CBS
Mugabe evolves from champion of reconciliation to master of violent
rhetoric
Tuesday March 29, 2005
By TERRY LEONARD
Associated Press
Writer
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) For a time Zimbabwe President Robert
Mugabe
was one of the great hopes for the future of Africa. He was seen as
intellectual, astute, pragmatic and open to reconciliation after years of
bitter revolutionary struggle.
Decades after coming to power, at the
helm of a country sinking in despair,
he has become a tyrant instead of a
liberator, critics say. Instead of
reconciliation, he threatens any who dare
challenge him.
``We must be on our guard. Our survival is an ongoing
war,'' Mugabe told
supporters after his narrow 2002 re-election, a vote
observers say was
rigged.
On Thursday Zimbabweans go to the polls to
elect a new parliament, but it is
their 81-year-old president who is the
issue.
Opposition candidates paint the election as a referendum on years
of
repression and misrule. Mugabe, campaigning for his ZANU-PF party, casts
himself as the defender of Africans against neocolonialist
plotting.
When he came to power with the country's independence from
Britain in 1980,
Mugabe was hailed abroad as a model freedom fighter turned
statesman.
A quarter of a century later, Zimbabwe is teetering on the
edge of economic
collapse. Freedom of the press, of expression and
association have been
outlawed. The government is accused of massive human
rights abuses. Even
food aid has become a political weapon.
Critics
say Mugabe is a proud man embittered by his loss of stature in
Africa.
Mugabe has been overshadowed as an African statesman by South
African
President Nelson Mandela.
Mugabe rose from poverty to become a school
teacher, a Marxist freedom
fighter and finally the enormously wealthy
president of an impoverished
nation.
He was a shy, bookish boy who
began his education at a Jesuit mission school
and finished with a string of
degrees. But after years in the struggle and a
decade in prison without
trial, Mugabe learned to be tough.
After his last re-election, Mugabe
warned opponents not to be misled by his
reputation as an ascetic
intellectual and academic.
``I have many degrees in violence,'' Mugabe
said.
Those close to Mugabe say that after independence he never forgave
the
country's whites, even as he spoke of reconciliation.
Today
whites control a share of Zimbabwe's collapsing economy far greater
than
their numbers less than half of one percent of the population. In
return,
Mugabe gives them a disproportionate share of the blame for
Zimbabwe's
woes.
``Our party must continue to strike fear in the heart of the white
man, our
real enemy,'' Mugabe once told a party
congress.
``Zimbabwe,'' he said later, ``is for black people, not white
people.''
Mugabe says any thought of reconciliation has
passed.
``We offered them (whites) the hand of reconciliation but they
spurned it,''
he said after retaining power in 2002. Then he warned that now
``we might
not be so magnanimous to those who fight against
us.''
Mugabe launched an often-violent campaign to redistribute
white-owned farms
to black Zimbabweans in an apparent bid to rally support
after the
opposition made a strong showing in the last parliamentary
elections, in
2000.
Mugabe is at his most combative when responding
to criticism from Britain
and the United States. It gives him the chance to
bolster his popularity on
a continent still suspicious of the
West.
``No one should teach us about democracy and human rights. There
were none
until we fought for them,'' Mugabe said when Britain criticized
his
government after an earlier election.
No one in Britain, he said,
could teach Zimbabwe about democracy. ``We
taught them through the barrel of
the gun how to be democratic,'' he said.
``Colonizers for decades
trampled on us,'' he said recently. ``What have
they to teach us about human
rights?''
African leaders aren't spared. Responding to criticism from The
Rev. Pius
Ncube, the outspoken archbishop of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second
largest city,
Mugabe called him an ``unholy man'' who tells ``lies all the
day, every
day.''
In an interview last year with Sky News TV, Mugabe
attacked Archbishop
Desmond Tutu when the retired South African cleric and
Nobel Peace Laureate
called on African leaders to stand up to Mugabe, who he
said had become a
``cartoon character of an arch-typical African
dictator.''
``He is an angry, evil and embittered little bishop, you see,
who thinks
that his own view should hold,'' said
Mugabe.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights
Reserved.)
Sunday Times (SA)
AU cautious ahead of Zimbabwe polls
Tuesday
March 29, 2005 07:31 - (SA)
ADDIS ABABA - This week's election in
Zimbabwe may be a test of the
country's democracy but it could also pose
difficulties here at African
Union (AU) headquarters where controversial
President Robert Mugabe has
always been treated with kid
gloves.
Having thrown its weight into crises in Togo, Sudan, Somalia and
the
Democratic Republic of Congo and eager to prove its credentials as a
guardian of the continent's democratic credibility, the 53-member bloc is
wary of criticising the increasingly authoritarian Mugabe.
Last year,
an AU report critical of Zimbabwe's human rights record was
suppressed and
languished on the shelf for months before African Union
leaders quietly
adopted it at their summit this January in Abuja.
Most AU officials
regard Mugabe as a titan in the pantheon of African
liberation heroes, along
with Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, and say little
can blemish that stature
or his legacy as a virulent opponent of the
apartheid regime in South
Africa.
"Mandela, Mbeki, Mugabe: I have to speak of these people with a
great deal
of respect whatever mistakes they may make," said a senior
official in the
AU's political department.
"Zimbabwe fought
colonialism for a long time and it emerged victorious with
a flourish," the
official said, referring to its 1981 independence from
white-minority rule.
"It will always be remembered for its role."
For many, Thursday's
legislative polls will test Mugabe's commitment to
democracy and organising
a free and fair vote after heavily criticised
elections in 2000 and 2002
that were marked by violence and charges of
fraud.
Human rights
watchdogs have already said threats and intimidation directed
at the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) by Mugabe's Zanu-PF
party
make the chances of a credible election extremely difficult, if not
impossible.
Yet the African Union, faced with myriad other problems,
has remained
largely silent, its adoption of the critical human rights
report without any
public announcement a case in point.
"It's a
question of tactics," one AU diplomat said on condition of
anonymity.
"Zimbabwe can divide the AU." "Just making statements
doesn't necessarily
produce results and there are many other conflicts to
deal with on the
continent."
