Zim Online
Thursday 05 April 2007
By
Thabani Mlilo
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe's government has given
private firms closed
during a national strike this week 24 hours to explain
why they did not open
for business or face unspecified
punishment.
Industry Minister Obert Mpofu said his department was
compiling a list of
what he said were "mostly white-owned companies that
chose to side with
organisers of the stayaway" by shutting down during the
job boycott called
by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions to protest
worsening economic
hardships in the country.
Mpofu said: "Indeed we
are still receiving reports of the companies that
chose to side with the
organisers of the stay away and we are going to deal
with them accordingly.
In fact, we have given them 24-hour directives to
submit their reasons for
failing to open for business.
"To suggest that these mostly white owned
companies have the welfare of the
workers at heart would be dishonest as
they are the same people who hike
prices wily nilly. We have taken enough of
this misbehaviour and this is the
last time they will do such a
thing."
It was not possible to get an immediate response from the
Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries and the Zimbabwe Chamber of Commerce
that represent
business in the country on Mpofu's threats to penalize
companies for closing
shop during the Tuesday to Wednesday
strike.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trades Unions (ZCTU) called the strike
to pressure
President Robert Mugabe's government to act to end an economic
crisis
gripping the country for the past eight years and which has seen
inflation
soaring to nearly 2 000 percent, rising poverty, unemployment and
severe
shortages of food.
But the job boycott largely flopped as
workers turned up for work and
businesses opened although analysts
attributed this to fear of a government
backlash, a few weeks after police
brutally assaulted opposition leaders for
trying to organise anti-President
Robert Mugabe protests.
State secret service agents reportedly also
patrolled city shopping malls
and industrial sites threatening factory
managers and shop owners their
licences would be withdrawn if they allowed
their workers to take part in
the strike.
But a few shops and
factories still closed or were operating at well below
capacity either
because they feared if they opened their property could be
destroyed by
anti-government protesters or simply because their workers did
not report
for duty.
Any attempt by Mugabe's government to withdraw licences from
companies to
punish them for not opening during the strike period could be
the last nail
in the coffin of Zimbabwe's industrial sector already on its
knees weighed
down by shortages of raw materials, machine parts, fuel,
electricity and
hard cash.
Forcing companies to close would also see
thousands of workers thrown into
the streets in a country where unemployment
is at 80 percent. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Thursday 05 April 2007
By
Nqobizitha Khumalo and Hendricks Chizhanje
HARARE - Army helicopter
gunships on Wednesday patrolled the skies and armed
police roamed the
streets in Harare's impoverished suburbs in a triumphant
show of force by
security forces after stifling a two-day strike called by
labour unions on
Tuesday.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trades Unions (ZCTU) called the strike
to pressure
President Robert Mugabe's government to act to end an economic
crisis
gripping the country for the past eight years and which has seen
inflation
soaring to nearly 2 000 percent, rising poverty, unemployment and
severe
shortages of food.
But the job boycott largely flopped as
workers turned up for work and
businesses opened although analysts
attributed this to fear of a government
backlash, a few weeks after police
brutally assaulted opposition leaders for
trying to organise anti-President
Robert Mugabe protests.
And the government stepped its massive display of
force on Wednesday, the
second and last day of the strike.
Several
residents interviewed by ZimOnline in the working class suburbs of
Budiriro,
Glen View, Glen Norah and Highfield said they were awakened in the
early
hours of the morning by the roaring sounds of army and police
helicopters
flying low above their homes.
"We were awoken by the noise from the
helicopter. It was scary, it reminded
me of the troubled days during the
liberation war," said Jameson Musodzi
from Budiriro.
The elderly
looking Musodzi was referring to the brutal 1970s war of
independence when
white leader Ian Smith's army would often send helicopter
gunships bombing
villagers it suspected of backing freedom fighters led by
Mugabe and the
late vice-president Joshua Nkomo.
In the suburbs police took positions at
shopping centres, public beer halls
and other social gathering places
telling workers to stay out of trouble by
going to work.
In the city
centre, armed police stationed at nearly every street corner
continued on
the lookout and ready to break up gatherings of more than five
people, in a
clear warning to the ZCTU that street protests or marches would
not be
tolerated.
Police also maintained roadblocks they mounted on Monday on
all major roads
leading into the capital's central business
district.
Government newspapers, radio and television defended the heavy
deployment of
soldiers and police as necessary to restore law and order in
the southern
African nation which has been rocked by a series of strikes in
recent months
over deteriorating economic and living
conditions.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said police had by late
Wednesday
afternoon not arrested anyone for any illegal activities linked to
the
strike although the law enforcement agency arrested people on Tuesday
for
allegedly barricading roads and stoning buses in Dzivarasekwa and
Budiriro
and some parts of Chitungwiza.
"The situation is very calm,"
Bvudzijena declared confidently.
Meanwhile, the ZCTU said it was happy
with the results of the two-day strike
and said despite widespread
intimidation by security forces it planned to
call more strikes in the
coming months.
Union spokesperson Khumbulani Ndlovu said: "Reports are
still trickling in
of the intimidation workers and our members but this will
not deter the ZCTU
from planning more mass stayaways. The ZCTU general
council resolved to
engage in mass action every three months and we will
continue doing that."
Ndlovu however said the ZCTU would revise its
strategy to ensure that future
stayaways would have more
impact.
