Mutiny fears in Zimbabwe as army-police standoff grows

http://www.nation.co.ke

By KITSEPILE NYATHI, NATION CorrespondentPosted Tuesday, December 2 2008 at
16:28

HARARE, Tuesday

Disgruntled Zimbabwean soldiers clashed with anti-riot police trying to stop
them from looting shops in central Harare for the sixth day as fears of an
army mutiny continued to grow.

The soldiers, who for a long time have been credited with shielding
President Robert Mugabe's government from civil unrest, started rioting last
Thursday after they failed to withdraw their money from the banks.

There are fears that the crisis will escalate when the country's biggest
labour union embarks on nationwide protests tomorrow against cash withdrawal
limits imposed by the central bank.

Inflation levels

Zimbabwe's central bank restricts depositors to withdrawals not even enough
to cover a one-way bus ticket for urban dwellers because of an acute
shortage of cash and world record beating inflation levels.

The soldiers, who rank amongst the least paid in the civil service, have
been storming central Harare every day since the unrest began, assaulting
suspected foreign currency dealers and looting shops that sell products in
foreign currency.

Each time, the police try to stop the soldiers from looting and harassing
the forex dealers known to carry huge sums of Zimbabwean dollars, fierce
street battles have ensured.

"Zimbabwe is now ripe for a revolution," said Mr Richard Dururu, who was
also caught up in one of the street battles. "I think these disgruntled
soldiers are trying to push people onto the streets and dislodge this
government.

"Most of them are young people who are disillusioned by the collapsing
economy and Mugabe's reluctance to leave power."

Six soldiers were arrested last week after they battled police sent to quell
a riot at one of Harare's busiest illegal forex markets.

The government has remained mum on the disturbances but residents say the
uniformed soldiers usually arrive in army trucks from two barracks about
10km from the city centre.

When they are dropped at a particular area, they stage impromptu protests,
shouting at the banks and at times civilians in queues to get cash to join
them.

There are also reports that soldiers were telling people on the streets to
join tomorrow's protests by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions warning
that those who failed to do so would be assaulted.

Plea to depositors

The ZCTU has been calling on depositors to withdraw money beyond the daily
limits.

"On December 3, at exactly 8:30am, everyone must go to his or her bank and
demand his or her money," the ZCTU said in a statement. "People are dying
yet they have money in the accounts."

In the past, soldiers and police have easily put down protests but analysts
warned the situation might get out of control if the uniformed personnel
began siding with civilians.

Delays in constituting a unity government between President Mugabe's ruling
Zanu PF and the two formations of the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change has stroked tensions in a country facing its worst economic and
political crisis.

Zimbabwe: Open Warfare, Police vs Army on 01 December

Conjuring up a state of emergency

Photo: Annie Mpalume/IRIN

Looking for a state of emergency

HARARE, 2 December 2008 (IRIN) - There are growing suspicions that the looting by soldiers in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, may be an elaborate ruse to allow President Robert Mugabe to declare a state of emergency, suspending the constitution and, with it, all civil liberties.

In the past few days soldiers - including members of the Presidential Guard - have looted shops and robbed informal foreign currency dealers after they were unable to withdraw their wages from banks because of acute cash shortages brought about by Zimbabwe's official annual inflation rate of 231 million percent.

Former Home Affairs minister Dumiso Dabengwa told IRIN that the wave of street demonstrations and clashes with the police on 1 December should not be taken at face value, as it could be a government "project" to conjure up the conditions for a crackdown on opposition parties, civil society and the general population.

Dabengwa was head of intelligence services in the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) during the liberation war, but in 1982, two years after independence, he was charged with treason, along with former ZIPRA commander Lookout Masuku and four others.

They were acquitted in 1983, but were re-detained under emergency regulations, while Masuku died in 1986, apparently from cryptococcal meningitis, although the circumstances of his death remain suspicious.

ZIPRA was the armed wing of Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), which drew its support mainly from the Ndebele-speaking regions of southern Zimbabwe. While Dabengwa and Masuku were in detention, Mugabe launched Operation Gukurahundi, also known as the Matabeleland Massacres, in which killed about 20,000 civilians were killed.

After his release in 1986, Dabengwa resurrected his political career and served as home affairs minister from 1992 to 2000, but resigned from Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party in 2007 and threw his weight behind Simba Makoni's presidential bid in the 2008 elections.

"I do hope the demonstrations by the soldiers are genuine, and that it is not a ruse to come up with an excuse to crack down against the people, or even worse," Dabengwa said.

A managed riot?

"You can't rule out what they [ZANU-PF] might do. They have so many problems ... such as cholera and money shortages. They want to rule a country where they have total control over the people. Anything is possible - they face so many problems that I don't rule out any move to contain the situation," Dabengwa said.

You can't rule out what they [ZANU-PF] might do. They have so many problems ... such as cholera and money shortages. They want to rule a countrywhere they have total control over the people. Anything is possible

On 2 December the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that since August, 483 people were known to have died from cholera, an easily treatable waterborne disease, and the situation could get worse.

Colonel Simon Tsatsi told the media the looting by mobs of soldiers was an act of indiscipline. "Whatever is happening is not the official position of the army. It's probably just a small number of undisciplined soldiers."

However, a retired senior army officer, who declined to be identified, told IRIN: "No Zimbabwean soldier goes to loot shops and then returns to the barracks as if its business as usual. My suspicions are that these events are being managed for a specific purpose, which is likely to involve allegations of trying to wage a war against the government."

Zimbabwe's government has made repeated accusations against Botswana, southern Africa's most vocal critic of Mugabe's rule, that it was providing training bases for militia aligned to Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Botswana has repeatedly denied the accusation.

"Already, there are 15 MDC activists who have been held incommunicado since October 30. When you link that to the charges made against Botswana, then you can soon expect to have soldiers who will 'own up' to having been somehow involved in training 'MDC bandits', and trying to recruit some serving soldiers to stage a mutiny," the retired army officer said.

"Not all the soldiers may be aware of the kind of trap they are being led into. Only a few soldiers would be privy to the plan and would mislead other soldiers. It should be noted with suspicion that some of the looting soldiers tried to align themselves to the MDC by waving the open palm [hand signal], which is used by that party."