While the bloc has sent 10 monitors to
Zimbabwe to observe the polls there
is little to suggest that a tarnished
election will result in either a
strong rebuke or more dramatic action from
AU diplomats or leaders.
Mbeki, seen in the West as the key to applying
pressure on Mugabe, is intent
on pursuing his policy of "quiet diplomacy"
with his neighbour despite
criticism that it has been a
failure.
Earlier this month, Mbeki dismissed pessimistic reports about
the prospects
for a credible vote, saying he had "no reason to think that
anybody in
Zimbabwe will militate in a way so that the elections will not be
free and
fair."
Though seen as a pariah abroad, Mugabe was Tanzanian
President Benjamin
Mkapa's guest of honour in January at ceremonies marking
the 41st
anniversary of independence of Tanzania's semi-autonomous island of
Zanzibar.
One rare critical African voice has been that of Senegalese
President
Abdoulaye Wade, who earlier this year said he believed Mugabe's
government
"poses a problem for democracy."
Mugabe is a "bad lawyer
with a good cause," Wade said, referring to
Zimbabwe's highly controversial
land reform program under which millions of
hectares of white-owned farmland
have been allocated to blacks.
The scheme, launched in 2000, had prompted
massive protests from Britain,
once the colonial master of what was formerly
Rhodesia as it has seen the
violent occupation of white farms without
compensation by veterans of
Zimbabwe's independence
struggle.
"Zimbabwe is a particular case in the African Union," said one
Addis
Ababa-based diplomat.
"It was first a colonial-era conflict,
typically black against white, where
many states saw what was going on as
Britain defending its economic
interests," the diplomat said.
"In the
end, though, it's just a fight between Mugabe and some whites."
AFP
Kuwait Times
Zimbabwe's MDC weakened but still threat to
Mugabe
By Cris Chinaka: Five years ago, a powerful election
campaign by
Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change produced
the first real
threat to the two-decade rule of President Robert Mugabe's
party. But today,
political analysts are divided over whether the MDC still
has the clout to
embarrass Mugabe's ZANU-PF party in Thursday's
parliamentary polls or
whether the election will "bury" a weakened
opposition as Mugabe has vowed.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has led an
energetic campaign for the March 31
vote from which Mugabe is hoping to
emerge with a two-thirds majority in
Zimbabwe's 150-member parliament.
Mugabe goes into the elections with 30
seats in his pocket, courtesy of a
constitution that allows him presidential
appointees and reserves some seats
for traditional chiefs. Analysts dismiss
as far-fetched the MDC's prediction
that it will surprise the world with a
massive poll win despite an electoral
landscape tilted in favour of the
ruling party. Formed in 1999 and buoyed by
public anger over the collapsing
economy, the MDC braved violence and
intimidation by ZANU-PF supporters in
contesting the 2000 parliamentary
elections a presidential poll in 2002. It
maintains it would have won if not
for rigging. Political analysts say
although the MDC remains the most
serious threat to Mugabe's rule today, the
party has been weakened by years
of in-fighting over strategy and voter
apathy among supporters who believe
Mugabe will always rig elections.
Infiltration by ZANU-PF agents, harassment
and a raft of strict laws have
combined to undermine the MDC. Leading
Zimbabwean newspaper publisher Trevor
Ncube believes ZANU-PF has abandoned
violence in this year's campaign
possibly because it believes it has already
won. "Mugabe is convinced that
the intimidation and violence over the past
six years have sufficiently
softened Zimbabweans beyond recovery - unless he
is also confident that the
disaster that is the voters' roll will hand him
the two-thirds majority he
wants," Ncube said in a recent article calling
for a third party to solve
the Zimbabwe crisis. The MDC and many other
critics say the government has
kept the voter roll in a shambolic state with
hundreds of thousands of
non-existent "ghost" voters on the register to
allow it to rig elections.
The government denies the accusations. But Brian
Kagoro of Crisis Coalition
of non-governmental organisations in Zimbabwe
said the election was not yet
sewn up. "To some people, the MDC might appear
weak at the moment, but the
truth is that they pose a serious threat to
ZANU-PF and that is why Mugabe
has been throwing so much at it," he said.
"Mugabe realises this, and is not
taking any chances." But Ncube argued that
while Mugabe's government has
been a disaster for Zimbabwe, the MDC, created
by trade union officials led
by Tsvangirai, is not a convincing alternative
because of a divided and
inexperienced leadership. "The facts on the ground
show an ineffective
opposition party that lacks vision and strategy," he
said, adding that the
MDC "owes what it is today to a combination of
political chance and the
public's anger against ZANU-PF". The MDC says the
electoral landscape still
favours the ruling party despite reforms adopted
by Mugabe under Southern
African Development Community (SADC) democratic
guidelines. Violence may
have abated, but critics say ZANU-PF has used
strict security and media laws
against the opposition and has campaigned
with state resources. Mugabe has
addressed dozens of campaign rallies across
the country over the last two
weeks, hopping from one venue to another in a
state-owned executive
helicopter while Tsvangirai has criss-crossed the
country by road in
counter-attack. The two leaders' campaign themes also
differ starkly.
Mugabe, an 81-year-old former guerrilla leader who
spearheaded Zimbabwe's
independence war in the 1970s, has spent most of his
time denouncing British
Prime Minister Tony Blair, accusing him of seeking
to re-colonise Zimbabwe
through the MDC. Tsvangirai, 52, has tried to
capitalise on the economic
crisis, telling voters Zimbabwe stands no chance
of recovery with an ageing
Mugabe and a ZANU-PF party caught in a time-warp.
- Reuter
boston.com
Hotel Zimbabwe
By Laura Hambleton | March 29,
2005
VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe
VICTORIA FALLS emits a mist that
drenches the nearby cliffs. The crescendo
of water flowing into the Zambezi
River increases as winter approaches in
the southern hemisphere, sending up
an ever-growing volume of fine rain.
ADVERTISEMENT
The falls
creates a rainforest, an oasis in this parched country, suffering,
as does
much of southern Africa, from a long drought.
