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Old loyalties, fear and loathing all hold sway as Zimbabweans head to the polls on March 29, the Sunday Times Foreign Desk discovers as it investigates who — President Robert Mugabe, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai or new Zanu-PF pretender Simba Makoni — will carry the day
The shelves in Murombedzi Growth Point shopping centre in Katama are empty. So too are the granaries of the poverty-stricken villagers who call Katama home.
And another disastrous harvest looms, with crops in the fields failing due to excessive rains over the past few months, coupled with scorching heat.
But still Jacob Musiyanwa, a 55-year- old retired security guard, intends to vote Robert Mugabe back into power in five weeks’ time.
“I have no choice,” says the peasant farmer. “I will put my X against his name. He is our uncle. He comes from our village. He sent my children and grandchildren to school, although he is responsible for all our suffering.
“Everyone here calls him ‘Sekuru’ (Uncle) or ‘Mdara’ (Old Man),” he says respectfully.
“Everyone here” refers to the villagers of Katama, where Mugabe hails from and where he spends most of his weekends.
Katama, 80km west of Harare, is reached by a tarred highway that leads directly to the gates of Mugabe’s palatial retreat.
But while Mugabe’s home boasts electricity, running water, satellite television and expensive furnishings — all the “luxuries” that most hard- pressed Zimbabweans have learnt to live without — Katama has not escaped the ravages of the economic collapse stalking the country.
After Mugabe’s homestead, the road deteriorates rapidly. The walls of Murombedzi are in urgent need of a lick of paint.
Most bus operators — reeling from the effects of inflation of 100000% — have discontinued their services to some villages due to the poor state of the roads. Fuel is also a major problem.
Villagers are forced to walk up to 20km to reach the nearest town to do their banking .
Everything is scarce: bread, maize meal, other basics .
In fact, Musiyanwa, a grandfather of 13, cannot remember when last shops at Murombedzi had fresh bread.
“Things are bad even here,” he says in a hushed voice, apparently in fear of plainclothes state security agents and other Zanu-PF informants.
“You can’t imagine it is where the old man comes from. People are busy right now being ferried by buses for his birthday in Beitbridge, but we are left behind without food to eat.
“I am not the only one fed up.”
And his gripes don’t end there.
Musiyanwa complains about the rampant corruption and nepotism in the handing out of food relief to villagers by chiefs and headmen affiliated with the ruling Zanu-PF.
He charges that the distribution of farm implements — tractors, ploughs, harrows, discs, fertiliser and seed — parcelled out to villagers under the government’s mechanisation programme, is fraught with irregularities.
“Corruption is rife at the doorstep of his homestead,” he says .
But still Musiyanwa will not change his mind. Old loyalties and obligations — even strained ones — die hard.
Musiyanwa has voted for Mugabe since independence. And he will probably continue to do so till his death.
“Election to us here is like a ritual,” he says. “We have to vote for the old man or Zanu-PF. To some of us Zanu- PF is our totem.”
It is a sentiment unemployed Tawanda Chidawu, 23, collecting water at a nearby borehole, understands — even if he does not agree with it.
“The old man has had his time,” he says. “He must go, but our elders here are afraid to tell him, because this is his home area and there are a lot of soldiers, spies and policemen who are quick to get angry on behalf of Gushungo (Mugabe ).”
Chidawu, whose distant uncle has been cherry-picked by Mugabe to stand on a Zanu-PF ticket in the poll on March 29, predicts there is no way people in Katama will vote for opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai or former Finance minister Simba Makoni, who are running against Mugabe.
“The problem is that there is a lack of alternative information,” he says. “There is too much propaganda; the opposition is banned here and I don’t see how Makoni can penetrate the area because he is already seen as a sellout financed by (US President George) Bush and (former UK Prime Minister Tony) Blair.”
He blames the opposition for concentrating on major towns and cities, thereby allowing Mugabe to hold sway in rural areas.
“This should be the year, but people are being told by Zanu-PF political commissars that Tsvangirai and Makoni want to return the land and the farming implements to the whites,” he says, before excusing himself for fear of a ragged group of men who seem interested in our conversation.
Citizens in Harare are grappling with an entirely different dilemma: who to vote for — Tsvangirai or Makoni.
Mugabe is not even a consideration.
No right-minded Zimbabwean can afford to waste ink and vote for Mugabe, insists Margaret Shoniwa. “Anyone who does that needs to see the nearest psychiatrist,” she says.
However, Shinowa is in a serious quandary on where to make her mark come March 29.
“ It will depend on who impresses me during their election campaign ,” she says.
But Tafireyi Masocha has no doubt. Tsvangirai, the Movement for Democratic Change leader who is widely believed to have been cheated of victory by Mugabe in the last two elections, is the man to lead Zimbabwe out of its quagmire, he insists.
“Tsvangirai is the man. We have been with him in the trenches, we were beaten with him while Makoni was sitting in the same Cabinet with Mugabe,” he says.
Malawi ruler helps Mugabe to hold on to power
Nyasa Times, Malawi
Ngirazi Nyambose in Harare on 25 February, 2008 13:17:00
Malawi
President Bingu wa Mutharika is aiding Zimbabwe President Robert
Mugabe to
cling on to power with a win in the forth coming March 29 general
elections
by supplying him with much-needed maize which is being distributed
to the
electorate to buy votes.
About 300 000 tonnes of maize imported from
Malawi have been hoarding by
Zanu (PF) at Grain Marketing Board (GMB) depots
around the country for vote
buying.
Eye witnesses accounted of four
haulage trucks coming from the Nyamapanda
border off-loading maize at
Murehwa depot, which official there said had
been purchased by the
government from Malawi.
"Maize sold by the Malawi government to Zimbabwe
has not helped the people
of the country fairy. It is being abused by
distributing to the electorate
in Mashonaland.
"As opposition, if we
take over power, we will have difficulties to pay the
Malawi government
because they have played part in the political aggression
by Mugabe and
ZANU-PF," said Tendai Biti of opposition Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC).
Malawi is running short of maize and is rationing the grain
nation-wide
exported 300 000 metric tonnes of maize to Zimbabwe and is yet
to fulfil a
100,000 metric tonnes export to cover the required 400,000
Mt.
Senior officials at the GMB depot in Harare confirmed that close to
100 000
tonnes of maize were ready to be dispatched for Mugabe's campaign.
It has
also been established that depots in Murehwa, Bindura, Chegutu and
Marondera
have been hoarding stocks.
"We have stocks of up to 20 000
tonnes and some of them have been coming
through Mozambique. We have been
given instructed to start preparing for
dispatching the maize," a GMB source
at Murehwa depot told The Zimbabwean.
The United States expressed regret
at Mugabe's decision to schedule a
general election without an agreement on
conditions with the opposition.
"We regret that President Mugabe has
insisted on proceeding with the
presidential and parliamentary elections on
March 29 without having reached
an agreement on conditions that would have
levelled the playing field for
all parties planning to compete in those
elections," read a State Department
statement.
UK has also hit at
Mugabe.
"Zimbabwe is suffering from an economic, humanitarian and
political crisis
for which President Mugabe is directly responsible,"
British Foreign
Secretary David Miliband said.
"The conditions for it
(the election) are far from free and fair. We are
pressing for effective
international monitoring and for states in the region
to require the
election to meet international standards...," he told
parliament.
However, defiant Mugabe told his supporters on Saturday
that his party would
win the elections "resoundingly" and he was ready for a
fight with those who
criticised his presidency, including President Bush and
British Prime
Minister, Gordon Brown.
Malawi leader of opposition,
John Tembo demanded government to stop the
exporting of maize to Zimbabwe
with the world's highest inflation rate, over
100,000
percent.
Mutharika who has Bineth, a personal farm in Zimbabwe guarded by
state
security agents, signed the contractual agreement with the Zimbabwe
Government that offered a US$10 million line of credit.
Bulawayo runs out of money
JOHANNESBURG, 25 February 2008 (IRIN) - Service delivery has collapsed in
Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo, after local authorities recently
announced that the municipality was insolvent and unable to cater to the needs
of its almost two million residents. The council could not pay salaries in
January and employees have been on a go-slow since then.