The retired officer said "If the process is a managed one, then it should fizzle out quickly - before the end of the week - because there is a danger that it can spin out of control.

"If Mugabe fails to secure the signature of the MDC in a power-sharing deal, he would have to resort to rule under a state of emergency, where he would suspend the constitution and rule by decree," he said.

"More than at any other time, Mugabe would want to create an environment which would enable him to declare a state of emergency. Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong. ZANU-PF is facing a split, after the colleagues from PF-ZAPU said they were pulling out of the unity accord signed in 1987 after the end of the Gukurahundi genocide."

A convention to revive ZAPU will be held on December 13 and 14, and will coincide with the ZANU-PF's annual people's conference.

Nkomo agreed to merge ZAPU into ZANU to form ZANU-PF in 1987, a decision that did not enjoy complete support of the party's members.

The Zimbabwean state is shutting down

Zimbabwe blames 'indisciplined soldiers' for Harare unrest

http://news.yahoo.com

HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe's army on Tuesday blamed "indisciplined soldiers"
for looting Harare shops and beating foreign currency dealers, but some
residents fear the country has now reached a dangerous turning point in its
crisis.

Harare erupted in violence on Monday as soldiers beat foreign currency
dealers. Several shops were looted and witnesses accused soldiers of hauling
off goods.

Police were called to break up the riot, which set nerves on edge in a city
struggling to survive after water supplies were cut Sunday, in an apparent
bid to fight a cholera epidemic that has killed nearly 500 people.

Army spokesman Colonel Simon Tsatsi denied sending troops into the street to
attack the foreign currency dealers, who provide an illegal but essential
service in a country where local bank notes lose value by the hour.

"Whatever is happening is not the official position of the army," Tsatsi
told AFP.

"We don't subscribe to that. It's probably just a few small number of
indisciplined soldiers who are doing this."

"All efforts are being put in place that there is order, our military police
and the police are on the ground to put law and order," Tsatsi added.

Police did not comment on the violence, and on Tuesday the centre was quiet
as shopkeepers swept up shattered glass.

Zimbabwe's soldiers rarely show open dissent against President Robert
Mugabe, the 84-year-old who has governed since independence from Britain in
1980.

While senior army officials are seen as loyal to Mugabe, ordinary soldiers
have suffered the same stark deprivations that have cut across Zimbabwean
society.

Once one of Africa's most successful nations, the economy has been shrinking
for a nearly a decade, pounded by the world's highest inflation, last
estimated at 231 million percent in July.

Nearly half the population needs emergency food aid, according to the United
Nations, while 80 percent of the people live in poverty.

The daily struggle became even more difficult Sunday, when authorities cut
water supplies to the capital amid a cholera epidemic that has infected more
than 11,000 people and killed nearly 500, according to the World Health
Organisation.

Harare residents and analysts said soldiers may have finally started turning
against the Mugabe government, but feared that the violence was instead an
ominous sign of a worsening crisis.

"If it's really true, then it's good" that the soldiers are rejecting
Mugabe, said one man as he waited in one of the city's ubiquitous queues to
see if he could buy food from a mostly empty shop.

"I'm afraid that this was stage managed to give them a reason to declare a
state of emergency," he said, declining to be identified.

Christopher Gwesu, who lives in the working-class suburb of Mabvuku, said he
also believed the soldiers had hoped to incite a wider protest so that
authorities would have an excuse to crack down.

"If we join in the protests, then they will find reasons to beat up people,"
Gwesu told AFP. "We will just see what will happen as we go on."

Mugabe biographer Heidi Holland said the clashes echoed of a blitz three
years ago when authorities ran off street vendors around the city in a
campaign called Operation Murambatsvina -- or "Drive out Filth."

That campaign began with small incidents targeting vendors but turned into
city-wide demolitions that left 700,000 homeless and destitute when shacks,
houses, market stalls and shops were razed, according to the United Nations.

"It sounded as though it was as much targeting currency dealers, as much as
expressing frustration at the state of the economy," she said.

"It could be a way of deflecting the blame for the current economic
situation," she added.

Zimbabwe cholera outbreak likely to continue: WHO

http://www.canada.com

Reuters
Published: Friday, November 21, 2008
GENEVA (Reuters) - A cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has infected more than
6,000 people and killed 294 in the country whose economic collapse has
caused many hospitals to close, the World Health Organization (WHO) said
Friday.

"The outbreak is likely to continue as the water and sanitation situation is
worsening, with severe shortages of potable water, sewage and waste disposal
problems reported in most of the populated areas," it said in a statement.

Cholera is a water-borne disease that causes vomiting and acute diarrhea,
and can rapidly lead to death from dehydration. It spreads fastest in
situations with poor sanitation or where contaminated water is used for
drinking or for preparing food.

In Zimbabwe, which has the world's highest inflation rate, many hospitals
have shut down and most towns suffer from intermittent water supply, broken
sewers and uncollected garbage.

The WHO said stamping out the southern African country's outbreak would be
difficult because of a limited availability of drugs, medical supplies, and
health professionals there.

"The start of the rainy season is also of concern," it said.

The United Nations agency and its partners including the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) are distributing emergency health kits,
water purification tablets, oral rehydration salts and other essential
supplies and training volunteers in hygiene promotion in Zimbabwe's
worst-hit areas.

