Military warn ZCTU over protests

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=8174

December 2, 2008

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - Zimbabwe's security forces vowed Tuesday night to crush against
demonstrations planned for Wednesday against the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has called for peaceful
protests against debilitating limits on bank withdrawals.

The Zimbabwe Defence Forces, which include the army, air force and the
police, gave warning that the military would not be an idle observer during
the mass action planned by the ZCTU and other key civil society
organisations.

Former Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi, in a rare appearance on state
television during the main 8 pm news bulletin Tuesday, apologised to viewers
for the actions of "unruly elements in the army" who ran amok in the city
centre assaulting foreign currency dealers.

He, however, warned that security forces would bring to bear its full force
upon those perpetrators of uncalled for violence.

The ZCTU maintains the protest will be peaceful.

Fearing an imminent revolt over the withdrawal limits, central bank governor
Gideon Gono hastily raised the limit to Z$100 million a week for individuals
last weekend.

But the ZCTU has refused to call off the strike action saying the withdrawal
limit review from Z$500 000 and Z$1 million daily to Z$100 million and Z$50
million per week, respectively, was not good enough.

Gono sought to blame sanctions for the cash shortages, accusing Germany of
abruptly terminating its 50-year contract with Zimbabwe to supply currency
paper.

"The RBZ is, therefore, doing all it can under the inescapable realities on
the ground to ensure that both companies and individuals continue to get
reasonable cash supplies for their daily transactional needs," Gono said.

But ZCTU secretary-general Wellington Chibhebhe said last night that no
amount of threatening would derail the planned protest.

The planned demonstrations are deemed illegal under the terms of Zimbabwe's
security laws as the labour unions have not sought police permission.
Chibhebhe said one did not need police clearance to visit the bank to
withdraw cash.

By committing the army to the streets and threatening a showdown with the
ZCTU, Sekeramayi raised the stakes a day after tensions boiled over after
dozens of troops from Cranborne Barracks and in full camouflage dress,
staged mass action, seizing cash from money changers, whom they accused of
consorting with the central bank to vandalise the economy.

A soldier told The Zimbabwe Times that they seized the cash because it was
given to street foreign currency dealers by the central bank to source
foreign currency from the black market, starving banks of cash that would
have been paid out to depositors.

The rampaging troops were joined by hundreds of civilians at the corner of
Robert Mugabe and Fourth Streets, in the heart of the capital, chanting
slogans denouncing Gono and calling for his head.

"Harare experienced disturbances perpetrated by a few unruly elements from
the defence forces," Sekeramayi said on national television. "Those actions
are unacceptable, deplorable and reprehensible. The Ministry of Defence
expresses sincere regret that this has happened and would like to assure
Harare residents that this will not happen again."

Sekeramayi said those behind the incident were being investigated and those
found guilty would be brought to book.

He slammed the call for protest action by the ZCTU "and some other
anti-government civic organisations".

Several pressure groups and civil society organisations have stated that
they will join the mass protest Wednesday and called on Zimbabweans to "rise
up in your millions and take part in the nationwide peaceful protest ".

Zimbabwe's umbrella labour body reiterated calls last night on all workers
and ordinary citizens across Zimbabwe to join the anti-central bank
protests, despite threats of suppression.

ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo said countrywide consultations have revealed
a renewed preparedness among workers and ordinary citizens to confront
President Robert Mugabe's authoritarian capitalist regime.

The 250 000-member ZCTU said the review of the withdrawal limit was a plot
to cheat Zimbabweans and demanded that caps on withdrawals be removed
completely.

The protest comes hardly a week after Mugabe renewed Gono's term of office
for another five years, a move that has sparked widespread outrage given his
apparent policy failures and interventions.

Matombo said workers and ordinary citizens would go to their respective
banks on Wednesday and demand to withdraw any amount they want. The workers
and ordinary citizens would picket the banks and would not leave until the
withdrawal limits are removed.

Matombo said the labour leaders would also lead a procession to the central
bank along Samora Machel Avenue to present a petition to Gono.

A splinter labour union sponsored by Zanu-PF to undermine the ZCTU has
immediately sprung to action and urged workers to ignore the call by the
ZCTU to participate in the mass protest.

"We encourage all workers not to participate in the illegal and unnecessary
venture planned by the ZCTU," a statement from the Zimbabwe Federation of
Trade Union (ZFTU) said. The ZFTU is aligned to the Zimbabwe National War
Veterans' Association.

