David Smith visits National Heroes Acre in Zimbabwe where Robert Mugabe will one day be buried
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
04
August 2009
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki told a South
African news channel
that he wanted Robert Mugabe to become a ceremonial
President under the
unity deal, but the Zimbabwean negotiators refused. The
UK based The
Zimbabwean newspaper reported that Mbeki spoke to E News
channel's 'Africa
360' programme on Monday. In the interview, Mbeki denied
crafting the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) which formed the basis of the
current coalition
government.
"I didn't draft the GPA, the Zimbabweans
drafted it themselves. I was of the
opinion that President Mugabe should
become ceremonial but it is the
political parties which said no. They said
they can't marginalise him
because he carries a particular constituency and
is a significant part of
the solution," Mbeki is reported to have told the
news channel. The former
Presidents apparent 'turn-around' will be viewed
with suspicion by his
critics, who felt his 'quiet diplomacy' emboldened
Mugabe to persist with
rights violations.
Newsreel spoke to one of the
negotiators from the MDC and he told us Mbeki's
statement about them
objecting to Mugabe being a ceremonial President was
not correct. Asked if
maybe the ZANU PF negotiators had insisted on this
point, the official told
us this was also not true. One political
commentator told us it appeared
Mbeki was trying to deflect criticism for
what many consider a flawed
coalition agreement that has left too much power
in Mugabe's hand.
Last
year in March, Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC party defeated Mugabe and
ZANU
PF in the combined Parliamentary and Presidential elections. Faced with
the
prospect of a Presidential run-off the notorious Joint Operations
Command, a
grouping of the security and armed forces loyal to Mugabe, began
a brutal
and murderous campaign targeting MDC supporters. Over 200 people
were
killed, forcing Tsvangirai to withdraw from the run-off. Unperturbed by
the
resulting lack of legitimacy, Mugabe still went ahead with a discredited
one-man Presidential election.
The fall out was devastating for the
country as the economy was reduced to
its knees. Disease, hunger and
political repression stalked the nation as
negotiators from the 3 main
political parties spent months at the
negotiating table. Throughout this
period Mbeki lacked the courage to
confront Mugabe, and indeed the same
timidity was exhibited by Zimbabwe's
neighbours in the Southern African
Development Community. A deal was
eventually struck in September 2008, only
to have a Government of National
Unity in February 2009, after more tortuous
months of squabbling over
cabinet portfolios.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=20641
August 4, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - The vice President of Zimbabwe, Joseph Msika, has
died.
Born on December 23, 1923, Msika had been Vice President since
December 1999
when he took over after the death of former PF-Zapu leader Dr
Joshua Nkomo.
Msika collapsed at home in March 2005, apparently having
suffered a stroke
and a blood clot in the head and was rushed to hospital.
He then underwent
an operation in South Africa. He has been ailing since
then. President
Robert Mugabe informed his Zanu PF party's central committee
in June that
Msika was not well.
It was reported in the press that
Msika had, in fact indicated that he
wanted to step down from the office of
Vice President but Mugabe had
insisted that he stay on.
At 86 Msika
was Mugabe's senior by two months.
The Financial Gazette reported in June
that the Vice President had been
admitted to St Anne's Hospital in Harare
twice within a fortnight to correct
complications arising from the operation
he had in South Africa.
Msika did not run in the March 2005 parliamentary
elections, but Mugabe
appointed him to one of the thirty unelected seats in
Parliament. He also
did not stand for election in the March 2008
parliamentary election. Mugabe,
however, appointed him to the Senate in
August 2008 and then swore him in as
Vice President on 13 October 2008,
together with Joice Mujuru.
In January 2009 Msika was apparently well
enough to stand in as acting
President when Mugabe went on his customary
annual leave.
Msika was originally a member and vice-president of Nkomo's
PF-Zapu. The
party merged with Mugabe's Zanu-PF in December 1987 under a
unity agreement
which brought the Gukurahundi massacres in Matabeleland and
the Midlands
provinces to an end.
A veteran politician Msika was
arrested in 1964 and held in detention until
1975. Msika was a member of the
ZAPU delegation to the Lancaster House
Conference that negotiated
independence for Zimbabwe in 1980.
At a rally held in Bulawayo in October
2006 Msika dismissed Mugabe's
previous apology for the Gukurahundi killings,
condemned internationally for
the violence unleashed on innocent Ndebele
peasants over a four-year period.
"When we asked him about the massacres
he apologized, but I was not
convinced about his sincerity," Msika said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet Gonda
4 August
2009
Thamsanqa Mahlangu the MDC Youth Assembly Chairperson and Deputy
Youth
Minister has been released on bail after the State informed the
defence team
it was no longer going to oppose his bail.
There was
confusion on Tuesday morning when the MDC issued a statement
saying the
Deputy Minister had been released without charge while the
defence team was
saying the charges had not been dropped. Mahlangu's lawyer
Charles Kwaramba
told SW Radio Africa he received a call from the Attorney
General's office
saying the State no longer wished to oppose the granting of
the accused
persons' bail, but the charges would still remain.
The Deputy Minister,
who was arrested last Tuesday on allegation of stealing
a mobile phone from
war veteran leader Joseph Chinotimba, was released on
bail late Monday and
is expected back in court for his remand hearing on 7
August, and 12 August
for the commencement of his trial.
His aide Malven Chadamoyo who is
facing the same charge of theft was also
released on bail. Both had been
granted bail on Friday but remained in
custody after the State opposed
this.
Two women allegedly found in possession of the phone line belonging
to the
war vet leader were also granted bail on Monday. The two, who have
been in
custody for two weeks, were expected to be released on Tuesday.
Kwaramba
said their release could not be processed in time on
Monday.
Meanwhile the MDC maintains that ZANU PF, through the AG's
office, is
engaged in a political game which has nothing to do with the rule
of law.
The party believes there is a 'sinister plot to decimate the MDC,
and to
whittle down its Parliamentary majority by engaging in a crackdown on
innocent MDC MPs, officials and members.'
http://www.int.iol.co.za
Peter Fabricius
August
04 2009 at 07:11AM
President Jacob Zuma has promised
Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai that he will take up his
complaints about the unity government
with President Robert Mugabe and other
regional leaders.
Tsvangirai, the leader of the larger faction of
the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC-T), met Zuma in Joburg yesterday
and, according to
sources, complained about breaches by Mugabe's Zanu-PF of
the political
agreement that the parties signed last year.
This
agreement was the framework for the unity government established
in
February.
Although Zuma and Tsvangirai refused after their meeting
to disclose
the areas of disagreement, it is understood that Tsvangirai
focused on
Mugabe's unilateral appointment of two key officials, Reserve
Bank governor
Gideon Gono and attorney-general Johannes Tomana, which he has
refused to
reverse.
Another complaint was about Mugabe's
tardiness in implementing an
agreement to redistribute provincial
governorships - all held by Zanu-PF
appointees - among the three parties in
the government.
Tsvangirai had also been expected to complain about
Mugabe's officials
arresting at least six of his MPs in what the MDC-T
believes is a deliberate
campaign to regain the parliamentary majority that
Zanu-PF lost in elections
in March 2008.
Several of the MPs
have been given sentences of six months or more,
leading to their dismissal
from parliament and weakening of the MDC-T's slim
majority.
Zuma said at a press briefing with Tsvangirai after their meeting at
Luthuli
House that Tsvangirai had told him about areas of progress in the
inclusive
government "and what areas are a little bit difficult".
He said he
was pleased that there had been an agreement on a majority
of issues among
the three parties in the unity government.
"There are a few issues
on which there is disagreement, but these are
weighty, important issues, but
they don't seem to be issues that cannot be
resolved."
