The Times
April 24, 2008
Catherine Philp and Greg Hurst
Zimbabwe’s state-run media floated the idea yesterday that Robert Mugabe
would annul last month’s presidential election and stay as President of a
national unity government while preparations for a new poll are made.
The proposal was put forward in an opinion piece in the Herald
newspaper, regarded as a mouthpiece for and barometer of opinion in Mr
Mugabe’s ruling Zanu (PF) party.
The idea was condemned by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change as
yet another attempt to overturn last month’s election.
It came amid disagreement over a mooted arms blockade against the Mugabe
regime. Gordon Brown urged an embargo on all arms exports to Zimbabwe while
President Mugabe remains in power. But Jacob Zuma, leader of the African
National Congress, who was visiting London, emerged from talks with Mr Brown to
say: “I don’t think we’ve reached that stage where we have to call the arms
embargo.”
Uncertainty surrounds the arms shipment from China that dockers in South
Africa refused to unload last weekend. Chinese officials conceded on Tuesday
that they may have to take back the weapons as neighbouring African countries
balked at allowing the vessel to dock.
Mr Zuma’s rejection of an arms blockade was an embarrassment for Mr Brown,
who had told the House of Commons earlier: “Because of what has happened in
South Africa, where there is an arms shipment trying to get to Zimbabwe, we will
promote proposals for an embargo on all arms to Zimbabwe.”
British officials said later that Mr Brown was not seeking a United Nations
embargo, as Thabo Makgoba, the Archbishop of Cape Town, urged yesterday, but a
de facto boycott imposed by Zimbabwe’s neighbours.
The proposal that President Mugabe should lead a government of national unity
was written by a pro-Mugabe academic who holds no formal position in the party.
He argued that an election would be impossible to hold in the current climate of
rising tensions and suggested a transitional government take power while a new
constitution was drafted and fresh elections organised.
Nearly four weeks after the poll, presidential results have still not been
released and a lengthy recount is under way, apparently aimed at overturning the
opposition’s victory in the parliamentary poll.
The recount of one seat, the only one called by the opposition, was concluded
yesterday with only one vote allocated differently, keeping the constituency in
Zanu (PF)’s hands. Zanu (PF) has called for recounts in 22 constituencies newly
lost to the opposition but would require only seven to regain control of
Parliament.
There are increasing signs, however, that despite its desperate determination
to stay in power, the Government is as yet undecided on exactly how best to do
so. Any recount that hands victory to Mr Mugabe will be all but unacceptable
even for Zimbabwe’s most supportive neighbours to accept.
“The fact of the matter is that the Zimbabwe people voted in a particular
way,” Mr Zuma said yesterday in an interview with Channel 4. “I don’t think it
should be acceptable in the democratic culture that even if you lose an election
you can stay there by force.”
Zimbabwean security forces and militia loyal to Mr Mugabe have unleashed a
brutal campaign of violence against opposition workers and supporters in
preparation for a run-off presidential election against Morgan Tsvangirai. At
least ten opposition supporters have been killed.
Mr Tsvangirai has said he would accept a power-sharing agreement but not with
Mr Mugabe at its head. The South African Army, meanwhile, reported a surge in
the number of people fleeing Zimbabwe.
When You Can’t Rig The
Election, Ignore It!
The Liberty Papers
April 23, 2008
There’s been a bit of deriliction of duty going on
here at The Liberty Papers. I’ve been trying to keep track of happenings in
Zimbabwe, but we’re now 25 days into an electoral nightmare in that nation, and
I’ve not had the time to address it.
Zimbabwe has spent most of the last decade as an
example of every possible thing that a government can do wrong. It gone from the
“breadbasket” of the region to a starving, impoverished nation, with 6-figure
inflation and 80%+ unemployment, and refugees streaming south into South Africa
to escape the hopelessness. It’s gone from breadbasket to basketcase.
The remaining residents are fed up with their
socialist dictator, Robert Mugabe. Mugabe is known for rigging elections, but
political unrest is so severe this time around that many believed that he
couldn’t win the race even with heavy-handed rigging.
The election was held more than three weeks ago, and
most outside of the Mugabe regime believe that– at worst– his challenger has
forced a run-off. Many believe that the challenger, Morgan Tsvangirai, has won
outright.
So what has Mugabe done? He’s withheld the results
and proposed a national unity government with– you guessed it– Robert Mugabe at the helm!
A unity government led by President Robert Mugabe may
be the best way to break Zimbabwe’s post-election deadlock, state media said
Wednesday, as the first result from a recount of votes was declared.
The state-run Herald newspaper — a government
mouthpiece — said it was clear that no side won a majority in the presidential
election on March 29 and the best way forward was to form a government of
national unity.
