The Zimbabwean
BY A SPECIAL
CORRESPONDENT
'It is like a wife who is beaten so badly that she will do
anything to
please her husband'
There is now only one way. There are
no other options left. Time, inaction
and lost opportunities have placed
Zimbabwe where it is right now.
Zimbabweans have talked themselves into
paralysis. They simply won't face
reality. I'm quite sure that many will
dispute what I'm saying because it is
NOT nice to say or hear these things.
In fact, I do not like saying them
because the natural reactions of some is
to immediately attack, denigrate
and accuse me of being an armchair critic
(ala pro and anti senate). The
trouble is that the demise of Zimbabwe has
happened unchecked, with
devastating speed, and as I write, there is no
tomorrow.
The tragedy is that Zimbabwe's democratic leaders have not arrived
at the
realisation that you CANNOT negotiate with Zanu (PF). They still
think that
applying pressure will bring Zanu (PF) to the negotiating table.
Pressure?
What pressure? Who on earth would contemplate destroying their
country? No
one, not even in their wildest dreams would anyone have expected
this to
happen. Well, Zanu (PF) have consciously gone ahead and have done
just that.
What was good is now evil. They have corrupted every sector of
society. What
was normal is now abnormal. The bucket of logic has been
turned upside down.
There is nothing to negotiate even if Zanu (PF) were
prepared to negotiate!
It is on this basis that I say that Zimbabweans inside
Zimbabwe must realise
is that what they consider to be "normal" in Zimbabwe
today is NOT normal.
This society is traumatised and has been beaten into
submission.
Zimbabweans need to comprehend these realities, come to terms
with them,
acknowledge them and take responsibility for them. Unfortunately
it can be
extremely difficult to accept reality. This is quite
understandable given
the enormous scale and dimension of what has and is
happening. It is like a
wife who is beaten so badly that she will do
anything to please her husband.
But the reality is that Zimbabweans have no
option but to destroy Mugabe and
Zanu (PF) before they destroy
Zimbabwe.
There is no gain from criticising anyone or any sector of
society for this
disaster. Everyone must accept responsibility
equally.
In particular, I comment on the white Zimbabweans, who constitute a
minuscule proportion of society. What are they expected to do? The reality
is that they are not wanted because their black fellow citizens don't want
to be seen as stooges as a result of association.
"Leave them alone" is
my message because if they become involved, many
Africans will see it as
some kind of "new" colonisation and loss of
"sovrenity"(sic). I know of many
whites who are doing their bit for
Zimbabwe. It is not right to get out the
paintbrush and paint a bad picture
when it is patently not the case.
The
general observation that civic, activist and political groups should
unite
is absolutely correct. Why haven't they? The answers are well known
and
documented. The truth is that as long as they remain segmented and
disunited, the longer Zanu (PF) will remain in power.
Zimbabweans are not
truly united and there is no viable strength in the
current democratic
leadership. It's too fragmented. We have seen two
congresses of the absurd.
Their energies have been so easily diverted into
hanging onto a name. It's a
pathetic show. Are these people truly Zimbabwe's
best alternative to Mugabe?
Do they really have Zimbabwe's best interests at
heart? Do they really know
what to do? Are these side-shows not indicative
of the disunity of Zimbabwe
as a whole? What has happened since these
congresses? Is anything going to
happen?
What I do know is that IF Zimbabweans (inside and outside) have
dedicated,
focused resolve and act in unison, things could change very
quickly. But
first, there is a need for smart, strong, cohesive, organised
leadership.
This leadership must be fully operational at ground level, in
the streets.
It must be seen to be leading the way. It must be
uncompromising in terms of
where it is headed. It must start humiliating
Zanu (PF) and start winning
the propaganda war. This leadership must not
warn the regime of its actions
in advance. This leadership must also have
the confidence that when that
call is made, the people will respond in their
millions.
There is no other way forward. If these realities are too tough to
stomach,
there is no tomorrow.
The Zimbabwean
It seems Zanu (PF) has
taken a deliberate policy decision to wreck the
entire country - not just
the economy, but everything. In fact it looks as
though there is a scorched
earth policy now in place. How else can one
possibly explain the
intervention by government in every sphere of life -
not to improve the
situation, but to make things worse.
The once vibrant agricultural industry
has been destroyed - to a point where
the country now cannot feed itself
even with good rains. The manufacturing
sector has been severely damaged to
a point where it cannot sustain a
workforce of a few hundred thousand
people. Nearly a million people were
rendered homeless by brutal government
action a year ago, and most of them
are still living in the open despite
much-touted construction exercises.
Recent government interference in the
lucrative mining industry has resulted
in Zimbabwe being listed as the worst
possible destination on earth for
mining investment. Now the destroyers have
turned their attention to the
private health sector, which had managed to
stagger on (despite
near-impossible conditions) because of the dedication of
health care staff,
private medical insurance and a wealthy clientele. The
comparison between
this sector and the collapse of government's health
facilities throughout
the country was obviously too much for health minister
David Parirenyatwa to
stomach.
He has now frozen all admission and
consultation fees charged by private
health operators. With inflation
nudging 1000% such a freeze is the kiss of
death. A similar move, earlier
this year, saw the freezing of private school
fees while government fees
were increased by up to 1000% - leading to
massive drop-out rates and
continuing disturbances by university students
throughout the country. When
will this government learn to leave well alone?
If it works - don't 'fix'
it.
Death threats for Morgan
The leaders of Zanu (PF) have threatened
to kill opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai if he continues with his
programme of mass resistance. In most
civilised countries, such a threat is
a criminal offence. But not in
Zimbabwe where the ruling elite are above the
law. Tsvangirai has refused to
be intimidated by the threats and vowed to
continue. We salute him.
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - "The
lives of all Zimbabweans are under threat, not just mine," was
MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai's response to threats to annihilate him from
President
Robert Mugabe, some of his ministers and Zanu (PF) heavies.
