http://www.voanews.com
October 21,
2011
VOA
News
The African Union has remained largely silent about the death of
Libyan
leader Moammar Gadhadfi, who once led the alliance and served as its
largest
benefactor.
AU commission chairman Jean Ping released a
statement on Friday simply
noting Gadhafi's death.
Mr. Ping then
focused on the African Union's concern for the Libyan people,
their
aspirations and the need for national reconciliation.He stated the
alliance
is committed to working with Libya's new leaders and an inclusive
transitional authority that will help form a new, democratic
Libya.
Gadhafi, who once proclaimed himself the King of Kings of Africa,
served as
the AU's chairman two year ago.
The late leader wielded a
huge influence in the 15-member alliance, using
Libya's substantial oil
wealth to become its top financier.
The AU recognized the National
Transitional Council as Libya's rightful
government late last month, drawing
international criticism for waiting so
long to take the step.
Some
leaders in sub-Saharan Africa charged the delay showed that the AU was
out
of touch.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Bridget Mananavire, Staff Writer
Saturday, 22
October 2011 13:11
HARARE - The ouster and eventual death of Libyan
dictator Muammar Gaddafi
increases pressure, and the possibility of
Tripoli’s new rulers to unwind
“shady deals” between President Robert
Mugabe’s government and the late
tyrant.
Zimbabwe is named as one of
the destinations for Gaddafi’s money, estimated
at $150 billion in both
listed and non-listed entities around the world.
Apart from banking
assets, the late dictator had interests in farming,
tourism and mining, and
his son Saif al-Islam was in the country last year
to scout for more
deals.
Mohammad Elbarat, one of the Libyan diplomats expelled from
Zimbabwe for
supporting Tripoli’s new rulers, the National Transitional
Council (NTC),
raised the spectre of a reversal of the deals when he handed
a dossier on
possible plunder to NTC leaders.
“We have asked the NTC
to cancel all the deals that Gaddafi made with Mugabe’s
government, and the
NTC has agreed since Mugabe’s government is refusing to
recognise the NTC,”
said Elbarat.
“These deals were not done in good faith and we want the
NTC to investigate
them because we had no documents to follow the
transactions and this must be
made clear on who benefited and for what
purpose,” Elbarat recently told the
Daily News from Tripoli.
Zimbabwe
expelled Taher Elmagrahi and four other senior diplomats in August
for
flying the NTC flag at the Harare embassy.
Mugabe’s coalition partner
Morgan Tsvangirai said the change of baton in
Tripoli left the 87-year-old
“embarrassed”.
Douglas Mwonzora, spokesman for Tsvangirai’s MDC party,
said Mugabe was in a
fix on how to repair relations after “chasing the
Libyan diplomats like
dogs.”
“Now that Gaddafi is gone, there is
going to be embarrassment on Zimbabwe
government on how to relate with
Libya,” said Mwonzora.
“A few weeks ago, Mugabe’s side of the coalition
government ignored MDC
advice not to chase away the Libyan ambassador in
favour of someone clearly
in the sunset of his political life. As usual,
Mugabe displayed arrogance,”
he said.
Information minister Webster
Shamu yesterday maintained support for the
dictator who, with the help of
his family, ruled Libya with an iron fist for
42 years.
“Government
has closely followed developments unfolding in Libya, especially
in the last
24 hours. Zimbabwe just cannot accept what has happened in that
African
country as a legitimate way of correcting systems on the African
continent,”
said Shamu, a fierce Mugabe loyalist.
Ordinary Zimbabweans, on the other
hand, say Gaddafi got what he deserved,
although some feel the death was too
brutal.
Harare resident Tafadzwa Chirisa, 32, said: “Justice has been
done not only
for Libyans but Africa because he was a dictator.”
One
shop attendant said Gaddafi’s fate showed “justice” will always catch up
with leaders who murdered their own people for the sake of
power.
“You can never run away from people and justice. He was
stubborn.
“If he had stepped down earlier, none of this would have
happened,” she
said.
Godknows Kasavi, 21, said: “The man was a cause
to many deaths, including
children and that is how he died, chaunodyara
ndochaunokohwa (you reap what
you sow).”
36-year-old Bornface Chavira
said: “What I am happy about is that Libyans
are now free.”
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Political violence is on the rise in Makoni district
following the abduction
and assault of MDC-T activists in the area last
week.
21.10.1103:00pm
by Tony Saxon
Zanu (PF) is putting
pressure on villagers to vote for the party in the
envisaged elections to be
held next year.
Soldiers and war veterans led by a senior army officer
only identified as
Chiganza, with the backup of Zanu (PF) youth militia, are
reportedly using a
yellow CAM twin cab vehicle to unleash terror on the
villagers. The militia
has targeted resettled farmers, where they have made
sure that they are all
registered as party members.
An MDC activist,
Rison Bende, was last week on Friday abducted and taken to
the notorious 32
Infantry Battalion Army Barracks in Tsanzaguru where a
torture base has been
set up.
His relatives told this paper that they found him the following
day dumped
in the bush near The Lake View shops after he was severely
assaulted for
drumming up support for the MDC-T in the area.
"We had
just retired for bed when a group of Zanu (PF) militia broke into
his house.
They grabbed him by his hands and forced-marched him to a yellow
truck where
they said they would return him alive on condition that he
renounce his MDC
membership," said a neighbour who witnessed the abduction.
"We then made
a report at the police base but no action was taken and no
arrests were
made," said the neighbour.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said that the MDC-T and
President
Robert Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) should sign a non-violence pact ahead of
the
forthcoming elections.
21.10.1104:33pm
by Chief
Reporter
"I am prepared to share the stage with Mugabe and publicly
denounce violence
which is now prevalent on the Zimbabwean political scene,"
said the MDC
leader.
"If it means signing an agreement then I am
prepared to do that." He accused
supporters of the governing Zanu (PF) of
provoking MDC. "We want our
supporters to avoid being drawn into committing
acts of violence," he said.
A local rights body, the Zimbabwe Peace
Project, recently claimed in a
report that at least 20 rights violations
were reported every day. The ZPP,
a faith-based group which pools NGOs who
assist victims of organized
violence, said most of the violence was
committed by Zanu (PF) supporters.