Mugabe accuses the ZCTU of working in cahoots with his Western
enemies and
of using genuine worker grievances as pretext to instigate
Zimbabweans to
revolt and overthrow his government.
The ZCTU, the
largest union in the country, denies plotting Mugabe's ouster
but says it
holds him responsible for ruining Zimbabwe's once brilliant
economy and
plunging millions of workers into unprecedented poverty and
misery. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Thursday 05 April 2007
By
Patricia Mpofu
HARARE - The general secretaries of Zimbabwe's fractured
opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) party are in South Africa
for talks with
officials of the ruling African National Congress party whose
President
Thabo Mbeki is seeking ways to end Harare's political
crisis.
Tendai Biti secretary general of the larger faction of the MDC
led by Morgan
Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube of the other wing of the
opposition party led
by academic Arthur Mutambara arrived in South Africa on
Tuesday for
follow-up discussions held with South African officials three
weeks ago.
A spokesman for the Mutambara faction of the MDC professed
ignorance of
Ncube's whereabouts but Nelson Chamisa, spokesman of the
Tsvangirai-led MDC
confirmed Biti was "in South Africa on pressing party
business."
The ANC meeting with Biti and Ncube three weeks ago came
before last week's
emergency summit of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) summit
that appointed Mbeki to mediate in the Zimbabwean
crisis.
In an interview with the London-based Financial Times, Mbeki
confirmed the
ANC had held talks with both MDC officials in a bid to broker
a solution to
Zimbabwe's long-running political and economic
crisis.
"We have already been in contact with both the opposition and
ZANU PF. Last
Friday the secretary generals of the factions of the MDC came
and had a long
discussion with our people about their view about what needs
to happen,"
said Mbeki in the interview published on
Tuesday.
Zimbabwe, rated the worst economic performer in Africa in a
United Nations
report released this week, is in the grip of an economic
crisis that has
seen inflation shooting to nearly 2 000 percent, rising
poverty and food
shortage.
The economic crisis is fuelling public
discontent against President Robert
Mugabe's government which has resorted
to repressive tactics to retain
control.
MDC insiders say the
opposition party that split over tactics to topple
Mugabe's government is
agreed on how to resolve Zimbabwe's crisis.
Biti and Ncube were expected
to submit a final document to the ANC
secretariat proposing an all
stakeholders conference to chart the drafting
of new and democratic
constitution for Zimbabwe that would guarantee free
and fair elections. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Thursday 05 April
2007
By Brian Ncube
BULAWAYO -
Five opposition supporters from Zimbabwe's second city of
Bulawayo were last
weekend seriously tortured by suspected state agents as
the government
continued its crackdown on the opposition.
The state agents accused
the five of being part of a group of the
opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) party supporters who
barricaded the main railway line and tried
to set fire to a train in
Bulawayo last month.
The five, Gift
Moyo, 24, Sibangalizwe Siwela, 24, Talent Dube, 19,
Gift Ndlovu, 19, Mluleki
Ncube, 27, said they were tortured by Central
Intelligence Organisation
(CIO) agents and later dumped at a farm in
Figtree, about 30km south of
Bulawayo.
"We were arrested by uniformed police officers at a bar
in Siziba
suburb on Friday afternoon with the police accusing us of being
part of a
group of MDC supporters who barricaded the main railway line in
the city.
"They detained us overnight and later handed us over to
CIO agents the
following day who promised not to harm us as long as we
co-operated with
them," said one of the five.
The Bulawayo
residents said the state agents demanded to know the MDC
officials who had
sent them to block the railway line as well as how much
they were paid for
their "acts of terrorism".
"When we told them that we were neither
members of the MDC nor part of
the group that they were talking about, they
began beating us with planks,
sjamboks and baton sticks under our feet and
all over our bodies.
"They also ordered us to remove our clothes
and began torturing us
with electricity on our genitals, saying we did not
want to co-operate," he
said.
The five said they were later
dumped at a farm in Figtree on Monday.
Police spokesperson Wayne
Bvudzijena confirmed the arrest of the five
but denied that they were
tortured.
"We did arrest them and released them the following day.
If they were
tortured they should make a formal report to their nearest
police station
and we will investigate," said Bvudzijena.
Political tensions are on the rise in Zimbabwe following the brutal
torture
of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and several other leaders while in
police
custody last month.
Several other MDC activists have since been
tortured by state agents
as part of a crackdown by the government against
the opposition party.
President Robert Mugabe, under fire over the
torture of Tsvangirai,
has however defended the crackdown telling his
supporters that he would
again bash opposition leaders who challenged his
rule. - ZimOnline
The Zimbabwean
HARARE
The Zimbabwean has received numerous reports in the past
few days all
pointing to a grand plan being drawn up by the Mugabe regime to
annihilate
any opposition ahead of next year's elections.
This includes
opposition within the hitherto closed ranks of the ruling
party itself,
where vice president Joice Mujuru and minister of rural
housing Emerson
Mnangagwa recently made the big mistake of openly
challenging the
president.
The reports vary from crudely fabricated documents (see Death
list, P 2) to
the chilling eyewitness account of police uniforms being
dished out to
dozens of youths, deployed in gangs of 20, at Kuwadzana Hall,
near Harare on
Monday.
