Mugabe turns 'assassin's plot' against MDC

Chris McGreal, Africa correspondent
The Guardian, Wednesday 17 December 2008

Opponents of Robert Mugabe say the president is preparing a new, bloody,
crackdown after the Zimbabwe government blamed the Movement for Democratic
Change for a failed "assassination attempt" against the head of the air
force, Perence Shiri, and accused it of "preparing for war".

The home affairs minister, Kembo Mohadi, told state media the attack on
Shiri, who was shot in the arm at the weekend, was part of a wider plot to
bring down Mugabe. "The attack ... appears to be a build-up of terror
attacks targeting high-profile persons, government officials, government
establishments and public transportation systems," Mohadi said.

The MDC denied responsibility for shooting Shiri, who reportedly has a
number of enemies stemming from his time as head of the military unit
responsible for the massacres of more than 20,000 people in Matabeleland in
the 1980s.

The opposition says the accusations against it are the latest pretext to
justify a crackdown that will be aimed at forcing the MDC into legitimising
Mugabe's rule by accepting a junior role in a coalition government.

The MDC accuses the regime of recently abducting 17 activists and torturing
some of them to obtain false confessions claiming they have been raising an
armed group.

On Monday the justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, said there was
"compelling evidence" that Botswana - where the MDC leader, Morgan
Tsvangirai, has spent time of late - was training MDC "bandits" to overthrow
Mugabe; the country had backed the Zimbabwe opposition in the military
training of youths for "destabilisation ... with a view to effecting illegal
regime change".

Reports in the state-run Herald newspaper claimed the opposition had
recruited former military personnel for a plot to "instigate instability
that would give the west a pretext to get the United Nations security
council leeway to authorise a military invasion of Zimbabwe".

Botswana's president, Seretse Ian Khama, has been highly critical of Mugabe,
his administration saying it was prepared to host an MDC government in
exile, though it does rule out armed resistance.

Chinamasa said: "It has become evident that MDC is negotiating in bad faith
and has engaged in dialogue as a ploy to string us along. They lack
sincerity. We now have evidence that while they were talking peace they have
been preparing for war and insurgency."

The MDC secretary general, Tendai Biti, said: "We have no doubt they are
going to declare a state of emergency." He said MDC activists had been
forced to make false admissions of a plot to violently overthrow the
government. "They are using this as an entry point to declare a state of
emergency ... Zanu-PF are cornered and will unleash violence and suspend the
constitution."

Reported attack on Zimbabwe air force chief adds to tension

http://www.iht.com

By Celia W. Dugger Published: December 17, 2008

JOHANNESBURG: A Zimbabwean military commander in President Robert Mugabe's
inner circle who is widely regarded as a main organizer of the brutal
crackdown on the political opposition this year was shot in the hand on
Saturday during a nighttime ambush, the state-controlled news media reported
Tuesday.

Mugabe's government said the shooting was an assassination attempt and part
of a broader effort to destabilize the country, while a senior opposition
official said in an interview that he believed that it had grown out of a
battle within ZANU-PF, the governing party, over who will succeed Mugabe,
84, who has been in power for 28 years.

In the feverish atmosphere of Harare, the capital, the shooting added yet
another ominous and opaque episode to Zimbabwe's unfolding political drama,
sent a jolt of fear through opposition and civic circles and produced a
fresh round of rumors that a state of emergency or military coup could be
possible.

A cholera epidemic is raging across the country, hyperinflation has rendered
the local currency virtually worthless, and abductions of opposition and
civic figures have spiked. About 100 soldiers rioted this month in Harare to
protest their inability to withdraw even their meager salaries from banks
short of cash.

An article about the shooting, published on Tuesday in The Herald, a
state-run newspaper, did not offer evidence that the attack by "unidentified
gunmen" on the air force commander, Air Marshal Perence Shiri, had been
politically motivated, nor did it explain why the Saturday shooting had not
been reported earlier.

Home Minister Kembo Mohadi was quoted as saying in a statement that the
shooting was part of "a buildup of terror attacks targeting high-profile
persons, government officials, government establishments and public
transportation systems."

His statement cited bombings in August of the Harare Central Police Station,
a road and railroad bridges, as well as November bombings of the criminal
investigation department's headquarters in Harare and, again, the police
station. It alleged that after investigations of the attacks, plastic
explosives were recovered from a senior opposition official.

Officials in the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change,
dismissed the idea that the party was involved in any of the bombings,
saying it remained committed to nonviolence.

Tendai Biti, the party's secretary general, said in an interview that he was
worried that Mugabe intended to use the shooting of Air Marshal Shiri and
the general environment of conflict and fear to go after the opposition, as
well as the faction in his own party that was out of favor. Biti said he
believed that Air Marshal Shiri's shooting was a result of internal battles
within the governing party.

"Mugabe can kill two birds with one stone," Biti said. "He can use it as a
way of attacking us, and then attacking whatever faction of ZANU-PF he wants
to decimate."

For weeks, officials in Mugabe's government have been trying to make the
case that Botswana, his most outspoken critic in the region, is letting the
opposition train people on its soil to topple him - a charge Botswana has
vociferously denied.

Biti said he believed that state security agents had tortured recently
abducted members of the opposition to extract false, videotaped confessions
as part of Mugabe's attempt to make a case against Botswana and the
opposition with the Southern African Development Community, a 15-nation bloc
that is mediating the Zimbabwe crisis.

The Movement for Democratic Change's candidate for president, Morgan
Tsvangirai, won more votes than Mugabe in March elections, but dropped out
of a runoff in June after thousands of his supporters were beaten and more
than 100 were killed.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai signed a power-sharing deal three months ago, but
remain deadlocked over the division of ministries. The opposition insists on
oversight of the police because Mugabe has retained control of all branches
of the military. Both the police and the military have long been crucial to
Mugabe's repression of his rivals for power.

Air Marshal Shiri himself has played a pivotal role in that story. In the
1980s, he was commander of the notorious North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade,
which historians say waged a campaign of terror and murder aimed at
civilians in Matabeleland, the stronghold of Joshua Nkomo, a nationalist
leader Mugabe saw as a rival. At least 10,000 people are thought to have
been murdered.

Officials close to Mugabe said in interviews in October that Air Marshal
Shiri was among the military commanders who feared that the power-sharing
deal with the opposition failed to protect them for prosecution for their
roles in the country's political violence.

Perence Shiri wanted to commit suicide

http://www.zimbabwemetro.com

Local News
December 16, 2008
The plot has thickened in the 'attempted assassination' plot on Air Force of
Zimbabwe commander Air Marshal Perence Shiri as multiple sources in ZANU PF
and the army have disclosed that the powerful army supremo actually wanted
to commit suicide.