The rights group said political
tension remained "very high" in Zimbabwe
ahead of proposed elections and it
reported more than 20 rights violations
each day over a four week
period.
The latest bulletin says supporters of President Robert Mugabe's
party are
accused of leading political violence and intolerance toward
perceived
opponents, some within their own ranks.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Police here arrested MDC-T vice
District Youth Chairperson, Charles Ngwena,
activists Brian ‘Gwekwerere’
Phiri and Shawn Chinhai last Tuesday for
allegedly burning a Zanu (PF)
banner bearing Mugabe’s picture.
21.10.1108:45am
by Jane
Makoni
According to the police, the three pulled down the banner
which was hoisted
by Zanu (PF) youths at Dombotombo Shopping Centre Sunday,
moments before
MDC-T President, Morgan Tsvangirai, addressed a rally at
Rudhaka Stadium.
The charges are denied by the accused.
“I am sure
police investigations are in progress,” said MDC-T vice
provincial
organiser, Boniface Tagwireyi.
Police was also reported to be keen to
arrest and investigate MDC-T
Marondera Central District Main Vice
Chairperson and councillor ward 4,
Caleb Marange, in connection with the
‘torched’ Mugabe banner. Marange was
out of town on council
business.
Residents and MDC supporters said they were puzzled by what
appeared like
police continued selective application of
justice.
“Last week a police officer in uniform pulled down MDC-T
campaign posters
bearing Morgan Tsvangirai’s picture in Cherutombo broad day
light, ahead of
the Premier’s visit. Despite MDC lodging a complaint at
Marondera District
Police Station, nothing was done to the ‘offending’
officer as police said
MDC had pasted the posters in the vicinity of a
police post,” said an MDC
top official.
The official also claimed
that out of an estimated 1 000 MDC-T posters
displayed around the district,
more than 700 were pulled down and destroyed
by identified Zanu (PF) youths.
No arrests were made like what happened to
MDC youths. “Sunday, Zanu (PF)
youths pulled down MDC-T posters and replaced
them with those bearing
Mugabe’s face at places where PM Morgan Tsvangirai
was scheduled to
visit.
Tuesday, vendors and other residents were shocked to witness Zanu
(PF)
council police officers pull down and tearing to pieces an MDC-T
campaign
poster at Dombotombo Vegetable Market.
“The council
police officers arrived in a council truck and savagely tore
down the poster
bearing Tsvangirai’s smiling face. What surprised us was
that when Zanu (PF)
controlled the town, Mugabe’s posters were displayed at
the market which was
now no go area for MDC campaign material. We are also
disturbed by the MDC-T
city fathers’ helplessness in the face of political
arrogance by the council
police.
MDC runs the council and there is no reason why Tsvangirai’s
councillors
should be cowed by employees such as Mbizi. What are the city
fathers afraid
of? It is time Mugabe and Zanu (PF) are told that they no
longer run the
show here”, said a resident who had gone to the market to buy
vegetables
when the incident happened.
Investigations by the
Zimbabwean revealed that the council police officers
were working under
instructions from Zanu (PF) council assistant fire and
security officer,
Jorum Mbizi. Mbizi is also Zanu (PF) vice provincial
security officer.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
There are growing concerns that Zimbabwe
is unwilling to comply with the
African Charter on human rights. The
country’s reports to the African
Commission on Human and People’s Rights are
long overdue, and there is
general lack of political will in the promotion
and protection of human
rights, according to human rights
defenders.
21.10.1105:36pm
by Chief Reporter
The Zimbabwean can
reveal that Zimbabwe, which ratified the African Charter
on Human and
People’s Rights on May 30 1986, has submitted only three
reports.
Rights defenders have released a damning report on the human
rights
situation, saying peaceful protestors were victimised during United
Nations
World Peace day in September. This clampdown culminated in a spate
of
arbitrary arrests and unwarranted detentions which in some cases have
been
followed by prosecution.
The report says the security of
journalists and even citizens is a major
concern with rampant violations of
the right to freedom of expression.
"Laws such as the Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act,
Broadcasting Services Act,
Criminal Codification and Reform Act continue to
be applied with citizens
being caught up in this onslaught. Of particular
concern, the inclusive
government has rejected some recommendations made by
other member states of
the United Nations General Assembly calling upon it
to repeal draconian laws
and amend and reform administrative practices that
violate the right to
freedom of expression," the report says.
The conditions of prisons
remains a concern, as well as the treatment of
women and the failure of the
police to uphold the right of citizens and
protect them from executive
excesses.
Rights defenders urged the government to take urgent measures
to evaluate
their shortcomings and reform legislative and other
administrative
frameworks to ensure that the rights enshrined in the African
Charter are
enjoyed by all citizens.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
The International Organisation on
Migration has deplored the Zimbabwe
government's tendency to detain asylum
seekers in prison instead of speedily
handing them to UN agencies for
assistance.
21.10.1105:40pm
by John Chimunhu
In a report, the
IOM said it had assisted 26 Somali and 74 Ethiopian asylum
seekers relocate
to Tongogara Refugee Camp after they languished for months
at Harare remand
prison with the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees unaware of
their whereabouts.
"Partners are advocating for change so migrants can be
accomodated elsewhere
rather than detained at Harare remand prison while
awaiting transfer to
Tongogara Refugee Camp," IOM said.
The refugees
were detained by the Zimbabwean government in February and
vanished, amid
fears that they had been deported to their countries of
origin in violation
of United Nations rules.
UNHCR country representative for Zimbabwe,
Marcellin Hepie told The
Zimbabwean earlier this year he did not know what
had happened to the asylum
seekers.
They had made the arduous journey
from war-ravaged Somalia and drought-hit
Ethiopia but were detained by the
Harare authorities for illegal entry.
The UNHCR expressed concern that
most refugees granted asylum in Zimbabwe
fled the country before long.
Torture by the CIO while in prison was routine
during interrogation to
establish if the new arrivals were not spies.
Hunger and deprivation was
also said to be widespread in prison as the
authorities could not provide
the types of food to which the asylum seekers
were accustomed. Many needed
treatment and at least one refugee needed
hospitalisation after release,
according to the report.
Moira Gombingo, a senior refugee official in the
Department of Social
Welfare confirmed recently that asylum seekers entering
Zimbabwe were
routinely handed over to the CIO for interrogation. Gombingo
claimed that
entrants into Zimbabwe threatened national
security.
