Zim Online
by Jameson Mombe Friday 25 April 2008
HARARE – Zimbabwe army
soldiers have stepped up violence and abuse against
civilians in recent days
and allegedly imposed an illegal curfew in one
city, according to a local
human rights group.
The Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) said in a report
released Thursday that it
had noticed an “alarming increase” in incidents of
violence and human rights
abuses committed by soldiers, adding that accounts
by some of the soldiers’
victims were “synonymous with a country at
war.”
The group, which monitors politically motivated violence and human
rights
abuses in Zimbabwe, said bands of soldiers in official army uniform
and
carrying guns were roaming rural areas, cities and towns harassing and
assaulting civilians.
“ZPP has recorded an alarming increase of
incidents of gross forms of
physical attack on civilians by soldiers in army
gear. The soldiers
subjecting civilians to these gross physical violations
are moving around
with guns and some putting on hoods to conceal their
faces,” the group said.
The ZPP said it had, for example, recorded eight
cases of civilians most of
them women aged between 40 and 50 who were
hospitalised in Harare after
severe beatings by soldiers.
The
civilians were from Harare, Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central
provinces, showing that the army brutality was
widespread.
Politically motivated violence has resurfaced across Zimbabwe
since the
March 29 elections that saw the ruling ZANU PF party defeated by
the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, while President
Robert Mugabe is believed to have lost in a parallel presidential poll to
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
The MDC says 10 of its supporters have
been killed in the violence. The
party claims that another 3 000 supporters
have been displaced from their
homes, in what it describes as a war being
waged by state security agents
and ZANU PF militias against the people in a
bid to cow them to back Mugabe
in an anticipated run-off against
Tsvangirai.
Although the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is yet to announce
results of the
presidential vote, ZANU PF acknowledges Mugabe lost to
Tsvangirai but says a
second round of voting is required to settle the
contest.
The ZPP said ZANU PF militants and pro-Mugabe war veterans were
still
involved in violence against suspected opposition supporters but said
soldiers had taken the lead in committing violence in many areas.
In
Harare’s dormitory town of Chitungwiza, soldiers had virtually imposed a
curfew, attacking residents seen on the streets after
sunset.
“Soldiers have imposed an unofficial curfew of 7 pm in the town.
Residents
are being attacked coming from drinking places and churches
alike,” it said.
Both Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi and Home Affairs
Minister Kembo
Mohadi were not immediately available to respond to charges
that soldiers
were committing violence against civilians.
But the
Harare government has in the past rejected such charges as false
propaganda
spread by Western-funded NGOs in a bid to tarnish Mugabe’s name.
Reports
of increasing army brutality comes as China announced on Thursday
that it
was recalling a ship carrying arms for Zimbabwe after South African
port
workers refused to unload the vessel and neighbouring countries barred
it
from their ports, China said on Thursday.
The Chinese vessel known as the
An Yue Jiang is believed to be carrying
three million rounds of AK-47
ammunition, 1 500 rocket-propelled grenades
and more than 3 000 mortar
rounds and mortar tubes destined for Zimbabwe’s
army.
Regional
governments and trade unions blocked it from docking saying they
feared the
weapons could be used by Mugabe’s government to suppress
opponents.
British Premier Gordon Brown said earlier this week that
his government
would propose a full arms embargo against
Zimbabwe.
But South African ruling party leader Jacob Zuma, the most
senior political
leader in southern Africa to openly criticize Mugabe’s
government over its
handling of elections, said on Thursday he did not
believe it was the right
time to impose an arms ban on Zimbabwe. –
ZimOnline.
Zim Online
by Simplicious Chirinda Friday 25 April
2008
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) party
has said 10 of its supporters have been 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
violence started after it defeated ZANU PF in elections
on March 29, has
claimed that another 3 000 supporters have been displaced
from their
homes.
The opposition party has described the violence as a war being
waged by
state security agents and ZANU PF militias against Zimbabweans in a
bid to
cow them to back Mugabe in an anticipated run-off against
Tsvangirai.
But Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa denied the allegations
of violence
and challenged the MDC to produce names and details of people it
claims were
murdered in political violence.
Below ZimOnline lists
names of six people that the MDC says are its
supporters who were killed in
political violence. The six are part of the 10
people the MDC says were
murdered. The opposition party says it will release
all the names of all
victims in a full report on political violence it is
compiling.
List
of Victims:
Tapiwa Mumbwanda (57) -- From Hurungwe West constituency in
Mashonaland West
province. He was attacked and murdered near his home by
suspected ZANU PF
activists on April 12. Hurungwe West is one of the areas
hardest hit by
political violence.
Murunde Tembo (age unknown) – From
Mudzi North constituency in Mashonaland
East province. He was brutally
assaulted by suspected ZANU PF activists on
April 15. He sustained serious
injuries and broken legs. He died on his way
to hospital.
Tatenda
Chibika (age unknown) -- From Mutoko East constituency in
Mashonaland East
province. He was shot and killed by ZANU PF supporter and
war veteran
Richard Makoni on April 17. The incident happened at Chibeta
rural business
centre in the constituency.
Moses Bashitiwayo (age unknown) -- From
Maramba-Pfungwe constituency in
Mashonaland East province. Suspected ZANU PF
supporters murdered him on
April 17.
Moses Makiwa (age unknown) --
From Lower Watershed area in Wedza
constituency in Mashonaland East
province. He was brutally assaulted and
killed by ZANU PF supporters. He was
buried on 19 April in Wedza.
Brighton Mbwera Jr. (5) -- From Manyika
village in Uzumba constituency in
Mashonaland East province. He was burnt to
death after ZANU PF activists set
a house he was sleeping in on fire on
April 18.
The ZANU PF activists forced the parents (who are members of
the MDC) to
bury their child’s body without a postmortem being done.
However, police
intervened and ordered the body exhumed so that a postmortem
could be
conducted.
The MDC is the source of all the information
above. ZimOnline has not
independently verified this information. –
ZimOnline.
Zim Online
by Own Correspondent Friday 25 April
2008
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s labour movement and other
civic groups are
planning to stage weekly marches and protests against
President Robert
Mugabe’s government they accuse of illegally clinging to
power in Zimbabwe.
Congress of South Africa Trade Unions secretary
general Zwelinzima Vavi said
Zimbabwe’s deepening political stalemate and
rising political violence
allegedly committed by Mugabe’s supporters were
matters South African civil
society could not afford to
ignore.
Zimbabwe was plunged deeper into political crisis after electoral
authorities refused to announce results of a March 29 presidential election
that Mugabe’s believed to have lost to opposition Movement for Democratic
Change party leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Vavi said: “COSATU is
proposing that in the next three to four weeks,
particularly on Saturdays,
we organise huge marches with civil society,
church organisations and all
those that disagree with the prevailing
political situation in
Zimbabwe.”
The COSATU leader said Zimbabwe’s election crisis – that
political analysts
have warned could lead to violence and bloodshed – could
not be left
unresolved for too long because it had the potential to
destabilise the rest
of southern Africa.
COSATU-led anti-Mugabe
protests are likely to increase domestic pressure on
South African President
Thabo Mbeki to take a more robust stance against the
Zimbabwean
leader.
Mbeki is the Southern African Development Community (SADC)’s
mediator in
Zimbabwe but has been accused of failing to apply pressure on
Mugabe to
allow the release of election results and remove all impediments
to the
democratic process.
Mbeki has insisted on a policy of
engagement rather than confrontation with
Mugabe but several key political
players and social leaders in South Africa
have criticised that policy which
they say has failed to yield results.
