MUGABE MUST GO
"ABUSE OF POWER"
THE PRESIDENT THROUGH HIS ACTIONS HAS SHOWN THAT HE "HE AND ONLY HE IS THE PERSON IN CHARGE" AND NO-ONE ELSE HAS ANY SAY IN THE RUNNING OF THE COUNTRY! MINISTERS ARE MERELY "PUPPETS ON A STRING" ALL DANCING TO HIS EXPENSIVE TUNE!!
EXAMPLES OF THIS ARE SHOWN BELOW, HOWEVER I AM SURE THAT THERE ARE MANY MORE.
REFUSAL TO CONDEM/CONTROL ACTS OF VIOLENCE
DEPLOYMENT OF THE TROOPS TO THE DRC
ISSUING OF DEATH THREATS TO OPPOSITION GROUPS
INCITING VIOLENCE THROUGH THE WAR VETERANS
ENCOURAGING THE ILLEGAL OCCUPATION OF WHITE OWNED FARMS
THE ILLEAGAL SEIZURE OF WHITE OWNED FARMS
REFUSAL TO ABIDE BY HIGH COURT JUDGEMENTS
SUBVERTING THE FORCES OF LAW AND ORDER
THE DEPLOYMENT OF 5 BRIGADE AGAINST UNARMED CIVILIANS IN MATABELELAND
DO YOU CONSIDER HIM TO BE A PERSON FIT TO BE THE LEADER OF A "DEMOCRATIC"
ZIMBABWE?
This endorsement by the SADC has legitimised the policy of land theft, and opened the door for similar actions in both Namibia and South Africa. It has also revealed the true nature of the policy, the destruction and forced emigration of the white population of Southern Africa, the last areas of sizable white land ownership on the African continent.
The SADC evidently supported the Zimbabwe land grabs as "one percent of the population owns more than 70% of the best land". Of course, what is the definition of best land? The best arable land is not the best ranching land and vice versa. In any case, in every developed nation in the world, the land ownership percentage figures are very similar.
Maybe the deprived citizens in the inner cities of Europe, or the USA can use this excuse to peg out the Cotswolds or the Prairies for smallholdings? It is total nonsense, an efficient farming industry by necessity concentrates land into fewer hands, it must do so to feed an increasing urban population. God help the urban populations of Zimbabwe, some three million people, when the productive farms are carved up and handed over to peasants, who do not know anything about sustainable and productive farming.
Maybe Mugabe is aiming to be another Pol Pot, and depopulate the towns and force people into the countryside, to scratch about on a smallholding for a precarious living. That I think is what is called progress African style, whilst the West is entering the Space and Technology age, Africa is furiously trying to get back to the Stone age, and they are definitely progressing!?
When the farms have been seized in Zimbabwe, and the inevitable happens, mass
food shortages and starvation, I for one will not give one cent in aid, just as
you do not buy an alcohlic a drink, I will not support the economic stupidity of
Marxist and racist African regimes, and their addiction to hand-outs from the
'hated' white man.
Markus (rhodesia@visir.is)
Reykjavik, ICELAND -
Wednesday, August 09, 2000 at 10:47:30 (PDT)
9 August 2000
From The Times (UK), 9 August
Land vote will sour links with Mbeki
JOHANNESBURG - Britain and South Africa face their severest diplomatic test since the collapse of apartheid over Zimbabwe's land reform programme. At the end of their two-day summit in Windhoek, Namibia, SADC, a group of 14 countries, urged President Mbeki to press London to pay compensation for farms seized by President Mugabe's Government. The decision to appoint Mr Mbeki threatens to put London and Pretoria on a collision course over how to redress the legacy of colonialism while upholding the rule of law. The group's ringing endorsement of Mr Mugabe's handling of the land reform crisis has left Western diplomats bewildered, marking a rift between the new generation of African leaders and their Western counterparts over the colonial legacy. Mr Mbeki and the group will support Mr Mugabe's insistence that land redistribution is necessary because "one per cent of the population owns more than 70 per cent of the best land".
Britain has said that it will not finance land reform amid the state-sponsored thuggery that Mr Mugabe has unleashed in the former British colony. More than 30 people have been killed. When Zimbabwe won freedom in 1980 Britain agreed to fund land reform, handing over £36 million. About £44 million remains on the table. London has refused to release this because it fears the money will be misused.
From The Star (SA), 9 AugustMbeki cautioned in fighting Mugabe's case
A senior political analyst has cautioned President Thabo Mbeki to be careful in fighting President Robert Mugabe's case in Britain, because the Zimbabwean leader has proved to be unpredictable. Dr Xolela Mangcu, a senior political analyst at the Centre for Policy Studies at Wits University, said on Tuesday that, by taking the SADC mandate to help secure funds from Britain for the land reform programme in Zimbabwe, Mbeki risked losing credibility because Mugabe had failed to keep his word that the violent and illegal invasions of white-owned farms by self-styled war veterans would stop. "Not so long ago, Mugabe made the undertaking, promising to end the farm invasions. He has failed to honour his word," said Mangcu. He warned that Mbeki was risking his credibility by arguing on Mugabe's behalf.
He said Mbeki, who had been travelling the globe arguing Africa's case, was the obvious choice by SADC to help secure funds promised by Britain. However, he did not think Mbeki would achieve much as long as Mugabe continued to undermine the rule of law in Zimbabwe. Political parties are divided on the SADC resolution, with the Democratic Party slamming Mbeki for not using the opportunity at the Windhoek summit to "send a strong, clear message to President Mugabe that he must cease to hold the entire region's political and economic future to ransom. President Mbeki failed SADC and the people of South Africa in his failure to act responsibly." DP spokesperson Nick Clelland said that if Mbeki wanted to play a meaningful role in ensuring the economic and political wellbeing of the region, he should be using his influence and political muscle to make certain that the rule of law was restored in Zimbabwe. The illegal farm invasions and the unlawful confiscation of farms in Zimbabwe should be stopped immediately in order to attract foreign investors who had withdrawn during the election, he added.
However, the ANC has thrown its weight behind Mbeki. ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said the party had been working towards a resolution of the situation in Zimbabwe. "We must just make sure that we resolve the matter amicably, because what happens in Zimbabwe affects South Africa," he said. Pan Africanist Congress secretary-general Thami Plaatjie said SADC's call proved that Africans were still far from determining their own destiny. "The fact that we still have to convince the world about our programme can only expose the so-called independence we have. Africans must look inward and find African solutions to address African problems. "The UK has persistently shown its lack of interest in honouring its own agreements. Whites can only honour agreements made with other whites and not with Africans," he said. Asked who would fund the land reform programme if Britain was left out, Plaatjie said funds should be secured from within the continent because Europeans could not be trusted.
From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 8 AugustEskom may pull plug on Zim
Johannesburg - SA power supply company Eskom has warned it may pull the plug on its supply to neighbouring Zimbabwe, citing mounting debts by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA). "The debt situation is increasing slowly," Eskom transmission manager Peter O'Connor told journalists in Johannesburg. "Obviously it's a worry for us and we're taking steps through the correct processes to address it. We have informed them that if we are stretched with our local customers who are good payers, they will be the first to be cut," he added. O'Connor said Eskom had cut in June the amount of power it was supplying to ZESA, "for commercial reasons." "Previously we were supplying up to 450 megawatts. We are (now) limited to 150 megawatts."
