http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Own
correspondent Tuesday 08 September 2009
HARARE - Zimbabwean
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have named top
military commanders
accused of masterminding a ruthless campaign to keep
President Robert Mugabe
in power in a second round presidential election in
June last year that left
scores of villagers dead and thousands others
displaced from their
homes.
In a report released as regional leaders gathered in the
Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC) to among other issues review
political progress in
Zimbabwe, the NGOs said the Harare power-sharing
government had neither
acted against those responsible for violence nor
dismantled the militarised
structures of violence.
The NGOs grouped
under the umbrella Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CZC) named
77 senior
military and police commanders it said spearheaded terror across
the
country's 10 provinces.
Some of the more prominent officers named in the
report are: Air Vice
Marshal Henry Muchena, Air Commodore Mike Karakadzai,
Air Vice Marshal Abu
Basutu, Major General Engelbert Rugeje, Retired Major
General Gibson
Mashingaidze, Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba as well
as some several
senior operatives of the dreaded state-spy Central
Intelligence Organisation
(CIO).
Zimbabwe's army and police are
credited with keeping Mugabe in power after
waging a ruthless campaign of
violence last year to force Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai from a second
round presidential poll that analysts had
strongly tipped the then main
opposition leader to win.
Tsvangirai had beaten Mugabe in the first round
ballot held March 29 last
year but failed to achieve outright victory to
avoid the second round
run-off poll.
The former foes eventually bowed
to pressure from Southern African
Development Community (SADC) community
leaders to agree to form a government
of national unity that analysts say
offers Zimbabwe the best opportunity in
a decade to end its multi-faceted
crisis.
But the CZC report entitled, "Can apples be reaped from a thorn
tree -
Zimbabwe's road to transition", said the unity government has paid
little
regard to the need for justice for victims of political violence and
human
rights abuses.
In addition, the coalition said there was no
evidence that the power-sharing
government has dismantled the structures of
violence or recalled soldiers
and youth militia from villages they were
deployed last year to commit and
said it had received fresh reports of new
torture basis being set up in some
parts of the country.
The report
that was released at the weekend as SADC leaders travelled to the
DRC for
their annual summit said: "The media environment, legislative
environment,
the militarisation of the villages, state and its critical
institutions
created during the sham (June) election seem to remain intact,
seven months
after the formation of the Inclusive Government of Zimbabwe.
"There is no
clear evidence that the soldiers who were deployed to different
communities
during the violent poll have returned to the barracks."
The CZC also
criticised the selective application of the law that had
continued under the
unity government with several legislators and activists
of Tsvangirai's MDC
party arrested and charged on trumped-up charges.
Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa was not immediately available to comment
on issues raised
in the NGO report.
Zimbabwe's unity government has done well to stabilise
the economy and end
inflation that was estimated at more than a trillion
percent at the height
of the country's economic meltdown last
year.
But doubts remain about the administration's long-term
effectiveness,
fuelled by unending squabbles between Mugabe's ZANU PF party
and the MDC as
well as by the unity government's inability to secure direct
financial
support from rich Western nations.
Outgoing SADC chairman
and President of South Africa President Jacob Zuma on
Monday appealed to
Zimbabwe's political parties to "remove obstacles" so as
to fully implement
last year's Global Political Agreement (GPA) that gave
birth to Harare
coalition government. - ZimOnline
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
8 September
2009
At the SADC Heads of State and Government meeting in Kinshasa, the
DRC, a
surprise u-turn has been made over the special summit on Zimbabwe to
review
progress of the inclusive government.
During deliberations on
day one of the summit on Monday, the regional
leaders had been due to
discuss the months-long political and economic
crisis in Harare, but the
issue was pulled from the agenda. A special summit
was mooted to deal solely
with the remaining issues in the Global Political
Agreement.
There
were indications the special summit would be held in Maputo,
Mozambique,
before the end of this month. As of last night the SADC summit
had not fully
committed itself to holding this special summit, despite
assurances from
several member states it would be held in three weeks' time.
The leaders
said a review of the progress in the unity government will now
be handled by
the regional bloc's less influential body, the Troika on
Politics, Defence
and Security.
This organ is responsible for promoting peace and security
in the region. It
reports to the SADC summit and consists of a chairperson,
incoming
chairperson and outgoing chairperson. In this case, South Africa
will sit on
the Troika as outgoing chairperson, the DRC as chairperson and
Zambia as the
next incoming chairperson.
Speaking to journalists at a
press conference in Kinshasa, the MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai called on the
regional bloc to closely monitor the
progress of his power-sharing deal with
Robert Mugabe.
He said SADC 'remains seized with the enormous
responsibility of ensuring
that the parties signatory' to the February
agreement 'move rapidly towards
its full implementation.'
'Now that
the SADC troika is specifically vested with the matter of
Zimbabwe, it is my
hope and belief that it will deal with all outstanding
issues as a matter of
urgency,' he said
A source in Kinshasa told us that intense late night
manoeuvres by Mugabe
could have resulted in the SADC leaders changing their
minds. Of course the
decision not to have a special summit could also have
been helped along by
the fact that Joseph Kabila is the incoming chair of
SADC and a key ally of
Mugabe.
A senior aide in Tsvangirai's office told
us the u-turn was a setback,
although they expected, it because of Mugabe's
very close links with Kabila.
He said the handing over of the chair to
Kabila has been one of the key
concerns of the MDC.
'The question now to
be asked is what can the Troika achieve that countless
extraordinary summits
have failed. Are they bringing in a fresh approach to
the crisis? the MDC-T
aide asked.
He added; 'It is no secret that there has been no sufficient
progress in the
GPA. The principals have been unable to move in the last six
months, so as
the MDC we have internationalized the crisis and refocused on
our strategy,
hence the move by ZANU PF to frustrate our efforts.'
There
are concerns by ZANU PF that implementing the GPA fully will spell the
end
of their party. Human rights lawyer Dewa Mavhinga told us Mugabe wants
to
stall the process in order to manage internal problems that have
increased
with the death of Joseph Msika, the vice-president. Military
chiefs are also
reportedly unhappy with more reforms, because that would
threaten their
power.
'Mugabe needs time to rejuvenate his party, and the dynamics of his
survival
is to stall the process and not let it collapse. The sudden failure
of the
GNU will mean demise for his party, because there would be fresh
elections.
The success of the GNU will mean victory for the MDC, so the
realization
within ZANU PF is to drag the process until order is restored in
their
party,' Mavhinga said.
Pedzisai Ruhanya, programmes manager for
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition in
Harare, said despite Kabila taking over the
SADC chair, Zuma's voice will
still carry the day in future SADC
meetings.
'In terms of international relations, South Africa is the economic
powerhouse of the region and it's the country the international community
will listen to. Even if Kabila were to shout from a mountain top in support
of Mugabe, no one will support it unless it has the backing of Zuma, which
is unlikely in the foreseeable future,' Ruhanya said.
http://www.mg.co.za
KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO Sep 08
2009 15:53
Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Tuesday called on
Southern
Africa's political bloc to closely monitor the progress of his
power-sharing
deal with President Robert Mugabe.
He said the
15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) "remains
seized with
the enormous responsibility of ensuring that the parties
signatory" to the
February agreement "move rapidly towards its full
implementation".
Tsvangirai was speaking at a press conference on the
sidelines of a SADC
summit in the Democratic Republic of Congo capital,
Kinshasa, adding that he
was attending the summit in his capacity as leader
of the former opposition
Movement for Democratic Change party
(MDC).
"Now that the SADC troika is specifically vested with the matter
of
Zimbabwe, it is my hope and belief that it will deal with all outstanding
issues as a matter of urgency," he said
Tsvangirai's MDC and
long-time rival President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF
signed a deal to form a
unity government in February, but the parties have
clashed openly over the
appointment of a central bank chief and chief
prosecutor.
On Monday,
South African President Jacob Zuma said Zimbabwe has made
significant
progress towards ending its political crisis as its once feuding
leaders
learn to bury their differences.
Speaking at the summit in Kinshasa, Zuma
also said Southern Africa had to
remain on hand to help Zimbabwe push on
after the establishment of the unity
government.
"Significant
progress has been made under the auspices of the Inclusive
Government," said
Zuma, who is standing down as head of SADC after South
Africa's 12-month
stint in the chair.