In fact, Zimbabwe is in the
midst of many kinds of droughts -- a loss of
tourists, a loss of basic
freedoms, and a loss of political credibility ever
since President Robert
Mugabe sent gangs into white-owned farms to seize the
land. Life has become
so stark that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
described Zimbabwe as one
of the world's ''outposts of tyranny," along with
North Korea, Burma, Iran,
Belarus, and Cuba.
I came to Zimbabwe as a sightseer, along with my
mother and daughter.
Perhaps, though, I was a political observer as well,
for this is what
happens to anyone who visits Zimbabwe these days,
especially now, on the eve
of the March 31 parliamentary
elections.
My first impression as I stepped into the country in early
March was
poignant and stays with me still. At the Victoria Falls airport,
an
immigration official asked me for $30 to pay for an entry visa. I asked
him
if I could use Zimbabwean dollars instead.
''You could," he said,
''if you show me a receipt of where you bought the
Zim dollars." Stuffed
deep in my bag, I had a few Zim dollars but no
receipt. I handed him
American cash and we stared at each other for a
moment.
In a way,
this government official openly admitted a devastating truth: His
own
currency is virtually worthless, even in his own country. And it held no
value for me, for US dollars paid my way: in the taxi from the airport, at
the falls, and at the Victoria Falls Hotel.
Zimbabwe dollars simply
were tokens of a once functioning country to present
to my sons back home.
The 189-room hotel was nearly empty, and we felt like
children on holiday.
We sat in overstuffed chairs in the sitting room,
played gin rummy in the
library, and wandered the endless halls, stopping in
front of photographs
and posters from the bygone days of the British Empire.
The English
looked so happy then, picnicking by the falls, with black
porters toting
their food. Posters boasted of the raw material supplied to
England from her
colonies, gold, hides, and ivory.
That era is rightly discredited, but we
couldn't help think the same had
happened to Zimbabwe
today.
Twenty-five years ago the future was bright; Mugabe came to power
in a
liberation movement celebrated throughout Africa. He promised a place
for
everyone and turned his attention to rebuilding schools and the
healthcare
system. Yet, he held onto authority far too long. And the world
shunned him.
Which means few people like us, tourists, come to Zimbabwe
now.
As we strolled past clipped lawns, onto a dirt path to the Victoria
Falls
National Park, a guard joined us. He walked with my mother and told
her of
life in Zimbabwe. He said change is needed but wouldn't happen any
time
soon. Later we dined alone in the restaurant by the pool. Similar to
the
guard, our waiter, John, spoke about his country without being asked. As
he
talked, he watched others picking up towels and putting away cushions,
making sure they were not within earshot.
''It 's very tense here,"
he said. ''People expect a change, but who knows
what will happen. The last
election everyone came out to vote for the
opposition. Then all of a sudden,
Mugabe won. He rigged the election.
''People are going hungry because
there aren't any jobs. It's too late for
the farmers to come back. There are
no more green pastures."
We saw John the next day waiting on the dirt
path. ''Are you coming to the
pool today," he called. ''Yes," we
answered.
After returning to our rooms for no more than an hour, he
phoned. ''Are you
coming?" he asked again.
I told him we would be
down. ''I'll wait for you then," he said.
No waiter had ever called me in
my hotel room before. Was he after money or
a return to another time? We
changed into swimsuits, went downstairs, and
listened some more to what
Zimbabwe had become.
Laura Hambleton is a writer based in Pretoria, South
Africa.
News24
Mugabe seeks legitimacy
29/03/2005 09:39 -
(SA)
Harare - For the first time in years, members of Zimbabwe's
embattled
opposition are shouting their allegiance on the streets and
wearing their
party regalia openly.
As Thursday's parliamentary polls
draw near, President Robert Mugabe has
ratcheted down the violence and
intimidation that have cowed dissent, hoping
he can win a stamp of
legitimacy for his nearly 25-year regime and pave the
way for a successor of
his choice. The question, analysts say, is whether
the gamble will pay off
for his Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic
Front.
At stake are
the 120 elected seats in Zimbabwe's 150-seat parliament. But
since the
president appoints the remaining 30 seats, the MDC would need to
win 76
seats for a majority.
Polishing Mugabe's image
The opposition won
57 seats in the last parliamentary election in 2000,
despite what Western
observers called widespread violence, intimidation and
vote rigging. But it
has lost six seats in subsequent by-elections.
Opposition leaders and
human rights groups say Mugabe has not abandoned
political violence and may
be working behind the scenes to rig the vote. If
his party does lose, the
ever-defiant Mugabe could well void the elections.
But the apparent
reduction of overt abuses is read by many as an attempt to
polish his image.
In addition, he has carefully picked election observers,
barring those who
have criticised the state of Zimbabwean democracy and
allowing only those
seen as friendly.
If Zanu-PF wins an election deemed free and fair,
analysts say Mugabe can
safely hand over power to a successor - once he
chooses one - when his
current term expires in 2008.
The opposition
believes Zimbabweans have had enough of three-digit
inflation, endless food
shortages and joblessness in what was once a
regional
breadbasket.
Since the birth of the MDC six years ago, Mugabe's
government has sought to
shore up support with a radical land reform
programme to right colonial-era
imbalances.
But the often violent
seizure of thousands of white-owned farms for
redistribution to black
Zimbabweans, coupled with years of drought and a
worsening Aids epidemic,
have destroyed the country's agriculture-based
economy.
Opposition
leaders concede, however, the challenge will be getting their
supporters to
the polls in a country that has never experienced a free and
fair election -
and ensuring their ballots are counted.
The ruling party has also shut
down most independent media in Zimbabwe and
is using state resources for
campaigning.
Rights groups are also concerned about the state of the
voters' roll, to
which they have been given only limited access, and reports
that rural
voters are being led to believe their vote is not
secret.
While the MDC leadership is upbeat about Thursday's poll, many
Zimbabweans
remain fearful of expressing their political allegiances
openly.
Business Day
Posted to the web on: 29 March 2005
AIDS crisis deepens
as Harare reins in underfunded
NGOs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ZIMBABWEANS
battling the world's fourth highest AIDS rate are getting little
help from
international donors - and a government clampdown on
nongovernmental
organisations (NGOs) is threatening to take away the little
assistance they
do have.
