Mugabe the manic: Daily Mail reporter goes undercover in Zimbabwe to find an electoral genocide the world is ignoring

Daily Mail, UK

By PETER OSBORNE -  Last updated at 01:26am on 15th May 2008

Robert Mugabe's paid assassins came hunting for 22-year-old Memory, a
married mother-of-two.

They burst into her home, seized her and her children, and took them to
their temporary headquarters in the local village school.

Four men held down her arms and legs, while a fifth gripped her head,
placing his hands over her mouth to prevent her screams being heard.

Two others, wielding heavy wooden poles, then took turns to thrash her on
the buttocks in a beating that lasted half an hour.

I saw Memory in her hospital bed after she had been brought in from the bush
more dead than alive a week ago last Monday, several days after her beating.
She was lying on her front: it was obvious why.

Where her buttocks should have been was just a mess of raw flesh.

I watched as a blue-suited nurse removed one of the bandages.

Memory whimpered and moaned with pain. With me was a hardened welfare worker
who had witnessed many terrible things.

She broke down in sobs. I must tell you that tears poured down my cheeks,
too.

Memory was in far too much pain and shock to answer any questions.

I pressed her hand gently and left her.

The following day, I returned to the hospital and saw Memory's beautiful
face and, since her pain was beginning to subside, heard her sweet, low
voice for the first time.

She told me how on arrival at the school (which she had attended as a
child), she had been ordered to sit in the playground with a group of
supporters of Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) - the
opposition party led by Morgan Tsvangirai.

On the dot of 8am, the beatings started. Groups of eight people at a time
were ordered out for treatment at the hands of a band of around 200 members
of Robert Mugabe's militia, each wearing Zanu-PF T-shirts and green, red and
yellow bandanas signifying the national flag.

Many of them were high on drink or drugs.

She watched as four of her close friends were beaten and kicked to death. A
fifth friend later died, and others remain unaccounted for.

The militiamen chanted songs and spat insults at Morgan Tsvangirai as they
did their work.

They told Memory, whose farmer husband was away: "You and your husband are
MDC members so we must beat you.' They said that she belonged 'to a party of
animals".

Memory told me how she could hear her children screaming "Mamma, Mamma,
Mamma!" during her beating. They were held back by female members of
Zanu-PF.

Later, Memory was ordered to sit for two hours on her wounds. Mugabe's thugs
told her she would be thrashed again if she moved a muscle.

'We spent the day without eating or water in the hot sun,' she told me. "If
we asked for water, they said: "Get your water from Tsvangirai." "

Believe it or not, just by being alive, Memory is one of the lucky ones.

She is just one of tens of thousands of victims of the campaign of violence
launched by Robert Mugabe after he comprehensively lost the presidential
elections on March 29.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has agreed to contest a new runoff
against Mugabe, even though he knows he won outright in the first round and
accuses Zanu-PF of blatant vote-rigging.

A stand-off over the MDC's demand for international observers and media to
be given full access to ensure the vote is free and fair has brought matters
to a standstill.

The decision last night to delay the poll until the end of July raised the
terrifying spec-tre of Mugabe's Green Bomber youth militia carrying on their
reign of terror for ten more weeks.

An MDC spokesman said last night the law change was "illegal and unfair".

Shamefully, as a result of the standoff, the world's attention has shifted
away.

Now, with the focus no longer on him, Mugabe is free to continue this
unprecedented campaign of electoral cleansing.

For the past week, having slipped into Zimbabwe as a businessman, I have
seen the relentless increase in intimidation from government forces.

I can report that every day it is reaching a new level of intensity,
sweeping like a killer virus through the country.

Even by Mugabe's standards, the scale and brutality is horrifying.

It's the worst seen since he ordered genocide in the west of Zimbabwe 25
years ago, when some 20,000 people were killed in an attempt to eradicate
all political opposition.

The world turned a blind eye then. Tragically, it is doing so again now.

And make no mistake: there is nothing spontaneous about these attacks.

They have all been carefully and deliberately planned by Mugabe, his
loathsome deputy Emerson Mnangagwa and the 15 or so senior military police
and intelligence officers in the Joint Operation Command (JOC) which now
runs Zimbabwe.

Their intention is to intimidate the supporters of the opposition so that
they either cannot, or are too afraid, to vote in the run-off elections.

Mugabe has made it plain that he will never hand over power after 30 years
as ruler - even if he loses the vote again.

According to senior security sources, government officials have been told
that he intends to win the election by use of intimidation, backed up by
ballot-rigging on a massive scale.

And if that does not work, the result will simply not be published.

Shockingly, the strategy of murder and retribution has the support of
Mugabe's close friend, the despicable President Thabo Mbeki in neighbouring
South Africa.

Through illegal methods, including the torture and blackmail of abducted
opposition activists, Zanu-PF has obtained a list of all the polling agents
and leading activists who work on behalf of Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC.

Now, village by village, town by town, it is embarking on a savage campaign
to eradicate them all.