"We are all encouraged by how the three parties put
their differences
aside."
Zimbabwe was plunged into political
crisis in March 2008 after veteran
leader Robert Mugabe was beaten into
second place in a presidential election
by Morgan Tsvangirai, his long-time
rival.
Tsvangirai subsequently pulled out of a run-off election after
scores of his
supporters were killed, but he eventually agreed to join a
unity government
in February this year as prime minister, along with another
opposition
faction.
"These achievements signalled to the people of
Zimbabwe, the region and the
world, that the Zimbabwean political leadership
was ready to collectively
tackle the political and the socio-economic
challenges facing that country,"
added Zuma. -- AFP
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by MISA-Zimbabwe
Tuesday, 08 September
2009 16:50
The launch of the daily newspaper H-Metro (Harare Metro)
by the
state-controlled Zimbabwe Newspapers Group (Zimpapers) on 7 September
2009
with the sanction of the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity
is
reflective of the skewed and undemocratic media environment in the
country.
While MISA-Zimbabwe recognises the need for media pluralism and
diversity
and commends any efforts towards enhancing such diversity, the
licensing of
any new media houses or publications should be transparent and
in terms of
the law.
It is, however, apparent in this instance
that the government, through
the responsible Ministry has chosen to use its
political prerogative to
expand state funded newspapers in the country to
the distinct disadvantage
of other media players awaiting licensing in terms
of Constitutional
Amendment Number 19 which establishes the Zimbabwe Media
Commission (ZMC).
This particular move by the government can only be
considered as
arbitrary and distinctly against the spirit and letter of
pursuing wholesale
and non-discriminatory media reforms that enhance freedom
of expression and
access to information. This is even more glaring at a
time when publishing
companies such as the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe
(ANZ), Zimind
Publishers and Financial Gazette, among others, have been
instructed by the
responsible Ministry to await establishment of the ZMC for
them to be
permitted to publish their own dailies.
It is MISA-
Zimbabwe's view that the government is exhibiting
particular bias towards
its own stable, Zimpapers. This bias can only be
construed to portray and
project the Ministry of Media, Information and
Publicity as representing a
government that is acting to pre-empt other
competitors in a manner that is
outside the very laws that it is asking
other stakeholders to uphold. It is
therefore of the utmost urgency for the
government, through the Ministry of
Media, Information and Publicity, to
explain to the media fraternity as well
as the Zimbabwean public as to
whether the state controlled print media is
above the law as well as cite
the precise constitutional and regulatory
provisions that allowed H-Metro to
be published.
In raising
these concerns, MISA-Zimbabwe remains guided by Section 5
of the resolutions
of the Media All-Stakeholders Conference held in December
of 2008 to which
members of the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe are signatory: 5.
Print Media: We
hold that the print media remains a key component of
Zimbabwe's media
diversity, and should be allowed to operate independently
without undue
influence from the state or government of the day. We also
hold that the
state and any government of the day should not have any direct
stake or
interest in the ownership or management of the print media as this
compromises the sector's diversity and independence. Where the state has
had direct control in the media, we recommend that it disinvests in these
print media houses and allow for independent control of the same.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=22357
September 8,
2009
By Webster Shamu
The following is the full text
of the speech delivered by the Minister of
Media, Information and Publicity,
Webster Shamu, on the occasion of the
launch of H-Metro, a new title in the
Zimbabwe Newspapers stable on
September 4, 2009:
I am delighted to be
part of this happy gathering marking the launch of yet
another product in
the Zimpapers stable, Harare Metro/ H-Metro and of course
the celebration of
the fifth Anniversary of the Southern Times, itself a
product of a joint
venture company, NAMZIM, combining the vision of two
sister Republics of
Namibia and Zimbabwe in the information field.
Both events mark real
growth in the information sector at a time of great
challenges both for the
sector and for our Southern African region.
We thus meet to celebrate
defiant growth, one shaping itself under harsh
circumstances and with little
outside goodwill. Needless to say growth
managed under harsh conditions
hardens a plant for all weather and for all
times. We expect no less from
these two developments.
I have had occasion to look at dummies of
H-Metro. From the editorial focus
and the quality of journalism which the
dummies promise, I have no doubt in
my mind that H-Metro will be a winner.
Zimpapers has identified a niche
which this popular tabloid is set to occupy
and, I am sure, set to dominate
when competition eventually comes. It is a
niche to do with the popular in
our townships, encompassing the full gamut
of popular activities (politics,
social and cultural issues, sport, etc,
etc), all treated for easy and light
reading but from a position of hard
facts, honesty and human sympathy.
The great temptation with this niche
in the publishing industry is to push
for sensation at the expense of truth,
accuracy, fairness and balance.
Always remember that beneath the sleaze
and sensation is a human being
susceptible to hurt, injury and suffering.
Yes, always remember that beneath
those circulation statistics and healthy
sales are lives that are either
edified or ruined. Journalism cannot be
about any sales, any stories, any
slant, and still claim the status of a
whole Fourth Estate counterbalancing
the three other Estates which have to
do with the way our society is
organised and run.
Journalism - when
all is said and done - is about serving our societies with
vital information
and values necessary to save and improve them. It cannot
be a vehicle for
profitable decadence and ruination of personalities. This
is the balance
which Zimpapers is now being called upon to establish and
maintain,
particularly given the niche it is now about to enter.
Elsewhere on the
continent, newspaper enterprises in which governments have
a stake have not
done well. Not so in Zimbabwe where Zimpapers continues to
rule the roost.
As the minister responsible, I am very happy that this is
so. I hope
Zimpapers maintains its market leadership founded on commercial
soundness
and the need to serve all with information while defending the
national
interest.
My predecessors, starting with the founding Minister of
Information of
Independent Zimbabwe, Dr Nathan Shamuyarira, wisely kept
Zimbabwe Newspapers
a public company quoted on the Zimbabwe Stock
Exchange.
Through the dominant shareholding in a public quoted company
whose core
business is printing and publishing, Government sought the rigour
of the
market as a funding formulae. I stress this point because there is
quite a
disturbing misconception - politically self-serving in some respect
- to
suggest Zimpapers gets money from Government. It does not. It has never
got
money from Government since its transfer from the South African Argus
Group
following a take-over donation from the Federal Republic of Nigeria at
Independence.
Quite the contrary, Zimpapers has given money to the
State or its agencies
by way of a dividend when the going is good. Let it be
pronounced here that
Zimpapers is not a State enterprise.
Let it be
proclaimed here and now that Zimpapers is governed by rules of the
Stock
Exchange, never by checking institutions of government such as
committees of
Parliament. There is a whole Chinese Wall between Zimpapers
and wholly
State-owned media companies like Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation, New
Ziana, etc, etc/which run on public funds. While Government
is the major
shareholder, Zimpapers has an equally compelling obligation to
many other
shareholders.
This habit of relating to it as if it's a parastatal, or as
if it is a
Government department whose behaviour must meet with popular
approval is not
just mistaken and unlawful, but seems measured to
incapacitate and hurt
Zimpapers ahead of competition we see gathering on the
horizon. Let
Zimpapers fail in the market through fair competition. Let it
not be failed
through unprofessional interference done in the name of
legislative
oversight.
That the State has a largest shareholding in
Zimpapers does not justify
undue pressure to it. What is more, why is it
that the pressure is only
concentrated on the publishing arm of Zimpapers,
never in its other areas of
activity, if the interest is sincere and
balanced?
And why is that interest in the editorial side not extending to
many other
publishers in the country whose conduct should meet expectations
of the
Global Political Agreement? Are public hearings set for these
publishers as
well? Why this appearance of selective treatment? I hope those
concerned
will avoid such mistakes in future, if mistakes there have been.
Equally, I
hope arms of Parliament are also clear that their entry into
Ministries is
not through the backdoor or by stealth.
Often
invitations to organs that are under given ministries are done behind
ministry leadership who then only get informed either just before or well
after the event. This does not make for a healthy working relationship.
Committees of Parliament are not instruments for inquisitions or witch-hunt.
Rather, they are mechanisms for improving management of public affairs and
resources.
There is a way of doing this in a procedural way, without
appearing to be
encouraging insubordination, conflict, or confusion in
Ministries and
parastatals.
Since the launch of the Inclusive
Government, I, as minister in charge of
Media, Information and Publicity
have been concerned at an incipient media
outlook which appears to be
solidifying in certain sections of the Inclusive
Government.