Zuma
said he had told Tsvangirai that former president Thabo Mbeki,
the
facilitator of the Zimbabwe negotiations, had had a letter briefing him
on
the situation, and had given his opinion that the outstanding issues were
"not deadlocking until the end and that we are actually in a position to
move forward".
"I have indicated to the prime minister that,
given his briefing, I
will be contacting President Mugabe on the matter as
well as (Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur) Mutambara, (leader of MDC-M) on the
issues that the prime
minister has raised.
"But I will also
contact our colleagues in the region to (tell) them
what the prime minister
has briefed me on, with the sole aim of saying how
we can continue working
together to make quick progress in Zimbabwe."
The regional
colleagues to whom Zuma was referring are understood to
be the leaders of
the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which
is the chief
guarantor of the unity government.
The SADC is to hold its annual
summit next month, at which it is
expected to assess the government's
progress.
Tsvangirai said it had been five months since the
establishment of the
inclusive government, so he had given Zuma an update
"on areas of progress
and areas of slow progress".
He said he
was glad Zuma understood the situation and that he would do
everything in
his power to make sure Zimbabwe moved forward in a positive
way.
This article was originally published on
page 2 of The Mercury on
August 04, 2009
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
04 August 2009
The
University of Zimbabwe, which has remained closed since last year
finally
reopened on Monday, but only to a handful of students, set to battle
persistent water problems.
The campus itself, meanwhile, remained
empty throughout Monday and Tuesday,
with no lectures taking place, leaving
student's unions concerned that
another month of study will be lost. The
university has faced intermittent
closures over the past two years due to a
plethora of reasons, among them
student unrest over fees, a lecturers'
strike and water shortages. But
despite efforts to restore the University to
its former functioning glory,
including the drilling of new boreholes to
restore water supplies, only a
small percentage of students wanting to
further their studies will this year
have a chance to.
Already, all
potential first year students have had to suspend their hopes
of studying
until next February, after Education Officials announced that
first year
students would not be enrolled this year. Higher and Tertiary
Education
permanent secretary Washington Mbizvo last week said it was
regrettable that
some aspiring students would be inconvenienced.
"The development is very,
very unfortunate", he said. "But I would like to
point out that it is just a
transient discrepancy which will soon be
rectified. We are doing everything
possible within our means to restore
normalcy to the
institution."
The ministry has engaged the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF), the
City of Harare, the Zimbabwe National Water Authority and the
Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority as part of efforts to restore normal
water
supply at the institution. Mbizvo said this would ensure that classes
are
not disrupted in future.
UZ Vice-Chancellor Levi Nyagura
attributed the move to the persistent water
problems that have dogged the
institution since last year. He said the
University could not help deferring
the first year enrolment to accommodate
returning students who were forced
to shelve their studies at the UZ last
year after it struggled with erratic
water supplies amid a severe cholera
outbreak. Nyagura said it was
unfortunate that of the 13 boreholes sunk by
UNICEF to rectify the problem
only four functioned properly, while only
small amounts of water could be
extracted from the rest. This, he said,
forced the UZ to seal off campus
residencies so as to use the little water
available for
toilets.
Meanwhile, the fees required for students in the faculties of
Humanities is
US$404, Sciences US$504 and Veterinary Science US$674; a fee
structure that
has additionally forced thousands of students to change their
education
plans. Blessing Vava, the national Spokesperson for the Zimbabwe
National
Students Union (ZINASU) on Tuesday explained that a majority of
students
willing to return to their studies had failed to raise the money
needed to
pay fees. He explained the high fees are denying students their
right to
education, expressing anger with the unity government for not
prioritising
education.
"We are deeply worried about the government's
neglect of the education
sector, especially since we need education
professionals to counter the
brain drain in Zimbabwe," Vava said.
http://www.voanews.com/
By
Brenda Moyo
Washington
03 August 2009
The
Zimbabwean government on Monday canceled the operating licence of the
Mhunga
Bus Company, whose vehicles have been involved in two multi-fatality
accidents in the past three months, the latest being a head-on crash that
killed 40 people on Sunday.
Announcing the cancellation of the
company's permit on state television,
Transport Minister Nicholas Goche said
Mhunga buses "have claimed 70 people
in three months. It is against this
background that my ministry...concluded
to finally withdraw their operating
permit."
Mr. Goche ordered an inquiry into the accident on the
notoriously dangerous
highway from Harare to Masvingo, a provincial capital
in the southeast, in
which more than 30 people died on the spot with the
count of fatalities
according to police rising Monday to 40.
Another
Mhunga bus plunged into a riverbed near Chivu in April, killing 29
people.
Sources in Masvingo said angry mobs stoned Mhunga buses in
the city Monday,
leading the company to take its fleet off the road even
before the
government pulled its permit.
Mhunga Bus Company Transport
Manager Elphas Masungwa told reporter Brenda
Moyo of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that the company was very sorry about
the loss of life
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
3
August 2009
By Natasha
Hove
Bulawayo - A Gwanda-based lawyer has accused senior police there of
shielding three officers from punishment for wrongfully arresting and
torturing a local man. The three police officers from the Gwanda Criminal
Investigation department (CId), Lection Sibanda, Nhamo Baradzi, and owen
Sibanda, based at Gwanda central police station, had charges filed against
them for torturing Noble Mhlanga.
Mhlanga says he was
tortured by the three officers during his detention
after he was arrested on
burglary charges. He was released when officers
failed to find evidence
that
Mhlanga was involved in the burglaries.
After his release,
Mhlanga pressed charges against the three officers but,
according to his
lawyer Galen Moyo-Masiye and Partners, there was clear
evidence that the
police authorities were protecting the men, who had still
not been arrested
five months after
the incident.
"We have been asked to enquire as to
what led to the non-appearance in court
of the CId officers who allegedly
assaulted our client whilst he was
detained in police
cells at ZRP
Gwanda," read part of a letter sent by Mhlanga's lawyer to the
officer
commanding Matabeleland South police.
"When I communicated to your
subordinate, I was concerned about your delays
and obvious antics of
harbouring the accused persons from facing justice. I
asked for
an
investigation, and your evident inaction implies you are exhausted or
hoping
there is a way this case would die a natural death."
The
lawyer told The Zimbabwean that he had been advised by Mhlanga to
institute
charges against the officers.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Cuthbert Nzou
Tuesday 04 August 2009
HARARE - A leading international
watchdog against trade in "blood diamonds"
on Monday backed calls for
Zimbabwe's suspension from the Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme (KPCS)
and urged tough action to stop human rights
abuses at the country's
notorious Marange diamond fields.
The KPCS is a rough diamond
certification scheme established in 2003, which
brings together governments,
industry and civil society, and aims to
eradicate the trade in conflict
diamonds.
Global Witness that campaigns against trade in conflict
diamonds said it
"wholly supports the call for Zimbabwe's full suspension
from the Kimberley
Process.
"The Marange diamond fields have been the
scene of horrific human rights
violations, military activity, and rampant
smuggling over the past year -
all of which has been substantiated by the
recent review mission. These
activities are entirely incompatible with the
values and requirements of the
scheme."
A Kimberley Process review
mission visited Zimbabwe last month to
investigate reports of human rights
abuses, smuggling and other forms of
non-compliance.
Their interim
report showed that the mission found clear evidence of human
rights abuses,
and recommended a ban on Zimbabwe trading in diamonds for at
least six
months.
The Zimbabwean government has not formally responded to the
interim report
by the KPCS team saying it would await the final report
before commenting.
However Harare has rejected claims of rights abuses at
Marange and says
calls for a ban on Zimbabwean diamonds are unjustified
because the country
was neither at war nor involved in an armed
conflict.
