The Zimbabwean
Wednesday,
27 February 2008 22:26
BY CHIEF REPORTER
HARARE
The use of torture in Zimbabwe, mainly by the state, is
widespread,
Professor Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, told
The
Zimbabwean in an exclusive interview this week.
Although
government has the means to prevent it, that the high number
of indictments
for torture filed by the Attorney General's Office showed
that it is
widespread.
Nowak, who was a special guest at the 10th anniversary of
pro-democracy group Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum in Harare this week,
said the nature and level of organized violence and torture was widespread
and was perpetrated mainly, but not exclusively, by state agents.
The Forum has expressed concern at election violence, police
brutality;
forceful removal of "illegal occupiers" of urban housing,
transitional
justice, and gender-based violence as well as the use of hate
language and
intolerance in Zimbabwe.
Nowak said that during the course of his visit
to the country, he
received "numerous consistent and credible allegations"
from former
detainees who reported that they were ill-treated by the police
and army to
extract confessions, or to obtain information in relation to
other criminal
offences.
He urged Government to ban torture through
an Act of Parliament and
said that was the only way to criminalize torture
and bring perpetrators to
justice.
Nowak decried the fact that no
one had so far been convicted by
criminal courts for torture, yet the
practice was so widespread.
While the Government does not agree that
torture is widely practiced,
"I'm convinced and I think I have enough
evidence for that," Nowak told The
Zimbabwean.
He said the most
serious allegations of human rights violations,
including torture, had
reportedly taken place in government facilities and
he was not in a position
to speak about that as he had not able to visit any
detention
facilities.
Zim Online
by Thenjiwe Mabhena Thursday 28 February
2008
HARARE - Zimbabwe's revenue authority hopes to collect
Z$6 quadrillion in
tax this year, an enormous figure that is however really
more useful as an
illustration of the extent of the rot in what was once one
of Africa's most
brilliant economies.
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority
(ZIMRA) said it could even surpass the figure
and boasted it had exceeded
its target for 2007 by more than $50 trillion.
But ZIMRA was fairly
honest about the secret behind it's unusual success -
the country's world
record inflation of more than 100 000 percent that has
forced firms to
frequently hike salaries which of course means more dollars
for the revenue
collector.
"ZIMRA is confident that with the spirit of team work that is
prevailing in
the Authority, as has always been the case in the other years,
the target of
$6 quadrillion for 2008 will be easily surpassed," ZIMRA
chairman Gibson
Mandishona said in the collector's annual statement shown to
ZimOnline on
Wednesday.
$6 quadrillion is equal to about US$200
million at the official exchange
rate of $30 000 to one American dollar or
just about US$300 000 at the
widely used parallel market rate of about $20
million to one greenback.
ZIMRA had set itself a target to collect $30
trillion last year but more
than doubled this amount raking in $89 trillion,
according to the statement.
Mandishona said although several companies
retrenched staff or closed shop
altogether last year - which ordinarily
would mean reduced inflows for
ZIMRA - the authority was however able to
raise more from individual
taxpayers than was expected.
Mandishona
said: "Individual Tax performed beyond expectations. The
performance of this
revenue head has been mainly due to the many salary
adjustments awarded
employees by employers in 2007 to cushion the former
against the ever
increasing cost of living."
"Though to some extent inflation aided in the
attainment of the target,
there was some concerted effort from all arms of
the authority in ensuring
that the seemingly insurmountable target was
surpassed," he said.
ZIMRA - which collected $406 billion in taxes in
2006 - said individual tax
recorded the largest contribution at 32 percent
of total revenue in 2007
followed by value added tax (VAT) which accounted
for 24 percent of the
collected revenue.
Corporate contributors made
up 17 percent of total revenue collected and
other fringe taxes accounted
for the rest of the revenue.
Zimbabwe has long had the world's highest
inflation rate as it grapples with
an acute recession critics blame on
repression and wrong policies by
President Robert Mugabe, the country's sole
ruler since independence from
Britain in 1980.
Zimbabweans have also
had to grapple with rising poverty, unemployment of
more than 80 percent,
shortages of food, fuel, electricity and just about
every basic survival
commodity.
The political and economic implosion in the southern African
country would
ignite protests anywhere else and would have meant certain
defeat for Mugabe's
government in local government, parliamentary and
presidential elections on
March 29.
However, analysts say Mugabe
looks set to win another five-year term in
office to take his time at the
helm to more than three decades, thanks to an
opposition torn apart by
divisions over strategy and leadership wrangles,
which undermines its
ability to exploit Zimbabwe's economic crisis. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
by Thenjiwe Mabhena Thursday 28 February
2008
HARARE - Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai toured some of
Harare's poorest suburbs where residents told him
they were barely able to
survive in the face of an acute recession that has
led to chronic shortages
of food, fuel, water and
electricity.
Tsvangirai, whose Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party
nearly ousted
President Robert Mugabe's government in elections in 2000 and
2002, was
mobbed by residents who thronged to see him at Kuwadzana home
industries, an
informal trading centre where carpenters, blacksmiths and
other tradesmen
struggle to eke out a living.
"Old man, we are
suffering, we really cannot take it anymore," one youthful
looking trader
shouted in the vernacular Shona language to Tsvangirai.
In the suburbs of
Kambuzuma and Mufakose, residents among them the elderly,
children and women
with babies strapped onto their backs broke into song and
dance as the
opposition leader arrived.
