VOA
By David Gollust
Washington
12 May
2008
The U.S. State Department's top African affairs expert said
Monday
Zimbabwe's presidential runoff must include "massive" international
monitoring, and guarantees for the safety of opposition candidate Morgan
Tsvangirai. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer
says the United States will work with other countries to try to achieve
conditions necessary for a fair vote. VOA's David Gollust reports from the
State Department.
There is little optimism here, given the flaws of
the first round of voting
March 29, that the still-to-be scheduled runoff
will meet international
standards.
But Assistant Secretary Frazer
says the United States intends to work with
Zimbabwe's neighbors and
international organizations to try to prod the
government of President
Robert Mugabe into creating conditions for a free
and fair vote.
In a
talk with reporters, Frazer said those conditions include an end to
what she
described as "state-sponsored violence" against the opposition,
"massive"
monitoring of the vote extending to the rural level, greater
transparency,
including international media access, as well as protection
for Mr.
Tsvangirai.
"Those are all conditions we would expect to be put in place
prior to the
runoff taking place, including conditions so that the leader of
the
opposition, the person who got the most votes in the first round is not
threatened if he returns home to Zimbabwe. So some type of security and
guarantees for Morgan Tsvangirai's safety certainly should be a necessary
condition for holding a runoff," she said.
Mr. Tsvangirai, who has
been away from Zimbabwe for a month, says he won the
March 29th contest with
Mr. Mugabe outright. But the country's electoral
commission says that, while
he finished first in the three-way race, he fell
short of the majority
needed to avoid a runoff.
Frazer said the United States is prepared work
for acceptable runoff terms
in Zimbabwe through the southern African
regional grouping SADC, the African
Union, the United Nations and neighbor
countries including South Africa,
whose President Thabo Mbeki has just held
talks with Mr. Mugabe.
She said the United States had not yet heard from
the South African leader
on his mission but that she hoped he pressed his
counterpart on terms for
the runoff. Frazer expressed particular concern
that Mr. Mugabe might press
for a quick vote that would preclude adequate
preparations:
"They haven't yet said when the runoff date would be.
Certainly if they pull
a surprise and they say that the runoff's in a week,
it's very unlikely that
you're going to have the number of monitors
necessary for a free and fair
runoff. But we won't know until we know what
the date is," she said.
Frazer spoke at a press event announcing the
renewal of a U.S. rewards
program aimed at bringing to justice those
responsible for the 1994 genocide
in Rwanda.
The United States is
offering rewards of up to $5 million for information
leading to the arrest
of 13 individuals indicted by the International
Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda, including fugitive businessman Felicien
Kabuga.
Kabuga,
accused of financing ethnic Hutu militiamen who carried out mass
killings of
members of the Rwanda's Tutsi minority and Hutu moderates, is
believed to be
hiding in Kenya.
The State Department said it is reviving the rewards
program, dormant since
2006, because of deadlines the Rwanda tribunal faces
to complete its work.
New Zimbabwe
By Lindie Whiz
Last updated: 05/13/2008 09:06:03
A WHITE
Zimbabwean farmer who gassed a group of war veterans with pepper
spray when
they marched on his property on April 30 this year has appeared
in court,
facing an assault charge.
Wayne Munro, 35, of Umguzana Farm in
Matabeleland North used the spray which
has a chemical compound that
irritates the eyes to cause tears, pain, and
even temporary blindness when
confronted by Mathias Ndlovu, Jacob Sibanda,
Njabulo Ndebele, Richard Ndlovu
and Collin Mpofu who wanted to drive him out
of the farm.
Police say
the farmer targeted the war veterans in the face and body,
although it
remains unclear if any of them suffered injuries.
Munro later surrendered
himself to Nyamandlovu Police Station.
He was not formally charged when
he appeared before Tsholotsho magistrate
Toindepi Zhou last
Thursday.
