Boston Globe
In Zimbabwe, a reign of terror
By Robert I.
Rotberg, 11/21/2001
HARARE, Zimbabwe
WASHINGTON, LONDON, and
Pretoria need to act now to save Zimbabwe and all of
southern Africa from a
desperate dictator's relentless mayhem. Like Idi Amin
and other African
despots before him, President Robert G. Mugabe is
ruthlessly destroying his
own, once rich land and spreading economic and
social chaos into neighboring
South Africa, Botswana, and Mozambique.
Starvation is predicted by
January because the country has no foreign
exchange and its grain supplies
are almost gone. Washington is ready to
supply corn and wheat and wants it to
be distributed by local voluntary
organizations rather than the venal
government. However, Mugabe decreed last
week that all food donations had to
be channeled through his officials, thus
creating a policy dilemma for
would-be donors.
Because of Zimbabwe, South Africa's currency has
depreciated, foreign
investors and tourists are shunning the region, and
immigrants are flooding
south.
Mugabe has promised to stop flouting
the rule of law and preying maliciously
on his own people, but nothing has
changed.
Mugabe, who must call a new presidential election by the end of
March, is
directing his state-sponsored terrorism against Morgan
Tsvangirai's
opposition Movement for Democratic Change. He aims to intimidate
any
Zimbabweans who would vote for the party.
Tsvangirai and his
followers defeated Mugabe in a referendum in February
2000 and then surprised
the ruling party by winning almost half of the
elected seats in a
parliamentary election in June 2000. In response, Mugabe
has used violence to
disrupt the opposition party's potential. Last week a
respected opinion poll
found a majority who would vote for Tsvangirai
over
Mugabe.
Washington, London, and Pretoria will recognize a new
Zimbabwean president
only if the election is not preceded by intimidation,
press curbs, voting
roll alterations, and blatant harassment of the Movement
for Democratic
Change. Washington and its allies also demand international
observers and
local monitors. But Mugabe last week said that there would be
no observers
or monitors not sanctioned by his own electoral commission. He
also decided
to ban voting by Zimbabweans in South Africa and overseas, most
of whom
might support the opposition party.
Late last week, militant
members of Mugabe's party burned down the Movement
for Democratic Change's
offices in the city of Bulawayo. They also raided,
with the police looking on
benignly, the party's new headquarters here. They
arrested 11 party officials
for the murder of a ruling party operative whom
many believe was removed by
his own colleagues before he could speak out
against them.
Mugabe is
also attacking the nation's only independent daily newspaper, the
Daily News.
Earlier this month, the newspaper's editor and publisher were
arrested
briefly and its financial backers have been questioned. Thugs
frequently
attack its street-corner vendors. The minister of information has
threatened
any journalist who dare works for the Daily News.
Life for most
Zimbabweans is becoming increasingly difficult. Inflation has
soared this
year from 50 percent to 150 percent. The Zimbabwe dollar traded
a year ago at
38 to the US dollar and now trades at 300 to 400 against the
US dollar.
Unemployment has reached 50 percent. The official government
deficit is 19
percent. It owes borrowers 115 percent of the Gross
Domestic
Product.
Thanks to farm invasions, agricultural output in
this crop-dependent country
is down 20 percent, and manufacturing has fallen
30 percent. Overall, GDP
has slipped 20 percent in two years.
Gas
stations frequently have nothing to sell. Since the government has
clamped
price controls on critical consumer items, there are also shortages
of bread,
maize meal (the staple), sugar, and cooking oil.
Meanwhile, state-induced
lawlessness grows. Since early 1999, Mugabe has
defied rulings of the Supreme
Court regarding land invasions, confiscation
of property, torture of
journalists, corruption, and election issues. In
September, Mugabe finally
gained control of the Supreme Court, having
installed a crony as chief
justice and packed the formerly five-justice
court with four more party
stalwarts. Now the Supreme Court rules the way
Mugabe
dictates.
Ordinary crime is also on the rise. Metal street signs have
virtually
disappeared from the center of this once pleasant and well-ordered
city. At
night, thieves take the signs and either melt them down for cash or
fashion
them into handles for the many coffins that Zimbabweans now need.
About
2,000 Zimbabweans die each week from AIDS, cemeteries are full,
and
hospitals have no medicines or equipment. Yet, the government's
recent
budget added large sums for defense and security and decreased the
paltry
amounts appropriated for health and education.
Mugabe is out of
control, and seems prepared to let his people grow poorer
and possibly
starve.
South Africa is best placed to condemn Mugabe publicly, to use
sanctions to
curb corruption, and possibly to mobilize an intervention
force.
South African President Thabo Mbeki does not want to go that far,
but doing
nothing only contributes to the rapid meltdown of southern Africa's
economy
and to the impoverishment of Zimbabwe's people. Getting rid of a
ruthless
despot is urgent and cannot be done by beleaguered Zimbabweans
alone.
Robert I. Rotbert is president of the World Peace Foundation
Los Angeles Times
Tension Rises as Zimbabwe Tries to Stifle
Dissent
Opposition supporters have been killed and the media harassed.
Breakdown of
law frightens poverty-stricken public.
By ANN M.
SIMMONS, TIMES STAFF WRITER
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Tension is
boiling over in Zimbabwe after a
recent wave of attacks against the
government's political opponents and the
introduction of stringent laws
apparently designed to entrench the ruling
party's power ahead of next year's
presidential poll.
The attacks targeting the Movement for Democratic
Change, or MDC, come
during a period of great instability. Past weeks have
seen fresh violence
against white-owned commercial farms. Harassment of the
media and members of
the judiciary is widespread. And a general breakdown of
the rule of law is
terrifying average Zimbabweans, already beaten down by
poverty.
More than 100 opposition supporters and 10 white farmers have
been killed
within the last two years. State-sponsored killings and torture
are on the
rise, according to local human rights groups. MDC officials said
President
Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zimbabwe African National
Union-Patriotic
Front, or ZANU-PF, party are behind the oppressive actions,
citing their
anger and frustration over not being able to suppress their
toughest
political challenge since coming to power in 1980.
"These are
seriously desperate measures," said Gibson Sibanda, the
opposition party's
vice president. "They are just trying everything. They
are not going to stop
at anything."
The most recent attack on opposition targets came Friday
with the
destruction of the MDC headquarters in Bulawayo, the southern
African
nation's second-largest city.