Photo:
ff/IRIN 
With the collapse of services, urban residents dump garbage at
undesignated places
Refuse
collection and maintenance have come to a halt: repairs to potholes and burst
sewers have been affected, as has the procurement of medicines for council
clinics.
The situation has been compounded by the central government's
failure to approve the council's supplementary budget since September 2007, and
local authorities cannot increase tariffs without this approval.
Despite
the government's recent announcement that the National Incomes and Pricing
Commission (NIPC) would approve council budgets, no funds have moved yet.
"The entire city is stinking - as you can see, all this rubbish piling
up has not been collected for two months now and we risk a cholera outbreak very
soon ... the situation is worse when it rains, as the garbage is blocking the
drainage system," complained Nathan Mlilo, a hardware store owner, pointing to a
heap of rubbish outside his shop on the city's busy Main Street.
Health
services have also been disrupted and drug shortages were evident at most of the
council clinics IRIN visited. "Patients come here for diagnosis only, and are
then referred to private clinics, while those without money and medical aid
schemes are told to go back home," said a nurse at Mzilikazi clinic, in one of
the city's high-density suburbs.
Council is completely broke, and unless and until the NIPC approves the
council budget and allows us to review rates periodically, then services will
continue to deteriorate, as the hyperinflationary environment does not allow us
to complete projects
A shortage of ambulances is also
impairing medical services: only two out of 40 are in use because the spares
needed to repair the others are either unobtainable or unaffordable.
Cash crunch
Council spokesman Phathisa Nyathi said the cash
crunch had forced the city to suspend all capital projects. "Council is
completely broke, and unless and until the NIPC approves the council budget and
allows us to review rates periodically, then services will continue to
deteriorate, as the hyperinflationary environment does not allow us to complete
projects."
NIPC chairman Godwill Masimirembwa said his commission was
currently working on council budgets and would soon make an announcement.
Water crisis
The cash shortage has left the municipality unable
to purify enough water for Bulawayo's requirements and it has had to resort to
water cuts, meaning it has been turning off supplies to various parts of the
city at different times.
The city needs five metric tonnes of aluminium
sulphate daily to purify raw water from its five supply dams at a cost of Z$14
billion (about US$933 at the parallel market rate of Z$15million to US$1). "Very
soon we will run out of the chemicals and we will have no choice except to stop
water supplies to residents," Nyathi said.
Blessing Chebundo, chairman
of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee for Health and Child Welfare, warned
that the situation in Bulawayo posed a serious health risk, with the possibility
of outbreaks of communicable diseases such as cholera and dysentery, or other
diarrhoeal diseases. He said it was imperative that government allow the council
to charge competitive rates to be able to function.
The council has
recently introduced a water levy to help cover the high cost of
water-purification chemicals. Residents will be expected to pay a levy of
Z$1,621,000 (US$0.10)) per month, while non-domestic users will fork out Z$24
million (about US$1.60) per month.
Migration of employees
The
council has also been hit by staff shortages as skilled employees make their way
to neighbouring countries in search of better salaries. Bulawayo's fire
prevention division recently shut down two of its substations because it no
longer had the staff to man them. Chief fire officer Edward Mpofu said the
service had also been curtailed by the lack of foreign exchange to procure fuel
and buy spares to maintain the fleet of fire engines.
Nomalanga Moyo, a
vegetable vendor, said: "There is nothing we can do. Council has no money, so we
have to swerve [to avoid] potholes, and if the water is not available we just
queue at the boreholes sunk in by non-governmental organisations. There is
nothing we can do, council is broke."
Bulawayo's plight reflects the
situation in the rest of the country. Zimbabwe is facing a crippling economic
crisis, characterised by skyrocketing inflation that has reached 100,000 percent
and is still rising, shortages of foreign currency and most of the basic
commodities.
[ENDS]
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
NGO says Makoni wont break Mugabe's hold
SABC
February 25, 2008,
18:00
Zimbabwean NGO, the National Constitutional Assembly, says the
chances of
former finance minister Simba Makoni unseating president Robert
Mugabe at
next month's general elections are very slim.
The group's
chairperson, Lovemore Madhuku, says the institutional framework
and Makoni's
lack of support from the grassroots remain his major obstacle.
Madhuku
says Makoni is seen as someone who will divide the opposition vote
even
further. The Mutambara led-MDC has already thrown its weight behind him
(Makoni).
Analysts say as long as the current electoral system and
the constitution of
Zimbabwe remain as they are, no-one will unseat Mugabe.
Mugabe, who has been
in power since independence from Britain in 1980, has
heaped scorn on his
two main opponents, comparing Makoni to a 'puffed-up
frog and political
prostitute' and calling MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai a
'puppet of Britain
and the United States'.
The British and US
governments have accused the Zimbabwean government of
widespread human
rights abuses, stifling dissent and destroying a
once-prosperous economy,
which is suffering from inflation of more than 100
000%, mass unemployment
and chronic food and fuel shortages.
Most Western nations have imposed
sanctions on Mugabe and his top officials.
Additional reporting by
Reuters
Zimbabwe Election Watch : Issue 17
Executive Summary
In an opinion piece titled “Mugabe’s Rigging Nightmare”, political commentator John Makumbe from the University of Zimbabwe points out he has “consistently insisted that Mugabe and Zanu PF have always rigged the elections in order to ‘win’ and retain power since 1985.”
This has been confirmed by comprehensive reports and analyses of the regime’s election rigging modus operandi compiled by civil society organisations and the opposition. Zimbabwe Election Watch (ZEW), first published in October 2004 prior to the March 2005 Parliamentary election, supports these documents by highlighting examples of violations to the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.
A glance at early ZEW story headlines reveals the consistency of the regime’s strategy: Food as a Political Weapon, Arrest of Journalists, Student Leader Battles for Life After Savage Attack, Youths Harass Electorate, Repressive New Laws, Proposal to Exclude Some Observers, Non-Residents Excluded From Voting, Police Brainwashed.
This time around, however, Makumbe says Mugabe may find it rather hard to rig the actual elections for a number of reasons. Firstly, “Mugabe and his crumbling party don’t really know who their friends and foes are in this power game come March 29… (and) who among the persons responsible for the rigging machinery are loyal to Mugabe or to Makoni or to Tsvangirai (the three main presidential candidates) …
“Secondly, the Electoral Act provides that, ‘where two or more candidates are nominated and no candidate receives a majority of the total number of valid votes cast, a second election’ must be held within 21 days after the previous election… In the forthcoming election, with three rather strong candidates, the possibility of all the candidates obtaining less than the requisite 51% or higher cannot be ruled out…”
Debating the same scenario, a leading Zimbabwean journalist, Dumisani Muleya, writes that, if Mugabe is forced into a run-off, it would almost certainly give his rival unstoppable momentum, and it is widely held he is unlikely to win 51% of the vote.
The entrance of Zimbabwean businessman and former Zanu PF finance minister Dr Simba Makoni into the equation is “a leap that is a lot bigger than people outside Zimbabwe may appreciate - from the heart of the pernicious Zanu PF politburo into a political showdown with President Mugabe. Mugabe is a dangerous opponent,” writes Diana Games, director of research and publishing company Africa @ Work.
Moeletsi Mbeki, deputy chairperson of the South African Institute of International Affairs, notes that “the rise of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change party (MDC) illustrated more than anything to date the arrival of the African Renaissance. Twenty years after independence in 1980, Zimbabwe had become a transformed society with a rich and complex social structure… In this fast changing and dynamic environment it was the ruling party, Zanu PF that remained unchanged. In fact, the opposite had happened, it had fossilised.”
With the elections only five weeks away, media attention is escalating rapidly. In this issue we’ve touched on a broad selection of stories which can be accessed via the links provided.
Once again the Mugabe regime has splashed out scarce foreign currency to import tear-gas and other anti-riot material from China. In 2002 his shopping list included anti-riot tanks, gas masks and microscopic laser guns.
The regime’s onslaught on all forms of opposition has been relentless and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who was appallingly beaten in March, has been a primary target. At this point however, Mugabe’s vitriol is being directed at Dr Makoni.
2007 has been the worst year yet for defenders of freedom with more than 6 000 instances of human rights abuses recorded by Zimbabwean NGOs. Once again members of the Progressive Teachers’ Union have been severely beaten up.
