From News24 (SA), 14
December
Zim cops' arrest
blunder
Harare – An apparent bid to ignite
President Robert Mugabe's ruling party conference with the arrest of opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai, backfired on Friday when police were forced to release
him after only two hours. After a dramatic dawn raid by a detachment of heavily
armed police on the suburban home of the leader of the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC), the only reason authorities could claim for arresting him was that
he was not able to produce a licence for his security guard's two-way radio. The
popular 49-year-old former trade unionist was taken to Harare central police
station where his lawyer, Innocent Chagonda, pointed out that there was no law
requiring the guard's cheap, low-range radio to be licenced. "You arrest someone
of Morgan Tsvangirai's stature at 5am for a possible offence under the Radio
Communications Act?" asked Chagonda. "You can buy these things at any flea
market," said MDC spokesperson Learnmore Jongwe.
Tsvangirai was released without charges
being pressed against him. The arrest coincides with the ruling Zanu PF party's
two-day "national people's conference" in the tourist town of Victoria Falls
where Mugabe launched his campaign for presidential elections in March next
year. On Thursday Mugabe accused the MDC of posing "a real terrorist threat"
against the government and promised "a real physical fight" with the
pro-democracy party. Tsvangirai said Mugabe's allegations should be "dismissed
with contempt". "It is Mugabe who is building institutions of violence," he
said. "He is using the government agencies, the police, the army, militias. He
has told police not to arrest Zanu PF thugs. Eighty-three MDC people have been
killed and no-one has been arrested. Who are the victims and who are the
perpetrators?" he asked. Since Wednesday, helicopter gunships have patrolled the
skies over Victoria Falls which was declared a no-fly zone. Hundreds of heavily
armed soldiers and paramilitary police lined the streets. However, the
77-year-old leader's rousing speech gained little response: many of the 7 000
party faithful were seen to doze and yawn, and offered only mild applause when
he ended.
From BBC News, 14
December
Mugabe's descent into
dictatorship
Robert Mugabe will be 78 by the time he is expected to face
Morgan Tsvangirai in presidential elections in March 2002. If he wins, and stays
healthy he would rule Zimbabwe until the age of 84. The last thing most
octogenarians would want is the onerous task of running a country in economic
free-fall and facing international isolation. Many Zimbabweans, and others, are
asking why he does not just put his feet up and enjoy his remaining years with
his young family. But if nothing else, Mr Mugabe is an extremely proud man. He
will only step down when his "revolution" is complete. He says this means the
redistribution of white-owned land but he also wants to hand-pick his successor,
who must of course come from within the ranks of his Zanu PF party. This would
also ensure a peaceful old age, with no investigation into his time in
office.
One senior party official told me that the defeat of the
government's proposed constitution in February 2000 - which showed the strength
of the opposition - had set back Mr Mugabe's retirement by several years. That
defeat stirred him into action, transforming him from a relatively relaxed man
contemplating his twilight years, into someone desperate to remain at any cost,
even willing to destroy the country he had fought to liberate. The key to
understanding Mr Mugabe is the 1970s guerrilla war where he made his name. World
opinion saw him as a revolutionary hero, fighting racist white minority rule for
the freedom of his people. Since Zimbabwe's independence in 1980 the world has
moved on, but his outlook remains the same. The heroic socialist forces of Zanu
PF, are still fighting the twin evils of capitalism and colonialism. His
opponents, in particular the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), are labelled
"sell-outs" to white and foreign interests and, as during the war, this tag has
been a death warrant for many MDC supporters. But Mr Mugabe's critics - and
these days they are many in a country where he was once an untouchable figure -
say that despite his socialist rhetoric, his rule has been one of state
capitalism which has not materially benefited ordinary Zimbabweans. The
president's political cronies have meanwhile been given lucrative state
contracts irrespective of how they perform, and the economy as a whole has
suffered.
Harare, a hotbed of political opposition, frequently buzzes
with rumours of Mr Mugabe's impending death. While the predictions have always
proved premature, the increasing strain of recent years has obviously taken its
toll and his once-impeccable presentation now looks a little worn. But at 77, he
still has remarkable stamina. His second wife, Grace, 35, says that he wakes up
at 0400 for his daily exercises. In 1997, she gave birth to their third child,
Chatunga. He professes to be a staunch Catholic, and worshippers at Harare's
Catholic Cathedral are occasionally swamped by security guards as he turns up
for Sunday Mass. However, Mr Mugabe's beliefs did not prevent him from having
two children by his young secretary, Grace, while his popular Ghanaian first
wife, Sally, was dying from cancer.
One of the undoubted achievements of the former teacher's 21
years in power is the expansion of education. Zimbabwe has the highest literacy
rate in Africa at 85% of the population. Political scientist Masipula Sithole
says that, ironically, by expanding education, the president is "digging his own
grave". The young beneficiaries are now able to analyse Zimbabwe's problems for
themselves and most blame government corruption and mismanagement for the lack
of jobs and rising prices. Having realised his political mistake, Mr Mugabe is
now trying to disenfranchise the young, who generally want political change -
and jobs. As many others have found, it is far easier to find ways of sharing
the national cake than to make it grow bigger. Professor Tony Hawkins of the
University of Zimbabwe sums it up by saying that "whenever economics gets in the
way of politics, politics wins every time".