"From a security point of view, we have to find out who the
so-called asylum
seekers are. We call in the security agencies to deal with
these state
spies," Gombingo said.
She confirmed that after being
grilled by the CIO, the asylum seekers were
then handed to the security
services of their countries of origin without
being allowed access to the
UNHCR. This is a violation of UN rules on
treatment of asylum seekers.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Residents here have blamed Zanu (PF) for exposing them to
permanent hunger
after the party chased away two NGOs that were providing
them with food.
21.10.1103:01pm
by Tony Saxon
The two NGOs,
whose names have been withheld for professional reasons, were
offering
humanitarian assistance to the residents in the drought prone
area.
"Hunger has struck here and if we do not have any food allocations
immediately some people might die. We used to have some food rations and we
previously embarked on irrigation schemes that sustained our lives with the
help of NGOs, but since the NGOs were chased away most of us have been
exposed to hunger," said a traditional leader in the area.
Munacho
Mutezo a Zanu (PF) politburo member who is eyeing the Chimanimani
West
constituency was blamed for chasing away the NGOs.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
The Zimbabwe Republic Police in Matabeleland North
province has been accused
of using vehicles donated for the Victim Friendly
programme to crack down on
human rights defenders.
21.10.1104:05pm
by
Zwanai Sithole Harare
Since the initiation of the concept of
Victim Friendly Court systems by the
government, United Nations agencies
such as UNICEF have been supporting the
initiative with vehicles and
resources. However, some of the vehicles are
now being abused by the
police.
“Police are abusing Victim Friendly fleet. Last week a police
vehicle with a
UNICEF logo was seen in Lupane carrying MDC supporters who
were arrested for
campaigning for the MDC –T ahead of possible by-elections
in the area. I
wonder if the donors of these vehicles are aware that their
vehicles are
being used to suppress freedom in the country,” said Remias
Ncube a human
rights activist based Lupane.
Ncube said police in the
province were also using vehicles meant for the
programme to do normal
policing duties such as manning roadblocks and
pursuing cattle
rustlers.
“In Matabeleland province, the police spend most of their time
persecuting
human rights defenders and opposition politicians with the few
resources
meant for the protection of vulnerable people. I think these
donors should
regularly monitor the use of these vehicles,” said a lawyer
from the
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights who refused to be named.
http://mg.co.za
RAY NDLOVU Oct 21 2011 14:20
Vusi Mavimbela, South
Africa's ambassador to Zimbabwe, has attacked
President Robert Mugabe's
Zanu-PF over its continued invasion of South
African-owned farms and over
the mounting rhetoric about the seizure of
foreign-owned mining companies
under the indigenisation law.
Observers see the tough talk of Mavimbela,
former director general in the
South African presidency, as the outward
expression of a major shift in
relations between Pretoria and Harare under
President Jacob Zuma, who is
clearly turning up the heat on the 87-year-old
Mugabe in a bid to force him
to rein in lawlessness by members of his
party.
Political analyst Trevor Maisiri said: "The ambassador's
sentiments are a
clear indication of a changing of the guard in
Pretoria."
Mavimbela, quoted in the state-owned Herald after meeting
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai at the weekend, said: "We are not happy
with the farm
invasions that have been taking place in the country and South
African
farmers being evicted from their farms.
"Scores of farmers
came to our offices for assistance and the majority have
been rendered
destitute, save for a few who have been taken in by friends."
Earlier
this month, Zanu-PF youths in Nyazura evicted two South African
farmers --
Koos Smith of De Rust farm and Tienie van Rensburg of Rueben
farm -- giving
them an hour's notice to pack up their belongings and leave.
It is
understood that the South African envoy has been irked further by
Harare's
disregard for a 2009 bilateral trade agreement between the two
countries,
intended to protect South African investments in Zimbabwe.
Matters
beyond
Mavimbela said that some matters "have gone beyond the level of the
embassy
and the situation now needs state-to-state dialogue".
Zanu-PF
national chairperson Simon Khaya Moyo shrugged off Mavimbela's
comments.
"The South African ambassador does not answer to Zanu-PF and so
there is no
way that Zanu-PF can deal with the issue. It's a matter between
two
governments," Moyo said.
CONTINUES BELOW
In the past,
Zimbabwe's foreign affairs ministry has read the riot act to
Western
countries over their perceived involvement in the country's internal
affairs. Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi is well known for his brash
style with foreign diplomats.
He could not be reached for
comment.
This week Hendrik Olivier, the chief executive of the Commercial
Farmers'
Union of Zimbabwe, welcomed Mavimbela's public stance, saying that
it would
"help influence and hold in check" land
invasions.
"Invasions have taken place over the past 11 years, despite
Zimbabwe being a
signatory of bilateral agreements with many countries,
including South
Africa.
"It remains to be seen whether the government
will take the necessary steps
to respect its trade agreements," said
Olivier.
Meanwhile, divisions have emerged over the indigenisation laws
in Zanu-PF
and the coalition government, with the Affirmative Action Group,
a militant
black empowerment project linked to Zanu-PF, splintering over the
beneficiaries of the expropriation of foreign business interests.
The
action group's entire executive board, led by journalist-cum-businessman
Supa Mandiwanzira, has stepped down, giving way to Philip Chiyangwa, a
property tycoon and nephew of Mugabe.
The board has been accused of
"having lost its way and put individual gain
before mass
empowerment".
There have also been claims that $32 000 has been embezzled
from the
project.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Embattled national airline Air Zimbabwe is posting
$4 million losses
monthly, the CEO told a Parliamentary committee last
week.
21.10.1102:43pm
by Staff Reporter
“Our cost of operating
the business sits at about $6 to $7,5 million,”
Innocent Mavhunga told
Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on State Enterprises
and
Parastatals.
“Our income is between $2,5 and $3,5 million.” Mavhunga told
the committee
that the airline was saddled with a $137,7 million debt, of
which $112,7 is
owed to local creditors.
He urged government as the
shareholder to inherit this debt and pump
$40million capital into the
airline to recapitalise it.
The chairman of the portfolio committee,
Zvishavane-Runde legislator Larry
Mavhima, asked what the airline was doing
about the appalling situation at
the airline, which last month made a flight
with only one passenger from
Victoria Falls.