A man could be heard shouting from among the
crowd: "Chitonga Tsvangirai,
ZANU yakonewa" which is Shona for, "Tsvangirai,
take over the government
because ZANU PF has failed."
Speaking to
journalists during the tour, Tsvangirai he was saddened by the
deep levels
of poverty and the collapse of infrastructure in most of suburbs
of the
capital.
"This visit has been a short assessment of the high-density
suburbs. Poverty
amongst the people has deepened. There is infrastructure
decay, massive
unemployment and people are hungry," said Tsvangirai who has
vowed to defeat
Mugabe in the polls.
"The objective of this election
is to give people hope and to say that
change is alive. March 29 is about
change that is going to offer jobs, food
and proper life for the people of
Zimbabwe," he said.
However, analysts say an unfair playing field
guarantees Mugabe victory at
the polls despite clear evidence that he has
failed to break a vicious
inflation cycle that has left consumers
impoverished and the economy in deep
crisis.
Mugabe - who at one time
boasted that no one could have run Zimbabwe better
than him - has promised a
landslide victory against Tsvangirai and former
finance minister Simba
Makoni in March to prove he has the backing of
ordinary Zimbabweans. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
by Ntando Ncube Thursday 28 February
2008
JOHANNESBURG - At least 300 demonstrators marched to the
Zimbabwe Consulate
in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Wednesday demanding
free and fair
elections in the southern African country next
month.
The protesters accused President Robert Mugabe of seeking to hold
on to
power by barring millions of exiled Zimbabweans from casting their
votes in
the 29 March presidential and parliamentary
elections.
Madock Chivasa, the spokesman for the National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA)
civic group that organised the demonstration, said Mugabe was
still using
colonial era tactics to hold on to power.
"We as the
youth of Zimbabwe are tired of rigged elections and this time we
demand that
the government conducts an election that is not contested.
"We also
demand transparency on the issue of printing of ballot papers as
well as the
right for millions of exiled Zimbabweans to vote in the
election," said
Chivasa, whose civic group is fighting for a new, democratic
constitution
for Zimbabwe.
Zimbabweans go to the polls next month to elect a new
president,
parliamentarians and local government representatives.
The
government has however rejected opposition demands to allow exiled
Zimbabweans to participate in the polls saying it does not have the
resources to allow postal votes.
At least three million Zimbabweans
are said to be living outside the country
the majority of them in South
Africa after fleeing political repression and
an economic crisis described
by the World Bank as the worst outside a war
zone. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
by Chenai Maramba Thursday 28 February
2008
KAROI - Two opposition election candidates who were
arrested last weekend
for holding political meetings without police
clearance were on Tuesday
released on free bail after spending four nights
in police custody.
The two, Godfrey Gumbo and Maireva Gudo Nziramasanga,
of the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party led by Arthur Mutambara,
were arrested last
Friday in Karoi, about 200 kilometres north-west of
Harare.
They were being charged under the Public Order and Security Act
(POSA), a
tough law that requires Zimbabweans to first seeking permission
from the
police before meeting in groups of more than three people to
discuss
politics.
Karoi magistrate, Elisha Singano, ordered that the
two MDC candidates be
released on free bail and that they should appear in
court next month.
"You have to come to court on the 12th of March," said
Singano.
Earlier this week, the Mutambara-led MDC condemned the arrest of
the two
describing the charges leveled against the duo as
spurious.
Zimbabweans go to the polls next month in elections political
analysts tip
President Robert Mugabe to win because of an unfair political
playing field
that favours the veteran leader.
The MDC and human
rights groups have in the past accused the police of
applying the law
selectively, arresting and harassing opposition candidates
during election
time, a charge the police deny. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
by Mutumwa Mawere Thursday 28 February
2008
JOHANNESBURG - It is not accurate for Bennett
to state as fact that
Makoni was defeated for the presidency of
ZANU-PF.
My understanding is that Mugabe's term as President of
ZANU PF is due
to expire in 2009 and the national elections just happen to
occur when he is
still the head of the party.
Accordingly, as
head of the party, he was endorsed as a candidate at
the December special
congress. No elections were held or called for
otherwise all the other
office bearers of the party would have been
recalled.
Whether
Makoni has people behind him or not is irrelevant as the
voters will be the
jury. I should like to believe that even the so-called
ZANU-PF political
heavyweights have not been given more than one vote each.
If this
is the case, then the people who can tell Makoni that his time
is not now
are the people in Zimbabwe.
Bennett then labels Makoni an
opportunist while accepting that it is
highly unlikely that the opposition
will win.
If Bennett concedes that victory is remote should he not
be
open-minded instead of pre-empting what may emerge as a surprise for the
people of Zimbabwe?
If change is the primary agenda for the
opposition, then surely the
MDC must be the first to embrace Makoni for
taking the courage to run as an
independent.
While it is
unjustified to call Makoni an opportunist, I am sure that
Bennett would not
take kindly being labelled as such.
It is a historical fact that
white settlers were allowed to protect
their gains acquired through
non-market forces during the colonial era.
I find it strange that
Bennett now would want to suggest that the same
policies applicable to
beneficiaries of the colonial state be restricted
only to
ZANU-PF.
He wants ZANU-PF to face the people of Zimbabwe instead of
all
perpetrators of injustice to face the people of Zimbabwe without favour
or
prejudice.