Relations between President Robert Mugabe's regime and
non-governmental
organisations hit rock-bottom after a controversial bill
was adopted late
last year compelling NGOs to submit to government
scrutiny.
"We have millions of vulnerable people out there ... both
infected and
affected crying out for help," says Prisca Munonyara, director
of the
Zimbabwean NGO AIDS Counselling Trust (ACT), set up 17 years ago to
provide
free counselling to the poor living with HIV and AIDS.
"They
have come to depend on the NGOs for help and they are the people who
suffer
most as a result of the current state of affairs," says Munonyara,
referring
to the bill that has yet to be signed into law.
As Zimbabwe heads
into key parliamentary elections on Thursday, the AIDS
crisis is getting
little attention here as the parties slug it out with
attacks on each other
and - in Mugabe's case - on British Prime Minister
Tony
Blair.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai promised at a weekend rally to
ensure
that hospitals were able to treat people living with HIV and AIDS
saying:
"The youth especially must be careful and use condoms - three if
necessary -
to stop the spread of AIDS."
Zimbabwe has the world's
fourth highest AIDS rate, affecting one in four
adults, trailing just behind
Swaziland, Botswana and Lesotho, according to
UNAIDS.
But contrary to
neighbouring southern African countries, Zimbabwe is not
attracting foreign
aid on the same scale, mostly due to concerns from big
Western donors over
the government's record on corruption and human rights.
According to the
United Nations children's agency Unicef, the average annual
per capita donor
spending on a person suffering from AIDS in southern Africa
by the US, the
World Bank and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis
and malaria is
$74. But in Zimbabwe only $4 is spent on average on a person
living with
HIV, the agency says.
Zimbabwe's Labour Minister Paul Mangwana said the
bill was necessary to rein
in NGOs that the government claims were being
used by foreign governments
and organisations as conduits to channel funds
to the opposition.
Jonah Mudehwe, director of the National
Association of Non-Governmental
Organisations (Nango), the umbrella body
representing all NGOs, said the
poor were suffering as international aid
agencies had adopted a "wait and
see" stance.
"The poor
communities that were benefiting from the services of NGOs do not
get as
much as they did," said Mudehwe.
The government said two weeks ago that
it was investigating several NGOs it
accused of abusing funds received from
international donors.
Mangwana said organisations found to have abused
funds would be prosecuted
and banned.
About 2,3-million Zimbabweans
are living with HIV and AIDS, with about 2500
dying every week from
AIDS-related illnesses, according to government
statistics. Sapa-AFP
Daily News online edition
Irrigation plans announced -
again
Date: 29-Mar, 2005
AFTER the failure of this
rainy season, it was inevitable that the
government would announce a new,
bold and multibillion irrigation scheme -
for the umpteenth time. After
almost every disastrous rainy reason, there
have been similar announcements:
a grand plan to prepare a vast irrigation
programme which would ensure food
self-sufficiency even after the rains
fail.
Joseph Made,
announcing the irrigation plan last week, made little
reference to the fate
of the earlier schemes. He, like the rest of the
government, must know that
this is a question which will be asked by many
ordinary taxpayers. Political
logic would dictate that the looming food
shortage would lose the ruling
party millions of votes. This would be
compounded by the earlier, loud
reassurances that there would be no food
crisis this year.
The World Food Programme and other agencies warned of the food
shortage,
even offering to help Zimbabwe campaign for food supplies all over
the
world. Made could not make reference to that food shortage because, to
some
people, he was at the centre of the controversy during one season,
assuring
the nation that there would be a bountiful harvest when, in the
end, there
was not.
What drives the government to put up this false front
is the fear of
admitting that its land reform programme has been a disaster.
It is true the
seasons have not helped matters at all, but the root of the
crisis is the
disruption of productivity on the land which resulted from the
farm
invasions in 2000.
The government will view this
criticism as amounting to the
endorsement of the condemnation of their
policies by the West because their
kith and kin lost out. But it goes beyond
that: if the land reform programme
had been planned meticulously and not
been hurried because of the political
bonanza Zanu PF hoped to reap from it,
we would not be short of food today,
even if the rains had failed, as they
did.
Zanu PF will be hoping that the people will not dwell on
their massive
failure to feed the nation come 31 March. They want the voters
to blame Tony
Blair, not the war veterans, not Joseph Made, not
Mugabe.
They may be in a for a surprise.
March 28 , 2005
~~~ Newsletter 058
~~~
Sing Hallelujah
Remember that you must be connected to
the internet to view the images in this newsletter.
Z People
– Moving On UP
You've done us
wrong
Your time is up
You took a sip
From the devil's cup
Move right
outta here bobby
Go on pack your bags
Just who do you think you
are?
Stop acting like some kinda political star
Just who do you think you
are
Take it like a man bobby if that's what you are
'Cause we’re moving on
up
And you're moving on out
It’s time for us to break
free!
Exclusive
picture of mugabe’s face pressed up on his Mercedes window as he desperately
tries to find the few people gathered for one of his rallies.
In this newsletter:
- no
prizes for second best
- opinions on the elections from civil society
commentators
- defend and protect your vote
- voting information
- Born
Free newsletters hit the streets
- subscriber feedback
Go Go
Go Go! to the
polls on 31st March 2005. Join the hundredz and thousandz of other Zimbabweans
dedicated to democratic change.
I hope that
people get so disillusioned that they really organize against the government and
kick him out by a nonviolent, popular, mass uprising. ~ Pius Ncube, speaking
about the March 31st election
No prizes for second best
There is no doubt
that the MDC is the most popular political party in Zimbabwe and zvinoratidza
kuti vakashanda zvakasimba under extremely repressive conditions. Many other
parties would have fallen over like a sick dog, but the MDC has stood firm, has
weathered trials, imprisonment, intimidation and the like. So there isn’t much
debate whether the MDC are “the good guys” (at the moment). The question is more
like “are they the smart guys”? There are no prizes for second
best in this election. Now people might ask what is it we really want? What we
want is an end to the same old same old of the past 5 years of parliamentary
debate wherein our lives have gotten worse, legislation has gotten more
repressive and our economy is thin and frail (unlike vp mujuru). What second
best looks like to Zvakwana is the MDC taking up either 5 or 95 seats in
parliament and spending another 3 years waiting for the next presidential
election. Because, in case the politicians haven’t noticed, tirikufa nenzara, we
are getting sicker, our children are turning to crime or they are leaving for
mbeki land. Now is the time for the MDC, civil society (recently described as
shrivelled society) and all of us Zimbabweans to unite under the
rallying call of Zvakwana! Sokwanele! Enough! We want a change of government –
that is first prize. NO to an occupation of parliament, YES to zanu pf washed
out on the tsunami of people power led by politicians who are in the game for
national, not self interest.
