Jan Raath in
Mvurwi
zimbabwejournalists.com
13th May 2008 22:43 GMT
By Sebastian
Nyamhangambiri
CHIWESHE, - Some Western diplomats in Zimbabwe say
authorities here must
ensure that post-election violence in the countryside
is stopped to
guarantee the safety of ordinary people and victims who now
live in fear on
a daily basis.
The diplomats from United Kingdom,
United States of America, Japan and the
Netherlands made the appeal after
visiting post-election violence victims at
a farm and at two hospitals in
Mashonaland Central province.
The victims interviewed said they had been
assaulted by Zanu PF militia and
supporters for contributing to the party's
defeat in the March 29 polls.
"I bled (menstruation) for nine days after
being beaten accused of
celebrating the defeat of Zanu PF," said Evidence
Amos (28) a woman at
Rhimbick farm in Mvurwi farming area, about 100km north
of Harare. "I had to
depend on traditional herbs since I could not manage to
walk to the nearest
hospital."
At the farm two war veterans known as
Kamba and Sadomba - who are said to be
manning the torture camps - refused
to be interviewed saying they wanted to
be cleared by their superiors. As
diplomats and journalists interviewed the
violence victims, the duo
disappeared into the bush with some books that
some people at the farm said
had names of people believed to be in the
opposition and targets for the
militia and the war vets.
At the torture camp some logs were
found.
Rhimbick farm was spared by the 2000 violent land seizures and it
still
produces mainly timber.
Jim Bennet, the farm manager says:
"Everybody is fade-up with violence here.
It seems it is working against
them (perpetrators). Zanu PF supporters,
youths and war veterans have set up
bases where for interrogation."
He said at his farm there were no deaths
from violence but there was one
death at the next farm called Dahwe where
about 100 war veterans reportedly
camped just after the
elections.
Samuel Girisi (20) said part of his family and friends had
been displaced by
the violence.
"Some went to Harare, some are at the
hospital and others just fled the
scene," he said. "We were being beaten for
belonging to the opposition.
There were three bases (torture camps) but it
is only here where it has not
been destroyed. I am not sure why others were
disbanded."
In a bed at Mvurwi district hospital, about 20km away from
Rhimbick farm,
lies Carpenter Mwanza (37) a Zanu PF supporter but was
assaulted for selling
fruits to members of an independent presidential
candidate Simba Makoni on
the polling day.
"At times it is not all
politics – whether you are Zanu PF or MDC – but they
just use that to settle
scores. I support Zanu PF. If I recover I will go to
Mocambique or South
Africa to work and get weapons to fight back," said
Girisi. He has a
frightening wound on his on one of his buttocks. "They took
turns to beat me
up and I do not what really happened because I passed out
and got up when I
was here in hospital."
In Chiweshe at a Salvation Army run-church,
authorities said they had been
overwhelmed by number of people who had been
injured from the political
violence skirmishes. Dr Paul Thitsel, the chief
medical officer said he had
treated 24 people over the last week and one
person died.
"Obviously not everyone comes here," says Thitsel. "They are
victims of
violence from war veterans and disgruntled farmers. They are
targeting
mainly teachers and their couples accusing them of having allowed
people to
vote for the opposition en-masse."
There have been
counter-accusations between the ruling Zanu PF and the
opposition regarding
who is perpetrating the violence with the latter
claiming that at least 30
of its supporters have died. The opposition
accuses the army of being
leading the violence for the ruling party. The
army has since dismissed
that.
After the tour of hospitals and a torture camp in Mashonaland
Central, the
diplomats said it was Zanu PF which was responsible for the
violence.
"After the tour, we now have concrete proof to show the world
about violence
taking place in Zimbabwe. There is urgent need to stop what
is happening.
Violence has to stop. From the small sample we have taken it
is clear that
violence is perpetrated on MDC supporters," said James McGee,
the US
ambassador.
His United Kingdom counterpart Andrew Pocock said
the opposition supporters
were under attack.
"The disposal and
displacing of the opposition is well-calculated and
systematic," said the
Briton. "Violence is widespread and it has no
geographical
limits."
Leoni Cuelenaere, the deputy ambassadors for the Netherlands
said there was
need to stop violence.
She said: "I was really shocked
by the level of violence taking place in the
countryside."
Xavier
Marchal, the EU ambassador said: "I have confirmed that violence is
taking
place. Zimbabweans don't deserve that. I wish it can stop
quickly."
Meanwhile, a pro-democracy organisation the Zimbabwe Election
Support
Network (ZESN) claims that some Zanu PF supporters in Mudzi about
300km east
of Harare have confiscated its vehicle.
"After six hours
of questioning, the Zanu PF supporters searched the vehicle
and found the
driver's delivery book which showed deliveries that had been
done to various
partners and members. The two ZESN staff members were then
subsequently
detained at around 1000hrs at the ZANU PF offices in Kotwa
under the guard
of three ZANU PF youths. Around 0230hrs, two managed to
escape fearing for
their lives," said ZESN in a statement.
"ZESN is distressed by the
continued reports of observers being victimised
and assaulted in the
aftermath of the 29 March 2008 harmonised elections.
"ZESN calls the
responsible authorities to ensure the apprehension of
perpetrators of
violence. ZESN urges the police to launch a massive campaign
that protects
observers, party agents and supporters of any political party.
Political
leaders should continue making public pronouncements against any
forms of
violence regardless of the perpetrator's affiliation."
