Gordon Brown declares Zimbabwe in state of international emergency

http://www.timesonline.co.uk

December 6, 2008

Simon Alford
Gordon Brown has described the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, which has
claimed almost 600 lives as an "international emergency".

The Prime Minister said conditions in the African state had deteriorated to
such an extent that the international community must stand together and tell
Robert Mugabe "enough is enough".

The disease epidemic has so far killed 575 people and left another 13,000
sick since an outbreak in August. In a statement Mr Brown said there was a
duty to give the Zimbabwean people a "better future".

The disease could spread to other parts of Africa unless urgent action is
taken, he warned.

"This is now an international rather than a national emergency," said the
Prime Minister. "International because disease crosses borders.
International because the systems of government in Zimbabwe are now broken.
There is no state capable or willing of protecting its people.

"International because - not least in the week of the 60th anniversary of
the universal declaration of human rights - we must stand together to defend
human rights and democracy, to say firmly to Mugabe that enough is enough."

Harare, the capital, has 179 deaths and has a further 6,448 suspected cases
according to the United Nations 's Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs.

"The entire health system is collapsing, there are no more doctors, no
nurses, no specialists," said spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs.

Britain has pledged an emergency aid package to help tackle the spread of
the disease, a bacterium infection which leads to dramatic dehydration and
can prove fatal within 24 hours if not treated.

Mr Brown said a "command and control structure" needed to be put in place
quickly to allow international aid to reach people.

Further deaths could be prevented by the distribution of rehydration kits
and cholera testing packs.

The Prime Minister said he hoped the United Nations Security Council would
meet urgently to consider the situation in Zimbabwe, adding: "The people of
Zimbabwe voted for a better future. It is our duty to support that
aspiration."

'The world must tell Mugabe that enough is enough,' says angry Brown as Zimbabwe woes continue

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:11 PM on 06th December 2008

Gordon Brown has called on the international community to do more to help the people of Zimbabwe

Gordon Brown has today called on the international community to tell Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe that 'enough is enough'.

With the beleaguered African state now in the grip of a cholera epidemic, the Prime Minister said the situation had deteriorated to the point where it demanded an international response.

'This is now an international rather than a national emergency. International because disease crosses borders,' he said in a statement.

'International because the systems of government in Zimbabwe are now broken. There is no state capable or willing of protecting its people.

'International because - not least in the week of the 60th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights - we must stand together to defend human rights and democracy, to say firmly to Mugabe that enough is enough.'

Mr Brown added that the immediate priority was to prevent more deaths through the distribution of rehydration and testing packs.

He called for the establishment of a 'command and control structure' in the capital, Harare, to co-ordinate the work of donors and Non-Government Organisations.

He said this would ensure that international aid reached the people who needed it most.

Mr Brown has been in close contact with African leaders to press for stronger action 'to give the Zimbabwean people the government they deserve'.

Zimbabwean children play alongside a stream in Harare as the country is gripped by a cholera epidemic

He said that he now hoped that the United Nations Security Council would meet urgently to consider the situation in Zimbabwe.

'The people of Zimbabwe voted for a better future. It is our duty to support that aspiration,' he said.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said that the UN should now declare that the use of military force by the international community was justified in order to protect the people of Zimbabwe.

'The world has sat idly by whilst Robert Mugabe has brutalised his own people for too long,' Mr Clegg said.

'Economic recession in the West has led the world to avert its gaze from the suffering in Zimbabwe.'

Mr Clegg said it was vital that the UN declared that Mugabe will be indicted in the International Criminal Court.

He also called on China to stop blocking international action through the UN Security Council and for South Africa to abandon the 'softly, softly' diplomacy of outgoing President Thabo Mbeki and take a tougher line with its neighbour.

Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far.

       

Personally I couldn't care less about Zimbabwe as long as we don't start taking "refugees" from there because the way this Country is going under ZanuLabour we'll be in as much of a mess ourselves before too long!

Click to rate     Rating   11

- Andrew, Portsmouth, UK, 7/12/2008 1:05

       

It was enough 10 years ago. This Government was toothless then just as it's toothless now.

Click to rate     Rating   8

- John, Newbury, UK, 7/12/2008 1:12

       

A miss managed country by an unelected leader, no wonder Brown can identify with Mugabe.

Click to rate     Rating   14

- Stephen, Vancouver Canada, 7/12/2008 1:28

       

I'm sure the irony here hardly need be pointed out.

It's about time the beleaguered British people told Brown and his cabal of traitors in Westminster that 'enough is enough'.

Click to rate     Rating   11

- Stephen, Cannock, England, 7/12/2008 1:35

       

I always thought Mugabe was Browns role model. Mugabe has totally wrecked his country followed by a close second place by Brown.

Click to rate     Rating   7

- jim, cumberland, 7/12/2008 1:51

       

The UK has poured far too much 'aid' into Zimbabwe, and other African nations, so it should be entirely up to the UN to sort out Mugabe.
Overseas aid to these countries has done nothing to improve things. Any TV picture of townships reveals rubbish strewn around and people collecting water from, probably, polluted streams. We have been assisting in the provision of clean water for at least 50 years, so where are the lasting improvements?
Brown, and Blair before him, seem to have an affinity with Africa. Pity he doesn't go there to stay.

Click to rate     Rating   9

- Peter, Sutton Bridge England, 7/12/2008 1:51

       

Brown has got a cheek. He is doing exactly the same to the UK. Dictatorial, denying the population a democratic vote. Lets face it he was only ever elected to represent a constituency in Scotland NOT to be the Prime Mininster, and he is leading the UK into financial ruin. Can we get the UN to intervene and remove BOTH of them.

Click to rate     Rating   11

- Richard, Torrevieja, Spain, 7/12/2008 1:53

       

Personally I belive that if Gormless Gordy were to keep his trap shut about Zimbabwe, then that might hasten some change there. But every time a British minister speaks, it hardens Mugabe's malignant resolve. We in the UK should recognise that Mugabe and his cronies see us as part of the colonialist problem, not of the modern solution, just like many more of our former colonies did before.

So, Gordy, forego the soundbite and TV opportunity. Forget the UK vote-catching "appeals". Do the decent thing and bite your tongue off!

Click to rate     Rating   8

- Tom, Bedfordshire, 7/12/2008 1:56

       

If I don't listen to Brown, then I am sure Mugabe won't. At least if he is concerned with Africa, he will not be thinking up for mad ideas for Britain.

Click to rate     Rating   7

- N. Marsden, Calais France, 7/12/2008 1:56

       

'The world must tell Mugabe that enough is enough,' says angry Brown as Zimbabwe woes continue.

And the same applies here too, we have had enough, Brown will make this country as bad if he is allowed to carry on feathering his own nest at the expense of the British public!

Click to rate     Rating   10

- louise, derbyshire, 7/12/2008 2:15

       

Why is Brown saying Mugabe must go? After all it was only with British support that he was put in his position in the first place. Not all of us have forgotten this fact.

Click to rate     Rating   9

- Val, London, UK, 7/12/2008 2:32

       

I understand where Brown is coming from, but we have thrown billions into Africa with little to no success, why should now be any different?

Click to rate     Rating   5

- Nikki, Stratford-upon-Avon, 7/12/2008 2:42

       

Can't they tell Gordon Brown that 'enough is enough' at the same time?

Click to rate     Rating   8

- John, UK, 7/12/2008 2:42

       

When Southern Rhodesia was sold out by Harold Wilsons government, it was the bread basket of Africa with health care & food for all and was the envy of Africa. Despite being a form of apartheid it was a very benign version under Ian Smith without any of the excess's of white S. Africa. Today under a black dictator we've seen health care vanish, food supplies almost non existent, first an AIDs epidemic and now cholera. If you ask any of the indigenous black population whether they'd like the clock turned back to pre-Mugabe, 99% would say yes. Shelter, food, heating & health care rate much higher than one man one vote when you're starving or dying of AIDs or Cholera. Unfortunately, if you're one of the liberal left like anti-apartheid MP Peter Hain he'd rather a vote cast on a death bed than living to a ripe old age dis-enfranchised. People like this never get it and will always put their principles above life but its never their own lives. We should go in and take over Zimbabwe.