For example, Jacob Zuma, the leader
of the ruling ANC party and frontrunner
to succeed Mbeki as South Africa’s
president in 2009, has in recent days
openly broken ranks with Mbeki by
publicly questioning the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission’s failure to release
results of the presidential vote.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop
Desmond Tutu on Thursday urged African
leaders to abandon their policy of
quite diplomacy favoured by Mbeki and
instead tell Mugabe to quit
power.
"I want to call on African leaders to show that they really care
by speaking
quietly to Mr Mugabe and say, 'Step down, you've been there for
20 years,
man,'" Tutu told reporters in Stellenbosch.
Tutu, a
long-standing critic of Mugabe, also said the United Nations should
impose
an arms embargo on Zimbabwe because of rising political violence in
the
country blamed on Mugabe’s supporters.
"It is obvious that supplying
large quantities of arms at this stage would
risk escalating the violence,
perhaps resulting in the large-scale loss of
life," he said.
ZANU PF
lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in 28 years in
last
month’s election when it garnered 97 seats compared to 110 won by the
MDC
and other minor opposition candidates.
But electoral officials are yet to
issue the much awaited results of a
parallel presidential vote, which ZANU
PF acknowledges Mugabe lost to MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai, although they
say a second round of voting is
required to settle the contest.
The
MDC says 10 of its supporters have been killed in political violence
since
the elections.
The party claims that another 3 000 supporters have been
displaced from
their homes, in what it describes as a war being waged by
state security
agents and ZANU PF militias against the people in a bid to
cow them to back
Mugabe in an anticipated run-off against Tsvangirai. –
ZimOnline.
Zim Online
by Own Correspondent Friday 25 April 2008
JOHANNESBURG –
South African ruling party president Jacob Zuma said on
Thursday there could
no be talk of a national unity government in Zimbabwe
before election
results have been announced and that any such thoughts
should be the
prerogative of Zimbabweans not its neighbours.
Zuma told the media in
London that the focus of the international community
should be on the
announcement of Zimbabwe’s March 29 presidential election
results and the
conclusion of recounts in 23 parliamentary constituencies.
Zuma has
refused to criticise Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe over the
delays in
announcing the election results and instead has blamed Zimbabwe's
Election
Commission.
Speaking at a news conference in London, Zuma insisted that
it is not yet
time to consider an idea of negotiating a government of
national unity in
Zimbabwe, a possibility raised in the country's
government-controlled Herald
newspaper on Wednesday when it suggested that
Mugabe should head any such
government – an idea the opposition rejects,
saying its leader Morgan
Tsvangirai won the poll.
"Once you begin to
ask that question, you are even preventing a possibility
of discussing the
issue from the beginning," Zuma said. "You are already
influencing what the
outcome is likely to be.
"If that proposal becomes a firm proposal, which
must be put to the
Zimbabwean people – if they accept it, let us allow them
to go there before
we scare them with who will lead," Zuma told
reporters.
He said that attempting to predict Zimbabwe's future could
hinder efforts to
break the election impasse.
"I think going too much
further might just complicate the process," Zuma
said.
Zuma has of
late talked tough against Mugabe, a departure from South African
President
Thabo Mbeki who has been heavily criticised for not strongly
condemning
Mugabe over delays in releasing the election results.
"What we did when
we thought things in Zimbabwe were not going right is that
we took a very
conscious decision to engage with them, to talk to them,"
Zuma
said.
"We did not think it was prudent for us to stand on the rooftops
and
criticise Zimbabwe and give them names, as you do, like dictator," he
said.
Zuma rejected calls for South Africa to discuss a military
intervention in
Zimbabwe, saying there was no comparison between
post-election violence and
the 1998 South African troop deployment to
Lesotho following disputed
elections.
"There was a particular
situation in Lesotho where the army had got involved
in the process," Zuma
said. He insisted there has been no discussion of
troops entering Zimbabwe
among the 14-nation Southern African Development
Community.
But Zuma
said reports of state-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe are of great
concern.
"That cannot be allowed, it is wrong and absolutely out of order,"
Zuma
said, adding that the ANC will consider issuing a statement of
condemnation.
– ZimOnline
VOA
By Carole Gombakomba
Washington
24 April
2008
Independent election observers say recounts by the
Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission of ballots cast March 29 in 23 constituencies
are tending to
confirm the counts made immediately following the elections,
raising
questions as to the need for recounts.
Two recounts have been
completed, and ZEC Deputy Chief Elections Officer
Utloile Silaigwana was
quoted by the government-controlled Herald newspaper
as saying that the
remaining 21 should be completed by the weekend.
Where house seats are
concerned, the recounts completed so far have
confirmed one victory each for
the ZANU-PF party of President Robert Mugabe
and for the Movement for
Democratic Change of Morgan Tsvangirai.
Though the opposition sought
recounts of its own in the immediate election
aftermath, it has charged that
these 23 recounts are illegal as they were
initiated after the legal time
limit had expired for challenges to the
election outcome.
Zimbabwe
Election Support Network Chairman Noel Kututwa told reporter Carole
Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that it is puzzling that the
recounts continue amid irregularities of process yet are confirming the
initial counts.
The East African Standard
(Nairobi)
25 April 2008
Posted to the web 24 April
2008
Beauttah Omanga
Nairobi
Political uncertainty in Zimbabwe
has begun to affect business in eastern
and southern Africa.
The
Common Market for East and Southern Africa (Comesa) summit scheduled for
next month is the first casualty and has been postponed.
Foreign
Affairs minister, Mr Moses Wetangula, said President Kibaki, who is
the
Comesa summit chairman, cancelled the meeting that was to be held in
Zimbabwe between May 13 and 15.
Addressing the Press in his office on
Thursday, Wetangula said Kibaki would
continue to head the 20-member country
organisation. He was expected to hand
over the chairmanship to President
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
The country held elections close to a month
ago but the electoral commission
is yet to release the presidential results.
However, parliamentary and civic
elections have been made public.
The
opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Mr Morgan
Tsvingirai, claimed victory, but President Mugabe demanded a recount in 23
constituencies.
The Opposition and the international community have
accused Mugabe of using
the recount to rig the elections.
Meanwhile,
a Kenyan, Mr Mahaboub Mohammed, is the new chief executive of the
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad).
Wetangula said the
former Special Programmes PS is the first Kenyan to hold
the
post.
"It's a great honour that Igad member countries settled for a
Kenyan as its
chief executive," he said.
Wetangula said Mohammed, who
will be based in Djibouti, had accepted the
appointment.
Another
Kenyan, Mr Erastus Mwencha, who has been the Comesa
secretary-general, has
been elected the new Africa Union Vice-chairman.
Meanwhile, the
Government has asked the Ireland to reopen its mission in
Kenya that was
closed in 1988.
"It is our request that the mission be opened to boost
interaction between
the countries for the benefit of the citizens," said the
minister.
Wetangula spoke during a luncheon he organised for his Irish
counterpart, Mr
Dermot Ahert, and key players in tourism from Ireland and
Kenya.
Church Times, UK
25 April, 2008
by Pat Ashworth
THE VOICES from South
Africa became bolder, and the cries from
Zimbabwe more desperate, as the
country intensified its pleas this week for
international help to avert
genocide.
Their comments have been supported by the Archbishops of
Canterbury
and York.
The Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most
Revd Thabo Makgoba, spoke out
for the first time on Tuesday, describing the
people of Zimbabwe as
“bruised, broken and crushed by oppression and
economic hardship”, even
before the elections.