"There is
absolutely nothing one can do if the forces of a dictatorship are
determined
to liquidate him," said Tsvangirai. "We all live in the shadow of
a criminal
state and for each one of us to continue to exist under a brutal
dictatorship is entirely in the hands of Almighty God."
He said many had
already paid the ultimate price fighting for freedom in
Zimbabwe.
"The
cost of the Mugabe dictatorship is immense. How do you quantify the
damage
to a family that loses a breadwinner because of the shortage of
malarial or
anti-retroviral drugs? I see myself as a mere symbol of the
resistance of
most Zimbabweans to the tyranny that is oppressing us. I carry
a message
that resonates with the aspirations of an oppressed people. If
Mugabe
confuses the difference between the role I am playing and myself as
an
individual - that is his choice. The national crisis will not disappear
because Mugabe is angry and has declared a war against the
people."
Tsvangirai said the people had charted a road map to a New Zimbabwe,
which
included a new constitution, and MDC would not let them down.
He
said the government's wrath had fallen on MDC because it was not a
toothless
opposition. "We unmasked this shameful act of deception - a
society where
the opposition is allowed, but constrained; dissent is vaguely
tolerated,
but infiltrated and severely limited. As was witnessed by all at
our
Congress last month, there no longer exists a dispute as to who
represents
the pulse of the nation."
The MDC leader said it was no secret that the
people were organising
themselves for a final resolution of the crisis.
Despite their frenzied
attempts to do so, the authorities had failed to
muzzle that debate.
"The people are clear about what needs to be done. And
they shall do it. I
am confident that when it happens, the result shall be
in the national
interest," he said. - Own correspondent
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - The Morgan
Tsvangirai-led MDC is to launch a major international
diplomatic offensive
to explain its new strategy of active, but peaceful,
resistance to the
tyrannical Mugabe regime.
In an exclusive interview with The Zimbabwean
this week the publicity
secretary, Nelson Chamisa said the party would send
delegations of senior
personnel to friendly governments in the region and
abroad to explain the
country's political crisis, introduce the party's new
leadership and outline
the way forward following the recent MDC congress.
The party would
simultaneously reorganise its structures in an effort to
prepare internally
for the next chapter of the struggle for freedom in
Zimbabwe, said Chamisa.
"We need re-invigorated party structures to sustain
the planned active
resistance." For security reasons he would not elaborate
on what form such
resistance would take "We know this dictatorship well," he
said. "And for
strategic reasons we cannot divulge any details at this
stage. But the
people of Zimbabwe know what a struggle we are engaged in
and will be ready
to respond when the time is right."
In his
acceptance speech to the congress on March 19, MDC President Morgan
Tsvangirai, announced a new season of resistance. This was immediately
followed by unveiled threats from Zanu (PF) heavies, who called for his
arrest for treason. The minister for home affairs, Kembo Mohadi, said: "This
treachery has now gone beyond all forms of decency and must be stopped. The
courts must take note of Morgan Tsvangirai's open call for violence which,
in essence, constitutes high treason." Chamisa emphasised that Tsvangirai
had never advocated violence in any form and had always insisted that active
resistance against the Mugabe regime should take the form of mass, peaceful,
protests.
Zanu (PF) spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira and the party's
political commissar
Elliot Manyika last week tried to evoke the spectre of
war to scare
opposition groups from taking mass action. "Those who reject
the legal and
democratic way of running the government and choose
confrontation will be
confronted by the long arm of the state (sic). Zanu
(PF) alone has the
gruelling experience of war, and strongly urges the
armchair talkers to shut
up. War is not like a picnic or a dinner party, it
is blood, sweat, injuries
and death," Shamuyarira and Manyika said in a
joint statement. Earlier State
Security Minister Didymus Mutasa told the
CIO-owned Financial Gazette that
the government would crush any mass
protests against the administration.
The Zimbabwean
BY MARICO
SOKO
BULAWAYO - From a distance you can see a mountain of refuse and tiny
figures
scavenging through the rubble. As you get nearer, a reeking smell
assaults
your nose and you wonder how the people are surviving the
stench.
This is a place known as Ngozi mine, home to more than 500 men, women
and
children. Ngozi means danger in local SiNdebele, and one does not have
to
look far to see the danger these families are exposing
themselves.
Japhet Ndoro with his tattered jeans covered with soot like a
real miner,
emerges from his shack where he says he has lived for months now
after his
original hovel was destroyed last year by government demolition
teams at the
height Operation Murambatsvina.
Ndoro says before Operation
Murambatsvina about 3000 people lived here, but
while others were assisted
with relocation by the Combined Churches of
Bulawayo, a multi-denomination
grouping of local pastors, others came back
to earn a living through
scavenging for scrap metal.
Meluleki Ndlovu says while he would like to go to
his rural home where his
children are, but he has no money to take him home.
Fr. Danisa Khumalo, a
Catholic priest working with the people who have made
their homes amid the
filth here is assisting a number of families with
relocation to their rural
homes.
Some have been given homesteads in
Plumtree, south-west of Zimbabwe, the
priest says, but not all who are here
are willing to leave this place which
is an obvious health hazard.
This
place, far removed from the city centre is used by companies as a
dumping
site, and burnt tyres from a major tyre maker here can be seen a few
metres
from where a woman stoops preparing the family meal.
The scrap metal which
they pick from the huge mountain of junk is sold for
Z$2,500 per kg. The men
and women who have made their homes here are part of
thousands across
Bulawayo living in the bushes despite being in what urban
planners say is
part of Greater Bulawayo with its modern buildings.
In Cowdray Park, about 12
miles from the Bulawayo Central Business District,
an 80- year-old patriarch
lives with eight other families in tents erected
by the government last
year, ostensibly as some form of transit camp.
Moffat Bwanali, who says he
left Malawi before the country's first president
came to power in 1964 is
frail and in poor health. "This is no way to live,"
he said, watching his
grandchildren play in the filth around the tents -
just a stone throw away
from the government's much hyped Operation Hlalani
Kuhle, another programme
began as a knee-jerk response to the much condemned
Operation
Murambatvsina.