According to a source Shiri likely got out of his car and attempted to shoot
himself in the chest but missed and shot himself on the shoulder blade. He
was later found by workers on his farm bleeding profusely still holding on
to his pistol,and they drove him to the farm house where he was later
ferried to Gweru. Shiri like most senior military officers never travels
alone.

It is still unclear why Shiri attempted suicide,but there is speculation
that there is growing disgruntlement in the powerful Joint Operations
Command and most senior officers in Army and police force and most want to
quit but are afraid of prosecution.

Shiri a cousin of President Robert Mugabe was appointed as the commander of
the Air Force in 1992 taking over from Chief Marshal Josiah Tungamirai.

From 1983 to 1984,he commandeered the Fifth Brigade,which was responsible
for a reign of terror in Matabeleland. During the massacre more than 20 000
mostly PF ZAPU supporters were killed and thousands more were tortured.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more details become
available.

The tyrant's comrade who masterminded massacres

http://www.independent.co.uk

Daniel Howden
Wednesday, 17 December 2008

Perence Shiri is a name that will permanently be connected to the worst
crimes against humanity in Zimbabwe.

While much of the world was still feting Robert Mugabe and the new
independence government in 1982, Colonel Shiri, as he then was, was leading
a battalion of North Korean-trained soldiers in a massacre of political
opponents in Matabeleland.

As commander of the notorious 5 Brigade, Colonel Shiri gave a speech at
their passing-out parade, attended by the new President Mugabe. He told his
soldiers: "From today onwards, I want you to start dealing with dissidents."

The final death toll from the massacres is still not known but researchers
believe as many as 20,000 were murdered and dumped in unmarked graves.

That atrocity cemented Colonel Shiri's place in the Mugabe regime and
catapulted him up the military ranks. Ever since, he has been at the fore
during each of the worst periods of oppression. He commanded forces deployed
during the violent land invasions in 2000 and again in 2005 during the
"Murambatsvina" slum clearances across Zimbabwe.

He was promoted to the rank of air marshal and rewarded with a selection of
farms seized from white owners, along with a share of the commercial spoils
from Zimbabwe's involvement in the wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rumoured to have adopted the nickname Black Jesus for himself because of his
power over the life and death of others, Marshal Shiri is also a leading
member of the Joint Operations Command, the inner cell of Mugabe cronies who
planned the terror campaign unleashed on the population after the March
election defeat for the ruling party.

Marshal Shiri, 54, is among the handful of figures in Zimbabwe with the most
to fear from any future war crimes investigations.

Mugabe's cronies fear for their lives

http://www.thetimes.co.za

Moses Mudzwiti Published:Dec 17, 2008

Soldiers blamed for attack on Shiri

ZIMBABWE'S army chiefs were yesterday reviewing their personal security, a
day after air force supremo Perence Shiri was shot, allegedly by disgruntled
soldiers.

a.. Shiri, a close confidante of president Robert Mugabe, was ambushed on
Monday while travelling on his farm in the Shamva area, about 80km north of
Harare.

"It appears soldiers were behind the shooting. They waited for Shiri in the
hills and opened fire as he drove past," said a police source privy to
investigations into the shooting.

The air force chief survived the shooting and was in hospital yesterday. It
appears he was shot in an arm.

"He lost a lot of blood and his car was riddled with holes," said a reliable
police insider. "It is clear the attackers wanted him dead."

Shiri is part of Mugabe's security high command, which includes strongmen
police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri, and defence force commander-
general Constantine Chiwenga.

Earlier reports suggested the shooting was part of a plot to assassinate
Mugabe.

However, initial police investigations showed that the 84-year-old president
was nowhere near the ambush.

All top security officials, except for Shiri, held emergency meetings
yesterday to discuss, among other things, their own security and the
breakdown of discipline in the army.

At least 16 soldiers a face court martial for their part in disturbances in
Harare last month when angry unpaid soldiers rioted in the capital. Mugabe,
who is commander- in-chief of all the country's security forces, has not
made public comment on Shiri's shooting.

The air force chief was one of the commanders of the notorious 5th Brigade,
the crack military unit that was unleashed by Mugabe on his local and
external enemies in the early 1980s.

Shiri's men killed thousands of Ndebele- speaking Zimbabweans in a
determined quest to put down a rebellion.

The unit was also used to counter Renamo rebels in neighbouring Mozambique
more than two decades ago.

"He is a hot-tempered chap. He once shot a police vehicle at a roadblock,"
recalled a policeman. "Shiri is a cruel guy, everyone hates him."

The feared military chief was reportedly in intensive care yesterday, but
security forces refused to disclose the name of the hospital.

Tomorrow, Mugabe is expected to address his Zanu-PF congress is Bindura, a
small town near the area where Shiri was shot.

The congress has already been postponed once owing to the death of Elliot
Manyika, a Zanu-PF heavyweight and minister without portfolio.

He died in a road accident.

At Manyika's funeral last week, the late politician's brother said the car
crash was a culmination of several death threats.

Manyika was in charge of the infamous Zanu-PF youth militia that terrorised
opposition members during elections earlier this year.

Yesterday, Harare remained tense after outbreaks of violence involving
police and soldiers in the downtown area. There were unconfirmed reports of
looting.

Chinotimba cheats death by a whisker

http://www.hararetribune.com

Tuesday, 16 December 2008 22:47 Tawanda Takavarasha

Joseph Chinotimba, who entered folklore after leading ZANU-PF militia units
that left hundreds displaced and many dead in Manicaland Province, is
recovering from a car accident that happend last week.

Chinotimba, who is currently sequestered at an exclusive private clinic in
central Harare, told the Herald he was doing well.

He is said to have been involved in a freak accident along Herbert Chitepo
Ave. while he was driving his car.

However, Chinotimba claims he does not remember how the accident happened
amid speculation that he was driving whilst drunk. For days the grapevine in
Harare had been awash with the news of Chinotimba's death.

Ordinary people who spoke to the Tribune on Tuesday had said if were true
that he was dead, it was reason for celebration.

"I heard that some people are happy, spreading lies that my legs were
amputated," Chinotimba said angrily. His visitors has he recoveres in
hospitals included high ranking ZANU-PF officials, the Herald said.

Chinotimba's accident came barely a week after Elliot Manyika, his other
partner in the crimes against humanity, died in a car accident on his way to
Gwanda. The death of Manyika was celebrated far and wide across Zimbabwe.

"If Chinotimba was dead, it would have been icing on the cake," a
disappointed Harare resident, Chipo Mazvipesa, told the Tribune. She said
she had no qualms celebrating the death of these "villains" as they had
brought much suffering on the people of Zimbabwe.

Chinotimba is much reviled across the country not only for his role in the
killings of many people this year, but also for the deaths he caused when he
led the invasions of white owned farms when he was Chenjerai Hunzvi's second
in command.

On the other hand, Chinotimba is treated like royalty in ZANU-PF since his
activities are widely understood by ZANU-PF cronies to have kept them in
power.