In the wake
of the attempt by a Chinese ship to offload at Durban a
consignment of
weapons for the Zimbabwe Defence Force, the Archbishop called
on the UN
Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Zimbabwe.
He said
it was “distressing” to South Africans that “our rulers, whom
we know to be
compassionate people, currently appear to many beyond our
borders as
heartless and unmoved by the sufferings of Zimbabweans”. He made
an urgent
appeal to President Thabo Mbeki to “seek creative ways of reaching
out to
our neighbours to assure them that we care about them deeply”.
The Bishop of Natal, the Rt Revd Rubin Phillip, and Paddy Kearney, a
consultant to the KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council, instigated the actions
that prevented the onward transport of the Chinese weapons. The two men
applied to the High Court for an urgent interdict to prevent the weapons
from reaching Zimbabwe.
A combined statement from the
Zimbabwe Council of Churches, the
Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference, and
the Evangelical Fellowship of
Zimbabwe appealed to the Southern African
Development Community, the African
Union, and the UN to intervene in the
post-election crisis. The Churches
warned: “If nothing is done to help the
people of Zimbabwe from their
predicament, we shall soon be witnessing
genocide similar to that in Kenya,
Rwanda, Burundi and other hot spots in
Africa and elsewhere.”
In a joint statement issued yesterday, the
Archbishops of Canterbury
and York call for “a civil society movement that
both gives voice to those
who demand an end to the mayhem that grows out of
injustice, poverty,
exclusion and violence”. They also call for an
international day of prayer
for Zimbabwe this Sunday in all Christian
denominations “as part of a search
for increased solidarity and justice for
the people of Zimbabwe at home and
in the UK.”
The Archbishops
warn that without action from the international
community “continuing
political violence and drift could unleash spiralling
communal violence, as
has been seen elsewhere in the Continent where early
warning systems or the
international community failed to act in time.”
The Archbishops
call for renewed efforts by the Government of South
Africa, the United
Nations and SADC to intervene in the crisis in Zimbabwe
and also call for a
world wide embargo on weapons sales to Zimbabwe.
The statement also
echoes the concern of Church leaders in Zimbabwe
about state-sponsored
violence against ordinary Zimbabweans. They also say
that the climate of
political intimidation and the continued delays in
announcing the election
results has “left the presidential election process
without
credibility.”
The outcry has increased after the circulation of
strong evidence of a
widespread campaign of intimidation and torture. The
Zimbabwe Association of
Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) has documented 242
cases of extreme
injuries, which, it says, suggest “a disturbing trend of
systematic violent
assault and torture”.
These are the cases
who manage to reach the private hospital in Harare
where most victims of
violence are treated. ZADHR warns: “With more victims
possibly unable to
access medical attention in rural areas, urgent action is
required to
prevent the situation deteriorating further.”
Poor people
in rural Mashona are reported to be the main targets.
“Many hundred rural
people have apparently left their homes. I do not know
where they have gone
— some perhaps hiding in the bush, others no doubt to
relatives in town,” a
Harare resident said on Monday.
The Zimbabwean continued: “In
the Gukurahundi massacres of 1981-82,
Mugabe just slaughtered the Ndebele
with the North Korean-trained Fifth
Brigade. Now 70 Chinese Army are here
training. We just hope and pray
history is not going to repeat
itself.”
The Chancellor of the diocese of Harare, Bob Stumbles,
is calling on
Christians from all Churches and nations to focus their
prayers this Sunday
on Zimbabwe, which he describes as “a nation in dire
distress and teetering
on the brink of human disaster”.
Chancellor Stumbles, who has fought for several years to bring the
former
Bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga, to court, said in an urgent plea
on
Monday: “A desperate cry from the hearts of Zimbabweans screams across
the
world. . . Let this cry for help touch your heart and mind. Let it move
you
to do what you can immediately to ensure this day of prayer takes place
in
your country and neighbourhood.”
A de facto curfew is now
operating in the townships. Anyone seen
outside after dark risks being
beaten, and the army is patrolling the
streets, residents
say.
On Sunday, riot police invaded and dispersed a delayed
Lady Day
celebration at St Michael’s, Mbare, where 3200 Mothers’ Union
members had
gathered from all over the country.
They were
being addressed by Ruth Bakare, wife of the Bishop of
Harare, on the theme
from Isaiah of “You are my witnesses”, when the first
truckload of police
drove in. Mrs Bakare continued to speak until a second
truckload
arrived.
“We were made to leave, but the women prayed first,
before they left
slowly, and gathered outside the churchyard premises to
sing hymns as loud
as they could,” she said in a message on
Tuesday.
The Bishop of Harare, Dr Sebastian Bakare, who
witnessed the events,
said riot police had driven into the crowd at high
speed to intimidate the
women.
In a press statement on
Tuesday night, he said: “I never dreamt that, after
getting rid of a
colonial system which denied me basic human rights, I would
one day lead a
Church that is being persecuted by our own government. The
events of the
past weekend have led me to believe there is a deliberate
attempt to
persecute Anglican Christians in this diocese.
It make me wonder
whether the Anglican Church in Harare is an easy target
because it was once
associated with the colonial government.”
Churches and charities
are trying to distribute emergency food
supplies to vulnerable households.
Four million people need food
immediately.
The Methodist
Relief and Development Fund, supporting an Action by
Churches Together
appeal, said last week: “Reports from Zimbabwe paint a
picture of
desperation, with some families cooking leaves they had
previously
considered poisonous.”
The people refuse to give up hope. Mrs
Bakare said that as she and her
husband left the church at Mbare on Sunday:
“When [the women] saw me moved
to tears at their singing and cheering us,
they called to me ‘Musatye’ [‘Don’t
be afraid’], and indeed I was not —
carried by so much joy and love and
hope. I knew that what we are going
through is only for a while. ‘We shall
overcome!’”
africasia
LONDON, April 24 (AFP)
Zimbabwe is on the brink of "national
disintegration" and could face the
sort of communal violence seen in Rwanda
and Kenya, the Archbishops of
Canterbury and York warned on
Thursday.
Rowan Williams, the leader of the worldwide Anglican communion,
and
Ugandan-born John Sentamu added their voices to calls for an arms
embargo
against Zimbabwe and urged the international community to find a
solution to
the post-election crisis.
The archbishops said the
electoral process in Zimbabwe was now "without
credibility" because of
vote-rigging, violence and delays in announcing
results from the March 29
vote.
"Continuing political violence and drift could unleash spiraling
communal
violence, as has been seen elsewhere in the continent where early
warning
systems or the international community failed to act in time,"
Williams and
Sentamu said in the joint statement.
They described
President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe as a former "beacon of
hope" but said
they viewed the current crisis with "foreboding and sorrow."
"The current
climate of political intimidation, violence, vote rigging and
delay has left
the presidential election process without credibility," they
said.
"Now the people of Zimbabwe are left even more vulnerable to
conflict heaped
upon poverty and the threat of national
disintegration.
"It is therefore crucial that the international community
act in support of
regional efforts to bring a mediated settlement to this
political crisis so
that the social and economic and spiritual crisis of the
country can be
addressed."
Zimbabwe is a majority Christian
country.
Zimbabwe's electoral commission Thursday continued slowly to
release the
results of a partial recount from the elections which the
opposition says it
won, while Mugabe's camp appeared divided over the merits
of a possible
national unity government.
New Vision, Uganda
Thursday,
24th April, 2008
AN EAST AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE
By Jerry Okungu
ON
the surface, it would appear like the African Union (AU) and indeed the
international community have this habit of playing double standards. One day
they do one thing; the next morning they do the opposite.
