African Union sends a special team to advise Gaddafi to relinquish power - Cartoon

Cartoon by Godfrey Mwampembwa (Gado)

Mugabe sends mercenaries to prop up crumbling regime

We’ll find the money for elections, insists defiant Mugabe

http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za

Eyewitness News | 10 Hours Ago

President Robert Mugabe is insisting he will find the money to hold
elections this year, despite resistance from his partners in the coalition
government.

Mugabe, who just turned 87, said he and his supporters are willing to fight
to keep what he calls Zimbabwe’s sovereignty.

He said there is going to have to be very good reasons not to hold the polls
this year and lack of funds, he insisted, will not be one of them.

“We can never accept that money is the problem,” the president said in
comments carried by the state media on Sunday.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission needs US$20 million alone to revamp the
voters roll and the MDC Finance Minister Tendai Biti is wary.

But, Mugabe said he wants to get to elections as soon as possible and in the
face of mounting violence in some areas, he said his supporters would fight
to retain their sovereignty.

Mugabe threatens Implats’ Zim operations

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

27/02/2011 00:00:00
    by Business Reporter

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has claimed that Zimbabwe is not benefitting from
its vast mineral resources and accused the country’s leading platinum
producer, Zimplats, of “taking all the money” to South Africa.

Zimplats runs the country’s biggest platinum mining operations in the Ngezi
and Selous areas and controls a 50 percent interest in the Zvishavane-based
Mimosa platinum mine.

However, speaking during his 87th birthday celebrations in Harare on
Saturday Mugabe claimed the country was not benefitting from the investment.

“Zimplats has never given us any substantial money,” Mugabe said. “They are
taking all the money to South Africa that’s why I have told (Empowerment
Minister Saviour) Kasukuwere to deal with those mines.

Zimplats – which reported a 150 percent jump in net profits to US$85 million
the half year period to December 2010 – is majority controlled by South
Africa-based Impala Platinum (Implats), the world’s second largest platinum
producer.

Impala recently announced work had started on a US$500 million expansion
programme at Zimplats adding talks were continuing with the government over
compliance with empowerment laws which require all foreign-owned companies
to localise at least 51 percent of their shareholding.

Meanwhile Mugabe also threatened to seize the local operations of global
foods conglomerate, Nestle after the company refused to buy milk from a farm
owned by his wife, Grace.

“Nestle refused to buy milk from Gushungo dairies,” he told a crowd of about
6 000 supporters.

“I told Kasukuwere to begin with them and tell them he was sent by Gushungo.
We should deal with them; let them get out of the country.”

Mugabe also threatened unspecified action against Western companies
operating in Zimbabwe unless sanctions are removed.

The Zimbabwean leader wants sanctions imposed by the West over allegations
of electoral fraud and rights abuses removed claiming they are responsible
for the country’s economic collapse over the last decade and continue to
hold back efforts to ensure sustained recovery.

From handouts, Zimbabwe farmers target surplus harvest

By Godfrey Marawanyika (AFP) – 16 hours ago

CHINAMHORA, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwean peasant farmer Munyaradzi Mudapakati gives
a satisfied smile as he looks out at his lush maize crop, but he fears his
good fortune will end if elections go ahead this year.

For more than a decade, most rural Zimbabweans have depended on food aid to
survive, but good rains this season are promising an abundant 2011
harvest -- as long as politics doesn't get in the way.

"This year thanks to the good rains I have plenty of food unlike the past
three years," said Mudapakati, a former plumber who took to farming after
losing his job in 2007.

Mudapakati says he expects to harvest 2.5 tonnes of maize this year, up from
less than one tonne last year, and says he could have done even better if he
had enough fertiliser.

But he fears production could dip if President Robert Mugabe goes ahead with
polls planned for later this year, as farmers would be forced to abandon
their work and attend political rallies for Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF.

"I hope they shelve these elections," Mudapakati said.

"The problem is that I will be picked up to go for campaigns since I operate
from the roadside, which means I would lose a lot of time instead of doing
farming."

Although he was spared from the violence that engulfed rural Zimbabwe during
the last elections in 2008, Mudapakati said he saw villagers driven to rally
venues and beaten up when they resisted.

The 40-year-old grows maize and tomatoes at a horticultural farm that was
seized by government and parcelled out to small-scale farmers under Mugabe's
controversial land reform programme.