Click to rate     Rating   7

- Mike, Alicante, Spain, 7/12/2008 2:46

       

Brown, it's none of your business! Concentrate on the UK. How Much more money is going to be wasted on Africa? They have had unbelievable amounts of Aid given to them and still the situation is the same!!!!!

Click to rate     Rating   11

- John, London, 7/12/2008 2:47

       

It's high time we stopped getting involved in Africa and start helping our own people for a change! Zimbabwe wanted independence and got it - what is South Africa doing about the situation?? nothing - what are the African Nations doing about it?> nothing - then why should we!
Charity starts at home - how many more millions do we have to waste on these people. Top priority should be birth control and self help, not handouts.
I agree medicine and vaccinations should be available but then again who is paying?? Even when the do gooders brigade send money you can bet it never goes to the people who need it!
It will be interesting to see what happens, especially when money is very limited - countries will be wanting a return on their investment - nothing is free!

Click to rate     Rating   8

- steve, UK, 7/12/2008 2:49

       

It's a pity that Brown doesn't show the same commitment to solving all the social and economic problems in this country instead of constantly trying to play on the world stage. Admit it Brown, you are not a world leader and never will be.

Click to rate     Rating   10

- jcb, Darwen, 7/12/2008 2:49

       

Why has Brown not said a single word about Zimbabwe in the last 11 years?

Click to rate     Rating   7

- William J, Plymouth UK, 7/12/2008 2:52

       

What a pathetic response from Brown to Mugabe and his regime. Where is Brown and other countries coming from, outer space. Everyman and his dog knows nothing can be done until a multi national force go in take back the country for the people and bring Mugabe to trial for crimes against humanity.

Click to rate     Rating   6

- Martin, Manchester, 7/12/2008 2:56

       

Gorden Brown is obviously right - on this issue he couldn't possibly be wrong. However, it is a grave situation when the Prime Minister (along with Secretary of State Rice and Archbishop Tutu and others)wait until now to make a decisive comment on the tragedy in Zimbabwe. Is it because he wishes to be associated with an international relief package to improve his international image.
The economic and social crisis is man made - Mugabe made. Throughout his reign of terror he has brought the country and its people to their knees and caused economic stagnation, gross poverty,terror,sickness and death. For a quarter of a century the world watched and complained a bit when it could have done more to remove this despicable man and his regime, help restore some democracy and guide the economy. After a quarter of a century it has been decided that something must be done which is what the brave and dedicated aid workers have always wanted. Good,but the celebrities should go home and shut up.

Click to rate     Rating   2

- Rodney Barker, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, 7/12/2008 3:02

       

The world must tell BROWN enough is enough! Force an election so we can get rid of our own (unelected) dictator.

Click to rate     Rating   13

- Ben Wilson, Birmingham, UK, 7/12/2008 3:08

       

Diktator Brown needs to put his own house in order first, before he goes poking his nose into other countries. Children such as Baby P are still being tortured and murdered in the UK and it doesnt seem to be getting any better.

Click to rate     Rating   11

- val clifford, west midlands, 7/12/2008 3:11

       

Concentrate on your own back yard, stupid. Zimbabwe is NOT our problem.

Click to rate     Rating   12

- Rollo Tomasi, Bangkok, Thailand., 7/12/2008 3:12

       

Actions speak louder than words, you idiot. You call for the world to react but you do what you always do. I am almost ashamed to be Scottish.

Click to rate     Rating   8

- Alastair, Cricklade, UK, 7/12/2008 3:20

       

The Economic Crisis has prevented the west from taking action? what a load of bull. Spineless African leaders are to blame for the situation because they won,t speak out agains,t the thug Mugabi and Western leaders are too hung up on their colonial past, so dare not do anything. The past is past but look at the state of Africa now.

Click to rate     Rating   5

- T.B, nottingham,England, 7/12/2008 3:35

       

I think this real situation is a serious reason for military intervention, more serious than the reasons leading to the invasion of Iraque. People are dying because a primitive dictator refuses to step down. He knows that and that is why he signed a power sharing agreement with the oposition, but saving his skin, by preventing being prosecuted for murder and genocide of his own people.

Click to rate     Rating   1

Zimbabwe sacks bankers as crisis deepens

http://africa.reuters.com

Sat 6 Dec 2008, 11:44 GMT

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

HARARE, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's central bank sacked executives at four
banks accused of illegal foreign currency trading, state media reported on
Saturday, as international criticism of President Robert Mugabe's government
increased.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown added his voice to condemnation of
Mugabe, saying the world should tell the 84-year-old ruler "enough is
enough". He urged coordinated international action to help Zimbabwe overcome
food shortages and a cholera epidemic.

The southern African nation, isolated by Western countries under Mugabe's
authoritarian rule, is on the verge of collapse. Food stocks are running
out, official inflation is at 231 million percent and a cholera outbreak has
killed 575 people and sickened almost 13,000.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has been unable to print money fast enough to
keep up with soaring prices, which double every 24 hours, and has tried to
stamp out a thriving black market for U.S. dollars and other foreign
currencies.

This week it dismissed the chief executives and senior managers at four
banks, state media reported, saying they diverted large sums of Zimbabwean
dollars to the black market before the notes were introduced.

"This is criminal because the money was not yet legal tender when it was
released," central bank Governor Gideon Gono was quoted as saying in the
Herald newspaper, adding the executives faced prosecution.

Refering to past media reports that suggested the central bank itself had in
the past purchased foreign currency from the black market, Gono said: "We
are sick and tired of being labelled crooks."

CLASHES

Zimbabweans have grown increasingly angry over the government's failure to
tackle the crisis. Many are forced to line up outside banks for hours to try
to get scarce banknotes, often coming away with barely enough to buy a loaf
of bread.

Tensions flared in the capital Harare last week when mobs and police clashed
with groups of unarmed soldiers who had seized cash from foreign currency
traders and shops. Trade union activists also took to the streets to protest
against the crisis.

The central bank said it would soon introduce a Z$200 million note (worth
$20 on the black market) after launching Z$10 million, Z$50 million and
Z$100 million notes on Thursday.

The economic meltdown has led to the crumbling of basic services, including
health care and water treatment facilities.

Cholera has spread to neighbouring South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and
Botswana and forced Mugabe's government to declare a national emergency and
appeal for international assistance.

Western nations as well as Zimbabwe's neighbours in Africa have pledged
humanitarian assistance, while sharpening their criticism of Mugabe's
government and his failure to establish a unity government with the
opposition MDC.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday it was time for
Mugabe to step down, echoing a call on Thursday by Nobel laureate and South
African Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

In a further sign of growing international pressure, the European Union is
considering applying more sanctions against Zimbabwe next week unless
progress is made in ending a political deadlock over how to implement the
Sept. 15 power-sharing deal.

Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai have deadlocked over the control of
ministries in the unity government. Negotiators from Mugabe's ZANU-PF party
and the MDC are scheduled to meet again with South African mediators in two
weeks. (Additional reporting by Kate Kelland in London; Editing by Paul
Simao and Janet Lawrence)

Huge cholera rescue mission for Zimbabwe

http://www.sabcnews.com

December 06 2008, 7:30:00

A huge rescue mission from South Africa into cholera-stricken Zimbabwe
is underway this weekend. A convoy carrying vital water supplies and
equipment has crossed the border. The latest death toll estimates put the
number above 570 with 13 000 more people infected.

For months hundreds of people have been streaming into South Africa,
fleeing the country's meltdown under Robert Mugabe. But for the past few
weeks it's been a killer virus they are fleeing from.

There was a time when Zimbabwe could have easily prevented an outbreak
of cholera or treated the victims, but not now, as there's no provision of
basic services. South Africa is helping by supplying water to Zimbabweans.
Nine trucks have already crossed the border and managed to deliver just
enough to fill 9 000 cold drink bottles.

The number of cholera patients in Musina has increased dramatically
overnight, with hospitals admitting 67 new patients. And health authorities
reckon the situation will get worse unless the problem is treated at the
source.

Limpopo Health MEC Phuthi Seloba says there's a need for
self-assessment but that will be a massive job.