The few remaining white farmers in Zimbabwe have reported
renewed attempts
to drive them off the land in government-sanctioned farm
grabs since the
March 29 general elections won by the opposition Movement
for Democratic
Change (MDC), but not with a wide enough margin to form a
government.
Land occupations which began in 2000 have seen a massive
decline in
agricultural productivity in the country, in the process shaking
one of the
major pillars of the country’s economy which has virtually
collapsed.
Fritz Madida will lead the prosecution case when the farmer
returns to court
on June 9, with Bulawayo lawyer Josphat Tshuma of Webb Low
and Barry leading
the defence.
VOA
By Jonga Kandemiiri, Patience Rusere and Netsai
Mlilo
Washington Bulawayo
12 May
2008
Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change
said Monday that
despite a call on Saturday by party leader and presidential
candidate Morgan
Tsvangirai for a halt to the allegedly state-sanctioned
attacks on
opposition members in rural areas, there has been no apparent
slowing and
official legal sanctions have stepped up.
Tsvangirai,
head of the dominant MDC grouping and backed for president by
the two MDC
formations, demanded a halt to violence as one of the main
conditions for
his participation in the presidential run-off called by
electoral
authorities. No date has been set and officials have hinted that
it could be
delayed beyond late May.
Police in Bindura, Mashonaland Central Province,
early Monday raided the
homes of opposition members and arrested five, among
them the unsuccessful
Tsvangirai MDC candidate for Bindura North in March 29
elections, Peter
Mabika. Police accused the five of arson at Dawmill Farm in
the province in
the night from Sunday to Monday.
Tsvangirai MDC
formation sources said two members elected to parliament in
March remained
under arrest: Trevor Saruwaka of Mutasa Central constituency
in Manicaland
Province, and Heya Shoko of Bikita West, Masvingo.
Another Tsvangirai MDC
parliamentarian-elect, Misheck Shoko of Chitungwiza
South, Harare Province,
was briefly detained on Wednesday, sources said.
Violence continued
around the country. A source in Kadoma, Mashonaland West,
said a restaurant
belonging to former Kadoma mayor and unsuccessful ZANU-PF
candidate Fani
Phiri was burned down Sunday night by unknown parties.
A source in
Mashonaland Central told VOA that air force commander Perence
Shiri visited
the town of Muzarabani on Sunday and urged ZANU-PF youth
militia there to
dismantle torture bases set up at the Chadereka and Hoya
business centers.
Shiri is said to have urged local police to arrest those
perpetrating
political violence.
The source said police Sunday exhumed six decomposing
bodies from shallow
graves in the area, and that six ZANU-PF youth militia
members were picked
up on Monday in connection with the murders of those
whose bodies were
recovered.
The Zimbabwe Peace Project said
high-ranking ZANU-PF and government
officials are funding and providing food
to militia members terrorizing
civilians. The group said it has mounted a
campaign to "name and shame"
those behind the violence.
National
Director Jestina Mukoko told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's
Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that her organization has documented more than 4,000
cases of
violence.
Mounting intimidation and threats of violence are driving
opposition members
in rural Matabeleland from their homes, and many have
found refuge and
solace from family and church workers in Bulawayo, as
Netsai Mlilo reported
from that city.
Elsewhere, a Harare magistrate
denied bail to Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions President Lovemore Matombo
and Secretary General Wellington Chibebe,
held since last week on charges of
making false statements and inciting the
public to rebellion.
A
magistrate ruled that in the “interest of justice” they should be held
until
their case is heard May 23. ZCTU lawyers filed an appeal with the
Harare
high court.
ZCTU Acting Secretary General Japhet Moyo told reporter
Patience Rusere of
VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that members across the
country are being
harassed because the government wants to immobilize them
ahead of the
presidential runoff ballot.