Violet: What about the fact that
Mutambara MDC is waiting to throw its
support behind Simba
Makoni?
Bennett: I think that clearly explains that the split in
our MDC and
that is the way it always has been. They are going home, they
are joining
ZANU PF where they belong.
Comment:
The fact that Mutambara elected not to offer himself for the
Presidency was
his personal choice based on his own assessment about his
chances of
success.
It is not correct for Bennett to allege that Mutambara
played any part
in the October 12 split of the MDC.
What would
be helpful is for Bennett to record historical events
accurately rather than
to opportunistically seek to shade the truth for
political
expediency.
The leadership challenges that MDC faced were as
natural as the
challenges facing many political organisations. ZANU-PF has
its own history
of such challenges and, therefore, the maturity of any
movement is measured
by its ability to resolve such challenges.
However, it has become a habit for the opposition to blame ZANU-PF
even for
personal differences that occur between party members.
To allege
that Mutambara is ZANU-PF is political mischief at its best.
I do not think
that Bennett is fair to seek to undermine Mutambara who was
invited by
senior members of the MDC who sought to assert their rights in a
party they
genuinely believed was betraying the democratic values on which
it was
founded.
I would like to believe that Mutambara has played his part
and history
will be kind to him. His input was useful in the Mbeki-led
initiative and
credit must go to Tsvangirai for accepting the fact that
there were two
formations of the MDC and the opposition parliamentarians had
divided
loyalties.
It would be wrong to suggest that the
parliamentarians and members of
the MDC who chose Mutambara to be their
leader are fools.
Surely, if change is the motive behind Bennett's
activism then respect
of the choices made by others must be the starting
point. Mutambara has
never been a creature of ZANU-PF and his record speaks
for itself.
It is always easy to criticise other people but it is
important to
imagine how different the history of Zimbabwe would be if
Mutambara had not
accepted to lead the leaderless formation that had chosen
to differ with
Tsvangirai.
It is also important to imagine what
would have happened if Tsvangirai
had been elected President and the
differences of opinion had emerged while
he was in office.
Would Tsvangirai have accepted and respected the right of Ncube,
Sibanda and
others to differ with him without using the state machinery to
discipline
them?
The manner in which the MDC has resolved the differences
between its
members should be a cause for concern especially given the
propensity of
Africans to abuse state power when they seize it.
I can appreciate Bennett's views on power given his heritage and it
may well
be the case that Mugabe also inherited the strategies and tactics
used by
the colonial state to handle his opponents.
To the extent that
Bennett is a senior member of the MDC one has to
carefully evaluate his
comments because they may have a bearing on key
foundational principles of
the post-Mugabe era.
Anyone with interests in the future of
Zimbabwe like me has to factor
the Bennett equation in the construction of a
new Zimbabwe and implications
thereof on the rule of law and black property
rights.
Could it be the case that Bennett supports Tsvangirai
because a deal
on property rights has been cut?
Why would
Bennett not be open to allow Zimbabweans to make their own
choice in an
electoral process without prejudging the outcome?
Even if Makoni
were to win, it appears that Bennett will still find a
reason to manufacture
conspiracy theories forgetting that in 1980 the
incumbent Muzorewa/Smith
lost to ZANU.
Equally, ANC won in 1994 in an election where the
balance was tilted
in favour of the status quo.
Zimbabwe
deserves a new chapter and it is evident that Bennett would
rather take the
country back and lock it into the polarisation that
transformed the
Zimbabwean promise into a nightmare.
Violet: But wasn't the ethos
of the Mutambara camp - wasn't it to
destroy ZANU PF from within and that
included working with reformers within
ZANU PF. There are some who believe
that Makoni is a moderate and that he
could help weaken the Mugabe
regime.
So if the Tsvangirai MDC is calling for all progressive
forces to
fight Robert Mugabe, why not form an alliance with him to do so,
if that is
the case?
Bennett: We understand, that's why I said,
we haven't seen it yet but
we believe from the press and the chattering
class and what is thrown at us
that Solomon Majuro is backing Simba
Makoni.
Now, the properties that Solomon Mujuru has stolen, the
wealth that he
has stolen through corrupt practices, do you really think
that after the
suffering we've had in the last eight, nine years by standing
up for
democracy and challenging the system of ZANU PF of corruption, of
murder, of
rape and of blunder; do you really think that we could get into
bed with him
now and call that an alliance of all democracies or an alliance
of all
democratic forces to defeat the dictators? Why don't we just join up
with
Mugabe and say we are all one and let's just go ahead.
Comment:
Bennett states as fact that Mujuru has stolen some
properties without
naming the victims. He also makes allegations that Mujuru
has acquired his
wealth corruptly without naming the corruptor.
He then makes the point that reconciliation is not acceptable in the
new
Zimbabwe as if to suggest that Mugabe was wrong in forgiving the
beneficiaries of the colonial state.
I know that Bennett would
also find it easy to label me a thief
because it is common cause that the
colonial state had zero tolerance on
black economic
empowerment.
Whatever Bennett acquired during the colonial state
must be accepted
as legitimate while any capital accumulation that has been
acquired in the
post colonial state is easily defined as proceeds of
crime.
The criminalisation of the beneficiaries of the
post-colonial state is
regrettably not a monopoly of the MDC. Even Mugabe
has accepted the notion
that black progress necessarily represents
corruption.