The sewerage treatment plant, vital to the water supply around Beit
Bridge has been crippled for four months. A South African team is working on
getting it running again. And the local dam, the key source of water for the
region is yielding less than half the water tens of thousands of people rely
on. The dam is said to be drying up because water from the river that feeds
it has been cut off because it is contaminated.

Military doctors fight cholera crisis in Zimbabwe

http://www.ctv.ca/

Updated Sat. Dec. 6 2008 12:00 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

South Africa will deploy more military doctors to its northern border to
help stem the tide of Zimbabwe's growing cholera epidemic, a spokesperson
for South Africa's government has announced.

South Africa, the region's major power, will also send clean water and other
aid to Zimbabwe, said Themba Maseko, in a sign that leaders fear the
outbreak will spread beyond Zimbabwe's borders.

Cholera, a preventable intestinal disease, has killed nearly 600 people and
infected almost 13,000 since August, according to United Nations estimates.

However, aid agencies believe many more infections and deaths have gone
unrecorded, as patients may have fallen ill and died at home.

Cholera is contracted by consuming contaminated food or water, and symptoms
include severe diarrhea.

The outbreak is largely blamed on Zimbabwe's crumbling health-care and
water-treatment systems, which have languished under the autocratic rule of
President Robert Mugabe.

On Thursday, Zimbabwe declared a national health emergency, according to an
announcement issued by state media.

In addition to extra doctors and aid, South Africa also plans to send a
fact-finding team to Zimbabwe on Monday. The team will issue a report to
President Kgalema Motlanthe and his cabinet ministers before more assistance
plans are announced, Maseko said.

"We will continue to work with the World Health Organization's
representatives and other donor organizations to provide assistance to
medical facilities in Zimbabwe in order to manage and reduce the influx of
Zimbabweans into South Africa and other neighbouring countries," Maseko
said.

Health officials in Mozambique and Botswana, which border Zimbabwe, are
assessing the risk of the epidemic spreading into those countries.

The crisis has led the international community to call for Mugabe to step
down.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said Friday it was "well past time"
for Mugabe to relinquish power.

The outbreak is an opportunity for the international community to put
pressure on Mugable, Rice said, an effort that should be led by neighbouring
southern African countries.

In a statement issued Friday, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said
the outbreak was "a further illustration of the misrule of Zimbabwe's rogue
government."

On Thursday, Novel peace laureate Desmond Tutu called for African countries
to use military force if necessary to oust Mugabe from office should he
refuse to resign.

In an interview with the Dutch current affairs program Nova, Tutu, the
retired Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, said Mugabe "is destroying a
wonderful country...a country that used to be a bread basket...has now
become a basket case itself needing help."

Former South African president Thabo Mbeki has been trying to improve
Zimbabwe's fortunes through attempts to broker a power-sharing agreement
between Mugabe and his main rival, Norman Tsvangirai.

So far, those negotiations have proved fruitless, while Mugabe blames
western sanctions for his country's deterioration.

With files from The Associated Press

Motlanthe to send food to Zim people

http://www.iol.co.za

    Christelle Terreblanche
     December 06 2008 at 11:40AM

President Kgalema Motlanthe wants any food aid that will be provided
by South Africa to Zimbabwe to go directly to the Zimbabwean populace and
not to be channelled through the Harare government.

Motlanthe - according to a senior government source - has put his foot
down and insisted that not a single cent should go to the Robert Mugabe
government or the coffers of the ruling Zanu-PF.

Former president Thabo Mbeki had promised Mugabe's administration
R300-million in agricultural aid but Motlanthe froze this pending a new
power-sharing government.

Now, as the humanitarian crisis deepens in Zimbabwe, Motlanthe has
sent former director-general Frank Chikane, now a part-time consultant in
the presidency, to assess how South Africa could provide food aid - and not
cash - to Zimbabweans.

Chikane - who was part of Mbeki's facilitation team that promised
R300-million to Zimbabwe - will lead a delegation to Harare on Monday to
assess the food shortage problem.

Government spokesperson Themba Maseko on Friday emphasised that food
should be distributed in a "non-partisan manner".

"Our interest as a government is to make sure that whatever aid we
provide as the South African government on behalf of the people of South
Africa is given to ordinary Zimbabweans, not to political parties," he said
yesterday.

The R300-million aid was supposed to go through the controversial
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which is in dire need of foreign currency to pay
civil servants.

But this now appears highly unlikely to happen.

Motlanthe's tough stance comes as Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has
called on African nations to use military force against Mugabe if he refuses
to relinquish power.

Tutu said in a television interview in the Netherlands that the AU and
southern African nations have the military capacity to oust Mugabe. Another
option would be to threaten the aged Zimbabwean leader with indictment at
the International Criminal Court.

Maseko on Friday said South Africa found Zimbabwe's international
appeal for assistance on Thursday significant as opposed to its earlier
reluctance.

"We think that is a major breakthrough and all indications are that
the Zimbabwean government is on board as is the international community, and
that officials would welcome any form of aid," he said.

There is widespread starvation and a spiralling cholera outbreak in
Zimbabwe where cash-strapped soldiers recently went on the rampage.

Maseko said South Africa was "extremely concerned" and was monitoring
the situation.

He said the impact of the starvation and cholera crisis - which is
spilling into South Africa - was likely to put additional pressure on the
opposing parties in Zimbabwe to conclude a power-sharing deal.

"Our expectation is that any politician with conscience, who sees
their own citizens suffering to the extent that Zimbabweans are suffering,
should be able to put all political differences aside and say let's bring
our country back on track," he said.

The delegation led by Chikane will consult Zimbabwean officials,
agricultural unions, churches, NGOs and the international donor
organisations on the country's humanitarian needs, and ways to ensure a fair
distribution process.

Other SADC neighbouring states have been invited to join Chikane's
team which will depart for Harare on Sunday.

"On their return from Zimbabwe, the team will make recommendations to
the ministerial team that will be convened by President Motlanthe during the
course of next week," Maseko said.

"The president and the ministers will then decide on the humanitarian
aid that will be provided by the South African government to the people of
Zimbabwe.

"An announcement will be made during the course of next week."

The South African government will also provide R500 000 worth of
medical supplies for Zimbabwe.

This article was originally published on page 5 of Cape Argus on
December 06, 2008

The Beginning

http://www.hararetribune.com

Saturday, 06 December 2008 17:35 Hon. Eddie Cross

Watching the media in recent days has convinced me that the press does not
appreciate just what has happened over the past week. Unheralded, there has
been a sea change in the approach by South Africa to the Zimbabwe crisis. It
has been coming for some time, delayed by the Mbeki influence, but once that
was swept away by the ANC, it has gathered momentum.

You can see it in the way the SABC is reporting the Zimbabwe situation, the
comments in public by senior figures and the growing chorus of African
leaders who are calling for Mugabe to step down. Most international media
are concluding that the Global Political Agreement is a dead letter and that
it simply could not work.

In fact events are slowly pushing Zanu PF towards acceptance of a deal that
will effectively end their monopoly of power in Zimbabwe. The GPA is by no
means perfect - but it is based on a reasonable democratic process and gives
the winners of that process (the MDC) control of the main levers of
government.

Zanu PF only appreciated this after they had signed the deal on the 15th of
September. How much trouble they are in, only became apparent when MDC
discovered that Chinamasa and others in the negotiation process had
surreptitiously altered the final version of the GPA that had been agreed at
the meeting on the 11th of September.

Since then they have been desperately fighting a rearguard action to try and
limit the damage and claw back some of the power and authority they in fact
surrendered on the 11th September. For the military Junta that has run the
country for the past decade and remains substantively in control, they are
fighting the deal with every weapon in their armory.

MDC, for its part has simply stuck to its game plan. In March 2006, at the
second Congress of the Party in Harare, nearly 20 000 delegates agreed to
adopt what they called a 'road map' to a new Zimbabwe. This was a peaceful,
legal programme of democratic resistance to the regime leading to
negotiations. The negotiations leading us to a transitional government and
the transitional government producing a new 'people driven' constitution.
Once this was enacted, new elections - perhaps the first really free and
fair elections with all qualified citizens voting and that would then give
rise to a new government - perhaps the first MDC government.