Leader
The Guardian,
Tuesday May 13
2008
Morgan Tsvangirai was right to decide to return to Zimbabwe to
contest the
second round runoff. His departure, over a month ago, to lobby
the
governments of southern Africa was initially a shrewd move, and did much
to
undermine Thabo Mbeki's attempts to shield his embattled friend Robert
Mugabe. But staying away from his homeland, when his supporters were being
killed, tortured and chased out of their homes, was a different matter. Had
Mr Tsvangirai spent the time instead visiting the war veterans' victims in
their hospital beds, he would have been able to keep the region's focus on
what is happening in Zimbabwe.
The leader of the Movement for
Democratic Change is not going back on his
own terms. He has failed to
achieve a halt to the violence, a new Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC),
unfettered access for international observers or
a peacekeeping force manned
by the Southern Africa Development Community
(SADC). Indeed the justice
minister Patrick Chinamasa said yesterday that
his country would not allow
in election monitors from western countries or
the UN until sanctions were
lifted.
However, Mr Tsvangirai's principal handicap is that he has not
yet got an
assurance about the timing of the run-off. Since he lost control
of
parliament, Mr Mugabe and the rump of Zanu-PF have been playing for time.
The delay allowed them to chase 40,000 farm workers from their homes, kill
at least 22 people and torture 900 others, according to the Zimbabwe
Association of Doctors for Human Rights.
MDC stalwarts, like the
senator and human rights activist David Coltart, say
that the violence will
not work. Even the massacres of 20,000 people carried
out by a North Korean
trained army unit in 1985 failed to deter Matabeleland
from voting for the
opposition, he said. Perhaps it is for this reason that
Zanu-PF is still
prevaricating. Mr Mugabe can not be sure that he has yet
bludgeoned enough
of the opposition into submission. The ZEC has yet to set
a date for the
second round and Zanu-PF has said it could be delayed for up
to a year. The
SADC must insist that the run-off happens within weeks, not
months.
The MDC leader is returning with some advantages. Mr Mugabe
no longer has a
majority in parliament and if he goes back to ruling by
decree, his orders
can be annulled. In fact, the opposition is only 30 votes
away from the
numbers needed for impeachment. Another major task for Mr
Mugabe is to find
more than 200,000 votes, if he is to overturn the results
of the first
round. There is, still, all to play for if the run-off is held
promptly. It
is up to Zimbabwe's neighbours to ensure that it is. Otherwise,
they too
will have blood on their hands.
VOA
By Blessing Zulu, Patients Rusere & Carole
Gombakomba
Washington
12 May
2008
Zimbabwean state media reported Monday that the
government rejected the
demand by opposition leader and presidential
candidate Morgan Tsvangirai
that international observers be in place for the
presidential runoff
election that authorities have called, saying no
invitations would be
extended unless Western sanctions are
lifted.
The state-controlled Herald newspaper quoted Justice Minister
Patrick
Chinamasa as saying Harare would not bow to pressure to invite
United
Nations and other Western observers to monitor conditions during the
presidential run-off which the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has called but
for which it has set no firm date.
Tsvangirai’s Movement for
Democratic Change, meanwhile, reported an
escalation of violence since
Tsvangirai in a news conference in Pretoria on
Saturday declared his
willingness, subject to a number of conditions, to
take part in the runoff.
One of those conditions was an end to the
post-election violence plaguing
rural communities.
The government in recent days has widened a crackdown
on the opposition and
civil society, arresting two elected MDC lawmakers:
Trevor Saruwaka of
Mutasa Central constituency in Manicaland Province, and
Heya Shoko of Bikita
West, Masvingo.
Another MDC politician elected
to parliament in March 29 elections, Misheck
Shoko of the Chitungwiza South
constituency, was detained for four hours
last week by police who accused
him of planning to raid a ZANU-PF youth
militia base in rural
Seke.
MDC sources said Tsvangirai has put on hold his plans to return to
Harare
this week. The government has intimated it may charge Tsvangirai and
Tsvangirai MDC grouping Secretary General Tendai Biti with treason. But
Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga said the two opposition figures
have nothing to fear.
Spokesman Nelson Chamisa of the Tsvangirai MDC
formation told reporter
Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that
Harare has narrowed the
democratic space in Zimbabwe and now is targeting
senior opposition members.