The two-fold objective of the plan, which MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai has
described as reminiscent of Ceaucescu, the
assassinated president of
Romania, is to unleash hit squads to cripple all
opposition, including the
independent media, and to strike fear into the
hearts of political opponents
and independent journalists.
"That's the
mark of a dictator; that's how he deals with his political
opponents,"
said
Tsvangirai.
Having bamboozled the central committee into endorsing
his sole candidacy
for the presidential elections next year, Mugabe is
determined to win, no
matter what. Aware that he will have to allow some
observers, at least from
SADC, to observe the elections, Mugabe is bent on
terrorising the population
into submission well in advance. He knows
observers only take into
consideration the period immediately preceeding the
elections when looking
at violence and intimidation.
He has unleashed the
full force of the Zanu (PF) youth league (see Youth
will secure victory, P2)
on the populace, publicly giving them permission to
'destroy' the
opposition.
With rampant inflation, 80% unemployment and a progressive
collapse of the
education system over the past decade, Zimbabwe's bored,
ill-educated and
hungry youths are ripe for recruitment into the militia,
where food, drugs,
alcohol and girls are routinely provided.
Numerous
sources have reported elaborate plans being drawn up by the party,
the
police, the CIO and some elements in the army. The main element of the
plan
is the expansion of the dreaded youth militia, who have successfully
terrorised the rural population since 2000, and made them no-go areas for
the MDC.
The past few weeks has seen the militia move into the urban
areas in full
force, where they have abducted, tortured or beaten to a pulp
many
high-profile opposition activists and hundreds of ordinary citizens. An
eyewitness report from a high-density suburb of Harare said men, women and
children had been beaten at random and made to sweep the road with their
bare hands by police and soldiers.
The thugs seldom kill their victims,
but a few bodies have been found
including that of former ZBC employee,
Edward Chikomba, which was found near
Darwendale earlier this week after he
was kidnapped from his home in Harare.
"It was common in Latin America and
Asian countries where there was a
dictator," said John Makumbe, University
of Zimbabwe political science
lecturer. "In Africa, Idi Amin used hit squads
against opponents and former
Malawi leader Kamuzi Banda used the 'young
pioneers' to terrorise and
eliminate his opponents," Makumbe said. "We are
already taking that
route." - Own correspondents
VOA
By Carole Gombakomba
Washington
04
April 2007
The hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, where
three senior officials of
Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic
Change are being treated for
injuries sustained while in police custody last
month have tightened
security following an apparent attempt late last month
to abduct one of
them.
Sekai Holland, secretary for policy and
research for the MDC faction led by
Morgan Tsvangirai, told VOA that
unidentified men came to Milpark Hospital
on March 25 and said they were
there to relocate Grace Kwinjeh, the
faction's deputy secretary for
international relations. Kwinjeh has been
operated upon for a brain
contusion and a split ear lobe resulting from a
beating received while in
police custody.
Both women are also receiving treatment for extensive and
multiple soft
tissue injuries to the back, shoulders, arms, buttocks and
thighs, MDC
sources said. Tsvangirai's spokesman, William Bango, is also
receiving
treatment at the hospital.
Holland, who has undergone
extensive surgery on a broken arm and leg, told
reporter Carole Gombakomba
of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the
opposition faction and hospital
authorities remain concerned about possible
threats to their
safety.
The Guardian
Now that the
international media circus is moving on, it's time to step back
and a take
longer look at the reality of events in Zimbabwe.
David
Beresford
April 4, 2007 8:30 PM
Some years ago I was detained in
Zimbabwe by mistake. A security policeman
ordered the arrest of three of us
journalists and our pilot as we were
tanking up our small plane at Harare,
on a flight from northern Mozambique
to Johannesburg. After a night in a
police holding cell I was taken to see
the police commissioner who said he
had a problem: the security man who had
ordered our arrest had gone on
holiday, so he had not been able to find out
why we had been detained. "But
you must have done something," he said with
all apparent seriousness.
"You're in prison, aren't you?"
Another journalist who seemingly had a
similar experience this week was Time
magazine's southern Africa
correspondent, Alexander Perry, who after four
days in prison for operating
without accreditation, was fined less than one
US dollar. This after stories
had circulated among the Johannesburg press
corps about dire punishment
awaiting those hacks caught operating in
Zimbabwe without accreditation - 20
years in the notorious Chikurubi prison
was one penalty
mentioned.
Without wishing to detract from Perry's ordeal - four nights
in a cell, not
knowing what the future holds could not have been fun - it
does bring home
the realisation that in Zimbabwe one is dealing with a
something of a
Ruritania. Is it not time to take a step back and a longer
look at the
Zimbabwe issue?
For instance, is Zimbabwe in a state of
crisis, "spiralling out of control"
as is asserted in virtually every
newspaper article spinning around the
world via the net? Not, it seems, in
the mind of President Robert Mugabe who
is today reported to be visiting the
far east.
Is there evidence of a spontaneous popular uprising in the
making? Evidence
for it is limited to 10 petrol bombs thrown so far. And,
according to the
leader of the opposition, Morgan Tsvangirai, they were
thrown by agents of
the Zimbabwean state security organ, the Central
Intelligence Organisation,
trying to stir up trouble for his Movement for
Democratic Change.
So why the "crisis"? Because opposition leaders were
beaten up? Horrendous
behaviour to be sure, in what claims to be a
democracy, but certainly, from
appearances, the main recipient of the
beating, Tsvangirai - in Johannesburg
this week to see his doctor - looked
set to get a clean bill of health.