Civic groups, notably the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, report serious problems with respect to critical electoral processes, including voter registration and the delimitation of constituencies. Voter education is totally inadequate and the voters’ roll is in a shambles.
There has been no let-up in the slanted coverage of the electoral campaign by the public broadcaster. The opposition still has virtually no access the state media and a number of independent newspapers remain outlawed, notably the Daily News. Journalists from “hostile” Western nations will reportedly not be accredited.
Corruption remains rife and senior police officers have been given new luxury vehicles - with more perks promised - in exchange for their support. Conversely, flood victims who support the opposition are being denied food aid. MDC ‘Freedom Marches’ have been brutally disrupted or banned.
Makoni is Mugabe's Creation
swradioafrica.com
By Maxwell
Hakunavanhu
The Zimbabwean Government has been fighting for legitimacy
over the last ten
years, two elections have come and gone Mugabe's
government is only
recognised by a few African and ASIAN states. He rigged
all elections except
for the first ones after Zimbabwe independence in 1980.
He has ruled the
country with an iron fist and run it to near Stone Age. The
country has no
fuel, telephones, electricity, food, water, medicine, roads
are now full of
pot-holes even farmers are now using donkeys for draft
power. Most of
Zimbabwe expertise has migrated to other countries.
He
has ruthlessly dealt with his enemies. Zimbabweans are so scared of
saying
thing against him because in every three persons in a crowd one of
them is
Mugabe's spy. The spies even extend to SADC region and Europe.
The
dreaded CIO or Central Intelligence department of Counter-Intelligence
has
managed to make Mugabe stay in power, they have coined many strategies
to
convince the world and the country that Mugabe is the only person fit to
rule the country. In the process of their intelligence work, they created
the dissident era whereby the Fifth Brigade massacred more than 20,000
Ndebele speaking Zimbabweans, the descendents of Mzilikazi one of Tshaka
Zulu's strayed chiefs. This was aimed at destroying ZAPU which was led by
Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo. They accused Ndabanengi Sithole of ZANU Mwenje of
trying to overthrow Mugabe by firing at the statehouse where Mugabe
stays.
The CIO's department of Counter intelligence recruited Moyo then a
critic of
Mugabe and he became the Minister of information. The Minister of
information was involved in the creation of information laws that make
Mugabe a demy-god; no one is allowed to say anything bad about Mugabe. When
the elections where about to come he was said to have been fired by Mugabe
for having decided to contents the elections as an independent. The
organisation created the MDC faction led by the rocket scientist Arthur
Mutambara. The department is also behind silencing of Archbishop Pius Ncube
of the Roman Catholc Church in Zimbabwe using sex scandal they took pictures
of him having sex with a married woman and in sometimes with young
boys..
In the Zimbabwe intelligence circles, Moyo, Mutambara and members
of his
party are called TS an acronym for top secret. They have typical
assignments
which they perform as instructed. Tekere falls within the group,
he formed
his ZUM party during the early years of Zimbabwe independence and
now he has
rejoined ZANU-PF they forgave him for being a prodigal
son.
The department has an effective information system; for counter
intelligence
work they use the independent press. Unaware the papers report
sensational
stories from the sent information by the department of counter
intelligence.
They even pretend to be leaking intelligence information to
the independent
press. Included on their pay roll are international papers
and monthly
magazines.
The CIO's department of Counter intelligence
is staffed by some of the most
intelligent officers in the world and even
work with foreign intelligence
organisations like the Israel Mossad or their
contractors or the Angolans
and even the South African intelligence
operatives. They are well paid and
have an unlimited budget; their commander
reports directly to Mugabe.
Mugabe's intelligence organisation, before an
election carry out surveys
about the likelihood of winning an election and
most elections he is
informed that legitimately he would lose. The
Counter-Intelligence
department works out strategies of rigging the
elections ranging from the
creation of new parties, independent individuals,
or dummies and even the
delimitation of the country and minimising the urban
constituencies, buying
cars for traditional chiefs and direct
rigging.
Robert Mugabe's biggest problem is "sanctions"; euphemism for
recognition
Thabo Mbeki used the recognition card in the MDC and ZANU-PF
talks to
persuade Mugabe to have both the parliamentary and presidential
elections at
the same time in March 2008. Usually the presidential elections
are held a
years later after the parliamentary elections.
Mugabe is
very worried that the MDC led by Tswangirai is going to the
elections and
votes. ZANU-PF has rigged the elections through delimitation
of
continuances, the higher numbers of members of parliament are going to
come
from rural areas, but counting individual votes will result in
Tsvangirai's
MDC having more votes and becoming the president, but with
majority ZANU-PF
members of parliament.
The March 2008 elections have been a big
assignment for the CIO's department
of Counter intelligence. The best
solution for them to overcome this problem
is to split the votes by bringing
other players. They used their TS or top
secret weapons like Moyo and
Mutambara's MDC. They have gone to introduce a
new player Makoni who will
contest the elections as an independent.
Intelligence reports have
measured and found Makoni as the most suitable
candidate who can woe the
educated voters who happen to be MDC supporters
and are urban dwellers. This
week Makoni made an announcement that I quote
"having realised the suffering
of Zimbabweans and the decision at the
ZANU-PF December 2007 Congress to
retain Robert Mugabe as ZANU-PF
presidential candidate I felt I should
contest the elections as an
independent" Unquote.
The elections are
four weeks away, Makoni has not campaigned, he is not
known in the rural
areas and he does not even have a party. Neither is he
employed, who is
going to fund his campaign? It is very expensive to run for
president given
the Zimbabwean inflation which is more than 18,000%
officially. Fuel is more
than U$13.50 per litre and to cover the urban areas
at minimum, one would
need more than U$100,000.00 in 5 days
Robert Mugabe' folly and advantage
was to educate the Zimbabwean nation. The
Zimbabweans are aware that Makoni
is a tool being used. Makoni has come in
the press and refuted the
allegation. Mugabe's advantage is Zimbabweans are
too educated and are not
prepared to die.
If Mugabe wins the March 2008 elections the "sanctions"
or recognition
factor will still remain and Thabo Mbeki has only a year in
office. Jacob
Zuma is coming in to rule South Africa, he has had a rough
ride and one of
them is to prove to the West that he is not a monster and
does not entertain
criminality. Despots like Mugabe and his CIO's department
of Counter
intelligence have numbered days.
Election Violence Increases
The Zimbabwean
Monday, 25 February 2008 15:27
MUZARABANI - In the bitter run-up to Zimbabwe's
landmark general elections,
President Robert Mugabe's Zanu (PF) party has
waged a low-intensity war
aimed at destroying the opposition MDC, human
rights groups said this week.
Pro-democracy group Zimbabwe Human
Rights Association (ZimRights) said in a
report the suburbs of Manyame Park,
Zengeza and St Mary's - hotbed of
opposition to President Mugabe and his
ruling Zanu (PF) - were under an
unofficial curfew, with police banning
night meetings.
"Some (police) officers operating within these areas are
taking it upon
themselves to impose unofficial curfew on the youths," the
ZimRights report
says. "Some concerned youths complain that some police
details are harassing
and ordering them to stay indoors after dusk, accusing
the youths of
organising opposition meetings as if it is a crime."
The
Harare townships that enthusiastically support the opposition have been
subjected to assaults by Zanu (PF) mobs and police, who recently had their
salaries massively ramped.
A similar campaign is now under way in the
countryside. Particularly
ferocious have been attempts to root the MDC out
of the three Mashonaland
provinces of northern Zimbabwe that have been Zanu
(PF)'s traditional
heartland. There are also escalating incidents of
violence by Zanu (PF)
supporters against supporters of Simba Makoni in
Manicaland, his home
province.
Scores of opposition supporters in the
rural areas are being forced to
renounce their allegiance to the opposition
MDC or to the new presidential
aspirant, Makoni. They are being told that
the MDC was a party for whites,
backed by the British, and have to be
paraded at ruling party rallies
announcing that they are rejoining
Zanu-PF.
Tendai Munemo (a pseudonym) was forced to stand before a rally to
renounce
the MDC. He used to be one of the MDC's branch officials in
Muzarabani, in
Mashonaland central province.