The company wanted to
cut staff but it did not have money to bankroll the
retrenchment packages.
It had cut routes and aircraft numbers were
dwindling. Of eight remaining
planes only five were functioning. All
attempts to return to profitability
were stymied by lack of finance.
"Management is very clear it has got to
operate on commercial basis but if
you can't make commercial decisions then
it means obviously the challenge
lies not with management," Mavhunga
said.
"Successive leadership management has come up with good strategic
turnaround
blue prints but when it comes to implementation, management has
not been
given the support.
"For instance the issue of retrenchment
is not because of management nor the
board but the
shareholder."
Reflecting on the company's failure, Mavhunga said the
airline was "deeply
apologetic" for the situation that shareholders,
creditors and customers now
found themselves in.
He said rolling
industrial action by pilots, the high cost of flying the
airline's ageing
fleet, loss of passenger confidence in the embattled
airline and lack of
support from government was combining to make a deadly
mix that could ground
the airline.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
The Zanu (PF) initiated anti-sanctions campaign seems
to have lost momentum
with heaps of signed petitions gathering dust at
government offices in the
province.
21.10.1104:21pm
by Leona
Mwayera
An investigation carried out by this paper revealed that
petition forms were
now garbage in the towns with some even being used by
vendors to wrap fruit
at market stalls.
Zanu (PF) initiated the
campaign in a bid to force Western countries to
remove the so-called
‘sanctions’ it believes have been imposed on President
Mugabe and members of
his inner circle.
However, the western countries, including the United
States of America, have
remained adamant that the targeted measures were not
hurting ordinary
Zimbabwe but affected only Zanu (PF) officials who are
accused of trampling
on human rights and democracy.
After realising
that the western countries would not respond to the Zanu
(PF) propaganda
campaign, it has been shelved and most of the petition forms
did not did not
make it to Zanu (PF) headquarters.
"We don't know what they are going to
do with these heaps of forms. They are
taking up a lot of space from our
offices and I feel Zanu (PF) should
apologise for wasting taxpayers' funds
over this propaganda and useless
programme which did not even produce
results," said one civil servant who
declined to be named.
Another
government official who declined to be named said the anti-sanction
programme was not a national programme and those who abused government funds
to print the material should be held accountable.
"We cannot afford
to forgive people who are abusing tax payers money to fund
Zanu (PF)
propaganda programmes. What is going to happen to all these heaps
of papers?
The money should have been used to buy stationery for poor
schools in rural
areas," said the official.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
22/10/2011 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
ZIMBABWE is targeting free breast cancer screening after
Parirenyatwa
Hospital became the first government hospital to offer the
service.
Parirenyatwa, the country’s biggest referral hospital located in
Harare’s
middle-class suburb of Avondale, opened a breast cancer clinic on
Friday.
Vice President Joice Mujuru, speaking at the launch, admitted
most women
would struggle to raise the US$40 for breast cancer tests at the
new clinic.
“For the programme to succeed, the government should
endeavour to cut costs
of breast cancer screening and shall in future move
to scrap the costs once
our economy improves," Mujuru told staff.
Breast
cancer is the most common cancer affecting women in Zimbabwe,
followed by
cervical cancer.
The National Cancer Registry Association of Zimbabwe
says 7,000 women are
diagnosed with the disease annually.
Zimbabwe’s
most high profile cancer patient is Deputy Prime Minister
Thokozani Khupe,
who was given the diagnoses earlier this year.
Health experts say early
detection of the disease can increase chances of
survival, and Mujuru said
the government was committed to investing in more
facilities for those
already diagnosed with breast cancer, including
upgrading of radiotherapy,
chemotherapy and pathology services.
A new unified sign language dictionary has gone on sale in Zimbabwe to end the confusion sometimes caused by the country's various signing dialects.
For example, the sign for "shoe" in the capital, Harare, means "pig" in the second city, Bulawayo.
And in Bulawayo, you say "good" by giving two thumbs up, but in Harare the sign is putting four fingers on top of the thumb.
Representatives from all of the country's provinces worked on the year-long project, bringing together the various dialects that have evolved.
Previous sign dictionaries had been rejected by Zimbabwe's deaf community as they were not compiled by deaf people.
“As African hair is often kept short, the sign was replaced in Harare with a sign where the hands are put on the breasts”
Speaking in sign language using an interpreter, one of the compilers, Sindile Mhlanga, said this was a huge breakthrough for deaf people in Zimbabwe.
"Many people were not comfortable to use the old sign language dictionaries as the signs used in them are different to what is being used on the ground, but this dictionary was made for the deaf by the deaf," he said.
"An accurate dictionary is the key for good communication with deaf people, and it will empower us to communicate with others.
"We have situations where a boss will communicate with a deaf worker by writing notes on pieces of paper, that's disrespectful to us, and this dictionary will help to end this."
Other signs have been changed because of lack of cultural relevance.
The widely-used sign for "girl" imitates tugging a lock of long hair with the fingers, which is of US sign origin.
'Signs are universal'But as many Zimbabwean women keep their hair short, the sign was replaced in Harare with one where the hands are put on the breasts.
Sign language is not linked to a spoken language, as the signs precede the words and in Zimbabwe the various dialects have generally evolved in schools for the deaf.
"A volunteer might come in from another country and add their knowledge to the local signs and that is where the confusion came from," says Samantha Nyereyemhuka from Bulawayo's King George VI Centre for the disabled, which led the production of the dictionary.
"A lot of the signs are universal, and we have had students going on trips overseas and they have been able to communicate with deaf people from places like Russia and England more easily than people who use words."
Official government figures say that there are around 20,000 deaf people in Zimbabwe, but those involved in this project believe that the figure is far higher.
Lincoln Matongo, one of those involved as a compiler in the project that has the approval of the government's education ministry, think it will empower deaf people.
"We hope that with this dictionary we will be able to be included fully in society," he says.
"When our leaders think about the deaf they talk about interpreters, but that means the interpreter is the one getting a job.
"So we hope that this sign language dictionary will help people from all walks of life to learn sign language and then the issue of interpreters will fade out."
With the completion of Zimbabwe's sign language dictionary, other countries in the region have now undertaken similar projects.