Matombo, however, said workers had indicated that they were ready to brave
repression to gather at all major banks across Zimbabwe demanding their
money.

The labour leader said the protest would be the largest and most peaceful
demonstration to date.

Analysts said that if the overall turnout for the protests was huge, the
demonstrations might create a turning point.

"It seems that the spirit of resistance is clearly on the rise and this
episode is going to be very important in the unfolding struggle," said
labour activist Munyaradzi Mushonga.

"A key aspect of this is going to be the area of leadership, in particular,
whether the rank and file of key unions and ordinary Zimbabweans will be
able to break through the suffocating disorganisation and passivity of the
union bureaucracies. If this occurs, then we could be in for very exciting
times."

The call for Wednesday's mass action comes amid rising political tension and
deepening hardships across the country.

Zimbabwe's economic meltdown is gathering pace, and yesterday there were
almost no banknotes in circulation while water shortages are intensifying
because of the lack of foreign currency to buy chemicals to purify water.

Major employers, including government institutions, were buying cash on the
black market to pay employees. Fuel was unavailable at garages around the
capital and only small amounts were on offer on the black market.

Zimbabwe opposition to discuss amendment on PM post

http://www.africasia.com

HARARE, Dec 2 (AFP)

Zimbabwe's main opposition party said Tuesday it will meet soon to discuss a
proposed constitutional amendment creating the post of prime minister for
its leader Morgan Tsvangirai, ahead of more power-sharing talks.

"The second issue would be the time frame of the gazetting (or official
publication of the) constitutional amendment and the third issue will be
what the MDC believes are outstanding matters on the equitable sharing of
ministerial portfolios," Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) said in a statement.

After that, he said, the three rival groups, including President Robert
Mugabe's ZANU-PF and the MDC splinter faction, will meet in two weeks to
resume talks aimed at creating a unity government.

Late last month, the MDC said it had reached an "understanding" on a
constitutional amendment crucial to forming a unity government, but other
disputes have not been settled.

"The issue of governors, the composition and terms of reference of the
national security council, as well as the matter regarding the appointment
of permanent secretaries, ambassadors and other senior government
officials," Chamisa said.

The latest round of power-sharing talks were suspended in November after
Tsavangirai accused mediator Thabo Mbeki, South Africa's former president,
of not fully understanding the situation in Zimbabwe.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai agreed to a power-sharing deal in September after
disputed elections earlier in the year, but it has yet to be realised.

Mugabe seeks revenge on soldiers that rebelled

http://www.independent.co.uk

Zimbabwe's state security begins to break down after soldiers vent anger at
economic collapse

By Basildon Peta in Johannesburg and Anne Penketh
Wednesday, 3 December 2008

An army investigation was underway in Zimbabwe last night after President
Robert Mugabe's loyal generals vowed to take strong measures against junior
soldiers who rampaged across Harare to vent their anger at their suffering
in the country's economic collapse.

The soldiers' violence was the latest indicator of the dramatically
worsening crisis in which thousands are dying of a cholera epidemic. The
World Health Organisation put the death toll at 500, but a senior health
ministry official has told The Independent the real toll is nearer to 3,000.
The WHO said "cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe have occurred annually since
1998, but epidemics never reached today's proportions".

State hospitals and clinics have been shut across the country and the lack
of money to buy water treatment chemicals means many major urban centres
have not had clean water for over a year. Because of the breakdown in the
water system, residents are having to drink from contaminated wells and
streams.

"There is a general sense that everything is beginning to break down," said
a senior Western diplomat, who described the situation in Zimbabwe as
"low-grade anarchy" rather than a "mutiny".

In a clear sign that President Mugabe's hold on his state security machinery
is starting to crumble, his once-loyal soldiers ran amok across the capital
on Monday after they failed to access their paltry wages in the
cash-strapped banks. The unarmed soldiers fought with heavily-armed police
and several were arrested.

It was the third outbreak of such violence since last Thursday. The sight of
rampaging soldiers was then unprecedented. Army sources said an inquiry had
already begun, with dozens facing courts martial. Unconfirmed reports say
three of the 12 soldiers who took part in Thursday's riot have been killed.

A sizeable body of Mugabe's fiercely- loyal generals were co-ordinating a
plan to crush any likely mutiny from within the army. This had begun with
the deployment of an internal crack unit, the military intelligence, to seek
out those soldiers suspected of disloyalty.