Backing calls for the banning of Zimbabwean diamonds, Global
Witness
spokesperson Elly Harrowell said it was necessary for the KPCS to
act to
restore credibility in the monitoring system that has been blamed of
taking
too long in the past to act against rogue politicians and rebel
armies
profiting from blood diamonds.
"This is litmus test for the
scheme's credibility. If member governments
fail to take prompt and
effective action by suspending Zimbabwe, consumer
confidence will be
seriously shaken, which will be a blow for diamond
exporting countries and
the industry alike," she added. - ZimOnline
http://www.radiovop.com
Cape Town - Communications ministers from
Southern Africa Development
Community (Sadc) countries will meet in Zimbabwe
from Wednesday to consider
ways of strengthening postal services in the
region.
The three-day meeting under the auspices of the
Southern Africa Postal
Operators Association will draft a four-year plan for
postal services in the
region, the SA Post Office said in a
statement.
In terms of Sadc's postal strategic plan for 2005 to
2008, the
emphasis in the past four years was on, among other things,
providing a
universal postal service and improving the quality of service
and efficiency
of the postal network.
It also focused on
opening new markets and responding to customer
needs, postal reform and
sustainable development as well as co-operation and
interaction among
stakeholders.
However, with the changing communications
environment, postal services
providers had to find ways to remain relevant
in a time of e-communication,
the post office said.
The
conference would discuss progress in the past four years and look
at what
still needed to change to ensure that postal operators adapted to
the new
market realities.
The conference would then develop an action plan
for the years 2009 to
2012. SAPA
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
4
August 2009
Parliament's Standing Rules and Orders Committee have drawn
up a final list
of applicants to sit on the new Zimbabwe Media
Commission.
The list contains 12 names, described by the Committee as
'experts in the
media, and highly professionals in the field.' The speaker
of Parliament
Lovemore Moyo will send the list to Robert Mugabe who will
whittle it down
to nine.
The five-member panel was chaired by MDC-T
Senator Obert Gutu, and included
ZANU PF Senator Chief Fortune Charumbira,
MDC-T MP Tabitha Khumalo, MDC-M MP
Edward Mkhosi and ZANU PF MP Mabel
Chinomona conducted the interviews.
27 candidates attended the interviews
which were held in the Senate Chambers
at Parliament building from morning
to late afternoon on Monday. The
interviews were open to members of the
public although they were not allowed
to make any contributions besides just
following proceedings.
Media lawyer Chris Mhike, impressed most during
the interviews and was
placed top of the final list of 12. Others who made
it were veteran
journalist Henry Muradzikwa and media lecturer Rino
Zhuwarara, all 2 are
also former chief executive officers of the Zimbabwe
Broadcasting
Corporation. Robert Stringer also made it.
Former radio
3 disc jockey, Millicent Buzuzi Mombeshora, who is currently
the Head of
strategic planning and special projects with the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe
made it, and so did Susan Makore, former Director of Programmes at
the ZBC,
Nqobile Nyathi, former news editor of the Financial Gazette and
former
Chronicle senior staffer Miriam Madziwa.
Zimbabwe Union of Journalists
President Matthew Takaona, a former senior
reporter with the Sunday Mail is
also on the list, as are Reverend Useni
Sibanda, former reporter with the
Chronicle in Bulawayo, and Godfrey
Majonga, former ZBC TV and radio news
anchor.
Media hangman, Tafataona Mahoso failed to make it after he was
described by
one panellist as 'hostile and typically arrogant' during the
interview. MISA
advocacy officer Tabani Moyo told us Mahoso's performance
was so shocking
that instead of answering questions, he spent most of his
time redefining
the questions.
'He wasn't answering the questions.
All what he did was challenging the
questions, which showed his lacking of
appreciation for the process,' Moyo
said.
Moyo said without doubt the
top five on the list had the best interest of
the media at heart. But
Mahoso's failure to appear on the final list
prompted calls by the state
media of 'bias towards candidates favoured by
the MDC,' an allegation that
was reportedly 'rubbished' by the Standing
Rules and Orders
Committee.
The Herald alleged that the interviews were 'mired in
controversy,' because
a team of human resources experts, that drafted the
questions, and MDC
interviewers supposedly failed all candidates perceived
to be sympathetic to
ZANU PF, while passing pro-MDC applicants.
The
Herald also reported that because of the supposed 'favouritism,' the
interview process had to be eventually abandoned. But a panellist who
interviewed the candidates on Monday denied the process was ever abandoned,
saying the list that was drawn up on Tuesday morning was final.
'The
speaker has consulted widely with Standing Rules and Orders Committee
members, including his deputy, the Senate President Edna Madzongwe. The
process was done openly and fair and each candidate was given a maximum of
15 minutes to answer some questions prepared by human resources experts,' a
source told us.
The source added; 'To say the committee passed
pro-MDC applicants is pushing
it, really. If the honest truth be told, it
contains people who have all
worked under ZANU PF. All the people on that
list have worked for the state
media under the direct control of ZANU PF. I
can single out Nqobile Nyathi
and Vimbai Chivaura as the only two candidates
who have not had direct links
with ZANU PF controlled media, otherwise the
rest have held senior positions
in the state media.'
The
parliamentary committee will also draw up nominees to sit on the
Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) which regulates the operations of
the electronic, radio and television industry. Furthermore, based on
Monday's
interview, six nominees from the remaining candidates for the ZMC
jobs will
have their names forwarded o Mugabe who will appoint 3 of them.
The other
six will come from stakeholders from the electronic
media.
The full list of Zimbabwe Media Commissioners and points awarded
to them by
Parliament's Standing Rules and Orders Committee:
1. Chris
Mhike 4,667
2. Rino
Zhuwarara 4,583
3. Useni
Sibanda 4,417
4. Miriam Sibanda Madziwa
4,347
5. Matthew Takaona 4,25
6. Robert
Stringer 4,167
7. K.W. Munodawafa
4,083
8. Henry Muradzikwa 4,042
9. Nqobile
Nyathi 3,833
10. Milicent Mombeshora
3,708
11. Mabasa C 3,708
12. Godfrey
Majonga 3,667
13. Vimbai Chivaura
3,625
14. D.J Ntini 3,583
15. Susan
Makore 3,542
16. Douglas
Dhliwayo 3,458
17. Vambe
Jirira 3,458
18. Kindness
Paradza 3,375
19. Chris
Mutsvangwa 3,333
20. Godfrey
Chada 3,333
21 Tichaona Zinhumwe
3,331
22. L. Nhikwe 3,25
23. Tim
Nyahunzvi 3
24. S. N.
Samupingi 2,375
25. Fidelis
Zvomuya 2,25
26. Ropafadzo Mapimhidza
2,308
27. Tafataona Mahoso 2,208
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
3
August 2009
By Zwanai
Sithole
BULAWAYO - Black farmers resettled in prime hunting areas in
Matabeleland
North under the government's chaotic land redistribution have
resorted to
rearing cattle in the wildlife
conservancies.
Sources in the wildlife rich Gwayi Intensive
Conservation Area said this
week that a lot of new farmers were finding it
difficult to negotiate the
sector formally run by white farmers. "Most
farmers are throwing in the
towel and have converted their farms into cattle
rearing farms," said Titus
Ndlovu, one of the black farmers who was
allocated a conservancy in the area
in 2003.
Some of the farmers have
cut game fences around the conservancies which were
erected to prevent
foot-and-mouth disease spreading from buffaloes to
cattle. Cases of the
disease have increased as a result.
"There is an urgent for the
government to revisit its policy on
conservancies. Wildlife management is
highly sensitive sector which needs
farmers who really appreciate the
importance of our natural resources. The
current situation where some
conservancies have been turned into firewood
ranches and animal ranches do
not augur well for the future of this
industry," said Randel Tim who was
dispossessed of his Locas ranch by a
senior government
official in
2003.