But, in his own way, Mr Mugabe is indeed a clever politician.
As his fortunes have declined, he has resurrected the nationalist agenda of the
1970s - land redistribution and anti-colonialism. He unleashed his personal
militia - the self-styled war veterans – who are using violence and murder as an
electoral strategy. It may not be playing by the rules but it is widely believed
to have ensured the Zanu PF victory in the June 2000 parliamentary elections and
may work again in 2002. The man who fought for one-man, one-vote now wants
potential voters to prove their residence with utility bills, which the young,
unemployed opposition core is unlikely to have. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said
that Mr Mugabe is becoming a cartoon figure of the archetypal Africa dictator.
One of Mr Mugabe's closest associates, Didymus Mutasa, told me that in
Zimbabwean culture, kings are only replaced when they die "and Mugabe is our
king". But if Zimbabweans feel they have been cheated at the polls, they may
look for an alternative way to remove him.
From IRIN (UN), 14
December
Free and fair elections
first
Harare - Lot Hove paces up and down the hall at the
government-run employment exchange in downtown Harare with a newspaper in his
hand. He is one of several hundred job seekers in the place. Hove is clearly
irritated with the main story in the state-controlled Herald newspaper. It says
that southern African leaders have expressed support for President Robert
Mugabe's land redistribution programme and have criticised Britain for
dishonouring pledges to bankroll the reforms. "We do not have jobs because
someone messed up the economy," the unemployed Hove told IRIN this week. "We
want a free and fair election now so that we can choose someone to lead us
through this crisis. Let those SADC (Southern African Development Community)
people or anyone else accept this or they should just leave us alone."
Zimbabwe's economy has been in decline since October 1999, when the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) froze financial aid because of differences
with Harare over policy and its failure to meet agreed fiscal targets. It hit
rock-bottom after militant government supporters began seizing white-owned farms
as part of the ruling Zanu PF party's chaotic and politicised land reform
process, according to analysts. As foreign capital and Western donors fled the
lawlessness and violence this year, the economic crisis manifested itself in
acute shortages of foreign currency and fuel. Now, looming food shortages, as a
result of bad weather earlier this year, could spark civil unrest, observers
warn.
Fearful of the collapse of the region's second largest economy,
SADC leaders in September formed a special committee to complement international
pressure on Mugabe to halt the land invasions. This week, SADC ministers held
two days of talks in Harare to audit the government' commitment to the land
agreement, in which the authorities had pledged to act within the rule of law.
In their final communique on Tuesday 11 December, the SADC ministers reiterated
that land was at the core of Zimbabwe's problems and called on all stakeholders
to ensure the problem was resolved amicably. But for Hove and many other
Zimbabweans, the SADC initiative is too soft on Mugabe and misses the point.
Outside the gate of the job centre this week, a woman fruit vendor who gave her
name only as Chido, told IRIN that her concern was the presidential elections in
March, rather than land. "Will this SADC you are talking about ensure the
violence will end and that we will be able to vote freely? I also do not have
land but I think if we can vote and have peace again then we can resolve this
land issue," she said.
"President Mugabe and even SADC are correct when they say land
is a key problem, but that is not what most people here want now," said Peter
Hana, a University of Zimbabwe graduate who has never been formally employed.
Like most of his colleagues, the 27-year-old Hana was born and bred in the
overcrowded townships of Harare. When his father, a street-side grocer, was
knocked down in a hit-and-run accident 12 years ago, his mother took over the
business to get Hana through school. But five years after coming out top of his
class at the university, Hana still has to depend on the small income from his
mother's vending business. Zimbabwe has an unemployment rate of 50 percent. Hana
told IRIN he supported land reform because of the injustices of white settler
rule that resulted in a mere 4,500 white farmers owning 80 percent of the best
agriculture land, while some six million black villagers were crammed into the
barren communal areas. But he said he believed, like most of his friends, that
resolving Zimbabwe's multi-faceted crisis needed new management. "A new leader
with a fresh mandate won through a free and fair presidential election who
should then lead the way forward regarding not only land, but HIV/AIDS,
unemployment and many other national problems," he said.
Comment from The Mail &
Guardian, 14 December
Mbeki obliges
Sceptics have tended to answer any discussion about South
African policy on the Zimbabwean crisis with the riposte: 'What policy?' They
appear to have been right. Eighteen months on, there is little evidence the
government has set clear goals to avert a catastrophe. And there is even less to
suggest our government has decided on the means that will deliver its
objectives, let alone set about developing those instruments. The latest
absurdity was the two-day meeting in Harare this week of ministers from the
Southern African Development Community. Having been led to believe that our own
president, Thabo Mbeki, was now determined to get tough with Robert Mugabe's
regime - and that this week's meeting would evince this new tone, the SADC
ministers, our own representative included, could scarcely have been more
obliging.