O'Connor said ZESA's contract entitled it to a "continuous supply" of 150 megawatts with an option to take 450 megawatts at peak times, but Eskom cancelled this option just before general elections in Zimbabwe on June 24 and 25. "We said if you are not paying us, let's not use the additional power part of the contract," he said. O'Connor did not disclose the amount currently owed to Eskom, saying it was improper to divulge customers' accounts. In June, the size of the debt was given as 20 million US dollars. ZESA, which draws a third of its electricity from Eskom, began falling into arrears on loan repayments in May when Zimbabwe started running out of foreign currency. Eskom subsequently issued a threat to cut power supplies, but retracted it two weeks later, saying ZESA had agreed to set up a trust account into which money would be deposited as soon as foreign currency becomes available. O'Connor Tuesday said that although the trust had been set up, "it is not operational" as ZESA is still stuck in a foreign currency crisis.
From The Star (SA), 9 August
3 Zanu-PF leaders call for Mugabe resignation
Harare - Zanu-PF leaders in three of Zimbabwe's nine provinces have openly called for President Robert Mugabe and his two deputies to resign. The provincial leaders from Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and Midlands expressed their views at a meeting held on Monday to review the ruling party's loss of many parliamentary seats in the three provinces to the opposition MDC in a general election held in June. The meeting was chaired by former home affairs minister Dumiso Dabengwa and was also attended by Vice-President Joseph Msika. Dabengwa was heavily defeated in his Nkulumane constituency by MDC vice-president Gibson Sibanda. Delegates blamed Zanu-PF's losses on Mugabe's continued desire to remain in office when it was clear that people wanted a change of leadership. Most of the delegates agreed that Mugabe and his two deputies, Msika and Simon Muzenda, should resign from the party leadership. They also agreed with a widespread sentiment within Zanu-PF that Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, will lose the presidential election in 2002 if he decides to run against MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Meanwhile, the new Zanu-PF governor of Matabeleland North, Obert Mpofu, has exacerbated a longstanding rift between the ruling party and people in the province when he declared that all supporters of the MDC would not be considered for the government's fast-track land resettlement programme. Mpofu said MDC supporters would not be resettled because they had shown that they had no interest in the land by voting against Zanu-PF in the election. He asked war veterans and Zanu-PF members to ensure that no known MDC supporters were included on the list of those to be resettled.
From The Daily News - The Bulawayo meeting was informed that at a similar meeting held in Mashonaland, members had been warned against making utterances that might undermine the party's leadership. After some members had expressed the view that people had lost faith in Mugabe, Msika and Muzenda, war veterans' leader, Cain Nkala, is said to have disagreed saying that Mugabe was "now revolutionary and progressive". Nkala is currently on bail facing charges of kidnapping Patrick Nabayana, an MDC polling agent for the party's secretary for legal affairs, David Coltart. Nabayana was dragged from his Nketa home in June and has not been seen since then.
From The Star (SA), 9 August
Zim governor conducts surprise land handover
Lion's Den - The governor of a northern Zimbabwe province on Tuesday led an impromptu ceremony on a farm near here, handing the land over to 97 black peasant families, the farm's white owners said. Governor Peter Chanetsa of Mashonaland West Province, accompanied by police and liberation war veterans, turned up at the farm early on Tuesday with no prior notice, Arthur and Glynnis Purkiss told reporters. The visit to Kuti Estate was "peaceful and jovial," Arthur Purkiss said, adding however that the governor did not speak to them before or after conducting the two-hour ceremony. Purkiss said: "No government official has ever approached us" over plans to resettle the farm, although he has received notice that the farm is among 804 properties that the government has begun seizing under its controversial land reform program to award white-owned farms to landless black peasants.
Similar ceremonies have been held in the past few days on uncontested farms in northern Mashonaland Central Province, southeastern Masvingo and southwestern Matabeleland North Province. Kuti Estate was already occupied by another group of war veterans and their followers, who had staked out plots on the land, Purkiss said. A white businessman in the area had said earlier in the day that an invasion was planned, and that the visitors were bent on "demonstrating, taking the land and ordering them off the farm or giving him (Purkiss) the option of 30 hectares." He said he had been tipped off by a local government official who attended a meeting presided over by the governor at which the decision to visit the farm was taken.
Viewfield Farm in northern Zimbabwe was among the first to be handed over to landless black peasants under the government's controversial "accelerated" land reforms. The 1 500-hectare farm near Centenary, 150km north of Harare, has been parcelled out to 43 black families, having been handed over voluntarily by its owner Anna Davies, whose husband died three months ago. The new governor of the northern Mashonaland Central Province, Elliot Manyika, awarded the 32-hectare plots to the families in an official ceremony last Wednesday. Similar ceremonies have been held around southeastern Masvingo and southwestern Matabeleland North Province.
At Viewfield, where production of tobacco and grain halted several months ago, numbered stakes could be seen marking out the plots among the tall dry grass and scattered trees, but few other outward signs of the resettlement were visible on Tuesday. Hardly any of the beneficiaries - unemployed youths, war veterans or villagers from overpopulated "communal lands" where black peasants are concentrated - could be seen on the farm. One of them, Epiphania Charadza from a nearby communal farm, was shown dancing for joy on the front page of the state-run newspaper The Herald on Friday after being awarded Plot 14. "I never hoped for that," the round-faced woman sporting a blue headscarf told reporters on Tuesday. "I am a widow and I cannot support my family on communal land." Asked why she was selected for a plot, she said: "I am among the poorest and gods are with me."
Malcolm Vowles, the regional representative of the CFU representing about 4 500 white farmers across the country, said Viewfield had not been occupied by veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war, who have invaded hundreds of other white-owned farms demanding land equity. In addition, he said, the question of compensation for the seizure had not been raised between the owner and the government. "It's not a contentious farm in any way." Black labourers who have been employed at Viewfield Farm for years are uncertain how the reforms will affect them. About 100 farm workers and their families still live on the farm in quarters reserved for black workers. Their fate has not been clearly spelled out by the government, which has accused them of backing the white owners on whom they depend for work, lodging and education for their children. Jaime Santos, originally from Mozambique, has lived and worked on the farm for 10 years. "My fellow farm workers are all going to be thrown out to the streets," he said, adding that only two of his co-workers were included in the redistribution of the farm. "Because they vote Zanu-PF," Santos said, referring to Mugabe's ruling party, which won in most rural constituencies in June parliamentary elections, having campaigned on promises of land reform.
From Business Day (SA), 9 August
Business hails cuts in duties
HARARE - Zimbabwe's business community has cautiously welcomed the new steps announced at the weekend. Finance and Economic Development Minister Simba Makoni has announced a reduction in duties on raw materials and intermediate goods. The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, the biggest private sector umbrella body, said the steps would dampen the effect of the currency devaluation on input costs. It would also enhance competitiveness of members' products regionally and globally, it said.