Remember! Email
us at news@zvakwana.org with your cell
phone number if you would like to receive a recharge card to keep you in touch
with nyayas from Zvakwana. Also, in your email include your postal address so
that we can post the recharge card to you.
If football, why not elections?
Eh madoda! Did
you hear the shouts and cheering when our Warriors beat Angola 2 – 0 on Easter
Sunday! Did you watch the game? It was on the lips of people across the country
Sunday evening, and well into Monday. The game was relived, heroes lauded,
players debated. People ran screaming and singing and waving their flags to
celebrate the victory. Everyone was hooting and tooting their car horns up and
down the streets! If we can get this excited about a football game then surely
we can show this much get UP next weekend during the elections! This is exactly
the kind of spirit we need when it comes protecting our vote and making sure
that this victory is not stolen from us.
Free and
fair?
The MDC is considered as an enemy and a traitor. Let me give
you one example: when the Minister of Justice (chinamasa) was asked why the MDC
adverts on the national television were rejected, his answer was that CNN would
not air an advert from bin Laden. When you have people in high places so bereft
of logic or common sense, how can you expect them to orchestrate a free and fair
election? ~ George Bizos, lawyer
Specifically: NO to the status quo!
zanu pf
will be laughing their lungs out if they get another five years of an MDC
minority. The regime wants this to happen so that Zimbabwe can look like a
democratic country with two active political parties. Meanwhile all we have is
stalemate after stalemate in parliament, or zanu pf victories in the passing of
outrageous legislation. It is very worrying indeed that the MDC, some of civil
society and many Zimbabweans see any MDC presence in Parliament as bringing much
change. As the NCA Chairman Lovemore Madhuku said recently – the MDC, as an
opposition party cannot actually deliver on promises of jobs, clean water and
the like until they are the government in power. To see why winning 70 seats is
not such a big pom pom please read this opinion by lawyer Sternford Moyo who
tells it like it is. Moyo echoes Madhuku’s sentiments on the election. When push
comes to shove, the current constitution is our biggest obstacle to achieving
democracy in Zimbabwe.
Read Sternford
Moyo's "Election will not change grip on power "
Read Lovemore
Madhuku's "After another flawed election?"
On the
streets, everyone is saying it out . . .
Let’s give them the chop! One
time.
In Kenya the voters stayed
near polling stations and refused to go away and said they wanted to see how
their votes were counted and refused to believe that they could lose. So we are
going to win it's obvious but will uncle bob let us? Lets take shifts to be
around the polling station, you cannot vote and go home we need more than the
usual supporters who hang around when counting takes place and we do not need
POSA to be gathering. Lets do it! I have 10 friends already who have agreed to
be monitors and observers at our local primary school and we can be more. This
is our version of the velvet revolution. - P, Harare
From the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan
“If
unchallenged, last month's elections would have cemented Kyrgyzstan President
Akayev's hold on power. With the voting rigged, his son and daughter both won
seats in the new Parliament, along with a phalanx of corrupt cronies.”
-
Recent quote from the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan (with mugabe having fielded
his own relatives in this election all you need to do is replace Akayev with
mugabe and we have the same situation in Zimbabwe)
Actions speak louder than words
Kwese kwese
vanhu vari kutaura zvemaelections. You hear the hwindi preaching to the driver,
security guards sharing their thoughts, vendors debating issues. Clearly
everyone is focussed on 31 March as the Day to Make It Happen. But even more
than that day, we need to be ready for another rigged election. We cannot let
2000 and 2002 repeat themselves again and we must be ready to stand UP and
protect our vote. Quite clearly we want this bankrupt regime chucked out through
MDC, civil society, NGOs and Zimbabweans uniting, getting UP and protesting,
rather than only voting. If people power can succeed in other very repressive
environments we must look into our own hearts, and connect with inspired and
charismatic leadership to make this post-election outcome different from what
happened in 2000 and 2002. And this is why Zvakwana raised the issue of spoiling
ballots to illustrate the illegitimacy of this election. We can’t keep on
playing the same election games. If we don’t make it different this time it’s
likely that we’re gonna see the same rigging in 2008.
Its fine to be offering to
send people zanu pf cards and all if they really do think they will help them
move safely in this election time. But surely what we need instead is for all of
us to stop letting those thieves intimidate us into carrying their card. I wont
carry their card. I don’t believe in what it stands for. And it is my right to
move freely in my own country with or without that card. So instead of sending
cards to people you should be telling them to stand UP for themselves, and
demand that Zimbabwe be a place where none of us have to pretend to believe in
things just to protect us. -PM, Bindura (hundredz of people wrote to Zvakwana
for zanu pf party cards, this was just one response)
How do
you “defend” or “protect” your vote?
This election doesn’t stop when
you cast your vote. So please don’t just walk away and spend the rest of the day
having a few cold ones. Make sure that you are around your polling station
throughout the day and especially, be there when the result is announced. If you
see the candidate of your choice make a point of speaking with him/her (away
from the polling station, so that it does not look like s/he is campaigning
within the polling area). Be helpful and friendly to other voters – we are in
this together. If you hear of or notice electoral irregularities, contact
election-observing organisations such as the following and let them know:
-
Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) - info@zesn.org.zw or telephone 250735/6 or
cell 091 254 489
- Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition’s election information centre
open from Mar 28 – April 04
04-793 263, 091-288 605, 091-907
235, 011-612 860, 011-603 439, 011-755 600, 091-956 570,
091-266 430,
011-862 269, 011-862 804
Keep in touch with your
friends and colleagues in order to relay information around the country and to
keep up with things as they move.