The attacks happen at night or in the early morning. Typically, MDC
supporters such as Memory are seized and subjected to terrible tortures. For
example, boiling plastic is poured on their backs, their extremities are
burnt, or they are nearly drowned in water tubs.

The aim is to force victims to betray the identities of those on their own
side - thus providing human fodder for more attacks.

"We can trust nobody now, not even our friends," an MDC activist called John
told me.

"You do not know if they have been turned."

Today, everyone in this tragic country lives in a state of permanent fear
and suspicion. They believe that their phone lines are tapped, and that they
are being watched by police informers and betrayed by their own friends.

Above all, they live in terror of the early morning knock on the door.

Mugabe's thugs are nothing if not imaginative in their methods.

One MDC organiser, Moses Bashitiyawo, was beaten by Zanu-PF activists and
then forced to climb a tree with a rope round his neck before being told to
jump to the ground, hanging himself.

Others are driven down mineshafts - as happened in the genocide of the
1980s.

I experienced a small element in this campaign of terror in the rural areas
when, shortly after my arrival in Zimbabwe, I hired a guide to take me to
his home village some 50 miles from Victoria Falls.

The village head man told me there had been two Zanu-PF meetings there
during the past 24 hours in which suspected MDC supporters had been driven
away.

He also revealed that those who survive Mugabe's murderous purges are then
subjected to food deprivation.

The village elder produced a ration card entitling each Zimbabwe family to
10kg of Mealie Meal (a kind of maize that is the national staple diet in a
country plagued by food shortages) from a local relief organisation every
month.

The months of February and March had been ticked off, showing that the food
had been handed over.

But there were no ticks for April and May, revealing how hand-outs were
stopped as a way of punishing Mugabe's political opponents.

The elder told me his children were away in the forest looking for wild
fruits. "We are so hungry," he said.

"People are dying."

My guide took me to see his mother - a frightened woman who told me: "We
don't sleep any more at night for fear of being caught in our beds."

The worst atrocities are concentrated in Mugabe's Mashona heartlands in the
east of the country, where he is wreaking horrific revenge on the voters who
opposed him during the March presidential election.

Here, the stories of burnt villages, casual massacres and roving
statesponsored militia bands are all too reminiscent of the ethnic cleansing
in Darfur, Western Sudan.

Indeed, Mugabe's government is even using the language of ethnic cleansing.
Augustine Chihuri, the country's hated police chief, says: "We must clean
the country of the crawling maggots bent on destroying the economy."

Grotesque language such as this is widespread.

The violence, originally confined to rural areas, has been spreading into
towns. Details are beginning to emerge of a police operation to close down
Anglican churches in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital.

On Sunday, churchgoers were met by riot police barring the doors.

At Christchurch, in Harare's northern suburb of Borrowdale, parishioners
found the church doors locked and groups of police waiting outside. Laymen
who attempted to protest were beaten up, while the brave churchwarden was
arrested.

Riot police also arrived at St Francis Church in the Waterfalls district,
where Communion had already started.

Police charged to the altar and seized women worshippers, pulling them from
the Communion rail and beating them senseless.

The reason? Mugabe's henchmen accuse the Anglican church of being in league
with the MDC opposition.

It is all part of a cynical attempt to break the spirit of the Zimbabwean
people.

In some cases, inevitably, the campaign of terror is working.

And I am ashamed to say the world's seeming indifference since its attention
turned away from Zimbabwe is leaving Mugabe emboldened.

In one hospital, I spoke at length to a 35-year-old farmer called Felix.

He described how he and his wife had spent a week on the run from Zanu-PF
thugs after they invaded his village. They managed to walk 70 kilometres to
Harare, where they found refuge.

Friends have since told him that his home has been burnt down and his 15
cattle slaughtered. Worst of all, his mother and his children have
disappeared. Despairingly, he says: "It would have been much better if they
had killed me.

"My mother was always telling me to stop working for the MDC. She was always
telling me I was putting our lives at risk. But I refused to comply with
her."

Now, in a state of collapse, he is consumed with bitter regrets about
joining the MDC.

A party activist, who was accompanying me, tried to comfort the farmer,
telling him: "You did the right thing. There are a lot of brave people like
you, and we're going to succeed.

"We are in a war where we are not allowed to fight and have guns. But we
will win - because we have God on our side."

Again and again, during my visit to this country, I met ordinary Zimbabweans
who shared this optimism, despite all the horror they are suffering.

As I stood up to leave the bedside of Memory, I asked if, despite all she
had been through, she would still vote for Morgan Tsvangirai in the
presidential run-off.

Her face lit up with a wonderful, radiant, artless smile. "Oh, yes!" she
said.

"I would. I will vote with confidence."

While this amazing spirit of courage and optimism remains, there is still
hope this wonderful country could soon rid itself of its appalling despot
Robert Mugabe - if only the world would stop averting its eyes and finally
take the moral responsibility to help end this tragedy.