There is
an attempt to encourage a perception that the GPA is for the
"public'' media
only, whatever is meant by that. To begin with, all media,
regardless of
ownership, are public. Publishing is one industry whose
products are public
by definition, and hence the tradition of placing the
media under laws or
values/ethics which come under public scrutiny.
Products of publishers
fall under the domain of 'mass communication'', which
is essentially a
public role with clear public consequences. This is the
basic understanding
of media laws and regulations the whole world over.
In its search for
settlement, harmony and stability, GPA addressed the areas
of public
communication to the extent that this area makes or breaks public
political
processes. It is very even-handed in its demands and expectations
which
apply to all media focusing in and on Zimbabwe.
The notion that the
burden of meeting the expectations of GPA reside in that
part of the media
sector which falls under Government influence, is clearly
mistaken if
genuine, or mischievous if politically motivated. The
requirement to refrain
from hate language is a standard requirement for all
media, for all
publishers regardless of who owns them.
The requirement to respect facts
is inherent to ethics of journalism;
regardless of in whose favour an
editorial policy is weighted. Yes, the call
to support a nascent and fragile
political experiment which is what the
Inclusive Government is, is a call to
all regardless of ownership.
But it is not an insurance against
legitimate criticisms. It is not an
invitation to abandon the defence of the
National Interest which must be
uppermost in every newsroom. Times shall
come - assuming they have not
already - when best support and defence of the
Inclusive Government is not a
supine posture, is not by being a chorister in
a mindless hymn of
unconditional praise of anything in the name of the
Inclusive Government.
No!
Support for the Inclusive Government does
not mean condonation of all done
under it or in its name. I hate to think
that my role as Minister of Media,
Information and Publicity is to beat back
editors and journalists from
obvious facts, and even more obvious questions,
all in the name of
fulfilling the GPA and protecting the Inclusive
Government.
What is worse, I cannot be associated with a push to create
space for the
BBC and CNN here while at the same time denying the same to
the Herald, the
Independent, the Financial Gazette, The Standard etc, etc.
The Zimbabwe
story must be witnessed, written and reported on by
Zimbabweans. That is our
duty which we give to no other media. This habit of
defending abridgement of
media freedom in the name of GPA must
stop.
Equally, what must also stop is the continuing situation where some
parties
in the GPA continue to aid and abet illegal, extraterritorial pirate
broadcasts which violate our sovereignty in the name of media freedoms. The
GPA the often quoted GPA - disallows this as gross external interference in
the affairs of our country.
These stations - all of them sited in
countries that have slapped Zimbabwe
with sanctions - are a violation of the
GPA.
To the extent that they persist well into the Inclusive Government,
they
amount to an outstanding matter which must be addressed by those who
needed
them, indeed created and legitimised them in the name of struggling
for
their own brand of democracy here.
That struggle has now been
accommodated in the Inclusive Government, so why
not do the right thing by
stopping this horrible interference? To then make
a case for a
liberalisation of the airwaves under conditions of persistent
and even
enlarging challenge to Zimbabwe's sovereignty, is to be grossly
insincere.
Let us examine our obligations squarely and fairly.
Last month the
ministry, as part of its ongoing programme of reviewing media
laws,
practices and structures, cleared the Associated Newspapers of
Zimbabwe
(ANZ) of any legal impediments for eventual registration.
That action
which derived from a Special Committee created by my predecessor
at the
behest of a High Court Ruling, does not amount to registration of ANZ
so it
resumes publishing within the law. That will have to be done
elsewhere.
My ministry does not register publishers. Equally, my
ministry will not
condone the breaking of the law. This same position we
have communicated to
ZimInd, another publisher intent on joining the
industry. We are for the
growth of this vital sub-sector. We hope the
current problems and issues of
a legal nature deriving from an interim court
judgment, will be resolved so
the industry can grow.
We have in our
midst guests from Namibia. I want to welcome them in a very
special way. Not
long ago, I was in Namibia and had wonderful discussions
with my counterpart
and his deputy. NAMZIM and its child, the Southern
Times, expresses a
determination by our two Governments to deepen and expand
relations beyond
historical and political foundations. The two sister
countries are one on
many matters. We need to validate this oneness in our
small way.
But
NAMZIM and the Southern Times is a correct reading of the world
situation.
In terms of the global management and flow of information, we in
the South
are information underdogs. We are the reported on, the objects of
global
news whose voices shall never be heard, shall never shape news and
information.
This is why the story is always told at our expense,
indeed at the expense
of our nations. But there is a way out of this
editorial entrapment, which
is itself a manifestation of greater and wider
political entrapment. The way
out is through combinations. We must pool
resources and efforts to found
platforms from which to speak and proclaim
our own stories, values and
interests.
Thank God, technology now
makes publishing placeless. We should exploit that
technological reality to
create formidable multinational, pan-African
multimedia response which
allows us to strike back at detractors. NAMZIM is
only the beginning. The
ultimate goal is to grow this small seed into a
Southern African media
project that balances information on the region.
We dare not fail in this
project whose time has come. As co-operating
ministers, we have undertaken
to realise this dream by taking the project to
other SADC members. We are
determined. All of you who are on the NAMZIM
board and management must thus
realise our two nations have reposed in you
this hallowed vision.
Do
not betray it.
It now gives me singular pleasure to launch this double
barrelled
celebration marking the launch of H-Metro and the fifth
anniversary of the
Southern Times.
I thank you.
http://www.radiovop.com
UMP, September 08, 2009 - War
veterans and soldiers in Maramba Pfungwe
have given Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) supporters in the area until
October to denounce their
membership to the party and surrender party
regalia or risk the
consequences.
According to MDC Information Secretary for
the area, Silas Gweshe,
"The place is just so bad that some people are now
living in fear, several
MDC supporters have already been forced to surrender
themselves to Zanu PF."
Zanu PF is using the area headmen to
identify MDC supporters. MDC
District Chairman of the area Chengetanai
Chimunhu has formally written to
the party leadership to
intervene.
"Zanu PF thugs are still abusing MDC supporters, I ran
away from the
area after I was intimidated. Help us please," read part of
the Maramba
Pfungwe Constituency report addressed to MDC Information
Department Harvest
House.
Several Non Governmental
Organisations have intervened in the area to
assist victims of last year
violence with food aid but Zanu PF thugs have
vowed to destroy everything
that will be put up by NGOs.
"They are well wishers who have
come into the area to help people
whose properties were destroyed last year,
but people are now afraid of
receiving aid because of intimidation," said
Chimunhu. "There are using
soldiers Claude Mashoko and PfidzeMaramba to
instill fear into the people."
who is called 'Junta' that are stationed
at
Meanwhile Zanu Pf militia-acting in cahoots with a traditional
chief-
barred MDC supporters from attending victory celebrations last
weekend
after
threatening them expulsions from the area,
Radio VOP can reveal.
Masvingo West legislator Tichaona Mharadze,
who was hosting the
celebrations at Bhani shopping centre, under Chief
Charumbira area, about 25
kilometres out of town, however said the
celebrations went ahead despite the
poor turnout.
Villagers
told Radio VOP that a Zanu Pf youth leader William Shangwa
and other party
militia moved house by house the night before strongly
threatening known
MDC-T supporters with expulsion from the area, under Chief
Charumbira's
area, if they attended the function.
Chief Fortune Charumbira,
president of The Zimbabwe Chief's Council,
is an ardent loyalist of
President Robert Mugabe.
"We were told at night that the Chief had
said anybody who dares
attend would be expelled from the area, so most of us
did not attend. They
moved door to door, numbering about fifty. A few brave
ones among us
attended," said a villager.
Mharadze blamed the
threats for the poor turnout at the function.
However, Chief
Fortune Charumbira denied the allegations.
"If people went around
using my name, how would I know? As far as I am
concerned, that is news to
me. I do not send my aides for such duties,"
Charumbira said, before hanging
his phone.
But MDC-T provincial chairman, Wilstusff Sitemere, who
was also at the
victory celebrations, also confirmed the
allegations.
"Our youths on the ground said the chief had sent some
ZANU PF hit men
to bar our supporters from attending. Some villagers also
told us the
same. We were actually surprised why people did not
come at first.
They were told they would lose their plots," Sitemere
said.