Narrating his ordeal to The
Zimbabwean, he said: "They started to beat me
with canes and knobkerries
saying, 'You are MDC, you must die.' They said
they would burn down my house
and beat my family too."
Tendai had heard how Robson Tinarwo, an MDC youth
leader in nearby Shamva,
had been attacked by Zanu (PF) activists and had
refused to renounce his
party. They had beaten him unconscious with metal
rods. Witnesses reported
the case to the police, but no action was
taken.
"I felt I must protect my family. My wife was crying and my daughter
was
screaming," Tendai said. "They were beating them and tearing their
clothes.
I knew they were going to rape them and make me watch. So I said,
'All
right, I will leave MDC.' I felt terrible.
"They said, 'You must
give us your party card and T-shirt.' They said I must
spit at the picture
of Morgan Tsvangirai on the T-shirt. I did it. 'Now you
must join Zanu (PF)
and sing party songs with us,' they said. While I sang,
they kept beating
me."
Next morning the tormentors returned and demanded that he tell them the
names of all the other MDC officials in the district, he said.
"They made
me point out their houses. Then they gave me a whip and said,
'Now you must
lead the beating.' I was hoping that my comrades were away.
But some were
home.
"I will never forget their faces. It must have been how Jesus looked at
Judas. In most cases they renounced the MDC but one was very brave and
refused. I whipped him and whipped him and I was crying to him, 'Please give
up.' In the end, one of them hit him unconscious with a knobkerrie."
He
has secretly made contact with MDC officials again since, but they loath
to
trust him. The Zimbabwean heard that there have been scores of public
renunciations in the rural areas. There have been similar scenes - often
involving threats of hut-burning and rape - in other rural areas. In Shamva
alone last week there were reported serious assaults.
Even this may be
dwarfed by the retribution the Mugabe government seems to
be planning for
the MDC-voting masses of the Harare townships.
Who will make sure elections are free and fair?
The Zimbabwean
Monday, 25 February 2008 08:40
The South African
government says that if the Zimbabweans implement
everything they agreed to
in their negotiations mediated by President Thabo
Mbeki, their March 29
elections should be free and fair, writes Peter
Fabricius in the Sunday
Independent, Johannesburg.
But who is going to ensure they comply?, he
asks.
The Zimbabwean government made it clear on Friday that only
friendly
governments and organisations would be invited to observe the poll.
The
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) believes the elections
cannot be free and fair because President Robert Mugabe has already refused
to implement important things he agreed to in the negotiations, especially a
new constitution. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the foreign minister, was asked at
a press conference on Monday what the prospects were for free and fair
elections in these circumstances. She replied: "Well, the view of the South
African government is that if the Zimbabweans implement everything that they
have agreed upon during their negotiations. (if they implement the laws
passed by parliament around security, information, media and all those
laws) . the prospects for free and fair elections should be
good."
But, leaving aside the MDC's concerns about the lack of
a new
constitution, who will be in Zimbabwe to observe whether these other
agreements are implemented? Zanu PF and the MDC never agreed that they
should have a joint say in who could monitor the elections to ensure a full
range of observers. And George Charamba, Mugabe's spokesman, made it clear
on Friday that, once again, only countries or organisations that had not
criticised past elections would be invited. This included South Africa and
all other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries. It was
the SADC leaders who mandated Mbeki's mediation mission. Charamba said the
South African government would be especially welcome as it would want to
observe the results of its mediation. He said SADC itself would also be
invited as well as the East and West African regional blocs, the African
Union, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and certain developing world
countries such as China.
Zimbabwe would not - "and I
repeat, not" - invite the European Union
(EU), although, intriguingly,
Charamba suggested that one or two specific
but unnamed European states
would be invited. Ronnie Mamoepa, the spokesman
for the department of
foreign affairs, responded by expressing South
Africa's willingness to send
an observer mission, either on its own or as
part of the SADC. On past
performance, Charamba's announcement means that no
observers will issue
critical reports of the March 29 elections. After the
2000 parliamentary
elections, the EU monitors issued a critical report and
were not invited
back. After the 2002 presidential elections, the
Commonwealth observer
mission said it was unable to certify the election as
free and fair. This
led to Zimbabwe being suspected from the Commonwealth
and so the
Commonwealth has never been invited back.
That year SADC - that
is, the 14 governments in the organisation -
declared itself satisfied with
the elections. But the SADC parliamentary
forum - which includes not only
ruling parties but also opposition political
parties from the region - did
not approve the election. So it was denied
observer status at the 2005
parliamentary elections, except as a member of
the official SADC mission,
which it declined, as this would have compromised
its autonomy. Other
entities whose applications to observe the 2005
elections were turned down
included Cosatu, Norway, the United States, the
Electoral Institute of
Southern Africa - a Johannesburg-based NGO that
specialises in monitoring
Southern African elections - and the Zimbabwe
Observer Consortium, a group
of South African NGOs including the South
African Council of Churches and
the South African NGO Coalition. South
Africa has pronounced itself
satisfied with all these elections, though some
non-government members of
the observer mission have issued dissenting
minority
reports.
Zimbabwe Diaspora vote protest in Washington DC
The Zimbabwe Global Forum,
with the very active participation of the North
American Province of the
MDC, organized a protest outside the Zimbabwe
embassy in Washington, DC on
Friday, February 22. Protestors marched from
Lafayette Park near the White
House to the Zimbabwe embassy. They sang and
held high their placards
demanding the right of the Zimbabweans in Diaspora
to vote.
For more
details go to the link below. Please note the pictures take a
little to
fully load.
http://www.zimaction.com/GZFdemo.htm
My
thanks to all who braved the weather and took part in the demo.
Stanford
G. Mukasa
Hoping for a miracle
Aid to the Church in Need - An international Catholic charity dependent on the Holy See, providing pastoral relief to needy and oppressed churches.
- Zimbabwe: Hoping for a miracle
Posted by Press release on 25/2/2008, 10:39
am
|
ACN News, Monday, 25th February 2008 – ZIMBABWE
“They wait for divine intervention. They pray because they…cannot do anything themselves. We must all pray for an end to their suffering.” By John Pontifex and John Newton ZIMBABWE’S crisis-stricken people feel they have no hope but God – so says a Catholic charity after an urgent fact-finding visit. Such is the scale of the crisis according to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the charity for suffering Christians, after a representative from the international charity carried out its most extensive project assessment trip in the country in 10 years.  ACN is supporting Church-run programmes for people with AIDS in a country where 30 percent are living with HIV. In a country with the world’s worst inflation – now standing at nearly 100,000 percent – bishops, priests, sisters and lay people alike underlined that the economic crisis was so bad, religious faith was their last hope. Fresh back from Zimbabwe, the ACN projects’ chief said: “You cannot imagine how people are asking for prayers and for miracles. “They feel they cannot do anything themselves. We must pray for an end to their suffering and we must help them to rebuild their future.” The ACN staff member, who cannot be named for fear he would be barred from returning to the country, described how more than 80 percent of Zimbabwe’s population of more than 14 million were unemployed and almost the same number were below the poverty line. The official exchange rate is US$1 for Zim$30,000 but unofficially it is as much as Zim$6 million. The cost of a hamburger from an average café now reportedly costs Zim$15 million or $540 Australian dollars. An average wage is about Zim$25 million. Church leaders’ emergency relief work is still badly hampered by a government clampdown prompted by a bishops’ letter last year denouncing “such an overtly corrupt leadership”. Priests were harassed and threatened and copies of the letter were confiscated. The ACN projects’ representative said: “The intimidation exercised by the authorities has been so strong that some priests are still unable to talk about the events unemotionally. They still feel bitter outrage.”  Having already worked a full day Zimbabweans take to the street as vendors, selling produce from their gardens. But Catholic leaders are refusing to be cowed and ACN is promising key support to help the Church itself and support the humanitarian work being carried out by priests, sisters and lay people. Mass offerings are a priority for priests in huge and very poor parishes where fuel is very expensive and people are desperate for spiritual support. ACN is also prioritising emergency help, supporting Church-run programmes for people with AIDS in a country where 30 percent are HIV positive. Another key ACN project is a $32,000 emergency food programme for people in the Archdiocese of Bulawayo threatened with starvation. ACN has given key help for more than 500 children – many of them orphans – who are receiving food and medical support thanks to a programme by religious Sisters in a suburb of Bulawayo city. More essential aid is being channelled into training programmes taking place in Church pastoral centres across the country enabling people to care for the sick, orphans and AIDS victims. Although many key ACN projects have already been decided, the sheer volume of other requests for help leaves the charity’s staff with the tough task of deciding priorities. The ACN projects’ representative said: “What we are committed to doing is to support the priests and people in playing their vital role in helping to save the country.” He added: “Although our priorities remain pastoral, we cannot just ignore what really is a humanitarian emergency.” 
