UK plotting to invade Zimbabwe - Mugabe spokesman

Reuters

Sun 7 Dec 2008, 15:43 GMT

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

HARARE, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's government has accused former colonial
ruler Britain of using a cholera epidemic to rally Western support for an
invasion of the collapsing southern African nation, a state-run newspaper
said on Sunday.

President Robert Mugabe is under mounting pressure from the international
community, especially Western nations which accuse him of ruining the once
prosperous country and exposing its people to famine and disease.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has branded Mugabe's government a
"blood-stained regime" and said it was responsible for the cholera epidemic
that has killed at least 575 people. The world must tell Mugabe "enough is
enough", he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday the veteran leader's
departure from office was long overdue.

The growing Western criticism signalled a plot to oust Mugabe's government
militarily, Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba said.

"I don't know what this mad prime minister (Brown) is talking about. He is
asking for an invasion of Zimbabwe ... but he will come unstuck," Charamba
told the state-controlled Sunday Mail.

The government often blames Britain and other Western nations for Zimbabwe's
meltdown, saying sanctions against Mugabe and his inner circle have
sabotaged the economy.

African nations are also growing more uncomfortable with Mugabe, though some
still view the 84-year-old as a hero of Africa's liberation era.

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Sunday repeated a previous call for
Mugabe to step down and urged the African Union to hold an emergency summit
to formulate a resolution to send troops into Zimbabwe to deal with the
crisis.

"We must not fail the dying people of Zimbabwe in this hour of their
greatest need ... we must assist them to end this vile dictatorship, we must
beg them not to despair," Odinga told a news conference in Nairobi.

Botswanan Foreign Minister Phandu Skelemani and South African Archbishop
Desmond Tutu, a Nobel laureate, have also called for Mugabe's removal.

"There is bitter disappointment in the current leadership," former U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a Ghanaian, said in a statement issued by the
Elders, a group of prominent figures that includes ex-U.S. President Jimmy
Carter and Tutu.

"This government has not demonstrated the ability to lead the country out of
its current crisis," said Annan, who along with Carter and Graca Machel, the
wife of Nelson Mandela, was denied entry to Zimbabwe last month on a
humanitarian visit.

"TIME TO REMOVE THEM"

Archbishop of York John Sentamu agreed but went further, writing in
Britain's Observer newspaper that "Mugabe and his henchmen" should face
trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. "The time to remove
them from power has come."

Douglas Alexander, Britain's international development minister, said on
Sunday it was important Africans led the opposition to Mugabe's government.

"Now is the time for Africa to stand up and be counted. The old bonds of the
liberation struggle must give way to the common bond of humanity," he said
in a statement.

Zimbabwe is on the verge of collapse. Food stocks are running out,
unemployment is above 80 percent and prices double every 24 hours. The
health system is in tatters, unable to treat many of those infected with
cholera.

The epidemic has forced Zimbabwe to declare a national emergency and appeal
for foreign help. Britain is among European nations that have promised aid.

South Africa, Zimbabwe's richest neighbour, has also pledged aid and
officials will assess the scale of the crisis on Monday.

The European Union is considering imposing new sanctions on Zimbabwe next
week unless progress is made in breaking the deadlock between Mugabe and the
opposition MDC over how to implement a power-sharing deal.

Mugabe and Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai agreed on
Sept. 15 to form a unity government, but are in dispute over control of key
ministries.

Charamba said Western sanctions, which Harare says are punishment for its
seizure of white-owned farms, have made it harder to deal with health crises
like the cholera outbreak. (Additional reporting by Kate Kelland in London
and Andrew Cawthorne in Nairobi; editing by Andrew Roche and Paul Simao)

Kenyan prime minister calls for military intervention in Zimbabwe

http://www.iht.com

The Associated PressPublished: December 7, 2008

NAIROBI: Foreign troops should prepare to intervene in Zimbabwe to end a
worsening humanitarian crisis and the Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe,
should be investigated for crimes against humanity, the Kenyan prime
minister said Sunday.

Raila Odinga, in the latest sign of growing international frustration over
Zimbabwe's slide into chaos, urged the African Union to call an emergency
meeting to authorize sending troops into Zimbabwe.

"If no troops are available, then the AU must allow the Un to send its
forces into Zimbabwe with immediate effect, to take over control of the
country and ensure urgent humanitarian assistance to the people dying of
cholera," Odinga said.

According to official statistics, more than 500 Zimbabweans have died of the
disease since an outbreak in August. But health officials fear the toll may
be much higher. They warn that deaths could spiral into the thousands due to
the collapse of Zimbabwe's health system, the scarcity of food and the
oncoming rainy season, which may help spread infections.

Odinga said Mugabe had reduced a once-prosperous country to a "basket case"
and warned, "Mugabe's case deserves no less than investigations by the
International Criminal Court at The Hague."

Odinga assailed other African leaders for being slow to criticize Zimbabwe,
saying they had shamed the continent by treating Mugabe with "kid gloves"
because Mugabe had supported their liberation struggles.

"We refuse to accept the idea that African countries should be judged by
lesser standards than other countries in the world," Odinga said.
"Participation in the liberation struggle is no license for anyone to own a
country."

He declined to say whether Kenya was ready to send troops. The AU and UN are
already over-stretched in Africa, unable to fulfill commitments in Sudan's
Darfur region and Somalia.