Wayne Bvudzijena,
the police spokesperson confirmed that the police has
received the report of
the ZESN vehicle.
"The police is investigating the case, so far no one
has been arrested."
VOA
By Blessing Zulu & Mark Peter Nthambe
Washington & Harare
13 May 2008
Leaders of
the Southern African Development Community were expected to
gather for
another extraordinary summit on the crisis in Zimbabwe amid
mounting
pressure from the African Union and Western governments for the
regional
group to act decisively to tamp down political violence and press
Harare to
conclude presidential voting.
Continued attacks on opposition members in
Zimbabwe's rural areas by youth
militia of President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF
party, liberation war veterans
and members of the armed forces are
complicating efforts by SADC and other
concerned parties to induce Harare to
set a firm date for the presidential
run-off vote it has called.
But
once the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has set a date for the run-off
there
will be increased pressure for SADC and possibly the African Union to
dispatch election observers to the rural areas allegedly being terrorized by
Mugabe partisans.
Tsvangirai on Tuesday was meeting with Lesotho
Prime Minister Pakalitha
Mosisili in Maseru in an effort to pressure SADC
leaders to ratchet up
pressure on Harare to halt what his party and most
other observers say is a
state-organized campaign of political violence
aimed at the opposition and
rural voters who backed it on March
29.
MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti told reporter Blessing Zulu of
VOA's
Studio 7 for Zimbabwe on Tuesday that he is concerned that the
Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission has yet to set a date for the presidential
run-off
election.
Nigeria on Monday called for AU observers to be
deployed for the run-off to
“show solidarity…and help avoid a breakdown of
law and order.” Nigerian
Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe told reporters he
took up the question with
South African President Thabo Mbeki and Zimbabwean
Foreign Minister
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi.
Mr. Mbeki has been SADC's
mediator in Zimbabwe since March 2007, but SADC
itself has stepped up
diplomacy through its so-called Zimbabwe troika
comprising Tanzania, Angola
and Swaziland coordinated by SADC Executive
Secretary Tomaz
Salamao.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change formation of
presidential
candidate - and first-round frontrunner - Morgan Tsvangirai has
repudiated
Mr. Mbeki as mediator, accusing him of providing political cover
for Mr.
Mugabe.
Even if run-off election date is set, the allegedly
state-sanctioned
violence would make it problematic and possibly extremely
dangerous for
Tsvangirai to campaign in rural areas beset by youth militia
and war
veterans brandishing AK-47 assault rifles.
The government
itself has been arresting MDC officials including opposition
politicians
elected to parliament in the March 29 elections that ushered in
the present
crisis, and opposition officials say Tsvangirai could be subject
to arrest
upon his return to Zimbabwe from South Africa, where he has been
based in
recent weeks.
The United States on Monday called on Harare to guarantee
Tsvangirai's
safety, as VOA's David Gollust reported from the State
Department in
Washington.
Relations between Harare and Washington
took a turn for the worse on Tuesday
as police in Mvurwi, Mashonaland
Central Province, tried to detain U.S.
Ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee at
Mvurwi General Hospital where he and
several other diplomats went to visit
victims of political violence under
treatment there.
McGee and envoys
from Britain, the Netherlands, Japan and the European Union
had gone to the
hospital unannounced intending to tour its wards to
interview the victims of
local attacks. Armed police showed up and closed
the gate to the compound in
which the convoy was parked, demanding the
envoys accompany them to the
police station, witnesses said. After some
discussion McGee himself opened
the compound gates, waving the convoy
through without interference from the
police officers.
Correspondent Mark Peter Nthambe of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe, traveling
with the convoy, told reporter Carole Gombakomba that
the diplomats were
blocked again by a roadblock on their way back to Harare,
leading to a
one-hour standoff.
State Department spokesman Sean
McCormack said the police actions in Mvurwi
and at the roadblock in Glendale
could be qualified as harassment.
The Zimbabwe Times
By Garikai Chimuka
May 13, 2008
THE people of Zimbabwe
made a powerful and historic statement on March 29,
2008 against heavy
odds.
A record 57 percent of Zimbabweans, if we are to use the massaged
Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) figures, rejected Robert Mugabe and his
failed
policies. However, Mugabe and some securocrats could not stomach the
people‘s
victory. They have now embarked on a reign of terror by simply
retracing
their footsteps back to the 1980 s and relaunching a campaign of
violence
whose brutality now makes it a Gukurahundi 2.
It is
important to note that the same players, using the same methods with
the
same reason of returning Mugabe at all costs are at the helm of the new
Gukurahundi. The only notable additions are Gideon Gono, who is providing
dirty blood money and Patrick Chinamasa, acting as the Zimbabwean Comical
Ali. A lot of interesting parallels with Gukurahundi 1 emerge from this
reckless terror campaign
Just like Gukurahundi 1 in the 80s, an
illegal personal militia, the
5Brigade, which was out of the formal command
structure, was created to wipe
out the Ndebele people. The all Shona
elements of this murderous and
rampaging gang were brainwashed with the aid
of the North Koreans to believe
that the Ndebele people were lesser human
beings who could be murdered with
impunity. In the ongoing Gukurahundi 2, a
5Brigade re-incarnation, under the
auspices of the so-called JOC, has been
activated.
The marauding bands of arsonists, rapists and murderers are to
a larger
extent a combination of Zanu-PF youth militia and the Central
Intelligence
Organisation. This is clearly a shadowy force which is
answerable to JOC and
Mugabe. Just like 5Brigade in the 1980s, the illegal
and shadowy militia has
been brainwashed at Border Gezi camps into believing
that all MDC supporters
are British sellouts who should be raped, maimed,
tortured and killed.