Meanwhile, the ZANU-PF annual conference kicked off in Harare after being
delayed last week following the death of Manyika.

The ZANU-PF leaders are expected to discuss the cholera outbreak, the GNU
among other issues at the conference.

The Zimbabwe National Army apologizes on behalf of rogue soldiers

http://www.hararetribune.com

Tuesday, 16 December 2008 23:18 Thomas Shumba

The Zimbabwe National Army, beset by low moral, has apologized to the
citizens of Zimbabwe for the hurt and loss and dispair caused by rogue
soldiers in downtown Harare.

The army's apology comes as reports from other parts of the country like
Gutu indicate that the soldiers are still running riot.

"Some of you or your relatives and friends might have been affected by the
behaviour of some of my men and women who went on the rampage and destroyed
property and beat up people in the streets some two weeks ago," ZNA
Commander Lieutenant-General Phillip Valerio Sibanda said at an event in
Harare.

"Please pass on the message to others who are not here that this is not the
way we operate as ZNA. My sincere apologies once again."

The soldiers, tired of standing in lines waiting for withdraw their money,
went on the rampage in Harare, looting several stores and causing damage
estimated at millions of dollars. The soldiers only stopped their looting
spree after a gun battle with riot police units.

"In any family, there are always one or two rebels. I feel that was one of
the ugliest moments in the history of Zimbabwe and we are taking corrective
action. If there are any of those affected here, I am really sorry for what
happened. You should not stop supporting us in the charity fund-raising
programmes because of the behaviour of these elements," said Lt-Gen Sibanda.

In Gutu, like in other towns, soldiers were receiving preferential treatment
and were receiving more than the gazetted cash withdrawal limits of more
than Zd 200 million per week but this changed when bank officials said they
did not have the required cash reserves to sustain the gesture.

"Most banks in the growth point had little cash and said they could not give
us unlimited cash as they had to cater for everyone. But, like people who
were used to getting favours, ...this was viewed as a rebellion by the bank
officials.

"They started beating everyone at around five in the evening, up to late in
the night after they were riled by their bankruptcy. They, however, did not
break into shops. Several people, including innocent civilians and illegal
forex dealers lost substantial amounts of cash and sustained serious
injuries," the source added Witnesses said the soldiers accused them of
failing to revolt against President Mugabe's rule, as they (uniformed
forces) are not allowed to revolt.

"One soldier grabbed me and floored me, and as I was on the ground, he
accused civilians of being cowards who fail to revolt against Mugabe as they
were ready to join us, not disperse us. He said we tolerated the crisis in
the country, hence we had to suffer," a victim who requested anonymity
said.No arrests were made in the incidents.

The rogue soldiers in Harare, suffering from poor wages in the country's
acidic economy, have since been court marshaled. Among the security
services, soldiers are the highest paid, a calculation by the ZANU-PF
government to buy their loyalty.

There is fear with ZANU-PF that is the soldiers are not pacified, things
would get ugly. The government has indicated that the soldiers will get pay
hikes at the beginning of the coming year.

Police use teargas to disperse fighting ZANU PF factions

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Cuthbert Nzou Wednesday 17 December 2008

HARARE - Riot police had to use teargas and water cannons yesterday to quell
violence at the ruling ZANU PF party headquarters in Harare as rival camps
clashed before an internal election to choose an executive for the party's
Harare province.

The violent clashes that once again highlighted internal conflict in
President Robert Mugabe's once formidable ruling party pitted the supporters
of mines minister Amos Midzi and those of transport deputy minister Hubert
Nyanhongo.

The two were running for the provincial chairmanship eventually won by
Nyanhongo, who is also the only Member of Parliament from ZANU PF from
Harare province.

Eye witnesses said fighting between Nyanhongo and Midzi's supporters broke
out in the early hours of Tuesday and got so violent that the police had to
fire teargas and use water cannons - normally reserved for use against
opposition MDC supporters - to stop the fighting that they feared could have
resulted in lose of life.

Both Midzi and Nyanhongo had bused in hordes of supporters to the party
headquarters for the elections that wee held during the night, according
witnesses.

"The election was held over the night," said a witness who is a ZANU PF
member and did not want his name published. "Around 4am there were running
battles between the two camps' supporters. Riot police was summoned and
fired teargas and water cannons to end the clash."

According to the ZANU PF member, the two camps had initially quarrelled
without engaging in much physical fighting.

"But hell break lose around 4am when supporters from the Midzi camp were
told that their leader intend to pull out of the race citing
 irregularities," said our source. "Midzi's supporters went haywire and
started assaulting people from Nyanhongo's camp and this spilled into a big
fight."

Violence had forced postponement of the ZANU PF elections in Harare but
party bosses were determined to ensure they happened on Tuesday ahead of the
party's annual conference on Friday.

Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena confirmed the violence and said a
"number of people" had been arrested over the clashes.

ZANU PF deputy spokesperson Ephraim Masawi condemned the violence and said
the party would take appropriate action.

"We don't condone violence of any nature and we are going to deal firmly and
decisively with those who were on the forefront of the disturbances at the
headquarters," Masawi said.

Midzi yesterday declined to comment on the violence, but said he would
appeal against his defeat to the party's national commissariat, while
Nyanhongo was not reachable on his mobile phone.

ZANU PF, whose power is on the wane after it was defeated by the MDC in
elections last March, is riven by factionalism much of it linked to the
unresolved issue of Mugabe's succession.

Two camps, one led by former army commander Solomon Mujuru and the other by
former parliamentary speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa, are fighting for control of
the party when and if Mugabe retires. - ZimOnline

Clearest sign that ZANU PF is pushing country towards state of emergency

The stage-managed 'shooting' of Perrence Shiri by supposed unknown
assailants is the clearest sign yet that the government is desperately
creating conditions conducive for a state of emergency. Everybody knows and
fears Perrence Shiri. Who among ordinary Zimbabweans or budding 'terrorists'
for that matter would dare to go anywhere near Shiri, let alone a few yards
away from his residence?

From the way the whole things was carried out it would show that if these
are real strangers with a murderous motive, then they should either be very
bad at their new found hobby or they must have been so afraid of their
target as to miss. But why would they aim at such a prime target on their
first outing? These are some of the very many questions that Zimbabweans
will be asking the government in the coming days and weeks unless real and
convincing answers are forthcoming. But ZANU PF is not a party of giving
full answers as we all know. They do not account for anything but all that
oozes out of them is arrogance and sheer contempt of the highest order.