Voting
information
Voting will be between 7am – 7pm on 31st March 2005. Zvakwana urges
Zimbabweans to demand that they be processed during this day and to refuse to
leave any polling station until they have exercised their democratic right to
participate in this election. Do not be turned away like last time! To exercise
your right to vote, you must take with you any one of the following forms of
identification:
- Metal National ID Card
- A green form waiting for an ID
with the individual’s passport size photo
- A new plastic National ID
Card
- A valid Zimbabwean passport
- A driver’s licence with the
individual’s ID number
Remember you need one of the above, not
all!
And make sure to take your own pen just in case the
regime has used some imported Zhing Zhong Chinese pens with ink in them that
fades after a few hours!
Let “my songs be
used as a rallying point for those who believe in
a true and tolerant
democracy.”
~ Oliver Mutukudzi
The need to take risks
We are told to believe
that we live in a free Zimbabwe and that our elections are “free and fair.” The
reality is that there is no freedom - either in elections or the press or in the
media. And many of our people have become accustomed to the lie. Some are
actually convinced that the situation is normal. I have found that I am not only
repeatedly put in prison by the state but that the whole nation is in prison -
and some think this is normal. Zimbabweans have to overcome the mindset that
says, “I cannot take the risk of getting involved.” We will not have success in
one day. There will be setbacks. But we want to build a broad foundation of
convinced people who take a conscious decision to take risks and overcome their
fear.
- Lovemore Madhuku, from Conscience Be My Guide, An Anthology
of Prison Writings
|
|
We’re choking on lies, not food We’re
choking on lies, not food The small dictator has accused international aid
agencies of trying to “choke” Zimbabwe with food saying that we have enough food
for all Zimbabweans. Sonke siyakwazi this is a plain and simple lie. Many of us
cannot find enough food for our families. Yes, there are two rallying cries
ringing in Zimbabwe at this time: one is Zvakwana! Sokwanele! Enough is enough!
The other is hungry, ndine nzara, sengi lambile, for food and intelligent and
respectful governance. |
One
Love
I refuse to give up
I refuse to give in
I don't wanna
give up
I don't wanna give in
So everybody sing
One love for the city
streets
One love for the hip hop beats
Oh I do believe
One love is all
we need
Pom pom to new voice on the street
Zvakwana
activists were stimulated to get some copies of the Born Free Youth Newsletter
currently being distributed. Shocking to read was the part wherein a youth
survey indicated that 25% of youth aren’t voting for one reason or another.
These reasons cited fear, having no interest and some said that they were simply
not going to vote. Vakomona! Our youth is our future and it is vital for our
restoration of democracy that the youth get UP and stand UP and become a part of
the political process. Born Free said that one of the biggest problems was in
the registration process with the Malaysian sponsored regime frustrating the
youth’s efforts to register. But it is encouraging to read that many youth are
not going to take the shit stem from the regime lying down. Zvakwana is
appealing to the Born Free cadres to give Zimbabweans some way of contacting
them next time they place a paper on the street. Many people are feeling
disconnected and want to join the movement. Help them do so. Here are some
suggestions from Born Free to build the resistance:
- - Organise small
community meetings
- - Spray paint walls
- - Write messages on bank
notes
- - Demonstrate
- - Perform gandanga theatre
- - Take away your
cooperation from zanu pf
Let it build towards 1 April and the days afterward
when we need co-ordinated resistance to make sure it is not business as usual
for zanu pf.
Slogans slogans everywhere
Zvakwana was
interested to see a poster that Women in Politics Support Unit printed for
Election Day. They are encouraging Zimbabweans to “Make a difference - Vote for
a woman!” Zvakwana is very much supportive of gender equality but talk about an
empty slogan! It is like saying, “Make a difference - Vote for a man!” It’s not
the candidate’s gender that matters; it’s her, or his, qualifications and track
record. The real way you “Make a difference” is to get involved in the process,
find out everything you can about all of the candidates, and then vote for the
person you think is best for the job.
Hie guys. I am living in
Tafara. Over here in the eastern parts of the city we are having no water from
day in and day out. Even as the world commemorated International Day of Water
recently thousands of Zimbabweans do not have access to clean and safe water and
even in so-called developed urban areas, on that very day so many couldn’t get
any water coming from their taps. I want to say that: no water – no Zanu PF.
They are making us sick.
- TM, Tafara
Remember zanu pf’s many promises?
Housing for all by the year 2000. And wasn’t that also health for all, and
education for all? Ha, but we are still living in shacks sometimes not even fit
for anyone. Instead under zanu pf mis-rule Zimbabwe has seen a group of
politicians feather their nests at the expense of the people. While the small
dictator has reached age 81, the life expectancy for ordinary Zimbabweans is a
mere 33 years of age. Go figure friends its time to boot the geriatricks out so
we can live longer. Zvakwana! Sokwanele! Enough is enough.
Zvakwana, Sokwanele, Enough!!
Make sure
you SPEAK OUT - keep discussion alive, keep information flowing.
Please remember Zvakwana
welcomes feedback, ideas and support for actions.
Enough is enough,
Zvakwana, Sokwanele.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Polling officers chased away
The Daily
Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Mar-29
ABOUT 1 000 teachers deployed
in Kotwa, Mudzi, by the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC) as polling
officers were on Sunday allegedly sent packing
by Mudzi District
Administrator (DA) and Zanu PF parliamentary candidate,
Ray Kaukonde after
being labelled MDC sympathisers.
ZEC, which deployed the teachers, yesterday
said it was probing the
banishment of the polling officers.
Utloile
Silagwana, ZEC spokesperson, yesterday said: "I am with the chief
election
officer right now. They are investigating the matter."
He would not divulge
more information on the incident.
Highly placed sources told The Daily Mirror
that the polling officers were
told to vacate the area after being aligned
to Zimbabwe's main opposition
party, which will fight it out with Zanu PF
this Thursday in parliamentary
polls both parties are predicting
victory.
The MDC yesterday said at least 800 polling officers had been turned
away in
Mudzi.