…
The opinion piece in the Herald, a tightly-controlled
state newspaper, said the presidential election in which 84-year-old Mugabe
faced off against opposition leader Tsvangirai had produced “no outright
winner.”
“It is unlikely the ongoing recount will
substantively alter that position. Accordingly, it stands to reason that the
transitional government of national unity… should be led by the incumbent
president,” it said.
The end of the Mugabe regime seemed– only three weeks
ago– imminent, and those who have watched this situation from near and afar were
ready to breath a sigh of relief. Yet he remains defiant, and it is becoming
ever more clear that he won’t leave office voluntarily. It’s far better for
Zimbabwe that this ends peacefully than through an uprising, but frankly the
latter looks like the only way this may be rectified.
The time has come, Mr. Mugabe. The people have
spoken. For the good of the residents you have often professed to champion, it
is time to listen and go.
Former army general says Zanu PF must accept
defeat
Nehanda Radio
24 April 2008
By Never Kadungure (Political
Editor)
Former army commander and Gutu senatorial candidate General
Vitalis
Zvinavashe has broken ranks with hardliners in the party urging them
to
accept defeat in the just ended elections. Zvinavashe was addressing
fellow
Zanu PF candidates at a counting centre in the province.
The
blunt general said, ‘There is no need to fight over these results. We
must
accept the reality that we have lost these elections to the MDC. What
is
important is to live together in peace, both losers and winners. We do
not
want violence in this area. We are relatives.”
Zvinavashe is on record as
warning the party before the March 29 poll that
Mugabe would cost them
victory if he remained at the helm. He repeated his
remarks this week
putting the blame for Zanu PF’s defeat on Mugabe’s
doorstep.
‘Most of
us lost these elections not because we are not popular in our
constituencies. We lost these harmonised elections because of one
man.'
' People rejected us because we were campaigning for Mugabe. People
in
Masvingo have rejected him and we became collateral damage. There is no
reason to fight with the MDC over this election. The real problem is that
man not us.’
Zvinavashe lost to an MDC candidate in the constituency
and a recount
ordered by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission under
instructions from Zanu PF
failed to overturn the result. Meanwhile Zanu PF
retained its Goromonzi seat
with the figures remaining the same from the
initial count.
Other recounts are taking place in Mberengwa East, West,
South, North,
Masvingo Central and Masvingo West, Chimanimani West, Mutare
West, Bikita
West, Bikita South, Bulilima East, Zhombe, Zaka East, Zvimba
North,
Silobela, Chiredzi North, Gokwe-Kabuyuni, Buhera South and Lupane
East.
Zimbabwe Voters Continue to Face Reprisals
VOA
By Peta
Thornycroft
Harare
23 April 2008
A steady
stream of people injured in political violence continues to arrive
in
Zimbabwe's capital Harare looking for medical treatment. Peta Thornycroft
reports for VOA that a number of people have been beaten following the March
29 elections and many more continue to flee their rural homes for the
relative safety of the towns.
The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for
Human Rights said Wednesday that 81
cases of organized violence and torture
have been inflicted on people in
just three days ending April 21.
The
group says, so far, 323 people have needed medical treatment since
partial
election results were released in the first week of April.
The
Association says there may be substantially more incidents of political
violence which have not been reported as people may have sought medical help
from doctors who are not members of the Association
The Association
says the overwhelming number of perpetrators are members of
the uniformed
forces, the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Zimbabwe National
Army.
The Association also says many patients report extreme
psychological stress
after having their homes and property burned.
In
eastern Zimbabwe, where many people say they are being assaulted for
voting
for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, many are fleeing
to the
regional capital Mutare on the border with Mozambique.
Some are arriving
with household effects at the MDC's Mutare offices and are
camping in the
garden.
On Tuesday there were about 200 people who seemed to have settled
semi-permanently at the MDC offices. Many of them told human rights workers
they had fled because ZANU-PF had burned their homes and threatened them
with retribution for voting for the MDC.
On Wednesday there were
three people in a small private clinic in Mutare who
had been attacked in
their homes in the last week.
Surprisingly, some victims of post-election
attacks are families who say
they were settled on land seized by the ruling
ZANU-PF from white farmers
since 2000.
In Karoi, about 200 kilometers
north of Harare, the MDC's losing
parliamentary candidate and some former
commercial farmers still living in
the area say there are several hundred
internally displaced people seeking
refuge around the small
town.
They fled their homes in rural areas around Karoi since the
election. Many
say they feared they would be attacked. Some homes were
burned down, and
many say they can name their attackers who they say belong
to ZANU-PF.