Launched in 2000, the programme has seen the seizure of nearly 4,000
white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks, with disastrous
effects on agricultural production.

The programme has combined with poor rains and shortages of seed and
fertiliser to force a country once considered the breadbasket of the region
to depend on food aid.

The crisis bottomed out in 2008, when nearly half Zimbabwe's 12 million
people needed food aid. The situation has been improving, but the United
Nations has still appealed for $415 million (300 million euros) to feed 1.7
million Zimbabweans this year until the harvest starts in May.

Agriculture Minister Joseph Made said Zimbabwe is likely to harvest enough
maize to feed itself this year, the first time in a decade. The country
needs an estimated 2.2 million of tonnes of maize a year.

"The country is looking forward to household food security and we should
maintain this in the future," Made told reporters.

But political instability may still threaten this resurgence.

Mugabe, 87, who has been in power since 1980, has called for elections to be
held this year to end the power-sharing government he was forced to enter
with long-time rival Morgan Tsvangirai after the bloody and disputed vote of
2008.

That year, hundreds of rural residents fled to the capital, Harare, seeking
refuge after being beaten or intimidated during the campaign.

Labour economist Prosper Chitambira, too, warned that although no dates have
been set for new elections, farmers and workers could lose precious time if
they are forced to attend campaign rallies.

"In the event of elections some workers will be recruited to carry out
campaigns on behalf of certain parties," said Chitambira of the Harare-based
Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe.

"Though impact on production might be minimal, there will be lost man-hours
as people would be forced to campaign instead of working," he added.

"Some people are also tired of elections as they know that beating or
forcing people will not bring food on the table."

'Bow to Chiwenga and get power' - Mutsvangwa

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Guthrie Munyuki
Sunday, 27 February 2011 20:08

HARARE - Ambassador Chris Mutsvangwa says Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s
lack of respect for the defence forces and allegiances to Zimbabwe do not
make him an ideal leader for Zimbabwe.

Mutsvangwa said the MDC leader and his party have not shown allegiance to
the State by calling for, and supporting sanctions, imposed on President
Robert Mugabe and his allies by the European Union (EU), and the United
States.

“There is nothing wrong with all aspiring to lead the state but when you
work in cohorts with those undermining that State, it becomes treasonable.
You must show your identity and allegiance to the State,” said Mutsvangwa,
in an apparent reference to Tsvangirai.

“You can’t show allegiance to a foreign force and say you are a Zimbabwean
when you advocate for sanctions. You can’t say that State is more worth than
your state, neither can you show your allegiance to your state and the other
state at the same time.”

He said there was nowhere in the world where a proud citizen of any country
would warm up to tough measures against their own country, irrespective of
different ideologies.

“In the US, if you aspire to lead that state, you have to have a deep
understanding of their revolution, the Pentagon and George Washington,”
Mutsvangwa said. “In Zimbabwe, our pentagon is the defence forces and you
have to respect those forces.”

Mutsvangwa’s comments resonate with Zanu PF hardliners who have not taken
the issue of sanctions lightly.

The late commander of the defence forces General Vitalis Gava Zvinavashe
once said the military would not accept a leader without war credentials
“because the position of the President is a straight jacket”.

His successor, General Constantine Chiwenga, has also said he would not
salute PM Tsvangirai.

The security chiefs have been recalcitrant towards Tsvangirai and have not
hidden their resentment at the MDC President’s lightweight liberation
profile.

Mutsvangwa  told a meeting organised by the Voluntary Media Council of
Zimbabwe at the Harare Press Club that the MDC was shaped and influenced by
the West both “mentally and psychologically”,  hence their support for
sanctions.

The EU and America have maintained travel bans, and an asset freeze against
Mugabe and his inner circle, which includes Mutsvangwa and the security
chiefs.

The West has consistently said the sanctions would be lifted once Harare
stopped human rights violations, implements in full the power-sharing deal
and respects the rule of law.

A fortnight ago, the EU removed 35 Zanu PF officials from its sanctions list
but the majority of them were mainly spouses of key Mugabe allies and dead
comrades.

Mugabe and his trusted lieutenants have been slapped with another 12 months
of travel bans and assets freeze by the EU.