ZANU PF provincial chairman, Lovemore Matuke professed
ignorance over
the matter, but promised to issue a probe.
Matuke
elements want to put the reputation of the party into
disrepute,
considering the current political set-up.
"I am not
aware of that, but I will institute investigations into the
matter.
As a party that is a signatory to the inclusive
government, we are
saying this is the time to rebuild our nation, a time to
mend our bridges.
But the grassroots might not have embraced that
philosophy. They bring the
name of the party into disrepute," said
Matuke.
MDC leader and Morgan Tsvangirai has asked the Southern
African
Development Community (SADC) to quickly intervene in solving the
political
crisis in Zimbabwe. SADC , which has been meeting in Kinshasa, DRC
this
week, said it will hold an extra-ordinary meeting on Zimbabwe to try
and
resolve outstanding issues affecting the inclusive government. said if
true, such
http://news.iafrica.com
Article By: Micel Schnehage
Tue, 08 Sep 2009
09:47
Another Movement for Democratic Change activist has been beaten to
death
allegedly by Zanu-PF soldiers.
The MDC claims Godknows Dzoro
Mtshakazi was attacked for playing a popular
MDC song while drinking beer in
a bar.
His friends were also attacked after soldiers accused them of
fanning hatred
in the community.
The MDC insisted Mtshakazi was
tortured by the soldiers who burnt him with
plastic before cutting off and
burning his dreadlocks.
One MDC official in Harare said Zanu-PF aligned
military personnel were
regrouping in Zimbabwe's rural areas while a rights
campaigner said there
was a genuine threat of large scale violence flaring
again - calling on the
Southern African Development Community to
intervene.
"The best that South Africa and the region can do is to
prevent what is
imminent."
Last year a wave of violence, mainly
against MDC supporters, caused an
international outcry.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Andrew Moyo Tuesday 08
September 2009
HARARE - The World Tourism Organisation (WTO)
sees Zimbabwe's tourism sector
regaining its position as one of the best in
Africa in five years, buoyed by
a new optimism in the country following
formation of a unity government by
President Robert Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
The WTO's assistant secretary general,
Geoffrey Lipman, said the World Cup
tournament in neighbouring South Africa
next year will also help lift
Zimbabwe's tourism sector but warned the
fragile Harare coalition government
that revival of tourism largely depended
on the administration's actions.
Lipman spoke as a new Travel and Tourism
Competitiveness Report 2009 ranked
Zimbabwe's tourism sector among the least
competitive in the world at number
121 out of 133 countries
surveyed.
But the WTO official, who was in Zimbabwe to help tourism
authorities cobble
up a recovery plan, was adamant that the local industry
would rebound
despite a 10-year decline that saw arrivals dropping 22
percent in 2008 to
1.9 million from 2.5 million arrivals recorded in
2007.
Lipman said: "Within the next five years I think Zimbabwe will
improve from
121 to around number 30 (most competitive tourism
destination)."
He said Zimbabwe had the human resources, infrastructure
as well as natural
resources to sustain recovery of tourism but said he told
government leaders
"to remember that whatever they do can make or break
tourism".
Tourism was one of Zimbabwe's fastest growing sectors before
political
violence that has accompanied elections in the country since 2000,
violent
farm invasions and a host of other problems derailed the
industry.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai's power-sharing government that remains
beset by
serious problems and differences between the two former foes has
raised
hopes that Zimbabwe's political crisis will dissipate and allow the
economy
to pick up again and with it the tourism sector. - ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Lizwe
Sebatha Tuesday 08 September 2009
BULAWAYO - Zimbabwe
university and college students will tomorrow begin
boycotting classes to
pressure education authorities to slash high tuition
fees charged at
tertiary institutions, in another setback to government
efforts to restore
order in the country's education sector.
"We have been at all state
colleges and universities countrywide, drumming
up support from the students
ahead of the nationwide demonstrations that
start on Wednesday," Zimbabwe
National Students Union (ZINASU) president
Clever Bere said on
Monday.
"As ZINASU, we are saying a big no to the privatisation of
education, we are
saying we can't have our colleagues being forced to drop
studies because of
lack of fees," he added, noting that the protests will be
held under the
banner - National Campaign Against the Privatisation of
Education in
Zimbabwe (NACAPEZ).
The class boycotts will further pile
pressure on the government that is
battling to convince teachers to call off
a strike action over pay that has
entered its second week.
A number
of university and college students have been forced to drop studies
due to
high tuition fees ranging from anything between US$450 to US$1 200,
depending on the diploma or degree programme.
Higher Education
Minister Stan Mudenge could not be reached for comment.
However, Bere added:
"The class boycotts will not end until the government
revises downwards the
exorbitant and extortionist fees regime in the
country."
Tuition fees
levied at universities and colleges have been criticised in
light of the
meagre salaries earned by the majority of Zimbabwe's workforce.
The
country's largest employer - the Public Service Commission which
employees
all civil servants - pays its workers between US$155 and US$200
depending on
grade.
Government has defended the fee structure saying it was necessary
to lift
education standards - once hailed as one of the best in sub-Saharan
Africa -
that had been on a free-fall over the past
decade.
Zimbabwe's power-sharing government between Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai
and President Robert Mugabe has promised to revive the economy
and restore
basic services such as health and education that had virtually
collapsed
after years of recession.
While schools and hospitals have
reopened, the failure by the unity
government - which says it requires a
total US$10 billion to get Zimbabwe on
its feet again - to convince rich
Western nations to release grants and soft
loans has hampered its ability to
sustain the recovery effort.
Teachers began a crippling nationwide strike
last week to press the
government to increase salaries and improve working
conditions while public
doctors only called off a two-week strike for more
pay last week, responding
to a call by Tsvangirai to return to work while
the government scrounges
around for funds to meet their
demands.
Western governments insist they will not provide support until
they see
evidence President Robert Mugabe is committed to genuinely sharing
power
with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. - ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=22325
September 7, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - The Movement for Democratic Change led by Arthur
Mutambara- says it
is ready to fight to retain its previously held three
seats parliamentary
seats representing constituencies in
Matabeleland.
The seats fell vacant following the expulsion of incumbent
Members of
Parliament last month.
MDC-M said it had nothing to fear
as "there are no proven political
competitors" to hand them stiff
competition once by-elections are called.
MDC-M spokesperson Edwin Ndlovu
said the party was confident of retaining
the seats but with minor
competition from the newly formed ZAPU.
"We beat both MDC-T and Zanu PF
in the last elections and the situation has
not changed much as we are still
popular," Ndlovu said. "However, ZAPU could
provide some competition but
their strength is not known as they have never
participated in any national
election since the revival of the party."
Zapu has indicated that it
would participate in the by-elections. Ndlovu
said the party had already was
already scouting for potential candidates for
they are yet to be announced
by-elections in the three affected
constituencies of Nkayi South, Lupane
East and Bulilima.
He said, as a party that held the seats it was prudent
that they start
preparing early despite the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission's
announcement
that it does not have money to conduct by-elections.
"We
don't want to be caught unawares so the constituencies have begun the
process of selecting candidates," he said.
The three former
legislators Abednico Bhebhe (Nkayi South), Njabuliso Mguni
(Lupane East) and
Norman Mpofu representing Bulilima East were expelled from
the strife-torn
party on charges of disrespecting its leadership. Their
urgent High Court
application to bar Parliament from expelling them was
thrown
out.
Ndlovu said the three expelled MPs would not be a threat if they
stood as
independent candidates. Last week the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
said it
did not have money to conduct parliamentary elections in
constituencies that
have for various reasons fallen vacant across the
country in recent months.
At least eight House of Assembly and four
Senate constituencies have fallen
vacant, either because the incumbent died
or they have been expelled from
Parliament. There is a possibility of more
seats falling vacant as a number
of legislators are facing criminal charges
in the law-courts and they could
be ejected from Parliament if
convicted.
Several legislators mostly from MDC-M have already been
convicted on petty
issues and more vacancies will arise should their appeals
be unsuccessful in
the higher courts.
By-elections are due in Gokwe
South, Chiredzi, Chegutu, Gokwe-Chirumhanzu,
Matobo North, Bindura North,
Mutare North, Guruve North, and
Emakhandeni-Entumbane while the remaining
three vacancies were created after
the expulsion of legislators from the
MDC-M formation for misconduct.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by STAFF REPORTER
Monday, 07
September 2009 14:24
KWEKWE - A New York-based Zimbabwean employee of
the United Nations
has been accused by a Zimbabwean farmer of invading his
farm in 2007 and
breaking and entering his farmhouse on Wednesday last week.