The state machinery has been targeted at blacks on the
premise that
the objective of a post colonial state was not to advance the
careers of the
previously disadvantaged rather to entrench the wealth
primitively acquired
during colonialism.
It is significant that
Bennett and his colleagues have invested in a
new reality where corruption
has taken a black face. Anyone associated with
ZANU-PF is then easily
labelled corrupt.
To the extent that Bennett now wishes to revisit
historical injuries
it is important that we all join in this conversation so
that we can
comprehensively deal with the reasons why poverty in Zimbabwe
like many
African countries has a black face.
I am acutely
aware that in as much as I may be angry at the loss of my
assets to the
government of Zimbabwe, I would not have acquired any such
assets if the
colonial state had been under settler control.
I would not be
surprised if Bennett finds the expropriation of my
assets justifiable. What
is ironic is that in Tsvangirai, Bennett may have
found a leader who has
also accepted that whites are not corrupt.
It would be interesting
for Bennett to give us any names of white
ZANU-PF cronies and suggest how
they should be treated in the post-Mugabe
era.
Bennett has made
his choice about who should be welcome in his new
Zimbabwe in which
Tsvangirai would be his superintendent.
The language of Bennett
exposes the naivety of some of the most ardent
supporters of change in
Zimbabwe. They genuinely believe that we are all
idiots and for some reason
they have more rights than they wish to confer on
others.
Violet: Your critics say this issue of people coming from ZANU PF
should not
really be a factor because a lot of MDC leaders were members of
ZANU PF.
They say that Mr Tsvangirai was a member of ZANU PF until the late
80s and
said nothing during Gukurahundi and that you almost stood as a ZANU
PF
candidate in 2000. How would you answer them?
Bennett: Very, very
simply, Violet. We listen to the call of the
people and they told us that
ZANU PF was rotten and the policies of ZANU PF
were wrong so we formed the
opposition.
We have welcomed and continued to welcome with absolute
open arms
anybody who rejects ZANU PF and joins change. We will never accept
a
lukewarm change within inside ZANU PF and Simba Makoni has come out
categorically and said on many, many occasions, he is ZANU PF, he believes
in ZANU PF and ZANU PF is his party.
So therefore it's not a
case of ZANU PF people leaving ZANU PF coming
to join the opposition and
fight against everything that's destroyed our
country.
They are
saying to us that Morgan Tsvangirai should stand down and we
should come
under ZANU PF to form this wonderful new country of democracy.
Where they have sat on the Politburo, they have sat and stood by very
silently and watched every act that has been perpetrated against our country
and against the people of our country.
So I don't know Violet
whether people think the people of Zimbabwe are
fools, whether they think
because they are rural devastated populations
through the policies of the
government, 85 percent unemployed, can't get any
medical help, can't eat,
whether they think that has affected their brains,
I don't
know.
The people of Zimbabwe know what they want. They have stood
up for
change they have stood behind our President Morgan Tsvangirai a man
they can
trust, its all about trust. Can I trust Simba Makoni? I very much
doubt it.
I can trust Morgan Tsvangirai, he's never ever
backtracked on what he
stood for, and he has never changed on his quest to
stand for the people of
Zimbabwe to bring them a better life and a new
beginning.
That's where we are Violet, nothing and nobody is going
to change us
and we are going to get there even if not this time, next time
we will keep
going, we will keep trying, and we will get there.
Comment:
Bennett alleges that ZANU-PF is rotten and hence the
formation of the
opposition. He then makes the conclusion that anyone who is
a member of
ZANU-PF is not capable of embracing change.
With a
population of about 13 million, not all Zimbabweans are members
of political
organisations and yet in Bennett's mind, there are people who
can easily be
identified as ZANU-PF.
It is accurate to say that less than 10
percent of Zimbabweans are
members of political organisations and,
therefore, the proposition that
change can be located in political parties
only is wrong.
It is common cause that Makoni was a member of
ZANU-PF until he was
dismissed. Under the constitution of Zimbabwe, Makoni's
choice to be a
member of ZANU-PF must be respected in as much as Bennett's
choice to join
the MDC.
Surely, any new dispensation must
entrench the rights of citizens to
make their own choices about who they
should associate with.
The suggestion made by Bennett is that
ZANU-PF is culpable for the
economic meltdown and political crisis when it
may well be the case that
both the ruling and opposition parties should be
held culpable for
sacrificing national interest to advance their selfish
interests.
David Smith sat on Ian Smith's cabinet and yet President
Mugabe
appointed him as Minister of Finance. What is striking is that
Bennett is
suggesting that any person associated with ZANU-PF should
necessarily be
disqualified from serving in the new Zimbabwe.
This kind of arrogance cannot be good for any nation building
enterprise.
Bennett is entitled to trust Tsvangirai in as much as other
people are
entitled to trust Makoni let alone Mugabe.
Surely, the foundational
principles of the post colonial state ought
to be the basis on which people
should locate their own principles.
What is evident is that in a
post-Mugabe era in which
Tsvangirai/Bennett is in charge, citizen rights may
be permanently impaired
in the name of change.
The term change
has been abused more so in the last eight years where
the agents of past
injustices appear now to be angels of change.
It is not too late
for Zimbabweans to take note of what is at stake
for the enemies of real
change may not necessarily be restricted to what has
been simplistically
labelled as ZANU-PF.