According to investigations carried out by The Zimbabwean, some of
the farms
in this lucrative industry have also been partitioned into small
fields of
crops such as maize and groundnuts. There have also been
widespread reports
of illegal and uncontrolled hunting of game especially
buffaloes, elephants,
kudu and impala. The meat from the animals is openly
sold along the
Bulawayo/Victoria Falls highway.
The
waves of democratic turmoil washed over from June to July with scores of
breaches of the GPA being recorded, the majority of which fell into the
following categories: The month began with a group of journalists returning to court in an effort
to make former High Court rulings ‘legally binding’ – calling attention to ZANU
PF breaches of GPA articles covering both the rule of law and freedom of
expression. The journalists had been barred from covering the COMESA summit on
the grounds that they were not accredited by the Media and Information
Commission (MIC). This was despite a High Court ruling in June that made it
clear that the MIC was defunct, and that journalists were not required to
register with it. Some days later, the principle of freedom of expression was again in the
news, but with a mocking twist. The controversial Nathaniel Manheru column,
banished by the inclusive government, returned to The Herald’s pages
with Zanu PF sources allegedly arguing that banning it infringed the columnist’s
rights to free expression. Presumably the same sources are not concerned that
its existence breaches the GPA commitments to politically objective news - the
affected columnist is none other than Mugabe’s press secretary, George Charamba
- and to refrain from publishing ‘language that incites hostility’. Charamba predictably used the column to immediately denigrate Morgan
Tsvangirai, saying he was “the PM of NGOs”. With this swipe at the PM, he also
resuscitated Zanu PF’s age-old anti-NGO thesis. It was a chilling pre-cursor to
a speech Mugabe went on to make at the end of July, hinting at trouble to come,
when he said: “[NGOs] have exceeded, really, their terms of reference and
perhaps we might have to reconsider the advisability of having NGOs’’(VOA, 28
July 2009). The effects of the deeply-ingrained Zanu PF culture of violence were ongoing
with numerous attacks on MDC supporters being recorded during the month. For
example, an MDC member and election agent during the March 29th 2008 elections
was attacked by two known Zanu PF men. It was a reprisal attack, because he had
reported their horrific assault on him the previous year to a Human Rights
organisation. Teachers in Masvingo were also subjected to vicious reprisal attacks, this
time by youth militia who objected to their support of a Progressive Teachers’
Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) class boycott the previous Friday. In the wake of this,
the PTUZ has expressed grave concern about militias who have set up ‘terror
bases’ on school properties across the country; ‘terror bases’ are historically
linked to political intimidation and violence. Senior members of the Zanu PF party appeared in the media throughout July for
reasons that had nothing to do with efforts to address the crisis that Zimbabwe
continues to be in. For example, the co-Minister of Home Affairs, Kembo Mohadi,
was implicated in efforts to subvert the rule of law in his favour. This
followed an attack by his employees against 11 villagers who were severely
beaten with fan belts, sticks, open hands and kicked. The attack was allegedly
swept under the rug by the police when Mohadi himself made a police report
accusing the villagers of stealing his cattl coming to light only because
prosecutors are apparently refusing to handle this case because the villagers
were so badly hurt, and have asked the police to investigate further. Emmerson Mnangagwa and Webster Shamu - both implicated in a case
involving massive poaching of rhinos - made it into the news when a police
docket relating to the two ZANU PF stalwarts mysteriously vanished from Zimbabwe
Attorney-general Johannes Tomana’s office (Tomana is a self-proclaimed supporter
of the Zanu PF party). In addition to this, the police superintendent in charge
of the investigations was suddenly transferred from his posting at Bulawayo
Central police station to a rural centre in Mashonaland. Not to be outdone by Mnangagwa, Shamu, and Mohadi, Attorney-General Johannes
Tomana himself closed the month on a corrupt note by taking over Malangani ranch
in Masvingo in the midst of a spree of property acquisitions by senior Zanu PF
officials. Fortune Charumbira, the president of the Council of Chiefs, Chivi
North Zanu-PF Member of Parliament Tranos Huruva and Chivi Central legislator
Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana also acquired properties. Former freedom fighters in
the province have since approached Vice-President Joyce Mujuru to intervene.
Zanu PF sources said that the outgoing Provincial Governor is doling out the
properties to his closest friends before a new Governor takes over. Mid-month, MDC-T MP for Chipinge East, Mathias Mlambo, was suspended from
parliament after being sentenced to ten months in prison on “trumped up” charges
of public violence – this was despite winning an appeal against his sentence.
The Constitution of Zimbabwe says upon the sentencing of a legislator to a jail
term of six months or more, “such member shall cease to exercise his functions …
and his seat shall become vacant at the expiration of 30 days”. Lawyers for
Mlambo are lodging a High court appeal against the suspension on the grounds
that his appeal victory means he may continue his duties in parliament until the
matter is finalised. A main theme of the month was the ongoing arrest and sentencing of MDC-T MPs
on spurious charges. MDC-T MP for Chipinge South, Meki Makuyana, was convicted
on ‘trumped up charges’ of kidnapping and sentenced to 18 months in prison with
hard labour. This brings to four the number of MDC-T MPs, who have been
convicted and sentenced by magistrates on the ZANU PF payroll and who
accordingly lost their seats in parliament. A further seven MPs are currently
facing charges their party describe as “trumped up” and several others have been
arrested and released on spurious grounds. MDC-T describe this as an attempt by
Zanu PF to decimate its structures and reverse the party’s parliamentary
majority. (The map above portrays future and potential by-elections in
Zimbabwe, some as a result of these actions). Zanu PF’s attempts to derail the ongoing Constitution-making process came
into the open when its thugs disrupted the all-stakeholders’ conference at the
Harare International Conference Centre, hurling abuse at the Speaker of
Parliament, Lovemore Moyo, and bringing the proceedings into chaos. Disruptions
were led by Zanu PF MPs Saviour Kasukuwere, Patrick Zhuwawo, former MP Nyasha
Chikwinya, and war veterans Joseph Chinotimba. Police stood by as the thugs
pelted delegates with plastic bottles of water and shouted abuse. An MDC
councillor sustained head injuries after he was assaulted by the thugs. The
meeting was eventually abandoned. Journalists in court to make media commission order legally
binding Freelance journalists who were barred from covering the COMESA summit
recently, applied in the High Court to make a previous court decision legally
binding on Minister of Information Webster Shamu and his Permanent Secretary
George Charamba,. High Court Justice Bharat Patel ruled in June that the Media
and Information Commission (MIC), was defunct and no journalist should be
required to register with it. Despite this, the journalists were still barred
from covering the COMESA summit, because they were not accredited by the defunct
regulatory body. Hate speech back in state media The much-reviled Nathaniel Manheru column returned to The Herald’s pages
after being banished by the inclusive government for “promoting hate speech”.
The column, written by Mugabe’s press secretary, George Charamba, often gave an
insight into government thinking, while vilifying the MDC and anybody who dared
think or act independently. Zanu (PF) sources said that there were plans to
bring it back on a permanent basis in open defiance to the Joint Monitoring and
Implementation Committee, JOMIC, which oversees the implementation of the Global
Political Agreement - arguing that banning it would infringe freedom of
expression rights of the columnist! Brutality Continues In June, 2009 “J” was returning home in Muzarabani, when he was attacked by
two known Zanu PF men. “J” was an MDC election agent in that area during the
2008 elections. Soon after the elections he was attacked by the same two men who
broke his left arm and two fingers on his right hand, and also destroyed his
home. This time they intended to chop off his right hand with an axe. The reason
for this attack was that he reported last year’s assault to a Human Rights
organisation, who has recently served summons on the attackers. ZPF militia crackdown on teachers in wake of class boycott Many teachers in Masvingo were forced to flee their posts after ZANU PF youth
militia launched a retributive crackdown on teachers this weekend. The
harassment and violent threats come in the wake of a class boycott on Friday.