As these houses are still to be occupied by their
beneficiaries, the
tent-dwellers have taken advantage of the absence of
tenants to get their
drinking water from there - but for how much longer no
one knows.
Bwanali says he was told by government officials to renounce his
Malawian
citizenship before he could be assisted. A controversial law here
has made
children born in Zimbabwe but of Malawian parents virtually
stateless and
also taken away their franchise.
With the demolitions last
year, it emerged that many of the evictees were of
Malawian, Zambian and
Mozambican descent, but because they are not
officially registered with
respective embassies, they also cannot, after the
new legislation, claim
Zimbabwe as their home, though they have in the past
participated in local
elections.
The Zimbabwean
BY A
CORRESPONDENT
HARARE - Having exhausted farcical claims of a coup plot in
Mutare, the
state-run media shamelessly found fresh "coup" material in
grossly distorted
coverage of Morgan Tsvangirai's plans for mass protests,
portraying him as
bent on the violent overthrow of Robert
Mugabe.
Tsvangirai's remarks, at the congress of his faction of the
fractured
opposition Movement for Democratic Change, became in the state-run
media a
planned bloody coup, and Mugabe officials were passively quoted
warning
Tsvangirai to "stop talking about or planning violence and
insurrections."
The media watchdog, the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
(MMPZ), in its
report covering March 20-26, noted, for example, that none of
the ZBH
reports provided the context in which Tsvangirai allegedly planned a
violent
coup, or quoted him actually saying so. ZTV only briefly showed
Tsvangirai
telling a post-congress news conference about his group's plans
to
"confront" the regime, and then abruptly chopped him off before he could
explain how they intended to do it. The state-run dailies, The Herald and
The Chronicle, were equally malign, reporting the threats by Zanu-PF
officials "without viewing them as being repressive, intolerant and typical
of government's authoritarian attitude towards political opposition," said
MMPZ. The monitors singled out as particularly offensive columns by Caesar
Zvayi and Nathanial Manheru in The Herald and Munyaradzi Huni in The Sunday
Mail, all apparently "preoccupied with attempting to discredit the
opposition party's activities for the sake of it." The private media,
including Studio 7 and SW Radio Africa, provided more balanced coverage.
They quoted Tsvangirai as saying what he actually said about peaceful
protest, and analysed the implications of the congress for the divided
opposition and Zimbabwe politics generally. They also balanced their reports
with quotes from Zanu (PF) officials threatening Tsvangiari's group with
boodshed if they dared demonstrate against the authorities. In addition, the
private media carried seven reports of actions by state agents against the
regime's perceived opponents: the MDC, businesses, foreign trade unionists,
church leaders and white commercial farmers. The state-run media ignored
these latest violations of human rights. But then this is an administration
that has never been big on press freedom, and which now no longer bothers
even to pay lip service to the tenets of free speech. Thus came an outburst
from Information Minister Tichaona Jokonya raging on about Western
governments clandestinely buying into media organisations "through seemingly
private corporate bodies" - though he did not naturally come up with any
names - and urging that Africa "organise itself" in similar fashion.
"We
are Zimbabweans first and journalists much later in life. We cannot
sacrifice the country on the altar of so-called media freedom," said
Jokonya. The MMPZ noted that the state mouthpieces carried Jokonya's words
without question, including allowing him to "depict reports on the country's
worsening crisis as a creation of the Western media, such as the BBC and
CNN." Well, even the most brain-washed Zanu (PF) devotees would have a hard
time squaring that with the reality of their daily lives of soaring prices,
power cuts, and shortages of everything. So the state media continued with
their technique of reporting the symptoms of economic decline, from the
plunging agricultural output to soft drink shortages, as one-off events
without asking why the authorities have allowed it all to go so wrong. The
private media, however, battled on with critical insights into any move by
the regime to start seizing mines - one of the few remaining productive
sectors. Studio 7 and SW Radio Africa also carried stories on the dire food
situation and how donor agencies are battling to raise funds.
The Zimbabwean
Letter from
America
BY STANFORD MUKASA
WASHINGTON - No one in his or her right
mind can ever doubt the cold hard
facts that Zimbabwe has passed all exits
and detours on its one way to sheer
hell.
And totally oblivious to a
disintegrating country around him Mugabe has,
true to his character,
threatened to use violence against MDC president,
Morgan Tsvangirai, if the
opposition movement should stage demonstrations.
He has placed a great deal
of faith in his army, police, youth militia thugs
and the CIO to do the
dirty job for him. A particularly disturbing, but not
surprising, event was
Mugabe's threatening Tsvangirai with death. It is
obvious that Tsvangirai is
now in mortal danger.
Mugabe's outrageous speech, while reflecting an
obviously deranged mind of
an ageing dictator, must be taken seriously. Each
time Mugabe has issued
such threats in the past his youth militia thugs have
wreaked havoc on the
opposition supporters.
Mugabe's threat reflects his
desire to finally and decisively deal with
Tsvangirayi. For the MDC
president stands between Mugabe and his retirements
plans. Mugabe would
like to retire but he wants to make sure he leaves
behind a successor who
has a chance of winning in the next presidential
elections.
Mugabe's
hand-picked successor, Joyce Mujuru, is not only unelectable, just
like
Emmerson Mnangagwa, she does not inspire any confidence, even within
Zanu
(PF). She is the Uhuru Kenyatta of Zimbabwe. Mugabe knows that
eliminating
Tsvangirai will make his succession plans for Mujuru easier.
The arrest of
former Liberian freedom fighter- turned- dictator Charles
Taylor, and widely
distributed pictures of Taylor in handcuffs must have
sent shivers in
Mugabe, also a supposedly freedom fighter -turned -dictator
who has
committed crimes similar, if not worse.
But Mugabe also knows the
consequences of killing Tsvangirai, just like the
apartheid regime in South
Africa was cognizant of what would happen if any
harm befell Nelson
Mandela. It would bring a swift and sustained
condemnation of Mugabe and
perhaps hasten the end of the regime in ways that
Mugabe never
imagined.