Global criticism of Mugabe is growing louder. On Sunday former President
Jimmy Carter, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the human rights
campaigner Graça Machel issued a report in Paris urging Zimbabwean leaders
to end their power-sharing impasse and concentrate on saving lives. The
three members of group called The Elders were refused visas to enter
Zimbabwe but interviewed aid workers, politicians and others for the report.

Machel is the wife of the Elders founder Nelson Mandela, the former South
African President. She said either Zimbabwe's leaders do not understand how
deeply their people are suffering "or they don't care."

In the United States, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told ABC News that
the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe endangered the whole of southern Africa and
the international community was failing to protect the people of Zimbabwe.

"I am still really appalled at the inability of the international community
to deal with tyrants," she said. "Robert Mugabe should have gone a long time
ago."

African leaders under fire over Zimbabwe crisis

http://www.sabcnews.com

December 07 2008,
6:55:00

African leaders have come under attack for failing Zimbabwe in its
time of need. Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga is now calling on the
African Union to convene a special summit on Zimbabwe. Odinga also urged the
AU or the UN to send troops into the country.

He says both the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and AU
have failed to offer leadership on the crisis in Zimbabwe. Odinga is calling
for decisive action from Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, who also doubles up as
an AU Chairperson.

"Kikwete must now call an urgent summit of the heads of AU states, who
in turn must formulate a resolution to send AU troops into Zimbabwe. If no
troops are available, then the AU must allow the UN to send its forces into
Zimbabwe with immediate effect," says Odinga.

He's warning that continued in-action from the international community
could be seen as a crime against humanity. Odinga spoke only days after
meeting MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai in Kenya.

Mugabe 'cannot lead Zimbabwe out of crisis'

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au

From correspondents in Harare | December 08, 2008

Article from:  Agence France-Presse
INFLUENTIAL former statesmen have given a damning verdict on Zimbabwe,
saying President Robert Mugabe's government cannot lead the nation out of
its humanitarian crisis after a cholera outbreak killed nearly 600 people.

"There is bitter disappointment in the current leadership. This government
has not demonstrated the ability to lead the country out of its current
crisis," former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan said overnight, according to
a statement from the Elders.

"The process of transition to an inclusive government must be accelerated
and I urge SADC (Southern African Development Community) leaders to play a
more active role in pressing for that to occur," he said in a report
released on the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe.

South Africa is sending an official delegation to Zimbabwe tomorrow to
assess the situation, while a troika of SADC health and water affairs
ministers will meet on Friday in Johannesburg on the cholera outbreak.

"Zimbabwe's people are the greatest victims of their government's
mismanagement, but the entire region is paying the price. Three to four
million people have left, primarily for South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique
and the UK, while erosion of water and health systems has provoked a
potential trans-regional cholera epidemic," the report said.

Mr Annan and two other members of the Elders - former US president Jimmy
Carter and rights activist Graca Machel, wife of former South African leader
Nelson Mandela - tried to visit Zimbabwe on November 22 and 23 but Harare
refused them entry.

Instead, they met Zimbabwe political leaders, civil society and business
representatives, donors, aid workers and UN agency heads over three days in
Johannesburg.

"Zimbabwe urgently needs the rapid formation of a workable government. The
regime has been in denial about what is happening in their country and the
region has not really wanted to know either. The cholera epidemic has shown
just how serious the situation in Zimbabwe has become," Mr Carter said.

Ms Machel urged SADC leaders to visit Zimbabwe themselves.

"We were not able to enter the country...I would urge all the SADC leaders
to visit Zimbabwe to assess the humanitarian situation firsthand. Zimbabwe's
leaders are failing their people and the region cannot ignore the suffering
of millions any longer"

Based on the discussions in Johannesburg, "the Elders are strongly of the
view that there is a major underreported humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe and
the conditions are deteriorating at an alarming rate", the report said.

"The future of the country cannot be in the hands of the present
government," said former Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland,
another Elders member.

The Elders called for more food and medical assistance and urged the feuding
parties to implement "in good faith" the September 15 power-sharing deal
signed in Harare.

The head of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Zimbabwe, Roeland Monasch,
told the BBC he feared a possible 60,000 cholera cases in the coming weeks.

Such a surge in infections could bring the number of deaths to about 2700,
he said.

The Elders meet in Paris tomorrow with President Nicolas Sarkozy of France,
the current head of the European Union, even as EU foreign ministers meeting
in Brussels are expected to tighten sanctions against Zimbabwe.

UNICEF fears 60,000 possible cholera cases in Zimbabwe

http://news.yahoo.com

Sun Dec 7, 9:51 am ET

LONDON (AFP) - The head of the UN Children's Fund in Zimbabwe told the BBC
on Sunday he feared a possible 60,000 cholera cases in the coming weeks.

UNICEF's chief in Harare, Roeland Monasch, said such a surge in infections
could bring the number of deaths to around 2,700.

Zimbabwe says nearly 600 people have already died from the disease but aid
agencies fear the toll could be higher.

Monasch told the BBC that aid agencies were doing everything possible to
bring down mortality rates, but warned that he believed infection rates
would rise sharply in next few weeks.

He said he was particularly concerned about the plight of children.