The veteran Zanu PF leader, who turned 87 on February 21, accuses the EU and
the US of using sanctions and the MDC to try to topple him.

Jomic Investigates Nyanga Violence

http://www.radiovop.com/

27/02/2011 14:21:00

HARARE, February 27, 2011 - The Joint Monitoring Committee (Jomic) has
started investigations into the violence that has rocked Nyanga North
constituency amid claims that some villagers have resorted to seeking refuge
in neighbouring Mozambique.

Liaison officers from Zanu (PF), MDC-T and MDC were sent to Nyamakomba
Business Center on Tuesday where they were supposed to meet representatives
from Zanu (PF) and MDC-T. However, the meeting failed to take place because
most of the complainants who included the local Member of Parliament Douglas
Mwonzora and some villagers were in remand prison after they were arrested
in the aftermath of the February 13 violence that rocked the area.

The meeting has now been rescheduled for a later date when all the parties
could be represented.Mwonzora accused Energy and Power Development deputy
minister Hubert Nyanhongo of spearheading the violence. He also accused
police in Nyamaropa of turning a blind eye to the violence because they are
sympathetic to Nyanhongo.

The MP wants Jomic to ensure that cases of insecurity and partisanship at
Nyamaropa police camp stop and end all illegal demotions or removal of
traditional leaders by Chief Saunyama. The chief is accused of removing
headmen who are seen as sympathetic to MDC-T.Mwonzora also demanded the
arrest of youths who are linked to Nyanhongo whom he blames for kidnappings
which he said were on the increase in Nyanga North.

Jomic was set up to monitor the adherence to the Global Political Agreement
(GPA) but critics say since it does not have any powers to force the parties
to respect the agreement the body has no teeth.But Jomic officials say they
send their recommendations to the principals in the unity government who
decide on how to use them.

Residents sue council

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Maxwell Sibanda
Sunday, 27 February 2011 20:14

HARARE - Residents have taken their local authority to court seeking an
order compelling the city to shelve the implementation of the 2011 city
budget.

Harare Residents Trust (HRT) coordinator Precious Shumba told Daily News
that they had filed papers with the High Court after the City of Harare
finance and development committee rejected their proposals.

Shumba said while the Urban Councils Act only required 30 objections for the
budget to be adjusted, they had mobilised and managed to send 378 letters to
the local authoity rejecting the budget.

“While we have communicated residents’ position to council, the City of
Harare Finance and Development committee sat down on 21 January, 2011, and
rejected our proposals. They argued that a reduction in the rates - and even
a slight one - will upset their plans on service provision,” said Shumba.

The HRT has also approached Ignatius Chombo's Local Government ministry, in
an effort to make the City of Harare reduce the proposed rates.

“There has been no communication from the Ministry to date. The HRT is of
the view that the City of Harare and the Ministry of local government are
not responsive to the expressed needs of the residents of Harare,” said
Shumba.

He said while they had their own problems with Chombo, the city budget being
forced on residents had nothing to do with him.

“The City of Harare should not drag in Chombo in this. He has nothing to do
with this wrangle,” said Shumba.

Shumba said residents had no other option but to resort to the courts after
the City of Harare rejected their demands.

“I urge the residents to mobilize in their communities to attend the court
proceedings and show determination to have justice delivered. We pray that
the courts will also order them to re-convene consultative meetings to
ensure there is citizen participation as in the Urban Councils Act,” said
Shumba.

Harare residents feel the utility bills from the City of Harare were
inconsistent and should be drastically revised to reflect reality, and not
the estimates that residents have been slapped with.

Shumba said: “The water and housing rates have been increased by between 30
to 40 percent, and this is unacceptable. The council owns most of the
properties in these areas but they are not repairing and maintaining them.
They do no collect refuse and there are burst pipes everywhere in most areas
where council actually owns houses.”

The HRT convened meetings with representatives from Harare communities such
as Mabvuku, Tafara, Mbare, Highfields, and Kuwadzana where the proposed City
of Harare budget was analyzed.

“The outcome was that the budget sharply contrasted with the wishes of the
major stakeholder in the running of the City of Harare, residents, who fund
the council operations,” said Shumba.

He said residents of Harare, in both high and low-density suburbs, should
only pay a fixed rate of US$15 to the council every month, and keep
receipts, to ensure that they are up to date with their rentals and rates.