As a result hundreds of fearful junior soldiers had stopped reporting for
duty. Mass desertions are likely to follow.

"Many of them will be kept away from the armouries because of suspicions of
disloyalty. They simply won't have the means to stage a full-scale coup or
embark on any sustainable revolt," said a middle-ranking army officer who
did not want to be named.

He spoke of widespread disenchantment within the army spawned by the
economic crisis. Soldiers' salaries are now the equivalent of five US cents
per month. The food rations they used to get to supplement meagre salaries
have been stopped because imports have dried up because of the lack of
funds. Instead, soldiers are being asked to bring food from home. Their
salaries, barely enough to cover a day's bus fare, could not be drawn from
the banks because of a cash shortage.

Despite these hardships, the sources said the mistrust within the army
militated against any co-ordinated mutiny. Soldiers cannot trust each other
because of spying by military police. President Mugabe has disbanded the
presidential guard division and reconstituted it with well-armed faithful
soldiers, mostly from his Zezuru clan. Other military units are not so well
resourced. Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi, flanked by army generals
Constantine Chiwenga and Philip Sibanda, condemned the rebellious soldiers
and warned of tough action against them, at a press briefing attended by
mostly state media in Harare. He vowed to bring the culprits to justice.

Mr Sekeramayi also warned the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions against
going ahead with a planned nationwide strike to protest against the cash
shortages today.

He questioned the coincidence between the actions of the soldiers and the
strike call, suggesting that labour leaders were trying to engineer a coup.
"Let me emphasise that those who may try to incite members of the uniformed
forces to indulge in illegal activities will be equally found culpable," he
said.

Zimbabwe in numbers

231,000,000% Inflation rate in July, the last month for which data is
available.

90% Unemployment rate estimate. More than three million are thought to have
fled, mostly to South Africa, in search of work and food.

ZCTU to protest cash withrawal limits

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Nokuthula Sibanda and Patricia Mpofu Wednesday 03 December
2008

HARARE - Zimbabwe's labour movement will today press ahead with protests to
force the country's central bank to scrap limits on the amount of cash
people can withdraw from banks.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) plans to lead workers and
ordinary consumers to their respective banks to demand their money back
while the union plans to also hand a petition to Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) governor Gideon Gono demanding that he lifts limits on cash
withdrawals.

ZCTU secretary general Wellington Chibebe told ZimOnline that police
summoned some senior officials of the union in the central city of Gweru to
tell them to call off protests in the city. They did not comply with the
order to call of the cash protests.

"ZCTU central region officials were summoned by police in Gweru today
(Tuesday) to call off tomorrow's (Wednesday) action but the action
continues," Chebebe said.

The RBZ, which is struggling to import special paper required to print
banknotes, limits the amount of cash individuals and firms can withdraw from
their banks per day as part of desperate measures to curb a shortage of
cash.

State media reported this week that the central bank had increased cash
withdrawal limits with individuals beginning Thursday now allowed to
withdraw $100 million per week while companies can withdraw $150 million per
week.

However, the new limits remain too low in a country suffering the world's
highest inflation of 231 million percent and where people have to pay
several millions of dollars for simple purchases such as household
groceries.

Hyperinflation and the shortage of banknotes are the most visible signs of a
severe economic crisis blamed on President Robert Mugabe's policies and that
is also seen in shortages of food and basic commodities.

The ZCTU has in the past staged crippling job boycotts, but of late calls
for strikes have received muted response from workers.

Analysts said this was mainly a result of government intimidation and
workers' fears of losing their jobs in a country that has an 80 percent
unemployment rate.

Meanwhile doctors and nurses who have been striking over poor pay and to
pressure the government to act to save the public health sector from total
collapse say they will step up protests today by marching to the Ministry of
Health's Kaguvi building head office in Harare.

"We will be protesting at Kaguvi building tomorrow morning at 0800 am sharp.
The strike is starting at 0800 am sharp," Hospital Doctors Association
chairman Amon Sivaregi said.

Police thwarted an attempt by doctors to stage similar protests more than
two weeks ago.