MDC welfare officials in Harare estimate that several
thousand people have
been internally displaced.
The Commercial
Farmers Union in Harare continually updates reports of
disruptions on
commercial farms. Its officials say that since the elections
there have been
about ten times more incidents than usual.
Many farm workers have been
beaten or kidnapped or forced to give up their
jobs or attend all night
ZANU-PF political "re education"sessions, called
pungwes.
About 70
MDC supporters, activists and party workers, are currently in
detention in
Harare.
Harare lawyer Alec Muchadahama says they have all been accused of
violence
following the elections.
Not a single MDC supporter, among
thousands arrested over eight years, has
ever been convicted of violence.
Only a handful has been brought to trial.
As far as can be established,
no one from President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF
party has been arrested in
connection with political violence following last
month's
elections.
Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission has facilitated recounts of
election results
in 23 constituencies. So far there is little change to the
original results
announced on April 3 which saw ZANU-PF narrowly lose its
parliamentary
majority for the first time since independence in
1980.
The MDC says its candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, was a clear winner
of the
presidential poll. But three weeks after counting was completed, the
commission has still not released the results.
According to the
electoral act, the victor of the presidential poll has to
win a majority of
the votes cast or face a run-off.
SADC handed evidence of Zim post-election
terror
Zim Online
by Patricia Mpofu Thursday 24 April
2008
HARARE – Zimbabwe non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) have submitted
a dossier containing damning evidence of
state-sponsored murder and violence
against opposition supporters to
southern Africa’s chief elections observer.
Diplomatic sources said
NGO leaders met Southern African Development
Community (SADC) observer
mission head Jose Marcos Barrica on Tuesday this
week and presented him with
chilling evidence of post-election violence,
including pictures of
opposition supporters with broken limbs.
According to sources, the
director of SADC’s Organ on Politics,
Defence and Security, Tanki Mothaey,
also attended the meeting.
“The civic leaders told the SADC team of
the deteriorating political
climate in the country since the disputed polls,
specifically chronicling
the alleged deaths, beatings, rapes, maiming and
torture of defenseless
citizens by soldiers, police and state security
agents,” said sources.
Barrica and Mothaey were not immediately
available for comment on the
matter but our sources said the two officials
promised to convey the NGO’s
dossier to relevant authorities in the
region.
Spokesman of Zimbabwe’s National Association of NGOs Fambai
Ngirande
would not be drawn to discuss details of the meeting with the
regional
officials although he revealed that civic leaders asked SADC to
intervene
and help disarm war veterans and government militia who are
brutalising
opposition supporters.
“We told them that SADC will
have to stem up its efforts deal to the
critical security situation. SADC
should help to disarm and disband so
called war veterans and youth militia,”
said Ngirandi.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa was not
immediately available for
comment on the matter. But Chinamasa this week
dismissed rejected charges by
human rights groups and the MDC that ZANU PF
militants were victimising
opposition supporters.
Zimbabwe,
facing its worst recession and food shortages, was plunged
deeper into
political crisis after electoral authorities withheld results of
a March 29
presidential election that President Robert Mugabe is believed to
have lost
to opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party leader
Morgan
Tsvangirai.
The MDC says 10 of its supporters have been killed
while at least 3
000 others have been displaced from their homes in what the
opposition says
is a war being waged by government security agents against
the people in a
bid to cow them to back Mugabe in an anticipated second
round run-off
against Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai this week asked UN
Secretary General Ban ki-Moon for
intervention by the world body to stop the
violence and murder while
Zimbabwe’s senior church leaders warned that the
rising post-election
violence could reach genocidal
proportions.
The leaders of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe,
the Zimbabwe
Catholic Bishops' Conference and the Zimbabwe Council of
Churches – the
three main representative bodies for Christians in Zimbabwe –
urged African
leaders and the UN to intervene to stop the country from
sliding into
another Rwanda or Burundi. – ZimOnline.
US says Nigeria or any other country with
sway over Zimbabwe should intercede in impasse
International Herald Tribune
The Associated
PressPublished: April 23, 2008
WASHINGTON: The United States
would welcome the intercession of Nigeria or
any other African nation with
influence in Zimbabwe into that southern
African nation's electoral impasse,
State Department spokesman Sean
McCormack said Wednesday.
Zimbabwean
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai met briefly on Monday with
former
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo seeking his intervention in the
election that Tsvangirai feels venerable Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
is trying to steal from him.
"As for Nigeria or any other African
state's role in bringing a resolution
to the current political crisis in
Zimbabwe, we would encourage those who
have some leverage with the
government to use that leverage to bring about a
peaceful resolution to what
is a very deep political crisis," McCormack
said.