“This will go on until the City of Harare has acceded to the demands of the
Urban Councils’ Act (Chapter 29:15) and the finalization of the court case
which the HRT is filing with the High Court,” said Shumba.

The HRT last week submitted its position papers to the Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee on Local Government requesting them to convene a public
hearing on the 2011 City Budget, in the interests of citizenship
participation and the defense of the principle of the rule of law.

“We still await a response from the committee,” Said Shumba.

HRT’s attempts to have a peaceful protest just before the end of 2010 were
thwarted by the police.

“They argued that we would bring chaos to the central business district as
there was potential for many people to participate,” said Shumba.

Zim Orphans Get Chicago Support

http://www.radiovop.com

27/02/2011 14:20:00

CHICAGO, February 27, 2011-When Elizabeth Mhangami was 15, she helped
administer polio vaccinations to children in rural Zimbabwe. The villages
were not far from her hometown, Bulawayo, but today Ms. Mhangami can see
that the short journey altered her perception.

“That’s where I got my first sense of community service, of looking outside
my immediate world,” she said. Ms. Mhangami went much farther afield in
1999, leaving Zimbabwe to pursue her education, first in Baltimore and then
in Chicago, where she studied political science and women’s studies at
Loyola University.

Now 30, Ms. Mhangami lives in Bulawayo, where she serves as founder and
executive director of Vanavevhu, a nonprofit organization based in Chicago
and dedicated to helping Zimbabwe’s large population of children orphaned by
the AIDS epidemic. Vanavevhu, which means “children of the soil,” was born
partly out of what Ms. Mhangami calls “a kind of survivors’ guilt” she felt
watching the violent repercussions of Zimbabwe’s land resettlement program,
and partly out of a desire to support — and reconnect with — the country she
once eagerly fled.

She began to learn as much as she could about her country’s history, and in
2003 she teamed with Chicago Rotarians to send medical supplies to Bulawayo’s
hospitals. The endeavor, which cost $12,000 and took 18 months, prompted
soul-searching.

“You start having conversations with yourself about aid and dependency,” Ms.
Mhangami said. “What was the most effective way of helping that would do the
least amount of harm?”
The answer, for Ms. Mhangami, was the children.

“AIDS orphaned so many kids in Zimbabwe,” she said. Some were forced to
leave school and act as parents to younger siblings, even though they were
ill-equipped to provide for their families. When Vanavevhu supplied basic
necessities — food, shelter, education and health care — young caregivers,
freed from their adult obligations, were urged to return to school.

Ms. Mhangami also paired entrepreneurial training courses with three
business models — beekeeping, candle-making and vegetable gardens. She hopes
these ventures will turn a profit and provide employment and financial
security.
“Elizabeth is doing selfless and incredible work, given the challenges and
circumstances in Zimbabwe,” said Dr. Christopher Olopade, professor of
medicine and clinical director of the Global Health Initiative at the
University of Chicago. “She gives these young people confidence and hope in
spite of their predicament.”

Vanavevhu, which currently supports 10 families, totaling 32 children, will
celebrate its first anniversary on Wednesday with a fund-raiser at the Muse
Gallery in Chicago. Ms. Mhangami is proud of its work, but said she planned
to hand over her title someday.
“I don’t think anyone should head a nonprofit for more than 5 or 10 years,”
she said. “Vanavevhu shouldn’t be about me; it should be about the kids and
the organization.”
-New York Times

In search of an African revolution

http://english.aljazeera.net/

 

International media is following protests across the 'Arab world' but ignoring those in Africa.

Azad Essa Last Modified: 21 Feb 2011 16:24 GMT

Must a revolt be filmed and photographed to succeed? [EPA]

Demonstrations are continuing across the Middle East, interrupted only by the call for prayer when protesters fall to their knees on cheap carpets and straw mats and the riot police take a tea break. Egypt, in particular, with its scenes of unrelenting protesters staying put in Tahrir Square, playing guitars, singing, treating the injured and generally making Gandhi’s famous salt march of the 1940s look like an act of terror, captured the imagination of an international media and audience more familiar with the stereotype of Muslim youth blowing themselves and others up.
 
A non-violent revolution was turning the nation full circle, much to the admiration of the rest of the world.