From The Daily News, 8 August
Meet Joseph Chinotimba
JOSEPH Chinotimba, the ex-combatant who has made it on to the front pages of newspapers and who makes nightly appearances on State television as he commands hordes of Zanu PF supporters and other war veterans in the invasion of commercial farms, is a Harare municipal policeman who has been absent from work without official leave for six months now. Since the launch of the land invasions in February, Chinotimba's working life has taken a dramatic turn from the boring routine of guarding beerhalls and other municipal installations to the more hectic invasion and parcelling-out of portions of land to settlers, with journalists trailing behind.
Sources at the Harare City Council say council officials are totally powerless to rein in Chinotimba. But the municipality continues to pay Chinotimba his full salary and has continued to do so for the six months he has been working full-time on the farm invasions. "The fact that Chinotimba is a war veteran and the land invasions have the blessing of President Mugabe has instilled fear in the hearts of council officials," says one source. "He has not reported for work for six months, yet he remains on full pay. Apart from that, the council has been destroying illegal structures in the high-density suburbs, but Chinotimba is behind the construction of illegal structures elsewhere in the city with impunity and this is on municipal land which is not serviced land with no sewage reticulation, no water, no roads and no other infrastructure."
The source, a council official who requested anonymity, said council officials were aware of the problems created by Chinotimba. "They see him on television every night," he said, "but they cannot touch him - he has become untouchable. Their hands are tied and they have no power whatsoever over their employee." Calls by senior Zanu PF officials to stop more chaos on the commercial farms have fallen on deaf ears. Chinotimba, 45, maintains his stance that "nothing will change on the farms. We brought the land at independence," Chinotimba told The Daily News, "so we are the only legitimate people who can allocate land."
Nathan Shamuyarira, the Zanu PF secretary for information and publicity, and Kembo Mohadi, the Deputy Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, have said war veterans have no power to allocate either plots on commercial farms or residential stands in the urban areas. "They were simply wasting their time," said Chinotimba, referring to Shamuyarira and Mohadi. "They are ignorant of the origins of our power to give people land. No one can tell us what to do now after we have gone so far with the land acquisition exercise." Chinotimba has given himself a title commander-in-chief of the farm invasions.
His agenda for Zimbabwe seems broader than his participation in the invasion of the farms. He says he now wants to lead trade unions. He says he thinks he is qualified to take over the leadership of the ZCTU. "The ZCTU has failed to do their job," he said. "They cannot organise a national strike." He said until all landless people are allocated land and a house they can call their own there will be no going back on the land question. "We can't stop that process now," he said. "You can't build your house and stop at window level. You have to continue until the house is fully built and this is exactly what we are doing now."
He attacked war veteran groups such as the recently formed Zimbabwe Liberators' Platform, which opposes what they regard as Chinotimba's illegal invasion of land. He called them "traitors with no agenda". Chinotimba's view is that Zanu PF now belongs to the war veterans. "The Zanu PF leadership abandoned the party and the war veterans revived it," he said recently. "We report directly to President Mugabe." Born on 6 July 1956 in Bikita, Chinotimba crossed into Mozambique and joined the liberation war in 1975. After receiving basic training in guerrilla warfare in that country, he moved to Tanzania and then Romania for further training.
David Samudzimu, the chairman of the Combined Harare Residents' and Ratepayers' Association, yesterday said his association was concerned about a situation where a worker was paid a salary when he was not reporting for work. His association would raise the issue with the commission running the Harare City Council at their next meeting this month, he said. "If it has become necessary for any council worker to do any other work," said Samudzimu, "he should be given leave of absence based on any terms agreed to by both the employer and the worker." Samudzimu said there was a parallel case involving Gift Chimanikire, a Posts and Telecommunications Corporation worker accused of using a company vehicle for his election campaign in the June election. "If the PTC is investigating him why can't the City of Harare investigate and discipline Chinotimba? Otherwise the people employing Chinotimba should refund the council the money it used to pay him."
WINDHOEK, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Southern African leaders rallied around Zimbabwe's controversial land reform programme late on Monday at a regional summit which also endorsed a free trade pact and broke the silence on the killer disease AIDS.
Ending two-day talks on the region's simmering conflicts and tepid economic growth, the leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) also called on rich nations to write off foreign debt and expressed concern over unending civil wars in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
"We are disappointed by the partisan and biased manner in which a sector of the international media has misrepresented the land policy of the government of Zimbabwe...," a statement issued by the heads of state of the 14-nation regional grouping said.
It said the policy "seeks to effect a just and equitable redistribution of land in a situation where one percent of the population owns over 70 percent of the best arable land."
"We reiterate our acceptance of the urgent need to effect land redistribution in Zimbabwe to address land hunger and poverty affecting millions of black Zimbabweans," it added.
Zimbabwe has plunged into economic and political crisis since February when self-styled war veterans, encouraged by the state, seized hundreds of white-owned farms across the country.
ECONOMY DISRUPTED
The land chaos has left 31 people killed and has disrupted economic activity in the southern African nation.
President Robert Mugabe says the land redistribution is necessary to address a century old imbalance in land ownership in the country.
He says former colonial power Britain must pay compensation for the land to be seized by the state. But London has said it will not finance land reform amidst chaos and disregard for the rule of law.
The SADC leaders said they had appointed Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Bakili Muluzi of Malawi to make representations to the British government on SADC's behalf for London to finance the land reform.
The statement also condemned a Senate bill in the United States which seeks to impose penalties on Zimbabwe because of its stance on land reform.
The SADC heads of state also took an important step towards concluding an elusive free trade pact, which would be a crucial boost to growth in the impoverished region.
"The protocol on free trade will come into effect on September 1, 2000," outgoing SADC Chairman and Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano said.
SADC officials said implementation of the trade protocol, first adopted in 1996, would encourage the development of manufacturing in the 14 countries of SADC, which has internal trade currently valued around $7.2 billion.
POOREST COUNTRIES GET BREAK
SADC's four poorest countries, Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia, would be given special concessions for the first five years on tariffs covering clothing and textiles.
SADC includes some of the most impoverished countries in the world, and the summit made a widely expected call for greater forgiveness from the burden of foreign debt repayments, which it said diverts scarce cash from spending on schools and hospitals.
The presidents also broke the silence on the killer disease AIDS and pledged to pool resources to fight the epidemic which poses the most serious threat to the security, stability and future of the SADC region.
Around 11 million of SADC's 190 million population are infected with HIV/AIDS, statistics show, and the figure is rising.
"The summit expressed its concern that the HIV/AIDS epidemic in southern Africa continues to be a major developmental and security issue, with more than 10 percent of the adult population infected in some countries," the statement said.
At the summit's opening on Sunday, former South African President Nelson Mandela challenged the heads of state to take a common stand against HIV/AIDS and warned them against wasting time on debating the issue.
Copyright 1999 Reuters.
Windhoek (Business Day, August 7, 2000) - Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, the chairman of the Southern African Development Community, effectively threw the weight of the SADC leadership behind Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe last night.