Chinamasa was quoted in The Chronicle, a
Bulawayo-based state-run newspaper,
as castigating Zambian President Levy
Mwanawasa, current chairman of the
Southern African Development Community,
for allegedly failing to urge the
United States and Britain, among other
nations imposing targeted sanctions,
to lift them.
Chinamasa was
quoted as saying that if the sanctions are not lifted, there
would be no
need for Harare to have a relationship with such countries such
that it
would be willing to invite them to send observer delegations to
monitor the
presidential run-off.
But University of Zimbabwe Professor John Makumbe,
a leading government
critic, told reporter Patience Rusere that sanctions
merely bar top
government and ruling party officials from traveling to the
countries
imposing such sanctions, and therefore should stay in place until
a new
government is democratically elected.
Meanwhile, international
observers as well as Zimbabwean voters awaited word
on when the presidential
run-off will be held. Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
Chairman George Chiweshe
said it was never realistic for it to be held
within 21 days of when results
were issued, but did not specify how much
longer it might be put
off.
His commission issued its election results on May 2, pointing to a
late-May
election if the electoral act's language were strictly observed.
The
commission said Tsvangirai received 47.9% of the vote, short of a
majority,
while President Robert Mugabe received 43.2%, concluding that a
run-off
election would be necessary.
The opposition and others have
questioned the integrity of ZEC's data.
Though Chiweshe and some
observers cite language in the electoral act
empowering the commission to
alter "any such period specified in this act,"
others challenge the
commission's right to extend the deadline for the
run-off beyond 21
days/
University of Zimbabwe law lecturer Lovemore Madhuku, chairman of
the
National Constitutional Assembly, told reporter Carole Gombakomba of
VOA's
Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that if the government runs afoul of the law in
allowing the commission to extend the deadline, the winner will be running
the government “illegally.”
Zim Online
by Lizwe Sebatha Tuesday 13 May
2008
BULAWAYO – Zimbabwe, already grappling with bread
shortages, faces a major
slump in wheat production this year because farm
invasions that resumed
after President Robert Mugabe’s government lost
elections in March have
disrupted the winter planting season, farming
experts said.
They said politically inspired farm invasions and violence,
coupled with a
chronic shortage of seed and Fertilizer, could turn the 2008
wheat farming
season into a disaster.
“The winter wheat cropping
season will be a disaster because of the
disturbances at the farms coupled
with the shortage of farm inputs, such as
seeds and fertilizer,” said Marc
Crawford, who is president of the Southern
Africa Commercial Framers
Alliance (SAFCA).
Ruling ZANU PF militia and war veterans resumed farm
invasions over the past
five weeks in what analysts say is part of a plan by
Mugabe to regain the
upper hand in rural and farming areas, where his
government lost
considerable support to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
and his Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) party.
The General
Agriculture and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ)
and a farmers’
organisation, the Justice for Agriculture (JAG), told the
press last week
that more than 40 000 farm workers had been evicted from
farms for allegedly
supporting the opposition.
At least 142 of the remaining white-owned
farms in the country had been
invaded by ZANU PF militia and war veterans in
a campaign that GAPWUZ and
JAG said had crippled farming operations in many
parts of the country.
“The disturbances at the farms at this critical
time of the winter wheat
cropping season will see the country experiencing
its worst wheat harvest in
years,” said Renson Gasela, a prominent farming
expert and also a top
opposition politician.
Gasela, who once headed
the government’s Grain Marketing Board, said even in
regions not touched by
the violence farmers were keeping operations at a
minimal afraid they could
be chased off their properties anytime.
Agriculture Minister Rugare Gumbo
was not immediately available to comment
on the matter.
Zimbabwe
consumes about 480 000 tonnes of wheat annually, the bulk of which
it used
to produce.
The country now imports most of its wheat just as it has to
do with every
other food commodities since 2000 when Mugabe launched his
haphazard
fast-track land reform exercise that displaced established white
commercial
farmers and replaced them with either incompetent or inadequately
funded
black farmers.
