Zimbabwe’s new land barons

HARARE --  President Robert Mugabe, his loyalists in ZANU-PF, cabinet ministers, senior army and government officials and judges now own nearly 5 million hectares of  agricultural land, including wildlife conservancies and plantation land, seized from white commercial farmers since 2000, investigations by ZimOnline have revealed.

This means that a new well-connected black elite of about 2 200 people now control close to half of the most profitable land seized from about 4 100 commercial farmers.

Even though Mugabe has consistently maintained that his land reform programme is meant to benefit the poor black masses, it is him and his cronies who have got the most out of it, according to our three month long investigations.

ZimOnline can conclusively state that Mugabe and his second wife Grace, now own 14 farms, worth at least 16 000 hectares in size.

All ministers from Mugabe's ZANU PF in Zimbabwe's coalition government and ZANU PF deputy ministers are multiple farm owners. That probably explains why Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's determined push to have a new land audit done to uncover multiple farm owners has persistently hit a brickwall.

Mugabe's deputy Joyce Mujuru, alongside his influential husband, former army general Solomon Mujuru, and their relatives, own at least 25 farms with a combined hectarage of more than 105 000.

Critics who have consistently dismissed Zimbabwe's emotional land reforms as a political patronage programme by the octogenarian Mugabe to reward supporters who have kept him in power are right after all.

But the veteran leader insists the programme is meant to redress colonial imbalances and benefited the povo. Mugabe, whose agrarian reforms have been criticised by the West, says some 300,000 people have benefitted from the programme.

However, investigations by ZimOnline have shown that while at least 150,000 ordinary people may have had access to farms, the majority own between 10 and 50 hectares each after some of the huge farms were subdivided into small plots. But these ordinary people only accessed land on the strengths of their ZANU PF party membership cards.

With the notable exception of Welshman Ncube, the secretary-general of a small splinter faction of the MDC, no high profile civil society and MDC officials have benefited from the land seizures. 

But some 2,200 well connected people – Mugabe, his wife Grace, their top allies, friends and relatives -- have parcelled among themselves choice farms spanning from 250 hectares to as much as 4,000 hectares in the most fertile farming regions in the country, in clear violation of the government’s own policy of capping farm sizes.

Land the size of Slovakia

Government documents and investigations show that Mugabe and his top allies control nearly 40 percent of the 14 million hectares of land seized from whites, which if put together are the size of Slovakia, with a population of 5.4 million people.

Before 2000, the 4,500 members of the largely white Commercial Farmers’ Union and another 1,500 unaffiliated white farmers owned close to 15 million hectares of Zimbabwe’s most arable land and wildlife conservancies.

A decade later, less than 400 white farmers remain on the land, with the rest expelled and their properties handed over to politically correct blacks.

And research, including examination of various government documents and audit reports show that the biggest beneficiaries of the land reform programme remain ZANU-PF members and supporters, security service chiefs and officers and traditional chiefs who have openly sided with Mugabe and senior government officials and judges.

Some top government officials have been fingered in three official audits as multiple farm owners, clearly thumping their noses at the government’s own failed policy of “one man one farm”.

The 86-year-old Mugabe and his young second wife, Grace, are the chief multiple farm owners, with 14 farms in total, including seven in his home province of Mashonaland West and in the agriculture rich district of Mazowe in Mashonaland Central.

The farms measure over 16,000 hectares – enough to build 160,000 medium density houses – and include a five-in-one 4,046-hectare property named Gushungo Estate in Darwendale near Mugabe's rural Zvimba home.

“This is a political programme camouflaged as land reform because it is clear that land has been transferred to high profile people and not the landless,” John Worsley-Worswick from the vocal Justice For Agriculture (JAG) farmers pressure group said.

Another of Mugabe's deputies, John Nkomo is also a multiple farm owner. He now controls the lucrative Jijima wildlife sanctuary in north-west Zimbabwe after he muscled out a fellow black farmer.

Nkomo, who already owned another farm in Matabeleland, seized the Jijima lodge wildlife conservancy (size unkonwn) in north western Zimbabwe in defiance of a High Court order against him.

Asset stripping

Mugabe has not acted on the multiple farm owners, despite three government land audits which fingered top ZANU-PF officials and recommended that they return the farms.

Investigations show that for example Edna Madzongwe, Senate Speaker and a Mugabe relative has since 2000 seized six productive commercial farms in Chegutu district, Mashonaland West province, farms which she has all but run down.

These are Aitape, Cobun Estates, Bourne, Mpofu Farm, Reyden and Stockdale Farm, which she seized from an elderly white couple last year. The farms, which span 5,200 hectares in total, are all in Chegutu, some 100 kilometres west of capital Harare.

“Some of this can only be described as asset stripping because if you look at the farms now they are now in a derelict state and Madzongwe keeps hoping from one farm to another,” said a white commercial farmer who lost his farm but declined to be named fearing victimisation.

Investigations also showed that top politicians have in the past years moved from one farm to another, stripping them of equipment and selling off the produce, which has seen some of them rich overnight.

But Madzongwe is only one of several high-ranking ZANU-PF officials who have more than one farm.

Governor’s five farms

The president of the Chiefs’ Council Fortune Charumbira has seized more than four farms in Masvingo measuring 6,600 hectares in total and Information Minister Webster Shamu owns Lambourne farm and Selous Tobacco Estates in Mashonaland West measuring 1,660 hectares.

A government audit carried in 2002 showed that former Mashonaland West provincial governor Peter Chanetsa at one point had five farms spanning 4,000 hectares, former Mines Minister and legislator Chindori Chininga, Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo, former Information Minister Jonathan Moyo own or have owned multiple farms at some point.

“It is incumbent on the government and … ZANU-PF to quickly re-align the land reform programme implementation to the national land policy in order to reassert its credibility as a just and democratic programme to equitably redistribute the land in Zimbabwe and empower the indigenous people through land ownership,” the audit report said.

Agriculture remains the mainstay of Zimbabwe’s economy but production in the sector has plunged by 60 percent since 2000 when government-backed land invasions started.

Exports from the sector have fallen from $1.4 billion – 41percent of exports – in 2000 to nearly $700 million last year, after falling below $500 million in 2007, blamed largely on poorly equipped new black farmers and lack of farming inputs like seed and fertiliser.

But the downfall in agricultural output is also attributed in part to the fact that a huge chunk of some of the most productive and largest former white-owned commercial farms hoarded by senior Mugabe political allies are lying fallow either because the new owners are not that keen on farming or they simply abandoned the properties for new farms.

Gov’t to seize excess land

Lands and Rural Resettlement Minister Hebert Murerwa said while there were some people with multiple farms, these were very few and would be forced to give them up.

“The fact that a handful of people may have more than one farm does not detract from the overwhelming success of the land reform where the government has created 300,000 new farmers over the last ten years” Murerwa said.

While much has been said bout the failure of black villagers resettled on former white farms to feed Zimbabwe chiefly because they lack financial resources, little is said about the fact that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe went to great lengths  -- including employing rather questionable methods such as printing money -- to try to fund the new farmers.