Militants Hurl Stones and
Gasoline Bombs
The building was stoned and hit with gasoline bombs by
pro-government
militants, who were protesting the killing of Cain Nkala, a
ruling party
ally who has helped lead violent occupations of 1,700
white-owned farms. MDC
supporters avenged the destruction of their offices by
burning a college
owned by a former ruling party legislator and Mugabe
crony.
The government says the MDC was behind Nkala's abduction and
strangulation,
a claim the party denies.
After Nkala's body was found
in a shallow grave outside Bulawayo last week,
police arrested 16 opposition
activists and an MDC member of parliament on
charges of murder. Two reporters
for the country's only independent daily
newspaper were released Tuesday
after their weekend arrests on charges of
involvement in an alleged plot to
implicate the government in Nkala's
killing.
At Nkala's funeral
Sunday, Mugabe called the MDC a terrorist organization
and vowed to crush
it.
"The MDC and their supporters should know their days are numbered,"
Mugabe
told the hundreds of mourners present. "The time is now up for the
MDC
terrorists as the world has been awakened by the death of
Nkala."
MDC officials said the president's words resounded with
desperation.
"It appears that Robert Mugabe and the party are completely
irrational and
are willing to use any means possible to stay in power," said
David Coltart,
the MDC's shadow justice minister and member of parliament for
Bulawayo
South.
MDC officials said the destruction of their
headquarters would only
strengthen their resolve.
"They can do these
things, but certainly that cannot break the spirit of the
people," said MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai as he toured the bombed-out
building Monday. "If at
all, they will reinforce the spirit of the people."
"Nothing they do will
deter us," said Sibanda, who accompanied Tsvangirai
around the site. "We've
got an agenda. We've got a campaign program and
we're going straight ahead
with it. Our way forward is to win the
presidential election and remove
Mugabe and ZANU-PF from power."
The MDC nearly beat the ruling party in
parliamentary polls last year,
despite a violent campaign by pro-government
supporters in which 31 people,
mainly opposition supporters, were
killed.
Supporters Sing as They Clear Wreckage
On Monday, MDC
officials and supporters used pitchforks and shovels to clear
the charred
remains of the party's Bulawayo headquarters. Dozens of women
dressed in head
scarves and men in gardening overalls cleared the piles of
bricks that once
constituted the building's structure.
The workers sang as a Zimbabwean
flag was hoisted in the property's
frontyard. Supporters said graffiti
painted on remaining sections of the
building's shattered facade bore
testimony to their determination not to be
defeated: "Last Days of a Dying
Horse." "Forward Ever, Backward Never."
"This Crime Will Never Break Our
Spirit." "End of ZANU-PF."
Such dissent is something Mugabe is determined
to avoid, political analysts
say.
In recent weeks, he has exercised
his powers of decree with the intent,
local commentators say, of ensuring his
victory in the presidential race,
due by April. Independent election
monitors, both foreign and local, have
been banned. Nongovernmental
organizations are not allowed to disseminate
voter education. Charities may
not distribute food relief.
The country's Land Acquisition Act was also
amended, fueling a controversy
over the seizure of white-owned commercial
farms. The government has
targeted about 5,000 of these farms--about 95% of
all farms owned by
whites--for redistribution to largely landless
blacks.
The amended land law removes the right of farmers to appeal a
land
acquisition order and makes interfering with black resettlement a
criminal
offense.
Bulawayo is at the heart of Matabeleland, home to
the Ndebele ethnic group
that makes up about 20% of Zimbabwe's population.
The region has long been
an opposition stronghold, with Ndebeles complaining
of second-class
treatment and claiming that development in their homeland has
been
intentionally stifled.
In the 1980s, thousands of Ndebeles were
slaughtered by a special government
brigade after the people of Matabeleland
took sides with the then political
opposition ZAPU-PF.
"There's
certainly no love lost here for Robert Mugabe," said Coltart, who
spoke from
a secure location outside Bulawayo. "The people are quite aware
of what he
was responsible for in the 1980s. And they hold him responsible
for the
economic collapse of this region."
MDC supporters in Bulawayo have
suffered numerous attacks and intimidation.
Several provincial officials and
supporters have recently been arrested.
"Whoever is not in jail is now in
hiding," said Shari Eppel, director of the
Armani Trust Matabeleland, a
Bulawayo-based human rights group that focuses
on the rehabilitation of
torture victims.
Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, who is likely to challenge
Mugabe for the
presidency, recently survived an attack on his motorcade by
ruling party
militants. On Tuesday, the Zimbabwe Supreme Court threw out
charges of
terrorism and sabotage against the opposition party leader. The
charges were
leveled last year after Tsvangirai told a rally that Mugabe
should quit or
face violent removal.
Eppel said that although a
certain degree of calm had returned to Bulawayo
after Friday's riots, tempers
were short. The violence has made it almost
impossible for the opposition to
campaign in many rural areas.
"It's a tinderbox," said the human rights
activist, who is herself in
hiding. "People are pushed [to the limit], and
it's not going to take a lot
to set them off."
Their agitation is
being compounded by financial despair. Rampant
corruption, big budget
deficits and gross mismanagement are pummeling
Zimbabwe's economy, along with
hyper-inflation, over 60% unemployment and a
chronic shortage of hard
currency.
"People are very depressed in Zimbabwe," said Pius Ncube,
archbishop of
Bulawayo, adding that the situation would only improve with the
departure of
Mugabe's administration. "The government has embezzled lots of
money. And
now they are telling lies to hoodwink people, and to make sure
they maintain
their position in power, no matter what."
Mugabe threatens death sentence for anti-government plotters
Robert
Mugabe is set to introduce the death sentence for anyone convicted of
trying
to overthrow the government in Zimbabwe
It will be part of severe new
legislation to curb subversion.
The government said the new bill would
also ban courts from granting bail to
suspects in allegedly politically
motivated crimes ranging from murder to
car theft.
The Herald reports
copies of the proposed legislation have not yet been made
public, but
opposition officials say it appears to be part of a government
plan to
intimidate critics before next year's scheduled
presidential
elections.
President Mugabe faces a tight race against
Morgan Tsvangiari, whose ruling
party, the Movement for Democratic Change, is
running on a platform of
accountable government and has widespread support in
the cities.
A mass demonstration is expected by civil rights
organisations protesting
against proposed changes to the election law that
could limit voting rights
and a government decision to ban international
election monitors.
