The Anatomy of Terror

Mugabe meets Zuma

http://www.timeslive.co.za

Jun 10, 2011 6:48 PM | By Sapa

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe accompanied by several of his ministers
paid a courtesy visit to President Jacob Zuma in Pretoria on Friday
afternoon.

Media were invited to take photographs and film the leaders, but were barred
from asking questions.

In a statement released before the meeting, the South African presidency
said Mugabe and Zuma would engage on a number of issues ahead of the SA
Development Community Summit and the summit of the Common Market for Eastern
and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and SADC.

The South African government is hosting the Second Tripartite
COMESA-EAC-SADC Summit n Sandton this weekend.

Southern African leaders would also meet on Saturday evening to lay out a
roadmap for elections in Zimbabwe, reportedly amid warnings of rising
violence and intimidation.

Zuma's foreign policy adviser Lindiwe Zulu told the media that he and Mugabe
would focus only on the mediation process leading to elections.

Asked about recent criticisms of her by Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-Pf party,
Zulu said Zuma had confidence in her efforts to do her job as a mediator.

Asked if the June 13 sentencing of 87-year-old South African farmer Philip
Hapelt for illegally farming the land on which he was born near Gweru would
be raised, Zulu said: "The only issues that will be raised are issues for
this summit."

French news agency Agence France Presse reported that SADC members would
consider a report by its security "troika", which at an earlier meeting in
Zambia lashed out at Mugabe over his failure to make reforms which would
pave the way for elections.

Pressure grows on SADC leaders ahead of Zim discussions

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tererai Karimakwenda
10 June, 2011

The Saturday discussions on Zimbabwe, being held on the sidelines of the
Free Trade Area summit in Johannesburg, have attracted much media attention.

Civic groups and political parties have organized activities to ensure that
no aspect of the crisis back home, especially ZANU-PF abuses, is ignored.
Pressure is also growing on regional leaders to finally deal with Robert
Mugabe.

The ZANU-PF thugs who disrupted a Crisis Coalition press conference on
Thursday were captured on video by activists and a report of “common
 assault” has been filed with South Africa’s police. The complainant,
Rodrick Magaisa, says the ZANU-PF chairperson for Johannesburg, Ndaba Nyoni,
attacked him with a piece of glass.

Dewa Mavhinga, regional coordinator for Crisis, said the disruptions are an
attempt by ZANU-PF to divert attention from their failings and from
important SADC business.

“We are confident that SADC leaders are clear about what is happening and
what ought to be done in Zimbabwe,” Mavhinga explained.

Mavhinga said they expected ZANU-PF to make further attempts to disrupt
activities. The group’s photo exhibit titled “Zimbabwe Footprints of Abuse”
opened in Sandton on Friday. Mavhinga said it includes very upsetting images
of the state-sponsored violence from the 2008 elections and recent
incidents.

“It is clear evidence that the maker of violence in Zimbabwe is ZANU PF and
their state machinery,” he added.

There is also a protest rally scheduled for Saturday in Sandton. “We are
pleading with SADC leaders to ensure that a credible roadmap for elections
is produced, that addresses violence and military interference in electoral
affairs,” Mavhinga said.

Meanwhile, officials from the Swaziland Democracy Campaign expressed
solidarity with Zimbabwean activists and called on SADC leaders to ensure
that peaceful elections are held. A statement from the Swazi Campaign said
they hope the protest “will serve as a wake up call to SADC” as the grouping
has “virtually destroyed its own reputation by prevaricating on the need for
democratic change in Zimbabwe”.

“Those campaigning for democracy in Swaziland share the frustrations of the
people of Zimbabwe,” the statement said.

The intensified pressure on SADC leaders is bound to ensure that the
discussions on Zimbabwe are heated. It remains to be seen whether the region
will finally act on Robert Mugabe, and ensure he stops the violence and
allows free and fair elections to be held.

SADC expected to push for adoption of electoral roadmap

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
11 June 2011

The international community sought on Friday to put concerted pressure on
SADC to push parties in the Global Political Agreement to adopt an election
roadmap that will guarantee free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.

On Saturday Zimbabwe will be discussed on the sidelines of the SADC summit
in Johannesburg. The crisis was supposed to have been tackled at the SADC
summit in Windhoek, Namibia, but was postponed as President Jacob Zuma of
South Africa could not attend. Zuma is the SADC appointed mediator in the
Zimbabwe crisis.

The regional leaders are meeting in what analysts hope will be a no holds
barred discussion and the summit has also attracted the attention of the
world’s leading states.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was scheduled to meet Zambian
President Rupiah Banda for talks in Lusaka on Friday. Banda is the current
chair of the SADC troika organ on politics and security.

Analysts believe Clinton’s visit to the region ahead of this crucial SADC
summit in Johannesburg is a US attempt to lean on the regional bloc to take
a tougher line on Robert Mugabe.

Our sources in Johannesburg told us other Western nations have also tasked
their envoys in Pretoria and the region to ratchet up pressure, as it is
vital that SADC does not reverse the landmark decisions of the Livingstone
Troika summit.

Zuma and his SADC troika colleagues (Zambian President Banda; SADC chair and
Mozambican President Armando Guebuza and Namibian President Hifikepunye
Pohamba) read the riot act to Mugabe in Livingstone in an unprecedented way,
warning him they were ‘disappointed’ and getting increasingly ‘impatient’
with him.

Mugabe reacted angrily and lashed out at Zuma and other SADC leaders, saying
their role was not to “dictate” to him what to do but only to ‘facilitate’
talks.

Saturday’s meeting takes place against frantic efforts by Mugabe to down
play the Troika’s observations. A ZANU PF delegation is already in
Johannesburg to try to influence the bloc to reverse the damning Livingstone
communiqué and report.

Mugabe has also moved to avert a public spat with Zuma by lining up a
pre-emptive meeting with the mediator on the eve of the summit. His
spokesman George Charamba said the two leaders will clear the ground on the
political situation in Zimbabwe at a Friday meeting.

SW Radio Africa is reliably informed that MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai and
MDC President Welshman Ncube have held several telephone conversations with
the South African leader this week.

Both leaders have reportedly told Zuma that elections in Zimbabwe will only
be feasible when a new constitution is in place, plus the many other reforms
that are required to enable the electorate to express themselves freely.

This position was reaffirmed on Friday by Tsvangirai’s foreign affairs
advisor, Jameson Timba, at a press conference in Johannesburg, Friday.
Timba told journalists that the MDC-T will not agree to an election without
fundamental reforms on the ground.

He said of major concern to them was the resurgence of violence and the
deployment of soldiers, war vets and militia in the countryside, instruments
of coercion and intimidation that need to be dismantled before the poll.

Political analyst Munjonzi Mutandiri told us there is a likelihood SADC will
push for the adoption of the election roadmap, but will leave the three
parties to work on the election date.

SADC seen pushing for Zim poll delay

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

by Edward Jones     Friday 10 June 2011

HARARE – Regional leaders will this week push Zimbabwe’s political rivals to
adopt an election roadmap guaranteeing free and fair elections but will
likely restrain President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
from hurrying to hold a fresh vote without critical reforms, analysts and
diplomats said.

A diplomat who will attend the meeting in South Africa at the weekend said
the Southern African Development Community (SADC) bloc was developing
fatigue over Harare’s political problems and would have preferred a quick
election but is afraid that without reforms, Zimbabwe’s crisis would
continue to blight the region.

The 87-year-old Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party are pushing hard for elections
this year, driven mostly by a need to have the ageing leader contest the
elections before his health deteriorates.

Mugabe has travelled several times to Singapore this year on trips some of
his officials say are linked to treatment for prostate cancer.

Mugabe is still smarting from the SADC Troika summit in Livingstone, Zambia
in April, which for the first criticised Zimbabwe’s longtime ruler for a
crackdown on coalition government opponents.

South African President Jacob Zuma will present the Livingstone summit
report and the election roadmap for adoption by the full SADC summit and
push Mugabe and Tsvangirai to fully implement their power-sharing pact known
as the global political agreement before holding fresh elections.

“SADC is very keen to see Zimbabwe’s leadership fully implement the global
political agreement and President Zuma will impress upon the Summit to adopt
the election roadmap,” the SADC diplomat said.

The diplomat told ZimOnline that most countries were convinced that Zimbabwe
was not ready to hold elections this year.

Zimbabwe’s Parliament would need to pass amendments to the Electoral Act,
clean-up its voters’ roll, amend the notorious Public Order and Security
Act, remove military personnel from the countryside, fully comply with the
global political agreement and adopt a new constitution before going to
elections.

“The feeling among most SADC is that if all these processes are done
Zimbabwe there is no reason not to have elections the next day. I don’t want
to put a date to it but it might be that elections in Zimbabwe could be held
between March and June next year,” the diplomat said.

ZANU-PF and the MDC send advance delegates to South Africa to lobby SADC
countries to come up with a decision in their favour.

ZANU-PF argues that it has complied with the global political agreement and
that it is the MDC which has not called for lifting of sanctions and
convinced foreign radio stations to stop broadcasting into Zimbabwe.

But the MDC says ZANU-PF have failed to appoint MDC officials as provincial
governors even thought there is an agreement and that Mugabe is resisting
broadcasting and security reforms as part of a package seen critical to
peaceful and free elections.

A Zimbabwe government official however said ZANU-PF had suffered a setback
after one of its allies Angolan President Jose Eduardo do Santos told Mugabe
that it was in the region’s interest to hold elections when all outstanding
issues were resolved.

The source said Angola feared a disputed election in Zimbabwe could ignite
protests that have swept Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, which could then spread
in the region. Dos Santos, who has ruled Angola since 1979, has not held a
presidential election since 1992.

Analysts say Mugabe’s advanced age and his failure to groom a successor has
become the biggest threat to Zimbabwe’s future stability and its transition
to democracy.

South Africa’s ruling ANC party has already said the three governing
parties, including Mugabe’s ZANU-PF, fear that should Mugabe retire or die
in office this could jeorpadise the adoption of a new democratic
constitution that is being drafted.

“This summit should reaffirm the decision of the troika in Livingstone which
ZAU-PF is trying to reverse,” John Makumbe, a political commentator and
Mugabe critic said.

“I think we will see an outcome that will in a way force ZANU-PF in
particular to agree to the election roadmap and put all this election talk
to rest.”