When
Kenyans brought the Kibaki government to its knees following an
election
dispute, the level of violence that was in progress shocked even
the most
immune leaders of the African atrocity.
Within hours of the political
uprising in Kenya, the soaring casualty
figures sent Desmond Tutu, Joachim
Chissano, Benjamin Mkapa and two retired
presidents from Liberia and
Botswana trooping in to help stop the mayhem.
As world leaders were
grappling with what Kenya had presented to them as
their New Year gift, the
UN and the AU took the cue, dispatching John Kufuor
of Ghana, then AU
chairman and UN secretary general Ki-moon to come and help
sort out the
political mess that had been created by the political class
when they
attempted to steal the elections.
Despite the flurry of activities by
Africa’s most eminent persons, it took
the resilience of Dr. Kofi Annan, Dr.
Graca Machel of Mozambique and
President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania to work
out a peace and power sharing
deal that lasted 28 days. On that day that the
power sharing deal was
signed, violence across the country came to a
standstill.
Seven weeks since the Kenyan truce was signed, Zimbabwe has
undergone almost
an identical political ineptitude except that instead of
Mugabe
outrightly declaring himself the winner Kenyan style, he chose to
dither and
tinker with the ballot papers in the hope that the opposition
would relent
and allow him to continue plundering Zimbabwe.
Now, a
whole month later, Mugabe has decided out of generosity to recount
the votes
whose results, even the disputed ones have not been declared!
Yet, the
whole world has sat by with folded arms leaving poor Zimbabweans to
their
own devices! Does it therefore mean that the international community
and the
AU can only intervene in cases of extreme violence that borders on
ethnic
cleansing or genocide?
Why wait for Zimbabwe to explode, spill blood and
burn a few churches with
children, the old and the disabled before they can
stir from their slumber?
What kind of cynicism and sadism are
these?
Where are the eminent Africans who came to Kenya’s rescue? Where
are the
SADDC leaders led by powerful South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique and
Namibia? Where are Jakaya Kikwete and the AU which he chairs as Mugabe takes
the whole of Zimbabwe downhill? Where are the UN secretary general and his
predecessor, Benjamin Mkapa, Graca Machel and Joachim Chissano? Zimbabweans
are crying loud for you! When will you hear their cry?
Although
Zimbabwe resembles Kenya in more ways than one regarding their last
elections, there are fundamental differences that the world community must
bear in mind. Whereas Kenya’s president was a civilian with no strong
influence in the military, Mugabe is a former guerrilla soldier whose
comrades still lead the military.
Utterances by top military generals
on the eve of the elections were ominous
enough. They had sworn that they
were not yet ready to mount a guard of
honour for any other Head of State in
Zimbabwe except for ‘Comrade Bob’.
The world may want to remember that
during the entire period of the Kenyan
crisis, the military very much
remained in their barracks and left the
civilians to do their own thing with
the police. They were only called in
briefly to put out the riots that had
overwhelmed the police in Naivasha and
Nakuru areas.
The Zimbabwean
military position brought out another dimension in that
country that few
people, not even the politicians in that country had paid
attention
to.
That when all is said and done, Zimbabwe has in fact been a military
state
all along. That all these years, Mugabe has been ruling with the
explicit
support of the men in uniform!
This development will pose a
serious challenge to the AU and the
international community should they
choose to intervene. Doing so would most
likely degenerate into a sort of
Somalia and Burma situations.
If these former guerrillas decide to form
militias to fight external
intervention, we may just create another Iraq or
Afghanistan in Africa let
alone another Somalia. The question is; which
superpower is ready to
sacrifice soldiers and guns to be bogged down in
another bush war in
Zimbabwe?
Certainly not Britain because they had
their share of that in the run-up to
the Zimbabwean independence. Certainly
not the United States because the
mood in that country is anti- war
expeditions anywhere.
So the Zimbabwean crisis is an African problem
crying loud for an African
solution. This is why we are asking Presidents
Jakaya Kikwete and the
financially endowed Thabo Mbeki regime to provide the
badly needed
leadership in the Zimbabwean crisis.
jerryokungu@gmail.com
VOA
By Studio 7 reporters
Washington, Midlands,
Harare
24 April 2008
Post-election violence by
ruling party youth militia against supporters of
Zimbabwe's opposition
continues to rise, a range of sources said on
Thursday, with more camps and
centers being set up from which ZANU-PF
loyalists are said to be terrorizing
rural inhabitants and driving many to
seek safety in Harare and other cities
and towns.
Sources in the town of Gutu in Masvingo Province, in the
southeast, said a
torture camp has been established at the Chiguhune
Business Center there. In
Mashonaland West Province northwest of Harare,
sources said teachers at the
Kenzamba Primary School in Makonde fled after
ZANU-PF militia set up a
torture camp at the school.
A source in
Midlands Province told VOA that another base for the militia was
set up at
Masosone Primary School in Gokwe.
The Progressive Teachers Union of
Zimbabwe said many of its members who
served as polling officers in the
presidential, general and local elections
March 29 were being arrested, with
38 detained on Thursday in Masvingo
alone.
The union said it is
urging its members in volatile rural areas not to
report for duty when
schools reopen Tuesday unless their safety can be
guaranteed.
Opposition activist Stanley Manguma from Gutu, who
transported victims to
Harare Thursday, told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of
VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that Gutu West resembles a war zone as militia
are indiscriminately
attacking the public.
An opposition activist
from Muzarabani in Mashonaland Central was said to
have died from injuries
sustained when beaten Tuesday by soldiers, ruling
party youth militia and
war veterans at his homestead in an attack in which
20 others were
assaulted.
Correspondent Sylvia Manika reported on the incident from
Harare.
Youth militia and self-styled war veterans with ties to the
ruling party
have severely disrupted hospital operations at the Driefontein
Mission in
Chirumanzu, Midlands.
The Catholic Church-operated
Driefontein Sanatorium and Muvonde Hospital
were forced to close this week
for three days after workers and nurses were
threatened by marauding militia
and war veterans. The health care facilities
reopened late this week, but
staff remained fearful for their safety,
correspondent Taurai Shava
reported.
The workers said the war veterans and ZANU-PF youth had a list
of targeted
workers including two of the three doctors at the sanatorium who
they
accused of supporting the Movement for Democratic Change. One of the
doctors, identified only as Marimo, left the Sanatorium with his family on
Tuesday due to the threats, the workers said.
The war veterans and
militia members have been wreaking havoc in the nearby
agricultural
resettlement areas of Chinu, Nyikavanhu, and Nyumbi Chinu,
assaulting people
and burning the homes of suspected opposition supporters.
Muvonde
Hospital nurses said they have treated several people in the past
week who
sustained injuries in politically motivated assaults. A Driefontein
Mission
administrator who was approached by a VOA reporter and identified
himself
only as Father Shirikadzi said he was not in a position to comment
on the
situation.
The 350-bed Driefontein Sanatorium is one of the country's
biggest hospitals
and is known for treating tuberculosis. Police officers at
the Driefontein
Mission base station confirmed reports of violence in the
area but refused
to give further details.
But local sources said
arrests have been made in connection with the
violence.
Francisco
Masendeke, a member of MDC formation led by Morgan Tsvangirai and
a losing
candidate for the Chirumanzu-Zibagwe house seat, condemned the
violence and
urged ZANU-PF to instruct supporters to desist from such
violence.
Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga told reporter
Blessing Zulu that
the scope of the violence was being exaggerated by the
opposition, drawing a
sharp response from spokesman Nelson Chamisa of the
MDC opposition grouping.