During the first Gukurahundi ethnic cleansing,
Mugabe carefully used Enos
Nkala, a fellow Ndebele, to be at the forefront
of the propaganda blitz of
justifying the murderous actions of 5Brigade. So
overzealous was Nkala that
at one time he was even quoted as saying that the
5 Brigade must use a big
stick against his own people just to impress
Mugabe.
In the ongoing Gukurahundi 2, Mugabe has repeated the same
tactic. The
defeated Patrick Chinamasa, who has never won any election in
his whole
life, is the public face and voice of justifying Gukurahundi 2. So
reckless
has Chinamasa been that he has gone out of his way to sponsor
violence in
his own home area of Makoni in Manicaland.
Even the
notorious Comical Ali of Iraq will turn green with envy on hearing
Chinamasa
trying to justify the cold murder of his own niece, Tabeth Marume,
by
claiming that an unarmed woman would confront armed soldiers at a
military
training centre. This heroine’s only crime was to bravely demand
the release
of MDC supporters who were being tortured by the Zanu-PF militia
and CIO
elements. Walter Mzembi in Masvingo, Obert Mpofu in Matebeleland and
“Not-so-Bright” Matonga in Mashonaland West are the most prominent defenders
of Gukurahundi 2 in their respective provinces.
During Gukurahundi 1,
Mugabe embarked on a propaganda campaign of gigantic
proportions and
succeeded in misleading the whole world into believing that
the non-existent
dissidents were causing violence in Matebeleland. He even
had the temerity
to stage manage the murder of six western tourists and
blamed it on the
dissidents so as to win the West to his side.
In the on-going Gukurahundi
2, the same game has been employed. For example
Zanu-PF militia attacked
Chihuri’s farm and the regime is already claiming
that the MDC was
responsible. They even have the shameless audacity to
deploy Grace Mugabe
and Jocelyn Chiwenga on a laughable” humanitarian”
venture of donating some
few second hand clothes and sub-standard food to
victims of their own terror
campaign.
This is all part of a clearly thought-out campaign of trying to
shift blame
onto the MDC so as to justify Gukurahundi 2.
During
Gukurahundi 1 the whole world was hoodwinked by Mugabe’s shenanigans
and did
not do anything when an estimated 20 000 innocent civilians were
butchered.
The British government went to the extent of knighting Mugabe
whilst his
hands were dripping with the blood of innocent civilians, whose
only crime
was to be Ndebele and to support PF- ZAPU and the late Dr Joshua
Nkomo.
In the on-going Gukurahundi 2, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and
some elements
within the old SADC are again being manipulated such that
Mbeki can even
claim that there is no crisis in Zimbabwe and block the
discussion of the
unfolding genocide at the United Nations Security
Council.
All in all, as Gukurahundi 2 gains momentum, chilling points
emerge. The
same players who were at the forefront of the murder of unarmed
innocent
civilians in the 1980s are at it again using the same ghastly
methods for
the same dubious end of keeping Mugabe in power at all
costs.
Will the world stand by and watch again while doing nothing, as
happened
during Gukurahundi 1?
(Garikai Chimuka is based in the
Netherlands)
Huffington Post
Posted May 13, 2008 | 10:46 PM (EST)
WHY?
I don't get it. Does any country have the courage to confront President
Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Of course South Africa's Thabo Mbeki is not on that
short list. WHO IS? Why does the world watch in slow motion as Zimbabwean
are threatened, beaten and tortured back into submission. One silent unified
scream of human despair; watched by a voyeuristic planet. What in the world
is the planet waiting for?
On Mother's day, I heard of another 14 people
killed in a squatters camps in
Zimbabwe. These are the areas where people
are huddled with little food, no
shelter and sporadic items like plastic to
shield them from the elements.
Many of these people wait in fear for any
signs of approaching "Youth
Militia". You might have heard about these
groups from articles in the Congo
or from the movie "Blood Diamond" and they
do exist. In Zimbabwe these are
child soldiers who move across the country
in packs to terrorize people.
They are Mugabe's version of mobsters who
terrorize for money and the
laughs. The power is an added aphrodisiac. They
are children, at one time
innocent-turned desperate-turned
despicable.
It seems Mugabe takes pleasure from torturing the most
vulnerable: women and
children. According to the "Urgent Appeal for
Solidarity by Zimbabwean
women" the situation has gotten so out of hand that
5 million Zimbabweans,
mostly needed professionals and the young have left
the country. There is an
estimated 3 million in South Africa with half being
illegal immigrants who
face inhuman deportations daily. Cross border traders
risk rape or death
from the crocodile infested Limpopo River.
Access
to the rural areas has always been a big challenge for humanitarian
organizations but now women in these areas are being held hostage by the
youth militia. Women NGO's are on government hit lists that seek to arrest,
detain and destroy those operations. Most women in rural areas constitute
women abandoned by husbands after being raped, and dumped there because of
HIV from those rapes.
Where is the United Nations? Where is
the International Red Cross? Why are
these people left to struggle on their
own? I struggle with the information
that is being sent to me by email.
Daily emails from people on the ground
who have been tortured-or worse from
families of those who did not survive
torture.
According to Zimbabwe
Association of Doctors for Human rights, ZADHR, the
following has continued
to happen:
• A dramatic increase in violence since the beginning of
May
• Violence on such a large scale that is impossible to document the
number
of victims.