ZANU-PF has prepared a dossier in which it portrays the MDC as a violent
political party in the clutches of the West to remove Mugabe from power.

The former liberation movement has also criticised Zuma, suggesting he was
using information from the MDC to come up with his reports.

In the aftermath of the Livingstone summit, the weekly Sunday Mail, which
reflects ZANU-PF thinking, attacked Zuma as “erratic” while questioning his
role as Zimbabwe mediator and said he was not a liability to Africans.

“For ZANU-PF I think this will be more of damage control than anything else.
I don’t see the summit taking a different decision other than that of the
troika,” Makumbe said. -- ZimOnline

Indigenization regulations "absurd" says Zimbabwe's parliament

http://www.monstersandcritics.com

Jun 10, 2011, 15:07 GMT

Harare - The Zimbabwean parliament declared Friday that regulations seeking
to nationalize foreign-owned companies were 'unconstitutional, unreasonable
and absurd,' and called for them to be repealed or revised.

The law, which would force all foreign-owned companies to cede their
majority stake to black Zimbabweans, was proposed by Youth, Indigenization
and Economic Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere.

'We now expect the minister to come to parliament and tell us what he
(plans) to do,' said Shepherd Mushonga, the head of a cross-party
parliamentary legal committee.

Kasukuwere was unavailable for comment.

President Robert Mugabe and Kasukuwere say the move is necessary to ensure
black Zimbabweans benefit from the country's lucrative mineral resources.

The southern African country is rich in minerals including diamonds,
uranium, chrome, platinum and gold. The empowerment drive is targeting major
companies, including Anglo American, Rio Tinto, Implats and Nestle.

Most companies have adopted a wait-and-see attitude, putting expansion and
retooling plans on hold until there is clarity on how the empowerment plan
will be executed.

Firms that fail to disclose how they plan to transfer shares within the
stipulated period face prosecution, according to the empowerment
regulations.

'The unanimous finding of the committee is that this statutory instrument is
both unconstitutional and ultra vires (beyond legal authority),' reads a
report by the Mushonga-led committee.

They said the hefty penalties imposed by the law were 'grossly
disproportionate' to the offences, and therefore 'inhumane and degrading.'

The imposition of prison terms for offenders was 'unreasonable and absurd,'
the committee wrote, adding that this was unconstitutional, as it neglected
the right to the protection of the law.

Mushonga said in an interview that the regulations gave the minister of
indigenization 'too much' power, as they allowed him to impose a penalty on
businesses which is supposed to be administered by parliament.

Veritas, a legal monitoring organization, said that the regulations could be
challenged in the Supreme Court if Mugabe did not repeal them.

More MDC-T activists arrested over policeman’s death

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Lance Guma
10 June 2011

A total of 23 Harare residents are now behind bars, as police brazenly
continue a politicized witch hunt for MDC-T activists. This follows the
death of Inspector Petros Mutedza in a night club brawl with street vendors
in Glen View last month.

Three more activists were arrested Thursday night after Sydney Chirombe, a
councilor in Ward 33 of Budiriro, and MDC-T employees Abina Rutsito and
Jeffias Moyo, were picked up from their homes in Budiriro. The party issued
a statement saying their whereabouts are unknown. Rusito and Moyo work in
the “MDC Excellence Shop” at the Harvest House headquarters.
Last month at least 20 MDC-T activists were arrested over Mutedza’s murder,
in what the party says is an attempt to tarnish their image ahead of the
crucial SADC discussions about Zimbabwe, in South Africa this weekend.

MDC-T National Executive member Last Maengahama is still in custody, despite
proof that he was attending a church service at the time of the murder. His
pastor has confirmed they have video footage of him in church. Police are
said to be severely assaulting and torturing those in custody, while also
denying them food and medication.

The atmosphere in the Glen View suburb remains tense with police continuing
to make random arrests of innocent residents. An unofficial curfew is
reportedly in effect as residents limit their own movements to avoid getting
caught. Thursday’s arrests represented a widening of the crackdown as police
moved to Budiriro.

Several analysts have criticized the use of Mutedza’s death for propaganda
purposes by ZANU PF. A front page report in the state owned Herald newspaper
featured a policewoman who underwent skin grafting after a suspicious
petrol-bomb attack in 2007. It was headed “Bombed cop relives horror night”.

Despite no MDC-T activists being convicted of the bombing the caption used
by the Herald said it was the work of “MDC-T activists”. The story is being
intricately woven together with the murder of Mutedza to portray the MDC-T
as a violent party.

But some commentators have begun exploring the possibility that Mutedza was
‘sacrificed’ by ZANU PF, for propaganda purposes ahead of the SADC meeting.

Military fingered in plot

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

By Guthrie Munyuki, News Editor
Friday, 10 June 2011 16:55

HARARE - President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party faces damning allegations
of planning to deploy at least 80 000 militia and military officials across
the country, in a violent bid to force people to vote for the 87-year-old
octogenarian in the next elections.

Influential civil society pressure group, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition –
which compiled a chilling dossier containing the allegations – yesterday
made a passionate plea to Sadc and President Jacob Zuma of South Africa in
particular, to intervene  immediately to stop the deployment of the
military, the real power behind Mugabe.

In the unsettling dossier titled: “The Military Factor in Zimbabwe’s
Political and Electoral Affairs” — which followed three months of extensive
investigations — Crisis said the militia would be posted in all provinces
throughout the country.

Crisis launched the damning report in Johannesburg yesterday, ahead of a
potentially explosive Sadc summit on Zimbabwe tomorrow which will, among
other burning issues, touch on rising violence in Zimbabwe, as well as the
role of security forces in human rights violations in the country,
especially against pro-democracy groups and Mugabe’s opponents.

The report and its distressing claims will be handed over to the Sadc heads
of state at the summit tomorrow.

It alleges that the military has demanded, and Zanu PF has agreed, that at
least 25 percent of all legislative seats that the party  will contest for
must be reserved for serving or retired military personnel.

“The military plans to deploy senior commanders from either the Zimbabwe
Defence Forces (ZDF) or the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) in each
of Zimbabwe’s 59 districts to co-ordinate the fight to retain Mugabe in
power."

“Information from military sources is that more than 80 000 youth militia,
war veterans and soldiers will be deployed across the country in an army-led
drive to ensure victory for Zanu PF candidate, President Mugabe in the next
elections."

“A three-month investigation…that included interviews with cabinet
ministers, senior military officers and Zanu PF functionaries, revealed a
desperate determination by Zimbabwe’s top generals to thwart (MDC leader
Morgan) Tsvangirai, with some even openly bragging that they would topple
the Prime Minister should he somehow triumph against the planned violence to
emerge the winner of the polls,” the report says.

Efforts by the Daily News yesterday to solicit comment from defence Minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa were unsuccessful, as his phone rang continuously without
being answered.  Later in the day, his office said he had left for the
Johannesburg Sadc meeting. The report warns that the Zanu PF and military
strategy was to unleash enough violence and terror, worse than that seen in
the bloody 2008 presidential run-off poll in which at least 200 of
Tsvangirai’s supporters died and tens of thousands others were either maimed
or left homeless.

“The move is aimed at ensuring that a thoroughly cowed electorate will, on
voting day back Mugabe in enough numbers to save the veteran President from
having to face another second round vote.”

Crisis claims that former senior military officials (names supplied) will be
in charge of the election campaign, adding that the intelligence services
would head provincial command centres.

“Some of the senior commanders have already started work in the provinces,
meeting Zanu PF and traditional leaders to plot the way forward. Junior
commanders and hundreds of lower ranking soldiers, some of whom have already
been deployed in recent months in villages in some districts, will be at the
disposal of the senior commanders,” it says.

It says the deployment of Vice Air Marshall Muchena to the party is to
ensure that the military takes direct control of rebuilding party structures
from cell, to branch, ward, district, provincial to national level.

Muchena and former CIO director Sydney Nyanungo have allegedly been tasked
with reviving Zanu PF structures at its headquarters ahead of elections
whose date is yet to be announced.

Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), a civic society group with monitors across the
country, has reported that the army has stepped up its presence in villages
while Zanu-PF militia have set up torture camps in some parts of the
country — in a chilling reminder to voters of the unprecedented violence
that swept Zimbabwe in 2008.

In 2008, Zanu PF supporters went on a retribution campaign against MDC
supporters in the country, especially in the volatile provinces of
Mashonaland Central and East, where hundreds of innocent people were killed
in cold blood.

Mugabe had lost to Tsvangirai in the first round of presidential elections,
prompting a run-off which the MDC leader was forced to pull out of days
before polling, citing violence and intimidation against his terrified
supporters.

Zuma, Sadc’s facilitator to the Zimbabwe political crisis and the
negotiators from the three parties in the inclusive government have placed
security sector reform at the top of the agenda of the talks.

On Sunday morning, a bomb exploded at the home of finance minister and MDC’s
lead negotiator in the GPA, Tendai Biti, who alleged that the military was
out to kill him.

Although no arrests have been made in connection with the bombing, police
have already put doubts on their probe, claiming that they only received a
report 17 hours after the incident.

Riot Police Disrupt WOZA Meeting

Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum

10 June 2011

Officers from the Law and Order Section of the ZRP (Zimbabwe Republic
Police) and
Riot Police today (10 June 2011) raided a house in Bulawayo where members of
Women
of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) were having a private meeting. All members of WOZA
managed to escape, but the police still proceeded to assault innocent tenant
at the
house.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights deployed two of its legal practitioners to
the
scene of the raid; these however were denied access and ordered to leave by
the police.
WOZA is appalled by the behavior of the police, particular at this point in
time when
SADC is attempting, in South Africa, to broker a roadmap whose aim is to
create
conditions for sustainable peace in Zimbabwe.
For any further details, please contact Jenny Williams on 0772 898 110
End//

COPAC suspends operations over dual-citizenship stalemate

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com

10/06/2011 14:32:00    Staff Reporter

HARARE – Zimbabwe constitution making body COPAC has suspended operations
after a deadlock was reached following fundamental differences over the
issue of dual citizenship between the MDC-T's and the former ruling party
Zanu PF.

Zanu PF select committee co-chairperson, Paul Mangwana, who revealed to The
Zimbabwe Mail that data analysts will return to their provinces on Friday,
said the MDC-T is frustrating the process by always changing goal posts in
order to protect partisan selfish interests.

