, tortured and tried for treason - charges that were dismissed in
court.

But Mugabe made clear Wednesday that he was willing to share power with
Tsvangirai, who would become prime minister under the agreement, leading a
council of ministers responsible for government policies and reporting to a
Cabinet headed by Mugabe.

Still, Mugabe did not spell out who would have the final say if there was a
major disagreement. And while he repeated several times that all parties
want the agreement to work, Mugabe dismissed Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change as a creation of Britain's three major parties and
beholden to its government.

Mugabe described Zimbabwe's government as a pyramid with the president at
the top, but he said ''the president never settles on the matter alone,''
and always works with the vice presidents.

''And now that we have a prime minister we rope him in and we discuss in the
presidency, or whatever we call it, together, and we look at the issues and
see what solutions can be applied to any problem that confronts us,'' Mugabe
said.

The power-sharing deal was mediated during months of negotiations by Thabo
Mbeki, who has been forced to step down from the South African presidency by
the country's ruling party.

Mugabe said it was up to the Southern African Development Community to
decide whether Mbeki continued as mediator. But the Zimbabwean president
offered praise for Mbeki, saying he has been ''quite excellent'' and that
''he's really a man who we praise.''

''There is a man who has been in the seat for so many years as the father of
the African National Congress and democracy in one stroke pulls him down,''
Mugabe said of Mbeki. ''Democracy without morality is no democracy for
all.''

Tsvangirai has repeatedly said he does not want a legal witch hunt in
Zimbabwe, but that he believes some kind of truth and reconciliation process
is necessary to allow healing after years of violence and repression. Mugabe
disagreed.

''At the moment, the fight between us has been one between Britain and
ourselves - Britain, of course, using as their front the opposition,''
Mugabe said. ''So the British and the Americans, they've got to be
reconciled to us.''

Western nations, who have shunned Mugabe's government and whose aid and
investment are sorely needed, have reacted cautiously to the coalition
agreement. They have so far stayed on the sidelines, waiting to see whether
Tsvangirai will emerge as the main decision-maker. Millions of dollars in
aid are expected to flow in if Mugabe actually shares power.

Mugabe said Wednesday the West should now begin removing ''demonic''
sanctions, which have targeted individuals and companies seen to be
supporting his regime. They were tightened after elections this spring and
the European Union recently added an arms ban.

''We don't expect investment from countries that are hostile,'' Mugabe said.
''They can keep their investment, but we would hope in the first place that
sanctions would be lifted. There is no reason for imposing sanctions on
Zimbabwe at all. There has never been any reason for it, you see, except
hostility.''

European Union foreign ministers have welcomed the power-sharing deal but
have said that Mugabe must prove he is willing to restore democratic rule
before EU sanctions can be lifted.

Zimbabwe has the world's highest inflation rate even by the official figure
of at 11 million percent, and independent economists put it much higher.

Critics have linked Zimbabwe's economic slide to Mugabe's 2000 order that
commercial farms be seized from whites. Mugabe says the land reform program
was meant to help poor blacks and blames the country's economic collapse on
Western sanctions.

Food, fuel, hospital supplies and other necessities are scarce as prices
skyrocket in the region's former breadbasket. And millions of Zimbabweans,
including doctors, teachers, business owners and others with important
skills, have fled the country.

Can Zimbabwe return to its former economic status in five or 10 years?

''Yes, if only the West can leave us alone, you will certainly see us come
up,'' Mugabe said. ''It will take us time because we have lost some time
because of sanctions.''

While critics have complained about Zimbabwe's human rights record, Mugabe
said the African Union and southern African leaders have not. When asked
whether he would allow Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to come
in, he replied: ''Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Let them keep out.''

Mugabe also dismissed calls from those who say he should be tried for human
rights abuses.

''I'm sure they forget I am not Mr. Bush who invaded Iraq ... Probably they
mistake me for him. Isn't that the man who should be tried before I am
tried?''

---

Associated Press Writer Brian Murphy contributed to this report.

Authorities Release Activist Held On Charges of 'Communicating Falsehoods'

Media Institute of Southern Africa (Windhoek)

PRESS RELEASE
24 September 2008
Posted to the web 25 September 2008

On 16 September 2008, Peter Muchengeti, the regional chairman of the
National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO) in the
Midlands Province, was freed after being held on charges of communicating
falsehoods, owing to lack of evidence in the matter.

Prosecutor Katherine Chisvo told Gweru Magistrate Irvine Mhlanga that the
state was withdrawing its case against Muchengeti owing to lack of evidence.

The state had argued that Muchengeti had allegedly told Voice of America's
(VOA) Studio 7 in an interview broadcast from Washington, D.C. that "six
bodies" had been discovered in Matshekandumba village at the 30-kilometre
peg along the Kwekwe-Gweru highway. The state dismissed the allegations as
"wholly false". Following the accusations, on 18 July police in Gweru raided
the Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust (ZIMCET) offices and arrested and
detained Muchengeti for three days.