"Children in Zimbabwe are on the brink, and everyone's focus must now be on
their survival," he said.

UNICEF has launched an emergency response programme in Zimbabwe to focus on
providing basic services for children, including providing nutritional
supplements, and trying to increase access to safe water in the short term.

Zimbabwean state media on Sunday blamed the cholera outbreak on European
sanctions imposed on the regime of President Robert Mugabe.

Zim collapse exposes SADC weakness: Buthelezi

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Sunday, 07 December 2008
CAPE TOWN - The collapse of Zimbabwe has exposed the Southern African
Development Community's ineffectiveness, Inkatha Freedom Party leader
Mangosuthu Buthelezi said on Friday. In his weekly newsletter, he questioned
whether an "African solution" would solve the problems in that country.

"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.

"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.

"Her people are starving, the hyper-inflation 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.

"It is time to call a spade a spade," he said.

Noting there had been both SADC and African Union efforts to resolve
the crisis in Zimbabwe, Buthelezi said these organisations had been
established "to be the architecture of governance".

"But they, in themselves, are not solutions -- as SADC has just so
ignobly demonstrated."

The disintegration of Zimbabwe had "miserably exposed" SADC's
ineffectiveness to intervene. Africans had fallen prey to the notion of
relative standards.

"We are expected to hold 'free and fair elections' like everyone else,
but there is an unspoken bargain that we will be given a bit of leeway. A
'bit' of voter fraud or a 'few' acts of intimidation -- even murder --will
be overlooked as long as the election is held and the result expresses the
will of the majority.

"As an African, who shares the joy of millions of people across the
globe at the election of an African American as the leader of the free
world, I believe it is time to say that we -- as Africans -- should be
expected to adhere to the same standards as everyone else," he said.

-Sapa

One of Mugabe's most reviled ministers killed in car crash

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Sunday, 07 December 2008
Bulawayo - The Minister Without Portfolio Eliot Manyika and Zanu PF
National Political Commissar died on Saturday in a road accident on his way
to Bulawayo to monitor Zanu PF provincial elections to restructure the party
ahead of the party's annual congress which opens Wednesday in Bindura.

Early reports on Saturday said the minister, who was also Bindura
Member of Parliament, had earlier been admitted to the private Mater Dei
Hospital in Bulawayo where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The party's Bulawayo Province was rocked with problems. Last month the
party chairperson in the city, Macleod Tshawe, said he would not seek
re-election when the polls take place at Zanu PF's provincial headquarters.
Tshawe's pullout came at a time when six members of his executive left Zanu
PF to join the revived PF Zapu.

Manyika (53) died after he was involved in a road accident on the
145-kilometre peg along the Zvishavane-Mbalabala Road yesterday morning. He
was pronounced dead on arrival at Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo.

Police spokesman Superintendent Andrew Phiri confirmed the minister's
death last night.

"I can confirm that this is what has happened," he said.

According to Phiri, Mr Manyika was travelling from Mutare to Gwanda in
Matabeleland South where he intended to preside over the election of Zanu-PF
leaders in that province.

The official Mercedes-Benz in which he was travelling burst a tyre,
resulting in the driver losing control. The vehicle then rolled once and
veered off the road before uprooting several small trees.

Both the minister and driver were trapped. A doctor, who was driving
by, later ferried them to hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The driver is, however, said to be recovering.

Manyika was born on July 30 1955 at Rosa Clinic in Chiweshe,
Mashonaland Central.

He served as Zimbabwe's High Commissioner to Malawi before returning
home in 2000 to become Mashonaland Central Governor and Resident Minister.

In this role, Manyika presided over the violent land invasions in the
province.

He was to become Bindura Member of Parliament in the following year
after the death of Border Gezi. He also filled in the ministerial post of
Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation. In this capacity, he
oversaw the implementation of the national youth service, which oversees the
Green Bombers - violent youths who have been responsible for the murders,
rapes and general breakdown in law and order in the country in the name of
Muagbe's Zanu (PF).

He became Zanu-PF national political commissar in 2001, a position he
held until the time of his death.

Among his duties as political commissar were organising party
structures and mobilising support ahead of national elections.

Zimbabwe Mail/Own correspondent

Aid runs out for starving millions

http://www.nzherald.co.nz

4:00AM Monday Dec 08, 2008

HARARE - Half a million people in Zimbabwe will go without food handouts
this month, the United Nations agency responsible for feeding more than
two-fifths of the country's population warned yesterday, as shortages of
funds force further cuts in rations.

"We are still four months away from the [maize] harvest. We haven't seen the
worst yet," said Richard Lee, a spokesman for the UN World Food Programme in
Johannesburg.

"The situation has worsened more quickly than expected. We have reduced
rations in December, and will have to do so again in January."

The food crisis has contributed to the rapid spread of the cholera epidemic
ravaging the country. Nearly 600 people have died and more than 12,000 have
been infected, say authorities, but the real figures are believed to be much
higher as the disease takes its toll among people weakened by hunger.

The WFP expects 5.1 million Zimbabweans - well over half the nine million
people remaining in the country - to need food aid by next month.

The target for this month was 4.2 million, but rations for only 3.7 million
are available.

"Rather than excluding entire households from the distribution, we have
decided to set a maximum of six rations a household," Lee said. "Families
with more than that number of mouths to feed will have to share."