"Although the MDC-T is not clear on issues that they have problems with, the
party is advocating for the adoption of the dual citizenship clause with the
hope that the provision will work in favour of the party during the next
elections if people with dual citizenships are allowed to vote," said
Mangwana.

He said it is disheartening that the MDC-T wants to equate popular views
with minority views by pushing for a data analyses template that ignores the
frequency on the issues that were raised by the people.

Mangwana said it is surprising that the MDC-T has brought back the issue
that was resolved last month.

He however said Zanu PF would want to see views of minority ethnic tribes
being captured in the country’s new constitution.

Mangwana said the issue has been referred to the management committee
comprising of negotiators who will look into the issue next week as they are
attending the SADC extra-ordinary summit that will commence this weekend in
South Africa.

Efforts to get the views of the MDC-T have been not been successful.

Data analyses to produce district and provincial reports will only be
conducted after the stalemate.

Zim policies need to be changed, says IMF

http://mg.co.za

MOYAGABO MAAKE JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Jun 10 2011 11:29

Zimbabwean economic growth would most likely decelerate in 2011 if the
government's policies remained unchanged, the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) said on Thursday.

The IMF executive board, after a visit to the country and discussions with
officials, has estimated Zimbabwe's real GDP growth at 6% for 2009 and 9%
for 2010.

But the board warned that an inefficient composition of expenditure, rising
vulnerabilities in the financial system, and the recent announcement of the
fast-track indigenisation of the mining sector would be a drag on the
country's recovery and cause growth to decelerate to 5.5%.

Zimbabwe introduced the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act last
year, requiring all foreign firms valued at more than $500 000 to sell 51%
of their shares to locals.

The IMF said vulnerabilities in the country's banking system had recently
intensified, partly due to weak enforcement of prudential regulations. It
prioritised the restructuring of the financially distressed Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe -- to which banks are exposed -- and strengthening and enforcing
prudential regulations to contain liquidity, solvency, and credit risks.

"These steps will help mitigate financial sector vulnerabilities and ensure
the medium-term viability of the multi-currency system," the IMF said.

The IMF suggested returning to cash budgeting and implementing strong
expenditure controls, including elimination of ghost workers, to close the
likely financing gap in the short-term.

The IMF added that Zimbabwe needed to reduce its wage bill relative to
revenues, tighten budget constraints on state-owned enterprises, and
implement public finance management reforms to generate fiscal surpluses in
the medium term. This would help raise international reserves and increase
resilience to economic shocks.

"Improving the business climate is necessary for strengthening
competitiveness and boosting growth potential," the IMF directors
concluded. -- I-Net Bridge

Zimbabwe's reserve bank up to its ears in debt

http://mg.co.za/

RAY NDLOVU Jun 10 2011 14:54

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is severely hamstrung by a debt bill of
$1.5-billion owed to a host of local companies and non-governmental
organisations. The debt, lawsuits and property seizures threaten the central
bank's very survival.

Three years ago, under the leadership of Gideon Gono, RBZ was the country's
single most powerful institution. Now, the pile of debt amassed by the bank
from 2004 to 2008 as a result of its "non-core fiscal activities" has rubbed
away its shine.

The latest figures from Finance Minister Tendai Biti have highlighted the
debt bill. There are also allegations that the RBZ pocketed $7.3-million
from the United Nation's Global Fund, intended to be used in the fight
against malaria and tuberculosis in the country. In its glory days the
central bank shored up ailing parastatals such as Air Zimbabwe and National
Railways of Zimbabwe and spearheaded a farm mechanisation programme to
support Zanu-PF's land seizures.

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries has been vocal in demanding that
the RBZ pay its debts. The confederation's president Joseph Kanyekanye said:
"The money that the RBZ owes companies must be returned. It is a little bit
difficult to quantify, I will leave that to the RBZ, but given the outcry,
those amounts must be substantial."

Last week, in a case that underscores the central bank's ongoing financial
woes, it announced the sell-off of seven of its private companies. In March,
Biti alluded to the sale as a means to raise money and "clear up the RBZ's
balance sheet". The sale includes its flagship Homelink company, a money
transfer and house-building concern that targets Zimbabweans in the
diaspora.

It comes shortly after 1 500 workers were retrenched from the institution in
February, in the single largest retrenchment exercise in the country.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's banking sector has been rattled by a scam involving
Renaissance Merchant Bank (RMB), in which its directors and shareholders
allegedly misappropriated depositors' funds. RMB has been closed for two
weeks while investigations take place. Patterson Timba and Dunmore
Kundishora, RMB's chief executive and director, have been fingered in an RBZ
report that exposes large-scale looting by the bank's top brass.

Allegations include an inappropriate shareholding structure in which Timba
and Mundishora own 68.9% of the RMB group; gross undercapitalisation -- the
bank is technically insolvent, with a negative capital base of $16.7-million
instead of the stipulated $10-million for merchant banks and requires an
additional $55.1-million to meet regulatory capital requirements; the
violation of banking regulations, in particular section 16 (2)(b) of the
Banking Regulations Act, which stipulates that advances given to the insider
and any of his relatives should not exceed 5% of the bank's capital base
unless it has been disclosed and approved by the board. Timba lent money to
friends and relatives amounting to $12.4-million, which exceeded RMB's
capital base by 25%.

The Bankers Association of Zimbabwe has, however, urged depositors not to
panic, saying the RMB scam was an isolated incident of poor corporate
governance.

MMCZ loses stones worth $50 000

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

By Tendai Kamhungira, Court Writer
Friday, 10 June 2011 17:15

HARARE - A Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) diamond
evaluator and his  wife are among four people who appeared in court
yesterday for allegedly fleecing the state agency of stones worth over US$50
000.

Aaron Mubaiwa and Lydia Zingwe, mentioned in the charge sheet as his wife,
are facing fraud charges. The state accuses Mubaiwa and Zingwe of lying to
authorities on the status of FreeLife Investments (Pvt) Ltd, where Zingwe is
director to access diamonds from the state minerals marketing firm.

FreeLife Investments (Pvt) Ltd is a diamond cutting and polishing firm.

They were not asked to plead when they appeared before Harare magistrate
Shane Kubonera on fraud charges.

Another duo, MMCZ sales executive Patrick Marufu and acting marketing
manager Ezekiel Manomano Mafara are jointly charged with Mubaiwa on another
record, where they are facing criminal abuse of duty, stemming from the same
facts of fraud.

Allegations against Mubaiwa and Zingwe are that between January 1 and April
19, the two connived to defraud MMCZ by misrepresenting that Freelife
Investments (Pvt) Ltd met requirements to be registered as a diamond cutting
and polishing company.

MMCZ subsequently engaged the firm.

The court heard that Mubaiwa allegedly authored a sweetheart inspection
report favouring Freelife Investments, resulting in the company obtaining a
dealer’s licence, without fulfilling a required MMCZ Regulations, Statutory
Instrument 157 of 2010.

The report contained false information, the court heard.

On the other record, the state alleges that Mafara and Marufu intentionally
recommended Freelife Investments to the Ministry of Mines and Mining
Development to be granted a licence to deal in precious stones and
fraudulently approved the inspection report.

The approval was contrary to the required standards set by MMCZ.

On 30 March this year, Mubaiwa allegedly authorised the release of 81, 68
carats of diamonds without the approval of another evaluator fromMMCZ as per
company procedure. As a result of the misrepresentation, Zingwe managed to
acquire 593,33 carats of rough diamonds, thereby prejudicing MMCZ of money
worth US$57 292.23.

Magistrate Kubonera ordered the four to pay $200 each, surrender title deeds
for their immovable properties, report once a week to the police and
surrender their passports as part of bail conditions. They are expected in
court on 15 June, when they are to make an application for refusal of
remand.

Swaziland offers support to anti-Mugabe marches

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Written by Chris Ncube
Friday, 10 June 2011 15:09

Johannesburg - A leading Swaziland civil society organization on Friday
pledged its support for proposed marches to demonstrate against the
violation of the terms of the Global political Agreement by President Robert
Mugabe and his Zanu (PF).
The Swaziland Democracy Campaign (SDC) urged all  its supporters and
progressive forces to participate in the march to the venue of Saturday's
SADC gathering to draw attention to the need for a clear programme for free
and fair elections in Zimbabwe.
The polls should be held in an atmosphere where voters are not subjected to
intimidation, manipulation, or the anti-democratic measures of Zanu(PF) and
state military forces that have marred previous elections, officials said.
Civil society organizations in Zimbabwe and the region are organizing the
protest march.
"We hope this protest will serve as a wake up call to SADC. SADC has
virtually destroyed its own reputation by prevaricating on the need for
democratic change in Zimbabwe, and by endlessly pandering to the prejudices
of Robert Mugabe. In the face of irrefutable evidence of violence, including
physical abuse, blatant interference and widespread  fraud, SADC failed to
defend the democratic majority who voted for real change, and failed to
unambiguously condemn the terror unleashed by forces loyal to Mugabe.
A range of respected human rights organisations and many eye witnesses have
drawn attention to the way that ZANU-PF supporters used the worst possible
means to intimidate poor communities, including rape and illegal
abductions," Stephen Faulkner, spokesperson of SDC told The Zimbabwean in
Johannesburg. He welcomed the tough stance taken against Mugabe and his
party when the SADC troika met in Livingstone, Zambia, earlier this year.
"We note the critical report that has been developed by the South African
Government which now appears to have taken a reality check, and has produced
a report that offers some hope. SADC now needs to make amends for its
chronic indecision and appeasement, and especially so given the leading role
of the South African Government in this travesty of justice. The SADC must
now strive to rescue its reputation and put its weight behind the people of
Zimbabwe so that they are able to exercise their democratic rights in a
conducive environment. The South African Government must stand firm, and
stop protecting Mugabe, and decisively side with the people of Zimbabwe
against his barbarous rule."
Swaziland and Zimbabwe, where human rights violations characterize the
countries; political landscapes are the region's two problem countries.
Faulkner urged SADC to act on Mugabe and the Swaziland dictator, King Mswati
III. "SADC must make a decision. It can either continue to be part of the
problem and effectively do nothing, or it can break with its own sorry past,
and be part of a popular solution that puts the needs of the people first.
Either way, the democratic forces of our continent will push ahead and
assert their rights."