* Mutumwa Mawere is a South African
businessman born in Zimbabwe
VOA
By Carole Gombakomba
Washington
27
February 2008
Acting Anglican Bishop Sebastian Bakare of
Harare, Zimbabwe, said Wednesday
that Zimbabweans should use next month's
national elections to express
themselves on the state of the nation, wracked
by hyperinflation and a
permanent political crisis.
Bakare came out
of retirement at the request of the Anglican hierarchy in
Southern Africa to
take charge of the Harare archdiocese following the
dismissal of Bishop
Nolbert Kunonga, his predecessor in the post. But
Kunonga has refused to
give up his offices and with state backing his
followers have occupied the
Anglican cathedral.
Bakare recently received a human rights award for
promoting justice and
peace in Zimbabwe. It was presented at a prayer
meeting hosted by the
Christian Alliance, a civic group, and attended by
eminent U.S. civil rights
activist Elbert Ransom.
Bakare says the
government has interfered in church affairs by backing
Kunonga, but says
this should not deter it from taking a leading role in the
upcoming
elections.
In an interview with reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's
Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe, Bakare said the harsh conditions Zimbabweans now face
should
motivate them to go to the polls and vote responsibly.On the turmoil
in his
church, Bakare says the ruling ZANU-PF party is using Kunonga to seek
a hold
on the Anglican flock.
SW Radio
Africa (London)
27 February 2008
Posted to the web 27 February
2008
Tichaona Sibanda
The bitter election battle in Manicaland
has once again spilled over into
violence after the MDC spokesman in the
province, Pishai Muchauraya, was
attacked by a mob on
Wednesday.
Muchauraya, the MDC parliamentary candidate for Makoni South
in next month's
elections, was travelling to the constituency with his
driver and an aide
when they stopped at a roadside store to buy some
refreshments at 9am.
A mob travelling in a trailer drawn by a tractor
approached the trio outside
Lamour supermarket, close to the Africa
University in Old Mutare. The driver
of the tractor blocked Muchauraya's
truck, a Mazda B2500, and the mob of
over 45 youths set upon the trio and
ripped off the MDC t-shirts they were
wearing.
'It was a vicious and
callous attack and I'm lucky I didn't sustain serious
injuries. But we
suspect my driver Michael Murapa could have sustained a
fractured hand,
while my aide Tendai Chimonya was also injured in the
attack,' Muchauraya
said.
In the confusion, the three MDC officials managed to get away and
hid in
tall grass for nearly two hours before they could use a mobile phone
to
alert the police and other MDC officials.
The mob ransacked the
truck and took away a mobile phone, over 1000 party
cards, Z$1,4 billion in
cash, party regalia including t-shirts and
Muchauraya's information pack,
which contained the manifesto that was
launched on Saturday.
The
Manicaland spokesman said the mob came from a nearby farm owned by a
Zanu-PF
senator. Two well-known war veteran leaders named as Choga and
Masukume led
the group. Police visited the scene three hours after the
attack but no
arrests were made.
'The police officers were getting instructions from
the senator and the two
war veterans on the scene. I guess they were too
scared to lay their hands
on the culprits,' said Muchauraya.
The
incident has triggered fears for the safety of Muchauraya, a fierce
critic
of Robert Mugabe and his ruling party.
The fearless spokesman is
challenging Zanu-PF's Shadreck Chipanga in the
forthcoming poll. Chipanga
narrowly beat Muchauraya by less than 180 votes
in the 2005 election and his
small majority is under serious threat from the
MDC.
Muchauraya said
it was clear his attackers were worried that he could become
MP for an area
which has largely been dominated by Zanu-PF heavyweights.
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 27
February 2008 22:25
HARARE - Retired army commander, General Solomon
Mujuru, is under
24-hour surveillance, we have established from impeccable
intelligence
sources. Two weeks ago, under the headline "Mujuru under house
arrest", we
reported that Mugabe had instructed the CIO to place Mujuru and
other
supporters of Simba Makoni under strict surveillance.
An
angry Mujuru denied that he had ever been placed under house arrest
and
threatened to sue The Zimbabwean. We took him at his word and apologized
at
the weekend in our sister paper, The Zimbabwean on Sunday. We reiterate
that
apology here, as it has been established that indeed Mujuru is not and
has
not been under house arrest.
However what has come to light in the
course of our investigations to
establish the truth of the matter, is that
the general is under 24-hour
surveillance by Mugabe's police, intelligence
services and the army. So is
Simba Makoni, John Nkomo, Dumiso Dabengwa,
Joice Mujuru and Sydney
Sekeramai. Their phones are tapped and they are
followed everywhere. This
has been corroborated by several independent
sources within the three
services.
Since publishing the apology on
Sunday, The Zimbabwean has been
inundated with phone calls and email
messages from serving members in the
forces who insist that our story was
correct.
"I am a senior member of the army, and have actually been
hoping to
get hold of your reporters to give them more information. Mujuru
is not only
under house arrest but he survived an assassination attempt in
January by
CIOs sent by Bob. Perhaps you do not understand these things.
What is
happening with Mujuru is all his movements are followed by CIO and
army
personnel assigned to him and they guard him at home 24 hours. That
does not
mean he is not able to move around but everything he does is
tracked.
"We used to rely on your newspaper for breaking such things
but it
seems you are giving in to fear. I know Mujuru has threatened you for
you to
say the story was not true. You have disappointed me and many other
people
who were hoping that your paper will expose more other things," said
one
email.