Fearful generals holding Mugabe "at gunpoint" - Chenjerai Hove

The Zimbabwean

Tuesday, 13 May 2008 19:58
 Exiled Zimbabwean journalist, novelist and poet Chenjerai Hove,
argues that the 84-year-old Robert Mugabe wants to quit and spend his last
days enjoying his ill-gotten riches, but is being forced "at gunpoint" to
try to cling to power by the fearful heads of the police and military. He
also predicts chaos as the generals fight it out.
Hove, now a visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International
Studies at Brown University in the United States, spoke to AllAfrica's
Charles Cobb Jr. These are edited excerpts from the interview.
Cobb: Mugabe was speaking of reconciliation in those first
(post-independence) days?
Hove: He spoke of reconciliation at gunpoint... [and that is] what is
happening now … The same Joint Operations Command, which Mugabe did not
dismantle, is now saying to him, "You cannot go because we ourselves will be
vulnerable if you go."
Cobb: For war crimes, I guess?
Hove: For war crimes – some of them were in charge of the operations
in Matabeleland [in the early 1980s]. They are known and the cases are
there, and witnesses. Human rights organisations have compiled this
information …  I suspect that [after the March 29 elections] he must have
negotiated his own exit package, then the army discovered it and said, "…
How about us?" …  So he is a hostage really.
Cobb: Are we looking at the beginning of real civil war?
Hove: Now, some army and police officers just go to a region and
declare a state of emergency in the district. And then they torture people
and nobody arrests the torturers. The sad thing is that the opposition is
saying, "No, we cannot have this anymore," because they have their own youth
as well who fight back. So we're almost on the verge of a civil war … the
next few weeks are very dangerous for the country.
Cobb: Do you have any expectation or hope that African nations –
particularly those in the region that would have a direct interest in
stability in Zimbabwe – will act in any way to ameliorate this conflict or
to assure fairness?
Hove: No, in fact I met the former President of Botswana. Festus
Mogae, and he said to me in a joking manner, "… You go there thinking that
you are going to challenge him and then when you get there you get so
weak." … The same thing with [Thabo] Mbeki …when he goes there, he's
mediating. He's seen walking around hand-in-hand with Mugabe and smiling
broadly. No negotiator does things like that.
Cobb: You said Mugabe was held hostage by his own military people …
Does that mean Mugabe actually wants to leave office and cannot?
Hove: Mugabe wants to leave I think. Because I have been told he has
been under immense pressure from his wife, who, I'm told, has already taken
the children to Malaysia because they  … were taunting them (at school).
So I think he has made enough money … he wants to leave and enjoy his
last days, spending money on holidays and all that …  The army generals
don't trust that [anyone] can guarantee their safety …
Cobb: What do you see in the immediate future?
Hove: In the next year or two I think we going to go through a period
of real chaos –  political, economical, social disintegration – before we
start rebuilding.b In every institution … including the national parks,
national railways, the oil companies, there are brigadiers, colonels,
lieutenants, military guys. He has militarised all the institutions – prison
services, secret police.
These guys are not going to allow themselves to be pushed out easily.
They're going to fight … Even if they don't get removed they will try to
make sure that the new government doesn't function.
The central bank is now a personal bank. Mugabe just withdraws money
whenever he wishes … So to clean all that up and renovate the whole system
and make sure the state institutions are once more state institutions, not
personal institutions, will take us quite some time.