Zimbabwe's once admired public health system has collapsed after years of
poor funding and mismanagement, worsened by an exodus of the most skilled
doctors and nurses to foreign countries where salaries are better. -
ZimOnline

MDC appeals for help against cholera

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Own Correspondent Wednesday 03 December 2008

JOHANNESBURG - Zimbabwe's opposition MDC on Tuesday appealed to the
international community for help against a spreading cholera epidemic that
the party says has killed over 800 people since last month.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the party said its deputy president
Thokozani Khupe had toured South Africa's border town of Musina where
hundreds of affected Zimbabweans are seeking medical attention.

Quarantined Zimbabwean patients lying in an open space prepared for them by
South African health authorities told "harrowing tales of their failure to
get medical attention in Zimbabwe" due to a strike by nurses and doctors and
shortages of drugs, the statement said.

Khupe told the cholera patients at Musina that the party would appeal to
international aid agencies and the donor community to help combat the
disease.

On Monday the opposition leader also visited Harare's high density suburbs
of Mbare and Budiriro, where she called for urgent international food and
medical assistance and urged President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF government to
declare the cholera epidemic a national disaster.

MDC health secretary Henry Madzorera and committee member Blessing Chebundo
accompanied Khupe on the South African tour.

In addition to disease outbreaks, hunger is worsening in Zimbabwe, which is
also suffering a severe economic crisis that critics blame on wrong policies
by Mugabe, in power since the country's 1980 independence from Britain.

Mugabe denies ruining Zimbabwe and instead blames the country's problems on
sanctions by the West that he accuses of trying to force him out of power -
ZimOnline

WHO Acts on Emergency Cholera Plan for Zimbabwe

VOA

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
02 December 2008

The World Health Organization says it is organizing a huge U.N. effort to
combat a deadly outbreak of cholera in Zimbabwe. It says an emergency health
plan has just got underway to control the current outbreak, which has
claimed nearly 500 lives since August. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from
Geneva.

The World Health Organization has sent an emergency team of about 20
international experts to Zimbabwe. The experts will work with WHO's national
staff in the country as well as with staff from other organizations to try
to contain the cholera epidemic.

The outbreak, the worst since 1992, has infected more than 11, 700 people in
Zimbabwe. It has spread to neighboring South Africa. Cases also have been
reported in Botswana and Mozambique.

WHO said it aims to contain the epidemic and to reduce deaths by providing
safe water and sanitation, particularly in health facilities. The plan also
aims to isolate infected people, ensure early case detection, improve access
to health care and ensure adequate care.

WHO Spokeswoman, Fadela Chaib, told VOA the challenges are enormous because
Zimbabwe's overall health service has been steadily declining for the last
five years.

"There is no good surveillance and detection system. Less than 30 percent of
the country is covered by surveillance. So, we do not know ... what is the
extent of the health needs. But, we suppose they are huge. The health system
is collapsing. The health professionals are not working because the social
and economic conditions are really very bad. So, they are trying to make
livings in other sectors ... in the country. They are not well paid, if they
are paid," she said.

In addition, Chaib said Zimbabwean health facilities face a massive shortage
in required medicines. She attributed this to a decline in local
manufacturing capacity, weakened by a shortage of foreign currency.

The country's health situation is facing another threat from an anthrax
epidemic. The organization, Save the Children, reported a deadly outbreak of
anthrax has killed two children and one adult and killed 160 livestock, as
well as two elephants, 70 hippo and 50 buffalo.

Elizabeth Byrs is a spokeswoman for the U.N. Organization for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance. She told VOA that anthrax does not
spread from person to person. But she said people can get ill and even die
if they eat the meat of an animal that has been infected with the disease.

"And, it is of concern because many people eat infected meat because they
buy their meat from unlicensed butcheries and these unlicensed butcheries
get their meat from sometimes infected cattle. And there is also a concern
because of food insecurity for the poorest population because the poor
people they eat carcasses of dead animals because they do not have anything
to eat," she said.

Save the Children reported very little anthrax vaccination has taken place
in Zimbabwe during the past five years. It said the strain found in the
Zambezi Valley is particularly virulent. It warned the outbreak could wipe
out at least 60,000 livestock if it is not controlled.

Zimbabwe: Cholera Hits Beitbridge, Exposes Major Health Risks

December 1, 2008

Zimbabwe 2008 © Joanna Stavropoulou / MSF

An MSF aid worker treats a cholera patient in Beitbridge, on the border with South Africa.