Its now two years and 3 months since that Congress - not a long time when
you think about it, and the MDC is close to securing its first goal - a
transitional government brought about by negotiations. What we have also
done since the negotiations were concluded on the 11th September is to
insist, against all pressures from all sides, that the deal stands as it is
and is implemented in full.

The significance of the events in South Africa last Thursday is that the two
parties agreed to a draft legal expression of the September 11th agreement.
The MDC being satisfied that the draft reflected the content and meaning of
the GPA. We wanted to go on and wrap up all outstanding issues but Zanu PF
asked for some time out to consult their principals in Harare. This request
was granted - but on the proviso that they get on with the task of preparing
the draft legislation for publication in the Government Gazette.

It is Saturday today - they failed to publish the draft last night in the
Gazette as would normally be the practice and I think we can assume that
Zanu PF did not want this document in the public domain in advance of their
annual Conference which starts of Tuesday. Once this is over - by next
Friday, I would expect the draft to emerge into the public domain and for
the statutory 30 days period required by the present Constitution to start.
This means of course that the changes to the Constitution will only come to
Parliament next year - in mid January.

We are totally distrustful of the present regime and want to see the changes
to the constitution effected before a new government is formed. But the one
thing that we should all recognise - is that once the draft is published in
the Gazette - the clock is ticking for this regime and all its cohorts. It
is the formal and legal start of the transition to a Transitional Government
in which Morgan Tsvangirai will be the new Prime Minister and head of the
new, powerful and democratically elected Council of Ministers who will
assume full control of the affairs of government in late January 2009.

The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers will be responsible for
government policy and for execution of all government decisions. The Prime
Minister will also have what is effectively a veto on all senior
appointments by the President. In any normal democracy MDC would have
assumed unfettered control of the State in the first week of April 2008. But
this is not a normal democracy - it is in fact an autocratic regime, headed
by an unelected President and controlled by a civilian/military Junta.

In other countries the overthrow of this regime would have required physical
violence in one form or another. The remarkable thing about this particular
transfer of power is that it has been achieved without violence, by the
oppressed. The State has employed violence against its opponents and
continues to do so - on a huge scale, but this has not evoked a violent
response even though that is exactly what the regime intended. It only
understands that 'power comes through the barrel of a gun' - in their case
that is how they have tried to protect the power that was already in their
hands as a result of the civil war in the 70's.

Just as in America where Obama is managing the transition into government
and where Bush is accepted as a lame duck, Morgan Tsvangirai is the new
Prime Minister and next Friday could be the start of his formal and legal
transition into government. Just like Obama, Tsvangirai will face
unprecedented challenges - rampant inflation and a collapsed economy. A
dispirited and tired people suffering from food shortages and widespread
epidemics and an administration that is really at the end of their tether.
No money in the Bank - only debts, courtesy of Gono, the Gundwane.

South African newspapers x-ray Zimbabwean crisis

http://www.afriquenligne.fr/

News - Africa news

Cape Town, South Africa - With the South African government planning a
massive humanitarian intervention in Zimbabwe as fears of total collapse
grow, South African press believe things are getting out of control in the
southern African country.

The Times reports that South Africa believes that Zimbabwean President
Robert Mu gabe has lost control, quoting an unidentified South African
government official as saying 'that is why we are moving in - Mugabe has
lost control.

"He has lost power. It's just a matter of time before the country implodes.
He cannot support his own people and that is a danger for the region."

The Mail & Guardian says time and again since the early 2000s, "that
tortured country" seemed to have reached the bottom of the abyss, only to
fall still further.

"The latest riots by soldiers have been widely read as marking the beginning
of the end. The security forces are Robert Mugabe's only remaining source of
power.

If he can't keep them on his side, surely his days must be numbered?

Alas, not necessarily. A fraction of Zimbabwe's 30,000-strong army, mainly
junior officers, rampaged through the streets of Harare, and there was no
evidence of an organised mutiny.

The top echelons of the military remain loyal to Mugabe, as do the dreaded
military police.

The disturbances seem to have been contained for now; significantly,
soldiers did not join a protest against currency restrictions by citizens."

The newspaper says the time has come for radical measures by the region,
spearhe aded by South Africa.

"The bottom line must be the imposition of smart sanctions against the
ruling clique, of the kind already applied by the EU and the US, to sever
their lifeline to South Africa.

"Zimbabwe must be suspended from the SADC and excluded from its
consultations. And as Botswana's foreign minister has proposed, the final
response to continued intransigence must be comprehensive regional
sanctions, which would block Zimbabw e 's exports and cut off fuel and
electricity supplies."

The Business Day says Mugabe appears to be losing his 28-year iron grip on
the military, with protests by soldiers raising fears that a revolt could be
brewing in the armed forces.

"Is the sight of soldiers rioting in Harare an indication of a change in the
balance within the security establishment? We must be careful not to either
overstate or under estimate the significance of these riots. Rioting foot
soldiers are not necessarily a sign of rifts within the securocratic class
but are, at the same time, indicative of the possible emergence of a crisis
of legitimacy that might cause serious divisions within Zanu-PF and the
securocrats.

"But we must not rule out the possibility that Robert Mugabe and the Joint
Opera tional Command will simply respond instinctively in an attempt to
further impose the repressive capacity of the state on a worsening economic
and political crisis.

"A collapsing state can have as pernicious an effect as a military
dictatorship that is at the height of its power. We must, therefore, not
rule out the possibility of gun battles between soldiers and the police, a
generalised mutiny or battles between different groups of soldiers."

According to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, military experts are
warning that the riots are a precursor to mutiny, while pro-government
analysts say the disturbances were just a simple case of indiscipline within
the ranks.

They say the bloody rebellion of soldiers could lead to Mugabe's ousting.

The Times says the South African government, once the agent of denial on the
severity of the crisis across the border, has finally grasped the nettle.

"Former president Thabo Mbeki, who helped drag out Mugabe's rule for a
decade, has thankfully receded as a political force. In his place Kgalema
Motlanthe, with a full mandate from the ruling ANC, has begun to deal with
the reality of human suffering.

"After the shocking experience of xenophobic violence last year, Zimbabwe's
collapse is an opportunity for South Africans to show they are good
neighbours.

"We should embrace the health refugees, give them the best treatment we can
offer and, in giving of ourselves, we should find our humanity once more."

Cape Town - 06/12/2008

Zimbabwe soldiers to appear before a court martial: police

http://news.yahoo.com

Sat Dec 6, 3:42 am ET

HARARE, (AFP) - Zimbabwe police said soldiers arrested for looting shops and
beating up people in central Harare would appear before a court martial, the
state-run Herald reported Saturday.

"We are still investigating the case, but we expect the soldiers to appear
before a court martial once investigations are completed," police
spokesperson, Wayne Bvudzijena was quoted as saying.

"Police - in collaboration with the military police - initially picked up 30
soldiers on Monday but released the rest after screening except for 10. The
other six were arrested on Thursday last week," the paper reported.

Dozens of soldiers stormed central Harare last Monday beating up people,
looting shops and clashing with riot police after they were unable to access
their wages from banks.

Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi deplored the violence, describing the
soldiers' acts as "reprehensible and criminal" while the army denied
approving the attacks on ordinary citizens.

This was the first army protest against President Robert Mugabe's government
as the southern African country's economic woes continue to worsen with
record inflation of over 231 million percent.

Zimbabwe is faced by a myriad of problems that include a cholera epidemic
that has killed 575 people, according to the UN, while widespread hunger is
afflicting the nation once seen as the region's breadbasket.

Negotiations to form a government of national unity between the opposition
and Mugabe's party are stalled over who should control key ministries such
as home affairs which oversees the police.

Some background information on the soldier riots this week

Hyperinflation forces Zimbabwe to print $200 million notes

http://edition.cnn.com/

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- Cash-strapped Zimbabwe revealed plans Saturday to
circulate $200 million notes, just days after introducing a $100 million
bill, Finance Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi said.

After the $100 million note began circulating on Thursday, the price of a
loaf of bread soared from 2 million to 35 million Zimbabwean dollars.