Tsvangirai's
opposition party is widely thought to have defeated Mugabe's
followers in
the March 29 balloting, but the government has not released the
official
vote count and has recounts under way. Officials floated the
possibility
Wednesday of a coalition government headed by Mugabe.
As president of
Nigeria in 2003, Obasanjo cooperated with an international
effort to entice
Liberia's warlord president, Charles Taylor, to accept
exile in Nigeria.
Liberia now is a democracy, and Taylor is on trial for war
crimes in an
international court in The Hague, Netherlands.
The United States and
most Zimbabwe's Southern African neighbors have been
encouraging region's
richest country, South Africa, to intervene. South
African Thabo Mbeki has
refused to press Mugabe, however, on the theory that
subtle pressure would
be more effective.
McCormack was asked about a suggestion of British Prime
Minister Gordon
Brown of an international arms embargo against Mugabe's
government.
The U.S. spokesman said he was unaware of details of Brown's
suggestion but
endorsed the idea in principle.
"We believe that it is
prudent for any state that is contemplating export of
arms to the Zimbabwean
government to reconsider those exports," McCormack
said.
He noted a
recent case in which members of unions, churches and other
organizations in
neighboring states refused to allow a shipment of weapons
brought by a
Chinese freighter to be transported across their territory to
the landlocked
country.
"These, we believe, are prudent steps, given the current
political situation
in Zimbabwe," McCormack said.
Zimbabwe will be on fire should Mugabe win: Moyo
SABC
April 23,
2008, 22:15
Antoinette Lazarus and Palesa Kobedi
“All hell will break
loose and finally Zimbabwe will be on fire.” That is
what one of Zimbabwe's
independent political candidates, Jonathan Moyo,
thinks will happen should
President Robert Mugabe win the disputed March 29
presidential
poll.
Speaking to SABC News.com in Johannesburg after the Critical
Thinking Forum
discussion on the crisis in Zimbabwe, Moyo said that Mugabe
“can only win by
blatant outrageous cheating and rigging the
election.”
Moyo, who won a parliamentary seat in Tsholotsho North in
Matebeleland, says
Mugabe cannot win a free and fair election. “It's not
possible because every
Zimbabwean is suffering as a result of the country's
economic meltdown.”
“He was president before. He's doing nothing to solve
the economic
situation. The economy is the one voter that has cast a
negative vote
against Mugabe. If he wins through some miracle, then the
consequences will
be so devastating it will simply run him out of state
house,” Moyo added.
Moyo is not in favour of an election run-off. “I
don't think it will make
sense to solve the problem with another
election.”
However, he does believe that there should be a negotiated
transition in the
country. Moyo says the Southern African Development
Community (SADC), the
African Union, United Nations, European Union, Britain
and the United States
all have an interest in Zimbabwe and should work
towards pushing for a
negotiated settlement amongst the political
parties.
Mugabe will be plunged into a civil war if Mugabe wins
During
the discussion, the MDC's Heneri Dzinotyiweyi agreed with Moyo that
should
Mugabe win, Zimbabwe will be plunged into a civil war. “Everyone
knows that
a free and fair run-off will be disastrous for Mugabe. We are
trying to
avoid war,” says Dzinotyiweyi.
Also participating in the discussion was
Professor Ibbo Mandaza, who is also
a fervent Simba Makoni supporter. He
says if a solution to Zimbabwe's crisis
is not found soon, there's a
possibility of a civil war in the country.
"We are close to a civil war.
There must be an insistence that the results
should be released." Mandaza
also says he doesn't see a need for an election
re-run.
Zimbabwe's
presidential election results have still not been released. The
country's
electoral commission is in the process of recounting parliamentary
votes in
23 constituencies.
Mission Hospital In Zimbabwe's Midlands Said Terrorized By Ruling
Party Militia
VOA
By Jonga and Carole Gombakomba
Washington
23 April 2008
The Zimbabwe Peace
Project said Wednesday that post-election violence by
militants of the
ruling ZANU-PF party is escalating in the provinces of
Midlands and
Matabeland North, which had previously been less affected by
such attacks
and intimidation.
The non-governmental group said ZANU-PF supporters have
been terrorizing the
Driefontein Mission in the Chirumanzi South
constituency in Midlands,
beating people and paralyzing operations at the
mission which runs two
hospitals and two schools.
It said a Swiss
doctor was forced to leave the hospital Tuesday and two
other doctors were
said to be holed up in their residences. In Gweru itself,
police and
soldiers were reportedly roaming the streets barring people from
standing in
groups.
In Mashonaland East, the Murewa Community Development Trust said
war
veterans and ZANU-PF youth militia have set up detention centers where
they
are allegedly torturing local opposition members and human rights
activists.