The police also impounded office equipment amid reports that Muchengeti had
also been found in possession of broadcasting equipment.

Muchengeti, who was represented by lawyer Reginald Chidawaenzi, informed the
court that he had been subjected to inhuman treatment and tortured while he
was in custody. The state said it did not have any reports of the alleged
torture. Muchengeti, however, said he had instructed his lawyer to institute
a civil suit against state security agents and the Ministry of Home Affairs
for the torture he endured at the hands of the police.

Lovemore Moyo's address to the labour conference

http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com

25th Sep 2008 02:02 GMT

By Lovemore Moyo

MADAM Chairperson, delegates, friends and comrades, thank you for the honour
of addressing you.

I bring you greetings from my colleagues in Zimbabwe, from Morgan Tsvangirai
and my Comrades in the MDC.

You are our sister party. You have been with us in our struggle. Your
solidarity has sustained us.

Our people are hungry, angry and traumatised. Our people have been forced to
flee from our beloved country; millions driven into exile through poverty,
hunger, unemployment and violence. Our people want change.

The torture and murder of our MDC party activists by the state has been
terrifying. Many of our comrades were killed this year in a wave of
brutality unleashed during the election campaigns. The March and June
election campaigns have come and gone, but our people have continued to live
in fear of brutality from state agents. Thousands of Zimbabweans were made
homeless having been displaced by the terror campaign waged against us.

But things are moving.

On September 11, 2008 a historic power sharing agreement was signed in
Harare. This deal presents us with a chance for a positive change. We have
always had faith. We have always had hope. But now at last our hope is
turning into a reality. I was one of the negotiators in the mediation and I
can tell you it was a very tough process.

We felt we were confronting a conspiracy to block, at any price, the
democratic will of the people of Zimbabwe as expressed on March 29, 2008. Or
to reverse the gains we had so clearly won. But eventually we reached a
position we felt we could put our names to.

The agreement is not perfect. The process is not complete. But we are
committed and certainly, from our side, we're determined to succeed. It is
vital for the people of Zimbabwe that we do succeed. It is vital for the
people of Africa, and it is indeed vital for democracy that we succeed.

Personal vanity and political greed have ruined too many economies in
Africa. And ruined economies mean ruined lives. Our resources have been
plundered by an elite with no regard for the future.

Your theme this afternoon is 'Britain in the World'. There can be no finer
example of what Britain can do in the world than your support for democracy
and human rights in Zimbabwe. When, as a cynical means of political control
by the Mugabe regime, our people were being starved you sent massive
humanitarian support. We thank you for that.

I want to thank you all on behalf of MDC and the people of Zimbabwe for
walking side by side, speaking for and on behalf of our suffering people,
and for your solidarity in our struggle for freedom. What you do here
matters to us out there.

I want to recognise men and women among you who have dedicated and spent
precious amounts of their time working with the people of Zimbabwe. To us
they are heroes. We salute them. I should mention specially one of your own
MPs, Kate Hoey, who braved arrest and ill-treatment to come and visit us
inside Zimbabwe several times.

Above all I want to thank Prime Minister Gordon Brown for his personal
commitment to our struggle. He spoke out boldly against the bad governance
and brutality of Mugabe's regime. I know the Prime Minister and his
government have made Zimbabwe a priority and we will be for ever grateful.
When the people of Zimbabwe felt they had no voice in the world you spoke
for us - at the UN, in the EU and in many other fora. We thank you for that.

It is not easy to fight a dictatorship using democratic means. But we have
tried - and I dare to hope we have prevailed. For too long in Africa
politicians have used guns. It is a tribute to the leadership of Morgan
Tsvangirai that in Zimbabwe we have resisted that. Others use violence and
the threat of violence to terrorise and coerce the people.
Our struggle is a democratic one. We believe in the people's power.

My election on August 25 2008 as Speaker of the House of Assembly was a
historic moment; I am the first Speaker since independence in 1980 not to
have come from ZanuPF. This victory in Parliament reaffirmed the will of the
people as expressed in the 29th March elections when they overwhelmingly
voted for the MDC. We will use our leadership in Parliament to promote
democratic accountability and to make laws for the good of all Zimbabweans.

I was born in 1965, the year Ian Smith declared UDI and set up his illegal
regime in the then Rhodesia. When I was twelve I crossed into Botswana and
made my way to Zambia to join Joshua Nkomo's liberation army. I went to war
as a boy freedom fighter. I fought for freedom then and I'm still fighting
now.

Muthe, the village where I was born and grew up in Matobo was completely
burnt to ashes during the liberation war. When Rhodesian forces came looking
for so-called terrorists local people would direct them to our village. My
family has a liberation war history and I am proud of that.

Ziimbabwe's struggle for freedom has been the story of my life.