While having a job can
mean being out of pocket, Zanu-PF elite find rich
pickings
Chris
McGreal in Harare
The Guardian,
Friday April 25 2008
Each day,
Edwin Makotore's wife and children hit the streets to earn cash so
he can
pay for the privilege of working.
The 38-year-old father-of-two is the
only one in the family with a full-time
job, but by the time he has met the
soaring cost of travelling to work in a
small Harare supermarket, paid out
of wages wildly out of step with the
165,000% inflation rate, Makotore is
out of pocket.
But with only one-in-five adults in employment, a job is a
far more precious
commodity than money in Zimbabwe, and Makotore is not
going to let it go.
"My wife gives me the money to go to work each day,"
he said. "We can't
afford to send the children to school so they go with her
to the streets.
She sells some small things, fruit, things like
that.
"One day things will get better and then it will be good to have a
job.
Everyone will want one. It's like an investment; I pay to keep my job
because I will make money out of it one day. Until then someone makes money
out of me."
For now, Makotore is a loser in an economy which is
shrinking faster than in
any other country. But there are some who are doing
well out of
hyperinflation.
The winners include those whose mortgages
were reduced to less than a
single, near-worthless banknote in a matter of
months. Among the losers are
the elderly, the value of their pensions
slashed to nothing.
But the real beneficiaries can be found in Borrowdale
Brooke. This upmarket
suburb in the north of Harare is a mass of
construction sites and newly
completed palatial homes. Besides President
Robert Mugabe's own palace,
built by the Chinese with a hint of the
forbidden city about it, ruling
Zanu-PF apparatchiks and generals have set
themselves up in homes that none
could afford on their official
salaries.
Some have become extravagantly rich by manipulating the vast
gap between the
official and black-market exchange rates to plunder
Zimbabwe's dwindling
hard currency, and buy brand new Mercedes Benz cars for
£25 while the
country's manufacturing sector collapses for want of money to
produce
crucial exports.
The new rich include men such as the Zanu-PF
member of parliament and party
powerbroker Philip Chiyanga, who also happens
to be one of Mugabe's cousins.
Chiyanga owns a sprawling 30-room mansion in
Borrowdale Brooke with three
helicopter pads and has been seen driving a
Hummer.
The mansions have grown as Zimbabwe's economy has shrunk by about
half over
the past decade of crisis. Export earnings have dropped from about
£2.3bn a
year to around £750m.
The manufacturing sector has halved in
size and revenue from the tourist
industry, once another big earner, has
fallen by 75% over the same period.
Many visitors now see Victoria Falls
from the Zambian side and those who do
cross in to Zimbabwe do not stay as
long as they used to.
Over the past week the black-market exchange rate
for the Zimbabwe dollar
has plummeted against sterling, from about Z$90m to
the pound to Z$190m. The
largest bank note in the country is worth about
25p. No wonder Zimbabweans
call themselves starving billionaires.
The
currency has been driven down recently by Zimbabwe's central bank, which
has
been turning to the black market in a desperate search for US dollars to
pay
the bills, not least for electricity from Mozambique.
John Robertson, a
highly regarded Zimbabwean economist, said the government
had also been
plundering hard currency accounts held by businesses to pay
off the huge
costs of its election campaign, contributing to the spiral of
collapse.
"From January, with the election campaign, the government
started importing
tractors and cars and television sets and all manner of
things to give away.
That had to be paid for and it was paid for from the
foreign currency
accounts," he said.
Any business that exports is
obliged to hand over more than 35% of the hard
currency it brings back into
the country to the government in exchange for
Zimbabwe dollars. The rest is
held by the central bank and is theoretically
available to pay for imports
necessary to the business.
But many are finding that they have to wait
for up to four months for the
money, and some do not receive it at
all.
"It got worse and worse," said Robertson. "Businesses have incurred
debts
and they are not paying them. The suppliers, mostly in South Africa,
found
they can no longer trust people in Zimbabwe to pay, so they've stopped
supplying."
That has left some manufacturers unable to produce and
export, another blow
to the country's hard currency earnings. Even entirely
locally produced
commodities such as cotton and tobacco, once big money
earners for Zimbabwe,
have been hit because they require imported
pesticides, fertiliser and
fumigants.
Last year the government
introduced drastic price cuts and controls to try
and curb raging inflation,
but the measures proved a miserable failure.
Retailers were ordered to slash
prices. Buyers surged into the shops to pick
up electronic goods and luxury
items at a fraction of their value - but when
the shelves were empty,
products were not restocked.
For a select few all of this is an
opportunity. They deal in the official
exchange rate of Z$30,000 to the US
dollar - meaning they can buy hard
currency at one three thousandth of what
it costs on the street. Such rates
are only available to Zimbabwe's super
elite.
"Only senior people can get that, but those that do make a
fortune,"
Robertson said. "They buy dollars at the official exchange rate
and then go
off and buy a Mercedes in South Africa for what is in reality
just a few
dollars. They import it, sell it and make a
killing.
"These are the same people who are running a lot of the food
imports. They
take a billion [Zimbabwe] dollars, change it to rand at the
official rate
and buy in South Africa for next to nothing."
Some
economists trace the start of the economic downturn back to the mass
printing of money to payoff war veterans who were threatening Mugabe a
decade ago. But Robertson says the most significant blow to the economy was
the redistribution of white-owned farms without maintaining
productivity.
"Those 4,500 farms were Zimbabwe's biggest industry," he
said. "They
accounted for 17% of GDP in their own right but more than 50%
when you take
into account the other industries they were
supporting.
"They employed large numbers of people, they accounted for
half the export
earnings. The farmers were also the biggest users of other
industries such
as insurance and engineering."
There is no chance
that the land redistribution will be reversed. It has
overwhelming support
among black Zimbabweans as a policy, if not how it has
been
handled.
The redistributed farms are now run on feudal lines with Zanu-PF
acting as
overlord and anyone wanting to stay on the land required to pay
suitable
political and, in some cases financial, homage. Those who dissent,
and that
includes overt support for the opposition, are thrown
off.
What industry remains is subjected to the "indigenisation law". This
requires foreign and white-owned public companies to sell or give half of
their shares to black Zimbabweans. In the view of some, it is just another
form of plunder.
As a result many of the jobs once considered the
least desirable are now
amongst the most sought after. There was a time when
being a domestic worker
was considered close to the bottom of the pile. It
was poorly paid and often
required women to be away from their
families.
But today it is a prized role, as it comes with free
accommodation, water,
electricity and, crucially, no travel
costs.
Robertson wonders how long Zimbabwe's economy can keep
going.
"Everything seems so untenable and so absurd you can't believe
there are
people out there trying to keep it on the road. They're breathing
life into
a dead horse. You have to admire it I suppose," he
said.
165,000%
The current level of inflation means the income of most
Zimbabweans is way
out of line with the cost of living
Z$190m
The
black-market exchange rate for Zimbabwe dollars to the pound. Last week
the
rate was Z$90m to the £1
Z$30,000
The amount needed to buy a US dollar
under the official exchange rate, only
available to the
elite
£25
The cost of a Mercedes Benz bought using hard currency from
reserves
exchanged at the official rate
£750m
The amount Zimbabwe
earned from exports last year, which was about a third
of the amount a
decade ago
35%
The proportion of hard currency from export sales that
businesses have to
hand over to the government
Japan Today
Friday
25th April, 05:48 AM JST
TOKYO —
The Foreign Ministry raised its
travel alert for Zimbabwe on Thursday,
advising Japanese nationals to think
carefully before traveling there, due
to rising political tension and social
instability over the non-release of
the March 29 presidential election
results.
