Zimbabwe: U.N. Council Addresses Political and Humanitarian Crisis

http://www.nytimes.com

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
Published: December 15, 2008
The United Nations Security Council held a high-level meeting on Monday,
including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Foreign Minister David
Miliband of Britain, on the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe, but it
failed to break an impasse that has lasted since July. Although there was a
consensus that the humanitarian situation was appalling, Russia and South
Africa opposed any outside intervention, saying the crisis should be solved
by regional negotiations. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that there had
been more than 18,400 cases of cholera reported so far, that school
attendance was down to 20 percent and that 80 percent of the country lacked
safe drinking water. The World Health Organization in Geneva released new
figures saying that 978 people had died of cholera.

UN chief deplores Mugabe position

Tuesday, 16 December 2008

Mr Ban said the people of Zimbabwe could not wait any longer UN chief Ban Ki-Moon has said his organisation can do little to help Zimbabwe because of its leaders' refusal to allow it to mediate. Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic was only the most visible manifestation of a wider crisis, Mr Ban told a session of the Security Council. The UN says 978 people have been killed by cholera, a 25% increase on the last figure given just days ago. Talks between the government and opposition are meanwhile deadlocked. The Security Council was holding its first discussions on Zimbabwe since July. UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband described Mr Ban's closed-door briefing on the situation in Zimbabwe as "devastating". The meeting ended without agreement on a motion to censure Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, which a diplomat present said was due to opposition from South Africa. 'Failure to act' Discussing stalled power-sharing talks in Zimbabwe, Mr Ban said neither the country's government nor the Southern African Development Community (SADC) - which is mediating the talks - welcomed a political role for the UN. The current cholera epidemic is only the most visible manifestation of a profound multi-sector crisis Ban Ki-moon UN secretary general Botswana denies coup claim Reports on failing Zimbabwe "We continue to witness a failure of the leadership in Zimbabwe to address the political, economic, human rights and humanitarian crisis that is confronting the country and to do what is best for the people of Zimbabwe," he said. "The current cholera epidemic is only the most visible manifestation of a profound multi-sector crisis, encompassing food, agriculture, education, health, water, sanitation and HIV/Aids." After disputed presidential elections in March, Mr Mugabe's Zanu PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change agreed to form a power-sharing government. But implementation of that agreement, reached in September, has been dogged by disagreements over whose supporters would get key ministries. In the Security Council's debate on Zimbabwe in July, Russia and China vetoed an attempt by Western countries to impose sanctions on Mr Mugabe, saying Zimbabwe's difficulties were an internal matter, says the BBC's UN correspondent Laura Trevelyan. But while there is much greater concern about the country now, divisions remain, our correspondent says, and Zimbabwe's descent into chaos continues. 'Real disease' The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said on Monday Zimbabwe's worst cholera-hit area was the capital, Harare, with 208 confirmed deaths and 8,454 suspected cases. David Miliband: 'We heard a devastating report from the secretary general' With the UN warning that up to 60,000 people could become infected if the outbreak is not contained, the South African Red Cross issued an appeal for funds to treat 30,000 people. Mr Miliband said that while cholera was making the headlines, Zimbabwe's real disease was "the disease of misrule and corruption" under Robert Mugabe. Zimbabwe's president said last Thursday the cholera outbreak had been contained, and accused Western powers, including Great Britain, of using the outbreak as a pretext to invade the country and overthrow him. Zimbabwe has also accused its neighbour Botswana of being involved in a plot to overthrow Mr Mugabe's government and hosting military training camps for opposition rebels. Botswana, whose President Ian Khama is one of the few African leaders to have publicly criticised Mr Mugabe, denies the claims.

'Elders' spurn attempt to revive role for UN in Zimbabwe

http://www.timesonline.co.uk

December 16, 2008

James Bone in New York
The self-styled diplomatic "Elders" spurned an effort by Britain and the
United States last night to revive the United Nations' role in Zimbabwe.

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, and Condoleeza Rice, the Secretary of
State, attended a Security Council meeting in New York to step up pressure
on President Mugabe of Zimbabwe amidst a cholera epidemic. The closed-door
session was the first discussion of Zimbabwe by the UN's top body since
Russia and China cast a double veto to kill a proposal to clamp sanctions on
top Zimbabwean officials in July.