So today you are thinking of 'Britain in the World'. But I am thinking of
Zimbabwe in the World, a new Zimbabwe, a prosperous Zimbabwe, and democratic
Zimbabwe. We look to our friends and comrades in the UK and around the world
to help us rebuild our economy and institutions. We look forward to renewing
the links that have been broken and to being welcomed back into the
Commonwealth family.

Prime Minister your international leadership and support for democracy in
Africa will always be celebrated and remembered. I thank you.

Hon. Lovemore Moyo MP
National Chairman of the Movement for Democratic Change and Speaker of the
House of Assembly, Zimbabwe Address to the Labour Party Conference,
Manchester, UK -
22nd September 2008

Political Violence Said Rising In Zimbabwe Despite Political Accord

http://www.voanews.com



By Patience Rusere & Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
24 September 2008

Political violence is on the rise again in Zimbabwe despite the signature
less than two weeks ago of an agreement to establish a unity government in
which power would be shared by the long-ruling ZANU-PF party of President
Robert Mugabe and the Movement for Democratic Change, now in majority in
parliament, MDC officials said.

The MDC formation led by party founder Morgan Tsvangirai, slated to become
prime minister in the new government, issued a statement saying there's been
a resurgence of violence against its supporters by ZANU-PF militia members
and other militants.

The MDC grouping said dozens of its supporters have been assaulted, turned
out of their homes or seen them burned by militants of the former ruling

Tsvangirai MDC formation spokesman Nelson Chamisa told reporter Patience
Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that such attacks run counter to the
spirit of cooperation in which the power-sharing agreement was signed on
Sept. 15.

Some of that violence has been taking place in Mbare, a populous Harare
suburb where according to MDC sources some 61 families were attacked by
ZANU-PF militia members in full view of police at the Matapi station, who
took no action.

Members of those families were attempting to reclaim their homes from which
they were expelled in June amidst election-related violence, but met with
resistance despite being accompanied by a court officer and the Mbare member
of parliament.

Witnesses said two truckloads of ZANU-PF militia including the notorious
Chipangano gang associated with ZANU-PF invaded the police station singing
songs denouncing the MDC and beating party members while the police
passively looked on.

ZANU-PF youth militia evicted MDC supporters from houses owned by the city
council in the Mbare, Nenyere and Matapi flats and the so-called Joburg
Lines. A magistrate in Mbare recently issued an order supporting the evicted
tenants' claim to their homes.

VOA was unable to obtain comment from the police or ZANU-PF officials.

Mbare Member of Parliament Piniel Denga of the MDC Tsvangirai formation told
reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that officers at the Matapi police station,
instead of taking action to halt the assaults, accused him of inciting
people and sought to arrest him.

Victims of violence demand justice

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=4727#more-4727

September 24, 2008

By Owen Chikari

MASVINGO - Victims of political violence during the run-up to Zimbabwe's
June 27 presidential runoff elections have demanded the immediate
prosecution of perpetrators of violence.

The demand comes amid reports that the police are still unwilling to arrest
the perpetrators.

Some the victims from Masvingo in the southern part of the country yesterday
thronged Masvingo central police station to make fresh reports as pressure
mounts on the government to bring to book all the perpetrators of violence.

Some the victims lost their relatives as well as property during a bloody
campaign in the run-up to the presidential election runoff in June in which
President Robert Mugabe was declared winner after MDC presidential candidate
Morgan Tsvangirayi withdrew from the race.

Tsvangirai cited, among other things, widespread violence against his
supporters as the reason for his withdrawal; he said the situation
prevailing then was not conducive for a free and fair election.

A spokesman for the victims Charles Muzenda, whose house was set on fire in
Mwenezi during the run-up to the presidential election, said the victims
were demanding nothing but justice.

"We are here at the police station to make fresh reports because we want the
perpetrators of violence to be brought to book," said Muzenda, who is the
MDC organising secretary in Mwenezi district.

"What makes us angry is that some of the perpetrators of violence are still
moving around freely while we know that they killed innocent people in broad
daylight."

"We are calling upon all the authorities, despite the power-sharing
agreement between the country's two main political parties, to ensure that
the perpetrators of violence during the run- up to the polls are prosecuted.

"The police told us that we must wait until the power-sharing deal has been
implemented in full; they say that is when our cases will be entertained".

Police in Masvingo yesterday confirmed that victims of the political
violence were besieging the central police station in numbers to make fresh
reports.

"We are telling the victims to wait until the power-sharing deal has been
implemented as we do not know whether to arrest the perpetrators or not,"
said a policeman at Masvingo central who requested anonymity.

Zimbabwe's presidential election runoff was marred by state-sponsored
political violence which resulted in the death of over 200, while thousands
were maimed or displaced while their property was destroyed.

In Masvingo province alone, about 15 people were killed, most of them from
Mwenezi district, where Zanu-PF supporters, including soldiers, were
brutalising civilians with impunity.

Human rights groups have called for the prosecution of perpetrators of
violence arguing that the country would remain disunited if the offenders
were allowed to go scot-free.