The central bank had between 2003 and 2008 pumped in $3 billion in the agriculture sector alone by printing money and raiding accounts of NGOs and exporters, to buy subsidised farming equipment, fuel, seed and fertiliser. But this has mostly benefitted influential Mugabe allies, some who are accused of selling inputs on the black market.

Malawi in comparison, which spend half the amount to support its farmers has grown to become a net food exporter, while Zimbabwe continues to plug a food deficit.

Political analysts say Mugabe has managed to ensure support from the key security service, including the army, police and central intelligence, by dishing out prime farms to commanders and senior officers.

The security forces

Of the nearly 200 officers from the rank of Major to the Lieutenant General in the Zimbabwe National Army, 90 percent have farms in the most fertile parts of the country. This is replicated in the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe Prisons Service, Air Force of Zimbabwe and CIO.

In total there are 400 officers in the security services alone who are known to have farms above 250 hectares, often seized at gun point from the previous white owners while several lower ranking officers and war veterans also have smaller holdings.

Constantine Chiwenga, the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander, who is among a cabal of Defence Forces chiefs who have publicly declared that they will only serve Mugabe, has two farms near Harare, including the 1,200 hectare Chakoma Estates, which his wife seized at gunpoint, telling a terrified white farmer that she lusted for white blood and sought the slightest excuse to kill him.

Perence Shiri, a veteran of the liberation struggle whose record was soiled during his command of an army crack unit in an insurgency crackdown in Matabeleland in early 1980s, has two farms, the 1,460 hectare Eirin farm in Marondera, which he seized after evicting 96 landless families and the 1,950 hectare banana producing Bamboo Creek in Shamva.

Augustine Chihuri, Mugabe’s loyal Police Commissioner General owns Woodlands Farm (size unknown) in Shamva.

In the past year more than a dozen senior army and air force officers with have used armed soldiers to evict white commercial farmers.

In August last year Brigadier General Justin Mujaji evicted white farmer Charles Lock from his 376 hectare Karori farm in Headlands district east of Harare and defied several High Court orders, including one meant to allow Lock to take his tobacco and maize crop and equipment.

“Clearly there is a common thread here, where the military which is supposed to defend its citizens brazenly terrorises them in the name of land reform,”  said John Makumbe, a University of Zimbabwe political lecturer and Mugabe critic.

Politburo and judges

All of ZANU-PF’s 56 politburo members, 98 Members of Parliament and 35 elected and unelected Senators were allocated former white farms, all 10 provincial governors have seized farms, with four being multiple owners, while 65 percent of the country’s more than 200 mostly partisan traditional chiefs have also benefited from the land reforms.

Sixteen Supreme Court and High Court Judges, including Chief Justice Chidyausiku, who owns the 1 000 hectare Estes Park farm in Mazowe/Concession district, also own large farms ranging between 540 to 1380 hectares.

Forty serving and former ambassadors have been allocated farms, with 70 percent of Parastatals bosses also owning large tracts of land.

Investigations have also revealed that Mugabe’s personal banker and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono surprisingly does not own a farm given to him by government but has managed to buy four farms, including the prime 4,000 hectare Donnington farm in Norton he purchased in 2001.

Sources said Gono, who at the time was CBZ Holdings chief executive who personally authorised loans for senior government officials, bought the farms at knockdown prices from farmers who were under pressure from invaders to leave their properties.

"The white farmers have simply been replaced by a new black elite," said a source. But while the old white farmers regarded farming as a profession and most worked their land full time maintaining Zimbabwe as the bread basket of Africa , the Mugabe cronies who have replaced them largely fit the mould of what Mugabe himself has described as "mobile phone farmers".

They are largely responsible for converting Zimbabwe into a basket case as they have used their land more for weekend recreation.

Minister of State in Vice President Joyce Mujuru's office, Sylvester Nguni, himself a huge land owner, once accused his fellow ZANU PF officials of only acquiring vast swathes of land "for pride" as they had dismally failed to use their land many years after they seized it.

While most of the seized land controlled by these top Mugabe cronies continue to lie fallow, most of the poor peasants and small holder farmers in communal and other better areas account for most of the improvements in agricultural output last year.

In fact, the peasant farmers accounted for more than half of Zimbabwe's total maize production even before the mass evictions of white landowners who mostly focused on cash crops.

Sources say if the land reforms had been based on a transparent poverty alleviation thresholds and properly implemented with the right beneficiaries being selected and empowered without Mugabe's patronage considerations, the white farmers would largely have not been missed.

But even the 350 000 black farm workers, who many had thought would be among the initial targets or beneficiaries of land reforms were largely ignored. 

Unconfirmed reports say many of the former farm labourers have died due to poverty after they were evicted alongside their former white employers. The few who remained on the farms have to content with the new black landowners who don't invest on the properties and pay them starvation wages. -- ZimOnline

LIST OF ZIMBABWE’S TOP FARM OWNERS

 *The list is not exhaustive as district land officers who have the knowledge of farm owners in any given district were in some cases unwilling to disclose such details for fear of possible reprisals.  

NAME          FARM SIZE                                    AREA

R. MUGABE                                    Gushungo Estates 4046ha                                    Darwendale

Gushungo Dairies 1000ha                                    Mazowe

Iron MasK                  1046ha                                    Mazowe

                                                                Sigaru Farm     873ha                                    Mazowe

                                                   Gwebi Wood                  1200ha                                    Mazowe

                                                    Gwina Farm                  1445ha                                    Banket

                                                  Leverdale Farm1488ha                                    Mazowe

                                                   Highfield                   445ha                                    Norton

                                                  Cressydale Estate676ha                                    Norton

                                                  Tankatara                  575ha                                                      Norton

                                                          Clifford                  1050ha                                                      Norton

John O’Groat Farm760h                                    Norton

Bassiville                  1200ha                                                      Mazowe

S & M. MUJURU                                    Alamein Farm                  1300ha                                    Beatrice

JOHN NKOMO                                    Gijima Lodge                   xxx                                     Hwange

SIMON KHAYA MOYO                  Marula Block 36                  2034ha                                    Bulilamangwe

CABINET MINISTERS

Joseph Made                                    Tara Farm                   840ha                                    Odzi 

Emmerson Mnangagwa                  Sherwood Farm                  1600ha                                    Kwekwe                     

Francis Nhema                                    Nyamanda                  1000ha                                    Karoi

Stanislaus Mudenge                  Chikore Farm                  760ha                                    Masvingo

Kembo Mohadi                                    Jopembe Block                  3000ha                                    Beitbridge

                                                        Benlynian Range                  3200ha                                    Beitbridge 

Patrick Chinamasa                                    Tsukumai                                    800ha                                    Headlands

                                                                  Nyamazura                  1260ha                                    Rusape

Hebert Murerwa                                    Rise Holm                  1100ha                                    Arcturus

Ignatius Chombo                                    Allan Grange                  3000ha                                    Banket                               

                                                                   Oldham                                    400ha                                    Chegutu

                                                      Shingwiri                                    1600ha                                    Chegutu

Webster Shamu                                    Lambourne Farm                  1340ha                                    Selous

                                                           Tobacco Estate                  900ha                                    Chegutu

Obert Mpofu                                    Young Farm                   2300ha                                    Nyamandlovu