Story filed: 11:53 Wednesday 21st November 2001
Times of India
Zimbabwe proposes stiff steps to fight
terrorism
HARARE: The Zimbabwe government is proposing stiff
new measures to combat
terrorism that would impose a possible death sentence
on acts of insurgency,
the state-owned Herald said Wednesday.
The
Public Order and Security Bill (POSB) has been approved by government
but
still has to be tabled before parliament, the paper said.
Under the
proposed new measures jail sentences and fines could be imposed on
anyone,
including journalists who "undermine the authority of the president"
or
"engender hostility" towards him.
The proposed law says it is illegal to
overthrow the government through acts
of "insurgency, banditry, sabotage and
terrorism" which are punishable by
life imprisonment or death.
The
proposed bill, which is set to replace a colonial and notorious Law and
Order
Maintenance Act (LOMA) comes at a time when government is accusing
the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of committing acts
of
terrorism against ruling party supporters.
In a highly publicised
case, the government of President Robert Mugabe has
blamed the MDC for the
death of a war veteran leader, Cain Nkala, who was
abducted from his home in
southwestern Zimbabwe. His body was found last
week in a shallow
grave.
The MDC denies the charges, blaming the murder on infighting among
the
veterans of the country's war of liberation.
The POSB was
initially introduced in 1997 and passed by a ZANU-PF dominated
parliament,
but Mugabe reportedly vetoed the bill in 1999 for not being
tough enough on
the media.
If signed into law by the country's current 150-member
parliament -- which
now includes 56 opposition legislators -- the POSB will
replace the current
LOMA which rights activists have wanted to see
repealed.
LOMA was introduced by former colonial governments to suppress
black
nationalism. Although civic society were invited to contribute
to
formulating the POSB, they say the final draft is as equally draconian
as
LOMA.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Tuesday won a case in the
country's Supreme
Court after two sections of the LOMA under which he was
being charged were
struck down as unconstitutional.
( AFP )
Zimbabwe President Plans Legislation
The Associated Press, Wed 21 Nov
2001
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — In its latest crackdown against the
opposition, the
Zimbabwean government will propose legislation for the
hanging of those
found guilty of trying to overthrow the government, media
reports said
Wednesday.
Describing opposition work as ``terrorist
activities,'' the government said
the new bill would also prohibit courts
from granting bail to suspects in
allegedly politically motivated crimes, The
Herald, a state-run newspaper
reported.
The report of the new
legislation followed a ruling Tuesday by the Supreme
Court that dismissed
subversion charges by the government against opposition
leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.
The court ruled that a colonial-era law invoked to prosecute
Tsvangirai on
allegations he incited an overthrow of the government violated
his
constitutional rights to a fair trial.
Tsvangirai welcomed the
decision but said he doubted future cases would be
granted a fair hearing
because President Robert Mugabe has recently stacked
the Supreme Court with
ruling party loyalists.
``I am pleased if our courts can maintain this
integrity but I fear in any
future constitutional case we will find it
difficult,'' Tsvangirai said.
Tsvangirai faced a five-year jail term if
found guilty and conviction would
have barred him from running against Mugabe
in presidential elections
scheduled for next year.
Mugabe faces a
tight race against Tsvangirai, whose Movement for Democratic
Change is
running on a platform of accountable government and has widespread
support in
the cities.
Copies of the proposed legislation against sedition have not
yet been made
public, but opposition officials said it appeared to be part of
a government
plan to intimidate critics before elections.
The
legislation would also prohibit courts from granting bail to suspects
in
allegedly politically motivated crimes ranging from murder to car theft,
the
report said.
Rural Zimbabwe has spiraled into chaos since March
2000, when ruling party
militants began violently occupying white-owned
farms, demanding they be
handed over to landless blacks.
Opposition
officials accuse Mugabe of using land seizures without
compensation to the
farmers, as a pre-election ploy to garner support and
scare off
opponents.
Also Wednesday, opposition officials announced the death of
MDC activist,
Kufa Rukara, 55. Rukara died Tuesday of injuries suffered in
September after
he was allegedly beaten by ruling party militants in the
Gokwe district,
some 200 miles west of Harare.
There has been no
comment by police on his death.
Mugabe's government has executed 66
people since coming to power in 1980,
but has granted amnesty to 2,000
security force members and ruling ZANU-PF
party members accused of killing
suspected opponents.
In a recent wave of unrest following the death of a
leading ruling party
militant, opposition members were arrested. Militants
who torched an
opposition office and beat up whites in the western city of
Bulawayo were
not apprehended.
The Amani Trust, a Zimbabwean human
rights group, said ruling party
militants were responsible for most of the
some 100 political related
killings in the last year. There have been no
arrests.
PRESS STATEMENT BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF
LANDS, AGRICULTURE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT
HONOURABLE DR J M MADE ON THE LAUNCH OF MAXIMUM FARM SIZE
REGULATIONS
At the launch of the Second
Phase of the Land Reform and Resettlement Programme in September 1998, the
following observations were made and recorded: -
· Land redistribution can have
better and higher financial and economic returns,
· There is need to support
fully the resettled families in order to optimize agricultural production,
and
· The pace of land acquisition
needs to be enhanced for the sake of social stability, poverty alleviation,
peace and justice
FINANCIAL
AND ECONOMIC RETURNS
A study entitled Land Reform
And Poverty Alleviation in Zimbabwe: Farm Level Effects and Cost Benefit
Analysis, commissioned by my ministry in partnership with the World Bank, has
clearly demonstrated that our Land Reform and Resettlement Programme indeed has
high financial and economic returns.
FARMER SUPPORT
SERVICE
It will be recalled that in
the 2000/2001 Agricultural Season, Government released $1,4 billion dollars to
communal, indigenous and resettled farmers under the Crop and Livestock Input
Scheme. The current bumper wheat harvest is testimony to the success of the Crop
and Livestock Input Scheme.
SPEEDIER
PROVISION OF LAND FOR DISTRIBUTION
Since April 2000 the Legal
Framework governing land acquisition has been significantly revised to take
account of changes in government policy.
Firstly, the Constitution
was altered in April 2000 to reaffirm the financial obligations of the British
government towards land reform in Zimbabwe and to enable the modification of the
land compensation regime accordingly.
Secondly, the Land
Acquisition Act has been amended, and will continue to be amended, to streamline
the procedural aspect of the acquisition process.
Today I want to announce
refinements in our key Land Policy Guidelines.