Essential aid is being channelled into programmes in Church pastoral centres across the country. The ACN projects’ representative went on to describe the people’s courage: “Despite the appalling poverty, the Zimbabweans have kept their dignity and composure. “The people still remember the atrocities of war and they try to avoid it at all costs – even at the price of being humiliated, poor and hungry.” He said that Zimbabwe’s President Mugabe taunts the people, saying that if he was forced from power, the country would be plunged into civil war. People fear a repeat of the violence seen in Kenya after the presidential elections on 27th December. The ACN projects’ representative described his shock at walking into allegedly one of the best supermarkets in the area and discovering virtually nothing on the shelves except from some dry caterpillars, powdered milk and a pumpkin costing the equivalent of $675 Australian dollars. He was also astonished to find Coca Cola and to be told that the buyer was expected to supply an empty bottle. Editor’s Notes: Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action. Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in about 145 countries throughout the world. The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 45 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide. To help this cause please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web:www.aidtochurch.org |
Can Makoni be our Barak Obama?
zimbabwejournalists.com
25th Feb 2008 01:55 GMT
By Chenjerai Chitsaru
IT'S still months away from
November when the United States decides who
should take over from George W.
Bush, a two-term president who tried, but
failed miserably, to give "the
fight against terrorism" a respectable name.
Barak Obama, who has edged
nearer towards being the Democratic presidential
candidate than any
African-American has ever done, might still make it to
the White
House.
His campaign, anchored on the need for "change" from the old style
cronyism
of Washington politics, has appealed to many young people, black
and white.
He is ten years younger than Simba Makoni who, although he has
created the
most exciting election drama in Zimbabwe since Edgar Tekere
challenged
Robert Mugae in 1990, has a campaign also anchored on a change of
sorts.
The difference between them is that Makoni has been an
"Establishment"
politician for quite a number of years. He has sat on the
front benches as a
cabinet minister in Mugabe's government.
Obama, on
the other hand, has been a Senator for a few years, but was never
in the
government. This is even allowing for the fact that with a Republican
president in charge for the past two terms, he couldn't have been in
government in any case.
Still, his promise of change in the way
Washington conducts politics on
behalf of the people of the US struck the
right note for many Democrats.
Makoni's major impediment as someone
wielding a huge scythe aimed at jugular
of "old politics" in Zimbabwe is
that he has been part of it for a long
time.
Morgan Tsvangirai, the
only MDC presidential candidate, has largely
political reasons for reminding
voters of Makoni's Zanu PF past. Yet he
cannot be faulted for bringing it
up: Makoni was, for a while at least, part
of The Establishment which
wreaked havoc on the economy.
When he left in undisguised disgust a few
years ago, most of his
sympathizers hoped and prayed he would purge himself
of any traces of all
Zanu PF-isms, including the impunity, the duplicity,
the dedication to
violence, the capacity for mendacity, which have all been
the hallmarks of
the Mugabe era since independence.
Makoni himself
has pledged a new era, if elected president, as different
from the Zanu PF
brand of politics as night is from day: the prospect of a
government of
national unity, which he has said would be his aim, would
introduce, perhaps
for the first time in Zimbabwe, the politics of
consensus.
A
parliamentary democracy may not the ideal place for such a brand of
radical
politics. The idea is to maintain the cut and thrust of debate which
characterises participatory democracy, with the so-called "loyal opposition"
still opposing, whenever it wishes, any legislation proposed by the
government.
A government of national unity, on the other hand, is a
milder form of the
one-party system without the ingredients of dictatorship
that are so
attractive to Zanu PF.
Why people are cynical of
Makoni's claim to be entirely independent of Zanu
PF's or Mugabe's patronage
is the party's record of duplicity.
The unity accord with PF Zapu is now
almost in tatters, largely because
Mugabe's party has been contemptuous of
all criticism of Gukurahundi, the
massacre in the 1980s of almost 20 000
people in the so-called dissident war
against former Zipra combatants
allegedly bent on overthrowing the Mugabe
government.
Joshua Nkomo,
when he returned from exile in the UK and joined the Mugabe
government is
said to have believed he had avoided an " Angola " situation -
Jonas
Savimbi's bloody struggle against the MPLA government of first, the
late
Agostinho Neto, and later of Jose Eduardo dos Santos.
Zanu PF has not
handled the aftermath of Gukurahundi well at all. If it was
truly the
"moment of madness" that Mugabe said it was, then there should be
no doubt
about compensation for the survivors or the relatives of those
butchered by
the 5 Brigade.
But to say, as Nathan Shamuyarira of Zanu PF once did,
that many Shonas were
killed in the massacre, sounds so patently false it
must have turned many
against the unity accord.
Moreover, there is
some mystification among even those deeply sympathetic to
Makoni's challenge
to Mugabe at his initial insistence that "I am still a
Zanu PF
member".
That sounds as if there was an esoteric element in Zanu PF
membership which
a member cannot repudiate willy-nilly, like a Knight of the
Round Table
suddenly denouncing that hallowed group of
warriors.
There is little doubt that there are prominent figures within
Zanu PF who
sympathise with Makoni. What seems clear is that all of them
desire very
much to get rid of Mugabe as their leader.
They have so
far failed to achieve their aims through the channels of the
party. During
two important party conferences - the people's conference in
Goromonzi in
2006 and the extraordinary congress in 2007 - vigorous
attempts were
mounted to constitutionally bar Mugabe from standing as the
party's
candidate in 2008.
Mugabe outmanouvered his opponents, and the December
2007 congress finally
endorsed his candidature. It has now been confirmed
that it was at that
congress that someone else, and not Mugabe, was to be
endorsed as the
presidential candidate.
Whether it was the prominent
role of Jabulani Sibanda, a presumed Mugabe
trouble-shooter, at that
congress who turned the tables in his "master's"
favour is difficult to
confirm.
But it would seem that all the players backing Makoni's bid to
challenge
Mugabe for the party presidency had pinned their hopes on that
congress
ditching Mugabe.
There is now clearly open warfare among the
feuding Zanu PF camps. Some of
the tactics, featuring the usually
heavy-handed participation of the Central
Intelligence agency (CIO), could
degenerate into bloodshed.
There is so much at stake, it is said people
are willing to resort to
extreme methods to prevent the change that Makoni
envisages. For instance,
Makoni last week mentioned party bigwigs having,
not just two, but six to
eight farms, all of them the spoils of the land
reform programme, ostensibly
launched by Mugabe to "redress" the inequities
of colonialism.
Even Mugabe himself, speaking in an interview on his 84th
birthday, boasted
of how much his farming was proceeding apace.
It
didn't seem odd to him that he could wax so lyrical about his own
personal
achievements while ordinary people could quite often not find maize
meal,
the staple, in the supermarkets, many of them denuded of their stocks
after
his 2007 price blitz.
Makoni struck a populist note when he said, right
from the beginning, that
he shared the people's "pain" of
deprivation.
It is important to remember that Tsvangirai, who has
traveled that path
before, also shared the people's pain - and twice he
could not convince them
to vote for him and ditch Mugabe.
Tsvangirai
has never been tainted - as some people would call it - with the
Zanu PF
whiff of corruption, duplicity and general skullduggery. Yet he has
still
not succeeded in dislodging Mugabe.
Does Makoni, using Barak Obama's
"change" slogan, stand a better chance
against Mugabe? Or will voters see so
many similarities between him and his
former mentor that they will prefer
Tsvangirai, who has never set foot in
the Establishment?