Most of the blame for this must rest with Mbeki. He has
determined that he should run our relations with Zimbabwe. He entrusts the odd
encounter to his close friend, the peripatetic Minister of Foreign Affairs
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma - when she can be tracked down in Asia, or North America,
or South America, or Australasia, or wherever. But he and she seem agreed that
the department of foreign affairs should be excluded from the issue. As
president, Mbeki is entitled to behave thus. It is his prerogative. But we are
as entitled to examine the product of this behaviour and to say - as we do now -
that South Africa's approach on the most important foreign policy issue in our
region is an inchoate mess. Likewise, we are entitled to say that our approach
would benefit greatly from formative input from the experts in the Department of
Foreign Affairs, the universities and institutes. Similarly, Mbeki's decision to
send his close friend the Labour Minister, the intellectually blunt Membathisi
Mdladlana, to represent South Africa at this week's Harare meeting was both
inappropriate and foolish.
We now know that Zimbabwe's presidential elections are likely
in March next year. This gives us a time line. It is short. But it is long
enough to demand of Mugabe iron-clad guarantees that he will hold free and fair
elections; all parties will be free to organise, campaign and canvass; foreign
observers will be allowed in the country for the three months leading up to the
poll; his government will act against any individual or organisation fomenting
violence; and that he, his party, government and security forces will abide by
the outcome of any election declared free and fair by the SADC and the
Commonwealth. The time line is also long enough to decide the consequences for
Mugabe if he fails. These could include expulsion from the Commonwealth and
other forms of political isolation. Further down the line, there would have to
be a willingness to intervene directly. We must fill the policy vacuum on
Zimbabwe as a matter of urgency.
From The Star, 14
December
Tsvangirai's arrest knocks socks off
the rand
The rand has slipped past the level of R12 to the dollar as it
continues its free fall, SABC radio news reported on Friday. The currency
tumbled by nearly a rand to the pound and by more than 50 cents against the
dollar on Friday morning. The rand has also hit a new low against the euro.
Traders said the market was weighed down by new concerns over Zimbabwe, where
the main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was briefly detained by police on
Friday morning. The latest slide brings the rand's depreciation against the
dollar so far this year to about 35 percent. The rand was trading at R12,04
against the dollar, at R17,50 against the pound and at R10,88 against the
euro.
From The Star, 15
December
'Captain Mugabe' takes a flight of
fancy
Victoria Falls - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe called for
unity in his ruling party's ranks on Friday to defeat a surging opposition party
he said was sponsored by Zimbabwe's former white minority rulers. Looking tired
during most of an hour-long speech kicking off his campaign for re-election in
March, Mugabe, 77, vowed to stick to his controversial land reform programme and
champion the interests of Zimbabwe's black majority. "Sanctions or no sanctions
we will not desist from the process of acquiring our land. We will survive on
the fruits of our labour, in the land of our ancestors," he said in his native
Shona language. Mugabe also said his government had tried to stabilise the
economy, which he said had been sabotaged by his opponents. "In my heart, I will
not have succeeded in liberating the people of Zimbabwe from oppression as long
as economic oppression continues." Mugabe charged that there was an
international attempt to demonise him. "There's an outcry in Britain that Mugabe
is a dictator, is a Hitler, is a Napoleon, is a devil. I don't know what I'm
not," he said.
Zanu PF national chair and Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo had
urged party faithful to rally behind Mugabe's re-election hopes, likening his
land and campaign programme to an unstoppable supersonic aircraft. "The Concorde
has taken off and it has attained its altitude. The captain is in control; it
has no reverse gear, no emergency breaks. Captain Mugabe is in command," Nkomo
told the 7 000 delegates. Mugabe repeated charges that Morgan Tsvangirai's
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was a tool of the former
Rhodesia's white minority rulers seeking to topple Mugabe over redistributing
land to blacks. "The Rhodesians have been organising themselves clandestinely
for all this time from 1980, they have never rested. They have grouped in South
Africa, in Australia, in Canada and knit strategies like a spider to upset our
victory in 1980 and gain control."
Mugabe faces his strongest political challenge in 21 years of
power. Next year's election will pit him against Tsvangirai, who was briefly
detained by police on Friday after they found a two-way radio during a search of
his home. "What is beginning to emerge from the Zanu PF conference is what we
have always known - Zanu-PF is confused. Their party is moving around like a
headless chicken," the MDC said in a statement. The MDC said almost 100 of its
supporters had been killed in violence since the run-up to last year's
parliamentary voting. United States Assistant Secretary of State for African
Affairs Walter Kansteiner warned Mugabe on Wednesday to ensure conditions were
in place for fair elections or risk US sanctions. Critics say Mugabe has chosen
a biased state election body, barred millions abroad from voting, and allowed
militant supporters to run a violent campaign against the opposition. The MDC
nearly defeated Zanu PF in parliamentary elections last year despite the
violence.