Addressing the opening function of the 20th summit of SADC leaders, Chissano moved off his prepared speech to suggest that the region closes ranks.
In remarks widely viewed as support for Mugabe, Chissano said there was a tendency to put a "blanket" over the history of the freedom struggle. Those who fought Ian Smith, the former Rhodesian prime minister, could now be challenged and even called dictators. Those views could not be condoned in the SADC. "We are democrats we want democracy to work according to the will of the people," he said to a round of applause.
In his review of political developments in the region, Chissano did not name Zimbabwe. He mentioned only the wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola as areas of "grave concern" to the SADC.
Crucially, Zimbabwe, which has been criticised for its handling of land invasions, is expected to receive the backing today of the SADC leaders against US legislators who are critical of its land reforms.
The SADC ministers have agreed to recommend to heads of state that concern must be expressed about the Zimbabwe Democracy Bill, the US law that places conditions on aid to Harare. This is expected to be mentioned in a statement by the leaders today, according to Leonardo Simao, Mozambique's foreign minister and outgoing chairman of the SADC ministers' council.
Last night, Mugabe also received a positive mention from former SA president Nelson Mandela, his known critic.
While accepting the Sir Seretse Khama award from the SADC in honour of his leadership of both the SADC and SA, Mandela veered off his prepared text to mention Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo as examples of African leaders who had reconciled their feelings and ideas for the good of the nation. Also mentioned were Chissano whom, Mandela said, had shown patience in his dealings with his opponents, and Namibian President Sam Nujoma.
Last week, SA President Thabo Mbeki led a delegation of senior ministers to Zimbabwe as part of efforts to help Zimbabwe out of its economic mess and to advise Harare on improving its negative international image.
However, sources close to discussions say that Mugabe will be asked by his counterparts today to end the equivocation on the rule of law and Zimbabwe's economic policy.
Laurent Kabila, Congo's leader, cast doubts on efforts to revive the stuttering Lusaka peace process when he decided to stay away from the summit.
Diplomatic sources at the meeting say Kabila's absence is a sign of lack of interest in ending the war.
Others say it was a snub directed at Ketumile Masire, the former Botswana president now facilitating the inter-Congolese dialogue.
However, fear that Masire's presence would prompt a walkout of Abdoulaye Yerodia, the Congolese foreign minister representing Kabila, failed to materialise.
By John Dludlu
Harare (Zimbabwe Standard, August 6, 2000) - Morgan Tsvangirai, the president of MDC, has said his party is willing to meet with South Africa's ruling Afri- can National Congress (ANC), even though the latter openly supported Zanu PF in the run-up to the June 24 and 25 elections. Tsvangirai was responding to a statement by South African president, Thabo Mbeki, who, during his visit to Zimbabwe last week, said the ANC was willing to talk to Zimbabwe's opposition parties.
Tsvangirai told The Standard that his party had met the ANC leadership in Harare before the elections and briefed them about the political violence that was taking place against their supporters. Tsvangirai added that ANC went on to meet Zanu PF officials whom they endorsed, despite the evidence that the party was behind the political violence that was ravaging the country.
"We will welcome the opportunity to meet them again and present and explain our position as the official opposition party in the country. However, we took great exception to the fact that they went ahead to endorse Zanu PF, amidst political violence after meeting its leadership in South Africa," said Tsvangirai.
"We are not going to snub them. We want to give them a true picture of what is happening in the country in the political and economic spheres, and not for them to be misled by Mugabe," he said.
By Staff Writer
Harare (Zimbabwe Standard, August 6, 2000) - A Harare man, Andrew Newmarch, was stabbed on the arm with a spear on Friday when about 70 war veterans invaded his Carrick Creagh Farm, situated just a stone's throw away from President Robert Mugabe's private house in Harare's posh suburb of Borrowdale, The Standard has learnt.
The farm was subdivided into residential stands several months ago by war veterans, who now want it to be turned into a high density suburb.
Neighbours said that the farmer was forced by the invaders to slaughter a beast worth about $12 000, yesterday afternoon.
They said a payment of $6 500 would be made by Stalin Mau Mau, who was expected to visit the farm yesterday afternoon.
Efforts to contact Mau Mau, who lost the 2000 parliamentary election to the MDC's shadow lands minister, Tendai Biti, were fruitless at the time of going to press.
Last week the ministry of local government said it was illegal for war veterans to allocate residential stands.
By Staff Writer
Harare (Zimbabwe Standard, August 6, 2000) - The farming community has expressed disgust at President Mugabe's inconsistency concerning farm invasions by war veterans. Individual farmers who talked to The Standard yesterday, said they were "disgusted" by Mugabe's behaviour, charging that he was not acting like a president.
"I am disgusted by this man's behaviour. If he goes on with this kind of thing then it is going to take us ages to regain the world's confidence and rebuild our economy," said one farmer from the Midlands town of Kwekwe. The farmers refused to divulge their identities for fear of retribution.
He said the farm invasions were the major cause of Zimbabwe's current problems, as most investors were not willing to invest in the country as a result of the invasions. He said most farmers had welcomed Mugabe's speech on Wednesday that he would withdraw war veterans occupying farms not meant for resettlement, but were shocked when Mugabe woke up on Thursday saying that he would never withdraw war veterans from farMs.
"When we heard that he intended to withdraw the veterans from our farms, we thought he was sincere and hoped that at last we could start our operations.
But he does not seem serious at all. He is not taking the recovery of our economy seriously and we are disheartened," said another farmer from Bindura.
Mugabe, at a joint press conference with South African president Thabo Mbeki in Harare on Wednesday, said: "You are aware now that there is a process of acquiring land as per amended law. We will be resettling those who are in need of land. We will, in the process, be removing all war veterans from the farms that are not earmarked for resettlement. The time frame I cannot say, but I certainly want to say it will be within a month."
However, Mugabe on Thursday said he was misquoted.
Official comment could not be obtained from the Commercial Farmers Union. The union's president, Tim Henwood, was said to be locked up in meetings for the whole day on Friday while the director, Dave Hasluck, was said to be out of the country.
Those farmers who spoke to this newspaper though were unanimous in their condemnation of Mugabe's contradictions.
"President Mugabe is killing a whole sector and yet he seems not prepared to do anything about it.
He was making those statements in order to give Mbeki an impression that he doing something about the lawlessness on the farMs. When those war veterans are finally removed from the farms it will be too late to resuscitate the sector," complained another farmer.
By Staff Writers
Children seized by farm squatters 'for re-education' - first atrocity of its kind.
SQUATTERS have raided a school on a white-owned farm in Zimbabwe and
kidnapped 17 children, it emerged yesterday.
They were taken away for
political "re-education", but the Commercial Farmers' Union claimed that the
girls among them were sexually harassed.
Although farm squatters, who
now occupy almost 1,200 properties, are blamed for more than 2,400 recorded
cases of assault and at least five murders, this is the first incident of this
kind.
Local residents accused the police of failing to respond to their
pleas for help.
Twenty invaders, armed with guns, axes and knives, have
been occupying Stoneridge Estate, 10 miles south of the capital, Harare. The CFU
said the gang attacked Blackfordby school on Saturday night and seized 10 girls
and seven boys, aged between 12 and 14.