"I think Egypt's cultural significance and massive population were very important factors in ensuring media coverage," says Ethan Zuckerman, the co-founder of Global Voices, an international community of online activists.

"International audiences know at least a few facts about Egypt, which makes it easier for them to connect to news there," he says, drawing a comparison with Bahrain, a country Zuckerman says few Americans would be able to locate on a map.

Zuckerman also believes that media organisations were in part motivated by a "sense of guilt" over their failure to effectively cover the Tunisian revolution and were, therefore, playing "catch up" in Egypt.

"Popular revolutions make for great TV," he adds. "The imagery from Tahrir square in particular was very powerful and led to a story that was easy for global media to cover closely."

The African Egypt versus the Arab Egypt
 
Egypt was suddenly a sexy topic. But, despite the fact that the rich banks of the Nile are sourced from central Africa, the world looked upon the uprising in Egypt solely as a Middle Eastern issue and commentators scrambled to predict what it would mean for the rest of the Arab world and, of course, Israel. Few seemed to care that Egypt was also part of Africa, a continent with a billion people, most living under despotic regimes and suffering economic strife and political suppression just like their Egyptian neighbours.

"Egypt is in Africa. We should not fool about with the attempts of the North to segregate the countries of North Africa from the rest of the continent," says Firoze Manji, the editor of Pambazuka Online, an advocacy website for social justice in Africa. "Their histories have been intertwined for millennia. Some Egyptians may not feel they are Africans, but that is neither here nor there. They are part of the heritage of the continent."

And, just like much of the rest of the world, Africans watched events unfold in Cairo with great interest. "There is little doubt that people [in Africa] are watching with enthusiasm what is going on in the Middle East, and drawing inspiration from that for their own struggles," says Manji.

He argues that globalisation and the accompanying economic liberalisation has created circumstances in which the people of the global South share very similar experiences: "Increasing pauperisation, growing unemployment, declining power to hold their governments to account, declining income from agricultural production, increasing accumulation by dispossession - something that is growing on a vast scale - and increasing willingness of governments to comply with the political and economic wishes of the North.

"In that sense, people in Africa recognise the experiences of citizens in the Middle East. There is enormous potential for solidarity to grow out from that. In any case, where does Africa end and the Middle East begin?"

Rallying cry

The ‘trouble’ that started in Tunisia (another African country) when street vendor Mohamed Bouzazi’s self-immolation articulated the frustrations of a nation spread to Algeria (yes, another African country), Yemen and Bahrain just as Hosni Mubarak made himself comfortable at a Sharm el Sheik spa.
 
Meanwhile, in 'darkest Africa', far away from the media cameras, reports surfaced of political unrest in a West African country called Gabon. With little geo-political importance, news organisations seem largely oblivious to the drama that began unfolding on January 29, when the opposition protested against Ali Bhongo Odhimba’s government, whom they accuse of hijacking recent elections. The demonstrators demanded free elections and the security forces duly stepped in to lay those ambitions to rest. The clashes between protesters and police that followed show few signs of relenting.

"The events in Tunisia and Egypt have become, within Africa, a rallying cry for any number of opposition leaders, everyday people harbouring grievances and political opportunists looking to liken their country's regimes to those of Ben Ali or Hosni Mubarak," says Drew Hinshaw, an American journalist based in West Africa. "In some cases that comparison is outrageous, but in all too many it is more than fair.

"Look at Gabon, a tragically under-developed oil exporter whose GDP per capita is more than twice that of Egypt's but whose people are living on wages that make Egypt look like the land of full employment.

"The Bhongo family has run that country for four decades, since before Mubarak ran nothing larger than an air force base, and yet they're still there. You can understand why the country's opposition is calling for new rounds of Egypt-like protests after seeing what Egypt and Tunisia were able to achieve."
 
Elsewhere on the continent protests have broken out in Khartoum, Sudan where students held Egypt-inspired demonstrations against proposed cuts to subsidies on petroleum products and sugar. Following the protests there on January 30, CPJ reported that staff from the weekly Al-Midan were arrested for covering the event.
 
Ethiopian media have also reported that police there detained the well-known journalist Eskinder Nega for "attempts to incite" Egypt-style protests. In Cameroon, the Social Democratic Front Party has said that the country might experience an uprising similar to those in North Africa if the government does not slash food prices.