The power-sharing agreement, engineered by ousted South African president
Thabo Mbeki under the auspices of SADC, is silent on criminal or restorative
justice.

Amid Cholera Outbreaks, Zimbabwe Doctors Demand State Ensure Safe Water

http://www.voanews.com

By Carole Gombakomba
Washington
24 September 2008

A group of Zimbabwean doctors are urging the country's forthcoming
power-sharing government to initiate an "urgent, coordinated and
comprehensive response" to provide safe water and address deterioration of
sanitation systems to prevent disease.

The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights said access to safe
drinking water and adequate sanitation are not privileges but basic human
rights.

Health Minister David Parirenyatwa told the state-controlled Herald
newspaper last week that 11 people have died of cholera, most of them in
Harare satellite town Chitungwiza.
Dr. Parirenyatwa could not be reached for comment on the call from the
doctors.

The Doctors for Human rights statement said it is not enough for the
Ministry of Health to respond to outbreaks of disease only after they have
occurred, saying it must work closely with other ministries including those
responsible for water resources to ensure conditions are maintained to
prevent outbreaks of communicable diseases.

The Zimbabwe National Water Authority has come under fire for failing to
provide safe drinking water to cities across the nation. ZINWA reportedly
has been unable to import sufficient supplies of water-treatment chemicals
due to a lack of foreign exchange.

Chairman Douglas Gwatidzo of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human
Rights told reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that
hospitals are seeing many more people with diarrheal diseases than officials
acknowledge.

Zimbabwe to export 150MW electricity to Namibia

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Nokuthula Sibanda Thursday 25 September 2008

HARARE - Zimbabwe will next month start delivering 150MW of electricity to
Namibia following the refurbishment of its Hwange thermal power plant that
was funded by Windhoek.

Namibia, a close ally of Prersident Robert Mugabe's government, agreed in
2007 to provide US$40 million for the refurbishment of four generation units
at the coal-fired Hwange in northern Zimbabwe in return for power supplies.

Namibia, which imports close to 60 percent of its electricity requirements,
is currently receiving 120MW under the deal and which will be increased to
150MW once refurbishment of Hwange is completed in mid-October.

The power-supply deal will run for five years, according to Paulinus
Shilamba managing director of Namibain's power utilty, NamPower.

"The deal is still on track. We will be receiving 150MW when the final
(fourth) unit is completed mid-October," Shilamba is quoted as saying by
Namibia's official news agency, African Press Agency.

The four units at Hwange each generate 120MW at full capacity.

Shilamba said that the power supply situation in Namibia had become stable
because of imports from Hwange.

Ironically, Zimbabwe has itself to rely on imports from Mozambique and other
neighbouring countries who supply about 35 percent of its requirements.

Zimbabwe makes use of about 2 200MW, but power plants in the country can
only generate about 1 500MW. - ZimOnline

'Zimbabwe one of most corrupt countries'

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Nqobizitha Khumalo Thursday 25 September 2008

BULAWAYO - Zimbabwe has been rated one of the most corrupt countries
in the world, according to the latest Transparency International corruption
perceptions index (CPI) ratings.

The 2008 CPI polled 180 countries, the same number as the 2007 CPI, on
a scale from zero (highly corrupt) to 10 (highly clean).

Zimbabwe was this year ranked number 166 with a CPI score of 1.8, a
significant slide from last year when the crisis-sapped nation was ranked
number 150 with a score of 2.1 points.

Transparency International, which released its latest CPI ratings on
Tuesday, ranked Botswana the least corrupt country in Africa at position 36
with a score of 5.8, while continental economic giant South Africa was
ranked number 54.

The CPI measures perceived levels of public-sector corruption in a
given country and is a composite index, drawing on different expert and
business surveys.

Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden share the highest score at 9.3 this
year, followed immediately by Singapore at 9.2.

Zimbabwe is at the bottom of the scale together with strife-torn
countries like Somalia, Iraq, Myanmar, Chad, Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC) and Haiti.

Countries that have improved significantly in their corruption level
status over the last year are Albania, Cyprus, Georgia, Mauritius, Nigeria,
Oman, Qatar, South Korea, Tonga and Turkey.

Zimbabwe's economic collapse has fuelled corruption at all levels of
society as many people are forced to resort to unorthodox means to survive
in a country grappling with world's highest inflation of more than 11
million percent, shortages of foreign currency, food, fuel, water and
electricity.

The report, by the global anti-corruption body, says rampant
corruption in low-income countries jeopardises global efforts to fight
poverty and threatens to derail the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

It also says unchecked levels of corruption would add US$50 billion or
nearly half of annual global aid outlays to the cost of achieving the MDG on
water and sanitation.

Transparency International chairwoman Huguette Labelle said: "In the
poorest countries, corruption levels can mean the difference between life
and death, when money for hospitals or clean water is in play.