(Reporting by Laura MacInnis)

Zimbabwe crisis deepens as cholera spreads

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Violet Gonda
2 December 2008

Cholera can be a rapidly fatal illness if not treated, and infected patients
can  die within three hours. In Zimbabwe this easily treatable diease is now
getting completely out of control.
An already starving population is being hit by a cholera scourge that has
killed hundreds and is threatening the lives of tens of thousands. Aid
agencies predict the cholera epidemic will have infected at least 300,000
people by year end.
Harare's residents were already at risk from contamination, but now the city
has run completely dry of water, increasing the risk.  The extremely
incompetent water authority ZINWA, said it had stopped pumping water at the
weekend after running out of essential chemicals. They could not say when
pumping would resume. This means that up to two million people will be
looking for water from boreholes and newly dug wells that could already be
contaminated.
Hotels and businesses all over the city are being forced to close down. A
worker at Jameson Hotel confirmed that new bookings were not being taken,
because there was no water and the cholera outbreak. In-house guests were
being moved to the sister companies, the Oasis Hotel and Cresta Lodge,
because they have boreholes.
Harare is one of the hardest hit areas and over 4 000 cases of cholera have
been reported. Beitbridge is the next most affected area with more than 2
000 cholera cases. Official figures put the death rate at just under 500 but
health workers predict the figure is much higher as most people are simply
dying at home. The official figures reflect the deaths in the few hospitals
and clinics that are still functioning. At Budiriro clinic in Harare the
number of cases has accelerated dramatically, from 150 a day to 500 a day by
the weekend.
 A frustrated Deputy Mayor of Harare, Emmanuel Chiroto, said desperate
residents are queuing up at Town House in the city centre to collect water.
He said there is nothing much that can be done by the council since the
management of water was taken away from the local authorities by the Mugabe
regime, without consulting the residents. The Mayor said the Council is
taking out huge sums of unbudgeted money to buy protective clothing for
health workers and drugs to fight the disease, but still it's far from the
amounts actually needed. He said council nurses are threatening to down
their tools demanding a 'risk allowance' to be paid in foreign currency.
The Deputy Mayor said: "We are doing all this dirty work, we are dealing
with all these problems now, but it is actually as a result of the failure
by ZINWA."
The situation is the same across much of the country and even though the
regime is downplaying the extent of the crisis the state controlled
newspapers have been left with no choice but to report on the man-made human
catastrophe.
Even the state controlled Chronicle newspaper reported on Tuesday that in
Kwekwe 61 bodies were buried at Mbizo and Amaveni cemeteries over just two
days last week. The paper said the Kwekwe Hospital mortuary refrigeration
system had broken down, resulting in bodies decomposing. A health officer
told the Chronicle that the mortuary had a carrying capacity of 60 bodies
but had more than 120. The officer said: "We had reduced congestion at the
mortuary but sadly more keep coming from Silobela and other surrounding
areas. The single operational unit which is supposed to have 10 bodies now
has more than 70 bodies already. The situation is being worsened by Gweru
Provincial Hospital which is now refusing to accept bodies from Kwekwe."
It is reported that Gweru Hospital Mortuary stopped functioning more than
two months ago, after its cooling system broke down and 88 bodies were given
a pauper's burial at Mkoba Cemetery last Tuesday.
If nothing is done to stop the spread of this disease the ripple effect is
not only going to have a negative impact on Zimbabwe, but also on
neighbouring countries. Already in South Africa's Musina area 438 cholera
cases have been reported, and six confirmed deaths. Musina is near the
border with Zimbabwe. A Limpopo health official told SW Radio Africa that
the deaths were four Zimbabweans and two South African.
And while politicians continue to play games, another deadly disease,
anthrax is posing a new threat, killing three people so far and 60 000 of
Zimbabwe's dwindling cattle herd is threatened.
With at least half the country facing starvation, people are eating the
diseased cattle, and falling ill themselves.
Starvation, anthrax, cholera, 90% percent unemployment, a political crisis
that seems to have no end and an inflation level that is so high no one
knows what it really is.
How long can the country continue like this?

Zimbabwe cholera death toll 'approaches 500'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

The death toll from Zimbabwe's cholera outbreak is approaching 500, the
World Health Organisation has said.

By Sebastien Berger Southern Africa Correspondent
Last Updated: 6:57PM GMT 02 Dec 2008

With 11,700 cases the outbreak is by far the worst in recent decades, it
said in a report. Zimbabwe has had cholera cases every year since 1998, but
the last major epidemic was back in 1992, 16 years ago, when there were a
comparatively few 3,000 cases.

Up until last weekend there had been 473 deaths, WHO said. "This represents
a case fatality rate (CFR) of 4.0 per cent nationally, but reached 50 per
cent in some areas during the early stages of the outbreak," it added. "The
CFR benchmark should be below one per cent." The death rate "may rapidly
escalate in populations without rapid access to simple treatments," it said.

Zimbabwe's infrastructure is close to collapse after years of
underinvestment by Robert Mugabe's regime, which it blames on supposed
Western sanctions rather than the devastation its mismanagement has wrought
on the economy.

Even major state hospitals in Harare are barely functioning and the water
supply to much of the city, including the central business district, has
been cut off, leaving residents forced to rely on boreholes and others
collecting supplies from unprotected sources, potentially accelerating the
spread of the disease.

The situation has created a new opportunity for the city's informal traders,
with unprecedented demand for plastic containers.

According to the Herald newspaper, 25-litre containers sell for $25 each,
far more than ordinary Zimbabweans can afford, with 30-litre ones fetching
$40.

Water trickles back into Zimbabwe's capital after total shut-off

http://www.monstersandcritics.com

Health News
Dec 2, 2008, 10:19 GMT

Harare - Water began trickling again from taps in Zimbabwe's capital Harare
on Tuesday, a day after supplies were shut down completely, forcing major
sections of business and state administration to close.

Residents in a few suburbs and in the central business district reported
that water was flowing at low pressure. 'At last I can flush the loo,' said
Girlie Matandwa soon after she arrived in her city centre office. 'It stank
yesterday and we couldn't use it so we all had to go home.'

Most areas, however, remained dry and residents had to forage from manholes,
stagnant pools, open standpipes in areas that had water and from neighbours
with boreholes and swimming pools.

The government-run Zimbabwe National Water Authority said it was forced to
stop pumping into the water reticulation system for the city's estimated 2
million residents when purification chemicals ran out.

The city's main source of water, Lake Chivero, just west of the city, has
tons of raw effluent pumped into it because Harare's sewage treatment
works - also run by ZINWA - has collapsed.

The state-controlled daily Herald quoted Tsungirai Shoriwa, spokesman for
ZINWA as saying that 'some chemicals' had been delivered on Monday, allowing
pumping to resume later to the city centre and a few other areas.

'Other areas are expected to start accessing water as the week progresses,
but it depends on the availability of chemicals,' he said.

Observers said the shutdown of the capital's water supplies marked a new low
in the country's plunge into ruin amidst an economic crisis that has left
around 4 million people in need of food aid, a cholera outbreak that has
claimed 484 lives according to the United Nations, and the closure of state
schools and hospitals.