The group said one of the camps is located at a location known
as Corner
Store on the Murewa-Nyamapanda highway where ruling party youth
militia were
said to be attacking villagers suspected of opposition
loyalties from a
dilapidated building.
The organization said Health
Minister David Parirenyatwa and newly elected
Murewa Senator Bright Makunde
were involved in perpetrating the violence.
VOA was unable to reach Dr.
Parirenyatwa, a local member of parliament, on
his mobile
phone.
Sources in Gutu West said a man was badly injured last night when
he was
struck with an axe.
Zimbabwe Peace Project National Director
Jestina Mukoko told VOA reporter
Jonga Kandemiiri that the violence has
reached alarming proportions.
The opposition Movement for Democratic
Change says a rising tide of people
from rural areas is flowing into Harare
and other cities as villagers are
forced out of their homes by post-election
violence aimed at suspected MDC
supporters.
Sources among
non-governmental groups said they met Wednesday with
international aid
organizations to discuss the possibility of setting up
temporary shelter for
those displaced by rural violence who are gathering
now at opposition
offices.
MDC officials say a truck reached Harare on Wednesday from Gokwe
North
carrying around 50 people of whom about 20 needed medical
attention.
Attorney Rangu Nyamurundira of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights told
reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that
his
organization has started processing cases concerning some of the
thousands
allegedly displaced, beaten or tortured by ZANU-PF youth militia,
war
veterans or uniformed forces.
Elsewhere, the Zimbabwe Association
of Doctors for Human Rights said that in
the past three days its members
have treated 81 patients with injuries
caused by organised violence and
torture. The doctors said 54 of the cases
came from Harare or nearby
Chitungwiza, 13 came from Mudzi and Murehwa, and
four from Mount Darwin.
Winning Local Government Councillors Still Not Sworn in
SW Radio
Africa (London)
23 April 2008
Posted to the web 23 April
2008
Tererai Karimakwenda
While all eyes have been focused on
the recounts of parliamentary ballots
disputed by the ruling party and the
delay by the Zimbabwe electoral
commission in announcing Presidential
results, the fate of local government
councillors in the council elections
has been forgotten.
Normally they should be sworn in within a week and
begin running local
affairs, yet more than 3 weeks after being elected, ZEC
has still not called
them to duty.
Mike Davies from the Combined
Harare Residents Association (CHRA) reminded
Newsreel that the winning
candidates in the council elections were announced
by ZEC the day after the
election. But ZEC has not published a complete list
of their names, or
informed them when they will begin working for the people
who elected
them.
In Harare CHRA has called for a continuation of the rates boycott
that they
started when local government minister Ignatius Chombo dismissed
the elected
Council illegally, back in 2004. Davies said it is not clear how
many
residents have been withholding their rates payments. At one point CHRA
believed about 5,000 residents were not paying rates and they later
discovered that at least 30,000 were participating in the
boycott.
Meanwhile the state controlled Herald newspaper on Wednesday
boasted that
the ruling party has been confirmed as the winner in the first
recount
results to be announced out of the 23 constituencies that they
disputed. The
result was for the parliamentary seat in Goromonzi West, which
ZANU-PF won
in the first count, so they simply retained the seat.
It
is clear that the headline was designed to instill the thought that the
original results were flawed, justifying the recount. The MDC insist that
the recounts are simply an attempt to reverse the oppositions
majority.
According to The Herald the SADC observer team says it is
satisfied with the
vote recounting process in all 23 constituencies. But our
contacts report
that the Chiredzi North recount has been shrouded in
secrecy.
It is becoming clearer that the recount is a pointless exercise
meant to
delay real progress and keep Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF in power.
With
Councillors not sworn in, Presidential results being held captive and
recounts yielding the same results, Zimbabweans have no doubt that once
again Mugabe is just playing games and using delaying tactics.
Zuma rejects UK call for Harare arms embargo
Financial Times
By
William Wallis, Jimmy Burns and James Blitz in London
Published: April 23
2008 23:14 | Last updated: April 23 2008 23:14
Jacob Zuma, the leader of
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress,
dismissed British calls on
Wednesday for an international arms embargo on
Zimbabwe, instead holding out
hope during a visit to London that regional
mediation could still produce a
solution to the post-election crisis.
Mr Zuma was responding to proposals
put to him by Gordon Brown, the prime
minister, during their London meeting,
for an international arms embargo on
Zimbabwe. He said the embargo was “not
necessary”.
A South African official said he believed it would be an
“empty gesture
designed to make the British feel good”. But he said Mr Zuma
welcomed
regional efforts to prevent a shipment of Chinese weapons from
reaching
Robert Mugabe’s regime.