Rally for Dignity! and Democracy
Rally for
Dignity! and Democracy in
on
International
Women’s Day,
Saturday
8th March 2008
12pm-1.30pm
Celebrating and
highlighting the struggle for dignity, democracy and basic human rights in
3 weeks ahead of
elections, it is a chance to support the Dignity!
Period. campaign and support the efforts
by civil society for free and fair elections.
Speakers
include:
Lucia
Matibenga, Vice-President
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
Takavafira
Zhou,
President, Progressive Teachers Union of
Maureen
Kademaunga,
Gender and Human Rights Officer,
And many other high
profile speakers from
The rally is followed
by the Zimbabwe Vigil outside the Zimbabwean Embassy at 14.00 and at 15.30 the
Million Women Rise Rally to end violence against women in
www.actsa.org
Please contact campaigns@actsa.org or phone 020 3263 2001
to let us know if you are coming
Lest we forget- the farmers of Zimbabwe
D.M.Gammon
Burn down your
cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up
again as if by
magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the
streets of every
city in the land (William Jennings Bryan, 9 July 1896).
How prophetic
these words are proving to be for Zimbabwe, although in making
this
statement Bryan could never have dreamt of a government purposefully
destroying it's own farms. The Zimbabwe Government's campaign to obliterate
commercial agriculture through illegal and violent means in the interest of
retaining power, under the guise of agrarian reform, has been largely
effective. A major part of this campaign has been incessant propaganda,
based on a mass of distortions and lies, designed to give it respectability.
As a continuation of this campaign, there have been further deceptions to
give the impression that the pretence of agrarian reform has been
successful. It can be expected also that there will be attempts to mask the
past achievements of the commercial farmers. It would be a tragedy if these
truly remarkable achievements and the tragic sufferings of these farmers
were not fully documented, before distortions become accepted
history.
Virgin land
The first white hunters, traders and
missionaries who, in the 19th century
came to the region which was to become
Rhodesia and subsequently Zimbabwe,
found a land devoid of infrastructure.
The wheel was not yet in use and so
there were not even roads. Early
travellers record travelling often for days
without seeing any human
habitation. With a population of about a quarter of
a million people at that
time, indeed most of the land area was not
occupied. Commercial farming
started in the 1890s on what was, for the most
part, virgin land, which had
never been farmed before. There were no access
roads, there was no
electricity or telephone; there were no boreholes,
pumps, windmills, dams,
irrigation schemes; there were no cattle dips, barns
or any other farm
buildings.
These first farmers had to discover how to contend with
predators that
killed their livestock and other animals that consumed their
crops; how to
control diseases, pests and parasites of livestock and crops
that were
foreign to them. While some guidance could be drawn from South
Africa,
methods used in the developed world, based on knowledge and
experience built
up over many generations, had limited application as the
local climate, soil
and vegetation were vastly
different.
Breadbasket
From this starting point, fraught with
difficulties, agriculture developed
faster than it had anywhere else in the
world. Within a few decades the
agricultural infrastructure was developed
and the country became
self-sufficient in most agricultural products, in
many cases with production
levels and quality already equal to, or better
than, those in the developed
world. The United Nations Food and Agriculture
Year Book of 1975 ranked the
then Rhodesia second in the world in terms of
yields of maize, wheat, soya
beans and groundnuts, and third for cotton. In
the combined ranking for all
these crops Rhodesia ranked first in the world.
Some of these rankings were,
in fact, reached long before 1975. Rhodesian
Virginia tobacco was rated the
best in the world in yield and quality, while
maize entries in world
championships were consistently placed in the first
three places. The world's
largest single citrus producer was developed early
in the country's history.
The highest quality breeding stock of numerous
breeds of cattle, sheep,
goats, pigs and poultry were imported, while the
indigenous cattle were
developed through breeding and selection to highly
productive and respected
breeds. The Tuli, for example, has been imported
into a number of other
countries. Zimbabwe beef was favourably regarded on
the most discerning
European markets. Wildlife was incorporated into farming
systems to develop
a highly successful eco-tourism industry and endangered
species found their
most secure havens on farm
conservancies.
Zimbabwe was the world's second largest exporter of
flue-cured tobacco and,
together with exports of maize, soyabeans, cotton,
sugar, coffee, tea,
fruit, vegetables, flowers and beef, agriculture became
the major
contributor to the gross domestic product, the greatest foreign
currency
earner and it provided more employment than any other industry.
Zimbabwe
earned the reputation of the breadbasket of central
Africa.
To-day foreign aid is considered indispensable for development in
the
developing world, but agriculture, as with all other industries, was
developed in Rhodesia with no such aid. The commercial farmers also did not
benefit from the free seed, fertilizer, tillage and other inputs currently
being dispensed in an effort to induce production from the resettled farms.
However, the agricultural departments and training colleges set up by the
colonial government, to service all farming sectors regardless of colour,
played a crucial part in the development of agriculture. Without the
outstanding contributions of the Department of Veterinary Services the
livestock industry could not have developed and exports of animal products
could not have been established. The Department of Research and Specialist
Services and the Tobacco Research Board developed improved crop varieties
for local and regional use and researched optimum crop and livestock
nutrition and management techniques. The Department of Conservation and
Extension was established to ensure that the land was farmed in accordance
with its potential for sustainable production. It provided a sophisticated
farm planning service, agricultural extension and specialist advisory
services. These departments, employing highly qualified and dedicated staff,
and were rated among the best in the world and the agricultural colleges
turned out farmers of the highest calibre.
Outposts of
civilization
The benefits accruing to the country from the commercial
farming sector
extended far beyond the value of agricultural products and
employment. The
farmers contributed to the fabric and welfare of society out
of all
proportion to their numbers. It was largely this fact that was to
make them
the prime target of a government desperately clinging to power.
Each farm
was, to a greater or lesser extent, an outpost of civilization.
Many farms
established schools for the children of their workers, every farm
was a
clinic and dispensary and an ambulance service for the surrounding
areas.
The relationship between farmer and worker was more intimate and
benevolent
than in any other industry and commercial farmers were exemplary
neighbours
to the communal area peasant farmers, providing unpaid help in
many ways. It
was from the agricultural shows organized by farmers that the
Central
African Trade Fair grew.
All these contributions to the
growth of the economy and the welfare of the
country came from fewer than
five thousand farmers, on less than half the
land.
Terrorist
targets
After the Rhodesian Government's unilateral declaration of
independence in
1965 it was the tenacity and initiative of the farmers in
diversification
that helped the country to survive the comprehensive
sanctions that were
imposed upon it. The few agricultural products that had
hitherto been
imported were quickly brought into production locally. But it
was the
farmers who bore the brunt of the terrorist attacks during the
ensuing
Rhodesian war. They were under continuous threat of armed attacks on
their
homes, ambushes, and land mines; many farmers and their family members
and
workers were murdered. And yet they were able to continue production.
Independence in 1980 brought relief from this to most of the country but not
in Matabeleland. Here attacks by "dissidents" resulted in even more farmers
being murdered than had been the case during the war.
From the mid
1980s there followed a period of little more than a decade of
comparative
normality, during which farmers had to contend only with drastic
shortages
of many inputs. It is worth noting that during the first two
decades of the
post independence period the government was encouraging the
continuance of
commercial agriculture. It claimed first option rights on all
land sales but
considerable normal change of ownership occurred with the
government issuing
certificates of no interest.
The worst nightmare for the farmers was to
come from 2000 onwards. In 2000
an unrigged referendum was held on the
Zimbabwe Government's proposed
alterations to the constitution and it came
as an unbearable shock to the
ruling ZANU (PF) party when the result showed
that they did not have
majority support. From this time on the government's
prime focus was on
retaining power at any cost. The farmers, although making
up a minute
fraction of the population, were seen as key supporters of the
opposition
who could influence their large labour force and hence other
rural people,
potentially the government's main support base. The farmers
were therefore
first to be punished by vindictive and brutal attacks and
then driven from
their farms so that they could no longer make a meaningful
contribution to
the opposition. Disguising this under such emotive rhetoric
as "agrarian
reform", "land redistribution to the landless" and "recovery of
stolen land"
has deceived and earned the support of many naïve observers and
has provided
an excuse for other knowing, but equally malevolent leaders, to
support
these actions. At the same time as removing opposition support,
those
incited by the government to invade the farms and those to whom
dispossessed
land was given could be expected to be loyal government party
supporters.
