MDC youths threaten to hit back

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Simplicious Chirinda     Tuesday 01 February 2011

HARARE – The youth wing of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party
has threatened revenge attacks against President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF, a
development that could worsen political violence that has resurfaced in many
parts of the country.

There have been increasing reports of cases of political violence and
intimidation mostly blamed on militant ZANU PF supporters, war veterans and
in several cases members of Zimbabwe’s armed forces.

According to a plot exposed by ZimOnline last month, the military is
planning to unleash unprecedented violence and terror fronted by ZANU PF
youth militia and war veterans while junior soldiers will also take part in
the campaign to cow Zimbabweans into backing Mugabe at the next polls.

But MDC youth chairman Thamsanga Mahlangu told journalists in Harare that
party youths would not stand idle this time round and become victims as
happened in the 2008 polls when at least 200 MDC supporters are said to have
died in political violence while thousands of others were displaced.

“As the MDC youth assembly, we are more than prepared to defend the
defenceless electorate if the police continue to stand aloof and be
indifferent to ZANU PF violence,” said Mahlangu.

“We shall protect our parents, brothers and sisters wherever and under
whatever circumstances. ZANU PF …. must be prepared to receive as much as
they dish out if this lawlessness continues,” he said.

It was not immediately clear whether Tsvangirai and other senior MDC leaders
back the new aggressive stance adopted by the youth wing.

Both the main MDC formation led Tsvangirai and the smaller formation led by
Welshman Ncube have historically shunned violence as a tactic to confront
ZANU PF which in addition to the volatile war veterans and youth militia has
the backing of the security forces.

Zimbabwe is due to hold a referendum on a new constitution and thereafter
elections to choose a new government to replace the two-year old ruling
coalition.

No date for elections has been set but Mugabe has publicly said they must be
held this year, while the rising reports of political violence suggest a
vote is imminent either at the end of this year or early next year.

Political violence and human rights abuses have accompanied elections in
Zimbabwe since the 1999 emergency of the MDC as the most potent yet
electoral threat to Mugabe and ZANU PF’s three-decade hold on power.  -- 
ZimOnline
 

Mugabe not on African Union crisis panel for Ivory Coast

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
1 February 2011

ZANU PF leader Robert Mugabe is not on the African Union panel on the Ivory
Coast, contrary to reports carried by the state media on Monday.

An article on the ZBC website said Mugabe was one of the leaders ‘selected
to be one of the 6 members of the panel to deal with the electoral crisis in
Cote d’Ivoire following a resolution by the Peace and Security Council
meeting last Friday that called for the expansion of the negotiating
framework.’ The Ivory Coast is still referred as the Cote d’Ivoire in some
circles, including political gatherings like the AU.

‘The panel includes Presidents Robert Mugabe, Jacob Zuma of South Africa,
Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria, who is the Chairman of ECOWAS, SADC Chairman
and Namibian President, Hifikepunye Pohamba and Ethiopian Prime Minister,
Meles Zenawi, Chairman of the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development
(IGAD),’ the ZBC reported.

However, a communiqué released in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Monday identified
the high level panel as the Heads of State of Mauritania, Burkina Faso,
Chad, South Africa and Tanzania. This body will be chaired by the
Mauritanian President, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

MDC-T MP for Kambuzuma, Willas Madzimure, who was in Addis Ababa for the
summit in his capacity as the deputy secretary for International Relations
in the party, told us the ZANU PF lies have left Mugabe with egg on his
face.

‘He may have been part of the discussion during the closed door session on
the Ivory Coast crisis but he was never appointed to sit on the panel. I don’t
know were the state media got the information from, but that is not the
case,’ Madzimure said.

‘Maybe they wanted to portray Mugabe as a true statesman in Africa who can
still be relied upon to mediate or solve problems for other nations. That is
no longer the case now and the other problem is Mugabe is under mediation
himself and that would have compromised Jacob Zuma’s position as mediator
for Zimbabwe,’ the MP added.

Another MDC-T legislator said Mugabe has lost all credibility to be
appointed on such important panels, adding ‘he is just struggling to be
relevant, hence this unmitigated embarrassment by the state media to lie
about his appointment.

Political observers were also up in arms over the appointment of Equatorial
Guinea’s coup plotter, and dictator of 31 years, as the AU chairman for
2011. Critics said President Teodoro Obiang’s elevation as chairman could
undermine the African Union’s attempt to confront other leaders who cling to
power.

Analyst Promise Mkwananzi said of Obiang’s appointment; ‘I want to believe
it’s very sad for Africa because we are looking at our continent which is
evolving towards a democratic culture. This can only be done if you have at
the helm of the AU a leadership which aspires and shares the same democratic
aspirations.’

Mkwananzi added; ‘It is evidently clear that he (Obiang) does not share
these aspirations because he does not believe or act in a democratic manner
for that sense.’

Zimbabwe begins voters’ roll-cleaning exercise ahead of referendum

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/

01 February, 2011 10:46:00    By

Harare - Zimbabwe has started the process of cleaning up the voters’ roll
ahead of a constitutional referendum and polls tentatively set for this
year, the head of the country’s electoral body Simpson Mtambanengwe said
Tuesday in Harare.

Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairperson Simpson Mtambanengwe said
his organisation had begun formalities to engage the Registrar General’s
Office to clean up the voters roll in preparation for the holding of the
referendum later this year.

“In line with its mandate of conducting and supervising all elections and
referendums in the country, ZEC has started working with the Registrar
General’s office to ensure that the voters roll is in order in time for the
referendum expected later this year,” Mtambanengwe told state television.

A report published by a local pro-democracy non-governmental organisation
last week showed that 27 percent of names listed on Zimbabwe’s voters’ roll
are of dead people.