Last month the monthly ration per person was cut from 12kg of maize meal to
10kg, and from 1.8kg of beans to 1kg.

Drought this year drastically increased Zimbabwe's food deficit. The rains
have been good so far this season, but the country's economic collapse means
the area planted with grain is well below what is needed to feed the
population.

The WFP says it needs an extra US$100 million to cover the shortfall up to
March.

With millions of Zimbabweans starving and cholera raging, British Prime
Minister Gordon Brown called on the international community yesterday to
tell President Robert Mugabe that enough is enough, saying: "The whole world
is angry because they see avoidable deaths - of children, mothers, and
families ... This is a humanitarian catastrophe. This is a breakdown in
civil society. It is a blood-stained regime that is letting down its own
people."

As cholera spills across Zimbabwe's borders into neighbouring countries,
Brown said the crisis was an "international rather than a national
emergency" that demanded a co-ordinated response.

Since there was no administration willing or able to protect the people,
Brown said a "command and control structure" should be put in place in the
capital, Harare, to manage aid efforts.

Mugabe is not expected to heed Brown's call - if anything, he is likely to
use it as proof of his claim that Britain is seeking to recolonise Zimbabwe.

The population is constantly told its problems are due to sanctions imposed
by Britain and the US, though these are targeted only at the leadership.

Desmond Tutu, the Nobel peace laureate, said last week that Mugabe was
"destroying a wonderful country" and should be deposed by force if he
refused to step down.

- INDEPENDENT

WOZA blames Mugabe govt for cholera outbreak

http://www.afriquenligne.fr

Dakar, Senegal - A leading pressure group, Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA),
has blamed Robert Mugabe's government for the cholera outbreak that has
killed hundreds, describing it as ''one effect of complete mismanagement and
deliberate disregard for the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans."

"Zimbabwe's complex emergency, which is now causing so much suffering,
taking lives and breaking the society apart at its seams, has been several
years in the making," WOZA said in a statement obtained by PANA here
Saturday.

"A key factor in creating a perfect environment for the breeding and spread
of the cholera bacterium has been the neglect of essential services by the
ZANU-PF government over the years," the pressure group added.

WOZA argued that the ZANU-PF rule had brought a decline in basic standards
of living for many Zimbabweans over the years.

"But in the months (that) Robert Mugabe has clung to power in the face of
rejection by the people at the polls in March this year, the downward spiral
has changed into a precipitous plunge," it said.

Dakar - 07/12/2008

Zimbabwe blames EU sanctions for cholera deaths

http://www.africasia.com

HARARE, Dec 7 (AFP)

Zimbabwean state media on Sunday blamed the country's cholera outbreak,
which has claimed nearly 600 lives, on European sanctions imposed on the
regime of President Robert Mugabe.

"The cholera outbreak is a clear example of the effects of sanctions on
innocent people," The Sunday Mail newspaper said in its editorial as the
European Union prepared to tighten sanctions on the government.

"The people who are suffering most are not politicians they claim they want
to punish, but poor people," the newspaper said.

"All the victims (of cholera) are as a result of the freezing of balance of
payments support, depriving the country of foreign currency required to buy
chemicals to treat our drinking water."

European Union foreign ministers are expected to adopt in Brussels on Monday
a draft text tightening sanctions against Zimbabwe amid worries over the
deteriorating humanitarian situation and political stalemate in the country.

They will add names to the EU's sanctions list of 168 members of the
Zimbabwe regime, including Mugabe and his wife Grace, who are banned from
entering EU nations and whose European assets have been frozen.

Meanwhile, a South African team will on Monday meet with stakeholders in
Zimbabwe and assess how it can aid the nation stricken by a food crisis and
cholera outbreak, a South African government spokesman said on Sunday.

"There is no change in our plans to send an official delegation to Zimbabwe
tomorrow (Monday). It is going to be a one-day mission during which the team
will meet all stakeholders," Themba Maseko told AFP.

He did not give further details.

Maseko had on Friday told reporters that the team would "assess the
situation on the ground, determine the level of assistance required and
consult with the representatives of the various stakeholders in Zimbabwe on
how a multi-stakeholder distribution and monitoring mechanism could be set
up."

The team would then brief South African President Kgalema Motlanthe and
ministers who would decide on humanitarian aid to be provided by South
Africa.

Mugabe has been under intense pressure over his country's collapse from both
the West and his neighbours who have urged a stronger stance against the
84-year-old veteran leader.

SADC to investigate MDC military camps in Botswana

http://www.mmegi.bw

Friday, 05 December 2008

STAFF WRITER

Increasingly strained diplomatic relations between Botswana and Zimbabwe
have compelled the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security
investigating team to meet authorities in Gaborone next Thursday.

The investigating team was appointed following a November 5, meeting of the
Organ Troika held in Maputo, Mozambique, in which Zimbabwe lodged a
complaint that Botswana was giving military training to youth from the
opposition MDC-T to fight the government.
Botswana has consistently dismissed such claims, inviting the SADC
commission to come and investigate. The investigating team's terms of
reference (ToR) were approved at the SADC Extra-Ordinary Summit held in
Johannesburg on November 9. Slightly over a week later, the team started its
investigations in Gaborone.