About 200 teachers from Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) took to
the streets of Masvingo, demonstrating for a review of their US$100 monthly
allowances. Some teachers from Masvingo’s rural districts are now running scared
because of persecution from youth militia. The PTUZ has for several weeks
expressed concern about the presence of militias that have set up ‘terror’ bases
on school properties across the country. Rule of law still ignored as Minister implicated in village
attack Workers employed by the co-Minister of Home Affairs, Kembo Mohadi, are facing
attempted murder charges after severely assaulting 11 villagers earlier this
year. Mohadi and villagers from two villages are fighting over ownership of a
herd of cattle, which led to the brutal attack of the villagers after they drove
the beasts off Mohadi’s homestead, claiming they’d been stolen. Mohadi’s workers
descended on the two villages and assaulted 11 villagers with fan belts, sticks,
open hands and booted feet, accusing them of stealing the minister’s cattle. The
accused also hammered a nail into the upper left arm of one of the complainants.
The attack was allegedly swept under the rug when Mohadi himself made a police
report accusing the villagers of stealing his cattle. MDC outcry as another MP convicted on trumped up charges The MDC MP for Chipinge South, Meki Makuyana, was on Thursday convicted on
‘trumped up charges’ of kidnapping and sentenced to 18 months in prison with
hard labour - 6 months suspended - was taken to prison while his lawyers put
together an appeal. This is now 4 MDC-T MP’s, who have been convicted and
sentenced to jail by magistrates on the ZANU PF payroll. This year alone over 6
MP’s from the MDC have faced trumped up charges. An MDC statement said that this
is an attempt to decimate its structures and reverse the party’s majority in
parliament. MDC MP Mathias Mlambo suspended from Parliament MDC-T MP for Chipinge East, Mathias Mlambo, has been suspended from
parliament after his recent sentencing to 10 months in prison on trumped up
charges of public violence. Mlambo’s lawyers are to appeal. Section 42 of the
Constitution of Zimbabwe says upon the sentencing of a legislator … to … a jail
term of six months or more, ’such member shall cease … to exercise his functions
… and his seat shall become vacant at the expiration of 30 days ….. ‘ Because
Mlambo won an appeal against his sentence, he may continue his duties in
parliament until the matter is finalised. Drama as ZANU PF disrupt all-stakeholders conference in Harare ZANU PF thugs disrupted the all-stakeholders’ conference at the Harare
International Conference Centre, hurling abuse at the Speaker of Parliament
Lovemore Moyo and bringing the proceedings into chaos. Disruptions were led by
ZanuPF MPs Saviour Kasukuwere, Patrick Zhuwawo, former MP Nyasha Chikwinya, and
war veteran Joseph Chinotimba. Police stood by as ZANU PF thugs pelted delegates
with plastic bottles of water and shouted abuse. An MDC councillor sustained
head injuries after being assaulted by the thugs. The meeting was eventually
abandoned. An MDC statement claimed the Zanu PF-induced chaos was obviously
meant to derail a democratic constitution-making process for Zimbabweans. Mnangagwa Police docket disappears A police docket implicating two ZANU PF stalwarts - Emmerson Mnangagwa and
Webster Shamu - has vanished from Zimbabwe Attorney-general Johannes Tomana’s
office. The police superintendent who was in charge of the investigations was
also suddenly immediately transferred from his posting at Bulawayo Central
police station to a rural centre in Mashonaland Central. The two high-profile
figures had been implicated in massive poaching of rhinos in Zimbabwe’s national
parks, after the arrest of a Chinese national early this year who was found with
six rhino horns, who implicated Mnangagwa and Shamu. Tomana takes over ranch in Masvingo Attorney-General Johannes Tomana - a self-confessed Zanu-PF member - has
taken over Malangani ranch in Masvingo in the midst of an spree of property
acquisitions in the province by senior Zanu-PF officials. Fortune Charumbira,
the president of the Council of Chiefs, Chivi North Zanu-PF Member of Parliament
Tranos Huruva and Chivi Central legislator Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana have also
seized properties. Former freedom fighters in the province are angry over the
blatant corruption and have approached Vice-President Joyce Mujuru to intervene
to stop the acquisitions. Zanu-PF sources said that the outgoing Provincial
Governor is doling out the properties to his closest friends before a new
governor takes over. This entry was posted by Sokwanele on
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 at 3:56
pm
Future and potential by-elections
Party breaches against Article 19 - click to
enlarge
Party breaches against Article 11 - click to enlarge
Party breaches by party - click to enlarge
The volume of articles detailing breaches of the provisions of the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) last month was so great that we cannot do them justice
in this short document. For further relevant information, readers are encouraged
to visit http://www.sokwanele.com/zigwatch
SW Radio Africa (ZW): 03/07/2009
Zimbabwean, The (ZW):
09/07/2009
Messages from Zimbabwe:
04/07/2009
SW
Radio Africa (ZW): 13/07/2009
SW Radio Africa (ZW): 20/07/2009
SW Radio
Africa (ZW): 09/07/2009
SW Radio Africa
(ZW): 15/07/2009
SW
Radio Africa (ZW): 13/07/2009
ZimEye: 13/07/2009
Zimbabwe Times, The (ZW):
27/07/2009
David Smith visits National Heroes
Acre in Zimbabwe where Robert Mugabe will one day be buried "Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes" – it's a priceless line spoken
by Galileo after he has recanted to avoid torture by the papal authorities in
Bertolt Brecht's play The Life of Galileo. The sentiment can be equally hard to
avoid in many parts of Africa. National Heroes Acre is a burial ground for those who lived and died for Zimbabwe. Construction began
in 1981, a year after independence, and continues on a hill overlooking Harare.
It is a favourite spot for President Robert Mugabe to deliver bombastic speeches
denouncing his foes. This hallowed cemetery is also the place where, though his supporters are
seemingly in denial about his mortal flesh, Mugabe will one day be
buried. My tour of Heroes Acre began in a poky gallery amid wooden stepladders and
cans of paint. A temporary exhibition about the role of women in the struggle
against white minority rule was being taken down. A guide, Manuel Kazowa, drove
me through the rustic 140-acre grounds explaining that the wildlife includes
monkeys and giant snakes. We came to a stop at the imposing black granite, bronze and stone shrine but
looked the other way at something more arresting. In the distance we could see
two nude male bathers, the sun glistening on their backs and their bottoms.
Kazowa's sister, accompanying him to learn the ropes, grinned. Kazowa shouted at
the men and, suddenly embarrassed, they ducked hastily out of sight. There must be an architect somewhere who gets very rich furnishing the
world's dictators. There's a familiar idiom: the sweeping plaza, the heroic
statues and sculptures, the gimmicky monument to an ego blind to its own
vulgarity. It's designed to make you feel like an ant crawling over an elephant.