The report compiled by the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (ZESN)
revealed an outdated and distorted voters’ roll that in reality is a little
more than a mere register of people who were born or once lived in the
country from the 1900s to date – whether they are still alive, dead or have
long since left the country.

The ZESN called for a new register of voters to be prepared before elections
that President Robert Mugabe has said must take place this year.

It revealed that 2,344 people appearing on the register were aged between
101 and 110 years old while nine others were born between 1890 and 1900.

MDC slams SA’s acceptance of Mugabe’s ambassador

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
01 February 2011

The MDC in South Africa has slammed the country’s acceptance of the
Zimbabwean ambassador, appointed unilaterally by Robert Mugabe, saying the
move will “weaken” President Jacob Zuma’s mediation efforts in Zimbabwe.

Zuma’s office has confirmed that the ambassador, Phelekezela Mphoko, will be
among a group of officials presenting their credentials to the President on
Thursday. Mphoko, who replaces ZANU PF’s new national chairman Simon Khaya
Moyo, is a known Mugabe loyalist and said to have close links to Zimbabwe’s
intelligence services. He also controversially dismissed the Gukurahundi
atrocities as a ‘Western conspiracy’ during a panel discussion on Zimbabwe
in 2009. At the same discussion he openly jeered other participants, who
included human rights attorney Beatrice Mtetwa, calling them “sell-outs” and
accusing them of misrepresenting the situation in Zimbabwe.

The MDC’s Chairman in South Africa, Austin Moyo, told SW Radio Africa on
Tuesday that Zuma’s acceptance of Mphoko was a worrying development. Moyo
explained that Zuma would be undermining the Global Political Agreement
(GPA) that, as mediator in Zimbabwe’s political crisis, he is meant to be
supporting.

“Zuma should have actually reinforced what has been agreed between the three
principals,” Moyo said.

Mugabe’s unilateral appointment of ambassadors is a serious bone of
contention in the unity government as, under the GPA, Mugabe is meant to
consult Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on all new appointments.

“Zuma is actually supporting a unilateral decision taken by ZANU PF,” Moyo
said, adding: “We think that, as a mediator, he is not acting fairly.”

Moyo continued that Mphoko’s appointment would “weaken” Zuma’s mediation
efforts because “he should act in a way that respects what has been agreed
in the past.”

Moyo added: “The agreement was that any embassy that becomes vacant would
become an MDC embassy. So what we have done in Pretoria is in total
disregard of that agreement.”

Prime Minister Tsvangirai has asked South Africa and other counties not to
recognise ambassadors appointed by Mugabe, because their appointment was
done without any consultation with his partners in the shaky coalition
government.

Tsvangirai last year also told the EU and the United Nations that
ambassadors appointed solely by Mugabe don’t speak on behalf of the whole
government. Tsvangirai stated his position that the appointment of
Zimbabwean Ambassador to Brussels, the United Nations and four countries,
was “null and void.”

Tsvangirai also told reporters last year that his MDC party will refuse to
recognise all appointments which Mugabe made without consultation. These
appointments include Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, Attorney General
Johannes Tomana, five judges named in May, and the six ambassadors,
appointed last July. The status of 10 re-appointed provincial governors is
also in dispute.

Gono meanwhile has claimed that his post as Reserve Bank Governor is no
longer a contested issue in the unity government. He said over the weekend
that his appointment as the Chairman of the Bank’s board last April, by
Finance Minister Tendai Biti, legally makes him Governor.

“As you know, my appointment has been the subject of several misconceptions
and ill-informed debate among many stakeholders and I have refrained from
getting involved in that debate,” Gono told journalists.

But he added: “Suffice to say that I serve at the pleasure of he who
appoints me an consequent upon that the public will be aware that my boss,
the Minister of Finance, announced to the nation in April last year that I
had been appointed chairman of the RBZ board.”

Gono continued: “As you are aware the RBZ act confers the chairmanship of
the RBZ board to the sitting governor, so I don’t want to get involved in
this debate.”

Tendai Biti has so far made no comment.

Bishop compares Gukurahundi massacres to Holocaust

http://www.swradioafrica.com

by Irene Madongo
01 February 2011

A retired Anglican Bishop has warned that more innocent Zimbabweans will be
tortured and killed by Robert Mugabe’s machine, while the world watches, as
was the case with the Gukurahundi massacres and previous elections.

The Gukurahundi massacres saw tens of thousands of innocent Zimbabweans
killed by soldiers loyal to the Mugabe regime in the mid eighties. Last
year, the Gukurahundi was officially classified as genocide by the
internationally recognized group Genocide Watch.

Robert Mercer, the former Bishop of Matabeleland, made the remarks in an
interview to mark this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day, held on Thursday last
week. Mercer said although the Jewish genocide involved millions of deaths,
it still reminded him of the Matabeleland killings. While stationed in
Matabeleland he saw mass graves and shells from guns. “I am a Zimbabwean, so
those atrocities stick in my mind,” he said.

Mercer went on to warn that with talk of an upcoming election, Mugabe will
again torture people using units of the army and his Green Bombers, who
butchered political opponents previously. In the run up to the polls in
2008, hundreds of MDC supporters were killed and tens of thousands tortured
by ZANU PF using soldiers, secret state agents, and youth militia to carry
out the atrocities.

“This is the very, very strong possibility,” Mercer said, “We can learn from
the past. The past teaches us that Mugabe will stop at nothing to force
people into voting for him, and will destroy people who will vote against
him.”

“The world won’t take much notice – there isn’t oil. There are diamonds in
Zimbabwe of course, and that goes into the pockets of the oligarchs and
kleptocrats,” he said.

Mercer said African leaders are not going to stop Mugabe as he is part of
their dictators club. “They certainly appear not to care. What pressure do
they bring on Mugabe? Nobody wants to rock the boat over Mugabe,” Mercer
said.