Another said: "Mujuru was put under house arrest last
year by Robert
because he organised the coup. I am one of the army members
that have been
send to monitor and track him. We supported Mujuru's coup
project but the
guy is a coward he chickened out and allowed for the
slaughter of Gunda and
many other junior soldiers. He has done the same with
Makoni after promising
him that he was going to come out in the open and
support him but he has
told Robert that he has nothing to do with
Makoni."
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday,
27 February 2008 22:23
HARARE - MDC (Tsvangirai) candidate for Harare
North, Theresa Makone
alleges electoral fraud in the constituency through
the manipulation of the
voter registration process.
Makone, who is
the MDC House of Assembly candidate for Harare North,
says she has
established that the ruling party has been bussing voters from
outside of
the constituency and ensured they were all registered to vote, in
addition
to having many names of dead people still appearing on the voters'
roll. She
is battling it out with Zanu (PF)'s Justice Zvandarasha and MDC
(Mutambara)'s Trudy Stevenson.
Makone, whose husband Ian is the MDC
director of elections, says that
she is planning to appeal to the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) after
discovering the "broad daylight cheating"
even before the elections day. Ian
says that the situation in Harare North
is prevailing generally across the
whole country making the voters' roll
shambolic.
"We have established that there is serious fraud in the
constituency
and Zanu (PF) is determined to steal victory in Harare North
unless
something is done to stop the cheating," Makone said. "There are many
ghost
voters registered in the constituency and we have discovered that it
was
done systematically with what appears to be the collaboration of
election
authorities. We are going to appeal against this as a matter of
urgency."
ZEC director of public relations Shupikai Mashereni, said
they were
yet to formally get complaints from the MDC over the allegations
of fraud
and Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede, who conducted the voter
registration
process said, "the process was done in a transparent manner and
all parties
were able to assess the voters' roll".
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 27
February 2008 22:19
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe's spokesman George
Charamba has
ordered the State-broadcaster ZBC to pull off air voter
education adverts by
the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, ZESN.
This IS in blatant contravention of SADC principles governing the
conduct of
elections in member countries.
Authoritative sources at the State
broadcaster confirmed that ZBC
stopped airing the voter education adverts,
which have been conspicuously
absent from the airwaves since Friday, the day
the directive from the
President's Office came.
ZESN chair Noel
Kututwa confirmed the development and said the State
broadcaster was
preparing to give the independent poll monitoring group a
refund, although
no formal communication has been noted.
The directive comes hardly a
week after the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC) stopped ZESN for
conducting voter education, stating that
under the Electoral Act, only ZEC
was mandated to carry out voter education.
ZEC has admitted that it is
heavily ill-equipped and under funded to
carry out any exercise on its
own.
The ZESN adverts had raised awareness among the electorate about
voting procedures in a four-tier election that is set to present logistical
and voting nightmares.
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 27 February 2008 22:22
BULAWAYO - The Zimbabwe Election
Support Network (ZESN) has called on
the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
(ZEC) to make voting by security forces
and diplomats transparent.
Previously this has been shrouded in secrecy.
Speaking at a
Transparency International workshop here last week under
the theme "Guarding
against Corruption in Elections" ZESN coordinator Jack
Zaba said in all
previous elections the security forces secretly cast their
votes days before
polling day and they were doing it secretly.
"This use to give room to
Zanu (PF) to rig every election. So what we
are calling for is that security
forces and diplomats vote in the presence
of election observers," he
said.
Meanwhile residents of Queenspark suburb have accused some ZEC
voter
educators of campaigning for Zanu (PF). The uniformed advisers told
them
last week to vote wisely by voting for President Mugabe in March
elections
as he has the people of Zimbabwe at heart.
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 27
February 2008 22:19
MHONDORO - Pro-Robert Mugabe and Zanu (PF) church
leader, Revered
Obadiah Musindo, dished out part of the money he was given
to campaign for
the geriatric leader and told the electorate here that if
they wanted more,
they should vote for Mugabe and Zanu (PF) candidates in
next month's
elections.
In violation of SADC electoral principles,
which condemn the use of
money to buy the electorate, Musindo gave out Z$1
billion to a few women's
groups in front of a crowd that gathered at a rally
organized by the ruling
party's House of Assembly candidate for
Mondoro-Ngezi, Bright Matonga.
"You have to vote for President Mugabe
and Zanu (PF) if you want to
get more money because that is the only way you
will get it," Musindo told
the crowd. He is believed to be among the group
of Mugabe's bootlickers in
church leadership positions that were issued with
more than Z$3 trillion for
use in campaigning in their congregations as well
as generally among the
electorate. Others include ousted former Anglican
bishop for Harare diocese,
Nolbert Kunonga, who now moves around in the
company of Zanu (PF) thugs and
CIOs causing terror in the city's
parish.
When challenged by The Zimbabwean on his use of money to entice
the
electorate to vote for Mugabe, Musindo said, "We have always been giving
out
money for development and there is nothing wrong with that".
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday,
27 February 2008 16:17
THE Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce,
(ZNCC) said the latest
inflation of 100,580% was understated and did not
reflect the true picture
on the ground.
ZNCC president, Marah
Hativagone, confirmed the predictions of the
International Monetary
Authority (IMF) which said Zimbabwe's inflation was
set to hit the 100 000%
by December, 2007.
