http://edition.cnn.com
February 18,
2009
From Nkepile
Mabuse
CNN
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CNN) -- Officials in Zimbabwe
President Robert
Mugabe's ruling party have offered to release imprisoned
opposition leaders
in exchange for a promise of amnesty covering the party's
nearly 30-year
rule, one jailed politician's wife said Wednesday.
Roy
Bennett, who had been slated to be sworn in as deputy agriculture
minister
before his arrest last week, has refused the deal -- "and I think
every
single Zimbabwean would want him to," Heather Bennett told CNN.
Roy
Bennett was arrested Friday on terrorism-related charges before he could
take his new post in the unity government that took office last week in
Harare. He is a longtime Mugabe foe who served as treasurer of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
Heather Bennett would not
identify which members of Mugabe's Zanu-PF party
offered the deal, but she
said the party wants a blanket amnesty for any
crimes committed between
Zimbabwe's independence in 1980 and 2009. Cabinet
ministers in the new
government have either denied the amnesty-for-release
allegation or refused
to comment.
Roy Bennett has been charged with illegally possessing
firearms for the
purposes of trying to commit acts of insurgency, banditry
and terrorism and
to illegally leave the country, his lawyer said
Tuesday.
"Roy is a thorn in their side, and they know that with Roy in
government,
it's not going to be an easy ride for them," his wife said.
"He's going to
be checking them all the time by doing this, and I fear that
they are going
to try and put him away for a long time."
Bennett's arrest
strained the first meeting of a Cabinet assembled under a
hard-won
power-sharing deal between the Zanu-PF and MDC, an agreement aimed
at ending
the lingering impasse from last year's disputed elections. The
deal puts MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the newly created post of prime
minister, and
Heather Bennett said Tsvangirai's inability so far to free her
husband has
left the party looking weak.
If Tsvangirai "acts decisively and has Roy
released, that may bring back a
shred of respect to the MDC," she said. "But
at this stage, they are looking
like they lack
leadership."
Zimbabwe's new leaders are grappling with a massive
humanitarian and
economic crisis. Many civil servants -- including teachers,
doctors and
nurses -- have been on strike since September, demanding higher
pay as
Zimbabwe's currency has plummeted in value. That has caused many
schools to
close and exacerbated a cholera epidemic that has killed nearly
4,000 people
and infected about 65,000 people since August.
Bennett's
next court date is set for March, but his lawyer plans on lodging
an
application for bail on Thursday. Heather Bennett said she is not holding
out any hope her husband will be released anytime soon.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Lizwe Sebatha
Thursday 19 February 2009
BULAWAYO - Four Women of Zimbabwe
Arise (WOZA) activists who on Wednesday
refused to pay admission of guilt
fines following their arrest during a
peaceful march last Saturday will
appear in court today facing charges of
disturbing public peace, their
lawyer said yesterday.
"Police said they will take them to court tomorrow
(Thursday) morning to
face charges of disturbing public peace," said Kossam
Ncube who is
representing the WOZA activists.
Bulawayo police on
Saturday arrested 12 WOZA activists for taking part in a
peaceful march to
mark Valentine's Day and "spread the word of love during
the country's
political crisis".
Ncube said police have since Monday failed to take the
activists to court
because they had no solid case against them, prompting
the police to beg the
activists to pay admission of guilt
fines.
"Police failed to lay a clear solid charge against the WOZA
activists and on
Tuesday and Wednesday begged them to pay admission of guilt
fines so that
they can be released," said Ncube
"Eight of the
activists paid the ZW$20 guilt fine for disturbing public
peace and were
released but four others refused because they saw no reason
why they should
pay it since they had not committed a crime."
The WOZA activists who were
marching, distributing fliers and leaflets were
arrested a day after
President Robert Mugabe swore in a power sharing
Cabinet that is faced with
the tough task of reversing the country's
decade-long economic
crisis.
Their arrest followed the arrest of Roy Bennett, a top official
of Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC party who is set to assume the
post of
deputy agriculture minister, in what the party said is a covert move
by
hardliners in Mugabe's ZANU PF party and military chiefs to derail the
new
unity government.
Meanwhile On Wednesday, Amnesty International
urged the African Union and
the United Nations to send monitors to
investigate human rights violations
committed by Zimbabwe's security forces
during the current transitional
period.
"A number of events that have
taken place since the swearing in of a new
government in Zimbabwe suggest
that there is a force within the Zimbabwean
security forces, that continues
ordering violations of human rights as a
method of dealing with people they
do not like," Amnesty International's
Zimbabwe Researcher, Simeon Mawanza
said.
The country's security chiefs last week boycotted the swearing in
of
Tsvangirai whom they have said they will never salute. - ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=11984
February 18, 2009
By
Raymond Maingire
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has accused
President Robert
Mugabe's top officials within Zanu PF of working tirelessly
to torpedo the
newly formed unity government with his Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC).
Tsvangirai cited last Friday's arrest on
terrorism charges, of his party's
national treasurer and agriculture deputy
minister-designate Roy Bennet, an
incident which many see as a demonstration
of insincerity by Mugabe's party.
The new Zimbabwean Premier said this
ran counter to current efforts to
restore international confidence on
Zimbabwe and instigate a parallel
process aimed towards economic
recovery.
He warned the arrest and continued detention of Bennet would
further dent
the image of Zimbabwe internationally.
"To arrest Bennet
today is actually undermining the whole process of
economic recovery,"
Tsvangirai told guests Wednesday at a function held at a
city hotel to
launch the 10th anniversary of the MDC.
Tsvangirai said the continued
detention of 30 human rights and MDC activists
on charges of banditry also
compromised efforts to unlock much needed
economic assistance to
Zimbabwe.
The international community, led by America and Britain,
maintains it wants
to see evidence of political reforms in Zimbabwe before
it can disburse
funds to help resuscitate Zimbabwe's economy, battered by
years of unbridled
corruption by President Mugabe's top officials.
"I
was telling this old man (Mugabe) that look, you are doing everything to
ruin the credibility of this government," Tsvangirai said.
"All our
efforts of trying to make sure that people believe in this process
are being
undermined by people whom we have budgeted for resistance."
Tsvangirai
said his party was wary of Zanu PF hawks who are toiling to
destroy the
unity government.
Although Tsvangirai did not single out anyone, it is
widely believed that
the country's military chiefs are silently resisting
the arrangement which
has left Tsvangirai among their bosses.
"It's
not everyone who is saying 'hallelujah there is a unity government',"
he
said.
"Don't ever fool yourselves. We are not going to be naïve to
believe that it's
going to be smooth. This is a transition and there are
transitional
obstacles that you need to overcome. And overcome we will. Step
by step we
will make those incremental gains."