The theme for this year’s Holocaust memorial was “untold stories”. The
Gukurahundi is one of the worlds great untold stories and the ZANU PF regime
has always fought to silence the Gukuranhundi story. Last year an art
exhibition about the Gukuranhundi was outlawed, and the artist thrown in
jail.

In another development, the head of the Anglican church around the world, Dr
Rowan Williams, on Monday called on Robert Mugabe to stop persecuting
Anglicans. Williams was referring to a faction of priests, led by an
excommunicated bishop loyal to President Mugabe. The priests receive police
backing to attack parishioners – many of whom have been shut out of church
buildings and forced to worship in the open air.

 

RBZ chief prays for political stability

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Tobias Manyuchi     Tuesday 01 February 2011

HARARE -- Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) chief Gideon Gono has made a
passionate appeal that Zimbabwe does not relapse into political conflict
that will drag the economy down as happened over the past decade when the
bank resorted to printing money to save the government from collapse.

Gono -- a close confidante of President Robert Mugabe who has been accused
of stoking up Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown by printing money to fund the
veteran leader’s political programmes  -- has always defended his money
printing policies as necessary at the time to prevent an economic implosion
that could have sparked anarchy in Zimbabwe.

In a letter to employees that he has retrenched as he moves to restrict the
central bank to its core monetary policy management function, Gono said: “It
is the bank’s and my own prayer that the politics of the country will not,
as happened over the last ten years, go into tailspin with disastrous and
unintended consequences.

“(Consequences) that would …. result in economic downturn, repeat
inflationary pressures, violence, capacity under utilisation, more
sanctions, pointless conflict … corruption, lawlessness and other negatives
that we all went through and experienced during the ten years when the
politics of our country was at the crossroads.”

He thanked the workers for playing a “sterling role” during the decade of
crisis and appeared to imply that without his controversial policies and the
retrenched workers’ effort Zimbabwe would have been in a worse off position
and the unity government of Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai that
is credited with inspiring a turnaround of the economy would have in fact
achieved little.

Gono has retrenched 1,445 workers or 75 percent of the RBZ’s entire
workforce, bowing to pressure from Finance Minister Tendai Biti and the
International Monetary Fund who have both called for the bank to downsize
the staff compliment in tandem with its retreat from the larger economy to
focus on monetary policy, the banking and finance industry.

Gono - appointed RBZ governor in 2003 and charged by Mugabe to lead efforts
to save Zimbabwe’s then sinking economy, has won himself critics across the
political divide who say his policy to endlessly print money fanned
hyperinflation that left the local currency worthless and the economy
aground.

Zimbabwe’s economy is on the mend since the unity government came into
office in February 2009. But there are increasing fears that an election
that Mugabe says must take place this year to choose a new government to
replace the uneasy coalition could reignite political violence that will
scare away investors and see the economy back in the mire. -- ZimOnline

Welshman Ncube's MDC Threatens Media Houses

http://www.radiovop.com/

01/02/2011 14:12:00

HARARE, February 01, 2011 - Newy elected President of the smaller faction of
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Professor Welshman Ncube, says the
party will take legal action against any media house or journalist who
continue referring to his party as MDC-N or MDC-M.

MDC formed in 1999 by former trade unionists split in 2005. The smaller
faction which was being headed by Arthur Mutambara was popularly known as
the MDC-M while the main MDC faction led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
is known as MDC-T.

Mutambara was recently replaced by Ncube who was elected president at the
party's congress.

Ncube's spokesman, Kurauone Chiwhayi, told Radio VOP that the party's name
was "MDC" only and not MDC-M or MDC-N as suggested by journalists in their
reportage.

Last week the Zanu (PF) Secretary for Administration, who is a minister in
President Robert Mugabe's government, Didymus Mutasa, jokingly
"congratulated" Ncube saying his party now had a new name - MDC-N (Ncube).

"Our paty name is MDC only and not MDC-T or MDC-M or even MDC-N as reported
by some journalists especially from the State-controlled media," Chihwayi
said.

"I am distributing press releases to all the local media telling them to
immediately stop this kind of reporting or face the consequences.

"We are now very tired of being called names which do not belong to us. We
debated the issue of the name change during our annual congress and we
decided that we are simply MDC full stop."

Buzz off, Mugabe nephew tells Mujuru

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Chris Goko and Thelma Chikwanha
Tuesday, 01 February 2011 15:15

HARARE - Patrick Zhuwao, the Zvimba East MP and President Robert Mugabe’s
nephew, has defied government, particularly Vice President Joice Mujuru’s
orders not to occupy tourism ventures at Lake Chivero, about 30km west of
Harare.

The businessman–cum–politician’s aggressive remarks Sunday that his
followers would retake several leisure facilities, including Gary Stafford’s
popular and lakeshore aviary, ruffled feathers within Zanu PF and in a
remake of the late Joseph Msika’s futile war with party mobs over Kondozi
Estate’s takeover about six years ago.

“Whilst the process and procedure may have needed to be improved, I still
feel, together with the community, that there is gross social injustice that
continues to be perpetrated by remnants of racists in most of the clubs,”
Zhuwao told a local weekly.

“We will never allow any form of perceived white superiority in any part of
this constituency,” he said.

Among those targeted in the invasions were the Jacana Yacht Club, the
country’s single largest sailing club and listed Rainbow Tourism Group–owned
Harare Safari Lodge.

The recent invasions – planned as far back as October 2010 – have not only
exposed endemic factionalism in Mugabe’s home area, as evidenced by
contrasting views on the matter between Zhuwao and senior provincial members
like Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo, but in the wider party.

On the other hand, the move almost torpedoed Tourism and Hospitality
minister Walter Mzembi’s destination–marketing roadshows in Europe, thus
prompting the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) to ask Mujuru to tackle the
matter.