On Monday, angry soldiers rioted in the city centre after they were unable
to draw their pay from banks, in a sign of discontent in the army that is
usually seen as supportive of 84-year-old President Robert Mugabe.

State media have made no reference to the violence since it occurred.

Cholera found in Limpopo River

http://www.news24.com

02/12/2008 21:03  - (SA)

Johannesburg - The Limpopo River has tested positive for cholera, a
provincial health department spokesperson told Jacaranda FM on Tuesday.

The tests were run on Monday, departmental spokesperson Phuti Seloba told
the radio station. It was not yet known the river had been contaminated.

However, Musina residents were expressing concerns about possible
contamination nearly two weeks ago as sewage seeped into the river from
Beitbridge, Talk Radio 702 reported at the time.

On Tuesday, the North West's health department was placed on alert for a
cholera outbreak, said spokesperson Nthabiseng Makhongoana.

She said that to date all cholera cases reported in South Africa had been
linked to the Zimbabwe outbreak.

"However, there are communities in South Africa including the North West
province that are still vulnerable to the introduction of cholera."

Six people have died in South Africa since the start of the cholera
outbreak, two of them South Africans and four Zimbabweans.

The Limpopo health department had treated 438 cases, 150 of them women and
42 children under the age of five, reported Jacaranda FM.

Of the infected people being treated in Musina, 87% were Zimbabweans and 12%
South Africans. Thousands of Zimbabweans have fallen victim to the
water-borne disease, which has so far claimed hundreds of lives there.

The United Nations has warned that apart from South Africa cholera is also
spreading to another of Zimbabwe's neighbours, Botswana.

- SAPA

The agreed draft of the Constitutional Amendment No. 19 Bill

Click here to read the draft

Zimbabwe opposition says talks to resume in two weeks

http://africa.reuters.com

Tue 2 Dec 2008, 16:40 GMT

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's main political parties will meet in two weeks
to try to break an impasse blocking the establishment of a unity government,
the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said on Tuesday.

"The negotiators from the three parties are due to meet again in two weeks
after all the parties have reported back to their political constituencies,"
the MDC said in a statement.

Harare diary: 'Too much to take'

Tuesday, 2 December 2008

Esther (not her real name), 28, a professional living and working in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, describes how the daily struggle to survive is reaching a point of desperation. We have been very patient, waiting all this time for a peaceful solution. It is getting to be too much now. It is beyond what anyone can face; what an individual can take. The cutting off of the city's water when there's a cholera outbreak, the cash withdrawal limit and now the security forces becoming undisciplined. We deserve a better life. We are not a country at war but look at the kind of life we are living. What on earth is going on? Order of the day People are dying in great numbers and there is no treatment because like I told you last time, Harare's two main hospitals are closed. We had always thought that the soldiers here in Zimbabwe were puppets of the state Zimbabwe cholera deaths near 500 It is so difficult because even the smaller local clinics are closed. In some parts of town there is raw sewage running down streets. But you should know that some people in the poor, poor parts of the high density areas have had to live with this every day for five years now. It is just that now pictures are circulating because of the cholera crisis. Where I stay, we had water problems even before this complete city shut-down. It was becoming the order of the day - sometimes water would run from the tap but normally, not a drop. Now all we can do is go over to a neighbour who has a borehole. Unacceptable I don't think there's a living soul in Harare who trusts the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) to provide water that is fit for human consumption. Most of Zimbabwe's capital has been without water since Sunday Absolutely everyone is boiling all their water. And because there's no power we have to make a fire to do so. I am astounded at the people who work for Zinwa - these are people who actually get paid every month to do their job and yet they have been unable to sort out our city's water supply. It is unacceptable. I don't know any other country in the world where people can just come out and say they were unaware that they were running out of water purification chemicals. It is a total lack of responsibility; like no-one even cares. I am so emotional about it. Really, it boggles the mind. On my way home from work yesterday, everyone in the commuter omnibus I was in was shocked at the sight in town. Many, many people walking round the city centre - carrying buckets and jerry cans, empty juice and milk bottles - trying to find water to take back to their homes; everyone going around looking for a business that has a borehole and asking if they can get water. Puppets of the state? When it gets it to this stage, it is unbelievable but everyone in the city is helping one another out. Everyone except Zinwa that is. You would think that by this stage it would be normal for riots to break out. But normal is not normal in Zimbabwe; and the sight of soldiers rioting, ransacking and looting would be considered implausible... But finally, no, it actually really, really happened. People are so shocked that some soldiers did. I missed the greater part of the action because I work a bit out of town but by the time I got into the centre there were broken windows and looted shop fronts, although I'm not certain if the shops were looted or if shop owners emptied their shelves for safety. The talk of the town is amazement - we had always thought that the soldiers here in Zimbabwe were puppets of the state and so this was in effect a demonstration against the state. Some people believe it is a good thing and they weren't just ordinary citizens. Long, expensive holiday I heard that the first riot police who arrived on the scene yesterday afternoon were not stopping the soldiers or even the people the soldiers had encouraged to join in. People told me it was like they were smiling at the soldiers. Almost 500 people so far are known to have died from cholera It is these cash withdrawal limits that have done this. The daily limit is 500,000 Zimbabwean dollars and it affects us all whether we are a soldier or a struggling citizen. That amount cannot even buy you a loaf of bread, not even a packet of chips. It is nothing. Your money is sitting in your bank account but you cannot reach it and what then what really rubs salt into your wound is the fact that the black market dealers carry at least 100m Zimbabwean dollars just on their person on the street, which is the daily withdrawal limit for 200 people. But you can't get cash from them unless you have foreign currency to sell. By the time I get into town at 0700 hours [local time/0500 GMT] the queues of people lining up outside the banks are already winding; and they queue all day - in the rain and in the hot sun - and at 1700 hours which is two hours after the banks' official closing time, the queues are still winding. It is like they [the government] keep poking you and poking you and poking you and poking you and poking you, daring us to do something to them. It's starting to feel like that. We have become a very angry people. A certain teacher told me the other day that students only went to school for 23 days this year - it's too much. They have been sitting at home on one very long and expensive holiday for a whole year. Read Esther's previous diary