A local resident, who asked to
remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, said the terrified children were dragged
to the squatters' camp, about a mile from the school, which is on Stoneridge's
land.
He said: "We heard them screaming. Then I heard two gunshots. The
children later told me that the men had fired shots over their heads to frighten
them."
The mob forced the children to dance and chant the slogans of
President Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF party.
"They were taken
for political re-education. We could hear them singing. People who work at
Stoneridge and live in a village near the squatters' camp heard the tearful
children chanting: "Forward with Comrade Mugabe, forward with Zanu-PF," the
resident said.
Then the girls were singled out and, according to the
CFU, were "harassed and fondled" by the squatters.
"It was terrible,
there was nothing we could do. I fear to go near those people at the camp," said
the resident.
Police arrived on the scene within two hours of the
kidnapping, but were in no hurry to free the captives.
After they had
suffered a three-and-a-half hour ordeal, the children were released, but the
squatters demanded that their parents must surrender in return.
The
resident said: "The parents were taken to the camp. They were forced to spend
the whole night there. Some were tortured."
Police allowed the parents
to be driven into the squatter camp and did nothing while the captives were
detained and beaten until Sunday morning.
The resident said: "They did
not help. They were just watching. I found it hard to believe."
Because
Mr Mugabe has publicly supported the squatters, police are reluctant to act
against them and their failure to uphold the law has become the most disturbing
feature of the farms crisis.
The president has quickly contradicted
promises by government ministers that the invaders would be removed and the
crisis, which began in February and has affected almost 1,700 farms, shows no
sign of ending.
Today's News
Wednesday 09 August, 2000
Mugabe needs to rein in war vets -'it's all out of control.'
Mbeki to
lobby Blair
Zim Labour considers another strike
Zimbabwe faces power cut
over unpaid bills
War vets out 'of control'
Mugabe has won support for his
controversial land policies from his southern African counterparts, but now must
win control over liberation war veterans occupying white-owned farms, analysts
say
Heads of state of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
said after a two-day summit in Windhoek that they had received welcome
assurances from Mugabe "that the land reform programme would be handled
peacefully, and within the laws of the government of Zimbabwe".
Back
home however, "it's all out of control," said Admore Kambudzi of the University
of Zimbabwe. referring to the ongoing and often violent occupations of hundreds
of white-owned farms by liberation war veterans and their supporters.
"Much depends on the internal dynamics within Zimbabwe. The government
has lost control of the various social forces involved," said Kambudzi, a
political scientist.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is leading "a
broker initiative" for land reform in Zimbabwe "to try to get a substantial
package of support (from donors) that will have to follow the principles" of
poverty alleviation, respect of macro-economic factors, transparency and
legality, Lopez said.
Mbeki to lobby Blair
South Africa's
president, Thabo Mbeki, is to lobby Tony Blair to "honour Britain's obligations"
and fund the rapidly expanding land seizures in Zimbabwe.
A summit of 11
southern African leaders has handed Robert Mugabe a diplomatic victory by
appointing Mr Mbeki and Malawi's president, Bakili Muluzi, to put pressure on
Britain after backing unequivocally the Zimbabwean leader's policy of
expropriating white-owned land for redistribution to poor blacks.
The
regional presidents said in a statement: "We are convinced that to have a land
reform programme which is fair and just to all the stakeholders it is imperative
for the UK government to honour its obligations under the Lancaster House
agreement to provide resources for that purpose.
Zimbabwe faces power
cut
South Africa's power company Eskom has threatened to cut
electricity supplies to Zimbabwe because of unpaid bills.
The debts are
owed by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa), which imports a
substantial amount of the country's power needs from Eskom.
Due to a
failure to pay its bills, Zesa has already seen its imports from Eskom cut to
150 megawatts from 450 megawatts.
It claims Zesa owes it more than 140m
rand ($20.1m).
Zesa has blamed the unreliable payments situation on a
severe shortage of foreign currency as Zimbabwe grapples with its worst economic
crisis since independence in 1980.
The Zimbabwe dollar stood at an
official rate of 50:1 against the US dollar on Tuesday following a 24%
devaluation earlier this month.
But dealers said the local currency was
changing hands at up to 60 to one US dollar on the black market as sellers of
foreign currency held out for better rates in a tight market.
Zim
labour considers further strike action
ZIMBABWE'S labour leaders
are considering further strike action, citing the continuation of
politically-linked violence as its reason for more protests.
Isaac
Matongo, head of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, said last week's one-day
strike had had very little effect on government policy.
Matongo said last
week's general strike was a warning to the government that more mass action
would follow if it failed to crack down on violence on farms and in towns blamed
mostly on ruling party militants angered over the party's poorest-ever electoral
showing in June's parliamentary elections.
Zimbabwe's ailing economy was virtually halted on August 2 when labour leaders, backed by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and white commercial farmers, called for a nation-wide work stoppage.
Labour officials are weighing up new strikes to force authorities to take firm action to stop violence in impoverished townships and on farms across the country, said Isaac Matongo, head of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.
"The situation has not improved," he said.
Police and farm leaders confirmed on Tuesday that mobs claiming to be ruling party militants abducted workers' children from two farms south of Harare last week.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said at least 10 children were taken for several hours from a workers compound near Chitungwiza, 25km from Harare, on Friday.
Police released them and were investigating complaints by another group of at least seven children, mostly teenagers, who were seized at a nearby farm on Saturday. No arrests had been made by Tuesday, Bvudzijena said.
The state-controlled Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday that one group of children was released after 20 farm workers surrendered themselves to a mob of self-avowed militants.
The workers were forced to dance and sing slogans of President Robert Mugabe's ruling party before being released, the newspaper said.
It said some of the workers were forced to smoke marijuana, which grows in the wild and is widely accessible in farming districts.
The newspaper described the militants as "rogue" veterans of the bush war that released this former British colony from minority white rule in 1980.
Ruling party militants and squatters led by war veterans have illegally occupied more than 1 600 white-owned farms since February, demanding they be seized, divided up and turned over to landless blacks.
Mugabe has described the occupations as a justified protest against the unfair ownership of huge swaths of Zimbabwe's best farmland by a few thousand white descendants of British and SA colonial era settlers.
He has called on his followers to occupy private land peacefully but police have largely stood back where violence has flared.
Matongo said last week's general strike was a warning to the government that more mass action would follow if it failed to crack down on violence on farms and in towns blamed mostly on ruling party militants angered over the party's poorest-ever electoral showing in June's parliamentary elections.
After two decades of virtually unchallenged rule, Mugabe's party won a slender majority of 62 of 120 elected seats in the Harare parliament. The labour federation top leaders will meet by the end of this week to discuss their next move, Matongo said.
The independent Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce estimated last week's shutdown cost at least Z$600m in lost production, orders and sales.
The nearly six months of farm disruptions cost the country up to a quarter of its crops of wheat and tobacco, Zimbabwe's biggest source of desperately needed hard currency, according to farm union estimates.