What about that South African African
Development Community (SADC) meeting
where, by some media accounts, South
Africa's President Thabo Mbeki was
tasked with getting Mugabe to stand
aside. In an interview with the
Financial Times Mbeki said flatly:
"We would not ever support any proposition about regime change. So that is
not an option for us, whatever other people might think in the rest of the
world."
International news operates on a cyclical basis, whereby a
story becomes
fashionable through what is frequently nothing more than a
coincidence of
timing, the availability of television footage, or just some
wishful
thinking on the part of correspondents.
Now that the
international media circus is seemingly moving on again from
this part of
the world, diplomats dealing with Zimbabwe , rather than
devoting their
energy to persuading Mugabe standing down, might encourage
him to allow
journalists access to the country to see for themselves what is
happening in
the African
Ruritania.
---------
Comments
RhodesianRoyalist
Comment
No. 513360
April 4 20:44
ZAF
How funny that Mbeki would reject
utterly the idea of regime change... isn't
that exactly what the ANC stood
for? But perhaps, as long as the regime in
question is a fellow African,
then there's no real problem. Or perhaps,
Mbeki just doesn't want to set a
precident for intervention, seeing as the
'new' South Africa is rapidly
following Zimbabwe into chaos and misery.
GreenLake
Comment No.
513394
April 4 21:07
USA
Oh well, that's a relief. Tsvangirai's
recovered from his beating, so no
harm done. All's well. And Mbeki doesn't
want to consider regime change, so
everything must be hunkydory.
Yes,
no need for democracy and econonic reform and political freedom. All
the
people of Zimbabwe rerally need is for foreign journalists to be allowed
back into the country. Might not do anything to alleviate the starvation
Mugabe's rule has caused, but - fingers crossed - it might mean one or two
other journos will end up with some deliciously amusing tales of illegal
detentions and one dollar fines. What
larks!
Brazilian
Comment No. 513396
April 4
21:08
GBR
I think when people talk about crisis they mean things like
an inflation of
1,700%, AIDS epidemic, mass starvation and no light at the
end of the
tunnel. Lack of free and fair elections, people getting severely
beaten up
with the acquiescence of the head of state and the South African
president
saying thata there's no point in talking about regime change are
not
necessarily the end of the world in this
context.
bobdoney
Comment No. 513413
April 4
21:18
GBR
The weather's sunny in Zimbabwe, isn't it? Why then have 3
million
Zimbabweans decided to go on permanent holidays to South Africa and
the UK?
Very odd. Perhaps there's a shortage of candyfloss and ice lollies
at home.
Ishouldapologise
Comment No. 513416
April 4
21:20
Yes I don agree with Dr. Jazz that we should put pressure on SA to
get SADC
and or the African Union to solve their regional problem which is
Zimbabwe,
but to suggest boycotting South Africa or question the legitimacy
of the
South African government is a sick joke.
.
Yes Dr. Jazz, but No
Dr. Jazz.
"Straighten up and fly
right."
RhodesianRoyalist
Comment No. 513436
April 4
21:36
ZAF
Ishouldapologise
Why, dare I ask, is it a 'sick joke'
to critise the South African
government? The ruling party is corrupt and
Marxist and has gleefully
presided over South Africa becoming both the rape
and murder capital of the
world.
In one province alone, over 1000
farmers have been murdered since 1994. To
put this into perspective, in over
30 years of operations in Ulster, the
British Army lost 850 men.
On
average, very day, 50 people are murdered across the country. Again, to
put
this into perspective, 132 British soldiers have been killed in four
years
of operations in Irag (you know - the war you all so utterly
disapprove of
because of all the casualties). That's about 2 and a half days
worth in
South Africa.
I am sure that 20 years ago, the Liberal Left considered
criticism of Mugabe
to be a 'sick joke' too... Will you lot ever learn from
history?
peerlesspundit
Comment No. 513447
April 4
21:46
RhodesianRoyalist, your choice of Cif name really makes the point.
The only
reason that the British media are obsessed by the activities of Bad
Bob
Mugabe is that Zimbabwe was once controlled by white settlers, mostly of
British descent, and that he has stolen the land belonging to them (though,
of course, we might ask how they or their predecessors originally came by
the land in question.)
The British government decided in 1965 that it had
no power to intervene
militarily in central Africa, and the white residents
of what was then
Rhodesia decided to set up a racist state which they
apparently thought
would last for ever. Whilst I can sympathise with the
inhabitants of
Zimbabwe in their current distress, ruled by a violent and
incompetant
regime, I cannot think that it is any more my personal concern
than are the
situations existing in other, unfortunately, numerous, states
throughout the
world.
The British government was right in it's assessment
of Britain's inability
to intervene fortytwo years ago. I cannot see what it
is people are wanting
the South Africans to do. Send armoured columns to
Harare to instal aruler
more acceptable to liberal western opinion? The only
thing Ireally know
about Mr Morgan Tsvangirie is tha he is'nt Mr Robert
Mugabe. A totally
insufficient reason for anyone to intervene in Zimbabwe on
his behalf
canadianwilderness
Comment No. 513471
April 4
21:57
CAN
Wow, is this journalism? seems more like hack sociology to
me, analyzing a
situation via media theory than actually paying attention to
what is
happening in reality.