In December 2000, Government
gazetted Structural Instrument Number 288 of 2000 in which maximum farm sizes
were prescribed for all the agro-ecological regions of our country. The maximum
farm sizes were detailed as follows:
|
Agro-Ecological Zone |
Maximum Farm Size
(ha) |
|
l |
250 |
|
lla |
350 |
|
llb |
400 |
|
lll |
500 |
|
lV |
1500 |
|
V |
2000 |
Up till now, land owners
have been enjoying the choice of sub-dividing their farms to the prescribed
maximum sizes or keeping their farms in their original sizes with the
expectation of being levied an agricultural land tax on the land excess to the
prescribed maximum farm sizes.
Government has reached a
decision that we should not introduce Agricultural Land Tax in the country.
Instead of introducing the Agricultural Land Tax, government has decided that
every property that has not been gazetted for compulsory acquisition should
immediately be sub-divided to comply with the maximum farm size regulations.
AFFECTED
PROPERTIES
The maximum farm size
regulations are going to affect: -
· All un-gazetted large scale
commercial farms
· Plantation farms
· Agro-industrial
properties
· Properties with Export
Processing Zone (EPZ) permits
· Properties with Zimbabwe
Investment Centre (ZIC) permits
· Properties belonging to
foreign nationals and
· Approved
conservancies.
EXEMPTED
FARMS
The following properties
will be exempted from the maximum farm size regulations: -
· Stateland
· Properties belonging to
church or mission organizations
· Properties belonging to
educational institutions
· Properties where
resettlement is currently being carried out
It is Government’s desire to
have plantation farms, agro industrial properties and approved conservancies
sub-divided in such a manner that the beneficiaries will come into the scheme as
out-growers to the existing enterprises.
SUB-DIVISION DEMARCATION AND PEGGING
The exercise of planning,
demarcating and pegging these sub-divisions should be carried out expeditiously
so that the beneficiaries can also benefit from the current agricultural
season.
To that effect, the Ministry
of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement is going to request the services of
various ministries, including the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Home
Affairs, so as to speed up the implementation of the exercise.
As a nation we believe that
small farms and related enterprises will be more productive than the current
large farms. Implementation of the Maximum Farm Size regulations is going to
release more land that is desperately needed for our Land and Agrarian Reform
exercise.
More applicants, both from
the urban and communal lands continue to fill the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture
and Rural Resettlement offices.
Overally, by introducing
this new policy and programme, Zimbabwe will ensure that agricultural production
is never again in the hands of a few who under-utilise or hold to ransom the
nation in terms of food security, employment creation and economic growth.
Wednesday, 21 November, 2001, 17:39 GMT
Harare demo flops
The demonstrators melted away as soon as the police
moved
A demonstration by civil rights campaigners in Zimbabwe's
capital, Harare, has been easily dispersed by heavily-armed riot police.
Morgan Tsvangirai said he would challenge President
Mugabe in 2002
|
Police armed with shotguns, teargas, shields and batons deployed in force
ahead of the planned mass protest, but only a small group of about 50 activists
turned up.
The Reuters news agency reported that the demonstrators were quickly chased
away when they began to march towards parliament.
Riot squad officers earlier surrounded the parliament building and began
patrolling Harare's central business district and a nearby square where
protestors traditionally congregate.
Rising tensions
Political tension has risen sharply in Zimbabwe over the past week, with
President Mugabe denouncing the opposition as terrorists.
Police were taking no
chances
|
A coalition of trade unions, church groups and human
rights organisations has accused President Mugabe's government of trying to take
away democratic rights by introducing new arrangements for next year's
presidential election.
The Zimbabwean National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) says the reforms will
deny millions the right to vote in next year's presidential poll.
The groups believe the government's amendments will curb the voting rights of
Zimbabweans living abroad - many of whom are believed to support the opposition.
The proposed changes would also ban independent groups from carrying out
voter education or election monitoring.
Opposition
On Tuesday the main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, hailed as a
landmark decision a Supreme Court ruling that terrorism charges against him were
unconstitutional.
We are not prepared to sit back while the government abuses
parliament to make laws that take away our democratic rights 
|
|
NCA chairman Lovemore Madhuku
|
The charges related to a speech he made at a Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) rally last September, in which he said Mr Mugabe could be removed from
office by violent means if he did not go peacefully.
Mr Tsvangirai later withdrew his statement. He had described the charges as
politically motivated.
Mr Tsvangirai confirmed that he would run in presidential elections next
year.
Last weekend the war veterans rampaged through the streets of the second
city, Bulawayo, setting fire to cars and buildings and beating up suspected
opposition supporters.
Daily News - Feature
How farm invasions sealed the fate of Cain
Nkala
11/21/01 11:31:39 AM (GMT +2)
Bill Saidi on
Wednesday
Two weeks ago, a Middle Eastern embassy asked me if I could
take part in a
radio discussion programme on the war in Afghanistan. It could
have been my
surname - or any other reason.
It could have had a
lot to do with working on The Daily News. It may not be
generally
appreciated, but this must be one of the few newspapers in the
world which is
"banned" in certain parts of the country.
Some people might find people who
write for such a newspaper fascinating to
speak to - on anything.
In a
country which, according to Stan Mudenge, the foreign minister, is not
"in a
crisis", why would a group of people without any official government
status,
the so-called war veterans, blithely prevent a daily newspaper
from
circulating in all parts of the country?
Even more damning is the
question: can the police be anything but toothless
co-conspirators if they
allow such people to get away with this illegal act?
My response to the
embassy spokesman's question on the telephone, "Would we
introduce you as a
political analyst?" was hesitant. Then I mumbled
something about not being
sure it was the nomenclature I would use.
They promised to get back to
me, but never did. I suspect it was my
hesitation on being described as a
political analyst. I have covered
politics since 1957, when I attended the
launch of the Southern Rhodesia
African National Congress (SRANC) in Mai
Musodzi hall, Harare township (now
Mbare).
But I would not describe
myself as a political analyst, but as a columnist
who occasionally dabbles in
political analyses. I think my discomfort with
the description stems from a
very low opinion of some of the political
analysts appearing on ZBC-TV. They
have given the title such a pompous and
self-conceited image it is like
someone introducing himself to you with "I
am a member of the Cosa Nostra".
This is clearly intended to strike the fear
of God in you. The political
analysts want you to know they will comment on
anything, except perhaps
the
origin of the ukelele. They try to exude such a know-all,
never-wrong
certainty, I find their attitude nauseating.