Food production plunged by about 60 percent as
a result while chaos in the
agriculture sector, because of farm seizures,
also hit hard Zimbabwe’s once
impressive manufacturing sector that had
depended on a robust farming sector
for orders and inputs. – ZimOnline.
News24
12/05/2008 23:26 -
(SA)
Erika Gibson, Beeld
Pretoria - A delegation of six
retired generals, appointed by President
Thabo Mbeki to investigate the
violence in Zimbabwe, also will probably try
to assess the extent of the
army's role in the country's politics.
The generals were in Zimbabwe in
the past week and began giving Mbeki
feedback on Friday during his visit to
Harare.
After a meeting with Mbeki on Monday, a presidential team of
religious
leaders said the generals, who were part of a larger South African
mediation
effort in Zimbabwe, also would speak to victims of violence and
give Mbeki
feedback.
It was coincidentally after a meeting with
African religious leaders a week
ago that this delegation's deployment was
announced.
The presidency could not supply details on Monday about who
was in the
group.
A political analyst at the Institute for Security
Studies, Chris Maroleng,
believed there was a greater goal behind Mbeki's
motivation specifically to
include militarists in the group.
Speak
the same language
This possibly was to first determine the extent and the
role of the
Zimbabwean armed forces in the political
violence.
Second, it also needed to be determined how the security forces
could
eventually be reformed, when the elections were over.
"The
generals probably find favour with the Zimbabwean generals more
easily -
they speak the same language.
Maroleng said: "I assume Mbeki probably
asked them to propose solutions
where they found issues."
The
religious leaders said that they had agreed with Mbeki that the question
of
Zimbabwe had to be settled as quickly as possible.
As soon as the
generals had made a full assessment, further steps could be
taken to ensure
that the next election took place peacefully.
Violence against Movement
for Democratic Change supporters increased in the
past week.
MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai hoped that this would make way for southern
African
leaders perhaps to deploy peace forces in Zimbabwe in the run up to
the
election.
Tsvangirai also asked the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) to
guarantee his safety before he returned to
Zimbabwe.
At least 200 senior military commanders allegedly had been
deployed since
early April in charge of clusters of "war veterans",
apparently to
co-ordinate a campaign of victimisation against the opposition
supporters.
Shrouded in secrecy
Maroleng said he could only
speculate on the South African generals' mandate
because no one officially
had elaborated on it.
It was also not known how long the generals would
be in Zimbabwe.
"It is doubtful that the public will be informed at all
about their findings
because everything is shrouded in secrecy.
"We
definitely won't know of any evidence of serious offences (at the hands
of
the Zimbabwean security forces)."
Committee to Protect
Journalists (New York)
PRESS RELEASE
12 May 2008
Posted to the web
12 May 2008
New York
In separate cases today, a magistrate court
in the Zimbabwean capital,
Harare, released from police custody a top
newspaper editor and a leading
lawyer working in defense of journalists.
Both were formally charged,
however, according to local
sources.
Davison Maruziva, editor of Zimbabwe's leading Sunday newspaper,
The
Standard, was charged with "publishing false statements prejudicial to
the
state and contempt of court" for running a column last month by
opposition
leader Arthur Mutambara that was critical of President Robert
Mugabe's
regime, Standard publisher Raphael Khumalo told CPJ.
In
a separate case, prosecutors charged leading media lawyer Harrison Nkomo
with "undermining the authority or insulting the president," in connection
with allegations that he told government attorney Michael Mugabe to tell
"his father" to step down shortly before a May 2 court hearing, defense
lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa told CPJ. Mtetwa cited a court transcript referring
to Michael Mugabe as a nephew of President Mugabe. Prosecutors added to
Nkomo's charge sheet "disorderly behavior or conduct," that could be caused
by his remarks.
"We are relieved that Davison Maruziwa and Harrison
Nkomo are finally free.