Tsvangirai once again
defended his decision to enter into a unity deal with
Zanu PF.
MDC
critics have accused the party of "selling out" by signing a unity pact
with
a party they find responsible for gross violation of citizens' rights
and
economic mismanagement.
The MDC leader maintained the unity deal, which
is expected to stretch for
two years pending the creation of a conducive
environment for fresh
elections, was the only feasible route remaining to
achieve change in
Zimbabwe.
"This is a strategic decision of
positioning a party in order to unlock the
tentacles that have spread around
the whole country," he said.
"To democratize, cut those roots and create
(favourable) conditions for free
and fair elections.
"Regrettably
there are signs where it does not appear good. Some will say
but Roy Bennet
has been arrested and so forth, I do understand that. We are
unlocking it. I
can assure you that this is a process that is going to free
the people of
Zimbabwe.
"I can stand up here and recall heroes and heroines of our
struggle. But let
us continue to be focused on the goal. Never betray what
those people died
to achieve and then we can stand up and say we did
it.
"Without the firing of a bullet, we did it. Without losing the lives
of
Zimbabweans deliberately, without violence, without other known African
conflicts, but we did it.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
The Mugabe
regime has moved swiftly to stop all investigations into
murders committed
by Zanu (PF) agents, including the police, army and
militia, before during
and after the March and June 2008 elections.
The MDC says more than 300
of its activists and officials were
kidnapped and murdered during this
period. A further 500 people disappeared
and are presumed to have been
murdered.
The order to drop all cases relating to murders committed
during the
run-up to last year's June 27 presidential election came from
Police
Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri.
This is a clear
indication that the reign of terror against MDC
supporters was sanctioned at
the highest level of government, and the
perpetrators knew that they would
never be punished - if indeed they were
ever investigated at all.
A
circular to all provincial commanders dated February 10 has been
leaked to
the media, in which Chihuri orders that all murder cases committed
during
the run-up to the sham June 27 election. MDC president Morgan
Tsvangirai
pulled out of this run off, citing violence against his
supporters.
Chihuri's circular reads: "Please be advised that all murder cases
committed
during the run up to the presidential election run-off and have
not been
finalised be dropped immediately. The decision has been made in
the spirit
of promoting national healing in view of the inclusive
government."
It is not clear who took the decision to drop the murder charges -
whether
instructions came from the politicians or whether this was done by
the cabal
of military generals who are working feverishly to disrupt the
newly-inaugurated inclusive government.
Evidently this reprieve
applies only to Zanu (PF members and not to
the MDC, whose secretary general
and deputy minister of agriculture
designate, Roy Bennett, was kidnapped in
Harare and driven to Mutare in
General Constantine Chiwenga's vehicle before
being charged with a variety
of trumped up charges.
Chihuri has
since dispatched deputy commissioner general Godwin
Matanga to visit all
provinces and explain to senior officers the
implication of the
directive.
Matanga yesterday confirmed that he was visiting provinces
but denied
that he was on an assignment to push for the dropping of murder
cases.
"I am visiting provinces so that senior officers are aware of
the
developments taking place within the force as the new government takes
control", said Matanga.
However sources within the police force
said Matanga caused a stir
when he visited Masvingo after he sought a
meeting with court officials and
instructing them to drop all cases of
murder committed between March and
June last year.
A court official
who requested anonymity said that Matanga had
unsuccessfully tried to
convince officials to drop the murder charges.
"We told him that we
will not be pushed and that the law has to take
its course unless President
Mugabe pardons them".
The country's main opposition MDC claims that
over 300 of its
supporters were killed during the run-up to the one man
presidential
election run off.
The opposition has since called for
the prosecution of all
perpetrators of violence during the run-up to the
election while Zanu-PF
says the perpetrators should go free.
Speculation is rife within the police force that Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and the MDC might call for the prosecution of all perpetrators of
violence, resulting in the arrest and prosecution of senior Zanu-PF
officials.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Zanu (PF) has sent a clear and unequivocal message to all and sundry -
it's
business as usual. The two MDC's might be part of some so-called
power-sharing arrangement but that is not going to change anything. Zanu
(PF) has every intention of running the show as if nothing had
changed.
The contempt of Mugabe and his junta for Morgan Tsvangirai and
the MDC
has been evident since the moment of the prime minister's swearing
in last
Wednesday.
The much be-medalled military chiefs who,
bulging out of their
brocaded uniforms, attend every Zanu (PF) funeral,
wedding or birthday, were
conspicuous by their absence from the swearing in
ceremony.
The most un-gracious first lady refused to shake Tsvangirai's
handed,
but extended her be-jewelled fingers to Arthur Mutambara after he
was sworn
in as deputy prime minister.
In a clear demonstration of
his utter contempt for the Constitution of
Zimbabwe, and the power-sharing
agreement backed by SADC leaders, Mugabe
tried to swear in 22 Zanu (PF)
ministers instead of the 15 allocated to his
party under the Constitution
Amendment 19 and agreed with the MDC parties.
This ministerial
inflation was craftily designed to give Mugabe an
unfair advantage in
cabinet.
The amendment says Zimbabwe will have 31 ministers. But Mugabe
tried
to wangle himself an extra eight ministers, rather than the minority
of one
awarded him by the agreement and the amendment, by unilaterally
creating
extra posts for "ministers of state".
If he had has his
way, Zimbabwe would have ended up, yet again, with a
bloated cabinet which
it cannot afford.
The incredible saga of Roy Bennett's kidnapping and
subsequent
detention on frivolous charges, and the continued incarceration
of Jestina
Mukoko and 42 other MDC and civil society activists, is yet
further
testimony of Zanu (PF)'s bad faith. They are cocking a snook at the
MDC,
SADC, Africa and the rest of the world. And nobody seems able to do a
darn
thing about it. Shocked disbelief and stunned paralysis are words that
come
to mind.
They can't do that - we all say - oh yes they
can!
Perhaps the most unbelievable act of all has been the unilateral
pardoning of all Zanu (PF) murderers, torturers and rapists involved in the
orgy of violence that left 200 murdered, 300 missing - suspected murdered,
and hundreds of thousands injured or displaced. This announcement was leaked
to the media via a communication from police commissioner Chihuri to his
provincial commanders, long before the new cabinet had even sat for the
first time.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Wednesday, 18 February
2009
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is set to meet
business
leaders today to find a lasting solution to the country's economic
and
political woes that the country has been facing over the past ten
years.
KM Financial Solutions chief executive Kenias Mafukidze said
the
meeting was designed to build a better working relationship between the
newly-formed inclusive Government and the business community.
Among
issues to be tackled will be the liberalisation of the economy,
dollarisation and funding challenges faced by the business
community.