Most shops in Zimbabwe have now been filled with
imported goods after
factories failed to meet demand due to productivity
problems.
While the products are readily available on a burgeoning
black market,
many Zimbabweans have resorted to buying their essentials from
neighbouring
countries like Botswana, South Africa and Zambia
The
imported goods, which are outside the National Incomes and Pricing
Commission (NIPC) control are currently priced at black market parallel
rates.
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 27
February 2008 22:23
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe reportedly
summoned top officials at
power and water utilities and put them under
pressure to ensure improved
supplies of electricity and water ahead of the
elections.
Water Resources and Infrastructure minister Munacho Mutezo
confirmed
that there were meetings with the president over the water issue
but
declined to give details.
A ZINWA source told this paper that
after the meeting with Mugabe,
management at the beleaguered parastatal were
ordered to "fix the water
situation in Harare, Bulawayo and other major
urban centres as a matter of
urgency".
Our source added, "Mugabe
said the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe would be
ordered to make funds available
for the procurement of vital chemicals that
are lacking in water treatment
and that this would be done soon. He wants
the water supply situation to
improve within two weeks."
Water problems have been affecting all
cities and towns since the
take-over by ZINWA despite recommendation by
parliament against the move.
Mugabe is seeking re-election in next month's
presidential election but
faced with a daunting task in his bid to win the
vote after presiding over
the crumbling of the economy, characterized by
shortages of basic
commodities, with power and water crises bringing social
and economic
activities to a halt across the country.
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 27 February 2008 22:25
BY PINDAI DUBE
KWEKWE
A Bulawayo man, mistakenly suspected to be an army deserter and
an MDC
supporter, spend three days in leg irons at a military camp in
Kwekwe, where
he was tortured.
Tendai Masakara (30), a computer
engineer visiting his relative in
Kwekwe was arrested on February 18 by
military police after they mistakenly
identified him as army deserter who
had run away from the army two years ago
and now a MDC activist. He was
taken to 5 Brigade barracks in Battlefields.
Masakara, shivering and in
pain, told The Zimbabwean this week the two
military police in army gear
accused him of being army deserter. He has
never been in the army or tried
to get into the army.
He now has difficulty walking and has deep scars
on both legs. He said
he was in leg irons for three days and repeatedly
assaulted with fists and
boots on the head, chest and private parts. He was
only released after the
commander of 5 Brigade barracks intervened, and
found out that he has never
been in the army. He was then given a lift back
to Kwekwe.
He identified the army officers who arrested and assaulted
him as
Sergeant Pande, Corporal Mwale, Chirangwa and Tlou.
Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights (ZHLR) arranged for him to see a
private doctor who
diagnosed internal injuries. Masakara is now he is
working with ZLHR on
taking the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) to court for
$150 billion
compensation over the assault.
Yahoo News
Wed Feb 27, 1:57 PM ET
HARARE, Feb 27, 2008 (AFP) - Zimbabwean
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
deplored wide-spread poverty Wednesday
as he visited townships around the
capital Harare in his campaign for the
presidency in elections next month.
Without directly blaming
incumbent President Robert Mugabe for the plight of
his countrymen,
Tsvangirai said only political change could reverse their
economic
hardship.
"The election on 29 March ... what is the objective of that
election. To me
it's very, very simple. It's to give all these people hope
that the change
that is coming is one that they can trust," he
said.
"It is the change that will make a difference in their lives. You
have seen
... evidence of poverty (and) infrastructure decay including
sewage. You
have seen massive unemployment, all these young people around
here are
unemployed and the people are hungry and angry because there
appears to be
no solution to their problems."
Tsvangirai was touring
the high-density suburbs of Mufakose, Kambuzuma and
Kuwadzana, home to many
of Harare's poorest residents.
"It's obvious that the poverty among the
people has deepened," he said
afterwards.
Zimbabwe's crumbling
economy is expected to feature highly in the election
campaigns of those
contesting joint presidential and parliamentary elections
next
month.
With the economy on a downturn for the past eight years, the
country's
official exchange rate recently skyrocketed to over 100,000
percent -- a
world record.
Once the breadbasket of Africa, about 80
percent of the population is now
estimated to be living below the poverty
threshold as many skip meals or
strike basic foodstuffs off their shopping
lists.
Mugabe, 84, is widely blamed for the state of affairs for his
controversial
land reform policies that all but killed commercial
agriculture and scared
off foreign investors.
Tsvangirai is
challenging the veteran Mugabe in a four-horse race for the
presidency that
also includes former finance minister Simba Makoni and
Langton Towungana, an
obscure independent candidate.
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 27 February
2008 16:18
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has dashed all hopes by mining
sector
stakeholders to reverse the country's mines indigenization
legislation by
announcing that he will not relent nor go back on plans to
empower locals
and give them over 50% of shareholding in foreign mining
companies.
Parliament sources are reported to have indicated in recent
weeks that
the government was likely to go back to the drawing board to
redraft the
Mines and Mineral Amendment Bill.
Current proposals are
that the law would make it mandatory for all
mining companies to cede 51%
shareholding stakes to local black Zimbabweans.
Welshman Ncube,
chairman of Zimbabwe's parliamentary Legal Portfolio
Committee recently said
that the Bill had lapsed and would have to be
redrafted.