The travel advisory, the second-lowest of four warning levels,
urges
Japanese who plan to travel to or stay in Zimbabwe to be particularly
aware
of pickpockets and robberies, which often involve guns, and to avoid
traveling after dark. According to the ministry, 112 Japanese were residing
in Zimbabwe as of Oct 1, 2007.
SW Radio
Africa (London)
24 April 2008
Posted to the web 24 April
2008
Tichaona Sibanda
MDC vice-president Thokozani Khupe on
Thursday met victims of Zanu PF
perpetrated violence in Harare, where
elderly women and men cried as they
narrated the brutality they have been
subjected to by the regime.
A statement from the MDC said hundreds of
people have fled their homes and
are in hiding in Harare or are staying in
the mountains due to violence
waged by Zanu PF militia and war veterans,
backed by the army.
Most victims described their villages as war
zones, with over a hundred
victims fleeing to Harare from just one area
alone. Jimmy Jombo, an MDC
parliamentary candidate in last month's
elections, told Khupe that Zanu PF
has created a hit-list in Mashonaland
East province.
He said; 'A group of over 200 men are moving around Mudzi
district armed
with guns and causing untold terror in the area. They have
burnt villages of
perceived MDC supporters, looted their property and stole
their livestock.
Most villages have since been torched by the marauding Zanu
PF militia.'
Jombo said there over 30 people were admitted to various
hospitals across
Mashonaland East and Harare following the
attacks.
Each speaker narrated how women are being abducted and used as
cooks at
bases that had been established by Zanu PF militia. The
vice-president told
the victims that the party would do everything in order
to assist them
during such trying times.
'Please do not despair. As
long as we are united as a party we will emerge
as winners at the end. We
need to defend our victory as we all know that we
won the 29 March
elections. An MDC government will make sure that we will
compensate you,'
she said.
Thoughtleader, SA
Anja Merret
What is it about the situation in Zimbabwe that has
produced one of
the most severe cases of stick-your-head-in-the-sand-itis
that one can
imagine? Watching a video on the online New York Times on the
refugees
streaming into South Africa got me into such a state that tears
were running
down my cheeks.
Of course, as part of dramatic
reporting techniques, some of the shots
were probably staged. But
nevertheless, the woman who had just scraped under
the fence into South
Africa and was now filmed walking along the road to
Messina with one plastic
packet of her possessions, got to me.
I wept for her and the
hopelessness of her plight. The unemployment
figures in South Africa for its
citizens are high. Stats SA maintains it’s
23%. It’s probably more likely to
be double that. The exact numbers are not
known, as many South Africans do
not claim unemployment benefits and fall
outside the scope of
surveys.
So many eke out a living in any way they can. They might
sell a few
bananas and oranges from rickety tables, stand guard over cars in
shopping
malls or flog those ubiquitous plastic clothes hangers at traffic
lights.
South Africans are blessed with a fairly well developed
sense of black
humour. A joke that made the rounds a few years ago said that
you know when
you are in Johannesburg when you can buy anything at the
traffic lights.
Visitors are amazed at the goods available. Instant
shopping. I used to get
my windscreen washed once a week, at a set of
traffic lights at the top of a
freeway off-ramp, by Godfrey. He had a ’shop
sign’ up that said
www.godfrey.co.za.
Fleeing into
this environment in the hope that you can find employment
and shelter is
beyond hopeless. One can only shudder at what has made this
woman walk for
hours in the heat, clutching one packet. How much worse must
it be where she
is coming from? According to The New York Times article, it
is estimated
that about 1 000 people cross over into South Africa every day.
To
those who might want to argue that Zimbabweans think of South
Africa as a
land of milk and honey, I would like to ask what personal
circumstances
would make them walk into another country, scraping through
barbed wire
fences, even possibly facing crocodiles in the river separating
the
countries? How desperate would you have to be to do that?
I have
some personal experience. My family went across the border from
East Germany
to West Germany in the late 1940’s. My brother-in-law, as a
young boy,
walked with his family from the German areas of Russia after the
Second
World War. My father saw the refugees at the Dresden railway station
and
adjourning park just days before they were bombed.
Through all
these personal histories of family members, one thing came
through loud and
clear. They and we, only left our homes because we
absolutely had to. And as
with the Zimbabwean refugees, we left everything
behind. In our case, my
parents tried to give away as much as they could to
those staying behind,
without raising suspicion.
What the difference was though, was that
some provision, as much as
could be done after the war, was made for
refugees. People were accommodated
and helped as much as was possible.
Governments took note of refugees and
did something about it.
Regrettably this cannot be said for the way any of the countries
around
Zimbabwe are reacting to this flood of desperate people. It’s as if
it is
not happening. A report I read a few months ago estimated that there
are 2
million Zimbabwean refugees in South Africa alone.
I would imagine
that Zimbabweans living in the north would head
towards northern neighbours
rather. In other words, how many displaced and
desperate people are being
ignored by the Southern African countries?
Millions. All totally overlooked,
except for the few who are sent back by
the South African government when
caught. That’s almost worse.
Why not call in the United Nations,
Oxfam, Red Cross, Doctors Without
Borders, and all the other big refugee aid
organisations? They will come and
help with shelter, food and medication. At
least this will shine the
spotlight on the problem rather than allowing
these poor folk to disappear
into abject poverty.
Perhaps
everybody in Africa is listening to South African President
Thabo Mbeki’s
‘there is no crisis’ statement. Well, not everybody. It was
wonderful to see
the trade unions take a stand during the recent arms for
Zimbabwe drama held
in Durban. And the front page of the Independent in the
UK screams about
genocide in Zimbabwe. So thankfully not everybody is buying
into the ‘no
crisis’ point of view.
However, while a bunch of people are making
some noise and rattling
some sabres, people such as the woman who brought me
to tears, are walking
along dusty roads carrying their worldly possessions
in a plastic packet. It
makes me want to cry all over again, just thinking
of her. Stop focusing on
Mugabe and his henchmen and focus on the real
issues here, the people.
PLEASE!
SABC
April 24,
2008, 10:30
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu says southern African
leaders should
persuade Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe to step
down.
Tutu was addressing a conference on higher education and ethical
leadership
at the University of Stellenbosch. He says there is a possibility
that
Mugabe can still redeem and salvage his legacy if he steps down with
dignity.
Tutu says he has been hoping that the political leadership
in South Africa,
which is held in high regard by other countries of the
world, will convince
Mugabe to resign.
The archbishop says the
Southern African region is facing a number of
challenges such as poverty,
HIV/AIDS, and can no longer afford to have what
he terms people who want to
cling to power in order to satisfy their egos.
Obstacles to a unity govt
in Zimbabwe
Meanwhile, a Research Director at the Electoral Institute of
South Africa
says the personal hatred between Zimbabwe's President Robert
Mugabe and
opposition Movement Democratic Change (MDC) leader, Morgan
Tsvangirai will
be an obstacle for a proposed unity
government.
Khabele Matlosa says an urgent solution should be found to
Zimbabwe's
crisis. Zimbabwe's state-run Herald newspaper says a unity
government led by
Mugabe may be the best way to break Zimbabwe's
post-election deadlock. The
newspaper says it is clear that no side won a
majority in the presidential
election on March 29.
Matlosa says: " By
all indications, the talks are now stalemate - there is
no doubt about that
- and the parties are drifting further and further
apart - but in the case
of the relationship between president Mugabe and
Morgan Tsvangirai, there is
also a deep personal hatred between the two
leaders - they hardly ever speak
to each other.