Mafukidze said the event would provide a forum for business
leaders to
digest the full impact of the 2009 National Budget and the
Monetary Policy
Statement.
"The recent developments on the business
and socio-political front
need serious consideration hence the need to have
an event of this nature.
Zimbabwe is gravitating back into the global
economic scene through
dollarisation and liberalisation. Businesses need to
prepare for this
phase," said Mafukidze.
It is hopeful that the
event will encourage the consummation of deals
with a number of
international financiers who had pledged to invest in the
country.
Local industry can't compete
HARARE - Grain Millers Association of
Zimbabwe (GMAZ) chairman,
Tafadzwa Musarara has said that while the
government's decision to suspend
import duty on selected basic commodities
had brought relief to consumers in
the interim, it was important for policy
makers to implement measures that
would ensure the resurgence of local
industries to spur economic growth.
Local industries were finding it
difficult to compete with imports
because of higher production costs brought
about by a number of factors.
Suffocating local producers would in the
long run hinder economic
revival efforts with precedent showing that
successful economies the world
over were anchored on high local
production.
"While providing immediate relief to consumers, the
unrestricted
importation of finished basic commodities has had a negative
impact on local
manufacturers whose production costs are not competitive
because of
variables beyond their control. For example, standing legislation
forces
local millers to import high quality grain than GMO varieties used by
foreign millers. Imported brands are made of low cost and heavily refined
GMO grain and are being sold at an average price of US$5 per 12,5kg bag. We
are landing 10kg of organic maize at US$4 and our selling price after
factoring all production and ancillary variables is over US$6,50. Clearly we
cannot compete under such circumstances and these are some of the things
that should be looked into," said Musarara.
Cheap meat products
from South Africa, Brazil and Uruguay, where
stock-fed prices were cheaper,
have also affected local industries.
Farmers make threats
BULAWAYO - Farmers in Matabeleland are have threatened not to deliver
their
harvest to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) but will instead sell
directly to
millers in protest over alleged corrupt activities at the
parastatal.
Farmers have said they lost confidence in the GMB's
ability to
distribute grain transparently following a spate of allegations
of
misconduct.
"This season we are expecting a much improved yield
compared to the
one we had last year and because of the corruption at GMB
which saw some
officials channelling maize to the black market while most
people were
facing starvation, we are not going to sell our harvest to them.
We want
them (GMB) to come to us and beg because we feel it's high time we
generate
some income through the sale of our crops in foreign currency in an
open
market,'' said WFA Bulawayo provincial chairperson, Morage
Dube.
Support local companies
HARARE - Zimbabwean companies
have been urged to aggressively
implement strategies to boost production to
ensure their survival when
Economic Partnership Agreements come into force
in 2013.
Africa Institute for Policy Analysis and Development director,
Dr
Medicine Masiiwa said failure to boost production could turn potential
opportunities into threats for the local companies.
"The opening up
of markets is going to subject local companies to
competition from EU
products but then the question is will we be in a
position to compete? What
is needed is massive support for local companies
in terms of finance, new
skills and technology as well as good
infrastructure so that come 2013 we
will be able to compete. If that does
not happen, then we are going to face
a threat from the European Union,"
said Masiiwa.
Air Zimbabwe
hopeful
HARARE - National airline Air Zimbabwe is set to re-open
regional
routes as it pins its hopes on the formation of the historic
all-inclusive
government.
The company's chief executive officer,
Peter Chikumba, believes that
the new political dispensation will open new
markets that will necessitate
the re-opening of such routes as Malawi,
Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania.
"Once the economy recovers, we will be
opening some flights that we
had suspended. We hope the new political order
will bring in new
opportunities," said Chikumba.
Skepticism over
voucher system
HARARE - Government has maintained that civil servants
will be
remunerated through the voucher system over and above salaries in
local
currency.
Authorities said the vouchers will be in five FX
units (each worth
US$20) that will be securitised, redeemable, tradable and
can be cashed.
Put simply, a recipient of these instruments can readily
change them
for cash at specially designated shopping centres that are
participating in
the arrangement. However, the names of the shops in this
scheme have not yet
been made public.
There has been mounting
skepticism from some civic leaders who have
interpreted the move as an
attempt to covertly print foreign currency and an
inconvenient payment
method.
Analysts last week said although the voucher system was not the
government's preferred payment method, it is the most practicable under the
current circumstances.
"It is utmost critical that the vouchers
that will be issued by
Government gain the confidence of both the recipients
and the retailers who
will be part to the scheme, and in this regard there
is need to ensure that
these instruments are easily tradable and
convertible. Also retailers that
will volunteer and be selected in the
programme have to be generating sound
cash flow so that they are able to
anticipate and seamlessly guarantee
convenient transactions,'' said a
research analyst with a local financial
institution. "Any hiccups might put
the system into disarray."
Cholera deaths tripled in January
JOHANNESBURG - The number of Zimbabweans who died due to the Cholera
epidemic, which is still ravaging the rural areas, more than tripled during
the last two weeks of January, an international aid agency has
reported.
Matthew Cochrane, a spokesperson for the Red Cross and Red
Crescent
Societies, told the media in Johannesburg that about 400
Zimbabweans
succumbed to Cholera nationwide, during the last two weeks of
January, as
under-resourced local health facilities failed to compliment the
work being
done by the international community.
"The death figures
tripled during that period, especially in the rural
areas, where access to
health care is still a challenge to most people,'
said Cochrane. "We had the
nationwide death toll reaching 400 people,
compared to about 100 during the
previous month."
He said that, although there has been a slight
improvement in the
treatment of the disease in both the capital Harare and
the Zimbabwe-South
Africa border town of Beitbridge, the less than 1 per
cent decrease in the
number of deaths therein was still not
satisfactory.
"The international community, including the Red Cross, is
doing
everything to stop both the spread and effects of the disease, but
because
all the help has to come from outside, as Zimbabwe is going through
an
economic meltdown, there are still some challenges that we are
facing."
While distancing himself from Zimbabwean politics, Cochrane
was
optimistic that the government of national unity, formed by President
Robert
Mugabe's Zanu (PF) and the MDC last week, would help solve the
humanitarian
crisis in the country.
Residents say no to forex
charges
HARARE - The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) has
expressed concern over reports of residents in high density areas who are
being forced to pay rates in foreign currency.
Residents have
complained that the City of Harare is already affecting
the forex charges
that were outlined in the budget that is still yet to be
announced.
Moreover, residents were shocked to discover that the City of
Harare
actually intends to announce the budget which was drafted without
even
consulting residents.