The union warned that land preparation and planting for next year's tobacco crop is far behind schedule and must be completed by September 1 if minimum production targets are to be met.
Tobacco sales earned about US$220m last year, about 30% of Zimbabwe's hard currency income. - Sapa-AP
BBC: Tuesday, 8 August, 2000, 16:44 GMT 17:44 UK
South Africa's power company Eskom has threatened to cut electricity supplies to Zimbabwe because of unpaid bills.Eskom senior manager Peter O'Connor said that the debts were increasing slowly.
"Obviously it is a worry for us and we are taking steps through the correct processes to address it."
The debts are owed by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa), which imports a substantial amount of the country's power needs from Eskom.
Due to a failure to pay its bills, Zesa has already seen its imports from Eskom cut to 150 megawatts from 450 megawatts.
Foreign currency
Eskom said payments stopped in the lead up to Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections in June and have only just resumed.
It claims Zesa owes it more than 140m rand ($20.1m).
Zesa has blamed the unreliable payments situation on a severe shortage of foreign currency as Zimbabwe grapples with its worst economic crisis since independence in 1980.
The Zimbabwean government has raised the possibility of privatising Zesa as part of wider economic reforms but analysts say little progress has been made with the plans.
Despite the dispute, Eskom said it would consider buying into a restructured Zesa.
Black market
"We have informally talked about taking up a stake ... but we will have to wait for the privatisation process," Mr O'Connor said.
Efforts to recover the debts have included the establishment last week of a trust account in Harare into which Zesa would make deposits.
However, nothing has yet been received in it, Eskom said.
The Zimbabwe dollar stood at an official rate of 50:1 against the US dollar on Tuesday following a 24% devaluation earlier this month.
But dealers said the local currency was changing hands at up to 60 to one US dollar on the black market as sellers of foreign currency held out for better rates in a tight market.
Wednesday, August 9 3:30 AM SGT
HARARE, Aug 8 (AFP) -
The Zimbabwe government Tuesday went to the new parliament to seek its support of the controversial land reforms.
Olivia Muchena, minister of state in the vice president's office -- which is responsible for land reforms -- went to great pains to try to convince the deputies that the government-led accelerated land reforms would solve the country's political and economic woes.
She said the fast-track land reforms would address once and for all the "persistent and potentially explosive political problem".
But while her speech was well received by the ruling ZANU-PF members of parliament, she was booed throughout the 45-minute delivery by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) deputies.
Deputy parliamentary speaker Edna Madzongwe had to caution several MDC deputies for their interjections and responses to Muchena, which she said were "unparliamentary".
For the first time in history, Zimbabwe's parliament has a significant opposition presence, with 58 seats out of the 120 contested places.
Muchena said for MPs who represented the "disposessed majority, you will support this motion because the fast-track land reform and resettlement programme is the last leg of the liberation struggle and the beginning of genuine economic independence for the majority".
For those MPs who represent the "minority who feel insecure and threatened" she urged them to support the fast-track programme because it provided a "long term secure, peaceful and stable future based on equity, restitution and genuine reconciliation."
Earlier, opposition MDC deputy Trudy Stevenson had criticised the fast-tracked land reform, saying it would spell disaster for the country already on the brink of collapse.
Stevenson said the idea of resettling hundreds of thousands of people at the same time "makes one gasp in horror of the probability of total chaos."
"In 1980 Zimbabwe was referred to as the jewel of Africa and people have started to refer to us a pariah state ... on the brink of collapse," Stevenson said.
She said the collapse of the commercial farming sector put at least 600,000 jobs on white-owned farms on the line, while food shortages were a possibility.
But Muchena dismissed the fears saying "agriculture will not collapse and the nation will not starve".
War veterans leader Chenjerai Hunzvi who sat in the front row normally reserved for cabinet ministers, banged his bench in applause of the motion raised by Muchena.
Wednesday August 9 10:47 AM ET
Zimbabwe Settles
Hundreds on Seized Farms
By Cris Chinaka
HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Zimbabwe has started to implement its controversial land program, settling black families on land seized from white commercial farmers, officials said on Wednesday.
The government has said it plans to take over nearly half the 30 million acres owned by about 4,500 white farmers, who make up about one percent of the country's population.
The officials denied media reports that some beneficiaries had abandoned their new land hours after it was given to them because there were no houses, roads, clinics or water.
Zimbabwe state television Tuesday showed government officials sub-dividing farms and allocating 6-12 hectare plots to villagers and liberation-war veterans in northeastern Zimbabwe, the Midlands and southern Matabeleland provinces.
Some women ululated in celebration, but were later shown walking bewildered through thick virgin bush, each carrying a hoe and an axe.
A ministry of agriculture spokesman told Reuters on Wednesday that hundreds of people had been allocated plots across the southern African country.
``We don't have figures right now, but the resettlement program is taking place throughout. Those reports suggesting that people are abandoning their (new) homes are just malicious,'' said the official, who declined to be named.
``What is happening is that people get their land, go back to pack and the government moves in to provide the basic facilities where they are not available,'' he said.
200 Farms Being Resettled
A ``fast-track'' resettlement program was launched this week in the country's eight administrative provinces by provincial governors, initially on 200 of over 800 farms that the government earmarked in May for seizure, he said.
``The program has started on those farms which are currently unoccupied and whose owners are not contesting their acquisition,'' said another official.
The farm seizures have been strongly criticized by Western governments and donors, with some saying the program will undermine the country's major source of food, employment and export earnings.
Last Wednesday, Mugabe said after a meeting with South African President Thabo Mbeki that self-styled liberation-war veterans would by the end of August be moved off white farms they had seized since February.
A day later, however, Mugabe denied he had undertaken to end the invasions. Instead, he reaffirmed his intention to take more than 3,000 farms from white owners with compensation over five years for infrastructure, but none for the value of the land.
Mugabe Says Britain Must Pay
Mugabe says former colonial power Britain should compensate whites for the land because it is morally responsible for a system that left more than 70 percent of Zimbabwe's best land in the hands of just 4,500 whites.
Britain has said it will fund fair and transparent land reforms, but has refused to hand over a lump sum without strict controls in place.
At least 31 people, mostly opposition supporters and including five farmers, were killed during the farm invasions and a wave of violence that swept across Zimbabwe ahead of general elections in June.
The mainly white Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) says its members are still being terrorized by government supporters who are threatening farmers, poaching and cutting down trees.
Harare, Zimbabwe, Aug. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe restricted bank lending rates to within 2.5 percentage points of inflation, effectively cutting rates by about 12 points, the Daily News reported.
With inflation running at 59 percent, Zimbabwe's commercial banks have been charging more than 70 percent interest. Exporters, farmers and other business people have criticized the banks for profiting from the country's worst economic crisis in 20 years. Banks such as Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe Ltd. and NMBZ Holdings Ltd. reported that profits more than doubled last year.
``The reduction of inflation remains critical for economic growth to occur,'' the central bank said in a statement, according to the newspaper. ``The Bank will adjust the bank rate in responses to the rate of inflation.''
The move is the second by Zimbabwe's government this month to rescue the economy. Finance Minister Simba Makoni last week devalued Zimbabwe's currency 24 percent to 50 to the U.S. dollar.