• The violence ranges from head injuries, severe
soft tissue damage
particularly sensitive areas of the body, and beating up
pregnant women. One
young breast-feeding Mother had bilateral fractures of
both hands. She was
unable to hold her baby to feed it.
• Many of the
victims, especially in the rural areas, are not even being
treated, as they
have no access to health centers or they are being denied
treatment as
health centre staff has been intimidated with specific state
instructions to
not treat victims of violence.
• Health workers are close to exhausted,
with dwindling supplies and their
own emotional trauma from government
threats.
• The current pattern of organized violence and torture being
perpetrated by
the state agents is similar to prior to the 2002 elections.
"However, the
current violence is dramatically more intensive and
unprecedented and the
vicious and cowardly attacks buy so called war
veterans on women, children
and the elderly shames the memory of all true
heroes of the liberation
struggle"
• Much of the violence has been
aimed directly against the opposition party
or anyone in districts that
voted predominantly for the opposition.
The country of Zimbabwe needs our
help. Here is what you can do:
Contact the High Commission for Human
rights, the address is:
Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
The High
Commissioner is: Louise Arbour
Try this email address: InfoDesk@ohchr.org
Just send off a
quick email to tell them YOU want the United Nations to
intervene.
On
the United States side: contact the United Nations in New York at 1-212-
963-8302. Ask for Secretary General Ban Ki Moon offices-tell them to
intervene and help in Zimbabwe.
Also visit their web-site at: http://www.un.org/
CALL THE INTERNATIONAL
RED CROSS.
http://www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/addresses/$File/Whom-to-contact.pdf
Select
the contact person for your country-email them. Call them. Tell them
Zimbabwe needs international help-NOW!
There is a global phone
campaign that gives you local Zimbabwe government
phone numbers. All over
the globe people are calling in and jamming the
phone lines. When they do
get through, the callers have been saying the
following: "Pack your bags and
leave." I am not going to give you these
numbers here, as I am afraid that
the action is increasing the desperation
of the current regime, which
translates into more violence.
• We are a planet of people that need each
other. Zimbabwe NGO's and women's
groups have exhausted all channels. They
need the international community to
help them get medication, safe shelter,
counseling and support.
• Zimbabwean need the SADC and the UN to put in
place a security and
protection plan for women and girls to help
demilitarize the youth militia
and to have them stop torturing ordinary
citizens.
• Bring cases on crimes against humanity to the UN Security
Council. We need
to start punishing the perpetrators.
Many natural
disasters that occur around the globe are not preventable. What
is happening
in Zimbabwe...is preventable-with your help. Take a minute to
do something,
ONE thing to help another human being. Maybe if we all do one
thing, it can
change the outcome for this incredible country.
Martin Luther King Jr.
once said, "An individual has not started living
until he can rise above the
narrow confines of his individualistic concerns
to the broader concerns of
all humanity. "
Be that individual.
Special thanks to ZADHR and
Women in Zimbabwe for their information and
facts that I used liberally in
this article. Keep them coming.
Zim Online
by
Tendai Maronga and Nokhutula Sibanda Wednesday 14 May
2008
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s opposition said on Tuesday eight
more of its members
were murdered in the last three days to bring to 32 the
total number killed
in political violence since March.
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party spokesman Nelson Chamisa said the
latest
deaths were reported in Mashonaland Central and Midlands provinces
and in
Harare as political violence – that began after the opposition
defeated
President Robert Mugabe’s government in the March 29 polls –
threatens to
engulf the entire nation.
Chamisa said in Gokwe area in Midlands
province, a senior army official, who
locals were able to identify only as
Major Moyo, was leading a ruling ZANU
PF youth gang that had unleashed
terror and murder in the area over the past
week.
“Today, the MDC
received two reports of deaths in Gokwe Nembudziya following
a week of
unprecedented violence in the area. The ZANU PF militia led by one
Major
Moyo from the Zimbabwe National Army is perpetrating the violence,”
said
Chamisa.
The MDC spokesman said the ZANU PF militias last Sunday night
murdered two
members of the opposition party, Isaac Danda and another one
identified only
as Gomwe, as punishment for not supporting
Mugabe.
Chamisa said: “According to witnesses Danda was stabbed with a
knife and
died on the spot while Gomwe was axed on the head and died on his
way to
Gokwe Hospital. The MDC House of Assembly candidate, Kizito Mbiriza
attempted to make a report at Nembudziya Police Station but was instead
arrested by the police and is still in police custody.”
A number of
MDC supporters who own businesses in the area had these
destroyed by the
ZANU PF youths, according to Chamisa.
The MDC official spoke as United
Nations resident and humanitarian
coordinator Agostinho Zacarias told
journalists in Harare that the
escalating post-election violence could soon
reach crisis levels at a time
when humanitarian agencies and their partners
had scaled down operations.
Zacarias said his office was receiving an
increasing number of reports and
requests for humanitarian assistance from
people affected by political
violence that he blamed on “some elements of
the security forces, youth
militias, war veterans and gangs of supporters of
both ZANU PF and MDC.”
There was no immediate reaction from the police or
the government to
Zacarias’ and the MDC’s claims of worsening
violence.
Chamisa said an MDC member, Nelson Emmanuel, 29, from Harare
South
constituency was buried last Sunday after ZANU PF youths beat him to
death
at his home in Hopley Farm, on the capital’s southern
boundary.