The then defacto Acting Minister of Finance,
Patrick Chinamasa, said
that residents in high density areas would have the
option of paying their
rates in ZW$ and yet Council is said to be rejecting
the local currency.
http://www.voanews.com
By Thomas Chiripasi & Blessing Zulu
Harare
& Washington
18 February 2009
Zimbabwean Finance
Minister Tendai Biti on Wednesday announced his first
major policy step in
announcing that the government has begun paying civil
servants ranging from
soldiers to teachers a US$100 monthly supplement to
their nearly worthless
Zimbabwe dollar wages.
Biti's move represented a down payment on Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's
promise in his inaugural speech one week ago
that the government would start
paying state workers in hard currency as of
the end of February. It soon
emerged that Mr. Tsvangirai had not lined up
the estimated US$40 million to
US$50 million needed to fully dollarize state
wages.
Biti is secretary general of the Movement for Democratic Change
formation
headed by Mr. Tsvangirai, who founded the former opposition party
in 1999
and after years under heavy pressure from the ruling ZANU-PF party
of
President Robert Mugabe led the combined MDC to victory in the March 2008
general elections, garnering a parliamentary majority.
Organized
labor was not impressed with the US$100 stipend. General Secretary
Raymond
Majongwe of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe denounced the
"allowance" as an insignificant sum compared with the US$2,200 monthly
minimum his striking members are demanding as a condition to returning to
public classrooms shuttered for months.
Correspondent Thomas
Chiripasi of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe reported from
Harare on the finance
minister's news conference and the displeased response
by
teachers.
Expanding on his monetary approach, Biti in an exclusive
interview with
Studio 7 reporter Blessing Zulu said he'll maintain the
present
multi-currency monetary regimen rather than adopting the South
African rand
as the official currency, as some have proposed, and described
the US$100
payments as a stimulus to boost consumption and output.
http://www.witness.co.za
18 Feb 2009
Sharlene
Packree
Disgruntled members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
protested
outside the Durban City Hall to voice their concern over what it
called the
"unlawful" arrest of its members in Zimbabwe.
Dressed in
white T-shirts, 15 protestors handed over a memorandum to city
officials
outlining their concerns, which include the detention of 27 MDC
members at
the Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in Harare.
The detainees include
MDC Treasurer and deputy minister of Agriculture, Roy
Bennett and Zimbabwe
Peace Project director Jestina Mukoko.
Other prominent detainees are
three activists said to be in serious need of
medical attention due to
injuries sustained in prison - Fidelis Chiramba,
Gandhi Mudzingwa and
Kisimusi Dhlamini. The three are alleged to have
recruited teenagers to
undergo military training or bombed police stations.
Chiramba is the
chairman of an MDC branch in Zimbabwe and is suffering from
a serious heart
condition. Mudzingwa, a personal assistant to MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai,
was abducted in December and has high blood pressure.
Dhlamini's legs may
have to be amputated after the soles of his feet were
beaten, a popular form
of torture with Zimbabwean police, said the
protesters.
Nhamo
Chikowore, an MDC member in KwaZulu-Natal, said the protesters demand
the
immediate release of all opposition political detainees in line with the
agreement leading to the formation of the government of national unity,
which was sworn in last week.
He said the abductions and the unlawful
detention of MDC members are taking
place daily.
"We are here today
to make sure that our message goes to world leaders so
that we can resolve
this matter peacefully," he said. "We want his agreement
to come to
fruition."
The protestors dispersed after an hour. No incidents were
reported.
Protests are also planned in Johannesburg and Cape Town later
this week.
http://www.hararetribune.com
Wednesday, 18 February 2009 19:48
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) in
Masvingo is hunting for four
soldiers who assaulted villagers at Mushandike
Irrigation Scheme and got
away with more than 1 000 Rands over the
weekend.
According to police report, five soldiers sneaked from a
group which
had gone for training in Mushandike area last week. The five
went at
shopping center in Village 17 where they found villagers drinking
beer.
The five soldier clad in army full regalia started to beat
the public
for no reasons. After beating villagers, the five then searched
them and
managed to get an approximate figure of 1 000 Rands from
them.
However, cheeky villagers teamed up with neighbourhood watch
members
and followed the soldiers. When the soldiers discovered that
villagers were
ready to fight back, they ran away.
Luck ran out of
one of the gunmen Felix Muleya who was caught and
thoroughly beaten by the
public. After being beaten, Muleya was taken to
Masvingo Central Police
station where he is assisting police with
investigations.
Police Provincial spokesperson Inspector Phibion Nyambo said the
police is
now looking for the remaining four.
"We have a problem with
soldiers who are beating people and looting
their property. As I am speaking
Felix Muleya who was arrested by
Neighbourhood watch committee is detained
for similar acts. Soldiers are
thinking that they are above the law. As
police we will never stop to arrest
any criminal regardless of background or
social standing," said Nyambo.
Last week more than five soldiers
were arrested when they looted
property and harassed members of the public
in Masvingo.
http://www.apanews.net
APA-Harare
(Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe's largest journalists' organisation on
Wednesday called
on newly appointed information minister Webster Shamu to
improve the media
environment and address working conditions for workers in
the country's
public media.
The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) said Shamu should
work to restore
the integrity of the journalism profession by helping to
"diffuse
polarisation and help bring down hate speech that has become the
hallmark of
our media\".
"We also hope that his term will lead to the
opening up of media space and
therefore the creation of job opportunities
for hundreds of journalists who
were displaced by a crackdown on the media
which started in the year 2000
when Professor Jonathan Moyo was appointed
the Minister of Information and
Publicity," ZUJ president Matthew Takaona
said.
Moyo is blamed for the dismissal of scores of journalists from the
public
media as well as changing the media landscape from that of a
relatively free
one to the current oppressive environment.
It was
during Moyo's time as minister that Zimbabwe's public and private
media
started to openly take positions in support of the government or the
opposition.
The polarisation has been blamed for some of Zimbabwe's
economic and
political problems as reporting by journalists was based on
which media one
worked for.
Takaona said he also hoped that Shamu
would look into the working conditions
of journalists in order to "arrest
the high staff turnover of between 30 and
40 percent that is being seen in
the newsrooms".
Zimbabwe has one of the world's toughest media
environments, where
journalists can be jailed for up to two years for
failing to register with
the state-appointed Media and Information
Commission (MIC).
More than 16 journalists were arrested last year alone
for operating without
MIC licences as required under the Access to
Information and Protection of
Privacy Act (AIPPA).
JN/nm/APA
2009-02-19
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Wednesday, 18 February
2009
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is set to have
an emotional
public reunion with his supporters this weekend at Mkoba
Stadium in Gweru.
It is the party's first in a series of countrywide 10th
anniversary
celebrations lined up until the grand celebration at White City
Stadium in
Bulawayo on September 11, the day the party was formed 10 years
ago.