                                                     Umguza Block 39, 40, 41 6200ha                  Umguza

                                                              Auchenberg                  1026ha                                    Nyamandlovu

Sithembiso Nyoni                                    Fountain Farm                  3100ha                                    Insiza

Walter Mzembi                                      BW Farm                                    720ha                                    Masvingo

Nicholas Goche                                     Ceres Farm                  xxx                                    Shamva

Savior Kasukuwere                                    Conucorpia Farm                  100ha                                    Mazowe

                                                        Harmony Farm                  500ha                                    Mazowe                

Didymus Mutasa

Sydney Sekeramayi                                    Maganga Farm                  620ha                                    Marondera

Edna Madzongwe                                    Aitape Farm                  2000ha                                    Chegutu

                                                                 Coburn Estates Plot 13A560ha                  Chegutu

                                                                 Bourne Farm                   445ha                                    Chegutu

                                                                 Mpofu Farm                  1200ha                                    Chegutu

                                                                  Stockdale Farm                  750ha                                    Chegutu

                                                                  Reyden Farm                  1340ha

SECURITY SERVICES

Constantine Chiwenga                  Chakoma Estates                  1276ha                                    Goromonzi

Perence Shiri                                    Bamboo Creek                  1950ha                                    Shamva

                                                          Eirin Farm                  1460ha                                    Marondera

Augustine Chihuri                                    Woodlands Farm                  xxx                                    Shamva

Paradzayi Zimondi                                    Upton Farm                  1029ha                                    Goromonzi

Happyton Bonyongwe                  Thetford Farm                                 

Henry Muchena                                    Serui Drift                  1500ha                                     Chegutu                          

Abu Basutu                                    Swallowfork Ranch                  2711ha                                    West Nicholson        

Elson Moyo                                    Daisy Farm                  1600ha                                    Chegutu

JUDGES

Godfrey Chidyausiku                  Estes Park                   895ha                                    Concession

Luke Malaba                                    Marula Block 35                  1866ha                                    Bulilamangwe

Paddington Garwe                                    Faun Farm                  760ha                                    Chegutu

Antonia Guvava                                    Harndale Farm                  1000ha                                    Chegutu

Mafios Cheda                                    Marula Block 37                  3039ha                                    Bulilamangwe

Ben Hlatshwayo                                    Kent Estate                   800ha                                    Norton  

Charles Hungwe                                    Little England                  6956ha                                    Makonde

Chitakunye Alfias                                    The Grange                  1300ha                                    Chegutu

PROVINCIAL GOVERNORS

David Karimanzira                                    Arcadia Farm                  1300ha                                    Marondera

Cain Mathema                                    Gwayi Ranch                  4600ha                                    Gwayi

                                                            Umguza Block                  3700ha                                    Umguza    

Chris Mushohwe                                    Kondozi Farm                  400ha                                    Odzi

Titus Maluleke                                     Clipshap Farm                  3000ha                                    Masvingo 

Thokozile Mathutu                                    Dete Valley Farm                  2800ha                                    Dete

                                                        Anthonia Extension6500ha                                    Umguza

Angeline Masuku                                    Wollendale Farm                  3000ha                                    Gwanda

Cephas Msipa                                    Cheshire Farm                  2100ha                                    Gweru

ZANU-PF/GOVT HIGH RANKING OFFICIAL

Reward Marufu                                    Leopards Vlei                  1294ha                                    Glendale

                                                              Kachere Farm                  880ha                                    Mazowe

Sabina Mugabe                                    Mlembwe Farm                  1037ha                                    Makonde

                                                       Longwood Farm                  924ha                                    Makonde

                                                        Gowrie Farm                  430ha                                    Norton

Leo Mugabe                                          Diandra                                    815ha                                    Darwandale

                                                     Nangadza                                    1200ha                                    Mhangura

                                                        Journey’s End                  3000ha                                    Makonde

Patrick Zhuwao                                    Marivale Farm                  244ha                                    Mazowe

George Charamba                                    Battlefields 02                  1572ha                                    Kwekwe

Nathan Shamuyarira                  Mt Carmel                  xxx                                    Chegutu

Bright Matonga                           Lions Vlei                  2000ha                                    Chegutu

Amos Midzi                                     Magudu Ranch                  10701ha                                    Chiredzi

Dick Mafios                                Insingizi Farm                  1100ha                                    Bindura

                                                            Melfort                                    554ha                                    Mazowe

Joseph Chinotimba                                    Watakai                                    1240ha                                    Mazowe

Happison Muchechetere                   Burry Hill Estate                   617ha                                    Makonde

Tobaiwa Mudede                                     Ballineety                  3147ha                                    Nyabira

Austin Zvoma                                    Chinomwe Estates                  1432ha                                    Makonde     

Mariyawanda Nzuwa                  Stella Burton                  425ha                                    Mazowe  

David Parirenyatwa                                    Rudolphia                  802ha                                    Murewa

Charles Utete                                    Rudzimi                                    3350ha                                    Lomagundi

Paddy Zhanda                                    Chipfumbi Meadows1364ha                                    Goromonzi

Zim Editor To Spend Night In Remand Prison

http://www.radiovop.com/

30/11/2010 18:20:00

HARARE, NOVEMBER 30, 2010 – The editor of The Standard newspaper who handed
over himself to the police on Tuesday morning has been detained after he was
formally charged of communicating falsehoods.

Nevanji Madanhire was being sought by the police in connection with a  story
written by the paper’s Bulawayo based correspondent Nqobani Ndlovu alleging
that the force was recruiting war veterans and retired officers.

Ndlovu said his sources told him the veterans will direct operations ahead
of next year’s elections.

The reporter spent eight days in custody before he was granted bail by the
High Court last week.

Madanhire who was accompanied by his lawyer Chris Mhike spent almost the
whole day waiting at the police station.

A detention order was finally signed just before 5 PM after the
investigating officers pretended to be organising that he does not spend a
night in the cells.

He is charged under Section 31 (B) (II) (C) of Criminal Law (Codification
and Reform) Act.

Part of the section criminalises the publication of statements that
undermine “public confidence in a law enforcement agency.”

If convicted, the journalist will be “liable to a fine of up to or exceeding
level fourteen or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 20 years or both.”

Analysts have blamed the clampdown on journalists on Zanu PF hardliners who
want to control the flow of information ahead of next year’s elections.

CIOs hunt newsman over Chombo story

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

by Irene Madongo
30 November 2010

State agents are understood to be after the Standard newspaper’s deputy
editor, over a story about Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo’s
excessive wealth. The newspaper’s editor could also be jailed as police
continue their clampdown on the independent media.

ZANU PF’s Chombo is being widely condemned around the country after his
staggering wealth, revealed in his divorce battle, detailed his ownership of
innumerable properties, plus farms, mines and hunting lodges in Zimbabwe as
well as properties in South Africa. Opposition parties and residents
associations want an official investigation to be launched into how he
acquired this wealth.

On Sunday night members of the notorious Central Intelligence Organisation
visited the home of the Standard’s deputy editor, Walter Marwizi. They
visited again at around 4:30 am.