"There are lots of Africans too who are young, unemployed, who see very few prospects for their future in countries ruled by the same old political elite that have ruled for 25 or 30 or 35 years," says CSM Africa bureau chief Scott Baldauf.

"I think all the same issues in Egypt are also present in other countries. You have leaders who have hung onto power for decades and who think the country can only function if they are in charge. A young Zimbabwean would understand the frustration of a young Egyptian."

Divide and rule
 
Sure, the continent is vast and acts of dissent and their subsequent suppression are the bread and butter of some oppressive African states. But just as self-immolation was not new in Tunisia, discontentment and rising restlessness is not alien to Africans. In the past three years, there been violent service delivery protests in South Africa and food riots in Cameroon, Madagascar, Mozambique and Senegal.

But whether the simmering discontent in Africa will result in protests on the scale of those in Egypt remains to be seen.
 
"All the same dry wood of bad governance is stacked in many African countries, waiting for a match to set it alight," says Baldauf. "But it takes leadership. It takes civil society organisation," something the CSM Africa bureau chief fears countries south of the Sahara do not have at the same levels as their North African neighbours.

Emmanuel Kisiangani, a senior researcher at the African Conflict Prevention Programme (ACCP) at the Institute of Security Studies (ISS) in South Africa, believes the difference in the success levels of protests in North and sub-Saharan Africa can be attributed in part to the ethnic make-up of the respective regions.

"In most of the countries that have had fairly 'successful riots' the societies are fairly homogeneous compared to sub-Saharan Africa where there are a multiplicity of ethnic groups that are themselves very polarised. In sub-Saharan Africa, where governments have been able to divide people along ethnic-political lines, it becomes easier to hijack an uprising because of ethnic differences, unlike in North Africa."

'Where is Anderson Cooper?'

Egypt and Tunisia may have been the catalysts for demonstrations across the Arab world, but will those ripples spread into the rest of Africa as well and, if they do, will the international media and its audience even notice?

"What the continent lacks is media coverage," says Hinshaw. "There's no powerhouse media for the region like Al Jazeera, while European and American media routinely reduce a conflict like [that in] Ivory Coast or Eastern Congo to a one-sentence news blurb at the bottom of the screen."

Hinshaw is particularly troubled by the failure of the international media to pay due attention to events in Ivory Coast, where the UN estimates that at least 300 people have died and the opposition puts the figure at 500.

"With due deference to the bravery of the Egyptian demonstrators, protesters who gathered this weekend in Abidjan [in Ivory Coast] aren't up against a military that safeguards them - it shoots at them.

"The country's economy has been coughing up blood since November, with banks shutting by the day, businesses closing by the hour and thousands of families fleeing their homes," he continues. "And in all of this where is Anderson Cooper? Where is Nicolas Kristof? Why is Bahrain a front page news story while Ivory Coast is something buried at the bottom of the news stack?"

The journalist is equally as disappointed in world leaders. "This Friday, Barack Obama publicly condemned the use of violence in Bahrain, Yemen and Libya. When was the last time you saw Obama come out and make a statement on Ivory Coast? Or Eastern Congo? Or Djibouti, where 20,000 people protested this weekend according to the opposition?

"The problem is that most American media compulsively ignore everything south of the Sahara and north of Johannesburg. A demonstration has to be filmed, photographed, streamed live into the offices of foreign leaders to achieve everything Egypt's achieved."
 
Nanjala, a political analyst at the University of Oxford, suggests this journalistic shortcoming stems from journalists' tendency "to favour explanations that fit the whole 'failing Africa' narrative".

Filling a void

So with traditional media seemingly failing Africa, will social media fill the void?

Much has already been written about the plethora of social media networks that both helped engineer protests and, crucially, amplified them across cyber-space. Online-activists, sitting behind fibre optic cables and flat screens, collated and disseminated updates, photographs and video and played the role of subversive hero from the comfort of their homes. Of course, not all Tweets or Facebook uploads came from pyjama-clad revolutionaries far from the scene of the action - an internet-savvy generation of Egyptians was also able to keep the world updated with information from the ground.

"It's not clear to me that social media played a massive role in organising protests," says Zuckerman. "[But] I do think it played a critical role in helping expose those protests to a global audience, particularly in Tunisia, where the media environment was so constrained."