Amid allegations of illegal foreign currency trading, the government also
fired top executives at four major banks Thursday, according to The Herald,
a state-owned newspaper.

Many anxious residents of the nation's capital, Harare, have been sleeping
outside banks, waiting for them to open so they can make withdrawals before
the institutions run out of cash.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe had capped maximum daily withdrawals at 500,000
Zimbabwean dollars -- about 25 U.S. cents, or about a quarter of Thursday's
price of a loaf of bread.

Last week, restrictions on cash withdrawals -- due to severe money
shortages -- triggered riots.

Sixteen soldiers now face possible court-martial due to alleged looting and
assaults on civilians and police during the unrest, police spokesman Wayne
Bvudzijena told The Herald on Saturday.

"We are still investigating the case," he said. "But we expect the soldiers
to appear before a court-martial once investigations are completed."
After spending several days waiting in bank lines, soldiers rampaged through
downtown Harare, destroying shops and attacking riot police sent to disperse
the protesters.

Cash shortages are not the only crisis plaguing Zimbabwe.

The United Nations has said more than half of Zimbabwe's population is in
dire need of food and clean water.

Acute shortages of essentials such as fuel, electricity, medicines and food
are key indicators of a failed economy, according to economic observers.

"The (Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe) is failing to deliver the demands of market,
prices are doubling daily, and that demands more cash," Zimbabwean economist
John Robertson said. "The huge price increases are resulting from severe
shortages of most goods."

The once-prosperous African nation is facing its worst economic and
humanitarian crisis since attaining independence from Great Britain in 1980.

Zimbabwe's official rate of inflation is 231 million percent, the world's
highest.

Critics of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe link hyperinflation to his
policies on land distribution and unbudgeted payments to war veterans.

Zimbabwe has had no Cabinet since the March presidential election.

Its political troubles have aggravated its humanitarian and economic crisis,
including a cholera outbreak that has killed close to 600 people since
August

A CNN journalist in Harare contributed to this report.

A month ago, the hospitals were overflowing. Now they lie empty

Widespread collapse of social services creates 'twin disaster' in Zimbabwe

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Date: 05 Dec 2008

HARARE, Zimbabwe, 5 December 2008 - After a widespread breakdown in social
services, the Government of Zimbabwe declared a national cholera crisis on
Wednesday. The country's health sector has collapsed and hospitals are
closing, creating a 'twin national disaster'.

Approximately 565 people have died from cholera since August, with almost
12,550 cumulative cases nationwide. The increase of the outbreak is
attributed to poor water and sanitation supply, the collapsed health system
and limited government capacity to respond to the emergency.

"Mainly, it's the lack of capacity for the municipal services and the water
authorities to provide safe water and refuse collection," said UNICEF
Zimbabwe Communication Officer Tsitsi Singizi. "At the same time, there's a
collapse in the health services, which has made it impossible to treat the
high number of infections."

UNICEF is currently the only agency able to deliver supplies and equipment
in response to the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, providing an average of
360,000 litres of safe water every day.

Outlining urgent needs

Working with the government, UNICEF has a response team dedicated solely to
responding to the outbreak.

A 120-day emergency response is intensifying relief efforts by increasing
health outreach services, providing nutritional supplements and scaling-up
access to safe water.

UNICEF and its partners are also providing essential items such as bars of
soap, latex gloves and water treatment tablet to meet the needs of
approximatelty 3.5 million people over the next six months.

Children 'on the brink'

"The outbreak is really outpacing our response," said UNICEF Zimbabwe
Communication Officer Tsitsi Singizi. "It's becoming endemic. Nine out of 10
provinces have reported a cholera case."

Ms. Singizi noted that some Zimbabweans have even travelled to neighbouring
South Africa for treatment.

The net effect on Zimbabwean children has been no schooling, a serious
threat to their life, lack of health care, safe water and a reduced number
of meals.

"Children in Zimbabwe are on the brink, and everyone's focus must now be on
their survival," said UNICEF Zimbabwe Acting Country Representative Roeland
Monasch.

Kyria Abrahams contributed to this story from New York.

Crisis Piles Pressure On Mugabe

Emma Hurd, Africa correspondent

There is growing international pressure for Robert Mugabe to leave power as the cholera crisis in Zimbabwe deepens.

Zimbabwean women and children fetch water from an unprotected well

At least 575 people have died from the disease, which has infected 12,700 people since August.

The Zimbabwean government has declared the epidemic a "national emergency" and appealed for international aid.

Speaking in Copenhagen, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: "It is well past time for Robert Mugabe to leave."

She said the stalled power-sharing talks and the mounting "humanitarian toll" in the country should spur international action and called on African leaders to take the lead.

Her comments came as Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu declared that Robert Mugabe should either resign or "be sent to the Hague" for the gross violations he had committed.

Tutu, a one-time supporter of the Zimbabwean President, said Mugabe had ruined a "wonderful country".

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also called on the international community to tell Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe that "enough is enough".

"This is now an international rather than a national emergency. International because disease crosses borders. International because the systems of government in Zimbabwe are now broken," he said.

"There is no state capable or willing (to protect) its people."

He is destroying a wonderful country. A country that used to be a bread basket has now become a basket case itself needing help.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Robert Mugabe

In another sign of mounting international pressure, the EU is considering stepping up sanctions against Mr Mugabe and other key figures in his regime.

Cholera, which is carried by contaminated water, has spread quickly in Zimbabwe where years of neglect of the basic infrastructure have resulted in a collapse of the water and sanitation systems.

Sewage is flowing in some of the streets in Harare, where most of the cholera cases have been reported, and clean drinking water is in short supply.

Hospitals across the country are struggling to deal with the influx of patients because of a shortage of re-hydration drugs and fluids.

There is also a critical shortage of medical staff, many of whom have walked out in protest at salaries so low that they do not even cover the cost of transportation to work.

Their wages are paid into bank accounts by the government, but with cash withdrawals rationed it is almost impossible to withdraw enough money to buy even small items like a loaf of bread.

Sufferer in a South African clinic

South Africa’s government has agreed to send a crisis response team to Zimbabwe to help with the cholera crisis which has seeped over the border.

Almost 500 patients have been treated at an emergency cholera clinic in the town of Musina in the past two weeks.

Most of the patients are Zimbabweans who had entered South Africa illegally to try to find work, carrying the disease with them over the border.

South Africa’s leaders are still reluctant to bow to international pressure and openly criticise Robert Mugabe over the spiralling decline of Zimbabwe and the political paralysis in the country.

Former President Thabo Mbeki, the official mediator, has instead blamed opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai for the impasse, accusing him of refusing to compromise over the flawed power-sharing deal that would effectively leave Mr Mugabe in control of the country.

Botswana says Mugabe would be gone in weeks without vehicle fuel

http://www.africasia.com

LONDON, Dec 6 (AFP)

President Robert Mugabe would be out of power within two weeks if Zimbabwe's
neighbours starved his armed forces of fuel for their vehicles, Botswana's
foreign minister said on Saturday.

Phandu Skelemani said the outbreak of cholera in Zimbabwe showed more
pressure should be put on fellow members of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) to stop propping up Mugabe's administration.

He told BBC radio that the SADC's support for Mugabe had allowed him to drag
his feet in discussions over a government of national unity three months
after he agreed to share power with the opposition.

"It is the SADC in my view which has enabled Mugabe to be intransigent. More
pressure could be brought on these countries," Skelemani said.

He called on the international community to take urgent action.

"The world together with SADC should be able to tell the Zimbabweans, 'look,
this is going too far, we are now saying you are on your own, you can't rely
on us to help you anymore' and really start refusing to deliver those
necessities which keep Mugabe in power.

"One of those is petrol. If you deny him petrol which is used by the armed
forces, which is used by the police, I don't think he'll last two weeks," he
said.

The criticism from Botswana, which unlike Zimbabwe's other neighbours has
been vocal in its condemnation of Mugabe, comes amid fresh international
pressure over the country's collapse.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Saturday the situation had
deteriorated to such an extent it now required an international response,
adding "enough is enough."

On Friday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was "well past
time for Robert Mugabe to leave."