"Okay Mabhena,
his wife and two sons unlawfully broke and entered into my
farmhouse in the
presence of a member of the Zimbabwe Republic Police and a
government Lands
Officer on September 2," Mike Jansen, the registered owner
of Xanthippe Farm
near KweKwe, told The Zimbabwean at the
weekend.
Jansen said this was only the most recent act of
lawlessness committed
by Mabhena and his family since their unlawful and
illegal occupation of his
farm in December 2007. "Needless to say, the
forced occupation of my
property is totally illegal. It has not complied in
any way with the
requirements and provisions of the Zimbabwe Land
Acquisition Act," said
Jansen. "Mabhena is in possession of a rather
questionable 'offer letter'
which he says makes him "the rightful owner of
my home and farm". In fact
both Mabhena and the Kwe Kwe Lands Officer, Mr
Mandaza, have advised me on
numerous occasions that the provisions of the
act - ie: notice of
acquisition, section 8 and lawful eviction by a
competent court are
irrelevant and can be ignored by them," Jansen
explained.
"The tragedy of the matter is that law enforcement
agencies seem to
agree with this .I have been arrested but the local
magistrates court was
unable to prosecute as the procedures as laid out in
the act have not been
adhered to," he added. Since December 2008 the
interference in Jansen's
farming activities and threats of forced illegal
eviction have escalated on
a continuing basis. He said Mandaza had illegally
"without following the
provisions of the act" settled one Counselor Moyo on
the property on 24
August 2009.
In May last year, Jansen wrote
to Augustinho Zacarias, the UNDP
representative in Harare, advising him of
Mabhena's activities on his farm,
but had never received a reply. At the
time of going to press, we had not
managed to make contact with Zacarias.
Mabhena becomes the second
high-profile Zimbabwean based in the United
States to be accused of invading
a commercial farm in Zimbabwe, following
the much-publicised case of
Zimbabwean-born American citizen Dr Arikana
Chihombori who invaded a farm in
Chegutu, maintaining that "like every other
Zimbabwean" she was entitled to
a piece of land.
http://www.iol.co.za
September 08 2009 at
07:45AM
Zimbabwe's accumulated debt to Mozambican power
utility Cahora Bassa
has now been reduced to US6-million, the
state-controlled daily newspaper
Noticias said on Tuesday.
Chief executive officer of Electricidade de Ã, Mozambique (EDM),
Manuel
Cuambe told the paper that his institution's priority next year would
be to
make sure defaulters like the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority
(Zesa)
paid their debts on time.
Zesa had over the past decade encountered
problems in paying it's
accumulated debts mainly due to Zimbabwe's economic
turmoil which resulted
in record inflation.
However, Mozambican
energy minister Salvador Namburete said in recent
media reports that
Zimbabwe would not be cut off from power supply because
it "needed our help
to recover from its economic problem." - Sapa
http://af.reuters.com
Tue Sep 8, 2009 12:26pm GMT
By
MacDonald Dzirutwe
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe is in talks with six
foreign companies over
buying its shares in the country's sole iron and
steel works, where it
expects steel output to reach one million tonnes a
year, a government
minister said on Tuesday.
The Zimbabwe Iron and
Steel Company (Ziscosteel), a major foreign-currency
earner before
independence in 1980, stopped operations last year at the
height of an
economic crisis, plagued by a lack of capital to re-quip its
plants.
The government holds about 70 percent in Ziscosteel -- once
the largest
integrated steelworks in the region -- and had previously not
been keen to
sell its shareholding.
However the country's new
coalition government, in power since February,
sees the sell-off of state
entities as part of necessary economic reforms.
Gabuza Joel Gabbuza,
minister of state enterprises and parastatals, said six
foreign steel
producers had been identified by the government to bid for the
shareholding,
and had all completed due diligence on Ziscosteel.
A final bidder could
be chosen by the end of this month.
"These are global players whom we
identified to bid for Ziscosteel and our
technical team is conducting due
diligence on the companies from which we
will choose a winner to take over
government shareholding," Gabbuza said in
an interview.
"We are
expecting the process to be concluded very soon, even by the end of
this
month. The companies are from South Africa and as far as India, with
some
locals also teaming up with foreigners," he said without giving
details.
Gabuzza refused to give a possible value on the government's
stake.
The minister said work to reline two blast furnaces and other
repairs at
Ziscosteel was underway, with two-thirds of the required
equipment already
at the plant.
The two furnaces have capacity to
produce between 750,000 and 1 million
tonnes of steel
In 2006
Zimbabwe clinched a $400 million management deal with Indian steel
maker
Global Steel, raising hopes it was moving towards disposing of
loss-making
firms, but the deal collapsed within two months.
"I think because of our
economic status it will not be good to renege on
contracts for the sake of
future investment," Gabbuza said.
Critics say most of Zimbabwe's
parastatals, or government-controlled
companies, have been run down through
mismanagement by political appointees,
while President Robert Mugabe's
previous governments had been reluctant to
sell loss-making
companies.
Gabbuza said 16 companies had now been identified for
privatisation,
including the generation unit of state power utility Zesa,
which has been
struggling to produce enough electricity for the
country.
Mugabe and long-time rival Morgan Tsvangirai, now prime
minister, formed a
coalition government in February this year after years of
political and
economic crisis, but the new administration is struggling to
raise money, up
to $10 billion, needed for full recovery.
Email: jag@mango.zw : justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
JAG
Hotlines: +263 (011) 610 073, +263 (04) 799410. If you are in
trouble or
need advice, please don't hesitate to contact us - we're here
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
Situation on Karori Farm
2. Devonia
Farm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
Situation on Karori Farm got a whole lot worse. Mujaji and his wife
have
seized all our tobacco seedbeds and planting equipment including
4
tractors and started planting in the lands we prepared and fertilized.
They
broke into the office and stole two shotguns and all our security
equipment.
All the workers are locked out now for two weeks and they
have tried to evict
them over the weekend but failed.
Police just take reports but no
action. We still cannot move 400 tons of
maize and 150 tons of tobacco
locked up in main premises. Mujaji says I
can take my crops if I sign over
the farm no problem but not my
equipment. Court orders are irrelevant. Any
suggestions on what to
do
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.
Here Could not be worse !!!!!
Shumba smashed the lock on the Gate to our
house last night Sat at 7 pm.
We have had no Power as he switched off and
no Water for the last two
weeks! Our Dogs here with the Hunters.
Am
being charged with sect 41b for asking safeguard Security to get the
address
for serving civil court papers on him!!
Now this charge changed to 45
Intimidation?? The most incredible case
ever..... He is intimidating me with
all his actions that the Police turn
a blind eye to.
Have Lawyer
Godfrey Mamvura to represent me tomorrow [Mon ]
He is running the water
and a lot of waste is occurring as they are not
reacting to the power cuts.
We are helpless with the pump houses both
under his Lock & key!
He
is busy fencing where HE thinks the boundary should be?
We do not know
what to do on the farming side? Three months of this
harassment and
uncertainty, we have endured.
Dennis
Contrary to some critics of the Commercial
farmers of this country that
nothing has been done by the CFU to help
Government with Land Reform, I
describe one instance that I personally was
involved with. However, it
is just one that over many years the Commercial
Farmers Union has made in
a number of attempts at assisting the Government of
Zimbabwe over the
politically sensitive question of "Land Reform".
One
attempt was in 1993 when the then Council of the Commercial Farmers
Union
formulated a plan which, if it had been put in to practice, there
would have
been no need for the current organised chaos and starvation of
the people and
destruction of the agro-industrial companies of the
country.
The CFU
plan was that, initially, as a pilot scheme, one farm in each
province of the
country would be used, and if successful, the number of
farms involved would
double up every year thereafter. The land would be
purchased by the
Government of Zimbabwe using funds provided by the IMF
and World Bank on a
"willing seller, willing buyer' basis at
the market price of the day. Both
local representatives of these
financial institutions were consulted and
agreed that they could lend the
Zimbabwe Government long term, low interest
loans for the purchase of the
farms. This of course became unacceptable to
Government later as it was
discovered that it is easier to steal farms rather
than pay for them.