The Standard’s editor Nevanji Madanhire said: “I think it should be related.
He wrote an article about Chombo in the Standard. It’s about Chombo’s
property. He was just asking the opinion of civil society, what do they
think of his wealth and they were saying he is not fit for public office and
all that. I think this is the Chombo issue.”

Madanhire himself was on Tuesday charged with publishing falsehoods and
could be jailed over another story that appeared in the paper. The story
claimed that exams for promotion in the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) were
scrapped, so that retired police and war vets could occupy vacant top posts
in the force to direct operations during the 2011 polls.

The ZRP denies the allegations, and wants the paper to reveal the source
behind the article. The newspaper says it is unethical to do so, and the
source could be tortured if exposed.

Nqobani Ndlovu, the journalist who wrote the ZRP story, was charged for
defaming the police under Section 31 of the Criminal Law (Codification and
Reform) Act. He was thrown into prison and released last Friday, after
spending nine days behind bars. His lawyer is challenging a section of this
law and wants it to be declared unconstitutional.

Commentators have warned that the harassment of journalists by the ZRP,
headed by Mugabe loyalist Augustine Chihuru, will worsen as the country
heads towards elections.

South Africa's Zuma, Zambia's Banda, to Confer in Pretoria on Zimbabwe Crisis

http://www.voanews.com/

Sources said Mr. Zuma urged the Harare principals to draft a road map to
free and fair elections to select a government with full powers, and that he
envisioned an expanded role for SADC in that ballot

Studio 7 Reporters | Washington/Harare 29 November 2010

South African President Jacob Zuma, mediating dialogue in Zimbabwe for the
Southern African Development Community, will meet this week with Zambian
President Rupiah Banda, chairman of the so-called SADC troika on politics,
defense and security on which Mr. Zuma also sits, to discuss the crisis in
Harare, sources said Monday.

Mr. Zuma, who visited Harare last week, will update Mr. Banda Thursday on
progress ending the stalemate in Harare. Mr. Zuma has said he persuaded
President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, to resume
one-on-one talks.

Mr. Banda and Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, the third troika member,
failed to show up for a meeting on Zimbabwe in Gaborone, Botswana two weeks
ago.

After meetings Friday with the Harare principals, including Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara, Mr. Zuma said he had managed to resolve a number
of issues including the breakdown in communications between Mr. Mugabe and
Mr. Tsvangirai, who for a month had been boycotting the customary Monday
talks the two had held.

Sources said Mr. Zuma urged the principals to come up with a clear road map
to free and fair elections for the country to select a government with full
powers. He is also said to have urged wider involvement by SADC in the next
round of elections.

Lindiwe Zulu, a foreign policy advisor to Mr. Zuma, told VOA Studio 7
reporter Ntungamili Nkomo that Mr. Zuma and Mr. Banda will decide the way
forward for their panel in seeking resolution to the longrunning political
conflict in Harare.

"Indeed President Zuma will take up the Zimbabwean issue with Mr. Banda as
chairman of the troika when he comes to South Africa this week, aiming to
move the process forward," Zulu said.

Political analyst Rejoice Ngwenya said the Southern African Development
Community has lost credibility, having failed to act decisively on Zimbabwe
in the past. He said he doubted that the Zuma-Banda meeting would yield
significant results.

Many in Mr. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change have lost faith in
SADC and in the wake of the letdown in Gaborone the party is appealing to a
higher power, drafting and circulating a prayer for guidance to help
Zimbabwe achieve democracy.

The prayer says in part that Zimbabweans have suffered much "at the hands of
men who have turned from God's word and wisdom."

Earlier this month, Defense Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, a widely feared
stalwart of Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF, also struck a religious chord telling a
funeral gathering that he had found comfort in the arms of God.

Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Programs Manager Pedzisai Ruhanya remarked in
an interview with VOA reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that the Tsvangirai MDC
formation should also be seen taking action because God helps those who help
themselves.

Meanwhile, US diplomatic cables released by whistle blower website,
Wikileaks included one from Harare in 2007 in which former Ambassador
Christopher Dell told the state department that the end was near for Mr.
Mugabe in political terms.

He described Mr. Mugabe as a ruthless leader but a “brilliant tactician”
though hampered by his “ego and belief in his own infallibility [and] his
obsessive focus on the past as a justification for everything in the present
and future.”

Dell described then-opposition leader Tsvangirai as a flawed figure with
“questionable judgment in selecting those around him.” Nonetheless, Dell
considered Mr. Tsvangirai to be "the indispensable element for opposition
success.”

In calling a near-term end to Mr. Mugabe’s term in power, Dell acknowledged
that such predictions had been made by his predecessors.

Mr. Mugabe lost the first round of the 2008 presidential election to Mr.
Tsvangirai, but clung to power through a runoff election that many in the
world and region considered to lack legitimacy, leading to the current
power-sharing arrangement in Harare.

Though the unauthorized release of secret U.S documents by Wiki leaks has
been controversial to say the least, Emira Woods, co-director of the
Institute for Policy Studies in Washington said she believed the leaks are
good for democracy.

Political analyst Charles Mangongera said Dell’s observations on Mr.
Tsvangirai are well known, adding what is more interesting for political
scientists is what was revealed about those in ZANU-PF who have worked with
the U.S. government.

Elsewhere, the Zimbabwean Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for six
people accused of plotting a coup in 2007 against Mr. Mugabe to appeal a
High Court decision upholding their re-indictment following the expiration
of a statutory time limit for trial.

VOA Studio 7 correspondent Thomas Chiripasi reported from Harare.

WikiLeaks tells how SA saw ‘crazy old man’ Mugabe

http://www.businessday.co.za

LOYISO LANGENI
Published: 2010/11/30 06:34:45 AM

THE South African government joined the scramble to ease the fallout over
WikiLeaks’ release of thousands of documents yesterday, red- faced over a
claim that International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite
Nkoana-Mashabane had called Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe a "crazy old
man".

The claim was just one among thousands to lift the lid on what the world’s
leaders really think about each other, gleaned from millions of documents
that detail classified exchanges between US diplomats abroad and Washington.

The revelation is an embarrassment for SA, which has expended diplomatic
capital trying to keep Mr Mugabe, aged 86, in power.

"We are still making consultation with the minister, who is in Libya, to
verify whether she uttered those words," her spokesman, Malusi Mogale, said
yesterday.

The department would issue an official statement "soon" once the
"consultation process" had been concluded, he said.

Last month, at a public lecture at the University of Pretoria, Ms
Nkoana-Mashabane told of SA’s frustration in trying to resolve the political
impasse in Zimbabwe.

She blamed political adversaries Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for
Democratic Change and Mr Mugabe for failing to implement the national unity
framework.

President Jacob Zuma was forced to visit Zimbabwe just last week in yet
another attempt to convince the two to work together.

The leaked documents also report that US diplomats considered former
president Thabo Mbeki as biased and feared he was siding with Mr Mugabe
during his mediation efforts in Zimbabwe.

Former US ambassador to Harare, Christopher Dell, warned in 2007 that power
sharing would only prolong Zimbabwe’s crisis, and "we must guard against
letting Pretoria dictate an outcome which perpetuates the status quo at the
expense of real change and reform".