UN sources said that the meeting was originally organised to hear a
presentation on Zimbabwe by the Elders - Jimmy Carter, the former US
President, Kofi Annan, the former UN chief, and Graca Machel, the former
First Lady of Mozambique - who were blocked from entering the country last
month.

The Elders, however, declined the invitation and e-mailed their written
report to the council instead. Diplomats said that the Elders wanted to
preserve their independence from the Security Council. One source said that
South Africa, which is acting as mediator, had discouraged their attendance.

Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, said: "Despite our continued efforts,
I unfortunately have to conclude that neither the government nor the
mediator welcomes a UN role."

Abductions and killings on the rise in Zimbabwe

http://en.afrik.com/news12473.html



O'Brien Rwafa, news editor at state-run television station, Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), is recovering in hospital after he was
abducted and severely assaulted at the weekend by unknown assailants who
accused him for lying about the state of affairs in the country. The assault
took place on Sunday night. He said the attackers trailed him home, and
abducted and bundled him into their car when he was about to enter his
house. Rwafa said he wrestled the attackers until their car veered off into
a ditch, enabling him to escape. But they had already severely beaten him.
Abductions have become fairly common in recent years in Zimbabwe's deeply
polarised political climate, but this is mainly confined to party activists.
Some of those abducted have been found murdered. (Tuesday 16 December -
00:22)

Zimbabwe commander wounded in shooting-state media

Reuters

Tue 16 Dec 2008, 6:51 GMT

(Adds details, background)

HARARE, Dec 16 (Reuters) - A Zimbabwean military commander and ally of
President Robert Mugabe was shot in an assassination attempt at the weekend,
state media said on Tuesday.

Minister of Home Affairs Kembo Mohadi was quoted in the
government-controlled Herald newspaper as saying the attack that wounded Air
Force Commander Perence Shiri on Saturday appeared to be part of attacks
against high-profile figures designed to destabilise the country.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) alleges that Shiri and
several military commanders led a violent election run-off campaign in June
that its leader Morgan Tsvangirai boycotted over attacks on his supporters.

"The attack on Air Marshal Shiri appears to be a build-up of terror attacks
targeting high profile persons, government officials, government
establishments and public transportation systems," Mohadi was quoted as
saying.

Shiri was shot on the way to his farm that was seized from a white
commercial farmer in 2000. He escaped with a gunshot wound and is recovering
at a Harare hospital.

Mugabe's government has in the past accused the MDC of terror tactics as
part of a campaign to remove the veteran leader, who has been in power since
1980.

Dozens of MDC members have been arrested on terror charges but have been
cleared by the courts. The MDC says Mugabe uses the charges when under
pressure, especially from Western foes who are calling on him to step down
over a humanitarian crisis. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe)

Why Tsvangirai must not join unity government

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

By Bekithemba Mhlanga
Posted to the web: 16/12/2008 01:05:15
HAVING read Alfi Nyoni's article (Why Tsvangirai must join government, 11
December) I was left pondering the appropriateness of the headline. Should
it not have read why Tsvangirai should not join government?

If anything, Nyoni's article flies in the face of all the realities as they
exist currently. He makes a compelling argument for Tsvangirai to do the
opposite.

What is even more fascinating is the extent to which the likes of Nyoni and
others have tragically failed to frame Zimbabwe's problems and allowed
themselves to be the victims of Zanu PF's propaganda on why Zimbabwe is
facing its current challenges.

There was a time when the proposed coalition government was perceived as the
only game in town, but over the last few months, it has become clear to all
interested parties in Zimbabwe that this is not necessarily the case. Robert
Mugabe himself has come out in the public to acknowledge as much - accepting
that another round of elections may be inevitable. But that is just one
option.

Unless if you are a SADC leader or Arthur Mutambara, then the options for
dealing with Zimbabwe will be limited to your fear of losing in an election
or a group fear of being shown that your long held solution is wrong.

However, the paramount issue will be determined by the framing of Zimbabwe'
problem. It is critical that this is done correctly or else the proposed
solution will be wrong - as Nyoni's article shows.