Whatever happened in Mash West, the whole episode has all the hallmarks of a
staged incident that would be very difficult to distinguish from ZANU PF's
long history of dirty tactics in the past. It should be interesting to note
that the target is one of those few people within ZANU PF who would want to
see that project afloat at any cost. It should not come as a surprise then
that Shiri would want to 'sacrifice' his life in this act of 'courage' so as
to give the desperately needed lifeline to a sinking ZANU PF ship. With the
imminent failure of the doomed and ill-thought out government of national
unity, the enterprising lot in ZANU PF had to quickly spring up to action
and come up with possible ways to keep their heads above the waters of shame
that keep rising around them.

Residences of ZANU PF officials especially those that rank as the most
important ones to the regime are fiercely guarded and no go areas to average
members of the public. Not even harmless children can be allowed to play
anywhere near their homesteads let alone gun totting assailants. In these
days of heightened tensions both within and outside ZANU PF there is an even
increased security arrangement around the ZANU PF chefs. This is why it
would definitely boggle the mind of any reasonable and untwistable person
that anyone would go anywhere near Shiri's house and attempt on his life.
Why then did they shoot him on the hand? Why not in the head? Was this a
genuine miss? Why was his car not sprayed with bullets?

Shiri is a top military marksman himself with very distinguished
credentials. Remember he had attachments to such highly regarded
institutions of military learning as Sandhurst in Surrey, England. His
career may not be that distinguished but his training and qualifications
definitely are. Shiri's background would make him an ideal director for this
little movie -style shooting incident because he knows where the gunman
should shoot and how so as to cause as little harm and as much 'panic' among
members of the ruling ZANU PF as possible. This would give them a very
welcome incident with which to whip up the country's emotions by claiming
that terrorism was setting in Zimbabwe.

The only terror Zimbabweans know to date is that which has been unleashed by
ZANU PF onto harmless and peace loving civilians who dared complain about
the hardship that they are enduring under the watch of the ruling party.
Mugabe made it public a long time ago that they (ZNU PF) have degrees in
terror. It is laughable therefore, that the likes of Chinamasa and his ilk
would jump on the cheap prep talk about the MDC training militias outside
Zimbabwe in some imaginary base in Botswana while real militias who have
been trained by ZANU PF are already at work terrorising the streets. ZANU PF
is a party that is extremely good at crying foul while taking no cognisance
whatsoever for their own foul acts.

Mugabe can now see that his time is realistically running out together with
any options available to him. Only one option is left and it is the most
dangerous one, and one that he has shown to like in the past, that is
emergency rule. He did it in the 1980's and now he would definitely want to
revisit the idea once again because back then t worked wonders for him.
There will be more of such stage-managed incidents until the ultimate
decision is made. The idea is to have the right psychological impact on the
state of the nation and then pounce.

Silence Chihuri is a Zimbabwean who writes from Scotland. He can be
contacted on silencechihuri@googlemail.com or 07706376705

Bill Watch 49 of 16th December 2008 [MDC and SA/SADC Reaction to gazetting Constitution Bill; Parliament sits]

Rise of vigilanteism in Zimbabwe evidence change is nigh

http://www.hararetribune.com/
Tuesday, 16 December 2008 19:22 MacVivo, Trymore

The recent reports of abductions, of both state supporters and MDC
activists, coupled with the attempt on the lives of both ZANU-PF and MDC
leaders is an sure indication that the chickens are coming home to roost for
Robert Mugabe and his cronies.

Of course, it is easy for one to die in Zimbabwe these days, what with
cholera out of control, AIDS/HIV and other unknown factors killing thousands
each week.

But the rise in banditry shows that the ZANU-PF government has completely
lost control of the country and the laws of the jungle are now reining
supreme.

Recent events appear to indicate that a large section of Zimbabweans, tired
of a trillion percent inflation, a deadlocked GNU, ZANU-PF promises of
deliverance, Gono's pledges of a 'turn-around of the economy,' police
brutality, hunger, inability to feed their families, Mugabe's intransigence,
MDC's ambivalence, Tsvangirai's absence from the country, Mugabe's continued
taunting of the people, ZESA blackouts and power cuts, ZINWA incompetence,
food shortages, cash shortages, seed shortages, fuel shortages, cholera
epidemic, AIDS/HIV pandemic, closed hospitals, inefficient government
departments like the Registrar-General's (where people spend a lifetime in
lines waiting to apply for passports, ID cards, etc), World inaction, Brown
double standards, the Chinese taking over the economy of the country,
Mbeki's promises, George Charamba, Herald lies, ZBC propaganda, drought?,
continued farm invastions, biased ZRP, SADC's inaction and the general death
of their country have opted to take the law into their own hands.

These valiant and desperate and angry Zimbabweans, who have refused to
escape to the diaspora, have decided to follow the example set forth by the
CIO, the ZRP and the ZNA over the years by working outside the laws of the
Zimbabwean constitution.

 Wasn't it the CIO who abducted and killed the people over the past decade?
Wasn't it the air force that flew helicopters in downtown Harare as people
tried to march peacefully in 2003? Wasn't it the ZRP that threw people in
prison without committing any crimes? Hence it is only fair and morally ok
for these vigilantes to fight fire with fire.

Contrary to the claims of the ZANU-PF government, the people who are
attacking the ZANU-PF leadership are not being sponsored by the MDC, rather
these people are working on their own volition.

What should Zimbabweans do? Should they support these vigilantes?

Noting that the international community has set on the sidelines with arms
folded as ZANU-PF went on the rampage killing our people in the run-up to
the June 27 election;

Angry that the GNU has failed, died, collapsed, stalled;

Disturbed that more than a 1000 of our people have died of cholera in recent
weeks; and

Concerned that more people will die in weeks ahead, i think it is the duty
of every peace loving Zimbabwean to support these vigilantes.

What is the eventual aim of these people? Who are these people?

Evidence on the ground suggests that these people are drawn from the
Zimbabwe security services, hence the ease with which they have disregarded
the laws of the country in their endeavor to rid Zimbabwe of her captors.

Review :-

Who tried to kill Perence Shiri on Saturday? Evidence that has come to light
indicate it is people with connections to the army who tried to kill Shiri.

This provides us with evidence that the aim of the various vigilante
entities in Zimbabwe is to kill the ZANU-PF leadership one by one, just as
ZANU-PF tried to do to the MDC leadership in the run-up to the June 27
election.

Was Elliot Manyika's death truly an accident or was he setup as others have
suggested? Given that the leaders in ZANU-PF have offered contradicting
accounts of how Manyika died, or who brought him to hospital after the
accident, it is safe to conclude that Manyika was a victim of some unknown
entity.
I won't hasten to give credit to the vigilantes for Manyika's death, suffice
to say that this unknown  entity is Zimbabwean, is a son of the soil as the
elders say.

What is the aim of these vigilantes in killing these people? It might be
that with the likes of Chiwenga, Shiri, Mugabe, Chihuri, and others gone,
the vigilantes believe change will come to Zimbabwe.

Docile people :-

Far and wide, i have read reports claiming Zimbabweans are docile. If it
weren't true, why then would they let Mugabe get away with murder?
Suppression? I think in the days ahead, people who have called Zimbabweans
docile will have to eat their words.