So there isn't a crisis in Zimbabwe?
then why has my best Zimbabwean friend
been murdered by the government? why
are my other friends writing me letters
every week pleading for any bit of
help I can send?
what a farce.
RhodesianRoyalist
Comment
No. 513484
April 4 22:08
ZAF
peerlesspundit
Just to
correct a few points in your mail.
The British did not decide that they
could not intervene in SubSaharan
Africa in 1965. The Labour Government of
the time sent RAF squadrons to
Zambia with the thought of bombing the
Rhodesians to the negotiating table.
Secondly, Rhodesia was not a 'racist
regime', despite all the efforts of the
Liberal press in the UK to persuade
you it was. Suffrage was based on
educational attainment and the ownership
of property. Seems far more
sensible than the British system to
me.
Thirdly, the South Africans did not need to send armoured columns
into
Rhodesia to bring those wonderful days to a close. They simply turned
off
the power. There is nothing stopping the present ANC government doing
exactly the same tomorrow.
peerlesspundit
Comment No.
513549
April 4 22:42
Rhodesianroyalist I think that you are
probably under a few misapprehensins
here.
I am considerably older than
you possibly believe and also have had more
dealings than you may imagine
with the white inhabitants of the state then
known as Rhodesia.
I would
also lay claim to some insight into the situation as it seemed in
Britain at
the time.
I think that you and I both know the true nature of the Rhodesian
state.
Perhaps you could enlighten us as to the percentage of white
Rhodesians
excluded from voting under the franchise system you describe. By
the way as
you clearly supported a republic set up in defiance of the Crown,
why do you
choose to call yourself RhodesianRoyalist, when you were (and
seemingly
still are) a self -defined traitor to Her Majesty? is this apiece
of subtle
irony?
Tijani
Comment No. 513638
April 4
23:38
@RhodesianRoyalist
I am amazed by the following
statement:
"Suffrage was based on educational attainment and the
ownership of property.
Seems far more sensible than the British system to
me."
More sensible than universal suffrage, perhaps?
The highly
limited democratic system of colonial and post-colonial Rhodesia,
based as
it was on property and educational qualifications, meant the
effective
disenfranchisement of nearly the entire Black population - who
neither owned
enough property to qualify, or had no property to qualify; and
who were most
certainly disadvantaged to the point of disqualification by
the education
system of the repellent settler polity that was Rhodesia.
Is this what
you mean by a "more sensible [system] than the British
system"?
Dear All
Please note that SW Radio
Africa, in addition to its 4880 kHz frequency, is
now broadcasting on the
following multiple frequencies in order to combat
the state -sponsored
jamming of their broadcasts. These frequencies were
monitored on 4/4/2007
and the comment column indicates the reception quality
for both small
portable receivers and larger sets.
Time (Local) Frequency
Comment
19:00 -21:00 11810 kHz
Extremely clear, good
signal.
19:00 -21:00 11775 kHz
Clear, some
atmospherics
19:00 -21:00 12035 kHz
Very clear good
signal
19:00 -20:00 15425 kHz
Very clear good
signal
Listeners in Zimbabwe and surrounding regions are encouraged to listen
in to
these frequencies currently under test, and to report their findings
and
comments to this source for onward transmission to the station manager.
The Zimbabwean
John Makumbe
What a mess! What a
disastrous mess we are all in right now. The spineless
SADC leaders failed
completely to read our most hated dare devil dictator
the proverbial riot
act. Worse still, they seem to have swallowed Mugabe's
worn out lies and
rhetoric bait, hook and sinker.
The post-summit press statement by the SADC
leaders confirms that they
believed Mugabe's deceitful claim that western
democracies have imposed
economic sanctions, not just travel restrictions,
against Zimbabwe, and that
this was the major cause of the country's
economic problems. They obviously
have not read the Zimbabwe government's
own reports that indicate that trade
between the southern African state and
the USA increased by a respectable 9%
during 2006, for example.
But
perhaps their worst sin was the appointment of South Africa's Thabo
Mbeki as
the mediator in attempts to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis. South
Africa has
had seven years of pursuing the impotent and ineffective quiet
diplomacy
with Zimbabwe, that is seven years of failure to resolve the
crisis.
It
therefore does not make sense to appoint South Africa as mediator in the
debilitating crisis; all we will get is more of the same failure. Soon after
the demonic arrest, torture and detention of opposition party leaders,
Tanzania's Kikwete flew into Zimbabwe and grilled the dare devil dictator
for five solid hours. Why not appoint Kikwete the mediator in the Zimbabwe
crisis?
Be that as it may, the only mediation that Thabo Mbeki can
possibly attempt
in the next ten months is to persuade the dare devil
dictator to engage in
some form of dialogue with opposition political
parties and civil society,
including the churches, in Zimbabwe. Past
experiences teach us that not much
joy can be expected from that exercise
either.
Dialogue among the various groups in Zimbabwe should primarily aim at
the
drafting of a democratic constitution for this nation before the 2008
elections are held. The likelihood of Mugabe agreeing to such a risky
undertaking, given his growing political insecurity, is next to nil.
Mugabe's nomination as Zanu (PF)'s sole candidate for the 2008 presidential
elections is likely to be challenged by disgruntled elements within his own
party in the next few weeks or months.