Paris sends emergency aid to Zimbabwe to fight cholera

http://www.afriquenligne.fr

Paris, France - France is sending specialists and 200,000 euros in emergency
aid to Zimbabwe to fight a devastating cholera outbreak that has killed some
600 people.

In a communiqué made public in Paris, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
said the money would be delivered to organizations in Zimbabwe, particularly
to the Red Cross, "to enable them to intervene immediately".

The French emergency aid would be used for prevention and treatment through
the distribution of rehydration salt, kits to make potable water and water
treatment tablets, the French ministry said.

"The dispatch of the French personnel is also planned in coordination with
NGOs, the Bureau of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (BCAH), the World
Health Organisation, and our ambassador in Zimbabwe," the communiqué said.

About 12,546 people have contracted cholera that has already killed 600
people, according to the latest count by the United Nations.

The epidemic has spread to other countries in the region, especially South
Africa and Botswana.

Paris - 05/12/2008

Norway condemns the abduction of human rights defender Jestina Mukoko in Zimbabwe

http://www.regjeringen.no
04.12.2008

"Norway strongly condemns the abduction of Jestina Mukoko. We call on the
Zimbabwe authorities to do everything in their power to ensure that Mukoko
is released and brought to safety. Those responsible for her abduction must
be brought to justice," said State Secretary Raymond Johansen of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Human rights defender Jestina Mukoko, director of the organisation Zimbabwe
Peace Project, was taken from her home in Zimbabwe by armed men early
yesterday morning. The organisation she heads has received support from
Norway for a number of years, and cooperates closely with several Norwegian
organisations on human rights issues.

"The situation in Zimbabwe gives cause for deep concern. The unwillingness
of Mugabe and the ruling party to cooperate with the opposition has thrown
the country into an ever-worsening crisis. If the parties fail to find a
solution to the protracted crisis of government, there is a danger that
lawlessness will prevail and the people will lose all their legal
safeguards," said Mr Johansen.

Zimbabwe's economy has collapsed, there are widespread food shortages, and
the health system is disintegrating. The outbreak of cholera in recent weeks
has exacerbated the plight of the country's long-suffering population.

Netherlands supports wider EU sanctions against regime Zimbabwe

http://www.minbuza.nl

05 Dec 2008 | Foreign minister Maxime Verhagen and British foreign secretary
David Miliband are urging the European Union to tighten sanctions against
Zimbabwe's regime. EU foreign ministers will take a decision on Monday on a
proposal for stricter travel restrictions for the country's rulers.

'The situation in Zimbabwe is going from bad to worse', said Mr Verhagen.
'Mugabe and his clique apparently have no intention of carrying out the
agreement on power-sharing. I believe the European sanctions against
Zimbabwe's rulers need to be stepped up as quickly as possible.'

The Zimbabwean opposition, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, agreed last September
to share power with President Robert Mugabe. But no progress is being made
on implementing the agreement. In the meantime violence against the country's
population is continuing and the humanitarian crisis is deepening. The
collapse of the healthcare system is allowing a cholera epidemic to claim
more victims every day.

The Dutch embassy in Zimbabwe recently uncovered evidence that poisonous
chemicals are being used to drive residents out of remote areas where mines
are being run by Mugabe supporters.

Mr Verhagen will meet with Zimbabwean opposition leader Tsvangirai before
the foreign ministers' meeting Monday in Brussels, to discuss how the
Netherlands and the EU can support the opposition.

International Medical Corps Deploys Assessment Team Into Zimbabwe in Response to Deadly Cholera Outbreak

06 Dec 2008 00:28:00 GMT
Source: International Medical Corps (IMC) - USA
Stephanie Bowen
Website: http://www.imcworldwide.org

In Los Angeles: Contact: Stephanie Bowen (310) 826.7800
sbowen@imcworldwide.org

International Medical Corps is responding to a rapidly escalating outbreak
of cholera in Zimbabwe that has killed almost 600 people so far, out of
nearly 14,000 suspected cases. Some authorities put the number of deaths at
over 1,000. The World Health Organization called it the worst outbreak in
the country since a 1992 epidemic that killed 3,000.

"We are extremely concerned at how widely cholera has spread unchecked
through the population and the lack of resources that exist to battle it,"
said International Medical Corps' Patrick Mweki, who arrived in the capital
of Harare two days ago to assess the need. "Nine of the country's ten
provinces have reported cases and people are in desperate need of basic
medical care and clean water, in particular."

A spokeswoman for the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs said: "The entire health system is collapsing, there are no more
doctors, no nurses, no specialists." Many health workers are reportedly on
strike because they have not been paid or have simply deserted hospitals and
health centers as the crisis grows.

After previously insisting there was no need for alarm over the outbreak,
the government of Zimbabwe, which has been in the throes of a crippling
economic and political crisis, made an urgent appeal Thursday for
international help and declared a national emergency. The European
Commission responded with a pledge of more than $12 million in aid; the
British have offered almost $15 million.

Meantime, hundreds of people each day have begun streaming into neighboring
South Africa, sparking fears that the epidemic could spread beyond
Zimbabwe's border. The World Health Organization says the average death rate
among infected Zimbabweans was 4.5 percent in November, and as high as 20-30
percent in remote areas. The normal fatality rate, where clean water and
medication are available is below one percent.

Since its inception nearly 25 years ago, International Medical Corps'
mission has been to relieve the suffering of those impacted by war, natural
disaster and disease, by delivering vital health care services that focus on
training. This approach of helping people help themselves is critical to
returning devastated populations to self-reliance. For more information
visit our website at www.imcworldwide.org

Mugabe to bully a deal?

http://news.iafrica.com/

Article By:
Sat, 06 Dec 2008 08:08
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."

No mood for negotiations

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.

Collapsing under cholera

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 Co-ordination 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 6448 cases
as of 4 December, 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 spokesperson 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 government 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 ($14.7-million, €11.5-million)
emergency aid package.

The United States also said it was providing $600 000 to help fight the
cholera outbreak while the International Committee of the Red Cross said
over 13 tons of medical supplies has arrived in Harare.

AFP

Biti still to answer to four original charges

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=8395

December 5, 2008

MDC secretary general Tendai Biti

By Raymond Maingire

HARARE - MDC secretary general Tendai Biti still has to answer to all the
original four counts in his treason case, contrary to last month's reports
the state had given up on pursuing two of the charges.
Biti faces a treason charge and three other offences all stemming from a
document entitled "The transition document" he allegedly authored just
before the March 29 elections.

The state says the document outlines a plot to seize power from President
Robert Mugabe's government. Advocate Lewis Uriri, Biti's lawyer, told the
press last month the state had pledged to drop two charges.

The decision to drop the charges was reached in Chambers during Biti's
remand hearing on November 18, 2008 at the Harare Magistrate's court.

This was after presiding magistrate Gloria Takundwa adjourned normal court
proceedings when the defence counsel and the prosecution had briefly excused
themselves to consult on the way forward.

According to Uriri, the state had dropped a charge in which Biti allegedly
called Mugabe "an evil man who should be taken to The Hague " for human
rights offences, and that of "causing disaffection among members of the
defence forces".

The state also amended the charge on "falsehoods inimical to the interest of
the state" to read "falsehoods that might result in public disorder".

The state, however, chose to retain the charge under which Biti allegedly
made a false declaration of the March 29 harmonised elections in which he
publicly suggested his party, the MDC, had won before the official
announcement by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

The defence latter wrote to the Attorney General's office to ask the
prosecutor Tawanda Zvekare to put on record what Biti had actually said.

The matter was instead responded to by one Joseph Jagada, the director of
public prosecutions in the Attorney General's office, who denied the state
had dropped any charges.

Chris Mhike, the instructing attorney in Biti's case, on Thursday accused
the state of backtracking on its indications that it would not seek to
pursue the two charges.

"This is a sign that this matter is purely political," said Mhike.

"This is a case of trying to keep Biti on the leash so that when things do
not go in Zanu-PF's favour in terms of the current talks, they still have
somewhere to get him. It is also a case of trying to keep him busy with
matters of litigation as opposed to his party's business."

Biti, a lawyer by profession, is the MDC's chief negotiator in the ongoing
unity talks between Zanu-PF and the MDC.