Just as everything in this world has failed to change Zimbabwe, the solution
to the crisis in Zimbabwe will come from within. No, the solution to the
crisis is nneither the GNU, nor an expeditionary force led by Britain.
Rather, the solution to the crisis will come from the hands of Zimbabweans
within the country, from the said vigilantes/bandits/rebels???.

Had Zimbabweans not placed their faith in the GNU, in Mbeki, in the UN, in
the AU, in the World, but instead chose to be vigilantes, change would have
come to Zimbabwe years ago.

In some ways, we have come full circle? Didn't Mugabe claim at one point
that if you are an MDC supporter, "be afraid of your life, be very afraid" ?
It seems the same now applies to him and his cronies.

Conclusion :- The days of the dictator are numbered. The promised land is
just over the mountains. Keep faith.

--------------------
Views expressed herein are those of the author and do not reflect the
position of the Harare Tribune or its subsidiaries.

Australia toughens sanctions on Zimbabwe

http://africa.reuters.com

Wed 17 Dec 2008, 6:05 GMT

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia strengthened its targeted sanctions against
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday, but also announced more aid
for the victims of the country's cholera outbreak.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Australia would impose financial and
visa restrictions on four extra companies and 75 more people who are known
supporters of Mugabe's government.

The move means 258 close Mugabe supporters now face bans on travel to or
through Australia, and restrictions on financial transactions involving
Australia.

"The strengthened sanctions are a clear signal that the Australian
government holds the brutal Mugabe regime and its closest supporters
accountable for the tragedy occurring in Zimbabwe," Smith said on Wednesday.

Mugabe, 84, has steadfastly refused calls to step down after losing
elections and overseeing economic collapse in Zimbabwe, which is now gripped
by a cholera epidemic that has killed almost 1,000 people.

"The best solution for Zimbabwe would be for Mr Mugabe and his regime's
close supporters to stand down to allow Zimbabwe to rebuild its economy,
society, and democracy," Smith said.

He said Australia would provide an extra A$1 million in emergency relief to
help those affected by the cholera epidemic, with the money to go to
non-government agencies.

'Zimbabwe needs US$1bn to revive industry'

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Cuthbert Nzou Wednesday 17 December 2008

HARARE - Zimbabwe will require close to a billion American dollars to revive
its comatose manufacturing sector once a new power-sharing government is
established in Harare, according to an economic recovery blueprint for the
southern African nation.

The economic plan, crafted by a team of government technocrats led by the
chief secretary to President Robert Mugabe and the Cabinet, Misheck Sibanda,
says US$900 million is required to step up capacity utilisation in the
dormant manufacturing sector to 80 percent over a 12-month period.

The envisaged unity government between Mugabe's ruling ZANU PF party and the
two opposition MDC formations could only be able to turnaround Zimbabwe's
battered economy if the manufacturing sector was resuscitated to boost
exports and hard cash earnings, the plan says.

Current manufacturing sector capacity utilisation is estimated at below 10
percent with several manufacturers expected to either sharply downsize
operations or not to re-open altogether next year.

"The economic recovery has to be spurred by the resuscitation of the
manufacturing sector. In the first 12 months, capacity utilisation should be
increased to 80 percent and to reach that peak, government has to mobilise
US$900 million.

"Without increased exports and increase in foreign currency generation,
economic recovery in the short term would be difficult to achieve," the
economic blueprint reads in part.

Mugabe, MDC leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara on September 15
signed a power-sharing agreement, but have so far failed to form a unity
government because of differences over a variety of issues including
equitable sharing of key government posts.

Tsvangirai said he would not be part to the inclusive government if
outstanding issues of the deal, among them, allocation of ministerial
portfolios, appointment of governors and the composition of the National
Security Council, were not resolved.

A constitutional amendment to give legal affect to the deal was gazetted
last Saturday, but the main formation of the MDC led by Tsvangirai
threatened to block its passage in Parliament if the sticking points are not
resolved.

The government has since said that if the amendment is thwarted in
Parliament, it would call a new round of elections for president, parliament
and local councils.

According to the economic blueprint, the inclusive government if formed
should introduce an "implicitly managed" floating exchange rate that is
underpinned by fiscal and monetary austerity.

Currently the country's foreign exchange control regulations are governed by
the interbank rate that has been widely criticised by exporters and tobacco
farmers.

The government, according to the document, should widen revenue collection
by expanding the tax base to include the thriving informal sector,
understood to be making huge profits but pays little or no tax at all.

The recovery package underscored the crucial need to re-engage external
financiers to help bankroll the government.

If adopted by the new government, the economic recovery plan would require a
nod from the World Bank, which promised to extend lines of credit once
Harare clears arrears now close to US$500 million.

Meanwhile the World Bank administered Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) said the
group has raised close to US$5 million dollars to help mitigate the impact
of Zimbabwe's deepening economic and humanitarian crisis.

According to the MDTF December newsletter, the Brettonwoods institution
together with a group of countries committed in alleviating the country's
worsening humanitarian crisis raised US$4 964 000 out of the US$5 764 000
pledged.

Zimbabwe, which once had one of the most vibrant economies in Africa, is in
the grip of an unprecedented economic and humanitarian crisis marked by
acute shortages of food and basic commodities, amid a cholera epidemic that
has killed close to 800 people since August. - ZimOnline

ZANU-PF govt. in crackdown on retailers in Zimbabwe

http://www.hararetribune.com

Tuesday, 16 December 2008 22:25 Thomas Shumba

On December 9, the ZANU-PF government complained that the price increases by
retailers across the country were unjustified.

The  National Incomes and Pricing Commission, charged by the government in
determining prices, ordered the retailers to row back their prices to those
that prevailed on December 3rd.

A week later, the NIPC, believing that the retailers have refused to follow
its rules since the prices of goods have actually increased instead of
declining, had launched a war on the retailers.

NIPC director of compliance in charge of the Inspectorate Department, Miss
Charity Maunga, confirmed the new blitz against business people in a
telephone interview from Harare yesterday with the Chronicle. "I can confirm
that there have been a number of arrests but I cannot give you figures at
the moment. Phone me first thing tomorrow morning and I will be ready with
that information," Maunga said.

"There have been several arrests in urban centres throughout the country
since Friday last week. If you phone me tomorrow, I will be able to give you
the names of the affected companies."

As their justification for increasing prices, retailers pointed to the
hyperinflation that has brought the country to its as they main reason they
increased their prices.  "We have no option but to do something to cushion
ourselves from the rampant inflation," a Mr. Raja Chawndry, a businessman
with a shop selling everything from sugar to clothes, told the Tribune in
Harare.

"Instead of attacking us, the government should start with the producers
since our prices are determined by the cost we incur buying our good from
producers and manufacturers," he added.