Import of Second Hand Japanese Cars to be Banned

http://www.ipsnews.net/

By Tariro Madzongwe

HARARE , Jun 10, 2011 (IPS) - For Mathew Marufu, who has a disabled
10-year-old son, owning a second hand Japanese car has been an ‘answer from
God’.

"My son has to travel across town to a special school for disabled children
and it was a nightmare these past years to take him there. You know in
Zimbabwe we have no reliable public transport and also if one uses it it's
not friendly to the disabled," Marufu said.

He bought a second hand; imported Japanese car for 3,000 dollars and it has
changed his family’s life. "So this second hand car … has helped my family
in a huge way, my son can now go to school comfortably and never get to miss
any lesson."

Over the last four years the importation of cheap second hand cars from
Japan has meant that cars are no longer just for the wealthy in a country
where unemployment is as high as 90 percent. But the high carbon emissions
and high accident rates of these used cars has led government to announce a
ban on further importation. And it has caused an uproar among Zimbabweans.

Environment minister Francis Nhema told IPS the ban would target vehicles
that are more than five years old and those that do not pass a set carbon
emissions threshold, which his ministry is yet to agree on.

He said Zimbabwe had been turned into a dumping site for the second hand
cars some of which are at least 10 years old and this had negative effects
on the environment.

According to the environment ministry, Japan, which has strict carbon
emissions laws, has created a massive industry in second hand car exports to
poor third world countries like Zimbabwe.

"A greater number of these Japanese cars have been banned on the roads in
their original country with Zimbabwe turning into their dumping site. It’s
up to us to aggressively stand up against such kind of exploitation. We have
a duty to save lives, protect ourselves and our environment," said Nhema.

However, there are no official figures to support governments claims that
the used cars are involved in a number of accidents. Police spokesperson
Chief Superintendent Andrew Phiri could not furnish IPS with statistics.

A brand new car in Zimbabwe costs between 15,000 and 50,000 dollars,
depending on the type of vehicle. It is a price far beyond what the country’s
majority can afford. Workers employed in the civil service earn an average
of 200 dollars a month.

Second hand cars from Japan are bought at anything from 900 dollars with an
extra 1,000 dollars for shipping and import duty, if one buys directly from
the Asian country. Those that buy from car dealers pay 4,000 dollars or
more. Thousands of Zimbabweans now own these second hand cars from Japan.

George Tigere a primary school headmaster is one of them. He bought his
first car two years ago thanks to the cost of the second hand cars. He said
if government bans the importation of the cars it would be tantamount to
shooting itself in the foot.

"Why do they want to ban these cars when they have given us the poor a
chance to own a car? Over the past nine years or so owning a car had become
a privilege for the rich in Zimbabwe. But now a headmaster like me who earns
an average 350 dollars monthly managed to save a whole year and got a small
loan from my bank and managed to buy myself this Toyota Vitz," he said.

He said it has made a huge difference to his life. "Life has changed
somewhat for the better because it gives me respect in society. It was very
humiliating for me (to be) seen standing in queues for transport with my
students."

Official statics from the country’s Zimbabwe Inland Revenue Authority show
that the country imports at least 400 second hand cars daily. The revenue
authority receives on average 200,000 dollars weekly. It is much-needed
revenue for a country with a floundering economy.

The need for this revenue is one reason why government has pushed the
deadline on the ban on importing the cars forward by four months to October
31.

Minister of transport, communication and infrastructure development Nicholas
Goche said another reason was that government needed to consult widely with
stakeholders. He did not say why government had not consulted initially
before announcing the first cutoff date of June 31.

"I want to advise all concerned that no one will be barred from importing
vehicles which are more than five years old until the consultative process
is completed," the minister said.

An official, from the Zimbabwe Inland Revenue Authority speaking on the
condition of anonymity said Toyota was the most imported brand.

He added: "We don’t really understand why the minister of environment wants
these cars banned. These cars have made so many Zimbabweans’ dream of owning
a car come true, yet he always complains about the effects to the
environment forgetting the positive effects these cars have brought to the
nation."

A fuel attendant at a service station along Samora Machel Avenue in Harare's
central business district who identified himself as John said ever since the
mass importation of the Japanese cars business has been booming for them.

"Although the many cars mean a lot more service stations being opened
demands still remains high. On average we sell 5000 litres of petrol a day,
since a majority of the cars use petrol. Before this during the harsh
economic conditions we would sell less than a 1000 litres of fuel a day
because they simply were no cars."

For 28-year-old Catherine Jaravaza her second hand Japanese car has meant
total freedom.

"Before we knew about these second hand cars I never dreamt of buying myself
a car but I have managed to save for a year and bought myself one."

Zimbabwe visit report

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Written by Staff Reporter
Friday, 10 June 2011 07:52

Report on a Visit to Zimbabwe in March 2011 by Members of the United Kingdom
All-Party Parliamentary Group on Zimbabwe.

Funded as a Fellowship by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association –
United Kingdon Branch

Members of the Delegation

•    Kate Hoey MP - Member of Parliament for Vauxhall (Labour Party) and
Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Zimbabwe

•    Oliver Colvile MP - Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton and
Devonport (Conservative Party)

•    Lord Joel Joffe - Member of the House of Lords (Labour Party)

Abbreviations used in this report

AU        African Union

COPAC    Constitution Parliamentary Select Committee

GPA        Global Political Agreement
JOC    Joint Operations Command compromising senior military, police and
intelligence chiefs. Under the terms of the GPA it was supposed to have been
replaced by a National Security Council including the Prime Minister.

MDC    Movement for Democratic Change, formed in 1999. In 2005 the party
split. Thelarger mainstream element remained loyal to the founding leader,
Morgan Tsvangirai. The smaller breakaway faction chose Arthur Mutambara as
its leader.

MDC-M      Movement for Democratic Change - breakaway faction of the MDC
formerly led by Arthur Mutambara (currently Deputy Prime Minister in the
Inclusive Government) now led by Welshman Ncube (currently Minister of
Industry & Commerce in the Inclusive Government)

MDC-T    Movement for Democratic Change - led by Morgan Tsvangirai
(currently Prime Minister in the Inclusive Government); with 100n seats it
is the majority party in the Zimbabwe House of Assembly

ZANU-PF    Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front - led by Robert
Mugabe (currently President in the Inclusive Government)

SADC        Southern African Development Community

Introduction

2011 marks the twentieth anniversary of the 1991 Harare Commonwealth
Declaration.

To mark this anniversary three members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group
on Zimbabwe from Westminster visited Zimbabwe in March 2011.

Our visit was made possible by a grant from the Commonwealth Parliamentary
Association – UK Branch andwas a response to the invitation by Commonwealth
Heads of Government in Article 12 of the Harare Declaration which, having
set out the vision and aims agreed by Heads of Government assembled under
the chairmanship of President Robert Mugabe, said:
“We invite the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and non-governmental
Commonwealth organisations to play their full part in promoting these
objectives, in a spirit of co-operation and mutual support”

The purpose of our visitwas to examine with our counterparts in Zimbabwe the
role of parliamentarians in fostering open and accountable government
through participatory and accessible parliamentary democracy as set out in
the 1991 Harare Commonwealth Declaration:

“We believe in the liberty of the individual under the law, in equal rights
for all citizens regardless of gender, race, colour, creed or political
belief, and in the individual's inalienable right to participate by means of
free and democratic political processes in framing the society in which he
or she lives”

We also set our discussions against the background of the Introduction to
the SADC Principles & Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections which reads:

SADC region has made significant strides in the consolidation of the
citizens’ participation in the decision-making processes and consolidation
of democratic practice and institutions. The Constitutions of all SADC
Member States enshrine the principles of equal opportunities and full
participation of the citizens in the political process.

The Southern African countries, building upon their common historical and
cultural identity forged over centuries, agreed to encapsulate their
commonality into a single vision, that of a shared future. In this context,
in 1992 the Southern African countries meeting in Windhoek, the Republic of
Namibia, signed a Treaty establishing the Southern African Development
Community.

Article 4 of the Treaty stipulates that “human rights, democracy and the
rule of law” are principles guiding the acts of its members. Article 5 of
the Treaty outlines the objectives of SADC, which commits the Member States
to “promote common political values, systems and other shared values which
are transmitted through institutions, which are democratic, legitimate and
effective. It also commits Member States to “consolidate, defend and
maintain democracy, peace, security and stability” in the region.

The Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation provides that
SADC shall “promote the development of democratic institutions and practices
within the territories of State Parties and encourage the observance of
universal human rights as provided for in the Charter and Conventions of the
Organization of African Unity [African Union] and the United Nations.”

In addition, the Strategic Indicative Plan for the Organ, as the
implementation framework of the Protocol, emphasizes the need for democratic
consolidation in the region. The development of the principles governing
democratic elections aims at enhancing the transparency and credibility of
elections and democratic governance as well as ensuring the acceptance of
election results by all contesting parties.

Context

The current Inclusive Government of Zimbabwe operates under the terms of the
GPA between the two MDC formations and ZANU-PF. The GPA was facilitated by
President Mbeki of South Africa on behalf of SADC and the AU. These two
international organisations stood as guarantors of the Agreement which
sought to resolve the political crisis in Zimbabwe resulting from a disputed
outcome to the Presidential elections of 2008.

The agreement allowed a transitional process to be established during which
all parties represented in Parliament are formally committed to sharing
power and working together on overcoming the political and economic
challenges facing Zimbabwe while a new constitution is negotiated sothat in
due course fresh and credible elections can be held.

Despite having signed up to the agreement ZANU-PF and its leader, President
Mugabe, have refused to honour many of the terms of the GPA; theyhave
repeatedly acted unilaterally and continue to ignore the requirement for
consultation and consensus with MDC-T and MDC-M. The GPA was given full
legal force and incorporated into the Constitution of Zimbabwe pending
enactment and ratification of a new constitution following the current
nationwide process of consultation.

When we arrived in Harare parliamentarians and issues relating to
parliamentarians were at the top of the news agenda in Zimbabwe. This meant
the timing of our visit turned out to be particularly opportune and made our
dialogue particularly topical. The themes we were examining were set out in
bold relief.

Furthermore being able to observe developments as they unfolded during our
brief stay gave immediacy to our discussions and greatly enhanced our
understanding of the experience of parliamentarians in Zimbabwe and those
who work with them in the process of defending and maintaining democracy.