Karikoga Kaseke’s ZTA was particularly irked by the fact that bird
sanctuaries are a major draw card and one of the most sought-after
activities in Zimbabwe’s tourism.

However, Mujuru herself – now seen as a moderate and one of Mugabe’s
possible successors – is not new to such stubborn and unrepentant behaviour,
following her clashes with another late VP Joshua Nkomo over Econet Wireless
Zimbabwe’s operational licence.

While Chombo and other quasi–Zanu PF functionaries in government have
criticised the illegal occupations by about 300 self–styled war veterans,
party spokesman Rugare Gumbo declined to comment on Monday.

“I really can’t comment about Amai Mujuru’s statements because l only read
about it in the papers. You call them invasions, but l don’t know anything
about it... (as well as) Zhuwao’s statement,” he said.

While the advances on boat clubs, chalets and other tourism infrastructure
in the cool, and wooded Chivero shoreline were carried out in the name of
indigenisation, National Parks director Vitalis Chadenga said the wanton
actions showed a lack of a coherent policy on Zimbabwe’s wildlife
management.

According to available documents, the besieged properties would be parceled
out to senior party officials, chiefs and other public servants, thus
debunking Chombo’s damage control spin that the invasion was driven by
“common criminals”.

In a January 6, 2010 letter exposing the well–orchestrated plan, Aaron Mazvi
asked Lands and Resettlement minister Herbert Murerwa to facilitate the
takeover of the assets, whose valuation is yet unknown.

The Mashonaland West drama comes after Higher Education minister Stan
Mudenge and his Empowerment counterpart Saviour Kasukuwere threatened
conservancy owners in Masvingo with expulsion, and to make way for a Chinese
cotton grower, despite the poor climatic conditions and potential revenue
losses.

Parties want by-elections

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Reagan Mashavave
Tuesday, 01 February 2011 15:09

HARARE - Zimbabwe’s main political parties in the inclusive government are
keen to hold by-elections in the 15 constituencies left vacant by deceased
parliamentarians.
Zanu PF and the two MDC formations agreed in article XXI of the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) that they will not hold by-elections in vacant
constituencies for a year after signing the unity pact on September 15,
2008.

Among the vacant House of Assembly seats include Guruve North, Gokwe
Gumunyu, Mutare North, Makoni Central and Tafara Mabvuku while Senatorial
seats include Bindura-Shamva, Mberengwa, Gweru-Chirumhanzu and Hwange.

The agreement to stop any by-elections was meant to prevent violence among
political party supporters who have been fighting during election time and
to allow the process of national healing to take place.

Nicholas Goche, Zanu PF’s chief negotiator in the GPA talks said his party
does not decide when the by-elections will be held but electoral authorities
are the ones that decide.

“There will be by-elections. The parties do not decide on elections. ZEC
(Zimbabwe Electoral Commission) is the one which makes recommendations for
elections. As far as we are concerned there will be by-elections,” Goche
said.

By-elections were expected to begin after September 15, 2009, a year after
the signing of the unity agreement.

MDC spokesperson, Nelson Chamisa said the constitution must be respected to
allow the holding of by-elections.

“There have to be by-elections. This sad development is prejudicial to the
constituencies that are affected and the aspiring candidates in those
constituencies,” Chamisa said.

But while admitting that bye-elections are long overdue, the parties did not
state the reason why they have not put that in motion.

Political analyst, Takura Zhangazha said parties in the GPA have been
‘disappointingly’ failing to push for bye-elections to take place.

“The parties to the GPA have been inept in that particular clause.Parliament
itself has proved to be subservient to the executive,” Zhangazha said.

“What I have seen is that Parliament has been an appendage of the executive.
Parliament is clearly losing its oversight role.”

Many constituencies across the country are already benefiting from the $50
000 dollar loans that parliamentarians get from the Ministry of Finance for
constituency development programmes.

Zimbabweans Worry New Zuma Mediation Role in Ivory Coast May Distract Him

http://www.voanews.com

Mr. Zuma has been mediating between the ZANU-PF party of President Robert
and the Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara on behalf of the
Southern African Development Community since 2009

Ntungamili Nkomo | Washington  31 January 2011

Zimbabwean civil society and political activists expressed concern Monday
that South African President Jacob Zuma's appointment as a mediator in the
Ivory Coast crisis could distract him from his existing responsibilities in
Harare's own troubles.

Mr. Zuma has been mediating between the ZANU-PF party of President Robert
and the Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai on behalf of the Southern African Develoment Community since
2009.

Wrapping up a summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday, the African Union
named Mr. Zuma to a five-member taskforce assigned to mediate between
Ivorian President Laraunt Bagbo, who lost last year’s election but has
refused to hand over power to opposition leader Allassane Ouattara,
internationally recognised as the victor.

The panel also includes the presidents of Tanzania, Mauritania, Burkina Faso
and Chad. The announcement scotched media speculation in Harare's Herald and
Newsday papers that President Robert Mugabe might be tapped for the
mediation panel.

Zimbabwe was not on the AU agenda but sources said Mr. Zuma would raise the
Harare issue with heads of state well informed on the situation late Monday.
AU leaders were taken up with more acute crises in Egypt, Ivory Coast,
Tunisa and Somalia.

Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition spokesman Philip Pasirai said President Zuma’s
inclusion in the Ivorian task force will tend to shift his focus away from
Zmbabwe.

"That is an obvious distraction from the all-important issue of Zimbabwe,"
he "Mr. Zuma has a lot on his plate already and any additional load will
prove too much to handle."

Pasirai's sentiments were shared by Nhlanhla Dube, spokesman for the MDC
formation headed by Welshman Ncube. Dube told reporter Ntungamili Nkomo that
Mr. Zuma should strike a balance between the Ivory Coast crisis and the
situation in Zimbabwe.