Military police intervene to pay soldiers at barracks

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
02 December 2008

Zimbabwe's military police were turned into bankers on Tuesday after
withdrawing and transporting large sums of money from different banks to the
army barracks, where restless soldiers were then paid their salaries. Our
correspondent Simon Muchemwa reports that early in the morning hundreds of
soldiers were queuing up at the banks still trying to get their money but
around 10am were told to report to their barracks instead and get their
salaries from there. The move is a clever and efficient method of getting
the soldiers off the streets, to stop the protests over the cash withdrawal
limits.
On Monday around 100 soldiers, thought to be from Cranborne Barracks, fought
running battles with civilians and riot police. They harassed suspected
foreign currency dealers after failing to get their salaries from banks,
which did not have enough cash notes to dispense. The soldiers targeted
Ximex Mall in Harare, Market Square and the Road Port bus terminus, used by
travellers to catch buses heading to regional destinations. Initially angry
civilians threw stones at the soldiers, while riot police used live
ammunition and teargas to try and contain them. Later in the skirmishes some
civilians took the side of the soldiers in fighting against the police.
After the soldiers had moved from Market Square to Eastgate, hundreds of
youths joined in chanting, 'Gono hatichadi kunyengerera- Gono we are tired
of begging you.' One soldier is quoted as saying, 'We are Mudhara's (Mugabe)
men but shefu has disappointed us by giving Gono a fresh lease of life at a
time he has caused the suffering of many. He should have dismissed the
idiot.' Some reports say one soldier was shot dead, but Newsreel has been
unable to confirm this. Eye witnesses reported seeing an injured soldier
being loaded onto a police truck. News agency reports say it was only the
appearance of two senior army officers from defence headquarters near Mugabe's
residence, that caused the rioters to disperse.
The disturbances began last week Thursday, when disgruntled soldiers who had
been queuing in a bank all day, took their frustrations out on bank staff
and then poured onto the streets and started beating people.
In response to these clashes, government on Tuesday deployed military police
on the streets. Major Aliphios Makotore from the Zimbabwe National Army said
the military police had been deployed to restore law and order in the
country. 'Military police will not stand by while undisciplined groups of
soldiers de-stabilize the country, through lawlessness. They will heavily be
dealt with,' he said.
Only last week Agostinho Zacaria, a United Nations official in Zimbabwe,
warned that Zimbabwe risked becoming another failed state, like Somalia.

Student leader arrested and barred from writing exams

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
02 November 2008

The Zimbabwe National Student's Union (ZINASU) has called for the immediate
release of its General Councillor, Archieford Mudzengi, who has been in
detention at Bulawayo's Central Police Station since his arrest last
Friday - despite being in the middle of writing his end of year exams.
Mudzengi was dragged out of his exam room by four CID Law and Order officers
last week, after failing to appear in court. He had been expected in court
following his arrest during an NCA/ZINASU demonstration in Bulawayo earlier
this month, but missed the court date because he was writing an exam. ZINASU
said in a statement on Tuesday that Mudzengi's continued detention means he
is effectively being barred from writing his exams, which are sitting this
week.
"We condemn the continued violations of our academic freedoms by the Mugabe
regime and the arrest clearly shows that we are dealing with an insensitive
regime," the statement read.
Meanwhile the trial of Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, the embattled
leaders of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), resumed in the Bulawayo
Magistrate's on Tuesday. The two are standing trial for charges relating to
alleged illegal assembly and disturbing the peace, security or public order,
after a leading a peaceful protest in the city in October. They were part of
a group of 200 demanding that the humanitarian crisis in the country be
de-politicised and declared a national disaster.
They were denied bail after their arrest and detained at Bulawayo's
Mlondolozi Prison for women for three weeks. They were later granted bail
after appealing to the High Court and were released on strict bail
conditions, which included reporting to police twice a week and not being
allowed to travel outside a 40 kilometer radius of Bulawayo without written
permission from a magistrate.
The strict conditions were dropped during the pair's court appearance on
Tuesday but the matter has still not been resolved and the women will be
back in court on the 22nd of January 2009.

Bob should be forcibly removed: COPE

http://www.iol.co.za

    December 02 2008 at 03:08PM

If Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe will not step down voluntarily
he should be removed by force, senior COPE member Philip Dexter said on
Tuesday.

South Africa should support the people of Zimbabwe to achieve this
objective, he told journalists at a Cape Town Press Club lunch.

Dexter was responding to a question on what his party would do about
the Zimbabwe crisis.

"From my point of view the only way to solve the Zimbabwe problem at
this point is to put enough pressure on Mugabe for him to go. And he should
either go voluntarily, or he should go by being forcibly removed. And I
think we have to support the Zimbabwean people to achieve that objective,"
Dexter said. - Sapa

Eight arrested following riots in Zimbabwe

http://www.sabcnews.com

December 02 2008, 5:12:00

John Nyashanu, Zimbabwe

Zimbabwean police have arrested eight people in connection with
yesterday's riots which rocked central Harare. The uprising, many believe,
was sparked by the ongoing frustrations with the country's economic
meltdown.

Authorities, however, are still trying to establish whether this is
work of disgruntled security personnel taking the Zimbabwean crisis to
another level, or mere lawlessness triggered by illegal foreign currency
dealings? A joint police-army Commission of Inquiry has been set up to
investigate the violence. During the riots, shops were vandalised and
looted. In the aftermath of the riots, brief skirmishes broke out between
soldiers and police.

Police say they won't be partial to renegade soldiers or those who
flout the law. Zimbabwe Police spokesperson, Wayne Bvudzijena, says:
"Whether uniformed or no, whether a soldier police or civilian, the law will
not discriminate. It will simply take its course."

The economy of Zimbabwe is collapsing under the weight of economic
mismanagement, resulting in 85% unemployment and spiraling hyperinflation.
The economy has deteriorated from one of Africa's strongest to (as of
October 2008) the world's worst.

The government has attributed the economy's poor performance to ZDERA,
a US congressional act hinging debt relief for Zimbabwe on democratic
reform, and freezing the international assets of the ruling class. Zimbabwe
currently has the lowest GDP real growth rate in an independent country and
3rd in total.