Gukurahundi commander terrorizes Manicaland

The Zimbabwean

Tuesday, 13 May 2008 20:14
.. thousands free to Mozambique
BY CHIEF REPORTER
MUTARE
Air Marshal Perence Shiri, the head of the Zimbabwe Air Force, is
directing a terror campaign in Manicaland whose carnage so far involves
seven shut-down schools, smoldering huts, hundreds internally displaced and
at least three killed.
Reports from Manicaland this week spoke of a door-to-door campaign by
marauding Zanu (PF) thugs, war veterans and troops, other gun-toting troops
lounging around bars and shops, in the villages and at schools, spearheading
a purge of the province of all MDC activists.
Shiri, who has taken temporary residence in Manicaland, where he is
booked in at the serene La Rochelle Gardens in Penhalonga, is commanding the
joint operation that also involves senior police and army officials.
The teams deployed across Manicaland have been mandated with ensuring
that Mugabe wins the impending presidential election run off by any means
necessary.
This is not the first time that Shiri has been called to defend Mugabe
against threats to his rule.
Shortly after independence in 1980, Shiri was chosen to head the
notorious Fifth Brigade of the Zimbabwean National Army which, between 1982
and 1987, slaughtered up to 20,000 men, women and children in Matabeleland,
the area of the country populated by the Ndebele people.
He is now in charge of "operations" in Manicaland, a province which
voted overwhelmingly against Zanu (PF) in the March 29 poll. Senior Zanu
(PF) officials suffered their heaviest losses in Manicaland, where former
ministers such as Joseph Made, Patrick Chinamasa, Oppah Muchinguri, Chris
Mushowe and former deputy Speaker Kumbirai Kangai lost their seats.
The province also voted overwhelmingly against Mugabe, according to
voting figures, reflecting a massive shift in allegiance from a province
that has loyally supported Zanu (PF) and Mugabe to MDC and its leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.
The deployed troops and the Zanu (PF) militia are beating hard on the
drums of confrontation, taking on all opponents of Mugabe and Zanu (PF) that
pose a threat to the veteran ruler's electoral victory in the crunch run
off.
Two-week long investigations have revealed that the operation is being
spearheaded by Retired Brigadier Zambara in Mutasa Central, Colonel Masamvu
in Nyanga, and Col Romeo Machinguma in Makoni West.
There is also Col Matuvhunye and Brigadier Mandama, jointly heading
operations in Musikavanhu; Col Morgan Mzilikazi in Buhera, and the former
Harare Central Law and Order chief, Senior Assistant Commissioner
Musarashana Mavhunda, heading the Chipinge operation. Mabhunda is ironically
a member of the ZAOGA church, yet he is notorious for torturing opposition
activists.
The Zimbabwean heard that by far the most gruesome of these teams is
the one assigned to Makoni South. This team comprises former CIO boss
Shadreck Chipanga, Senior Assistant Commissioner Pfumvuti and Wing Commander
Mandeya.
In Makoni South seven schools have been shutdown over the past one
week by the terror troops after headmasters and teachers were first
manhandled by the goon squad.
The Zimbabwean can reveal that in Makoni South, Chakuma Priimary
School has been shut down. The headmaster, Jethro Manyani was first
assaulted on allegations he was an MDC activist and then forced to shut the
school and flee.
Pupils have missed class since last week. Chikobvore Primary School
has also been shut down and the headmaster, only identified as Duma, beaten
up. Teacher Chipadzwa's car has also been burnt by the terror squad loyal to
Mugabe.
Other schools that have been shut down in Makoni South by the Zanu
(PF) terror troops include Mutungagore Secondary School, Zambuko Primary
School, Handina Secondary School, Makumba Secondary School and Zembera
Primary School.
Across the provinces, violence has escalated sharply.
The newly-elected MDC MP for Mutasa Central, Trevor Saruwaka remained
in police custody on Tuesday following his arrest on Monday after visiting
Penhalonga Police Station to inquire about the arrest of an MDC activist.
The activist had been abducted by war veterans and soldiers because he
was wearing an MDC T-shirt, brutalised, before he was handed to the police.
When the new area MP Saruwaka visited the police station inquiring
about the MDC youth's whereabouts, the member-in-charge, Assistant Inspector
Goronga, was ordered by Col Masamvu to detain the legislator on charges of
inciting violence.
"We now have a situation where people sleep out in the open because
they fear spending the night at their homes," said Reverend Stephen
Maengamhuru, the regional official from human rights group ZimRights.
MDC Manicaland spokesman Pishai Muchauraya told The Zimbabwean that
the level of brutality was shocking and said people were fleeing their homes
in numbers.
"It's a big problem we are having," he said. "It's a campaign of
retribution."
Across the Mozambican border, officials are struggling to cope with
the huge number of people fleeing the violence.
"There is a massive exodus of Zimbabweans going into Mozambique,"
Mozambican immigration official Boste Marizane told journalists in Manica
Town, about 25km east of Mutare. "What is happening is that these days there
are lots of people crossing to Mozambique who do not return," he said.

Thugs in blue kill for cash

The Zimbabwean

Tuesday, 13 May 2008 20:15

* Shocked Mujuru distances herself
* Naked villagers thrashed and killed

BY STAFF REPORTER
HARARE
More and more youths are being sucked into Zanu (PF)'s killing
machine, lured by the promise of billions of Zimdollars. Reports of
violence, brutality and intimidation are flooding in from all over the
country and human rights groups are battling to record and deal with the
victims.
It is believed thousands of Zanu (PF) youths were subjected to two
weeks of training at KGVI and 1 Commando Barracks before they were issued
with blue overalls and unleashed upon unarmed villagers.
Eyewitness reports say that on Sunday May 4, two Zupco buses, six ZNA
buses and two army trucks left 1 Commando Barracks heading towards Mutoko,
loaded with different types of uniforms. On Monday, attacks by the thugs in
blue started, spreading towards Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West
linking the state to the sponsored violence.
According to a survivor from Chaona Village in Muzarabani South on
Monday the youths in blue overalls, encircled their villages, force-marching
all the villagers, old and young, to a school about  five km away. Tractors
and trucks were provided to ferry children and the elderly to the school,
while other people were forced to jog all the way.
"When we got to the school there were more than 500 villagers who had
been driven to the centre surrounded by more than 1000 youths wearing blue
overalls and white t-shirts bearing either Joyce Mujuru or Robert Mugabe's
face.
"An unknown man addressed us, asking for every person who had voted
for MDC to confess. Several people were so terrified that they confessed
although they were not aware of the consequences. We were told to sit at the
centre with the elderly in front and the youths at the back. We were told to
lie prostrate, naked and the youths were ordered to beat to kill the sell
outs," explained one survivor.
"Joseph Madzivanhendo of Chaona village had his genitals mutilated in
full view of everyone and he collapsed and died a few minutes later in the
school yard. His mother was so traumatized that she also collapsed and died
on the same spot. Joseph Chiriseri died in his sleep a few hours later,"
explained a Chaona villager.
On that day a total of eight people died as a result of the injuries
and three died in Shamva area the following day. Hundreds of victims were
injured but were threatened with death if they reported for treatment at any
hospital, resulting in their injuries developing gangrene.
Although there are no reports of deaths in Chegutu, Muriel Mine,
Hurungwe, Mutoko and Murehwa areas, hundreds of homes were burnt down
forcing more than 300 people to seek refuge at Shamva police station.
In Chegutu the modus operandi differed as the thugs in blue preferred
stoning the victims and burning their homes on Friday night. The stoning
attack left Chikanga resettlement area especially Mujikwa homestead which is
situated along Chinhoyi road, in ruins. At Virginia farm, Shepherd Jack from
Chegutu sustained a fractured leg and facial injuries due to stoning.
Winfred Chenjerai from the same farm also suffered severe facial injuries
due to stoning and has since been treated and discharged.
Mr Mujikwa of Mujikwa homestead is the current MDC councillor of that
area hence the destruction of his homestead. He and his family were also
injured but are now safe and in hiding.
The recent spate of attacks have also left some Zanu (PF) gurus such
as vice-president Joyce Mujuru in shock. She is reported to have visited the
bereaved families in Chiweshe on Saturday, distancing herself from the
sponsored attacks.