Some Zimbabweans may be wondering whether it is worth staging mass
demonstrations against the 82-year-old geriatric Mugabe, given that Mugabe
is now a spent force, a politically rotten apple that is about to fall
anytime.
The strange reality in Zimbabwean politics is that Mugabe's
laundry list of
supporters and sycophants are still hanging on to the ageing
dictator even
as he politically totters because of his advanced age and the
pressures
building on him. They know that Mugabe is headed for a
disastrous end. Yet
they still cling on to him religiously.
It will be
interesting to watch how Mugabe's faithful disciples fall like
dominoes
after their master collapses. But there are others who have seen
the
impending disastrous end and are now jumping the Zanu (PF) ship as it
approaches the political iceberg. There can be no doubt that the stakes are
now very high.
While most political writing has focused on the leadership
split in the MDC
and how the opposition movement has supposedly been
rendered too weak to
confront Mugabe there is, strangely enough, relatively
less aggressive
coverage on the decay within the ruling party.
The
politics of the opposition movement in Zimbabwe are a legitimate subject
of
journalism and public debate. But the opposition is not in power. They do
not have to account for anything, or be held responsible for the situation
in the country.
The Zimbabwean
MUNICH - Hundreds of
people gathered here at the weekend to celebrate the
10th anniversary of the
partnership between the cities of Harare and Munich.
" Due to the difficult
political situation, the twinning is different from
what we imagined 10
years ago," said Mayor Hep Monatzeder as he opened the
festivities, " but it
is all the more important not to abandon the citizens
of Harare now." He
then cut a huge, 10-tier cake, with Robert Franck, the
representative of
HamuPa /ESS (Harare-Munich Partnership/ Ecumenical support
Services) and
Sister Tendai Makonese, from the Dominican convent in Harare.
The
German-Zimbabwean band "Pamuzinda-Munich" entertained the crowd, which
donated ?400 for human rights work in Harare. Some people asked if it would
not be better to cancel the twinning as there is no contact between the
Munich City Council and the (illegal) Commission, which is misruling Harare.
" There is close co-operation between the City and its organs and the
citizens' group HaMuPa which uses any opportunity it can to organise public
meetings and run information stands. For HaMuPa it is a political school.
We have learnt very much through our friends in Harare. We have learnt that
civil and human rights need to be defended. We can't take them for granted,"
said a spokesman for the organisers.
The Zimbabwean
PRETORIA - At least 100
Zimbabwean and Somali refugees who mobbed the United
Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees offices in Pretoria last year
demanding
repatriation from South Africa have not yet been attended to.
The refugees,
who camped at the UNHCR offices in August last year, have now
formed a
committee to force officials to attend to their dilemma.
The chairman of the
committee Farai Juma, a Zimbabwean, said: "Now it is
nearly 10 months for us
gathering outside UN offices demanding repatriation.
We are not going to
move out of here unless we are repatriated. The
officials are neglecting us
but we will never be intimidated by them. Some
of them are even demanding
money to help us and we are fed up with all these
useless bribes."
When
CAJ News visited the opulent UN offices during the night recently, a
number
of refugees were busy cooking on the entrance hall and some were
sleeping
inside the building.
Contacted for comment, UNHCR information Officer Pumla
Rulashe acknowledged
the disturbance at the offices.
"Yes, we know of
these who are boycotting at our offices. But the fact that
they are staying
at the building is not our concern as we do not own the
building. We can't
evict them," she said
South Africa's Director-General for Refugees, Busisiwe
Mkhwebane-Tshehla,
professed ignorance about any disturbances, while human
rights commissioner
legal officer Phillip Mabletsa, who is defending the
refugees, has appealed
to the UNHCR to assist the refugees.
According to
UNHCR statistics South Africa hosts approximately 29,000
recognised refugees
and 110,000 asylum seekers whose asylum applications are
not finalized. -
CAJ News
The Zimbabwean
Recently I met someone
who was on the spot when a fire destroyed the top
floor of Mater Dei
Hospital, Bulawayo, on August 26 last year. An electrical
fault is the prime
suspect. But it was the outcome not the cause that gives
rise to
wonder.
Although the fire occurred at 10.00 at night 21 patients were
evacuated
safely from the floor and they were even able to take their cell
phones with
them to call relatives. Just one person died. The fire brigade
was quickly
on the spot and put out the fire. The patients were gathered on
the lawn and
all the doctors of Bulawayo came to offer their services. As
the word spread
it seems the whole of Bulawayo came to see what they could
do. Jews, Muslims
and people of different religious and political
persuasions - all rose above
their differences in a moment of crisis. They
brought sheets and blankets,
made beds and helped clean the debris. By noon
the following day all the
patients, except one baby, were back in the
hospital or in the adjoining
convent and were being cared for as
before.
Once again, as so often in history, crisis brought people together
and
pulled down the walls between them. 'He has broken down the barrier
which
used to keep us apart' (Ephesians 2:14). The one who shared this
account
with me was full of praise for everyone in Bulawayo. She feels it is
a
wonderful city where people are united and have a strong sense of
community.
Chinua Achebe, writing about Nigerians says:
There is nothing
basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is
nothing wrong with the
Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything
else. The Nigerian
problem is the unwillingness of its leaders to rise to
the responsibility,
to the challenge of personal example, which are the
hallmarks of true
leadership.
There is nothing wrong with the people of Bulawayo or Harare or
Gutu or
anywhere else. Given the opportunity of responding to the crisis in
our
midst they would all happily rush to the scene and offer whatever help
they
could. But there is one thing needed: an admission that there is a
crisis
and a willingness to accept help in resolving it. If we go on saying:
'Crisis! What crisis?' and denying anything is wrong the flames simply
spread.