Mr Dell described Mugabe as "more clever and more ruthless than any other
politician in Zimbabwe", and said of Mr Tsvangirai that he is a democrat,
but "also a flawed figure, not readily open to advice, indecisive". With
Sapa-AFP

War vets establish new ZANU PF bases in Matabeleland

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

by Irene Madongo
30 November 2010

Residents in rural Matabeleland North and South are increasingly being
targeted by violent war vets, sponsored to establish ZANU PF strongholds.

Villagers in Nyamandlovu are being harassed by a war vet called Nkanyezi,
and their headmen are being pressured to take up senior posts in ZANU PF
branches in the area, according to our correspondent.

Already war vets sponsored by key ZANU PF members have been terrorising
locals and MDC members in other parts of the country. War vet leader
Jabulani Sibanda has become notorious for his terror campaign in rural
Manicaland and despite protests by locals and MPs, the police have still not
arrested him.

This intimidation of villagers is now being duplicated by Nkaynezi,
according to our Bulawayo correspondent Lionel Saungweme. He said Nkanyezi
is also forcing MDC and ZAPU members to surrender their membership cards and
join ZANU PF. “He is one of Obert Mpofu’s hangers-on and that is where he
derives his power from. It looks odd that an individual could command such
power, but it’s the system in Zimbabwe that if you stand up and say you are
ZANU PF you can cause communities to suffer without the police interfering,”
Saungweme said.

It’s understood that police have ignored reports about Nkanyezi, and
although ZIPRA war vets have asked him to stop his violent behavior, he has
refused to do so.

“Nkanyezi has approached Chief Deli, also known as Chief Mabhena, in
Nyamandlovu with the express request that Deli grant him the honor of being
a headman. Nkanyezi has been influencing and trying to coerce other headmen
to become chairmen or leaders of ZANU-PF structures. He has succeeded to
some extent which is why he is making a request to become a headman,”
Saungweme said, “Others would see this as Obert Mpofu’s attempt at trying to
get influence within the area. He faces stiff resistance from people who
have resettled there and former ZAPU cadres who say he sold out and went to
ZANU PF,” Saungweme explained.

Meanwhile in Gwanda, former MP Abednego Ncube is reported to be forcing
villagers in farm resettlements to surrender MDC and ZAPU cards. Ncube is
understood to be working alongside another ZANU PF war vet Sijumba, real
name Robson Mafa, to get their operation underway. It’s understood Ncube
wants to be an MP again. On Tuesday Saungweme said that Sijumba has
organised militants to go door-to-door with a tin for locals to deposit
their MDC or ZAPU membership cards. Villagers have been told that if they
don’t take up ZANU PF membership they could be removed from the area. They
were given a 24th November deadline to do so, which has now been moved to 31
December.

Bennett Demands Justice

http://www.radiovop.com

30/11/2010 13:59:00

Harare, 30 November - Tormented Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
treasurer-general Roy Bennett has petitioned the Supreme Court demanding to
be furnished with the outcome of an appeal filed by Attorney General (AG)
Johannes Tomana challenging the acquittal of the former Chimanimani
legislator.

Bennett’s lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa recently wrote to the Registrar of the
Supreme Court requesting an update on the status of Tomana’s appeal in which
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku reserved judgment.

“We enquire when we might expect a decision in the matter as our client is
anxious that this matter continues to hang over his head,” reads part of
Mtetwa’s letter.

Chidyausiku indefinitely reserved judgment in July when he presided over an
appeal lodged by Tomana in May challenging the acquittal of Bennett.

High Court Judge, Justice Chinembiri Bhunu in May acquitted the Deputy
Agriculture Minister-Designate, at the close of the State’s case. Bennett
had been on trial since last October on spurious charges of insurgency,
banditry, terrorism and sabotage.

In acquitting the former commercial farmer Justice Bhunu ruled that the
State’s prosecution team, led by Tomana, had failed to establish a prima
facie case against the former Chimanimani Member of Parliament.

In his appeal the AG argues that Justice Bhunu misdirected himself when he
acquitted Bennett in that he assessed pieces of evidence in isolation rather
than adopting a holistic analysis of the admittedly circumstantial evidence
adduced by the State.

Tomana also contends that Justice Bhunu erred in adopting a piecemeal
approach to evaluate the weight of evidence brought before him by the State,
whose prosecution team was led by the AG himself, assisted by Chris
Mutangadura, the chief law officer and Florence Ziyambi, the Director of
Public Prosecutions in the AG’s Office.

MDC-T yet to decide on resumption of Senate sitting

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
30 November 2010

The MDC-T will only decide on Wednesday whether its senators should resume
sitting in the upper house of Parliament, a top party official said on
Tuesday.

Morgan Komichi, the deputy organizing secretary, told SW Radio Africa their
standing committee, the top decision making body of the party, will meet on
Wednesday to deliberate on the issue.

Business in the senate had been adjourned to next year after MDC senate
members protested the attendance of provincial governors who were
unilaterally re-appointed by Robert Mugabe, in violation of the Global
Political Agreement (GPA).

But MDC-M leader and deputy Prime Minister, Arthur Mutambara, said in
Masvingo on Monday that the enate would resume sitting this week. He said
the three principals to the GPA had agreed to this during their meeting last
week with the SADC mediator, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa.

Mutambara added that the senate would get back to business while they wait
for a verdict from the High court and also the outcome of the SADC Troika
meeting, scheduled for next week. Recently Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
began legal action against Robert Mugabe over the appointment of the
provincial governors and it is now before the courts.

But despite proclamations by Mutambara that senate proceedings will resume
this week, MDC-T senators and officials told us they knew nothing about it.

‘Who is Mutambara? He’s not even our leader so where does he get the
authority to tell us that. At least he should have had the courtesy to brief
us first before rushing to the media,’ one senator said.

Komichi was more diplomatic when he said the decision for senators to go
back lies with the standing committee. He said it has always been Tsvangirai’s
modus operandi that before he goes public on any major party issues he
briefs the standing committee first.

MDC-T senators are adamant they will continue with their boycott of the
senate until the matter of the governors is resolved.

Mutambara has said in his address to business leaders in Masvingo that the
three principals agreed on the senate resumption after Mugabe conceded that
he violated the GPA by re-appointing the governors for another term.

Another MDC-T senator said; ‘Since Mugabe has agreed he violated the GPA by
re-appointing the governors, he should simply reverse the appointments and
Tsvangirai might be forced to drop the court case against him and we will go
back to the senate. As simple as that.’

The ten ZANU PF appointed governors are meant to take seats in the House of
Assembly as senators but because Mugabe defied the provisions of the power
sharing deal in unilaterally appointing them, the MDC-T has refused to
recognize ‘strangers in the house.’

Political commentator Luke Zunga said he wondered why Mutambara would think
that Tsvangirai would be so gullible as to agree to such an arrangement,
taking into account the number of times Mugabe has reneged on issues agreed
upon during SADC summits.

‘How many times has Mugabe agreed with Tsvangirai on so many of the GPA
issues only to go back on his word whenever he meets his politburo? This is
a classical example of giving someone a taste of their own medicine. I bet
the answer tomorrow (Wednesday) is the MDC-T will decide against going back
to the senate and we will have another standoff.