South African dockers refused to unload
the Chinese cargo when it arrived in
Durban last week, setting off a
diplomatic, judicial and civil society
campaign across the region to prevent
the ship from refuelling and
offloading.
The campaign reflects
growing African impatience with the Zimbabwe
government’s refusal to release
the results of the March 29 elections, which
the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change appeared to have won, and
evidence of the brutal tactics
used by Mr Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president, and
his allies to suppress
dissent.
Mr Brown told parliament before meeting Mr Zuma that the
political situation
in Zimbabwe was “completely unacceptable” and said he
would promote
proposals for an embargo on all weapons to the
country.
In a joint statement later, Mr Brown and Mr Zuma stressed “the
importance of
respect for the sovereign people of Zimbabwe and the choice
they have made
at the ballot box”.
They added: “We agreed on the
importance of humanitarian aid and the need
for international co-operation
to support the recovery of the economy of
Zimbabwe when a democratically
elected government is in place in the
aftermath of a full, free and fair
election.”
Mr Zuma has been more outspoken on Zimbabwe than his rival,
Thabo Mbeki, the
South African president whom he ousted as leader of the ANC
last December
and whom he could succeed if he survives a corruption trial in
August.
However, he has been cautious during his British visit. He is
keen,
according to the South African official, to avoid being seen to
repudiate Mr
Mbeki publicly, even if politically he has gained from
criticism of his
rival’s quiet approach as regional mediator.
Members
of Mr Zuma’s delegation were more forthright. Mathews Phosa, the ANC’s
treasurer, acknowledged that if Mr Mugabe had won the elections, the results
would have been released. “He has lost on the ground. The only way he can
keep on is with force. Ultimately, the people will resist force. So the
stage is set for a possible major compromise,” Mr Phosa said.
Journalist’s lawyers file urgent bail
application
Zim Online
by Wayne Mafaro and Sebastian Nyamhangambiri
Thursday 24 April
2008
HARARE – Lawyers representing a
jailed Zimbabwean journalist filed an urgent
court application for his
release on Wednesday, as media bodies warned that
the security of
journalists in the troubled country was under threat.
The lawyers for
freelance journalist Frank Chikowore approached the High
Court after a
magistrate’s court earlier on Tuesday refused to release him
on
bail.
“We have filed an urgent bail application but we will only know
tomorrow
(Thursday) which judge has been allocated to hear the matter,” his
lawyer,
Harrison Nkomo said.
Chikowore was arrested together with 26
opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) party activists on April 15
and charged with public violence.
They have remained in custody awaiting
trial.
Former Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) secretary-general Luke
Tamborinyoka, now director of information for the MDC, is among those
detained with Chikowore.
Zimbabwe authorities have stepped up a
crackdown on journalists and other
voices of dissension since the country’s
disputed March 29 elections.
ZUJ and other media groups deplored the
crackdown, which they said appeared
meant to cow independent journalists and
ensure they would be too scared to
report any flaws in an anticipated second
round run-off election between
President Robert Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.
"We are concerned about the crackdown on journalists.
Journalists have been
abducted, beaten and illegally detained and we condemn
this abuse of power,"
said ZUJ secretary general Foster Dongozi.
"Our
fear is that as we go to the presidential run-off the state will step
up its
crackdown to ensure that whatever corruption and misdeeds are
happening go
unreported," he added.
The Zimbabwe chapter of the Media Institute of
Southern Africa said the
crackdown had put the lives of journalists at
risk.
"The security and safety of journalists is under serious threat in
this
country, judging by the trends in recent weeks. We condemn the
deliberate
attempts to muzzle the media," chapter spokesman Takura Zhangazha
said.
Zimbabwe is widely regarded as one of the most difficult countries
in the
world for journalists to work in.
For example, the country
requires journalists and newspapers to obtain
licences from a state
commission in order to operate, with reporters caught
working without being
registered facing arrest. Newspapers that fail to
register face closure and
seizure of their property by the police.
Another law, the Public Order
and Security Act, imposes up to two years in
jail on journalists convicted
of publishing falsehoods that may cause public
alarm and despondency, while
the Criminal Codification Act imposes up to
20-year jail terms on
journalists convicted of denigrating Mugabe in their
articles.
Repression against the independent media usually peaks
during elections. –
ZimOnline
Church leaders urge UN to intervene in
Zimbabwe
Zim Online
by Patricia Mpofu Thursday 24 April
2008
HARARE – Zimbabwean church leaders have urged African
leaders and the United
Nations to immediately intervene to stop a wave of
political violence
gripping the country and which they say could easily
slide into genocide.