The Zimbabwean
By Jenni Williams
About 1,000
women of WOZA met in Harare and Bulawayo last week to reflect on
their vigil
of March 31, 2005 - election night - when hundreds were beaten,
trampled and
imprisoned by the police. The prayer sessions were convened to
allow members
to pray for healing and share their testimonies. The
gatherings were
undisturbed by police. The leadership of WOZA would like to
pay tribute to
the women for the courage shown that election night and for
keeping their
sisterhood bond. A year later, we recognise that there is a
dire need for
WOZA women to receive counselling. Many tears were shed and
many emotions
felt as sharply as if the experiences were from yesterday not
last year. One
of the women testified that she had spent a month in hospital
undergoing ear
and eye surgery after being injured by police brutality, but
was now fully
recovered and able to work again. She thanked her WOZA sisters
for standing
by her throughout her ordeal.
WOZA sisterhood bond
I give my word that
I will strive to stand up in support of my sisters. I
will give 'her' my
hand in support as we struggle together towards our
rightful place as equals
in society. Working together, hand in hand, we
shall bring Zimbabwe back to
peace, justice and prosperity. As the struggle
continues, I will remember
the following guidelines:
1. To speak out and encourage other women to do the
same, so that the female
voice is heard. Women should no longer suffer
silently.
2. To participate in peaceful assembly and meetings to discuss our
challenges and to act rather than complain.
3. To be a comfortable
shoulder to lean on or a listening ear. 'A problem
shared is a problem
halved'.
4. To demonstrate love and courage in our homes and communities so
that
people can shake away fear.
5. Women are the mothers of the nation
and must demand that Dignity.
6. I agree to be disciplined if I endanger the
lives of my sisters in any
way.
7. To be a supporter of Non-violence so
that people can see that problems
can be solved peacefully.
8. To seek
out and be in solidarity with like-minded women.
9. To be God fearing and
encourage activities that promote spiritual health.
10.To support Democratic
participation with tolerance for differing views
and opinions.
11."An
injury to one is an injury to all".
Testimonies
"I was arrested on
31 March at Africa Unity Square. I arrived there and saw
police standing
holding batons. I sat down with other WOZA women. When I was
about to jump
into the Santana, one of the officers beat me with a baton. I
jumped inside
because of the pain. She is called Constable Musiwa. At the
police station,
Musiwa beat me again. After a while when I wanted to go to
the toilet one of
the police women said, "I want to eat - you are disturbing
me". She was
slim, tall, light in complexion wearing navy blue trousers and
a grey shirt,
maybe about 24 years of age. I slept seated the whole night at
the courtyard
without any treatment or medication." - Eva of Emakhandeni
born in 1952,
unemployed.
"A police officer said: "You WOZA ladies are giving us
problems - now I am
working overtime because of you." He started beating us
and I was beaten
once on my lower back with a baton stick. I was also kicked
on my left foot
near the ankle. Then the same officers told us to stand up
and walk into the
Square, were I saw a female officer and WOZA women
kneeling facing down. We
were told to do the same and we did. Her name was
Musiwa, she was short and
slim around mid 20's. I saw her the next morning
as she was writing our
fines and got her name. She picked me out to stand
up and asked me why I
came to Harare. I was then told to lie down by a
short, slim police officer,
He gave me another six stokes on my thighs. I
saw this same baton broken on
one of my colleagues later. I was seriously
injured and could not walk
properly. When I went to give my detail to Musiwa
to process my fine, she
refused saying I was crying. When I was released I
was hospitalised for five
days but remained having physiotherapy three times
a week for over two
weeks." - Brenda of Pumula, 17 yrs old.
"We were
at the Railway station when police officers invaded and started to
beat us.
They firstly ordered us to lie down on our stomachs on the wet
pavement
outside the station. They then started to beat us with baton sticks
asking
us what we were doing in Harare. One baton stick even broke. They
said we
should stay in Bulawayo and said 'Kusina mai akuendwi' meaning we
have no
mother in Harare so we should not go there! They said they would
teach us a
lesson so that we will never come to Harare again. I was beaten
on my bottom
and back seven times along with other women, some of them
grandmothers. We
were then ordered to run to the Central Police station
where we found over
200 of our colleagues - most had also been beaten. I
could not sit down
properly for more than two weeks and even now one year
later, I still feel
pain when it is cold." - NS
"I was arrested with the starting group at
Africa Unity Square shortly after
7 pm. The police officers requested
vehicles and we were taken to Harare
Central Police station and made to sit
in a veranda near the car park.
Truckloads of women kept coming. Women were
beaten, pushed and kicked as
they disembarked from the police vehicles. They
kept trying to count us but
more and more women kept arriving. Eventually
they gave up and told us to
stay there in the open. We were very crowded and
had to sit between each
others legs to fit. We spent the whole night seated.
Lawyers came but they
were denied access to us. Food and medication came and
they refused to let
us have it." - Magodonga Mahlangu
The Zimbabwean
JOHANNESBURG - Prayers for
deliverance from the Zanu (PF) government were
made by Zimbabweans from all
walks of life at Braamfontein last Friday
night. Dubbed the International
Day of Prayer for Zimbabwe, several Zimbabwe
Diaspora Civil Society
Organisations prayed for freedom and democracy to
return to Harare. The
South African Council of Churches (SACC)
representative, who came to share
the message of solidarity prayed for God
to give MDC President Morgan
Tsvangirai the much needed courage in these
tempting times. "I am praying to
you God so that you give courage to Morgan
Tsvangirai so that he liberates
Zimbabwe and its people scattered all over
the world. "I am praying to you
God so that you return Zimbabwe to its
previous position, where food was
abundant with your children enjoying every
moment of life. Oh God, deal with
Mugabe," prayed Paster Peter Moyo of the
SAAC. Pastor Moyo likened president
Mugabe to the hard-hearted Egyptian
Pharoah, who over many years oppressed
the people of Israel. The Zimbabwe
Pastors Forum (ZFP) President, Pastor
Stephen Chiadzwa, was the main speaker
as he preached peace, love of one
another, forgiveness, unity among the
Zimbabweans in the diaspora as well as
urging them to put focus on God for
total deliverance. He said God was the
only answer to all the problems and
sufferings his fellow countrymen were
going through whilst in the foreign
lands. - CAJ News.