Zunga said the standoff will in effect derail the passing of the Finances
and Appropriation Bills that seeks to give effect to the budget statement
presented last week Thursday by Finance minister Tendai Biti.

The Finances Bill would legalise the various tax measures that the minister
announced, while the Appropriation Bill, once passed, gives effect to budget
votes allocated to Government ministries and departments. The two Bills are
supposed to sail through both the House of Assembly and Senate before being
submitted for Presidential assent.

‘If both parties fail to bridge the gap, as far as the latest crisis is
concerned, then the Finance Ministry cannot disburse the funds to various
ministries, even those controlled by the MDC. This is something that both
parties have to seriously consider and negotiate with the suffering people
in mind,’ Zunga added.

Gender-Based Violence: 'Zimbabwe Police Officers Forget Themselves'

http://www.ipsnews.net

By Ignatius Banda

BULAWAYO, Nov 30, 2010 (IPS) - Tasha Ncube* has no kind words for the
police. Early last month, the 31-year-old mother of two was beaten several
times by her husband over what she says were small arguments. This was the
first time in a marriage that has gone for years without any such
occurrence.

"I began suspecting he must be seeing someone as I have heard such stories
before about men with ‘small houses’ suddenly being moody," Ncube said.
Small house is a local euphemism for a lover.

"When I confronted him he went mad and he beat me up. I reported him to the
police."

But Ncube did not get the response she expected. "They said I should go back
home and ask relatives to mediate as they were getting many reports from
women who withdrew charges after the husband apologised. I was so angry I
did not know what to say..."

Like many other women, she returned home to continue life with her abusive
husband.

Officers 'interpreting' law

Ncube’s case is typical example of what gender activists say is a glaring
gap between the enforcement and interpretation of legal provisions that seek
to protect women from gender-based violence.

Gender activists and the gender ministry made groundbreaking strides over
several years to push GBV legislation through Parliament. The Domestic
Violence Act was finally passed by Parliament in 2007 amidst much
celebration.

But Irene Zwelibanzi, an activist who has spent several nights in police
cells after Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) organised demonstrations in the
streets of Bulawayo says police attitudes towards women are yet to change.

"Some male police officers forget that when they are at work they are
professionals but they still behave like uneducated men in the street and
demean women who seek their protection," Zwelibanzi complained.

"This is not helping the fight we are waging for our rights as we are also
now fighting to change the attitudes of the police themselves," she said.

Police: 'We do take it seriously'

The Zimbabwe Republic Police maintains that it has done much to sensitise
members of the force on dealing with domestic violence cases and how to
handle reports, especially from battered women.

The Domestic Violence Act stipulates that domestic violence is punishable by
up to 10 years. This is the reason some police officers give for not taking
all reports seriously, claiming that some wives do not want to see their
husbands locked up for that long.

"Sometimes we get wives reporting their husbands for beating them up, but
after locking him up, the wife comes only a few minutes later to say she has
forgiven him and wants to withdraw the charges," said an officer who spoke
on condition of anonymity.

"It’s not that we do no take these reports seriously, but sometimes it helps
that these disputes do not reach the police station if marriages are to be
saved," the officer reasoned.

"I think it is generally about gender relations -- how sensitive men are to
women’s experiences of domestic violence, particularly women they don’t
know," says Amanda Atwood of kubatana.net, a forum for Zimbabwe online
activists and bloggers.

"How comfortable are women generally discussing issues of domestic violence
with strangers, particularly men?" Atwood reflected.

Meanwhile, according to research conducted this year by the Zimbabwe Women
Resource Centre and Network, domestic violence accounted for more than 60
percent of murder cases in Harare’s High Court, providing insight into the
gravity of the situation.

Raising profile of GBV

There has been a push to give the issue prominence in the constitution
making process with advocacy based on evidence of the high cost of GBV to
the nation. In particular, medical costs, justice, transport, school fees,
loss of working hours, treatment of sexually-transmitted infections, HIV and
loss of household income have been cited.

Efforts to address GBV at community level are generally dismissed as
ineffective by women like Ncube who say the non-involvement of law
enforcement officers means such initiatives are ignored by men.

As part of a Gender Based Violence Strategy and Implementation Plan, the
Gender Ministry, together with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF),
has been conducting training of community-based counsellors.

Rejoice Timire, executive director of the Disabled Women Support
Organisation, says women living with disability have not been spared either.
Timire called for the needs of this oft forgotten group of women to be
addressed during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence.

"There is high unemployment and economic dependency and this has left the
women with disability more vulnerable to abuse," Timire told IPS.

Ncube is still hurting from the double abuse she suffered – at the hands of
her husband and the police who refused to act. "I obviously feel bad about
having reported my husband. Not because I reported him but because the
police refuse to do anything about it," she said.

*Names have been changed.

Residents gather in the fight against corruption

30 November 2010

The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) conducted informative road
shows in Highfields and Glen Norah over the weekend in a bid to mobilise
residents to demand accountability and transparency in Local Government. The
road shows, which were conducted at Machipisa and Chitubu Shopping Centres
respectively, attracted over 1,000 residents who gathered and expressed
their determination to stamp out corruption in local government.

The road shows were prompted by the reluctance of the powers that be to
commission investigations into the incriminating revelations made by the
Harare Land Audit Report regarding Minister Chombo and Philip Chiyangwa’s
unprocedural acquisition of Harare land. Residents are not amused with the
fact that the Honourable Minister and Chiyangwa have never been investigated
but the Harare Councilors who came up with the report are the ones who were
arrested instead. The recent revelations of Minister Chombo’s numerous
properties in almost every Local Authority in Zimbabwe are also a cause for
concern to residents.

Within that context, CHRA conducted the road shows to disseminate
information and raise awareness among residents regarding these issues. The
road shows were also a mobilising tool to bring residents together so that
they could come up with collective resolutions on issues of corruption. The
Association witnessed a great turnout of residents, most of whom openly
demanded the reinstatement of the suspended Harare Councilors. Residents
expressed their discontent at the ongoing and seemingly endless
investigations on the suspended Councilors which they said is a waste of
ratepayers’ money. They pointed out that Chombo is on a war path to
frustrate the Councilors so that they can stop exposing him. Residents also
demanded that Minister Chombo should be fired because he has dismally failed
to resuscitate Local Authorities and that he should be investigated and
brought to book for his corrupt activities. Issues of service delivery were
also explored as residents depicted their grievances through theatre, poetry
and music.

CHRA is currently in the process of engaging the Parliamentary Portfolio
Committee on Local Government and the Prime Minster’s office to appeal for
their intervention. The Association remains committed to advocating for
democratic, transparent and accountable local governance as well as lobbying
for quality and affordable municipal services on a non partisan basis.

CHRA Information, making the implicit, explicit

Zim police will only accept a Mugabe win

http://www.timeslive.co.za

Nov 30, 2010 5:29 PM | By Sapa-AFP

Zimbabwe's police chief has warned that the results of elections proposed
for next year will be accepted only if President Robert Mugabe's party wins,
the Zimbabwe Mail news website reported.