Vote for Mugabe or resign - Muchemwa orders cops and their families

The Zimbabwean

Tuesday, 13 May 2008 20:08
BY A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
BULAWAYO - In a show of partiality and a clear case of electoral
rigging, senior Police Assistant Commissioner commanding Bulawayo Province,
Leo Muchemwa on Friday ordered all officers assembled at Stops Camp to vote
for Zanu (PF)'s Robert Mugabe in the up-coming Presidential run-off.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source at ZRP's Public Relations
Office denied Muchemwa ever made such a statement. "You are obviously a
biased journalist. Do not quote me in anything you write. For better
information, please talk to my boss Wayne Bvudzijena," he said.
Muchemwa's order that all police officers must vote for Mugabe and
that those who vote otherwise should resign forthwith, echoes Police
Commissioner Augustine Chihuri's recent press statements. Chihuri has since
barred all officers from voting in their wards, and now requires them to use
the postal ballot system. The latest manouevre is to register officers'
spouses, children and domestic workers and then compel them to vote on the
officers' nominal roll.
This is aimed at bolstering the ZANU (PF) vote. In the past MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai has criticized this method saying "without doubt, it
perfects rigging because it ensures strict compliance by junior officers who
vote under supervision of partisan seniors, away from the scrutiny of
election agents, polling officers and observers".
The order to use the postal ballot system is contained in an urgent
secret memorandum, a copy of which is in our possession, entitled Postal
Voting One Day Seminar, disseminated by the Commander 2008 Harmonised
Elections to all provincial police commanders and Chief Staff Officers among
other senior officers, which invites all seniors to "report at police club
on Tuesday 13/05/08 at 0800 hours for a one day seminar on the conduct of
postal voting."
The memo also orders "officers...to bring updated NOMINAL ROLLS for
polling officers including members from their respective provinces who are
registered as voters. The rolls which would be used for application of
postal ballots should be in the following format: force number, rank, full
name, identity number, station, ward, constituency."
Muchemwa further ordered that all officers should henceforth spy on
each other, and warned that serious consequences await those who do not toe
the official political line. According to Muchemwa, staff transfers will be
done to enable officers to spy on each other, until the run-off is done.
This means that even officers who are not part of Police Internal
Security Intelligence (PISI), an internal organ mainly charged with
identifying and handling internal security breaches, will be required to
take upon themselves the duty of spying on fellow officers. "This situation
will obviously bring a lot of distrust among us," said a police officer who
spoke on condition of anonymity.
Over the years, Mugabe has entrusted members of the Zimbabwe National
Army (ZNA) and war veterans to hold key positions in the military and
parastatals. Muchemwa is a ZANLA war veteran who was trained under the
command of Air Force Commander Perence Shiri at Mgagao in Tanzania during
the 1970's war of liberation. Police Commissioner Chihuri is also a war
veteran.