Zimbabwe expects the investigating team and Botswana representatives to
attend what was described as "stage-managed witness presentations" in
Harare, a SADC diplomat noted.  This is not part of the terms of reference,
Botswana cautioned.

The ToRs were based on Zimbabwe's charge that Botswana has bases at which
Mugabe's opponents are being trained. The team's terms are basically to
establish the existence of such bases and related training programmes.

The head of the investigating team, Dr. John Kunene confirmed yesterday that
they would be on a two-day visit to Botswana next week.  Kunene, the
principal secretary in Swaziland's Ministry of Defence, added that the team
would subsequently submit a final report to the SADC Interstate Defence and
Security Committee of the Organ Troika.

The committee might decide to expeditiously convene an extraordinary meeting
to review the findings, he added.  Swaziland currently holds the rotating
chair of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security.

The relations between Botswana and Zimbabwe took another turn since
President, Ian Khama became head of state last April.  Khama's
administration broke ranks with the 'silent diplomacy' brigade that
characterised SADC.

Robert Mugabe's daylight robbery of the June 28 presidential run-off
elections appears to have been the last straw in what remained of the
neighbouring countries' relations.  Botswana made it clear it could not
recognise the unfair and violent poll that brought Mugabe back to power.

After initially boycotting the August SADC ExtraOrdinary Summit in
Johannesburg, Khama was coerced to attend the Thabo Mbeki engineered
power-signing agreement ceremony held in Harare of October 15.  That
agreement has since turned out to be a farce due to Mugabe's resolute
reluctance to genuinely share power.

Prior to the latest power sharing talks held in South Africa last month,
Botswana proposed that because of the continued impasse, SADC should
consider calling for  fresh presidential elections in Zimbabwe, this time,
under the supervision of SADC, African Union and United Nations.

This proposal rubbed the Mugabe administration the wrong way, describing it
as provocative.

Kunene, however, could not rule out this option should the impasse persist.
"If there is no breakthrough, then obviously the region will have to explore
other options, such as the involvement of the AU and the UN".

Another round of Zimbabwean power sharing talks could be expected next week.
The chief director, Africa Multilateral in the South African Foreign
Ministry, Ajay Bramdeo, indicated that for now, attention has temporarily
turned to the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, and the accompanying economic
crisis.

"Efforts are ongoing to try and break the last hurdle on the way to a
permanent solution," he added.

SADC ministers to hold meeting on Zimbabwe cholera

Agence France-Presse (AFP)

Date: 07 Dec 2008

JOHANNESBURG, Dec 7, 2008 (AFP) - Health and water ministers from a southern
African bloc will meet Thursday in Johannesburg to discuss the cholera
outbreak in Zimbabwe that has killed nearly 600 people, an official said
Sunday.

The ministers are from the troika of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC), South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia,
Fidel Hadebe, the spokesman of the South African health department, told
AFP.

"It is a one-day meeting on the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, he said.

He did not give more details of the meeting, but public broadcaster SA FM
described it as an "emergency meeting."

The troika is a political and defence organ of the SADC whose members
rotate.

The cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has claimed 575 lives so far, according to
the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Harare is the
worst-hit district with 179 deaths and 6,448 cases as of December 4.

The water-borne disease has spread to surrounding countries with deaths
recorded in Botswana and South Africa where the influx of Zimbabweans across
the border seeking help has grown.

South Africa, which is to send a team to Zimbabwe Monday to probe how it can
assist with food and humanitarian aid, has said it hoped the cholera
outbreak would act as a spur for political leaders.

President Robert Mugabe, his main rival Morgan Tsvangirai and a smaller
political party are deadlocked in discussions over a stalled political
agreement in which they agreed to share power about three months ago.

The deal, signed in Harare on September 15, has yet to be implemented as
parties cannot agree on who should control key ministries.

As his country flounders, Mugabe, 84, who has ruled since independence from
Britain in 1980, on Friday brandished the threat of fresh elections within
the next two years if the power-sharing deal did not work.

Zimbabwe rights group issues appeal over missing activist

http://www.africasia.com

HARARE, Dec 7 (AFP)

A Zimbabwe rights group on Sunday appealed to the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU) to intervene in the
case of a human rights activist abducted last week.

Jestina Mukoko was abducted on Wednesday at dawn from her home by a group of
15 armed men.

The Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) called for Mukoko's immediate release in a
statement issued by chairperson Alois Chaumba. It also called on the
Zimbabwean authorities to "respect international law and custom, especially
the ones that they have pledged to keep."

Human Rights Watch director for Africa, Georgette Gagnon, said on Thursday
it was concerned that Jestina's abduction was part of a broader pattern of
persecution of human rights defenders by the country's police.

"A detention by authorities who refuse to acknowledge that they are holding
the person or reveal the person's fate... is a serious violation of
international law," Gagnon said in a statement.

Amnesty International's Africa programme director made similar allegations
in a statement Thursday.

"The abduction or arrest of Jestina Mukoko is part of an established pattern
of harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders by Zimbabwean
authorities in an attempt to discourage them from documenting and
publicising the violations that are taking place," he said.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has also appealed to
SADC and the AU for the release of 16 of its activists who have been missing
for more than a month.