His remand hearing will open on February 4, 2009, pending the outcome of
ongoing investigations by the state.

According to Mhike, the state promised to update the defence on the status
of its investigations by December 18.

The defence wants the state to come up with a trial date for the MDC
legislator or to simply drop the charges.

They say there is not justification for the state to keep remanding their
client as the state bases all its evidence on a single document which the
state is already in possession of.

Zambian cholera patients to be evacuated from Zimbabwe

Xinhua News Agency

Date: 06 Dec 2008

LUSAKA, Dec 06, 2008 (Xinhua via COMTEX News Network) - The Zambian
government said a team of health officials has left for Zimbabwe to treat
and evacuate a Zambian woman and her child who have contracted cholera,
Zambia Daily Mail reported on Saturday.

Health officials feared that cholera may have broken out in Gwembe in
Southern Province, where one person showed signs of the disease, according
to the newspaper. If confirmed, this will be the first case of cholera in
the province which borders Zimbabwe, where over 500 people have died from
the disease.

Deputy Health Minister Mwendoi Akakandelwa was quoted as saying that a
Zambian mother and her child are suffering from cholera in Zimbabwe.

She is currently receiving treatment in that country. There is also a report
of a Zimbabwean who died in Siavonga near the border with Zimbabwe. Another
Zimbabwean is receiving treatment, the minister said.

Akakandelwa said despite the seriousness of the outbreak in Zimbabwe, the
Zambian-Zimbabwean border would remain open but there would be strict
surveillance at the border and traffic would be controlled.

He urged Zambians to observe high standards of hygiene to avoid contracting
and spreading the disease.

The official said in Zambia from the time the disease broke out in
September, 1,129 cases had been reported while eight people had died because
they sought medical attention late.

Akakandelwa said to manage cholera and its effects, the Health Ministry had
in place a multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral prevention, preparedness and
control committee which was also duplicated at district and provincial
levels, adding that the Ministry of Local Government and Housing was one of
the main stakeholders.

Water Bills To Be Charged In Forex

http://www.radiovop.com

HARARE - The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) will next
January start issuing water bills in foreign currency, a government minister
has said.

Water Resources and Infrastructural Development deputy minister Walter
Muzembi said this week the under-performing parastatal will start charging
for water usage in US dollars.

"We are also aware of that as from next year the reserve bank is
shedding off its quasi-fiscal activities so we must begin to evolve
strategies and solutions to revive the water sector that go beyond the
interventions of the reserve bank.

"Part of that would be dollarisation. We think that beginning next
month, we should be able to issue water bills in US dollars."

This he said was the only available model to sustain the operations of
ZINWA, which has depended largely on the central bank for sustainability.

Central bank governor Gideon Gono last month pledged to abandon its
controversial quasi-fiscal policies that saw all government entities
depending on it to sustain their operations.

"The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe , through their quasi-fiscal activities,
has supported our efforts to make sure that chemicals are there on time,"
Muzembi said.

"We are aware the size of the cake is too small while the
responsibilities are too many.

Government says it has no foreign currency to import water purifying
chemicals.

Most suburbs in Zimbabwe have gone for months without any water
forcing residents to depend on already contaminated shallow wells to source
for the necessity.

This has given rise to a severe outbreak of the deadly cholera disease
that has claimed nearly 600 lives and left thousands hospitalized.

Nearly 300 000 are still vulnerable to the disease. Government has
since declared the cholera outbreak a national disaster.

Meanwhile, government's plans to peg water tariffs in forex have
attracted criticism from the largely poor Harare residents who still do not
have formal means of acquiring foreign currency.

Most Zimbabweans toil every day to source for foreign currency on the
illegal but thriving black market to try and keep with the pressures of
living within a hyper inflationary environment, the world's highest,
officially pegged at 231 million percent.

They need a police presence because their promises are all lies

http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/2772

Yesterday was another day of chaos in Zimbabwe. Riot police were present
from early in the morning, with their water cannons (hopefully cholera
free!) at the ready.

Yesterday was the day that the daily withdrawal limit was increased from
$500,000.00 per person per day to $100,000,000.00 per person, per WEEK.

Obviously, there was not enough cash to go around, and the regime knew that
beforehand, hence the presence of the police. They were expecting unrest. As
usual, they were unable to fulfill the promise that they had made. They came
prepared.

My friend Simon spent Wednesday night in a queue. He arrived at the bank at
6pm and was handed his number - 120 in the queue.

He said people did not leave the bank after being handed their numbers
because if they left, shenanigans took place and they would come back to
find new numbers had been issued in their absence (bank, police & security
staff are renowned for taking bribes to allow people to the front of the
line).

People slept on the sidewalk, on the sides of the road, in the parking bays,
and under trees and shrubs of neighboring areas. There are no toilets. There
is no running water. This, when we are in the midst of a cholera epidemic.

By mid-day, and after waiting in line for 18 hours, the bank had run out of
cash. In total, they served 70 customers. As I write this, Simon is still in
line. He was forced to go home in the evening, as he had no food or water.
He had arranged with the person next to him that they would hold each others
place in line so that they could both take a break.

A work colleague was in the same line. She was number 743. She told me that
there were over a hundred people behind her.

At a rate of 70 customers per day, that bank would take 12 days to serve the
initial queue. By that time, the first customers would have returned as the
withdrawal is per person, per week. The story is the same at every single
branch of every single bank, country wide. Empty promises. This is why the
police need to be there.

And today the powers-that-we-don't-want-to-be have stated that on Monday the
limit will be further increased to $500,000,000 per day. More empty
promises.

This entry was written by Chipo on Friday, December 5th, 2008

BAE accused of £100m secret payments to seal South Africa arms deal

  David Leigh and Rob Evans
  The Guardian, Saturday December 6 2008

More than £100m was secretly paid by the arms company BAE to sell warplanes
to South Africa, according to allegations in a detailed police dossier seen
by the Guardian yesterday.

The leaked evidence from South African police and the British Serious Fraud
Office quotes a BAE agent recommending "financially incentivising"
politicians.

In the arms deal, the new ANC government in South Africa agreed to spend a
controversial £1.6bn buying fleets of Hawk and Gripen warplanes.

Critics said the country, beset by unemployment and HIV/Aids, could not
afford it. The Hawks, rejected by the military, cost twice as much as
Italian equivalents.

But the then South African defence minister Joe Modise and a key official,
Chippy Shaik, insisted on the purchase.

BAE is accused in the reports of corrupt relationships with an arms tycoon,
John Bredenkamp, recently blacklisted in the US for his links with Robert
Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Bredenkamp's blacklisting freezes his assets in the US.

BAE's former marketing director for southern Africa, Allan McDonald, has
been speaking to police, the leaked files say. He allegedly told them
Bredenkamp "gave progress reports directly to Mike Turner". Turner, who has
been interviewed under caution by the SFO, stepped down last year as BAE's
chief executive.

Bredenkamp-linked companies were paid £40m by BAE to promote the arms deal.
According to McDonald, "Bredenkamp suggested identifying the key
decision-makers, with a view to 'financially incentivising them' to make the
right decision".

The Bredenkamp team claimed he said, "We can get to Chippy Shaik". A seized
memo also referred to "third world procedures". An SFO affidavit says: "I
believe that a reference to 'third world procedures' is a veiled reference
to the payment of bribes."

Offshore financial advisers of the Thatcher family are also named as
potential witnesses in affidavits. Jersey accountant Hugh Thurston, who
advised the former Conservative prime minister and her family, has given
information to SFO investigators.

He was involved, according to the police report, in setting up offshore
companies for a South African politician's aide. The aide, Fana Hlongwane,
was adviser to Modise. Hlongwane's cash was allegedly covertly distributed
to accounts offshore and in China.

Another member of the former Thatcher circle, and a potential witness, named
in the files is businessman Alan Curtis. Curtis, sometime chairman of Lotus
Cars, was a business associate of the late Denis Thatcher and his son Mark.
A British Virgin Islands-registered, Swiss-based, offshore company linked to
him received £8.5m, the report says, for its part in helping promote the
1999 arms contract.