Mbare faces cholera, dysentery outbreak

The Zimbabwean

Tuesday, 13 May 2008 20:08
Sewerage - As of Sunday 10 May 2008, burst sewerage pipes have
increased in Mbare. Bursts along 6th and 7th streets have not been attended
to. There are more sewer bursts along Ardbernnie Road from the Mbare Bus
Terminus up to Mhlanga Avenue, at the intersection of Mhlanga and Rubatika
Street.  The Trust fears that given the reduced pumping water capacity by
the Zimbabwe National water Authority, Mbare is faced with a potential
cholera and dysentery outbreak.
Power - The situation in Mbare has improved after residents went to
the offices of the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority offices to raise a
complaint over the infrequent power cuts. The residents want ZESA to
introduce a proper load shedding schedule that is distributed through the
residents' structures.
Security - There is an initiative in the suburb to the combat crime.
As part of the residents' continued pursuit of collective responsibility for
their own safety and security, Mbare Residents' Trust has established a
committee that is responsible for security issues. This committee will work
closely with the Zimbabwe Republic Police and citizens of Mbare.
At an emergency meeting held at Corner Bar convened by the concerned
residents, it was resolved that citizens contribute by way of human
resources and money towards the patrolling of streets at night to protect
strategic property in Mbare to complement the efforts of the police. There
has witnessed three cases of burglaries during the week under review. On
Sunday 10 May at 11 am, residents of Mbare living in roads covering
Runyararo, Rubatika, Basopo Moyo streets and Mhlanga Avenue met to discuss
their security issues following the spate of burglaries.
Chaired by Susan Kapadza, the meeting agreed that all residents
willing to be part of this initiative to safeguard Mbare, should make
generous contributions to the Mbare Residents Trust to be given as monthly
appreciation to members of the neighbourhood watch committee who have been
tasked to patrol the streets daily at night. This is voluntary and residents
are not obliged to donate if they do not believe in this initiative. Members
of the committee are residents of Mbare, mostly unemployed youths and women.
The main objective of this is to inculcate a culture of collective
responsibility among the citizens and safeguard everything that belongs to
Mbare.
David Samukange, the Trust's chairperson, urged all residents to shun
political violence because ‘violence is retrogressive and creates
unnecessary enmity among people'. He said the Trust would endevour to
collaborate with the police and all key stakeholders to fight any people
with intent to cause violence in the community.
Responses - The Trust has scheduled a residents' public meeting to
discuss the continued theft of telephone and electricity cables and will
have officials from the City of Harare Health Department, ZESA, Police and
the National Aids Council to address the gathering. Other issues to be
discussed include rates and services, health and the environment.

SADC leaders battle to broker Mugabe-Tsvangirai meeting

The Zimbabwean

Tuesday, 13 May 2008 20:12
HARARE - SADC leaders are trying to bring Zimbabwe's
president-in-waiting, Morgan Tsvangirai, face-to-face in talks with Zanu
(PF)'s Robert Mugabe as last-ditch efforts to solve the country's political
impasse and Mugabe is understood to be keen on getting a safe exit which
Tsvangirai guarantees.
The possibility of the two meeting for the first time since Tsvangirai
broke into opposition politics in the late 1990s is a culmination of the
former trade unionist's massive international diplomatic offensive during
which he stressed to SADC and AU leaders in particular his desire and
willingness to negotiate and guarantee Mugabe a safe exit.
President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, who met Mugabe in Harare last
week, is reported to have "obtained commitment and a position of willingness
to negotiate from Mugabe".
Meanwhile Tsvangirai has demanded that Mugabe publicly guarantees his
safety if he returns to Zimbabwe after spending the last month launching his
diplomatic offensive from a base in Botswana, following discovery of plans
to assassinate him by Mugabe's military junta.
"Mugabe seems keen on the negotiations especially in that he will be
guaranteed a safe exit as well as the possibility of him and his party being
saved from sinking into the dust bins of Zimbabwean politics through a
government of national unity," a top MDC source said this week. "What
however shall always remain the sticking points are the conditions or the
give and take aspect by both sides because Mugabe and Zanu (PF) will
certainly want to make the most out of any negotiations with MDC and its
leader."
An SA official operating close to Mbeki in his mediation efforts told
this paper that Mugabe had indicated that if any deal would be struck, the
MDC should agree to an equally-representative government of national unity,
with Zanu (PF) getting an equal share of power in cabinet and government.
Mugabe, the source says, would even want him or his preferred heir, former
Housing minister Emmerson Mnangagwa leading the national unity transitional
government before fresh elections are held within two years.
That is in total variance with the preferred form of government of
national unity from the MDC side, based on the party's position that it won
both the parliamentary and presidential elections and would therefore form
the government but go on to invite its preferred members from the other
political side.
"It appears very likely that eventually Mugabe and Tsvangirai will
meet but unless serious compromises are made, the sticking points pose a
real threat to chances of a workable deal coming out of the talks," an
official from Mbeki's office said.
Tsvangirai's spokesman George Satchibowe said the MDC leader, "is and
has always been willing to meet Mugabe and help him understand his position
as well as solve his problem of fears". Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba
was not available and Mnangagwa declined to comment.

A return to Gukurahundi?