EU To Be Briefed on Mukoko's Disappearance

http://www.radiovop.com

Harare - A European Diplomat on Sunday said Jestina Mukoko's abduction
will be brought to the attention of the European Union on Monday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the diplomat, who is based in
Harare, said their embassies were concerned at Mukoko's abduction.
"We are very concerned with the situation," he said, "We want this
lady to be found as soon as possible.  We are also raising this issue in the
European Union as an embassy."
European Union Foreign Affairs ministers are set to meet as a block in
Brussels, Belgium on Monday.

Meanwhile Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) has made a passionate appeal
for information from sympathetic members of the uniformed offices and
members of the public on the  whereabouts of Mukoko who has been missing
since December 3, to contact them on Zimbabwe cell numbers 0912 471 671 or
send text messages to 0912 452 201.
At a press conference in Harare on Sunday, ZPP chairperson Munyaradzi
Chaumba said all efforts to seek assistance from the police was bearing no
fruit as police were not co-operating at all.
Mukoko, ZPP Director, was kidnapped at gun point at her home in Norton
on December 03, when a gang of about 15 suspected state security agents
driving an unmarked car seized her when she was still in bed.
Her whereabouts are still unknown.
No one has since claimed responsibility of her captivity and no
reasons have also been stated as to her abduction.
There are wide beliefs though that the incident could have been done
to stop her from further documenting rampant human rights violations by
President Robert Mugabe's government.

Civic Groups in Zimbabwe have also embarked on various campaigns aimed
at searching for the whereabouts of Mukoko.

Leadership change at upcoming annual conference

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Sunday, 07 December 2008

Rumours
Party dismisses suggestions of leadership change at upcoming annual
conference, as succession battle heats up. ZANU-PF has sought to
weaken a party faction opposed to President Robert
Mugabe and his heir apparent in the run up to its annual conference.

But ruling party officials have told IWPR that the succession issue will not
be on the agenda of next week's event.

In six of the country's ten provinces, the party leadership has been
completely overhauled, with those opposed to 84-year-old Mugabe's continued
rule or the faction headed by his chosen successor facing expulsion or being
sidelined.

Emmerson Mnangagwagwa, minister of housing and amenities as well as the
party's secretary for legal affairs, is touted as Mugabe's heir apparent in
the event that the ageing Zimbabwean leader decides to call it quits.

The conference is an "annual talk shop that will be characterised by wining
and dining while the rest of the country is facing a severe humanitarian
crisis coupled by the cholera epidemic", said Useni Sibanda, coordinator of
the Christian Alliance of Zimbabwe.

"We don't expect much except the usual praise singing in which leaders
declare their loyalty to Mugabe so that he rules them forever until amen."

The conference, from December 10 to 13, will be held in Bindura, a district
in which a number of opposition Movement for Democratic Change, MDC,
supporters were killed in the run-up to the controversial March presidential
election and presidential run-off in June.

Ernest Mudzengi, a Harare-based political analyst, described the event as a
yearly ZANU-PF routine for party fanatics to endorse the continued misrule
of the country and party by geriatrics. "I don't expect anyone to stand up
and say Mugabe must go. They are happy to continue the misery of the
country. It will be the usual gigantic feast that has come to be associated
with ZANU-PF," said Mudzengi.

ZANU-PF is not known to spare costs in feeding its party faithful, he added.

Several million US dollars has allegedly been budgeted for the conference,
while recipients of farms doled out by Mugabe under his controversial land
reform programme have donated livestock, grain and cash to feed about 10,000
people drawn from the country's 10 provinces. About 200 cattle are set for
slaughter.

Previous ZANU-PF gatherings have in the past been dogged by allegations of
delegates stealing food. Relief agencies estimate that more than 5.1 million
Zimbabweans out of a population of 12 million people are in urgent need of
food handouts.

The situation has been compounded by a cholera epidemic which independent
health officials say has killed at least 3, 000. There are also fears of a
grim harvest next year due to the country's ill preparedness for the 2008/09
planting season, owing to shortages of fertiliser, seeds and farming inputs.

Party insiders said the leadership was not worried about the humanitarian
crisis as it had its eyes firmly on the conference. They said the
restructuring of the party's provincial leadership in elections prior to the
conference was critical.

There has been an ongoing fight for political turf in ZANU-PF as the
Mnangagwa faction and those backing retired army general Solomon Mujuru,
husband of Vice-President Joice Mujuru, battle to succeed Mugabe.

For instance, in Masvingo provincial elections held last week, office
bearers suspected to be linked to the Mujuru camp were routed in what
insiders claim was a bid to strategically position politicians with
connections to Mnangagwa.

Mnangagwa is credited with master-minding Mugabe's violent re-election in
June this year in a one-man presidential run-off after opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai opted out, citing the horrendous violence which killed
more than 100 MDC supporters.

ZANU-PF has also completed restructuring in the Midlands, Mashonaland
Central, Mashonaland East and Manicaland provinces, where pro-Mnangagwa
people have been elevated to powerful and influential positions.

However, in Mashonaland East, Ray Kaukonde, a wealthy ZANU-PF politician
perceived to be aligned to the Mujuru camp and suspected to be behind moves
to oust Mugabe, has retained his party chairmanship, despite spirited
efforts by the Mnangagwa camp to oust him.

In Manicaland, Mike Madiro has made a dramatic comeback after nearly four
years in the political wilderness, clinching the chairmanship in the
province, which was won by the MDC in the March 2008 elections.

