Financial Times
By Tony
Hawkins in Harare
Published: February 6 2008 16:05 | Last updated:
February 6 2008 16:05
Following his decision to run against President
Robert Mugabe in next month’s
presidential elections, Simba Makoni, a former
finance minister in the
Mugabe cabinet, has been expelled from the ruling
Zanu-PF party.
Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zanu-PF secretary for legal affairs,
said Mr Makoni
had ”expelled himself” from the party. “That is the position
according to
the rules of the party.”
The move represents a blow
to the challenger because if were to win, he
would not have the backing of
the majority party in parliament - which is
almost certain to be
Zanu-PF.
He had hoped that by running as a member of the party he would be
assured of
a parliamentary majority.
His expulsion is also a warning
to others in Zanu-PF that they will get the
same treatment should they
decide to follow Mr Makoni. This is particularly
significant because Mr
Makoni is reported to have the support of one of
President Mugabe’s two
vice-presidents, Mrs Joyce Mujuru.
If she were to follow Mr Makoni and
take her sizeable faction, which
includes current and past military
commanders, with her, President Mugabe
would be faced with a major split. As
yet, however, there is no sign of
this.
In response to a court ruling
and pressure from all political parties, the
government has agreed to
postpone nomination day by a week from Thursday
until February 15. This
gives Mr Makoni more time to build a support base.
Already the smaller of
the two wings of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change – the
Mutambara group – has said it is considering
withdrawing from the
presidential poll and supporting Mr Makoni, which would
give him a handful
of parliamentary supporters.
Withdrawal by Mr Arthur Mutambara in favour
of Mr Makoni could backfire,
however. Many in the Mutambara camp fear that
they would lose their support
base if they were to join a Zanu-PF rebel. The
net effect might be to
strengthen support for the main MDC, led by Mr Morgan
Tsvangirai.
From Mr Makoni’s viewpoint there is a danger that Mr
Mutambara, who is
something of a loose cannon, would not add much, if
anything, to his
electoral appeal.
Meanwhile the battle lines of the
campaign have already been drawn. The
state media are claiming that the west
has given up on Mr Tsvangirai and the
MDC and will now support Mr Makoni.
The fact that his spokesman, Mr Ibbo
Mandaza, has long-standing very close
links with the Swedish government is
also being used against Mr
Makoni.
Joseph Chinotimba, one of the leaders of the war veterans, who
played so
crucial a role in winning past elections for President Mugabe and
in driving
the land takeovers, branded Makoni “a political turncoat” and
predicted that
he would be crushed at the polls on March
29.
“Traitors should know that Zanu-PF has a history of dealing with
their
kind,” he added threateningly.
Copyright The Financial Times
Limited 2008
Reuters
Wed 6 Feb
2008, 10:05 GMT
By Cris Chinaka
HARARE (Reuters) - Veterans of
Zimbabwe's liberation war warned a former
ally of President Robert Mugabe
who will run against him in next month's
elections that he was a traitor,
government newspapers reported on
Wednesday.
Former finance minister
Simba Makoni, a senior member of ZANU-PF, entered
the presidential race on
Tuesday, in the first major challenge to Mugabe
from within the ruling party
in 20 years.
He had been expected to register for the poll on Friday
but Zimbabwe
authorities moved the nomination date to February 15 after some
politicians
won a court order to delay the process.
On Wednesday,
Zimbabwe's government-controlled media branded Makoni a
British and
American-sponsored puppet seeking to split ZANU-PF and oust
Mugabe.
Joseph Chinotimba, deputy leader of the war veterans, was
quoted as saying
that Makoni was a political turncoat who would suffer a
humiliating defeat
in the March 29 general election.
"We are now
going to campaign vigorously for President Mugabe. I feel sorry
for Makoni,
he has lost the political plot," Chinotimba told the Herald
newspaper.
"From today to the nomination date we will have finished
with them. Traitors
should know that ZANU-PF has a history of dealing
harshly with their kind,"
he said.
Chinotimba said Mugabe's war
veteran supporters -- who have anchored
Mugabe's election campaigns since
2000 -- would not allow Makoni and his
supporters to enter the party's
offices.
"We are calling on all war veterans to take control of the
party," he said.
War veterans, who fought in the 1970s conflict, along
with members of
ZANU-PF, have turned violent in the past in support of
Mugabe. There are
30,000 war veterans in Zimbabwe.
Makoni will run as
an independent because, according to ZANU-PF rules, he
will be automatically
expelled from the party.
Political analysts say Makoni is popular with
the business community and
urban voters disenchanted with Mugabe and the
main opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) but doubt he has the
muscle to defeat the veteran
Zimbabwean leader.
Zimbabwe's privately
owned media has reported that Makoni is backed by a
faction led by retired
army general and member of the ruling ZANU-PF party's
top decision-making
body, Solomon Mujuru. Mujuru is married to Vice
President Joyce
Mujuru.
Makoni said he had consulted party members and activists across
Zimbabwe
before deciding to run. Despite economic turmoil, 83-year-old
Mugabe had
been expected to defeat the divided opposition in the
election.
Analysts say shortages of food, foreign currency and fuel, and
the world's
highest inflation rate -- officially pegged at 26,000 percent --
are the
biggest challenge to Mugabe's rule.
But the opposition has
failed to capitalise on Mugabe's failure to ease the
crisis and it remains
to be seen if daily hardships will push Zimbabweans to
support
Makoni.
(Editing by Michael Georgy and Catherine Evans)
VOA
By Peta
Thornycroft
06 February 2008
Political observers in
Zimbabwe are charging new voting districts created by
the government violate
the country's constitution. Peta Thornycroft reports
for VOA that election
experts say the government has failed to allow details
of the new
constituencies to be debated in parliament as required by the
constitution.
The Zimbabwe Elections Support Network says President
Robert Mugabe violated
the constitution in January by proclaiming elections
and not allowing
legislators to inspect or debate the new
boundaries.
The group says the constitution calls for legislators to
approve or seek to
change boundaries and to see that voter populations have
been allocated
fairly.
The government has doubled the number of
voting districts for the March 29
elections. Zimbabweans will for the first
time vote in presidential,
parliamentary, senate and local government
elections on the same day.
But there is still no map or even a
description of the voting areas for the
local government elections and
neither candidates nor voters know where they
will be able to cast their
vote.
The Zimbabwe Elections Support Network says election authorities
have made,
what they describe as "a mockery" of new election laws that went
into force
in January.
The group also says the government ran out of
voter registration materials
and has failed to adequately let people know
where and when they could
register. In apparent acknowledgment of
election-preparation problems, the
government has delayed the candidate
filing deadline by more than a week,
until February 15.
Analysts say
the election preparations are chaotic because President Mugabe
was
determined to hold the polls in March and there was not enough time to
introduce so many new laws and voting districts.
South African
negotiators who facilitated eight months of negotiations
between the ruling
ZANU-PF and the opposition MDC failed to persuade
President Mugabe to delay
the elections until the new laws could be fully
enforced.