Over the years, the government has launched several operations to rein in
the retailers, but all those attempts failed. Instead, those operations have
been blamed for the shortages of basic goods like sugar, cooking and bread.

The ZANU-PF government has said time and again the prices increases were not
in response to the inflation but were designed to cause dissatisfaction with
their rule and spar the people too rise up.

Economists have put the current inflation in the country at over a billion
percent. The government has temporarily halted calculating the inflation
rate.

Unless the political climate in Zimbabwe changes, the economy of Zimbabwe is
not likely to recover anytime soon.

Zimbabwe rivals 'should both go'

Wednesday, 17 December 2008

Months of power-sharing talks have not broken the deadlock Both Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai should step aside to end the deadlock, a respected think tank argues. This could allow a transitional administration to implement political and economic reforms, the report by the UK's International Crisis Group says. The international think tank's proposal would also give the president and his generals immunity from prosecution. A BBC correspondent says it is unlikely either side would take up such an idea. The ICG's suggested plan - entitled Ending Zimbabwe's Nightmare: A Possible Way Forward - describes ongoing mediations as "hopelessly deadlocked". It proposes that Zimbabwe's parliament - "the country's only legally elected national institution" - should draft a constitutional amendment to establish an interim administration that would pave the way for new presidential elections in 18 months. Vortex of despair Francois Grignon, director of ICG's African programme, said Zimbabwe urgently needed a "credible and competent government" to address the disastrous humanitarian and economic conditions now facing the country", including: The meltdown of vital social services A cholera epidemic that has claimed 1,000 lives The flight of a third of the population A third of remaining citizens facing starvation "A non-partisan transitional administration directed by a neutral chief administrator could achieve this," said Mr Grignon. With Zimbabwe descending into a vortex of despair, the ICG's suggestion is for an alternative way forward, says the BBC's Africa analyst Martin Plaut. But while it may be an elegant solution, passions in Zimbabwe are so inflamed it is hard to see how either side would be prepared to take up such an idea, our correspondent adds. After disputed presidential elections in March, Mr Mugabe's Zanu PF party and Mr Tsvangirai's 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. Months of negotiations brokered by former South African President Thabo Mbeki on behalf of the Southern African Development Community have failed to break the deadlock.

US urges visitors to Harare to have contingency plans

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Patricia Mpofu Wednesday 17 December 2008

HARARE - The United States (US) has urged Americans travelling to Zimbabwe
to have contingency plans ready for their own "personal health, safety and
security", citing a tense political climate and a worsening humanitarian
crisis in the southern African country.

In a travel warning released Tuesday the US government said Americans should
carefully consider their need to travel to Zimbabwe, a country that was one
of the most popular African destinations for American and other Western
tourists before its economic and political crisis.

The travel warning issued by the US Department of State said political and
economic instability in Zimbabwe have resulted in small-scale civil
demonstrations and riots by military personnel, and a general deterioration
of government services and infrastructure, including the near collapse of
the country's public health system.

Americans falling sick in Zimbabwe could find it difficult to get treatment,
the warning said.

"The Department of State therefore urges US citizens visiting Zimbabwe to
closely monitor the situation, keep travel documents up to date, and have
contingency plans ready for their own personal health, safety and security,"
it said.

The US also urged its citizens travelling to Zimbabwe to avoid taking part
in public protests and demonstrations which the Harare government has in the
past crushed with force.

However Zimbabwe Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu dismissed the travel
warning, saying anyone visiting Zimbabwe without any ulterior motives was
safe.

Ndlovu said: "There is no risk. The cholera is being attended to. Those
without any sinister motives against the government and have nothing to hide
have no problem visiting our peace-loving country, especially during the
festive season."

Once prosperous Zimbabwe is in the grip of a severe economic and
humanitarian crisis that critics blame on mismanagement by President Robert
Mugabe and is seen in a cholera outbreak that has killed close to 1 000
people since August, amid acute shortages of medicines, food and every basic
commodity. - ZimOnline

Africa's Churches Request God to Take Mugabe

Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)

16 December 2008

Maputo - In the strongest statement from the church yet, Africa's largest
grouping of churches says the crisis in Zimbabwe is deadlocked because of
the intransigence of President Robert Mugabe, and Christians should pray for
an end to the "illegitimate" regime.

The 9th general assembly of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) in
Maputo, Mozambique, set aside January 25, 2009 as a special 'Africa Day of
Prayer and Fasting for Justice in Zimbabwe'.

The AACC assembly said the Mugabe regime was contrary to the will of
Zimbabweans, as expressed in the presidential election of March 29, 2008.

The association also criticised southern African leaders, international
mediators and the churches for failure to bring about an amicable solution
to Zimbabwe's political crisis.

President Mugabe is using power-sharing negotiations as a strategy for
wasting time and exercising continued control over Zimbabwe. Meanwhile,
violence continues to be committed against those who do not support Mugabe's
ZANU-PF party, AACC said.

AACC urged the African Union and its member states to "state clearly that
the current Zimbabwean regime is illegitimate and to withdraw recognition of
the Zimbabwean government."

The AU should also intensify pressure on President Mugabe to relinquish
power, and facilitate genuine negotiations between all political parties and
civil society organisations to chart a new political dispensation.

It also acknowledged that member churches have been slow to respond to the
crisis in Zimbabwe and the suffering of the people, "in part because of our
lack of unity".

The association said it will work with Zimbabweans towards a common vision
for peace, justice and reconciliation in their nation and "pray for an end
to illegitimate rule".
Advocacy initiatives to be spearheaded by AACC include visits to leaders of
nations, regional structures and the African Union, marches and
demonstrations, particularly outside of Zimbabwean embassies and consulates,
and collecting funds and material to provide humanitarian aid and address
the cholera crisis.

MDC-T elections director suspended over missing funds

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

By Torby Chimhashu
Posted to the web: 16/12/2008 22:48:31
ZIMBABWE'S opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) faction led by
Morgan Tsvangirai has suspended its national elections director after he
allegedly failed to account for US$15 000.
Dennis Murira has since fled the country following a raid at his rural and
Harare homes, respectively, by suspected state security agents two weeks
ago.

Party insiders told New Zimbabwe.com that Murira was sent on suspension
after he failed to account for the money meant for accommodation and food
for the party's MPs and other activists who fled their constituencies in the
violence that rocked Zimbabwe in the run-up to June 27 presidential election
run-off.

"It is true that he has been suspended. It is true that he failed to account
for the money. We don't condone such kind of behaviour by a senior member of
the party," a senior party official told New Zimbabwe.com, declining to be
named.

Murira told senior party officials that he used the US$15 000 to book the
MPs into a luxurious Harare lodge but when pressed further, he reportedly
changed his story to say he paid Meikles Hotel the whole amount for the
duration of the MPs' stay.