Priding himself in the art of
intimidation, Mugabe last week mobilised both
the Youth and Women's Leagues
in order to intimidate members of the Central
Committee who were meeting in
Harare. This was probably the first time that
the dictator had ever
mobilised wananchi against members of his own party in
order to secure
nomination as an electoral candidate. It was depressing to
discover that
none of the Central Committee members had the courage to
object to Mugabe's
nomination, even though most of them are opposed to his
continued
stranglehold on power.
Margaret Dongo once called these old men and old women
"Mugabe's wives" and
she was spot on. Impeccable sources indicate that the
Mujuru faction had
already amassed some seven out of the ten provinces
against Mugabe's
re-nomination prior to the Central Committee meeting. The
question
apparently still remained, "Who will bell the cat?"
Sadly, all
these developments have now dragged Zimbabwe closer to the grim
prospect of
a military intervention in order to get rid of the dare devil
dictator from
office. Mugabe thinks that he outmanoeuvred his political
rivals in Zanu
(PF), but I think all he did is set himself up as a perfect
target for our
listless but poor military personnel. The next few weeks and
months should
be exciting. Zanu (PF) is very likely to effect a resounding
regime change
in Zimbabwe after all.
The Zimbabwean
BY INGRID
UYS
JOHANNESBURG - South Africa has joined the ranks of anti-Western nations
blocking resolutions in the United Nations Security Council on human rights
abuses in Burma, attempting (unsuccessfully) to scupper sanctions against
Iran over its nuclear programme, and blocking a debate on Zimbabwe,
according to Western diplomats.
As the current holder of the rotating
chair of the UNSC, South Africa is now
being dubbed an "awkward" member,
along with China and Russia, calling into
question its future stance on
human rights.
As the silence resounds out across Africa over President Robert
Mugabe's
recent actions in Zimbabwe, South Africa appears deaf to the pleas
of the
international community to publicly voice its opposition to the
atrocities.
South Africa has seen some three million Zimbabweans flood into
the country
to escape the tyranny of Mugabe's regime, 80% unemployment,
1,729%
inflation, a HIV/Aids pandemic, famine, and the world's lowest life
expectancy - 34 for a woman and 37 for a man.
South Africa's President
Thabo Mbeki has been consistent in his policy
towards Zimbabwe, choosing the
'silent diplomacy' route - a policy that has
achieved nothing, other than
reinforce Mugabe's Zanu (PF) party and
encourage Mugabe viciously to repress
Zimbabweans with total impunity.
It is also apparent that Mbeki has made no
effort to encourage negotiations
and a compromise deal between Zanu (PF)
party and the union-backed,
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the
official opposition in Zimbabwe.
As South Africa hosted "private" talks here
recently between Zimbabwe's
deputy president, Joice Mujuru and her
counterpart, Phumzile Mlambo-Ncguka,
it became clear that Mbeki's government
remains stubbornly resistant to
endorsing the political status of the main
opposition leader, Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Some commentators argue that Mbeki
is reluctant to give impetus to a
union-backed opposition party in Zimbabwe
while he faces serious dissent and
criticism from his own party's alliance
partner - the Congress of South
African Trade Unions (Cosatu) - who
repeatedly has criticised Mbeki for his
support of Mugabe's regime.
Since
coming to power, Mbeki has won the respect of the international
community
because of his pro-capitalist policies. He has been expedient in
persuading
the white community to redistribute its wealth. Appealing to a
disadvantaged
electorate, Mbeki has played the race card and in so doing has
re-racialised
the country.
Mugabe is admired in Africa for his vocal anti-Western views.
The invasion
of Iraq by the United States and Britain further fuelled this
anti-Western
sentiment in developing countries. South Africa cordially
entertains
President George Bush of the US and cooperates on security
matters, but
privately Mbeki shares the view among developing nations like
Brazil, India,
Russia, that US dominance on the world stage must be
counter-balanced and
made more equitable.
Is this fight with the West
likely to bring reward to a country on the brink
of collapse? Lord Triesman,
a Foreign Office minister told Sky News last
weekend that he was pessimistic
about Zimbabwe's recovery. He said: "People
are talking about it melting
down but I will be candid with you - I think
it's gone". He said he knew of
no "single instance in history when an
economy with these total catastrophes
has ever recovered."
President Mbeki's legacy, like Mugabe's, will no doubt
leave a questionable
blot on the region.
The Zimbabwean
Letter from America
BY
STANFORD MUKASA
WASHINGTON - The Zanu (PF) central committee meeting was
reported by
insiders as more of a circus than anything else. Fully aware of
the
dissension within the party, two party officials, Elliott Manyika and
Saviour Kasukuwere, were tasked with mobilizing and engineering a process
that would ensure there was no discussion whatsoever on Mugabe's candidacy
for the presidential elections.
Apparently, Mugabe's cronies had been
strategically seated in the meeting.
At a given signal, Manyika was to
propose Mugabe as the sole candidate and,
instantaneously, the party
faithful were to start singing and chanting
"Mugabe" loudly enough to drown
any dissension. While this singing and
chanting was going on Mugabe was to
acknowledge and march out to lunch.
It seems everything went as planned -
Mugabe and his cronies stole the
elections from under the noses of the
central committee. The meeting was
preceded by thugs savagely assaulting MDC
supporters and reports that Mugabe
was recruiting mercenaries from Angola
and forming a reserve army of war
veterans.