The CFU found the farms required in each province, in
fact the Karoi
Farmers Association offered an initial five farms for the
scheme.
The New Zealand Government was prepared to send surveyors to
Zimbabwe (as
the Ministry of Lands did not have sufficient qualified
personnel ) to
properly survey the farms and divide them into smaller but
commercially
viable units.
The Scandinavian countries were prepared to
build and provide schools and
clinics.
The British and Americans were
willing to assist in constructing
communications, roads and other necessary
infrastructure such as water
development schemes.
The European Union
Delegation was also keen to assist in many ways.
The Ambassadors of all
these countries were consulted by me, my
Vice-President, Peter MacSporran and
CFU staff, and we were assured that
they would do their utmost to be helpful
and willing to get their
Governments to put a properly administered scheme
into practice.
Importantly, the Commercial Farmers who were to be
neighbours of these
newly resettled farms were prepared to assist the new
farmers together
with Agritex, with as much technical knowledge that was
necessary. e.g.
planting procedures, fertilizer and pesticide application,
water storage
and irrigation techniques. marketing - in fact anything that
makes
up a modern agricultural business.
I, as the then President of
the CFU, discussed these plans with the Late
Gary Magadzire, President of the
Zimbabwe Farmers Union, and Robinson
Gapare who represented the Small Scale
Farmers. Both thought that it
could work.
The Land Tenure Commission,
chaired by Professor Mandy Rakuni, sitting at
the time, saw the need and
importance of individual tenure and the
protection of those rights in law,
and agreed with us that there was a
need for responsible land
redistribution.
On the 3rd of November 1993, I, as President of the CFU,
met with
President Mugabe at his office at his official residence. After
briefing
him on how the Commercial farming industry was pulling itself
and
therefore the country out of the problems caused by one of the
worst
droughts (!992/3) this country has ever seen, I presented our ideas
and
the re-settlement plan to him. His reaction was to say
"Wonderful" and
instructed the Minister of Agriculture,
Witness Mangwende, to get together
with the CFU and discuss
implementation of the plan. The meeting lasted for
about an hour and a
half. Afterwards I declined to make a statement to the
Herald as
President Mugabe said he would publicise the issue at an
appropriate
time.
In other words the support both locally and
internationally seemed to be
overwhelming, as was the massive support given
at a Donor Conference
organised in 1998 by the then CFU President Nick
Swanepoel which had
similar objectives.
One of our farm projects did
indeed get off the ground. A tobacco farming
project in the north of
Centenary, with help of Peter Richards, President
of the Zimbabwe Tobacco
Association, started well but did not last as it
was soon blighted by inter
tribal arguments, internal disputes and the
greed and corruption that
highlight the whole of the current so-called
Land Reform
program.
Looking back, nothing was ever intended to be done about
any
"outside plan" as the "Land Issue" was needed by
the Government to be
used as a political tool to appease any of the
greedy and corrupt who might
become a challenge to the hierarchy, as the
"war-veterans" soon realised and
used so effectively for
their own nefarious needs. In fact at one stage the
then Minister of
Agriculture, Kumbirai Kangai, told us that all our plans
were
unacceptable to the party and that "white" farmers should
stop
getting involved in land matters. However as we predicted then, the
lack of
development in the rural areas has now become the cause of famine
and
unemployment.
Over six hundred years ago the Poet, William Langford,
wrote about
farmers -
"A fair field of folk
Working and
wandering as the world asks of them
Some were putting out to plough
and
Had little playtime.
In setting seed and
sowing,
Sweated at their labour,
Winning wealth that the
worthless
Wasted in gluttony."
So to the future - I am of the
firm belief that as Clem Sumter
puts it, that although we are in a period of
unfettered Socialism, that
Socialism is only that period between Capitalism
and Capitalism.
ANTHONY SWIRE-THOMPSON.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by George Ayittey Tuesday 08
September 2009
OPINION: Zimbabwe's economy is in
tatters. The statistics are
appalling: unemployment hovers around 80 percent
and the economy has shrunk
to a third of what it was at independence in
1980.
Until formation of a unity government between President
Robert Mugabe
and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in February, delivery of
basic social
services such as health care, sanitation, electricity, clean
water and
education has been virtually non-existent.
Over the
past decade the economy has been on an unprecedented
free-fall leading to
massive suffering among the people, who have become
disenchanted with the
catastrophic failure of leadership and disillusioned
with the promise of
liberation.
This horrid tale of betrayal is well known to
Zimbabweans and does not
need belabouring. The more pertinent issue is how
the southern African
country extricates itself from this terrible situation
and becomes
prosperous again.
Change or reform in any society
can come from several sources. The
conventional agents of change
are:
1. The leader, the government or regime in
power,
2. The politicians - both ruling party MPs and the
opposition MPs.
3. The Intellectual class,
4.
Civil society groups
5. The people
There has been a
catastrophic failure of leadership in Zimbabwe. Once
hailed as a liberation
hero, Mugabe has transformed himself into a murderous
despot.
When Nigeria's military dictator, the late General Sani Abacha ("The
Butcher
of Abuja") hanged Ken Saro Wiwa, leader of the Ogoni people in the
Niger
Delta in December 1995, Mugabe called Nigeria a "disgrace" and worked
assiduously to have Nigeria thrown out of the Commonwealth.
Abacha who died in 1998, brooked no nonsense and crushed any
opposition to
his tyrannical rule with merciless abandon.
Disgrace to black
people
The irony of this story is that Mugabe, who denounced Abacha
as a
"disgrace" has himself become a disgrace to black people. In power for
29
years, he has ruined a once-prosperous economy, crushed the opposition
and
sent more than 3 million of his own people into exile.
Yet
Mugabe refuses to take responsibility for his own failures,
preferring to
blame "greedy Western nations," the World Bank, International
Monetary Fund
(IMF) and "snakes" (whites) for his problems. He is totally
and utterly
imperious to reason. He is stone deaf and shockingly blind.
Just as
a leopard cannot change his spots, Mugabe cannot change his
proclivities. He
has always harboured a deep contempt and hatred for the
West and democracy.
At independence in 1980, he vowed to transform Zimbabwe
into a
Marxist-Leninist state.
But what has Marxism-Leninism got to do
with Africa? Even an idiot
could see clearly that Marx and Lenin were not
black Africans.
Mugabe's then Defence Minister Enos Nkala - who,
intoxicated by the
exercise of power - was often given to vituperative
utterances and erratic
behaviour. In November 1980, barely six months after
independence, Nkala
told a rally in Bulawayo, that ZANU PF's main task was
to crush Joshua
Nkomo.
In a series of speeches in September,
1985, Nkala spoke of his
intention to crush ZAPU: "Let me assure the nation
that the policy of
reconciliation toward ZAPU has been withdrawn," he told
the Senate on 18
September. "Nkomo should take note - in the next few weeks
you'll be seeing
fire . . . We want to wipe out the ZAPU leadership. You've
only seen the
warning lights. We haven't yet reached full blast. I don't
want to hear
pleas of mercy . . . My instinct tells me that when you deal
with ruthless
gangsters you have to be ruthless. I have locked up a few
honorable members
(of Parliament) and I think they will have a rest for a
long time to come
before they reappear to continue their dissident
activities."
Matabeleland massacres
Mugabe's Fifth
Brigade, trained by North Korean military instructors,
was responsible for
the Matabeleland massacres in which more than 20 000
Ndebele people were
slaughtered.
In the July 1985 elections Mugabe could not conceal
his contempt for
the Zimbabwean constitution. He referred to it as "that
dirty piece of
paper".
The elections took place amid relative
calm, but when they were over,
mobs of ZANU PF supporters rampaged through
the suburbs of Harare to
brutalise supporters of the opposition. Homes were
raided, and furniture and
household possessions were thrown out into the
streets. The thugs declared
the houses to be ZANU PF property.
As the violence intensified, victims were beaten and pummelled to the
point
of unconsciousness, their belongings stolen, and their houses set on
fire.
More than six people were reported killed.
A defeated ZAPU
candidate, Simon Chauruka, was gruesomely hacked to
death with axes when a
mob of ZANU PF supporters attacked his home in the
Dzivarasekwa suburb.