"Stemming corruption requires strong oversight through parliaments,
law enforcement, independent media and a vibrant civil society. When these
institutions are weak, corruption spirals out of control with horrendous
consequences for ordinary people and for justice and equality in societies
more broadly." - ZimOnline

Zimbabwe: Is it time for the travel industry to return?

Power Sharing Tragedy

This Day, Nigeria

By C. Don Adinuba, 09.25.2008

African leaders have been over the moon since Monday, September 15, when the
two antagonistic Zimbabwean rivals, President Robert Mugabe of the
Zimbabwean African Union, and Morgan Tsvangari of the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change, signed a power sharing deal in which the former
retains his position as president and commander in chief of the armed forces
and the latter becomes prime minister with a supervisory role over the
police. "The political crisis in Zimbabwe has been an African challenge, and
Africans themselves have resolved it", enthused South African President
Thambo Mbeki, who brokered the deal and who apparently was making a veiled
reference to criticisms that he in particular should have intervened much
earlier so as to nip the crisis in the bud. Not wanting to be left out in
the credit for the diplomacy leading to the agreement in Harare, Nigeria's
Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe caused Thisday newspaper to carry a front page
lead story on Saturday, September 14, 2008, to the effect that the British
foreign Secretary, David Milliband, had just called him on the phone to
congratulate him on Nigeria's role in resolving the Zimbabwean problem.
There are, of course, grounds to heave a sigh of relief over Zimbabwe . With
the new deal, the impoverished African nation which has the world's highest
inflation rate may no longer be on the cusp of implosion, at least for now.
Secondly, with an inclusive or unity government in place, a "win-win"
situation could even be argued to have emerged. What is more, the United
States and the European Union would not only lift sanctions against the
landlocked nation, but also resume development assistance to it. All is well
that ends well. True?
Not quite. The power sharing deal in Zimbabwe represents Africa 's greatest
political malaise: sanctification of brigandage and buccaneering and the
acceptance of brinkmanship as the basis of governance and leadership. If
there is any winner vis a vis the power sharing deal, it is not the people
of Zimbabwe , nor is it Tsvangari. There is only one winner, and that is
Mugabe. He has been provided a legal, but not legitimate, platform to remain
in office as president and commander of the military on the basis of an
election he did not win, and had no reason to win. When the parliamentary
vote was held in March, it took a whole three months for the electoral
commission to announce the result simply because the ruling ZANU asked it
not to release it. The reason? Mugabe's party, in power since 1980, did not
do well. When eventually the result was published, ZANU was gracious enough
to concede that the opposition won a majority of the seats, still the kind
of grace difficult to find among government parties in other African
nations.
Apprehensive he was going to be beaten square and fair in the presidential
election, Mugabe resorted to every conceivable trick. Violence was unleashed
against ZANU members and supporters, including Tsvangari's deputy who was
arrested and charged with treason. The army, which is led by liberation war
veterans rather than trained and professional soldiers, announced that the
military would NEVER take orders from opposition MDC members. Mugabe himself
stated categorically he would never bring himself to hand over power to
Tsvangari, no matter the outcome of the presidential vote, accusing him of
being a Western surrogate. It was at this point clear to the opposition that
further participation in the electoral process was useless, so it pulled
out. Mugabe hence conducted a presidential vote in which he was the sole
candidate, a situation reminiscent of the charade in the days of the
one-party system in Africa during which sitting presidents always won at
least 95% of the vote. The wave of democratization in the late 1980s and the
early 1990s following the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration
of the Soviet Union compelled African rulers to open up the political space
a little. Mugabe was one of the rulers forced to embrace the new order.
Though he inherited a multi-party system at independence in 1980, he turned
Zimbabwe into a one-party system in the name of socialism.
Socialism or Marxism or communism or whatever name it acquired in Africa
during the cold war was one of the causes of the region's underdevelopment.
Whether in Benin Republic under Mattew Kerekou or in Ethiopia under Mengistu
Haile Mariam or in Tanzania under Julius Nyerere or Zimbabwe under Mugabe,
the story is the same: failure all the way. Nyerere was to confess that his
nationalization of farms following the Ujama Declaration of 1968 and the
adoption of his own African brand of socialism helped ruin his economy.
Socialism did not create prosperity in Tanzania but rather equality of
poverty, a tragic brand of egalitarianism. Mugabe's ruination of the
Zimbabwean economy in the name of Marxism is particularly painful because he
inherited a healthy economy, with its agriculture more developed than that
of any other African country. It is a supreme irony that Zimbabwean citizens
today form long queues to obtain essential foodstuffs and depend on handouts
from foreign donors, a long way from the period when their country used to
be the food basket of the Southern African sub-region. Not surprising. After
all, some of the most successful Zimbabwean commercial farmers are today
economic refugees in Nigeria and other places.
  It wasn't just socialism which messed up Zimbabwe . Mugabe's manipulation
of differences to remain in power at all costs is another critical factor.
He played on the people's anxieties and fears and hopes. To retain the vote
of the majority black Africans in a country with a white population which
has for decades been in command of the economy, he deftly played up elements
of raw nationalism, ethnocentricism and xenophobia. Anytime an election was
around the corner, he would embark on a campaign of land distribution, using
the liberation war veterans as cannon fodder. It worked for him. But
Zimbabwe suffered. Zimbabwe is not the only country where a settler
community is in absolute control of the economy. Neighbouring South Africa
is another. But thoughtful leaders like Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki know
the grave implications of not going about the question of redistribution of
wealth and resources in a rather violent manner. International capital is a
bloody coward. It goes to only places with the least threat.
In such Southeast Asian nations as the Philippines , Malaysia , Indonesia
and Thailand , the settler Chinese communities which form not more than 4%
of the population are in control of the economies overwhelmingly. The
political leaders there do not mouth revolutionary rhetoric or violence to
address the situation. Mahathir Mohammed adopted the pro-Malay policy of
bumiputran to empower the indigenous people and address the imbalance for
the long period he was the Malaysian premier.  When will most African rulers
learn from history?
African rulers have no reason to beat their chests in triumph over the
Zimbabwean power sharing agreement. Mugabe should not remain in office. He
should have been eased out long ago. The presidency is a sacred office and
should never be a reward for gangster politics, as it has just happened in
Kenya where Mwai Kibaki who lost the presidential election late last year is
still in office and the true winner, Raila Odinga, made to be the premier in
the name of compromise and a negotiated settlement. If Africa continues with
this immoral kind of governance, the continent will long remain the poster
boy of global tragedy. There is a strong correlation between public ethics
and development. In the 1970s, the eminent American sociologist, Edward
Banfield, published a seminal work entitled "The Moral Basis of the Backward
Society" which demonstrates convincingly that societies with low ethical
standards are mired in old sorrows of history while those with high moral
standards for their leaders make fantastic progress. A more recent book in
this area is Francis Fukuyama's "Trust: The Social Virtues and The Creation
of Prosperity". You can now begin to see why Nigeria , among other African
nations, is making little progress.
Christopher Okigbo, Africa 's most verbally exciting poet writing in
English, would mock the Zimbabwean power sharing deal as "hurrah for
 thunder". The deal may have been informed by pragmatism, but it is, at
bottom, a low point for public ethics and governance in Africa .
.Adinuba wrote from Lagos