Anyone opposed to his
re-election bid was fully aware of the consequences.
This brutal show of
military strength was Mugabe's message to both internal
and external
opponents that he was prepared to go to any lengths to maintain
his
position. His open boasting about how the police had assaulted
opposition
supporters was a barbaric demonstration of what kind of a monster
he has
become.
After inflating themselves with all kinds of boasts about their power
and
influence, the Mujuru and Mnangagwa factions ended up melting at
Mugabe's
feet like ice in the sun.
Whatever promises they may have made
to the MDC in their Nicodemus meetings
proved to be hot air after Friday's
debacle.
The lesson for the main MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai is they must
review
their strategy. The MDC has consistently carried on strategies, like
participating in the elections, that have clearly not worked, given the
highly rigged electoral process.
It was a strategic error to base an
entire campaign on insisting on
presidential elections in March 2008 rather
than 2010. The dates of the
elections are meaningless without substantive
electoral reform and a new
constitution. Mugabe's decision to allow for next
year's elections instead
of 2010 was not difficult at all because all he
needs to do now is to refine
and strengthen his rigging machinery.
It
was, however, gratifying to note that MDC vice president, Thokozani
Khupe,
spelt out in no uncertain terms that the struggle against Mugabe will
continue at full speed. Khupe said these words at the height of the savage
assault of MDC officials by Mugabe's thugs. Even the victims of Mugabe's
barbarism were equally forceful, namely, nothing short of death was going to
stop them from continuing their struggle.
Tsvangirai's statement that the
MDC will not participate in the next
elections unless the environment for
free and fair elections has been
guaranteed is significant and to be
applauded. This point was echoed by NCA
president, Lovemore Madhuku, who
said that a new constitution and elections
held under international
supervision were a necessary precondition for
elections.
The Zimbabwean
Editorial
Despite his
spin, Mugabe did not have it all his way in Dar es Salaam last
week. The
appointment of President Thabo Mbeki to mediate between Zanu (PF)
and MDC is
a major improvement on the SADC leaders' previous effort, which
saw retired
Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa appointed to mediate between
Mugabe and
Tony Blair.
However, it is ominously significant that none of the leaders has
contradicted Mugabe's claims to jubilant Zanu (PF) supporters on his return
to Harare that "not one of the SADC leaders criticised me". Let's hope this
is simply a case of not kicking a man when he is down.
Our understanding
of what took place at the meeting is that, for the first
time ever, there
was a brisk exchange of views with most of the leaders
uniting to tell
Mugabe that the current wave of state-sponsored violence was
totally
unacceptable.
Apparently he gave them his word that he would reign in the
perpetrators of
the past month's vicious crackdown. But nothing has
changed.
The youth militia have been significantly emboldened by the issue of
police
and army uniforms and weapons, and so fired up by their daily
allowances of
Z$100,000 from the Reserve Bank, that there is no stopping
them now. Of
course, it could also be that Mugabe has simply reneged on
this promise as
he has so often done in the past.
Surely the regional
leaders should know by now just what kind of animal they
are dealing with
now. Their abysmal lack of appreciation of just what is
going on in Zimbabwe
is appalling.
For example, they still believe that Zimbabwe's problems are
externally
engineered, as evidenced by their call for the West to end what
they call
sanctions.
And as for Thabo Mbeki. We remain incredulous. His
performance in the past
inspires no confidence whatsoever.
And our hearts
sank even further when he was quoted this week as endorsing
Mugabe's
illusion that the country is democratic. "That's why you have an
elected
opposition. That is why it is possible for the opposition to run
municipal
government (in Harare and Bulawayo)," said Mbeki.
For a man who has a huge
embassy in Harare, together with many other sources
of information,
including a relatively free press, Mbeki is dismally
uninformed.
Surely
he must know that Mugabe fired the democratically elected MDC
councils in
several cities years ago and appointed Zanu (PF) functionaries
to run them
illegally - flouting court orders from his own judiciary.
Surely, the world,
and indeed SADC, should be able to see that Mbeki's
choosing to ignore
important facts in this manner strip him of any
legitimacy as an impartial
mediator?
Bruised and battered though they might be, we urge the MDC
leadership to
re-double its efforts communicate directly and effectively
with the SADC
governments and their people. Perhaps a personal tour, bearing
the evidence
in their broken limbs and battered faces, might be worth the
effort.
VOA
By Ndimyake Mwakalyelye
Washington
04
April 2007
The United States will not lift sanctions aimed at
Zimbabwe President Robert
Mugabe and his inner circle as a summit of
Southern African leaders urged
last week, unless Harare creates a "genuinely
free political space" and
institutes sweeping economic reforms, U.S.
Ambassador to Zimbabwe
Christopher Dell said Wednesday.
Dell, in a
wide-ranging interview with VOA, was responding to a communique
issued by
last week's Southern African Development Community summit, which
also named
South African President Thabo Mbeki its as mediator in the
Zimbabwe
crisis.
Dell dismissed the call for U.S. sanctions to be lifted. "It's
simply not
going to happen," the ambassador said in a telephone interview
from the
Harare embassy.
"We will not lift the targeted measures
against these named individuals
until such time as they take the steps
required to create a genuinely free
political space in this country, and to
begin to right some of the economic
damage that their own misguided and
greedy policies have caused," Dell said.