"If it was an issue of involving someone in the SADC region, we would have
thought of former South African President Thabo Mbeki who has experience
with leading negotiations to join the Ivorian panel. Mr. Zuma should have
been left to focus on Zimbabwe," Dube said.

The AU meanwhile, elected Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema
as its new chairman under a rotation system, replacing Malawi President
Bingu Wa Mutharika. Critics see Mr. Nguema as a dictator with little regard
for human rights or democracy.

In his acceptance remarks President Nguema called on African leaders to
unite and find lasting solutions afflicting the continent, including poverty
and strife.

"Africa must focus on the dialogue for a peaceful negotiaed solution to the
conflicts that ravage our towns. Africa must assume, more than ever before,
a leading role not just on the continent but in the international arena,"
Nguema said.

The AU summit was also attended by United Nations Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon and French President Nicholas Sarkozy at the invitation of the
continental body.

Political violence leaves two MDC activists in hospital

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
1 February 2011

At least five MDC activists were left injured, two of them seriously, on
Monday night in a fresh wave of political violence to hit the capital city,
Harare.

The levels of political violence in the country are now causing increasing
concern, with elections in Zimbabwe being discussed as possible for this
year or early in 2012.

This latest incident was in the volatile suburb of Mbare, just a few
kilometers from Harare’s central business district. A group of MDC
supporters had gathered at the house of local councillor, Paul Gorekore, to
help him clear rubble from his house that was attacked last week.

The councillor’s flat is situated at Tagarika block of flats, opposite the
city of Harare office in Remembrance drive. The area is several hundred
metres away from the Mbare police station.

Eyewitnesses told our correspondent Simon Muchemwa that as the MDC activists
arrived at the flat they were set upon by local ZANU PF youths with rocks,
bricks, iron bars and other weapons, forcing neighbours in the vicinity to
flee.

‘One of the two activists received knife wounds and are both in hospital
receiving treatment. The other three, all victims of the brutal attack
including councilor Gorekore, are in police custody under arrest. Instead of
going after the perpetrators, the police arrested the victims,’ Muchemwa
said.

The MDC identified the activist who sustained knife wounds as Shingirai
Gorekore, young brother to Paul. Tensions are so high in Mbare that even
Theresa Makone, the MDC’s co-Minister of Home Affairs, felt unsafe after she
visited the scene. She made a hasty retreat because members of the
Chipangano were seen regrouping.

Muchemwa told us Makone was left speechless following the visit to the
councillor’s flat, which was reduced to a shell.

‘There were rocks, bricks, iron bars and wooden pieces lying everywhere. The
roof was shattered, doors smashed, windows broken and valuable household
property destroyed and looted,’ Muchemwa said.

He added; ‘The situation was very tense at the time Theresa Makone and
members of the media visited the area. Neighbours locked themselves in their
houses as ZANU PF youths were seen mobilising.’

The MDC Youth League has meanwhile condemned the police inaction in
protecting MDC supporters in Zimbabwe. The executive of the youth league
convened an emergency meeting in the capital, following reports of the
escalation of violence countrywide.

The league called for the disbanding of the Global Political Agreement and
also lashed out at Makone and Kembo Mohadi, the co-Home Affairs Ministers,
for their failure to protect MDC activists from the ZANU PF onslaught.

Magistrate Overturns Police Ban On National Healing Play After Zlhr&Rsquo;s Intervention

‘Missing’ MDC official is found

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
01 February 2011

On Monday the MDC-T issued an alert expressing concern over the fate of
their secretary for Local Government, Last Maengahama, after he was picked
up in the morning ‘by two unidentified men in plain clothes in Harare’s
central business district. The party had said his ‘whereabouts remain
unknown’ and that they were making ‘frantic efforts to locate him.’

On Tuesday it turned out the matter was a false alarm and that in fact
Maengahama was ‘embroiled in a dispute of a personal nature’ according to
one MDC-T official who spoke to SW Radio Africa. Although he refused to
disclose the exact details of the case, we understand someone who was owed
money by Maengahama recruited the services of the police to try and recover
his money.
Efforts by concerned party members to locate Maengahama proved fruitless as
he allegedly switched off his phone the whole day on Monday. It’s not clear
why the plain clothes policemen who picked up the MDC-T official were
involving themselves in an entirely civil matter.

State security agents have been known to abduct MDC officials in similar
fashion and this, party officials say, is the reason why they raised the
alarm when they could not locate Maengahama after seeing him being taken
away.

Zimbabwe Central Banker Demands Foreign Banks Lend to Sanctioned Persons

http://www.voanews.com

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono said international banks have
been refusing loans to Western-sanctioned individuals and companies since
the current government of national unity was formed in 2009

Gibbs Dube | Washington  31 January 2011

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono has warned multinational banks
with operations in the Southern African country that they would suffer
consequences if they refuse to write loans to ZANU-PF officials or others on
Western sanctions lists.

In a monetary policy statement posted to the RBZ website, Gono said such
banks are unfairly extending what he called illegal Western sanctions.

He said such banks have been refusing loans to sanctioned individuals and
companies since the current government of national unity was formed in 2009.

“This aloof attitude has been explicitly exhibited by these banks taking
instructions from their international parentages,” said Gono, whose
institution laid off three-quarters of its staff or about 1,500 employees
late last as part of a strategic overhaul urged by the International
Monetary Fund. Many of those laid off were political hires.

The Bankers Association of Zimbabwe declined to comment on Gono's statement.

Gono accused the banks of paralyzing Zimbabwe's money markets by holding
domestic deposits rather than recycling them into productive sectors in the
form of loans.