But if I had
taken part in the discussion, I would have berated the people
of Afghanistan
for allowing Osama bin Laden to set up his evil Al Qaeda
empire on their
soil. I would
have compared their docility to our own in allowing the country
to be ruled
by a regime as loathsome as the Taliban. This is an extremist
view. But if
you asked me, for instance, to give a political analysis of the
Life and
Death of Cain Nkala, I would have to say once Chenjerai Hunzvi,
Joseph
Chinotimba et al launched the murderous farm invasions on behalf of
Zanu PF
in February 2000, the fate of people like Nkala was
sealed.
This man was not an entertainer killed in one of those Eternal
Triangle love
affairs, the victim of Elmer's Tune: why does the gander
meander in search
of the goose, what puts a kick in a chicken and the magic
in June? (love).
He was named in the disappearance of a political activist of
the opposition
in Bulawayo. He was not an innocent bystander. Neither was he
a Christian
being fed to the lions by the Romans.
He was an activist
in Mugabe's violent land reform programme, hence his
national hero
status.
The murder and violence which marked the invasions plunged Zimbabwe
into a
frightening era of State-sponsored lawlessness and assassination as
a
political weapon was revived by those who had used it to eliminate
dissent
before and after independence.
The war veterans' unchallenged
lawlessness had ordinary citizens cowering
under their beds. They have become
a law unto themselves. People are itching
to cut them down to size.
The
violence in Bulawayo last week - with the police raising not so much as
a
baton to protect innocent citizens walking or driving along the streets
of
the City of Kings - suggests Zanu PF has lost its head completely.
Although
there were appeals for restraint from some Zanu PF leaders, the
message was
loud and clear: if Robert Mugabe does not win the election next
year, then
nobody else will.
In plain, tamba wakachenjera (play it
safe) language, there would be no
presidential election and there might even
be a state of emergency and rule
by decree before the year is out, to ensure
that Mugabe remains in State
House and can still globe-trot, although he
probably has to rule out travel
to the United States, the United Kingdom,
Canada, Germany and even the
Soviet Union. What sickened many people, apart
from the senseless violence
in the aftermath of Nkala's assassination was how
the government used the
State media to whip up emotions against the MDC,
which was collectively
tried, convicted and sentenced to death for Nkala's
murder even before the
man's body had been exhumed.
The reaction is
epitomised in this letter I received from a reader: "Let me
start by
condemning whoever perpetrated the gruesome murder of Cain Nkala.
This was a
barbaric act that must never be allowed to happen to anyone in
our free
society.
But my main worry is the way his abduction was handled by the ZBC,
Zimpapers
and the police. Surely, if the police are that impartial then I am
sure by
now we should be aware where Nabanyama is and why the people who
murdered
Talent Mabika and Tichaona Chiminya should not be behind bars."
Obviously,
the writer is amazed at how speedily the police solved Nkala's
murder, when
up to now, nobody has been arrested in the murder of the two MDC
activists
in Buhera last year.
Later, when the dust has settled and
Zanu PF has been forced to
capitulate -which it must, if it continues to
abuse the people so brazenly -
a number of people in the public media may
have to be tried for spreading
"hate" propaganda masquerading as news. The
country will need to undergo a
period of cleansing, as Rwanda did after the
1994 genocide, before there is
any
hope of real reconciliation. Three
countries - South Africa, Britain and the
United States - have to play
pivotal roles in the denouement of the Zimbabwe
imbroglio.
All three
may currently be preoccupied with crises of a domestic nature -
two of them
in the fight to eliminate Osama's Al Qaeda terrorists, and the
other to
eliminate corruption in high places. But without their active
participation,
a solution to our crisis, which Mudenge insists with an
ostrich-like
obstinacy, does not exist, may cost many more lives.
What all three
countries must do with urgency is to convince Mugabe that his
land reform
programme and the Presidential election are one and the same
problem. Both
have to be carried out in the full glare of the world
spotlight, with the
utmost transparency.
He cannot emulate Osama bin Laden without risking the
wrath of most of the
civilised world.
bsaidi@dailynews.co.zw
Daily News
MDC activist beaten to death
11/21/01 10:33:49 AM (GMT
+2)
From Our Correspondent in Gweru
Kufa Rukara, an MDC
activist in Gokwe died at Gweru General Hospital
yesterday from injuries
sustained early last month during an attack by Zanu
PF supporters and war
veterans camped near Mtora Growth Point.
Sylvester Majekuza, the
MDC's regional co-ordinator for Midlands North
confirmed Rukara's death
yesterday and said funeral arrangements had not yet
been
finalised.
Rukara, 55, was a headman at Chitsa village in Nembudziya, Gokwe
North
District. He was kidnapped together with five other MDC supporters
early
last month and taken to a Zanu PF torture camp at Tenda Primary School
near
the growth point where they were severely assaulted with logs and iron
rods.
Other MDC supporters who survived the five-day ordeal are Max Mtiri,
Gokwe
Mukandakanda, Murisi Mtiri, Obert Nyashanu and Kufa
Mtiri.
Police later escorted them to Mtora General Hospital for
treatment. Rukara
was transferred to Gweru General Hospital while his
colleagues were taken to
the Avenues Clinic in Harare. Rukara was transferred
three days later to
Bulawayo for specialist treatment after his condition
deteriorated. He was,
however, brought back to Gweru the following week. Two
weeks ago, MDC
officials failed to have him transferred to Harare after the
hospital
officials insisted that they had to hire an ambulance to transport
him.
Rukara is survived by a wife, Simbisai Nyasha, and three children.
Several
MDC supporters in Gokwe have fled to other urban centres after Zanu
PF
supporters and war veterans committed heinous acts of
violence.
"Political violence in Gokwe has now reached a crescendo which
warrants
international attention," said Majekuza. "Everyday we are receiving
an
influx of political refugees running away from the political madness
that
has gripped Gokwe and nothing seems to be happening to the perpetrators
of
this violence," he said.
Early this month, ruling party supporters
looted shops at Kahobo Business
Centre and forced them to close down. Some of
the shops were reportedly
still closed yesterday as the owners feared further
attacks.
Daily News
CIO operatives target Jongwe
11/21/01 10:32:32 AM (GMT
+2)
Staff Reporter
THE opposition MDC's top leaders are living
in constant fear for their lives
following reports that they are being
trailed by Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO) operatives and suspected
war veterans.