Madiro was suspended in 2004 over what has come to be known as the
Tsholotsho Debacle, when politicians, including Madiro and then-information
minister (now independent member of parliament) Jonathan Moyo called a
meeting to change the party's rules, by having provincial chairpersons elect
the party leader who would become the country's president.

In Mashonaland Central, former government minister Chen Chimutengwende, seen
as pro-Mujuru, has made way for politician Dick Mafios, believed to be
pro-Mnangagwa, as provincial chairperson.

Elections in the faction-riddled Bulawayo province have been complicated by
an attempt by most of the provincial executive to revive PF ZAPU, a
liberation movement swallowed by ZANU-PF in the 1980s. Current chairperson
McCloud Tshawe will not be seeking re-election. Politicians in Bulawayo
heavily linked to war veteran leader Jabulani Sibanda, who is also thought
to be close to Mngangwa, are expected to sweep to victory.

In Matabeleland South, elections are expected at the weekend after being
cancelled last week because of the deadly cholera outbreak sweeping the
country.

There is wild speculation of a change of leadership at the conference in
Bindura, but Ephraim Masawi, the ZANU-PF deputy secretary for
information,
who confirmed the agenda for the annual gathering has been set, dismissed
the reports, alleging mere media speculation.

Masawi said the election of new leaders was the preserve of the party's
National People's Congress, which is only held every five years; the next
one is due in 2010.

"The ZANU-PF annual national conference is not going to tackle a change of
leadership in the party. The issue of the succession is not on the agenda,"
he said. The conference will run under the theme "Let us stand united in
defence of the party and our revolution".
IWPR

The other side of modern Africa

http://www.independent.co.uk

Ian Birrell:
Democracy is making progress across Africa, from Botswana to Zambia.

Sunday, 7 December 2008

The disintegration of Zimbabwe continues. The killing goes on in Congo and
Darfur. And Aids continues to devastate the lives of millions. But still
blinded by cliches about the "Dark Continent", we are ignoring another side
of modern Africa.

There are few places that demonstrate this better than Ghana. The former
British colony has had its share of problems since 1957, when it became the
first sub-Saharan country in Africa to win independence. It has endured
coups and chaos, while its prosperous economy was wrecked first by socialist
ideologues running the country, then by free-market fanatics in the
international community.

Today, Ghana is a symbol of the emerging Africa. Ghanaians take immense
pride in their democracy, restored in 1992 and safeguarded by a powerful
Electoral Commission. The West African nation was yesterday choosing a new
president after the two-term John Kufour stood down, in accordance with the
law. If successful, it will be the fifth clean poll in a row. Still, people
queued overnight to be first to cast their votes after a campaign in which
many of the key issues were familiar to any Western |voter: crime, health
care, jobs, out-of-touch politicians.

It is not just democracy that makes Ghana a flag-bearer for the continent.
The economy is growing 6 per cent a year, with exports nearly tripling since
the turn of the century. Its media, especially radio, is independent and
vibrant. Mobile communications are proving transformative; indeed, during
elections radio stations use volunteers with mobile phones to send in
instant reports from polling stations, which helps to ensure that there is
no malpractice.

But Ghana is far from unique. Democracy is making progress across Africa,
from Botswana to Zambia. There have been successful elections recently in
countries that endured terrible bloodshed and upheaval, such as Liberia and
Sierra Leone. There is economic growth across the continent, despite the
protectionism of Europe and the United States and a global economic meltdown
that will hit Africa hard. There is an emerging and increasingly vocal
middle class, empowered by mobile phones. It was even revealed this weekend
that the debilitating guinea-worm disease is on the brink of elimination,
which would be only the second time in human history a disease has been
wiped out.

This is the side of Africa we hear so little about. I have taken parties of
Western musicians out to play with African artists in Bamako, Kinshasa and
Lagos and one of the first things they always say is how different Africa is
to their expectations. "I expected to see kids with distended bellies and
begging bowls everywhere," said one indie star.

Life is far from perfect, of course, But Africa is a continent of 53
nations. As in Europe, each has its own character, its own successes and its
own difficulties. Yet in so many ways, those optimistic Ghanaians taking
pride in their cherished democracy present a truer picture of the continent
today than the brutal despot unleashing horrors upon his people in Zimbabwe.

The author is deputy editor of 'The Independent' and co-founder of Africa
Express

Tell Mugabe to Go

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Sunday, 07 December 2008
Tell Mugabe to Go, Anglican Primate Asks AU Catholic Information
Service for Africa (Nairobi)
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".

Zimbabwe needs a political solution

http://www.ft.com

Published: December 7 2008 18:14 | Last updated: December 7 2008 18:14

A few clear-sighted African leaders are speaking out in favour of robust
intervention in Zimbabwe. Raila Odinga, Kenya's prime minister, Desmond
Tutu, the Nobel laureate, and Seretse Ian Khama, president of Botswana, are
foremost among them. This is not yet cause for hope.

Even as tens of thousands of Zimbabweans fall victim to cholera, the sad
truth is that those governments in southern Africa capable of acting
decisively against Robert Mugabe are unwilling to do so. Worse, some appear
to be swinging back behind his vile regime. No amount of hand-wringing by
Britain and the US is going to change this. Rather, it is time to toughen up
the rules.