However, said the senior party official, Meikles Hotel furnished the MDC
with a US$3,000 bill which it said was the amount paid for the
accommodation, food and beverages for the MPs.

"Dennis could not account for the remaining amount. If Meikles Hotel could
charge US$3,000 then no other hotel could charge any amount above that. We
had no option but to suspend him pending further hearings and the return of
Tsvangirai," the official said.

Murira is described by some party officials as Tsvangirai's blue-eyed-boy
closely linked to Tsvangirai's former financier and friend, Ian Makone.

Another senior MDC official told this website Murira had been caught-up in
factional fighting in the party.

"The allegations against him are not true," said the MDC executive member,
also declining to go on the record. "There are factions within the party and
this other faction wants to build a case against Dennis."

Murira's fate could be decided when Tsvangira returns from Botswana where he
is a guest of President Ian Khama.

"Tsvangirai is disappointed by Murira's conduct but is reluctant to fire
him. He rates him highly for the job he did as a foot soldier in mobilising
support from university student movements especially during the formative
years of the MDC. Everything now rests with Tsvangirai," said a source.

We were unable to obtain a comment from Murira, whose whereabouts are
unknown.

Mugabe’s Cholera Christmas

How best to end Zimbabwe's nightmare

A bishop has called for Robert Mugabe to be deposed 'by all means
necessary'. But is tyrannicide morally justifiable?
Comments (29)

Peter Tatchell
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 16 December 2008 20.30 GMT

More and more black Zimbabweans now believe that killing President Robert
Mugabe is morally justified, in order to halt his tyrannical, murderous
misrule. They have lost all hope for peaceful, democratic change; having
witnessed rigged elections, a sham power-sharing agreement and the regime's
ongoing terror tactics of kidnappings, beatings, rapes and murders.

South Africa and the African Union have left us to suffer and die, they say.
The African Charter of People's and Human Rights, which was intended to
protect the people of Africa against Mugabe-style abuses, is now dismissed
as a worthless joke.

"We must kill the top man - and a few of his henchmen - to save the lives of
millions," one black Zimbabwean activist recently told me. He cited a top
Mugabe official, Didymus Mutasa, who callously boasted that it doesn't
matter if half the population of Zimbabwe dies of hunger because most of the
victims will be supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change,
and they deserve to die: "We would be better off with only six million
people, with our own (Zanu-PF) people who support the liberation struggle,"
he allegedly said. This tacit sanctioning of a policy of
genocide-by-starvation is unprecedented since the mass hunger inflicted on
Cambodia by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

The threat of a violent solution to the Zimbabwe crisis has increased with
an alleged assassination attempt on one of President Mugabe's closest allies
and military enforcers, air force chief Perence Shiri.

Not before time, according to some Zimbabweans. Shiri led Muagbe's crackdown
on political dissidents (real and imagined) in the Matabeleland region
during the 1980s, which resulted in the slaughter of more than 20,000
civilians - the equivalent of a Sharpeville-style massacre every day for
over nine months. More recently, he orchestrated the campaign of terror to
intimidate voters into supporting Mugabe during June's presidential
election.

Growing support for the violent overthrow of Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF
party has been given a boost by South African Anglican Bishop Joe Seoka. He
has called for Mugabe to be "removed by all means necessary." Although he
would prefer Mugabe to be put on trial by the International Court of Justice
in The Hague, his appeal for Mugabe's overthrow "by all means necessary"
also appears to imply approval, in the last resort, of assassination.

Other calls for Mugabe to be overthrown, if not killed, have come from
retired South African Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu and from the
Ugandan-born Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu. Kenya's prime minister,
Raila Odinga, has proposed that African countries should use force to remove
Mugabe from power.

These appeals for the measured, limited use of violence to stop the
unlimited and far greater violence of the Mugabe dictatorship are
understandable. They are in the tradition of the "just war" - such as the
1970s war of liberation to overthrow the Rhodesian white minority regime of
Ian Smith, and the anti-Nazi resistance in occupied Europe during the second
world war.

But as we all know from the disastrous experience in Iraq, attempts to
impose a solution on other countries, especially by the west, are morally
dubious and seldom work. Any western intervention would smack of
neo-colonialism; enabling Mugabe to pose as a nationalist leader and hero,
and to rally Zimbabweans and other Africans to fight the "new colonisers".
The African Union has neither the will nor the capacity to intervene
militarily or in any other effective way.

Some Zimbabweans, like my activist colleague, argue that foreign
intervention is wrong, impractical and unnecessary. Killing Mugabe and his
top enforcers would, they say, be enough to topple and implode the whole
Zanu-PF regime and its military and police support.

So, is it time to kill Mugabe? Would it be ethically justified?

My political inspirations are people like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther
King. I have modelled my human rights campaigns on their methods of
non-violent direct action and civil disobedience. Essentially, I am a
pacifist. I find it very difficult to ever justify violence. The
circumstances have to be exceptional and extreme. Assassinating Adolf Hitler
in 1933 probably would have been morally justified to prevent a greater
evil - the Holocaust and second world war. But even then, I would see the
act of killing Hitler as wrong - albeit the lesser of two evils.

What of Mugabe? Like Bishop Joe Seoka, I would much prefer to see him put on
trial in The Hague, like Slobodan Milosevic. Subject the tyrant who has
trampled on human rights, justice and the rule of law, to a due and fair
legal process, where he is tried on verified evidence and witness testimony
in an open court - unlike his victims, who are often tortured and summarily
executed, based on trumped-up charges.

Show Mugabe that we - the international humanitarian community - are better
than him, that we do not stoop to his brutal methods. Let former veterans of
the Zimbabwe freedom struggle come to court to shame Mugabe by testifying
how he betrayed Zanu's ideals of democracy, social justice and human rights.
Expose Mugabe as a liberation hero turned bloodthirsty tyrant. Allow the
whole world to hear about this crimes and see what a monster he has become -
Ian Smith with a black face, only many times worse.

There is more than enough prima facie evidence to indict him and issue an
international arrest warrant on charges of torture and other crimes against
humanity, either under the UN Convention Against Torture or the statutes of
the International Criminal Court. There must now be no delay. An indictment
and arrest warrant are long overdue and can be drawn up within a week. Why
the hesitation? How many more Zimbabweans have to die before the
international community stops wringing its hands and takes serious action to
end Mugabe's regime of murder, torture, starvation and disease?

Mugabe: criminal or incompetent?