“Mugabe treats Morgan Tsvangirai with utter contempt, and
that is part of
the reason why President Mugabe has actually told himself he
will never ever
hand power over to Tsvangirai.
Reuters
Thu 24 Apr
2008, 14:57 GMT
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will call on
Zimbabwe's neighbours
next week to step up pressure on President Robert
Mugabe for the release of
results of a March 29 election in which the
opposition has claimed victory.
EU foreign ministers meeting next Tuesday
will also pledge to explore how
the 27-member bloc can use its diplomatic
influence, according to a draft
statement obtained by Reuters. Diplomats
acknowledge EU leverage is limited.
"The (EU) Council remains concerned
about the possible effects on the
stability of the region as a consequence
of the ongoing events and therefore
calls upon SADC (Southern African
Development Community) to engage with
renewed determination with the
Zimbabwean authorities," ministers will say.
SADC member countries
include South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia and
others.
"The EU
will ... explore further options for increasing pressure on those
who direct
and engage in state-sponsored violence and intimidation in the
post-election
period," the draft for the meeting in Luxembourg added.
EU diplomats said
the ministers would stress the role of Zimbabwe's
neighbours partly because
the 27-member bloc has few options to apply
pressure itself.
Existing
EU sanctions include a ban on Mugabe travelling to parts of Western
Europe.
But that did not stop him from attending an EU-Africa summit in
Lisbon last
December that was boycotted by Gordon Brown, premier of
ex-colonial power
Britain.
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he won the
presidential election outright and has accused Mugabe of delaying results to
rig victory and keep his 28-year hold on power.
The EU statement
noted the bloc remained Zimbabwe's most important donor and
its willingness
to resume full cooperation as soon as conditions allowed.
nasdaq
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP)--Rights groups in Zimbabwe
have urged the Southern
African Development Community to intervene and stop
mounting post-election
violence from lurching into civil war, a spokesman
said Thursday.
"We see high prospects of civil strife if the situation
continues unchecked
so we are appealing to SADC to intervene urgently," said
Fambai Ngirande,
spokesman for the National Association of Non-Governmental
Organizations.
Ngirande said representatives of 20 civic organizations
held a meeting with
the head of the SADC election observer team Jose Marcos
Barrica and handed
him a dossier outlining cases of post-election
violence.
According to the dossier, one rights group had attended to 456
victims of
politically motivated violence who needed medical
treatment.
Barrica and his team were shown photographs of victims of
violence including
an opposition Movement for Democratic Change election
agent alleged to have
been stabbed to death by ruling party
militants.
The photographs showed injuries ranging from bruises, through
crushed limbs
and broken arms to missing teeth.
"More than 90% of the
victims were election agents or MDC supporters, 5% had
been caught in the
crossfire and several were ZANU-PF supporters who had
been targeted by
supporters of the same party," the dossier said.
Cases of violence have
been escalating across Zimbabwe in the aftermath of
the March 29 general
elections which saw veteran President Robert Mugabe's
ruling party losing
its traditional parliamentary majority.
Ngirande told AFP: "SADC needs to
help to stop the violence, put measures to
protect citizens and prevent the
increased conflict from deteriorating into
civil strife."
Nearly a
month after the polls the electoral agency is yet to announce the
presidential results. ZANU-PF says it is preparing for a run-off as there
was no outright winner while the MDC declared its leader Morgan Tsvagirai
winner based on a tally from polling stations.
(END) Dow Jones
Newswires
04-24-081242ET
http://thezimbabwetimes.com
By William Dhinhiwe
April 24,
2008
RETIRED General Vitalis Sheba Gava Zvinavashe’s acceptance of defeat
is very
significant, considering he was the very first military man to vow
never to
salute MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai should he ever win the
presidential
election.
This has to be the turning point we have all
been anxiously waiting for. It
is to be hoped that all within the ruling
Zanu-PF party will accept the fact
that their party has lost this election
and will help to start rebuilding
the country.
It is, therefore,
baffling to hear the views of the likes of Patrick
Chinamasa and the
overzealous Brighton Matonga (Zimbabwe’s own Joseph
Gobbels or perhaps
Comical Ali). The two men are angry that ordinary South
African citizens
have won the battle to stop arms of war from being brought
into Zimbabwe to
kill innocent civilians. What crimes have these Zimbabweans
civilian
perpetrated other than to vote for a party of their own choice in
an
election wholly run by Zanu-PF?
Assuming these arms do not find their way
to Zimbabwe we should remain
grateful to the very alert South African
workers. Their government would
really not mind these arms proceeding to
Zimbabwe.
I am also perturbed by Simba Makoni’s appearance at the SADC
Lusaka summit.
Yes, he could be the chosen man of the South African
government and other
interests but the fact of the matter is that he was
rejected by the people
of Zimbabwe as evidenced by the poll results. His
closest allies Ibbotson
Joseph Mandaza and Kudzanai Mbudzi received a very
small number of votes in
the House of Assembly elections. The combined total
number of votes for the
two gentlemen was well below 1 500, if my memory
serves me well.
I appeal to those close to Simba Makoni to advise him to
get out of the way
and let the elected representatives of the people get on
with the business
of leading the way forward. Makoni’s services might be
more appreciated in
his own personal business, where I am informed that that
he is not doing
very well either.
Morgan Tsvangirai and his party
were the first to suggest a government of
National Unity. Why should it now
suddenly appear as some kind of wonderful
compromise proposed by the losers
of the elections?
The point is that the MDC won these elections and this
has to be recognised.
They have the mandate to proceed to bring harmony into
the country in the
best way they, and not Zanu-PF or Makoni, see
fit.
It should be really up to them who they pick from the Zanu-PF
establishment
if they consider such moves to be progressive. Remember they
know these
individuals pretty well like indeed most of us.
There are
people in Zanu-PF who will never repent. The likes of Didymus
Mutasa,
Chinamasa, Matonga, as well as a whole bunch of Mugabe’s relatives
in
government and his entire criminally inclined MPs and cabinet Ministers
from
the Mashonaland Central area lead by Elliot Manyika.
I have recently read
statements expressed by Welshman Ncube and Arthur
Mutambara in articles
appearing on the Zimbabwe Times website. It is very
encouraging to see their
views. Here are Zimbabweans who earlier appeared as
if they would never see
eye to eye with Tsvangirai. They have now
acknowledged the results and are
willing to offer themselves for the good of
the nation.
Zanu-PF wants
us to believe Great Britain and the United States are out to
re-colonise us.
Yet at the same time they want China to provide arms to maim
and kill
ordinary peace-loving civilians.
I would urge a future MDC government to
review links with countries such
China. We do not need any further dealings
with their kind. They may have
provided arms to fight oppressive regimes
during the war of liberation but
that does not grant them the right to
replace the colonial masters. We
simply do not want to be colonised by
anybody again.
Mugabe has always managed to divert attention when it
comes to Britain and
the States and the African leaders who are too scared
to attack the two
countries are very happy that in Mugabe they have a man
who will say what
they themselves want to say but are too scared to. Mbeki
hates the British
and Americans to bits and the sooner they realise that the
more they will be
able to understand why he is with Mugabe.
Pictures
of tortured Zimbabweans are appearing on a number of sites for all
to see.
One then wonders how Africa fails to see a crisis of that nature.
Who will
stand for these innocent people?
In so far as the Zimbabwean situation is
concerned Africa has proved to be a
disgrace.