Tsvangirai may not necessarily be the correct solution to Zimbabwe's
problems but he is certainly not the source of Zimbabwe's problem. To
advance the argument that he is the central cog to solving Zimbabwe's
problems is to blindly ask him to solve a problem that he did not create.

The argument by Nyoni is akin to saying that if a drug addict and alcoholic
is weaned of their habits, they necessarily become a better person. No, they
do not, but many a time this has been the warped approach taken to many of
Zimbabwe's challenges.

The instances of riddled contradictions in Nyoni's article betrays the fact
that he has swallowed Zanu PF's arguments, hook line and sinker, on the true
nature, extent and complexity surrounding the realisation of the Global
Political Agreement signed in September.

One hears no discussions on the many issues that the MDC T has raised
concerns about. But then that is the position that the other party wants you
to believe - that MDC-T is being petty. The destination that Zimbabwe
arrives at will be determined by the path that it takes and all these
shenanigans are not a good omen for this journey that the MDC factions are
about to begin with Zanu PF.

But by not accepting these realties, we are told that Tsvangirai betrays the
100 and more people who died in the run-up to the second round of
Presidential elections. These people did not voluntarily die; they were
killed as part and parcel of Zanu PF's attempt to hang on to power by any
means necessary.

Nyoni's arguments is reminiscent of the Gukurahundi deniers who argue that
Joshua Nkomo could have saved the lives of 20 000 plus people by giving in
to Mugabe's demands. Nyoni if a vampire bites you; you become a vampire too.

Where has Nyoni been for the last ten years? Zimbabwe's political, economic
and social position has declined at an alarming pace during that time. The
infrastructure has gone from creaky to collapsed, inflation from double
digits to what one chooses to call it, education from excellent to rubbish
and our reputation from great to despicable. All this time it has been Zanu
PF in charge not the MDC or any body else.

Conveniently ignoring all these issues, we are provided with yet another
instalment of Tsvangirai's disrespect of the SADC leadership and his poor
understanding of the regional politics. What all this does is to try and
shift the discussion away from the source of Zimbabwe's problems.
Unfortunately it does not make the problems disappear either.

In a democratic setting, everyone has the right to chose their friends and
make their opinions as they please and so is Nyoni, Tsvangiari and Mugabe.
To argue that it is a strategic error to criticise SADC leadership is as
cheap as arguing that SADC leaders have a monopoly of solving Zimbabwe's
problems when they have neither the means nor resources to do just that. For
if they did, Zimbabweans would be the happiest people on earth, but they are
not!

It is remarkable that Nyoni's article is almost done without berating the
West and their abhorrent sanctions for brining about Zimbabwe's misery. All
one can say is that history is littered with countries that have trodden
down Zimbabwe's path.

Nyoni must not forget that since the MDC was formed, it has always been an
opposition party and never has it ever been the governing party. To argue
that the 'power sharing government presents Tsvangiari with a fresh,
risk-free strategy to fight Zanu PF at close quarters' is naïve. Nyoni
accepts this when he argues that "if Tsvangirai somehow imagines that Zanu
PF is pleased to share power he should think again". How risk free is that
Nyoni, sharing power with Zanu PF?

There is a general misconception out there of the nature and complexities
facing Zimbabwe currently. The mathematical school of thought summarises
this to a game of numbers i.e. who gets the most number of cabinet seats and
the ministries school of though arguing around the allocation of various
ministries. But the reality school of thought has argued passionately that
what Zimbabwe needs is justice, observance of rule of law, freedom for
political association and sound leadership among many other issues. These
things will not fall from the sky just because Tsvangirai joins the
coalition government.

Tsvangirai is aware of that and Zanu PF does not want to give in to this
because it will change once and for all the fortunes of Zimbabwe and the
fortunes of those in Zanu PF who have benefited from the currently skewed
arrangements.

So one more time, Tsvangirai may not necessarily be the right solution for
Zimbabwe's problems but he is certainly not the source of the problem. As
long as the framing of Zimbabwe's problems follows the Nyoni school of
thought, then in another 10, 15 or 20 years Zimbabweans will be seating
around debating a similar set of problems again.