The leaders of the Evangelical Fellowship of
Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Catholic
Bishops' Conference and the Zimbabwe Council
of Churches – the three main
representative bodies for Christians in the
country – called on world
leaders to act now to stop Zimbabwe becoming
another Rwanda or Burundi.
“We warn the world that if nothing is done to
help the people of Zimbabwe
from their predicament, we shall soon be
witnessing genocide similar to that
experienced in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi
and other hot spots in Africa and
elsewhere," the religious leaders of all
denominations said in a joint
statement.
"We appeal to the SADC
(Southern African Development Community), the African
Union and the United
Nations to work towards arresting the deteriorating
political and security
situation in Zimbabwe," the statement said.
The opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) says hundreds of its
supporters have suffered
serious injuries while at least 10 others were
murdered in an orgy of
violence it blamed on state security agents and
militant activists of
President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party.
The MDC, which says the violence
started almost immediately after it
defeated ZANU PF in elections on March
29, said some of its supporters in
remote rural areas were homeless after
their homes were looted and burnt
down by the suspected ZANU PF
activists.
The MDC says the violence is meant to cow voters to back
Mugabe in an
anticipated second round run-off against its leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Meanwhile, South African ruling party leader Jacob Zuma
stepped up his
criticism of Zimbabwe, calling on Africa leaders to intensify
efforts to
resolve the crisis in that country.
Zuma told BBC radio:
"We must intensify the intervention to ensure that
Zimbabweans are helped by
all of us resolve their problems. That means
intensifying the interventions
in whatever way. I'm not here to prescribe."
However Zuma, who of late
appeared to have broken ranks with President Thabo
Mbeki over Zimbabwe, said
the South African leader had done the most to try
to broker a solution to
the crisis in his northern nieghbour. – ZimOnline
'Must we send the army to Zim?'
news24
23/04/2008 17:46 -
(SA)
London - ANC president Jacob Zuma, who is on a tour of Europe
with an ANC
delegation, has insisted that South Africa is taking action on
Zimbabwe's
post-election impasse.
"We are doing something more than
anyone else," Zuma said. "What else must
we do? We must send the army? We do
more than other countries do."
He also said the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission - and not Robert Mugabe - is
to blame for the delay in releasing
election results.
"I am not certain whether I should stand there and
really condemn people and
make myself a judge," Zuma told BBC radio,
referring to Mugabe.
He also rejected claims that SA President Thabo
Mbeki has failed to
adequately press Mugabe on the issues.
"Mbeki is
a mediator," Zuma said. "You cannot have a mediator who takes
sides, who
stands and criticises people he is trying to mediate."
Arms
embargo
Zuma met British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for talks on
Wednesday. Brown
said Britain will propose an arms embargo on Zimbabwe as it
seeks to stiffen
international resolve over the country's failure to publish
presidential
election results.
Last week, South African dock workers
refused to unload a Chinese ship
carrying arms bound for Zimbabwe because of
worries that Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe plans to use them against
political opponents.
"Because of what has happened in South Africa, where
there is an arms
shipment trying to get to Zimbabwe, we will promote
proposals for an embargo
on all arms to Zimbabwe," Brown said during his
weekly questions session at
Parliament.
Arms
embargo
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, leader of South Africa's Anglican
Church, has
called for an arms embargo against Zimbabwe.
"On the
basis that a heavily armed Zimbabwe would threaten peace, security
and
stability in southern Africa, we call upon the Security Council of the
United Nations to impose an arms embargo on its government. We appeal to the
South African Government to support such an embargo," Makgoba said on
Wednesday, according to a statement posted on the church's
website.
South Africa's leaders have been criticised for not strongly
condemning
Mugabe over delays in publication of the March 29 presidential
vote results.
Brown is a fierce critic of Mugabe and has urged African
leaders to withdraw
recognition of his
regime.
'Unacceptable'
"A message should be sent from the whole of
the UK that what is happening in
Zimbabwe - failing to announce an election
result, trying to rig an election
result - is completely unacceptable,"
Brown told lawmakers.
Legislative election results that gave the
opposition a majority in
Zimbabwe's parliament for the first time also are
in limbo, with a partial
recount under way.
Zimbabwe's opposition
Movement for Democratic Change claims post-election
violence has displaced 3
000 people, injured 500 and left 10 dead.
Zimbabwe torture victims' plight exposed
SABC
April 23, 2008,
18:45
An uneasy calm rests over the victims of torture and assault in far
flung
villages in Zimbabwe. Scores of people have spoken out, saying they
were
targeted after voting for the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC).
Most are too scared to be identified. A woman who travelled from
Zimbabwe,
determined to expose what she claims are acts of brutality, claims
to have
been beaten, and to have had her camera and footage confiscated. She
managed
to smuggle some into South Africa.