My appeal to you who
have relatives in Zanu-PF to, please, invite them to
your homes and let them
see how you live. Let it be known to them that they
cannot use the toilet in
your houses because there is no toilet paper or
water to flush the toilet.
Let them know when you last had a decent meal.
My fellow Zimbabweans we
have a party here, the MDC, that has won an
election, is prepared to
forgive and clearly has a plan as to the way
forward. Why are we not giving
them a chance?
Yes, Zanu-PF was involved in the war of liberation, but
always remember that
this was voluntary.
Sydney Morning Herald
April 25,
2008
The Zimbabwean Government's 43 prisons were designed to
accommodate 16,000
prisoners but hold about 25,000, media reports
say.
Prison guards abuse prisoners. Poor sanitary conditions persist,
which
aggravates outbreaks of cholera, diarrhoea, measles, tuberculosis and
HIV
and AIDS-related illnesses.
Human rights activists familiar with
prison conditions report constant
shortages of food, water, electricity,
clothing and soap.
A Solidarity Peace Trust and Institute for Justice and
Reconciliation report
said that "political arrestees are routinely and
deliberately overcrowded,
with 30 or more people being kept at times in
cells intended for six", and
those "who have been severely beaten by the
police and have fractures and
other injuries are routinely denied any access
to health care or medication
for varying period of time".
Source: The
US State Department
The Zimbabwean
Thursday, 24 April 2008 15:21 Arrest illegal traders,
then flood the market
BY
MXOLISI NCUBE
BULAWAYO
Robert Mugabe, civilian leader of the military
junta now ruling Zimbabwe, is
to launch a crackdown against informal traders
and parallel market dealers
in the cities, as a new twist in the regime’s
campaign of retribution.
Sources within the Zanu (PF) and the spy agency, the
Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO), last week told The Zimbabwean on
Sunday that another
crackdown, which will “borrow” from both Operation
Murambatsvina/Restore
Order and Dzikisai Mitengo/Yehlisani intengo is on the
cards and will be
launched within the next few days.
The operation is
said to be a retribution campaign against urban voters who
have remained
faithful to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). It will
see most
informal traders being arrested on accusations that they are
operating
without licences and that they are illegal foreign currency
dealers.
“The
operation will be launched before the presidential elections. After
killing
the black market on basic commodities, the government will then
release the
basics that have been kept for campaign purposes, which will
flood the
market and, hopefully, make the voters turn back to the ruling
party and
vote for the president in the run-off,” said a source.
The sources added that
Mugabe’s regime would release the staple maize-meal,
which is in short
supply in the market, in a bid to simulate a normal
situation, whereby basic
foodstuffs are available again.
“This is meant to show that, despite many
people blaming the government for
the critical shortages of things like
maize and sugar, it is some
unpatriotic businesspersons who are causing
artificial shortages of these.
Many businesses will be hit by the new
operation,” said another source.
The sources added that members of the CIO,
the police and the army would be
deployed to monitor and harass businesses
that were linked to the MDC, with
some of them being forced to close down,
on allegations that they were
pushing a regime change agenda alongside the
MDC and the West.
“There are some targeted areas like Egodini bus terminus
and Lobengula
Street here in Bulawayo, where the deployments will be very
heavy. This time
there will be no favours and many informal traders and
parallel market
dealers will be beaten up and fined heavily, to deter them
from coming
back,” said the source.
A few years ago, Mugabe launched two
operations, Murambatsvina and Dzikisai
Mitengo/Yehlisani Intengo, which left
several urban people homeless and
killed off businesses, resulting in most
basic commodities vanishing from
the shelves.
Obert Mpofu, the former
Minister of Industry and International Trade, could
not be reached for
comment.
Sokwanele
Our cell phone network has been appalling in recent weeks, but
one network
has managed to dramatically improve its service: my friend
reckons its
because the Trade Fair is going on.
It’s all part of
glossing up the lie that there are no problems in Zimbabwe
and trade is
normal.
In 2005 we blogged here about how petrol was suddenly made
available during
the Trade Fair week. In 2006, we wrote about how the
homeless and street
kids were being rounded up and temporarily locked up to
‘clean up the
streets’.
It is definately not ‘business as usual’ this
year. In fact, I heard a story
that on one morning the Fair was opened up
and it was littered - littered -
with protest phamphlets. So much so that
all available police were rushed in
to clean the place up before the public
arrived. Not quite normal then!
The government’s line on the Fair is this
(from The Herald):
“I know that our enemies were saying we would
postpone the fair. What they
did not realise is that as Government, we are
keen to promote business
because it has a direct link with the livelihood of
the people.
“Why then would we postpone such a thing? It is just that
some people want
to politicise virtually everything,” she said.
“We
have both foreign and local companies at the ZITF out to do business
and
that’s as it should be.”
Is business booming? The Herald tells us there
were 565 exhibitors — 544 of
them local and 21 foreign. Those figures don’t
indicate a rush of confidence
and interest to do trade with Zimbabwe to
me.
It is was this comment from the first secretary for economic affairs
at the
Zambian Embassy in Zimbabwe that made me laugh out loud: she
optimistically
looks forward to business opportunites saying,
“People have expressed interest in buying sugar, cooking oil and
medicines,
which apparently are in short supply here,” she said.
Well… yes..
apparently they are! I’m surprised her stand wasn’t mobbed for
its display
if that’s what they are exhibiting.
Normal happy trading days, indeed …
how ridiculous!
This entry was written by Hope on Thursday, April
24th, 2008 at 10:05
VOA
By Tendai Maphosa
London
24 April
2008
Jacob Zuma, the president of South Africa's ruling
party, says the situation
in Zimbabwe has not reached the stage where an
international arms embargo is
necessary. This contradicts the British prime
minister's call for an arms
embargo on Zimbabwe. Tendai Maphosa attended
Zuma's press conference in
London and filed this report for
VOA.
African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma, the man who could be
South
Africa's next president, met Wednesday with British Prime Minister
Gordon
Brown. He said the issue of an arms embargo came up during their
meeting.
"We debated the issue, I do not think we have reached the stage
of arms
embargo in Zimbabwe," he said. "We do not know of any order of
anything that
Zimbabwe is making in terms of arms. I think it is going too
far and really
it could just complicate the situation, which needs to be
handled with great
care."
But Zuma said the Durban dockworkers who
refused to offload the Chinese ship
bearing arms for Zimbabwe had acted
correctly.
The ship was forced to abandon plans to offload its cargo in
the South
African port after activists won a court case that prevented the
transportation of the arms to the border with landlocked
Zimbabwe.
Zuma also said the refusal to allow the ship into a Mozambican
port and the
call by the chairman of the Southern African Development
Community that the
ship should not be allowed to dock in any African port
was an appropriate
response. The ship is reportedly on its way back to China
with its cargo.
He also reiterated the withholding of Zimbabwe's March 29
presidential
election results is unacceptable, saying that the Zimbabwean
Electoral
Commission is sabotaging its own work by the delay. Zuma said he
has not
been given a good reason why the election results are being
withheld.
The South African politician also addressed the issue of the
post-election
violence against supporters of the opposition by the police,
the army, war
veterans and supporters of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's
ruling ZANU-PF
party.
"We have condemned that, it cannot be allowed,
it is wrong absolutely out of
order and when we go back home the ANC will
certainly discuss the matter and
issue a well considered statement," he
said.
Zuma who has recently been more outspoken regarding the Zimbabwean
crisis,
supported South African President Thabo Mbeki's quiet diplomacy. He
said
taking a tougher stance against Zimbabwe would be counter-productive
and
South Africa would continue to engage with the Zimbabwean government and
the
opposition.