But Bulawayo-based economist Eric Bloch commented that it is impossible for
Western banks to lend to ZANU-PF supporters listed for sanctions by their
home countries.

“I believe that there should be some dialogue between the banks and RBZ to
demonstrate that [the financial institutions] have no option but not to lend
to such people until these restrictive measures are lifted,” Bloch told
reporter Gibbs Dube.

New investor plans thermal power plant in Zim

http://www.africanmanager.com

Tuesday, 01 February 2011

PANA

A Zimbabwean company said Monday it planned to built a 125-megawatt thermal
power station near the capital Harare, to help ease electricity shortages in
the country.

Ridge Tech Trading chief executive George Muchiza said the power plant was
planned for Marondera, a farming town 75 kilometres east of Harare.

He said the company was importing equipment from China, but did not say how
much this had cost, nor when construction was scheduled to begin.

Zimbabwe has a huge power deficit, and imports 35 percent of its national
requirements from its neighbours.

But due to lack of funds, and a general power deficit in southern Africa,
the country experiences constraints with imported power, resulting in
electricity rationing to consumers.

Zimbabwe domestically generates around 1,200 megawatts, against a
2,000-megawatt demand

Zim To Reconsider Taking SA Offer Of Passport Machine

http://www.radiovop.com/

01/02/2011 09:18:00

Gweru, February 01, 2011 - A co-Home Affairs Minister Theresa Makone said
her ministry will re-consider Zimbabwe's recent refusal of an offer for a
passport printing machine from neighbouring South Africa.

She told women who are members of a funeral association she helped set up
here at the weekend that the decision to refuse the SA offer was "ill
advised".

The Zimbabwe government had late last year been offered by South Africa a
machine that prints about 7000 passports a day. The Registrar- General’s
office is said to produce only 500 passports per week.

“The decision to reject the South African offer of a machine that has
capacity to produce 7 000 passports a day was ill advised. I admit that the
advise we got from our advisors was not useful at all,” Makone said.

“We are going to sit again with Minister Mohadi (Kembo) and accept the
offer. We will then
take it to Cabinet to explain to them that we had got wrong advise to reject
the South African offer,” she said.

“The security reason we gave does not hold water because it is not the South
African that are going to do the printing but its us. South Africa said they
will offer us the machine and the room to operate from , they even suggested
that we could change the room keys and put our own security which shows that
we can not still keep on arguing that they will know our security features
to our passports or how we print them. We need to take the offer because
there is no security threat and also seeing that we are not able to offer
our citizens travelling documents timeously, other nations including South
Africa where many Zimbabweans migrate to without documents will see us as
unreasonable people, people who cannot use their brains rationally,“ she
added.

Makone said if there was anyone who was going to oppose the decision to
accept the passport producing machine that SouthAfrica has offered then it
will be because of ” political motives.”

Zim Varsities'Fast Multiplying, But Sub-standard'

http://www.radiovop.com/

01/02/2011 14:10:00

Masvingo,February 01, 2011 - Zimbabwe could earn itself a place in the world
Guinness Book of records all for the wrong reasons: having fast multiplying
universities which are below par, a renowned academic and author has noted.

Great Zimbabwe University pro vice chancellor, Professor Herbert Chimhundu
said while the country boasts of having the fastest growing universities in
the whole world, such institutions were not meeting international standards
and left a lot to be desired.

Currently, there are 13 universities-most of them run by the state-while two
more are on the way from church leaders, Ezekiel Guti,of the ZAOGA, and
Nehemiah Mutendi, of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC).

There are also eight polytechnics and eight teachers colleges countrywide.

“Due to a massive lecturer exodus experienced in 2008, many assistant
lecturers are teaching honours students, which should not be the case.

At the University of Zimbabwe’s senate board meetings, one can hardly find
five professors, whereas there were about 100 before the economy went on a
downfall.

“Also, worldwide, universities should dedicate 25 percent of their efforts
to research, while the remaining is for teaching students. But there is no
university in Zimbabwe near that,” Prof Chimhundu said.

He was speaking to journalists here to brief them of the pending Research
and Intellectual Expo (RIE) which is set to be held in Harare from February
16 to 18.

His remarks comes amid reports that the student to computer ratio at the GZU
stands at one computer per 300 students.

“There is need to merge the universities. Merging is not even peculiar to
Africa. In South Africa, for example, the University of Johannesburg is an
amalgamation of all Bantustan Universities.

“Such integration is necessary and it breeds quality,” said Prof Chimhundu.

He also said the GZU is luring Diasporan academics to contribute research
papers over the internet.

Zim political climate driving up cost of living

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

by Irene Madongo
01 February 2011

The increasing cost of living for Zimbabweans can be traced to the political
climate, which is still damaging the economy and thereby hitting ordinary
Zimbabweans pockets, an economic analyst has said.

New figures released by the Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency show that
the cost of living in the country has gone up by 8%, and that an average
family of five needs a minimum of US$467 per month to survive, with the
grocery budget alone pegged at US$150. This is beyond the reach of most
people in Zimbabwe, where government workers earn under $200 per month.

As it stands, Zimbabwe’s economy is fragile and struggling to recover, after
being destroyed by the political crisis created by ZANU PF’s violent rule.
Constant reports of escalating violence and ZANU PF’s threats to grab
businesses from foreign-owned companies are also damaging the economy
further because it puts off investors from pouring badly-needed capital into
the economy.

On Tuesday, economic analyst Tony Hawkins said: “Zimbabwe’s economic decline
is a political issue, it’s a governance issue. The economy would not have
declined if it had not been for the political situation, and for the economy
to recover you have to change the political environment within which it
operates.”