The MDC president, sworn-in as Zimbabwe's Prime Minister last
week,
will present a keynote address. Celebrations are scheduled in one of
the 12
MDC provinces every month until September, according to spokesman
Nelson
Chamisa.
"The MDC has achieved a historic milestone in its
10 years of
existence. This is a time for the party to take stock of its
achievements
and mourn its fallen heroes. The 10th anniversary comes hard on
the heels of
the party's victory in Parliament on August 25 when chairman,
Lovemore Moyo,
was elected Speaker of Parliament," said Chamisa.
The anniversary will also provide an occasion for the much-belated
celebration of the MDC's victory in Parliament on March 29 as well as
Tsvangirai's own victory over Mugabe on the same day and his subsequent
elevation to the position of Prime Minister after a "painful
compromise."
MDC officials expect thousands of Zimbabweans to throng
Mkoba Stadium
to celebrate the anniversary under the theme: "Together to the
end;
celebrating the people's victory."
The MDC was launched on
September 11, 1999 at a colourful ceremony
attended by representatives of
the workers' movement, church organisations,
the student movement and other
civic partners. The MDC has become the new
ruling party by virtue of its
slim but crucial parliamentary majority; its
position being boosted by the
support of the 10 Mutambara MPs as happened on
August 25.
"We are a
party of excellence," said Chamisa. "As we celebrate our
10th anniversary
this year, we know our national obligations and
responsibilities. We have no
doubt that the people's project is firmly on
course. We shall forever walk
together."
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=11969
February 18, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE -The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ)
on Wednesday
described as ridiculous the announcement by the minister of
finance Tendai
Biti that all civil servants would be paid monthly allowances
of US$100
dollars.
Raymond Majongwe, PTUZ secretary-general, told
journalists at his union
offices in Harare that teachers affiliated to his
organisation were going to
continue with their strike for better
pay.
"That's ridiculous," said Majongwe on the allowances. "We did not
say we
want allowances; we want salaries and the US$100 that they are
offering us
is nothing considering that we were demanding
US$2300.
"The US$100 is only enough to buy food for you and your wife,
what about the
children's food and school fees.
"We hear that they
have already bought new cars for the new ministers and
they tell us that
they don't have money. Where is that money coming from?
"If they say they
don't have money they should give us a figure of what they
have then we
negotiate on that amount. Until they pay teachers decent
salaries, the fight
for better salaries will continue.
"Teachers will not go back to
school."
Asked if he doesn't have a concern for children who have lost
schooling time
for more than a year now, Majongwe said: "As far as we are
concerned schools
have not been opened and they will not be opened until the
teacher's
grievances are met."
Majongwe also had a meeting with the
new minister of education, David
Coltart, at his offices to discuss
teachers' grievances.
Speaking after taking his oath of office last
Wednesday, Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai pledged to pay health workers,
teachers, soldiers, police
officers and civil service professionals in
foreign currency from the end of
this month.
On Wednesday, Biti told
journalists that his ministry was to start with the
allowances of US$100 to
all civil servants.
Last week, Tsvangirai asked schools to be re-opened
after making the pledge
to pay civil servants in foreign
currency.
"Our public service has ground to a halt as many of our
patriotic government
employees can no longer afford to eat, let alone pay
for transport to their
place of work," Tsvangirai said.
"Hard
currency salaries will enable people to go to work, to feed their
families
and to survive until such time that we can begin to sustain
ourselves as a
country."
His pronouncement was questioned by many who wondered where
Tsvangirai had
obtained the foreign currency.
Asked at Wednesday's
press conference where they were going to source the
money to pay civil
servants, Biti, said: "Takakiya kiya (we looked around
for the
funds)."
Meanwhile, the members of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) who
were
supposed to be paid on Tuesday started receiving their allowances in
foreign
currency denominated vouchers Wednesday at their respective
barracks.
A member of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) confirmed that he
had received
his voucher at One Commando Barracks which he converted to cash
at the Post
Office Savings Bank (POSB) in Harare.
"We were given
vouchers today and I have already cashed mine at POSB without
any problems,"
said the soldier, showing the money.
"Here is my US$100. We have been
told that we will receive salaries at a
later stage but we are happy with
this new government," said the soldier.
Another civil servant who works
at the Ministry of Education Headquarters in
Harare also confirmed that she
had been paid using the voucher system and
had also cashed her voucher at
the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (CBZ).
"I received my US$100 voucher
today and I have redeemed it at CBZ and I am
now going to the supermarket to
buy food for my children like other
Zimbabweans," said the ministry of
education employee.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=11966
February 18, 2009
By Mxolisi
Ncube
JOHANNESBURG - A South African workers' federation has criticized
President
Robert Mugabe's government for its continued detention of
opposition
officials and human rights activists, describing this as an
indication that
the octogenarian leader is not committed to the newly-formed
national unity
government with the opposition.
In a statement
released to the media Wednesday afternoon, the Congress of
South African
Trade Unions (COSATU), lambasted Mugabe for the continued
detention of Roy
Bennet, the treasurer of the mainstream opposition Movement
for Democratic
Change, Jestina Mukoko, the national director of a
Harare-based human rights
organization - the Zimbabwe Peace Project and some
opposition activists,
some of whom have still not been seen since they went
missing late last
year.
"The Congress of South African Trade Unions strongly condemns the
continued
detention in Zimbabwe of MDC Treasurer and Deputy Minister of
Agriculture
(designate), Roy Bennett, Zimbabwe Peace Project Director,
Jestina Mukoko,
and other MDC activists, on trumped-up charges," said COSATU
spokesman,
Patrick Craven in the statement.
Mukoko and the MDC
activists were abducted late last year by armed men
suspected to be state
security agents, on different occasions in and around
Harare, tortured and
then brought to the police for detention.
They are facing charges of
training bandits in neighbouring Botswana, in an
alleged bid to topple
Mugabe from power.
Various court orders to have them released have been
ignored by the state,
while attempts to have those who abducted and tortured
them arrested have
been blocked by Mugabe's government, citing "national
security" issues.
Bennet (52), who was arrested last Friday, was Tuesday
formally charged for
taking part in a plot involving terrorism and
insurgency.
He was also charged with banditry and violating the
Immigration Act for
leaving and returning to the country illegally and now
faces charges of
possessing weapons for the purposes of insurgency and
banditry.
When he was first arrested on Friday at an airport outside
Harare as he was
preparing to leave for South Africa for the weekend, police
said he faced
charges of trying to leave the country illegally.
The
charges against Bennett, which the MDC says are all cooked-up, and which
they blame on some members of the military that are opposed to the unity
government, relate to the discovery in 2006 of weapons near the eastern city
of Mutare, where he is being held.