Confirming the reports, the MDC secretary-general,
Professor Welshman Ncube,
said a number of the party's top officials were
under surveillance and the
MDC had since strengthened security measures to
protect its leaders.
One of the targeted officials, according to Ncube,
is Learnmore Jongwe, the
MP for Kuwadzana who is also the spokesman for the
MDC. Ncube said the MDC
was not surprised by the sinister moves being pursued
by Zanu PF because
they already had information on plans to eliminate
influential members of
the opposition before the crucial Presidential
election. Ncube said the
party had authoritative information that five men
were tracking Jongwe and
they have already been to his former residence
looking for him.
They failed to locate him and proceeded to his Kuwadzana
constituency where
they interrogated some MDC members demanding information
on his whereabouts.
Edmore Marandu, a security guard at the place where
Jongwe used to stay in
the Avenues area, said: "Three men wearing jeans and
driving a Mazda 323
came here at around 2.30pm on Saturday and made enquiries
about Jongwe's
whereabouts." He said they were so inquisitive that he became
suspicious.
Marandu said one of them was wearing a khaki shirt with a Zanu PF
logo on
the pocket.
Daily News - Leader Page
.
Is Zapu another Trojan
horse?
11/21/01 11:16:47 AM (GMT +2)
DESPITE the incessant
innuendoes and wild accusations in the State media,
echoing top government
officials' condemnation of The Daily News as being
aligned to the MDC, the
truth is, and will always be, that as a newspaper,
we support no particular
political party.
Nevertheless, as we inch closer to next year's
watershed presidential
election, it would be the height of self-deception to
pretend not to see
that, for the first time since Edgar Tekere staged the
first real challenge
to President Mugabe in 1990 when he got more than one
third of the vote in
the presidential poll, the ruling Zanu PF is scared that
if it plays it by
the book, the MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai could oust
Mugabe.
To boost Mugabe's chances of a win, no matter how slender, the
ruling party
decided to take full advantage of its being the government to
pull all the
stops, using State machinery, to ensure the MDC's candidate is
at a maximum
disadvantage.
Not only has government, through the unleashing
of its party militias
masquerading as war veterans, made sure the MDC cannot
campaign in rural
areas, but also that, through systematic harassment and
downright torture of
the party's leaders even at district level, it shakes
the party's urban
support to its very foundation.
Last week's
abduction and severe torture of the MDC's St Mary's district
chairman, Steven
Chasara, was part of that urban campaign to scare the
party's supporters into
refusing to hold leadership positions at whatever
level.
Without leaders
no organisation can survive. Plans to amend the Electoral
Act in such a way
as to virtually render ineligible to vote all young adults
who recently
turned 18 and everyone else believed to not support the ruling
party, such as
the hundreds of thousands of our citizens in the diaspora,
will make for a
significant reduction in the main opposition's final tally
of the
votes.
And so, too, will the additional restrictive measures announced
this week.
As we reported in our front page lead story yesterday, the
government has
now put up a whole new panoply of disabling requirements,
carefully
calculated to prevent from voting in next year's poll, millions of
eligible
voters likely to cast their vote in favour of the
opposition.
Ironically, they are the sort of requirements which would have
been certain
to raise howls of protest from Zanu PF leaders had they even as
much as been
suggested for the 1980 elections.
In fact, it is a fair bet
that, had Lord Soames and his team put in place
even one quarter of the
requirements the government is now demanding for
next year's election, Zanu
PF, petulant as always, would have threatened to
go "back to the
bush".
With the government having erected, every hurdle and barrier it
can think of
in the lane of the opposition, in its efforts to prevent its
candidate's
opponent being first past the finishing line, it is the height of
folly for
any opposition party, no matter how small, to allow itself to be
used to
discredit and, thus, further weaken the only opposition party that
stands a
real chance of winning the election and so put us all out of our
present
economic misery.
But that, unfortunately, is precisely what the
little noises Zapu has been
making of late have been doing to the
MDC.
And so, too, is the party's announcement that it will field a
presidential
candidate knowing fully well it hasn't the ghost of a chance of
winning.
Zapu seems to have fallen prey to Zanu PF's divide-and-rule
tactics.
People think it has been "bought". Zapu must think again.
Daily News - Leader Page
. ZBC restructuring part of a grand
strategy
11/21/01 11:16:47 AM (GMT +2)
By Sizani Weza
ON 14
October, The Sunday Mail published an article headlined,
"Restructuring ZBC:
a policy opinion" by the Secretary of State, Information
and Publicity in the
Office of the President and Cabinet, George Charamba.
The article raised
policy issues informing the whole restructuring exercise
at the
ZBC.
It identified several factors that would drive the
restructuring process.
Among these were "Zimbabwean identity", developing a
global content with a
national identity, emphasis on skills capacity and
industry among others.
The piece gave the impression that "all will be
perfect" after the
never-ending restructuring process. Statements by ZBC
senior officials,
including board members, give similar impressions. And the
whole motive is
to make ZBC the "permanent choice" for all.
Assuming
that the primary function of the ZBC is to inform, then some of the
changes
being implemented point to an exercise that is taking away the
little the
public enjoyed in terms of their rights to receive and
impart
information.
Rather than being an attempt to address issues that
have been raised by
civic society, the
restructuring process is informed
by a desire on the part of the government
to tightly control information
reaching the people of Zimbabwe.
In this regard, the whole exercise
should be seen in light of other changes
the government is implementing
around electoral policy issues and others.
The whole restructuring process
gained increasing media attention in May
2001 when Africa Broadcast Network
slots on ZBC TV were removed. At the
time, many critics and the general
public saw the whole exercise as a
process motivated by the desire to listen
to the wishes of viewers who had
voiced their displeasure through the media.
Since then the whole exercise
has seen several current affairs programmes on
radio and television being
taken off air.
Examples include Spotlight
on ZBC Radio 1, Talk to the Nation on ZBC/TV and
several other
informative
sponsored programmes such as Making Money Make Sense. Spotlight
was a live
phone-in radio programme and sponsored by the National
Development
Association (NDA).
The NDA programme featured various topics of national
interest and a
diversity of personalities in the Zimbabwean religious,
political and
economic terrain.