Three more MDC supporters were murdered over the past three
days in Uzumba
district in Mashonaland East province. Chamisa identified the
deceased as
Musafare Mudimu, Karombe Benson Chipingu both of Manyika village
and Ruth
Mushayahembe of Chimbwanda village.
In Shamva North in
Mashonaland Central province, ZANU PF youths and some war
veterans axed to
death Elias Madzivanzira and his wife because they were
members of the MDC.
Madzivanzira was the headman for Ward 8 in the area.
Political violence
broke out in many parts of Zimbabwe almost immediately
after it became clear
that the MDC and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai had
defeated Mugabe and his
ZANU PF party in the March polls.
The MDC, Western governments and human
rights groups have accused Mugabe of
unleashing ZANU PF militias and the
army to beat and torture Zimbabweans
into backing him in a second round
presidential ballot.
The run-off presidential election is due to be held
at a yet unknown date
after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said
Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe but
failed to garner more than 50 percent of the
vote needed to take power under
the country's electoral laws. –
ZimOnline.
VOA
By Jonga Kandemiiri and Patience Rusere
Washington
13 May 2008
Reports of violence
against rural supporters of Zimbabwe's opposition
Movement for Democratic
Change continued to emerge Tuesday despite scattered
moves by lower level
officials of President Robert Mugabe's ruling party to
restrain his
partisans.
Violence allegedly organized by Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF party has
mounted in
rural Zimbabwe since the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change claimed a
majority in the lower house of parliament in March 29
general elections, and
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai outpolled Mr. Mugabe in
a presidential poll.
The violence is believed to be intended to prepare for
a presidential
run-off election.
Sources in Mashonaland said village
headman Elias Kahari of Madziwanzira,
Shamva North constituency, Mashonaland
Central Province, was murdered by
youth militia of Mr. Mugabe's ruling
ZANU-PF party on Sunday because his
ward had elected many district council
members from the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change.
A source
in the Uzumba constituency of Mashonaland East said a woman
identified as
Mbuya (Granny) Mushayavanhu died Sunday after being attacked
by militia, and
her husband was said to be in critical condition in a local
hospital.
Homes of opposition members were reported to have been
burned in the
Mukumbura area of the Mount Darwin constituency in Mashonaland
Central
Province.
Sources in Midlands Province said around eight MDC
activists had been picked
up by police since late Monday on charges that
they had engaged in violence.
In eastern Manicaland Province, detectives
were seeking former mayor and
Mutasa South parliamentarian Misheck
Kagurabadza on unspecified charges.
In Kadoma, Mashonaland West, five
opposition members including Kadoma
Central parliamentarian Editor Matamisa
were picked up by detectives Tuesday
on charges they burned the restaurant
of former mayor and unsuccessful
ZANU-PF candidate Fani Phiri. Matamisa was
released but the other activists
were still being held.
Some ZANU-PF
officials were reported to be urging supporters of President
Mugbabe to
abstain from violence. Kenneth Mutiwekuziva, a ZANU-PF
information secretary
in Mashonaland East Province, was said to have
preached political tolerance.
Sources said police in Masvingo Province were
shutting down alleged torture
bases established by ZANU-PF youth militia and
liberation war
veterans.
But opposition lawmaker Editor Matamisa of Kadoma told reporter
Jonga
Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that she and her fellow
opposition
members were still living in fear because they believe police
have targeted
MDC members.
The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
said it intends to file a lawsuit
against Police Commissioner General
Augustine Chihuri to compel him to close
bases in rural schools from which
youth militia and war veterans are
terrorizing local residents.
The
union said it is gathering evidence and will file the suit in high court
late this week.
PTUZ Secretary General Raymond Majongwe said some 464
schools have shut
their doors since the beginning of May due to mounting
violence. About 5,000
teachers are said to have fled, leaving around 260,000
children without
instructors.
Majongwe charged that ZANU-PF youth
militia are obliging girls in rural
communities to take part in nightlong
"vigils" in the course of which they
are being raped. He said nine girls in
Mudzi, Mashonaland East Province,
were recently molested.
Teacher
Kennedy Mhuri of Nyamakuyo Primary School in Mudzi, who fled after
being
threatened, told reporter Patience Rusere that children from 15 years
up are
being taken into the bush at night to chant slogans and undergo
ZANU-PF
indoctrination.
From Bulawayo Morning Mirror
Over a year
ago, when I was sixteen, I wrote a letter to you, the world, regarding
my
homeland, Zimbabwe. Well, in five months, I will be eighteen, and we're
still here; still broken.
But, it's different now - the Winds of
Change blow over the sands of Africa. There is an air
of expectancy
hanging over Zimbabwe, and the brooding horizon of the Future has crept
a
little closer than it ever has before.
For the first time, some dare
to hope. Emotions run high as the fluctuating results of our
elections
seep through to the people. No one will admit it, for fear of
disappointment, but,
deep inside the hearts of Zimbabweans, flickering
within these Children of Repression,
something akin to the Hope we used
to know ignites. With bated breath and shining eyes,
we watch as the tiny
flame of Hope, though small, begins to glow ever more brightly.
Sure,
there has been nothing definite, but when one has experienced suffering
as Zimbabwe
has, the faintest hint of Change, a mere breath upon the
wind, is as blatantly obvious as
the Dawn. And Dawn it is. After the
longest Night of our lives, Dawn is about to break.
There may be no rays
evident upon the horizon as yet, but the Sun is there, ready to
break
free of its chains and Light our paths once again.