Has Pan-Africanism outlived its usefulness?

http://www.politicsweb.co.za/

Icarbord Tshabangu*
25 September 2008

Icarbord Tshabangu on African presidential solidarity and the flawed deal in
Zimbabwe

Tolstoy once remarked that patriotism is the cruel tradition of an outlived
period, which exists not merely by its inertia, but because the governments
and ruling classes, aware that not their power only, but their very
existence, depends upon it, persistently excite and maintain it among the
people, both by cunning and violence.

For those of us who cherish the true ideals of Pan-Africanism we watch with
great misgiving an emerging paradigm within the African political discourse
recently affecting Zimbabwe and other parts of the continent, which seems to
promote a culture of 'speak no evil, hear no evil and see no evil' even when
a son of the soil is caught red-handed with hands dripping blood of fellow
Africans.

The embarrassing and laughable declaration by president Mbeki in April 2008
that there was 'no crisis' in Zimbabwe, despite glaring evidence from a
political, humanitarian and economic perspective, adds to the view of an
egoistic, elitist pan Africanism amongst our leaders and a culture of 'speak
no evil, hear no evil and see no evil' against your black brother.

It was not surprising therefore to hear Robert Mugabe diplomatically scold
Botswana president Masire at the signing ceremony for having publicly
criticised the Zimbabwe's brutal regime over the violent June 27 election.
Mugabe vowed like a principled pan African that he would never criticise a
sitting African president.

Maybe that's a good rulebook in the presidents' club or for those leaders
who subsist on their people's misery. It is quite clear that most African
citizens who have suffered abuse under such archaic forms of leadership
would prefer to sing from a different hymn that promotes accountability and
transparency.

Some commentators have observed as we noted at this year's African Union
summit in Egypt that some African leaders are paralysed by the 'skeletons in
their cardboards' arguing that 'let him who has no sin cast the first
stone'. Maybe that is the challenge we face as Africans, which is to rid
ourselves of what former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela referred
to as 'tragic failure of leadership', in this case, African Leadership.

Despite our solemn allegiance to Pan-African patriotism and African
solidarity we have to ask as to whether the spirit of safeguarding human
rights and a sustainable democracy is still sacrosanct in our interaction or
it only matters where a white person has brutalised a black brother.

It is important that we ask these questions because Pan Africanism is rooted
in human rights - the fight against brutality and exploitative forces of
slavery and colonialism. Are we now as Africans, under this patriotism of a
queer nature, re-entering and happily inhabiting a house of horror, which we
once liberated ourselves from, simple because our new host is now a black
slave master?