EU gives 9 million euros to Zimbabwe to help deal with cholera

http://www.monstersandcritics.com

Health News
Dec 2, 2008, 15:48 GMT

Brussels - The executive arm of the European Union, the European Commission,
said Tuesday it was providing 9 million euros (11.4 million dollars) in
funds to help Zimbabwe deal with a cholera outbreak that has claimed nearly
500 lives so far.

Officials in Brussels said the money would be given to UN and
non-governmental agencies working in Zimbabwe to support water, sanitation
and hygiene programmes, epidemic response and the provision of essential
drugs.

'I'm shocked at the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe and call
upon the authorities there to respond quickly to this cholera outbreak by
allowing full assistance from international humanitarians and regional
partners,' said Louis Michel, the EU commissioner responsible for the bloc's
humanitarian aid.

The European Commission says it is the main donor to the vulnerable
populations of Zimbabwe, having provided more than 500 million euros in
direct support to the population since 2002.

On Monday, authorities in Zimbabwe shut down water supplies for Harare's
estimated 2 million residents because purification chemicals had run out.

Mutare residents live in fear as diamond campaign intensifies

http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com

2nd Dec 2008 16:28 GMT

By John Fenandes

MUTARE - Security agents have taken their campaign against illegal diamond
dealing onto the streets of this eastern border city where they are
arresting anybody found in possession of foreign currency.

Several vehicles have been confiscated from suspected diamond dealers and
miners.

Those arrested are being taken to the Chiadzwa diamond fields where they are
forced to fill up gullies that were left by illegal miners.

The campaign, being spearheaded by the army and the Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO), has been roundly condemned by human rights activists as
illegal and inhumane.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police have subordinated themselves in this campaign
which has seen about 500 people being rounded up and taken to Chiadzwa.

Trust Maanda, regional coordinator of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
(ZLHR) said: "They are taking people without regard to whether they are
dealing with diamonds or not. In fact, they are abducting people and
commandeering them into ZUPCO buses and taking them to diamond fields of
Chiadzwa where they are tortured."

Maanda added: "We condemned it in the strongest terms. It's illegal. The
process o the law is that if somebody is suspected on reasonable grounds to
have committed an offence that person must be brought before a court of law
in accordance with the normal procedure not to be taken to Chiadzwa."

Maanda said the campaign was inhumane and degrading and should be
immediately stopped.

"It's not a sustainable way of dealing with Chiadzwa," he said. Maanda said
assets belonging to suspected diamond dealers and miners have been
confiscated by security agents.

He said the security agents were disregarding court orders to return assets
they have taken from suspects.

Since Monday soldiers, CIO operatives and police details have been moving
around the city centre and high density suburbs rounding up suspected
diamond dealers and miners and searching them.

Anybody found in possession of foreign currency especially United States
Dollars, British Pounds and South African Rands are immediately arrested.

Then they are taken to Mutare Central police station where ZUPCO buses will
take them to Chiadzwa.

By yesterday six bus loads of suspects had been taken to the diamond fields.

One police officer said those taken t the diamond fields to fill up gullies
were being denied food and water.

"It's a disaster," the police officer, based at Mutare Central police
station, said. "People are forced to work for two days without food or
water."

There were reports that female suspects taken to Chiadzwa were being
sexually abuse by security agents to avoid being beaten up or tortured.

The latest campaign comes as soldiers intensified their ruthless operation
to flush out illegal miners and dealers from Chiadzwa diamond fields.

Bodies of dead panners and dealers are piling up at Mutare Provincial
Hospital while several others are scattered in the forests surrounding the
diamond fields.

An unknown number of dead bodies are buried in collapsed tunnels inside the
diamond fields.

Zimbabwe sinking fast

No activity on the Stock Exchange

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=8148

December 2, 2008

By our correspondent

THERE was no activity on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) bourse Tuesday as
the benchmark industrial index dropped a marginal 0,20 percent to close at 5
785 301 278 304 520 000.00 points while the mining index remained unchanged
at 6 892 435 840 435 660 000.00

Last week only Dawn Properties traded as the stock market is yet to recover
from actions taken by Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono last week.

Gono drove a stake through the hearts of speculators on the stock exchange
by ending suspected fraudulent trading which drives out buyers from the
bourse.

While Gono saw this as a way to instill discipline on the ZSE, the downside
was that the state is losing the windfall it was collecting from taxes and
stamp duty from trade on the bourse.

The absence of buyers on the ZSE has been worsened by the decision by the
Reserve Bank to force insurance companies and pension funds to buy
government paper with a tenor of 450 percent at a time when inflation is
above the official 231 million percent.

Insurance companies and pension funds constitute the largest buyers of
stock. Their absence will see a major retreat on the industrial index.

Gono said the decision to rein in the ZSE was meant to stem the bourse that
had "literally galloped away, in the process creating obscene paper wealth
that is causing havoc in the economy".

But analysts say although there was need to regulate activities on the stock
market, the heavy-handed decision by the Reserve Bank could diminish revenue
to the government from transactions on the bourse.

Government levies 2 percent stamp duty and 5 percent tax on sales for daily
trades on the stock market.

Stock market watchers warned that the market could remain bearish until
mid-January when companies reopen as some listed companies were closing for
Christmas.

Last week the ZSE said it had observed acts of insider trading on the local
bourse which was causing some counters to inflate, depress or cause
fluctuation of shares.

"The ZSE committee has also observed with concern that there are some
relatively large institutions which have capacity and strategic
macroeconomic information which is used to inflate, depress or cause
fluctuations in the prices of securities in breach of the Securities Act
(Chapter 24:25) Section 96 (2)," said ZSE in a statement.

"This is considered a very serious offence and will be subjected to
investigation in order to determine complicity under the securities Act,"
the stock exchange said.

The ZSE committee said it had not yet ruled on the issue of defaulting
members that were revealed by the Reserve Bank last Thursday.

"It (activities on the stock market) was simultaneously escalated to the
public domain as the report was being brought to the attention of the
committee," the ZSE said.

The ZSE said the procedures as prescribed in Rule 11.01 for bringing this
issue, as well as other complaints about members, has not been varied or
waived.

"The ZSE committee has a primary duty to appraise the discovered evidence
and then set out to prove the breach. The committee must then follow
procedures as laid down in rules 11.01-11.12," said the ZSE.