So, could the same thing happen in Africa?

"I think it's important to keep in mind that African youth are far more plugged in than most people realise. The spread in mobile phones has made it possible for people to connect to applications like Facebook or Twitter on their telephones," says Nanjala, adding: "At the same time, I think most analysts are overstating the influence of social media on the protests.

"The most significant political movements in Africa and in other places have occurred independently of social media - the struggles for independence, the struggles against apartheid and racism in Southern Africa. Where people need or desire to be organised they will do independently of the technology around them."

Baldauf concurs: "In every country you see greater and greater access to the internet and greater access to cell phone networks. I remember getting stuck on a muddy road in Eastern Congo, out where the FDLR [Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda] controls the mining industry. We had to stay the night in a village, the guests of a lovely old man in his mud hut. It was [at] the end of the world, but to get a phone call off to my wife and my editor, I just had to walk out of the hut and use my cell phone."

An important year

2011 is an important year for Africa. Elections are scheduled in more than 20 countries across the continent, including Zimbabwe and Nigeria.
 
But as food prices continue to rise and economic hardship tightens its grip on the region, it is plausible to imagine Africans revolting and using means other than the often meaningless ballot box to remove their leaders.
 
"What people want is the democratisation of society, of production, of the economy, and indeed all aspects of life," says Manji. "What they are being offered instead is the ballot box."

But, Manji adds: "Elections don't address the fundamental problems that people face. Elections on their own do nothing to enable ordinary people to be able to determine their own destiny. "

This, according to Kisiangani, is because "the process of democratisation in many African countries seems more illusory than fundamental".
 
Gabon, Zimbabwe, even Ethiopia may never have the online reach enjoyed by Egyptians, and the scale of solidarity through linguistic and cultural symmetry may not allow their calls to reach the same number of internet users. But this does not mean that a similar desire for change is not brewing, nor that the traditional media and online community are justified in ignoring it.
 
Screens were put up in Tahrir Square broadcasting Al Jazeera’s coverage of the protests back to the protesters. It is difficult to qualify the role of social media in the popular uprisings gaining momentum across the Arab world, but it is even more difficult to quantify the effect of the perception of being ignored, of not being watched, discussed and, well, retweeted to the throngs of others needing to be heard.
 
Ignoring the developments in Africa is to miss the half the story.

"The protests have created the 'hope' that ordinary people can define their political destiny," says Kisiangani. "The uprisings ... are making people on the continent become conscious about their abilities to define their political destinies."

 

 

Zimbabwe Vigil Diary – 26th February 2011

‘Mugdafi’ at Zimbabwe Embassy, London

     Mugdafi claims Zimbabwe House                                                              Mugdafi points gun at child

Tearing his illustrious self away from his adoring fans at his birthday celebrations, Mugabe with his telescopic foresight suddenly materialized outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, London, dressed in the robes of an Arab sheik to show his solidarity with his Libyan friend Gaddafi, who is apparently running short of power at the moment.

Icon Mugdafi waved a pistol at our posters: ‘Mugdafi = Mugabe + Gaddafi – Terrrible Twins’ read one of them; ‘Mugdafi – Evil Despots of Destruction’ another.

Mugdafi made no comment on long-standing rumours that the Embassy had been mortgaged to Libya but said he was there to welcome the King of Kings of Africa who was expected to arrive in London at any moment to lead his promised revolution against Queen Elizabeth, who Gaddafi complained the other day had been in power even longer than himself but hadn’t been subjected to the same illegal criticism (see ‘Events and Notices’ below).

Mugdafi said he wanted to discuss with the King of Kings payment for the hundreds of Zimbabwean troops sent to join the African mercenary force in Libya who have been shooting the drug-crazed young people there – deluded supporters of Al Quaeda (and probably Amnesty International as well). Of reports that a plane stuffed with gold was ready to take Gaddafi to Harare, the beacon and philanthropist said the great Libyan philosopher and prophet only wanted to visit his Ethiopian brother Mengistu Haile Mariam, who has been sheltering in Zimbabwe for many years, to discuss how ungrateful people are to their despots.

The Zimbabwean legend instantly fell asleep in one of our chairs when confronted by another of our posters: ‘Mugdafi – One Mission – Power at all Costs’.