“I am feeling a little uncomfortable,” Henry, a middle-aged gentleman, says quietly as he looks up at Clara from where he is lying on the dirty floor. Henry is so dehydrated his cheeks are completely sunken and his eyes stand out from his closely cropped skull. Clara Chamizo, a nurse on her first MSF assignment in Beitbridge, Zimbabwe, sees the extreme absurdity of this statement. She is standing in the middle of dozens of cholera patients lying on the dirt in the backyard of Beitbridge’s main hospital. Cholera has overwhelmed this border town of about 40,000 like contaminated wildfire.

“Normally, cholera starts with a few cases and then we have the peak after a few weeks,” says Luis María Tello, the MSF Emergency Coordinator who arrived a few days after the first cases were reported and is surprised to see such high numbers now. Though research still needs to be done, Luis’s theory right now is that “a lot of people got cholera from the same source at the same time.”

On Friday, November 14, when the Zimbabwean Health Authorities in Beitbridge first reported cholera to MSF, there were five cases. Two days later, there were already more than 500; by the end of the week, there were more than 1,500.

Overwhelmed, Undersupplied Hospital Cannot Fight Cholera Outbreak

Zimbabwe 2008 © Joanna Stavropoulou / MSF

Cholera patients are treated on the ground at the main hospital in Beitbridge, which was overwhelmed with patients.

Patients were first placed inside Beitbridge’s main hospital, most lying on the cement floors, in very poor hygienic conditions. There is a lack of cleaning personnel as well as proper gear, chemicals, and water, not to mention all the hospital toilets have been blocked up for a long time.

On Sunday morning, the hospital had to make the decision to put all the patients out behind the buildings, on the dirt, so that body excretions could be absorbed into the ground. The sight was appalling: patients lying in the dust in the scorching heat; all asking for the life-saving drip (Ringer lactate IV fluid). There wasn’t even any water to give them, since the hospital, as everywhere in town, has its water supply cut on most days.

Clara and Veronica Nicola, the MSF doctor who is also the project coordinator at the Beitbridge project, were the only MSF expatriates in town when the emergency hit. Veronica, an Argentinean pediatrician who has been on several MSF missions, says she never has had to insert so many catheters in one day in her life.

“For me, the hardest thing was to be able to concentrate on one person,” said Veronica. “There was a man lying next to one of the trolleys under the sun. By the time I got to him, he was in shock. We tried to get a vein, like, ten times, but then he started gasping and he died right there in front of our eyes.” She pauses for a minute and then adds, “If I had seen him half an hour before, we might have been able to do something about it, but there were so many people lying there, people calling you. But still,” she adds thoughtfully, “we could have done something.” In her calm manner she summarizes, “It was very bad.”

In one week, 54 people died.

At the beginning of the crisis, the Beitbridge hospital did not have any IV fluid or oral rehydration salts (ORS) tablets in stock. MSF shipped over 800 liters of the Ringer’s fluid the first day of the intervention and since then there has been a continuous supply. Shipments of medical and logistical supplies arrived over ten days. A team of 16 expatriates, comprised of doctors, nurses, logisticians, and administrators were sent to Beitbridge. And more than 100 additional health workers, cleaners, and day workers have been hired locally.

In three days, a cholera treatment center (CTC) with 130 cholera beds—those with a hole in the middle under which a bucket is placed so that the diarrhea is released directly in the container—was set up.

Once the cholera bacteria enters the body, it releases a toxin which causes part of the intestines to suck all the water from the body. The intestines, unable to handle so much water, rejects it. The only thing that can be done is to give the body enough fluids to survive until the bacteria’s own life cycle expires, usually in about five days. If a person does not receive enough fluids, he or she can die within hours of contagion.

The only real way to prevent cholera is to have good hygiene and clean water. From the second day of the outbreak, an MSF car with two officers from the Zimbabwean Environmental Health Office (HEO) was dedicated to going around town, giving out information to the public on how to avoid getting cholera.

Town’s Problems Are Long-Term

Zimbabwe 2008 © Joanna Stavropoulou / MSF

The poor water and sanitation conditions in Beitbridge make it easier for the cholera bacteria to spread.

The town of Beitbridge is a shifting tide of migrants, truckers, sex workers, unaccompanied children, and desperate people trying to find a better life – mostly by attempting to cross the border into South Africa. With the current economic crises in Zimbabwe, basic services are lacking and especially so in a town with such uncontrolled growth. There is trash everywhere, and open sewage runs through most of Beitbridge’s streets. Almost everyday there are cuts in the water and power supplies.