The stock exchange committee said it would consider the question of final
re-admission of any defaulter in two different classes according to rule
11.12 namely (i) Cases of failure arising from default of clients or from
other circumstances where no bad faith or breach of the rules and usage of
the exchange has been practiced. (ii) Cases marked by indiscretion and by
failure to exercise reasonable caution on the part of the defaulter.

"The ZSE Committee will examine any such evidence provided in investigating
the matter through normal channels," the ZSE said.

The stock exchange committee also said it will call for all participants to
be subjected to interviews regarding the circumstances of the alleged breach
and weigh the evidence to establish the underlying motives for suspicious
conduct and behaviour by the members as innocent, negligent or fraudulent.

"The quality of the evidence must be such that it is admissible in open
court so as to provide a successful prosecution and ultimate conviction if
the need arises," the ZSE said.

The committee said it shall ensure that the rules of natural justice are
applied and observed by taking all reasonable steps to ensure that every
person whose interests are likely to be affected by the exercise of the
functions is given adequate opportunity to make representations in pursuit
of fairness and any probabilistic outcomes in terms of the rules. Commenting
on purchasing and settlement risk, the ZSE said a precedent was observed in
the current difficulties in which bank cheques were dishonoured.

"This put the entire market at risk as there was no longer any guarantee,
even by the designated authorities in the bank that their own paper and what
they have signed for can be rendered disabled. Therefore no other paper will
be acceptable to stockbrokers for the purchase of shares," said ZSE.

ZSE said the recently introduced measured of further securing liability on
the proceeds of the cheque by getting the bank chief executive to undertake
the endorsement has disabled the whole system.

"The banking system itself appeared to be struggling with deposits and end
of day balances and the zeroes. They cannot establish cleared effects and
the whole industry has been rendered as defaulters," ZSE said.

Gono makes a killing with Britain's help

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=8141

December 2, 2008

LONDON (Africa Confidential) - Share transfers can provide a means to export
foreign exchange from Zimbabwe, as long as you get permission.

Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono and Harare businessman Mohammed I.
Mohammed are using a British company to siphon tens of millions of US
dollars out of Zimbabwe to buy fuel and for their personal profit.

Gono has helped Mohammed, who runs Remo Investment Brokers in Harare, to
move millions of US dollars to Britain through Ravenscourt Corporation,
which operates an account at Habib Bank in the City of London. Remo runs
Ravenscourt Corporation in Zimbabwe.

Africa Confidential was told the company is registered in London, but there
are no records of its operations at Britain's Companies House. Ravenscourt
has won a lucrative permit to import fuel into Zimbabwe, alongside the
state-owned National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM).

Other private companies in Zimbabwe are barred from directly importing fuel
and compelled to use NOCZIM under an arrangement which government said was
to promote transparency. Ravenscourt is excluded from this arrangement.

In January, Gono said Ravenscourt was providing oil to Zimbabwe under
'friendly terms'. Last year, Gono helped broker a deal under which
Ravenscourt was the exclusive supplier to Total (Zimbabwe) which distributed
the oil nationally. Total (Zimbabwe) took over Mobil Oil (Zimbabwe) in
December 2005.

Total (Zimbabwe) now controls 45 percent of Zimbabwe's petroleum business.
It has the biggest storage capacity in the country, making Ravenscourt's
agreement one of the most profitable.

"Total (Zimbabwe) had the capacity to import fuel on its own, but there were
political considerations to the deal and it was a question of protecting our
operations locally," said a senior Total executive.

Known as one of the biggest foreign currency buyers on Zimbabwe's parallel
market, Mohammed has transferred millions of dollars of Old Mutual shares to
Britain from Zimbabwe through Remo. Such transfers (AC Vol 49 No 23) are one
of the few remaining ways to export foreign exchange from Zimbabwe but
require the permission of Gono.

In the UK Mohammed sells the shares in British pounds and uses the money to
buy fuel for Zimbabwe. Mohammed and Gono have transferred over 8 million
shares to Britain from Zimbabwe in the past year alone, Harare stockbrokers
said.

In early November, Remo sold so many shares that it forced down the Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange's index. Remo sold shares in Econet Wireless Holdings, a
telecommunications company, Dawn Properties, Bindura Nickel Corporation,
Hwange Colliery Company, Delta and AICO Limited, formerly the Cotton Company
of Zimbabwe (Cottco). Brokers said the money raised from the local sale of
the shares was used to buy foreign currency on the parallel market.

"The Reserve Bank is the biggest mover on the stock market. They bought
shares aggressively last year, including a 6 percent shareholding in Delta
Corporation. The Reserve Bank also bought a 20 percent stake in Cottco and
this was part of what it sold this month," a central bank source said.

Remo Investment Brokers has also bought - on behalf the Reserve Bank - over
67 million shares in DZH Limited; that is a 21.3 percent stake in the
company. We hear that the stock bought on behalf of the Reserve Bank is held
under nominee companies.

Stock market rules bar banks from buying and holding equities; the Reserve
Bank has broken these rules and is now a significant player on the bourse.
But who benefits?

Certainly, it is highly profitable for Remo and Ravenscourt. Last year,
Ravenscourt imported 49.4 million litres of diesel for the resettled
farmers. This was in addition to the petrol and diesel imported by NOCZIM
and arranged by Ravenscourt with IPG of Kuwait.

Of the more than 900 million litres of diesel and 730 million litres of
petrol a year that Zimbabwe needs, Ravenscourt is importing an increasingly
lucrative share, helped by its state-sanctioned partnership with Total
(Zimbabwe).

Mohammed I. Mohammed did not respond to a detailed set of questions sent to
him by Africa Confidential.

Mugabe's Self-Inflicted Miserable Quandary

www.nationalvision.wordpress.com

Talk of civil disobedience, we saw it coming! For the first time in history,
Zimbabwe has started to experience up-close glimpses of a mutiny. The recent
scenes of rioting and looting soldiers running skirmishes with armed police
are a precursor of what is to come given the mounting crises. In spite of
having a political career replete with innumerable acts of brutality which
successfully subdued dissension and civil liberties, Mugabe is finally
seeing his chickens coming home to roost.