Speaker of the House of Assembly

We arrived in Zimbabwe on 13 March. Three days beforehand the Supreme Court
had ruled by a majority of 3-2 that the election ofLovemoreMoyo (Chairman of
MDC-T) as Speaker of the House of Assembly in 2008 was null and void.

Theruling overturned an earlier High Court decisionwhich held that the
election was valid. The Supreme Court decided that of the 208 MPs voting six
had displayed their marked papers before depositing them in the ballot box
and thus the secrecy of the ballot had been compromised.

The Supreme Court ruling seemed to us a peculiar decision. On that basis by
displaying their marked voting papers before depositing them in the ballot
box and thereby ‘breaching’ the secrecy of the ballot a few voters could
render any General Election null and void. A ballot is secret to protect the
voters. If they choose to disclose how they are voting that is their
business.

Many of those we met told us that the rise in arrests of MPs was part of a
plan to change the voting strengths of the parties in the House of Assembly
so as to facilitate the election of a ZANU-PF candidate as Speaker.

The Zimbabwean Speaker currently holds the chairmanship of the Southern
African Parliamentary Forum. Several people we spoke to were of the opinion
that ZANU-PF was keen to wrest control from MDC-T since the Parliamentary
Forum plays a crucial role on behalf of SADC in planning, deploying and
reporting on election monitoring programmes for the region.

Following our departure, and despite actions by the Clerk of Parliament that
seemed less than even-handed in terms of serving all members and parties
represented in the House of Assembly,LovemoreMoyo was reinstated as Speaker.
The voting figures showed that he had been backed not only by colleagues in
MDC-T and the small breakaway faction MDC-M but also by some ZANU-PF MPs.

This shows that the longing for reform and a country that works is now
spreading to the ranks of Mugabe’s own party. We came across this attitude
in ZANU-PF MPs we met. While they were less robust in their support for
democratic processes than their MDC-T counterparts we gained a clear
impression that they too are weary of living in a country paralysed by
failed policies and an ageing, intransigent leadership.

Joint Operations Command and Reform of the Security Sector

It became clear to us that voting in the election for Speaker was unlikely
to be strictly according to party allegiance. Some ZANU-PF MPs expressed
willingness to consider supporting LovemoreMoyo and there also seemed to be
a degree of suspicion and exasperation towards Jonathan Moyo, seen as the
engineer of the plot to depose LovemoreMoyo as Speaker.

Jonathan Moyo was elected as an Independent MP in the 2008 parliamentary
elections but after a controversial political career (including a spell as
Minister for Information when the crackdown on freedom of the media was
particularly severe) is now aligned to the ZANU-PF faction led by
EmmersonMnangagwa and closely associated with the Joint Operations Command .

The JOC is composed of the high command of the military, police and Central
Intelligence Organisation. Many people we met regarded it as a de facto
ruling junta with the ability to overrule and countermand any decisions of
government ministers which run counter to the vested political and business
interests of the ZANU-PF political and military oligarchy.

During our visit we were honoured to meet Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
We visited him at his residence shortly before his departure on a tour to
meet heads of government in the SADC region, including President Rupiah
Banda of Zambia, who chairs the SADC Troika on Politics, Defence and
Security, and the leaders of Botswana, Swaziland and Mozambique.

On his return from that tour Prime Minister Tsvangirai said:

“While I was away in the last four days, it appears the civilian authority
is no longer in charge and dark and sinister forces have engaged in a
hostile take-over of running the affairs of the country, with or without the
blessing of some leaders of the civilian authority.”

Arrests of MPs

The very different experience of MDC-T and ZANU-PF elected representatives
was brought home to us very starkly during our time in Zimbabwe.  While
ZANU-PF representatives seem to be above the law MDC-T MPs are frequently
arrested and detained in custody on trivial or trumped-up charges.

We were given figures showing that in the past two years 28 MPs from MDC-T
have been arrested. That is 28% of the majority party in the house of
Assembly. We tried to imagine the international outcry if 85 Conservative
MPs had been arrested in that same period.

Judiciary & legislation

These arrests appear to be politically-motivated because very few if any of
the prosecutions seem to have succeeded and many have been dismissed on the
grounds that there is no case to answer. While some judges’ views appear to
have been influenced by ZANU-PF loyalties or pressure – or by the lure of
patronage and grants of land – there is still a significant politically
impartial element in the judiciary maintains a professional approach and
applies the law impartially.

There is a problem with PresidentMugabe thwarting the democratic process
bywithholdingapproval from some laws.Legislation approved by Parliament is
not gazetted and consequently cannot be brought into force. We were told,
for example, that the Public Finance Management Act, which would introduce
new financial management measures and budget monitoring, was approved by
Parliament in June 2010 but had not been signed into law.

Consultation on a New Constitution

The COPAC consultation programme on a new constitution is a vital element in
the GPA and has to be completed before new parliamentary or presidential
elections can be held.

Shortly before our visit President Mugabe claimed that he could call for
elections whether the new constitution is ready. However his position was
contradicted by Marius Fransman, South African Deputy Minister of
International Relations and International Cooperation, who said:

“The South African position and that of SADC is to ensure that the next
elections as envisaged in the GPA are held under a new constitution that
would have been the product of the constitution-making process supported by
the Zimbabwean electorate through a referendum. In this regard, any calls
for elections without the finalisation of the constitution-making process
are in breach of the GPA as well as the constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment
number 19, which gives legitimacy to the inclusive government.”

Capacity of MDC-T

When we asked a ZANU-PF MP why so many MDC-T MPs were being arrested he
retorted that it was because they were not really up to the job. He told us
that until they were elected most had been ticket touts at bus stops and so
they did not understand how to behave properly.

This is typical of the way ZANU-PF has tried to smear the MDC-T as
incompetent. In the media and through diplomatic channels it constantly
suggests that they lack the capacity to be ministers or to form a
government. This line that has been picked up and repeated far too readily
by academics and commentators, but it is wrong and very damaging to
Zimbabwe.

There are many very talented men and women in MDC-T, we met some of them.
They are highly capable and one only needs to look at what ZANU-PF has done
to the country over the past 31 years to see how ridiculous it is to say
MDC-T could not do better.

The capacity of ZANU-PF ministers and MPs is best demonstrated by the
destruction of the economy over the 10 years from 1999 until the formation
of the Inclusive Government in 2009. Between 2000 and 2008 GDP declined by
over 40%, agricultural output and industrial production were both halved.

Consumer price inflation was running at 11.2 million per cent in 2009. It
was fuelled by the maintenance of a ludicrous official exchange rate that
bore no relation to the rate prevailing on the street. Favoured ZANU-PF
functionaries were granted licenses allowing them to access hard currency at
the distorted official rate which they then exchanged at prevailing parallel
market rates.

The arbitrage opportunity offered by this huge differential, allied to state
protection for those licensed to deal at distorted official rate as part of
the ZANU-PF system of patronage, meant the printing presses could simply not
meet the demand for Zimbabwean dollar banknotes. In the face of these
activities efforts such as lopping zeroes off the local currency – or even
declaring inflation illegal – were inevitably futile.

The economic turnaround achieved by MDC-T Secretary-General TendaiBiti as
soon as he took office as Minister of Finance was dramatic. The Zimbabwean
Dollar was abandoned and the use of the US Dollar and South African Rand
made official. Inflation fell to 5% per annum. Shops where for years the
shelves were bare are now well stocked with full ranges of food and consumer
products.

Western ‘sanctions’

The economic disaster was blamed on what President Mugabe and ZANU-PF
portrayed as Western economic ‘sanctions’. Together with the
state-controlled media they claimed measures imposed by the EU and USA
prevented foreign investment. Senior members of ZANU-PF we met even claimed
that pharmaceutical imports had been blocked by such measures.

This view of the economic recession is unfounded. The restrictive measures
imposed by some Commonwealth members, by EU member states and the USA are
carefully targeted at named individuals (around 200 people and 40 companies
under their control). They apply only to those closely associated with abuse
of human rights and are designed not to harm the economy of Zimbabwe.

The destruction of the economy was the result of disastrous policies
implemented with the short-term political aim of maintaining ZANU-PF’s grip
on power through patronage and reward for party loyalty. There was also a
concerted effort to undermine trade unions – the springboard from which the
MDC was formed.

The assault on commercial agriculture was as much about destroying the power
of the agricultural workers, the largest unionised sector of the workforce,
as it was about land redistribution. Being able to dress up this assault on
black African workers as the completion of the process of decolonisation was
a political bonus for the ZANU-PF propaganda machine. It also disguised an
unpleasant tribalist political agenda. Many agricultural workers are
descended from earlier generations of migrant workers from Malawi and were
stigmatised as being ‘not true Zimbabweans’.

If the agricultural sector is to be revived a new system of secure land
tenure will need to be devised. Investment in infrastructure and borrowing
for inputs of seed and fertiliser are not possible under a system where
possession can be revoked at any time and where land holdings cannot be
utilised as collateral for agricultural loans.

Role of MPs in Zimbabwe

An important point that came to light in our discussions with MPs,
particularly those from the Movement for Democratic Change, was that they
did not feel sufficiently engaged or consulted by the implementing agencies
of aid programmes.

Of course those responsible for aid programmes are anxious that their work
should not be seen to be in any way interfering with the internal politics
of countries where they operate. However there can be dangers if local
circumstances are not acknowledged.

Normally aid agencies will consult with local officials since it is they who
are seen as being professional rather than political. However this is not
the case in Zimbabwe. A deliberate ploy of ZANU-PF has been to politicise
every level of life and government in Zimbabwe. This means that District
Officers and officials in healthcare and education are all apt to represent
a ZANU-PF view.

To counter this it is really important that elected MPs and Councillors, who
have a mandate from the people, should be consulted. Otherwise there is a
risk that the ZANU-PF line is fed into the consultation via officials while
the alternative MDC view is excluded because it is regarded as political.

One thing that particularly struck us in the course of a full morning’s
consultation with Zimbabwean MPs was that they described themselves as being
‘engines for development’ in their constituencies. In our experience there
are not many countries in the world where MPs would describe themselves in
that way.Special budgetary provision is made by the Ministry of Finance
granting MPs allocations to enable them to fund developmental projects in
their constituency.

Another area where both MDC and ZANU-PFMPs we met clearly feel able to make
use of their experience and position in parliament is as members of
parliamentary portfolio committees. They felt important work was done in
holding the executive to account and partisan politics could be put aside to
challenge performance and policy implementation by ministers regardless of
party affiliation.

Shepherd Mushonga, who we met, is an MDC MP and chairs the Parliamentary
Legal Committee.Paddy Zhanda a ZANU-PF MP, who we also met, chairs the
equally important Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Budget and Finance

Visit to Chegutu West Constituency

We travelled two hours south west out of Harare to visit the Chegutu West
constituency of Takalani Prince Matibe. He is an example of the promising
young generation of Zimbabwean parliamentarians determined to play their
part to the full in restoring Zimbabwe and making it work again. He
explained to us that he wanted to see a Zimbabwe that can stand proudly on
its own feet; that can feed its people and provide them with jobs.

We visited the newly-established Borden Primary School built using part of
Takalani’s constituency development fund of $50,000 for which all MPs are
eligible. We met the headmaster and some of the children and also the local
councillor, a member of ZANU-PF, who praised the project and was clearly
fully engaged with the project.

It was notable that constituents were very hesitant to speak to us about
matters relating to government. This seemed to indicate deep-seated anxiety
about retribution if they were in any way critical of authority.

Visit to Glen View South Constituency

Paul Madzore, another very energetic and impressive MDC MP, showed us round
his Glen View South constituency, a high density suburb on the south-eastern
outskirts of Harare.

We were warmly welcomed by the staff and pupils of Glen View High School.
The good manners and smart uniforms of the pupils were a delight to see and
their hard work and dedication made it all the more sad that for many there
will be no jobs when they finish their education.

Outstanding results are achieved in O & A Level exams –we felt it might be a
good idea to send our UK Education Ministers on a visit to see what lessons
they could learn from the headmaster there. The school has a roll of 3,200
with the staff and premises being used to educate two sittings; a morning
session starting early and finishing at midday and an afternoon session
finishing in early evening.

There is still a thirst for education among children in Zimbabwe and
literacy rates remain high despite the lack of resources and huge classes
and economic pressures on family life.Unfortunately the new text books paid
for by taxpayers in the UK and donated to Zimbabwe schools via the Education
Ministry in Harare had not yet arrived at either ofthe two schools we
visited in Glen View South andChegutu East.

Resources to support the electoral process

Both Paul Madzore’s constituency office in Glen View South and Takalani
Prince Matibe’s constituency agent in Chegutu West were clearly desperately
short of resources. Communication with constituents is severely hampered if
there are no resources, material or financial, for producing leaflets or
newsletters. This difficulty is compounded if, as in the case of Chegutu
West, there are no funds to travel to the outlying districts of a large
rural constituency.

However Zimbabwean political parties are precluded by law from accepting
foreign funding which makes external support for the essential processes of
democracy, electioneering and voter engagement very difficult.

Election monitoring

Shortly before our visit to Zimbabwe Vice President Motlanthe of South
Africa said, speaking of the next presidential and parliamentary elections
in Zimbabwe:

“The conception is that these elections would be a watershed like the 1980
elections that happened when the old Rhodesia became Zimbabwe. There would
be a need for an international presence of the same scale, to ensure a
bridge with the past. The next elections are viewed by all parties as
watershed elections, and therefore they have to prepare for them thoroughly
to ensure that there will not be any more violence and intimidation during
the course of the election campaign.”

We feel it is vital for the Commonwealth, whose membership overlaps with
both SADC and the AU,with its long experience of monitoring elections and
providing technical assistance, to engage in planning for a protracted
presence in Zimbabwe as envisaged by Vice President Motlanthe.

The period before campaigning begins in earnest will be important in
establishing confidence among voters that they will not face retribution or
persecution for the outcome of the electionl in their ward or district.The
presence of technical advisers, electoral monitors and international
observers needs to be carefully planned. Adequate resources should be
allocated for a large contingent to be present in Zimbabwe for several
months.

The period after polling day will also need to be observed to ensure that
any political transition is not marred by violence. The police, military and
state security sector must not be allowed to impede the peaceful transfer of
power in accordance with the democratically expressed will of the people and
they must notnot, as has been threatened, withhold recognition from those
elected to government office.

Since substantial financial support for the electoral process will be
provided by Commonwealth member states (as well as by the EU and USA) we
feel it is not unreasonable that provision should be made by SADC in its
roadmap for significant presence by Commonwealth representatives in Zimbabwe
during the extended period leading up to elections and following the poll.

Freedom of assembly and association

Freedom of expression and freedom of association are fundamental to the
conduct of credible elections. We heard reports from many sources of
meetings and rallies organised by the MDC-Tbeing banned or broken up. MDC-T
party workers told us that even where police permission is sought well in
advance it is frequently refused and for no good reason.

Article XII of the GPA is entitled ‘Freedom of Assembly and Association’.
These freedoms are fundamental to the agreement and yet the police and
security sector conspire with the ZANU-PF old guard to thwart these most
basic rights. Such difficulties were obviously forseen when the agreement
was drawn up and the article commits the contracting parties to
“work together in a manner which guarantees the full implementation and
realisation of the right to freedom of association and assembly; and that
the Government shall undertake training programmes, workshops and meetings
for the police and other enforcement agencies directed at the appreciation
of the right of freedom of assembly and association and the proper
interpretation, understanding and application of the provisions of security
legislation”.
Furthermore even routine meetings of local committees of political parties
and civil society activists are broken up using draconian legislation which
means that any gathering of more than three people can be deemed illegal if
permission has not been granted by the police – and even where it is sought
it is often denied or the process delayed to such a degree that compliance
with the law is, in practice, impossible.

Press and media freedom

Some progress has been made toward freeing the print media from the
repressive control imposed in 2003. However, although the Media Commission
envisaged under the GPA has now been set up, and has granted licenses to
some independent newspapers, the broadcast media remain outside its remit
and are consequently firmly under the control of government officials and
management loyal to ZANU-PF. MDC-T ministers and commentators who might
balance the heavily pro-ZANU-PF editorial line are denied access to the
broadcast media. News broadcasts are little more than crude propaganda and
all commentary on the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation radio and television
broadcast monopoly is dismissive of the MDC at every level and presents only
the ZANU-PF world view.This is a particularly serious shortcoming in
outlying rural areas where access to newspapers is very limited and other
sources of information such as the internet are not widely available.
Again fundamental elements of the GPA are being ignored. ZANU-PF as a
contracting party signed up to a commitment obliging it to ensure:
“that the public media provides balanced and fair coverage to all political
parties for their legitimate political activities [and] that the public and
private media shall refrain from using abusive language that may incite
hostility, political intolerance and ethnic hatred or that unfairly
undermines political parties and other organisations”.
Prospects for the future
The view of people we met, confirmed by our own observation,is that there is
a widespread yearning for truly democratic government in Zimbabwe and that
this would undoubtedly lead to a very rapid revival of the economy. The
speed of the possible turnaround has been foreshadowed in the dramatic
changes seen following the measures such as the dollarisation of the economy
introduced by TendaiBiti and fellow MDC ministers in the Inclusive
Government.
At present uncertainty over indigenisation proposals acts asan additional
deterrent to inflows of capital. Conflicting messages from ministers in the
Inclusive Government over this area of policy continueto frighten away
potential investors as well as unsettling major existing investors in
significant sectors of business and industry and.
Zimbabwe is blessed with significant natural resources and a well-educated
population. The reassurance of political stability and respect for the rule
of law would release a flood of investment and growth is likely to be rapid
and sustained. This would have a beneficial effect across SADC as a whole -
both economically and socially -providing sustained support for regional
development, food security and healthcare provision.
Recommendations to the Commonwealth

1.    Commonwealth member states that are also members of SADC or the AU
should discharge their responsibility towards the people of Zimbabwe, and
more widely to the people of the region, as guarantors of the GPA by
supporting the efforts of President Zuma and his facilitation team tohold
all Parties to their obligations under the Agreement and their commitments
to plan and implement a roadmap to credible and internationally recognised
elections in Zimbabwe.

2.    The wider Commonwealth should use its good offices to promote a
peaceful and vibrant multi-party democracy in Zimbabwe, with balanced access
to print and broadcast media.

3.    The wider Commonwealth should stand ready to offerlong term monitoring
programmes before, during and after parliamentary, presidential and local
government elections in Zimbabwe and mobilise adequate financial support to
ensure nationwide coverage through extended observation of campaigning, of
the electoral process and any subsequent political transition.

Acknowledgements

We wish to express our gratitude to the Commonwealth Parliamentary
Association - UK Branch for their grant of a fellowship to fund our visit.

We are also enormously grateful to the number of Zimbabweans, from the
highest levels of government, parliament and civil society, who generously
found time to meet us in their busy schedules. Our cordial and frank
discussions with them were most valuable and we believe helped in our mutual
understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by parliamentarians
in Harare and at Westminster.

The readiness of officials to make themselves available and to engage in
dialogue meant our visit was a great deal more than simply an academic
exercise. We came away feeling that in the short time we were in Zimbabwe we
had done useful work that will help lay the foundation for further progress
in strengthening parliamentary democracy and development in Zimbabwe and
relations between our respective parliaments.

During our visit to Zimbabwe we had discussions with a good number of
Zimbabwean parliamentarians. We held a well-attended workshop with Members
of the Zimbabwe House of Assembly which was co-chaired by the Chief Whip of
the majority party in the House of Assembly, Innocent Gonese MP, and the
chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Zimbabwe at Westminster,
Kate Hoey MP.

We met leaders of civil society including the Director of the Zimbabwe NGO
Human Rights Forum, the President of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
and the Chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly. Our discussions
helped build on good relationships established during visits by
representatives of these organisations to the All-Party Parliamentary Group
on Zimbabwe at Westminster.

We are particularly grateful to HM Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mark Canning, for
generously hosting two extremely useful working dinners at his Residence and
to staff at the British Embassy for helping arrange meetings and providing
us with background briefings.

We are also grateful to the UK High Commissioner in South Africa, Dr Nicola
Brewer, for finding time to meet us in Johannesburg.

Dave Fish the Head of the UK Department for International Development (DFID)
in Zimbabwe made an important contribution to the success of our visit
through being readily available for dialogue with us and with our Zimbabwean
counterparts and explaining the operation of UK support for development in
Zimbabwe.

John Makamure, Henry Ndlovu, RongaiChizema and PlaxedesDhlamini of the
Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust (SAPST) greatly assisted our
dialogue with Zimbabwean parliamentarians and provided superb support with
practical arrangements, technical briefings and accompanying us during
meetings and on our visits to constituencies.

Appendix

Arrests of MPs

Elton Mangoma

Elton Mangoma was under arrest while we were in Zimbabwe. As well as being
MP for Makoni North and Minister of Energy and Power Development Elton
Mangoma is co-negotiator with TendaiBiti appointed to represent MDC in the
talks on the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA)
facilitated by President Zuma of South Africa under the auspices of SADC.

His arrest and detention in custody was not only having a serious impact on
the working of the Inclusive Government but was also exacerbating the
already protracted delays in making progress with President Zuma’s
facilitation team on a roadmap towards full implementation of the GPA.

During our time in HarareMangoma was granted bail but then rearrested. When
he was granted bail the state prosecutors then invoked Section 121 of the
Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (which suspends bail orders for seven
days). He was subsequently arrested on a further charge but the State
Prosecutor’s attempts to have him denied bail were dismissed by the High
Court.

Douglas Mwonzora

Douglas Mwonzora MP (MDC), co-chairman of the Constitutional Parliamentary
Committee (COPAC), had been arrested outside parliament a month before our
arrival.  Mwonzora had gone to the police to make a formal complaint after a
meeting he held in his Nyanga North constituency had been disrupted by a
militia sent by  Hubert Nyanhongo, the ZANU-PF MP who represents Harare
South, but ended up being charged himself.

Progress on constitutional reform is fundamental to the roadmap for new
elections. The process has already fallen behind schedule; further diversion
or stalling through the arrest of the co-chairman has serious implications
for the resolution of the political crisis. This will in turn delay economic
revival and so has a negative impact on the lives of millions of
Zimbabweans.

Shepherd Mushonga

Shepherd Mushonga is MDC MP for Mazowe Central and chairman of the
Parliamentary Legal Committee. We met him just after his release on bail and
he is a lovely cheerful man. The charge against him was that he had stolen
$700 worth of excess quarry stones donated for building a nurses’ home in
his constituency and used them to build a primary school.

MunyaradziGwisai

Another prominent topic during our time in Harare was the arrest, three
weeks before our arrival, of MunyaradziGwisai and 45 other social and human
rights activists. Gwisai was formerly MDC MP for Highfield, a high density
suburb of Harare.

Gwisai, now an official of the International Socialist Organisation (ISO),
was been arrested together with members the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU), the Zimbabwe National Students’ Union (ZINASU) and other
unions.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesman said:

“On February 19 it is said Gwisai invited people from ZCTU, students from
ZINASU, Medical Professionals and Allied Workers’ Union and International
Socialist Organisation to attend a meeting with a theme — ISO calls on
workers, students and the working people to support the struggle in
solidarity with Egyptian and Tunisian workers.”

“The agenda of the meeting was the revolt in Egypt and Tunisia — what
lessons can be learnt for the working class in Zimbabwe and Africa. Videos
of the uprising in Egypt and revolts in Tunisia were being shown to the
guests who attended as a way to motivate the people to subvert a
constitutionally-elected government.”

The ZRP spokesman was reported as saying police would not allow any plots to
take Zimbabwe the Egypt way and would clamp down mercilessly on plotters of
any revolts.

Complaint filed with SA police against ZANU-PF Thug

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

Dear Colleagues,

An update on the case of a ZANU-PF thug who attempted to disrupt our press
conference earlier today:

Complainant Rodrick Magaisa has formally filed a report of common assault
against Ndaba Nyoni, the ZANU-PF chairperson for Johannesburg who attacked
him with a piece of glass. Police at Johannesburg Central Police ( John
Vorster) have opened a file under case number 96/2011. Crisis Coalition
reporters have captured the incident on video and have evidence at hand to
prove the assault.

This clearly was an attempt by ZANU-PF to divert attention from its failings
and from important SADC business of crafting a clear roadmap for Zimbabwe,
but it has failed. Ndaba Nyoni was not invited to the Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition press conference, but demanded entry and tried to cause confusion.
We rejected totally any attempts by Ndaba to smear civic groups or members
of the MDC who attended the press conference by blaming them for ZANU-PF
violence exported from Zimbabwe.

We are aware that ZANU-PF will make further attempts to disrupt our
'Zimbabwe Footprints of Abuse Photo Exhibition' to be held tomorrow at the
Hilton Hotel, Ballroom 1, from 10am. We appeal to the South African Police
to deal with these criminal elements who thrive on chaos, lawlessness and
confusion. We are not deterred, our peaceful campaigns and our March and
Rally on Saturday in Sandton will go ahead as planned.

We thank members of the South African Police and Hotel Security who reacted
swiftly to restore order and who quickly ejected him from the hotel.

Meanwhile, we welcome with great appreciation words of solidarity and
support by the Swaziland Democracy Campaign ( please see press statement
below and attached). Also attached is a photo of the ZANU-PF thug Ndaba
Nyoni ( picture by Oswald Chikosi).

Dewa Mavhinga
Regional Information and Advocacy Coordinator Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition,
South Africa Office

'Hero' Edgar Tekere haunts Zanu-PF

http://mg.co.za/

RAY NDLOVU Jun 10 2011 00:00

Edgar Tekere (74), one of Zimbabwe's liberation struggle icons and a
founding member of Zanu-PF, died this week after a two-year battle with
prostate cancer.

His death is certain to be a litmus test for Zanu-PF, which repeatedly
crossed swords with the veteran nationalist and is now struggling over how
it should acknowledge him.

Tekere's political career, which spanned four decades, involved imprisonment
under Ian Smith's Rhodesian government in 1957 in the Gonakudzingwa prison
camp and in 1964 in the HwaHwa state prison.

He played an instrumental role in kick-starting the liberation war from
Mozambique, was a member of the Lancaster House Conference delegation in
1980 and served as a Cabinet minister after independence.

But his murder of a white farmer, Gerald Adams, in 1980 led to a
controversial trial and his anti-government rhetoric, slamming both
President Robert Mugabe's attempts to create a one-party state in Zimbabwe
and the growing corruption in Zanu-PF, stirred up controversy.

In 1988 he was fired from Zanu-PF but he emerged two years later as the
founder and leader of the Zimbabwe Unity Movement party and faced off with
Mugabe in the 1990 presidential elections.

Although he lost the election, Tekere continued to be a dominant player in
the country's political scene well into the new millennium and remained an
outspoken critic of Mugabe and Zanu-PF structures.

After his readmission to Zanu-PF in 2005 he was regarded as closely aligned
to the Simba Makoni-led faction of the party. His political clout within
Zanu-PF even then was still covertly acknowledged by Mugabe sympathisers. A
prerequisite for Tekere's readmission was that he could not hold a
leadership position within Zanu-PF for five years.

Despite this, the following year the ambitious Tekere, accustomed to the
life of a leader, declared his wish to contest a senatorial seat. But
Zanu-PF hawks, afraid of a revival of his political career, swiftly blocked
his efforts and denounced his candidacy.

In 2007 the release of his autobiography, A Lifetime of Struggle, stoked
fresh controversy. He claimed that he personally aided Mugabe's ascendancy
to the leadership of Zanu-PF. He also criticised Mugabe for being cold,
hard-hearted and manipulative and pointed to this as the central pivot of
the president's continued stay in power.

The outspoken Tekere, nicknamed "Twoboy", announced in the run-up to the
2008 presidential elections that he had "appointed himself the principal
campaigner for Mugabe's downfall" and endorsed Makoni's candidature.

Tekere's appeal overlapped political party lines, which saw him invited to
the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) in 2009. To many Zimbabweans he was also the man who brought Bob
Marley to the country for his mem­orable independence celebration concert
and helped to unite a divided country.

Reacting to the news of his death, Didymus Mutasa, the Zanu-PF secretary for
administration, described it as a "national loss", although he did not say
whether the late nationalist would be buried at Heroes' Acre.

"It's too early for us to say much about his hero's status because that must
come from his provincial leadership and after consultations with his family.
"Everything will be announced in due course," he said. But other political
parties have been quick to confer hero status on Tekere and to support his
burial at the national shrine.

Douglas Mwonzora, the spokesperson for the MDC, said: "He sacrificed
personal comfort for the greater good of the people of Zimbabwe and he
deserves to be accorded national hero status."

Dumiso Dabengwa, the Zapu president and also a veteran nationalist, recalled
Tekere as a "wise man from the east", saying: "I have no doubt that he is a
hero and he takes the top marks among those who participated in the
liberation struggle."

Zimbabwe's private daily newspapers, NewsDay and the Daily News, both
declared Tekere a hero -- an apparent dig at Zanu-PF's dilly-dallying over
his status. But in recent years the late Tekere himself said he did not want
to be buried "among thieves and killers" at Heroes' Acre.

Earlier this year Mugabe declared that the national shrine was for Zanu-PF
members only, which led to an outcry by the MDC and civil society.

Zanu PF in Crisis

Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 10th June 2011

It often seems to outsiders that despite all the changes in the past decade,
“Zanu is still in charge” in Zimbabwe. They are past masters at strategy and
seem to be able to react with speed to changing events and are always very
disciplined when it comes to message and media management. By contrast we in
the MDC seem to muddle through, are constantly debating the issues and
consulting everyone. We seem to be always reacting to what Zanu does and do
not often appear to take the initiative.

But somehow we always seem to land on our feet, we muddle along but come to
the right decisions, we do not attack yet we constantly see Zanu PF pushed
backwards in the struggle for democracy and change. Even so, it has been
rather pleasant in recent weeks to see Zanu PF in such a shambles and unable
to react effectively to events.

It has been coming for some time, but somehow it takes us by surprise when
things actually start to happen. First it was the steady build up of
pressure from the SADC States on the government here to accelerate progress
in implementation of the GPA, then it was the growing discord between the
South African government and Zanu PF culminating in a clumsy and ill
considered attack on the SA leadership and facilitation team. Second was the
shock of seeing a visibly older and more frail President Mugabe coming back
from his annual junket to the Far East and then flying backwards and
forwards to see his specialists and having his “eyes tested”.