Three months ago Thabo Mbeki, South Africa's former president and the
mediator in Zimbabwe, brokered a power-sharing agreement. For this to
resolve the crisis and create confidence at home and among international
donors, it was obligatory that Mr Mugabe hand real authority quickly to
Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader and designated prime minister.
Predictably, he has not. Nor has the inter-governmental Southern African
Development Community applied the pressure necessary to oblige him.

Mr Mugabe is under pressure but from different quarters. The banking system
is imploding. Hospitals, schools, electricity and water supplies have ceased
to function. Even the army is beginning to crack as soldiers protest against
the worthless currency they are paid in. One consequence of the collapse of
the state is starvation. Another is disease, and cholera is only the latest
epidemic.

By stepping in unconditionally to treat these symptoms, aid agencies and
western governments, led by Britain, are taking a risk. All too often in
Africa the delivery of high-protein biscuits and foreign doctors with
medicine creates the false assurance that something is being done. But if
such measures relieve pressure on Mr Mugabe, what end will they ultimately
serve? Vital as it may be to stem the suffering, a humanitarian response can
be no substitute for tough political action.

It is time for the wider world to stiffen the consequences of intransigence
both by Mr Mugabe and by those southern African governments giving him
succour. If the world is going to clear up the catastrophe he is creating
for the region, there has to be a quid pro quo. Ideally this should be his
resignation. Since power-sharing is proving a non-starter, fresh elections
conducted under international supervision may be an alternative. Nothing can
be left off the table. Simply calling for Mr Mugabe to go will not make him
vanish.

Mbeki seems uninterested in salvaging his image

http://www.nation.co.ke

Posted Sunday, December 7 2008 at 16:38

Former South Africa President Thabo Mbeki appears uninterested in salvaging
his image. He had a chance a week ago and blew it.

Mr Mbeki's image is already tattered, courtesy of his baby-sitting Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe with ethereal diplomacy even as the latter drives
the country to the verge of collapse.

The 20th anniversary of World Aids Day provided Mr Mbeki was a moment to say
sorry. Media reported church bells tolled, workers put down their tools and
court proceedings stopped for a minute of silence for Aids victims. South
Africa also ended a decade of denial about the epidemic.

What Mr Mbeki did in the minute remains unpublished. However, Ms Baleka
Mbete, the country's deputy president, summed up Mr Mbeki's HIV/Aids legacy:
We are the first to admit that a lot still needs to be done.

In all fairness to Mr Mbeki, the fight against HIV/Aids should have begun
before the African National Congress-led government took over in 1994.
Additionally, the post-apartheid government inherited other more obvious
monumental problems.

Mr Alan Morris, a research fellow at the University of South Wales,
Australia, wrote six years ago that for the first two years, HIV/Aids didn't
feature even in official speeches. Yet health workers were warning the
country headed toward an HIV/Aids crisis. It did.

South Africa hosts an estimated 5.7 million people living with the HIV
virus. That, the media says, is about one-sixth of the global total.
Moreover, about 1,000 people die daily of the disease and complications,
like tuberculosis.

Mr Mbeki is unique in that he considered as hogwash scientifically
documented evidence linking HIV virus and Aids. Poverty, at least in Africa,
causes Aids, Mr Mbeki insisted. Eradication of poverty, not expensive and
toxic Western drugs, was all that's required to fight HIV/Aids. Well,
HIV/Aids afflict very filthy rich Africans.

Of course, Mr Mbeki had company, including scientists outside South Africa
who denied HIV virus causes Aids. At home, he had supporters in the ANC and
cowards who dared not challenge him.

Health minister Manto Tshabalala-Musimang studied medicine, obstetrics and
gynaecology. Voodoo medicine appears to have wiped out all that knowledge.
Her cure was simple: lemon peels, raw garlic, South African potatoes and
beetroots. Two years ago, Ms Tshabalala-Msimang presented her recipe at the
XVI International Aids Conference in Toronto. No wonder she earned a
derisive title, 'Dr Beetroots.'

Most infamous was Mr Mbeki's government appearance in court to stymie
decisions the state makes anti-retroviral drugs widely available.

Mark you, pharmaceutical firms were prepared to donate some, for example,
for expectant mothers. The government lost the case.

The results of Mbeki administration's policies amount to murder through
negligence. Last month, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health
calculated 330,000 HIV/Aids victims died between 2000 and 2005. Reason? The
government delays in introducing Aids drugs. Mr Mbeki and leading champion
in voodoo medicine remain silent.

Mr Mbeki's cover is the ANC's collective leadership. The party collectively
made policy decisions. Actually, a paper written by officials of the
National Executive Committee did support Mr Mbeki's position.

Of course, Mr Mbeki was the leading force in the ANC. His ouster in
September as party leader and resignation as president resulted partly from
his forcefulness in undermining the collective leadership.

In any case, collective conscience is none existent, unless Mr Mbeki wishes
to invent it. The problem with Mr Mbeki is ego.

The New York Times reported Mr Zakie Achmat, who refused to take
anti-retroviral for five years until the state made them widely available
comparing Mr Mbeki with Macbeth. "It's easier to walk through the blood than
to turn back and admit you made a mistake." Turning back is what Mr Mbeki
should do and reclaim some respect.