At Heroes Acre I was immediately reminded of my first view of Saddam Hussein's
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Baghdad, or crouching before socialist-realist
grandstanding in China and the former Soviet Union. So it came as no surprise to learn that the design team included seven
architects from North Korea. From the air, the mausoleum is meant to resemble an
AK47 rifle, the most potent weapon in the guerrilla war for independence, with
the central stairway as the barrel, the obelisk as the bayonet and the graves as
the bullets in their chambers. "After the tour I promise to exhume one body for you, do you like it?" began
Kazowa. "You can just tell me which one you want to be exhumed. I'm just joking,
people. This is National Heroes Acre, whereby the gallant sons and daughters who
sacrificed their lives for our freedom are laid to rest." He pointed to Stalinesque bronze friezes depicting the African nationalist
war for independence. In one scene, white Rhodesian soldiers, wielding rifles
and batons and marshalling a ferocious hound, terrorise a black woman who has
fallen to the ground, a baby clinging to her back. Above the friezes sit statues
of the Zimbabwean national emblem, the African fish eagle. We climbed up the steps of the monument, comprising tiered black granite and
cobblestones that represent the Great Zimbabwe walls. Kazowa pointed to the spot
where Mugabe habitually proclaims, "Zimbabwe will never be a colony again!" and
the gaudy bronze statue of the Unknown Soldier, depicting a male solider with a
flag, a male soldier with a bazooka, and a female soldier with an AK47. Kazowa continued: "Behind the statue we've got that skyscraper. We call it
the tower, but I think it should be called an obelisk. That obelisk is 40 metres
high. The white top is an eternal flame. Whenever you come across the flame
flickering, it depicts the spirit of independence. It also says to the people of
Zimbabwe to keep on working hard for the cause of national purity." There are 76 male and four female heroes buried here. Among them is the
president's late wife, Sarah Francesca Mugabe, whose tomb has her picture and
the biblical inscription, "And make her the mother of nations". To its left are
several empty graves, but it is uncertain whether 85-year-old Mugabe will lie by
her side. Kazowa insisted that the plots cannot be booked in advance. I stopped at the tombs of Mugabe's guerrilla rival Dr Joshua Nkomo, Chenjerai
"Hitler" Hunzvi, the hammer of white farmers, and Arthur Guy Clutton-Brock, a
British social worker who continued to assist the independence struggle even
after he was expelled by Ian Smith's government. He was the first white man to
be declared a national hero by Zimbabwe. But to be British here is to carry the disease of colonialism. The curator of
Heroes Acre turned up and asked if I was enjoying the visit. Then he turned to
Kazowa and spoke in a different language. What he said, I discovered later, was:
"Did you tell him we have taken the land? We have taken it forever." Mugabe decides who's in and who's out of Heroes Acre. When in opposition, the
Movement for Democratic Change boycotted state funerals, refusing to endorse his
narrow definition of heroism. But the MDC's leader, prime minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, did attend a burial in March, the first at the site since he joined
the country's peculiar team of rivals. I asked Kazowa if Tsvangirai will one day be laid to rest in this pantheon.
He hesitated. "That one is very difficult for me to answer," he said, bursting
into laughter. "I cannot disclose anything about that. It's too sensitive. It's
the politicians who will decide. I'm just a tour
guide."
http://www.channel4.com
Updated on 04 August 2009
By
Channel 4 News
There have been two rallying calls made by Zanu PF
consistently for the past
nine years.
Calls that have covered a
multitude of sins and provided a smoke screen for
a decade of oppression and
bad governance:
"Zimbabwe will never be a colony again!"
"Zimbabwe
is a sovereign state and will brook no interference!"
Now, six months
into a transitional phase of governance where the MDC
election winners have
been forced to share power with the Zanu PF losers,
the rallying calls of
the old order are still being peddled but are more
absurd than ever
before.
Zimbabwe's official currency is the US dollar, the South African
Rand, the
British Pound or the Botswana Pula. We will never be a colony
again and are
a sovereign sate but don't even have our own
money!
Despite being born and raised in Zimbabwe and living here all my
life, I am
one of millions who has, in the last five years, been classified
as an alien
because my parents were not born in Zimbabwe.
I am a
permanent resident paying rates and taxes but am no longer allowed to
vote
and once a year have to go to the immigration department and have my
passport stamped.
Here, in the premier shop window of Zimbabwe's home
affairs department, the
stairs and walls are filthy, the benches broken, the
floor tiles lifting and
the windows grey with grime.
The toilets are
locked, the door handles gone and none of the lights work.
One bored
woman serves, she does not look at you, greet you or acknowledge
your
presence as she takes documents, stamps them and pushes them back at
you.
Attached to the wall overhead is a TV. It is tuned in either to
BBC or Sky
News, not Zimbabwe television - but, we will never be a colony
again!
For the last few years, as conditions have dropped to catastrophic
levels
leaving us with the lowest life expectancy in the world, Zanu PF have
consistently said that we are under threat from
neo-colonialists.
Everything that is wrong is blamed on the west,
particularly the UK, EU and
USA and, of course, on sanction. Sanctions which
in reality are not a
blanket measure against the nation but only involve
visa bans and an assets
freeze on 243 named, targeted
individuals.
The lack of medicines and equipment in hospitals are blamed
on sanctions;
the shortage of fertilizer, seed and spare parts for machines
are blamed on
sanctions. Water shortages, broken street lights, missing
intersection
traffic lights and even non existent refuse collection are all
blamed on
sanctions. Schools without books, chalk and furniture - yes,
sanctions
again!
This week the old order propagandists on ZBC TV are
even blaming sanctions
for the maze of cavernous pot-holes littering our
roads.
They stay quiet, however, about who it is fixing the chaos left by
bad
governance.
Everywhere the big cars in all our villages, towns
and cities tell the story
of Zimbabwe's sovereignty: UN, Care, Concern,
World Health, World Vision,
World Food, US Aid and dozens more.
This
week an American NGO, Messcorps, are even fixing the public toilets in
my
home town.
So much for never being a colony again when we can't even fix
our own loos!
And then of course, the final veneer of Zimbabwe's
sovereignty is displayed
for all to see in our supermarkets.
Milk,
margarine, biscuits, flour, maize meal, potatoes, sugar, washing
powder -
everything is imported, almost nothing is made in Zimbabwe
anymore.
Supermarket shelves are a veritable united nations of imported
products and
someone said that in his local supermarket even the radio is
tuned to a
South African station.
What was that about never being a
colony again?
HARARE, 4 August 2009 (IRIN) - Recent moves by
Zimbabwe's unity government to adopt several outstanding commitments to the
Global Political Agreement (GPA), the basis of the current system, are
encouraging, but genuine dedication to the necessary reforms is hard to come by.
Photo:
Flikr/Umsoto
Still at
odds: President Robert Mugabe (left) and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
(right)
It took months to broker the agreement between President Robert Mugabe's
ZANU-PF and the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations that made it
possible set up a government and start resolving the challenges of Zimbabwe's
economic implosion and the violent elections in 2008.
In signing the GPA
document on 15 September 2008, the main political parties agreed to "work
together to create a genuine, viable, permanent, sustainable and nationally
acceptable solution to the Zimbabwe situation and in particular to implement the
[GPA], with the aims of resolving once and for all the current political and
economic situations and charting a new political direction for the country."
It has been a steep and rocky road, with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai,
who has been Prime Minister since February 2009, claiming that Mugabe has failed
to respect the GPA deal.
Tsvangirai met with South African President
Jacob Zuma - chair of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which
brokered and endorsed the GPA - in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 3 August and
again accused Mugabe of frustrating efforts to implement the reforms required in
terms of the GPA.
"The Prime Minister has briefed me that the majority
of issues are moving forward, except for a few," Zuma told local media. "I have
said I will be contacting President Mugabe."
Tsvangirai has stressed the
need to deal with unresolved issues, including control of Zimbabwe's security
forces, and ZANU-PF's unilateral appointment of Attorney-General Johannes Tomana
and Governor of the Reserve Bank, Gideon Gono, which were contrary to the terms
of the GPA.
"Clearly, there are signs of movement in terms of
implementing some of the outstanding issues on the GPA, but these developments
are linked to the upcoming SADC summit and the first anniversary of the signing
of the power sharing deal," political journalist and analyst Dumisani Muleya
told IRIN.
The next ordinary SADC Summit is scheduled for the first week
of September 2009 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. "Zimbabwean leaders
obviously want to avoid being the centre of attraction by drawing criticism from
regional leaders for failing to fully implement the provisions of the
power-sharing pact," Muleya commented.