The
Zimbabwe Elections Support Network says new electoral laws are being
regularly broken. One of them is a new media law that demands all
contesting candidates and parties be given equal treatment by state owned
media.
The Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe which closely
monitors domestic
media says in its weekly reports that the only daily
newspapers, and the
only radio and television stations in the country break
the law every day.
Opposition parties say high candidate filing fees are
hurting the
opposition. The 210 parliamentary candidates from each party,
need two
billion Zimbabwe dollars each.
Opposition election
organizers say ruling ZANU-PF candidates have access to
government cash, but
people in Zimbabwe are only allowed to draw 500 million
Zimbabwean dollars a
day from their bank accounts.
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
With four ballots taking place simultaneously, completing the
March
elections in a single day while ensuring everyone gets a chance to
vote may
be well-nigh impossible.
By Joseph Sithole in Harare (AR No.
154, 06-Feb-08)
When Zimbabweans go to the polls on March 29, they will
be presented with
not one but four ballot papers, adding a possible element
of chaos to an
already fraught political event.
As well as deciding
whether President Robert Mugabe should finally retire or
stay on for a
further term, voters will choose members of both houses of
parliament, plus
local councillors.
The country’s election commission says the four ballot
papers will be
printed in different colours to make the process easier, but
analysts fear
the sheer volume of activity taking place at polling stations
within the
space of one day could prove logistically
impossible.
After much agitation by the opposition, the Zimbabwean
authorities
introduced the one-day rule for national ballots in 2004, in an
attempt to
align electoral laws with those of other countries in the region.
The reform
followed electoral guidelines produced by the Southern African
Development
Community, SADC.
Before that, Zimbabwe had held elections
over two or even three days. In one
case, for example, a ballot ran into a
third day after the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change, MDC,
complained of a shortage of polling
stations in urban constituencies which
meant many people were being denied
the right to vote.
The one-day
rule recommended by the SADC was designed to reduce the scope
for tampering
with ballot boxes and the count, – the argument being that
malpractice is
easier if voting takes place over a protracted period.
The one-day system
was used for the first time in Zimbabwe in the March 2005
parliamentary
election, won by the ruling ZANU-PF.
The election of March 2008, however,
will be the first of its kind,
synchronising presidential, parliamentary
(House of Assembly and Senate) and
local government polls. Because voters
will take longer to cast their
multiple ballots, the polling stations could
rapidly become congested if
turnout is high, and one day might simply not be
long enough.
A political analyst in Harare told IWPR that the practical
problems of
conducting multiple ballots had been overlooked when the one-day
system was
introduced.
“It is now clear nobody had foreseen a
situation where a single voter would
be required to vote for four candidates
at one time. It simply means in the
event of a huge voter turnout, most
potential voters will not vote,” said
the analyst, who did not want to be
named.
“That will create problems which have the potential to turn awry
as we have
seen in Kenya - except that in Zimbabwe it was the opposition
which called
for this change.”
This unease over the implications of
completing the vote in one day was
flagged up in a poll conducted last year
by the Mass Public Opinion
Institute, MPOI, whose head is Eldred
Masunungure, a political science
lecturer at the University of
Zimbabwe.
The MPOI survey, conducted in urban and rural areas in April
and May 2007,
showed that 66 per cent of respondents nationally rejected the
reform.
“The rejection was across the board - it cut across the
traditional lines of
polarisation,” according to the MPOI report’s executive
summary. “In the
rural areas, 64 per cent did not support the reform while
29 percent
supported it. The rejection rate was even higher in the urban
areas, where
seven in ten (71 per cent) rejected it compared to the 25 per
cent who
endorsed the new procedure.”
Among young people, 65 per cent
were against the change, and even more
middle-aged voters - 73 per cent –
rejected it. Support for one-day voting
was highest among the least
education population group, and lowest among
those who had been to
university or college.
The capital, Harare, showed the highest
disapproval rate at 75 per cent,
followed by the Midlands and Mashonaland
West – two regions where opposition
to Mugabe is strong. But interestingly,
MPOI found that there was “no major
difference on partisan lines”, with both
ZANU-PF and MDC supporters in the
65 to 70 per cent range opposing the
rule.
“In short, it appears the one-day voting innovation has no takers,”
concluded the MPOI. “Those who administer elections (specifically the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission) may have to take a second look at this,
especially given that the 2008 elections will be multiple elections….
Otherwise we foresee many potential voters being disenfranchised because of
failure to vote when they want to.”
The MPOI said at the time that it
was not too late for the electoral
commission to review arrangements for the
joint March 2008 polls in the
interests of “common sense and fair
play”.
But the political analyst interviewed by IWPR said it was now
unlikely that
the electoral commission would act to counter the risk of
chaos on election
day, unless ZANU-PF and/or MDC were to ring alarm bells
about it.
That does not seem feasible, as both parties have been
preoccupied with a
confrontation over the timing of the vote itself. In a
negotiating process
mediated by the Southern African Development Community,
SADC, aimed at
ending the country’s political and economic crisis, the MDC
has pressed for
the elections to be postponed from the anticipated March
date to later in
the year, which would allow time for a new constitution to
be introduced to
ensure a free and fair vote. On January 25, however,
President Robert Mugabe
eliminated that possibility by setting a firm date
of March 29.
According to the analyst, “In the event that there is no
review, as the
parties are still engaged in negotiations over a new
constitution and a
postponement of the poll, it might be necessary for the
High Court to
intervene again, as it did in 2005, to extend the voting
period; that is, if
there is an appeal against the practicality and
unfairness of single-day
voting,” he said.
“It’s evidently [going to
be] a logistical nightmare.”
Joseph Sithole is the pseudonym of a
journalist in Zimbabwe.
Independent.co.uk
Wednesday,
6 February 2008
Robert Mugabe is finally facing a serious challenge. The
Zimbabwean
President's former Finance minister, Simba Makoni, has announced
that he
intends to oppose Mr Mugabe in national elections scheduled for next
month.
Mr Makoni declared yesterday: "I share the agony and anguish of all
citizens
over the extreme hardships that we all have endured for nearly 10
years now.
I also share the view that these hardships are a result of
failure of
national leadership."
This represents a pretty unambiguous
attack on Mr Mugabe. It was always
likely that the first serious challenger
would emerge from within the
Zanu-PF Party. Zimbabwe's main opposition
party, the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC), led by Morgan Tsvangirai,
is weak and divided. And the state
security services and militias of war
veterans would rapidly crush a popular
uprising. This might turn out to be a
vindication of South Africa's policy
of "quiet diplomacy" – working with
Zanu-PF rather than the MDC – to try to
resolve the crisis afflicting its
northern neighbour.
Mr Makoni has no strong grassroots movement behind
him, but if he can
attract the support of the influential Vice-President
Joyce Mujuru and her
husband, the former army chief Solomon Mujuru, he has a
chance of breaking
the hold on power that Mr Mugabe has had for nearly three
decades.