Sinister game in Zimbabwe

http://arabnews.com/?page=7&section=0&article=117290&d=17&m=12&y=2008

Editorial:
17 December 2008
The latest news from Zimbabwe suggests that the situation there is going to
become even nastier. First, there was the astounding statement last week
from Robert Mugabe that the country's cholera epidemic was under control - a
statement clearly untrue given all the aid agency reports to the contrary.
The UN has since confirmed that over 18,000 people are now infected and that
nearly 1,000 have died. Then came the astounding allegation from the country's
information minister, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, that the outbreak was a calculated
"genocidal onslaught" by the country's former colonial power, the UK. The
British government intended to use the epidemic as an excuse to invade, he
said. The claims pouring out of the regime in the past week were that not
only the UK but France, indeed the whole EU, as well as the US, were
involved in an invasion plot - with the BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera in it as
well. These are beyond far-fetched. The EU has never invaded anyone; it does
not have any military policies. It is not going to start with Zimbabwe. As
for the idea that Al Jazeera is in a political plot with London and
Washington, it is laughable.

But this is not the last stage of paranoia. There is a much more sinister
game being played. That can be seen in the reports coming out of Zimbabwe
during the last couple of days. First, there was the accusation that
Botswana was plotting to overthrow it. Then came the charge that the
opposition was training for a coup. Now there is the report that the air
force chief was hurt in an assassination attempt. It all fits a pattern.
Having created the myth of an impending invasion aided by a fifth column,
the bankrupt regime (bankrupt in all senses) intends to accuse the
opposition of treason and arrest its members.

Given the lies that have flowed from the regime, even the report about
attack on the air force chief, Perence Shiri, cannot be taken at face value.
While there are probably many with a grudge against him - he is accused of
having organized attacks on the opposition earlier this year and of
masterminding the slaughter of 20,000 people in the country's Matabeleland
region in the 1980s - the attack on him, if it happened at all, could
equally have been an attempted robbery. What is clear is that the regime is
using the story to the full to prop up the claim that there is a military
threat.

Dr. Johnson never heard of Zimbabwe or Robert Mugabe. But he would have
immediately recognized present events there as a classic case of his often
inaccurately used observation that patriotism is the last refuge of a
scoundrel: Mugabe is trying to use patriotism to save himself. It will not
work. Nothing lasts forever. A state of emergency may well come in the next
few days, with opposition member arrested. But, nasty though events may
turn, the regime will go - and sooner than people think. Mugabe's manic
desperation indicates the end is near. But if this next stage is brutal, the
final act may well prove bloody for Mugabe and his associates.

They would do well to remember what happened to Romania's Nicolae Ceausescu.

Think deeper

http://www.businessday.co.za

17 December 2008

The Zimbabwe Chimurenga ancestors must be turning in their graves as
Zimbabwean s have lost their will to fight for their country.

On a radio show recently a caller asked how different it might be if Robert
Mugabe was white, and the host failed to appreciate that question.

Remember, Ian Smith was made a pariah, sanctions were applied and sporting
relations stopped. Most decidedly Rhodesia was very deliberately cut off
from the world since it was a white regime.

However, it was the people of Zimbabwe who rose up and fought for their
country with the assistance of everyone. So what has happened now to the
will of the Zimbabwe people and the world's nations coming from such a
courageous generation? In particular, Zimbabweans seem to be prepared to
rather die than fight their oppressor.

Unfortunately, unlike before when a white man ruled, the world and Africa
has shown that in today's world only the Zimbabwean people can really fight
for their country.

That is ironic and that radio host should think a little deeper.

Andy Clay
Sandton

What does Zimbabwe mean for 2010?

http://www.businessday.co.za/

17 December 2008

Nikolaus Eberl

AT THE final media briefing of the 2010 Local Organising Committee (LOC)
held last week, its CE, Danny Jordaan, told the international press that
"uncertainty over Zimbabwe will have no impact on the 2010 Fifa World Cup",
adding that "no one presented the war in Kosovo as a threat to the World Cup
in Germany, and no one presented Afghanistan as any major threat to any
major event in Europe".

Aside from the fact that the Kosovo war ended in 1999, a whole seven years
before the World Cup kicked off in Germany, and that Afghanistan is located
on a continent other than Europe (a full 4564km away from Vienna, the hosts
of the last major event hosted in Europe, the 2008 Euro), it is hard to see
how we can invite visitors to "celebrate Africa's humanity", the 2010 brand
promise chosen by the LOC, when thousands are dying on our doorstep and a
ruthless dictator is allowed to starve an entire nation .

Beyond threatening to invalidate the 2010 brand promise, does the Zimbabwe
crisis affect SA's brand image, and could it deter potential visitors from
attending the 2010 World Cup?

Possibly the greatest threats to the regional brand image are the pictures
of the Zimbabwean ordeal being transmitted to international audiences. CNN
has been broadcasting an update on the crisis titled Desperation Up Close in
Zimbabwe , showing citizens rummaging through garbage bins and burying
relatives who have died of cholera.

Said the CNN reporter: "A child cries from hunger, but no tears come from
her swollen eyes. Malnutrition has left this baby fighting for her life. She
is the face of an unfolding crisis in a country once known as Africa's
breadbasket.. Others huddle for warmth around a fire burning inside the
shell of a broken-down van.. All these images were captured on video
recently and smuggled out of Zimbabwe by Solidarity Peace Trust, a South
African human rights group" - pictures so disturbing that CNN issued a
viewer warning before opening the video report.

Jordaan concluded his Zimbabwe statements by saying: "Those people barely
have the energy to walk, how they can be a threat to us? I can't
understand."

Does this mean the only relevance of the Zimbabwe crisis to 2010 is the
potential threat of Zimbabweans crossing the border to SA in an effort to
partake in the world's biggest soccer event? Do we really want to close our
eyes and pretend that "celebrating Africa's humanity" has nothing to do with
political oppression and disregard for basic human rights?

From a branding point of view, possibly the greatest threat to SA's brand
image is what political analyst Chalmers Johnson calls "blowback": the
unintended consequences of an unsympathetic or cynical foreign policy. What
consumer backlash is to a brand, blowback is to a nation: when the
disconnect between the brand message and corporate behaviour becomes too
great, then public protest tends to be intense in proportion to the strength
of the brand. This is because, according to the author of the quarterly
nation brand index, Simon Anholt, "a brand, as the clear, highly visible
manifestation of a country or a corporation, is as much an invitation to
complain - indeed, a target for grudges - as it is a guarantee of quality .
the higher you raise people's expectations with a brand, and the more you
invest in making big public promises, the greater the disappointment when
you fail to keep them."

As far as the 2010 brand promise to "celebrate Africa's humanity" is
concerned, we are standing at the crossroads between either paying lip
service to transforming the continental brand image or starting to live the
brand. Are we going to look beyond 2010 and help resolve the Zimbabwe crisis
in an effort to create a legacy that will be meaningful for the people of SA
and the entire region? Or will we close our eyes and hope that the world
will stop taking an interest in the fortunes of our neighbour, and all 2010
will be about is a number of soccer games, stadiums and merchandising?

Dr Eberl is engaged in internal branding for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, and
is the author of BrandOvation: How Germany won the World Cup of Nation
Branding.