He said the political crisis and the land seizures had destroyed Zimbabwe’s
agricultural sector and most food now had to be imported, and the costs are
passed onto the consumer. “Food is imported from South Africa, and the Rand
is strong, and that’s pushing up the cost of imports from South Africa,” he
explained, adding that: “Twelve to 15 years ago, we used to be self
sufficient in terms of food, but these days that’s no longer the case.
Clearly production is way down in terms of the levels we had.”

In addition to foreign investors hesitating to invest in Zimbabwe, many of
the country’s factories have shut down or are unable to operate because of
power cuts and poor infrastructure.

Until there is an end to the political crisis, Zimbabweans will have to get
used to an ever increasing cost of living.

Police, Zanu PF drag Zimbabwe into its dark past

Tuesday, 01 February 2011

The MDC is gravely concerned by what is fast becoming clear that the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and Zanu PF hooligans are targeting the MDC for harassment, violence and wanton arrests on trumped up charges of public violence.

The police have become openly and undisputedly partisan in that in cases of any skirmishes involving youths from rival political parties, it is the MDC that suffers most.  At the moment, dozens of MDC youths have been arrested and charged with public violence, a sizeable number is nursing gunshot and stab wounds in hospitals, hundreds are being hounded out of their homes, and MDC property is being destroyed with impunity.

In all these cases, none of the Zanu PF activists have been arrested and charged – all because of the bias of the police, especially in Harare, against the MDC. The MDC condemns the stance taken by the police as it has the potential to inflame an already volatile situation and could easily turn the citizens against legitimate law enforcement institutions. Should the police continue to flout its Constitutional mandate in pursuit of a tired and partisan Zanu PF agenda, the MDC would have no choice other than to urge its supporters to defend their families and property with the full understanding that state has failed them.

For the past two weeks, Zanu PF youths have been running amok in Mbare, Budiriro, Epworth and other parts of the country, which saw one MDC youth, William Mukuwari of Budiriro being shot by a known Zanu PF supporter, Godfrey Gomwe. The culprits in all the violence cases were identified but the police have not made any arrests but MDC youths who are the victims have been arrested for reporting to the police.

Yesterday, Shingirai Gorekore, an MDC Youth Assembly activist in Mbare, Harare was hospitalised after he was attacked by Zanu PF youths at the MDC Mbare offices in front of the police.  Nine of Gorekore’s friends including Paul Gorekore, a Harare city councillor are in police custody after being arrested at the offices.

One of the youths in police custody is Barnabas Mwanaka who is recovering from injuries sustained after his arm was broken by the Zanu PF youths last week.  He had to spend a week in hospital. Since they were arrested yesterday police officers have denied them food saying they are working on orders from above. It is cheerless and deplorable that some ZRP officers have been reduced to be political commissars for other parties denying the people their basic right – freedom.
 
The police are showing clear signs of being openly partisan and if left unchecked and unchallenged will cause unnecessary disturbances. The regretful actions of Zanu PF youths in Mbare will soon drag Zimbabwe backwards into our dark past if the police continue to look aside and not take any action. The MDC accepts the role of the police and will always support a professional, non-partisan police service.

Together, united, winning, ready for real change!!

--
MDC Information & Publicity Department

Winds of change sweeping across Africa & Middle East

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
01 February 2011

The days of despots hanging on to power for decades seem to be drawing to a
close as winds of change sweep across the North of Africa and the Middle
East. On Tuesday the King of Jordan was forced by protests to appoint a new
Prime Minister, giving him instructions to implement radical political
reforms.

It all started in Tunisia where protesting youths brought down a regime
which had been in power for over 23 years. Similar angry protests have since
spread to Egypt and Yemen, where impoverished citizens want their leaders to
step down. Just like Mugabe, both Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Ali Abdullah
Saleh in Yemen have been in power for more than 30 years.

In a sign that people are increasingly resisting authoritarian governments
and leaders who have been in power for too long the protests have spread to
Algeria and Sudan. Organizers are also mobilizing people in Syria to join in
this week. The successful ouster of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from Tunisia has
encouraged many young, frustrated, Arab populations to turn on their own
autocratic leaders.

On Sunday in Sudan more than 2,000 people gathered in various parts of the
country calling for democracy and improved living standards. The government
has launched a crackdown arresting 70 people, including journalists. Even
independent newspapers have been banned. With people in the South voting for
independence those in the North have become only too aware of their limited
freedoms.

This week Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai gave his backing to the protests
taking place in the North of Africa and the Middle East.
"To me when people take their rights and start demanding more rights, there
is nothing wrong with that, including in Zimbabwe. That was the whole
purpose of our struggle for the last 10 years. The aspect of incumbents
leaving power to their children, dynasties, as we may call it, that is
resented by the people," he said.

The question for many Zimbabweans, is will these winds of change blow south?
Speaking to SW Radio Africa political analyst Dr Bekithemba Mpofu said it
was unlikely protests in the North of Africa and the Middle East would be
replicated in Zimbabwe because there was a coalition government. He said for
the MDC to call for protests will be difficult because it would be like
protesting against themselves.

Another analyst who spoke to SW Radio Africa said the MDC, which remains the
strongest challenger to Mugabe’s vice like grip on power, remains fixated
with the electoral route. ‘They may not admit it but they refuse to
contemplate anything other than contesting elections and this gives Mugabe
many options for remaining in power, like disputing results or rigging them
etc,’ he said.

But history has provided examples that anything can happen in Zimbabwe. In
1998 a group of women in Mabvuku started what became known as the food
riots. As leader of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, Tsvangirai led a
series of strikes and stay-aways which forced government to reverse the
increases in tax. Then in 2008 Zimbabweans never thought they would see
soldiers demonstrating in the street over poor salaries, smashing shop
windows and looting goods.

The key to the successful protests in Egypt has been the statement by the
army that they would not attack the people. Will Zimbabwe’s security forces
ever take the side of the people?