The Zimbabwean
JOHANNESBURG - The
seven-women delegation from the Southern Africa
Development Community who
had been in South Africa for one week mobilisation
mission to create
regional awareness of the repressive regime in Zimbabwe
have said their
mission was a resounding success. Speaking after the hectic
tour, the
Secretary General for Women In Prayer Together for Zimbabwe, Grace
Mugwidi
said: "We managed to meet several organisations and they appreciate
the
problems we are facing in Zimbabwe. Some church women promised to come
to
Zimbabwe and give solidarity and contribute to our cause." WITPZ is
planning
also to launch a chapter in South Africa for Zimbabwe women living
in the
diaspora so that they constantly pressurise regional leaders about
the evils
of the Mugabe regime. "Our colleagues in South Africa encouraged
us to
continue with the struggle and it was a worthwhile visit as some were
not
aware of the evils and crisis that is taking place on the ground in
Zimbabwe. We are now battle-hardened for the struggle. People will come out
from every corner to fight Mugabe's evils," said Mugwidi. - Zakeus Chibaya
The Zimbabwean
JOHANNESBURG - Most
Zimbabwean civic society organisations based in South
Africa are on the
verge of collapse as they have been infiltrated by Central
Intelligence
Organisation agents and there is rampant mushrooming of dubious
and
briefcase organisations trying to divide and create confusion in the
diaspora. There are more than 50 Zimbabwe organisations based in South
Africa. Most of them are only involved in internet activism - yet very few
Zimbabweans use the internet, even in the diaspora. In Johannesburg alone
there are over 30 organisations competing for the same political space. The
groups and their leaders rival each other bitterly. Presenting a paper at
the South Africa Institute for International Affairs on Mobilising the
Diaspora for Political Activism, Zimbabwe academic, James Muzondidya said
there was a need to streamlining the organisations and to identify their
common ground and goals. "The overwhelming use of internet to spread
information and advance debate has proved to be the greatest weakness of
Diaspora activism. While opening up the space for debate, cyber democracy
has offered democracy to a minority and restricted the major debates to
those with access to computers and internet," he said. "The problems of
Zimbabwe Diaspora activism are compounded by the fact that most of the
existing Diaspora groups lack clear focus. Moreover, the excessive reliance
on the internet to carry out political programmes, at the expense of other
forms of activism, has reduced their activism to what critics have
disparagingly described as desktop or keyboard activism," said Muzondidya.
Muzondidya noted the Movement for Democratic Change Johannesburg branch was
best known for infighting rather than its ability to organise support. Joddy
Kollapaden, the Chairman of South Africa Human Rights Commission said most
of the groups were infiltrated by Mugabe intelligence agents. "The other
problem is that the South African community does not appreciate the crisis
in Zimbabwe and the environment in the country is not conducive for
organisations to actively participate," he said. - Own correspondent
The Zimbabwean
MDC emerges stronger, better and
sharper
"The team of courage and hope"
The regime better be
warned. The MDC's second national Congress resolved
that this year, the
party should engage in a sustained people's programme to
confront the
dictatorship and bring salvation to suffering Zimbabweans. The
15 000-strong
delegates then elected a team of courage and hope, brimming
with an exciting
mixture of youthful zeal, confidence and experience. The
nation is excited
that this team will achieve the nation's vision of a new
Zimbabwe and a new
beginning.
Here are some of the profiles of the new leaders elected at
the historic
second national people's congress held on 17-19 March
2006.
Morgan Tsvangirai (President)
The re-elected MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai is a self-made person, a solid
administrator, competent thinker,
charismatic leader, democratic team player
and above all, a compassionate
family man. He has an unshakable appreciation
of the key challenges facing
Zimbabwe as a country and Zimbabweans as a
people.
President Tsvangirai
is a product of important social movements in this
country, which include
the labour and constitutional reform movements. He is
the former Secretary
General of the powerful Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU) and is the
founding chairperson of the National Constitutional
Assembly, a pressure
group that advocating for a new constitution for
Zimbabwe.
He is a
graduate of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of
Government, where
he attended the school's Executive Leaders In Development
Program, in June
2001.This programme concentrates on such themes as
leadership, managing
political and economic reforms, managing transition,
economic development,
financial management and globalisation. This is a
programme for executive
global leaders in key organizations, government
departments, international
organizations, academic institutions and
Non-Governmental
Organisations.
The eldest of nine children, Tsvangirai was born in Gutu,
Masvingo and
attended Munyira Primary School and then Silveira and Gokomere
High schools.
At 20 he was working at Mutare Clothing where he had his first
taste of
trade unionism as a member of the local textile union. Two years
later he
joined the Trojan Nickel Mine in Bindura. He spent ten years at the
mine,
rising from plant operator to general foreman. President Tsvangirai
became
branch chairman of the Associated Mine Workers Union and was later
elected
into the executive of the National Mine Workers Union before
becoming
Secretary General of the ZCTU in 1988.
President Tsvangirai has
also held several high-ranking positions in many
regional labour movements.
He has been a guest speaker at various faculties
of various universities on
the continent and beyond. He has also been a
guest speaker and presenter at
various conferences including the World Trade
Forum, trade union related
forums, and both NGO and government organized
seminars. The man is an
eloquent speaker, has a multitalented personality
and displays an amazing
amount of energy, which drives his hard work.
It was President Tsvangirai, as
the then secretary-general, who led the ZCTU
away from its alliance with the
ruling Zanu PF. As the influence of the
workers and that of the movement
grew, his relationship with the Zanu PF
government deteriorated. In 1989 he
was imprisoned for six weeks on charges
of being a South African spy. He has
also been a victim of premeditated and
government inspired harassment and
violence. There have been three
assassination attempts on his life, which
include the 1997 attempt, where
unknown assailants burst into his office and
tried to throw him out of a
tenth story window.