COSATU, a key member of the
African National Congress (ANC) - a tripartite
alliance currently ruling
South Africa, accused Mugabe (84) of using the
arrests and detention of the
opposition members to try and destroy the
newly-formed all-inclusive
government, which was brokered by the regional
Southern African Development
Community (SADC) bloc after Zimbabwe's
ill-fated elections last
year.
"Their arrest and detention prove that Robert Mugabe is doing
everything he
can to destroy the Government of National Unity.
"It
demonstrates the correctness of the joint COSATU/ZCTU statement of 29
January 2009 which pointed out then that 'the police are still under the
control of ZANU-PF, abducting, detaining and torturing political opponents
of the ruling elite," added COSATU.
The federation which, just a few
weeks ago, held joint press conference with
its Zimbabwean counterparts -
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU),
then declared that the
Zimbabwean unity government would not work, repeated
the same statement
again Wednesday.
"As the federations warned, the GNU will never work
while one party -
ZANU-PF - has sole control over the police and judiciary,
and uses that
control to frustrate the whole GNU project and retain power in
the hands of
the party who lost the elections on 29 March 2009," said
COSATU.
Meanwhile four women belonging to a Bulawayo-based pressure
group, the Women
of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) who Tuesday refused to pay fines
had still not been
taken to court Wednesday afternoon, after police
allegedly altered charges
against them, according to their
organization.
"When they presented themselves at Bulawayo Central Police
Station this
morning, they were informed by the Investigating Officer,
Constable Masawi
that the charges against them were being changed and so the
paperwork would
need to be prepared from the beginning," said WOZA in a
statement released
Wednesday.
"They spent the morning at the police
station being processed for the fresh
charges and have been informed that
they will be taken to court tomorrow
morning."
The four are now out
of custody, after they were released Tuesday night.
They are now facing
new charges, under Section 46 2 (v) of the Third
Schedule to the Criminal
Law (Codification and Reform) Act for employing
"any means whatsoever which
are likely materially to interfere with the
ordinary comfort, convenience,
peace or quiet of the public or any section
of the public, or does any act
which is likely to create a nuisance or
obstruction".
They had
previously been charged under Section 37 (1b) of the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act - " . performs any action, utters any words or
distributes or displays any writing, sign or other visible representation
that is obscene, threatening, abusive or insulting, intending thereby to
provoke a breach of the peace."
WOZA says that former detainees say
that they were subjected to horrific
conditions while in police
custody.
"The cells are filthy with overflowing toilets and on the first
night, they
were severely overcrowded. Food bins are not emptied regularly
so maggots
can be seen crawling in the bins," said WOZA.
"The women
were also subjected to invasive strip searches every day. One
woman on
anti-retroviral treatment had to fight for access to her tablets
every day
by demanding to see the officer-in-charge as police tried to deny
her access
to her life-saving medication - on one occasion, she was actually
denied her
ARVs.
"Two of the women have had to seek medical treatment for bad rashes
developed from the filthy conditions."
http://www.theherald.co.za
PORT
ELIZABETH Thursday February 19, 2009
Guy Rogers
THE distraught family of incoming
Zimbabwean deputy agriculture minister Roy
Bennett are struggling to deal
with his "abduction" by the Mugabe government
and have lost hope of his
being released any time soon.
Speaking from Johannesburg, where she and
her family have been living in
exile, Heather Bennett, 46, said her husband
was being held hostage by
Mugabe's government "as a lever to control the
MDC".
She said he had travelled to Harare last week to be sworn into the
fledgling
Zimbabwe power-sharing government.
"There was a delay in
the proceedings and he called me on Friday to say he
was coming home for a
few days.
"The next I heard, he had been apprehended by these guys. They
flung him
into the back of a vehicle and drove at 150km/h to Mutare. Roy's
MDC
colleagues tried to follow, but could not keep up.
"It was an
abduction. Roy demanded to know who they were, but they wouldn't
answer
him."
Heather has not managed to speak to her husband since then and can
communicate only through his lawyer, George Lock. "He was fine initially,
but it's six days now and he's probably starting to lose
morale.
"This has happened before and we know the longer he stays in
there, the less
chance there is of his getting out
quickly."
Zimbabwean police on Tuesday announced terrorism and
weapons-related charges
against Bennett, a prominent official in the MDC
party of Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai, who has called the case an
attempt to derail Zimbabwe's
unity government.
Elected an MDC MP in
2002, Bennett, 52, became the party's treasurer-general
in 2004. He was
jailed a year later for pushing the justice minister during
a heated debate
about Mugabe's "land reform".
Heather said the power- sharing agreement
signed in Zimbabwe a week ago
appeared to have delivered no better leverage
to see justice done.
"It feels just the same as before when Roy was
imprisoned - as if Mugabe and
his followers can do what they want
to.
"The South African government should intervene and force Mugabe to
release
this man immediately.
"This charge against Roy is a total
political fabrication. At the very
least, he should be released on bail. He
was about to become a deputy
minister. He's not going anywhere."
The
MDC also needed to act firmly and show leadership on the matter, she
said.
"As it is, it seems as if Roy is being held hostage, as a lever
to control
the MDC. His imprisonment is a litmus test to see how much Mugabe
and Zanu-
PF can get away with."
Besides having had to suffer through
Bennett's previous incarceration,
Heather was herself held hostage in 2000
by Zanu-PF militia on the family's
Chimanimani coffee farm, in the east of
the country, with the farm
management and labourers, during the height of
Mugabe's land-grab campaign.
Pregnant at the time, she protested when the
invaders started beating up the
labourers, and was restrained with a panga
at her throat. She subsequently
lost her baby.
The Bennetts fought
their eviction in the High Court and won the right to
return to their farm
but, in 2003, they returned from holiday in Mozambique
to find it had been
"shut down" by the Zimbabwean military, and they have
been unable to
return.
Heather said yesterday her daughter Casey, 21, and son Charles,
23, were
struggling to deal with the latest situation with their
father.
Bennett appeared in court in Mutare yesterday where the
magistrate ruled
that he be remanded.
Lock said Bennett had not been
harmed, but conditions were "not very nice".
http://www.timesonline.co.uk
February
19, 2009
More must be done to aid
humanitarian workers in their efforts with the
health crisis in
Zimbabwe
Sir, In October 2007, while I was visiting Gweru hospital in the
heart of
Zimbabwe, a doctor pulled me aside to make an urgent plea for soap
- the
hospital supplies had run dry. Since then the country's already
deteriorating health system has all but collapsed.
The cholera
outbreak here is only one manifestation of a massive health and
humanitarian
emergency. Empty hospital beds across Zimbabwe are signs of a
ruined system
that was once a standard bearer for the continent.