FACTBOX-Key political risks to watch in Zimbabwe

http://af.reuters.com

Tue Feb 1, 2011 11:20am GMT

By Cris Chinaka

HARARE Feb 1 (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has vowed to
press ahead with an early general election in the coming months that his
rivals said could spur a bloodbath and deal a blow to the impoverished
state's economy.

Mugabe's ZANU-PF party is piling pressure on rival Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) with a nationwide campaign
against sanctions imposed by Western powers over charges of rights abuses.

Political hardliners around Mugabe have also threatened Tsvangirai with
treason charges over leaked secret briefings with U.S. officials found in
WikiLeaks documents while aiming to nationalise foreign-owned firms in
revenge over the sanctions.

Mugabe, forced into a coalition with Tsvangirai after a disputed 2008
election, is not keen on extending the government and wants a referendum on
a new constitution and a general election by June - two years ahead of
schedule.

The MDC first suggested early elections to break deadlocks in the coalition,
but says the climate is now not right. It is demanding political reforms
before any vote.

So far, Mugabe has dismissed criticism that the early elections and his
targeting of foreign firms pose a serious risk to Zimbabwe's economic
recovery and social stability.

NATIONALISATION

Mugabe has warned that ZANU-PF will nationalise firms from countries that
have imposed sanctions citing human rights abuses, arguing they cannot
operate freely while Western powers punish his party.

The threat adds to worries of foreign investors in the resource-rich state,
which introduced a law saying 51 percent of firms worth over $500,000 should
be owned by black Zimbabweans.

Mugabe signed an Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act in 2008 and the
government has issued regulations providing details of how foreign-owned
companies should achieve at least 51 percent black ownership within five
years.

There are, however, sharp differences on the policy which his rivals say
could hurt economic recovery.

What to watch:

- How Mugabe reacts to any extension of travel, investment and financial
sanctions against his associates at annual review meetings of the European
Union in February.

- Timelines and details of how the government plans to proceed with the
empowerment programme in the different economic sectors, which would address
investor fears.

- Establishing a corporate anti-sanctions fund and a plan requiring
executives to declare their positions on sanctions.

ANTI-SANCTIONS CAMPAIGN

ZANU-PF has launched a campaign for over two million signatures for a
petition against the travel and financial sanctions it says have ruined
Zimbabwe's economy.

The campaign has left Tsvangirai's MDC in a quandary because it is bound to
support positions of the power-sharing government but does not believe
ZANU-PF has implemented enough political reforms for the embargo to be
lifted.

What to watch:

- How the MDC responds to the anti-sanctions drive which ZANU-PF is sure to
use as part of an election campaign.

TREASON CHARGE

Attorney-General Johannes Tomana has ordered a probe against Tsvangirai over
State Department cables released by WikiLeaks about his briefings with U.S.
ambassador Charles Ray.

According to another confidential U.S. cable dated October 2009 on
WikiLeaks, a senior MDC official suggested that the United States should
contribute to a fund to buy off security service chiefs to achieve regime
change in Zimbabwe.

What to watch:

- How Mugabe's camp tries to use WikiLeaks as leverage.

ELECTION RESISTANCE

Attempts by backbenchers in parliament across the political divide to resist
an early election appear to have failed.

But Tsvangirai's MDC and a smaller MDC faction, which is also in the unity
government, still hope to lobby leaders in the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) to pressure Mugabe against early elections.

What to watch:

- Reactions from influential regional leaders, especially South African
President Jacob Zuma, who is the region's mediator in the Zimbabwe political
crisis.

CRACKDOWN ON CRITICS

A ZANU-PF annual conference held in December, which formally endorsed Mugabe
as candidate for elections in 2011, passed resolutions threatening to expel
foreign diplomats and to ban non-governmental organisations "meddling, and
interfering in Zimbabwe's internal political affairs".

Analysts say while Tsvangirai and his lieutenants have legitimate complaints
against Mugabe over outstanding reforms, there is growing frustration among
his supporters that he is being outwitted by Mugabe, a cunning political
veteran.

What to watch:

- Any moves against foreign-funded civic organisations involved in election
education and monitoring work.

- Tsvangirai's supporters walking out of some government functions and
demonstrating against some of Mugabe's officials, in events that could
invite police reaction.

CONSTITUTION

Although a multi-party parliamentary committee leading a constitutional
review process says it will respect the wishes of ordinary Zimbabweans, the
final charter is a likely compromise between ZANU-PF and the MDC who both
lack a two-thirds majority in parliament needed to pass the new supreme law
on their own.

A referendum on a version in which there is no agreement between the two
parties could lead to violence.

Tsvangirai says Mugabe has already used his traditional political shock
troops -- liberation war veterans, party youth brigades and security
forces -- to whip up support in the countryside, which allowed ZANU-PF to
dominate public debate on the new constitution.

ZANU-PF denies the charge and says Tsvangirai is already preparing an excuse
for his party's defeat.

What to watch:

- Compromise deal. Many Zimbabweans hope a new charter, replacing the
pre-independence document, will strengthen the role of parliament, curtail
presidential powers and guarantee civil, political and media liberties.

RIGHTS ABUSES

Rights groups say Mugabe's supporters have increased psychological pressure
on the MDC and are threatening a wave of violence similar to one that marred
the 2008 elections.

Mugabe has ignored demands by Tsvangirai for security sector reforms, and in
a demonstration of his political impotence, the MDC leader has been stopped
by police or forced to postpone some meetings with supporters in township
halls in the capital.

What to watch:

- Changes to security laws. Parliament is debating changes to a tough Public
Order and Security Act, that calls on political parties to obtain police
clearance to hold rallies.

Still, the police may ignore the law even if it is amended.

Bill Watch 2/2011 of 31st January [Inclusive Governmnent Still Failing to Implement 24 Agreed Points]