Zimbabwe's crisis sharpened in
March as the opposition stepped up its
challenge to Mr. Mugabe, whose
government responded with a crackdown on
opponents including the use of
deadly force against protesters and alleged
police beatings of
prisoners.
International outrage fueled by images of the badly beaten
opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai, founding president of the Movement for
Democratic Change,
prompted the regional group to call an extraordinary
summit last week in
Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.
Ambassador Dell told VOA
reporter Ndimyake Mwakalyele that although the
Southern African leaders did
not publicly criticize Mr. Mugabe, the summit
was useful because they were
tough on him in private and launched a new
mediation
initiative.
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - Zimbabwean
websites have been carrying unconfirmed reports of the
execution of 14
officers at Presidential Guard Barracks in Dzivaresekwa on
Friday following
an attempted coup.
The reports, attributed to the SA national intelligence
agency, say a group
of young Zimbabwe National Army officers had planned to
raid State House
and seize control of the country following Mugabe's
endorsement as Zanu (PF)
candidate for the 2008 Presidential
election.
"But the army intelligence quickly got wind of the development and
the
Special forces formation advanced and the 14 officers were ambushed and
immediately arrested. Instructions from the president's office ordered them
to be executed immediately by open fire," say the reports.
Fears of a
military coup have intensified since Mugabe began a vicious
crackdown on the
opposition last month. Tensions in his own party and the
army have been
growing, with two powerful factions vying for succession.
Problems of
discipline in the army and police have been widely reported
since the
beginning of this year, mainly caused by economic hardships. - Own
correspondent
The Zimbabwean
BY WILF
MBANGA
LONDON
In a pathetic attempt to strike fear into opposition
activists and
independent journalists, a number of documents, purportedly on
the
letterheads of the CIO and Zanu (PF), have been sent to The
Zimbabwean.
Headed "Death List/Confirmation on behalf of his Excellency", the
letter,
addressed to Col Chaminyuka of the Zimbabwe Intelligence Corps from
Cde Eno
in the President's office, lists 27 names, including Morgan
Tsvangirai,
Arthur Mutambara, Wilf Mbanga, Gift Phiri, Roy Bennett, Nelson
Chamisa,
Arnold Tsunga and Raymond Majongwe.
For some unknown reason, the
first three names are written in a primitive,
schoolboy numeric code whereby
1=a, 2=b, etc. while the others are spelled
out.
Mbanga and Phiri's names
are circled by hand and the letter says:
"Transgressions of circled persons
arise from publishing and communicating
false information prejudicial to the
state".
"As these executions fall under the purview of ZIC and Zanu PF
Security hit
squad, you are therefore obliged to contact Honourable Minister
Chinamasa on
772993/774620 for debrief or Minister Mutasa on 700155 who will
advise you
of the joint status of operations," says the letter.
Another
document on Zanu (PF) letterhead addressed to Cde Eno from "Cde
Zvenyika,
Zanu (PF) Security Intelligence" says:
"Intelligence could not locate Gift
Phiri because the description given was
vague. The informant is a friend to
Mujeri's younger brother (Webster a
commuter omnibus driver) who frequently
communicates with Richard. . Cde
Maeresera is in the UK and knows about W
Mbanga the editor, so that one is
settled."
Meanwhile Herbert Dapi
reports from Masvingo that party zealots and CIO
officers have drawn up a
plan to deal with selected journalists and human
rights activists in the
province whom they feel are a threat to their
personal and party
interests.
A source revealed that all journalists working for the independent
media and
some who are believed to be stringing for the international papers
as well
as online edition are targeted. Gift Phiri and Savious Kwinka are
also on
the list and if they visit the province they are supposed to
arrested.
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - Zimbabweans could soon have
to adjust to life without bread
following more escalation in the costs of
producing that have forced
bakeries to close business.
Superbake, one of
the leading bakeries in the country, recently sent about
500 workers home
after failing to sell bread at an unviable gazetted price.
Government wants
bread to be sold for about Z$800 per loaf but the Zimbabwe
Bakers
Association has said in a statement that the costs of producing a
loaf now
exceeds $6000.
The embattled Zanu (PF) government, saddled by consistent
economic recession
now approaching a decade, has been arresting management
at bread
manufacturers and bakers on allegations of failing to abide by the
gazetted
prices.
Meanwhile, the bakers association has also raised fears
of bread supplies
coming to a halt due to an acute shortage of wheat
affecting the whole
country and reported to be worsening. Sources say the
country had by last
week wheat only enough to go for two weeks. - Itai
Dzamara
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - The national executive
of the main MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai,
met at the weekend and has
resolved not to respond to violence with violence
in any form.
The
authorities have, over the past several weeks, sought on several
occasions
to frame MDC activists with a variety of "crimes" including petrol
bombing
police stations and a train, and a couple of houses and supermarkets
belonging to Zanu (PF) supporters. They have then arrested a number of MDC
supporters, but not one shred of evidence has been given and in many cases
those arrested have simply been beaten and released without charge.
The
police held a farcical press conference last week at which they produced
"weapons that the MDC intended to use to topple the government". The
pathetic arsenal on display consisted of two pistols, some detonators (which
are standard police issue), a few whistles, a loud hailer and some MDC t
shirts.
Such duplicity on the part of the once-respected police force is
the final
nail in the coffin of Zimbabwe, say observers. - Own reporter