Neither should have spent a single day in custody,"
said CPJ Executive
Director Joel Simon. "We call on the court to dismiss all
charges against
them and bring to an end this pattern of police harassment
and unwarranted
prosecutions."
Maruziva was released at 1:30 p.m.
local time after posting a bail and is
expected to appear in court on May
23, Khumalo said.
Nkomo was discharged from Harare's main Parirenyatwa
Hospital earlier today
after being rushed there while in custody on Thursday
because of high blood
pressure. He was released on bail and his next court
appearance will be on
May 23, Mtetwa said.
Several journalists, both
foreign and domestic, have been jailed while
covering the political
stalemate and violence following Zimbabwe's contested
March 29
elections.
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization
that works to
safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit
http://www.cpj.org
OhMyNews
Schoolchildren enter the job
market
Nelson G. Katsande
Published
2008-05-13 08:29 (KST)
As Zimbabwe's economy woes worsen, more and more
children are reportedly
dropping out of school to look for work in urban
areas in order to fend for
their families. Children as young as 10 are
running away from school to find
work as vegetable vendors and car cleaners.
Others loiter on the streets
sniffing hazardous products like glue and
tar.
In the streets of Harare, the capital city, children in tattered
clothes
barely covering their dignity scavenge for food in dustbins. Others
loiter
at food outlets waiting for the opportunity to snatch food from
patrons.
The economic crisis is blamed on President Robert Mugabe's
ill-fated land
reform program. Mugabe, however, blames Western countries for
the southern
African country's problems, in particular the United Kingdom
and the United
States. But with no solution in sight, the situation is set
to worsen by
Mugabe's refusal to concede defeat to opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Mugabe was defeated by Tsvangirai in the presidential
election held on March
29. The electoral commission withheld the results
resulting in allegations
that the results later published at "Mugabe's
convenience" were rigged to
deny Tsvangirai outright victory. The head of
the electoral commission is
said to be related to Mugabe.
But even
before the results were made public, Mugabe was already calling for
a
runoff. Now it appears the prospects of a runoff are being overshadowed by
Mugabe's terror campaign. ZANU-PF youths wearing T-shirts with Mugabe's mug
shot have unleashed terror on opposition supporters.
It is estimated
that more than 30 opposition supporters have been killed by
Mugabe's
supporters and militia since the presidential election with another
3,000
estimated to have been displaced. In rural areas opposition supporters
and
sympathizers are beaten and embarrassed in front of their
families.
Miriam Mudzuri, a 54-year-old opposition supporter, told
OhmyNews, "I was
ordered to perform a sexual act in front of my 18-year-old
son." Mudzuri,
who is from the Chivhu rural area, said the embarrassment and
torture she
endured had hardened her stance against Mugabe.
Mudzuri
is not the only one in a predicament. Thousands of opposition
supporters
continue to suffer at the hands of Mugabe's supporters. Children
too are
paying the price of their parents' voting rights.
Mugabe is under
international pressure to stop the tortures and killings as
they amount to
human rights abuses. The opposition has also hinted that it
will only
participate in the runoff on the assurance that international
observers will
supervise the elections.
The opposition also alleges that Mugabe's terror
campaign is meant to weaken
and disintegrate the opposition.
The most
disturbing picture is that of young innocent children being
tortured by
Mugabe's supporters. Mugabe has failed to condone the violence.
The
dysfunctional war veterans have been on the forefront in their campaign
to
assure Mugabe of victory by any means. Roadblocks have been mounted
across
the country at which suspected opposition supporters are stripped and
robbed
of their possessions by the war veterans and ZANU-PF youths.
In the
rundown to the March presidential election, Mugabe promised to
improve the
lives of chiefs by awarding them hefty salaries. But after the
election,
which Mugabe is believed to have lost by a wide margin, the
promises turned
into a backlash. The chiefs now stand accused of having
betrayed the
government. A chief in Mutoko was recently stripped of his
powers after
being accused of being a Movement for Democratic Change
sympathizer.