Of course, Mr Mugabe might see off the younger man. The
President may have
reduced his nation to an economic basket-case, but he has
a formidable
ability to undermine opponents and stands at the top of a huge
patronage
system. And, even if Mr Mugabe is deposed, Mr Makoni is hardly a
desirable
candidate to take over. Despite being referred to as a moderniser
and a
competent technocrat, as a member of Zanu-PF he has been close to Mr
Mugabe
for many years and is implicated in his disastrous and murderous
misrule.
The new leader might adopt a saner economic policy, but there is
no reason
to believe that a Makoni election victory would result in a new
flowering of
liberty in Zimbabwe. What the country needs is not just a new
ruler but a
genuine multi-party democracy and a return to the rule of
law.
At the moment, however, Mr Makoni looks very much like the lesser of
two
evils. And there is another reason to hope. History teaches that
authoritarian regimes are often at their most vulnerable not when repression
is at its worst, but when it begins to ease. If Mr Makoni's move signals the
beginning of the end for the grotesque regime established by Mr Mugabe,
those who care for Zimbabwe and its people should welcome it with open
arms.
We woke to a beautiful sunny day and praised the Lord for his
goodness. When
we arrived at the City Sports Centre around 9:15am the car
park was already
full of buses and cars and people were streaming into the
Sports Centre. The
Security and Usher teams were in force provided by the
Youth and the Bernard
Mizeki Guild. They had name cards identifying them and
some had sashes as
well. The choirs were in magnificent voice and the noise
emanating from the
inside was wonderful to hear.
By the time the
service commenced the Centre was almost full and continued
to fill during
the morning. The Cathedral and St Stephen's had dressed the
altar, lectern
and the stage in white and green with two magnificent white
arrangements of
flowers on pedestals. The chairs for the bishops had white
slip covers on
them. The playing area had seats arranged in blocks with
padded chairs in
the front two rows for invited guests and dignitaries. The
choirs sang the
whole time and every now and then there would be a roar from
the
congregation. The Mothers Union were present in force and they made
quite an
impact in their blue and white uniforms. Two large screens had been
set up
so that people would be able to see some close-ups of the
proceedings.The
choirs were seated to the right in bays 13,14 and 15 and
were all wearing
white blouses or shirts.
Just prior to processions of the bishops the
servers, sub-deacons, deacons
and priests had filed in to sit in bay 16
immediately behind the altar. For
those who know the Sports Centre, this bay
is where the score board is
situated. The service commenced with the arrival
of the bishops. The first
one was Bishop Peter Hatendi followed by those
from Zambia, Malawi, Botswana
and Zimbabwe. Each was announced and a brief
curriculum vitae given stating
where they had been trained, when enthroned
as a bishop and other pertinent
details. The bishops were led in down the
aisle by servers wearing red
surplices and priests. The teams rotated so
they walked many hundreds of
metres. The choirs continued to sing throughout
the procession apart from
when the announcements were made.
Bishop
Bakare commenced the service which was partially in Shona and
partially in
English. The readings were Nehemiah 2: 11->; Psalm 99:1-9; 2
Peter 1:1-16
and Matthew 17: 1->. The Sermon was on Reconciliation and
Rebuilding
based on Nehemiah 4:1-4. The sermon was given in English with Rev
Chris
Tapera translating into Shona.
The Registrar Michael Chingore and the
Deputy Registrar Vimbai Nyemba were
commissioned by Bishop Bakare assisted
by the Diocesan Chancellor Bob
Stumbles.
The Peace took several
minutes as people milled around greeting friends and
passing on the
Peace.The Collection Hymn followed with the ushers moving
around with large
plastic bags to receive the collection. This was then put
into a fertiliser
bag to present to Bishop Bakare. Perhaps not the most
elegant of bags but it
served the purpose very well and possibly many were
not aware of it, but as
we were sitting right near the altar we could see
everything.
During
the Collection hymn just before the Preparation of the Elements,
Bishop
Bakare went out of the Sports Stadium for several minutes. We were
told by
Pam Stumbles and Rhona Harris who went out briefly that this was a
News
Conference but it seemed strange to us to have one in the middle of the
Eucharist. The ciboriums had been filled with wafers and the bottles of wine
were put onto the altar, some decanted into the chalice and the consecrated
wine was then poured back into each bottle. The Dean of the Province, Bishop
Chama conducted the Preparation with Bishop Bakare also participating
half-way through. The bishops then received communion, followed by the
priests and their sub-deacons and servers. The priests and sub-deacons then
administered the sacraments by intinction. Those on the centre section came
up to the red carpet in front of the altar to receive and those in the bays
moved either up or down as directed by the ushers. It was incredibly orderly
and when one considered the size of the congregation took an amazingly short
time.
The service had just about concluded at 1:25pm when the power
failed and
Bishop Bakare announced when the generator started that we would
move to
Plan B. Plan B was then revealed that as the congregation was so
large and
so many would like to be present and the cathedral would not
accommodate
everyone, the enthronement of the Bishop would take place at the
Sports
Centre. In effect Kunonga had apparently camped at the cathedral all
night
on Saturday and the cathedral was locked with guards so the service
could
not take place there. People who had been invited to the Enthronement
and
went to the cathedral were therefore unable to witness it, but those at
the
Sports Centre were delighted that they were going to be able to witness
the
entire ceremony.
The actual Enthronement was very simple as part
of the pomp and ceremony
could not take place. A chair was placed in front
of the altar as the
throne. The Dean of the Province presented Bishop
Sebastian Bakare to the
congregation so "that all may know him to be the
rightly appointed and
confirmed Bishop of Harare, and to give him that
esteem and love which are
due to him for the work's sake as one set over you
in the Lord."
The certificates of Confirmation of Appointment were handed
to the Registrar
who also received from the new Bishop the Deeds of his
Consecration and
Collation. The Registrar having satisfied himself that
these were in order
then affirmed that "Sebastian Bakare is our undoubted
Bishop."
The Bishop responded and thanked the congregation for their
welcome and
promised "to be a faithful shepherd and servant among us." He
prayed that
"the ministry which we shall share may be pleasing to God, and
that it may
strengthen the life of this Diocese and the whole Church of
God."
He was led to a "suitable seat" and the pastoral staff was laid on
the
Altar.
He then faced the congregation and promised "to respect,
maintain and defend
the rights, privileges and liberties of this Diocese and
to rule in it with
truth justice and love, not lording it over God's
heritage, but showing
myself in all things an example to the flock of
Christ."
The Acting Dean then enthroned him as Bishop of
Harare.
The Acting Dean then blessed the Bishop who knelt before the
altar. The
Acting Dean then took the Pastoral staff from the altar and
handed it to him
saying " May the Giver of all grace enable you to be so
merciful that you be
not remiss, so to minister discipline that you do not
forget mercy; that
when the Chief Shepherd shall appear you may receive the
never-fading crown
of glory."
The Bishop was then presented to the
people who welcomed him with a shout,
ululation and clapping.
The
priests then expressed their loyalty to the Bishop while he was seated
on
the throne.
This was followed by messages of solidarity. The first was
given by Bishop
Nywatiwa of the Methodist Church and a German lady from
Africa University.