Bekithemba Mhlanga is a Zimbabwean journalist and writes from England

Botswana Rejects Zimbabwe's Accusations as Lies

http://www.voanews.com



By James Butty
Washington, D.C.
16 December 2008

Botswana's foreign minister has rejected accusations by Zimbabwe that
Botswana was training Zimbabwe opposition members to overthrow President
Robert Mugabe.

The allegations were made as the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) is about to send a team to Botswana to investigate the claims by
Zimbabwe.

Foreign Minister Phandu Skelemani said while it was true there is a SADC
investigation, Botswana is not training militants from Zimbabwe's opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

He told VOA the accusations are an attempt by Zimbabwe to divert attention
from President Mugabe's failure to resolve the economic and political
problems plaguing Zimbabwe.

"It is true that there is an investigation; it is not true that we are
training any Zimbabweans for military purposes," he said.

Skelemani said Zimbabwe has failed so far to provide evidence to support its
claims.

"The allegations were leveled against us by Mugabe himself, and we invited
them to come and sure us where these training camps are. So far they've not
been able to so. They only produced unsigned statements by two persons
claiming that they had been trained in Botswana. They really can't say when
did they get to Botswana, what documents did they use, if it is true. They
have none of those. As far as we are concerned, the claim is a lie,"
Skelemani said.

Botswana President Ian Khama has been a strong critic of Zimbabwe President
Robert Mugabe especially since that Zimbabwe's elections earlier this year.

Skelemani said Mugabe is using the two countries' somewhat rocky relations
to divert attention from Zimbabwe's deepening political and economic
problems.

"I think they are diverting attention from the problems which they have and
their failure to implement the agreement signed on the 15th of September.
They can come any day, any time, and show us where the training camps are,
who trained them because our training camps are known to the Zimbabweans, at
least their leaders in the army. We've got joint commissions and they have
been visiting our training camps," Skelemani said.

he said Botswana would support the constitutional amendment before the
Zimbabwe parliament meant to pave the way for a unity government.

"Regarding the constitutional amendment #19, to the extent that it would
implement the global agreement of the 15th of September, we will obviously
support it in the hope that it will bring peace to Zimbabwe. As we have said
before, we don't think it's the best way of doing things, but at least it's
a movement," he said.

Skelemani said Botswana would have preferred a run-off election in Zimbabwe.
But he said Botswana supports the SADC position of a unity government.

"Because they failed through elections to produce a president, in accordance
with the decision of SADC, they can actually agree on power sharing. And
because it's their country, we are not going to choose for them how they can
best run that country. Our preference of course would be a run-off. But this
powering sharing agreement is really a rape of democracy," Skelemani said.

He said the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would welcome a
run-off election as long as President Mugabe's supporters are not allowed to
in his words beat up people. Skelemani said that's why SADC wants such
elections to be internationally supervised.

Skelemani said the SADC team to investigate Zimbabwe's claims of MDC
training camps in Botswana was supposed to have arrived in Botswana on the
11th of December. But he said that meeting never took place because Botswana
objected to team's members.

Skelemani said he and Swaziland's foreign minister will meet this week in
Brussels to discuss the new date for the SADC team to visit Botswana.

'Alarmed' by Zimbabwe crisis, Canada urges regional engagement

http://news.yahoo.com

OTTAWA (AFP) - "Alarmed" by the spiraling crisis in Zimbabwe, Canada called
Monday for "the urgent engagement" of regional leaders.

"Canada is alarmed by the worsening humanitarian, economic and political
crisis in Zimbabwe, which is claiming the lives of more Zimbabweans every
day and threatening the stability of the region," said Foreign Minister
Lawrence Cannon.

Over 16,000 suspected cases of cholera and 776 deaths by the disease have
been recorded across two-thirds of the country, according to a recent World
Health Organization (WHO) estimate.

Noting that basic services have collapsed as a result of the government
breakdown, Cannon said he was "deeply concerned over the recent return to a
pattern of human-rights abuses and abductions."

He cited the abductions of more than a dozen members of the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change, and of Zimbabwe Peace Project director
Jestina Mukoko and two of her colleagues.

"Canada calls for the urgent engagement of regional leaders in this crisis,"
added Cannon, stressing that the African Union and the Southern Africa
Development Community "have an important role to play in ensuring the
implementation of a solution that respects the will of the Zimbabwean
people."