Many hospitals have
closed because of a lack of staff and supplies; others
remain open but are
charging exorbitant fees beyond the reach of most
Zimbabweans.
Médecins sans Frontières, which has helped to treat more
than 45,000 cholera
patients to date, faces frequent restrictions and
enforced delays in its
work. In a country where one in five people is HIV
positive, it is
inconceivable that so many sick people are dying needlessly
because they can't
get treatment.
The new coalition Government faces
enormous challenges. From our
humanitarian and medical perspective, tackling
the country's health crisis
is critical to stop people dying now. The
Government must lift restrictions
on medical supplies and humanitarian
personnel going into the country, allow
independent assessments of needs and
guarantee that aid agencies can work
wherever those needs are
identified.
Donor governments and UN agencies must also respect the
distinction between
the humanitarian imperative to save lives and the
pursuit of broader
government reform in Zimbabwe, to ensure that Zimbabwean
men, women and
children are not sacrificed for the political objectives of
tomorrow.
Marc Dubois
Executive Director
Médecins sans
Frontières UK
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Introduction
Since the harmonised elections, the turmoil in Zimbabwe
has continued.
Our leaders are trying to work together and sometimes they
move forward. We
hope they will succeed, but it will be difficult because
tensions are high
and there is little trust. So the different parties are
haggling, not
talking.
It seems as though all of us in Zimbabwe
are looking to other cultures
in matters of politics. Some are looking West
others are looking East but
it does not matter because both East and West,
in their different ways,
treat politics as a confrontation. Are we
forgetting what our own culture
has to offer? If our politics were African,
it would be a dialogue.
Our problems are too big to be solved by
calling each other names but
if we talk - really talk - perhaps we can find
a solution.
Perhaps we can find a way to help our leaders work
together. If we
understand the problems of all concerned, perhaps the true
path will come
out in the light.
Through dialogue we could help to
create a new constitution that would
allow us to elect future governments
that are truly representative and
accountable to the people. Perhaps the
ideas and plans proposed by experts
and future governments will be tested
against our values and, most of all,
against common sense.
Let's
consider some of the things that make us proud to be African.
Politics
In traditional African culture, politics is a constructive
dialogue
based on mutual respect. If our democracy were African, voters
would be
choosing representatives to contribute to the dialogue.
In
the Western model of democracy, parties compete for control. It is
possible
for a party to gain control even if nearly half (sometimes, much
more than
half) of the people disagree. The winners impose their will on
the rest of
the people.
The Eastern Socialist model does not give the people any
say in the
matter. The elite, who believe they know what is best for the
people,
impose their will.
Justice
In traditional African
culture, justice means putting things right.
All involved are responsible
for making this work: those who have done harm,
those who have been harmed
and also their relatives. The harm must be
healed and forgiven so the
community can stay whole.
Neither the Western nor Socialist models of
justice are about healing.
In the Western view, justice means punishing
those who do harm, both
to discourage them from wrongdoing and because they
"must pay for their
crimes". Too often, Western justice becomes equated
with revenge. When
people say they want justice, they mean they want the
offender to suffer.
The Eastern Socialist view of justice is even
colder. For Socialists,
justice means punishing offenders to maintain
order. If it is felt that
punishments have to be very harsh to maintain
order, then that is considered
acceptable.
Society
In
traditional African culture, the individual and the community have
equal
importance. Every individual contributes to the community, caring for
and
taking responsibility for other members of the community. Every
individual
is an integral, cherished part of the community.
In the Western view,
the individual is more important than the
community. A high value is placed
on each individual's freedom to do as
they please, so long as they do not
actively harm other members of the
community.
For Eastern
Socialists, the community is more important than the
individual.
Individuals are readily sacrificed for the sake of the "greater
good".
If we want to establish a dialogue, how can we do so? In
Zimbabwe
today, people are suffering. Much harm has been done; angry words
have been
spoken. Dialogue requires respect, humility, forgiveness and
trust. In
our hurt and our anger, many of us are not ready to offer these
things.
Zimbabwe's story
So we are telling the story of
Zimbabwe. It is the story of who we
were before the colonials came. It is
the story of the colonial period and
what it did to us. It is the story of
what came after independence: the
decade of hope, when we achieved so much;
the years after that, when things
began to unravel; the violence that has
haunted us since the liberation war.
It is the story of where we have
been and where we are today. It is
for all of us to decide what we will do
tomorrow.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
PRIME
MINISTER - The decision to form a unified government in Zimbabwe
has created
a welcome opportunity to address oppressive government decrees
and media
laws that have long stifled press freedom. Your party, the MDC,
has long
made freedom of the press a central policy and you have repeatedly
stated
your aspirations to privatize the state-controlled media.
The daily
newspapers in Zimbabwe were put under state control in 1982
and the Zanu
(PF) ruling party holds a monopoly on radio and television
broadcasting. The
handful of independent weeklies that still exist are
stifled by high
production costs as well as exorbitant customs duties on the
import of
newspapers that have been printed outside of the country.
Right now, a
freelance journalist, Shadreck Manyere, and former
veteran reporter Jestina
Mukoko remain in police custody after being
abducted from their homes in
December. They allege that they have been
tortured by police. You stated in
December that you would refuse to
participate in a coalition government
until these individuals and more than
30 others were released.
In
January, a steep hike in accreditation fees for foreign and local
journalists working for foreign media outlets further curtailed independent
reporting in Zimbabwe. CPJ recorded 16 cases of journalists and media
workers facing harassment or arrest by the state last year for lacking
accreditation under the Access to Information and Personal Privacy
Act
(AIPPA). These illegal arrests were carried out by the
government-controlled Media and Information Commission in direct
contravention of a January 2008 amendment to the AIPPA law signed by
President Robert Mugabe.
The current media environment remains
hostile to the independent press
and will ensure partisan press coverage of
any future developments made
under the auspices of the new power-sharing
alliance. CPJ calls on the new
unity government to move swiftly to free the
media from control by the
ruling party.
The Government of National
Unity should take immediate steps to:
. Release Shadreck Manyere and
Jestina Mukoko immediately.
. Abolish laws that require licensing of
newspapers and
journalists.
. Allow the banned Daily News to
recommence operations. The paper
was bombed
twice and eventually
shuttered in 2003 for alleged violations of the
AIPPA
law.
. End jamming of foreign radio stations, including the BBC, VOA,
and the
exiled stations Short-Wave Radio Africa, which broadcasts from
London, and
Voice of Peace, in Capetown.
. Permit all local and foreign
journalists who have been deported,
banned, or
forced into exile
for security concerns to return safely and without
harassment.
.
Repeal special taxes that apply to foreign newspapers and
periodicals.