"Eight hundred polling officers arrived at the Mudzi East
Parliamentary
offices at Kotwa business centre at around 1.00am on Sunday 27
March 2005,
only to be told by the security guard at the Mudzi East
parliamentary
information centre that the District Administrator had left a
message that
the polling officers should go back to Harare upon arrival,"
alleged MDC
secretary general Welshman Ncube yesterday.
"The polling
officers could not take the guard's word and decided to seek
audience with
the District Administrator. A delegation representing the
polling officers
met with the District Administrator at about 10.00am, who
told them that he
had enough human resources to run the elections and did
not need polling
officers from Harare.
Ncube further alleged that while the delegation
representing the polling
officers was meeting with the DA, the Zanu PF
candidate for Mudzi East and
provincial chairperson, Ray Kaukonde came to
the centre. He was in the
company of other local Zanu PF leaders, who told
the polling officers they
were not wanted in Mudzi because they were MDC
supporters and sympathisers
The MDC alleged that all the polling officers
returned to Harare and would
be redeployed at Queen Elizabeth High
School.
Ncube challenged ZEC to prove its authority in the running of the
election
by sending back the polling officers to Mudzi.
"We challenge ZEC
to prove that it is in charge by ensuring that all the
polling officers are
sent back to Mudzi East to run the elections. We
believe that the usual
Zanu PF machinery, which will conduct the elections,
is geared to rig the
poll and steal the people's vote. How does one explain
a situation in which
the District Administrator's office - an institution
which has nothing to do
with the running of elections - can make such a
decision as sending back
polling officers who have been deployed by the
commission," charged
Ncube.
Kaukonde yesterday declined to speak to The Daily Mirror.
When
initially contacted for comment, Kaukonde said he was busy with the
President who was expected to hold a rally in Mutoko yesterday. "I am busy
with the President, urikudei (What do you want)?"
After being questioned
on the allegations, Kaukonde said he was unaware of
the development, before
his mobile phone went off.
Contacted again, he asked: "Murikudei kwandiri
(what do you want from me? I
am busy. Handizvizive zvaurikutaura (I don't
know anything about that),"
before his phone went off again.
Mashonaland
East provincial governor David Karimanzira professed ignorance
about the
matter.
"I am in Chivhu. I do not have enough information, as you know that
governors are not involved in the electoral process. I cannot say things
without authority," he said.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Maya in court for assault
The Daily Mirror
Reporter
issue date :2005-Mar-29
POLICE in Harare have said MDC
candidate for Mhondoro, Shakespeare Maya, was
remanded out of custody to
April 7 for an alleged assault in Norton that
took place about two weeks
ago.
Maya is the former president of the insignificant National Alliance for
Good
Governance (NAGG), which has failed to make an impact on Zimbabwe's
treacherous political scene.
Maya allegedly assaulted a man he saw
wearing a Zanu PF T-shirt in Norton
on March 8.
Police spokesperson
Wayne Bvudzijena said the police had banned road show
campaigns to clamp
down on public disorder and disruption of traffic.
He said police felt
disorder could come from the participants and criminals
at such road
intersections.
"This position has been adopted for all political parties and
independents,"
he said.
At least 13 more cases of political violence had
been reported throughout
the country since the last media briefing on
political violence on March 22.
Nine supporters of the two major political
were arrested, said Bvudzijena.
Zanu PF supporters committed seven of the
alleged cases, while MDC
supporters committed six, resulting in the arrest
of five and four
supporters respectively, he said.
This brings to 124 the
number of cases recorded since January this year.
Meanwhile, Bvudzijena said
Zanu PF has held 1 537 rallies countrywide, while
the MDC has held 763 since
January.
"As we enter the home stretch, we are determined to ensure that
peace,
safety and security continue to prevail in the coming week," he
said.
Bvudzijena said police made adequate preparations to ensure that there
would
be sufficient manpower at all polling stations and the safety of
voters.
He reminded members of the public that it was an offence to vote
twice and
that the wearing of party regalia within 200 metres of any polling
station
on the voting day was prohibited, so was any form of
campaigning.
Members of the Southern African Development Community and the
African
National Congress of South Africa election observer teams attended
the
briefing. -
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Gvt to appeal for food assistance
The Daily
Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Mar-29
ZIMBABWE will appeal to the
United Nations (UN) and "friendly countries" for
food assistance if current
stocks run out, the Minister of Public Service,
Labour and Social Welfare,
Paul Mangwana said yesterday as politics of the
stomach takes centre stage
ahead of Thursday's polls.
Speaking at a press conference responding to
accusations by Roman Catholic
Archbishop Pius Ncube that government was
deliberately starving people in
Matabeleland for political reasons, Mangwana
said government would approach
friendly countries and the UN for
assistance.
In an interview with the British television channel, Sky News
Ncube accused
government of bias against Matabeleland regions in food
distribution and
urged the people of Zimbabwe to rise against the
government
"At the moment we are still looking at our capabilities and we
will ask our
friends if we think we cannot handle the situation on our own.
We are part
of the international community and the UN and they have helped
us in times
we had food shortages. We will approach them at the appropriate
moment,
taking into consideration our capabilities and incapabilities," said
Mangwana.
Meanwhile, MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai has urged the
government to allow
NGOs to resume drought relief supplies if mass
starvation was to be averted.
President Robert Mugabe and other government
ministers have also
acknowledged the drought and promised that no one would
starve as they were
taking measures to ensure sufficient food supplies to
every citizen.
Mangwana said the government had also established food
distribution
committees countrywide, headed by district administrators,
councillors and
officials from the his ministry.
Statistics released by
Mangwana indicated that 400 000 households had
insufficient food supplies
last year.
"The Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZIMVAC) report
for 2004
assessed that a cumulatively over 400 000 households were not going
to have
sufficient food between September 2004 to March 2005," he
said.
Mangwana also said contrary to Ncube's accusations, Matabeleland
regions had
overally received more grain than they usually consume.
"We
have been supplying Matabeleland region with maize, which is three times
more than what they usually get every month. They have received over 74 000
tonnes since November last year," he added.
Some civic groups have
already said at 5.5 million people will need food aid
this year.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Police to curb corruption
The Daily Mirror
Reporter
issue date :2005-Mar-29
POLICE Commissioner Augustine Chihuri
has said the force will maintain a
zero tolerance stance on corruption in
the country.