Another ZAPU candidate, Kenneth Mano, who had just been
released from
detention, was stabbed three times. More than 200 ZAPU
officials, including
members of parliament, were detained without charge
under the emergency
powers after the July elections.
As early as 1982, corruption
scandals were rocking the country. Edgar
Tekere, a maverick and also a
nationalist who fought alongside Mugabe for
Zimbabwe's independence, decided
to fight against this incipient "Swiss
bank" socialism.
He
declared: "We all came from Mozambique with nothing; not even a
teaspoon.
But today, in less than two years, you hear that so-and-so owns so
many
farms, a chain of hotels and his father owns a fleet of buses. Where
did all
that money come from in such a short period? Isn't it from the very
public
funds they are entrusted to administer?" (New African, March 1989; p.
21).
Incorrigible autocrat
Fast forward to 2009,
29 years of Mugabe's rule and it is the same old
incorrigible autocrat. The
old leopard hasn't changed its spots. Change is
unlikely to come from him.
It is even doubtful if he is in control. He is
just a "hostage president";
the "securocrats" are in control.
After his resounding defeat in
the March 29 elections, Mugabe was
reportedly willing to accept defeat and
step down. He is said to have told
his security officials that he had lost
the election and was going to step
down.
But the security
chiefs stepped in - a "palace coup". Fearful that
they would lose wealth and
influence if Mugabe bowed out, Zimbabwe's
military chief, General
Constantine Chiwenga, reportedly told Mugabe that
stepping down from power
was not a decision he alone should make.
The military would take
control of the country and keep him in office
or Mugabe could contest the
run-off election, which would be directed in the
field by senior army
officers supervising a military-style campaign against
the opposition to
ensure that Mugabe wins. Mugabe agreed to the second
option, which was
codenamed, CIBD: Coercion, Intimidation, Beating,
Displacement.
At an April 4, 2008 meeting of ZANU PF party, the plan was affirmed.
"The
small piece of paper cannot take the country," said Solomon Mujuru, a
former
guerrilla commander, who once headed Zimbabwe's military (The
Washington
Post, July 5, 2008; p.A10).
A Joint Operations Command (JOC) was
set up to direct the election
campaign, intimidating rural voters and
assassinating opposition campaign
supporters. Emmerson Mnagagwa chairs the
JOC which is made up of these
military generals: Chiwenga, head of defence
forces, Perence Shiri, head of
the air force, and Philip Sibanda, head of
the national army.
Presidential aspirant Mnangagwa, also known as
the "Butcher of
Matabeleland," is known for his uncompromising stance and
ruthlessness. He
was the Minister of State Security who orchestrated a
systematic and brutal
1981-83 campaign to suppress the Ndebele people and
wipe out the main
opposition, ZAPU and its leader, the late Joshua
Nkomo.
The hierarchy of ZANU PF has fully been "militarised" or
integrated
with the security apparatus.
Dripping in
blood
It is fear of reprisals, retribution and paranoia which
haunts the
ruling ZANU PF regime. They know they have done bad. Their hands
are
dripping in blood and their pockets are full of booty. They are afraid
that
all their gory misdeeds will be exposed once they are out of
power.
So they must do everything they can to cling to power. They
must crush
the opposition and ruthlessly silence any whiff of protest. But
in doing so,
they dig deeper graves for themselves because these brutal
tactics seldom
work.
Africa has dealt with many brutal despots
before. In 1990, Liberian
rebel leader Yormie Johnson finally cornered
General Samuel Doe in his
presidential palace. He stripped Doe naked, tied
him up and cut off his left
ear. He didn't listen to his people. Doe bled to
death. In 2000, Democratic
Republic Of Congo (DRC) President Laurent Kabila
was shot dead by his own
security guard.
African tyrants spend
an inordinate amount on an elaborate
security-cum-military structure to
protect themselves and suppress their
people. Since they came to power
through illegitimate means (a military coup
or stolen election), they are
suspicious of everyone and paranoid of any
little event, however
innocuous.
Layers of security
So they spend huge
resources creating layers upon layers of security -
just in case one level
fails - and shower security agents with perks and
amenities. But in the end,
they are hoisted by their own petards -
overthrown by their own security
apparatus.
In Nigeria, former dictator, Gen Ibrahim Babangida
rewarded "nearly 3
000 of his most loyal military chiefs by giving them new
Peugeot sedans.
Most Nigerians will never be able to afford anything like a
new Peugeot 505,
which costs the equivalent of US$21 000 in Lagos. A senior
university
professor, for example, earns about US$4 000 a year, while a
nurse or
mechanic is lucky to bring home more than US$1 000" (The New York
Times, Dec
2, 1993; p. A3).
But they can't trust the military
completely because some soldier
might get the same idea of staging a coup.
So they create a Special Division
Force (like the 64th Battalion Rawlings
created in Ghana), and equip it with
better weapons than the ordinary
soldiers so that the Special Force can put
down any uprising or coup attempt
from the military.
Still, they can't trust the Special Division
Force, so they create an
Elite Strike Force (like the commandos), which are
directly answerable to
the president. Even then, that is cold comfort. So
they create the
Presidential Guard, often drawn from members of their own
tribe, and equip
it with the best weapons. To deal with threats that may
come from the
people, they create various militias - Janjaweed in Sudan and
Green Bombers
in Zimbabwe.
Many African military regimes in
Africa have elite presidential guard.
As The Washington Post (July 23, 1994)
reported:
"The (presidential) guard is a typical feature of
undemocratic
sub-Saharan African regimes - a coup deterring force recruited
for its
personal loyalty to the commander in chief. A 1 500-man brigade of
guards in
Nigeria's inland capital, Abuja, and a similar-sized force in
Lagos, the
country's commercial capital, are described by military sources
as the
linchpin of Abacha's internal security apparatus.
As in
other undemocratic African countries, Abacha's presidential
guard is drawn
from his own ethnic group in his home town. The guards often
get the best
equipment and the best training" (p.A16).
As Africa's
infrastructure and public services disintegrated, African
dictators found
the wherewithal to spend more and more on themselves and the
military.
Whitaker (1988) noted, "The proportion of African funds going to
equip and
pay the military has been steadily rising, reaching for example
over 40
percent in Ethiopia, and 25 and 20 percent respectively in
drought-ravaged
Mauritania and Mali" (p. 43).
Inadequate protection
The problem is, the security system, quite apart from the threat that
can
come from within, often fails to provide adequate protection to African
despots. In fact, quite often, it is the very same security apparatus that
overthrows them. The Asante have this proverb: If a bed bug bites you, it is
from your own cloth.
The late Samuel Doe of Liberia, for
example, spent so much to keep his
soldiers happy. In addition, he had crack
presidential troops, secretly
trained by the Israelis. But they could not
protect him from the Charles
Taylor's rag-tag rebels of 1 000. Note that
Charles Taylor was not even a
soldier but an ex-civil servant.
Similarly, Ethiopia's Haile Mariam Mengistu spent an enormous amount
to
build Africa's largest army with 200 000 under arms. Neither they too
could
protect Mengistu from a band of determined Eritrean and Tigray rebels.
The
same can be said for Siad Barre of Somalia.
In 1974, Mengistu
overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie in a military coup.
The ailing emperor was
suffocated with a wet pillow, and his body buried in
an unmarked grave.
Scores of his relatives were murdered or chained to walls
in the cellars of
the imperial palace. Thousands of suspected
counter-revolutionaries were
gunned down in the streets. More than 30 000
people were
jailed.
When a member of his own junta questioned the wisdom of
such terror
tactics, Mengistu shot him in the head. Mengistu created one of
Africa's
largest militaries but in 1991, he fled to Zimbabwe after being
routed by a
rag-tag army of Eritrean rebels. How safe was he
there?
Former Ethiopian dictator, Mengistu Haile Mariam panicked
and ran
yelling for help when a would-be assassin fired a single shot at one
of his
guards last fall, a Zimbabwe court was told. The Eritrean suspect,
Solomon
Haile Ghebre Michael, 36, pleaded not guilty Monday in the attack on
the
exiled Col Mengistu, given asylum by President Robert Mugabe in 1991
after
he fled Ethiopia (The Washington Times, Thursday July 11, 1996;
p.A10).