Lesotho has work on a dictionary in progress and Botswana and Mozambique have begun compiling theirs.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Watching Arthur Mutambara being heckled into silence by
MPs in Parliament
recently, one would have been excused for thinking the
Deputy Prime Minister
was an unwelcome intruder in Zimbabwe’s pro-democracy
politics.
21.10.1104:24pm
by John Chimunhu
Recently, Mutambara
managed to infuriate MPs twice in the House of Assembly
in one afternoon.
First, during Question Time, he proved out of sync with
the wishes of
Zimbabweans when he defended President Robert Mugabe’s
decision to expel the
Libyan ambassador Taher El Magrahi after the latter
defected to the new
government in his country.
Then Mutambara further incensed MPs from both
MDCs by attempting to
introduce debate on the Zimbabwe Human Rights
Commission before the
legislators had an opportunity to study it. Even Zanu
(PF), to which
Mutambara now looks for support, did not back him. In
embarrassment, he
backed down.
Coupled with his refusal to step down
after voluntarily handing the baton of
president of the smaller MDC
formation to Welshman Ncube, Mutambara has come
to be seen as a stumbling
block in efforts to dislodge Mugabe from power.
Yet a history of student
activism in Zimbabwe, published by Africa Watch
recently, places Mutambara
at the centre of a movement that first cracked
dictator Mugabe’s decades-old
stranglehold on power.
Violent repression
It was Mugabe’s violent
suppression of peaceful protests by students led by
Mutambara in 1988 that
spurred the then labour leader Morgan Tsvangirai and
others to launch
massive strikes which eventually brought the Mugabe
government to its
knees.
Many are bound to ask what went wrong for the formerly bold
student leader
and fiery orator.
Has Mutambara been bought? Has he
been threatened? Is he being blackmailed?
Has he lost faith in the ability
of Zimbabweans to shake off the shackles of
Mugabe’s tyranny and misrule? Or
does he have a better plan? So many
questions. Too few
answers.
Titled ‘Academic Freedom and Human Rights Abuses in Africa’, the
Africa
Watch report gives an important insight into the events that shaped
Mutambara. Perhaps as a strategy in those dangerous times, Mutambara and his
colleagues vowed that they were fully behind Mugabe, but were against the
corruption practised by those around him. Read in the light of recent
events, many would accuse Mutambara of always having been a Mugabe
protégé.
Seeds of revolution
In the late 1980s, as the euphoria of
independence waned and the reality of
independence set in, senior Zanu (PF)
officials embarked on a massive
looting spree, grabbing for themselves and
their families commercial farms
bought with British funds for resettlement.
They also started parcelling out
state firms and entities in the name of
privatisation.
In 1988, students at the University of Zimbabwe and the
Harare Polytechnic
tried to organise a demonstration against government
corruption and blatant
moves to entrench Zanu (PF)’s one-party rule The UZ
students led by
Mutambara, who was the Student Representative Council (SRC)
president were
tear-gassed and beaten with batons.
Strategically, the
students had affirmed their support for Mugabe but were
shocked when he
returned from a foreign trip to endorse the brutal police
action.
Mugabe ordered the Kenyan political exile and law lecturer
Shadreck Gutto
deported for helping the students draft an anti-corruption
manifesto.
Mutambara, along with five other students and four lecturers
were charged
with inciting public violence. The criminal charges did not
stick but
Mutambara and 14 other members of the SRC had their state grants
withdrawn
by the authorities.
“To cut off the students’ means of
livelihood was a harsher penalty than
anything the courts were likely to
impose. Also, the criminal charges were
unlikely ever to succeed in court,
whereas the withdrawal of the grants was
an administrative measure for which
the authorities were not required to
give a reason,” the Africa Watch report
says.
Imprisoned
The public humiliation of Mutambara and his
colleagues as they were first
banished and then hauled before disciplinary
councils to apologise for
leading the protests was to have lasting effect on
the public mood and the
national psyche. In anger at the continuing attacks
on the students,
firebrand lecturer and Acting Dean of the law Faculty,
Kempton Makamure
criticised the authorities. Mugabe ordered him arrested and
he spent a week
in detention under the country’s emergency laws. This only
worsened matters.
On September 29, 1989, UZ students tried to hold a
seminar to mark the first
anniversary of their aborted anti-corruption
demonstration. More than 200
heavily armed riot police and CIO agents
descended on the university to
disperse 300 students. Mutambara issued a
statement on behalf of the SRC
denouncing the police action.
“In the
early hours of October 4, police again came onto campus to arrest
Mutambara
and Enoch Chikweche, the organising secretary. Mutambara was
injured while
trying to escape arrest,” Africa Watch says.
Mutambara was imprisoned and
suffered intolerably after being accused of
instigating violence that led to
the university’s closure.
However, today Mutambara is a pariah. His first
big mistake, according to
political analysts, was to try and upstage Morgan
Tsvangirai following the
MDC’s disastrous 2005 split. Having failed to gain
control of the main MDC,
Mutambara tried to get into Parliament but was
thrashed in Zengeza in the
2008 plebiscite by the MDC-T.
Mutambara’s
biggest gaffe, however, appears to be the decision to refuse to
step down as
deputy premier after resigning as MDC party president. With no
party to back
him, Mutambara is not expected to have any meaningful impact
on the
forthcoming elections.
Worse, some now accuse him of being Mugabe’s mole.
His anti-Western rhetoric
has helped to reinforce that view. It seems
history is already judging quite
harshly one of the founders of the
anti-Mugabe revolution. And Mutambara has
only himself to blame.
http://www.radiovop.com
Trust Matsilele,
Johannesburg, October 22, 2011- Over 70 Zimbabwe and South
African citizens
gathering for a three day workshop in Johannesburg to try
and find lasting
solution to Zimbabwe’s decade long crisis urged more women
involvement in
political processes.
Zimbabwe just like any other African country is
dominated by male
politicians making it difficult to end challenges facing
the continent like
gender based violence and political violence that in most
cases leaves women
as the most affected.
Leading human rights
defender and prominent dialogue facilitator Betsie
Pendry from Democracy
Begins In Conversation (DBIC) urged African countries
to take up a leading
role in resolving Zimbabwe’s economic and political
quagmires.