(The Daily News, 8/8/2000)
Mr. Speaker.
I am privileged to present myself to this August House and
hope that my
colleagues and I on these benches will, through our
contributions, reverse
20 years of apathy and inertia that have characterised
the conduct of our
country's politics and governance. We, members of
parliament, have been
given the opportunity not only to lead, but more
importantly to
follow-follow the wills of the people. And by following we
shall lead-lead
Zimbabwe to success, democracy and free its people, our
people, from the
chains of poverty, from the abuse of power and protect their
deserved
rights.
I am my party's shadow secretary/minister for Local
Government. Mr.
Speaker, the situation in all local government institutions
is appalling to
put it mildly. The rot in local government processes, in a
microcosm of the
decay in the whole governance body in this country. Our
major cities are
dying under the weight of mismanagement, corruption and
dictatorship. Other
local government's structures have been turned into
partisan structures used
by ZANU-PF to practice its now familiar brand of
destructive and negative
policies.
Look at the City of Harare, a
Commission that is not representative of the
democratic aspirations of the
residence has overstayed to usefulness. It is
retained there by ZANU-PF in
order to avoid a crushing defeat at the hands
of the MDC should both mayoral
land council elections be held.
In Bulawayo, the councillors who realise
that they represent a detested
party seek to cling to power by deceit.
Meanwhile, services are declining
and the quality of life of the residence
continues to plummet. Contrary to
the fiction that is being peddled by ZANU
PF this party hates democracy with
a passion. That is understandable.
Democracy does not co-exist with
murder, rape, violence and corruption. We
plead with ZANU PF to unshackle
our people in both urban and rural locations
so that they can freely choose
their leaders.
Statements to the effect
that our roots are on the land are designed to
exclude the urban and
peri-urban residents who have resoundingly rejected
ZANU PF at the polls. It
is a dangerous statement that does not understand
the processes of developing
and modernising a state.
Contrary to the pejorative perceptions held in
some quarters that we in the
MDC might be less patriotic than those who have
arrogated to themselves the
tag of patriotism, these benches are occupied by
gallant sons and daughters
of Zimbabwe who took up the cudgels in defence of
this country's honour,
decency and integrity and quest for democracy. Those
of us who had been
active in the liberation struggle watched in despair for
twenty years as
those we had entrusted with the sacred duty of managing the
state of our
country's affairs took advantage of that trust to destroy the
very
foundations of our nationhood. Hence the formation of MDC. We MDC and
those
who share our beliefs we shall no longer stand by as those we entrusted
to
lead take Zimbabwe, a country of peace and promise, into a state of
poverty
and anarchy.
Mr. Speaker we are Zimbabweans and in that regard
are willing to join hands
with those Zimbabweans who love their people and
their country to the extent
that they would not subject them to indignity
penury and misery through
corruption, abuse of power, arrogance and impunity
that saw the deliberate
killing of innocent Zimbabweans in Matabeleland and
the Midlands. The pre
and post election violence stems directly from the
fact that those that
killed, brutalised and traumatised our people then were
not brought to book.
And if we do not bring the individuals responsible for
these murders to
justice, we share their sin by our inaction. Impunity takes
root when
lawlessness is rewarded with such inaction. The very reason we
have
government is the welfare of our people. We shall free our people,
not
oppress them, and we shall protect their rights, not deny them these
rights
as many of our predecessors have. We shall lead Zimbabwe
democratically not
autocratically.
Government does not exist to prey
on its own people, it exists as a service
to the people. What have we
witnessed in the past 20 years?
* Disregard for the sanctity of life
*
Rampart corruption that has gone unchecked
* Disrespect for basic principles
of decency
It would seem Mr. Speaker that the past 20 years have
entrenched in our
governance processes a culture of total disrespect and
disdain for the
humanity of Zimbabweans.
* Theft of public funds is
more than criminal, it borders on treachery
and treason. The greedy
perpetrators have stolen the money from the needy,
showing disrespect for the
dignity of their fellow countrymen who were to
benefit from such resources.
This is why the international community regards
corruption as a violation of
human rights.
* A leader who indulges in corrupt practices ipso facto
loses the
privilege to lead the people. Thieves cannot be patriots and they
cannot be
entrusted with the lives and welfare of the people. And yet
Zimbabwe today
rubs shoulders in the corruption rankings with the worst in
the world. Have
we ever paused to think how many lives and how many jobs
have been lost due
to corruption?
How many babies have died because
funds earmarked for drugs in hospitals
have been stolen? And yet the
President's speech offers deafening silence
in respect of corruption and the
debilitating effects it has on the soul of
our nation.
Willowvale,
GMB, NOCZIM, VIP Housing Scheme, War Veterans Compensation Fund
etc, etc,
these are names that have brought shame on our country. They
demonstrate
starkly how absolute power corrupts absolutely. These are
reminders of what
happens when fallible human beings are allowed free run
without strong
checking mechanisms. We in the MDC, believe that these
things have happened
because the system deliberately undermined the law
enforcement capability of
institutions such as the police. Lawlessness
breeds contempt and becomes a
breeding ground for criminals and in the
process undermines democracy. We
will not allow this to happen.
We, the people, have in the past twenty
years, witnessed what used to be a
revolutionary party, mutate into a racist,
tribalist and brutal entity. A
party that bears no resemblance to the
aspirations of Zimbabweans who fought
and participated in their own
liberation. We have witnessed the elevation of
violence as though it was a
legitimate means of promoting development. A
party cannot win an independence
struggle, only the people can win the
independence struggle. And a party
remains as strong as the force supporting
it. A party needing to gain support
through violence and intimidation is
weak, and has lost sight of its role.
Is it surprising Mr. Speaker that 76% of our people live beneath the
poverty
datum line? It takes a government that cares to eradicate poverty.
If you
do not respect the life of your fellow beings can you be expected to
provide
them with life giving resources like water, good hospitals etc. etc?
Each
and every one of us is personally responsible for the wellbeing of each
and
every Zimbabwe; you and I, we hold their livelihoods in our hands.
We listen in horror to leaders in this country who trivialise the
numbers of
people killed. Whether it be 2, 32 or 300 people that are killed,
the
killing of these people, our people, is unnecessary, abhorrent and
totally
unjustified. We should be sufficiently revulsed when any one of our
people
is killed. We, who have been enslaved, colonised and humiliated
through the
ages, should be the first to value, promote and celebrate the
sanctity of
life. In order for the rest of the world to respect us, for
other racial
groups to realise our worth, we as black Zimbabweans should
place a very
high premium on the lives of our people.
In the
long-term interests of our country Mr. Speaker I plead with you that
you lead
as soon as possible a bi-partisan delegation to present a petition
to the
President of Zimbabwe along the following lines:
"Your Excellency, we,
representing our respective parties, our
constituencies and the People of
Zimbabwe, mindful of your pivotal role in
the liberation struggle, having
observed with sorrow your current role in
the destruction of our country, do
pray that you resign the presidency
immediately so that Zimbabwe can live and
breathe once more. We
respectfully request this of you, Your Excellency not
because we hate you
but because we love our country more".