President Tsvangirai has
been acquitted of two trumped-up charges of
treason. The first was for an
alleged plot to assassinate Mugabe before the
2002 presidential elections,
and the other over a remark allegedly made at
rallies in Bulawayo and Mutare
in May 2003 when he is alleged to have called
for the unconstitutional
removal of Mugabe.
Many people throughout the world feel that President
Tsvangirai was robbed
of victory in the Zimbabwean 2002 Presidential
Elections, which many local
and international observers have described as
highly flawed.
President Tsvangirai, has been married to his wife Susan since
1978. They
have 6 children. When not in the office or out meeting the
people, President
Tsvangirai likes to read and spend time with his
family.
Since his election as MDC President in February 2000, he has remained
steadfast in his belief that the people should complete the change for a
better life for all. In his acceptance speech at the second people's
Congress, President Tsvangirai warned the regime of a long winter of
resistance by the people of Zimbabwe. He has remained unshaken and is
convinced that only confrontation, and not capitulation, is the hope for the
people of Zimbabwe.
'In the closure of democratic space where the road is
full of skeletons and
blood, we are determined to complete the change we set
on to achieve a few
years ago," the MDC leader said.
TENDAI BITI
(secretary-general)
The newly appointed MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti
is well known across
the country as a courageous political cadre, a
brilliant lawyer, an eloquent
and persuasive speaker and a vigilant fighter
for human rights and
democracy.
A week ago, suffering Zimbabweans
placed their faith and hope and elected
him the second secretary-general of
the Movement for Democratic Change. He
was born on 6 August 1966 and grew up
in the Dzivaresekwa suburb of Harare.
Biti was educated at Goromonzi High
School just outside Harare and later
went to the University of Zimbabwe
where he graduated from the law school.
At University, he was a student
leader and helped lead the famous
demonstrations in 1988 and 1989 which
ground to a halt the government's
intention on curtailing academic freedom.
It was an exciting age of student
activism against government's unbridled
corruption and its wicked intention
to establish a one-party state. The
demonstrations, led by Biti and others,
formed the basis and nucleus of
present day student activism.
In 2000, Biti helped found the MDC and was
elected its MP for Harare East.
He is currently serving his second term as
MP for the area and has helped
found important civic groups such as the NCA
and the Zimbabwe lawyers for
Human Rights.
The eloquent
secretary-general was the party's secretary for Economic
Affairs and was one
of the brains behind RESTART, the MDC's economic
blueprint that proposes
practical solutions to the country's multi-layered
crisis
He is a
brilliant lawyer and in 1995, at the age of 29, he made his name in
the
legal fraternity after he exposed massive rigging in the Zanu PF
electoral
management system. He successfully represented Margaret Dongo
(independent)
against Zanu PF's Vivian Mwashita in the elections for Harare
South
constituency. The polls were nullified and Dongo won the rerun.
Biti has
distinguished himself as a polished lawyer and since 2000, he has
been an
articulator in Parliament on issues of the law, corruption, human
rights and
justice.
Biti is a spirited team player who believes that every blood is
precious,
particularly considering the various components constituting the
MDC. He
celebrates diversity of opinions and pluralism of ideas. He is
humbled by
the support and trust bestowed upon him by members of the party
in
appointing him to such a high position.
He has faith in the team
appointed by this Congress and he is raring to go.
"We are going to be
different. There is no doubt about that. I know the
capabilities of the
people who have been elected and have no doubt that the
team will deliver. I
know the team understands what it is like to carry the
hope of the nation on
our shoulders," he said.
"Our last hope is with this team. To
Zimbabweans, I can only tell them the
end of the end is about to
begin."
THOKOZANI KHUPE (Vice President)
The new-look team
includes veteran trade unionist and prominent women's
rights activist
Thokozani Khupe, who was elected vice President.
The 42-year old Khupe
was born in Bulawayo. She has three children and has
faith in the team
elected at Congress. A member of the ZCTU general council
and the women's
advisory council for many years, Khupe, the MP for Makokoba,
is woman with
immense zeal to achieve the best for Zimbabwe.
"I believe we will work
together (with the new team). I thank the nation for
investing their trust
and confidence me and placing me on the stewardship of
the party. This team
will do great things. Together we will rally the people
for a new Zimbabwe,"
she said.
"My election means women are now moving away from the corner to the
centre,
from the periphery to the centre. And the centre is where the whole
game is
played."
She says she is ready to fulfill the wishes of
Congress in confronting the
regime by using people pressure to help resolve
the country's crisis.
"I am ready. I have always been a fighter. Fighting
this regime is my call,"
she said.
Khupe holds a Bachelor's degree in
Media Studies, a diploma in Information
Technology from Turin College in
Italy. She has several courses in
industrial relations, teaching methodology
and community development.
Khupe says she has a passion for helping the
nation realize its vision,
especially the women whose heroism remains unsung
and unnoticed.
Since 2000, she has been deputy chief whip of the
opposition, deputy
chairperson of the Parliamentary Women's caucus and is a
member of the
Budget and Finance committee as well as the Defence and Home
Affairs
committee
Khupe has attended several inter-parliamentary
union conferences and is also
a member of the African Parliamentary Network
against Corruption.
She enjoys reading and attending political
sessions.
LOVEMORE MOYO (Vice Chairman)
The affable and youthful
MP for Matobo and provincial chairman for
Matabeleland South, Lovemore Moyo,
was elected to the post of deputy
national chairman.
Moyo has rich
experience in civic and political leadership, which started in
the late
1970's when he joined the liberation struggle at the age of 14. He
is a
former freedom fighter with ZAPU.
Born in Matobo on 29 January 1965, Moyo
is married and has three children.
He attained his early education in Matobo
and later went Foundation College
in Bulawayo for his Advanced Level
education.
A businessman in his own right, Moyo has qualifications in
Credit
Management, insurance, Leadership and Management. He is in his last
year
for a degree in Development Studies with the University of South
Africa. In
1993, he participated in a leadership training programme under
the Young
African Leaders Project in the United States.