Another live phone-in programme, Talk
to the Nation on ZBC/TV was switched
off air just when it was gaining
popularity among viewers. Prior to its
switching off, the last Talk to the
Nation programme had featured an
opposition political party figure. But most
important was the fact that the
programme featured public debate on issues of
national importance. The
latest victim of the exercise has been ZBC Radio 1
itself. It has been
turned into a sports channel!
Of the four stations,
Radio 1 featured programmes that discussed topical
issues. The Media
Monitoring Project monitored coverage in the run-up to the
constitutional
referendum and the findings indicate that the station
provided a service
never equalled in the history of broadcasting in Zimbabwe
with its balanced
and informative debates.
Indeed, the government-sponsored Constitution
Commission and the National
Constitutional Assembly bought airtime on the
station to broadcast their
programmes.
In the absence of any provisions
being made for other stations to
accommodate debates on national issues
backed by a diversity of voices that
used to be featured on Radio 1 current
affairs programme, Zimbabweans will
forever be starved of alternative opinion
and analyses of issues in the
media. Worse still, this time around there will
not be any chance to air
uncensored public opinion on radio.
The need
to broadcast balanced and informative news is a feat that ZBC
Newsnet can
never achieve under the present circumstances. What more with a
restructuring
process that has been dogged by delays? The delays give an
impression that
the main proponents of the restructuring process are not
clear on what goals
they wish to achieve. Yet my suspicions are that they
are part of a grand
plan strategy. Everyone, including ZBC staff, is
anxious! But it is the
plight of ZBC workers that most may sympathise with.
Simply put, they are
vulnerable. The independence that is normally cherished
in journalism will
never be realised. Compromises will be made and the
ultimate loser is the
general public who will pay dearly with their souls.
The whole process
smacks of hypocrisy on the part of government media
policy. If the Public
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill
has to wait for the
findings of the government-appointed Media Ethics
Committee (MEC), what will
make ZBC immune to the submissions people will
make to the committee?
Assuming the MEC process is public and consultative,
most of the issues
people raise around media and information rights focus on
ZBC's performance,
which clearly leaves a lot to be desired in its news
content.
However,
hopes for new independent national radio and television stations
have been
eroded by the recent announcement by the government that Ziana
will now
broadcast. The government has every right to form new radio and
television
stations. So is every Zimbabwean. But the Broadcasting Services
Act allows
for one other national radio and television station besides ZBC.
Community
stations remain the only hope, but they cannot carry
political
content!
There is a heavy assumption that the restructuring
process is being done
under the most normal of conditions. For some time,
civic society
organisations have demanded that ZBC be placed under an
independent and
representative board, as opposed to the current status quo.
Its professional
independence must be protected by law.
Professional
independence will guarantee that ZBC covers the diverse
political, economic
and social viewpoints currently existing in the country
without fear. The
present set-up has shown that this is not achievable. This
notion is common
to all public broadcasters in democratic nations and there
is no need for
alarm.
In this regard, the whole ZBC restructuring process must start
with the
amendment of the Broadcasting Services Act to remove all political
controls
in the operations of all broadcasters. This should be followed by
the
implementation of structures that will allow for a representative
and
independent board.
The whole restructuring process should be
viewed in the context of what is
happening in other areas such as the
electoral arena and the citizenship
debate.
n Sizani Weza is with the
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe.
Daily News - Feature
OAU comes out against land grab and political
violence
11/21/01 9:12:56 AM (GMT +2)
Events in Zimbabwe
are worrying outsiders including Amara Essy, the
Secretary-General of the
Organisation of African Unity, who expressed
concern on Monday that events in
Zimbabwe could harm moves towards an
African Union.
President Mugabe's
warning that he will crush the opposition for plotting
against his government
is likely to see a rise in political violence before
elections next year,
analysts said on the same day.
But the increasingly unpredictable Mugabe
could also ban the opposition or
jail its leadership under sweeping
presidential powers if he still felt
vulnerable, they said.
In a
chilling verbal attack on his foes at the funeral of a slain
war-veterans'
leader, Cain Nkala, on Sunday, Mugabe said the opposition
MDC's days were
numbered.
He did not elaborate, but political analysts said Mugabe's
message recalled
a warning he gave his main rivals in the 1980s.
After
that warning, his ruling Zanu PF party embarked on an orgy of violence
in
Joshua Nkomo's opposition stronghold which left thousands dead
and
effectively crushed Nkomo's Zapu party. In the 1980s, Mugabe used the
excuse
of hunting down some armed dissidents from Zapu for his crackdown, and
his
labelling of the MDC as a "terrorist organisation" for allegedly
abduction
and murdering Nkala two weeks ago was an excuse to crush the
opposition,
they said.
In the 1980s, Mugabe said he was falling on
Zapu with a hammer, and now he
says "terrorism will not be allowed to win or
thrive".
"I don't think there should be any question about whether Mugabe
will crush
the opposition because he has done it before, and has been trying
to do it
in the past year," said Elphas Mukonoweshuro, a political analyst at
the
University of Zimbabwe. "The real question is whether he will succeed
this
time round.
"My bet is that we are going to see more battering
before any banning is
considered, but Mugabe's message on Sunday tells us
that he has many options
on his table, including battering, banning and
jailing.
Essy, the OAU Secretary-General, said in an interview in
Pretoria: "I am
also concerned about the situation in Zimbabwe. The way that
conflict is
managed will have either positive or negative
consequences.
"The priority is that there are credible
elections."
Referring to the land invasions that have seen thousands of
white-owned
farms grabbed by Mugabe's government, Essy said: "You can't grab
people's
possessions and at the same time say come and invest
here."
Mugabe accused British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday of
co-funding
what he called a "terrorist plot" against his government and vowed
to crush
the opposition.
The 77-year-old former guerrilla leader
labelled the MDC and the country's
white farmers "terrorists" at least 20
times.
Chenjerai Hove, a leading Zimbabwe political and social
commentator, said
Mugabe could be considering mass detentions, and bannings
because the MDC
has remained strong despite a 22-month-old violent
campaign.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who is expected to give Mugabe
the stiffest
challenge of his career in the presidential election, says the
MDC will not
boycott the election whatever the obstacles.
"I think
Mugabe has been having nightmares over the possibility of defeat,
and what he
is now saying simply shows that he is now running scared,"
said
Hove.
MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube believes Mugabe is
building up a case
to ban the MDC before the presidential
election.
"We know that they are going to try everything, including
assassinating our
leadership, but our belief is that the people of Zimbabwe
are not going to
allow them to succeed in any devious programme," he
said.