Rev David Bertram (Christchurch, Polokwane - SA), St
Aiden's Church
Chitungwiza and the Bishop of Rochester had also sent
messages. Bishop
Hatendi also gave a message of solidarity and a message was
read from the
Archbishop of Canterbury. The message concluded with an
invitation for
Bishop Bakare to attend Lambeth Congress later this year.
(Kunonga had not
been invited to this meeting.)
The wives of the
various bishops were also acknowledged.
The service concluded with a
Blessing and then the priests, etc. processed
out followed by the bishops
and lastly the Dean of the Province.
We were pleased that so many people
were able to witness this historic
occasion in the rebuilding of our Diocese
but were sad that we were denied
the right to have it in the Cathedral. We
feel too for those who waited in
vain for the Enthronement at the Cathedral
as I understand some people
waited for at least two hours. Ruth Chard had
spent several hours practising
on the organ for the service.
We hope
that we will now be able to move forward in the love of Christ. So
much
unity and joy was expressed yesterday and our congratulations go to all
who
made this historic occasion happen so smoothly.
Trish McKenzie
Warden
Avondale Church
Washington Times
By Tom Woods, Roger Bate and
Marian L. Tupy
February 6, 2008
Zimbabwe's economic meltdown and
political repression just keep
accelerating. Four million Zimbabweans have
now fled the country, and most
of the 8 million remaining there face extreme
hardship.
Since 1994, average life expectancy in the beleaguered
nation has plummeted
from 57 years to 34 years for women, and from 54 years
to 37 years for men —
the shortest lifespans in the
world.
And small wonder. Some 3,500 people die every week from
the combined effects
of HIV/AIDS, poverty and malnutrition. State-sponsored
killings and torture
of the opposition activists are common as well. More
people die in Zimbabwe
every week than in Afghanistan, Darfur or
Iraq.
Clearly, African leaders — most notably South African
President Thabo
Mbeki — have failed the people of Zimbabwe. Yet, as the
crisis worsens,
there is hope that a new regional leadership will address
Africa's forgotten
tragedy more forcefully. The United States, too, must
reconsider its past
policy toward Zimbabwe and seize this new
opportunity.
None can fault past U.S. policy, which has featured
tough rhetoric and
sustained effort to coax the world to act by embracing
targeted sanctions.
But it's time to change course.
Change in
Zimbabwe has always required a healthy dose of reality. There has
never been
a time like the present to call for a tightening of the noose on
the Mugabe
regime. The time is now ripe for one simple reason: President
Thabo Mbeki of
South Africa is heading for the door.
For years, the U.S. State
Department has found it way too convenient to
"support without reservation"
Mr. Mbeki's leadership in resolving the crisis
in Zimbabwe. With Mr. Mbeki's
departure, State should now admit his "quiet
diplomacy" was an unmitigated
failure.
Mr. Mbeki's inaction and cavalier attitude to the
suffering of the
Zimbabwean people has done grave harm to the idea of an
"African
Renaissance." One can't help but wonder if he ever actually
intended to do
anything to end the cruelties of Robert Mugabe's reign in
Harare.
There is good reason to hope Mr. Mbeki's replacement, the newly
elected
African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma, understands the
calamity that
is unfolding to his north and is willing to take the steps
necessary to wake
the region from the nightmare that Zimbabwe has
become.
For one thing, Mr. Zuma's election would have been
impossible without the
support of South Africa's powerful trade unions that
have close and friendly
ties with Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC).
Meanwhile, Washington can do more
too. Admittedly, direct U.S. national
interest in Zimbabwe is limited, but
we can do more to relieve one of the
world's greatest humanitarian disasters
than simply voice hollow rhetoric.
The time has come to break
away from the Mbeki-led talks between the ruling
ZANU-PF (Zimbabwe African
National Union-Patriotic Front) and the opposition
MDC. These talks will
never produce a way out of Zimbabwe's political
crisis. The talks already
are melting down as the MDC sees clearly that Mr.
Mugabe does not intend to
follow through on reforms that would guarantee
free and fair presidential
and parliamentary elections in March.
The United States
should engage Mr. Zuma and, importantly, the new National
Executive Council
of the ANC, in discussions on how to create a six-month
road map that can
lead Zimbabwe through constitutional reforms and toward
competitive and
internationally monitored elections.
And now that the
long-suffering MDC looks set to finally reunite, the White
House should
invite their presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, for an
Oval Office
meeting with President Bush in the next month or so. Mr. Bush is
said to be
keen to do more about the Zimbabwean crisis. An Oval Office
meeting would
give Mr. Tsvangirai much-needed international recognition and
greater clout
at home.
Washington also needs to prepare for a post-Mugabe
Zimbabwe. The State
Department would do well to intensify its contacts with
the opposition.
But long-term planning offers little solace
to the suffering people of
Zimbabwe. Left alone, the 83-year old dictator
will likely outlast many of
the hungry and poverty-ridden Zimbabweans he
holds captive.
The U.S. can play a more constructive role on
Zimbabwe and help it find a
way to freedom by publicly and expeditiously
parting with the moribund
"quiet diplomacy" of Thabo
Mbeki.
Tom Woods is a senior associate fellow at the Heritage
Foundation and a
former deputy assistant secretary of state for Africa.
Roger Bate is a
resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Marian
L. Tupy is a
policy analyst at the Cato Institute's Center for Global
Liberty and
Prosperity.
IOL
February 06 2008 at
02:33PM
Harare - Zimbabwe's state-controlled media on Wednesday
went into
action against new presidential candidate Simba Makoni, a former
cabinet
minister and senior ruling party official, dismissing his ambition
as "a
loud fart".
They also denounced the former finance
minister and respected
businessman as having being planted in the election
by Western governments
to overthrow President Robert Mugabe and install a
regime of "Western
puppets".
Makoni (57), who was in Mugabe's
first cabinet at independence in
1980, on Tuesday blamed the 83-year-old's
"failed leadership" for the
catastrophic collapse of the once-prosperous
nation's economy.
Zimbabwe is characterised by world record
inflation that has pushed
the cost of a banana to over a million Zimbabwe
dollars, crippling power and
water cuts, dysfunctional hospitals, a
dangerously potholed road network
after decades of neglect, and
famine.
Makoni announced his candidacy on
Tuesday and declared he would stand
as an independent candidate in
presidential, parliamentary and local
government elections on March 29,
promising, if elected, he would "work with
elected MPs".
He
said he would elaborate further when he announced his election
platform.
State radio reacted within hours of his announcement
on Tuesday,
reporting that he had joined the presidential contest but adding
that the
presence at his press conference of officials of the opposition
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) and of the British and US embassies
"raised
suspicions of a hidden hand".
Then on Wednesday in the
state-run Harare-based daily Herald
newspaper, a senior columnist scorned
descriptions of Makoni's announcement
as "a bombshell" and said it was more
like "the loud fart all silently agree
never happened".
"He has
been sent to do someone's dirty work," the paper said.
"It all
shows there is a hand calling the shots."
Since the emergence seven
years ago of the MDC, Mugabe's state media
relentlessly characterised the
party as a "puppet" of the British and US
governments.
Every
reference to the party's founding leader, former trade unionist
Morgan
Tsvangirai, is followed by charges that he is given orders directly
from
London and Washington, using him to bring down Mugabe's regime so that
Britain and the US can recolonise the former British possession which gained
independence in 1980.
Observers say the ruling party propaganda
machine is adopting the same
tactic against Makoni.
In its
front page report, the Herald said the presence of a British
and a US
diplomat during Makoni's announcement was "linked to the formation
of a new
party aimed at unseating the ruling Zanu-PF government and
President
Mugabe".
The paper's columnist also dismissed Makoni's criticism of
Mugabe's
leadership as "a shrine of lies", and went on: "Simba has just
subscribed to
megaphone politics by giving a black face to the voices from
the White House
and Whitehall."
The suspicion on Harare's
streets is that Mugabe may have made a
secret deal with Makoni, to get him
to fight the election and somehow
disable the campaigns of the
MDC.
"The Herald gives a clear indication of the credibility of
this
rumour," said a diplomat.
"If Makoni was a front in a
Mugabe election plot, the Herald wouldn't
have attacked him." - Sapa-dpa
Business Day
(Johannesburg)
OPINION
6 February 2008
Posted to the web 6 February
2008
Eddie Cross
Johannesburg
AFTER nine months of negotiations
under the auspices of the Southern African
Development Community (SADC), the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was
finally forced at the weekend to
make decisions about what to do about the
electoral process.
Two sets
of negotiations had been going on in parallel - talks with Zanu
(PF)
facilitated by the South African government, and talks between the MDC
faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai and the faction led by Arthur Mutambara ,
in the hope that the party might be reunified to fight the next
election.
In the first process we had in fact made huge progress. A
comprehensive
package of reforms was negotiated, giving us the chance of a
free and fair
electoral process if they were implemented. President Robert
Mugabe was
faced with a decision -- allow these reforms through and face
defeat or tell
his South African and SADC colleagues that they were asking
too much. He
decided on the latter.
President Thabo Mbeki was forced
to use his last option -- to confront
Mugabe's refusal to implement the deal
at a meeting of SADC heads of state.
He did so last week on the sidelines of
the African Union summit in Addis
Ababa, and we understand he pulled no
punches. However, in the end, Mugabe
was backed by the heads of three other
states -- Swaziland, Namibia and
Angola -- and Mbeki came away with no
decision.
So when the MDC leadership gathered in Harare this past weekend
to consider
the question of fighting the next election, now just two months
away, it was
against the background of Mbeki's failed mediation effort. In
addition to
this setback, we faced the reality that despite the reforms
already adopted
and passed by parliament, the regime in Harare was
maintaining its barrage
of antidemocratic policies against the
MDC.
The debate in the national executive and then the council was short,
and
when the vote came to participate in the election, it was carried
unanimously. In answer to those who claimed that by running we were going to
legitimise a rigged election, MDC president Tsvangirai said that, on the
contrary, the only way to demonstrate the illegitimate nature of the regime
would be to contest every seat and make sure Zanu (PF) had to rig massively
to get a result in its favour.
So now we have five days to put up
nearly 2000 candidates under the MDC
banner. That is no small task and it's
just as well we anticipated this
decision and are far down the road on this
one. I do not think we will get a
candidate into every rural district
council seat, but we will contest every
urban council seat and every
parliamentary and senatorial seat, plus the
presidency.
We had been
talking to the Mutambara faction for more than a year.
Initially, it wanted
an "amicable divorce", but insisted on continuing to
use the MDC name and
symbols. We said that if it wanted to do so, unity was
the only route. We
have since negotiated a full reunification agreement and
when the election
was announced, it was decided to translate that into an
electoral pact that
would take us past the elections and then going on to a
congress, where the
unification process would be completed. But the devil is
always in the
detail and when the MDC leadership was presented with the
suggested list of
allocated seats, the whole deal fell apart.
It is now generally accepted
that the group led by Mutambara is the smaller
group -- the crucial question
is how much smaller? Obviously, we feel that
it is very much the junior
player while they (understandably) do not agree.
Had they accepted the
selection of candidates by a democratic system, there
would have been no
real argument -- the decision as to who stood where would
have been left to
the party structures in the electoral districts concerned.
But the Mutambara
group feared that such a process would decimate its
representation and
refused.
In the end, failure was inevitable and we resolved to adopt the
unity
agreement with one or two minor amendments and to go back to the
Mutambara
group with a revised allocation of seats -- one our leadership
felt was more
realistic. They rejected this out of hand and we mutually
decided to go it
alone.
So now -- for better or for worse -- we will
fight this election. The
Tsvangirai-led MDC, joined by Zanu (Ndonga), will
fight all seats and the
Mutambara group will put up as many candidates as it
can and run against us.
There will be other parties in the game. I know of
five so far, perhaps with
more to come, but, in essence, it will be the
three-way scrap between Zanu
(PF) and the two MDC groups that will receive
most attention.
Only the main wing of the MDC offers the chance of regime
change and this
puts all others at a severe disadvantage, and they know it.
There was a
profound sense of gloom at the hotel where the Mutambara group
was caucusing
yesterday in Harare.
But at least we now know where we
stand . Our focus has to be on the
campaign -- explaining to the voters what
we will do if elected. Then we
must persuade people to turn out and vote --
a steep hill to climb as the
past decade has persuaded many that voting is a
waste of time.
But our main task will be to stop Zanu (PF) doing a Mwai
Kibaki on us --
stealing the result when we have done enough to
win.
Cross is a member of the Movement for Democratic Change.
SW Radio Africa
(London)
6 February 2008
Posted to the web 6 February
2008
The MDC national council, the party's main decision making body,
has
endorsed Morgan Tsvangirai as its presidential candidate for next
month's
general elections.
Party spokesman Nelson Chamisa said
primaries to choose parliamentary and
council candidates are also almost
complete. He said party structures have
since Saturday been selecting
candidates for all the 210 constituencies up
for grabs.
'The
exercise should have been completed by yesterday (Tuesday) but we have
cases
where candidates have disputed the results and as such our election
directorate department is attending to that,' Chamisa said.
He said
that Tsvangirai was unanimously endorsed by the national council
that met
over the weekend. Chamisa added that a number of newly created safe
seats in
Harare and other provinces would be recommended to outstanding
party cadres,
who would not go through a primary election.
Without giving names Chamisa
said; 'We have a number of party cadres who
have worked tirelessly for the
party since its formation and the national
council decided to honour them by
giving them safe seats that they will
contest in the
elections.'
Reports indicate that senior party members like the former
Mayor of Harare,
Elias Mudzuri, has already been lined up to contest the
safe Warren Park
seat in the capital. Others being mentioned are Kerry Kay,
the secretary for
Welfare, Lucia Matibenga (Kuwadzana), formerly Chamisa's
constituency, Eddie
Cross in Bulawayo and possibly Roy Bennett, the exiled
Treasurer-General of
the MDC in Manicaland.
The party spokesman
confirmed he was shifting constituencies and would be
contesting the newly
created constituency of Kuwadzana East. He would not
however disclose the
list of candidates who successfully won the primaries,
saying it was too
early to do so because of the 'disputes'.
Asked what would happen to
Harare seats that are being held by members of
the Mutambara faction, but
won in 2000 under a united MDC, Chamisa could
only say; 'That's going to be
interesting, but I cannot let the cat out of
the bag now'.
politicsweb.co.za
Morgan
Tsvangirai
06 February 2008
Statement by Morgan Tsvangirai
February 4 2008
The National Council met over two days and considered
a number of national
issues. Deliberations centred around two key issues:
the March elections and
the quest for a united MDC.
Zimbabweans are
hungry, angry, have no food and have no jobs. Zimbabweans
want to get out of
a deep hole, reclaim their voice and get on with their
lives.
After a
protracted democratic struggle, we supported the SADC initiative on
the
understanding that the process could lead to a free and fair
election.
The SADC dialogue has now reached a deadlock. On our part, we
strongly
believe SADC has a regional responsibility to unlock the political
impasse.
We urge SADC to act.
What this deadlock means is that we are
going into an election in March
whose outcome is likely to be contested. In
doing so, we are guided by one
principle - to give Zimbabweans yet another
fighting chance to confront the
dictatorship. The dangers of a contested
outcome in an election are common
cause.
A democratic struggle of the
nature we are engaged in is a process. An
election is but one of the several
strategies a people can use to achieve an
outcome that ultimately leads to
the resolution of the national crisis.
We decided to go into this
election fully aware of the potential dangers
surrounding the
process.
Our struggle seeks to go beyond the March election until the
people can see
and feel a fundamental change in their daily
lives.
Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF have a choice. The people, by demanding
that we
participate in the elections under unsatisfactory conditions, feel
Mugabe
and Zanu PF must be allowed to clear and finish off any residual
strains of
legitimacy he still claims to have.
We believe the
struggle shall continue beyond Mugabe's narrow and selfish
electionistic
approach to the deepening national crisis. The people know
that they won the
last three elections. They know that they shall triumph.
Unity of the
MDC
The MDC split caused a lot of pain and anxiety at home and abroad.
For a
greater part of last year, we worked together with our colleagues in
the
other formation. We worked as a team in the SADC brokered talks with
Zanu
PF. Together, we are disappointed by the outcome.
We buried our
personal differences in the national interest and continued to
pursue our
quest for a united MDC, not for purposes of the March election
alone, but to
give the people another chance to fight for a new Zimbabwe as
united
front.
We agreed on a set of principles and guidelines for a united
front. The
National Council adopted those principles and resolved to adhere
to these
lofty goals in the future.
However, the National Council
disagreed on the selection of candidates,
causing a temporary delay to an
agreement that still shall ultimately see a
single MDC home take shape. On
our part, we committed to act unity and
exercise our discretion as a
leadership and to refrain from contesting in
selected constituencies
currently being held by sitting MPs in the other
formation.
We shall
demonstrate the spirit of togetherness in all other areas,
co-operating in
our campaign against Zanu PF and ensuring that the MDC
succeeds
countrywide.
The need for unity of all progressive forces arose from our
own initiative
and is in the national interest. We shall always be guided by
the principle
and shall act accordingly.
We aim to focus on Robert
Mugabe and Zanu PF as the authors of the Zimbabwe
crisis.
We believe
there is strength in unity. And, with this approach I believe our
victory is
in sight.
Morgan Tsvangirai,
MDC President
The speech was
issued by the Movement for Democratic Change on February 4
2008.
Business Day
06 February 2008
THE
Southern African Development Community (SADC) has lauded President Thabo
Mbeki’s mediation efforts between Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu (PF) and opposition
MDC, despite the MDC insisting they have failed.
Mbeki briefed
the SADC summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last Thursday and
Friday on the
status of negotiations between President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu
(PF) and the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The SADC s ecretariat said
yesterday that the two parties had reached
agreement on all substantive
matters relating to the political situation in
Zimbabwe, which the ruling
party and the opposition had placed on their
negotiations
agenda.
This included the c onstitution, electoral laws, security
legislation,
communication legislation, and matters relating to the
political climate in
Zimbabwe, such as the land question, sanctions,
politically motivated
violence, and external interference in the
country.
The most urgent of these, including constitutional and
statutory changes,
had already been put into effect through constitutional
and legal amendments
approved by parliament , to which Mugabe had assented.
The only outstanding
matter related to the procedure to be followed in
enacting the agreed draft
c onstitution, the body
said.
The MDC’s economic affairs spokesman, Eddie
Cross, said a comprehensive
package of reforms — some of which have been
implemented — was negotiated,
“giving us the chance of a free and fair
electoral process if they were
implemented”.
He said Mbeki had been
forced to use his last option — to confront Mugabe’s
refusal to implement
the deal negotiated at great expense and time at a
meeting of SADC h eads of
state. “He did so last week at Addis on the
sidelines of the AU summit and
we understand he pulled no punches. However,
in the end Mugabe was backed by
three other heads of state — Swaziland,
Namibia and Angola — and Mbeki came
away with no decision. Four against
censure and eight in favour was just not
enough.
“So when the MDC leadership gathered in Harare this weekend
to consider the
question of fighting the next election, now just two months
away, it was
against the background of a failed mediation effort by
President Mbeki,”
Cross said.
In addition to this setback, the
MDC faced the reality that despite the
reforms adopted by parliament , the
regime in Harare continued to ban MDC
marches and rallies. There was no sign
of any reform in the media and the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission was under
the control of Zanu (PF) , and was
being staffed with many of the old
electoral management from the security
services, he said. Sapa
Esther (not her real name), 28, a professional living and
working in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, is writing a regular diary on the
challenges of leading a normal life. Zimbabwe is suffering from an acute economic crisis. The
country has the world's highest rate of annual inflation - 8,000% - and just one
in five has an official job. How to be upbeat about life in Harare? I think it's only possible when
you stop looking at everything that's going on as being abnormal, and just
accept it as it is. My sister bumped into our cousin yesterday on her way back home
from town. She (our cousin) was just standing at the rank, not boarding any
of the combis [commuter buses] that were leaving in the direction of our home
(we all stay in the same neighbourhood).
When my sister asked her why she was just standing there, she
said she did not have enough to pay the bus fare - the last time she used public
transport, she had paid 1.5m Zimbabwean dollars. But fares are now 3m Zimbabwean dollars. And, it's not that she had last been in town months ago - it was
only just two weeks before. Fortunately my sister had money to spare and so paid the
difference. This lady I share the office with is busy praying it does not
get warm today. She's wearing a pullover jumper to hide her un-ironed blouse
because their power went off two nights ago, and she's since run out of ironed
clothes. You can't call the power company to ask what's going on because
they never answer their phones. Or maybe they just keep them off the hook.
Over the weekend, I went to visit a friend who lives in a VERY
posh suburb of Harare. She has had no running water for two weeks STRAIGHT. So all the water her family uses is in drums, plastic buckets,
pots - any container that is clean. It's really quite unbelievable... Her kids go to an exclusive private school, she has two, no,
actually three cars parked in the yard, goes shopping in Dubai and Joburg, but
she has no running water in her house. I miss the Harare of old: where pot holes were patched up as
soon as they appeared, when you could walk into a supermarket and buy milk
without joining a stampede to a supermarket where it has just been delivered (I
witnessed one yesterday). And hey, you could budget and save for that divine pair of
shoes. I saw a pair about two or three weeks ago going for 150m
Zimbabwean dollars but when I went back to the store after getting paid they
were retailing for the princely sum of 450m Zimbabwe dollars. Crazy!
The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 06 February 2008 15:41
HARARE, (Zimbabwe) - AT least 20 engineers left Air
Zimbabwe this week to
join Dubai Airlines despite measures by the national
airline to retain
experienced staff by paying them in foreign currency.
A
Senior Manager at Air Zimbabwe, said the 20 tendered their resignations
letter on the first day of this month and the engineers just left without
serving their notices.
"It's a serious problem that we are now having
to face on a monthly basis.
We are loosing qualified and experienced
engineers to better paying airline
in the emerging markets in the Middle
East. A lot of people are now making
Air Zimbabwe as a stepping stone to
better paying airlines," said the senior
manger who requested
anonymity.
The majority of tthe engineers who have quit the airline are
reported to
have joined Dubai Airlines, which recently boosted its
fleet.
Last month, the government bowed to the demands of Air Zimbabwe
engineers
for their salaries to be paid in foreign currency.
Sources said
the government gave the Air ZImbabwe management the green light
to pay
engineers in foreign currency following an exodus, which saw over 50
experienced engineers leaving the national carrier in 2007.
Air Zimbabwe
Corporate Affairs Manager, Pride Khumbula, could neither
confirm nor deny
the exodus saying employment issues a better not discussed
in the press. She
however confirmed that the national airline had put in
place retention
packages for the engineers.
"The airline has put in place retention packages
for pilots and engineers,
in accordance with recommendations from government
and the central bank,"
said Khumbula.
Air Zimbabwe boasts a team of 50
pilots and 220 engineers. When the
airline's chief executive officer Peter
Chikumba took over the reins in
February last year he made it clear that
staff retention was one of his
major goals.
Air Zimbabwe engineers now
earn between US$800 to US$ 1500, which the
engineers is far too little as
compared to their counterparts in the region
who earn around US$5000
Mail and Guardian
Zahira Kharsany and Sapa | Johannesburg, South
Africa
06 February 2008 05:20
Many
Zimbabwean refugees seek shelter at the Central Methodist
church in
Johannesburg’s CBD, sleeping on stairs and in passageways in the
only place
they can find free accommodation.
Up to 1 500 refugees living
on the church premises were arrested
in a late-night raid last week to round
up illegal immigrants. Bishop Paul
Verryn confirmed on Tuesday this week
that, as far as he knew, all but 15
refugees had been released and cleared
of all charges.
Verryn said that all the refugees has
returned to the church and
“maybe even more have come
in”.
The church was raided by members of the South African
Police
Service (SAPS) from Johannesburg, metro police officers, provincial
reservists and immigration officers.
However, SAPS
spokesperson Captain Bheki Mavundla could on
Tuesday not confirm Verryn's
numbers. He said the raid was part of
“sustainable crime-combat operations”
that were "legally authorised to
eradicate criminal elements from the
district and building".
Some of those who were arrested had
their papers in order, while
those who didn't have were still trying to
acquire them, according to
Verryn.
Janet Love, national
director of the Legal Resources Centre, did
confirm that there were 14
detained refugees who were still trying to obtain
bail at the Johannesburg
Magistrate's Court. Love said that of all those who
had been arrested, “none
have been charged so far, but 14 are outstanding
for
bail”.
“The police could not provide satisfactory evidence in
the
court, so the magistrate has remanded the 10 cases till [February 12].
This
is so that the police can provide evidence for the bail
application.”
Investigation
The Independent
Complaints Directorate (ICD) is at present
investigating the conduct of
police officers who took part in the raid.
Advocate Siphokazi
Moleshe, who head the ICD in Gauteng, told
the Mail & Guardian Online:
“I decided in the interest of the public to
carry out the investigation into
what the police allegedly did there during
the raid, whether they conducted
themselves in an appropriate manner or not.
It is our own initiative and no
one has formally laid a complaint.”
Verryn and several
refugees have complained that they were
abused and pushed around during last
week's raid. The bishop, speaking to
the M&G Online last week, said he
was verbally abused and shoved by police
officers when he asked them why
they were breaking down doors and assaulting
refugees.
"I
saw them assault people as they took them away in their
vans," the bishop
said at the time. "One of them kicked a bottle at me and
pushed me. I am
able to identify those who pushed me. One of them said I am
a disgrace to
the church for allowing these people to come in."
He
questioned why police had to break down doors when he had the
keys. "We can
have the doors fixed," he said, adding, though, that the
church had not been
desecrated. "The most serious violation is of the
people -- that is the
desecration I find worrying."
Many of the refugees were
asleep when the raid got under way.
Elizabeth, a Zimbabwean refugee staying
at the church, said: “I was hit and
kicked around, but I was not arrested.
It was very traumatic and I am still
recovering from it.”
Police are expected to continue such raids regularly, Mavundla
said. “The
raids will continue over time, until the area is safe again.”
Verryn insisted that the church would continue to be a refuge
not only for
Zimbabweans, but also for any South Africans without shelter.
Police meeting
Meanwhile, Gauteng community safety minister Firoz
Cachalia will
meet police officers who were involved in the raid, his office
said on
Wednesday. This is part of an agreement reached at a meeting on
Tuesday
between Cachalia, Verryn, the Legal Resource Centre, the station
commissioner of the Johannesburg Central police station and the provincial
police commissioner.
At the meeting it was agreed that
the Johannesburg station
commissioner would meet the leaders of the Central
Methodist church to work
out specific details about how to improve
communication and relations
between the police, the congregants of the
church and the broader community
in the area.
The
provincial commissioner has also undertaken to investigate
thoroughly all of
the allegations against the police officers who took part
in the raid, and
take action where necessary.
Following the meeting, Cachalia
expressed his "deep concern" at
serious allegations against members of the
police.
"In order to be effective in fighting crime, all our
police
officers have to uphold the Constitution and behave in a professional
manner
at all times. We all agree that the police have an important role to
play in
fighting crime, protecting people and enforcing the laws of our
country,
which includes the immigration laws," he said.
Additional reporting by Percy Zvomuya
zimbabwejournalists.com
6th Feb 2008 02:25 GMT
By a Correspondent
Zimbabwe:
Escalating Violence in 2007
USA: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights
and Labor
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/97170.htm
"In
Zimbabwe, ordinary citizens suffer under a tyrannical regime. The
government
has cracked down on peaceful calls for reform and forced millions
to flee
their homeland. The behavior of the Mugabe regime is an assault on
its
people -- and an affront to the principles of the Universal
Declaration."
Regime crackdown: 2007 is the worst year yet for
defenders of freedom in
Zimbabwe. Despite recent efforts by regional leaders
to resolve the ongoing
crisis, the assault against human rights and
democracy by Robert Mugabe's
government has ac°©celerated.
The
consensus: Numerous internationally recognized organizations agree that
the
Mugabe regime has failed to respect the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and note that human rights abuses, particularly political violence,
are on the rise. Further, Amnesty International, Article 19, Human Rights
Watch, the International Bar Association, and Redress, among others, contend
that the Mugabe government has failed to protect rights set forth in the
African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.1
THE VICTIMS: The
Mugabe regime has used Zimbabwean security and intelligence
forces and youth
militias to intensify its campaign against peaceful
citizens exercising
their rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and
association.
Zimbabweans from all walks of life have been targeted,
including the
political opposition, democracy and human rights activists,
religious
leaders, labor unions, women's groups, journalists, and students.
Victims
are attacked at locations across the country, including homes,
workplaces,
shopping centers, university campuses, peaceful rallies, and
police
stations.
6,000 VIOLATIONS and Counting: Recent reporting from Zimbabwean
NGOs
suggests an appalling trend: Over 6,000 instances of human rights abuse
have
been reported since the beginning of 2007, with at least 500 violations
occurring each month and over 1,400 attacks against students
alone.
* Disappearances and Abductions Over 90 reports of
politically motivated
kidnapping and disappearance.
* Torture
and Assault 3,463 victims of torture and assault received
medical treatment
in 2007, nearly triple the 1,185 victims recorded in
2006.4 Victims report
beatings with whips and cables, suspension, and
electric
shock.
* Arrests and Detention More than 1,200 cases, though few
go to trial or
result in conviction.
* Harassment and
Intimidation Over 3,000 incidents have targeted the
political opposition,
civil society, and ordinary citizens.
* Denial of Basic Needs The
Mugabe regime's interference with
humanitarian activities, partisan
distribution of food, and refusal of
medical treatment to victims of
politically motivated violence continues.
* Ongoing Repression With
over 2,000 complaints recorded, broad
restrictions on freedoms of
expression, peaceful assembly, and association
persist.
VOA
By Patience Rusere
Washington
05
February 2008
Sources around Zimbabwe said water and electric
services remained erratic
following a major power blackout over the weekend
which the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority blamed on a system
malfunction.
An informal survey by VOA found that most parts of Harare
had no electricity
or water on Tuesday. Nearby Chitungwiza had had no water
or power for nine
days.
Electricity in Bulawayo has been turned off
almost daily for four to 12
hours at a time. Bulawayo reservoirs are full,
but residents have had no
water for the past four days.
In eastern
Mutare, residents said electric power had been available for up
to 12 hours
a day in the past two days; previously it was on for just two
hours a
day.
In Gweru, Midlands, residents had gone without water for four days
and some
living in the high-density suburb of Mkoba were digging wells and
selling
water. But the flow of electricity had improved in Gweru since the
national
blackout on the weekend.
Electric power was erratic in
Masvingo, but the south-central town has a
steady supply of water, which
some attribute to the fact that the water
system is still controlled by the
municipality rather than the Zimbabwe
National Water Authority. ZINWA has
taken over many city water systems in
the country in the past
year.
Chitungwiza resident Nicholas Zulu said he has had no water for
nine days.
Zulu told reporter Patience Rusere how he is surviving the water
and power
shortages.
Independent Catholic News
LONDON - 6 February 2008 - 500
words
Cardinal Cormac
Murphy-O'Connor has called for all to join in prayer and
solidarity with the
people of Zimbabwe on his return from a pastoral visit
to southern Africa
with Bishop Crispian Hollis, chair of the Catholic
Bishops' Conference
international affairs department.
During their trip they held meetings
with bishops from across Southern
Africa and visited a number of
humanitarian projects run by the local
Church.
Cardinal Cormac said:
"I have been profoundly moved by the past week in
southern Africa and
particularly in Zimbabwe; by the suffering and anguish
of those living in
terrible poverty and living with HIV/AIDs but also by the
compassion and
strength of those in the Church working with the most
vulnerable.
"I
have seen a united Church working with and among the poor and the sick.
It
is when caring for the poor, sick and most vulnerable to bring them hope
that the Church is at its finest. It has been a profound blessing for us to
come and experience the love of all those working here and also the belief
of those Zimbabweans who live amidst the crisis their country is
undergoing.
"As the Bishops of Zimbabwe have already stated in their
pastoral letter of
last April, there is a crisis of governance in the
country, a crisis of
spiritual and moral leadership and a collapse of civic
society. But there
are no simple, quick answers. We were told that there
must be a better way
to run the country, but the crisis in which Zimbabweans
are currently living
will take years to put right. Material assistance is
essential, but above
all what the Church can offer is our sense of prayer
and solidarity through
which hope grows. Walking in solidarity with the
Bishops and people of
Zimbabwe and across Southern Africa is what we are all
called to do at their
time of need."
In Zimbabwe, the Cardinal and
Bishop Hollis met with Archbishop Robert
Ndlovu, the Archbishop of Harare
and others from the Zimbabwean Bishops'
Conference where they were informed
about the current situation and the
Church's work, which is assisted by the
Pontifical Mission Society.
There followed visits to a parish in Mbare, a
township in the South of
Harare where poverty and illness are endemic;
outbreaks of cholera were
eported in some of the shanty towns around Harare.
The collapse of the
formal economy and extreme food shortages have created a
desperate
situation, with groups lying outside the parish hoping for some
food
hand-outs. The previous week, five tonnes of maize was distributed by
the
Jesuits who run the parish to the needy and went in three
days.
At Mashambanzou ("dawn of a new day"), the Cardinal and Bishop
Hollis were
told of the work of the HIV/AIDs charity, supported by Cafod and
Caritas
Internationalis among other international aid agencies. Sister
Margaret
McAllen, who has been directing the project since 1989, told of her
work
caring for over 3,500 families in the community and bringing in the
most
sick into residential care until they are strong enough to return to
the
community. Dealing with death and the dying on a daily basis required
emotional and spiritual support, said Sister McAllen
"We get our
spiritual energy from people like you coming here. This is vital
to our
work. We are all channels of God's grace and by knowing that you are
with us
is important as it gives us strength in our mission. We need this
support,"
said Sister McAllen.
Archbishop Ndlovu thanked the Cardinal and Bishop
Hollis at a public Mass at
Harare Cathedral for their visit and their
message of hope. The Mass, during
which the Cardinal preached, was
celebrated in a packed Harare Cathedral.
The Cardinal's homily focused on
hope: the hope for a better future for the
people of
Zimbabwe.
Source: CCS