Curtis, at home in Farnham, Surrey, yesterday denied to the Guardian that he
operated Brookland Management, the company concerned. He said he was only
involved in promoting "social programmes and job creation".

A lengthy affidavit from the SFO in London, leaked to the Mail & Guardian
newspaper in South Africa, accuses BAE of "covert" behaviour and of
withholding information.

SFO principal investigator Gary Murphy says in the affidavit, sworn on
October 9: "I believe that BAE have sought to conceal from the SFO the
involvement of [Joe Modise aide] Fana Hlongwane."

BAE is also alleged to have drawn up an untruthful "line" about Hlongwane
for its press office in 2003. A seized document says that if asked if BAE
had ever had any relationship with Hlongwane, it was to say: "No, never - we
knew him only as a member of the minister's entourage."

It is alleged that in fact, the company was paying him millions of pounds,
through a variety of secret routes. A Swiss bank, HSBC in Geneva, has now
frozen $11.4m of Hlongwane accounts and sums of £400,000 and €3m controlled
by him at Liechtenstein banks have also been discovered and frozen.

A letter from a Leichtenstein judge is quoted in the dossier, saying: "It is
suspected that frozen assets belonging to Hlongwane ... are linked with
active and passive bribery and corruption by the company operating as BAE
Systems PLC, using a system of international representatives."

The contents of all these documents have surfaced after being presented to a
South African judge as grounds for issuing search warrants on seven premises
last week. The Scorpions, the special police unit working on the case in
South Africa, currently faces disbandment because of political hostility to
their work. This follows the closedown of the SFO's own inquiry in London
into BAE's multimillion pound payments to members of the Saudi royal family.
Tony Blair, as prime minister, forced the SFO to call off the inquiry on
alleged grounds of "national security".

Bredenkamp has denied all wrongdoing. BAE would not respond to the specific
allegations, but said: "We continue to support the SFO in its inquiries,
with access to people, information and premises whenever requested and
wholeheartedly support a rigorous approach, in the hope that it brings to a
conclusion inquiries which are now in their fifth year."

Can Ghana trounce the bad news?

Saturday, 6 December 2008

By Komla Dumor BBC News, Accra Considering all the bad news about recent elections in Africa - rigging, violence and bogus power-sharing agreements - one may be tempted to expect more of the same from Ghana. The West African nation is going to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president and 240 members of the parliament. A mouth-watering windfall of billions of dollars awaits the next administration Voters' views in Ghana Its western neighbour Ivory Coast has yet again postponed its election to 2009 because of difficulties in compiling a national register. Nigeria, to the east, held one of the continent's most badly flawed elections in April last year. Rigging was rife and the legitimacy of President Umaru Yar'Adua and several governors is still being challenged in court. Violence ripped through Kenya after the ruling party proclaimed a dubious electoral victory last December. And Zimbabwe continues to spiral into an abyss of poverty and disease as the ruling party refuses to relinquish its grip on the state in spite of a power-sharing arrangement. Highly contentious So why should Ghana be any different? The capacity for violence and electoral malpractice exists in Ghana, as it does in any country in the world. Profiling Ghana's poll line-up But democracy is still making progress in Africa and there have been successful elections in Liberia and Sierra Leone, Senegal and Zambia to name a few. That is not to say the run-up to this election in Ghana has not been contentious. Ghana has recently discovered oil: a mouth-watering windfall of billions of dollars awaits the next administration. Though not on the scale of Nigeria or Angola, oil has the potential to transform this nation of 20 million people. But there is good reason to be cautiously optimistic. Ghana was sub-Saharan Africa's first nation to achieve independence, from the UK in 1957. In post-independent Ghana, civilian rule was truncated repeatedly by a series of military coups until a return to democracy in 1992. For the past 16 years, things seem to have gone well for Ghana's democracy. 'Skirt and blouse voting' There are multiple political parties and the two main ones have both held the reigns of government. Both parties have tasted victory and defeat at the feet of the Ghanaian electorate Q&A Ghana elections The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has been in power for the past eight years under the leadership of President John Kufuor. The NPP has chosen former Foreign Minister Akufo-Addo for its ticket. Before he became president in 2000 and won re-election in 2004, Mr Kufuor's NPP lost two polls - in 1992 and 1996 - to Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawling's National Democratic Congress (NDC) which is fielding his former Vice-President John Atta Mills as its flagbearer. Both parties have tasted victory and defeat at the feet of the Ghanaian electorate. Unlike the case of Kenya, for example, both parties have considerable support that cuts across ethnic divisions in all 10 regions of the nation. Though it is true that the ruling NPP dominates in the Ashanti Region of the country and the NDC has massive support in the Volta Region, Ghanaians have been known to vote against candidates who share their ethnicity but do not share their political values. A phenomenon Ghanaians themselves call "skirt and blouse voting". Intermarriage In fact, one factor attributed to the defeat of Mr Atta Mills in 2000 and 2004 was the refusal of voters from the Central Region, from where he hails, to vote for him. Ghana has a vibrant press and scores of radio stations Several members of parliament in Ghana have been elected by constituencies who voted for a different party in the presidential race. Years of intermarriage have lessened the impact of ethnicity, even though it still plays a role in the politics of Ghana. Another factor that suggests that Ghana democracy is sustainable is the Electoral Commission of Ghana. It has been under the leadership of Kwadwo Afari-Djan for the past four elections. He was appointed by the then-incumbent NDC government and oversaw two of their electoral victories. He was retained by the current NPP administration and has supervised electoral victories and defeats under their incumbency. Thus the electoral commission has both the appearance and credibility of an organisation that is able to conduct free and fair elections. Free media Perhaps of equal importance is the media. Ghana has one of the freest medias in Africa. People hope that future oil revenue will bring improvements to all There are scores of radio stations dotted around the country. During elections radio stations like the capital's JoyFM dispatch staff armed with mobile phones around the country. The correspondent gives continuous live updates and reports by mobile phone to their media "election headquarters". Once results are collated at the constituency, in the presence of party officials and electoral officers, the radio stations rapidly compile the results, broadcast them and a clear picture of the outcome is available within 24 hours. The process has become too fast for old-fashioned election shenanigans. JoyFM takes this a step further and publishes the results on the internet, thereby making it virtually impossible for a government to fiddle with results during a deliberate delay in their release by a government-controlled electoral commission as is the case elsewhere in Africa. Politically aware The only difference between the coverage on Ghanaian radio stations and those in first-world countries is the technology but in this case a simple mobile phone and basic web publishing software arguable works even better. Ghanaians have hosted refugees... do not want to end up as unwanted guests in neighbouring countries This not to say problems do not exist. There have been cases of some individuals attempting to register more than once. And it is clear that both the ruling NPP and NDC exploit any advantage they have to win. But Ghanaians have clearly become too politically aware to be taken for a ride. All the presidential candidates participated in a number of nationally telecast debates, fielding questions on healthcare, education and the economy. The political process is not foolproof and democracies can disintegrate under the pressure of politics but Sunday may be the final consolidation of the basic structures of democracy for Ghana. Ghanaians have made it clear that they prefer democracy with all its flaws to military rule or anarchy. Ghana has hosted refugees from civil crises in Liberia and Sierra Leone and Ghanaians do not want to end up as unwanted guests in neighbouring countries. However more work needs to be done for ordinary citizens to feel the impact of democracy's dividends where it counts most. Any improvement in their living standards.

Five-member Zimbabwe delegation to observe Ghana presidential polls

http://www.apanews.net



APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe has sent a five-member parliamentary
delegation to observe Sunday's presidential elections in Ghana, the
state-run Herald newspaper reported here Saturday.

The team forms part of the Pan-African Parliament observer mission led
by Mauritian legislator Sunil Dwarkasing.

The Zimbabwean delegation comprises two lawmakers each from the ruling
ZANU PF and the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by
Morgan Tsvangirai and one lawmaker from a breakaway MDC faction.

Ghanaian President John Kufuor steps down this year after serving the
maximum two term limit in office.

The ruling New Patriotic Party's Nana Akufo-Addo and John Atta Mills
of the main opposition National Democratic Congress are the main contenders
for the December 7 polls.

JN/daj/APA
2008-12-06

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