His increasing frailty has given rise to a new reality in Zanu PF – the
reality that succession is no longer a swear word but has become a plan for
a contest they know they cannot win. Five candidates are in the ring, with
Mr. Mugabe, the ever-cunning ringmaster in this circus, playing mind games
with everyone. Favoring this one, then another, pushing forward an unknown
and squashing the ambitions of another. With Zanu PF trying to give the
impression that the issue of succession is important because they still
control the Presidency and give no hint that they think that situation will
change anytime soon.

The reality is that, like Ian Smith in the 70’s, Robert Mugabe has left it
too late to be able to control who takes over the reins in Zanu PF and too
late to influence the end game for Zanu’s continued existence as a viable
political Party. As a consequence he has allowed control over both events to
be taken over by time and outsiders and when the end comes he, like Smith,
will be a bystander watching events rather than making them happen.

That does not mean that he does not have the influence and power to make
mischief but what it does mean, is that if those to whom power is moving
take due notice and effective action, his negative influence can be
contained and the dangers averted.

It is clear that three alternatives are open to the Zanu PF leadership at
this moment in time and they have been considering all options in recent
days and weeks. These include:

• Walking out of the discussions with the SADC leadership this weekend in
Johannesburg, repudiating the GPA, dissolving the government and kicking the
MDC out of the Cabinet and forming a new government on their own and running
the country until the next elections with MDC in “opposition”.

• Accepting the SADC advice and coming back to the country after the weekend
to finish the constitution, implement required reforms and then launch an
all out war on the MDC across the country using all the means at their
disposal. Diamonds would fund this operation, which would see
disappearances, detentions and imprisonment, beatings and fear tactics,
manipulation of the media and information and finally control of voting and
counting.

• Accept that the SADC game plan leaves no escape routes and fall back on
the strategy already proposed by the MDC that we hold a Presidential
election as soon as possible, under SADC rules and supervision (which means
they loose) and begin negotiations with the MDC to get a new GNU in place
for the next five years, survive as a Party and try to rebuild with at least
their dignity intact.

Option one requires a divided SADC and the covert support of China and
Mozambique to handle the subsequent fall out. Option two requires a united
but weak SADC without the capacity to enforce their demands and conditions
on the ground in Zimbabwe. Option three will happen if the SADC remains
united and firm, South Africa holds its position and uses its considerable
clout to enforce adherence.

The one option that Zanu simply cannot live with is what is on the table in
Johannesburg – a road map to new elections under free and fair conditions.
If that is what happens then Zanu knows full well that they might well be
eliminated in any subsequent harmonized elections.

I have spoken with many who were in the armed forces in March 1980 and they
all say that the Rhodesian army had the capacity and the plan in place for a
military coup. That it did not happen was due to a variety of factors all of
which must be in place for success today. The people running the
transitional process (South Africa) must have good intelligence, they must
know what all parties are thinking and doing. The region must be united and
firm in their resolve that all parties to the Zimbabwean crisis should be
held to their agreements and forced to play ball. Finally, the more remote
powers with influence must ensure that the international community stays out
of the crisis and gives no comfort to the hardliners who might want to
perpetuate the situation in the country for their own security and
interests.

For our part we cannot sit back and watch events, it’s a change to be
watching Zanu PF on the defensive and in a corner but believe me, they can
still come out biting and scratching and if they do, we are in the front
line. However they cannot win this one, we only hope that they will accept
defeat gracefully and retire.

 

A Way Forward for Zimbabwe

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

 

 

Written by International Crisis Group

Friday, 10 June 2011 10:59

1. The Current Situation 2. What Should Be Done (Pictured: President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai) 3. History of the Crisis 4. Crisis Group Analysis 5. News and Other Reporting 6. Important Documents and Websites 1. The Current Situation Overview The situation in Zimbabwe is deteriorating again under a new wave of political violence organised by Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party that threatens to derail the Global Political Agreement (GPA). Mugabe’s calls for early elections have raised fears about a return to 2008’s violence, and the country faces the prospect of another illegitimate vote unless credible, enforceable reforms can first be implemented. Without stronger international pressure on ZANU-PF, the tenuous current coalition may collapse, triggering further violence and grave consequences for southern Africa. The GPA was signed by the three political parties (ZANU-PF, and the two wings of the former opposition, MDC-T and MDC-M) in September 2008, after Mugabe was “re-elected” in an uncontested run-off following violence that caused Tsvangirai (who led the first round) to withdraw. It was intended to provide a foundation for response to the multiple political and economic crises, but it has become a battleground for control of the country’s future. As in 2008, ZANU-PF’s ability, in partnership with the unreformed security sector leadership (the “securocrats”), to thwart a democratic transfer of power remains intact. The state media is still grotesquely unbalanced, and the criminal justice system continues to be used as a weapon against ZANU-PF opponents, in particular the MDC-T. The centrepiece of GPA reforms is a parliament-led constitution-making process under the direction of the Constitution Parliamentary Affairs (Select) Committee (COPAC). That body launched an outreach program in the latter half of 2010, but several civil society organisations and the MDC-T criticise it for falling far short of being inclusive and open and accuse ZANU-PF of having captured and manipulated the process. Both MDC parties argue that COPAC must finish its work before elections are held, but ZANU-PF says elections can proceed with or without a new constitution and links its cooperation on democratic reforms to removal of targeted international sanctions, over which the parties have no control. The lack of political progress has been coupled with an alarming upsurge in political violence organised by ZANU-PF. The March 2008 elections were followed by an unprecedented campaign of violence targeting MDC-T, including at least 300 politically motivated murders, that eventually forced the party to withdraw from the June second-round vote. Violence has risen again following the early 2011 visit of the SADC facilitators, including arrest of MDC-T supporters and attacks on party and civil society figures. There are also reports of youth militia deployments across the country ahead of the constitutional referendum, including induction of many of these young people into the police and  army through ZANU-PF’s control of security force recruitment and the civil service. This correlates with allegations about deployment of army officers into rural areas  to coordinate intimidation, though these are vehemently denied by Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa. The facilitation team recognises that it needs a constant presence in Zimbabwe. Its roadmap should propose an audit of what has and has not been done, what the parties can and cannot achieve. If further power-sharing is inevitable, a pragmatic assessment of the current arrangement’s failure is needed. The guarantors and facilitation team have relied on the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC), set up by the GPA – four members from each of the three signatory parties – for evaluations, but it has not fulfilled its mandate, due to inadequate monitoring capacity, no enforcement leverage and problems navigating the distorted balance of power within government. In recognition of its poor performance, the SADC troika recommended strengthening the facilitation team’s monitoring and reporting capacity, so it could work closer with the JOMIC. The annual progress review the Periodic Review Mechanism should provide in consultation with the guarantors has not been done, though the party leaders recently agreed to correct this. The guarantors must ensure a comprehensive review. (Download) Concise monthly summaries of the situation in Zimbabwe are available in Crisis Group's monthly bulletin, CrisisWatch.

 

A letter from the diaspora

Friday June 10th 2011

The recall of parliament some two weeks ago set up a flurry of speculation
here in the diaspora and also at home I gather. Only the president has the
right to recall parliament so there must be something going on we said to
each other. Perhaps he was finally going to announce that he was tired and
it was time for him to retire kumusha to spend the rest of his days in
peaceful retirement? Or perhaps he was going to dissolve the House
preparatory to calling elections? Or - a more sinister option – perhaps he
was going to ban the MDC and declare a State of Emergency?

In the event it was none of those things but a case of ‘rubber stamping’ ie,
parliament being used to endorse an agreement that had already been signed
and sealed between the Zimbabwean and Chinese governments for a loan of $98
million for the construction of a defence college in the Mazowe Valley. Just
exactly why Zimbabwe needs a new ‘Defence College’ was not made clear since
as far as one can judge there is no imminent external threat to the country.
Schools, roads and hospitals are surely priorities in a country where the
infrastructure is collapsing around you? But, unsurprisingly, it soon became
very clear that the ‘enemy’ was of course the MDC that was ‘the enemy within’.
An opposition ‘star’ rally had been planned for Sunday June 5th. There was a
massive police presence with water cannons, armoured cars and Zanu PF thugs
beating up anyone seen to be making their way to the rally in Highfield. The
‘star’ was Morgan Tsvangirai, of course, but he failed to attend because, so
we are told, the police laid down totally unacceptable conditions: there
would be no toyi toying; there would be no derogatory speeches against other
political parties and probably he most insulting condition laid down by the
police: that Morgan Tsvangirai, who is after all the Prime Minister of the
country, should report all incidents of ‘hooligansim’ to the police.

That was on June 5th., needless to say attendance at the rally was
apparently very sparse - another propaganda victory for Zanu PF. Tendai
Biti, the Minister of Finance, was a speaker at that rally and the next day
his home in Harare was bombed. Coincidentally - or not – there was no police
guard at Biti’s home with the police claiming a shortage of manpower. As
with last week’s story about the killing of the police inspector, it is
almost impossible to discover the precise truth. Glen View continues to be a
very dangerous place and this week the police picked up another 8 people
bringing the total of suspects to 20 for the killing of the policeman.
Perhaps the truth will come out when the 20 suspects are brought before the
court. As for the Biti bomb, I wonder if we will ever know the truth. What
sort of bomb was it? One Zanu PF official said the explosion wasn’t even
powerful enough to kill a rat and what is more, Zanu PF claim the whole
incident was ‘staged’ by the MDC in order to highlight Zanu PF’s violence
before the SADC Summit this weekend. President Zuma is said to be concerned
at the level of violence in Zimbabwe. That’s not surprising when even
normally docile magistrates order an investigation into the apparent abuse
of suspects and police set the dogs on innocent villagers loitering around
the diamond mines at Chiadzwa where 80 people were badly mauled by police
dogs.

So after weeks of intensifying violence in Zimbabwe, the SADC Summit is upon
us. Prepare for lies and half-truths from Zanu PF and possible violence in
the streets as opposing groups meet head on in South Africa. Speaking
personally, I have no great hope that Zimbabwe’s problems will be solved by
the SADC leaders; it seems to me that they have neither the courage nor the
will to tackle Mugabe. As the Daily News describes the confrontation between
the GPA partners, it will be a ‘titanic battle’ and it’s hard to believe
that the ‘big men’ of Africa will back anyone other than the Liberation
Hero - but we live in hope.

Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH. author of the Dube books available
from Lulu.com