Like the
coming of the Storm, the imminent arrival of the Change we had despaired
after
now burns through my blood. Suppressed excitement is betrayed by the
hushed whispers
that fly through our community like birds set free.
Freedom, yes... Is that so much to ask for?
We have kept Faith,
for a quarter of a century, and now, finally, finally, we are on the
verge
of Tomorrow. It took all we possessed to hold onto what little Hope we
had, and many fell
prey to Dejection, but we are Zimbabweans: Hope will
forever burn in our hearts! Even in
the Darkest of Days, we will hold our
heads high, because, really, Pride, along with Hope,
is all we have...
(No food, no electricity, no food, no fuel, no food... It's hard to eat
Hope,
but it kept us alive regardless!)
And so, but a page away from
the end, I wish to extend all the gratitude of my heart to
you, the
World. Though we are not quite free yet, our bonds are frayed, our cages
rusted -
they cannot hold us forever! To those of you who heard my plea, to
those of you who
listened, to those who cared - thank you. Thank you for
your sympathy, thank you for
your assistance, thank you for your prayers.
Because you kept us in your thoughts,
Someone, Something, out there, came
through for us; Fate backed off, and we got to our
feet, at last. So
thank you.
As I said, it's not over yet, but we're so close I can almost
taste it! To my fellow
Zimbabweans, my People, Black, White, Indian,
Multi-racial, all; both within this prison and
outside of it, well, look
at us... Look at what we are... We are a nation of survivors,
eternally
adaptable, suitably humble, and damn near indestructible! We have been to
hell
and back; we've seen horrors, and lived worse, and now, we appreciate
Beauty, we
appreciate Life. They couldn't beat us. They sure tried, and
they very nearly did, but we're
still here! And I, for one, am proud to
be a Zimbabwean!
There's no grass here at the moment, so I guess it is
definitely greener on the other side,
but it will grow. We even had a
good rainy season last year. The best we've had for a long
time. Our
country has been washed clean, bar a few stains, and once we've
BLEACHED
those, we can cut the cloth and fashion our Home into whatever
we want it to be! And the
grass? The grass will grow.
Fear of
Change is fear of the Future, and if we fear the Future we will remain stuck
in the
Past. Now is the time for Change. Now is the dawn of the Future. And
I... I am not afraid.
No, I am not afraid.
Soon, when this is all
over, and we may breathe again, I hope to see my brethren, free
and
unafraid, return to this, our country; our home, Zimbabwe. I hope to see
the Future restore
my Thriving, Living, Loving People, and I will not
settle for anything less.
So, to you, the world, thank you. We're almost
there; so close, so, so close. I was born into
this version of Zimbabwe -
it is all I have ever known. But I know it was better before, and
we will
be the Breadbasket of Africa once more. Never again will we allow ourselves
to be
dominated like this - NEVER. Now, all that remains after this Long,
Dark War, is to rebuild.
We will need all of your support in the Future,
for to rebuild our Lives, our Homes, our
Country, will take as much
determination as surviving this Dark Era did, and the process of
picking
ourselves up will be even more arduous than bearing the beatings of the
Past. And
so, I implore you, remember us, the Nation that was brought to its
knees, but which
refused to give in. Remember us. And to the Zimbabweans
out there, come home... This
country is nothing without its
People!
As we move on, and away from the Darkness of our past, let us
remember: Humanity's
history may have been written in blood, but our
future doesn't have to be!
To the world, thank you,
Tanya Hunt
(An
almost-eighteen year old Zimbabwean)
The Times of Zambia
By Times
Reporter
THE Zimbabwean government is not being fair to President
Mwanawasa as
chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
by heaping
abuse on him and then asking him to assist the
country.
Chief Government spokesperson, Mike Mulongoti also said that
Zimbabwe should
quickly resolve its problems by holding free and fair
elections before
talking about the sanctions that have been imposed on that
country.
Mr Mulongoti was reacting to allegations by Zimbabwean Justice
Minister,
Patrick Chinamasa that president Mwanawasa as the SADC chair was
doing
nothing to ensure sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe were lifted.
He
said it was surprising that the Zimbabwean government had allowed its
newspaper, The Herald to heap abuses on President Mwanawasa and at the same
time ask him to assist the country.
“The Zimbabweans need to exercise
humility and show decency because they
cannot insult President Mwanawasa and
at the same time ask him to help them
because as SADC chair he has done what
he can,” he said.
The minister of information and broadcasting said in an
interview that
Zimbabweans should hold the elections and whoever would
emerge winner would
then talk much about sanctions because to talk about
sanctions now may be
premature.
He said the issue of sanctions was
for Zimbabweans which they understood
better.
He said President Mwanawasa
from the on-set had done everything possible to
help resolve the problems in
Zimbabwe and the entire world was watching the
situation.
“It is
surprising that Mr Chinamasa, the man who lost an election is very
vocal and
bitter,” he said.
Mr Chinamasa was yesterday reported on South African
Broadcasting
Corporation (SABC) saying that President Mwanawasa as SADC
chair had failed
to criticise Western-imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe.
VOA
By Peter Clottey
Washington, D.C.
14 May 2008
Some Zimbabweans are
reportedly upset with leaders of the main opposition
Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) after the party announced it would
accept regional observers
ahead of a possible run-off election. They contend
that observers from the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) failed
to tell the truth, by
declaring the election free and fair after the MDC
claimed the ruling
ZANU-PF government rigged the March 29 election to force
a
run-off.