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader signed a unity
accord three months ago, but have so far failed to agree on how to form a
cabinet, leaving government in limbo.

Canadian humanitarian aid and civil society support will continue, Cannon
said, adding that the country has provided close to 10 million dollars in
assistance to Zimbabwe since July 2007.

The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) announced Monday it
will provide up to 500,000 dollars to reduce shipping costs for life-saving
medicine, including antibiotics and oral rehydration salts for children, to
Zimbabwe.

Cannon also called for the United Nations Security Council to once again
take up the Zimbabwean crisis. The council reviewed the dire situation
Monday but failed to adopt a hoped-for statement condemning Mugabe when the
US-backed plan ran into to South African opposition.

The security body has failed to act against Mugabe in the past, and the
Zimbabwe issue remains on the table as countries have yet to find consensus
on what to do about the intransigent leader.

Some Western council members said they hope to make a fresh push for
adoption of such a non-binding statement in January when South Africa will
no longer sit on the council.

A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, proposed Thursday
that Zimbabwe's neighbors, particularly South Africa, close their borders
with the country.

Our View: Mugabe's atrocities merit ouster

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/

December 15, 2008 - 6:11PM

Zimbabwe's dictatorial Robert Mugabe has added another misery to the long
list of miseries he has inflicted on his long-suffering country - cholera.

That's in addition to a brutal police state, a ruined economy with 90
percent unemployment, an "official" inflation rate of 231 million percent
and the 5 million people that the U.N. says face starvation next year.

The cholera outbreak is due to polluted water and large parts of the once
modern capital of Harare are without running water or sewage disposal.

The government insists the outbreak is under control although its efforts in
that regard consist of urging people not to shake hands. The U.N. says it is
not and that there have been about 800 deaths and more than 16,000 cases.
The disease is spreading into neighboring countries as desperate refugees
seek treatment.

President Bush and the European Union have called on Mugabe to step aside
and urged the other African nations to join in the demand, but the best the
African Union can muster is to urge further "dialogue."

Cholera is easily preventable and curable - and in this case, the cure
begins by excising Mugabe and his circle.

Mugabe destroying Zimbabwe

http://www.star-telegram.com

Tuesday, Dec 16, 2008
EDITORIAL:

Here are samples of life in today's Zimbabwe, a tragically collapsing nation
once among the brighter stars in the African firmament.

The World Health Organization reported Friday that 792 people have died from
an outbreak of cholera, with 16,700 cases reported. The epidemic has spread
rapidly because of a crumbling healthcare system and lack of clean water.

For years, a majority of adults have been jobless. Specific numbers are
sketchy, but the unemployment rate was pegged at 80 percent in 2005.

Hyperinflation has wrecked the national currency and the economy. With
salaries rendered worthless, hospitals and public schools are shutting down
as doctors, nurses and teachers cease coming to work, The New York Times
reported Friday.

Potholed streets, rotting garbage and crumbling sewer systems symbolize a
devastated public infrastructure.

While some people drop dead in the streets from cholera, others are "mixing
cow dung with what's left of their food to make it go further," an official
with a Catholic aid agency told Bloomberg News.

Americans should care about Zimbabwe's plight because we hate to see human
suffering anywhere and because problems afflicting one country invariably
affect other nations in today's shrinking world. Because we've traditionally
had a global social conscience and been counted on to provide leadership and
humanitarian aid, we've customarily helped cover the financial tab for
aiding struggling peoples around the world.

The chief culprit in Zimbabwe's hellish free-fall is Robert Mugabe, 84, the
nation's leader since the former Rhodesia won independence from Great
Britain in 1980. Zimbabwe has dramatically deteriorated since 2000 because
of a litany of remarkably boneheaded and tyrannical moves by Mugabe. He
recently quelled rioting and looting by his own government troops, who "were
enraged that they could no longer afford to buy food or send their children
to school," The New York Times reported.

Mugabe absurdly declared Thursday that the cholera was contained, a remark
quickly rebutted by the World Health Organization, which said the outbreak
has spread to South Africa.

U.S. President George W. Bush and other world leaders recently have called
for Mugabe to step down and let more responsible leadership take over. That
would be Mugabe's greatest possible gift to Zimbabwe and the world.