The village the woman
originates from is 200km from Harare. Zanu-PF has
practically lost its rural
constituency. The ruling party parliamentarian,
who lost his seat, is
accused of inciting violence. The villagers now live
in fear, not knowing
what tomorrow will bring.
Zimbabwean Authorities could not be reached for
comment.
State declines to prosecute Mutare journalist
MISA-Zimbabwe Alert:
23
April 2008
State declines to prosecute Mutare journalist
Mutare
public prosecutor Malvern Musarurwa has declined to prosecute
freelance
journalist Sydney Saize whose trial on allegations of contravening
the
repressive Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA)
and
Public Order and Security Act (POSA) was set to commence in the eastern
border town on 22 April 2008.
Saize, who was arrested on 18 January 2006
and spent three nights in police
cells, was facing two separate charges
under AIPPA and POSA. In count one,
Saize was being charged for contravening
the now repealed Section 83 of
AIPPA which criminilised the practice of
journalism without accreditation.
Under POSA he was alleged to have
contravened Section 15 (1) (c) by
communicating falsehoods. Allegations
against him were that on 18 January
2006, Saize had peddled falsehoods to
Voice of America’s Studio 7 that two
teachers from Gomorefu Secondary School
in Marange Communal Lands had been
assaulted by ZANU PF youths, war veterans
and the youth militia, commonly
referred to as Green Bombers.
The State
was to allege that this was false as the two had been assaulted by
“some
people” after scolding a local woman.
In declining to prosecute, Musarurwa
said the state did not have sufficient
evidence to warrant a
prosecution.
Mutare Media Lawyers Network (MLN) member, Cris Ndlovu, together
with
MISA-Zimbabwe Legal Officer Wilbert Mandinde appeared for
Saize.
MISA-Zimbabwe welcomes the conclusion of the case against Saize which
had
been hanging in the air for more than two years and urges the police to
release his equipment which includes a Sony mini disc recorder which they
seized when they arrested him in 2006.
For any questions, queries or
comments, please contact:
Nyasha Nyakunu
Research and Information
Officer
MISA-Zimbabwe
.
The struggle continues-A voice from Africa
We neither face east
or west,but we face forward,Nkwame Nkrumah
Dr Nkrumah who had no
guns to fight resorted to boycott,civil disobedience
and strikes to carry on
the struggle.In our present vigorous struggle for a
democratic
government,nothing strikes so much terror into the hearts of our
oppressors
,their agents and their informers like the term positive
action.
Why positive action?
It is a comforting
fact to observe that the people have spoken that they are
fed up of the
rogue regime and now wants new government. Mugabe and his
thugs have failed
to acknowledge the legitimacy of our demand for people
driven government.
However it is by our exertion and pressure that Mugabe
can relinguish
power
Two options to achieve a people oriented
government
The two options are armed revolution and violent
overthrows of existing
regime or constitutional and non violent methods
,that is, moral pressure.
Freedom would never be handed on a platter instead
we should therefore
render the country ungovernable. We have talked too much
and hence the need
for constitutional positive action to achieve our
result.It is time for
some action at workplaces,streets ghettos and
villages.
What is positive action?
By positive
action we mean the adoption of all legitimate and
constitutional means by
which we cripple the forces of oppression in this
country.The weapons of
positive action are :
i)Legitimate political
agitation
ii)Newspapers and educational campaigns
iii)NGOs and
CSOs should continue to put pressure
iv)Mr Morgan Tsvangirai should
continue lobbying on international platforms
v)Strikes ,boycotts and
non-cooperation based on the principle of non
violence should not
stop
How is positive action to be applied.
People
have unduly criticized Tsvangirai for his non violence approach to
attain
our freedom .They are saying Tsvangirai should do things behind the
government’s back,I say no ,he shouldn’t because he is a transparent man who
has nothing to hide.The people shall surely win against the rogue regime
against all odds.Tsvangirai surely cannot stay in Zimbabwe,just like Mugabe
during the struggle ,he needs to lobby for international intervention which
is currently very positive.Soon judgement upon those who have made
themselves demi –gods ,torturing ,murdering and mocking children of man is
surely coming.They shall run….vakomana muchamhanya ….matsotsi muchamhanya
zvisina akamboona.We have the records of all your evil deeds against the
people.
People of Zimbabwe ,lets us advance fearlessly and
courageously armed with
the MDC party’s programme of positive action, based
on the principle of
non-violence
Long live MDC. Long Live the
forward march of the people of Zimbabwe, Long
live the new Zimbabwe that is
to be and I will surely be there on that day .
Changamire
Dombo
dchangamire@yahoo.com