“A
Zimbabwean crisis is an African crisis, hence Africa and South Africa
should
proactively assist Zimbabwe end political problems being experienced
currently”, Pendry said to a crowd that was dominated by age group between
20 and 35.
The three day workshop will among others see young
Zimbabweans and their
South African counterparts exhibiting poetry, dramas,
dance and music.
A leading South African activist Fanito Masike warning
his fellow South
African citizens to safeguard the hard earned democracy
said “freedom is
fragile and requires extreme care”.
The participants
were also exposed to a play written and directed by an
accomplished
Zimbabwean actor, Bhekilizwe Ndlovu called Woza Zimbo.
The play that has
been also showcased at a number of high level festivals in
and around South
Africa talks about challenges Zimbabweans are facing among
them state
sponsored violence, land invasions, tribalism and fear that has
gripped the
nation.
Zimbabwean audience was reminded of some prominent Zanu-PF jingles
such
pataka vhota taka sainirana agreement sung by Tambawoga and Zimbabwe
ndeyeropa. These songs dominate airwaves during electioneering
times.
This workshop comes at the backdrop of assassination of President
Robert
Mugabe’s long time friend Muammar Gaddafi, former Libyan President
who was
on the helm for just above four decades.
The workshop
entitled Freedom’s Next Steps will later Saturday grace
prominent rights
defenders who will be providing an analysis and preferred
roadmap to
democratic elections.
The workshop is being spearheaded by Rosa Luxemburg
Stiftung, Crisis in
Zimbabwe Coalition and the National Constitutional
Assembly and being hosted
by Living Together Institute.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Friday, 21 October 2011 13:18
Clemence Manyukwe,
Political Editor
A SPECIAL Cabinet select committee spearheaded violence
on the farms in
2000; former indigenisation minister, Cephas Msipa, is
quoted as having told
American diplomats.
According to revelations
contained in a United States diplomatic cable dated
June 2, 2000, former
home affairs minister, Dumiso Dabengwa, who is now the
leader of the revived
ZAPU, had opposed State-backed violence during Cabinet
deliberations, but
was allegedly sidelined.
Msipa is alleged to have added that during the 2000
general polls, every
ZANU-PF aspiring lawmaker, including himself, was
allocated a group of war
veterans whose work was to intimidate the
electorate into voting for
ZANU-PF.
That year, ZANU-PF narrowly defeated
a then united Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) in a hotly disputed
poll.
"Minister Msipa began by explaining his own recent defeat as the ruling
party's parliamentary candidate after several primary re-runs, which he
attributed to the work of justice minister,n Emmerson Mnangagwa. Mnangagwa
had organised a campaign against the indigenisation minister in the Midlands
province where Msipa is from, in retaliation for Msipa having supported the
current ZANU-PF chairperson, John Nkomo, during the party's December
convention," part of the cable dispatched to the US 11 years ago
reads.
"Moreover, Msipa said there was a special committee of select Cabinet
ministers who were tasked with orchestrating the commercial farm
occupations, which had given rise to much of the political violence. Msipa
said that during the regular weekly Cabinet meetings, mention would be made
of this special committee taking up sensitive issues such as the care and
feeding of war vets on the occupied farms."
The ZANU-PF politician is
alleged to have claimed that President Robert
Mugabe was personally involved
in overseeing the work of the alleged special
committee.
He reportedly
told American diplomats that at a central committee meeting
held in February
2000, the ZANU-PF leader was told that he was now a
liability to his party
and should prepare to leave office.
The former indigenisation minister is
alleged to have expressed fears that
ZANU-PF would be defeated by the MDC-T
in polls.
War veterans were alleged to then have been enlisted to shore up
the party,
through occupying white-owned commercial farms, and intimidating
voters into
voting for ZANU-PF with the blessing of the said ministerial
committee.
"Msipa said he believed that Mnangagwa and Minister of State for
National
Security Sydney Sekeramayi were on this committee. The minister of
home
affairs, Dumiso Dabengwa, had spoken out against government-condoned
violence in cabinet meetings, but had been overruled and effectively
sidelined," the cable further states.
The latest revelations on the
existence of a ministerial committee that
sponsored terror in the 2000
polls, come weeks after reports on another
cable that quoted a disgruntled
ZANU-PF central committee member, Manatsa
Mutasa, briefing US officials in
2008, where he again cited ministers'
complicity in that year's electoral
violence.
Mutasa also predicted that President Mugabe would be defeated by
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in polls.
The alleged accounts by the
two ZANU-PF senior officials on the involvement
of ZANU-PF ministers in acts
of violence, trashes Justice and Legal Affairs
Minister, Patrick Chinamasa's
claims at the just-ended United Nations Human
Rights Council session that
reports of State-sanctioned terror in Zimbabwe
were false.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Friday, 21 October 2011 13:17
Staff
Reporter
LEGISLATORS are set to get a windfall should the principals in
the inclusive
government approve allowances of US$75 per day for each member
backdated to
2009, The Financial Gazette established this week.
The
move to back-date allowances for legislators could see each lawmaker
pocketing thousands of greenbacks at a time when some of the members of the
bicameral Parliament are accused of failing to account for Constituency
Development Funds.
Parliament's presiding officers recently wrote to the
Office of the
President and Cabinet proposing that each lawmaker be paid
US$75 as a
sitting allowance.
According to the Parliamentary Members
Allowances and Privileges Act, the
power to set allowances for lawmakers is
vested in the President.
The Minister of Constitutional and Parliamentary
Affairs, Eric Matinenga,
said Parliament has worked out the number of days
each lawmaker has sat in
august House and submitted the consolidated report
to the principals to
facilitate payments.
"I am aware that Parliament has
done an exercise and placed it before the
principals. One hopes that
whatever decision the principals would make, they
will make it in full
consultation with Treasury," said Matinenga.
The minister added that there
were suggestions to subtract the allowances
from the lawmakers' debt to
government, arising from the vehicles they were
handed as part of the
Parliamentary Vehicle Scheme, but that has since been
dismissed.
Legislators have always complained about their welfare, with
critics
dismissing their demands arguing that they should bear in mind that
going
into Parliament should not be seen as a source of employment.
In
2009, legislators from ZANU-PF and both formations of the Movement for
Democratic Change attempted to block passage of the 2010 National Budget,
pending the payment of outstanding allowances due to them.