Pan Africanism is a philosophical and a socio-political movement whose quest
is to unify Africans and those in the Diaspora against forms of
exploitation, particularly arising from servitude and racism emanating from
the slavery holocaust and colonialism.

In setting aside African cultural differences and asserting the principality
of our shared values as Africans, Pan Africanism abhors neo-colonialism,
modern forms of slavery, and numerous other injustices perpetuated even by
our black 'slave masters' masquerading as our liberators from the white
'slave masters'.

For most Africans, our experience from colonialism to the present has been
the changing of the driver and not the direction of the vehicle. Enunciating
some ideals of Pan Africanism and African solidarity or patriotism, our
leaders have caged us in a state of impotence and fear of the multicultural
worldview, which may threaten their stranglehold on state power.

As Africans we have to ask and judge for ourselves whether the ideology of
Pan Africanism, as presented by some of our leaders, is still useful, or has
outlived its usefulness. If useful, to what extent can it be channelled
effectively to espouse and express the general will of the African people
and not serve the interests of a few despots and those in service of the
former slave master?

While upholding African-ness and sacred principles of humanity, as Africans,
we should not be blinded by hollow and obsolete forms of patriotism, peddled
by some of our elitist leaders in their self-preservationist strategies to
harness political power and their deodorised legacies. Criticising them and
demanding a higher standard of moral leadership and accountability, should
not be equated to attacking our African-ness or the downtrodden African
populace.

One African proverb states that 'a king is only a king because of his
people'. Maybe the tragedy we have as Africans is the high number of
'illegitimate' leaders amongst us. Such Leaders do not owe their allegiance
to the people but to the grit of force and other constitutional flaws and
processes that keep them in power. Despite a damning report by the African
Union and SADC observer missions on the 27th of June 2008 presidential
elections in Zimbabwe, the African presidents looked the other way and
exposed their lack of political integrity even on the electoral protocols
set by their institutions - just to shield their own under the guise of pan
African patriotism. In the process, the people of Zimbabwe continued to pay
dearly for exercising their primordial democratic right - voting for a party
and candidates of their own choice.

Buoyed by other Africans and the international community, most Zimbabweans
made their voice known on 29 March 2008, that they wanted a change of
government, despite risk to their lives. Some African leaders save for
Zambia and Botswana in the region, have since been complicit through their
anointed mediator, president Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, in reversing
through stealth, cunning and violence, the will of the people and rescue
Mugabe and not the downtrodden people of Zimbabwe and per chance salvage a
so called legacy for president Mbeki and Mugabe.

The political deal has now been sealed, and as desired from a pan African
perspective, puts Mugabe in the driving seat, since Morgan Tsvangirai is
perceived to be pro Western. It's quite clear from many observers that the
will of the people has been subverted - once again and that Tsvangirai was
in some ways under pressure to act 'patriotic' to his other African brothers
and put pen to paper.

It is also noted that there are still other key unresolved issues of power
such as Ministries allocation to be negotiated between the principals that
is Zanu PF and MDC. The vagueness of the power-sharing document especially
in areas of power and authority, suggests that much is yet to unravel and
that some of the proponents to the deal may find themselves defending the
indefensible.

Like in every other flawed process many Zimbabweans did not know whether to
cry or celebrate when the deal was announced. Some of those who decided to
celebrate at the Harare venue on Monday later found themselves battered or
thrown into prison cells as shown in some media.

The international community who are supposedly expected to rush in and help
resuscitate the economy are said to be highly cautious. Not a good start, is
it? The jury is still out. Like a family housed in a structure built on
sand, Zimbabweans may have to wait longer before they can celebrate this
political deal thanks to elitist forms of pan Africanism that find the
tenets of democracy a tough proposition in Africa as stated by Mugabe in his
signing ceremony speech.

Centuries ago, citizens were largely uneducated. Rulers often had a monopoly
of information and thus it is recorded that rulers often demanded or
enforced obedience without question. In the 21st century where the media and
technology has revolutionised modern democracy, such forms of leadership at
every level have become obsolete and a greater demand for shared leadership
has taken root among the people. It is now unthinkable that the role of a
citizen, that is, African citizens can only be limited to mere deference
towards the 'Strongman' or 'Bigman' of Africa.

Maybe as observed by Tolstoy, patriotism even in Pan Africanism is like a
scaffolding, which was needful once, to raise the walls of the building,
that is, to free ourselves from slavery and colonialism, but which, now
represents the only obstacle to the house being inhabited, but is
nonetheless retained, because its existence is of profit to certain persons
of power.

*Icarbord Tshabangu is a researcher on Education and Citizenship

JAG open letter forum - No. 567 - Dated 24 September 2008

Email: jag@mango.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw

Please send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
jag@mango.zw with "For Open Letter Forum" in the subject line.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Phil

Dear JAG,

Does any one know a reliable person travelling back to Zimbabwe from
Britain, who would willingly take two small bottles of pills for a dear
mother who is losing her sight with Macular degeneration?