As the MSF car moved slowly through the neighborhoods and the Zimbabwean EHOs tried to give their speeches through a loudspeaker, angry crowds would gather to shout, “How do you expect us to control cholera when there is no water!” and “Look at this sewage running here right next to us,” “Why don’t you clean up the garbage in the streets?”

On the main highway, which transverses Beitbridge, there is an area where all the truckers stop on their way to cross over the border. Sometimes it can take days to clear the paperwork to cross, so they camp here, together with passengers or relatives. When the MSF car stopped there, the truckers gathered around and were just as angry as local residents. They showed some cesspools where they come to wash their hands and pointed out a dusty field next to them, covered in human excrement. “Where are we supposed to go?” pleaded one man.

These problems are long-term. The water station doesn’t have the parts to properly repair its pumps. Even if it did, it depends on electricity to be able to pump water from the water tower to the city. Electricity depends on a coal mine that hasn’t been paid in over a year and can no longer supply coal. Then, there is no fuel to run the garbage trucks and there is no money to pay salaries for people to collect the garbage. There are no equipment or supplies to fix the sewage system, and no money to pay personnel to do it. MSF is working on meeting the emergency needs in the short-term, but real solutions are needed to prevent future outbreaks.

Zim soldiers confined to barracks

ZIMBABWE’S feared military police yesterday patrolled the streets of Harare after all soldiers had been secretly ordered to remain in their barracks.

Soldiers went on the rampage in the city centre on Monday.

Mugabe shaken by rioting soldiers

http://www.iol.co.za

    December 03 2008 at 06:26AM

By Stanley Gama & Siyabonga Mkhwanazi

Zimbabwe's capital Harare was calm but tense on Tuesday a day after
hundreds of soldiers ran amok, rampaging through the streets and looting
from shops in an unprecedented show of anger which has left President Robert
Mugabe's government shaken.

While the government announced that the situation was under control,
heavily armed military police and riot police could be seen throughout the
city while convoys of armoured vehicles and police trucks patrolled the
streets the whole day.

Witnesses told The Mercury that military police were busy in the city
centre ordering every uniformed officer to return to barracks as they feared
a repeat of Monday's violent protests.

The soldiers ran riot, accusing the country's leaders of making them
suffer while they enriched themselves.

A combination of other factors is said to have triggered the sudden
unrest by the usually loyal soldiers, including their failure to access cash
from banks, their salaries being worthless and the general hardships they
are facing.

It now turns out that the protests were organised to be held at the
same time in all the major cities but most were foiled even before they
started. Both the army and the police were said to have made arrests
although they are still being kept a secret.

Alarmed by the rampage and looting in which shops lost goods worth
millions of dollars, the government on Tuesday issued a stern warning to the
soldiers while at the same time confirming that they had looted in the city.

The minister of defence, Sidney Sekeramayi, also claimed that the
situation was under control.

"During the last five days, Harare experienced disturbances
perpetrated by unruly elements from the Defence Forces.

"As a result, properties were damaged, innocent people were injured,
money and property was stolen," he told a press conference.

"These actions are unacceptable, deplorable, reprehensible and
criminal. The ministry of defence expresses sincere regret that this has
happened and would like to assure Harare residents and the nation that the
situation is under control."

Sekeramayi also warned the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions against
going ahead with their planned nationwide strike scheduled for Wednesday.

"It is regrettable that these incidents happened at a time when there
is also a call for a nationwide stay-away and demonstrations by the unions
and some other anti-government civil organisations. The coincidence of the
incidents and the call for nationwide stay-away demonstrations raises a lot
of questions.

"The security forces shall take all necessary measures to ensure that
peace and tranquillity prevail and that peace-loving citizens are allowed to
carry on with their normal activities without fear," said the defence
minister.

Top police sources said there was panic within the government as a
joint union and soldiers' protest might be difficult to control.

With the capital Harare without water for a second day running on
Tuesday, staff at the city's main hospital stayed away from work.

The World Health Organisation said the cholera outbreak could get
worse unless people were treated quickly.

The WHO said 483 people were now known to have died from the
water-borne disease.

Meanwhile, Congress of the People national spokesman Phillip Dexter
has said Robert Mugabe should step down or "be forcibly removed".

This article was originally published on page 2 of The Mercury on
December 03, 2008

MDC accuses Zanu-PF of double-standards

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=8164

December 2, 2008

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - The MDC has accused Zanu-PF of double standards after President
Robert Mugabe's party rejected a ruling by a SADC tribunal in favour of
white commercial farmers whose properties were compulsorily acquired by the
government.

The MDC made the statement a few weeks after a SADC Summit ruled that the
party should co-manage with Zanu-PF the Ministry of Home Affairs, which has
been at the centre of a tug-of-war between the two parties.

Responding to the SADC ruling in the farmers' case, Didymus Mutasa, the
outgoing Minister of State for National Security, Lands, Land Reform and
Resettlement, described the tribunal as daydreaming. He insisted more farms
would be acquired under government's land reform programme.

Mutasa said: "They (the tribunal) are day-dreaming because we are not going
to reverse the land reform exercise.

"There is nothing special about the 75 farmers and we will take more farms.
It's not discrimination against farmers, but correcting land imbalances."

The MDC said Zanu-PF could not expect the MDC to be bound by the SADC summit
ruling, which did not constitute a court, when Mugabe's party could not
respect the ruling of a SADC tribunal.

"The MDC is concerned with Zanu-PF's inconsistency after the party dismissed
as daydreaming the ruling by the SADC tribunal in favour of 78 former
commercial farmers whose properties were compulsorily acquired during the
chaotic land reform programme.

"After Zanu-PF berated the MDC for disagreeing with the SADC Heads of State
that the Ministry of Home Affairs cannot be shared, it is only logical that
the regime should itself abide by the ruling of the SADC tribunal."

The MDC said the November 9 SADC summit in Sandton, whose resolutions the
MDC national council disagreed with, did not sit as a constitutional court
and aggrieved parties had a right to disagree with its resolutions

"But Zanu-PF will be setting a bad precedent in the region if it chooses to
ignore the rulings of the courts. The MDC believes that the course of
justice should not be sacrificed on the altar of political
self-aggrandizement.

"It is important to note that Zanu-PF has shown consistency in its brazen
disregard of the rule of the law. But it would be going overboard for any
credible government to describe a ruling by a regional court as daydreaming.

"Zanu-PF is, therefore, in blatant contempt of court and it is especially
ironic, coming as it does after the same party has been calling on the MDC
to abide by a resolution, not a court ruling, of SADC."

The MDC and Zanu-PF signed a power-sharing agreement on September 15 but the
deal has stalled over the sharing of key ministries, including Home Affairs.
The matter was taken before the SADC summit which decided the ministry of
Home Affairs should be co-managed by both parties, a suggestion which was
rejected by the MDC.

"Zanu-PF cannot have its cake and eat it." said the MDC. "Zanu-PF cannot be
allowed to continue to ignore court orders with impunity.

The party said only last month, the State ignored a High Court order that 15
MDC activists abducted in pre-dawn raids in their homes in Mashonaland West
province be released or brought to court. To date, the whereabouts of those
activists remain unknown.

Since 2000, there has been a systematic contempt of court rulings and the
rule of law by Zanu-PF, said the MDC.

"The MDC believes in the rule of law," the party said. "Zanu-PF believes in
the rule of force and terror. We believe in the protection of citizens by
the law, Zanu-PF believes in the tormenting, abductions, murder and rape and
torture of citizens but most of all, Zanu-PF should live by what it
preaches.

"It must walk the talk, not to talk African while acting unAfrican."

On Friday, the SADC tribunal ruled, in a landmark judgement, that Zimbabwe's
planned seizure of dozens of white-owned farms violated international law
and must be halted immediately.

The ruling came amid growing impatience in South Africa and elsewhere in the
region with Zimbabwe's deepening political and economic crisis.

"The applicants have been discriminated against on the grounds of race," the
tribunal said in ruling in favour of more than 75 white Zimbabwean farmers
who challenged the legality of a controversial land redistribution programme
begun in 2000.

"The (Zimbabwe) government is directed to take all necessary measures
through its agents to protect the possession, occupation and ownership of
the land by the applicants."

The tribunal also ordered that a handful of farmers whose land had already
been confiscated should be compensated by June 30, 2009.

Basildon Peta: It should be the tipping point for the tyrant - but this is Zimbabwe

http://www.independent.co.uk

Wednesday, 3 December 2008

Until it happened, the sight of Robert Mugabe's loyal soldiers rampaging
against his regime was unthinkable. So surely their unprecedented actions
ought to be the tipping point for the 84-year-old tyrant. But in the weird
world that cynics call Mugabeland, things are never straight forward.
Despite the widespread disenchantment in the lower ranks, Mr Mugabe still
commands the support of a higher clique. And its strength is never to be
underestimated. The loyal ones who have a stake in Mugabe's continued stay
in power, regardless of the suffering he creates, will maintain their
unimpeded access to whatever privileges - and weapons - remain. They will be
his guard dogs.

The junior - and unarmed - soldiers are unlikely to get support from a
battered civilian population. With cholera rife and not enough food, the
people have little energy. And what they do have is spent on daily survival.

Talks to form a unity government remain stalled. Morgan Tsvangirai remains
adamant that he won't join a unity government until he is given control of
the police. The President is unlikely to concede, fearing that relaxing his
grip would be tantamount to cutting his own throat. The actions of the angry
soldiers will only harden that stance. It was the military police, after
all, that moved in and crushed the military protests.

So a unity government remains elusive. Perhaps the only real hope is the
call by Botswana for regional bodies to oust Mugabe by closing their
borders. But again, that will never happen.

World watches as Zim implodes

http://www.thetimes.co.za

S'Thembiso Msomi: Politics in Command
Published:Dec 03, 2008

Like it or not, Mugabe and Tsvangirai need each other

SOLDIERS went on the rampage last week in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare,
looting shops and assaulting illegal foreign currency traders.

The soldiers clashed with the police as a protest over unpaid salaries
turned ugly.

The capital has been without running water for more than 48 hours, officials
having cut supply because of the cholera outbreak that has already claimed
473 lives across the country.

According to the World Health Organisation, more than 11000 cholera cases
have been recorded since August.

Zimbabwe is now on the brink of a precipice.

But the most frightening thing about this is that the world seems unwilling
or powerless to do anything about it.

Passing the buck has been perfected into a fine art by world leaders when it
comes to our northern neighbour .

The United Nations has long left the matter in the hands of the African
Union, which has, in turn, left the Southern African Development Community
to deal with the almost decade-long crisis.

I am all for African solutions to African problems, but frankly, our
continental leaders have long run out of ideas on the matter.

Their only hope seemed to have been that former president Thabo Mbeki, whom
they appointed as a facilitator in the talks between Zimbabwe's warring
parties, would simply wave his supposed magic wand and somehow convince
Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai to get along.

After all, they must have thought, Mbeki had done something similar during
the Democratic Republic of Congo talks and in various other conflicts around
the continent.

Well, the miracle has not happened - mainly because Mbeki's efforts depend
mostly on the sincerity of Mugabe's Zanu-PF and Tsvangirai's MDC about
finding a lasting solution.

And that is what is missing.

Mugabe clearly entered the latest round of talks about Zimbabwe's political
future with the intention of extending his stay in power, despite having
lost the presidential election.

Throughout the negotiations, his party has conducted itself as if it was
doing Tsvangirai a favour, as if March 29 had not happened.

Tsvangirai has not been much better. Having agreed to the Mbeki- mediated
talks after SADC and the AU convinced him to do so, Tsvangirai has been a
reluctant participant throughout.

His approach to the talks suggests that he believes his party to have more
political options than it actually has.

One day he is calling for Mbeki's removal from the talks, the next he's
asking Mbeki for help.

If the MDC leader did not believe that Mbeki would be a suitable
facilitator, he should have objected from the very beginning.

By agreeing to having him act as facilitator, he legitimised the process and
disarmed those who were arguing that the then South African president would
favour Mugabe.

Tsvangirai's latest campaign to have either the UN or the AU take over the
talks is a waste of time.

Like he did after the March 29 polls, Tsvangirai is now lobbying the world
for support.

During his visit to Senegal on Monday, he told president Abdoulaye Wade that
the SADC mediation had failed and that other international bodies now needed
to intervene.

But the truth of the matter is that no one will raise a finger.

Tsvangirai should have learned by now that the Western countries who have
been vociferous in championing his cause always fail him where it matters
the most: taking meaningful action.

It would also be helpful for the MDC leader to realise that although he won
most votes during the March 29 polls, he did not garner enough for him to
become the country's president.

In other words, Tsvangirai needs Mugabe in much the same way that the
Zanu-PF leader needs him to survive.

The sooner the two of them recognise this fact, the better it will be for
Zimbabwe and her people.

Otherwise, the soldiers' rampage through Harare could soon develop into
something more ominous.

Time travelling in Harare