If the move
had succeeded, it would have been the first time in the
country's history
that a budget had failed to sail through the legislative
agenda.
Vice
President Joice Mujuru and Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, are said to
have
whipped the legislators into line saying failure to pass the fiscal
plan
would be an attack on the Global Political Agreement.
On December 7, 2009,
the chairperson of the Budget, Finance and Investment
Promotion Comm-ittee,
Paddy Zhanda, who is also ZANU-PF's Goromonzi North
MP, had led lawmakers to
revolt over the issue of their welfare saying
claims that government did not
have money did not hold water as lawmakers
were being driven into abject
poverty.
"Mr Speaker, Sir, on the basis of the above, I move the motion in my
name,
that the debate on the National Budget be adjourned to allow
consultations
with the Minister of Finance as to the realignment of the
budget," said
Zhanda.
He was, however, overruled by the Speaker of the
House of Assembly, Lovemore
Moyo, saying the manner in which he had
attempted to stop the budget process
was not procedural.
http://www.radionz.co.nz
Updated at 6:55 am
today
The New Zealand cricketers have sealed a 2-0 series win in Zimbabwe
after
chasing down the home side to win the second one day international by
four
wickets at Harare.
The Black Caps were led home by opening
batsman Martin Guptill's century
while first drop Brendon McCullum hit 87
after Zimbabwe set the tourists a
target of 260 for victory.
Zimbabwe
captain Brendan Taylor hit his second successive unbeaten century
to lead
his team to a competitive 259 for eight but Guptill's 105 did the
damage and
New Zealand reached 261 for six with 10 balls remaining.
Graeme Aldridge
debuted for the Black Caps after fellow bowler Kyle Mills
didn't recover
from a slight groin strain in time. Jesse Ryder caught a
stomach bug and
also sat out the match, replaced by BJ Watling.
Jacob Oram replaced
Nathan McCullum in a straight selection swap.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
joins Zimbabweans and the African
continent in commemorating Africa Human
Rights Day on 21 October 2011.
21.10.1101:43pm
by ZLHR
This
significant day on the human rights calendar affords us an opportunity
to
reflect and recommit to the solemn undertaking by African leaders and
African peoples to promote and safeguard fundamental rights and freedoms on
our continent.
The continent has witnessed decades of numerous human
rights challenges
resulting from a diverse range of factors, which include
colonization,
racism, oppression, war, poverty, disease, corruption, and
autocratic
governance.
It is against this background that instruments
that enforce values such as
freedom, justice, equality, development and
human dignity in Africa need to
be implemented and respected.
While
Zimbabwe initially made considerable strides towards upholding and
fostering
a culture of respect for human rights, particularly in relation to
social
rights such as education and health, it is tragic and regrettable
that State
and non-State actors continue to work indefatigably to deny their
citizens
fundamental rights which were at the core of the struggle for
liberation.
Despite the existence of a power-sharing agreement,
Zimbabwe still carries
the dictatorial hallmarks of erosion of personal
liberties, repression,
torture, surveillance, an oppressive legal framework
and abuse of the
criminal justice system to harass, intimidate and persecute
Human Rights
Defenders (HRDs) and ordinary citizens caught in the
crossfire.
Whilst attempts are being made to move the country forward in
terms of
legislative and institutional reform necessary to free the
operating
environment agreed under the Global Political Agreement (GPA),
State
security agents and other non-State actors aligned to ZANU PF continue
to
intentionally disrupt public hearings organised to solicit people’s views
on
the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Bill, the Electoral Amendment Bill
and
the constitution-making process.
Similar disruptions and
challenges have been faced in relation to other
reform efforts. Arbitrary
arrests, baseless prosecutions and persecution,
abuse of criminal defamation
laws and insult laws continue to occur.
While the African Charter on
Human and Peoples’ Rights ensures Civil and
Political Rights, Economic
Social and Cultural Rights, and Peoples' and
Group Rights, it is
catastrophic that senior government officials such as
the Minister of
Justice and Legal Affairs, Hon. Patrick Chinamasa continue
to reject calls
to protect, promote and respect equally all rights owed to
the
population.
Instead, Hon. Chinamasa selectively believes that economic,
social and
cultural rights should form the core of the human rights agenda
and
explicitly rejects recommendations made by the United Nations Human
Rights
Council in Geneva recently to impartially apply the rights to freedom
of
expression, association, and assembly; and ensure protection against
enforced disappearances, torture and political violence with impunity. His
argument that all rights are related and interconnected therefore rings
hollow.
Senior government officials and the State controlled media
frequently label
human rights activists as “subversive” and tools of the
western colonial
powers in an effort to undermine their work. These charges
have made them
vulnerable to attack by groups allied to government and
delegitimize their
critical work in the eyes of the public. This remains an
unacceptable
violation of commitments made by Zimbabwe to abide by the UN
Declaration on
Human Rights Defenders.
The deceit of endless
political dialogue to stall the urgent imperative for
an election in which
the free will of the people is expressed and respected
can no longer be
tolerated.
Instead the GPA must be used as a tool to facilitate an
environment and
institutions that will ensure a genuine, free and fair
election in line with
the SADC Principles and Guidelines for Democratic
Elections and the AU
Declaration on Principles Governing Democratic
Elections and allow for the
credible return to electoral legitimacy which
places effective popular
participation at the centre of our choice of
leaders. All political parties
involved in the GPA must heed this, and take
urgent action to move towards
such necessary conditions.
Dear Family and Friends,
Its been one of those weeks where we’ve been shaking
our heads in
disbelief all the time. A week of ship captains, torturers,
deported
pensioners and watching TV in the dark.
First came the interview
with Zanu PF’s Patrick Chinamasa by the
Independent newspaper. Asked if the
87 year old Mr Mugabe would be the
party’s presidential candidate in the next
election, Chinamasa said:
“We will put our best foot forward and President
Mugabe is our best
foot. We can’t change the captain in the midst of a
storm.”
Then came two stories of Zimbabweans in exile which left
us
open-mouthed and wide eyed. On the one hand is the 47 year old Zanu
PF
spy and torturer who has been given community service and
granted
asylum in the UK. On the other hand is an 88 year old woman who
lost
her farm to Zanu PF thugs, went to the UK to live with her
daughter
and has now been told she can’t stay in the country.