Zanu PF chief spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira said Mugabe's speech was
clear
and needed no interpretation.
"We don't need to elaborate on
anything because the speech was clear. The
President said those who are
terrorists or behave like terrorists will be
treated like terrorists," he
said.
The MDC has said it is innocent of the charges and accused the
government of
cracking down on the opposition ahead of the presidential
election.
At least 31 people, most of them opposition supporters, were
killed in
political violence before the June 2000 parliamentary election in
which the
MDC won 57 of the 120 contested seats.
Tsvangirai warned of
possible civil unrest countrywide after Zanu PF
militants burned down his
party's offices in Bulawayo and his supporters
torched a college owned by a
senior Zanu PF official in retaliation.
Ironically, Mugabe plunged
Zimbabwe into a severe economic crisis last year
when he allowed militants to
invade white-owned farms in support of his land
seizure after his draft
constitution with a provision for compulsory land
acquisition was rejected in
a referendum. - Reuter
Wednesday, 21 November, 2001, 17:39 GMT
Harare demo flops
The demonstrators melted away as soon as the police
moved
A demonstration by civil rights campaigners in Zimbabwe's
capital, Harare, has been easily dispersed by heavily-armed riot police.
Morgan Tsvangirai said he would challenge President
Mugabe in 2002
|
Police armed with shotguns, teargas, shields and batons deployed in force
ahead of the planned mass protest, but only a small group of about 50 activists
turned up.
The Reuters news agency reported that the demonstrators were quickly chased
away when they began to march towards parliament.
Riot squad officers earlier surrounded the parliament building and began
patrolling Harare's central business district and a nearby square where
protestors traditionally congregate.
Rising tensions
Political tension has risen sharply in Zimbabwe over the past week, with
President Mugabe denouncing the opposition as terrorists.
Police were taking no
chances
|
A coalition of trade unions, church groups and human
rights organisations has accused President Mugabe's government of trying to take
away democratic rights by introducing new arrangements for next year's
presidential election.
The Zimbabwean National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) says the reforms will
deny millions the right to vote in next year's presidential poll.
The groups believe the government's amendments will curb the voting rights of
Zimbabweans living abroad - many of whom are believed to support the opposition.
The proposed changes would also ban independent groups from carrying out
voter education or election monitoring.
Opposition
On Tuesday the main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, hailed as a
landmark decision a Supreme Court ruling that terrorism charges against him were
unconstitutional.
We are not prepared to sit back while the government abuses
parliament to make laws that take away our democratic rights
|
|
NCA chairman Lovemore Madhuku
|
The charges related to a speech he made at a Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) rally last September, in which he said Mr Mugabe could be removed from
office by violent means if he did not go peacefully.
Mr Tsvangirai later withdrew his statement. He had described the charges as
politically motivated.
Mr Tsvangirai confirmed that he would run in presidential elections next
year.
Last weekend the war veterans rampaged through the streets of the second
city, Bulawayo, setting fire to cars and buildings and beating up suspected
opposition supporters.
CNN
Zimbabwe police break up protest
November 21, 2001 Posted: 10:47
AM EST (1547 GMT)
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Riot police in Zimbabwe's
capital have broken up a
protest over government plans to tighten electoral
rules.
Police armed with shotguns, teargas canisters, shields and batons
had
surrounded the parliament building before the demonstration about the
draft
legislation.
Critics say the draft law is tailored to favour
President Robert Mugabe, 77,
ahead of next year's presidential
poll.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is expected to give Mugabe the
stiffest
challenge of his career in the elections.
Organisers had
promised a mass demonstration, but only about 50 people
marched from Harare's
main shopping mall towards parliament along Nelson
Mandela
Avenue.
They were chased away by police and melted into the lunchtime
crowd. As
light rain began to fall, police deployed armoured trucks around
parliament
and sealed off the nearby Africa Unity Square. Shops remained open
for
business.
The demonstrators are angry over government proposals
tabled in parliament
banning local independent election monitors and private
organisations from
voter education.
It also wants voters to produce
several documents to prove their residence,
while denying voting rights to
millions of Zimbabweans abroad. The largest
community lives in neighbouring
South Africa.
Mugabe says the NCA is a front of the main opposition
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) which he says is working with many
private
organisations ahead of presidential elections due by April. The NCA
denies
the charge.
ZIMBABWE: Civil rights march thwarted
JOHANNESBURG, 21 November (IRIN) -
A protest march by civic groups in Zimbabwe's capital Harare over
amendments to the country's electoral act was thwarted on Wednesday by an army
of riot police who prevented protesters from approaching parliament.
The
marchers were confronted outside parliament by riot police wielding baton. The
police chased the marchers back towards the city centre where the demonstration
fizzled out.
The protest was over what they say are changes to the
country's electoral laws ahead of next year's presidential elections which would
disenfranchise millions of expatriate Zimbabweans.
The march was planned
by the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) - an umbrella NGO bringing
together student groups, human rights organisations, churches, trade unions and
political parties. The NCA has campaigned for a new constitution for Zimbabwe as
well as free and fair elections.
NCA chair and organiser of the march
Lovemore Madhuku, who had earlier boasted to have "mobilised enough people to
cause enough confusion in the city," told IRIN that his organisation would have
to devise another strategy to push for their demands.
Madhuku, a
constitutional law expert, criticised the police for blocking what would have
been a peaceful march. "It's clear repression," he told IRIN.
The small
number of protesters suggested that the event had failed to galvanise wide
public support. But some workers and shoppers in central Harare condemned the
police for being selective in who they allowed to demonstrate.
A day
earlier, scores of ruling party supporters and self-styled war veterans marched
under police escort to parliament where they condemned the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) for provoking violence in the country.
The
police action, said political analyst Brian Raftopolous, showed that the "ruling
party and government will use repressive laws and means to suppress any dissent
in the country. There is no difference between now and in the colonial times,"
he said.
The march came on the same day as government approved a new bill
to protect public order and security in the country. The Public Order and
Security Bill (POSB), will replace the colonial Law and Order Maintenance Act
(LOMA), a 1960s passed to combat the rising tide of militant black
nationalism.
Though designed to curtail acts of insurgency, banditry,
sabotage and terrorism, legal experts have dismissed the new bill as being as
draconian as the one it seeks to replace. The opposition have condemned the bill
as the legalisation of state repression of all who oppose it.