In his message to police on the country's Silver Jubilee of
independence,
Chihuri said it had been a difficult task transforming the
force from the
erstwhile British South African Police that was a vehicle of
selfish white
colonial supremacy in the last 25 years of independence.
He
said that he was proud that the police had remained steadfast in the face
of
numerous challenges that threatened not just their operations, but their
policing entity.
"Challenges of tomorrow may not necessarily call for
today's solution, so
the government is working towards ameliorating the hard
working conditions
currently being experienced by the police force," he
said
"As we reflect on the birth and success of a people-oriented police
force, I
would like to urge members of the police not to relent, as
challenges
alluded to are merely transient."
He urged the police to
remain vigilant despite the prevailing hard economic
challenges being faced
by the police force.
Zimbabwean police have always been a darling for the
African region as they
have been called on peacekeeping missions on numerous
occasions.
Only three weeks ago Zimbabwe sent the latest peacekeeping force
to
Kosovo. - New Ziana
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Dams heavily polluted, says
scientist
Farming Reporter
issue date :2005-Mar-29
A SCIENTIST
with the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) has said
water in
Zimbabwe's major dams may not be safe for human consumption because
of high
levels of pollution.
Nyaradzai Matenga was speaking at the World Day for
Water function held in
Harare last week when she made reference to the
quality of water carried by
major rivers that include Manyame, Mazowe, Save,
Runde, Gwayi and Sanyathi.
"Of concern most is the quality of the water in
the tributaries feeding into
the major rivers, especially those that meander
through towns and cities,"
said Matenga.
"Backyard industry and the
poorly managed urban agricultural activities have
aggravated the
situation.
"We now know that apart from providing a reliable source of
water, the
rivers now provide cheap dumping sewers for waste.
"People are
now questioning the quality of water coming out of their taps.
It is
important to reveal that the quality of raw water is important in
drinking
water treatment just as much as the quality of ingredients is
important in
any production process."
Matenga said polluted water from urban centres had
highly affected
communities downstream.
"Of mention are people of Dora
community in the Save catchment. Mothers,
fathers, sons and daughters have
been treated and still being treated for
varying degrees of infections
emanating from polluted water from Sakubva
River.
"This is a clear case
of how far our activities can negatively impact on
other people."
Matenga
said people in some communities had abandoned fishing, due to
pollution.
Matenga said to bring the situation under control measures
should be taken
against industrialists who randomly disposed
waste.
Measures should also be taken against farmers who rampantly cut down
trees
without adhering to required agricultural practices. She said measures
should also be taken against gold panners as a way to keep water in rivers
clean.
"Regulations on disposing waste were put in place some three years
ago. Yet
we notice that several companies are randomly disposing waste that
is
polluting water in rivers."
"The water quality section in Zinwa, in a
bid to achieve the ultimate goal
of ensuring that the water resources are
protected, implements the polluter
pays principle. The principle is that if
one is polluting the water, then he
or she must pay," she said.
Matenga
said Zinwa had been lenient for a long time and would soon be taking
tough
measures against offenders.
Meanwhile, the Harare works department deputy
director Vumisani Sithole
disagreed with the notion that the water used in
the city was polluted.
Addressing the same function, Sithole said the
council took necessary
measures in ensuring that the water complied with the
World Health
Organisation standards.
"We determine ,on a daily basis, the
state of our water and ensure that it
complies with WHO requirements," said
Sithole.
"Let me assure the people of Harare that drinking water in the city
is safe.
There is nothing to fear as we maintain WHO requirement
standards."
Sithole said the council would soon take measures against
companies that
randomly disposed waste particularly used lubricants that
pollute water in
the city's water reservoirs.
A senior government
official has revealed that sewage treatment works
countrywide are
overloaded, dilapidated or non-functional and were polluting
rivers
downstream.
As a result, some rural families living downstream in certain
areas were no
longer using polluted water from the rivers, as the water
posed a health
hazard, even to livestock.
Government, through Zinwa had
as a result launched a clean up of rivers
countrywide to ensure that rural
people living downstream along the rivers
use clean water.
Clean up
operations have so far been launched in the Manyame and Mazowe
river
catchment areas.
Similar operations shall soon be launched in Save catchment
to ensure that
water in rivers and streams in those areas is also
clean.
The acting Minister of Water Resources and Infrastructural Development
Olivia Muchena last week stressed that the state of sewage works needed
urgent attention.
In a speech read on her behalf during the commemoration
of the World Day for
Water held in Harare, Muchena assured the nation that
necessary steps were
being taken to address and arrest the
situation.
"Visits to sewerage treatment works countrywide by officers from
my
ministry and also a report that was done by the Zinwa on the state of
sewerage treatment countrywide shows that they are either overloaded,
dilapidated or non-functional and are polluting our rivers on a large scale.
Action therefore needs to be taken to urgently arrest and rectify the
challenge.
"I want to assure you that my ministry and its parastatal
Zinwa as well as
the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National
Housing will be
liaising with the offenders."
Muchena cited the Sakubva
River that flows through Mutare as one of the most
polluted rivers that
required urgent attention. Rural people downstream in
Dora area in Zimunya
communal area in Mutare district were now shunning the
water from the
river.
Recently some of the families in the area complained that they had
already
lost livestock as they claimed that the polluted water was
poisonous.
Muchena added that government was currently constructing large
dams whose
water shall be used for irrigation.
"The government is
currently carrying out dam construction projects
countrywide with the aim of
providing water for irrigation to cushion the
country from droughts. The
dams include the Tokwe-Murkosi, Gwayi-Shangani,
Bubi-Lupane, Marovanyathi,
Mutenge and Wenimbi."
Zimbabwe has joined several countries in the world in
launching the United
Nations' International Decade for Action - Water for
Life 2005-2015
proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly as stated
in its
resolution on water.
Initially March 22 was proclaimed the World
Day of Water in 1992 and has
since been observed since 1993.
The
launching was in conformity with recommendations of the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) of Agenda 21.
Nations
were invited to devote the day, as appropriate in individual state's
context, to concrete activities such as the promotion of public awareness on
provision of clean water.
The theme is "Water for Life 2005-2015".