When the UK
Immigration Judge, David Archer said last year that there
was no doubt that
ex Zimbabwean CIO spy Philip Machemedze was
“deeply involved in savage acts
of extreme violence,” it seemed
pretty obvious that the man would be deported
from England. Machemedze
had admitted to electrocuting, slapping, beating and
punching a
farmer; smashing someone’s jaw with pliers and putting salt into
the
wounds of a female MDC member who was being held in an
underground
cell. In the four years that he’d been a spy for Mr
Mugabe’s
government, Justice Archer said of Machemedze’s victims: "Some
were
killed slowly and their bodies disposed of. He witnessed people
with
their limbs cut off. Other acts of torture were too gruesome
to
recount."
A few months later Philip Machemedze was granted asylum in
the UK. A
tribunal ruled that under European Human Rights law
Machemedze’s
life would be in danger if he was returned to Zimbabwe. "Those
rights
are absolute and whatever crimes PM has committed, he cannot
be
returned to face the highly likely prospect of torture and
execution
without trial," the Judge ruled.
The reason this whole story has
surfaced again is because Machemedze
had been living and working illegally in
the UK for seven years before
he was found out. Finally charged for working
illegally,
Machemedze’s sentence has just been deferred for six months
in
exchange for half a day a week spent in service for the ‘poor
and
needy’ at a local Pentecostal Church. Making her ruling, Judge
Julian
Lambert said: “If I see you have done good work when you
return and I have
your promise that you will continue that good work I
shall give you your
liberty.” Punished with church service for
working illegally but going scott
free for torture. What about those
‘savage acts of extreme violence,’ and
what about the human rights
of his victims?
On the other hand is the story
of the 88 year old Zimbabwean woman who
has just been told she cannot stay in
the UK. News reports say that
Mrs Werrit went to live with her daughter and
son in law in Kent eight
years ago after her farm was taken over by
supporters of Zanu PF who
said they would cut her throat if she came back.
The UK Border Agency
said it had "fully considered" Ms Werrit's claims of
persecution in
Zimbabwe and "found she was not in need of international
protection".
Ironically Mrs Werrit, is just a few months older than
President
Mugabe but will come back to no health care, no pension and
no
government assistance for any of her needs.
Lastly, cause for head
shaking came with a list of quotes in a local
newspaper. NewsDay’s front page
banner headline was: ‘Gaddafi’s
bloody end,’ and inside came: ‘Some of
Gaddafi’s craziest
quotes.’ My favourites were: “Were it not for electricity
we would
have to watch television in the dark, ” and “A woman has the
right
to run for election whether she’s male or female.”
The end of
Colonel Gaddafi sends a dramatic message to dictators who
continue to fool
themselves that their people love them. It’s a
message that ends in a storm
drain under the road. Until next week,
thanks for reading, love cathy
http://www.cathybuckle.com/i
October 22, 2011, 1:40 am
As the Zanu PF
Conference – or is it a Congress – draws closer, the question
of who will be
the party’s candidate for president in the next election
takes on increasing
urgency.
Time for Zanu PF chefs to reveal where their true loyalties
lie! Patrick
Chinamasa this week declared himself in favour of Robert
Mugabe, “Zanu PF
will sink without Mugabe” he said. Interesting that it is
the party rather
than the country that concerns Chinamasa; the party could
not afford “to
change the captain in the middle of a storm,” he added,
though what exactly
that storm is, Chinamasa did not stipulate.
Enos
Nkala, a founding member of Zanu PF, in whose Highfield home Zanu PF
was
born in 1963, thinks otherwise. This week he urged the party to drop
Robert
Mugabe as their 2012 candidate saying openly that Mugabe is too old
and if
he remains at the helm then the party will lose the next election.
Nkala’s
dissatisfaction is, however, not only to do with Mugabe’s age and
leadership
style, the state of the party is also a matter of concern. “I am
not happy
with the way the party is going…cowboys, power seekers and
fly-by-night
politicians have highjacked the party.” Nkala said. There are
reports that
various factions within the party have united in a bid to oust
Robert
Mugabe.
It would be naive to assume that all these dissenters are acting
for purely
altruistic motives. Despite the fact that Zanu PF has declared
officially
that Mugae is their candidate, the vice-president and widow of
the late
Solomon Mujuru, is keen to take on the post of president. Emmerson
Mnangagwa, the Minister of Defence, is another top Zanu PF man eager to take
over the presidency. With so many people after his job, Mugabe might be
tempted to retire from the fray; but, supported by the military, the police,
the war vets and with hundreds of Zanu PF youth ready to stir up trouble
wherever HE wants it, the Old Man is probably not too worried.
It was
Zanu PF Youth who disrupted an MDC Rally in Marondera this week,
forcing
members of the public to run for their lives. Apparently Zanu PF in
Marondera strongly objected to posters displayed around the town advertising
an MDC Rally. Zanu PF said the posters ‘offended’ them! Meanwhile, soldiers
in the same province were busy handing out notebooks to village headmen to
record how and where people vote in the forthcoming election. Now, that is
offensive. Similarly, when Zanu PF Youths disrupt Electoral consultations
and announce that they intend to target white-owned businesses to fund their
party’s Conference, all true democrats must be offended.
Mugabe’s
party is accustomed to condemn anyone who dares to comment even
mildly about
Zimbabwe; the party cannot tolerate criticism. It was the
Commonwealth’s
turn to provoke Zanu PF’s anger this week when they said they
would be happy
to readmit Zimbabwe once the country has been restored to
full democracy.
Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi called that comment
‘illegality with
arrogance’. A Commonwealth briefing paper had suggested
that it could offer
help to encourage Zimbabwe’s progress towards democracy
though why that is
either arrogant or illegal escapes me.
Considering Zimbabwe’s recent
electoral experiences, it sounded pretty
hypocritical when Mugabe
congratulated Zambia on peaceful elections and for
appointing a white man as
deputy president. Mugabe boasted about how many
whites he had in his first
cabinet but omitted to say how whites – and
especially farmers - have been
treated lately. Today, Friday, Zanu PF
proclaimed the late, unlamented
Gaddafi as ‘a hero’ even though ordinary
Libyans have been dancing in the
streets to celebrate his demise. Once again
we see how party comes before
country and people for Zanu PF.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH.