http://news.yahoo.com
Fri Dec 5, 7:21 am ET
HARARE (AFP)
- Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe brandished the threat of
fresh
elections in a bid to force through a stalled power-sharing deal as
the
United States called for him to quit.
As a cholera epidemic in the
crisis-wracked country worsened, a defiant
Mugabe lashed the opposition
Movement for Democratic for refusing to join a
national unity government in
which he would remain as president.
Neighbouring South Africa meanwhile
said it was time for an end to
"political point-scoring" while US Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice said
the negotiations being conducted by Mugabe
with the MDC were a "sham".
"It is well past time for Robert Mugabe to
leave," said Rice during a brief
visit to Copenhagen. "I think that is now
obvious."
In an address on Thursday night, Mugabe showed he was in no
mood to bow to
MDC demands to hand over control of the key interior
ministry, saying he
would call early elections if the two sides could not
work together.
"We agreed to give them (the MDC) 13 ministries while we
share the ministry
of home affairs, but if the arrangement fails to work in
the next
one-and-a-half to two years, then we would go for elections,"
Mugabe was
quoted as saying by The Herald, a government
newspaper.
Zimbabwe has been in political limbo since elections in March
when the
opposition wrested control of parliament from Mugabe's party and
MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai pushed Mugabe into second place in a
presidential poll.
But Tsvangirai pulled out of a run-off poll in June
after dozens of his
supporters were killed in attacks blamed on Mugabe
supporters.
The two rivals signed an agreement in September to share
power, but it has
yet to be implemented after fierce disagreements over who
should control key
ministries.
Tsvangirai says he wants to join a
unity government but Mugabe must give up
the interior ministry after keeping
hold of the defence ministry.
In comments made to his ZANU-PF party's
politburo and reported by The
Herald, Mugabe accused the MDC of trying to
destroy the power-sharing
agreement.
"The MDC should say no if they
do not want to be part of the inclusive
government," said Mugabe, 84, who
has ruled the former British colony since
independence in 1980.
While
Tsvangirai and Mugabe at loggerheads, the country has been steadily
collapsing amid an inflation rate last put at 231 million
percent.
With the government now unable to afford the chemicals needed to
ensure a
clean water supply, a cholera epidemic has swept across the country
and even
crossed the border into South Africa.
In its latest bulletin
on Friday, the UN's Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs said
the outbreak had now claimed 575 lives with a
total of 12,700
cases.
The capital Harare is the worst-hit district with 179 deaths and
6,448 cases
as of December 4, it said in a statement.
South Africa,
whose former president Thabo Mbeki has been trying to mediate
between
ZANU-PF and the MDC, said it was sending a high-level delegation to
Zimbabwe
to assess how it can provide assistance.
Government spokesman Themba
Maseko said the crisis had reached such levels
that "the time for political
point scoring is over."
"I would be extremely surprised if the outbreak
of cholera, the death of
innocent Zimbabweans as a result of a failure of
politicans to reach an
agreement does not spur them to more urgent
action."
South Africa has expressed confidence a draft amendment to the
constitution
paving the way toward a new government will be signed in a
matter of days.
"Chances are the principals will sign this amendment as
soon as possible and
that parliament will be convened as soon as possible
... and that the way
will be clear for a representative governmentt to be
established as soon as
possible," Maseko told reporters in Cape
Town.
Despite being harshly critical of Mugabe's government, the former
colonial
power Britain has announced a 10-million-pound
(14.7-million-dollar,
11.5-million-euro) emergency aid package.
The
United States also said it was providing 600,000 dollars to help fight
the
cholera outbreak while the International Committee of the Red Cross said
over 13 tonnes of medical supplies has arrived in Harare.
http://www.chicagotribune.com
By ANNE GEARAN
| AP Military Writer
9:05 AM CST, December 5, 2008
COPENHAGEN, Denmark
(AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday
that it is "well past
time" for Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe to leave
office as evidenced by
the nation's calamitous cholera epidemic and health
care crisis.
Rice
said the country experienced "a sham election," followed by a sham
sharing
of power. Speaking in the Danish capital Friday, she said the
current
outbreak of cholera in the country should be a sign to the
international
community that it is time to stand up to Mugabe.
"If this is not evidence
to the international community to stand up for what
is right, I don't know
what would be. And frankly the nations of the region
have to do it," she
said. The nations in southern Africa have the most to
lose and need to take
the lead, she said.
Zimbabwe declared a national emergency over a cholera
epidemic and the
collapse of its health care system, and state media
reported Thursday the
government is seeking more international help to pay
for food and drugs to
combat the crisis.
"It's well past time
for Robert Mugabe to leave, that's now obvious," she
said. "There has been a
sham election, there was a sham power-sharing. We
are now seeing the
humanitarian toll."
Rice said "we are seeing not only the political and
economic toll that is
being taken on the people of Zimbabwe but the toll in
the humanitarian
dimension as the cholera epidemic has broken out. It is
time for the
international nations to push Mr. Mugabe out."
She said
the United States "will always do anything and everything it can to
help
innocent people who are suffering. We are not going to deny assistance
to
people who are in need because of Mugabe."
The U.S. Agency for
International Development has said it would provide an
additional $600,000
to help combat the cholera outbreak. This assistance is
in addition to the
$4 million water, sanitation, and hygiene emergency
program USAID is already
implementing in Zimbabwe.
The failure of the southern African nation's
health care system is one of
the most devastating effects of the country's
overall economic collapse.
Facing the highest inflation in the world,
Zimbabweans are struggling just
to eat and find clean drinking water. The
United Nations says the number of
suspected cholera cases in Zimbabwe since
August has climbed above 12,600,
with 570 deaths, because of a lack of water
treatment and broken sewage
pipes. Besides shortages of food and other
basics, even cash is scarce.
Cholera is an infectious intestinal disease
that is contracted by consuming
contaminated food or water. Its symptoms
include severe diarrhea.
Rice's comments on Zimbabwe came during an
appearance with Denmark's Prime
Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Rice is
making a tour of various cities
overseas as her tour in the job of secretary
of state comes to a close.
Rice expressed "deep regret" for the deaths of
two Danish soldiers who were
killed in Afghanistan on Thursday, adding that
nothing of value is won
without sacrifice. "Afghanistan must never be
allowed again to be a safe
haven for terrorists," Rice said. She said a
review being done by the Bush
administration and its NATO allies of the
mission in Afghanistan is nearly
complete.
"It is under way. It is,
very frankly, almost completed," she said. "It is
being reviewed by the
principals of the National Security Council and it is
going to be discussed
with our friends. And at that point I expect that some
elements of it will
be made public in some way."
Some have called for more troops in
Afghanistan, a sentiment backed Friday
by Danish leader Fogh
Rasmussen.
"We have to make sure that the mission will be a success," he
said. We must
prevail and we need more troops."
___
Associated
Press writer Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen contributed to this
report.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com
Africa News
Dec 5,
2008, 12:22 GMT
Amsterdam/Copenhagen - The international
community should be prepared to
intervene military in Zimbabwe and indict
Robert Mugabe if he refuses to
meet the world's demands and step down, South
African Bishop Desmond Tutu
told Dutch media.
Speaking in the late
night Dutch current affairs programme NOVA on Thursday,
the bishop, aged 77,
said the Zimbabwean president must be forced out of
power as soon as
possible.
'The point is that we should stop the suffering of so many
people,' said the
1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who was in the Netherlands
to award the 2008
Childrens' World Peace Prize.
The bishop said the
current state of Zimbabwe and the deplorable situation
of its people has
made him change his strategy concerning Mugabe.
Tutu said that previously
'I myself felt that Mugabe should be given a soft
landing. I then said he
should be tempted with a carrot: 'If you step down,
we will not bring you to
(the International Criminal Court in) The Hague.''
The Netherlands-based
International Criminal Court (ICC) is a court of last
resort for serious
crimes of international concern, including genocide,
crimes against humanity
and war crimes.
'Today I think the world must say (to Mugabe): 'Look, you
have been
responsible for gross violations and you are going to face
indictment in The
Hague - unless you step down.'
'He has destroyed a
wonderful country. Zimbabwe has become an empty basket.
The country needs
help,' Tutu added, saying that African countries should
play an important
role in the process of forcing Mugabe out of power.
'The world should
bring him to The Hague and this should also include
African countries as
well as the European Union. If necessary, it should
happen by force, by the
African Union, (the South African Development
Community) SADC, and the
European Union. They have got that capacity.'
Meanwhile, US Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice on Friday called for
President Robert Mugabe of
Zimbabwe to step down, citing the recent cholera
outbreak as an example of
his failed government.
Describing Mugabe's departure was 'long overdue,'
Rice called elections that
had brought Mugabe to power a
'sham.'
After a meeting with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen
in
Copenhagen, Rice urged the international community, especially Zimbabwe's
southern African neighbours, to help break the political impasse over a
power-sharing government between Mugabe's Zanu-PF and the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
http://www.timesonline.co.uk
December
5, 2008
Nico
Hines
David Miliband and Condoleezza Rice called for the end of Robert
Mugabe's
Zimbabwean regime today as they tried to shore up growing support
within
Africa for the removal of the veteran president.
A cholera
epidemic, which has killed at least 570, has highlighted the
deterioration
of Zimbabwe's infrastructure and the inability of the
power-sharing
government to deal with it.
Yesterday, African leaders made the rare
decision to speak out against Mr
Mugabe, one of the continent's liberation
heroes. Archbishop Desmond Tutu
called for military regime change if
necessary while Raila Odinga, the
Kenyan prime minister, demanded that
African governments work together to
topple him.
Mr Miliband, the
Foreign Secretary, was quick to pledge his support to those
voices. He said:
"Zimbabwe's neighbours, regional powers, African leaders
and the parties in
Zimbabwe should know that there is massive international
support for any
collective effort to bring a real change to Zimbabwe: change
that gives the
people of Zimbabwe the government they need, deserve and
voted
for."
Harare has been convulsed by violence this week as frustration
grows at
faltering supplies of water, food and medication. The Zimbabwean
government
has been forced make a rare public admission that it is unable to
cope with
the crisis, yesterday the health minister conceded that foreign
help was
needed to revive the medical system.
Mr Miliband said:
"Around the world people are watching with horror the
worsening situation in
Zimbabwe. World leaders are debating what can be done
to alleviate suffering
in the face of a Government seemingly so determined
to bring misery on its
own people
"The deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe is a further
illustration of the
misrule of Zimbabwe's rogue government. The economy is
in free-fall.
Education and health systems have failed. Public
infrastructure is in
terminal decline and the government is unwilling and
unable to look after
its own people."
Dr Rice, the US Secretary of
State, joined the international condemnation
and urged collective
action.
"It's well past time for Robert Mugabe to leave, that's now
obvious. There
has been a sham election, there was a sham power-sharing. We
are now seeing
the humanitarian toll," she said.
"We are seeing not
only the political and economic toll that is being taken
on the people of
Zimbabwe but the toll in the humanitarian dimension as the
cholera epidemic
has broken out. It is time for the international nations to
push Mr Mugabe
out."
Zimbabwe has declared a state of emergency and appealed for
international
help to combat a cholera outbreak that has infected at least
12,700 people,
according to the United Nations.
The country has an
official inflation rate of 231 million per cent but
inflation is seen much
higher with prices doubling every 24 hours. Basic
foods are often
unobtainable and the currency is worthless.
The cholera cases have been
fuelled by the collapse of the water system,
which has forced residents to
drink from contaminated wells and streams.
South Africa said it would
send a team of senior government officials to
Zimbabwe next week to assess
the food crisis and investigate what aid is
needed as the disease begins to
spread to neighbouring countries.
Mozambique, Zambia and Botswana have
reported cases and thousands of
Zimbabweans are believed to cross the
border, often illegally, into South
Africa each day. A cholera centre has
been set up in the South African
border town of Musina.
Zimbabwe does
not have the funds to pay doctors and nurses or buy medicine
and Oxfam
estimates at least 300,000 people weakened by lack of food are in
danger
from the epidemic.
http://www.eastandard.net
East
African Standard Editorial
Updated 2 hr(s) 20 min(s) ago
Where is the voice of Africa
when Zimbabwe, which President Robert Mugabe
has turned into a pigsty, is
falling and human misery painful and
incomprehensible?
Where is the
conscience of the continent when cholera is sweeping
Zimbabweans to an early
grave, with hundreds presumed dead?
Where else on earth have we seen a
leader subdue his people, subject them to
the life of a leech bled to fatten
a heifer, as the rest of the world just
watches? Zimbabwe is not Somalia or
Afghanistan where other factors are at
play. It is a home to some of the
most peaceful members of the African
household.
We revisit Zimbabwe's
woes not just because of the misery of life in the
southern state but the
picture of primitivity and ignominy she gives Africa
as the sea of
artificial poverty and factory of disease.
Many have warned Zimbabwe is a
time bomb, and when it shall implode the
world will be slandered and shamed.
This week the soldiers left the barracks
to loot shops.
Tension is
high and the rope of patience could snap before the mid-December
return to
the negotiating table by the parties struggling to piece together
a joint
government. Mugabe still holds onto the choicest and most succulent
parts of
the kill he stole in a re-run in which he ran against himself. Here
are the
meltdown figures, which Mugabe readily blames on economic blockade
by the
West, as condensed by Reuters this week:
Inflation reached 231 million
per cent a year in July. Economists think it
is now much higher and say
prices are doubling daily.
Gross Domestic Product has fallen every year
since 2000, down 10.4 per cent
in 2003 alone. Zimbabwe has the world's
fastest shrinking economy for a
country not at war, according to the World
Bank.
Falling life expectancy
An estimated 83 per cent of the
population was living on below $2 a day by
2005. Since then, the situation
has only worsened.
Unemployment is estimated at over 90 per cent. Well
over three million
Zimbabweans are thought to have fled, in search of work
and food.
Average life expectancy fell from 63 years in 1990 to 40.9
years in 2005,
according to UN figures.
The official death toll from
a cholera epidemic since August is at least
565, with more than 12,500
infected.
The shop shelves are empty and the water taps were switched off
in Harare
this week, ostensibly to hold back the spread of cholera.
Hospitals and
schools are in paralysis. Electricity is almost non-existent.
Reuters penned
down its worst fear this week even as Mugabe continued with
his belligerence
and bellicose posture: "But as the weeks and months glide
by there is hardly
any Zimbabwe left to govern or unite."
The shame
with Zimbabwe is that half of Africa has left it to its fate, and
the other
half has chosen the traditional approach - not to 'meddle' in the
affairs of
another state. In between are the middle-grounders who see it as
a regional
matter and so are better handled by the Southern African
Development
Community through its point man, former South African President
Thambo
Mbeki.
The world through the UN has condemned, but concentrated on
humanitarian
effort, even as it becomes clear its military presence gets
inevitable by
the day. The African Union is sitting on its laurels, praying
it is a bad
dream that would go away if we wish it away.
Africa has
let down Zimbabwe and whichever way it goes, our inaction will
haunt us for
many years to come and will be a sad chapter in history.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
05
December 2008
South Africa has called for an end to 'political
squabbling' in Zimbabwe,
and says it will pressure all political parties to
sign the constitutional
amendment. This call has been criticized by
observers as failing to
appreciate the problems facing the country.
Political commentator Bekithemba
Mhlanga told Newsreel that in order for the
right solutions to be prescribed
a correct defining of the problem was
necessary. In this case it is
incorrect to blame the MDC together with ZANU
PF, for the political crisis.
Mhlanga said the MDC won the elections in
March and the problem Zimbabwe
faces is ZANU PF's intransigence in refusing
to accept a democratic result.
He said the MDC as victors were actually
magnanimous in doing a deal with a
party that had no legal standing to be in
government, on the back of a
violent, discredited one man presidential
run-off in June. He called on
South Africa and other like minded people to
focus their pressure on Mugabe
and ZANU PF as the people responsible for
crisis. The MDC have absolutely no
control over what is happening, as is
clear from the fact that 18 activists
have recently been abducted and are
still missing.
Zimbabweans are battling with a cholera and anthrax
outbreak, starvation,
water cuts, power cuts, cash shortages and
unprecedented political
repression which has led to the arresting, beating
up and murder of
opposition activists. All this has resulted from Mugabe
trying to sustain
his illegitimate hold on power. Botswana's Foreign Affairs
Minister, Phandu
Skelemani, made it clear in a BBC interview that privately
African leaders
criticize Mugabe, but always balk at doing so publicly or in
an open meeting
in his presence.
But this week has seen a ratcheting
up of pressure from US Secretary of
State Condoleeza Rice, Kenya's Prime
Minister Raila Odinga, Archbishop
Desmond Tutu and others who want Mugabe to
be pushed out. This is in stark
contrast to South Africa, who still believe
a power sharing deal will work
and seem to suggest that the signing of
constitutional amendment 19 will
solve everything. The MDC have repeatedly
stated that the allocation of
cabinet portfolios, appointment of
ambassadors, permanent secretaries,
provincial governors and the role of the
newly formed National Security
Council all have to be resolved.
Meanwhile
civil society groups have demanded that SADC and the African
Union, who are
guarantors of the power sharing deal, ensure the immediate
cessation of the
new wave of arrests, abductions and assaults on citizens
and political
activists. In a joint letter addressed to South African
President Kgalema
Motlanthe as SADC Chairperson and Tanzanian President
Jakaya Kikwete as the
head of the African Union, the groups said the
crackdown made a mockery of
the deal signed in September.
http://www.iol.co.za
December 05 2008 at 02:45PM
Harare -
Zimbabwe's government on Friday slammed US Secretary of State
Condoleezza
Rice's call for President Robert Mugabe to step down, saying it
was not for
Washington to "dictate" to the African nation.
"Zimbabwe is a sovereign
state and cannot be dictated to by some secretary
of state of another
country no matter how big," said Information Minister
Sikhanyiso
Ndlovu.
"Zimbabweans are the ones who can tell Mugabe to leave office
through a
constitutional means," he said.
Rice made her comments
Friday during a brief visit to Copenhagen.
"It is well past time for
Robert Mugabe to leave," she said. "I think that
is now obvious.
"If
this is not evident for the international community, that it is time to
stand up for what is right, I don't know what would be," she
said.
But Ndlovu said the leadership of a sovereign state
"cannot be determined by
any other country except by the people of that
country."
Zimbabwe has been in political limbo since elections in March
when the
opposition wrested control of parliament from Mugabe's party and
opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai pushed the veteran leader into second
place in a
presidential poll.
Tsvangirai pulled out of a run-off
election in June, however, ensuring
victory for Mugabe, after dozens of
opposition supporters were killed in
attacks blamed on Mugabe
supporters.
A power-sharing deal between the ruling Zanu-PF and
opposition MDC, signed
in Harare on September 15, is yet to be implemented
as political leaders
struggle to reach agreement on the distribution of
ministries. - AFP
http://www.sabcnews.com/
December 05 2008,
6:02:00
Faced with a deepening humanitarian crisis on its
northern border,
South Africa is dispatching top officials to Zimbabwe on a
fact finding
mission. Director-General in the presidency, Rev. Frank
Chikane, and his
team leave for Harare this weekend. The aim is to determine
the kind of
intervention needed to help its neighbour. The SADC secretariat
has also
been invited to join.
"The purpose of the visit is to
assess the situation on the ground, to
determine the level of assistance
required and to consult with
representatives of the various stakeholders in
Zimbabwe on how a
multi-stakeholder distribution and monitoring mechanism
could be set up,"
says government spokesperson, Themba Maseko.
After the mission, the team will make recommendations to the
ministerial
task team set up by President Kgalema Motlanthe next week. The
President and
ministers will then decide on the humanitarian aid that will
be provided by
the South African government to the people of Zimbabwe.
South
Africa is already helping Zimbabweans who have crossed the
border to Musina,
At least R500 000 worth of medical supplies have been made
available through
the World Health Organisation. South African companies
have also pledged
more than R700 000 worth of donations. The SA Military
Health Services will
also deploy its personnel to Musina to relieve pressure
off the public
health services.
Dramatic humanitarian and health crisis
The European Union (EU) is also sending a team of experts to Zimbabwe
this
weekend to assess the what it calls the "dramatic" humanitarian and
health
crisis in that country. The bloc has also stipulated that over R100
million
in Aid be used specifically for health related services. Based on
the team's
assessment, the bloc may make millions of euro's available in
emergency aid.
Meanwhile, funds have been diverted to boost basic health
related
services.
On Monday the bloc's foreign ministers will meet to
review the
targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe. Two months ago calls went
out for them
to be lifted but now its expected that they will be maintained
and more than
likely expanded. United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki
Moon has held
an urgent discussion with Motlanthe as part of UN efforts to
intervene in
the situation in that country. In a telephonic conversation,
Ban Ki Moon
stressed the need for the speedy resolution of the political
impasse and to
halt the spiralling humanitarian crisis.
The UN
says donor countries and aid agencies are showing a lot of
generosity to
Zimbabwe and have made pledges to send more food and medical
supplies to
help the desperate Zimbabweans.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet
Gonda
5 December 2008
The Director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project,
Jestina Mukoko, was kidnapped
from her Norton house on Wednesday morning but
has not been found, despite
human rights lawyers combing various police
stations in and around Harare.
Lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa has been trying
since Thursday to file an urgent High
Court application, to force police
commissioner Augustine Chihuri to release
the prominent rights activist, but
the courts are clearly reluctant to deal
with the matter.
Mtetwa told
SW Radio Africa that one judge after another - all female -
declined to hear
the matter, giving flimsy excuses. "All of them are women
and this is the
week when we are trying to enter 16 days of violence against
women and you
would have thought women judges would want to stand up and be
counted as
being part of this activism but no, no, no they haven't."
She said three
female judges either haven't turned up to court to hear the
case or have
announced that they were on leave and could not hear the case.
The defense
team said they tried to accost one of the judges in the car park
on Friday,
only to be told that the matter would be heard Monday.
This is despite
the fact that there were already some male judges at the
High Court who
could have been assigned to hear the matter urgently, but
that didn't
happen. Mtetwa was told that the male judges were either off
duty or not
based in Harare.
Mtetwa said she is extremely frustrated and this is the
second illegal
abduction case she has had to deal with where the judiciary
played games.
She said the last case was in April when MDC activist Tonderai
Ndira was
abducted and the courts played the same games. Ndira was later
found
murdered.
The outspoken rights lawyer added: "If any proof is
required to demonstrate
that the rule of law has completely, completely
broken down in Zimbabwe -
this is the case."
Another lawyer Otto
Saki went with a team of legal practitioners to police
stations within and
outside Harare such as Nyabhira and as far away as
Chinhoyi on Friday in
search of Mukoko.
He said the feeling now was that she is not being held
in an official police
station. The rights lawyer ruled out criminal
activities saying the
individuals who abducted Mukoko at 5am from her home
produced a firearm and
introduced themselves to Mukoko's gardener and son as
police officers.
Saki said: "If they were criminals I am yet to hear of
criminals who only
take a half dressed woman and leave household goods and
other property."
He said there has also been a pattern in the last few
days of field officers
from the Zimbabwe Peace Project being harassed and
arrested. On Thursday
Pascal Gonzo from the ZPP offices in Nyanga was
briefly arrested and
released after being interrogated about ZPP
operations.
The group has over the years documented human rights
violations perpetrated
in Zimbabwe.
In a related issue, several MDC
activists and a two year old baby are still
missing, a month after they were
kidnapped in the Zvimba area. Two other
activists were abducted last week in
Harare and Norton. They are also still
missing.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
05 December
2008
15 people who took part in Thursday's peaceful demonstration led by
the
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) will spend the weekend behind
bars -
after they were denied court rights on Friday.
The group was
part of an estimated 1000 people that took to the streets in
the central
business district of Harare on Thursday afternoon for a peaceful
demonstration calling for, among other things, the desperate humanitarian
crisis in the country to be immediately addressed.
The NCA has called
on the public to protest weekly until a resolution to the
political crisis
engulfing Zimbabwe is found and implemented. The protests
call for a
transitional authority, not a government, to immediately address
the
humanitarian crisis and as well as facilitate the writing of a
people-driven
democratic constitution.
But the past two mass actions have been marred
by a violent crackdown on the
demonstrators, who have faced arrest and
beatings at the hands of police,
and Thursday's march was no different. Riot
police launched a full scale
attack on the group of protesters, firing tear
gas into the crowd and
beating them with batons. At least 22 people were
seriously injured,
including one man who was savagely beaten in the back of
a pick up truck
used by police to haul many demonstrators away.
The
group's spokesman, Madock Chivasa, told Newsreel on Friday that 15
people
are still being detained at the Harare Central Police Station. He
explained
that the group of detainees have not yet been charged and have
been denied
court rights, with police refusing to escort them to the city's
Magistrates
Court.
"We are very disappointed with the police's brutality and
unprofessionalism," Chivasa said. "The police are punishing our members by
keeping them behind bars over the weekend because they are
NCA."
Chivasa emphasised that the demonstrations will continue "until our
demands
have been heard", and renewed the group's call for the public to
join the
demonstrations.
"We invite all Zimbabweans to join these
protests and continue struggling
for the positive change that will see this
country emerge from its current
disastrous state," Chivasa
said.
Meanwhile at least 40 people remain in police custody after the
Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) held demonstrations across the
country on
Wednesday. The police are holding 32 people in Gweru, seven in
Bulawayo and
unconfirmed numbers in Chinoyi - all without charge. The
workers were
arrested on Wednesday when riot police used force to break up
the peaceful
protest over the massive cash crisis in the
country.
Those arrested in Kariba, Harare and Karoi have all been
released, but those
in Gweru, Bulawayo and Chinoyi are still being detained.
Police are
apparently refusing to release them in a deliberate attempt to
keep them in
custody over the weekend
http://www.iol.co.za
December 05 2008 at 02:48PM
The whereabouts of a Zimbabwean human rights activist allegedly
kidnapped
earlier this week must be made known, the SA Council of Churches
said on
Friday.
Jestina Mukoko was kidnapped, allegedly by a group of men
dressed in
civilian clothes from her home in Norton on the outskirts of
Harare in the
early hours of Wednesday, said SACC general secretary Eddie
Makue in a
statement.
"Her teenaged son watched helplessly as
the men, who reportedly
identified themselves as officers of the Zimbabwe
Republic Police, wrestled
her into an unmarked silver Mazda 323 Familia and
sped off into the night.
"Mukoko has not been seen
since."
Mukoko was a journalist heading the
Zimbabwe Peace Project - a civil
society organisation monitoring human
rights abuses as part of involvement
in local peace building.
She had now been missing for more than 48 hours.
"We are outraged
by her abduction and by the persistently high levels
of political violence
and intimidation in Zimbabwe."
Makue said it was particularly
distressing that the abduction of a
woman, clothed only in a nightdress,
occurred during the 16 days of activism
against violence against
women.
The SACC and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa
said
Zimbabwean authorities, the Southern African Development Community and
the
African Union needed to establish Mukoko's whereabouts and
safety.
If she had been arrested, the state should reveal what
charges she
faced and give her access to lawyers and family.
If
she had been kidnapped, security forces should secure her release
and arrest
those responsible.
"We demand further the immediate and
unconditional release of all
individuals who are being illegally held by the
state authorities in
Zimbabwe and the cessation of purges, violence and
organised torture by the
current establishment and its security agents,"
said Makue. - Sapa
Reuters
Fri 5 Dec 2008,
12:10 GMT
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union plans more sanctions on
Zimbabwe
next week unless there is progress in ending political deadlock
before a
meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers, EU diplomats
said.
The 27-nation bloc has prepared a list of 11 Zimbabwean officials
to be
added next Monday or Tuesday to the list of over 100 officials,
including
President Robert Mugabe, who cannot travel to the EU, two
diplomats said.
One other official would be deleted from that blacklist,
they said.
One diplomat said the plan was for the EU Council to adopt the
additional
sanctions on Monday, but that could be postponed if there was
progress on
the ground by then.
"All the documents are being prepared
... pending a flash of light in
Zimbabwe," a second diplomat said, adding
that those to be added to the
sanctions list were responsible for violence
in the southern African
country.
On-off power-sharing talks between
President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF and
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's
MDC have made little progress since
they reached a deal in September seen as
the best hope of pulling Zimbabwe
back from economic collapse.
A
spreading cholera outbreak has added to Zimbabwe's woes.
Critics blame
the economic crisis on Mugabe's policies, such as seizing
white-owned farms
to give to black Zimbabweans. The 84-year-old leader, in
power since
independence from Britain, blames sanctions from Western
countries.
The diplomats said the final decision would be taken by EU
foreign ministers
on Monday or Tuesday -- and not by EU envoys ahead of the
meeting, as is
often the case -- to allow the bloc to take account of any
progress in
Zimbabwe.
"If we have to put more pressure we will put
more pressure," a third EU
diplomat said.
A draft statement prepared
for Monday's EU foreign ministers' meeting also
says that the EU is deeply
concerned by the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe and
urges full access to
humanitarian aid for all of the country's population.
http://changezimbabwe.com
Written by
Gerald Shire
Friday, 05 December 2008
State
propaganda recently celebrated members of the public being
abducted at
gunpoint and forced to fill gullies left by diamond "miners"
with their bare
hare hands as a form of justice
For all the cases that were
brought to court but never found
justice because the judiciary is complicity
in the Mugabe regime's
dictatorship, Gerald Shire opines most of the judges
and magistrates
involved in burying cases, postponing others forever and
making judgements
to protect the state should also be
sanctioned.
The escalated paranoia in the desperate Zanu PF
circles about
sanctions is indicative that they are increasingly having the
desired
effect.
The EU and the US have mooted that even
further sanctions are in
the pipeline if the Mugabe regime remains
intransigent in the face of
reality.
Zanu PF are still
adamant that they will not change because they
well know what will happen to
them and their plunder when they inevitably
lose their grip on ransacking
opportunities and power.
Whilst there are many accountable
factions responsible for the
demise of Zimbabwe, the Judiciary ranks high in
the order of actively
enabling the ongoing tyranny in
Zimbabwe.
Zanu PF acolytes endlessly recycle the same old
self-generated
myths about the "evil" west and blame them for the endless
spiral towards
their own crafted national implosion. A hallmark of the Zanu
PF culture is
that they care for none but themselves.
Ironically they are shameless and thankless about the billions
of US$ Aid
funds that have been poured into the country. Most know (except
certain
woolly-minded donors) that a Zanu PF clique creams off about 36% of
this
forex (via Gono enablement) to stoke their own survival and
self-aggrandizing looting programs.
Their favorite but
over-used rants include :- "illegal
sanctions"; agrarian reform; sovereign
state; racists; solidarity; total
emancipation and liberation of the nation;
empowerment; the yoke of
colonialism, 'settlerism' and neocolonialism;
regime change; puppets;
agrarian reform; sell-outs; "Zanu PF styled
democracy" and boringly much
much more.
One has to wonder
if the despairing Zanu PF comrades actually
believe their own propagandist
claptrap because anyone with an IQ over 50
points knows that these are
typical Zanu PF lies and futile propaganda.
Of course South
African marxist solidarity comrades like "lame
duck" Thabo Mbeki, the
intellectually under-developed Aziz Goolam Hoosein
Pahad and the incoherent
Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini Zuma subscribe to these
blatant lies because they
are also well-proven to be major abettors of
Mugabism, global retrogression
and tyranny.
The Mugabe chefs and their cohorts know exactly
why they have
been listed on these sanctions schedules compiled by numerous
first world
civilized nations, yet they continue to wail.
They also know that there is nothing illegal about them, as a
now seriously
embarrassed Senator Aguy Georgias recent found out.
In
essence, being a designated person or entity is as a
consequence of the
existence of adequate evidence that justifies the
listing.
Over the years targeted sanctions lists have
been crafted by
various leading cultured nations such as the USA, Australia,
the EU, New
Zealand and more recently Canada.
A
consolidation of these already published enumerations produces
a schedule of
several hundred names and entities.
Of course, there are
thousands more State/Zanu PF enabled
maleficent criminals that will need to
be held accountable for their evil
actions in due time.
To be listed on a sanctions schedule indicates that there are
reasonable
grounds to believe that they are connected with the Zanu PF
Government of
Zimbabwe or persons or entities engaged in activities that
seriously
undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law
in
Zimbabwe.
Being on such a list is analogous to being on an
Interpol or
Americas Most Wanted Criminal list.
It is
like having an international criminal record for a
lifetime. Conduct that
typically qualifies for listing includes Zanu PF
proxies and politicians who
have seen fit to contemptuously sponsor or
ignore selective intimidation and
state-sponsored violence, violation of
human and property rights, flouting
of electoral regulations, justice, law
and order, the principles of good
governance and of genuine democracy, and
resort to naught but endless
vituperative, vitriolic outpourings against
those that do not meekly accept
those politicians' belief in an omnipotent
right to entrench themselves in
near perpetuity, to exercise excessive power
over the peoples that they
dominate, cannot reasonably be contested.
The sanctions take
various forms but often include components
such as investment curtailment,
travel rights restrictions, banning arms
exports, freezing the assets of
many miscreants including top Zimbabwean
officials, banning Zimbabwean
aircraft from flying over or landing in
certain countries, prohibition on
the provision of technical or financial
assistance or services relating to
arms and related material, including the
provision, transfer or
communication of technical data, to Zimbabwe or any
person in
Zimbabwe.
Another form or dimension of sanctions is sensible
and entirely
voluntary.
Who would want to invest in a
despotic state criminalized
country where nothing is
secure.
Of course there are those that actually do invest who
are either
plain stupid, or are involved with back-hands and grand
corruption.
Monitoring of the actions of many judicial
individuals reveals
polarized, incompetent, biased, patronised racist
looters in the so-called
judicial system are major role players in propping
up and benefiting from
the tyrannical regime.
One judge
once proclaimed that it would enforce the respect of
human
rights.
Another judge, after many years, still does not know
the meaning
of "a reasonable period of time".
They all
turn a blind eye to Contempt of Court when their
party-faithful comrades and
militia agents are the offenders.
They have no shame in
accepting externally provided humanitarian
aid funds, converted to bribes to
solidify their ongoing support for the
tyrannical regime.
None of them would ever qualify for employment in a first world
democratic
nation.
It was once properly said that Zanu PF MP's were
Mugabe, wives.
The suggestion now is that the Judiciary have long been his
whores.
After looking at some of their judgement and
activities there is
every reason why the following should be added to the
sanctions list:
1.Andrew
Kumire
2.Andrew Mutema
3.
Antoinette (Antonia) Gwavava
4.Ben
Hlatshwayo
5.Benjamin Paradza
6.Bharat (Barat) Patel
7.Bharat
Tateo
8.Charles Hungwe
9.
Charles Nyatanga
10. Chinembiri Bhunu
11. Elizabeth Gwaunza
12. Farai
Mutamangira
13. Felicia (Felicious)
Chatukuta
14. Florence Ziyambi
15.
Francis Bere
16. George Chiweshe
17. George Smith
18. Gloria
Takundwa
19. Godfrey Guwa Chidyausiku
20. Herbert Malaba
21. Herbert
Mandeya
22. Jeremiah Mutsindikwa
23. Johannes Tomana
24. Joseph
Musakwa
25. Lawrence Kamocha
26.
Lilian Kudya
27. Luke Malaba
28.
Maphios (Misheck) Cheda
29. Mary
Gowora
30. Mishrod Guvamombe
31.
Musaiona Shotgame
32. N. Mutsonziwa
33. Never Katiyo
34. Nicholas Ndou
35. November Muchiya
36. Paddington
Garwe
37. Prince Machaya
38. Rita
Makarau
39. Rosemary Dube
40.
Samuel Kudya
41. Simpson Mutambanengwe
42. Sobusa Gula-Ndebele
43. Steven
Musona
44. Susan Mavangira
45.
Tadius (Tedious / Tedias) (Tedias) Karwi
46. Tapiwa
Godzi
47. Tendayi Uchena
48.
Vernanda Ziyambi
49. William Bhil
50. Yunus Omerjee
"Gerald Shire is the pen name
of a political
researcher/consultant who has previously worked in first
world countries and
is currently based abroad being a refugee and a victim
of Robert Mugabe's
regime of thuggery, evil and
plundering."
Last Updated ( Friday, 05 December 2008
)
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
5 December
2008
The introduction of higher denomination bank notes by the Reserve
Bank this
week has triggered massive price increases, amid reports the new
Z$100
million weekly cash withdrawal limit can only buy one kilogram of
beef.
An irate MDC MP for Glen View, Paul Madzore, said new measures
being
implemented by central bank chief Gideon Gono are just making things
worse
instead of halting the cash crisis.
Gono earlier this week
introduced Z$10 million, $50 million and $100 million
banknotes. But
retailers responded to the introduction of the new notes by
increasing
prices of basic goods and commodities, which shot up by an
average 500
percent.
But all economists will tell you that just printing money does
nothing
except increase inflation. 'Its now become a game where each time
the
central bank introduces new notes, almost all retailers take advantage
of
the situation to exploit consumers through relentless price increases.
This
is a fight Gono has clearly lost,' Madzore said.
The legislator
was speaking to us outside a bank where he had been queuing
since morning.
He said the money that people can withdraw on a single day is
not even
enough to buy a 10kg bag of maize meal.
'Look, this problem can only be
solved by Robert Mugabe stepping down. There
is no other magic formula that
they can use now to remedy the situation.
This situation is now irreversible
it needs a political solution to stop the
rot,' Madzore said.
The
central bank had originally announced that withdrawal limits for
individuals
would be increased to Z$100 million per week, while companies
can withdraw
Z$50 million. Previously individuals were allowed to withdraw
Z$500 000
daily and companies Z$1 million.
But after a meeting between Gono and
leaders of the Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions, it was agreed the new
withdrawal limit will go up to $500
million for individuals on December 12.
There was no relief for companies
though who remain limited to Z$50
Million.
But Madzore doubted that the personal withdrawal increases would
change
anything. He said with the economy in free fall and inflation at
dizzying
levels, the cash withdrawal limits will still spark price
increases.
Announcing the bank changes Gono has said that a week after
the 12th
December, workers could withdraw up to $10 billion per month
against
presentation of a pay-slip. But this pay slip had to be endorsed at
the bank
to prevent abuse of the facility through repeated withdrawals. It
was not
clear what he meant by this.
He also said that early next
year, all workers would be able to fully encash
their salaries, without any
limit, upon presentation of a bona-fide
verifiable
pay-slip, which would
be checked and stamped at the bank.
Many observers feel that Gono's
statements were merely to placate the ZCTU
and stop further protests, but
that nothing will actually change in the
future.
Zimbabwe has to be
the only country in the world where people are starving
to death, with their
money locked up in a bank and not available to them.
http://news.yahoo.com
GENEVA (AFP) - Zimbabwe's cholera
outbreak has killed 575 people with a
total of 12,700 suspected cases in the
poverty-wracked country, according to
latest figures released by the United
Nations on Friday.
The capital Harare was the worst-hit district with 179
deaths and 6,448
suspected cases as of December 4, the UN's Office for the
Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.
"The entire
health system is collapsing, there are no more doctors, no
nurses, no
specialists," said OCHA spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs.
Many health workers
are on strike because they have not been paid or have
simply deserted
hospitals and health centres as the crisis grows, she told
journalists.
"As a result, we do not know the exact scale of this
epidemic because the
figures we have are those collected by the health
centres that are still
functioning, but many are not functioning any more
and thus there are many
cases which are unknown," Byrs said.
The
World Health Organisation said it was the worst outbreak of cholera in
the
country since a 1992 epidemic which killed 3,000 people, and there were
no
signs it was slowing down.
The United Nations Children's Fund meanwhile
called on donors to urgently
provide funds to enable relief operations,
saying that none of the nine
million dollars UNICEF was appealing for in
Zimbabwe had yet been provided.
"The total UN budget for Zimbabwe for
2008 has gone up to 502 million
dollars from 394 million, and it is clear
that the 2009 appeal for 550
million dollars will have to be revised
upwards," said UNICEF spokeswoman
Veronique Taveau.
Aid agencies face
enormous logistical challenges quite apart from the
collapsing health care
system as Zimbabwe's once-wealthy economy plunges
ever further into the
abyss, OCHA's Byrs said.
"We don't have simple things like fuel, plates,
knives, forks," she said.
"Humanitarian workers also need protection
equipment such as overalls,
gloves, masks, and rubber boots," Byrs
added.
Zimbabwe's government pleaded on Thursday for international help
and
declared a national emergency over the cholera epidemic after previously
insisting there was no undue cause for alarm.
In unusually frank
remarks from Zimbabwe's government, the state-run Herald
newspaper said
Thursday the cholera outbreak and the breakdown of the health
system were
national emergencies and appealed for international aid.
"Our central
hospitals are literally not functioning," Health Minister David
Parirenyatwa
said in the paper.
Britain, Zimbabwe's former colonial ruler, announced a
10-million-pound
(14.7-million-dollar, 11.5-million-euro) emergency aid
package to provide
life-saving assistance and respond to the escalation of
cholera.
South Africa also said it would send a team to Zimbabwe to
assess how it can
aid its neighbour, on top of already providing medical
assistance at the
border town of Musina and donating 500,000 rand (48,000 US
dollars) worth of
medical supplies via the World Health Organisation.
05 December 2008
The Combined Harare Residents Association
(CHRA) is dismayed by the failure of the Zimbabwean de facto government and its parastatals`
to account for the funds which were designated for the control of cholera and
provision of clean water to the residents of
The “government” declared Cholera, a national emergency on Wednesday 03 December 2008, a decision which had been long overdue; they did so as a capitulation gesture and to open up for help from donor agencies and the international community. The beleaguered de facto government which also has a recent record of misappropriating funds designated for fighting HIV/AIDS, has soiled hands and must show clean hands before it takes more resources meant to fight Cholera or for any other program. The “government’ has shown its caliber to the whole world and no-one can remain guessing anymore; the Zimbabwean disaster is not a natural one but that of insensitive and irresponsible governance.
Zimbabweans affected and infected with
cholera are direly in need of international help as there is no internal
capacity to deal with the current Cholera scourge which requires a functional
health delivery system, adequate and clean water supply, a generally healthy
environment. On a long term basis, Zimbabweans need a sustainable water and
sewer management framework to avoid a disaster of the current cholera outbreak’s
kind. Be that as it may;
Meanwhile, the cholera scourge is
unrelenting as it continues to claim more lives in
CHRA demands transparent, accountable and
responsible leadership;
“Let’s
Stop Cholera. Stop irresponsible leadership now!”
Combined
Exploration House, Third Floor
Landline: 00263- 4-
705114
Contacts:
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=8378
December 5, 2008
By Munyaradzi
Mutizwa
THE Zambian government on Friday said many Zimbabweans trying to
enter
Zambia through the Victoria Falls border had been turned back after
being
screened for cholera by health authorities.
Immigration
department spokesperson, Mulako Mbangweta confirmed the
development but
could not give figures as the screening was being handled by
a
multi-sectoral cholera task force.
Mbangweta, however, said the health
officials were at the border checking on
people who were entering the
country and only those certified to be
cholera-free were being allowed
entry.
More than 560 people have died of cholera in Zimbabwe and the
government
there has declared the epidemic a national disaster.
Ms
Mbangweta said the screening process had continued to ensure the disease
was
kept out of Zambia.
"Our immigration officers at the border have
confirmed that health officials
have been stationed at there to check on
those entering the country and
depending on what the health authorities say,
some people are being turned
back," she said.
A cholera task force
source at the border said several people had been
denied entry into Zambia.
The source also said the frequency of one crossing
the border had been
reduced to twice a week to avert the spread of the
disease to the border
town of Livingstone, just across the Zambezi from the
Zimbabwean border town
of Victoria Falls.
The source said in its tightened screening measures to
ensure that cholera
did not spread to Zambia, the task force was also
confiscating any
uncertified food and destroying it.
"The cholera
epidemic in Zimbabwe is serious and we are not taking any
chances," he
said.
He said some of the goods confiscated by the team included game
meat and
fruit that Zimbabwean nationals bring for sale in Zambia.
He
said the situation could have been more threatening if the neighbouring
Victoria Falls town had been severely hit by the disease, but it was
concentrated in the capital, Harare, and surrounding areas.
Other
measures intensified to thwart the spread of the disease included
thorough
hand washing by both the travelling public and the officers manning
the
check point.
Many Zimbabweans cross into Zambia to sell wares that
include various
foodstuffs.
Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
5 December 2008
Cape Town - The African
Union should declare publicly that Mugabe's rule is
illegitimate and that he
must step aside, the head of the Anglican Church in
the region has
said.
The AU should work speedily with the United Nations to set up a
transitional
government to take control in Zimbabwe, the primate of the
Anglican Church
of Southern Africa Archbishop Thabo Makgoba
added.
At the same time, the archbishop of Cape Town severely
criticized the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) for its
"disgraceful" silence
over the deepening crisis in Zimbabwe. The SADC, he
said in a statement, has
failed and is morally bankrupt.
"I am deeply
pained by the terrible deterioration, disease and despair we
are seeing in
Zimbabwe," the archbishop said, adding that there is "total
collapse of
governance in Zimbabwe, of which we see new evidence daily."
"But the
silence of SADC leaders in general is disgraceful. Why throughout
this
crisis have we seen no evidence of public leadership from King Mswati
III,
chairperson of SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security
Co-operation?
"He should not only be taking high-profile action on
Zimbabwe, but needs to
show that peace and democracy are possible in his own
country.
"Are SADC's leaders not moved by the terrible human suffering in
Zimbabwe?
Where is their ubuntu? Must people be massacred in Zimbabwe's
streets before
SADC will take firm, decisive and public action? Will they,
even then?
"No, SADC has failed and is morally bankrupt. President Mugabe
has
demonstrated again and again that he will not share power. He is no
longer
fit to rule."
Former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town Desmond
Tutu said Mugabe must resign
or be sent to The Hague for the "gross
violations" he has committed. The
Nobel Prize winner told Dutch television
that Mugabe should be removed by
force if he refuses to go. He had ruined "a
wonderful country", turning a
"bread-basket" into a "basket case".
On
Thursday, Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga said African governments
should oust Zimbabwe's leader. "Power-sharing is dead in Zimbabwe and will
not work with a dictator who does not really believe in
power-sharing."
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said it is
"well past time" for
Mugabe to go, saying a "sham election" has been
followed by a "sham process
of power-sharing talks".
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Friday, 05 December
2008
600 members of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) were
joined
by hundreds of onlookers in a protest that shook the central business
district of Harare this afternoon.
The demonstrators continued
their march despite police attacks which
included the firing of tear gas and
the use of police dogs. After enduring
several minutes of such
intimidation, a violent attack by riot police
disrupted the demonstration
and scattered protestors throughout the city.
In a tense
environment with a visible police presence, NCA members
began the
demonstration at the corner of Nelson Mandela Avenue and Leopold
Takawira
Street. After they rushed onto the street, they raised banners and
placards
demanding a transitional government and a people-driven
constitution. As
the protest moved up Mandela towards Parliament, NCA
members distributed
flyers outlining NCA's three-point plan for achieving
democracy and national
recovery. Hundreds of civilians left the pavements
and bank queues to join
the protest, doubling the size of the crowd.
After crossing Julius
Nyerere, riot police fired tear gas in front of
the march and rushed at the
protestors with attack dogs. The demonstrators,
unable to proceed, reversed
their course and marched back the way they had
come. When they reached
Takawira Street, truckloads of riot police
descended on the protestors,
firing canisters of tear gas and striking
people with batons. Soldiers and
other onlookers cheered the demonstrators
as they dispersed down side
streets.
In the hour that followed, small groups of NCA members
regrouped and
continued to march and chant slogans. These groups were
chased through the
city and attacked by heavily armed riot police, who
continued to fire tear
gas.
NCA staff is still trying to
ascertain the whereabouts of several of
its members. Two men were grabbed
by riot police and are currently
unaccounted for. One of these men was
savagely beaten in the back of a
pickup before being taken away. Several
other NCA members are currently
missing. NCA staff are using the
appropriate channels to account for these
individuals.
The
brutal suppression of today's demonstration reflects a pattern of
excessive
police violence directed at NCA and other organizations engaged in
peaceful
protests. These actions reflect the desperation of the current
regime to
silence dissenting voices and impose their will on the People of
Zimbabwe.
The NCA will not be discouraged by the harassment,
intimidation and
violence meted out on its members and those supporting
democratic reform in
Zimbabwe. The organization will continue its campaign
of peaceful
demonstrations next week. The NCA invites all Zimbabweans to
join these
protests and continue struggling for the positive change that
will see this
country emerge from its current disastrous state.
NCA Information and Publicity Department
USAID Increases
Assistance for Zimbabwe Cholera Outbreak
Washington, DC - The U.S.
Government, through the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID),
is providing an additional $600,000 to
help combat the cholera outbreak in
Zimbabwe. This assistance is in
addition to the $4 million water,
sanitation, and hygiene emergency program
USAID is already implementing in
Zimbabwe.
"Before cholera was widespread, USAID was working alongside the
international community to prepare for the possibility of an outbreak in
Zimbabwe. We began building contingencies into our ongoing emergency
programs, and we are increasing our assistance to help combat the spread of
the disease," said USAID administrator Henrietta H. Fore. "The United
States is committed to helping the people of Zimbabwe."
USAID has also
deployed a team of experts to Zimbabwe to focus on water,
sanitation, and
hygiene and public health interventions. The team,
including an expert from
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
will provide technical
assistance and recommendations for further U.S.
assistance.
This recent
contribution brings the total United States humanitarian
assistance to
Zimbabwe's food and health crisis to more than $220 million
since October
2007. The U.S. is the leading food donor, providing the
majority of all
international food aid distributed in Zimbabwe through
non-governmental
organizations and the World Food Program.
In addition, the U.S. contributed
over $30 million last year for HIV/AIDS
programs, in addition to paying for
33 percent of the Global Fund's
multilateral programs.
For more
information about USAID's emergency humanitarian assistance
programs, please
visit:
www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/disaster_assistance/
The
American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development,
have
provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for nearly 50
years.
# # #
Issued on December 4th by U.S. Agency for International
Development Press
Office, 202-712-4320, Public Information: 202-712-4810,
Website:
http://www.usaid.gov
http://www.sabcnews.com
December 03 2008, 5:13:00
Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade says he plans to speak to all parties
involved in the Zimbabwe crisis to ensure a government of national unity
representative of all parties are formed as soon as possible. This follows a
meeting with MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai where he called on the African
Union (AU) to become involved in the crisis, which has been mediated so far
by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) led by former President
Mbeki.
Zimbabwean Prime Minister in waiting, Tsvangirai,
visited Senegal in a
trip to seek advice and support from Wade and the AU.
This was his second
visit to Senegal in a matter of months. Tsvangirai
insists that SADC has
failed and wants Africa to step in and Senegal seems
keen to assist.
Previous attempts by Wade to intervene were spurned
by Robert Mugabe.
Analysts, however, say AU mediation has also not been
successful. Political
analyst Bheki Moyo says, "It is highly unlikely that
the AU is going to make
any impact. In fact, one could say that they
failed."
"Soldier looting. There is so much chaos. If they were
really serious
about the situation they would have made serious efforts to
stop the crisis
both from political to economical perspective."
The MDC says negotiators from the three feuding parties are due to
meet
again in two weeks to try to break the political impasse.
http://www.sabcnews.com
December 16
2008, 12:39:00
The South African government has given the
assurance that the
humanitarian assistance it plans on giving Zimbabwe will
be to the sole
benefit of ordinary Zimbabweans that have been hard hit by
the recent food
shortages and general economic meltdown.
Government Spokesperson Themba Maseko says they have been in
consultation
with all the political parties in Zimbabwe. He says they have
been given the
assurance that the humanitarian aid will not go into the
pockets of senior
party officials.
A high-level government team will start talks with
all the
stakeholders in Zimbabwe to determine what humanitarian assistance
South
Africa can give that country. Besides a political impasse and
economic
meltdown, Zimbabwe has been hit by a food shortage and cholera
outbreak,
which has claimed at least 600 lives.
The team, led
by Presidential Director-General, Frank Chikane, will
also include
representatives from the Southern African Development Community
Secretariat.
On their return from Zimbabwe, the team will make
recommendations to a
ministerial team that will be convened by President
Kgalema
Motlanthe.
In the meantime, Motlanthe and the ministers of the
presidency,
foreign affairs, finance, agriculture and land affairs will meet
next week
to decide on the extent of the humanitarian aid that will be
provided to
Zimbabwe.
http://news.iafrica.com
Article By:
Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:10
South Africa has
called for an end to political squabbling between
Zimbabwe's feuding
political leaders amid growing international concern
about the devastation
being wrought by a cholera crisis.
The government said the situation
across its border, where massive food
shortages were being compounded by a
cholera outbreak which has killed 565
people, was at crisis levels and "the
time for political point scoring is
over."
Government spokesperson
Themba Maseko said South Africa was sending a team
to assess how it could
provide aid to Zimbabwe, which made a rare appeal for
international aid
after declaring the cholera outbreak a national emergency.
He said
Zimbabweans were "dying in the streets" as the country's leaders
failed to
reach agreement on the formation of a unity government almost nine
months
after an election left the country in political limbo.
"The time for
action is now and we believe the Zimbabwean government is on
board and wants
help from the international community," he said, expressing
hope the fresh
crisis would help solve the political deadlock.
"I would be extremely
surprised if the outbreak of cholera, the death of
innocent Zimbabweans as a
result of a failure of politicians to reach an
agreement does not spur them
to more urgent action."
Mugabe threatens early elections
Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe remained intransigient Friday, threatening
to call
early elections if the power-sharing agreement failed to work within
the
next two years as the international community stepped up its criticism
of
him.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on the veteran leader
to step
down, saying power-sharing talks with the opposition were a "sham
process."
"It is well past time for Robert Mugabe to leave," said Rice
during a brief
visit to Copenhagen. "I think that is now obvious.
"If
this is not evident for the international community, that it is time to
stand up for what is right, I don't know what would be."
Foreign
ministers from the European Union also plan to beef up sanctions
against
Zimbabwe, adding 10 names to its list of 168 members of the Zimbabwe
regime
who are banned from entering EU nations and whose European assets
have been
frozen.
A draft text seen by AFP said the EU would stress "its deep
concern at the
deteriorating humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe,
particularly as a result
of the cholera epidemic and the continuing violence
against supporters of
the (opposition) Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC)."
As the United States and foremr colonial power Britain prepared
hefty aid
packages to rescue Zimbabwe from a food and humanitarian crisis,
South
Africa said it was key that aid be distributed in a non-partisan
manner.
"Our interest as a government is to make sure any aid we give on
behalf of
the people of South Africa is given not to party officials, not to
political
parties, but to ordinary Zimbabweans," said Maseko.
Maseko
urged parties to "put all political differences aside" as Rice
expressed
hope the cholera outbreak would lead neighbouring countries to
pressure
Zimbabwe into a speedy political solution.
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila
Odinga also told the BBC on Thursday that it was
time for Mugabe to
go.
"It's time for African governments to take decisive action to push
him out
of power," Odinga said.
"Power-sharing is dead in Zimbabwe
and will not work with a dictator who
does not really believe in
power-sharing," he said.
AFP
The MDC calls
upon region continent and internationSADC and the African
Union and inter at
large to impress upon Zanu PF to reveal the whereabouts
of 16 detained MDC
activists including a two-year old baby as well as that
of human rights
defender, Jestina Mukoko.
It is now 36 days since the predawn arrests of
15 MDC supporters in Banket,
but Zanu PF, through the Zimbabwe Republic
Police has been defying court
orders to release the victims. Early
yesterday, Zanu PF went a step further
when suspected in an unmarked vehicle
abducted Mukoko, the director of the
Zimbabwe Peace Project, from her Norton
home.
Mukoko and ZPP are well known for their brave stance of
highlighting the
brutality and deaths that were brought upon the MDC
supporters by Zanu PF
militia and state security agents in the run up to the
June 27 presidential
run-off.
Over 200MDC supporters were murdered by
the regime while thousands had to
seek medical attention following brutal
attacks by Zanu PF thugs or had
their homes and property
destroyed.
We call upon the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
chairman,
President Kgalema Motlanthe and the African Union (AU) chairman,
President
Jakaya Kikwete, to urgently intervene and make sure that the MDC
activists
and Mukoko are released before any further harm is done to
them.
We fear for the lives of these people. Zanu PF's brutal acts are a
violation
of the Global Political Agreement which guarantees individual
freedoms and
human rights. The AU and SADC, as the guarantors of the
transitional
arrangement, should at least speak out against these sad acts
of brutality
and thuggery.
We respect SADC and the AU as they have
always stood by the side of the
people of Zimbabwe. We are certain that they
will not let us down in these
dark times when Zanu PF has chosen to
brutalise and illegally detain
innocent people of Zimbabwe.
In the
case of Zimbabwe, the caretaker government led by president-elect Mr.
Robert
Mugabe has clearly abrogated the duty and functions to protect the
citizens.
In spite Mumbai in India it is the terrorists that are the
centre of
abductions and threats of citizens but in Zimbabwe it is the Zanu
PF
caretaker government that is involved terrorising the
citizens.
Under the circumstances where the security of the people is
threatened the
necessary statutes and mechanisms should be triggered to
safeguard the
people's rights.
MDC Information and Publicity
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au
Catherine Philp | December 06,
2008
ANALYSIS: Zimbabwe's plea for international help to halt a cholera
epidemic
is the most serious official admission yet of how grave the crisis
has
become.
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa has called on foreign
donors to send
millions in emergency aid funds, with the unprecedented
instruction to send
the money through UN channels, denying government
officials their chance to
profit.
Most of Zimbabwe's foreign aid is
channelled through the state-controlled
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which the
Governor has systematically looted on
behalf of President Robert Mugabe and
his cronies.
The concession from Mr Parirenyatwa, a senior member of the
Mugabe inner
circle, is a sign the Government is "desperate and broke", one
international
donor official said.
But those who hope the cry for
international help will open a chink in the
regime's political armour are
being optimistic, the official added.
Mugabe has long maintained the
fiction his country's dire situation is the
fault of foreign sanctions -- so
successfully, in fact, that many abroad are
unaware of the extent of
international aid operations already there. Mugabe
has been more than happy
to take Western aid dollars for years, not least
because of the millions he
and his cronies have made looting aid funds from
the Reserve Bank. But the
economic and political environment that has seen
Zimbabwe's infrastructure
crumble has compromised the impact of foreign aid
on the lives of the
people.
The greatest assault on the work of aid organisations was the
months-long
ban on field work during this year's election crisis, which
halted programs
across the country and contributed to the breakdown in
health systems that
made the cholera outbreak so hard to handle.
When
the Government took over food distribution, there was widespread
testimony
of supplies being denied to opposition supporters and channeled to
the army
and ruling ZANU-PF party militias instead. The danger is that
Mugabe finds a
way to politicise the cholera crisis too, by taking credit
for solving it,
particularly with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai out of
the
country.
Mr Tsvangirai is seen by many as the key to reversing Zimbabwe's
decline,
with foreign governments lining up to plough millions of dollars in
investment and development into a Tsvangirai government.
Mugabe's
concern is not so much for his own people as it is for surrounding
African
countries who, tired of the messy overspill of Zimbabwe's multiple
crises,
may be moved to stronger action to force him to go. Proving he can
work with
foreign donors to contain the cholera crisis, which even now is
spilling
over the border into South Africa, will ease pressure on his
neighbours to
act.
What Mugabe cannot now reverse, diplomats and analysts agree, is
Zimbabwe's
catastrophic economic slide. It is that crisis that is leading to
the first
and most dangerous signs of disorder, with soldiers rioting in
Harare
streets after they were unable to draw their wages because banks had
run out
of money.
Harare residents were shocked by the sight, not
merely because of the rarity
of public disorder, but because the rioters
were soldiers, part of the state
machinery Mugabe has long relied on to put
down dissent.
Half of Zimbabwe's army is on semi-permanent leave, with
the Government
unable even to feed them, and finding the funds to pay the
remainder is
growing ever harder. Relying on their loyalty is no longer a
given. "People
are beginning to talk about the c-word again," the official
said, referring
to a military coup.
The Times
GABORONE, 5 December 2008 (IRIN) - Botswana will
close its embassy in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, within the next few weeks a
senior diplomat told IRIN.
Photo:
Farewell
Harare
It was unclear whether Botswana's decision to
close its diplomatic mission in Harare would also lead to the severing of
diplomatic ties with President Robert Mugabe's government, but the decision
comes a few weeks after the country's foreign minister called on the region to
isolate Zimbabwe.
Botswana's foreign minister, Phandu Skelemani, said in
a recent radio interview that if neighbouring countries closed their borders
with the landlocked country, President Robert Mugabe's 28-year rule would end in
a week.
President Ian Khama of Botswana has been one of Mugabe's
staunchest critics, even though both countries are among the 14 members of the
Southern African Development Community (SADC).
"If no petrol went in for
a week, he can't last," Skelemani said. He expressed little confidence in the
SADC mediation process being led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki,
and said the SADC should "own up" and admit it had failed.
Zimbabwe is
suffering repeated body blows: a cholera epidemic has claimed more than 550
lives since August, nearly half the population requires emergency food aid
according to the UN, and the country has an annual inflation rate of 231 million
percent. The situation is expected to get worse before it gets better.
Calls for military force
Former Archbishop and
Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu has called for the use of military force if
Mugabe does not step down. "If they say to him, 'step down' and he refuses, they
must go in ... militarily," Tutu said in an interview with a Dutch television
programme on 4 December.
"I think now the world must say, 'Look, you
have been responsible; with your cohorts, you have been responsible for gross
violations, and you are going to face indictment in The Hague [seat of the
International Criminal Court in Holland] unless you step down'," Tutu said.
Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the leader of a South African opposition party,
the Inkatha Freedom Party, and a former Deputy President of South Africa, said
in his weekly newsletter that Zimbabwe's collapse had "miserably exposed"
the SADC's ineffectiveness.
"There is either a solution or there is not!
There is, in my book, no such thing as a "made in Africa" solution. Zimbabwe
either holds 'free and fair elections' like those recently held in America, or
it does not," he said.
"Zimbabwe either adheres to
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (to which it is a signatory) or it
does not. It happens to do neither and no amount of pontificating about 'African
solutions' can disguise that fact," Buthelezi wrote.
There is a humanitarian
disaster of Biblical proportions emerging with the cholera outbreak
"Her [Zimbabwe's]
people are starving, the hyperinflation is running sky high, there is a
humanitarian disaster of Biblical proportions emerging with the cholera
outbreak, and the country is, for all intents and purposes, not being governed."
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga called for Mugabe's removal during an
interview with the BBC on 4 December. "Power-sharing is dead in Zimbabwe and
will not work with a dictator who does not really believe in power-sharing. It's
time for African governments to take decisive action to push him out of power."
A power-sharing deal between Zimbabwe's political parties was signed in
September after Mugabe lost the parliamentary election but narrowly won the
presidency in an unopposed run-off. The negotiations over the division of
portfolios have deadlocked.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/pages/buckle011208.htm
Dear Family and Friends,
A few days ago I had no choice
but to travel past the farm my husband and I
legally bought in 1990 but
which was grabbed from us by a mob of government
supporters 10 years later
in 2000. In the eight years since then I've never
had any official written
communication from the government of Zimbabwe about
the farm - not even a
letter informing me of the state acquisition of the
property. I've never
been offered or received any compensation for the
assets seized. I am not
talking about the land itself but about the
improvements on it including
workers' houses, farm buildings, a dairy, spray
race, tobacco barns, trading
store, dams, borehole, water pumps and pipes,
an electricity transformer and
scores of kilometres of fencing. Nor has the
government of Zimbabwe given
any compensation for our home on the farm or
for all the fixtures and
fittings that were in place in our fully functional
house. Nothing has been
given to any of the men and women who worked for us
on the farm either - not
land, money, homes, jobs or pensions.
Believe it or not, this lack of
official paperwork concerning the seizure of
the farm and then the non
payment of any compensation at all, is something
that the vast majority of
Zimbabweans are not aware of. Mostly we just don't
talk about the farms
anymore, its become a topic of shame, embarrassment,
disgust,
contempt.
What I saw this week as I drove past the farm to which I hold
the Title
Deeds, filled me with deep sadness at the widespread destruction.
All the
fencing has gone - many kilometres of it. Thousands of trees planted
for
poles and timber have been chopped down. All the contours which
protected
the land from erosion have gone. The roofing on the dairy has
gone. The
workers houses - made of brick and cement - have all been smashed
down into
piles of rubble. The tin roof sheets have gone. The metal door and
window
frames have gone. The borehole pump, motor and pipes have gone. The
roofing
on the tobacco barns has gone. The farm store which used to sell
groceries,
fresh produce and milk has been turned into a beer hall. The
state of the
farm dams and the main farmhouse is unknown, this is a no-go
area. The local
people call it The Jambanja Place and they speak scornfully
of the people on
the farm as the Jambanja People. (The word Jambanja has
many connotations
but mostly it means a violent struggle)
It's been
eight years since Zanu PF put us into a perpetual state of
jambanja and now
Zimbabwe is completely stricken. A lethal cocktail of
hunger, disease, super
hyper inflation, infrastructural collapse, brain
drain and emigration is
decimating our population and crippling our country.
This week a ruling
was made by SADC in the test case of 78 white Zimbabwean
farmers trying to
keep their land. Judge Louis Mondlane, President of the
SADC Tribunal said
that the Zimbabwe government "is in breach of the SADC
treaty with regards
to discrimination." We wait to see if these are just
words and if SADC hold
any sway when it comes to dealing with one of their
own breaking 15 nation
treaties. While we wait ever more Zimbabweans have no
choice this Christmas
but to flood into neighbouring countries in search of
food, medicines, and
work.
I will be taking a break for a while but wish all Zimbabweans,
wherever you
are in the world, a blessed, peaceful, healthy Christmas. 2009
will be
better! Until next year, thanks for reading,
love cathy.
http://www.cathybuckle.com
5th December 2008
Dear Friends.
Come January
2009 there will be an African American in the White House.
Africa's response
to this momentous development has been more than a little
ambivalent. In
Zimbabwe, for example, apart from the standard letter of
congratulations
from one so-called Head of State to the new President elect
I have not read
or heard anything that suggests that the political elite are
aware of the
possible implications for Africa of Obama's election. Perhaps
Zimbabwe's
'Big Men' are too worried about what it will mean for their own
narrow
self-interests as Zimbabwe slides even further into complete
meltdown.
Developments this last week have provoked inches of international
media
coverage about how the end must be near for Mugabe with rioting
soldiers on
the streets for three days and running battles between police
and soldiers.
Echoing this view, a British friend of mine commented
excitedly that the end
could not be far off for the dictator. When a
dictator cannot pay his army
this must mean that he is in great danger of
being overthrown, she argued.
But in Zimbabwe things are never what they
seem. I tried to explain that it
was the failure of Gideon Gono's pernicious
limit on bank withdrawals that
was causing the problem; the money is there
but the soldiers can't get at
it. Their anger boiled over into looting and
violence but despite all the
journalists' assumptions of Mugabe's imminent
collapse, I for one, am not
convinced that the soldiers' action was really a
manifestation of
anti-Mugabe sentiments. Nothing is ever quite what it seems
to be in
Zimbabwe; to the outsider the latest developments may look like the
death
throes of the regime but we have been here so many times before and
always
the crisis has been defused either with state violence or pay
increases. And
the demonstrators, tired and beaten go home to lick their
wounds and -
sometimes - live to fight another day. The difference this time
is I believe
that Zimbabwe's financial collapse has never been so sharp and
so
country-wide in its effects. The sight of Gideon Gono's new notes
emphasises
that very point for me. A friend just arrived from home showed me
the new
100 Million Dollar note and it was like looking at the make-believe
money
that my children used to play with. Zimbabwe has become totally unreal
and
what is clear is that Mugabe, Gono and all the other Big Men learn
nothing
from the past. They go on making the same mistakes over and over
again.
Knocking ten noughts of the currency is Gideon Gono's answer to
inflation,
yet despite repeating the 'noughts' exercise twice now, inflation
soars
every time he does it. Prices go up through the roof and into the
stratosphere. The reappointed Gono and his master Mugabe learn nothing from
their own mistakes.
That brings me back to president-elect Obama. His
cabinet appointments have
been made to widespread approval and what it shows
Africa and the world is
that he is not going to surround himself with 'Yes'
men and women. He wants
a cabinet of people who will challenge him, men and
women of different
opinions in the belief that stronger and more effective
government will
result if a leader is surrounded by people who will
challenge him. He is
learning from past presidents of the United States and
in particular from
President Abraham Lincoln whose biography Obama has been
studying. What
Limcoln did was to include all shades of opinion in his
government, even
potential rivals. So Obama has chosen to surround himself
by highly
intelligent people who will challenge his decisions. The test now
will be to
see if Obama has the vital qualities of leadership that enable
him to know
when, after listening to all the different opinions, he will be
able to say,
'This is how it will be done.' With such a man in the White
House - and an
African American too - there is hope that the world will be a
better place.
Africa and the world may well have much to learn from his
example. Dictators
like Mugabe should be afraid, very afraid, that the end
may indeed be very
near for men like them.
Yours in the
(continuing)struggle PH.
http://www.businessday.co.za/
05
December 2008
Zimbabwe. I have nothing else to add.
Books have been written, poems
rendered and songs sung about
Zimbabwe.
The dream is gone. Children have stopped playing. Hospitals are
graveyards.
Water no longer gives life, but takes it. Tears have dried up.
It is easier
to die than to cry.
What will I say when future
generations ask what I did to stop the rot?
Where was I, as people
starved?
The pain of helplessness is paralysing. I am shamed to call
myself an
African. Africa is supposed to be defined by uBuntu, not human
destruction
and greed. If Robert Mugabe is the son of Africa, what is Nelson
Mandela?
What kind of leader will subject his people to such atrocities? Is
he fit to
be called a human being?
What has happened to the spirit of
humanity - the ability to show kindness
to others?
It is a twisted
irony that Mugabe goes to church every Sunday as his victims
continue to die
.
Hope failed them. All that is left are the ruins of despair. Zimbabwe,
Africa's shame!
Dr Lucas Ntyintyane
Cresta
http://www.philly.com/
Posted on
Fri, Dec. 5, 2008
The Associated Press
Political scientists define a
mature democracy as a country that has had two
peaceful transfers of power
from one democratically elected head of state to
another. By that
definition, only a handful of Africa's 54 nations can be
classified as
full-fledged democracies.
Examples of countries that satisfy the litmus
test; those that almost do;
and those that have a long way to
go:
BENIN Yes. In 1991, Benin's election brings Nicephore Soglo to power,
marking first successful transfer of power in Africa from dictatorship to
democracy. He hands over power to Mathieu Kerekou who wins elections in 1996
and 2001, who hands over power in 2006 to democratically elected Yayi
Boni.
BOTSWANA Yes. One of the most stable African nations. First general
elections held in 1966. Since then, the country has had three peaceful
transfers of power and numerous elections.
KENYA No. High hopes
accompanied this East African country's first
democratic change of
presidents in 2002, but its next election, held last
December, led to claims
of rigging and triggered fierce ethnic clashes.
MAURITANIA No. Foreign
investment poured into Mauritania after last year's
first democratic
election in over 20 years. But 1 1/2 years later, military
generals declared
a coup d'etat, placing President Sidi Ould Cheikh
Abdallahi under house
arrest.
ZIMBABWE No. One of the continent's abject failures. President
Robert Mugabe
has ruled since 1987. He is accused of rigging the 2002
election.
Intimidation of voters led opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to
drop out
of the presidential contest. He is believed to have won the
presidential
polls, perhaps even a clear majority.