Some political analysts say by agreeing to accept only what the
government
described as friends of Zimbabwe to monitor the poll, the MDC is
allowing
the ruling party to possibly rig the election thereby helping to
perpetuate
President Robert Mugabe’s 28-year old uninterrupted rule. Glen
Mpani is the
regional coordinator for transitional justice program for the
Center of the
Study of Violence and Reconciliation in Cape Town, South
Africa. He tells
reporter Peter Clottey that Zimbabweans are justified in
their
disappointment in the MDC leadership.
“The demands by
Zimbabweans that there is need to widen the organizations
that are allowed
to observe elections are quite legitimate and quite valid.
I think this has
been a thorny issue regarding the elections in Zimbabwe
that the current
bodies that are not there, they are not impartial that is
from the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission, from the African countries that have
observed previous
elections and they have passed judgment that the elections
have been free
and fair,” Mpani noted.
He said some Zimbabweans are beginning to lose
confidence in both local and
regional poll observers.
“They (local
and regional poll observers) have not really exercised their
role
effectively. And I think the reason why Zimbabweans are calling for
other
bodies outside of the normal friendly countries to Zimbabwe is to try
and be
sure that the process is neutral, is impartial and above board can
allow
result that cannot be contested by either party. So, that is why they
want
other bodies to observe this election, more so in the contest of the
environment that is raging across the country. And in an environment where
the militia and the police are taking an active in the electoral process
that is going to be coming up,” he said.
Mpani said it was unlikely
for incumbent President Mugabe would hand over
power to opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai.
“He would not hand over power to anyone. Mugabe has
set himself on a process
where he is prepared to be a dictator where he is
prepared to harness all
institutions and the authority that he has to ensure
that he maintain his
position in power. So, he is not going to hand over
power. We should not be
under any illusion that going for a run-off is going
to solve our problems,”
Mpani pointed out.
He said it would be
difficult for the ruling party to accept defeat in the
election
run-off.
“It’s one thing to win an election in Zimbabwe and another to
for the other
party to accept it. I think our challenge in Zimbabwe has
always been that
ZANU-PF does not accept the concept of having an election.
ZANU-PF believes
that an election is free and fair when it is the sole
winner. ZANU-PF will
not allow MDC to take over power…we should take a cue
from what happened in
this election that we had where they withheld the
election results for four
months. One would imagine what they are going to
do in this election if it
comes out the same that the MDC has won. I don’t
think they are going to
announce and it they are not going to accept it,” he
said.
Mpani said the Mugabe government is resorting to intimidation ahead
of the
election run-off.
“They have now resorted to relying on the
army and the security agencies,
and I think they are going to fortify that
stands and rely on other
processes to ensure that they maintain their
position in authority. They are
not going to accept any elections result.
That is why it is important that
if we want to come up with a peaceful
resolution to Zimbabwe, it has to be a
negotiated process rather than an
election,” Mpani noted.
Meanwhile, the United States has reportedly
condemned President Mugabe’s
government for what it described as the
harassment of the U.S. ambassador
and other diplomats questioned by police
after visiting post-election
violence victims at a hospital. But the
Zimbabwe government has rejected the
condemnation, saying their trip was not
sanctioned.
Los Angeles Times
Two people
are killed amid resentment over the presence of foreigners
willing to work
for little money.
By Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 14,
2008
ALEXANDRA, SOUTH AFRICA -- Isaac Moyo left Zimbabwe for South Africa six
years ago because it was so hard to survive in his homeland. But after a mob
armed with machetes and axes chopped through his door in this township
Monday and chased him away, Moyo feels that he has no choice but to go back
to Zimbabwe.
Moyo and hundreds of Zimbabweans and other foreigners
fled their homes in
Alexandra, a teeming crime-ridden township, on Sunday
and Monday to escape
xenophobic attacks. Some hid in the nearby bush or in
police compounds.
"They were saying, 'Go back to Zimbabwe, we don't want
to see you here,
you're taking our jobs,' " Moyo said Tuesday. "They said,
'Go back to
[Zimbabwean President Robert] Mugabe.' They took everything,
saying, 'You
didn't get this from Mugabe; this is our property.'
"
More than 100 foreigners were injured and at least one foreigner and a
South
African were killed during two nights of violence.
The attacks
increase pressure on South African President Thabo Mbeki over
his policy of
"quiet diplomacy." His administration has avoided direct
criticism of human
rights abuses by Mugabe's government, even as hundreds of
thousands of
Zimbabweans have flooded into South Africa to escape the
economic meltdown
and political violence at home.
The presence of Zimbabweans willing to
work for as little as $6 a day has
sparked resentment among poor in a nation
with more than 40% unemployment.
Moyo, 30, and three brothers were living
in a shack in Alexandra until
Monday night, sending money home to their
family in Zimbabwe.
On Sunday night, they had to flee attacks and sleep
in the bush. On Monday
evening, as he was cooking dinner, Moyo heard loud
singing in the street. He
knew the mob was back.
"People were singing
and celebrating and were chasing foreigners back to
Zimbabwe," he said.
"They started beating us."
His brother David was hit on the head with a
large stick; the wound required
six stitches. Moyo does not know where his
other two brothers have gone; he
and David had their cellphones stolen and
cannot call them.
He said the anger toward Zimbabweans had been building
in Alexandra for
months.
Moyo, a qualified mechanic in Zimbabwe,
initially earned about $6 a day as a
bricklayer's laborer but now gets $13 a
day as a painter. Many South African
township dwellers resent some
Zimbabweans' better job qualifications and
their willingness to work for
little money.