Genuine land reform would have been an orderly process starting
and
continuing gradually after independence, rather than a violent campaign
suddenly instituted 20 years after independence when the ruling party's
power was threatened.
This "land reform" took the form of
state-sponsored terrorism conducted by
rabid bands of so-called war veterans
or, as political analyst John Makumbe
has put it, "ZANU (PF) hoodlums and
hired hands". The findings of the
Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum Report were
that it was a government-planned
seizure of land, not a spontaneous seizure
by landless blacks, as claimed by
the government. In this
government-sponsored frenzy farmers and their
workers were violently abused
physically and many were murdered, their
property was wantonly destroyed,
their farm animals and pets were cruelly
maimed and killed, and wild life
was decimated. Farmers and their families
lived for extended periods in a
state of siege surrounded by armed thugs. To
add insult to injury, these
people would often demand favours and assistance
from the farmers. Many
farmers were illegally detained and ultimately the
unbearable pressure, or
the direct threat to their lives, has forced more
than 90% of the farmers
off their farms. According to the Human Rights Forum
Report, more than 10
000 farm workers are believed to have died after their
expulsion from farms,
as a consequence of loss of employment, housing,
nutrition and access to
health care on the farms.
Total loss
It is difficult for city
dwellers to fully comprehend the enormity of what
has happened to these
farmers. Apart from the abuse, violent attacks and
cold blooded murders,
farmers in one sweep lost their homes, their land,
their crops, their
animals and their equipment; they have had their
businesses, built up often
over more than a generation, closed down, their
livelihood terminated; all
this with, as yet, no compensation or insurance
coverage. Farm workers too
have been left homeless and unemployed. Through
all of this there was no one
to whom the farmers could turn for help and
there was no public protest on
their behalf. There was no recourse to law as
the law was no longer applied
and court rulings were ignored. The police
were usually fully aware of what
was happening, often supporting or
participating in the violence. There was
even a case where a police road
block knowingly allowed free passage to cars
carrying armed assassins on
their way to murder a farmer; and then allowed
them free return after the
deed was done.
Starvation
Most of
the farms now lie largely derelict and unproductive. Many are
occupied, not
by the peasants the campaign was proclaimed to provide for but
by ruling
party cronies, army, police and church leaders, favoured in order
to win
political allegiance. Although the farms were taken over as fully
functional
concerns, production immediately fell to such low levels that the
country
now faces widespread starvation and is dependent on food aid. Dr. J.
L.
Grant, former Deputy Director of the Commercial Farmers Union, estimates
that the production of maize and soyabeans has fallen by more than 50%,
while tobacco and coffee production has declined by more than 75%. The
commercial beef herd has declined by more than 80% and this, together with
lack of control of stock movements and consequent outbreaks of foot and
mouth disease, means that beef can no longer be exported.
In a recent
radio interview the Zimbabwe Minister of Lands and Resettlement
was asked
why it was that Zimbabwe, formerly referred to as the breadbasket
of central
Africa, was now suffering perpetual severe food shortages.
Drought has been
the usual excuse offered for this, even in seasons of
adequate rainfall, but
on this occasion the excuse given was that it took
time for new farmers to
get into production. This was in spite of the fact
that they took over
established farms, often with standing crops.
Ironically, within days of
this interview it was reported that, as a result
of displaced Zimbabwe
farmers settling in Zambia, within one season that
country already had an
exportable surplus of maize.
What has happened to the economy of
Zimbabwe, mainly as a result of the
destruction of its farms, is now evident
to all.
So much was owed by so many to the initiative, enterprise, energy
and
courage of so few; and yet, when the farmers were being persecuted, no
one
intervened on their behalf. It is hoped that the amazing story of the
farmers of Zimbabwe will be recorded more fully and published, that the
perpetrators of the crimes committed against them will be brought to justice
and that they will receive fair compensation for their persecution and
losses.
When a new season is heralded by the brilliant spring colours
of the msasa
trees, by the fresh green grass and the frolicking of new- born
calves, we
will remember them.
MIKE GAMMON
.
Successful Zim litigation over violence
Case note on Loveness Chigega vs
Anthony Jaji, Milton Kange, Orgie Munetsi
and Harrison Zuze HC
5386/06
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum is pleased to share with
partners and
stakeholders the successful litigation and completion of the
case of
Loveness Chigega vs Anthony Jaji, Milton Kange, Orgie Munetsi and
Harrison
Zuze HC 5386/06 (hereinafter called the defendants).
This
case arose out of the assault of the late Alexander Chigega, Loveness
Chigega and their whole family by the defendants who are ZANU PF supporters
for allegedly being supporters of the MDC. Mr Alexander Chigega died as a
result of the assault by the defendants while Mrs Chigega survived but
sustained serious injuries to her person, upon which the claim she lodged
was founded. The defendants perpetrated the assault on the night of the 4th
January 2004.
The High Court of Zimbabwe sitting on the 12th of
February 2008 awarded Mrs
Chigega compensatory damages totalling $4,750
billion, being $3,5 billion
for pain and suffering, $500 million for
contumelia and $750 million for
loss and destruction of property. Interest
is payable on this amount at 35%
per year according to the prescribed rate
of interest and the defendants are
liable to pay jointly or severally, the
one paying the other to be absolved.
We are now pursuing payment.
The
Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum represented Mrs Chigega in this case. The
Forum
provides legal aid services to victims of Organised Violence and
Torture
through the Public Interest Unit.
Police Search, Seizure of Exhibits Unconstitutional - Van Hoogstraten
The Herald (Harare) Published by the government of
Zimbabwe
23 February 2008
Posted to the web 25 February
2008
Harare
BUSINESS tycoon Nicholas Von Hessen (also known as Van
Hoogstraten)
yesterday described the search and seizure of exhibits by the
police from
his premises without a search warrant as
"unconstitutional".
Von Hessen who is facing two counts of dealing in
foreign currency by
charging US$4 600 as rentals for his Hillside property
and exchanging $6,5
billion for US$1 000 on the black market alleged that
the police assaulted
him and his two employees.
The businessman
also claimed that some of the documents seized among them
company records
and books had nothing to do with the case. He further
claimed that the trap
set by the police when they arrested him was illegal.
Through his lawyer,
Mr George Chikumbirike of Chikumbirike and Associates,
Von Hessen has
applied for the return of the documents and have them
declared invalid as
exhibits.
Von Hessen is also seeking an order to have the matter referred
to the
Supreme Court for determination on the constitutional issues raised
if the
lower court could not grant a favourable ruling.
"The accused
person's rights in respect of all counts were violated. In fact
they were
trampled upon," Mr Chikumbirike said.
According to Mr Von Hessen's
affidavit, detectives violently forced their
vehicle into the premises after
assaulting a security guard and once inside
the premises they allegedly
assaulted a maid.
Responding to the applications, prosecutor Mr Obi
Mabahwana said the trap
was legal and the court should dismiss the defence's
application as
frivolous and vexatious.
He further argued that there
was no need for the police to seek a search
warrant before seizing the
foreign currency in a case in which Von Hessen
received US$4 600 as rent
because the cash was trap money.
Mr Mabahwana also submitted that on the
second charge, in which the
businessman is being accused of exchanging $6,5
billion for US$1 000, there
was no need for a search warrant since he was
dealing.
Above all, Mr Mabahwana said, detectives procedurally sought a
search
warrant for the exchange control charges.
Commenting on the
seized photographs, Mr Mabahwana said the police did not
have any search
warrant, but leaving the photographs and rushing to the
station to obtain a
warrant was tantamount to rendering the police
powerless.
"It would
be unreasonable for the police to rush back to the station upon
stumbling
upon another offence to seek a warrant of search," he said.
Harare
regional magistrate Mr Morgen Nemadire deferred the proceedings to
March 19
when Mr Mabahwana is expected to continue with his response on the
application.
Von Hessen on Wednesday had two of his charges quashed
by the same court
leaving three other charges.