Chamber of
Mines president, Jack Murehwa, last week said even though
the Bill had not
been passed its mere presence continued to affect the
mining sector and its
prospects to attract investors. He said mines were
unable to plan unless
they are clear about the fate of the Bill.
"For as long as the revision
of mining laws is not completed,
investment will most likely stay away from
Zimbabwe," Murehwa said.
"Investors want to know the rules of the game
before they risk their money.
Investors are just like you and me. Would you
invest a large sum of money in
an environment where you do not know the
rules of the game?"
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday,
27 February 2008 22:19
HARARE - Election observers, mainly from China
and other countries in
the Far East, are expected to start arriving soon
after being invited and
accredited by government.
The Zanu (PF)
government has reportedly requested the government of
China to send a huge
delegation.
President Robert Mugabe has put it on the record that only
"friendly"
nations would be invited to observe the elections and effectively
ruling out
members of the European Union and the US his regime deems as
enemies.
Justice and Parliamentary Affairs minister Patrick Chinamasa
confirmed
to this paper that government had started inviting and accrediting
observers, including Chinese. "Yes observers are already being accredited
and we invited from across the whole world including China because we want
to prove that these elections will be free and fair."
The
Zimbabwean heard from officials in the ministry of foreign affairs
that in
addition to an expected influx of Chinese, countries in the SADC
region are
also going to deploy delegations to observe the pre-election
conditions in
the coming weeks and give the usual thumbs up to the
prevailing conditions
in order to aid claims by the Mugabe regime that the
elections shall be free
and fair.
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 27 February 2008 16:26
BY MUSA NYASHA
By the corner of Baines Avenue and
Colquhoun Street in the Avenues area of
Harare is a clinic. There is a burst
waterpipe that has been spewing water
along the clinic's wall for weeks now.
ZINWA is fully aware of this burst
pipe. The reason for the failure of the
workers to plug the leak is said to
be a need for an old type of pipe that
is no longer available.
This situation is typical of the workings of the
Government of Zimbabwe and
its various departments. There is a clear lack of
ability and a complete
failure to find solutions to problems. The Government
is preoccupied with
creating unnecessary departments and organisations like
ZINWA and NSSA, not
to mention the creation of a senate, increasing the
number of MPs,
introducing governors and other expensive and bureaucratic
nonsense that
does nothing to improve the lot of Zimbabweans.
Whenever
elections come up, the amazingly optimistic Zimbabweans hope for a
complete
change of regime or a least an improvement to how the nation is
governed.
The reality of elections is supposed to be a reminder to elected
officials
that they are accountable to the people and should therefore shape
up or
ship out. Zimbabweans continue to be betrayed by the people they
elect.
Sovereignty not food?
Zanu (PF) continues to tell hungry people
that what they need is not food to
eat and the ability to plan their lives,
but instead we need "sovereignty".
Zanu (PF), without carrying out a
referendum, also proclaims that
Zimbabweans are "prepared to suffer" for
this sovereignty. The MDC on the
other hand hopes and prays for the Western
world or SADC to intervene by
kicking Mugabe out of office and thrusting the
opposition party(s) into
power. Meanwhile Zimbabweans continue to pray for a
miracle.
Has that miracle come in the form of Simba Makoni? What can one
individual
achieve? If he does win, how is he going to work with Zanu (PF)
and MDC MPs?
If he does lose (which is more likely considering the
circumstances), will
that be the end of Simba Makoni and possibly the hopes
of many Zimbabweans?
Simba Makoni, the 'new kid on the block' has a lot of
work to do, in very
little time. The time to convince people to register to
vote has been lost.
He must now urge people to actually make the effort and
go to exercise that
right to vote. Makoni must help people understand how he
can effectively
make the different arms of government work if he, without a
party and MPs
aligned to him, wins. He must also help people see what his
role in
Zimbabwe's future will be if he loses. After all, he won't even be
an MP.
Does Makoni plan to form a political party as once rumoured? With whom
will
he form this party? It has been rumoured that he plans to join forces
with
the likes of Professor Jonathan Moyo.
I am one of those people who
believe in Jonathan Moyo's effectiveness if
kept on a tight leash, but the
truth is, the Professor is one of the most
unpopular people in Zimbabwe,
having personified everything that people
hated about Zanu (PF) not so long
ago.
Strangle-hold on media
Jonathan Moyo's effectiveness is one of the
reasons why Makoni will struggle
to make people know and understand him.
Zanu (PF) has such a strangle-hold
on the media because of Jonathan Moyo
with help of Tafataona Mahoso. Radio
and television are virtually closed to
those who challenge Zanu (PF). Apart
from the fact that newspapers have
become a luxury to poverty-stricken
Zimbabweans, there are no independent
dailies on the streets.
Access to the media is just one of the many
challenges facing Simba Makoni.
Added to this, he has to quickly assemble a
campaign team. Apart from being
politically savvy, that team must be
prepared for the thugs that will
inevitably be unleashed to disturb his
march to State House.
I would like to appeal to the conscience of all
politicians to refrain from
abusing the good people of Zimbabwe. We are the
most governable people on
the planet. Nowhere in the world can you find such
a peaceful people. Where
else in the world would people tolerate the
imposition of people of Sekesai
Makwavarara's calibre? Where else do you
have so many incompetent
bootlickers as those in our cabinet?
Zimbabweans
deserve better. Treat us with the respect we deserve.