The Zimbabwean

Editorial
Tuesday, 13 May 2008 20:11

Throughout this edition we carry horrific stories of the unbridled
brutality being perpetrated by Mugabe's military junta against innocent and
defenceless citizens of Zimbabwe.
This thuggery has now spread throughout the country and has invoked
fears of the return of Gukurahundi - especially in the light of the
involvement of Perence Shiri, the former commander of 5th Brigade in
Matabeleland, who is reportedly spearheading the terror campaign in
Manicaland.
In any civilised country, the defence forces are there to protect the
citizens - not to terrorise them. When such a thing happens the
international has a responsibility to come to the aid of the defenceless.
How much does it take to force SADC, Africa and the world to stop
talking and start acting? Are they waiting for Rwanda again? Or another
massacre on the same scale as Gukurahundi?
Mugabe managed, back in the 1980s, to keep Gukurahundi under wraps.
That will not happen again this time. Nobody can say they are unaware of
what has been happening in Zimbabwe since Mugabe and his generals realised
they had lost the March 29 elections to Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC.
South African president, Thabo Mbeki, knows perhaps even more than
most just what is going on in Zimbabwe. He has had a briefing from his
generals - who no doubt understand the language of military men and who saw
for themselves the evidence of the violence.
This violence has respected no boundaries whatsoever, its victims
range from babies to grandmothers, and all those in between. It has been
savage and barbaric. It has made no distinctions between tribe, race, gender
or age.
Zanu (PF)'s responsibility for all of this is indisputable. It's aim
is clear - to terrorise Zimbabweans into reversing their rejection of Robert
Mugabe and voting for him in the presidential run-off.
Together with police commissioner Chihuri's orders to all policemen
and their families to register for postal voting, this renders the whole
run-off election process null and void. It is obviously being rigged right
under our very noses.  Members of the entire police force have had their
votes stolen from them by Chihuri. Surely SADC must have something to say
about this?
Or is this too much to hope for? -  given that this esteemed regional
body declared the March elections "free and fair" despite the fact that both
major contestants, MDC and Zanu (PF) have complained that they were rigged.

Mutambara faces

The Zimbabwean

Tuesday, 13 May 2008 20:10
BY STAFF REPORTER
HARARE
Leader of the smaller faction of the MDC, Arthur Mutambara, has been
included on the lists of politicians that the Zanu (PF) military junta wants
arrested as soon as they set foot on Zimbabwean soil on the basis of an
article he penned last month bemoaning the erosion of values and ideals of
independence.
The Law and Order Section at Harare Central Police Station was this
week issued with a revised list including names of MDC secretary general,
Tendai Biti, its spokesman Nelson Chamisa and president-in-waiting Morgan
Tsvangirai who should be arrested "as soon as they arrive back in the
country".  The name of Mutambara was the new inclusion and the former
firebrand student leader shall be charged with "inciting bad feeling against
the Head of State and making treasonous statements" according to information
leaked from the police.
Mutambara's article has already led to the arrest and charging of
editor of The Standard, Davison Maruziva who was granted bail last week
after the paper published the opinion piece.
Police spokesman Oliver Mandipaka confirmed that Mutambara "was wanted
for questioning" but declined to divulge more details saying it was
confidential police operations.
"All democratic forces must stand with the people in pursuit of the
total annihilation of Robert Mugabe and all he stands for," Mutambara wrote
in the article.
Biti is targeted by the Zanu (PF) regime on allegations that he defied
the Electoral Act when he announced that the MDC and Tsvangirai had won the
elections based on results posted on constituencies across the whole
country, while Chamisa could be charged with making "statements prejudicial
to the state and inciting the public to rise against government".

Regime's crackdown a regional and African shame

The Zimbabwean

Tuesday, 13 May 2008 20:09
HARARE - The government-in-waiting, the MDC, condemns the continued
arrests of civic society members, lawyers, journalists and students on
trumped up charges by a regime that was rejected by the people at the March
polls.
"These arrests are a brazen and desperate attempt by the Zanu (PF)
regime to stifle efforts by the civic groups and the media in exposing the
abuse of human rights in Zimbabwe," it said in a statement this week.
A number of prominent civic society members, lawyers and journalists
have been arrested recently. The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
President Lovemore Matombo and secretary-general Wellington Chibhebhe were
arrested on Thursday last week on allegations of communicating falsehoods
prejudicial to the state and inciting public violence during an address they
made in Dzivaresekwa, Harare on May Day.
Also last week the Editor of the Standard newspaper, Davison Maruziva
was arrested for publishing an article written by Professor Arthur
Mutambara. Although Maruziva was given a bail on Friday, the ZCTU leaders
have been denied bail and are still languishing in police custody.
"We do not believe in a partisan police force. The MDC believes in a
professional police force that is not an appendage of any political party.
The police force and other state security organs should not be abused by and
misled by those that are trying to cling to power against the wishes of the
people.
"Across the country, Zanu (PF) continues to maim and kill with
impunity. The regime's supporters are murdering MDC members and the police
are not doing anything to stop this madness. So far, 27 MDC supporters have
been brutally murdered in the barbaric vengeance being visited upon innocent
Zimbabweans for exercising their democratic right to vote. Reports have been
made to the police but no arrests have been made and the perpetrators are
still roaming freely and are continuing with their barbaric acts against
humanity," says the MDC.
"The days of this military junta are numbered. The people of Zimbabwe
will not be cowed into submission by a regime they rejected on 29 March
2008. The people will triumph," it added.