Regarding the upcoming elections on 29th March
African Path
February 25,
2008 10:21 AM
The Global Zimbabwe Forum would like to express
its dire concern at the
current state of the preparations for the
forthcoming harmonized elections
that are due to be held in Zimbabwe on 29th
March 2008.
We would like as Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, to state in no
uncertain terms
our unequivocal stance on the following issues:
1..
The outcome of the forthcoming elections will be highly compromised by
the
fact that over three million eligible voters who are now living outside
Zimbabwe will be excluded from participating in the process. We believe that
the exclusion of the Diaspora vote is a fundamental flow that brings the
credibility of the elections into question.
2.. We also note with
concern the rather inconclusive nature of the SADC
mediation process that
was being led by President Thabo Mbeki. Should
Zimbabweans expected more
from this rather protracted process.
3.. We further call upon SADC and
Africa in general to ensure that the
elections are held in accordance with
the expectations of the SADC Protocol
on Elections that was adopted in
Mauritius in August 2004.
4.. We urge all the interested political
parties and independent
candidates in the forthcoming elections to promote a
spirit of peaceful
election campaign process. Political violence must be
condemned
unconditionally.
5.. We endorse current efforts to
mobilize some Zimbabweans in the
Diaspora especially those living in the
SADC region to return home and vote
in the forthcoming elections.
6.. While we respect the individual members? preferences of candidates of
their own, we do not endorse any candidates in the elections since we are a
politically non-partisan organization but urge the Zimbabwean electorate to
vote for a candidate who will seek to promote the democratic ideals of
Zimbabwe especially the interests of the diverse Diaspora
community.
7.. We urge all Zimbabweans at home to go turn out in their
numbers on
29th March and fully exercise their right to elect the leaders of
their own
choice.
Issued in Johannesburg on Monday 25th February
2008 by
Mr. Daniel Molokele
Co-ordinator
Telephone:
+27729474815
Ms. Grace Kwinjeh
Chairperson
Telephone:
+27794344508
Mr. Mandla-akhe Dube
Vice Chairperson
Telephone:
+6421348288
Mr. Canaan Mhlanga
North America Region
Telephone:
+7782373072
Mr. Simbarashe Chirimubwe
Rest of Africa
Region
Telephone: +267-71910712
Mr. Promise Mkwananzi
Europe
Region
Telephone: +31612697629
Mr. Luke Zunga
South Africa
Region
Telephone: +27835281561
Prof. Stan Mukasa
North America
Region
Telephone: +724 467 0001
Mugabe dresses down Mat South governor
New Zimbabwe
By
Lindie Whiz
Last updated: 02/25/2008 23:49:29
AN ATTEMPT to curry favour
with President Robert Mugabe ended in
embarrassment for Matabeleland South
governor Angeline Masuku last Saturday,
when the 84-year-old leader told her
point blank: "I don't trust you."
Masuku was left shell shocked after
Mugabe - who was in Beitbridge to
celebrate his 84th birthday -- appeared to
reject her assurances that Zanu
PF would win elections in the province next
month.
Masuku was briefing President Mugabe at a closed door meeting also
attended
by Zanu PF officials and traditional leaders when she met the
unexpected
response.
A source who attended the meeting revealed:
"Masuku first briefed the
President on the food situation, farming
prospects, and other government
projects in her province. Things went well
until she came to the elections.
"She told the president that everyone in
her province was solidly behind
Mugabe and the party would win all seats and
wards and the presidential
election there.
"Mugabe, who all along
listened quietly, interjected and said 'we will see
that on March 30' (a day
after the polls). Masuku looked shuttered by those
comments, and we all felt
for her in the room.
"She suddenly lost her confidence as she continued
with the last part of her
presentation. She went on to say even chiefs could
vouch for her that the
people in the province were behind Zanu PF and the
President.
"She turned to the chiefs and said: 'Tell the President what
you have always
told me. He wants to hear it from you'."
Chief
Mzimuni Masuku is said to have volunteered to save the day for the
red-faced
governor after the other five elderly chiefs appeared not so eager
to speak
at the occasion.
Our source revealed: "The young chief assured Mugabe
that the people were
behind him. The chief quickly switched into thanking
the president for
giving traditional leaders cars, scotch carts, ploughs and
other farming
implements and money."
Other officials who attended the
briefing said Masuku and the Zanu PF
provincial leadership were shaken by
Mugabe's comments, which implied that
he doubted their
sincerity.
Zanu PF leaders in Matabeleland - most of whom rely on Mugabe
for
appointments into high office after losing elections - are known to seek
favours from Mugabe by briefing against each other and not revealing the
true extent of his government's unpopularity.
Masuku in particular
has been mentioned in connection with politicians
within Zanu PF who are
opposed Mugabe's continued stay in power. Zanu PF
insiders said they felt
Mugabe used the occasion to show that he doubted the
province's loyalty to
him.
Zanu PF has only has two House of Assembly seats in Matabeleland
South won
during the 2005 parliamentary elections.
Meanwhile, police
details had a tough time stopping school children from
trooping out of
Dulibadzimu Stadium -- venue of Mugabe's birthday bash.
Mugabe arrived at
the venue around 2PM Saturday, while the school kids had
been paraded at the
sun-scorched venue as early as 7AM.
In addition to the heat, the pupils
also complained of hunger. Police
officers formed a cordon and made sure the
children do not leave until after
4PM when the official programme was
over.
Efforts to coerce locals to attend the bash failed, leaving the
organisers
to rely on schools to bring their pupils. Apart from Zanu PF
political
commissar Elliot Manyika's energetic singing and toyi-toying, this
year's
event was dull and poorly-attended compared to previous
events.
Mugabe used the occasion to fire salvos at his opponents in the
March 29
polls -- Simba Makoni and Morgan Tsvangirai. Even MDC faction
leader, Arthur
Mutambara, got flak from Mugabe's for not contesting and
lending his support
to Makoni.
Plastic Containers in Zimbabwe Save the Day Economically
VOA
By Fazila Mohamed
Harare, Zimbabwe
25 February 2008
In Zimbabwe, plastic containers, commonly
known as "chigubus" now rank among
the most desired items in the country.
Demand has soared, partly as result
of irregular fuel supplies. Consumers
facing water shortages also fill the
containers when the liquid is
available, ensuring they have some stored for
later use. Voice of America
English to Africa reporter Fazila Mohamed says
the second-hand trade in
plastic containers has boomed in direct correlation
to increasing fuel
shortages.
Lack of petrol forces motorists to keep at least one
or two containers handy
for storage purposes. But motorists aren't the only
ones hoarding the items.
Consumers desperate to avoid water shortages also
hang onto the containers.
They fill up as many of the Chigubus as possible
when water is
available, ensuring they have a back-up supply when taps run
dry.
A pensioner who lives in the suburb of Glen Lorne says she
keeps more than a
dozen containers filled at all times, as the area
sometimes has no water for
weeks on end, "I keep Chigubus in my house is
because there's inadequate
water. Water comes once in a while and I'm a
pensioner and I can not carry
twenty five liters of water so I have them all
is five liter Chigubus and I
have 16 or 18 in my house and I make sure I
always have water on hand."
Innovative entrepreneurs have turned this
skyrocketing need into a thriving
business. Many now make a living by
selling containers of all sizes, shapes
and colors at exorbitant rates. One
major container outlet is situated at
the Mbare market. A 20-liter container
costs from nine to 25-million
Zimbabwe dollars. Others sell the containers
on the side of suburban roads
or highways.
One vendor who
introduced himself only as Tafadzwa says he considers
himself a Chigubu
dealer. Standing under a blue umbrella, his informal
outlet is situated on
Lomagundi road next to a bus stop.
He says, "There is a very big
demand for all types of containers. We are
selling everyday. I myself am
running short ads. It's becoming expensive to
find the Chigubu's. Even at
the market the prices are changing all the time.
But it's a good business.
At least I am not unemployed. I can make some
money because I am selling to
the people in the suburbs so I get good
prices."
Traveling around
Harare it's hard not to see someone carrying either a two,
five or 20 liter
container. Also plastic buckets are becoming increasingly
popular. Residents
say they prefer storing food supplies -- such as maize
meal, rice, sugar and
flour - in buckets, making the Chigubu concept even
more useful.