Police commissioner Augustine Chihuri is a veteran supporter of Mugabe and
his Zanu-PF party, which is in a power-sharing government with the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) of Morgan Tsvangirai.

Chihuri was quoted by the Mail as telling a group of junior officers in
Harare that "this country came through blood and the barrel of the gun, and
it can never be recolonized through a simple pen, which costs as little as
five cents."

His remarks added to fears of a new wave of violence against MDC supporters
if the country heads back to the polls next year.

Mugabe is pushing for presidential and parliamentary elections to be held by
the middle of next year, despite the fact that the international community
says conditions for a free and fair vote are not yet in place.

Chihuri's reported remarks pick up on a theme in Mugabe's speeches that
Tsvangirai is a "a Western puppet" who will hand the country over to whites
if he comes to power.

Tsvangirai's arm of the coalition government reacted angrily.

"He (Chihuri) must immediately be investigated for these statements," said
Eric Matinenga, minister of constitutional affairs and MDC member.

"If that is not a coup, what is? If that is not treasonous, I dont know what
is."

Josphat Tshuma, president of the Law Society of Zimbabwe, said the
commissioner's remarks were "setting a very dangerous precedent."

He was asserting that the right of citizens to choose who ruled them was
"irrelevant", effectively "neutralizing" the police as an institution for
the protection of citizens.

"He is justifying everything that is necessary to keep one party in power,"
he said.

Mugabe's party began using violence and election fraud to cement its hold on
power after the MDC emerged as an opposition force in 2000.

In 2008, the MDC won parliamentary elections and Tsvangirai won the first
round of presidential elections.

The MDC victory cost around 200 MDC supporters their lives at the hands of
Zanu-PF militia and the military.Author: Jan Raath

MDC activist dies after being assaulted by police

MDC say they are not relying on SADC for change

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
30 November 2010

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s party says it will not rely solely on the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) to deliver a free and fair
election in the country. Speaking to SW Radio Africa on Tuesday, MDC-T
spokesman Nelson Chamisa said; ‘The core strategy is to mobilize and
galvanise the people of Zimbabwe to have a free and fair election. We are
not putting all our eggs in the SADC basket, because we have learnt from
events in the past.’

On Friday South African President Jacob Zuma met all three coalition
leaders - Tsvangirai, Mugabe and Mutambara. He is reported to have pressed
them to come up with, and implement, a roadmap for elections, that ZANU PF
insist should be held next year before June. Responding to widespread views
that Zuma was a mediator biased in favour of Mugabe Chamisa said;
‘Skepticism is there because of past circumstances, but Zimbabweans are
their own ultimate liberators.’

Some reports claimed Zuma achieved some success in getting Tsvangirai and
Mugabe to talk after, after more than a month. Asked to comment on Fridays
negotiations Chamisa said; ‘Well I don’t know whether I should call it
progress or otherwise. We received an undertaking that President Zuma is
going to facilitate the construction of a roadmap towards the holding of a
free, credible and legitimate election. Of course we are still to see the
proof of the pudding in the eating.’

Although Chamisa refused to disclose the details of the meetings, SW Radio
Africa has been told that Zuma asked Tsvangirai to withdraw a High Court
petition challenging Mugabe’s unilateral appointments of provincial
governors. Tsvangirai is however said to have flatly rejected this proposal,
demanding that Mugabe reverse his appointments first. Asked if this was true
Chamisa said; ‘The veracity or otherwise remains confined to the corridors
of those in the cockpit.’

Zuma travelled to Harare after the SADC troika on politics, defence and
security failed to meet in Botswana a week before, because two of its three
leaders, Zambian President Rupiah Banda and Mozambican President Armando
Guebuza failed to turn up. Zuma is now expected to meet the same troika
either before or after Christmas and appraise them of the so-called election
roadmap.

For Zimbabweans the merry-go-round continues and two years of these endless
meetings and summits has taught them to expect nothing.

SA not serious about Zim documentation

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
30 November 2010

The South African authorities are being accused of not being serious about
documenting illegal Zimbabweans in the country, as pressure continues to
build on the government to extend its documentation deadline.

The December 31st deadline is fast approaching, and the signs are clear that
the process to document the tens of thousands of Zimbabweans without proper
paperwork in South Africa will be unsuccessful.

Zimbabweans have been spending days in queues trying to get their papers in
order to get the relevant permits needed to remain in the country legally
past the December deadline. But there are reports that some home affairs
offices across the country are only processing 50 people a day, and there is
growing panic about the threatened mass deportations set to start in the New
Year.

Rights groups have been calling on the South African authorities to extend
the deadline, if they are serious about the process being successful. The
Consortium of Refugees and Migrants of South Africa (CoRMSA), has asked the
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to help pressure the South
African government to extend the deadline. CoRMSA said in a statement that
it made the appeal during the 48th Session of the African Commission on
Human and Peoples’ Rights held in Gambia earlier this month.

CoRMSA Chairperson, Kaajal Ramjathan Keogh, told SW Radio Africa on Tuesday
that they have also approached the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees. She said that Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma was
present at all these meetings, “but she declined any efforts made for the
deadline to be extended.”

Last week Dlamini Zuma insisted that the cut-off date was not flexible and
would not be moved. She also said that anyone who tried to apply for legal
permits after the deadline passes, will not be assisted.

Ramjathan Keogh said that the authorities need to extend the deadline until
at least June 2011, “if they are serious about this process being
successful.” She said that, as it stands, “the process is doomed to fail.”

“We are worried that the South African authorities are not concerned with
documenting the Zimbabweans and instead just want to start deportations for
their political reasons,” Ramjathan Keogh said.

She continued: “It leads us to believe that they will use the documentation
process as an excuse to legitimately start deportations again, because they
will have offered this option to people, however briefly, so we have very
serious concerns.”

Be very afraid

Teachers petitions UN and SADC

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/

Written by Tavada Mafa
Tuesday, 30 November 2010 11:24

Harare - The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe on Tuesday sent a
security alert to the inclusive government SADC facilitator, Jacob Zuma, UN
special rapporteur on Right to Education the Intentional Labour Organisation
and Education International over the continued political victimisation of
its members. (Pictured: Raymond Majongwe)
The Organisation's Secretary General Raymond Majongwe told reporters in
Harare after a land mark ruling by the labour court on the six Rushinga
teachers who were forced to vacate their work places last month. Majongwe
said because the government had ignored for a ,long time to act on reported
cases of teachers who were victimised by ZANU-PF they had this time decided
to appeal to the international community.
“As PTUZ we have today raised a secuurity alert on teachers with SADC
through Honorable facilitator Jacob Zuma,UN special rapporteur on the Right
to Education,ILO and Education International. We hold fears that the
intelligence officers in Rushinga are baying for the blood of the teachers,”said
Majongwe.
He said it had come to PTUZ's attention that there was ethnic hatred in the
area being insinuated by a ZANU-PF headman by the name Mupezani who had
declared to eradicate Karanga teachers through politically victimising them.
Majongwe said the six teachers who were forced to leave Gwangwava Primary
school last month by school head Luckson Chidhidhi, District Education
Officer Beauty Gasa with the help of villagers,were on Tuesday going to
return to the same school as pronounced by the labour court last Friday.
The six affected teachers who were being represented by labour law experts
Matsikidze and Mucheche and won their case are Julius Mawarire,Tinashe
Mavurayi,Talent Muchakazi,Angela Zanza,Silibaziso Mawire and Maphios
Chisora. According to a court ruling presented by labour court in favour of
the teachers the school head and the Education Oofficer are directed to let
the teachers assume their duties at Gwangwava Primary School with immediate
self-knowledge
“The decision to transfer the said teachers without their notice and their
knowledge and consent is hereby set aside. The respondents are hereby
ordered to allow the teachersto execute their teaching duties at Gwangwava
primary school without victimisation threats. The respondents shall follow
the appropriate ;procedure in transferring the said teachers on notice and
invite their inputs to the transfer and allow those who elect to be
transferred to choose stations to be transferred to,”read the labour court
judgement.