Trusted colleagues
On July 29, 1975, General
Gowon of Nigeria was overthrown in a
bloodless coup, planned and executed by
some of his most trusted colleagues,
including the Commander of the
Presidential Guard. Interestingly, General
Joe Garba, who announced the
overthrow, was Gowon's closest personal staff
in whom he could confide in
all matters of security.
Ironically, reasons for the coup against
Gowon were: inaccessibility,
insensitivity, indecision and lack of political
direction. Strange that his
own closest aide had no access to
him.
In Cameroon, Mbia Meka, the senior commissioner of police and
the
commandant of the paramilitary Special Operations Squad, as well as
Joseph
Owona, and Remy Ze Meka, secretary general at the prime minister's
office,
were arrested on Sept 9, 1994 and charged with plotting to overthrow
Paul
Biya.
"The revelations stunned Cameroonians since the
alleged coup leaders
were all members of Biya's own Beti ethnic group and,
as part of the
powerful Essingan sect, were held in close confidence by the
61-year old
president" (The African Observer, Nov 15-28, 1994;
p.14).
In Chad, part of the rebellion against President Idris Deby
is led by
his own family members.
In Rwanda, the late president
Juvenal Habryimana "fell victim to the
monster he created" (The Washington
Post, April 18, 1995; p.A17). His plane
crash was plotted by his own allies
in the military, who saw that he was
edging closer to political reforms that
would threaten their power.
Inner workings
But the
next buffoon doesn't learn. Being a product of that structure,
with
intricate knowledge of its inner workings, he repairs the weaknesses
and
strengthens the structure. Eventually he too is overthrown by the same
security apparatus.
In Niger, General Ibrahim Mainassara, who
seized power in a coup in
1996, didn't trust his own military, so he created
a Special Presidential
Guard and fortified his palace. It was impregnable
but just in case somebody
might have an idea of attacking from the air, he
gave his presidential guard
some heavy artillery, including heavy-duty
anti-helicopter machine guns.
Sometime in 1999, returning from a
trip overseas, his presidential
guard went to the airport to meet him. They
opened fire with their
anti-helicopter machine guns. Mainassara's body was
shredded into pieces,
littering the tarmac.
The more an African
head of state spends on security, the more likely
he will be overthrown by
someone from his security forces.
Each year, African governments
spend about $12 billion on the
importation of weapons and maintenance of the
military. The futility of such
military expenditures was pointed out by
Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Speaking
in Accra on November 25, 1990, he noted
cogently: "Freedom is cheaper than
repression. When you are a leader chosen
by the people you don't need
security. All the money spent on weapons
doesn't buy one iota of security,"
he said (Christian Messenger, Jan 1991;
p. 1).
"I bought jet fighters. I bought MiG-23s. I bought armed
helicopters.
And I lost the war. When there's social unrest, it's difficult
to win. It's
the same feeling today," said Likulia Bolongo, the defence
minister of Zaire's
President Mobutu Sese Seko during the 1996-1997 war (The
Washington Post,
Nov 23, 1999; p.A24).
On August 2, 2005,
Mauritania's army officers overthrew President
Maaouiya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya
in a bloodless revolt. Speaking after the coup,
Taya said he had been
shocked to find out who was behind it. He was toppled
by the former security
chief and close colleague, Colonel Ely Ould Mohammed
Vall, who had been the
director of national security since 1987 and, after
played a key role in the
1984 coup which brought Taya to power.
"My situation reminds me of
the old adage: 'God, save me from my
friends, I'll take care of my
enemies'," Taya told Radio France
Internationale from Niger. "I was stunned
by the coup d'etat [...] and even
more so when I heard who were the
authors," Taya said
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4126296.stm).
The ZANU PF regime, in contemplating its imminent demise, should ask
itself
whether more investments in lethal weaponry and brutal repression
will pay
off.
Africans are forgiving people but are willing to forgive those
who are
willing to admit of their errors and make amends. This African trait
can be
found in indigenous African courts. Western law is different from
African
law.
African notion of justice
Western
jurisprudence focuses on punishment for the guilty whereas the
African
notion of justice mandates restitution, forgiveness, reconciliation
to
promote social healing and restore social harmony. Africans believe that
when two people fight, the entire village is affected. Therefore, conflict
resolution requires not just a settlement between the two disputants but
also an effort to repair frayed social relationships (social
healing).
In Rwanda, after the 1994 genocide which saw the
slaughter of more
than 800 000 Tutsis, the government found that the formal
(Western) court
system would never be able to try the over 100 000 suspects.
It would have
taken at least 200 years. To restore peace, reconciliation,
and justice, the
government turned to the traditional courts -
gacaca.
According to The Economist (May 17, 2003), "They got off to
a flying
start: In Oct 2001, Rwandans elected 258 208 gacaca judges,
including 19 for
each of the country's 9 170 cells (tiny administrative
united sometimes as
small as 200 people).
The people in each
cell are supposed to assemble before these judges
on a patch of grass
(gacaca). By hearing testimony from everyone who was
there during the
genocide, the judges are supposed to identify the culprits,
and then pass
judgment on them" (p.42). Culprits who confessed to lesser
crimes and were
willing to make to make amends to their victims, were
forgiven.
South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) established
after
the dismantling of apartheid in 1994, was rooted in this African
tradition.
If every white person, guilty of apartheid crimes, were to be
punished
according to the Western notion of justice, there would be few
whites left
in South Africa.
Zimbabwe is not going to be saved if those who
have perpetrated
heinous atrocities and crime, stubbornly refuse to admit
their errors.
To be continued. - ZimOnline
http://blog.amnestyusa.org
Posted by: Sarah Hager, September 7, 2009 at 11:59
PM
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights recently reported that President Mugabe
did NOT sign the Global Political Agreement. Well, he signed half of it. The
entire 36 page document was ratified into law by Parliament as
Constitutional Amendment 19. President Mugabe, however, only signed an 18
page document. The result is potentially unenforceable as "It is impossible,
legally, to have an act in two different versions-one version approved by
Parliament, another by the President." The missing pages included clauses
governing the mandated Constitutional revision and referendum process. This
means that the entire agreement can be declared null and void, or those
pages not signed by the President are not enforceable.
The Global
Political Agreement (GPA) is the result of negotiations that
occurred after
contested Presidential and Parliamentary elections in March
2008. Although
now-Prime Minister Tsvangirai received the majority of votes,
he purportedly
did not receive the necessary 50% +1 required to win
outright, forcing a
run-off election. Tsvangirai subsequently withdrew from
the run-off over
concern for the extreme levels of violence that occurred,
including deaths,
disappearances and torture and Mugabe was declared the
winner. The Southern
African Development Committee (SADC) stepped in and
negotiated a political
settlement that became the GPA and is now the
guarantor of this
agreement.
ZANU-PF's commitment to the GPA has been suspect from the
beginning
including refusing to cede control of the Attorney General office
and
Reserve Bank and chipping away at the Parliamentary majority position
Prime
Minister Tsvangirai's party MDC-T secured in the 2008 elections
through
pressing criminal charges. Further, while levels of violence have
abated,
political violence is an on-going concern including the recent
murder of an
MDC activist.
The law is meant to define the parameters
that regulate behavior and
establish social control. It is not meant to be a
blunt weapon of force to
repress, dominate and terrorize citizens. Mugabe's
political party, ZANU-PF,
consistently uses the law to manipulate and
oppress from laws used to stifle
dissent such as the Public Order and
Security Act, to withdrawing from the
SADC Tribunal, to entering the
agreement with false intentions by building
in an escape
hatch.
ZANU-PF's withdrawal from the SADC Tribunal and the failure to
sign all
pages of the GPA are essentially contract disputes and there is no
applicable court to turn where a judge can decide which terms apply and
should be enforced. Instead, the judge is SADC, who must remove the blinders
of reverence towards a one time freedom fighter and see him as the leader of
a party of freedom oppressors. SADC announced today it will convene an
extraordinary summit in three weeks to address the outstanding issues
surrounding the GPA and it MUST force a resolution on both these
concerns.
The judge is also the international community, who bears the
burden of
standing strong in speaking out against the injustices occurring
in Zimbabwe
while still standing in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe
by providing
appropriate humanitarian aid to repair the schools, hospitals,
water
treatment plants and sewer systems, electrical capacity and
agricultural
industry. Finally, the judge is us, who must continue to demand
respect for
the rule of law and insist on accountability and an end to
impunity for
those who use violence to retain power and control.