Jimmy Matsena, 36, a South African security guard who lives
in Alexandra,
said he was sickened when he saw a crowd chase a man who was
carrying a few
blankets and other belongings.
"This xenophobia, it's
bad," he said. "People were shouting, 'Mambe!
Mambe! -- catch them, catch
them, they don't belong here!' "
"People feel angry with Zimbabweans,"
Matsena said. "People get jealous
because they see these people progressing.
Zimbabweans are good at crafts
and they all speak perfect
English."
He said some township dwellers who believe that Mugabe is a
cruel leader say
it is because of something innately cruel in Zimbabwe's
society. They tend
to blame South Africa's high crime rate on the influx of
Zimbabweans.
The violence this weeks follows a series of violent attacks
on Somalis in
the last few years, mainly around Cape Town.
"Such acts
can only take society backwards and open the wounds of racism and
intolerance against which so many of our people fought," said Tiyani
Rikhotso, a spokesman for the ruling African National Congress
party.
robyn.dixon@latimes.com
Pretoria News
May 14, 2008
Edition 1
"I want to go home." This is the appeal of a Zimbabwean
woman who fought to
prevent her little sister from being raped during the
xenophobic attacks in
Alexandra.
Willet Sibanda (28), who also has an
eight-year-old daughter, received
blankets and clothes at the Alexandra
police station yesterday.
That is all she has left after violence broke
out in the township on Sunday.
Sibanda told of how men from a hostel in
Alexandra kicked in her door at
about 10pm on Monday and told her to leave
everything and get out.
"They insulted us. They screamed, they shouted.
They demanded my cellphone
and money. They touched me all over," she
said.
The men told her to stand behind a curtain so they could rape her
little
sister. She refused and fought and pleaded with them not to do
so.
"I said: 'Rather shoot us.'"
After a while the men
relented and allowed them to leave.
They shouted at Sibanda and her
sister to go back to Zimbabwe. They told her
they wanted her house because
they were tired of living in a hostel.
When Sibanda and her sister
arrived at the police station, they were told
they would be taken to
Doornfontein.
Sibanda, who is in South Africa illegally, said: "I want to
go back to my
country, it's not easy in South Africa. We are not safe. We
came here for
jobs. This is what we get."
Sibanda and other
foreigners who have been displaced by the xenophobic
attacks in the past two
days remained at the police station seeking safety
and
shelter.
Meanwhile, Gauteng safety and security MEC Firoz Cachalia said
the attacks
were not just "spontaneous acts of xenophobic hatred",
describing the
perpetrators as criminals and their actions as
criminal.
Cachalia met NGOs, the SA Council of Churches, the SA Human
Rights
Commission and the Gender Commission to discuss how to deal with the
situation. He was to attend a community meeting near the police station last
night. - Sapa
By Our
Correspondent
JOHANNESBURG, May 14, 2008 (thezimbabwetimes.com) - South
Africa’s central
bank governor Tito Mboweni on Tuesday sharply differed with
President Thabo
Mbeki after he warned that the political crisis plaguing
Zimbabwe could
blight economic growth prospects in the rest of
Africa.
Last month Mbeki shocked all and sundry when after holding some
consultations with Zanu-PF leader Robert Mugabe he stated that there was no
crisis in Zimbabwe. His remarks drew widespread criticism, including from
ANC President Jacob Zuma.
But Mboweni warned on Tuesday that the
political logjam in Zimbabwe could
fail the continent from realizing such a
growth rate.
“Africa’s economic outlook remains positive given the
continued favourable
commodity price outlook, regional macroeconomic
stability, rising oil
production and continued capital inflows,” Mboweni
said in a bi-annual
monetary policy statement posted on the South African
Reserve Bank’s website
Tuesday. “The most important downside risks for
growth in the region would
comprise heightened risk aversion by investors as
a result of the tensions
flowing from the Zimbabwe elections and a worse
than expected foreign demand
outcome due to spill over effects flowing from
the international financial
turmoil.”
Economic growth in Africa is
projected to rise by six and half percent in
2008 with growth in oil
exporters expected to accelerate to slightly less
than 10 percent and that
in oil importers to taper off at 5 percent.
Inflation is also expected to
remain below 8 percent for the region,
assuming macroeconomic policies hold
firm.
Zimbabwe is currently embroiled in a political stalemate after the
Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) declared a run-off in presidential
elections
after Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan
Tsvangirai was
reported to have failed to secure the necessary votes to
secure the
presidency. According to ZEC Tsvangirai garnered more votes than
the Zanu-PF
leader, Mugabe but short of the 50 percent to secure the
presidency. A
run-off is pending amid rising violence mainly targeted at
opposition
supporters in the country.
Last year Mboweni warned that
Zimbabwe could be excluded from the common
monetary union planned for
southern African countries. The Southern African
Development Community
(SADC) is planning to establish a single currency by
2016 just like the
European Union to promote regional trade. At that time
Mboweni also said
inflation figures in the SADC region were encouraging,
with the exception of
Zimbabwe, which has world beating inflation of 165 000
percent.
Zimbabwe’s economy has been in the doldrums since 1999 when
President Robert
Mugabe’s administration launched a campaign to appropriate,
often violently,
thousands of white owned commercial farms for
redistribution among Zanu-PF
supporters and veterans of the liberation war
who in most cases lacked
financial resources or the necessary farming
skills.
Supporters of the opposition have not benefited from the land
redistribution
exercise.