. Encourage the set-up of community radio stations
which are
allowed to operate under current laws but none have yet been
granted
permission to broadcast CPJ believes that freedom of expression is
an
essential part of a democratic economically thriving state.
We
urge you to make press freedom a priority for the new Government of
National
Unity.
Jestina Mukoko et al.
EDITOR - What about Jestina and
the others? I understood that the
release (or formal charging) of all
detainees was an absolute requirement
for the "unity" agreement.
The challenge
EDITOR - The past week has marked a significant shift in
the direction
in which our country is going. It has been a disorderly
process but a
beginning all the same. I am a sceptic and I believe that it
is time for a
different approach to the problems in Zimbabwe. I am, however,
prepared to
give this fledgling government a chance.
What people in
Zimbabwe need to understand is that the MDC (in all its
forms) is a
political party and not a liberation movement. It is driven by
the
philosophy that change will come to Zimbabwe through peaceful means. We,
therefore, need to take this into consideration when we criticise them for
agreeing to go into the unity government without any major changes in the
Zanu (PF) murderous mentality. The options open to a political party hoping
to oust a dictatorship through peaceful means are limited. The only option
was to go into government and then try to change things from within. This
was a reasonable decision considering that almost 12 months after people
elected Morgan Tsvangirai President of Zimbabwe the people were still
suffering. It is well and good for armchair critics to sit in judgement and
condemn the MDC as traitors. Many of these critics say the MDC should have
held out for more. Would the people of Zimbabwe have had the patience to
wait with them? I do not think so.
Now that the MDC has agreed to
go into government it must not allow
Zanu (PF) to dictate the agenda. It is
becoming increasingly evident that
Mugabe and his henchmen are planning on
distracting the MDC from the
programme of change and economic recovery by
putting spanners into the
works. Keeping the detainees in prison and the
arrest of Roy Bennett can be
a distraction from the real agenda. I am not at
all suggesting that this is
not a serious matter but that there is need to
look at these problems in the
bigger scheme of things. Zanu (PF) wants MDC
to walk out of the unity
government because they know that any successes
will be credited to the MDC.
Whatever the challenges the MDC should not
allow Zanu (PF) to force it
to walk away from the deal. They should stick it
out to show the world, SADC
and AU that Mugabe is a criminal. The MDC and
Zimbabweans should deny Mugabe
the joy of seeing the people's project
fail.
My advice to the MDC is to hang in there and keep the focus on
the
agenda for change and economic recovery. Let us play the game until
things
start improving then those in the rank and file of the police and the
military will be willing to work with the government.
Dead
wood
EDITOR - Robert Mugabe is un-reformed; the worst Zanu (PF) Cabinet
has
been retained to resist change. There is no paradigm shift in Mugabe's
leadership, why is he so afraid to hand power to his cronies? Dr Sydney
Sekeramai, Joseph Made, Patrick Chinamasa, Emmerson Munangagwa,
Ignatius-Zhuwawo Chombo - all on targeted sanctions.
Zimbabweans
should brace themselves for another wasted year. The new
crop of MDC
Ministers is going to be handed over all the hidden corruption,
looting and
murder. Politicians are politicians, what is the difference
between Ian
Smith and Robert Mugabe?
SADC leaders by African standards have no
standards of democracy. It
is all dog eat dog as SADC rewards those rejected
by the electorate and does
not respect the wishes of the people.
Mugabe and all those who were rejected by the electorate are imposed
leaders
and remain illegitimate. They represent SADC and AU, not we who
voted them
out of Government.
The turnaround strategy is very clear - fire the CEO
and his/her top
team for business to recover. The MDC's main objective
should be that of the
development and production of a people driven
Constitution within six months
and Presidential Elections in twelve
months.
Hanging themselves
EDITOR - One big advantage about
dealing with uneducated and
uninformed personnel like these JOC members is
that they quickly tie a noose
around their own necks. Oh what a foolish
move, but which is a blessing in
disguise for MDC & GNU! It was going to
be very difficult to single this JOC
group members, now that they have
initiated this blinder, it is up to GNU,
SADC, AU & UN to make sure
these rogue elements are dealt with decisively
and emphatically. Whoever
minister or Zanu (PF) member who is behind this
whole thing is now in
trouble. What a stupid move.
The time of purging these notorious,
uneducated, murderous personnel
is now or never. Now the ministers of Home
Affairs (Giles and Kembo) should
respond; they should tell the country and
whole world who arrested Roy
Bennett. Ministers of Security and Justice
should cooperate towards bringing
these rogue elements to book. Here there
is no escape or else the GNU is
dead on week one. The PM should summon these
ministers and they should
explain what happened and what is
happening.
Sad development
EDITOR - In response to
developments that the Zimbabwe Military
Intelligence Directorate (MID) are
behind Bennett's abduction I think that
it's a sad development that shows
that Mugabe, despite all the bravado, is
not completely in charge of both
Zanu (PF) and the army. This is the last
thing we need at the
moment.
Zimbabweans can now see how Zanu (PF) has led us to a very
insecure
position in its attempt to keep power. If Bob had not relied on his
generals
to instil fear and win elections they would be respecting national
consensus
now.
This is a mini-coup and who knows what to expect
next? Bob cannot
vindicate himself from this ugly event because he
encouraged the soldiers to
disregard professional ethics when it suited his
ends. This is a national
embarrassment as well as an indictment on Bob, Zanu
(PF) and the Army. Now
the SADC should intervene because they and Bob wanted
this hybrid thing to
exist more than any Zimbo. The generals cannot be
allowed to hold the nation
at ransom, not now not ever! -
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 8:37 AM
I want to shed some light on
some recent events in Zimbabwe.
My Father, has had a bunch of illegal
squatters arrive on his property
within the last 2 weeks, with false papers
claiming that his land needs to
be re-allocated.
He has done
everything he can following the legal system to try and argue
that the land
is not land that has been aloocated for re-distribution, to
cut a long story
short, he has been chased from him home on the strength of
these falsified
papers, and has gone to court this afternoon to present his
case (he
purchased the land with monies earned after independence from an
independant
government) and has had to put up with not only being chased
from his home,
but with all sorts of malicious propaganda associated with
the
regime.
To Cut a long story short - the land is being illegally occupied
by Mugabe
supporters, and My Father has been arrested since his court
hearing this
afternoon. No one knows the whereabouts of my Father.
I
want to know, when is this shit in Zimbabwe going to stop and when are
those
responsible going to be held accountable? Every second that this sham
Government has control of this once productive and thriving country millions
of people suffer.
ENOUGH is ENOUGH.
What are we as a Combined
force going to do to stop this evil tyrant and his
regime.
I
challenge you to go and find a Happy Zimbabwean outside of Robert Mugabes
Inner circle.