She has a wonderful son, who has been left badly paralysed for many years
and he is solely reliant on his mother and his two nurse aids.

Please contact Phil

Tel (44) (0) 1728 452094 OR email jbreroh@aol.com

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POEM FOR THE DAY

(Due to erratic communications please note that this poem was supposed to
have been sent out over the Heroes' Holiday - our apologies)

By muJakaranda

"R & F... H& A...Kutakura kwe dhongi[i]..." 080808

I dreamt I saw a donkey walking by,

A sack upon it's back....

The weight split evenly each way...

"Hafu-hafu", the people say.

Or was it?

I can't say, the side beyond is past my view,

What's in it anyway?

A mixed bag that's for sure...

It's not always clear what baggage people pack for a journey,

and my oh my, this has been a long one!!!

"Are we there yet?"

"Why this?"

"Why that?"

"No leave that there!"

"No way I say... that stays, this comes, I'll need it on the way!"

" But man, that sack is full...'pum, pum', it's
bursting, that must stay behind!"

And all the while the donkey waits...

While they add weights!!(The Heavy weights)

A crowd is watching from a distance as they fight this of tug of war...

Some for, some against!!

Will there be "Win/Win" or "Lose /Win" or
"Lose /lose" or "Win/Lose"?

Who knows, there's a news black-out, only rumours...

A `broken telephone' from the closest witnesses!

And there are those behind the scenes, some threaten, some cajole...

And still the donkey waits...

Will the boy lead, heading forth in hope?

Or will the old man drive it from behind,

a stick ever in his hand whilst he looks back over his shoulder!!

Baggage...

Rhodes and Founders...Heroes and Ancestors...

"Will we ever get there?"

We are always looking back...focused on the rear view mirror of our past,

Loading up with the baggage of our history,

never sure what to take and what to leave behind,

our necks cricked or threatened whilst we try to look ahead!

And all the while the donkey waits...

Will it bring food for the starving family at home?

Will it bring the old man's loot or the stuff his men have
mustered?

The boy, can he be trusted... is he tough enough to insist on
what's inside?

Will we yet find a round house on the way?[ii]

where we can place our pot upon three equal stones, "phiwa",

positioned just enough apart to balance and support our basic needs?

And so this over burdened donkey brays,

and prays....and prays...and prays...

"His name?".... "Zimbabwe"... "Who else!!!"

[1]Kutakura kwe dhongi `hafu hafu' = the way a load is split on
a donkey's back

[1][1]Reference to a traditional Shona kitchen where `pfiwa',
or three round stones are used for supporting a pot over the fire, an
allusion to the balance and separation of powers needed in a new
constitution

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for Agriculture.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment from Correspondent

Mugabe, The United Nations and GNU

I cannot understand why it is so important for Mr. Mugabe to go attend a
United Nations meeting prior to resolving the political problems back home.
What is so important about attending this meeting that he would rather have
the man in the street suffer a few more weeks? I guess for Mr Mugabe, what
is one more week, or even two more when he has brutalized the people for so
many years? Who, in their right mind, would believe this man when he says he
is committed to the agreement he signed with the MDC? This is sad to say the
least.

I am glad Mbeki resigned from his position. I applaud him for taking that
step. I believe that was the right thing for him to do. You must leave
office if you loose credibility with the majority of the people. I also
applaud the ANC for standing up to Mbeki. I do not feel sorry for him.  What
happenned to him comes with public office. In any event, his quiet diplomacy
destroyed Zimbabwe.

This is a lession for Zimbabweans. Whilst I applaud the MDC for working with
the people by giving them some hope, my focus is on ZANU PF. I wish we had
strong voices within ZANU PF with enough courage to stand up to Mugabe. All
these years, they have been singing him praises whilst the economic
situation deteriorated. They are as much to blame for the mess the country
is in as Mugabe is, if not worse. So sad indeed. None of them even had the
courage to quit! Essentially all the ministers, and their deputies cannot
claim that they are clean with all that has hapenned the past ten years.  By
not speaking out against brutality, they failed the people. They should have
had the decency to quit.

We have heard that many ministers in Mbeki's cabinet quit. Now, that is a
healthy situation. They quit either as a sign of sympathy with Mbeki, wanted
to give the new leader room to pick his new team and some indicated they
would be ready to serve the new leadership if asked. Now that is a sign of
patriotism.

Contrast that with our situation in Zimbabwe where no minister, except
Nyagumbo and Nkosana Moyo, have had the guts to quit. I might have missed
one other..but the fact remains that its not a large number to talk about
over a 28 year period. There have been reports of some wailing on learning
that they have not been chosen for office by Mr. Mugabe. What a shame! Some
have been given high positions, then kicked out and reappointed again after
regaining favours with Mugabe. That's pathetic to say the least.

Ah, takoniwa chokwadi!!!

Cartoon