While the philanthropist was asleep Vigil supporters decided to hold a Solidarity Vigil on Tuesday 1^st March from 11 am to 1pm  in support of a planned  protest in Harare against Mugabe’ misrule. 

Other points

·       Thanks to Lovemore Mukeyani for his enthusiastic portrayal of Mugdafi.

·       The paranoia of the Mugabe regime has been illustrated by the arrest of more than 40 people for watching a video of the turmoil in the Middle East. This is apparently treason. So the Vigil warns you might be accused of treason for reading Gene Sharp’s ‘From Dictatorship to Democracy’, a book the Vigil strongly recommends. Download it from this link: http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations/org/FDTD.pdf. According to the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12522848) Dr Sharp is credited with the strategy behind the toppling of the Egyptian government. One of his points of particular resonance for Zimbabweans is that negotiation with dictators is of limited value because it legitimises brutal regimes.

·       We are pleased to say that we now have a link on the front page of our website to the 2010 Vigil Highlights.

·       Thanks to Sihle Sibanda who has been coming early for the past few weeks to help set up the Vigil and has been a great help throughout.

·       We were joined by freelance photographer Joe O’Brien who was glad of the opportunity to be the first to photograph Mugdafi. You can see his photos on http://mugdafi.notlong.com.  

For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/. For the latest ZimVigil TV programme check http://www.zimvigiltv.com/.  

FOR THE RECORD:  94 signed the register.

EVENTS AND NOTICES:

·           The Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s partner organisation based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil to have an organisation on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in Zimbabwe.

·           Solidarity Protest with Zimbabwe Million Citizen March. Tuesday 1^st March from 11am to 1pm. Venue: outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, London.

·           ROHR Bristol general meeting.  Saturday 5^th March from 1.30 – 5.30 pm. Venue: St Joseph’s Presbytery Church, 232 Forest Road, Fishponds, Bristol BS16 3QT. Contact: Ronald Oputeri 07791109394, Bridgita Mubaiwa 07789084534,Cecilia Ndlovu 07740122687 or P Mapfumo 07915926323 / 07932216070

·           ROHR Manchester Meetings. Saturday 12^th March: (committee meeting from 11 am – 1 pm, general meeting from 2 – 5 pm). Venue: The Salvation Army Citadel, 71 Grosvenor Road, Manchester M13 9UB.  Contact: Delina Tafadzwa Mutyambizi  07775313637, Chamunorwa Chihota 07799446404, Panyika Karimanzira 07551062161, Artwell Pfende 07886839353, Charles Nenguke 07925146757, P Mapfumo 07915926323/07932216070 or P Chibanguza 07908406069. Future meetings: 16^th April, 14^th May. Same times and venue.

·           ROHR Manchester Vigil. Saturday 26^th March from 2 – 5 pm. Venue: Cathedral Gardens, Manchester City Centre (subject to change to Piccadilly Gardens). Contact: Delina Tafadzwa Mutyambizi  07775313637, Chamunorwa Chihota 07799446404, Panyika Karimanzira 07551062161, Artwell Pfende 07886839353, Charles Nenguke 07925146757, P Mapfumo 07915926323/07932216070 or P Chibanguza 07908406069. Future demonstrations: 30^th April, 28^th May. Same time and venue.

·           Special protest in Trafalgar Square. Friday 1^st April. This is at the request of Colonel Gaddafi who demands that the Queen should go because she has been in power too long.

·           Vigil Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts.

·           Vigil Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwevigil.

·           ‘Through the Darkness’, Judith Todd’s acclaimed account of the rise of Mugabe.  To receive a copy by post in the UK please email confirmation of your order and postal address to ngwenyasr@yahoo.co.uk and 0send a cheque for £10 payable to “Budiriro Trust” to Emily Chadburn, 15 Burners Close, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 0QA. All proceeds go to the Budiriro Trust which provides bursaries to needy A Level students in Zimbabwe

·           Workshops aiming to engage African men on HIV testing and other sexual health issues. Organised by the Terrence Higgins Trust (www.tht.org.uk). Please contact the co-ordinator Takudzwa Mukiwa (takudzwa.mukiwa@tht.org.uk) if you are interested in taking part.

Vigil Co-ordinators

The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.