The people now shun Mugabe's rallies. Sadly,
schoolchildren are forced to
abandon their lessons to attend the
rallies.
Morgan Tsvangirai is seen by many as someone who can lead the
country to
prosperity and political stability. However, many doubt his
leadership
qualities. Critics have blamed him for leaving the country at a
crucial
time. Tsvangirai, who has been out of the country to garner support
from the
international community, is set to return home anytime soon.
Yahoo News
57 minutes ago
ABUJA (AFP) - Nigeria on Monday called on both
the Zimbabwean government and
opposition to ensure that the forthcoming
presidential run-off is free, fair
and devoid of violence.
Addressing
a news conference, Nigerian Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe said
all
stakeholders in the Zimbabean electoral process should "demonstrate the
necessary will to approach the task in a climate devoid of
violence."
Nigeria is already in "quiet discussions" with several other
governments in
Africa on how to ensure "a reasonable presence" of African
observers days
before the run-off, he said.
Ojo said he had already
discussed the matter with his Zimbabwean counterpart
Simbarashe S
Mumbengegwi who raised no objection to the idea.
"What remains now is to
exercise the necessary political will to ensure that
at the various levels
of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) we have a
large number of
observers moving to Zimbabwe," Ojo said.
RECs include regional economic
blocs like the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS), Southern
African Development Community (SADC) and
the East African Economic Community
(EAEC).
Ojo denied that Nigeria had been silent on Zimbabwe's election
impasse
claiming that he had been engaged in "quiet diplomacy" on the issue
during
which he held separate talks with South African President Thabo Mbeki
and
Zimbabwe's foreign minister.
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai beat President Robert Mugabe
in the first round of the joint
parliamentary and presidential elections but
fell just short of an overall
majority and the pair are now due to face off
in a second round.
A
wave of violence has swept across Zimbabwe since the announcement of the
parliamentary results.
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) has said that at least 32
of its supporters have been killed and
hundreds displaced in retributive
attacks.
Boston Herald
By Associated Press
Monday, May 12, 2008 - Added 2m
ago
BOSTON - University of Massachusetts President Jack
Wilson today recommended
that the Board of Trustees revoke an honorary
degree awarded two decades ago
to Zimbabwe President Robert
Mugabe.
The issue has been under consideration for a year at
UMass.
"In the two decades that have passed since the honorary degree was
awarded,
Robert Mugabe has pursued policies and taken action that are
anti-ethical to
the values and beliefs of the University of Massachusetts,"
Wilson said in a
statement today.
"I must recommend that we sever the
connection that was formed when Robert
Mugabe appeared to be a force for
positive change in Africa. Today, that
promise no longer exists," Wilson
said.
In April 2007 the student senate of the UMass-Boston campus passed a
resolution asking the university to revoke Mugabe’s 1986 honorary doctorate
of law, awarded by the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. The issue has
also arisen at other universities.
Mugabe said last year through a
spokesman that he won’t lose sleep if the
University of Massachusetts and
other schools stripped him of honorary
degrees over his human rights
record.
Last June, the Trustees rebuked Mugabe for policies and practices
that have
"brought worldwide scorn" on him. They also agreed to look at
further
action.
Robert J. Manning, chairman of the board of trustees,
said it will act on
Wilson’s recommendation at its June 12 meeting. The
school has never
rescinded an honorary degree.
Wilson’s announcement
came after The Boston Globe reported Monday that a key
state lawmaker said
continuing to honor Mugabe runs contrary to the values
the university stands
for.
Mugabe, an 84-year-old former school teacher, received a string of
honorary
degrees from universities in the United States, Europe and Asia
after his
nation’s independence from Britain in 1980. He was recognized for
his
policies of reconciliation after a bloody seven-year guerrilla war that
ended colonial rule.
In recent years he has been accused of holding
onto power through elections
that independent observers say were marred by
fraud, intimidation and
rigging, and of overseeing his country’s economic
collapse.