Mr.
Speaker, another bi-partisan petition should be directed to the member
of
Parliament for Chikomba along the following lines:
"We urge you Dr.
Hunzvi to desist from actions that have thrown our country
into misery,
disrepute, poverty, chaos and anarchy. We call upon you to
summon whatever
patriotic energy. You have left to follow the path of
building and not that
of destruction. Please remove your people from farms
so that an orderly,
constructive and transparent resettlement programme can
take place. The
abduction of our innocent children, the murder of our
citizens the maiming
and raping of some, will never enhance justice nor do
these actions
contribute to nation building".
Mr. Speaker, this country is not
singularly hated by the rest of the world.
Our country, in the past few
years, has been led in a direction that has
diminished its status in the
community of nations.
Perhaps one positive development out of all this
tragedy is that we are now
aware of the fact that those in government are men
and women of flesh, and
they are not infallible. There was a time when we
held our leaders with so
much reverence - in very high esteem. You have
betrayed our aspirations and
wounded our pride by promoting violence,
corruption and dictatorship.
All is not lost. We still can pull this
country out of the precipice. We
need to reclaim our reputation as a law
abiding country. We need to find
the energy once again to embark on nation
building. We, in the MDC are the
only party that has a Secretary for
National Integration because we realise
that we are a multi-cultural, multi
ethnic and multiracial country. The
beauty of our country lies in the
racial diversity of its people. It is
saddening that ZANU PF lacks the
vision to realise that racism is obnoxious.
Infact, racism and tribalism are
two sides of the same coin. Those who
espouse racism, will not stop at
harrassing those they view as white, once
racist appetites have been whetted
the next step is persecution of tribal
minorities. History is replete with
these sorry precedents, We cannot
afford as a people to divide ourselves on
the basis of skin pigment or
linguistic diversity.
We need to
strengthen and deepen democracy in all aspects of governance in
our country.
By the way, democracy is not a western concept; democracy is
about human
civilisation and, claims a universality that trascends
historical and
geographic boundaries.
Good governance is an entitlement of Zimbabweans.
It is not something they
owe to the benevolence of some super conquering
hero, it is their right. No
country succeeds in entrenching democracy when
the relationship between the
governed and those who govern is defined by the
charitable intentions of the
executive in power. The people are masters of
their own destiny and all
institutions of governance should take note of that
reality. We do not
strengthen our country or our leaders by being
undiscerning and
psychophantic praise singers, we only strengthen their egos
to the detriment
of the country. We in the MDC, place the sovereignty of the
people above
the self-serving interests of leadership.
Mr. Speaker,
this country is too unique and important to surrender to the
forces of
darkness that seek to drag all of us into oblivion. All
Zimbabweans should
join hands in isolating the merchants of violence and
death. Let us remove
from our midst, the corrupt, the cruel and the
uncaring. The starting point
should be in this August house. It is here
that we should establish a
covenant with all our people, black, white, asian
or coloured. In this
covenant we should undertake never to inflict harm on
our people. We should
pledge to serve them selflessly and honestly. We
should honour their dignity
and desist from being the purveyors directly or
indirectly of rape, death and
injury.
The image of our country will immediately improve, both locally
and
internationally when we desist from actions that give our detractors room
to
trash our image. How do we do this? By simply going back to being a
law
abiding country. Our people need jobs: How do we develop jobs? By
dealing
with the economic fundamentals that have so far escaped the attention
of
those whose responsibility it is to manage our country's
affairs
judiciously. Our children need good education, good schools, which
can only
be provided by reducing military expenditure in favour of social
services.
Committing our troops outside our borders to prop up a dictatorship
will not
entrench democracy in our own country nor will it help those on
whose behalf
we seek to intervene. (Image of solidarity - .....
house).
Governance might not be about religious probity. It however,
does call for
morality and decency. That is what our country has lacked in
the past few
years.
Mr. Speaker, we sit in this August house
representing a sizeable proportion
of this country's electorate. The ruling
party enjoys a small majority of
four seats. It is up to the ruling party to
begin to make the necessary
adjustments in its behaviour and perceptions so
that Zimbabweans can benefit
from the results of their electoral
choices.
I represent a largely rural constituency. If I were ZANU-PF, I
would
immediately sack the person who ran my campaign. Can you imagine the
total
inappropriateness in Nkwidze, Lushonkwe or Tshoboyi of a poster that
says
"Zimbabwe will never be a colony again". I spent a lot of time trying
to
explain to bemused villagers what the poster meant. I simply told them
that
the poster was a result of a humorous ZANU PF bureaucrat who was
alluding to
the fact that the electorate would not allow yet again ZANU PF to
mortgage
the country through over indebtedness, corruption, arrogance,
unaccountable
governance.
This August house, Mr. Speaker, should
represent the best that Zimbabwe has
to offer in terms of intellectual
ability. Speaking for my party, I was
privileged as Election Director to
have worked with each and every one of
the honorable members this side of the
house. Each time they came back from
their campaigns they showed both
physical and emotional scars of campaigning
in an environment where basic
human decency had deserted some of their
opponents. What moved me Mr.
Speaker was the resolve of these members never
to demean themselves or those
they sought to represent by matching violence
of those on the other side.
Violence brutalises the perpetrator as well as
the victim. It has no place
in civilised societies. Those who seek to
suggest that it is as inevitable
as taxes or death, do so because they lack
basic morality and decency and
should not be in this august house.
This country needs healing. It will
not do so unless we change the manner
in which we do our political
business.
Back to my constituency. Its poverty is so appalling that one
wonders what
has been happening in the past twenty years. Does this
government really
understand what development is all about? In the rural
areas, whose poverty
defies imagination our people have been subjected to
dehumanising
intimidation and denial of free choice. What demon would have
visited
someone to force a free person to surrender their t/shirts or
membership
cards of a party of their choice? You have to be a heartless
person to
display in full view persons who cannot dance kongonya to do so
because they
fear for their lives. My constituency requires a lot of basic
social
serves. If someone offered my constituency 228 million dollars that
would
go a long way to reduce the level of poverty!
Mr. Speaker,
UNZIMA LO UMTHWALO. This is the case because we are looking at
a country
that has been abused beyond recognition LAFA ELIHLE KHAKHULU.
In closing,
let us remember that we are a government of the people,
empowered by the
people, and must govern for the people-so let us conduct
ourselves
appropriately. Fellow Zimbabweans and the world will little judge
what we say
here, but will witness and judge henceforth. Let us follow (or
"We, MDC will
follow") the will of the people leading democratically,
honestly and
judiciously. (and if you use "we, MDC will follow", possibly
add as a closing
remark "and I hope you will join us in this quest" )
Keep up the
support!
Regards,
MDC Support Centre
8th Floor, Gold
Bridge
Eastgate
Harare
091367151/2/3
Guqula Izenzo/Maitiro
Chinja
"We call upon the government to restore law and order in the
country and
immediately stop the violence being inflicted on MDC supporters
and innocent
people" (Gibson Sibanda)