Slight signs of
commitment
"Freedom of Expression and Communication" is one
aspect of the GPA that has recently seen change. On 30 July the government
announced that international television stations such as the BBC and CNN had in
fact never been banned from conducting business in Zimbabwe, and reports of a
ban were "false". The BBC immediately sent its correspondent to Harare, the
capital.
"The Zimbabwe Government has told the BBC there is no ban on
its operations and it can resume reporting, legally and openly, in Zimbabwe,"
the BBC said on its website.
The Daily News, a pro-MDC newspaper that
was shut down by the ZANU-PF government in September 2003, has also been
re-licensed to operate, but its computers and archives were seized in the run-up
to the elections in 2008, so the publication is not expected to appear on the
streets anytime soon.
"While it is a welcome development to invite
foreign media, and to issue a license to The Daily News, more still needs to be
done in terms of repealing laws that have been used to prey on journalism," said
Matthew Takaona, president of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists. "All cannot be
well if the Prime Minister has to go to meet Zuma to appeal for the full
implementation of the GPA."
While it is a welcome
development to invite foreign media, and to issue a license to The Daily News,
more still needs to be done in terms of repealing laws that have been used to
prey on journalism
After years of cracking down in response to
public demonstrations, the government has also described as "false" reports that
Zimbabweans were not allowed to stage demonstrations, claiming all that was
needed was to notify the police.
"The notification is not meant to be
some form of application for permission from the police to proceed with intended
gathering or procession - it is for creating a platform for consultation between
the police and the convener of the procession on how best the procession or
gathering can be best managed," said Giles Mutsekwa, MDC Co-Home Affairs
minister, who shares the portfolio with his ZANU-PF counterpart.
Parliament also recently announced that it would start interviewing
members of the proposed Zimbabwe Media Commission, which will replace the Media
and Information Commission, the ZANU-PF government media regulatory body that
presided over the closure of independent newspapers, television and radio
stations.
Interviews to appoint commissioners to the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission, the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Zimbabwe Human Rights
Commission are in the pipeline.
On 30 July the National Security Council
met for the first time since the formation of the unity government in February
to discuss the prickly issues of the armed forces and security services. The
ministers and commanders of the security forces finally sat down with
Tsvangirai, whom they had vowed never to work with or salute.
Nicole Fritz, South African
Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) http://www.saiia.org.za/occasional-papers/saiia-occasional-paper-no.36-july-2009-english.html Download this document In April 2008, a Chinese
ship, the MV ‘An Yue Jiang’, attempting to offload a consignment of arms for the
Zimbabwean Defence Force, became a rallying point for civil society action in
southern Africa and a focal point for world attention. This paper describes how
civil society successfully opposed the transfer of the arms across southern
African territory and analyses how this rare, co-ordinated and regionwide civil
society mobilisation came about. Specifically, it examines why the campaign was
successful and discusses the broader geo-political context. It also attempts to
identify lessons for similar efforts in future. Background Presidential and
parliamentary elections were held in Zimbabwe on 29 March 2008. The political
opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), had been subjected to
sustained and systematic persecution by the ruling Zimbabwe African National
Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) for several years, and with increasing
intensity since 2000. However, it was believed
that concessions by Zimbabwean authorities relating to vote counting and
election monitoring, under the Southern African Development Community-sponsored
mediation process, offered a greater prospect of free and fair elections than
had been the case for several years. This possibility provoked widespread
interest. As it happened, initial results posted at ballot stations indicated
that the ruling Zanu-PF had been defeated. Apparently confirming this, the
posting of initial results was quickly shut down and weeks went by without
official results being announced. Instead, Zanu-PF unleashed
an intensified campaign of violence against the political opposition - targeting
grassroots organisers and punishing communities in which it had suffered defeat.
This campaign against Zimbabwean citizens was systematically planned by army,
police and Central Intelligence officials. It was speculated in this
interregnum, and subsequent events bore it out, that election results were being
manipulated to deny the MDC an outright majority and to force a run-off election
for president between Zanu-PF’s Robert Mugabe and the MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai.
Zanu-PF’s campaign of violence was thus not only intended as retribution but as
a means to intimidate voters into supporting Mugabe in the run-off poll on 27
June 2008.
July 2009
- Adobe PDF version (144KB)
If you do not
have the free Acrobat reader on your computer, download it from the Adobe
website by clicking here.
Introduction
Download
full document
http://www.diplomaticourier.org
August 2, 2009
By Matt
Scanlon, Contributor
Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's Prime Minister
and head of the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) failed during his late
June tour of North
America and Europe to secure any significant aid money.
Robert Mugabe was
quick to take advantage. According to Reuters, Mugabe said
on state
television, "Everywhere they were saying 'no', they will not remove
sanctions. Why, why, because... they wanted ZANU-PF and Robert Mugabe
defeated"; "Sir (Tsvangirai) you have seen them, these people that you call
your friends. Imperialists can never be friends of those countries and
people that desire freedom".
Western leaders' hesitance to aid
Zimbabwe is understandable. Zimbabwe
under Mugabe is one of the worst
managed nations in the world. Inflation
runs in the hundreds of millions
percentile. AIDS rampages unchecked, and
Mugabe recently refused to
acknowledge a massive cholera outbreak.
Zimbabwe's land-massive fertile
tracts that could feed Africa-is squandered
under Mugabe; he seizes land
from political opponents and doles out farms as
gifts to his supporters.
Western aid money in the 1990's disappeared through
incompetence and
outright theft.
Still, Western countries must devise some plan to
strengthen
Tsvangirai's position. He represents the first serious challenge
to Mugabe's
rule since the "war veteran" movement of the 1990's. Unlike the
"war
veterans", however, Tsvangirai is not violent and corrupt. Quite the
contrary, Tsvangirai is by all accounts serious, modest, and committed to
both the welfare of his nation and democracy. The man has endured multiple
government sponsored beatings and assassination attempts. Earlier this year,
Tsvangirai survived a serious car crash-his wife seated next to him did
not-that was widely considered another murder attempt. His grandson drowned
a month after his wife's passing. Despite tragedies that would break lesser
men, Tsvangirai remains committed to the power sharing deal brokered by
South Africa. Every day, Tsvangirai must work with Robert Mugabe-a man who
would kill Tsvangirai the first chance he got-to bring Zimbabwe out of
hunger and disease. The plain fact is Tsvangirai is of rare character, and
the international community must do everything possible to guarantee he
becomes Zimbabwe's leader.
Mugabe, and his party, ZANU-PF,
however, are doing everything possible
to undermine the power sharing
agreement which gave Tsvangirai the Prime
Minister's portfolio. Multiple MDC
ministers have been arrested. Many are
not being sworn in and those who are
do not have access to meaningful
responsibilities. MDC ministers are fired
quickly after starting their jobs.
ZANU-PF members show up to MDC meetings
to heckle, harass, and provoke
fights-all with the blessing of the
government. Mugabe, meanwhile, threatens
to break off the power sharing
agreement completely should Tsvangirai
protest too much.
Worst
of all, Mugabe is using a newfound diamond mine to repeat the
worst
atrocities of Africa's "Blood Diamond" period. Marange, a once
peaceful
province in Eastern Zimbabwe, is now the site of forced labor,
child labor,
beatings, torture, state sponsored organized crime, and murder.
According to
Human Rights Watch, which released a report on June 26, the
abuses at the
Marange diamond mine are "as serious as those the Kimberley
Process was
designed to address". The army has "used brutal force to control
access to
diamond fields and to take over unlicensed diamond mining and
trading." Fox
News reports the worst accusation of all: some MDC members
claim, "hundreds
of diamond panners have been buried in mass graves".