Here is a self-made President trapped by his own vices and obstinacies, who
ignored the people's call for him to go when he was defeated in 2002. He was
again defeated in 2008 and refused to leave office stating that “a mere X”
(on a ballot) would not defeat him. “How can a ballpoint fight with a gun?”
Mugabe warned. He was also aided by an equally deluded wife, Grace, who in
early June 2008 after they lost the elections, publicly declared that
"Morgan Tsvangirai will never step foot in state house”.

Ironically Mugabe is now being haunted by his own men, who brutalised the
people of Zimbabwe protecting him against the wishes of the people over the
past 28 years. Mugabe's political convictions to stay in power forever are
built on well-founded fear that he faces several criminally prosecutable and
impeachable offenses committed during all these years he has been in power.

Like every other suffering Zimbabwean, now these men have come to realise
that Mugabe is 'shull of fit', bent on enriching himself together with his
henchmen at the expense of the ordinary man and woman who are paying dearly
for Mugabe's tragic failures. The men and women in uniform now realise that
there is absolutely nothing in it for them. We are all victims! Assuming
that Gono and Mugabe are not willing to use their vast loot to pay those
starving soldiers, one would also naturally assume that the “Look East”
friends of Mugabe are ready to bail him out.

Mugabe's only last chance lies in quickly seizing the opportunity to be a bo
na fide player in a government of national unity with Morgan Tsvangirai, in
spite of the visceral scorn poured on him (Tsvangirai). If anything the MDC
now knows that without it, Zimbabwe will eventually become ungovernable,
much to the demise of Mugabe and his men. On July 1, 2008, we wrote a
foretelling article entitled “GNU - It’s the Economy Stupid. Forget
sovereignty rhetoric!” where we stated that “Zimbabwe is inching closer to
being ungovernable due to the inextricable economic disaster it has been
plunged into.' (www.nationalvision.wordpress.com)

Zimbabwe is already teetering on the brink of civil disobedience, to the
extent that no amount of gerrymandering attempts by Mugabe should be
acceptable to the MDC, deservedly so. Mugabe is running out of time and it
is incumbent upon him (and his men) to stop politicking and start focusing
on solving the spiralling crises before the people run them out of town.
Without re-integration into the international community (overwhelmingly with
the West), a unique asset that MDC possesses, Zimbabwe will forever be
doomed.

In the meantime our hearts continue to bleed for fellow Zimbabweans caught
up in the Mugabe-induced hemorrhage of our country on several fronts:
cholera epidemic that is worsening, starvation that is threatening half of
the population (5.5 million people), an economy that is no more, water
crisis, catastrophic collapse of health delivery system and the suffering of
millions from the scourge of Aids who cannot be cared for. The soldiers and
police must unite with the people to push for the much-needed change!

Go on Morgan, do it

http://www.businessday.co.za/Articles/TarkArticle.aspx?ID=3433045

WITH a huff and a puff, former president Thabo Mbeki has written a sharply
worded (but extremely long) letter to the leader of the Zimbabwean
opposition, Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
chastising him for failing, thus far, to get into the spirit of the
Mbeki-brokered peace deal in the country.

The letter is a study in Mbekism and may one day come to be regarded as the
piece of writing that most accurately illuminates him. For one thing, in the
letter Mbeki finally betrays his long- suspected empathy with Zim- babwe's
despotic leader, Zanu (PF) leader "president" Robert Mugabe, when he, too,
tells Tsvangirai that he is a tool of the west. "It may be that, for
whatever reason, you consider our region and continent as being of little
consequence to the future of Zimbabwe, believing that others further away,
in western Europe and North America, are of greater importance," Mbeki
wrote.

Mbeki wrote the letter in response to one from Tendai Biti, the MDC's
secretary-general, in which Biti dismissed the last SADC resolution on
Zimbabwe as a "nullity". This was the suggestion that the MDC get on with it
and form a government and that it share the home affairs ministry with
Mugabe.

Regular Mbeki watchers will recognise what happened next (it happened to
Desmond Tutu and former Anglo boss Tony Trahar) What, asks Mbeki angrily, is
this "nullity"? He went on to threaten Tsvangirai. "It does not help
Zimbabwe," Mbeki wrote, "nor will it help you as prime minister of Zimbabwe,
that the MDC (T) contemptuously repudiates very serious decisions of our
region, and therefore our continent, describing them as a 'nullity'."

Our sympathies in this are with Tsvangirai. For Mbeki may say what he likes,
as eloquently as he can, but it will not change the fact that Mugabe, thanks
to Mbeki, has a huge political advantage once Tsvangirai joins a new
government, despite the fact that Tsvangirai beat him in the elections of
last March. He will be able to undermine him and will no doubt try to
destroy him, if not kill him. Tsvangirai is scared to form the government
that will bring Mbeki's peace deal into life and who can blame him? The dice
are already loaded.

But, in stalling for more time and more intervention, Tsvangirai must
understand that while Mbeki may be about as popular in SA as George Bush is
in the US, on the matter of the Zimbabwe peace deal Mbeki and the new
leadership of the ANC are as one. ANC leader Jacob Zuma says privately that
Tsvangirai signed the Mbeki deal and he must now make it happen. That's what
Mbeki's letter was saying too. No one forced Tsvangirai to sign.

And, though it pains us to say it, we think Mbeki and Zuma are right. It isn't
perfect, but the September peace deal is all there is. Tsvangirai must get
on with it and form a government, where he will be prime minister, with
Robert Mugabe.

Zimbabwe badly needs some hope. If it fails, at least let it be said the MDC
(T) gave it a shot.

And, if it is of any cheer to Tsvangirai, forming the government might
finally mean he is rid of Mbeki. Other organs might be created to monitor
Zimbabwe's progress and, as prime minister, Tsvangirai will much more easily
be able to involve Mugabe's and Mbeki's despised west in Zimbabwe's recovery
and in the preparations for free and fair elections in the not-too-distant
future.

The other thing Tsvangirai can look forward to once a government is formed
in Harare, is an improved relationship with the ANC.

There is tremendous anger in this country and in its ruling party towards
Mugabe and considerable shame at the way Mbeki indulged him. It's time to
turn that to Zimbabwe's advantage.