SA Alliance Summit plans action on Zim

The Zimbabwean

Tuesday, 13 May 2008 20:05
JOHANNESBURG - The African National Congress, the South African
Communist Party, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, together with
the South African National Civic Organisation, met in a highly successful
Alliance Summit last week.
The summit noted the outcome of the Zimbabwean elections and expressed
grave concern at the worsening situation in that country, including the
arrest of the President and Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions.
"Our approach on this matter is informed by our commitment to the
principles of democracy and human rights. We call for an end to all violence
and harassment of the civilian population. We urge the leadership and the
people of Zimbabwe assisted by SADC to work together to find a lasting
solution to this crisis," said the closing statement.
COSATU and others have organised marches, to be held on Saturday 17
May in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, on two of the most burning issues
of the day, Zimbabwe and rising food prices.
"If the presidential run-off election is to truly express the will of
the people it will be essential to have a bigger and more effective team of
local and international observers. We shall be urging the South African and
other SADC governments to do everything in their power to ensure that the
election is not stolen thorough violence, intimidation or vote-rigging,"
said a statement by the organisers.

The Financial Gazette Website hacked

Deportations from SA at an all time high

The Zimbabwean

Tuesday, 13 May 2008 20:06
CAPE TOWN - In a meeting on May 5 with Mrs. Mapisa-Nqakula, the South
African Minister of Home Affairs, we expressed our concern over the
continued deportation of Zimbabweans amid the political violence across the
Limpopo.
She agreed with all our concerns. She spoke a lot about her concern
over the increased xenophobic attacks and conceded it was a waste of
resources to deport people who always return.
I pointed out that the main reason why xenophobic attacks happen is
that undocumented people are branded as criminals, and the only way to curb
these attacks was to stop deporting them. Following attacks and lootings,
foreigners are arrested and deported, leaving the local communities
content - as though they had caught thieves.
The minister is a good woman, but there is a lot of blood on her
hands. I hope that she has the courage to push for the changes needed in her
department.
She has to face the results of South Africa's failed foreign policies.
Maybe she should speak louder about the additional pressures placed on the
Department of Home Affairs. She has the task of finding and deporting
people, who South Africa often claims do not need asylum.
Deportations are at an all time high. There are tens of thousands of
Zimbabweans deported each month. And the political violence at home is also
at an all time high, meaning those deported without even having been given a
chance to apply for asylum are essentially being murdered. We will continue
applying pressure on her department to stop this madness.
In the past two weeks I have been around South Africa and have been
reliably informed that I am not welcome in Johannesburg by the police, so I
have taken legal advice on the matter of harassment. I have to say that when
bad people hate you it feels good! I will return to Johannesburg and will
hopefully venture further north in the near future.
We are having a protest with COSATU, the TAC and the Angolan Society
on May 17th outside of the Angolan consulate, Cape Town.
This will be a landmark event to which COSATU will be bringing a large
number of people and it will be the first protest targeted at Angola's close
relationship with Mugabe. There is also an international day of action for
Zimbabwe planned for May 25th.
Social movements in South Africa are beginning to suffocate the
supporters of the Mugabe regime. The climate is changing. Mugabe has few
friends left.
For more details about the protest please SMS 076 101 1324.

Buying Zimbabwe produce is supporting farmers or an evil dictator?

Your ethical dilemmas sorted

Leo Hickman
Thursday May 15, 2008
The Guardian

There are passion fruit from Zimbabwe in my local Co-op. If I buy them am I
supporting the country's farmers or funding an evil dictator?
Karen Stafford, Worcester
There is no way of knowing with certainty that by buying goods from Zimbabwe
you are not in some small way lining the pockets of a member of the
country's current administration, or one of its supporters. The situation is
muddied by the fact that many of Zimbabwe's once bountiful farms - which
helped the country earn its former "breadbasket of Africa" moniker - are now
in the hands of Robert Mugabe's "cronies", as they are often referred to.
For example, in 2004 the former minister for mines, Edward
Chindori-Chininga - who is now banned from entering the EU due to his
alleged links to human rights abuses - was alleged by the Zimbabwe
Independent newspaper to have seized the world's largest passion fruit farm
in Mashonaland West, a farm that was said at the time to supply 38% of the
passion fruit consumed in Europe.

But Oxfam, which operates in Zimbabwe, doesn't support the idea of
boycotting a whole country. It says that there is not enough evidence to
suggest that the most efficiently run farms, which produce most of the
exported crops, are controlled by the Mugabe regime. It therefore supports
the idea of buying fruit from Zimbabwe because it will "benefit the
country's struggling farmers". (Incidentally, passion fruit is such a
lucrative cash crop that farmers in Kenya this year are reported to be
growing it as an alternative to maize and corn.)
The Co-op has confirmed to me that it does stock passion fruit grown in
Zimbabwe and that it is "satisfied that the grower benefits from the sales
of their crops". It added, though, that it does not wish to identify the
producer in order to protect its safety.

Meanwhile, the Fairtrade Foundation says that it doesn't certify anything
produced in Zimbabwe. It stresses that it has no principled objection to
doing so - it has certified tea and flowers from the country in the past -
but it just doesn't have any relationships with any producers there at
present. If it did, it says that it would be able to guarantee that all of
the Fairtrade premium would reach the farmer due to its strict system of
auditing and inspection.