The diamond
lode is too tempting for a greedy old man like Mugabe to
pass up. The regime
has zero hard currency, and diamonds-even with the
Kimberly Process-are
easily traded on markets both legitimate and black. The
Marange diamond mine
poses a real opportunity for Mugabe: like land in years
past, he can use
diamond wealth for patronage. Indeed, the army's presence
in Marange seems
to indicate the ruling powers are already enriching
themselves off of
Zimbabwe's resources. Mugabe, now in the twilight of his
life, must not be
allowed to re-consolidate his rule and marginalize
Tsvangirai.
America, in conjunction with the South African Development Community,
the
IMF, World Bank, and the United Nations, needs to develop a plan for
after
Mugabe's eventual death (Mugabe is 85). The crises that could afflict
Zimbabwe after Mugabe's death are myriad. The "war veterans", a militia of
pro-Mugabe thugs who attack political opponents, will be leaderless and
without direction after Mugabe dies. They could easily transform into a far
more savage movement-especially with newfound diamonds to control-without
clear direction. Mugabe lackeys who now control massive farms will be loathe
to give up their spoils, even though millions of acres of fertile land lays
fallow while Zimbabweans starve. AIDS-which infects a staggering 15 percent
of the population-will require a commitment of billions of dollars in aid if
Zimbabwe is to become productive again. Zimbabwe's education system is
stunted: according to Jan Raath in the Times Online, "Zimbabwe's 4.5 million
pupils had a total of 23 days uninterrupted in the classroom" in 2008.
Zimbabwe is like a large dead tree. It looks impressive on the outside, and
its mere appearance recalls former glory, but the slightest stress will
cause it to collapse.
Thankfully, there's Tsvangirai-a man whom
the international community
can trust and design plans around. When the
Mugabe era is over, a massive
aid program can be contingent upon a truly
free and fair election. With
foreign expertise and equipment, Harare
hospital and university can regain
their status as jewels of Sub-Sarahan
Africa. Zimbabwean agriculture can
once again make the nation rich. AIDS
rates can be reduced, and literacy
rates can rise instead of
fall.
If the international community is caught off guard by
Mugabe's death,
the cunning old fox will have once again out witted his
opponents.
Mugabe-through his own death-could orchestrate one final, grand
insult to
the international community he so despises: Zimbabwe's implosion,
which
would draw all its neighbors into the chaos.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
4
August 2009
By Nicola Diana
Zimbabwean-born long-distance swimmer Jacqui Smith
(28), who now lives in
the United Kingdom, braved the icy waters of the
English Channel this
weekend to raise funds for a struggling Zimbabwean
school.
Jacqui rose to the challenge of swimming the 33km expanse of
choppy,
13-degree water in just over 12 hours - and is believed to be the
first
Zimbabwean woman to have done so.
Previously described as "The
Everest of open water swimming", the vast
expanse of sea between the British
port of Dover and the French port of
Calais is a massive challenge even for
an experienced long-distance swimmer.
The success rate for solo swims is only
around 50 percent. Jacqui, a
mother-of-two, dedicated a full year to
training for the channel swim, while
working and caring for her husband,
Mark and their two young boys, Josh (5)
and Alex (3).
Her sister Vicky,
who lives in Johannesburg,could not contain her excitement
at the
news.
"I am just so proud of her!" she said. "For somebody living in a
foreign
country with two kids and giving up so much of her time to do
something like
this, it is a really remarkable achievement! It just shows
she has so much
passion for Zim."
A born and bred Zimbabwean, Jacqui
relocated to the United Kingdom six years
ago due to the escalating economic
turmoil back home but continues to do all
she can to support those in
greatest need.
Jacqui undertook the cross-channel swim to raise funds for
Tichakunda
pre-school at Hatcliffe on the outskirts to Harare, which is
being assisted
by the UK-based WeZimbabwe project.
The congratulatory
message on the WeZimbabwe website reads: "... Words
cannot begin to
describe the tremendous efforts Jacqui has made with this
and the amount of
support Mark and her two boys have given her throughout
the process. It has
been an incredible effort."
One of the first priorities at the school for
WeZimbabwe and their partners
in the Kuyamura Trust, is the sinking of a
borehole to provide clean water
for the children.
A fundraising event
held by Jacqui four weeks prior to her channel swim
raised an extra £2
000,00 which will contribute significantly to the
project. To date she has
raised £5 000,00 in total.
Vicky says that Jacqui would love to visit
Zimbabwe to deliver her donation
personally to the school but can't afford
to buy a ticket herself. It would
be great if people would contribute to a
ticket to send her to Zim to
deliver the money.
. Every stroke she
did was for another meal or book for the children, she
told
Vicky.
The swim:
Set off Sunday morning at 4.45 to meet the boat just
to have a "look"! We
didn't expect Jacqui to swim that day as forecast not
good but when we saw
from the cliffs there were no white horses we guessed
it was on. Had packed
everything and prepared all of her half hour feeds of
Maxim, the high energy
sports drink. The boat took us to Shakespeare beach,
near Dover Marina, and
Jacqui had to swim ashore. Once she was on the sand
they blew a fog horn
and she set off into fairly smooth water. She swam for
almost 8 hours
covering a very good distance and then suddenly the winds got
up and the
waves got rough as hell. The boat was tilting over almost into
the water
and we were afraid we would fall on top of Jacqui and kept
shouting to her
to keep further away from the boat. Quite scary. Although
she kept up the
same speed of stroke all the way, the waves slowed her down
quite a bit.
Her humour never faltered though and she made jokes
occasionally, shouting
out "here comes some food`' as she hit a heap of
spaghetti-like seaweed.
She made it to France, a beach called Cap Blanc Nez,
in 12 hours 35 minutes.
Her sister Danielle swam the last 100 metres in with
her and then back again
to the boat. We were all so thrilled but no time to
celebrate as the boat
set off again straight for Dover. It was the most
horrendous journey ever
with the boat rolling the whole way and my two
daughters were both seasick,
Jacqui more from fatigue and so on. There was
nowhere to hold on while we
sat in the cabin and we kept being thrown
around, clinging on to the bucket
for dear life!!
Mark, Jacqui's husband
and I, were fine and tried to celebrate with a Cider,
but it didn't quite
seem right!!
I should say this was the hardest day in my life, and I was not
the
swimmer!!!!
Jacqui's background
She was a Zimbabwe swimming record
holder, a breastroker and at 14 took part
in the All Africa Games. She
trained with Kirsty Coventry, a distant
relative, but at 17 acqui gave up
swimming and went to England. She is now
married with two little boys of 4
and 2 and has a full time job and so it
was a pretty tough mission over the
last year or so to train every evening
and over weekends in open water and
swimming pools in the Winter.
She is the first Zimbabwean woman to cross the
Channel. `Approximately 1050
people have managed the crossing since 1875 I
think, when a man called Webb
did it breakstroke, drinking Port!
For
further information:
www.wezimbabwe.org
http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com
3rd
Aug 2009 21:18 GMT
By a
Correspondent
KIRSTY Coventry seized gold with a world record in the
women's 200 metres
backstroke final at the world championships on
Saturday.
The Zimbabwean swam two minutes 04.81 to beat her previous best
mark of
2:05.24 which she set in winning gold at last year's Beijing
Olympics.
Asked if the victory made up for finishing eighth in Tuesday's
100 final,
she told reporters: "Yes definitely. I don't think I've had the
worst meet
of my life. My 100 back was a bit disappointing but I've come
back strongly.
"I think I went out a little too hard. The last 25 I was
dying."
Russia's nearly girl Anastasia Zueva took silver, just like she did
in the
100 final. She also broke the world record in her 50 semi but ended
up
fourth in that final.
Elizabeth Beisel of the United States came
third.