Zimbabwe's Mugabe: Why not indict Bush and Blair?

http://af.reuters.com

Tue Nov 30, 2010 6:27pm GMT

* Zimbabwe leader attacks indictment of Sudan's president

* Accuses West of operating double standards

* Suggests Bush, Blair should be prosecuted over Iraq

TRIPOLI, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday
asked why the International Criminal Court (ICC) is not indicting Tony Blair
and George W. Bush for war crimes instead of prosecuting Sudan's leader.

Mugabe, speaking at a joint summit of the European Union and African states,
said the ICC was applying a double standard by indicting Sudanese President
Omar Hassan al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and genocide.

Sudan's government has said it was boycotting the EU-Africa summit in
protest at EU pressure for Bashir to stay away. [ID:nMCD874154]

"Why does this court not do the same with Tony Blair and George W. Bush,
both of whom occupied Iraq and killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqi
people?" Mugabe said in a speech to the summit in Libya's capital.

As U.S. president, George W. Bush called Mugabe's rule "tyrannical," while
Blair, the former British prime minister, accused Mugabe of human rights
abuses and running down what was once one of Africa's most prosperous
economies.

Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, denies those accusations and
says the West, and especially Zimbabwe's former colonial ruler Britain, is
trying to sabotage his country.

"Bashir is not with us now. Why? Because some European countries said if he
comes, they will not attend the summit," Mugabe said in his speech.

"They are wrong because they shouldn't take this decision before we know if
he is guilty or innocent ... Only a court in his own country can decide if
he is guilty or not."

ANALYSIS: Wikileaks, a godsend for Mugabe

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

by Edward Jones     Tuesday 30 November 2010

HARARE – Confidential diplomatic cables leaked by whistle-blower website
Wikileaks suggesting the US is leading Western attempts to topple President
Robert Mugabe are a godsend for the veteran leader who will now look to use
the leaks as justification to crush Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC
party, analysts said on Monday.

The cables, part of more than 250 000 notes and briefings by US ambassadors
across the world to the State Department, show the United States as working
with its Western allies and the MDC to oust Mugabe -- vindicating the
86-year-old leader who says the West wants to topple him and install a
puppet government in Harare.

Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, has
over the last decade accused Western powers of trying to oust him in
retaliation against his land seizures that drove thousands of white
commercial farmers from their land.

Analysts say Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party will use the latest revelations as
propaganda fodder and excuse to crackdown on the MDC as Zimbabwe heads
towards elections next year that many critics fear could see a return to
violence without political, security and electoral reforms.

Setting the agenda

Former U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell said in leaked
diplomatic notes to Washington at the end of his posting in 2007 that the
U.S. was taking a leading role to bring Mugabe down and said they could not
leave former coloniser Britain, to do the job because it was hamstrung by
its colonial past.

“Thus it falls to the U.S., once again, to take the lead, to say and do the
hard things and to set the agenda,” Dell said in a cable posted on the
Wikileaks website at the weekend.

“We need to keep the pressure on in order to keep Mugabe off his game and on
his back foot, relying on his own shortcomings to do him in.”

The U.S. has denied seeking Mugabe’s removal although it has maintained
sanctions on him and his ZANU-PF allies since 2002 for rigging elections and
rights abuses. The octogenarian leader says sanctions are punishment for his
land grab and hurt the poor.

Washington says it works with democratic forces to bring democracy to
Zimbabwe.

Mugabe has previously branded Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai a “pathetic
puppet” used by the West to remove him from office and has vowed that he
would never relinquish power.

But Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in the March 2008 presidential vote but not
by enough a majority to claim the presidency after election authorities
withheld results for five weeks only for the veteran leader, backed by
security forces, to return to power after Tsvangirai pulled out of a run-off
scarred by violence.

Analysts say Dell’s remarks were the clearest yet by a senior U.S. official
admitting that Washington was in partnership with the MDC to push Mugabe
out. Besides confirming Mugabe’s worst fears, the remarks could worsen
relations in the fragile coalition government.

Vindicating Mugabe

The leaks follow statements by former British foreign secretary David
Miliband last year that London would only remove sanctions on Mugabe and his
inner circle on the advice of the MDC.

“This indeed somehow vindicates Mugabe. He has been telling the world that
the West is trying to get rid of him by using the MDC,” said Eldred
Masunungure, who heads local think tank Mass Public Opinion.

Mugabe, who critics say is a democrat turned dictator who wants to die in
office, is a crafty politician who has survived three decades in power and
despite being in the twilight of his political career, shows no sign of
quitting and will stand for elections which increasingly look likely to be
held mid next year.

Dell said only the MDC’s limitations had stopped the U.S. to achieve “more
already”, which analysts interpreted to mean forcing Mugabe out of power. He
said while Tsvangirai was Zimbabwe’s hope of removing Mugabe he had many
flaws, including being not readily open to advice, indecisive and with
questionable judgment in selecting allies.

“Zimbabwe’s opposition (MDC) is far from ideal and I leave convinced that
had we had different partners, we could have achieved more already. But you
have to play the hand you’re dealt. With that in mind, the current
leadership has little executive experience and will require massive hand
holding and assistance should they ever come to power,” said Dell.

Political analysts said the latest revelations could provide for an
explosive election next year and radical elements within ZANU-PF could
justify violence against MDC opponents in the name of defending the country’s
sovereignty.

Hardliners re-energised

In his election campaigns Mugabe portrays himself as a persecuted
nationalist defending the country from an imperialist onslaught meant to
roll back his land reforms and subjugate blacks but many Zimbabweans feel
the ageing leader has become more authoritarian and have voted for the MDC
in the hope the party can mend the ruined economy.

Masunungure said: “This could re-energise the hardliner elements around
Mugabe who will feel justified to crackdown on the MDC saying they are
defending the country from foreign aggression.

“But this does not at all change the perception of the rank and file towards
Mugabe’s leadership because they are more bothered by politics of the
stomach and not bilateral issues or international diplomacy.”  -- ZimOnline

Wikileaks' irresponsible behavior threatens relations and lives

Bill Watch Special of 26th November 2010 [Portfolio Committee Meetings: Post-Budget Analysis]

Peace Watch 14/2010 of 27th November [Should Zimbabwe have a Truth and Reconciliation Commission?]