Moyo brings
to the top echelons of the party his vast experience in various
civic and
political groups. He has been a board secretary for the
Matabeleland
Development Foundation (1999). He is a founder member of the
party and
served in the first interim executive in the formative stages of
the MDC.He
served in the Policy and research arm of the party and helped
develop the
party's policy programmes and the constitution.
He later became the
Matabeleland South provincial secretary. He became the
provincial chairman
in January 2006 before he was elected the party's first
deputy
chairman.
" I am excited. I am very excited. It is encouraging to be part
of the
exciting team of dedicated cadres who will definitely take the
struggle to a
higher plane. We are a futuristic team with a strong fighting
spirit. In my
new position, I undertake to preside over people's grievances
impartially,"
Moyo said with enthusiasm, adding he was ready to take up the
resolution of
Congress to confront the regime.
"I have always been
ready to engage in democratic resistance. This team will
lead the people. We
cannot sit anymore. It is better to die fighting. We
need to rise and tame
the beast. Some of us are determined to put our lives
at risk in order to
save our nation."
Moyo is a sports enthusiast. A keen volleyball player,
he was vice president
and treasurer-general of the Zimbabwe Volleyball
Association. He was in the
organizing team for the All-Africa games held in
Zimbabwe.
MORGAN KOMICHI (deputy organizing secretary)
Komichi
is trade unionist and co-founder of the Zimbabwe Electricity Workers
Union,
in where she was vice president in 1994.
He was born on 18 April 1964.
Educated at Silveira mission, Komichi moved to
Kwekwe for his secondary
education. He is an instrument technician and is
now chief technician with a
big power company.
With his background as a trade unionist, he joined the
MDCD in 1999 and was
one of the founding organizers of the party in
Matabeleland North, where he
has been provincial chairman since
2000.
Komichi is an ardent party activist and married with four children.
He is
currently an undergraduate in Electrical Engineering with the Zimbabwe
Institute of Engineers. He also holds a qualification in
Management.
Komichi has confidence that the new team will deliver a new
Zimbabwe and a
new beginning.
"I am proud of this team. We have much
in common. We are all aggressive and
results-oriented. Personally, I am not
new in democratic resistance. We have
planned and executed similar projects.
The good thing is that all dictators
will go in the end," said
Komichi.
"Most of these dictators have succumbed to people power through
democratic
resistance."
Profiles for other leaders, namely Isaac
Matongo (national chairman) Elias
Mudzuri (organizing secretary), Roy Bennet
(treasurer-general), Nelson
Chamisa (Information and Publicity), Lucia
Matibenga (women's assembly
chairperson), Thamsanqa Mahlangu (youth assembly
chairperson) are yet to
come.
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - The MDC has distanced
itself from allegations that its members have
disrupted meetings held by
other political parties.
"We wish to dismiss allegations that we are in
the business of hiring thugs
to disrupt meetings held by the pro-Senate
group," said spokesman Nelson
Chamisa this week.
"In any case, it is
impossible to infiltrate and disrupt their gatherings
because of the large
number of state security agents who cordon off these
meetings. The security
agents often outnumber those who attend," he added.
"Their allegations
against the party are a desperate attempt to camouflage
their own thuggish
behaviour. Instead of making wild accusations against the
party, this motley
group owes the MDC members and the nation at large an
explanation on the
missing $8 billion that belongs to the party."
Meanwhile, the pro-Senate
group has expressed outrage that MDC Harare
provincial chairman, Morgan
Femai, allegedly told a rally at the weekend
that: "We will stamp them out
before we stamp out Zanu (PF)" and said the
pro-Senate group should not be
allowed to hold its rallies in Harare or
allowed to put up posters in the
city.
Chamisa emphasises that the MDC was concerned with real national
problems
such as poverty, HIV/Aids, unemployment and acute shortages of
basic
commodities.
"The party is preoccupied with revitalising and
expanding party structures
in line with resolutions of the second national
people's Congress. The
priority of the party is to rally the people for a
new Zimbabwe," he said.
The Zimbabwean
s
HARARE
- The shambolic administration of Harare by a Zanu (PF) appointed
commission has been openly acknowledged by the top civil servant in the
Ministry of Local Government and by a Mugabe-supporting ex-mayor.
Local
Government Ministry Permanent Secretary Patson Mbiriri told a
parliamentary
committee that the city workers are lazy and the
administration had no
priorities, simply channelling revenues into the same
coffers. "The attitude
of the workers leaveas a lot to be desired. Nobody
cares about putting an
eight-hour work effort," said Mbiriri. ". We have not
had strict and
forthright management over the last few years." Zanu (PF)
Senator Charles
Tawengwa said bluntly: "We have inept people running the
affairs of Harare."
The Combined Harare Residents' Association, which is
battling to have the
commission replaced by an elected council, is urging a
rates boycott .- Own
Correspondent
The Zimbabwean
HARARE -
Human rights bodies, the genuine ones, have dismissed plans by the
Zanu (PF)
administration to set up a self-styled human rights commission as
a public
relations gimmick and probably also an attempt to muzzle NGOs.
Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said the commission would be a
"white
elephant" unless, among other things, the regime's raft of laws
preventing
freedom of speech and assembly are repealed. "To establish a
human rights
commission in the prevailing legislative and administrative
operating
environment without corresponding and simultaneous changes to the
current
repressive laws is tantamount to deception," the lawyers said.
Similarly,
Zimrights said the commission would be a "toothless institution,"
and that a
proposal that civil society bodies should affiliate to it "is
most likely
being steered by the government's desire to muzzle and reign in
NGOs." "The
establishment of a human rights commission should be for the
promotion and
defence of people's rights and freedoms and not as a public
relations
gimmick to spruce up the battered image of the government," said
Zimrights
in a statement. Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
reported more
than 1,000 cases of human rights violations during February -
a sharp
increase because of arrests at demonstrations by women, students and
the
National Constitutional Assembly. Police also assaulted demonstrators.-
Own
Correspondent